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 HCCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN; 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 PIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ; 
 
 IN WHICH 
 
 THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND VARIATIONS OF CHURCH POWER, ARE CONSIDERED IN 
 THEIR CONNEXION WITH THE STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY, 
 AND THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THAT PERIOD. 
 
 BY THE LATE LEARNED 
 JOHN LAURENCE MOSHEIM, D. D. 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTINGEN. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, 
 AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES, AND AN APPENDIX, 
 
 BY ARCHIBALD MACLAINEH, D. D. 
 
 CONTINUED TO THE YEAR 1826, 
 BY CHARLES COOTE, L.L.D. 
 
 AND FURNISHED WITH A DISSERTATION ON THE STATE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, 
 
 BY THE RIGHT REVEREND DR. GEORGE GLEIG OF STIRLING. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY APPLEGATE & CO. 
 NO. 43 MAIN STREET, 
 
 1863. 
 
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THE TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 I cannor persuade myself, that the complaints which we hear frequently of the frivolous nature of the public 
 taste in matters of literature, are so far to be relied on, as to make me despair of a favourable reception of the follow- 
 ing work. A History of the Christian Church, composed with judgment, taste, and candour, drawn with uncommon 
 discernment and industry from the best sources, enriched with much useful learning and several important discoveries, 
 and connected with the history of arts, philosophy, and civil government, is an object that will very probably attract 
 the attention of many, and most undoubtedly excite the curiosity of the judicious and the wise. A work of this na- 
 ture will be considered by the philosopher, as an important branch of the history of the human mind; and I need not 
 mention a multitude of reasons that render it peculiarly interesting to the Christian. Besides, there has not hitherto 
 appeared in English, any complete history of the church, that represents its revolutions, its divisions, and doctrines, with 
 
 impartiality and truth, exposes the delusions of popish legends, breathes a spirit of moderation and freedom, and, keep- 
 
 ~ing perpetually in the view of the reader the true nature and design of the Christian religion, points out those deviations 
 
 from its beautiful simplicity, which have been too frequent among all orders of men and in allages of the world.* ° 
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
 
 How far justice has been done to this excellent work, in the following translation, is a point that must be left to 
 the decision of those who may think proper to peruse it with attention. Ican say, with the strictest truth, that I have 
 spared no pains to render it worthy of their gracious acceptance ; and this consideration gives me some claim to 
 their candour and indulgence, for any defects they may find in it. I have endeavoured to render my translation 
 faithful, but never proposed to render it entirely literal. "The style of the original is by no means a model to imitate, 
 
 ina work designed for general use. Dr. Mosheim affected brevity, and laboured to crowd many things into few 
 
 _ words; thus his diction, though pure and correct, became sententious and harsh, without that harmony which pleases 
 
 iz Ag 4) g-N. M. Harris 
 
 the ear, or those transitions which make a narration flow with ease. This being the case, I have sometimes taken 
 considerable liberties with my author, and followed the spirit of his narrative without adhering strictly to the letter. 
 Where, indeed, the Latin phrase appeared to me elegant, expressive, and compatible with the English idiom, I have 
 constantly followed it; but, in all other cases, I have departed from it, and have often added a few sentences, to ren- 
 der an observation more striking, a fact more clear, a portrait more finished. Had I been translating Cicero or Taci- 
 tus, I should not have thought such freedom pardonable. The translation of a classic author, like the copy of a 
 capital picture, must exhibit not only the subject but also the manner of the original: this ru.e, however, is not | 
 applicable to the work now under consideration. 
 
 When I entered upon this undertaking, I proposed rendering the additional notes more numerous and ample, than 
 the reader will find them. I soon perceived that the prosecution of my original plan would render this work too 
 voluminous, and this induced me to alter my purpose. The notes I have given are not, however, inconsiderable in 
 number; I wish I could say as much with respect to their merit and importance. I would only hope that some of 
 them will be looked upon as not altogether unnecessary. 
 
 Haaur, December 4, 1764. 
 
 * We omit the intervening part of Dr. Maclaine’s Preface, because its insertion is rendered unnecessary by the biographical sketch which the 
 
 Editor has given. 
 
THE EDITOR’S PREFACE, 
 
 In every civilized country, the ministers of religion, from the nature of their education, may be expected to be con 
 versant in literature: but in no country do they appear to be so fond of imparting their thoughts to the world, by the 
 medium of the press, asin Germany. ‘The greater part of their productions, indeed, pass silently into the gulf of 
 oblivion, while some remain, and excite continued attention. ‘'T’o the latter class may be assigned the History of the 
 Christian Church, written by Dr. John Laurence von Mosheim. 
 
 Academical honours and ecclesiastical dignities have frequently been obtained by persons who were born in the 
 lowest sphere of life ; and it may therefore be supposed that Mosheim might have obtained such honours and rewards 
 by his abilities and erudition, even if he had been the son of an ordinary tradesman, of a low mechanic, or a rude 
 peasant: but that was not his fate; for he was born (in the year 1695) of a family that boasted of high rank and 
 noble blood. Lubeck was the place of his birth; but, in the short accounts of him which have fallen under our 
 notice, the scene of his academical education is not mentioned. He gave early indications of a promising capacity, 
 and of a strong desire of mental and literary improvement ; and, when his parents proposed to him the choice of a 
 profession, the church suggested itself to him as a proper department for the exercise of that zeal which disposed him 
 to be useful to society. 
 
 Being ordained a minister of the Lutheran church, he soon distinguished himself as a preacher. His eloquence 
 was impressive: he could wield with force the weapons of argumentation ; and his language was neat, perspicuous, 
 and accurate. He did not bewilder his auditors in the refinements of doctrine, or the profundities of speculation, but 
 generally contented himself with stating the chief doctrinal points of Christianity, while he enforced the useful. pre- 
 cepts of practical religion, recommending pious feelings, benevolent affections, an orderly demeanour, correct morals, 
 and virtuous habits. 
 
 His reputation as a preacher, however high, was local and confined: but the fame of his literary ability diffused 
 itself among all the nations of Christendom. 'The Danish court invited him to Copenhagen, and rewarded his merit 
 by the grant of a professorship in the university of that capital. The duke of Brunswick Wolffenbuttel afterwards 
 patronised him; and, having solicited his return to Germany, not only procured for him the theological chair at 
 Helmstadt, but appointed him counsellor to the court in the affairs of the church, and invested him with authority 
 over all the seminaries of learning in the dutchy. Even king George the Second, who, though a. respectable prince, 
 was not distinguished as an encourager of literary merit, entertained a high opinion of the character of Dr. Mosheim, 
 and selected him for the dignified office of chancellor or president of the university of Géttingen. He discharged the 
 duties of that station with zeal and propriety, and his conduct gave general satisfaction. His death, therefore, was 
 sincerely lamentea py ali ranks of people, particularly as it did not occur in the extremity of age; for he had not | 
 
 < 
 
 completed his sixty-first year. 
 
THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. v 
 
 His literary labours were principally connected with his theological profession. He wrote, in the,language of 
 ancient Rome, an account of the affairs and state of the Christians before the reign of Constantine the Great ;—a 
 vindication of the early discipline of those votaries of true religion ;—a narrative of the chief incidents of the life of the 
 unfortunate Servetus, the martyr of Calvinistic bigotry ;—dissertations on various subjects of a sacred nature ;—and 
 a translation of the celebrated work of Dr. Ralph Cudworth upon the intellectual system of the universe, accompa- 
 nied with erudite remarks and judicious illustrations. 
 
 His history of the church was at first a small work, which appeared under the title of Institutiones Historie Chris- 
 tianee, and passed through several editions. He was repeatedly urged by his learned friends to extend a work which 
 they represented as too meagre for the importance of the subject. He acknowledged the applicability of the objection ; 
 buf alleged various avocations, as an excuse for non-compliance. 'T’o the wish of the public he at length acceded ; 
 and, having employed two years in the augmentation and improvement of his history, he published it in the year 
 1755, with a dedication to Burchard Christian baron Behr, one of the counsellors of regency to his Britannic majesty 
 for the electorate of Hanover. In the preface he solemnly thanked God for having given him strength and ability 
 to finish a difficult and tedious work (opus difficile, non und de causa, et tadii plenum.) He, at the same time, 
 lamented that he was almost worn out with labours and cares. ‘Thus did he seemingly predict his speedy dissolu- 
 tion ; and, before the end of that year, his honourable and useful life was closed by the will of Providence. 
 
 Being desirous of procuring, for a work so replete with information, a more general perusal than its Latin dress 
 would allow, Dr. Maclaine, a learned minister of the English church in Holland, undertook the task of translating 
 it; and the attempt was by no means unsuccessful. For his translation there is a permanent demand; and a new 
 edition is therefore prepared for the public eye, after that revision and correction which appeared to be necessary. A 
 sontinuation is subjoined, that the reader might not regret the want of a religious and ecclesiastical history of recent 
 times ; and the translator’s appendix has been enriched with a judicious essay, the offspring of the spontaneous zeal 
 
 of a distinguished divine of the episcopal church in Scotland. 
 
 No. 1. 2 
 
 C. COOTE. 
 
PH EvAUTHO RS PREE A Gd: 
 
 Tue different editions of my Elements of the Christian History met with such a favourable reception, and so great 
 was the demand for them, that they were soon out of print. On this occasion, the worthy person, at whose expense 
 they had been presented to the public, advised that a new edition should be given of the same work, improved and 
 enlarged. The other occupations in which I was engaged, and a prudent consideration of the labour I must undergo 
 in the correction and augmentation of a work in which I myself perceived so many imperfections, prevented: my 
 yielding, for a long time, to his earnest solicitations. But the importunities of my friends at length prevailed upon 
 me to undertake the difficult task ; and I have assiduously employed my hours of leisure, during two years, in bring- 
 ing the work to as high a degree of perfection as I am capable of giving to it; so that now these Klements of Eccle- 
 siastical History appear under a new form, and the changes they have undergone are certainly advantageous in every 
 respec’. I have still retained the division of the whole into certain periods; for, though a continued narration would 
 have been more agreeable to my own taste, and had also several circumstances to recommend it, yet the counsels of 
 some learned men who have experienced the great advantages of this division, engaged me to prefer the former to 
 every other method; and indeed, when we examine this matter with due attention, we shall be disposed to allow, 
 that the author, who proposes comprehending in one work all the observations and facts which are necessary to an 
 acquaintance with the state of Christianity in the different ages of the church, will find it impossible to execute this 
 design, without adopting certain general divisions of time, and others of a more particular kind, naturally pointed out 
 by the variety of objects that demand a place in his history. And, as this was my design in the following work, 1 
 have left its primitive form entire, and made it my principal business to correct, improve, and augment it in such a 
 manner, as to render it more instructive and entertaining to the reader. 
 
 My principal care has been employed in establishing upon the most solid foundations, and confirming by the most 
 respectable authority, the credit of the facts related in this history. For this purpose, I have drawn from the fountain 
 head, and have gone to those genuine sources from which pure and uncorrupted streams of evidence flow. Lhave 
 consulted the best authors of every age, and chiefly those who were contemperary with the events which they record, 
 or lived near the periods in which they happened ; and I have endeavoured to report their contents with brevity, per- 
 spicuity, and precision. Abbreviators, generally speaking, do little more than reduce to a short and narrow compass 
 those large bodies of history, which have been compiled from original authors. This method may be, in some mea- 
 sure, justified by several reasons, and therefore is not to be entirely disapproved: hence, nevertheless, :t sappeuis, 
 that the errors, which almost always abound in large and voluminous productions, are propagated with facility, and, 
 passing from one book into many, are unhappily handed down from age to age. 'This I had formerly observed im 
 several abridgments ; and I had lately the mortfiication to find some instances of this in my work, when I examined 
 
 it by the pure lamps of antiquity, and compared it with those original records which are considered as the genuine 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. Vii 
 
 sources of sacred history. It was then that I perceived the danger of confiding implicitly even in tho.e who are the 
 most generally esteemed on account of their fidelity, penetration, and diligence; and it was then also that I became 
 sensible of the necessity of adding, suppressing, changing, and correcting several things in the small work (already 
 mentioned) which I formerly published. In the execution of this necessary task, T can affirm with truth, that I have 
 not been deficient in perseverance, industry, or attention; and yet, with all these, it is exceedingly difficult to avoid 
 inistakes of every kind, as those who are acquainted with the nature of historical researches abundantly know. 
 How far I have approached to that inaccessible degree of exactness, which is chargeable with no error, must be left 
 to the decision of those whose extensive knowledge of the Christian history entitles them to pronounce judgment in 
 this matter. That such may judge with the greater facility, I have mentioned the authors who have been my 
 guides; and, if I have in any respect misrepresented their accounts or their sentiments, I must confess that I am 
 much more inexcusable than some other historians, who have met with and deserved the same reproach, since I have 
 attentively perused and compared the various authors to whose testimony I appeal, having formed a resolution of 
 trusting to no authority inferior to that of the original sources of historical truth. In order to execute, with some de- 
 gree of success, the design I formed of rendering my abridgment more perfect, and of giving the history of the church 
 as it stands in the most authentic records, and in the writings of those whose authority is most respectable, I found 
 myself obliged to make many changes and additions. 'These will be visible through the whole of the followmg 
 work, but more especially in the third book, which comprehends the history of the Christian, and particularly of the 
 Latin or western church, from Charlemagne to the rise of Luther and the commencement of the Reformation. This 
 period of history, though it abound with shining examples, though it be unspeakably useful as a key to the knowledge 
 of the political as well as religious state of Europe, though it be singularly adapted to unfold the origin and explain 
 the reasons of many modern transactions, has nevertheless been hitherto treated with less perspicuity, solidity, and ele- 
 gance, than any other branch of the history of the church. Many writers have attempted to throw light upon this inte- 
 resting period ; but the barbarous style of one part of the number, the profound ignorance of some, and the partiai and 
 factious spirit of others, are such as render them by no means inviting ; and the enormous bulk and excessive price of 
 the productions of some of the best of these writers must necessarily make them scarce. It is farther tobe observed, that 
 some of the most valuable records that belong to the period now under consideration, remain yet in manuscript in the 
 collections of the curious(or the opulent, who are willing to pass for such,) and are thus concealed from public view. 
 Those who consider these circumstances will nolonger be surprised, that, in this part of the subject, the most learned 
 and laborious writers have omitted many things of consequence, and treated others without success. Among these, 
 the annalists and other historians, so highly celebrated by the church of Rome, such as Baronius, Raynaldus, Bzo- 
 vius, Manriques, and Wadding, though they were amply furnished with ancient manuscripts and records, have never- 
 theless committed more faults, and fallen into errors of greater consequence, than other writers, who were far inferior 
 to them in learning and credit, and had much less access to original records than they were favoured with. 
 
 These considerations induce me to hope, that the work which I now present to the public will neither appear su- 
 verfluous nor be found useless. For, as I have employed many years in the most laborious researches, in order to 
 acquire a thorough acquaintance with the history of Christianity from the eighth century downwards, and as I flatter 
 niyself that. by the aid both of printed works and manuscripts too little consulted. I have arrived at a more certain 
 and sausfactory knowledge of that period than is to be found in the generality of writers, I cannot but think that it 
 will be doing real service to this branch of history to produce some of these discoveries, as this may encourage the 
 learned and industrious to pursue the plan that I have thus begun, and to complete the history of the Latin church, 
 oy dispelling the darkness of what is called the Middle Age. And indeed I may venture to affirm. that I have 
 
 brought to light several things hitherto unknown ; corrected from records of undoubted authority accounts of other 
 
vill THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 things imperfectly known, and expressed with perplexity and confusion ; and exposed the fabulous nature of many 
 pretended events that deform the annals of sacred history. I here perhaps carry too far that self praise, which the 
 candour and indulgence of the public are disposed either to overlook as the infirmity, or to regard as the privilege of 
 oidage. ‘Those, however, who are curious to know how far this self applause is just and well grounded, have only 
 to cast an eye on the illustrations I have given on the subject of Constantine’s donation, as also with respect to the 
 Cathari and Albigenses, the Beghards and Beguines, the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit (whose pestilentia) 
 fanaticism was a public nuisance to many countries in Europe during a period of four hundred years,) the Fratri 
 celli or Little Brethren, the controversies between the Franciscans and the Roman pontiffs, the history of Berenger 
 and the Lollards, and other matters. When my illustrations of these subjects and points of history are compared with 
 what we find concerning them in other writers, it will perhaps appear, that my pretensions to the merit of some inte- 
 resting discoveries are not entirely without foundation. 
 
 The accessions to ecclesiastical history could not be exhibited with the same brevity that I have observed in treating 
 other subjects, which had been amply enlarged upon by others; for this would have been incompatible with the 
 information of the curious, who would have received imperfect and confused notions of these subjects, and would 
 have made me, perhaps, pass for a fabulous writer, who advanced novelties, without mentioning either my guides or 
 my authorities. I have, therefore, not only explained all those points of history which carry with them an air of 
 novelty, or recede considerably from the notions commonly received, but have also confirmed them by a sufficient. 
 number of observations and testimonies, so as to establish their credibility on a solid foundation. 'The illustraticns 
 and enlargements, which, generally speaking, have an appearance of disproportion and superfluity in an historical 
 abridgment, were absolutely necessary in the present case. . 
 
 These reasons engaged me to change the plan laid down in my former work, and one peculiar consideration 
 induced me to render the present history more ample and voluminous. 'The Elements before mentioned, were prin- 
 cipally intended for the use of those who are appointed to instruct the studious youth in the history and vicissitudes 
 of the Christian church, and who stand in need of a compendious text to give a certain order and method to their pre- 
 lections. In this view I treated each subject with the utmost brevity, and left, as was natural and fitting, much to 
 the learning and abilities of those who might think proper to make use of these Elements in their course of instruc- 
 tion. But, in reviewing this compendious work with an intention of presenting it anew to the public, I imagined it 
 might be rendered more acceptable to many, by such improvements and enlargements as might adapt it not only to the 
 use of those who teach others, but also of those who are desirous of acquiring, by their own application, a general know- 
 ledge of ecclesiastical history. It was with this view that I made considerable additions to my former work, illus- 
 trated many things that had been there obscurely expressed for the sake of brevity, and reduced to a regular and 
 perspicuous order a variety of facts, the recital of which had been more or less attended with perplexity and confusion. 
 Hence it is, that, in the following work, the history of the calamities, in which the Christians of the first ages were 
 nvolved, and the origin and progress of the sects and heresies which troubled the church, are exhibited with an un- 
 common degree of accuracy and precision. 
 
 Hence the various forms of religion, which have sprung from the excessive love of novelty, are represented without 
 prejudice or partiality, and with all possible perspicuity and truth. It is also in consequence of this change of my 
 original design, that I have taken the utmost pains to state more clearly religious controversies, to estimate their re- 
 spective moment and importance, and to exhibit the arguments alleged on both sides; nor must I omit mentioning 
 tne care and labour I have employed in giving an exact narration of the transactions, wars, and enterprising mea 
 sures, of the Roman pontiffs, from the reign of Charlemagne to the present time. 
 
 Those, therefore, who are preyented from applying themselves to a regular study of ecclesiastical history through 
 
¢ 
 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. ix 
 
 want of leisure, or by not having at hand the sources of instruction, and are nevertheless desirous of acquiring a dis- 
 tinct knowledge of certain events, doctrines, or ceremonies, may consult the following work, in which they will find 
 the information they want; and those who are inclined to push their inquiries still farther, will see the course they 
 must pursue, and find the authors mentioned whom it will be proper for them to consult. 
 
 It would betray an unpardonable presumption in me to imagine, that in a work, whose plan is so extensive, and 
 whose contents are so various, I have never fallen into any mistakes. But, as I am conscious to myself of having 
 conducted this undertaking with the most upright intentions, and of having employed all those means which are 
 generally looked upon as the best preservatives against the seductions of error, I would hope that the mistakes I may 
 have committed are neither so ftequent nor so momentous as to be productive of any pernicious effects. 
 
 I might add more; but nothing more is necessary to enable those to judge of this work, who judge with knowledge, 
 impartiality, and candour. I therefore conclude, by offering the just tribute of my gratitude to Almighty God, who, 
 umidst the infirmities of my advanced years and other pressures under which I have laboured, has supplied me with 
 streng h to bring this difficult work to a conclusion. 
 
 Go» riIncEN, March 23, 1755. 
 
 No |. 2 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i. Tue Ecclesiastical History of the New Testament is a clear and faithful narration of the transactions, revolu 
 tions, and events, that relate to that large community, which bears the name of Jesus Curist, and is commonly 
 known under the denomination of the Church. It comprehends both the EXTERNAL and INTERNAL condition of 
 this community, and so connects each event with the causes from which it proceeds, and the instruments which have 
 been concerned in its production, that the attentive reader may be led to observe the displays of providential wisdom 
 and goodness in the preservation of the church, and thus find his piety improved, as well as his knowledge. 
 
 II. The church, founded by the ministry and death of Christ, cannot be represented with greater perspicuity and 
 propriety than under the notion of a society subjected to a lawful dominion, and governed by certain laws and insti- 
 tutions, mostly of a moral and spiritual tendency. 'T’o such a society many external events must happen, which 
 will advance or oppose its interests, and accelerate or retard its progress toward perfection, in consequence of its una 
 voidable connexion with the course and revolutions of human affairs. Moreover, as nothing is stable and uniform 
 where the imperfections of humanity take place, this religious society, besides the vicissitudes to which it must be 
 exposed from the influence of external events, must be liable to various changes in its internal constitution. In thi: 
 view of things, then, it appears, that the history of the church, like that of the state, may be divided with propriety 
 into two general branches, which we may call its Exrernat and InTernat History. 
 
 Il. The Exrernat History of the church comprehends all the changes, vicissitudes, and events, that have di 
 versified the external state and condition of this sacred community. And as all public societies have their perfods o1 
 lustre and decay, and are exposed to revolutions both of a happy and calamitous nature, so this first branch of Eccle- 
 siastical History may be subdivided into two, comprehending, respectively, the PRosPEROUs and CALaMIToUs events 
 that have happened to the church. 
 
 IV. The prosperous events that have contributed to extend the limits, or to augment the influence, of the Chris- 
 jan church, have proceeded either from its rulers and leaders, or from the subordinate members of this great commu 
 nity. Under the former class, we rank its puBLIc rulers, such as princes, magistrates, and pontiffs, who, by their 
 authority and laws, their liberality, and even their arms, have maintained its cause and extended its borders; as 
 also, its more PRIVATE leaders, its learned and pious doctors, whose wise counsels, pious exploits, eninent examples, 
 and distinguished abilities, have contributed most to promote its TRUE prosperity and lustre. Under the latter class, 
 we may comprehend the advantages which the cause of Christianity has derived from the active faith, the invincible 
 constancy, the fervent piety, and extensive charity, of its genuine professors, who, by the attractive lustre of these 
 amiable virtues, have led many into the way of truth, and engaged them to submit themselves to the empire of the 
 
 Messiah. 
 
INTRODUCTION, x1 
 
 V. Under the caLam Tous events that have happened to the church, may be comprehended the injuries it has 
 eceived from the vices and passions of its friends, and the bitter opposition and insidious stratagems of its enemies. 
 
 The professors of Christianity, and more especially the doctors and rulers of the church, have done unspeakable 
 detriment to the cause of religion, by their ignorance and sloth, their luxury and ambition, their uncharitable zeal, 
 animosities and contentions, of which many shocking examples will be exhibited in the course of this history. 
 Christianity had pupLic enemies to encounter, even princes and magistrates, who opposed its progress. by penal 
 Jaws, and blood-thirsty persecution ; it had also private and inveterate adversaries in a certain set of philosophers, or 
 rather sophists, who, enslaved by superstition, or abandoned to atheism, endeavoured to blast the rising church by 
 their perfidious accusations, and their virulent writings. _ 
 
 VI. Such then are the events that are exhibited to our view in the external history of the church. Its Inrrrnan 
 History comprehends the changes and vicissitudes that have happened in its inward constitution, in that system of 
 discipline and doctrine by which it stands distinguished from all other religious societies. 'This branch may be pro- 
 perly termed the Hisrory or tHE CuRisTIAN Rexiaion. ‘The causes of these internal changes are to pe sought 
 principally in the conduct and measures of those who have presided and borne rule in the church. It has been too 
 frequently their practice to interpret the truths and precepts of religion in a manner accommodated to their particular 
 systems, or even to their private interests ; and, while they have found, in some, implicit obedience, they have met 
 with warm opposition from others. Hence have proceeded theological broils and civil commotions, in which the 
 cause of religion has often been defended at the expense both of justice and humanity. All these things must be 
 observed with the strictest attention by an ecclesiastical historian. 
 
 VI. The first thing, therefore, that should be naturally treated in the Inrerwat History of the church, is the 
 history of its ministers, rulers, and form of government. When we look back to the commencement of the Christian 
 church, we find its government administered jointly by the pastors and the people. But, in process of time, the 
 scene changes, and we see these pastors affecting an air of pre-eminence and superiority, trampling upon the rights 
 and privileges of the community, and assuming to themselves a supreme authority, both in civil and religious mat- 
 ters. This invasion of the rights of the people was at length carried to such a height, that a single man administered, 
 or at least claimed a right to administer, the affairs of the whole church with an unlimited sway. Among the doc- 
 tors of these early times, there were some who acquired, by their learned labours, a shining reputation and a uni- 
 versal influence; they were regarded as-oracles; their decisions were handed down to posterity as sacred rules of 
 faith and practice; and they thus deserve to be mentioned, with particular distinction, among the governors of the 
 church, though no part of its public administration was actually in their hands. 
 
 VIII. After giving an account of the rulers and doctors of the church, the ecclesiastical historian proceeds to exhi- 
 bit a view of the Laws that are peculiar to this sacred community, which form, as it were, its centre of union, and 
 distinguish it from all other religious societies. These Laws are of two kinds. “The first are properly called Divine, 
 because they ave immediately enacted by God himself, and are contained in those sacred books, which carry the 
 most striking marks of a divine origin. 'They consist of those pocrrines that are the objects of faith and reason, 
 and those PREcEPTs which are addressed to the heart and the affections. 'T’o the second kind belong those LAws 
 which are merely of human institution, and derive their authority only from the injunctions of the rulers of the 
 church. 
 
 TX. In that part of tne sacred history which relates to the doctrines of Christianity, it 1s necessary, above all things, 
 
 to inquire particularly into the degree of authority that has been attributed to the sacred writings in the different 
 
 ay * By these our author means the Fathers, whose writings form still a rule of faith in the Romish church, while, in the Protestant churches, 
 
 cheir authority diminishes from day to dey. 
 
xii ; INTRODUCTION. 
 
 periods of the church, and also into the manner in which the divine doctrines they contain, have oeen explained and 
 illustrated. For the true state of religion in every age can only be learned from the point of view in which these 
 celestial oracles were considered, and from the manner in which they were expounded to the people. As long as 
 they were the only rule of faith, religion preserved its native purity ; and, in proportion as their decisions were either 
 neglected or postponed to the inventions of men, it degenerated from its primitive and divine simplicity. It is farther 
 necessary to show, under this head, what was the fate of the pure laws and doctrines of Christianity—how they were 
 interpreted and explained—how they were defended against the enemies of the Gospel—how they were corrupted 
 
 nd adulterated by the ignorance and licentiousness of men. And, finally, it will be proper to inquire here, 
 now far the lives and manners of Christians have been conformable to the dictates of these sacred laws, and to the 
 influence that these sublime doctrines ought to have upon the hearts of men; as also to examine the rules of disci- 
 pline prescribed by the spiritual governors of the church, in order to correct and restrain the vices and irregularities of 
 its members. 
 
 X. The Human Laws, that constitute a part of ecclesiastical government, consist in precepts concerning the ex- 
 ternal worship of the Deity, and in certain rites, either confirmed by custom, or introduced by positive and express 
 authority. Rirres and ceremonies regard religion either DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY; by the former, we under- 
 stand those which are used in the immediate worship of the Supreme Being, whether in public or in private; by the 
 latter, euch pious and decent institutions as, beside direct acts of worship, have prevailed in the church. 'This part 
 of sacrad history is of a vast extent, both on account of the great diversity of these ceremonies, and the frequent 
 changes and modifications through which they have passed. ‘This consideration will justify our treating them with 
 brevity, in a work which is only intended for a compendious view of ecclesiastical history. 
 
 XI. As bodies politic are sometimes distracted with wars and seditions, sohas the Christian church, though de- 
 signed to be the mansion of charity and concord, been unhappily perplexed by intestine divisions, occasioned some- 
 times by points of doctrine, at others by a variety of sentiments about certain rites and ceremonies. 'The principal 
 authors of these divisions have been stigmatized with the title of HerETIcs, and their peculiar opinions of consequence 
 distinguished by the appellation of Heresizs.» The nature therefore and progress of these intestine divisions or 
 HERESIES are to be carefully unfolded ; and, if this be done with judgment and impartiality, it must prove useful 
 and interesting in the highest degree, though at the same time it must be observed, that no branch of ecclesiastical 
 history is so painful and difficult, on account of the sagacity, candour, and application that it requires, in order to its 
 being treated in a satisfactory manner. ‘The difficulty of arriving at the truth, in researches of this nature, is ex- 
 treme, on account of the injurious treatment that has been shown to the heads of religious sects, and the unfair repre- 
 sentations that have been made of their tenets and opinions ; and this difficulty has been considerably augmented by 
 this particular circumstance, that the greatest part of the writings of those who were branded with the name of here- 
 tics have not reached our times. _It is therefore the duty of a candid historian to avoid attaching to this term the 
 invidious sense in which it is too often used, since it is the invective of all contending parties, and is employed against 
 uth as frequently as against error. 'The wisest method is to take the word Heretic in its general signification, as 
 denoting a person, who, either directly or indirectly, has been the occasion of exciting divisions and dissentions among 
 Christians. 
 
 XII. After thus considering what constitutes the maTTeERr of Ecclesiastical History, it will be more proper to bestow 
 a few thoughts on the MaNNER of treating it, as this is a point of too much importance not to deserve some attention. 
 
 And here we may observe, that, in order to render both the External and Internal History of the Church truly inte- 
 
 SE nnn re nnn eran ernie nTnnTEnENTENEENESSvISNSTTTTEEITTTEREEESTEETSTNESTOE ONTENIENTE TESS] 
 
 34> * A term innocent in its primitive signification, though become odious by the enormity of some errors to which it has been applied, and 
 also by the use that has been made of it to give vent to the malignity of enthusiasts and bigots. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xii 
 
 resting and useful, it is absolutely necessary to trace effects to their causes, and to connect events with the circum- 
 stances, views, principles, and instruments that have contributed to their existence. A bare recital or facts can at 
 best but enrich the Memory, and furnish a certain degree of amusement; but the historian who enters into the 
 secret springs that direct the course of outward events, and views things in their various relations, connexions, and 
 tendencies, gives thus a proper exercise to the JupDGMENT of the reader, and administers, on many occasions, the 
 most useful lessons of wisdom and prudence. It is true, a high degree of caution is to be observed here, lest, in dis- 
 cussing the secret springs of public events, we substitute imaginary causes in the place of real, and attribute the 
 actions of men to principles they never professed. 
 
 XII. In order to discover the secret causes of public events, some general succours are to be derived from the 
 History oF THE T'r1mes in which they happened, and the T'esTrMonres oF THE AuTHORS by whom they are 
 recorded. But, beside these, a considerable Aac@UAINTANCE WITH HUMAN NATURE, founded on long observation 
 and experience, is extremely useful in researches of this kind. ‘The historian, who has acquired a competent know 
 ledge of the views that occupy the generality of men, who has studied a great variety of characters, and attentively 
 observed the force and violence of human passions, together with the infirmities and contradictions they produce in 
 the conduct of life, will find, in this knowledge, a key to the secret reasons and motives which gave rise to many of 
 the most important events of ancient times. An acquaintance also with the MANNERs and oprntons of the persons 
 concerned in the events that are related, will contribute much to lead us to the true origin of things. 
 
 XIV. There are, however, beside these general views, particular considerations, which will assist us still farther 
 in tracing up to their true causes the various events of sacred history. We must, for example, in the external history 
 of the church, attend carefully to two things; First, to the political state of those kingdoms and nations in which 
 the Christian religion has been embraced or rejected ; and, sEconDLY, to their religious state, i. e. the opinions they 
 have entertained concerning the divine nature, and the worship that is to be addressed to God. For we shall then 
 perceive, with greater certainty and less difficulty, the reasons of the different reception Christianity has met with in 
 different nations, when we are acquainted with the respective forms of civil government, the political maxims, and 
 the public forms of religion that prevailed in those countries and at those periods in which the Gospel received encou- 
 ragement, or met with opposition. 
 
 XV. With respect to the InrErnat History of THE CuurRcH, nothing is more adapted to lay open to view the 
 hidden springs of its various changes, than an acquaintance with the Hisrory or LEARNING anpD PHILosoPHy in 
 ancient times. For it is certain, that human learning and philosophy have, in all times, pretended to modify the doc- 
 trines of Christianity; and that these pretensions have extended farther than belongs to the province of philosophy 
 on the one hand, or is consistent with the purity and simplicity of the Gospel on the other. It may also be observed, 
 that a knowledge of the forms of civil government, and of the superstitious rites and institutions of ancient times, is 
 not only useful, as we remarked above, to illustrate several things in the exrERNat history of the church, but also 
 to render a satisfactory account of its INTERNAL variations, both in point of doctrine and worship. For the genius 
 of human laws, and the maxims of civil rulers, have undoubtedly had a great influence in forming the constitution 
 of the church ; and even its spiritual leaders have, in too many instances, from an ill-judged prudence modelled its 
 discipline and worship after the ancient superstitions, 
 
 XVI. We cannot be at any loss to know the sources from which this important knowledge is to be derived. 
 The best writers of every age, who make mention of ecclesiastical affairs, and particularly those who were con- 
 temporary with the events they relate, are to be carefully consulted, since it is from credible testimonies and respect 
 able authorities that history derives a solid and permanent foundation. Our esteem for those writers, who may be 
 
 considered as the sources of historical knowledge, ought not however to lead us to treat with neglect the historians 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and annalists, who have already made use of these original records, since it betrays a foolish sort of vanity to reject 
 the advantages that may be derived from the succours and labours of those who have preceded us in their endea- 
 vours to cast light upon points that have been for many ages covered with obscurity.* 
 
 XVIL From all this we shall easily discern the qualifications that are essential to a good writer of ecclesiastical 
 nistory. His knowledge of human aflairs must be considerable, and his learning extensive. He must be endowed 
 with a spirit of observation and sagacity ; a habit of reasoning with evidence and facility ; a faithful memory ; and 
 a judgment matured by experience, and strengthened by exercise. Such are the intellectual endowments that are 
 required in the character of a good historian ; and the moral qualities necessary to complete it, are, a persevering and 
 inflexible attachment to truth and virtue, a freedom from the servitude of prejudice and passion, and a laborious and 
 patient turn of mind. F 
 
 XVIII. Those who undertake to write the history of the Christian church are exposed to the reception of a bias 
 from three different sources; from TIMEs, PERSONS, and opinions. ‘The T1mzEs, in which we live, have often so 
 great an influence on our manner of judging, as to make us consider the events which happen in our days, as a rule 
 by which we are to estimate the probability or evidence of those that are recorded in the history of pastages. ‘The 
 PERSONS, 0 Whose testimonies we think we have reason to depend, acquire an imperceptible authority over our 
 sentiments, that too frequently seduces us to adopt their errors, especially if these persons have been distinguished by 
 eminent degrees of sanctity and virtue. And an attachment to favourite oprnions, leads authors sometimes to per- 
 vert, or, at least, to modify, facts in favour of those who have embraced these opinions, or to the disadvantage of 
 such as have opposed them. 'These kinds of seduction are so much the more dangerous, as those whom they de- 
 ceive are, in innumerable cases, insensible of their delusion, and of the false representations of things to which it 
 leads them. It is not necessary to observe the solemn obligations that bind an historian to guard against these three 
 sources of error with the most delicate circumspection, and the most scrupulous attention. | 
 
 XIX. It is well known, nevertheless, how far ecclesiastical historians, in all ages, have departed from these rules, 
 and from others of equal evidence and importance. For, not to mention those who lay claim to a high rank among 
 the writers of history in consequence of a happy memory, loaded with an ample heap of materials, or those whose 
 pens are rather guided by sordid views of interest than by a generous love of truth, it is too evident, how few in 
 number the unprejudiced and impartial historians are, whom neither the influence of the sect to which they belong, 
 nor the venerable and imposing names of antiquity, nor the spirit of the times and the torrent of prevailing opINION, 
 can turn aside from the rigid pursuit of truth atonr. In the present age, more especially, the spirit of the times, 
 and the influence of predominant opinions, have gained with many an incredible ascendancy. Hence we find fre- 
 quently in the writings, even of learned men, such wretched arguments as these: Such an opinion ts true ; there- 
 fore it must of necessity have been adopted by the primitive Christians.—Christ has commanded us to live in 
 such a manner ; therefore it is undoubtedly certain, that the Christians of ancient times lived so.—A certain 
 custom does not take place now; therefore it did not prevail in former times. 
 
 XX. If those who apply themselves to the composition of Ecclesiastical History be careful to avoid the sources of 
 error mentioned above, their labours will be eminently useful to mankind, and more especially to those who are called 
 to the important office of instructing others in the sacred truths and duties of Christianity. The history of the church 
 presents to our view a variety of objects that are every way adapted to confirm our faith. When we contemplate 
 here the discouraging obstacles, united efforts of kingdoms and empires, and the dreadful calamities which Chris- 
 
 tianity, in its very infancy, was obliged to encounter, and over which it gained an immortal victory, this will be suf 
 
 * The various writers of ecclesiastical history are enumerated by Sever. Walt. Sluterus, in his Propyleum Historie Christiane, published at 
 
 Lunenburg in 4to. in the year 1696; by Casp. Sagittarius, in his Introductio ad Historiam Ecclesiasticam, singulasque ejus partes, 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 ficient to fortify its true and zealous professors against all the threats, cavils, and stratagems, of profane and impious 
 men. The great andshining examples also, which display their lustre, more or less, in every period of the Christian his- 
 tory, must have an admirable tendency to inflame our piety, and to excite, even in the coldest and most insensible hearts, 
 the love of God and virtue. Those amazing revolutions and events that distinguished every age of the church, and 
 often seemed to arise from small beginnings, and causes of little consequence, proclaim, with a solemn and respecta- 
 ble voice, the empire of Providence, and also the inconstancy and vanity of human affairs. And, among the many 
 advantages that arise from the study of Ecclesiastical History, it is none of the least, that we shall see therein the 
 origin and occasions of those ridiculous rites, absurd opinions, foolish superstitions, and pernicious errors, with which 
 Christianity is yet disfigured in too many parts of the world. ‘This knowledge will naturally lead us to a view of the 
 truth in its beautiful simplicity, will engage us to love it, and render us zealous in its defence ; not to mention the 
 pleasure and satisfaction that we must feel in researches and discoveries of such an interesting kind. 
 
 XXI. They, more especially, who are appointed to instruct the youth in the public universities, and also such as 
 are professionally devoted to the service of the church, will derive from this study the most useful lessons of wisdom 
 and prudence, to direct them in the discharge of their respective offices. On the one hand, the inconsiderate zeal and 
 temerity of others, and the pernicious consequences with which they have been attended, will teach circumspection ; 
 and in the mistakes into which even men of eminent merit and abilities have fallen, they will often see the things 
 they are obliged to avoid, and the sacrifices it will be prudent to make, in order to maintain peace and concord in the 
 church. On the other hand, illustrious examples and salutary measures will hold forth to them a rule of conduct, a 
 lamp to show them the paths they must pursue. It may be farther observed, that, if we except the arms which 
 Scripture and reason furnish against superstition and error, there is nothing that will enable us to combat them with 
 more efficacy than the view of their deplorable effects, as they are represented to us in the history of the church. It 
 would be endless to enumerate all the advantages that result from the study of Ecclesiastical History ; experience 
 alone can display these in all their extent ; nor shall we mention the benefits that may be derived from it by those 
 who have turned their views to other sciences than that of theology, and its more peculiar utility to such as are en- 
 gaged in the study of the civil law. All this would lead us too far from our present design. 
 
 XXII. As the history of the church is Exrernat or INTERNAL, so the manner of treating it must be suited to 
 that division. As to the first, when the narration is long, and the thread of the history runs through a great number 
 of ages, it is proper to divide it into certain periods, which will give the reader time to breathe, assist memory, 
 and also introduce a certain method and order into the work. In the following history the usual division into 
 centuries is adopted in preference to all others, because most generally approved, though it may be attended with diffi- 
 culties and inconveniences. 
 
 XXIII. A considerable part of these inconveniences will be however removed, if, beside this smaller division into 
 centuries, we adopt a larger one, and divide the space of time that elapsed between the birth of Christ and our days 
 into certain grand periods, which were distinguished by signal revolutions or remarkable events. It is on this account 
 that we have judged it expedient to comprehend the following History in Four Books, which will embrace four re- 
 markable periods. ‘The First will be employed in exhibiting the state and vicissitudes of the Chnisiian church, from 
 its commencement to the time of Constantine the Great. The Second will comprehend the period that extends 
 from the reign of Constantine to that of Charlemagne, which produced such a remarkable change in the face of Eu- 
 rope. ‘The Third will contain the History of the Church, from the time of Charlemagne to the memorable period 
 when Luther arose in Germany, to oppose the tyranny of Rome, and to deliver divine truth from the darkness that 
 covered it. And the Fourth will carry down the same history, from the rise of Luther to the present times. 
 
 XXIV. We have seen above, that the sphere of Ecclesiastical History is extensive, that it comprehends a great 
 
XV1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 variety of objects, and embraces political as well as religious matters, so far as the former are related to the latter, either 
 as causes or effects. But, however great the diversity of these objects may be, they are closely connected ; and it is the 
 particular business of an ecclesiastical historian to observe a method that will show this connexion in the most conspi- 
 cuous point of view, and form into one regular WHOLE a variety of parts that seem heterogeneous and discordant. 
 Different writers on this subject have followed different methods, according to the diversity of their views and their 
 peculiar manner of thinking. The order I have observed will be seen above in that part of this LyrropucTion, 
 which treats of the subject-matter of Ecclesiastical History ; the mention of it is therefore omitted here, to avoid unne- 
 
 cessary repetition, 
 
AN 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, FROM ITS ORIGIN, TO THE TIME OF 
 CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 
 
 PART IL 
 
 COMPREHENDING THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the Civil and Religious State of the World 
 ut the Birth of Curist. 
 
 I. A creat part of the world was subject to the Ro- 
 ran empire, when Jesus Curist made his appearance 
 upon earth. The remoter nations which had submitted 
 to the yoke of this mighty empire, were ruled either by 
 Roman governors invested with temporary iol apa 
 or by their own princes and laws, in subordination to the 
 republic, whose sovereignty was to be acknowledged, and 
 from which the conquered kings, who were continued in 
 their dominions, derived their borrowed majesty. At the 
 same time, the Roman people and their venerable senate, 
 though they had not lost all shadow of liberty, were in 
 reality reduced to a state of servile submission to Augus- 
 tus Cesar, who, by artifice, perfidy, and blood shed, had 
 acquired an enormous degree of power, and united in his 
 own person the pompous titles of emperor, sovereign 
 pontiff, censor, tribune of the people, proconsul ; in a word, 
 all the great offices of the state.* 
 
 IL. The Roman government, considered both with respect 
 to its form and its laws, was certainly mild and equitable.» 
 But the injustice and avarice of the preetors and proconsuls, 
 and the ambitious lust of conquest and dominion, which 
 was the predominant passion of the Roman people, together 
 with the rapacious proceedings of the publicans, by whom 
 the taxes of the empire were levied, were the occasions of 
 perpetual tumults and insupportable grievances; and 
 among the many evils which thence arose we may justly 
 reckon the formidable armies, that were necessary to sup- 
 port these extortions in the provinces, and the civil wars 
 which frequently broke out between the oppressed nations 
 and their haughty conquerors. 
 
 Ill. It must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that 
 this supreme dominion of one people, or rather of one man, 
 over so many kingdoms, was attended with many consi- 
 
 * See for this purpose the learned work of Augustin Campianvs, en- 
 titled, De Officio et Potestate Magistratuum Romanorum et J urisdictione, 
 lib. i. cap. i. p. 3, 4, &e. Geneve, 1725. 
 
 » See Moyle’s Essay on the Constitution of the Roman Government, 
 in the posthumous works of that author, vol. i. as also Seip. Maffei Vero- 
 na illustrata, lib. ii. 
 
 ¢ See, for an illustration of this point, Histoire des grands Chemins de 
 
 No. I. 
 
 | laws and commerce of the Romans. 
 
 derable advantages to mankind in general, and to the pro 
 pagation and advancement of Christianity in particular; 
 for, by the means of this almost universal empire, many 
 nations, different in their languages and their manners, 
 were more intimately united in social intercourse. Hence 
 a passage was opened to the remotest countries, by the 
 communications which the Romans formed hetween the 
 conquered provinces. Hence also the nations, whose 
 manners were savage and barbarous, were civilized by the 
 And by this, in 
 short, the benign influence of letters and philosophy was 
 spread abroad in countries which had lain before under 
 the darkest ignorance. All this contributed, no doubt, in 
 a singular manner, to facilitate the progress of the Gospel, 
 and to crown the labours of its first ministers and heralds 
 with success.? 
 
 IV. The Roman empire, at the birth of Christ, was 
 less agitated by wars and tumults, than it had been for 
 many years before ; for, though I cannot assent to the 
 opinion of those who, following the account of Orosius, 
 maintain that the temple of Janus was then shut, and 
 that wars and discords absolutely ceased throughout the 
 
 | world, yet it is certain, that the period, in which our Sa- 
 
 viour descended upon earth, may be justly styled the 
 Pacific Age, if we compare it with the preceding times; 
 and indeed the tranquillity that then reigned, was neces- 
 sary to enable the ministers of Christ to execute, with suc- 
 cess, their sublime commission to the human race. 
 
 V. The want of ancient records renders it impossible 
 to say any thing satisfactory or certain concerning the 
 state of those nations, who did not receive the Roman 
 yoke; nor, indeed, is their history essential to ow present 
 purpose. It is sufficient to observe, with respect to them, 
 that those who inhabited the eastern regions were stran- 
 gers to the sweets of liberty, and groaned under the bur- 
 then of an oppressive yoke. ‘Their softness and effemi- 
 nacy, both in point of manners and bodily constitution, 
 
 Empire Romain, par Nicol. Bergier, printed in the year 1728. See also 
 the very learned Everard Otto, De tuiela Viarum publicarum, part ii. 
 
 4 Origen, among others, makes particular mention of this, in the se- 
 cond book of his answer to Celsus. 
 
 ¢ See Jo. Massoni Templum Jani, Christo nascente, reseratum, Rote- 
 rodami, 1706. 
 
2 
 
 contributed to make them support their slavery with an 
 unmanly patience; and even the religion they professed 
 riveted their chains. On the contrary, the northern na 
 tions enjoyed, in their frozen dwellings, the blessings of 
 sacred freedom, which their government, their religion, a 
 robust and vigorous frame of | body and spirit, derived from 
 the inclemency and severity of their climate, all united to 
 preserve and maintain.* 
 
 VI. All these nations lived in the practice of the most 
 abominable superstitions ; for, though the notion of one 
 Supreme Being was not entirely effaced in the human 
 mind, but showed itself frequently, even through the dark- 
 ness of the grossest idolatry ; yet all nations, except that 
 of the Jews, acknowledged a number of governing powers, 
 whom they called gods, and one or more of which they 
 supposed to preside over each particular province or people. 
 They worshipped these fictitious deities with various rites; 
 they considered them as widely different from each other 
 in sex and power, in their nature, and also in their respec- 
 tive offices; and they appeased them by a multiplicity of 
 ceremonies and offerings, in order to obtain their protection 
 and favour; so that, however diflerent the degrees of enor- 
 mity might be, with which this absurd and impious the- 
 ology appeared i in different countries, yet there was no na- 
 tion, whose sacred rites and religious worship did not dis- 
 cover a manifest abuse of reason, and very striking marks 
 of extravagance and tolly. 
 
 Vil. Every nation then had its respective gods, over 
 which presided one more excellent than the rest, yet in such 
 a manner that this supreme deity was himself’ controlled 
 by the rigid empire of the fates, or what the philosphers 
 called Eternal Necessity. 'The gods of the Hast were 
 different from those of the Gauls, the Germans, and other 
 northern nations. ‘The Grecian divinities differed widely 
 from those of the Egyptians, who deified plants, animals, 
 and a great variety of the productions both of nature and 
 art.’ Each people also had a particular manner of wor- 
 shipping and appeasing their respective deities, entirely dif- 
 ferent from the sacred rites of other countries. In process 
 of time, however, the Greeks and Romans became as am- 
 bitious in their religious pretensions, as in their political 
 claims. They maintained that ¢heir gods, though under 
 different names, were the objects of religious worship i in all 
 nations, and therefore they gave the names of their deities 
 to those of other countries.© This pretension, whether 
 supported by ignorance or other means, introduced inex- 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 pressible darkness and perplexity into the history of the 
 ancient superstitions, and has been also the occasion of 
 innumerable errors in the writings of the learned. 
 
 VIII. One thing, indeed, which, at first sight, appears 
 very remarkable, is, that this variety of religions and of 
 gods neither produced wars nor dissensions among the dif- 
 ferent nations, the Egyptians excepted.‘ Nor is it, per- 
 haps, necessary to except even them, since their wars un- 
 dertaken for their gods cannot, with propriety, be consi- 
 dered as wholly of a religious nature.* Each nation suf- 
 fered its neighbours to follow their own method of wor- 
 ship, to adore their own gods, to enjoy their own rites and 
 ceremonies ; and discovered no displeasure at their diver- 
 sity of sentiments in religious matters. "There is, however, 
 little wonderful in this spirit of mutual toleration, when 
 we consider, that they all looked upon the world as one 
 great empire, divided into various provinces, over every 
 one of which a certain order of divinities presided; and 
 that, therefore, none could behold with contempt the gods 
 of other nations , or force strangers to pay homage to theirs. 
 The Romans exercised this toleration in the amplest man- 
 ner; for, though they would not allow any changes to be 
 made in the religions that were publicly professed in the 
 empire, nor ena form of worship to be openly intro- 
 duced, yet they granted to their citizens a full liberty of 
 observing, i in private, the sacred rites of other nations, and 
 of honouring foreign deities (whose worship contained 
 nothing inconsistent with the interests and laws of the re- 
 public) with feasts, temples, consecrated groves, and the 
 like testimonies of homage and respect.‘ 
 
 IX. The deities of almost all nations were either an- 
 cient heroes, renowned for noble exploits and beneficent 
 
 | deeds, or kings and generals who had founded empires, or 
 
 women rendered illustrious by remarkable actions or use- 
 ful inventions. The merit of these distinguished and emi- 
 nent persons, contenfplated by their posterity with an en- 
 thusiastic gratitude, was the reason of their being exalted 
 to celestial honours. 'The natural world furnished ano- 
 ther kind of deities, who were added to these by some na- 
 tions; and as the sun, moon, and stars, shine forth with 
 a lustre superior to that of all other material beings, so it 
 is certain, that they particularly attracted the attention of 
 mankind, and received religious homage from almost all 
 the nations of the world.¢ From these beings of a nobler 
 kind, idolatry descended into an enormous multiplication 
 of inferior powers ; so that, in many countries, mountains, 
 
 a “Fere itaque imperia (says Seneca) penes eos fuere populos, qui 
 mitiore clo utuntur: in frigora septemtrionemque vergentibus immansu- 
 eta ingenia sunt, ut ait poeta, suoque simillima celo.” "Seneca de Ira, lib. 
 ul. cap. Xvi. 
 
 » See the discourse of Athanasius, entitled, Oratio contra Gentes, in 
 the first volume of his works. 
 
 ¢ This fact affords a satisfactory account of the vast number of gods 
 who bore the name of Jupiter, and the multitudes that passed under those 
 of Mercury, Venus, Hercules, Juno, &e. The Greeks, when they found, 
 in other countries, deities that resembled their own , persuaded the wor- 
 shippers of these foreign gods, that their deities were the same with those 
 who were honoured in Greece, and were, indeed, themselves convinced 
 that this was the case. In consequence of this, they gave the names of 
 their gods to those of other nations, and the Romans in this followed their 
 example. Hence we find the names of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, 
 &c. frequently mentioned in the more recent monuments and inser ip- 
 tions which have been found among the Gauls and Germans, though the 
 ancient inhabitants of those countries worshipped no gods under such de- 
 nominations. I cannot think that this method of the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans has introduced so much confusion into mythology as Dr. Mosheim 
 here imagines. If indeed there had been no resemblance between the 
 Greek and Roman deities, and those of other nations, and if the names 
 of the deities of the former had been given to those of the latter in an ar- 
 
 bitrary and undistinguishing manner, the reflection of our historian would 
 be undpeePly true. But it has been alledged by many learned men, with 
 a high degree of probability, that the principal deitics of all nations re- 
 sembled each other extremely i in their essential characters; and if so, 
 their receiving the same names could not introduce much confusion into 
 mythology, since they were probably derived from one common source, 
 If the Thor of the ancient Celts was the same in dignity, character, and 
 attributes, with the Jupiter of the Greeks and Romans, where was the 
 impropriety of giving the same name ? 
 
 « Ingenious observations are to be found upon this head in the Expo- 
 sitio Mense Isiace of Pignorius. 
 
 e The religious wars of the Egyptians were not undertaken to compe. 
 others to adopt their worship, but to avenge the slaughter that was mada 
 of their gods, such as crocodiles, &c., by the neighbouring nations. They 
 were not offended at their neighbours for serving other divinities, but 
 
 _ could not bear that they should put theirs to death. 
 
 ! See concerning this interesting subject, a very curious and learned 
 treatise of the farhous By mkershoek, entitled, Dissertatio de cultu peregri- 
 ne religionis apud Romanos. This dissertation is to be found in the 
 
 Opuscula of that excellent author, which were published at Leyden in 
 | the year 1719. 
 
 "The ingenious editor of the Ruins of Balbec has given us, in the pre- 
 face to that noble work, a very curious account of the origin of the reue 
 
Caan 1. 
 
 trees, and rivers, the earth, the sea, and the winds, and even 
 virtues, vices, and diseases, had their shrines attended by 
 devout and zealous worshippers." 
 
 X. These deities were honoured with rites and sacri- 
 fices of various kinds, according to their respective nature 
 and offices.” 
 and ridiculous, and frequently cruel and obscene. Most 
 nations offered animals, and some proceeded to the enor- 
 mity of human sacrifices. As to their prayers, they 
 were void of piety and sense, both with respect to their 
 matter and their form. Pontiffs, priests, and ministers, 
 distributed into several classes, presided in this strange 
 worship, and were appointed to prevent disorder in the 
 performance of the sacred rites ; but, pretending to be dis- 
 tinguished by an immediate intercourse and friendship 
 with the gods, they abused their authority in the basest 
 manner, to deceive an ignorant and wretched people. 
 
 XI. The religious worship we have now been consider- 
 ing, was confined to stated times and places. The statues 
 and other representations of the gods were placed in the 
 temples,“ and supposed to be animated in an incompre- 
 hensible manner ; for the votaries of these fictitious deities, 
 however destitute they might be of reason in other respects, 
 avoided carefully the imputation of worshipping inani- 
 mate beings, such as brass, wood, and stone, and therefore 
 pretended that the divinity, represented by the statue, was 
 really present in it, if the dedication was duly and proper- 
 ly made.¢ . 
 
 XI. But, besides the public worship of the gods, to 
 which all without exception were admitted, certain rites 
 were practised in secret by the Greeks and several eastern 
 nations, to which a very small number had access. These 
 were commonly called mysteries; and the persons who 
 desired to be initiated therein, were obliged previously to 
 exhibit satisfactory proofs of their fidelity and patience, 
 by passing through various trials and ceremonies of the 
 most disagreeable kind. ‘These secrets were kept in the 
 strictest manner, as the initiated could not reveal any thing 
 that passed on those occasions, without exposing their lives 
 to the most imminent danger ;‘ and that is the reason 
 why, at this time, we are so little acquainted with the true 
 nature, and the real design of these hidden rites. It is, 
 however, well known, that in some of those mysteries, 
 many things were transacted which were contrary both to 
 
 gious worship that was offered to the heavenly bodies by the Syrians and 
 Arabians. In those uncomfortable deserts, where the day presents no- 
 thing to the view, but the uniform, tedious, and melancholy prospect of 
 barren sands, the nigat discloses a most delightful and magnificent spec- 
 tacle, and appears arrayed with charnis of the most attractive kind; for 
 the most part unclouded and serene, it exhibits to the wondering eye the 
 host of heaven, in all their amazing variety and glory. In the view of 
 this stupendous scene, the transition from admiration to idolatry was too 
 easy to uninstructed minds; and a people, whose climate offered no beau- 
 ties to contemplate but those of the firmament, would naturally be dispo- 
 sed to look thither for the objects of their worship. 'The form of idolatry, 
 in Greece, was different from that of the Syrians; and Mr. Wood in- 
 geniously attributes this to that smiling and variegated scene of mountains, 
 valleys, rivers, groves, woods, and fountains, which the transported ima- 
 gination, in the midst of its pleasing astonishment, supposed to be the 
 seats of invisible deities. 
 gant work above mentioned. 
 
 * See the learned work of J. G. Vossius, de idololatzia. 
 
 > See J. Saubertus, de sacrificiis veterum. Lug. Bat. 1699. 
 
 ¢ See M. Brouerius a Niedeck, de adorationibus veterum Populorum, 
 printed at Utrecht in 1711. 
 
 ¢ Some nations were without temples, such as the Persians, Gauls, 
 Germans, and Britons, who performed their religious worship in the open 
 air, or in the shadowy retreats of consecrated groves. 
 
 ¢ See Arnobius adv. Gentes, lib. vi—Augustin de civitate Det, lib.vii. 
 ¢ap. xxxiil. and the Misopogon of the Emperor Julian. 
 
 The rites used in their worship were absurd | 
 _leastinfluence towards exciting or nourishing solid and true 
 
 See a farther account of this matter in the ele- |) 
 
 THE STATE OF THE WORLD. 
 
 3 
 
 real modesty and outward decency. And, indeed, from 
 the whole of the pagan rites, the intelligent few might 
 easily learn, that the divinities generally worshipped were 
 
 rather men famous for their vices, than distinguished by 
 virtuous and worthy deeds.« 
 
 XIII. It is, at least, certain, that this religion had not the 
 
 virtue in the minds of men. For the gods and goddesses, 
 to whom public homage was paid, exhibited to their wor- 
 shippers rather examples of egregious crimes, than of useful 
 and illustrious virtues." The gods, moreover, were es- 
 teemed superior to men in power and immortality ; but, in 
 every thing else, they were considered as their equals.— 
 The priests were little solicitous to animate the people to 
 a virtuous conduct, either by their precepts or their ex- 
 ample. "They plainly enough declared, that whatever 
 was essential to the true worship of the gods, was contain- 
 ed only in the rites and institutions which the people had re- 
 ceived py tradition from their ancestors.: And as to what 
 regarded the rewards of virtue and the punishment of vice 
 after the present life, the general notions were partly un 
 certain, partly licentious, and often more calculated to ad- 
 minister indulgence to vice, than encouragement to virtue 
 Hence, the wiser part of mankind, about the time of Christ’s 
 birth, looked upon this whole system of religion as a just 
 object of ridicule and contempt. 
 
 XIV. The consequertces of this wretched theology 
 were a universal corruption and depravity of manners, 
 which appeared in the impunity of the most flagitious 
 crimes.* Juvenal and Persius among the Latins, and 
 Lucian among the Greeks, bear testimony to the justice 
 of this heavy accusation. It is also well known, that no 
 public law prohibited the sports of the gladiators, the exer- 
 cise of unnatural lusts, the licentiousness of divorce, the 
 custom of exposing infants, and of procuring abortions, or 
 the frontless atrocity of publicly consecrating stews and 
 brothels to certain divinities. 
 
 XV. Such as were not sunk in an unaccountable and 
 brutish stupidity, perceived the deformity of these reli- 
 gious systems. 'T’o these, the crafty priests addressed two 
 considerations, to prevent their incredulity, and to dispel 
 their doubts. "The first was drawn from the miracles 
 and prodigies which they pretended were daily wrought 
 in the temples, before the statues of the gods and heroes 
 
 See Clarkson on the Liturgies, sect. iv. and Meursius de Mysteriis 
 Eleusiniis. 
 & See Cicero, Disput. Tusculan. lib. ii. cap. xiii. 
 h ‘There is a very remarkable passage to this purpose in the Tristia of 
 Ovid, lib. il. 
 “Quis locus est templis augustior ? hac quoque vitet, 
 In culpam si que est ingeniosa suam. 
 Cum steterit Jovis ede, Jovis succurret in ede, 
 Quam multas matres fecerit ille Devs. 
 Proxima adoranti Junonia templa subibit, 
 Pellicibus multis hane doluisse Deam. 
 Pallade conspecté, natum de crimine virgo 
 Sustulerit quare queret Erichthonium.” 
 
 ' See Barbeyrac’s Preface to his French translation of Puffendorf’s 
 System of the Law of Nature and Nations, sect. vi. 
 
 k The corrupt manners of those who then lay in the darkness of idola- 
 try are described in an ample and affecting manner, in the first of Cy- 
 prian’s epistles. See also, on this subject, Cornel. Adami Exercitatio 
 de malis Romanorum ante predicationem Evangelii moribus. This 
 is the fifth discourse of a collection published by that learned writer at 
 Groningen, in 1712. 
 
 1 See Dr.John Leland’s excellent account of the religious senti- 
 ments, moral conduct, and future prospects of the pagans, in his large 
 — entitled, The Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Reve- 
 
 ation. 
 
4 
 
 that were placed there ; and the second was deduced from 
 
 oracles and divination, by which they maintained, that 
 
 the secrets of futurity were unfolded through the interpo- | 
 sition of the gods. In both these points the cunning of 
 the priests imposed miserably upon the ignorance of the 
 
 people ; and, if the discerning few saw the cheat, they 
 
 were obliged, from a regard to their own safety, to laugh 
 
 with caution, since the priests were ever ready to accuse, 
 
 before a raging and superstitious multitude, those who 
 
 discovered their religious frauds, as rebels against the 
 
 majesty of the immortal gods. 
 
 XVI. At the time of Christ’s appearance upon earth, 
 the religion of the Romans, as well as their arms, had ex- 
 tended itself over a great part of the world. This religion 
 must be known to those who are acquainted with the 
 Grecian superstitions.«. In some things, indeed, it differs 
 from them ; for the Romans, beside the institutions which 
 Numa and others had invented with political views, added 
 several [talian fictions to the Grecian fables, and gave also 
 to the Egyptian deities a place among their own.” 
 
 XVIL. In the provinces subjected to the Roman go- 
 vernment, there arose a new kind of religion, formed by a 
 mixture of the ancient rises of the conquered nations with | 
 those of the Romans. These nations, who, before their 
 subjection, had their own gods, and their own particular 
 religious institutions, were persuaded, by degrees, to admit 
 into their worship a great number of the sacred rites and 
 customs of their conquerors. The view of the Romans, 
 
 in this change, was not only to confirm their authority by | 
 
 the powerful aid of religion, but also to abolish the inhu- 
 man rites which were performed by many of the barba- 
 rous nations who had received their yoke ; and this change 
 was eflécted partly by the prudence of the victors, partly 
 by the levity of the vanquished, and by their ambition to 
 please their new masters. 
 
 XVIII. When, from the sacred rites of the ancient 
 Romans, we pass to a review of the other religions that 
 prevailed in the world, we shall find, that the most remark- 
 able may be properly divided into two classes. One of 
 these will comprehend the religious systems that owed 
 their existence to political views; and the other, those 
 which seem to have been formed for military purposes.— 
 In the former class may be ranked the religions of most of 
 the eastern nations, especially of the Persians, Egyptians, 
 and Indians, which appear to have been solely calculated 
 for the preservation of the state, the support of the royal 
 authority and grandeur, the maintenance of public peace, 
 and the advancement of civil virtues. Under the mili- 
 tary class may be comprehended the religious system of the 
 northern nations, since all the traditions that we findamong 
 the Germans, the Britons, the Celts, and the Goths, con- 
 cerning their divinities, have a manifest tendency to excite 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 and nourish fortitude and ferocity, an insensibility of dan- 
 ger, anda contempt of life. An attentive inquiry into 
 the religions of these respective nations, will abundantly 
 verify what is here asserted. 
 
 XIX. None of these nations, indeed, ever arrived at 
 
 * See Dionysius Halicarn. Antiq. Rom. lib. vii. cap. Lxxii, 
 
 > See Petit ad leges Atticas, lib. 1. tit. 1. 
 
 ¢ Vvdors (¢nosis) in the Greek signifies science or knowledge; and 
 hence came the title of Gnostics, which this presumptuous sect claimed as 
 due to their superior light and peretration in divine things. 
 
 4 St. Paul mentions and condemns both these kinds of philosophy; the 
 Greek, in the Epistle to the Colossians, ii. 8., and the Oriental, or Gnosis, 
 tm the First Epistle to Timothy, vi. 20. 
 
 Part lI, 
 
 such a universal excess of barbarism and ignorance, as 
 not to have some discerning men among them, who were 
 sensible of the extravagance of all these religions. But, of 
 these sagacious observers, some were destitute of the weight 
 and authority that were necessary to remedy those over- 
 grown evils; and others wanted the will to exert them- 
 selves in such a glorious cause. And the truth is, none 
 of them had wisdom equal to such a solemn and arduous 
 enterprise. ‘This appears manifestly from the laborious 
 but useless efforts of some of the Greek and Roman phi- 
 losophers against the vulgar superstitions. ‘These venera- 
 ble sages delivered, in thei Writings, many sublime things 
 concerning the nature of God, and the duties incumbent 
 upon men; they disputed with sagacity against the popu- 
 lar religion; but to all this they added such chimerical no- 
 tions and such absurd subtilties of their own, as may serve 
 to convince us that it belongs to God alone, and not to man 
 to reveal the truth without any mixture of impurity orerror, 
 XX. About the time of Christ’s appearance upon earth, 
 there were two kinds of philosophy which prevailed ainong 
 the civilized nations. One was the philosophy of the 
 Greeks, adopted also by the Romans; and the other, that 
 of the orientals, which hada great number of votaries in 
 Persia, Syria, Chaldea, Egypt, and even among the Jews. 
 The former was distinguished by the simple title of p/i- 
 losophy. 'The latter was honoured with the more pompous 
 appellation of science or knowledge,’ since those who 
 embraced the latter sect pretended to be the restorers of the 
 knowledge of God, which was lost in the world.t| The 
 followers of both these systems, in consequence of vehe- 
 ment disputes and dissentions about severai points, subdi- 
 vided themselves into a variety of sects. It is, however, to 
 be observed, that all the sects of the oriental philosophy 
 deduced their various tenets from one fundamental prin- 
 ciple, which they held in common; whereas the Greeks 
 were much divided even about the first principles of science. 
 As we shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the ori- 
 ental philosophy, we shall confine ourselves here to the 
 doctrines taught by the Grecian sages, and shall give some 
 account of the various sects into which they were divided. 
 X XI. Of the Grecian sects, some declared openly against 
 all religion ; and others, though they acknowledged a deity, 
 and admitted a religion, yet cast a cloud over the truth, 
 instead of exhibiting it in its genuine beauty and lustre. 
 Of the former kind were the Epicureans and Acade- 
 mics. "The Epicureans maintained, “That the world 
 arose from chance; that the gods (whose existence they 
 did not dare to deny) neither did nor could extend their 
 providential care to human affairs; that the soul was 
 mortal; that pleasure * was to be regarded as the ulti- 
 mate end of man; and that virtwe was neither worthy of 
 esteem nor of choice, but with a view to its attainment.” 
 The Academics asserted the impossibility of arriving at 
 truth, and held it uncertain, “ whether the gods existed or 
 not; whether the soul was mortal or immortal ; whether 
 virtue ought to be preferred to vice, or vice to virtue.” 
 These two sects, though they struck at the foundations of 
 
 ¢ The ambiguity of this word has produced many disputes in the ex- 
 plication of the Epicurean system. If by pleaswre be understood only 
 sensual gratifications, the tenet here advanced is indisputably monstrous. 
 But if it be taken in a larger sense, and extended to intellectual and 
 moral objects, in what does the scheme of Epicurus, with respect to 
 virtue, differ from the opinions of those Christian philosophers, whe 
 maintain that self-love is the only spring of all human affections and 
 actions ? 
 
Vy 
 
 Cuap. I. 
 
 all religion, were the most numerous of all at the birth of 
 Christ, and were particularly encouraged by the liberality 
 of the rich, and the protection of those who were in power.* 
 , “XXII. We observed in the preceding section, that there 
 was another kind of philosophy, in which religion was ad- 
 mitted, but which was, at the same time, deficient by the ob- 
 scurity it cast upon truth. Under the philosophers of this 
 class, may be reckoned the Platonists, the Stoics, and the 
 followers of Aristotle, whose subtile disputations concerning 
 God, religion, and the social duties, were of little solid use 
 to mankind. The nature of God, as it is explained by 
 Aristotle, resembles the principle that gives motion to a 
 machine; it is a nature happy in the contemplation of 
 itself, and entirely regardless of human affairs; and such 
 a divinity, who differs but little from the god of Epicurus, 
 cannot reasonably be the object either of love or fear. 
 With respect to the doctrine of this philosopher concerning 
 the human soul, it is uncertain, to say no more, whether 
 he believed its immortality or not.» What then could be 
 expected from such a philosophy? could any thing solid 
 and satisfactory, in favour of piety and virtue, be hoped for 
 from a system which excluded from the universe a divine 
 Providence, and insinuated the mortality of the human 
 soul? 
 
 XXII. The god of the Stoics has somewhat more ma- 
 jesty than the divinity of Aristotle; nor is he represented 
 by those philosophers as sitting above the starry heavens 
 in a supine indolence, and a perfect inattention to the 
 affairs of the universe. Yet he is described as a corporeal 
 oeing, united to matter by a necessary connexion, and 
 subject to the determinations of an immutable faze, so that 
 neither rewards nor punishments can. properly proceed 
 from him. ‘The learned also know that, in the philoso- 
 phy of this sect, the existence of the soul was confined to 
 wu certain period. Now it is manifest, that these tenets 
 remove, at once, the strongest motives to virtue, and the 
 most powerful restraints upon vice; and, therefore, the 
 Stoical system may be considered as a body of specious 
 and pompous doctrine, but, at the same time, as a body 
 without nerves, or any principles of consistency and vigour. 
 
 XXIV. Plato is generally looked upon as superior to 
 all the other philosophers in wisdom; and this eminent 
 rank does not seem to have been undeservedly conferred 
 upon him. He taught that the universe was governed by 
 a Being, glorious in power and wisdom, and possessing 
 perfect liberty and independence. He extended also the 
 
 futurity, prospects adapted to excite their hopes, and to 
 
 « The Epicurean sect was, however, the more numerous of the two, as 
 appears from the testimony of Cicero de Finibus, &c. lib. i. cap. vii. lib. ii. 
 eap. xiv. Disput. Tusculan. lib. v. cap. x. Hence the complaint which 
 Juvenal makes in his xiiith Satire, of the atheism that prevailed at 
 Rome, in those excellent words : 
 
 * Sunt in fortune qui casibuvs omnia ponant, 
 Et nullo credant mundum rectore moveri, 
 Natura volvente vices et lucis et anni; 
 Atque ideo intrepidi quecunque altaria tangunt.” 
 
 > See the Notes upon Cudworth’s Intellectual System of the Universe, 
 which Dr. Mosheim subjoined to his Latin translation of that learned 
 work, vol. i. p. 66, 500; vol. ii. p. 1171. See also, upon the same subject, 
 Mourgue’s Plan Theologique du Pythagorisme, tom. i: 
 
 ¢ Thus is the Stoical doctrine of fate generally represented, but not 
 more generally than unjustly. Their fatwm, when carefully and atten- 
 tively examined, seems to have signified no more in the intention of the 
 wisest of that sect, than the plan of government formed originally in the 
 divine mind, a plan all-wise and perfect, and from which, of consequence, 
 the Supreme Being, morally speaking, can never depart; so that, when 
 Jupiter is said by the Stoics to be subject to immutable fate, this 
 
 | 
 
 THE STATE OF THE WORLD. 
 
 5 
 
 work upon their fears. His doctrine, however, besides the 
 weakness of the foundations on which it rests, and the ob- 
 scurity with which it is often expressed, has other considera- 
 ble defects. It represents the Supreme Creator of the world 
 as destitute of many perfections, and confined to a certain 
 determinate portion of space. Its decisions, with respect 
 to the soul and demons, seem calculated to beget and 
 nourish superstition. Nor will the moral philosophy of 
 Plato appear worthy of such a high degree of admiration, 
 if we attentively examine and compare its various parts, 
 and reduce them to their principles.« 
 
 XXV. As then, by these different sects, there were many 
 things maintained that were highly unreasonable and ab- 
 surd, and as a contentious spirit of opposition and dispute 
 prevailed among them all, some men of true discernment, 
 and of moderate characters, were of opinion, that none of 
 
 | these sects ought to be adhered to in all points, but that it 
 
 was rather wise to choose and extract out of each of them 
 such tenets and doctrines as were good and reasonable, 
 and to abandon and reject the rest. This gave rise to a 
 new form of philosophy in Egypt, and principally at Alex- 
 andria, which was called the #’clectic, whose founder, ac- 
 cording to some, was Potamon, an Alexandrian, though 
 this opinion is not without its difficulties. It manifestly 
 appears from the testimony of Philo, the Jew, who was 
 himself one of this sect, that this philosophy was in a flou- 
 rishing state at Alexandria, when our Saviour was upon 
 the earth. The Eclectics held Plato in the highest esteem, 
 though they made no scruple to join, with his doctrines, 
 whatever they thought conformable to reason in the tenets 
 and opinions of the other philosophers.‘ 
 
 XXVI. The attentive reader will easily conclude, from 
 the short view which we have here given of the miserable 
 state of the world at the birth of Christ, that mankind, in 
 this period of darkness and corruption, stood highly in need 
 of some divine teacher to convey to the mind ¢rue and cer- 
 tain principles ci religion and wisdom, and to recall wan- 
 dering mortals to the sublime paths of piety and virtue. 
 The consideration of this wretched condition of mankind 
 will be also singularly useful to those who are not sufii- 
 ciently acquainted with the advantages, the comforts, and 
 the support which the sublime doctrines of Christianity 
 are so proper to administer in every state, relation, and cir- 
 cumstance of life. A set of miserable and unthinking 
 creatures treat with negligence, and sometimes with con- 
 
 tempt, the religion of Jesus, not considering that they are 
 views of mortals beyond the grave, and showed them, in || 
 
 indebted to it for all the good things which they so ungrate- 
 fully enjoy. 
 
 means no more than that he is sae to the wisdom of his own counsels, 
 and ever acts in conformity with his supreme perfections. The follow- 
 
 | ing remarkable passage of Seneca, drawn from the 5th chapter of his 
 
 book de Providentia, is sufficient to confirm the explication we have here 
 given of the Stoical fate. “ Tlle ipse omnium conditor et rector scripsit 
 quidem fata, sed sequitur. Semper paret, semel jussit.” 
 
 4 This accusation seems to be carried too far by Dr. Mosheim. It is not 
 strictly true, that the doctrine pf Plato represents the Supreme Being as 
 destitute of many perfections. On the contrary, all the divine perfec- 
 tions are frequently acknowleded by that philosapher. "What probably 
 gave occasion to this animadversion of our learned author, was the erro- 
 neous notion of Plato, concerning the invincible malignily and corrup- 
 tion of matter, which the divine power had not been sufficient to reduce 
 entirely to order. Though this notion is, indeed, injurious to the omni- 
 potence of God, it is not sufficient to justify the censure now under con- 
 sideration. 
 
 ¢ There is an ample account of the defects of the Platonic philosophy 
 in a work entitled Defense des Peres accusés de Platonisme, par France. 
 Baltus; but there is more learning than accuracy in that performance. 
 
 f See Godof. Olearius de Philosophia Eclectica, Jac. Brucker, and others. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ooncerning the Civil and Religious State of the Jewish | 
 
 Nation at the Birth of Christ. 
 
 I. The state of the Jews was not much better than that 
 of the other nations at the time of Christ’s appearance in 
 the world. 
 self a tribytary to the Roman people. This prince was 
 surnamed the Great, surely from no other circumstance 
 than the greatness of his vices; and his government was 
 a yoke of the most vexatious and oppressive kind. By a 
 cruel, suspicious, and overbearing temper, he drew upon 
 himself the aversion of all, not excepting those who lived 
 upon his bounty. Bya mad luxury and an affectation of 
 magnificence far above his fortune, together with the most 
 pr ofuse and immoderate largesses, he exhausted the trea- 
 sures of that miserable nation. | Under his administration, 
 and by his means, the Roman luxury was received in Pa- 
 lestine, accompanied with the worst vices of that licentious 
 peoples In a word, Judea, governed by Herod, groaned 
 under all that corruption, which might be expected from 
 the authority and the example ofa prince, who, though a 
 Jew in outward profession, was in point of morals and prac- 
 tice, a contemner of all laws, divine and human. 
 
 I. After the death of this tyrant, the Romans divided the 
 government of Palestine among his sons. In this division, 
 one half of Judea was given to Archelaus, with the title of 
 exarch ; and the other was divided between his brothers, 
 Antipas and Philip. Archelaus was a corrupt and wicked 
 prince, and fellowed the example of his father’s crimes in 
 such a manner, that the Jews, weary of his iniquitous 
 administration, laid their complaints and grievances before 
 Augustus, who delivered them from their oppressor, by 
 banishing him from his dominions, about ten years after 
 the death of Herod the Great. The kingdom of this 
 dethroned prince was reduced to the form of a province, 
 and added to the jurisdiction of the governor of Syria, to 
 the great detriment of the Jews, whose heaviest calamities 
 arose from this change, and whose final destruction was 
 its undoubted effect in the appointment of Providence. 
 
 UI. However severe was the authority which the Ro- 
 mans exercised over the Jews, it did not extend to the en- 
 tire suppression of their civil and religious privileges.— 
 The Jews were, in some measure, governed by their own 
 laws ; and they were tolerated in the enjoyment of the re- 
 ligion they had received from the glorious founder of their 
 church and state. ‘The administration of religious cere- 
 monies was committed, as before, to the high priest, and 
 to the sanhedrim, to the former of whom the priests and 
 Levites were in the usual subordination ; and the form of 
 outward worship, except in a very few points, had suffered 
 no visible change. But, on the other hand, it is impossible 
 to express the inquietude and disgust, the calamities and 
 vexations, which this unhappy nation suffered from the 
 presence of the Romans, whom their religion obliged them 
 to look upon as a polluted and idolatrous people, and in a 
 more particular manner, from the avarice and cruelty of 
 the prators and the frauds and extortions of the publi- 
 cans ; so that, all things considered, the condition of those 
 
 * See, on this subject, Christ. Noldii Historia Idumea, which is _an- 
 nexed to Havercamp’s edition of Josephus, vol. ii. p. 333. "See also Bas- 
 nage, Histoire Des Juifs, tom. i. part. i—Noris, Cenotaph. Pisan.—Pri- 
 deaux, History of the Jews.—Cellari ius, Historia Herodum, in the first 
 
 art of his Academical Dissertations, and, above all, J osephus the Jewish 
 istorian. 
 
 They were governed by Herod, who was him- | 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 t 
 
 Part lL. 
 
 who lived under the government of the other sons of 
 Herod, was much more supportable than the state of those 
 who were immediately subject to the Roman jurisdiction. 
 
 IV. It was not, however, from the Romans alone, that 
 the calamities of this miserable people proceeded. Their 
 own rulers multiplied their vexations, and hindered them 
 from enjoying any little comforts that were left to them by 
 the Roman magistrates. The leaders of the people, and 
 the chief priests, were, according to the account of Jose- 
 phus, profligate wretches, who had purchased their places 
 by bribes, or by acts of iniquity, and who maintained their 
 ill acquired authority by the most flagitious and abomina: 
 ble crimes. ‘The subordinate and inferior members were 
 infected with the corruption of the head ; the priests, and 
 those who possessed any shadow of authority, were disso- 
 lute and abandoned to the highest degree; while the 
 people, seduced by these corrupt examples, ran headlong 
 into every sort of iniquity, and by their endless seditions, 
 robberies, and extortions, armed against them both the 
 
 justice of God and the vengeance of men. 
 
 V. Two religions flourished at this time in Palestine, 
 viz. the Jewish and the Samaritan, whose respective fol- 
 lowers beheld those of the opposite sect with the utmost 
 aversion. ‘lhe Jewish religion stands exposed to our view 
 in the books of the Old Testament ; but, at the time of 
 Christ’s appearance, it had lost much of its original na- 
 ture and of its primitive aspect. Errors of a very perni- 
 cious kind had infected the whole body of the people, and 
 the more learned part of the nation were divided upon 
 points of the highest consequence. All looked for a deli 
 verer, but not for such a one as God had promised. In- 
 stead of a meek and spiritual Saviour, they expected a 
 formidable and warlike prince, to break off their chains, 
 and set them at liberty from the Roman yoke. All re- 
 garded the whole of religion, as consisting in the rites ap- 
 pointed by Moses, and in the performance of some exter 
 nal acts of duty towards the Gentiles. They were all hor 
 ribly unanimous in excluding from the hopes of eternal 
 life all the other nations of the world; and, as a conse- 
 quence of this odious system, they treated them with the 
 utmost rigour and inhumanity, when any occasion was of- 
 fered. And, besides these corrupt and vicious principles, 
 there prevailed among them several absurd and _ supersti- 
 tious notions concerning the divine nature, invisible powers, 
 magic, &c. which they had partly brought with them from 
 the Babylonian captivity, and partly derived from the 
 Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabians, who lived in their 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 VI. Religion had not a better fate among the learned 
 than among the multitude. The supercilious doctors, who 
 
 vaunted their profound knowledge of the law, and their 
 deep science in spiritual and divine things, were constantly 
 showing their fallibility and their ignorance by their reli- 
 gious differences, and were divided into a great variety of 
 sects. Of these sects, three in a great measure eclipsed the 
 rest, both by the number of their adherents, and also by 
 the weight and authority which they acquired. These 
 were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes.' 
 
 > Besides these more illustrious sects, there were several of inferior 
 note, which prevailed among the Jews at the time of Christ’s appear 
 ance. The Herodians are mentioned by the sacred writers, the Gaulo- 
 nites by Josephus, and others by Epiphanius and Hegesippus i in Eusebi- 
 us; and we cannot reasonably look upon all these sects as fictitious. 
 
Cuape. I. 
 
 There is frequent mention made of the two former in the 
 sacred writings; but the knowledge of the rites and doc- 
 trines of the last, is to be derived from Josephus, Philo, and 
 other historians. ‘These three illustrious sects agreed in 
 the fundamental principles of the Jewish religion, and, at 
 the same time, were involved in endless disputes upon 
 points of the highest importance, andabout mattersin which 
 the salvation of mankind was directly concerned ; and 
 their controversies could not but be highly detrimental to 
 the rude and illiterate multitude, as every one must easily 
 perceive. 
 
 VII. It may not be improper to mention here some of the 
 principal matters that were debated among these famous 
 sects. A main point of controversy was, whether the writ- 
 ten law alone was of divine authority. The Pharisees add- 
 ed to this law another, which had been received by oral tra- 
 dition. This the Sadducees and Essenes rejected as of no 
 authority, and adhered to the written law as the only divine 
 rule of obedience. ‘They differed also in their opinions 
 concerning the true sense of the law. For, while the Pha- 
 
 risees attributed to the sacred text a double sense, one of | 
 
 which was obvious, regarding only the words, and another 
 mysterious, relating to the intimate nature of the things 
 expressed ; and while the Sadducees maintained that no- 
 thing farther was delivered by the law, than that which was 
 contained in the signification of the words; the Eissenes, 
 at least the greatest part of that sect, entertained an opi- 
 nion different from both of these. ‘They asserted, in their 
 jargon, that the words of the law were absolutely void of 
 all power, and that the things expressed by them, were the 
 images of holy and celestial objects. These litigious sub- 
 tilties and unintelligible wranglings, about the nature and 
 sense of the divine word, were succeeded by a controversy 
 of the greatest moment, concerning the rewards and pu- 
 nishments of the law, particularly with respect to their ex- 
 tent. The Pharisees were of opinion, that these rewards 
 and punishments extended both to the soul and body, and 
 that their duration was prolonged beyond the limits of this 
 transitory state. "he Sadducees assigned to them the same 
 period that concludes this mortal life. The Essenes dif- 
 fered from both, and maintained that future rewards and 
 punishments extended to the soul alone, and got to the 
 body, which they considered as a massof malignant matter, 
 and as the prison of the immortal spirit. 
 
 VIII. These differences, in matters of such high import- 
 ance, among the three famous sects above mentioned, pro- 
 duced none of those injurious and malignant effects which 
 are too often seen to arise from religious controversies.— 
 But such as have any acquaintance with the history of 
 these times, will not be so far deceived by this specious ap- 
 pearance of moderation, as to attribute it to noble or gene- 
 rous principles. They will look through the fair outside, 
 and see that mutual fears were the latent cause of this 
 apparent charity and reciprocal forbearance. The Sad- 
 ducees enjoyed the favour and protection of the great: the 
 Pharisees, on the other hand, were exceedingly high in 
 the esteem of the multitude ; and hence they were both 
 secured against the attempts of each other, and lived in 
 peace, notwithstanding the diversity of their religious 
 sentiments. The government of the Romans contributed 
 also to the maintenance of this mutual toleration and 
 
 —_ — 
 
 * See the Annotations of Holstenius upon Porphyry’s Life of Pytha- 
 goras, p. 11. of Kuster’s edition. 
 
 THE STATE OF THE JEWS. 7 
 
 tranquillity, as they were ever reaay to suppress and pu- 
 nish whatever had the appearance of tumult and sedition, 
 We may add to all this, that the Sadducean principles 
 rendered that sect naturally averse to altercation and tu- 
 mult. Libertinism has for its objects ease and pleasure, 
 and chooses rather to slumber in the arms of a fallacious 
 security, than to expose itself to the painful activity, 
 which is required both in the search and in the defence 
 of truth. 
 
 IX. The Essenes had little occasion to quarrel with 
 the other sects, as they dwelt generally in a rural solitude, 
 far removed from the view and commerce of men.—T his 
 singular sect, which was spread abroad through Syria, 
 Egypt, and the neighbouring countries, maintamed, that 
 religion consisted wholly in contemplation and silence.— 
 By a rigorous abstinence also, and a variety of penitential 
 exercises and mortifications, which they seem to have 
 borrowed from the Egyptians,* they endeavoured to arrive 
 at still higher degrees of excellence in virtue. There pre- 
 vailed, however, among the members of this sect, a consi- 
 derable difference both in point of opinion and discipline.— 
 Some passed their lives in a state of celibacy, and employ- 
 ed their time in educating the children of others. Some 
 embraced the state of matrimony, which they considered 
 as lawful ; when contracted with the sole view of propa- 
 gating the species, and not to satisfy the demands of lust. 
 Those of the Essenes who dwelt in Syria, held the possi- 
 bility of appeasing the Deity by sacrifices, though in a 
 manner quite different from that of the Jews ; by which, 
 however, it appears that they had not utterly rejected the 
 literal sense of the Mosaic law. But those who wandered 
 in the deserts of Egypt were of very different sentiments; 
 they maintained, that no offering was acceptable to God 
 but that of a serene and composed mind, intent on the 
 contemplation of divine things ; and hence it is manifest 
 that they looked upon the law of Moses as an allegorical 
 system of spiritual and mysterious truths, and renounced 
 in its explication all regard to the outward letter.» 
 
 X. The Therapeute, of whom Philo the Jew makes 
 particular, mention in his treatise concerning contempla- 
 tive life, are supposed to have been a branch of this sect. 
 From this notion arose the division of the Essenes into 
 theoretical and practical. 'The former of these were 
 wholly devoted to contemplation, and are the same with 
 the herapeutz, while the latter employed a part of their 
 time in the performance of the duties of active life. 
 Whether this division be accurate or not, is a point which 
 I will not pretend to determine. But I see nothing in the 
 laws or manners of the Therapeutz, that should lead us 
 to consider them as a branch of the Essenes; nor, indeed, 
 has Philo asserted any such thing. here may have been, 
 surely, many other fanatical tribes among the Jews, besides 
 that of the Essenes; nor should a resemblance of princi- 
 ples always induce us to make a coalition of sects. It is, 
 however, certain, that the 'Therapeute were neither Chris- 
 tians nor Egyptians, as some have erroneously imagined. 
 They were undoubtedly Jews: they gloried in that title, 
 and styled themselves, with particular aflectation, the true 
 disciples of Moses, though their manner of life was equal- 
 ly repugnant to the institutions of that great lawgiver 
 and to the dictates of right reason, and showed them te 
 
 b See Mosheim’s observations on a small treatise, written by the learn- 
 ed Cudworth, concerning the true notion of the Lord’s Supper. 
 
8 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 be a tribe of melancholy and wrong-headed enthusi- 
 asts.* 
 
 XI. None of these sects, indeed, seemed to have the in- 
 terests of real and true piety at heart; nor were their prin- 
 ciples and discipline at all adapted to the advancement of 
 pure and substantial virtue. ‘The Pharisees courted popu- 
 lar applause by a vain ostentation of pretended sanctity, and 
 an austere method of living, while, in reality, they were 
 strangers to true holiness, and were inwardly defiled with 
 the most criminal dispositions, with which our Saviour fre- 
 quently reproaches them. ‘They also treated with greater 
 veneration the commandments and traditions of men, 
 than the sacred precepts and laws of God.’ The Saddu- 
 cees, by denying a future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments, removed, at once, the most powerful incentives to 
 virtue, and the most effectual restraints upon vice, and thus 
 gave new vigour to every sinful passion, and a full encou- 
 ragement to the indulgence of every irregular desire. As 
 to the Essenes, they were a fanaticaland superstitious tribe, 
 who placed religion in a certain sort of seraphic indolence, 
 and looking upon piety to God as incompatible with any 
 social attachment to men, dissolved, by this pernicious doc- 
 trine, all the great bonds of human society. 
 
 XII. While such darkness, such errors and dissensions, 
 prevailed among those who assumed the character and 
 authority of persons distinguished by their superior sanctity 
 and wisdom, it will not be difficult to imagine, how totally 
 corrupt the religion and morals of the multitude must have 
 been. They were, accordingly, sunk in the most deplora- 
 ble ignorance of God and of divine things, and had no no- 
 ion of any other way of rendering themselves acceptable 
 
 othe Supreme Being, than by sacrifices, ablutions, and, 
 
 the other external ceremonies of the Mosiac law. Hence 
 proceeded that laxity of manners, and that profligate wick- 
 edness, which prevailed among the Jews during Christ’s 
 ministry upon earth ; and hence the Divine Saviour com- 
 pares that people to a flock of sheep which wandered with- 
 out a shepherd, and their doctors to men who, though 
 deprived of sight, yet pretended to show the way to 
 others.° 
 
 XIII. To all these corruptions, both in point of doctrine 
 and practice, which reigned among the Jews at the time 
 of Christ’s coming, we may add the attachment which ma- 
 ny of them discovered to the tenets of the oriental philoso- 
 phy concerning the origin of the world, and to the doctrine 
 of the Cabbala, which was undoubtedly derived from that 
 system. ‘That considerable numbers of the Jews had im- 
 bibed the errors of this fantastic theory, evidently appears 
 both from the books of the New ‘Testament, and from the 
 ancient history of the Christian church,‘ and it is also cer- 
 tain, that many of the Gnostic sects were founded by Jews. 
 Those among that. degenerate people, who adopted this 
 chimerical philosophy, must have widely differed from the 
 rest in their opinions concerning the God of the Old 'Tes- 
 tament, the orgin of the world, the character and doctrine 
 of Moses, and the nature and ministry of the Messiah, 
 since they maintained that the creator of this world was a 
 being different from the Supreme God, and that his do- 
 
 Part L. 
 
 minion over the human race was to be destroyed by the 
 Messiah. Every one must see that this enormous system 
 was fruitful of errors, destructive of the very foundations 
 of Judaism. 
 
 XIV. If any part of the Jewish religion was less disfi- 
 gured and corrupted than the rest, it was, certainly, the form 
 of external worship, which was established by the law of 
 Moses. And yet many learned men have observed, that 
 a great variety of rites were introduced into the service of 
 the temple, of which no traces are to be found in the sacred 
 writings. These additional ceremonies manifestly proceed- 
 ed from those changes and revolutions which rendered 
 the Jews more conversant with the neighbouring nations, 
 than they had formerly been ; for, when they saw the sa- 
 cred rites of the Greeks and Romans, they were pleased 
 with several of the ceremonies that were used in the wor- 
 ship of the heathen deities, and did not hesitate to adopt 
 them in the service of the true God, and add them as or- 
 naments to the rites which they had received by divine ap- 
 pointment.° 
 
 XY. But whence arose such enormous degrees of cor- 
 ruption in that very nation which God had, in a peculiar 
 manner, separated from an idolatrous world to be the de- 
 pository of divine truth? Various causes may be assigned, 
 in order to give a satisfactory account of this matter. In 
 the first place, it is certain, that the ancestors of those Jews, 
 who lived in the time of our Saviour, had brought, from 
 Chaldea and the neighbouring countries, many extrava- 
 gant and idle fancies, which were utterly unknown to the 
 original founders of the nation.’ The conquest of Asia 
 by Alexander the Great, was also an event from which° 
 we may date a new accession of errors to the Jewish sys- 
 tem, since, in consequence of that revolution, the manners 
 and opinions of the Grecks began to spread themselves 
 among the Persians, Syrians, Arabians, and likewise among 
 the Jews, who before that period, were entirely unacquaint- 
 ed with letters and philosophy. We may, farther, rank 
 among the causes that contributed to corrupt the religion 
 and manners of the Jews, their voyages into the adjacent 
 countries, especially Egypt and Phoenicia, in pursuit of 
 wealth ; for, with the treasures of those corrupt and super- 
 stitious nations, they brought home also their pernicious 
 errors, and their idle fictions, which were imperceptibly 
 blended with their religious system. Nor ought we to 
 omit, in this enumeration, the pestilential influence of the 
 wicked reigns of Herod and his sons, and the enormous 
 instances of idolatry, error, and licentiousness, which this 
 unhappy people had constantly before their eyes in the 
 religion and manners of the Roman governors and soldiers, 
 which, no doubt, contributed much to the progress of their 
 national superstition and corruption of manners. We 
 might add here many other facts and circumstances, to 
 illustrate more fully the matter under consideration ; but 
 these will be readily suggested to such as have the least 
 acquaintance with the Jewish history from the time ot 
 the Maccabees. 
 
 XVI. Itis indeed worthy of observation, that, corrupted 
 as the Jews were with the errors and superstitions of the 
 
 * The principal writers, who have given accounts of the Therapeuta, 
 
 are mentioned by Jo. Albert Fabricius, in the fourth chapter of his Lux | 
 
 Salutaris Evangelii toto orbe exoriens. 
 b Matt. xxi. 13—30. 
 ¢ Matt. x.6; xv.24. John ix. 39. 
 4 See Joh. Chr. Wolf. Biblioth. Ebraica, vol. ii. lib, vii. cap. i. sect. ix. 
 
 e See the learned work of Spencer, De Legibus Hebrzorum, in the 
 fourth book of which he treats expressly of those Hebrew rites which 
 were borrowed from the Gentile worship. 
 
 f See Gale’s observations on Jamblichus, de Mysteriis AZgyptiorum, 
 p. 206. Josephus acknowledges the same thing in his Jewish Antiqui 
 
 | ties, book ili. chap. vii. sect. 2, 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 , mere 
 
 neighbouring nations, they still preserved a zealous attach- 
 ment to the law of Moses, and were exceedingly careful 
 that it should not suffer any diminution of its credit, or lose 
 the least degree of the veneration due to its divine autho- 
 rity. Hence synagogues were erected throughout the pro- 
 vince of Judea, in which the people assembled for the pur- 
 poses of divine worship, and to hear their doctors interpret 
 and explain the holy scriptures. There were besides, in 
 the more populous towns, public schools, in which learn- 
 ed men were appointed to instruct the youth in the 
 knowledge of divine things, and also in other branches of 
 science. And it is beyond all doubt, that these institu- 
 tions contributed to maintain the law in its primitive au- 
 thority, and to stem the torrent of abounding iniquity. 
 
 XVI. The Samaritans, who celebrated divine worship 
 in the temple that was built on mount Gerizim, lay un- 
 der the burthen of the same evils that oppressed the Jews, 
 with whom they lived in the bitterest enmity, and were 
 also, like them, highly instrumental in increasing their 
 own calamities. We learn from the most authentic his- 
 tories of those times, that the Samaritans suffered as much 
 as the Jews, from troubles and divisions fomented by the 
 intrigues of factious spirits, though their religious sects 
 were yet less numerous than those of the latter. Their 
 religion, also, was much more corrupted than that of the 
 Jews, as Christ himself declares in his conversation with 
 the woman of Samaria, though it appears, at the same 
 time, that their notions concerning the offices and minis- 
 try of the Messiah, were much more just and conforma- 
 ble to truth, than those which were entertained at Jerusa- 
 lem.’ Upon the whole, it is certain that the Samaritans 
 mixed the profane errors of the Gentiles with the sacred 
 doctrines of the Jews, and were excessively corrupted by 
 the idolatrous customs of the pagan nations.° 
 
 XVII. The Jews multiplied so prodigiously, that the 
 narrow bounds of Palestine were no longer sufficient to 
 contain them. They poured, therefore, their increasing 
 numbers into the neighbouring countries with such rapi- 
 dity, that, at the time of Christ’s birth, there was scarcely a 
 province in the empire, where they were not found carry- 
 ing on commerce and exercising other lucrative arts. 
 They were maintained, in foreign countries, against in- 
 jurious treatment and violence, by the special edicts and 
 protection of the magistrates ; and this, indeed, was abso- 
 lutely necessary, since, in most places, the remarkable 
 difference in their religion and manners, from those of 
 the other nations, exposed them to the hatred and indigna- 
 tion of the ignorant and bigoted multitude. All this ap- 
 pears to have been most singularly and wisely directed 
 by the adorable hand of an interposing Providence, to the 
 end that this people, which was the sole depository of the 
 
 * See Camp. Vitringa. de Synagoga vetere, lib. iii. cap, v. and lib. i. 
 cap. ¥. Vil. ' 
 
 _ > Christ inginuates, on the contrary, in the strongest manner, the supe- 
 riority of the Jewish worship to that of the Samaritans, John iv. 22. See 
 also, on this head, 2 Kings xvii. 29. The passage to which Dr. Mosheim 
 refers, as a proof that the Samaritans had juster notions of the Messiah 
 than the Jews, is the 25th verse of the chapter of St. John already cited, 
 where the woman of Samaria says to Jesus, “ I know that Messiah com- 
 eth, which 1s called Christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things.” 
 But this passage seems much too vague to justify the conclusion of our 
 learned historian. Besides, the confession of one person who may pos- 
 sibly have had some singular and extraordinary advantages, is not a 
 proof that the nation in general entertained the same sentiments, espe- 
 cially since we know that the Samaritans had corrupted the service of 
 God by a profane mixture of the grossest idolatries. 
 
 THE STATE OF THE JEWS. 9 
 
 true religion, and of the knowledge of one Supreme God, 
 being spread abroad through the whole earth, might be 
 every where, by the force of example, a reproach to su- 
 perstition, might contribute in some measure to check it, 
 and thus prepare the way for that yet fuller discovery of 
 divine truth, which was to shine upon the world from the 
 ministry and Gospel of the Son of God. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL. 
 
 Concerning the Life and Actions of Jesus Curisv. 
 
 I. Tue errors and disorders that we have now been 
 considering, required something far above human wisdom 
 and power to dispel and remove them, and to deliver 
 mankind from the miserable state to which they were re- 
 duced by them. ‘Therefore, towards the conclusion of the 
 reign of Herod the Great, the Son of God descended upon 
 earth, and, assuming the human nature, appeared to men 
 under the sublime characters of an infallible teacher, an 
 all-sufficient mediator, and a spiritual and immortal 
 king. ‘The place of his birth was Bethlehem, in Pales- 
 tine. ‘The year in which it happened, has not hitherto 
 been ascertained, notwithstanding the deep and laborious 
 researches of the learned. ‘There is nothing surprising 
 in this, when we consider that the first Christians labour- 
 ed under the same difficulties, and were divided in their 
 opinions concerning the time of Christ’s birth.e "That 
 which appears most probable, is, that it happened about 
 a year and six months before the death of Herod, in the 
 year of Rome 748 or 749.‘ 'The uncertainty, however, 
 of this point, is of no great consequence. We know that 
 the Sun of Righteousness has shined upon the world ; 
 and though we cannot fix the precise period in which he 
 arose, this will not preclude us from enjoying the direction 
 and influence of his vital and salutary beams. 
 
 Il. Four inspired writers, who have transmitted to us 
 an account of the life and actions of Jesus Christ, mention 
 particularly his birth, lmeage, family, and parents; but 
 they say very little respecting his infancy and his early 
 youth. Not long after his birth, he was conducted by 
 his parents into Egypt, that he might be out of the reach 
 of Herod’s cruelty. At the age of twelve years, he dis- 
 puted in the temple, with the most learned of the Jewish 
 doctors, concerning the sublime truths of religion ; and 
 the rest of his life, until the thirtieth year of his age, was 
 spent in the obscurity of a private condition, and conse 
 crated to the duties of filial obedience." This is all that 
 the wisdom of God hath permitted us to know, with cer- 
 tainty, of Christ, before he entered upon his public mi- 
 nistry ; nor is the story of his having followed the trade of 
 his adoptive father Joseph built upon any sure foundation. 
 
 ¢ Those who desire an exact account of the principal authors who 
 have written concerning the Samaritans, will find it in the learned work 
 of Jo. Gottlob Carpzovius, entitled, Critica 8. Vet. Testam. part u. 
 cap. Iv. 
 
 4 See the account published at Leyden, in 1712, by James Gronovius, 
 of the Roman and Asiatic edicts in favour of the Jews, allowing them 
 the free and secure exercise of their religion in all the cities of Asia Mi- 
 nor. 
 
 ¢ The learned John Albert Fabricius has collected all the opinions of 
 the learned, concerning the year of Christ’s birth, in his Bibliograph, 
 Antiquar. cap. vil. sect. x. 
 
 f Matt. ii. 2, &c. John i. 22, &e, 
 
 & Matt. ti. 13. 
 
 h Luke ii. 51, 52. 
 
10 
 
 There have been, indeed, several writers, who, either 
 through the levity of a wanton imagination, or with a view 
 of exciting the admiration of the multitude, have invented 
 a series of the most extr avagant and ridiculous fables, in 
 order to give an account of this obscure part of the Sa- 
 viour’s life. 
 
 ILL. Jesus began his public ministry in the thirtieth 
 year of his age; and, to render it more solemn and aflect- 
 ing to the Jews, a man, whose name was John, the Son of 
 a Jewish priest, a person of great gravity also, and much 
 respected on account of the austere dignity of his life and 
 manners, was commanded by God to proclaim to the 
 people the coming of the long promised Messiah, of whom 
 this extraordinar y man called himself the forerunner. 
 Filled with a holy zeal and a divine fervour, he cried aloud 
 to the Jews, exhorting them to depart from their trans- 
 gressions, and to purify their hearts, that they might thus 
 partake of the blessings which the Son of God was now 
 come to offer to the world. The exhortations of this 
 
 respectable messenger were not without effect ; and those 
 who, moved by his solemn admonitions, had formed 
 the resolution of correcting their evil dispositions, and 
 amending their lives, were initiated into the kingdom 
 of the Redeemer by the ceremony of immersion, or bap- 
 tism.’ Christ himself, before he began his ministry, 
 desired to be solemnly baptized by John in the waters of 
 Jordan, that he might not, in any point, neglect to answer 
 the demands of the Jewish law. 
 
 IV. It is not necessary to enter here into a detail of the 
 life and actions of Jesus Christ. All Christians must be 
 perfectly acquainted with them. They must know, that, 
 during the space of three years, and amidst the deepest 
 trials of affliction and distress, he instructed the Jewish 
 nation in the will and counsels of the Most High, and 
 omitted nothing in the course of his ministry, that could 
 contribute either to gain the multitude or to charm the 
 wise. Every one knows, that his life was a continued 
 scene of perfect sanctity, of the purest and most active 
 virtue ; not only without spot, but also beyond the reach of 
 suspicion ; and it is also well known, that by miracles of 
 the most stupendous kind, and not more stupendous than 
 salutary and beneficent, he displayed to the universe the 
 truth of that religion which he brought with him from 
 above, and demonstrated in the most illustrious manner 
 the reality of his divine commission. 
 
 V. As this system of religion was to be propagated to 
 the extremities of the earth, it was necessary that Christ 
 should choose a certain number of persons to accompany 
 him constantly through the whole course of his ministry ; 
 that thus they might. ‘be faithful and respectable witnesses 
 of the sanctity of his life, and the grandeur of his miracles, 
 to the remotest nations; and also transmit to the latest 
 posterity a genuine account of his sublime doctrines, and 
 of the nature and end of the Gospel dispensation. 'There- 
 fore Jesus chose, out of the multitude that attended his dis- 
 courses, twelve persons whom he separated from the rest 
 
 a See the account which the above mentioned Albert Fabricius has 
 given of these romantic triflers, in his Codex Apocryphus Novi Testa- 
 menti, tom. i. 
 
 b Matt. iii.6 John i. 22. 
 
 ¢ 1 Cor, 1. 21. ad Matt. x. 7. 
 
 £ Matt. xix. 28. Luke xxii. 30. 
 
 & Matt. x.5,6; xv. 24. 
 
 h Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. i, xiii—Jo. Albert Fabric. Codex Apocry- 
 phus N. T. tom. i. p. 317. 
 
 e Luke x. i. 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part | 
 
 by the name of Apostles. These men were illiterate, poor 
 and of mean extraction; and such alone were truly pro- 
 per to answer his views. He avoided making use of the 
 ministry of persons endowed with the advantages of for- 
 tune and birth, or enriched with the treasures of eloquence 
 and learning, lest the fruits of this embassy, and the pro- 
 gress of the Gospel, should be attributed to human and 
 natural causes.°© "These apostles were sent but once to 
 preach to the Jews during the life of Christ. He chose 
 to keep them about his own person, that they might be 
 thoroughly instructed in the affairs of his kingdom. 'That 
 the multitude, however, might not be destitute of teachers 
 to enlighten them with the knowledge of the truth, Christ 
 appointed seventy disciples to preach the glad tidings of 
 eternal life throughout the whole province of Judea.¢ 
 
 VI. The researches of the learned have been employed 
 to find out the reason of Christ’s fixing the number of the 
 apostles to twelve, and that of the disciples to seventy; and 
 various conjectures have been applied to the solution of 
 this question. But since it is manifest from his own 
 words,‘ that he intended the number of the twelve apostles 
 as an allusion to that of the tribes of Israel, it can scarcely 
 be doubted, that he was willing to insinuate by this appoint- 
 ment that he was the supreme lord and high-priest of the 
 twelve tribes into which the Jewish nation was divided ; 
 and, as the number of disciples answers evidently to that 
 of the senators, of whom the council of the people (or the 
 sanhedrim) was composed, there is a high degree of proba- 
 bility in the conjecture of those, who think that Christ, by 
 the choice of the seventy, designed to admonish the Jews 
 that the authority of their sanhedrim was now at an end, 
 and that all power, with respect to religious matters, was 
 vested in him alone. 
 
 VU. The ministry of Jesus was confined to the Jews ; 
 nor, while he remained upon earth, did he permit his 
 apostles or disciples to extend their labours beyorid this 
 distinguished nation.s At the same time, if we consider 
 the illustrious acts of mercy and omnipotence that were 
 performed by Christ, it will be natural to conclude that his 
 fame must have been very soon spread abroad in other 
 countries. We learn from writers of no small note, that 
 Abgarus, king of Edessa, being seized with a severe and 
 dangerous illness, wrote to our blessed Lord to implore his 
 assistance; and that Jesus not only sent him a gracious 
 answer, but also accompanied it with his picture, as a mark 
 of his esteem for that pious prince." hese letters, it is 
 said, are still extant. But they are justly looked upon as 
 fictitious by most writers, who also go yet farther, and treat 
 the whole story of Abgarus as entirely fabulous, and un- 
 worthy of credit.; I will not pretend to assert the genu- 
 ineness of these letters; but I see no reason of sufficient 
 weight to destroy the credibility of that story which is sup- 
 posed to have given occasion to them.« 
 
 VU. A great number of the Jews, influenced by those 
 illustrious marks of a divine authority and power, which 
 shone forth in the ministry and actions of Christ, regarded 
 
 i See Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, vol. i. cap. xvili—also Theo Bo 
 Sigef. Bayerus, ‘Historia Edessena et Osroena, lib. 111.—Jos. Simon 
 semanus, ‘Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vatican. tom. i. 
 
 « There is no author who has discussed this question (concerning the 
 authenticity of the letters of Christ and Abgarus, and the truth of the 
 whole story) with such learning and judgment, as the late Mr. Jones, 
 in the second volume of his excellent work, entitled, A New and Full 
 Method of settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament. 
 Notwithstanding the opinions of such celebrated names, as Parker, Cave, 
 
Crap. IY. 
 
 nim as the Son of God, the true Messiah. The rulers 
 of the people, and more especially the chief priests and 
 Pharisees, whose licentiousness and hypocrisy he censur- 
 ed with a noble and generous freedom, laboured with suc- 
 cess, by the help of their passions, to extinguish in their 
 breasts the conviction of his celestial mission; or at least, 
 to suppress the effects it was adapted to produce upon their 
 conduct. Fearing also that his ministry might tend to 
 diminish their credit, and to deprive them of the advan- 
 tages they derived from the impious abuse of their authori- 
 ty in religious matters, they laid snares for his life, which, 
 for a considerable time, were without effect. ‘They suc- 
 ceeded, at length, by the infernal treason of an apostate 
 disciple, by the treachery of Judas, who discovering the 
 retreat which his divine master had chosen for the pur- 
 poses of meditation and repose, delivered him into the mer- 
 ciless hands of a brutal soldiery. 
 
 IX. In consequence of this, Jesus was produced as a 
 criminal before the Jewish high-priest and sanhedrim, be- 
 ing accused of having violated the law, and blasphemed 
 the majesty of God. Dragged thence to the tribunal of 
 Pilate the Roman pretor, he was charged with seditious 
 enterprises, and with treason against Cesar. Both these 
 accusations were so evidently false, and destitute even of 
 every appearance of truth, that they must have been 
 rejected by any judge, who acted upon the principles 
 of common equity. But the clamours of an enraged 
 populace, inflamed by the impious instigations of their 
 priests and rulers, intimidated Pilate, and engaged him, 
 though with the utmost reluctance, and in opposition to 
 the dictates of his conscience, to pronounce a capital sen- 
 tence against Christ. The Redeemer of mankind beha- 
 ved with inexpressible dignity under this heavy trial. As 
 the end of his mission was to make expiation for the sins 
 of men, so when all things were ready, and when he had 
 finished the work of his glorious ministry, he placidly sub- 
 mitted to the death of the cross, and, with a serene and 
 voluntary resignation, committed his spirit into the hands 
 of the Father. 
 
 X. After Jesus had remained three days in the sepulchre, 
 he resumed that life which he had voluntarily laid down ; 
 and, rising from the dead, declared to the universe, by that 
 triumphant act, that the divine justice was satisfied, and 
 the paths of salvation and immortality were rendered 
 accessible to the human race. He conversed with his dis- 
 ciples during forty days after his resurrection, and employ- 
 
 ed that time in instructing them more fully with regard to j 
 
 the nature of his kingdom. Many wise and important 
 reasons prevented his showing himself publicly at Jerusa- 
 lem, to confound the malignity and unbelief of his ene- 
 mies. He contented himself with manifesting the certainty 
 of his glorious resurrection to a sufficient number of faith- 
 ful and credible witnesses, being aware that, if he should 
 appear in public, those malicious unbelievers, who had 
 formerly attributed his miracles to the power of magic, 
 
 and Grabe, in favour of these letters, and the history to which they relate, 
 Mr. Jones has offered reasons to prove the whole fictitious, which seem 
 unanswerable, independent of the authorities of Rivet, Chemnitius, 
 Walther, Simon, Du-Pin, Wake, Spanheim, Fabricius, and Le Clere, 
 which he opposes to the three above mentioned. It is remarkable that the 
 story is not mentioned by any writer before Eusebius ; that it is little no- 
 ticed by succeeding authors; that the whole affair was unknown to 
 Christ’s apostles, and to the Christians, their contemporaries, as is mani- 
 fest from the early disputes about the method of receiving Gentile con- 
 Yerts into the church, which this story, had it been true must have entirely 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 11 
 
 would represent his resurrection as a phantom, or vision, 
 produced by the influence of infernal powers. After hav- 
 ing remained upon earth during the space of time above 
 mentioned, and given to his disciples a divine commission 
 to preach the glad tidings of salvation and immortality to 
 the human race, he ascended into heaven, in their pre- 
 sence, and resumed the enjoyment of that glory which he 
 had possessed before the worlds were created. 
 
 CHAPTER Iv. ~ 
 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Jesus, having ascended into heaven, soon showed 
 the afflicted disciples, that, though invisible to mortal eyes, 
 he was still their omnipotent protector, and their benevo- 
 lent guide. About fifty days after his departure from them 
 he gave them the first proof of that majesty and power to 
 which he was exalted, by the effusion of the Holy Ghost 
 upon them according to his promise.* ‘The consequences 
 of this grand event were surprising and glorious, infinitely 
 honourable to the Christian religion, and the divine mis- 
 sion of its triumphant author. For no sooner had the 
 apostles received this precious gift, this celestial guide, than 
 their ignorance was turned into light, their doubts into 
 certainty, their fears into a firm and invincible fortitude, and 
 their former backwardness into an ardent and inextin- 
 guishable zeal, which led them to undertake their sacred 
 office with the utmost intrepidity and alacrity of mind. 
 This marvellous event was attended with a variety of gifts ; 
 particularly the gift of tongues, so indispensably necessary 
 to qualify the apostles to preach the Gospel to the different 
 nations. ‘These holy apostles were also filled with a per- 
 fect persuasion, founded on Christ’s express promise, that 
 the Divine presence would perpetually accompany them, 
 and show itself by miraculous interpositions, as often as the 
 state of their ministry should render this necessary. 
 
 II. Relying upon these celestial succours, the apostles 
 began their glorious ministry, by preaching the Gospel, 
 according to Christ’s positive command, first to the Jews, 
 and by endeavouring to bring that deluded people to the 
 knowledge of the truth.’ Nor were their labours unsuc- 
 cessful, since, in a very short time, many thousands were 
 
 converted, by the influence of their ministry, to the Chris- 
 
 tian faith.s From the Jews, they passed to the Samaritans, 
 to whom they preached with such efficacy, that great num- 
 bers of that nation acknowledged the Messiah.¢ And, when 
 they had exercised their ministry, during several years, at 
 Jerusalem, and brought to a sufficient degree of consistence 
 and maturity the Christian churches which were founded 
 in Palestine and the adjacent countries, they extended their 
 views, carried the divine lamp of the Gospel to all the na- 
 tions of the world, and saw their labours crowned almost 
 every where, with the most abundant fruits. 
 
 ILI. Nosooner was Christ exalted in the heavens, than 
 
 decided. As to the letters, no doubt can be made of their spuriousness, 
 since, if Christ had written a letter to Abgarus, it would have been a 
 part of sacred Scripture, and would have been placed at the head of all 
 the books of the New Testament. See Lardner’s Collection of Ancient 
 Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. i. p. 297, &c. It must be observ- 
 ed in behalf of Eusebius, that he relates this story as drawn from the ar- 
 
 | chives of Edessa. 
 
 * Acts ii. 1, &e. 
 >’ Luke xxiv. 47. Acts i.8; xiii. 46. 
 ¢ Acts il. 41; iv. 4. a Acts i. 8; viii. 14. 
 
12 
 
 the apostles determined to render their number complete, 
 as it had been fixed by their divine Master, and accordingly 
 to choose in the place of Judas, who had desperately perish- 
 ed by his own hands, a man endowed with such degrees 
 of sanctity and wisdom, as were necessary in a station of 
 such high importance. When therefore they had assem- 
 bled the Christians who were then at Jerusalem, two men 
 remarkable for their piety and faith, were proposed as the 
 most worthy to stand candidates for this sacred office. 
 These men were Matthias and Barnabas, the former of 
 whom was, either by lot, (which is the most general opi- 
 nion,) or by a plurality of voices of the assembly there pre- 
 sent, chosen to the dignity of an apostle.* 
 
 IV. All these apostles were men without education, and 
 absolutely ignorant of letters and philosophy ; and yet in 
 the infancy ‘of the Christian church, it was necessary that 
 there should be at least, some one defender of the Gospel, 
 who, versed in the lear ned arts, might be able to combat 
 the Jewish doctors and the pagan philosophers with their 
 own arms. For this purpose, Jesus himself, by an ex- 
 traordinary voice from heaven, called to his service a thir- 
 teenth apostle, whose name was Saul (afterwards Paul,) 
 and whose acquaintance both with Jewish and Grecian 
 learning was very considerable.» This extraordinary 
 man, who had been one of the most virulent enemies of 
 the Christians, became their most glorious and triumphant 
 defender. Independently of the miraculous gifts with 
 which he was enriched, he possessed an invincible courage, 
 an amazing force of genius, and a spirit of patience, which 
 no fatigue could overcome, and which no sufferings or 
 trials could exhaust. 'T'o these the cause of the Gospel, 
 under the divine appointment, owed a considerable part of 
 its rapid progress and surprising success, as the Acts of the 
 Apostles, and the Epistles of St. Paul, abundantly testify. 
 
 VY. The first Christian church, founded by the apostles, 
 was that of Jerusalem, the model of all those which were 
 afterwards erected during the first century. This church 
 was, indeed, governed by the apostles themselves, to whom 
 ooth the elders, and those who were entrusted with the 
 care of the poor, even the deacons, were subject. ‘The 
 people, though they had not abandoned the Jewish wor- 
 ship, held, however , Separate assemblies, in which they were 
 instructed by the apostles and elders, prayed together, cele- 
 brated the holy Supper in remembrance of Chri ist, of his 
 death and su flerings, and the salvation offered to mankind 
 through him; and at the conclusion of these meetings, 
 they testified their mutual love, partly by their liberality to 
 the poor, and partly by sober and friendly repasts,: which 
 thence were called feasts of charity. Among the virtues 
 which distinguished the rising church in this its infancy, 
 that of charity to the poor and needy shone in the first rank, 
 and with the brightest lustre. The rich supplied the wants 
 of their indigent brethren with such liberality and readi- 
 ness, that, as St. Luke tells us, among the primitive disciples 
 of Christ, all things were in common.4 'This expression 
 
 * Acts i. 26. 
 
 e Acts v. 4. 
 
 f ‘This is proved with the strongest evidence by Dr. Mosheim, in a 
 lissertation concerning the true nature of that comraunity of goods, which 
 is said to have taken ple vce in the church of Jerusalem. This learned 
 discourse is to be found in the second volume of our author’s incompara- 
 ble work, entitled, Dissertationes ad Historiam Ecclesiasticam pertinen- 
 tes. 
 
 & The names of the churches planted by the apostles in different coun- 
 tries, are specified in a work of Phil. James Hartman, de rebus gestis 
 
 P Acts ix. 1.  ¢ Acts ii42. 4 Acts ii. 44; iv. 32. 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 has, however, been greatly abused, and has been made to 
 signify community of rights, goods, or possessions, than 
 which interpretation nothing is more groundless or more 
 false ; for, from a multitude of reasons, as well as from the 
 express words of St. Peter,* it is abundantly manifest that 
 the community, which is implied in mutual wse and mu- 
 tual liberality, is the only thing intended in this passage.‘ 
 VI. The apostles, having finished their work at Jerusa- 
 lem, went to diffuse their labours among other nations, 
 visited with that intent a great part of the known world, 
 and in a short time planted a vast number of churches 
 among the Gentiles. Several of these are mentioned in 
 the sacred writings, particularly im the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles 3s though these are, undoubtedly, only a small part 
 of the churches which were founded, either by the apostles 
 themselves, or by their disciples under their immediate 
 direction. ‘The distance of time, and the want of records, 
 
 | leave us at a loss with respect to many interesting circum- 
 
 stances of the peregrinations of the apostles ; nor have we 
 any certain or precise accounts of the limits of their voy- 
 ages, of the particular countries where they sojourned, or 
 of the times and places in which they finished their glo- 
 rious course. ‘The stories that are told concerning their 
 arrival and exploits among the Gauls, Britons, Spaniards, 
 Germans, Americans, Chinese, Indians, and Russians, are 
 too romantic in their nature, and of too recent a date, to be 
 received by an impartial inquirer after truth. The great- 
 est part of these fables were forged after the time of Char- 
 lemagne, when most of the Christian churches contended 
 about the antiquity of their origin with as much vehe 
 mence as the Arcadians, Egyptians, Greeks, and other 
 nations, disputed formerly about their seniority and pre 
 cedence. 
 
 VII. At the same time, the beauty and excellence ot 
 the Christian religion excited the admiration of the reflect- 
 ing part of mankind, wherever the apostles directed their 
 course. Many, who were not willing to adopt the whole 
 of its doctrines, were, nevertheless, as appears from un- 
 doubted records, so struck with the account of Christ’s life 
 and actions, and so charmed with the sublime purity of 
 his precepts, that they ranked him in the number of the 
 greatest heroes, or even among the gods themselves. Great 
 numbers kept with the utmost care, in their houses, pic- 
 tures or images of the divine Redeemer and his apostles, 
 which they treated with the highest marks of veneration 
 and respect.» And so illustrious was the fame of his 
 power after his resurrection, and of the miraculous gifts 
 shed upon his apostles, that the emperor Tiberius is said 
 to have proposed his being enrolled among the gods of 
 Rome, which the opposition of the senate prevented from 
 taking effect. Many have doubted of the truth of this 
 story: there are, however, several authors of the first note 
 who have declared, that the reasons alleged for its truth 
 are such as have removed their doubts, and appeared to 
 them satisfactory and conclusive. 
 
 Christianorum sub Apostolis, cap. vii. and also in that of F’. Albert Fa- 
 bricius, entitled, Lux Evangelii toti ofbi exoriens, cap. v. 
 
 h This is particularly mentioned by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. lio. vii. 
 Se xviil. and by Ireneus, lib. i. ¢. xxv. 
 
 i See Theod. Haszus, de decreto Tiberii, quo Christum referre vo- 
 av in numerum Deorum; as also a very le arned letter, written in de- 
 fence of the truth of this fact, by the celebrated Christopher lelius, and 
 publislied in the Bibliotheque Germanique, tom. xxxiil. [We may add 
 to this note of Dr. Mosheim, that the late learned professor Altmann 
 published at Bern, in 1755, an ingenious pamphlet on this subject, enti- 
 
OmaP. V. 
 
 VIII. When we consider the rapid progress of Chris- 
 tianity among the Gentile nations, and the poor and fee- 
 ble instruments by which this great and amazing event 
 was immediately effected, we mus: naturally have recourse 
 to an omnipotent and invisible hand, as its true and proper 
 cause. For, unless we suppose here a divine interposi- 
 tion, how was it possible that men, destitute of all human 
 aid, without credit or riches, learning or eloquence, could, 
 in so short a time, persuade a considerable part of man- 
 kind to abandon the religion of their ancestors? How 
 was it possible, that a handful of apostles, who, as fisher- 
 men and publicans, must have been contemned by their 
 own nation, and as Jews, must have been odious to all 
 others, could engage the learned and the mighty, as well as 
 the simple and those of low degree, to forsake their favour- 
 ite prejudices, and to embrace a new religion which was 
 an enemy to their corrupt passions? And, indeed, there 
 were undoubted marks of a celestial power perpetually 
 attending their ministry. Their very language possessed 
 an incredible energy, an amazing power of sending light 
 into the understanding and conviction into the heart. ‘To 
 this were added, the commanding influence of stupendous 
 miracles, the foretelling of future events, the power of dis- 
 cerning the secret thoughts and intentions of the heart, a 
 magnanimity superior to all difficulties, a contempt of riches 
 and honours, a serene tranquillity in the face of death. 
 and an invincible patience under torments still more dread- 
 ful than death itself; and all this accompanied with lives 
 free from stain, and adorned with the constant practice of 
 sublime virtue. ‘Thus were the messengers of Christ, 
 the heralds of his spiritual and immortal kingdom, fur- 
 nished for their glorious work, as the unanimous voice 
 of ancient history so loudly testifies. 'The event suffi- 
 ciently declares this; for, without these remarkable and 
 extraordinary circumstances no rational account can be 
 given of the rapid propagation of the Gospel throughout 
 the world. 
 
 LX. What indeed contributed still farther to this glorious 
 event, was the power vested in the apostles of transmitting 
 to their disciples these miraculous gifts; for many of the 
 first Christians were no sooner baptized according to 
 Christ’s appointment, and dedicated to the service of God 
 by solemn prayer and the imposition of hands, than they 
 spoke languages which they had never known or learned 
 before, foretold future events, healed the sick by pronoun- 
 cing the name of Jesus, restored the dead to life, and per- 
 formed many things above the reach of human power.* 
 And it is no wonder if men, who had the power of com- 
 municating to others these marvellous gifts, appeared great 
 and respectable, wherever they exercised their glorious 
 ministry. 
 
 X Such then were the true causes of that amazing 
 rapidity with which the Christian religion spread itself 
 upon the earth; and those who pretend to assign other 
 reasons of this surprising event, indulge themselves in 
 Ued, Disquisito Historico-critica de Epistola Pontii Pilati ad Tiberium, 
 qua Christi Miracula, Mors, et Resurrectio, recensebantur. ‘This author 
 makes it appear, that though the letter, which some have attributed to 
 Pilate, and which is extant in several authors, be manifestly spurious, 
 yet it is no less certain, that Pilate sent to Tiberius an account of the 
 death and resurrection of Christ. See the Biblioth. des Sciences et des 
 beaux Arts, published at the Hague, tome vi. This matter has been 
 examined with his usual diligence and accuracy by the learned Dr. Lard- 
 
 ner, in the third volume of his Collection of Jewish and Fleathen Testi- 
 monies to the truth of the Christian Religion. He thinks that the testi- 
 
 No. II. 4 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 1% 
 
 idle fictions, which must disgust every attentive observer 
 of men and things. In vain, therefore, have some ima- 
 _gined, that the extraordinary liberality of the Christians 
 to their poor, was a temptation to the more indolent and 
 corrupt part of the multitude to embrace the Gospel. Such 
 malignant and superficial reasoners do not consider, that 
 those who embraced this divine religion exposed their 
 lives to great danger; nor have they attention enough to 
 recollect, that neither lazy nor vicious members were suf- 
 fered to remain in the society of Christians. Equally vain 
 is the fancy of those, who imagine, that the profligate lives 
 of the Heathen priests occasioned the conversion of many 
 | to Christianity ; for, though this might indeed give them 
 a disgust to the religion of those unworthy ministers, yet 
 it could not, alone, attach them to that of Jesus, which 
 offered them from the world no other prospects than those 
 of poverty, infamy, and death. The person who could 
 embrace the Gospel, solely from the motive now mentioned, 
 must have reasoned in this senseless and extravagant 
 manner: “'The ministers of that religion which I have 
 professed from my infancy, lead profligate lives: therefore, 
 1 will become a Christian, join myself to that body of men 
 who are condemned by the laws of the state, and thus ex- 
 pose my life and fortune to the most imminent danger.” 
 
 . CHAPTER V4 
 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to 
 the Church. 
 
 I. THe innocence and virtue that distinguished so emi- 
 nently the lives of Christ’s servants, and the spotless purity 
 of the doctrine they taught, were not sufficient to defend 
 them against the virulence and malignity of the Jews. 
 The priests and rulers of that abandoned people, not only 
 loaded with injuries and reproaches the apostles of Jesus, 
 and their disciples, but condemned as many of them as 
 they could to death, and executed in the most irregular 
 and barbarous manner their sanguinary decrees. ‘he 
 murder of Stephen, of James the Son of Zebedee, and of 
 James, surnamed the Just, bishop of Jerusalem, furnish 
 dreadful examples of the truth of what we here advance.* 
 This odious malignity of the Jewish doctors, against the 
 heralds of the Gospel, undoubtedly orginated in a secret 
 apprehension that the progress of Christianity would des- 
 troy the credit of Judaism, and lead to the abolition of 
 | their pompous ceremonies. 
 
 Il. The Jews who lived out of Palestine, in the Roman 
 provinces, did not yield to those of Jerusalem in point of 
 | cruelty to the innocent disciples of Christ. We learn from 
 the history of the Acts of the Apostles, and other records of 
 unquestionable authority, that they spared no labour, but 
 zealously seized every occasion of animating the magis- 
 trates against the Christians, and instigating the multitude 
 to demand their destruction. "The high priest of the 
 
 to) 
 nation, and the Jews who dwelt in Palestine, were instru- 
 
 monies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian, who, in apologies for Christiani- 
 ty, presented or at least addressed to the emperor and senate of Rome, 
 or to magistrates of high authority in the empire, affirm, that Pilate sent 
 to Tiberius an account of the death and resurrection of Christ, deserve 
 some regard; though some writers, and particularly Orosius, have made 
 such alterations and additions in the original narration of Tertullian, as 
 tend to diminish the credibility of the whole. ] : 
 
 « See Pfanner’s learned tréatise, De Charismatibus sive Donis miracu- 
 losis antique Ecclesiz, published at Francfort, 1683. 
 
 b The martyrdom of Stephen is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 
14 
 
 mental in exciting the rage of these foreign Jews against 
 the infant church, by sending messengers to exhort them, 
 not only to avoid all intercourse with the Christians, but 
 also to persecute them in the most vehement manner.* 
 For this inhuman order, they endeavoured to find out the 
 most plausible pretexts ; and, therefore, they gave out, that 
 the Christians were enemies to the Roman emperor, since 
 they acknowledged the authority of a certain person whose 
 name was Jesus, whom Pilate had punished capitally as 
 a malefactor by a most righteous sentence, and on whom, 
 nevertheless, they conferred the royal dignity. ‘These 
 perfidious insinuations had the intended effect, and the 
 rage of the Jews against the Christians was conveyed from 
 father to son, from age to age ; so that the church of Christ 
 had, in no period, more bitter and desperate enemies than 
 the very people, to whom the immortal Saviour was more 
 especially sent. 
 
 Ilf. he Supreme Judge of the world did not suffer the 
 barbarous conduct of this perfidious nation to go unpunish- 
 ed. The most signal marks of divine justice pursued 
 them; and the cruelties which they had exercised upon 
 Christ and his disciples, were dreadfully avenged. 'The 
 God, who had for so many ages protected the Jews with 
 an outstretched arm, withdrew his aid. He permitted Je- 
 rusalem, with its famous temple, to be destroyed by Ves- 
 pasian and his son Titus, an innumerable multitude of this 
 devoted people to perish by the sword, and the greatest 
 part of those that remained to groan under the yoke of a 
 severe bondage. Nothing can be more affecting than the 
 account of this terrible event, and the circumstantial de- 
 scription of the tremendous calamities which attended it, 
 as they are given by Josephus, himself a Jew, and also a 
 spectator of this horrid scene. From this period the Jews 
 experienced, in every place, the hatred and contempt of 
 the Gentile nations, still more than they had formerly 
 done; and in these their calamities, the predictions of 
 Christ were amply fulfilled, and his divine mission far- 
 ther illustrated. 
 
 IV. However virulent the Jews were against the Chris- 
 tians, yet, on many occasions, they wanted power to exe- 
 cute their cruel purposes. ‘This was not the case with 
 the heathen nations ; and, therefore, from them the 
 Christians suffered the severest calamities. The Romans 
 are said to have pursued the Christians with the utmost 
 violence in ten persecutions ;" but this number is not veri- 
 fied by the ancient history of the church ; for if, by these 
 persecutions, such only are meant as were extremely 
 severe and universal throughout the empire, then it is cer- 
 tain, thatthese amount not tothe number above mentioned ; 
 and, if we take the provincial and less remarkable perse- 
 cutions into the account, they far exceed it. In the fifth 
 century, certain Christians were led by some passages of 
 the Scriptures, and by one especially in the Revelations, 
 to imagine that the church was to suffer ten calamities of 
 a most grievous nature. ‘'T’o this notion, therefore, they 
 endeavoured, though not all in the same way, to accommo- 
 
 pees Ree pe A ee eee 
 vii. 55; and that of James the son of Zebedee, Acts xii. 1, 2; that of 
 James the Just is mentioned by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities, book 
 xx. chap. viii. and by Eusebius, in his Eccles. History, book ii. chap. xxiii. 
 
 ® See the Dialogue of Justin Martyr, with Trypho the Jew. 
 
 ® The learned J. Albert Fabricius has given us a list of the authors 
 who have written concerning these persecutions, in his Lux Evangelii 
 toti Orbi exoriens, cap. vii. © Rey. aii. 14. 
 
 4 See Sulpitius Severus, book ii. ch. xxiii. as also Augustin, de Civi- 
 tate Dei, book xviii. ch. lil. ; 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part 1 
 
 date the language of histery, even against the testimony 
 of those ancient records, from which alone history can 
 speak with authority.‘ 
 
 V. Nero was the first emperor who enaeted laws agains’ 
 the Christians. In this he was followed by Domitian 
 Marcus Antoninus the philosopher, Severus, and the 
 other emperors who indulged the prejudices they had im 
 bibed against the disciples of Jesus. All the edicts of 
 these different princes were not, however, equally unjust, 
 nor framed with the same views, or for the same reasons. 
 Were they now extant as they were collected by the cele- 
 brated lawyer Domitius, in his book concerning the duty 
 of a proconsul, they would undoubtedly cast a great light 
 upon the history of the church, under the persecuting em- 
 perors.© At present, we must, in many cases, be satisfied 
 with probable conjectures, for want of certain evidence. 
 
 VI. Before we proceed in this part of our history, a very 
 natural curiosity calls us to inquire, how it happened that 
 the Romans, whowere troublesome to no nation on account 
 of its religion, and who suffered even the Jews to live 
 under their own laws, and follow their own method of 
 worship, treated the Christians alone with such severity. 
 This important question seems still more difficult to be 
 solved, when we consider, that the excellent nature of the 
 Christian religion, and its admirable tendency to promote 
 both the public welfare of the state, and the private felicity 
 of the individual, entitled it, in a singular manner, to the 
 favour and protection of tre reigning powers. A principal 
 reason of the severity with which the Romans persecu- 
 ted the Christians, notwithstanding these considerations, 
 seems to have been the abhorrence and contempt felt by 
 the latter for the religion of the empire, which was so 
 intimately connected with the form, and indeed, with the 
 very essence of its political constitution ; for, though the 
 Romans gave an unlimited toleration to all religions which 
 had nothing in their tenets dangerous to the common- 
 wealth, yet they would not permit that of their ancestors, 
 which was established by the laws of the state, to be turned 
 into derision, nor the people to be drawn away from their 
 attachment to it. These, however, were the two things 
 which the Christians were charged with, and that justly, 
 though to their honour. They dared to ridicule the 
 absurdities of the pagan superstition, and they were ardent 
 and assiduous in gaining proselytes tothe truth. Nor did 
 they only attack the religion of Rome, but also all the 
 diflerent shapes and forms under which superstition 
 appeared in the various countries where they exercised 
 their ministry. Hence the Romans concluded, that the 
 Christian sect was not only insupportably daring and 
 arrogant, but, moreover, an enemy to the public tranquil- 
 lity, and ever ready to excite civil wars and commotions 
 in the empire. It is probably on this account, that 'Taci- 
 tus reproaches them with the odious character of haters 0, 
 mankind,‘ and styles the religion of Jesus a destructive 
 superstition ; and that Suetonius speaks of the Christians, 
 and their doctrine, in terms of the same kind.¢ 
 
 e The collection of the imperial edicts against the Christians, made 
 by Domitius, and now lost, is mentioned by Lactantius, in his Divine 
 Institutes, book v. chap. xi. Such of these edicts as have escaped the 
 ruins of time, are learnedly illustrated by Franc. Balduinus, in his Com- 
 ment. ad Edicta veterum Principum Romanorum de Christianis 
 
 f Annal. lib. xv. cap. xliv. ‘ 
 
 ® In Nerone, cap. xvi. These odious epithets, which Tacitus gives 
 to the Christians and their religion, as likewise the language of Suetoni- 
 us, who calls Christianity a potsonows or malignant superstition (male- 
 
Cuap. VY. 
 
 VIL. Another circumstance that irritated the Romans 
 against the Christians, was the simplicity of their worship, 
 which resembled in nothing the sacred rites of any other 
 people. ‘They had no sacrifices, temples, images, oracles, 
 or sacerdotal orders ; and this was suflicient to bring upon 
 them the reproaches of an ignorant multitude, who ima- 
 gined that there could be no religion without these. hus 
 they were looked upon as a sort of atheists; and, by the 
 Roman laws, those who were chargeable with atheism 
 were declared the pests of human society. But this was 
 not all: the sordid interests of a multitude of lazy and 
 selfish priests were immediately connected with the ruin 
 and oppression of the Christian cause. "The public worship 
 of such an immense number of deities was a source of 
 subsistence, and even of riches, to the whole rabble of 
 priests and augurs, and also to a multitude of merchants 
 and artists. And, as the progress of the gospel threatened 
 the ruin of that religious traffic, this consideration raised 
 up new enemies to the Christians, and armed the rage of 
 mercenary superstition against their lives and their cause.* 
 
 VII. To accomplish more speedily the ruin of the Chris- 
 tians, all those persons whose interests were incompatible 
 with the progress of the gospel, loaded them with the most 
 opprobrious calumnies, which were too easily received as 
 truth, by the credulous and unthinking multitude, among 
 whom they were dispersed with the utmost industry. We 
 find a sufficient account of these perfidious and ill-grounded 
 reproaches in the writings of the first defendersof the Chris- 
 tian cause.” And these, indeed, were the only arms the 
 assailants had to oppose ‘the truth, since the excellence of 
 the Gospel, and the virtue of its ministers and followers, left 
 to its enemies no resources but calumny and persecution. 
 Nothing can be imagined, in point of virulence and fury, 
 that they did not employ for the ruin of the Christians. 
 They even went so far as to persuade the multitude, that 
 all the calamities, wars, tempests, and diseases that afilicted 
 
 mankind, were judgments sent down by the angry gods, 
 because the Christians, who contemned their authority, 
 were suffered in the empire.* 
 
 IX. The various kinds of punishment, both capital and 
 corrective, which were employed against the Christians, 
 are par ticular ly described by learned men who have wr itten 
 professedly on ‘that subject.4 The forms of proceeding, used 
 in their condemnation, may be seen in the Acts of the Mar- 
 tyrs, in the letters of Pliny and Trajan, and other ancient 
 monuments.* These judicial forms were very different at 
 different times, and changed, naturally, according to the 
 mildness or severity of the laws enacted by the different 
 emperors against the Christians. 'Thus, at one time, we 
 observe appearances of the most diligent search after the 
 followers of Christ ; at another, we find all perquisition sus- 
 pended, and positive accusation and information only al- 
 lowed. Under one reign we see them, on their being proved 
 Christians, or their confes sing themselves such, immedi- 
 ately dragged away to execution, unless they prevent their 
 
 fica superstitio, ) are founded oapon the same reasons. A sect, which 
 could not endure, and even laboured to abolish, the religious practices of 
 the Romans, and also those of all the other nations of the univ erse, appear- 
 ed to the short-sighted and superficial observers of religious matters, as 
 the determined enemies of mankind. 
 
 * This observation is verified by the story of Demetri ius the silver- 
 smith, Acts xix. 25, and by the following passage in the 97th letter of the 
 xth book of Pliny’s epistles ; “The temples, which were almost deserted, 
 pegin to be frequented again; and the sacred rites, which have been 
 song neglected, are again performed. The victims, which have had 
 hitherto few pur chasers, begin to come again to the market, ” &e. 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 | these heroic sufferers. 
 
 | ed, Jo. Jac. Huldricus, de 
 
 15 
 
 punishment byapostacy; under another, we see inhuman 
 magistrates endeavouring to compel them, by all sorts of 
 tortures, to renounce their religious profession: 
 
 X. All who, in the perilous times of the church, fell 
 by the hand of bloody persecution, and expired in the cause 
 of the divine Saviour, were called mar tyrs; aterm borrow- 
 ed from the sacred writings, signifying w itnesses, and thus 
 expressing the glorious testimony which these magnani- 
 mous believers bore to the truth. The title of confessor 
 was given to such, as, in the face of death, and at the ex- 
 pense of honours, fortune, and all the other advantages 
 of the world, had confessed with fortitude, before the Ro- 
 man tribunals, their firm attachment to the religion of 
 Jesus. Great was the veneration that was paid both to 
 martyrs and confessors; and there was, no doubt, as much 
 wisdom as justice in treating with profound respect these 
 Christian heroes, since nothing was more adapted to encou- 
 rage others to suffer with cheerfulness in the cause of Christ. 
 But, as the best and wisest institutions are generally per- 
 verted, by the weakness or corruption of men, from their 
 original purposes, so the authority and priv ileges granted, 
 in the beginning, to martyrs and confessors, became in pro- 
 cess of time, a support to superstition, an incentive to enthu- 
 siasm, and a source of innumerable evils and abuses. 
 
 XI. The first three or four ages of the church were 
 stained with the blood of martyrs, who suffered for the 
 name of Jesus. The greatness of their number is acknow- 
 ledged by all who have a competent acquaintance with 
 ancient history, and who have examined that matter with 
 any degree of impartiality. It is true, the learned Dod- 
 well has endeavoured to invalidate this unanimous decision 
 of the ancient historians,‘ and to diminish considerably 
 the number of those who suffered death for the gospel ; and, 
 after him, several writers have maintained his opinion, and 
 asserted, ‘that whatever may have been the calamities 
 which the Christians, in general, suffered for their attach- 
 ment to the Gospel, very few were put to death on that 
 account. This hypothesis has been warmly opposed, as 
 derogating from that divine power which enabled Chris- 
 tians to be faithful even unto death, and a contrary ene 
 embraced, which augments prodigiously the number of 
 It will be wise to avoid both these 
 extremes, and to hold the middle path, which certainly leads 
 nearest to the truth. ‘The martyrs were less in number 
 than several of the ancient modern writers have supposed 
 them to be, but much more numerous than Dedwell and 
 his followers are willing to believe; and this medium will 
 
 _be easily admitted by such as have learned from the ancient 
 
 writers, that, in the darkest and most calamitious times of 
 the church, all Christians were not equally or promiscuously 
 disturbed, or called before the public tribunals. "Those 
 who were of the lowest rank of the people, escaped the best; 
 their obscurity, in some measure, screened them from the 
 fury of persecution. 'The learned and eloquent, the doctors 
 and ministers, and chiefly the rich, for the confiscation of 
 
 > See the laborious work of Christ. Kortholt, entitled, Paganus Obtrec- 
 tator, seu de Calumniis Gentilitm in Christianos ; to which may be add- 
 Calumniis Gentilium in Christianos, publish- 
 ed at Zurich in 1744. 
 
 ¢ See Arnobius contra Gentes. 
 
 4 Sce for this purpose Ant. Gallonius and Gasp. Sagittarius, de Cru- 
 ciatibus Martyrum. 
 * See Bohmer, 
 
 tit. 1. sec. 32, 
 f See Dodwell’s Dissertation, de Paucitate Martyrum, in his Disserta 
 tiones Cyprianice, 
 
 Juris Eccles. Protestant. tom. iv. lib. v. Deeretai. 
 
16 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 whose fortunes the rapacious magistrates were perpetually 
 gaping, were the persons most exposed to the dangers of 
 the times. 
 
 XII. The actions and sayings of these holy martyrs, 
 from the moment of their imprisonment to their last gasp, 
 were carefully recorded, in order to be read on certain days, 
 and thus proposed as models to future ages. Few, how- 
 ever, of these ancient acts have reached our times ;* the 
 greatest part of them having been destroyed during that 
 dreadful persecution which Diocletian carried on ten years 
 with such fury against the Christians: for a most diligent 
 search was then made after all their books and papers; and 
 all of them that were found were committed to the flames. 
 From the eighth century downwards, several Greek and 
 Latin writers endeavoured to make up this loss, by compi- 
 ling, with vast labour, accounts of the lives and actions of 
 ehe ancient martyrs. But most of them have given us 
 scarcely any thing more than a series of fables, adorned 
 with a profusion of rhetorical flowers and striking images, 
 as the wiser, even among the Romish doctors, frankly 
 acknowledge. Nor are those records, which pass under 
 the name of martyrology, worthy of superior credit, since 
 they bear the most evident marks both of ignorance and 
 falsehood ; so that, upon the whole, this part of ecclesias- 
 tical history, for want of ancient and authentic monu- 
 ments, is extremely imperfect, and necessarily attended 
 with much obscurity. 
 
 XHI. It would have been surprising, if, under such a 
 
 monster of cruelty as Nero, the Christians had enjoyed the | 
 
 sweets of tranquillity and freedom. ‘This, indeed, was 
 far from being the case; for the perfidious tyrant accused 
 them of having set fire to the city of Rome, that horrid 
 crime which he himself had committed with a barbarous 
 pleasure. In avenging this crime upon the innocent Chris- 
 tians, he ordered matters so, that the punishment should 
 bear some resemblance to the offence. He therefore wrap- 
 ped up some of them in combustible garments, and order- 
 ed fire to be set to them when the darkness came on, that 
 thus, like torches, they might dispel the obscurity of the 
 night: while others were fastened to crosses, or torn to 
 pieces by wild beasts, or put to death in some such dread- 
 ful manner. ‘This horrid persecution was set on foot in 
 the month of November,” in the 64th year of Christ: and 
 in it, according to some ancient accounts, St. Paul and 
 St. Peter suffered martyrdom, though the latter assertion 
 is contested by many, as being absolutely irreconcilable 
 with chronology.* The death of Nero, who perished mise- 
 rably in the year 68, put an end to the calamities of this 
 first persecution, under which, during the space of four 
 
 Part L 
 
 years, the Christians suffered every sort of torment and 
 affliction, which the ingenious cruelty of their enemies 
 could invent. 
 
 XIV. Learned men are not entirely agreed with regard 
 to the extent of this persecution under Nero. Some con- 
 fine it to the city of Rome, while others represent it as 
 having raged through the whole empire. ‘The latter opi- 
 nion, which is also the more ancient, is undoubtedly to be 
 preferred, as it is certain, that the laws enacted against the 
 Christians were enacted against the whole body, and not 
 against particular churches, and were consequently in force 
 in the remotest provinces. ‘The authority of Tertullian 
 confirms this, who tells us, that Nero and Domitian had 
 enacted laws against the Christians, of which 'Traian had, 
 in part, taken away the force, and rendered ‘hem, in some 
 measure, without effect.e We shall not have recourse for 
 a confirmation of this opinion, to that famous Portuguese 
 or Spanish inscription, in which Nero is prgised for having 
 purged that province from the new superstition ; since that 
 inscription is justly suspected to be a mere forgery, and 
 the best Spanish authors consider it as such... We may, 
 however, make one observation, which will tend to illus- 
 trate the point in question, namely, that since the Chris- 
 tians were condemned by Nero, not so much on account 
 of their religion, as for the falsely-imputed crime of burn- 
 ing the city,£ it is scarcely to be imagined, that he would 
 leave unmolested, even beyond tne bounds of Rome, a sect 
 whose members were accused of such an abominable deed. 
 
 XY. Though, immediately after the death of Nero, the 
 rage of this first persecution against the Christians ceased, 
 yet the flame broke out anew in the year 93 or 94, 
 under Domitian, a prince litle inferior to Nero in wicked- 
 ness." ‘This persecutiva was occasioned, if we may give 
 credit to Hegesippus, by Vomitian’s fear of losing the em- 
 pire ;i for he had been informed, that, among the relatives 
 of Christ, a man should arse, who, possessing a turbulent 
 and ambitious spirit, was to excite commotions in the state, 
 and aim at supreme dominion. However that may have 
 been, the persecution renewed by this unworthy prince 
 was extremely violent, though his untimely death soon put 
 a stop toit. Flavius Clemens, a man of consular dignity, 
 and Flavia Domitilla, his niece, or, as some say, his wife, 
 were the principal martyrs that suffered in this persecu- 
 tion, in which also the apostle John was banished to the 
 isle of Patmos. ‘Tertullian and other writers inform us, 
 that, before his banishment, he was thrown into a caldron 
 of boiling oil, from which he came forth, not only living, 
 but even unhurt. ‘This story, however, is not attested in 
 such a manner as to preclude all doubt.« 
 
 * Such of those acts as are worthy of credit have been collected by the 
 learned Ruinart, into one volume in folio, of a moderate size, entitled, 
 Selecta et sincera Martyrum Acta, Amstelod. 1713. ‘The hypothesis of 
 Dodwell is amply refuted in the author’s preface. 
 
 b See for a farther illustration of this point of chronology, two French 
 Dissertations of the very learned Alphonse de Vignoles, concerning the 
 eause and the commencement of the persecution under Nero, which are 
 printed in Masson’s Histoire critique de la Republique des Lettres, tom. 
 vill. p. 74—117; tom. ix. p. 172—186. See also Toinard, ad Lactantium 
 de Mortibus Persequut. p. 398. 
 
 ¢ See Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, tom. i. p. 504.—Baratier, de 
 Successione Romanor. Pontif. cap. v. 
 
 4 This opinion was first defended by Franc. Balduin, in his Comm. 
 ad Edicta Imperatorum in Christianos. After him Launoy maintained 
 che same opinion in his Dissert. qua Sulpitii Severi locus de prima Mar- 
 2 Galliz Epocha vindicatur, sect. i. p. 139, 140; tom. ii. part i. oper. 
 
 his opinion is still more acutely and learnedly defended by Dodwell, in 
 
 he xith of his Dissertationes Cyprianice. ° Apologet. cap. iv. 
 . £ This celebrated inscription is published by the learned Gruter, in the 
 
 first volume of his Inscriptions. It must, however, be observed, that the 
 best Spanish writers do not venture to defend the genuineness and au- 
 thority of this inscription, as it was never seen by any of them, and was 
 first produced by Cyriac of Ancona, a person universally known to be ut- 
 terly unworthy of the least credit. We shall add here the judgment 
 which the excellent historian of Spain, Jo. de Ferreras, has given of this 
 inscription ; ‘‘ Je ne puis m’empécher (says he) d’observer que Cyriac 
 d’Ancone fut le premier qui publia cette inscription, et que c’est de lui 
 que les autres l’ont tirée; mais comme la foi de cet ecrivain est suspect2 
 au jugement de tous les scavans, que d’ailleurs il n’y a ni vestige ni sou- 
 venir de cette inscription dans les places ot l’on dit qu'elle s’est trouvée, 
 et qu’on ne s¢ait ot la prendre a present, chacun peut en porter le juge 
 ment qu il voudra.” 
 
 ¢ See Theod.Ruinart, Pref. ad Acta Martyrum sincera etselecta, f.31,&e. 
 
 h Pref. ad Acta Martyrum, &c. f. 33—Thom. Ittigii Select. Histor. 
 Eccl. Capit. see. i. cap. vi. sect. 11. 
 
 i Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. xix. xx. 
 
 ® See Mosheim’s Syntagma Dissert. ad Historiam Eccles. pertinen- 
 tium, p. 497—546. 
 
_ 
 
 17 
 
 PPAR Pelt: 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 CHAPTER I. ¢ 
 Containing an Account of the State of Learning and 
 Philosophy. 
 
 I. Ir we had any certain or satisfactory account of the 
 doctrines which were received among the wiser of the 
 eastern nations, when the light of the Gospel first rose 
 upon the world, this would contribute to illustrate many 
 important points in the ancient history of the church. But 
 the case is quite otherwise: the fragments of the ancient 
 oriental philosophy that have come down to us, are, as 
 every one knows, few in number, and, such as they are, 
 they yet require the diligence, erudition, and sagacity of 
 some learned man, to collect them into a body, arrange 
 them with method, and explain them with perspicuity.* 
 
 IL. The doctrine of the magi, who believed the universe 
 to be governed by two principles, the one good, and the 
 other evil, flourished in Persia. 'Their followers, however, 
 did not all agree with respect to the nature of these princi- 
 ples;® but this did not prevent the propagation of the main 
 doctrine, which was received throughout a considerable 
 part of Asia and Africa, especially among the Chaldeans, 
 Assyrians, Syrians, and Egyptians, though with different 
 modifications, and had even infected the Jews themselves.¢ 
 The Arabians at that time, and even afterwards, were 
 more remarkable for strength and courage, than for 
 genius and sagacity ; nor do they seem, according to their 
 own confession,‘ to have acquired any great reputation for 
 wisdom and philosophy before the time of Mohammed. 
 
 Ill. From the earliest times, the Indians were distin- 
 guished by their taste for sublime knowledge and wisdom. 
 We might, perhaps, be able to form a judgment of their 
 philosophical tenets, if that most ancient book, which they 
 deemed particularly sacred, and which they called veda, 
 or the law, should be brought to light, and translated into 
 some known language. But the accounts which are 
 given of this remarkable book, by those who have been in 
 the Indies, are so various and irreconcilable with each 
 other, that we must yet wait for satisfaction on this head.« 
 As to the Egyptians, they were divided, as every one 
 knows, into a multitude of sects and opinions.‘ Fruitless, 
 therefore, are the labours of those who endeavour to reduce 
 the philosophy of this people to one system. 
 
 IV. But of all the systems of philosophy that were 
 received in Asia and Africa about the time of our Saviour, 
 no one was so detrimental to the Christian religion, as that 
 which was styled gnosis, or science, i. e. the way to the 
 true knowledye of the Deity, and which we have above 
 called the oriental doctrine, in order to distinguish it from 
 the Grecian philosophy. It was from the bosom of this 
 
 * The history of the oriental philosophy by Mr. Stanley, though it is 
 not void of all kind of merit, is yet extremely defective. ‘That learned 
 author is so far from having exhausted his subject, that he has left it, on 
 the contrary, in many places, wholly untouched. The history of philoso- 
 phy, published in Germany by the very learned Mr. Brucker, is vastly 
 preferable to Mr. Stanley’s work; and the German author, indeed, much 
 superior to the English one, both in point of genius and of erudition. 
 
 + See Hyde’s History of the Religion of the Ancient Persians, a work 
 full of erudition, but indigested and interspersed with conjectures of the 
 most improbable kind. ' 
 
 5 
 
 pretended oriental wisdom, that the chiefs of those sects, 
 which, in the three first centuries perplexed and afflicted 
 the Christian church originally issued. These superci- 
 lious doctors, endeavouring to accommodate to the tenets 
 of their fantastic philosophy, the pure, simple, and sublime 
 doctrines of the Son of God, brought forth, as the result 
 of this jarring composition, a multitude of idle dreams-and 
 fictions, and imposed upon their followers a system of 
 opinions which were partly ludicrous and partly perplexed 
 with intricate subtilties, and covered with impenetrable 
 obscurity. "The ancient doctors, both Greek and Latin, 
 who opposed these sects, considered them as so many 
 branches that derived their origin from the Platonic phi- 
 losophy. But this was mere illusion. An apparent resem- 
 blance between certain opinions of Plato, and some of the 
 tenets of the eastern schools, deceived these good men, who 
 had no knowledge but of the Giecian philosophy, and 
 were absolutely ignorant of the oriental doctrines. Who- 
 ever compares the Platonic with the Gnostic philosophy, 
 will easily perceive the wide difference that exists between 
 them. 
 
 V. The first principles of the oriental philosophy seem 
 to be perfectly consistent with the dictates of reason ; for 
 its founder must undoubtedly have argued in the following 
 manner: “There are many evils in this world, and men 
 seem impelled by a natural instinct to the practice of those 
 things which reason condemns; but that eternal mind, 
 from which all spirits derive their existence, must be inac- 
 cessible to all kinds of evil, and also of a most perfect and 
 beneficent nature ; therefore the origin of those evils, with 
 which the universe abounds, must be sought somewhere 
 else than in the Deity. It cannot reside in him whois all 
 perfection ; and therefore it must be without him. Now, 
 there is nothing without or beyond the Deity, but matter ; 
 therefore matter is the centre and source of all evil, of all 
 vice.” Having taken for granted these principles, they 
 proceeded to affirm that matter was eternal, and derived 
 its present form, not from the will of the Supreme God, 
 but from the creating power of some inferior intelligence, 
 to whom the world and its inhabitants owed their exist- 
 ence. As a proof of this assertion they alleged, that it 
 was incredible, that the “Supreme Deity, perfectly good, 
 and infinitely removed from all evil, should either create or 
 modify matter, which is essentially malignant and corrupt, 
 or bestow upon it, in any degree, the riches of his wisdom 
 and liberality. They were, however, aware of the insu- 
 perable difficulties that lay against their system ; for, when 
 they were called to explain in an accurate and satisfactory 
 manner, how this rude and corrupt matter came to be ar- 
 ranged into such a regular and harmonious frame as that 
 
 * See Wolf’s Manicheismus ante Manicheos. 
 
 4 See Abulpharagius de Moribus Arabum, published by Pocock. 
 
 * Some parts of the Veda have been published; or, it may rather be 
 said that pretended portions of it have appeared; but, whatever may be 
 alleged by oriental enthusiasts, these Brahminical remains do not evince 
 the ‘sublime knowledge or wisdom” which many writers attribute to the 
 ancient inhabitants of India.—En1r. 
 
 f See Dr. Mosheim’s Observations on Cudworth’s System. 
 
18 
 
 of the universe, and, particularly, how celestial spirits were 
 ioined to bodies formed out of its malignant mass, they 
 were sadly embarrassed, and found, that the plainest dic- 
 tates of reason declared their system incapable of defence. 
 In this perplexity they had recourse to wild fictions and 
 romantic fables, in order to give an account of the forma- 
 tion of the world and the origin of mankind. 
 
 VI. Those who, by mere dint of fancy and invention, 
 endeavour to cast a light upon obscure points, or to solve 
 great and intricate difficulties, are seldom agreed about the 
 methods of proceeding; and, by a necessary consequence, 
 separate into different sects. Such was the case of the 
 oriental philosophers, when they set themselves to explain 
 the difficulties mentioned above. Some imagined two eter- 
 nal principles from which all things proceeded, one pre- 
 siding over light and the other over maéter ; and, by their 
 perpetual conflict, explained the mixture of good and evil, 
 apparent in the universe. Others maintained, that the 
 being which presided over matter was not an eternal prin- 
 ciple, but a subordinate intelligence, one of those whom the 
 Supreme God produced from himself. ‘They supposed 
 that this being was moved by a sudden impulse to reduce 
 to order the rude mass of matter which lay excluded from 
 the mansions of the Deity, and also to create the human 
 race. A third sort devised a system different from the two 
 preceding, and formed to themselves the notion of a trium- 
 virate of beings, in which the Supreme Deity was distin- 
 guished both from the material evil principle, and from the 
 creator of this sublunary world. These, then, were the 
 three leading sects of the oriental philosophy, which were 
 subdivided into various factions, by the disputes that arose 
 when they came to explain more fully their respective opi- 
 nions, and to pursue them into all their monstrous conse- 
 quences. ‘These multiplied divisions were the natural and 
 necessary consequences of a system which had no solid 
 foundation, and was no more, indeed, than an airy phan- 
 tom, blown up by the wanton fancies of self-sufficient men. 
 And that these divisions did really subsist, the history of 
 the Christian sects that embraced this philosophy abun- 
 dantly testifies. ‘ 
 
 VII. It is, however, to be observed, that, as all these sects 
 were founded upon one common principle, their divisions 
 did not prevent their holding, in common, certain opinions 
 concerning the Deity, the universe, the human race, and 
 several other subjects. "They were all, therefore, unani- 
 mous in acknowledging the existence of a high and eternal 
 nature, in whom dwelt the fulness of wisdom, goodness, 
 and all other perfections, and of whom no mortal was able 
 to form a complete idea. ‘This great being was considered 
 by them asa most pure and radiant light, diffused through 
 
 * It appears highly probable that the apostle Paui iad an eye to this 
 fantastic mythology, when, in his First Epistle to Timothy, he exhorts 
 him not to “ give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister 
 questions,” &c. 
 
 > The word aiwy, or gon, is commonly used by the Greek writers, but 
 in different senses. Its signification in the Gnostic system is not very 
 evident, and several learned men have despaired of finding out its true 
 meaning. Aiwy, or gon, among the ancients, was used to signify the 
 age of man, or the duration of human life. In after-times, it was em- 
 Coe by philosophers to express the duration of spiritual and invisible 
 
 eings. ‘T'hese philosophers used the word yévos, as the measure of 
 corporeal and changing objects; and atwy, as the measure of such as 
 Were immutable and eternal; and, as God is the chief of those immuta- 
 ole beings which are spiritual, and, consequently, not to be perceived by 
 our outward senses, his infinite and eternal duration was expressed by 
 the term gon; and that is the sense in which this word is now common- 
 
 ly understood. It was, however, afterwards attributed to other spiritual 
 and invisible beings; and the oriental philosophers, who lived about the 
 
 | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II 
 
 ~ 
 
 the immensity of space, which they called pleroma,a Greek 
 word that signifies fulness; and they taught the following 
 particulars concerning him, and his operations: “'The eter- 
 nal nature, infinitely perfect, and infinitely happy, having 
 dwelt from everlasting in a profound solitude, and in a 
 blessed tranquillity, produced, at length, from itself, two 
 minds of a different sex, which resembled their supreme 
 parent in the most perfect manner. From the prolific union 
 of these two beings others arose, which were also followed 
 by different generations; so that, in process of time, a 
 celestial family was formed in the pleroma.* This divine 
 progeny, being immutable in its nature, and above the 
 power of mortality, was called by the philosophers won,”” 
 a term which signifies, in the Greek language, an eternal 
 nature. How many in number these @ons were, was a 
 point much controverted among the oriental sages. 
 
 VUI. “ Beyond the mansions of light, where dwells 
 the Deity with his celestial offspring, there lies a rude and 
 unwieldy mass of matter, agitated by innate, turbulent, 
 and irregular motions. One of the celestial natures de- 
 scending from the pleroma, either by a fortuitous impulse, 
 or in consequence of a divine commission, reduced to order 
 this unseemly mass, adorned it with a rich variety of gifts, 
 created men, and inferior animals of different kinds, to 
 store it with mhabitants, and corrected its malignity by 
 mixing with it a certain portion of light, and also of a 
 matter celestial and divine. ‘his creator of the world 
 distinguished from the Supreme Deity by the name of 
 demiurge. Vis character isa compound of shining quali- 
 
 _ ties and insupportable arrogance ; and his excessive lust of 
 
 empire effaces his talents and his virtues. He claims do- 
 minion over the new world which he has formed, as his 
 sovereign right; and, excluding totally the Supreme Dei- 
 ty from all concern in it, he demands from mankind, for 
 himself and his associates, divine honours.” 
 
 IX. “ Man is a compound of a terrestrial and corrupt 
 body, and a soul which js of celestial origin, and, in some 
 measure, an emanation from the divinity. This nobler 
 part is miserably weighed down and encumbered by the 
 body, which is the seat of all irregular lusts and impure 
 desires. It is this body that seduces the soul from the 
 pursuit of truth, and not only turns it from the contem- 
 plation and worship of God, so as to confine its homage 
 and veneration to the creator of this world, but alse 
 attaches it to terrestrial objects, and to the immoderate 
 pursuit of sensual pleasures, by which its nature is totally 
 polluted. ‘lhe sovereign mind employs various means 
 to deliver his offspring from this deplorable servitude, espe- 
 cially the ministry of divine messengers, whom he sends 
 to enlighten, to admonish, and to reform the human race. 
 
 time of Christ’s appearance upon earth, and made use of the Greek lan- 
 guage, understood by it the dwration of eternal and immutable things, or 
 the period of time in which they exist. ‘Nor did the variations, through 
 which this word passed, end here; from expressing only the duration of 
 beings, it was, by a metonymy, employed to signify the beings them- 
 selves. Thus God was called gon, and the angels were distinguished 
 also by the title of ons. All this will lead us to the true meaning of that 
 word among the Gnostics. They had formed to themselves the notion 
 of an invisible and spiritual world, composed of entities or virlwes, pro- 
 ceeding from the Supreme Being, and succeeding each other at certain 
 intervals of time, so as to form an eternal chain, of which our world was 
 the terminating link; a notion of eternity very different from that of the 
 Platonists, who represented it as stable, permanent, and void of succes- 
 sion, To the beings that formed this eternal chain, the Gnostics assign- 
 ed a certain term of duration, and a certain sphere of action. Their 
 terms of duration were first called guns, and they themselves were after- 
 wards metonymically distinguished by that title. 
 
Crap. IT. 
 
 In the mean time, the imperious demiurge exerts his power 
 in opposition to the merciful purpose of the Supreme Being, 
 resists the influence of those solemn invitations by which 
 he exhort? mankind to return to him, and labours to efface 
 the knowtedge of God in the minds of intelligent beings. 
 In this coviflict, such souls as, throwing off the yoke of the 
 creators and rulers of this world, rise to their Supreme 
 Parent, and subdue the turbulent and sinful motions 
 which corrupt matter excites within them, shall, at the 
 dissolution of their mortal bodies, ascend directly to the 
 pleroma. ‘Those, on the contrary, who remain in the 
 bondage of servile superstition and corrupt matter, shall, 
 
 at the end of this life, pass into new bodies, until they 
 
 awake from their sinful lethargy. In the end, however, 
 God shall come forth victorious, triumph over all opposition, 
 
 and, having delivered from their servitude the g 
 
 of those souls that are imprisoned in mortal bodies, shall | 
 
 dissolve the frame of this visible world, and involve it in a 
 general ruin. After this solemn period, primitive tran- 
 quillity shall be restored in the universe, and God shall 
 reign with happy spirits, in undisturbed felicity, through 
 everlasting ages.” 
 
 X. Such were the principal tenets of the oriental philo- 
 sophy. ‘The state of letters and of philosophy among the 
 Jews comes next under consideration ; and of this we may 
 form some idea from what has been already said concern- 
 ing that nation. It is chiefly to be observed, that the dark 
 and hidden science which they called the kabbala, was at 
 this time taught and inculcated by many among that su- 
 perstitious peoples ‘This science, in many points, bears a 
 strong resemblance to the oriental philosophy ; or, to speak 
 more accurately, it is indeed that same philosophy accom- 
 
 modated to the Jewish religion, and tempered with a cer- | 
 
 tain mixture of truth. Nor were the doctrines of the 
 Grecian sages unknown to the Jews at the period now 
 before us; since, from the time of Alexander the Great, 
 some of them had been admitted, even into the Mosaic reli- 
 gion. We shall say nothing concerning the opinions 
 which they adopted from the philosophical and theological 
 systems of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Syrians. 
 
 XI. The Greeks, in the opinion of most writers, were 
 yet in possession of the first rank among the nations that 
 cultivated letters and philosophy. In many places, and 
 especially at Athens, there were a considerable number of 
 men distinguished by their learning, acuteness, and _ elo- 
 quence ; philosophers of all sects, who taught the doctrines 
 of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus; rhetoricians also 0, 
 and men of genius, who instructed the youth in the rules 
 of eloquence, and formed their taste for the liberal arts; so 
 that those who had a passion for the study of oratory, re- 
 sorted in multitudes to the Grecian schools, in order to 
 perfect themselves in that noble science. Alexandria, in 
 Egypt, was also much frequented for the same purpose, as 
 2 great number of the Grecian philosophers and rhetori- 
 cians dwelt in that city. 
 
 XII. The Romans also, at this time, made a shining 
 agure among the polished and learned nations. All the 
 
 * See Jo. Franc. Buddei Introductio in Historiam Philos. Hebreorum; 
 and also the works which B. Wolf mentions, with encomiums, in his 
 ¥ibliotheca Hebraica, tom. iii. 
 
 t See the same publications. 
 
 * See Paganini Gaudentii Liber de Philosophie apud Romanos initio 
 ef agree in tertio fasciculo Nove Collectionis Variorum Scriptorum. 
 
 z 1717. 
 
 greatest part | 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH 
 
 GOVERNMENT, &e. 19 
 
 sciences flourished at Rome. The youth of a higher rank 
 were early instructed in the Greek language and elo- 
 quence. From those pursuits they proceeded to the study 
 of philosophy, and the laws of their country; and they 
 finished their education by a voyage into Greece, where 
 they not only gave the last degree of perfection to their 
 philosophical studies, but also acquired that refined wit and 
 elegance of taste, which served to set off their more solid 
 attainments in the mostadvantageous manner. None of the 
 philosophical sects were more in vogue among the Romans 
 than the Epicureans and the Academics, w hich were pecu- 
 
 | liarly favoured by the great, who, soothed by their doctrines 
 
 into a false security, indulged their passions without 
 remorse, and continued in their vicious pursuits without 
 terror. During the reign of Augustus, the culture of polite 
 learning, and of the fine arts, was holden in great honour, 
 and those who contributed with zeal and success to this, 
 were eminently distinguished by that prince. But after 
 his death, learning languished without encouragement, 
 and was neglected, because the succeeding emperors were 
 more intent upon the arts of war and rapine, than those 
 more amiable arts and inventions which are the fruits of 
 leisure and peage. 
 
 XU. With respect to the other nations, such as the 
 Germans, Celts,and Britons, it is certain, that they were not 
 destitute of learned and ingenious men. Among the Gauls, 
 the people of Marseilles had long acquired a shining repu- 
 tation for their progress in the sciences; and there is no 
 doubt that the neighbouring countries received the benefit 
 of their instructions. Among the Celts, the Druids, who 
 were priests, philosophers, and legislators, were highly re- 
 markable for their wisdom; but their writings, at least such 
 as are yet extant, are not sufficient to inform us of the na- 
 ture cf their philosophy.* 'The Romans, indeed, intro- 
 duced letters and philosophy into all the provinces which 
 submitted to their victorious arms, in order to soften the 
 rough manners of the savage nations, and form in them, 
 imperceptibly, the sentiments and feelings of humanity.‘ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government. 
 
 I. Tue great end of Christ’s mission was to form an 
 universal church, gathered out of all the nations of the 
 world, and to extend the limits of this great society from 
 age toage. But, in order to this, it was necessary, first, to 
 appoint extraordinary teachers, who, converting the Jews 
 and Gentiles to the truth, should erect, every where, Chris- 
 tian assemblies ; and then, to establish ordinary ministers, 
 and interpreters of the divine will, who should repeat and 
 enforce the doctrines delivered by the former, and main- 
 tain the people in their holy profession, and in the prac- 
 tice of the Christian virtues; for the best system of reli- 
 gion must necessarily either dwindle to nothing, or be 
 egregiously corrupted, if it be not perpetually inculcated 
 and explained by a regular and standing ministry. 
 
 Concerning 
 
 ¢ See the Histoire Laverne de la France par des Religieux Benedic- 
 in Dissert. Prelim. p. 42 
 ¢ Martin, Religion des Gaulois, 
 f Juvenal, Sat. xv. ver. 110. 
 “ Nunc totus Graias nostrasque habet orbis Athenas : 
 Gallia caussidicos docuit facunda Britannos : 
 De conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule.” 
 
20 
 
 II. The extraordinary teachers whom Christ employed 
 to lay the foundations of his everlasting kingdom, were the 
 twelve apostles, and the seventy disciples, of whom men- 
 tion has been made above. 'I’o these the Evangelists are 
 to be added, by which title those were distinguished whom 
 the apostles sent to instruct the nations, or who, of their 
 own accord, abandoned every worldly attachment, and 
 consecrated themselves to the sacred office of propagating 
 the Gospel. In this rank, also, we must place those to 
 whom, in the infancy of the church, the marvellous power 
 of speaking in foreign languages which they had never 
 learned, was communicated from above ; for the person to 
 whom the divine omnipotence and liberality had imparted 
 the gift of tongues, might conclude, with the utmost assu- 
 rance, from the gift itself, (which a wise being would not 
 bestow in vain,) that he was appointed by God to propa- 
 gate the truth, and employ his talents in the service of 
 Christianity.» 
 
 Ill. Many have undertaken to write the history of the 
 apostles ;° a history which we find loaded with fables, 
 doubts, and difficulties, when we pursue it farther than the 
 books of the New 'T’estament, and the most ancient writers 
 in the Christian church. 
 the nature, privileges, and authority of the apostolic func- 
 tion, we must consider an apostle as a person who was 
 
 honoured with a divine commission, invested with the power | 
 
 of making laws, of restraining the wicked, when that was 
 expedient, and of working miracles, when necessary ; and 
 sent tomankind, to unfold to them the divine will, to open 
 to them the paths of salvation and immortality, and to 
 
 sacred society, those who were attentive and obedient to 
 the voice of God, addressed to men by their ministry.¢ 
 
 In order to have a just idea of | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | this a great variety of events may render impossible. 
 separate from the multitude, and unite in the bonds of one || 
 
 Parr I. 
 
 IV. The accounts we have of the seventy disciples are 
 still more obscure than those of the apostles, since the for 
 mer are only once mentioned in the New ‘Testament, 
 Luke, x.1. ‘The illustrations that we have yet remaining, 
 relative to their character and office, were certainly com- 
 
 _ posed by the more modern Greeks, and, therefore, can have 
 
 little authority or credit.¢ Their commission extended no 
 farther than the Jewish nation, as appears from the express 
 words of St. Luke, though it is highly probable, that, after 
 Christ’s ascension, they performed the function of Evan- 
 gelists, and declared the glad tidings of salvation, and the 
 means of obtaining it, through different nations and 
 provinces. 
 
 V. Neither Christ himself, nor his holy apostles, have 
 commanded any thing clearly or expressly concerning the 
 external form of the church, or the precise method accord- 
 ing to which it should be governed. Hence we may 
 infer, that the regulation of this was, in some measure, to 
 be accommodated to the time, and left to the wisdom and 
 prudence of the chief rulers, both of the state and of the 
 church. If, however, it be true, that the apostles acted by 
 divine inspiration, and in conformity with the commands 
 of their blessed Master, (and this no Christian can call in 
 question,) it follows, that the form of government which 
 the primitive churches borrowed from that of Jerusalem, 
 the first Christian assembly established by the apostles 
 themselves, must be esteemed as of divine institution. But 
 from this it would be wrong to conclude that such a form 
 is immutable, and ought to be invariably observed ; for 
 In 
 those early times, every Christian church consisted of the 
 people, their leaders, and the ministers or deacons; and 
 these, indeed, belong essentially to every religious society. 
 
 * See St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, iv. 11; and also’'Euseb. Hist. 
 Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xxxvil. 
 
 b 1 Cor. xiv. 22. 
 
 © The authors who have given accounts of the apostles, are enumera- 
 ted by Sagittarius in his Introduction to Ecclesiastical History, and by 
 Buddeus in his treatise de Ecclesia Apostolica. 
 
 4 See Fred. Spanheim, de Apostolis et Apostolatu, tom. ii. op. p. 289. 
 It is not without weighty reasons, and without having considered the 
 matter attentively, that I have supposed the apostles invested with the 
 power of enacting laws. I am sensible that some very learned men 
 among the moderns have denied this power; but I apprehend they differ 
 from me rather in words than in any material point. 
 
 * These accounts are to be seen at the end of three books concerning the 
 life and death of Moses, which were discovered and illustrated by Gilb. 
 Gaulminus, and republished by Fabricius in his Biblioth. Gree. 
 
 f Those who imagine, that Christ himself, or the apostles by his direc- 
 tion and authority, appointed a certain fixed form of church-government, 
 have not determined what that form was. The principal opinions that 
 have been adopted upon this head may be reduced to the four following: 
 The first is that of the Roman Catholics, who maintain, “ That Christ’s 
 declared intention was, that his followers should be collected into one sa- 
 cred empire, subjected to the government of St. Peter and his successors, 
 end divided, like the kingdoms of this world, into several provinces; that, 
 in consequence thereof, Peter fixed the seat of ecclesiastical dominion at 
 Rome, but afterwards, to alleviate the burthen of his office, divided the 
 church into three great provinces, according to the division of the world 
 at that time, and appointed a person to preside in each, who was digni- 
 fied with the title of patriarch ; that the European patriarch resided at 
 Rome, the Asiatic at Antioch, and the African at Alexandria; that the 
 bishops of each province, among whom also there were various ranks, 
 were to reverence the authority of their respective patriarchs, and that 
 both bishops and patriarchs were to be passively subject to the supreme 
 dominion of the Roman pontiff."* This romantic account scarcely de- 
 serves a serious refutation. The second opinion concerning the govern- 
 ment of the church, makes no mention of a supreme head, or of patriarchs, 
 constituted by divine authority, but supposes that the apostles divided 
 the Roman empire into as many ecclesiastical provinces as there were 
 secular or civil ones; that the metropolitan bishop, i. e. the prelate 
 
 .,* See Leo Allatius, de _perpetua consens. Eccles. Orient. et Occident. 
 lib. i, cap, ii—Morinus, Exercitat. Ecclesiast. lib. i. exer. i 
 
 4 
 
 who resided in the capital city of each province, presided over the 
 clergy of that province, and that the other bishops were subject to his 
 authority. This opinion has been adopted by some of the most learned 
 of the Romish church,* and has also been favoured by some of the most 
 eminent British divines.t’ Some Protestant writers of note have 
 
 _ endeavoured to prove that it is not supported by sufficient evidence.t 
 
 The third opinion is that of those who acknowledge, that, when the 
 Christians began to multiply exceedingly, metropolitans, patriarchs, and 
 archbishops, were indeed created, but only by Auman appointment and 
 authority, though they confess, at the same time, that it is consonant to 
 the orders and intentions of Christ and his apostles, that, in every Chris- 
 tian church there should be one person invested with the highest authori- 
 
 | ty, and clothed with certain rights and privileges above the other doctors 
 
 of that assembly. This opinion has been embraced by many English 
 divines of the first rank in the learned world, and also by many in other 
 countries and communions. The fourth or last opinion is that of the 
 Presbyterians, who affirm, that Christ’s intention was, that the Christian 
 doctors and ministers should all enjoy the same rank and authority, with- 
 out any sort of pre-eminence or subordination, any distinction of rights 
 and privileges. The reader will find an ample account of these opi- 
 nions with respect to chugch-government in Dr. Mosheim’s Larger Histo- 
 ry of the first Century. This learned and impartial writer, who con- 
 demns with reason the fourth opinion, as it is explained by those bigot- 
 ed Puritans, who look upon all subordination and variety of rank 
 among the doctors of the church as condemnable and antichristian, ob- 
 serves, however, with equal reason, that this opinion may be explained 
 and modified so as to reconcile the moderate advocates of the episcopal 
 discipline with the less rigid Presbyterians. The opinion, modified by 
 Dr. Mosheim, amounts to this: “That the Christian doctors are equal 
 in this sense: that Christ has left no positive and special decree which 
 constitutes a distinction among them, nor any divine commandment by 
 which those who, in consequence of the appointments of human wisdom, 
 
 * Petrus de Marca, de concord. sacerdot. et imperii, lib. vi. cap. i—-Mo- 
 rinus, Exerc. Eecl. lib. i. ex. xviii—Pagi Critica in annal. Baronii ad 
 an. XXXVil. 
 
 + Hammond, Diss. de Episcop—Beveregii Cod. Canon. Vet. Eccles, 
 Vindie. lib. ii. eap. v. tom. 1i. Patr. Apost—Usser. de Origine Episcop, 
 et Metropol. 
 
 t Basnage, Hist. de l’Eglisc, tome i. liv. i. cap. viii —Bohmer, Annot, 
 ad Petrum de Marca de concordia sacerd. et imperil. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 The people were, undoubtedly, the first in authority ; for 
 the apostles showed, by their own example, that nothing 
 of moment was to be carried on or determined without the 
 consent of the assembly ;* and such a method of proceed- 
 ing was both prudent and necessary in those critical times. 
 
 VI. It was, therefore, the assembly of the people, which 
 chose rulers and teachers, or received them by a free and 
 authoritative consent, when recommended by others. ‘The 
 same people rejected or confirmed, by their suffrages, the 
 laws that were proposed by their rulers to the assembly ; 
 excommunicated profligate and unworthy members of the 
 church; restored the penitent to their forfeited privileges; 
 passed judgment upon the different subjects of controversy 
 and dissension, that arose in their community ; examined 
 and decided the disputes which happened between the 
 elders and deacons; and, in a word, exercised all that 
 authority which belongs to such as are invested with sove- 
 reign power. ‘The people, indeed, had in some measure 
 purchased these privileges, by administering to the support 
 of their rulers, ministers, and poor,and by offering large and 
 generous contributions, when the safety or interests of the 
 community rendered them necessary. In these supplies, 
 each bore a part proportioned to his circumstances ; and the 
 various gifts which were thus brought into the public 
 assemblies, were called oblations. 
 
 VI. There reigned among the members of the Chris- 
 tian church, however distinguished they were by worldly 
 rank and titles, net only an amiable harmony, but also a 
 perfect equality. This appeared by the feast of charity, in 
 which all were indiscriminately assembled ; by the names 
 of brethren and sisters, with which they saluted each 
 other; and by several circumstances of a like nature. Nor, 
 in this first century, was the distinction made between 
 Christians, of a more or less perfect order, which took place 
 afterwards. Whoever acknowledged Christ as the Sa- 
 viour of mankind, and made a solemn profession of his 
 confidence in him, was immediately baptized and received 
 into-the church. But, when the church began to flourish, 
 and its members to increase, it was thought prudent and 
 necessary to divide Christians into two orders, distinguished 
 by the names of believers and catechumens. ‘The former 
 were those who had been solemnly admitted into the 
 church by baptism, and, in consequence thereof, were 
 instructed in all the mysteries of religion, had access to all 
 the parts of divine worship, and were authorized to vote 
 in the ecclesiastical assemblies. The latter were such as 
 had not yet been dedicated to God and Christ by baptism, 
 and were, therefore, neither admitted to the public prayers 
 nor to the holy communion, tor to the ecclesiastical as- 
 semblies. 
 are in the higher ranks, can demand by divine right the obedience and 
 submission of the inferior doctors or ministers, their abstaining from the 
 exercise of certain functions,” &c. 
 
 The truth is, that, Christ, by leaving this matter undetermined, has left 
 to Christian societies a discretionary power of modeling the government 
 of the church in such a manner, as the circumstantial reasons of times, 
 places, &c. may require; and, therefore, the wisest government of the 
 church is the best and most divine; and every Christian society has a 
 right to make laws for itself, provided that these laws be consistent with 
 charity and peace, and with the fundamental doctrines and principles of 
 Christianity. 
 
 * Acts 1) 1550vi. 3% xv. 43 "xxi. 22. 
 
 b ‘The word Presbyter, or elder, is taken from the Jewish institution, 
 and signifies rather the venerable prudence and wisdom of old age, than 
 age itself. 
 
 pacts xx, 1'/, 28. Piola 1D 
 
 41 Tim. iii. l. Tit 1.5. 
 * 1] Tim. iii. 2, &e. See, concerning the word Presbyter, the illustra- 
 
 Atet D7. 3 Tim: ii. J. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 21 
 
 The rulers of the church were called either presbyters,» 
 or bishops,—titles which, in the New ‘Testament, are 
 undoubtedly applied to the same order of men.* ‘hese 
 were persons of eminent gravity, and such as had distin- 
 guished themselves by their superior sanctity and merit.4 
 ‘Their particular functions were not always the same ; for, 
 while some of them confined their labours to the instruc- 
 tion of the people, others contributed in different ways to 
 the edification of the church. Hence the distinction be- 
 tween teaching and ruling presbyters has been adopted by 
 certain learned men. But if ever this distinction existed, 
 which I neither affirm nor deny, it certainly did not con- 
 tinue long, since it is manifest that St. Paul requires, 
 that all bishops or presbyters be qualified, and ready to 
 teach and instruct.° 
 
 IX. Among the first professors of Christianity, there 
 were few men of learning; few, who had capacity enough 
 to insinuate, into the minds of a gross and ignorant multi- 
 tude, the knowledge of divine things. God, therefore, in 
 his infinite wisdom, judged it necessary to raise up, in 
 many churches, extraordinary teachers, who were to dis- 
 course in the public asseinblies, upon the various points of 
 the Christian decirine, and to treat with the people, in his 
 name, as guided by his direction, and clothed with his 
 authority. Such were the prophets of the New Testa- 
 ment,’ an order of men, whose commission is too much 
 limited by the writers who confine it to the interpretation 
 of the books of the Old Testament, and especially the 
 prophecies ;¢ for it is certain, that they, who claimed the 
 rank of prophets, were invested with the power of censur- 
 ing publicly such as had been guilty of any irregularity : 
 but, to prevent the abuses that designing men might make 
 of this institution, by pretending to this extraordinary 
 character, in order to execute unworthy ends, there were 
 always present, in the public auditories, judges divinely 
 appointed, who, by certain and infallible marks, were able 
 to distinguish the false prophets from the true. The order 
 of prophets ceased, when the want of teachers, which 
 gave rise to it was abundantly supplied. 
 
 X. The church was, undoubtedly, provided from the 
 beginning with inferior ministers or deacons. No society 
 can be without its servants, and still less such societies as 
 those of the first Christians were. And it appears not 
 only probable but evident, that the young men, who car- 
 ried away the dead bodies of Ananias and Sapphira, were 
 the subordinate ministers, or deacons, of the church of Je- 
 rusalem, who attended the apostles to execute their orders." 
 These first deacons, being chosen from among the Jews 
 who were born in Palestine, were suspected by the foreign 
 Jews of partiality in distributing the offerings which were 
 
 tions given by the learned Vitringa, de Synagoga vetere, lib. iii. cap. i. 
 p. 609; and by the venerable Jo. Bened. Carpzovius, in his Exere. in 
 Epist. ad Hebraeos ex Philone, p. 499. As to the presbyters themselves, 
 and the nature of their office, the reader will receive much satisfaction 
 from the accounts given of that order by Buddeus, de Ecclesia Apostoli- 
 ea, cap. vi. p, 719, and by the most learned Pfaflius, de Originibus Juris 
 Eccles. p. 49. 
 
 f Rom. xiii. 6. 1 Cor. xii. 28; xiv. 3,29. Eph. iv. 11. 
 
 ® See Mosheim’s Dissertation de illis qui Prophete vocantur in Novo 
 Feedere, which is to be found in the second volume of his Syntagma Dis- 
 sertationum ad Historiam Eccles. pertinentium. . 
 
 h Acts v. 6, 10. 
 
 Those who may be surprised at my affirming that the young men, 
 mentioned in the passage here referred to, were the deacons or ministers 
 of the church of Jerusalem, are desired to consider that the words vecrepot, 
 veavickot, i. e. young men, are not always used to determine the ages of 
 the persons to whom they are applied, but are frequently employed to 
 point out their offices, or functions, both by the Greek and Latin writers. 
 
22 
 
 presented for the support of the poor.» To remedy this 
 disorder, seven other deacons were chosen, by order of the 
 apostles, and employed in the servic2 of that part of the 
 church at Jerusalem, which was composed of the foreign 
 Jews converted into Christianity. Of these new ministers 
 six were foreigners, as appears by their names ; the seventh 
 was chosen out of the proselytes, of whom there were a 
 certain number among the first Christians at Jerusalem, 
 and to whom it was reasonable that some regard should 
 be shown, in the election of the deacons, as well as to the 
 foreign Jews. Ali the other Christian churches followed 
 the example of that of Jerusalem, in whatever related to 
 the choice and office of the deacons. Some, particularly 
 the eastern churches, elected deaconesses, and chose for 
 that purpose matrons or widows of eminent sanctity, who 
 also ministered to the necessities of the poor, and perform- 
 ed several other offices, that tended to the maintenance of 
 order and decency in the church. 
 
 XI. Such was the constitution of the Christian church 
 in its infancy, when its assemblies were neither numer- 
 ous nor splendid. ‘Three or four presbyters, men of remark- 
 able piety and wisdom, ruled these small congregations in 
 perfect harmony ; nor did they stand in need of any presi- 
 dent or superior to maintain concord and order where no 
 dissensions were known. But the number of the presby- 
 ters and deacons increasing with that of the churches, and 
 the sacred work of the ministry growing more painful and 
 weighty, by a number of additional duties, these new cir- 
 
 cumstances required new regulations. It was then judged | 
 
 necessary, that one man of distinguished gravity and wis- 
 dom should preside in the council of presbyters, in order to 
 distribute among his colleagues their several tasks, and to 
 be a centre of union to the whole society. 'This person 
 was, at first, styled the angel « of the church to which he 
 belonged, but was afterward distinguished by the name of 
 bishop, or inspector; a name borrowed from the Greek 
 language, and expressing the principal part of the episco- 
 pal function, which was to inspect and superintend the 
 affairs of the church. It is highly probable that the church 
 of Jerusalem, grown considerably numerous, and deprived 
 of the ministry of the apostles, who were gone to instruct 
 the other nations, was the first which chose a president or 
 bishop ; and it is no less probable, that the other churches 
 foliowed by degrees such a respectable example. 
 
 XIJ. Let none, however, confound the bishops of this 
 primitive and golden period of the church with those of 
 whom we read in the following ages; for, though they 
 were both distinguished by the same name, yet they differ- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 Part Il 
 
 ed in many respects. A bishop during the first and second 
 century, was a person who had the care of one Christian as- 
 sembly, which, at that time was, generally speaking, small 
 enough to be contained in a private house. In this assem 
 bly he acted, not so much with the authority of a master, 
 as with the zeal and diligence of a faithful servant. He 
 instructed the people, performed the several parts of divine 
 worship, attended the sick, and inspected the circumStances 
 and supplies of the poor. He charged, indeed, the presby- 
 ters with the performance of those duties and services, 
 which the multiplicity of his engagements rendered it 
 impossible for him to fulfil; but he had not the power to 
 decide or enact any thing without the consent of the pres- 
 byters and people ; and, though the episcopal office was 
 both laborious and singularly dangerous, yet its revenues 
 were extremely small, since the church had no certain 
 income, but depended on the gifts or oblations of the mul- 
 titude, which were, no doubt, inconsiderable, and were 
 moreover to be divided among the bishops, presbyters, dea- 
 cons, and poor. 
 
 XI. The power and jurisdiction of the bishops were 
 not long confined to these narrow limits, but were soon 
 extended by the following means. The bishops, who lived 
 in the cities, had, either by their own ministry, or that of 
 their presbyters, erected new churches in the neighbouring 
 towns and villages. These churches, continuing under 
 the inspection and ministry of the bishops, by whose 
 labours and counsels they had been engaged to embrace 
 the Gospel, grew imperceptibly into ecclesiastical provin- 
 ces, which the Greeks afterwards called dioceses. But, as 
 the bishop of the city could not extend his labours and 
 inspection to all these churches in the country and in the 
 villages, he appointed certain suffragans or deputies to 
 govern and to instruct these new societies ; and they were 
 distinguished by the title of chorepiscopt, i. e. country 
 bishops. ‘This order held the middle rank between bishops 
 and presbyters. 
 
 XIV. The churches, in those early times, were entirely 
 independent, none of them being subject to any foreign ju- 
 risdiction, but each governed by its own rulers and its own 
 laws; for, though the churches founded by the apostles had 
 this particular deference shown to them, that they were con- 
 sulted in difficult and doubtful cases, yet they bad no ju- 
 ridical authority, no sort of supremacy over the others, nor 
 the least right to enact laws for them. Nothing, on the con- 
 trary, is more evident than the perfect equality that reigned 
 among the primitive churches; nor does there even appear, 
 in this first century, the smallest trace of that association of 
 
 The same rule of interpretation, that diversifies the sense of the word 
 presbyter (which, as all know, signifies sometimes the age of a person, 
 and, at other times his function,) is manifestly applicable to the words 
 nefore us. As, therefore, by the title of presbyters, the rulers of a society 
 are pointed out, without any regard to their ages, so, by the expression 
 young men, we are often to understand ministers, or servants, because 
 such are generally in the flower of youth. This interpretation may be 
 confirmed by examples taken from the New Testament. Christ himself 
 seems to attribute this sense to the word vedrepos, Luke xxii. 26. 6 pecfov 
 éy tyiv, yevéodw ds 6 vedrepos. He explains the term peifwv, by the word 
 fytpevos, and it therefore signifies a presbyter, or ruler; he also substi- 
 tutes, a little after, 6 dcaxovdy in the place of vecireoos, Which confirms our 
 interpretation in the most unanswerable manner: so that peiGoy and 
 vedrepos are not here indications of certain ages, but of certain functions, 
 and the precept of Christ amounts to this: “ Let not him who performs 
 the office of a presbyter or elder among you, think himself superior to 
 the ministers or deacons.” The passage of 1 Pet. v. 5, is still more 
 express to our purpose: ‘Opotus, vedrepnt, brordynre Tots mocoBvrépots. It 
 is evident from the preceding verses, that presbyter here is the name of 
 an office, ard points out a ruler or teacher of the church; and that the 
 
 term vecirepos is also to be interpreted, not a young man in point of age, 
 but a minister or servant of the church. St. Peter, having solemnly 
 exhorted the presbyters not to abuse the power that was committed to 
 them, addresses his discourse to the ministers: “But likewise, ye young- 
 er, 7. e€. deacons, despise not the orders of the presbyters or elders, but 
 perform cheerfully whatsoever they command you.” In the same sense 
 St. Luke exaploys this term, Acts v. 6, 10. and his vecrepor and veavicxot 
 are undoubtedly the deacons of the church of Jerusalem, of whom the 
 Greek Jews complain afterwards to the apostles, (Acts vi. 1, &c.) on 
 account of the partial distribution of the alms. I might confirm this 
 sense of the words young men, by numberless citations from Greek and 
 Roman writers, and a variety of authors, sacred and profane; but this is 
 not the proper place for demonstrations of this nature. 
 
 a Acts: vin laecc: 
 
 b For an ample acequnt of the deacons and deaconesses of the primitive 
 church, see Zeigler, de Diaconis et Diaconissis, cap, xix. p. 347—Ras- 
 nagii Annal. Polit. Eccles. ad an. xxxv. tom. i. p. 450.—Bingham, Orig. 
 Eccles. lib. ii. cap. xx. 
 
 ® Rey, ila. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 provincial churches, from which councils and metropoli- 
 tans derive their origin. It was only in the second century 
 that the ¢ istom of holding councils commenced in Greece, 
 whence it soon spread through the other provinces." 
 
 XV. The principal place among the Christian Doctors, 
 and among those also, who by their writings were instru- 
 mental in the progress of the truth, is due to the apostles 
 and some of their disciples, who were set apart and inspired 
 hy God, to record the actions of Christ and his apostles. 
 The writings of these holy men, which are comprehended 
 in the books of the New Testament, are in the hands of 
 all who profess themselves Christians. Those who are 
 desirous of particular information with respect to the 
 history of these sacred books, and the arguments which 
 prove their divine authority, their genuineness, and purity, 
 must consult the learned authors who have written pro- 
 fessedly upon that head.» 
 
 XVI. The opinions, or rather the conjectures of the 
 learned, concerning the time when the books of the New 
 ‘Testament were collected into one volume, as also about 
 the authors of that collection. are extremely different. 
 This important question is attended with great and almost 
 insuperable difficulties to us in these latter times.: It is, 
 however, sufficient for us to know, that, before the middle 
 of the second century, the greatest part of the books of the 
 New ‘Testament were read in every Christian society 
 throughout the world, and received asa divine rule of faith 
 and manners. Hence it appears, that these sacred writings 
 were carefully separated from several human compositions 
 upon the same subject, either by some of the apostles them- 
 selves, who lived so long, or by their disciples and succes- 
 sors. We are well assured,* that the four Gospels were 
 formed into a volume during the life of St. John, and that 
 the three first received the approbation of this divine apostle. 
 And why may we not suppose that the other books of the 
 New 'l'estament were collected at the same time? 
 
 XVII. What renders this highly probable is, that the 
 most urgent necessity required its being done; for, not 
 long after Christ’s ascension into heaven, several histories 
 
 * The meeting of the church of Jerusalem, mentioned in the xvth chap- 
 ter of the Acts, is commonly considered as the first Christian council. 
 But this notion arises from a manifest abuse of the word cowncil. That 
 meeting was only of one church; and, if such a meeting be called a 
 cowncil, it will follow that there were innumerable councils in the primi- 
 tive times. But, every oné knows, that a council is an assembly of 
 deputies, or commissioners, sent from several churches associated by 
 certain bonds in a general body, and therefore the supposition above 
 mentioned falls to the ground. : 
 
 » For the history of the bocks of the New Testament, see particularly 
 Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Biblioth. Grec. lib. iv. cap. v. p. 122—227. The 
 same learned author has given an accurate list of the writers, who have 
 defended the divinity of these sacred books, in his Delectus Argumento- 
 rum et it ag te Scriptorum pro verit. relig. Christiane, cap. xxvi. p. 502. 
 
 © See Jo. Ens, Bibliotheca 8. seu Diatriba de librorum N. 'T. Canone, 
 eigen at Amsterdam in 1710; as also Jo. Mill. Prolegomen. ad Nov. 
 
 » Test. sect. 1. 
 
 4 See Fricklus, de Cura Veteris Ecclesiz cirea Canon. cap. iii. 
 
 ¢ This is expressly affirmed by Eusebius, in the xxivth chapter of the 
 third book of his Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 f Such of these writings as are yet extant have been carefully collected 
 by Fabricius, in his Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. Many in- 
 bere es and learned observations have been made on these spurious 
 
 ooks by the celebrated Beausobre, in bis Histoire Critique des Dogmes 
 de Manichée. 
 
 © After Tillemont, Cotelerius and Grabe have given some accounts of 
 this great man; and all that has been said concerning him by the best 
 pnd most eredible writers, has been collected by Rondinini, in the 
 former of two books published at Rome, in 1706, under the following 
 ttle, Libri Duo de 8. Clemente, Papa, et Martyre, ejusque Basilica 
 in urbe Roma. 
 
 _h J. A. Fabricius, in the fourth book of his Bibliotheca Graca, men- 
 tions the editions that have been given of St. Clements’ epistles. To this 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT, &c. 
 
 23 
 
 of his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and fabulous 
 wonders, were composed by persons, whose intentions, 
 perhaps, were not bad, but whose writings discovered the 
 greatest superstition and ignorance. Nor was this all 
 productions appeared which were imposed upon the world 
 by fraudulent men, as the writings of the holy apostles.* 
 ‘These apocryphal and spurious writings must have produ- 
 ced asad confusion, and rendered both the history and the 
 doctrine of Christ uncertain, had not the rulers of the 
 church used all possible care and diligence in separating 
 the books that were truly apostolical and divine from all 
 that spurious trash, and conveying them down to posterity 
 in one volume. 
 
 XVIII. The writer, whose fame surpassed that of all 
 others in this century, the apostles excepted, was Clemens, 
 bishop of Rome. 'The accounts which remain of his life, 
 actions, and death, are for the most part uncertain. 'T'wo 
 Hpistles to the Corinthians," written in Greek, have been 
 attributed to him, of which the second is deemed spurious, 
 and the first genuine, by many learned writers.i But even 
 this stems to have been corrupted and interpolated by 
 some ignorant and presumptuous author, who appears to 
 have Leen displeased at observing a defect of learning and: 
 genius in the writings of so great a man as Clemens.* 
 
 XIX. The learned are now unanimous in regarding the 
 | other writings which bear the name of Clemens, viz. the 
 
 | Apostclic Caitons, the Apostolic Constitutions, the Recogni- 
 
 tions of Clemens and Clementina,! as spurious productions 
 ascribed by some impostor to this venerable prelate, in order 
 to procure them a high degree of authority.» The Apostoli- 
 cal Canons, which consist of eighty-five ecclesiastical laws, 
 contain a view of the church government and discipline re- 
 ceived among the Greek and oriental Christians in the 
 second and third centuries. The eight books of Apostolical 
 Constitutions are the work of some austere and melancholy 
 author, who, having taken it into his head to reform the 
 Christian worship, which he looked upon as degenerated 
 from its origimal purity, made no scruple to prefix to his 
 rules the names of the apostles, that thus they might be more 
 
 account we must add the edition published at Cambridge, in 1718, which 
 is preferable to the preceding ones in many respects. 
 
 34> i See the ample account that is given of these two Greek epistles of 
 Clemens, by Dr. Lardner, in the first volume of the second part of his 
 valuable work, entitled, the Credibility of the Gospel History. 
 
 k See J. Bapt. Cotelerii Patres Apost. tom.i.; and Bernardi Adnota- 
 tiuncule in Clementem, in the last edition of these fathers of the church, 
 published by Le Clere. The learned Wotton has endeavoured, though 
 without success, in his observations on the epistles of Clemens, to refute 
 the annotations above mentioned. 
 
 37> | Beside these writings attributed to Clemens, we may reckon two 
 epistles which the learned Wetstein found in a Syriac version of the 
 New Testament, which he took the pains to translate from Syriac into 
 Latin. He has subjoined both the original and the translation to his 
 famous edition of the Greek Testament, published in 1752; and the title 
 is as follows: “Duz Epistole 8. Clementis Romani, Discipuli Petri 
 Apostoli, quas ex Codice Manuscripto Novi Test. Syriaci nunc primwn 
 erutas, cum versione Latina adposita, edidit Jo. Jacobus Wetstenius.” 
 The manuscript of the Syriac version, whence these epistles were taken, 
 was procured by the good offices of Sir James Porter, a judicious patron 
 of literature, who, at that time, was British ambassador at Constantino- 
 ple. Their authenticity is boldly maintained by Wetstein, and learn- 
 edly opposed by Dr. Lardner. The celebrated professor Venema, of 
 Franeker, also considered them as spurious. See an account of his con- 
 troversy with Wetstein on that subject, in the Bibliothtque des Sciences 
 et des Beaux Arts, tom. ii. 
 
 ™ For an account of the fate of these writings, and the editions that 
 have been given of them, it will be proper to consult two dissertations of 
 the learned Ittigius; one, de Patribus oeatslaeis, which he has prefixed 
 to his Bibliotheca Patrum Apostolicorum ; and the other, de Pseudepi- 
 graphis Apostolicis, which he has subjoined to the Appendix of his booh 
 de Heresiarchis Avi Apostolici. See also Fabricius, Bibliotheca 
 
 | Greeca, lib. v. cap. i., and lib. vi. cap. i. 
 
24 
 
 speedily and favourably received. The Recognitions of 
 Clemens, which differ very little from the Clementina, 
 are the witty and agreeable productions of an Alexandrian 
 Jew, well versed in philosophy. They were written in 
 the third century, with a view of answering, in a new 
 manner, the objections of the Jews, philosophers, and 
 Gnostics, against the Christian religion; and the careful 
 perusal of them will be exceedingly useful to such as are 
 desirous of information with respect to the state of the 
 Christian church in the primitive times.> 
 
 XX. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, succeeds Clemens in 
 the list of the apostolic fathers, among whom were placed 
 such Christian doctors as had conversed with the apostles 
 themselves, or their disciples. This pious and venerable 
 man, who was the disciple and familiar friend of the apos- 
 tles, was, by the order of ‘Trajan, exposed to wild beasts in 
 the public theatre at Rome, where he suflered martyrdom 
 with the utmost fortitude.« There are yet extant several 
 epistles, attributed to him, concerning the authenticity of 
 which there have been, however, tedious and warm dis- 
 putes among the learned. Of these epistles, seven are 
 said to have been written by this eminent martyr, during 
 his journey from Antioch to Rome; and these. the majo- 
 rity of learned men acknowledge to be genuine, as they 
 stand in the edition that was published in the seventeenth 
 century, from a manuscript in the Medicean library. "The 
 others are generally rejected as spurious. As to my own 
 sentiments of this matter, though I am willing to adopt this 
 opinion as preferable to any other, I cannot help looking 
 upon the authenticity of the Epistle to Polycarp as ex- 
 tremely dubious, on account of the difference of style; and 
 ndeed, the whole question relating to the epistles of St. 
 Tgnatius in general, seems to me to labour under much 
 obscurity, and to be embarrassed with many difficulties. 
 
 XXI. The Epistle to the Philippians, which is ascribed 
 to Polycarp bishop of Smyrna, who, in the middle of the 
 second century, suffered martyrdom in a venerable and 
 advanced age, is considered by some as genuine; by others, 
 as spurious; and it is no easy matter to determine this 
 question. The Epistle of Barnabas was the production 
 of some Jew, who, most probably, lived in this century, 
 and whose mean abilities and superstitious attachment to 
 Jewish fables, show, notwithstanding the uprightness of 
 his intentions, that he must have been a very different 
 person from the true Barnabas, who was St. Paul’s com- 
 panion.£ The work which is entitled the Shepherd of 
 Hermas, because the angel, who bears the principal part 
 in it, is represented in the form and habit of a shepherd, 
 was composed in the second century by Hermas, who was 
 brother to Pius, bishop of Rome.s ‘This whimsical and 
 visionary writer has taken the liberty cf inventing several 
 dialogues or conversations between God and the angels, in 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il 
 
 order to insinuate, in a more easy and agreeable manner 
 the precepts which he thought useful and salutary, inte 
 the minds of his readers. But indeed, the discourse, 
 which he puts into the mouths of those celestial beings 
 is more insipid and senseless, than what we commonly 
 hear among the meanest of the multitude.* 
 
 XXII. We may here remark in general, that these 
 apostolic fathers, and the other writers, who, in the infan- 
 cy of the church, employed their pens in the cause of Chris- 
 tianity, were neither remarkable for their learning nor for 
 their eloquence. On the contrary, they express the most 
 pious and admirable sentiments in the plainest and most 
 illiterate style.i ‘This, indeed, is rather a matter of honour 
 than of reproach to the Christian cause, since we see, from 
 the conversion of a great part of mankind by the ministry 
 of weak and illiterate men, that the progress of Christiani- 
 ty is not to be attributed to human means but to a divine 
 power. 
 
 , 
 
 CHAPTER III ¥ 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church in 
 this Century. 
 
 I. Tar whole of the Christian religion is comprehended 
 in two great points, one of which regards what we are to 
 believe, and the other relates to our conduct and actions ; 
 or, in a shorter phrase, the Gospel presents to us objects of 
 faith and rules of practice. 'The apostles express the for- 
 mer by the term mystery, or the truth, and the latter by 
 that, of godliness, or piety. 'The rule and standard of 
 both are those books which contain the revelation that God 
 made of his will to persons chosen for that purpose, whether 
 before or after the birth of Christ ; and these divine books 
 are usually called the Old and New Testament. 
 
 IL. 'The apostles and their disciples took all possible care, 
 in the earliest times of the church, that these sacred books 
 might be in the hands of all Christians, that they might 
 be read and explained in the assemblies of the faithful, and 
 thus contribute, both in private and in public, to excite 
 and nourish in the minds of Christians a fervent zeal for 
 the truth, and a firm attachment to the ways of piety 
 and virtue. Those who performed the office of interpreters 
 studied above all things plainness and perspicuity. At the 
 same time it must be acknowledged, that, even in this cen- 
 tury, several Christians adopted the absurd and corrupt 
 custom, used among the Jews, of darkening the plain 
 words of the Holy Scriptures by insipid and forced allego- 
 ries, and of drawing them violently from. their proper and 
 natural meanings, in order to extort from them myste- 
 rious and hidden significations. For a proof of this, we 
 need go no farther than the Epistle of Barnabas, which is 
 yet extant. bs 
 
 * Buddeus has collected the various opinions of the learned concerning 
 the Apostolical Canons and Constitutions, in his Isagoge in Theologiam. 
 
 > See, for a full account of this work, Mosheim’s Dissertation, de tur- 
 kata per recentiores Platonicos Ecclesia, sect.34. #47 This Dissertation is 
 in the first volume of that learned work which our author published under 
 the title of Syntagma Dissertationum ad Historiam Ecclesiasticam per- 
 tinentium. 
 
 * See Tillemont’s Memoires pour servir 41’ Histoire de PEglise, tom. ii. 
 
 4 For an account of this controversy, it will be proper to consult the 
 Bibliotheca Greca of Fabricius, lib. v. cap. 1. 
 
 * For an account of this martyr, and of the epistle attributed to him, 
 see Tillemont’s Memoires, tom. ii., and Fabricii Biblioth. Greca, lib. v. 
 
 f See Tillemont’s Memoires, and Ittigius’ Select. Hist. Eccles. Capita, 
 see. 1. 
 
 ¢ This now appears with the utmost evidence from a very ancient 
 
 fragment of a small book, concerning the canon of the Scriptures, which 
 the learned Lud. Anton. Muratori published from an ancient manuscript 
 in the library at Milan, and which is to be found in the Antiq. Italic. 
 medii A‘vi, tom. iii. diss. xliil. 
 
 h We are indebted for the best edition of the Shepherd of Hermas, tc 
 Fabricius, who has added it to the third volume of his Codex Apocry- 
 phus N. Testamenti. We find also some account of this writer in the 
 Biblioth. Greea of the same learned author, book v. chap. ix., and alse 
 in [ttigius’ dissertation de Patribus Apostolicis, sect. 55. 
 
 i All the writers mentioned in this chapter are usually called apostolic 
 fathers. Of the works of these authors, Jo. Bapt. Cotelerius, and afte. 
 him Le Clere, have published a collection in two volumes, accompaniea 
 
 | with their own annotations, and the remarks of other learned men. 
 
 | kd Timi ovis” Titi 
 
Cuap. III. 
 
 IL. The method of teaching the sacred doctrines of reli- 
 gion was, at this time, most simple, far removed from all 
 the subtle rules of philosophy, and all the precepts of 
 human art.” This appears abundantly, not only in the 
 writings of the apostles, but also in all those of the second 
 century, which have survived the ruins of time. Neither 
 did the apostles, or their disciples, ever think of collecting 
 into a regular system the principal doctrines of the Chris- 
 tian religion, or of demonstrating them in a scientific and 
 geometrical order. ‘The beautiful and candid simplicity of 
 these early ages rendered such philosophical niceties un- 
 necessary ; and the great study of those who embraced the 
 Gospel was rather to express its divine influence in their 
 dispositions and actions, than to examine its doctrines with 
 an excessive curiosity, or to explain them by the rules of 
 human wisdom. 
 
 IV. There is extant, indesd, a brief summary of the 
 principal doctrines of Chri istianity in that form which 
 bears the name of the Apostles’ Creed, and which, from 
 the fourth century downwards, was almost generally con- 
 sidered as a production of the apostles. 
 have the least knowledge of antiquity, look upon this opi- 
 nion as entirely false, and destitute of all foundation.* 
 There is much more reason in the opinion of those who 
 think, that this creed was not all composed at once, but, 
 from small beginnings, was imperceptibly augmented in 
 proportion to the growth of heresy, and according to the 
 exigencies and circumstances of the church, from which 
 it was designed to banish the errors that daily arose.» 
 
 V. In the earliest times of the church, all who professed 
 firmly to believe that Jesus was the only Redeemer of the 
 world, and who in consequence of this profession, promised 
 to live in a manner conformable to the purity of his holy 
 religion, were immediately received among the disciples of 
 Christ. This was all the preparation for baptism then 
 required ; and a more accurate instruction in the doctrines 
 of Christianity was to be administered to them after their 
 reception of that sacrament. But, when Christianity had 
 acquired more consistence, and churches rose’to the true 
 God and his eternal Son, almost in every nation, this 
 custom was changed for the wisest and most solid reasons. 
 Then baptism was administered to none but such as had 
 been previously instructed in the principal points of Chris- 
 tianity, and had also given satisfactory proofs of pious dis- 
 positions and upright intentions. Hence arose the distinc- 
 tion between catechumens, who were in a state of proba- 
 tion, and under the instruction of persons appointed for 
 that purpose; and believers, who were consecrated by 
 baptism, and thus initiated into all the mysteries of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 VI. The methodsof instructing the catechumens differed 
 according to their various capacities. To those, in whom 
 the natural force of reason was small, only the fundamen- 
 tal principles and truths, which are, as it were, the basis of 
 
 * See Buddei Isagoge ad Theologium, lib. i. cap, il. sect. 2. p. 441, as 
 also Walchii Introductio i in libros Symbolicos, lib. 1, cap. ii. p. 87. 
 
 » This opinion is confirmed in the most learned and ingenious manner 
 by Sir Peter King, in his history of the Apostles’ Creed. Such, how- 
 ever, as read this valuable work with pleasure, and with a certain degree 
 of prepossession, would do well to consider that its author, upon several 
 occasions, has given us conjectures instead of proofs; and also, that his 
 conjectures are not always so happy as justly to command our assent. 
 
 -© 2 Tim. ii. 2. 
 
 4 Trenus, adv. Heres. lib. ii. cap. xxii. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. 
 CAP _XX. 
 
 Z¢p* The Alexandrian School was renowned for a succession of learned 
 
 No. III. 7 
 
 All, however, who | 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE 
 
 | 
 
 CHURCH. 25 
 Christianity, were taught. Those, on the contrary, whoin 
 their imstructors judged capable of compre hending, in 
 some measure, the whole system of divine truth, were fur- 
 nished with superior degrees of know ledge; and nothing 
 was concealed from them, which could have any tendency 
 to render them firm in their profession, and to assist them 
 in arriving at Christian perfection. ‘I'he care of instruct- 
 ing such was committed to persons who were distinguish- 
 ed by their gravity and wisdom, and also by their learning 
 and judgment. Hetice the ancient doctors genet rally div ide 
 their flock into two classes ; the one compre hending such 
 as were solidly and thoroughly instructed; the other, those 
 who were acquainted with litile more than the first princi- 
 ples of religion; nor do they deny that the methods of 
 instruction applied to these two sorts of persons were ex- 
 tremely different. 
 
 VU. The Christians took all possible care to accustom 
 their children to the study of the Scriptures, and to instruct 
 them in the doctrines of their holy religion; and schools 
 were every where erected for this purpose, even from the 
 very commencement of the Christian church. We must 
 not, however, confound the schools designed only for child- 
 ren, with the gymnasia or academies of the ancient Chris- 
 tians, erected in several large cities, in which persons of 
 riper years, especially such as aspired to be public teachers, 
 were instructed in the different branches, both of human 
 learning and of sacred erudition. We may, undoubtedly, 
 attribute to the apostles themselves, and to ‘the ee 
 given to their disciples, the excellent establishments, 
 which the youth destined to the holy ministry received an 
 education suitable to the solemn office they were to under- 
 take.c St. John erected a school of this kind at Ephesus, 
 and one of the same nature was founded by Polycarp at 
 Smyrna:4 but these were not in greater repute than that 
 which was established at Alexandria,s commonly called 
 the catechetical school, and generally supposed to have 
 been erected by St. Mark.‘ 
 
 VIII. 'The ancient Christians are supposed by many to 
 have had a secret doctrine; and if by this be meant, that 
 they did not teach all in the same manner, or reveal all at 
 once, and to all indiscriminately, the sublime mysteries of 
 religion, there is nothing in this that may not be fully jus- 
 tified. It would have been i improper, for example, to pro- 
 pose to those who were yet to be converted to Christianity, 
 the more difficult doctrines of the Gospel, which surpass 
 the comprehension of imperfect mortals. Such were, there- 
 fore, first instructed in those points which are more obvious 
 and plain, until they became capable of higher and more 
 difficult attainments in religious knowledge. And even 
 those who were already admitted into the society of Chris- 
 tians, were, in point of instruction, differently dealt with 
 according to their respective capacities. ‘Those who con- 
 sider the secret doctrine of this century in any other light, 
 or give to it a greater extent than what we have here attri- 
 
 doctors, as we find by the accounts of Eusebius and St. Jerom ; for, after 
 St. Mark, Pantenus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and many othe rs, 
 taught in it the doctrines of the Gospel, and rendered it a famous semina- 
 ry for Christian philosophy and religious knowledge. There were also 
 at Rome, Antioch, Cesarea, Edessa, and in several other cities, schools 
 of the same nature, though not all of equal reputation. 
 
 f See the dissertation of Sc hmidius, de Schola Catecheticé Alexan- 
 drina; as also Aulisius, delle Scuole Sacre, book ii. ch. i. ii. xxi. The 
 curious reader will find’a learned account of the more famous Christian 
 schools in the eastern parts, at Edessa, Nisibis, and Seleucia; and, indeed 
 of the ancient schools in general, in Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Cle 
 ment. Vaticane, tom. lil. par. Ul, 
 
26 
 
 buted to it, confound the superstitious practices of the fol- 
 lowing ages, with the simplicity of that discipline which 
 prevailed at the time of which we write.* 
 
 LX. The lives and manners of the Christians in this 
 century are highly celebrated by most authors, and recom- 
 mended to succeeding generations as unspotted models 
 of piety and virtue ; and, if these encomiums be confined 
 to the greater part of those who embraced Christianity im 
 the infancy of the church, they are certainly distributed 
 with justice: but many run into extremes upon this head, 
 and, estimating the lives and manners of ai! by the illus- 
 trious examples of some eminent saints, or the sublime pre- 
 cepts and exhortations of certain pious doctors, fondly ima- 
 gine, that every appearance of vice and disorder was ban- 
 ished from the first Christian societies. ‘The gieatest part 
 of those authors who have treated of the innocence and 
 sanctity of the primitive Christians, have fallen into this 
 error; and a gross error indeed it is, as the strongest testi- 
 monies too evidently prove. 
 
 X. One of the circumstances which contributed chiefly 
 to preserve, at least, an external appearance of sanctity in 
 the Christian church, was the right of excluding from it, 
 and from all participation of the sacred rites and ordinan- 
 ces of the Gospel, such as had been guilty of enormous 
 transgressions, and to whom repeated exhortations to re- 
 pentance and amendment had been administered in vain. 
 This right was vested in the church from the earliest 
 period of its existence, by the apostles themselves, and was 
 exercised by each Christian assembly upon its respective 
 members. The rulers, or doctors, denounced the per- 
 sons whom they thought unworthy of the privileges of 
 church communion; and the people, freely approving or 
 rejecting their judgment, pronounced the decisive sentence. 
 It was not, however, irrevocable; for such as gave un- 
 doubted signs of their sincere repentance, and declared 
 their solemn resolutions of future reformation, were re-ad- 
 mitted into the church, however enormous their crimes 
 had been; but, in case of a relapse, their second exclusion 
 became absolutely irreversible.° 
 
 XI. It will easily be imagined, that unity and peace 
 could not reign long in the church, since it was composed 
 of Jews and Gentiles, who regarded each other with the 
 bitterest aversion. Besides, as the converts to Christianity 
 could not extirpate radically the prejudices which had 
 been formed in their minds by education, and confirmed 
 by time, they brought with them into the bosom of the 
 church more or less of the errors of their former religion. 
 Thus the seeds of discord and controversy were early 
 sown, and could not fail to spring up soon into animosities 
 and dissensions, which accordingly broke out, and divided 
 the church. 'The first of these controversies arose in the 
 church of Antioch. It regarded the necessity of observ- 
 ing the law of Moses; and its issue is mentioned by St. 
 Luke in the Acts of the Apostles... This controversy was 
 followed by many others, either with the Jews, who were 
 violently attached to the worship of their ancestors, or with 
 the votaries of a wild and fanatical sort of philosophy, or 
 with such as, mistaking the true genius of the Christian 
 religion, abused it monstrously to the encouragement of 
 
 ® Many learned observations upon the secret discipline have been col- 
 sected by the celebrated Christoph. Matt. Pfaffius, in his Dissert. poster. 
 de Prejudiciis Theolog. sect. 13, p. 149, &c. in Primitiis Tubingensibus. 
 » See Morinus, Comm, de Disciplina Peenitentiz, lib. ix. cap. xix. p. 
 
 €70. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 } 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 their vices, and the indulgence of their appetites and pas- 
 sions. St. Paul and the other apostles have, in several 
 places of their writings, mentioned these controversies, 
 but with such brevity, that it is difficult, at this distance of 
 time, to discover the true state of the question in these 
 various disputes. 
 
 XI. The most weighty and important of all these 
 controversies, was that which some Jewish doctors raised 
 at Rome, and in other Christian churches, concerning the 
 means of justification and acceptance with God, and the 
 method of salvation pointed out in the word of God. The 
 apostles, wherever they exercised their ministry, had con- 
 stantly declared all hopes of acceptance and salvation delu- 
 sive, except such as were founded on Jesus the Redeemer, 
 and his all-sufficient snerits, while the Jewish doctors 
 maintained the works of the law to be the true efficient 
 cause of the soul’s eternal salvation and felicity. 'The 
 latter sentiment not only led to other errors prejudicial to 
 Christianity, but was particularly injuricus to the glory of 
 its divimme Author ; for those who looked upon a course of 
 life conformable to the law, as a meritorious title to eternal 
 happiness, could not consider Christ as the Son of God, 
 and the Saviour of mankind, but only as an eminent 
 prophet, or a divine messenger, sent from above to enlight- 
 en and instruct a darkened world. It is not, therefore, 
 surprising, that St. Paul took so much pains in his Hpistle 
 to the Romans, and in his other writings, to extirpate such 
 a pernicious and capital error. 
 
 XU. The controversy that had been raised concern- 
 ing the necessity of observing the ceremonies of the Mo- 
 saic law, was determined by the apostles in the wisest and 
 most prudent manner.* ‘Their authority, however, respec- 
 table as it was, had not its full effect ; for the prejudices, 
 which the Jews, especially those who lived in Palestine, 
 entertained in favour of the Mosaic law and their ancient 
 worship, were so deeply rooted in their minds, that they 
 could not be thoroughly removed. 'The force of these pre- 
 judices was indeed, somewhat diminished after the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem and the ruin of the temple, but not 
 entirely destroyed. And hence, as we shall see in its 
 place, a part of the judaizing Christians separated them- 
 selves from the rest, and formed a particular sect, distin- 
 guished by their adherence to the law of Moses. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tse Christian religion was singularly commendable 
 on account of its beautiful and divine simplicity, which 
 appears from its two great and fundamental principles— 
 faith and charity. This simplicity was not, however, 
 incompatible with external ceremonies and positive insti- 
 tutions, which, indeed, are necessary, in this imperfect 
 state, to keep alive a sense of religion in the minds of men. 
 The rites instituted by Christ himself were only two in 
 number; and these were intended to continue to the end 
 of the church here below, without any variation. ‘These 
 rites were baptism and the holy supper, which are not to 
 
 ¢ Chap. xv. 
 4 See, for an illustration of these points, Witsius’ Missellanea Sacra, 
 tom. ii. Exercit. xx. xxi. xxil. p. 668., and also Camp. Vitringa, Obs2rv, 
 Sacre, lib. iv., cap. ix. x. x1, p. 952. 
 ° Acts xv. 
 
 id 
 
Crap. TY. 
 
 be considered as mere ceremonies, nor yet as symbolic 
 representations only, but also as ordinances accompanied 
 with a sanctifying influence upon the heart and the affec- 
 tions of true Christians. And we cannot help observing 
 here, that since the divine Saviour thought fit to appoint 
 no more than two plain institutions in his church, this 
 shows us that a great number of ceremonies are not essen- 
 tial to his religion, and that he left it to the free and pru- 
 dent choice of Christians to establish such rites as the cir- 
 cumstances of the times, or the exigencies of the church, 
 might require. 
 
 II. There are several circumstances, however, which 
 incline us to think, that the friends and apostles of our 
 blessed Lord either tolerated through necessity, or appoint- 
 ed for wise reasons, many other external rites in various 
 places. At the same time, we are not to imagine that they 
 ever conferred upon any person a’perpetual, indelible, pon- 
 tifical authority, or that they enjoined the same rites in all 
 churches. We learn on the contrary, from authentic 
 records, that the Christian worship was, from the begin- 
 ing, celebrated in a different manner in different places, 
 undoubtedly by the orders, or at least with the approbation 
 of the apostles and their disciples. In those early times it 
 was both wise and necessary to show, in the establishment 
 of outward forms of worship, some indulgence to the an- 
 cient opinions, manners, and laws of the respective nations 
 to which the Gospel was preached. 
 
 IIL. Hence it follows that the opinion of those who 
 maintain that the Jewish rites were adopted every where, 
 in the Christian churches, by order of the apostles, or their 
 disciples, is destitute of all foundation. In those Christian 
 societies, which were totally or principally composed of 
 Jewish converts, it was natural to retain as much of the 
 Jewish ritual as the genius of Christianity would suffer ; 
 and a multitude of examples testify that this was actually 
 done. But that the same translation of Jewish rites should 
 take place in Christian churches, where there were no 
 Jews, or a very small and inconsiderable number, is utter- 
 ly incredible, because such an event was morally impossi- 
 ble. In a word, the external forms of worship used in 
 ancient times, must necessarily have been regulated and 
 modified according to the character, genius, and manners 
 of the different nations on which the light of the Gospel 
 arose. 
 
 IV. Since then there was such a variety in the ritual 
 and discipline of the primitive churches, it must be very 
 difficult to give such an account of the worship, manners, 
 and institutions, of the ancient Christians, as will agree 
 with what was practised in all those countries where the 
 Gospel flourished. ‘here are, notwithstanding, certain 
 laws, whose authority and obligation were universal and 
 indispensable among Christians; and of these we shall 
 
 * Phil. Jac. Hartmannus, de rebus gestis Christianorum sub Apostolis, 
 cap. xv. p. 387. Just. Hen. Bohmer, Dissert. 1. Juris Eccles. Antiqui 
 de stato die Christianor. p. 20, &. 
 
 > Steph. Curcellazus, Diatriba de Esu Sanguinis, Operum Theolog. p. 
 958. Gab. Albaspinzeus, Observat. Eccles. lib. i. Observ. xill. It is in 
 vain that many learned men have laboured to prove, that, in all the pri- 
 mitive churches, both the first and last day of the week were observed as 
 festivals. 'The churches of Bithynia, of which Pliny speaks in his let- 
 ter to Trajan, had only one stated day for the celebration of public 
 worship; and that was, undoubtedly, the first day of the week, or what 
 we call the Lord’s day. 
 
 * There are, it is true, learned men, who look upon it as a doubtful 
 matter whether the day of Pentecost was celebrated as a festival so early 
 asthe first century. See Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian Church, 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 27 
 
 | here give a brief account. All Christians were unanimous 
 in setting apart the first day of the week, on which the 
 triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn 
 celebration of public worship. This pious custom, which 
 was derived from the example of the church of Jerusalem, 
 was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles, 
 who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose, 
 and was observed universally throughout the Christian 
 churches, as appears from the united testimonies of the 
 most credible writers. The seventh day of the week 
 was also observed as a festival,” not by the Christians in 
 general, but by such churches only as were principally 
 composed of Jewish converts; nor did the other Chris- 
 tians censure this custom as criminal or unlawful. It 
 appears, moreover, that all the Christian churches observed 
 two great anniversary festivals; one in memory of Christ’s 
 glorious resurrection, and the other to commemorate the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles... To these 
 we may add the days on which the blessed martyrs laid 
 down their lives for the truth, which days were probably 
 dignified with particular solemnities and marks of venera- 
 tion from the earliest times. 
 
 V. ‘The places in which the first Christians assembled 
 to celebrate divine worship, were, no doubt, the houses of 
 private persons. But, in process of time, it became neces- 
 sary, that these sacred assemblies should be confined to 
 one fixed place in which the books, tables, and desks, 
 required in divine service, might be constantly kept, and 
 the dangers avoided, which in those perilous times, attend- 
 ed their transportation from one place to another. And 
 then, probably, the places of meeting, that had formerly 
 belonged to private persons, became the property of the 
 whole Christian community. These few remarks are, 
 in my opinion, sufficient to determine that question, which 
 has been so long, and so tediously debated,—whether the 
 first Christians had churches or not ;* since if any are 
 pleased to give the name of church to a house, or the part 
 of a house, which, though appointed as the place of reli- 
 gious worship, was neither separated from common use, 
 nor considered as holy in the opinion of the people, it will 
 be readily granted, that the most ancient Christians had 
 churches. 
 
 VI. in these assemblies the holy scriptures were public- 
 ly read, and for that purpose were divided into certain por- 
 tions or lessons. ‘This part of divine service was follow- 
 ed by a brief exhortation to the people, in which elo- 
 quence and art gave place to the natural and fervent ex- 
 pression of zeal and charity. If any declared themselves 
 extraordinarily animated by the Spirit, they were permitted 
 toexplain successively the divine will, while the other 
 prophets who were present decided how much weight and 
 authority were to be attributed to what they said... The 
 
 book xx. chap. vi. But, notwithstanding this, there are some weighty 
 reasons for believing that this festival was as ancient as that of Easter, 
 which was celebrated, as all agree, from the very first rise of the church. 
 It is also probable that Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion, was early 
 distinguished by particular honours from the other days of the week. 
 See Jac. Godofred, in Codicem Theodosii, tom. i. Asseman. Biblioth. 
 Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. v. 
 a See Camp. Vitringa, de Synagoga vetere, lib. i. par. ili. cap. 1. p. 
 
 * See Blondel, de Episcopis et Presbyteris, sect. iii. p. 216, 243, 246. 
 Just. Hen. Bohmer, Dissert. ii. Juris Eccles. Antiqui, de Antelucanis 
 Christianorum Ceetibus, sect. 4. Bingham’s Antiquities of the Chrisuan 
 Church, book viii. chap. i, 
 
 { 1 Cor. xiv. 6, 
 
28 
 
 prayers, which formed a considerable part of the public 
 worship, were introduced at the conclusion of these dis- 
 courses, and were repeated by the people after the bishop or 
 presbyter, who presided in the services 'T'o these were 
 added certain hymns, which were sung, not by the whole 
 assembly, but by persons appointed for that purpose, during 
 the celebration of the Lord’s supper, and the feasts of cha- 
 rity. Such were the essential parts of divine worship 
 which were observed in all Christian churches, though, 
 perhaps the method and order in which they were per- 
 formed were not the same in all. 
 
 VIL. The prayers of the first Christians were followed 
 by oblations of bread, wine, and other things; and hence 
 both the ministers of the church and the poor, derived 
 their subsistence. Every Christian, who was in an opu- 
 lent condition, and indeed every one, according to his cir- 
 cumstances, brought gifts and offered them, as it were, to 
 the Lord.: Of the bread and wine presented in these offer- 
 ings, such a quantity was separated from the rest as was 
 required in the administration of the Lord’s supper ; this 
 was consecrated by certain prayers pronounced by the 
 bishop alone, to which the people assented, by saying 
 Amen.‘ The holy supper was distributed by the deacons ; 
 and this sacred institution was followed by sober repasts, 
 denominated (from the excellent purpose to which they were 
 directed,) agape, or feasts of charity. Many attempts have 
 been made to fix precisely the nature of these social feasts. 
 But here it must be again considered, that the rites and cus- 
 toms of the primitive Christians were very different in differ- 
 ent countries, and that consequently these feasts, like other 
 institutions, were not every where celebrated in the same 
 manner. ‘This is the true and only way of explaining 
 all the difficulties that can arise upon this subject. 
 
 VI. The sacrament of baptism was administered in 
 this century, without the public assemblies, in places ap- 
 pointed and prepared for that purpose, and was performed 
 by an immersion of the whole body in the baptismal font.‘ 
 At first it was usual for all who laboured in the propagation 
 of the Gospel, to be present at that solemn ceremony ; and 
 it was also customary, that the converts should be baptized 
 and received into the church by those under whose minis- 
 try they had embraced the Christian doctrine. But this 
 custom was soon changed. When the churches were well 
 established, and governed by a system of fixed laws, then 
 the right of baptizing the converts was vested in the bishop 
 alone. ‘This right, indeed, he conferred upon the presby- 
 ters and the chorepiscopi (country bishops,) when the 
 bounds of the church were still farther enlarged ; reserving, 
 however, to himself the confirmation of that baptism which 
 was administered by a presbyter. There were, doubtless, 
 
 ® See Justin Martyr’s second Apology, p. 98, &c. 
 
 b This must be understood of churches well established, and regulated 
 py fixed laws ; for, in the first Christian assemblies, which were yet in 
 an imperfect and fluctuating state, one or other of these circumstances of 
 divine worship may possibly have been omitted. 
 
 ° See the dissertations of the vencrable and learned Pfaff, de Oblatione 
 et Consecratione Eucharisticé, which are contained in his Syntagma 
 Dissertation. Theologic. published at Stutzard in 1720. 
 
 4 Justin Martyr, Apologia secunda. The several authors who have 
 mvestizated the manner of celebrating the Lord’s supper, are mentioned 
 oy Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Bibliograph. Antiquar. cap. xi. 
 
 * The authors who have described the agape are mentioned by Ittigius, 
 n his Selecta Historie Eccles. Capita, Sac. ii. cap. ili.; and also by 
 Pfatf, de Originibus Juris Eccles. p. 68. 
 
 f See the learned dissertation of Jo. Gerard Vossius concerning bap- 
 tism, Disp. i. Thes. vi. p. 31, &e. The reader will also find, in the xith 
 chapter and xxvth section of the Bibliogr. Antiquar. of Fabricius, an 
 account of the authors who have written upon this subject. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 several circumstantial ceremonies observed in the adminis- 
 tration of this sacrament for the sake of order and decency. 
 Of these, however, it is not easy, nor perhaps is it possible 
 to give a certain or satisfactory account, since, on this sub- 
 ject we are too much exposed to the illusion which arises 
 from confounding the customs of the primitive times with 
 those of succeeding ages. 
 
 IX. Persons who were visited with violent or dangerous 
 disorders, sent, according to the apostle’s direction," for the 
 rulers of the church, and, after confessing their sins, were 
 recommended by them to the divine mercy, in prayers full 
 of piety and fervor, and were also anointed with oil. "This 
 rite has occasioned many debates, and, indeed, they must 
 be endless, since the silence of the ancient writers upon 
 that head renders it impossible to decide the matter with 
 certainty. "The anointing of the sick is very rarely men- 
 tioned in the ancient records of the church, though there is 
 no reason to doubt that it was an universal custom among 
 Christians.i 
 
 X. Neither Christ nor his apostles enacted any law con- 
 cerning fasting. A custom, however, prevailed among 
 many Christians, of joining abstinence with their prayers, 
 especially when they were engaged in affairs of extraor- 
 dinary importance.* As this custom was authorized by 
 no public law, the time that was to be employed in these 
 acts of abstinence was left to every one’s private judgment; 
 nor were those looked wpon as criminal, who contented 
 themselves with observing the rules of strict temperance, 
 without going farther.! In the most ancient times we find 
 no mention of any public and solemn fasts, except on the 
 anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion. But, in process of time, 
 days of fasting were gradually introduced, first by custom, 
 and afterwards by positive appointment, though it is not cer- 
 tain what those days were, or whether they were observed 
 in the first century. "Those, however, who affirm, that in 
 the time of the apostles, or soon after, the fourth and sixth 
 days of the week were observed as fasts, are not, it must 
 be acknowledged, destitute of specious arguments in favour 
 of their opinion.” 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies which troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tre Christian church was scarcely formed, when, in 
 different places, there started up certain pretended reform- 
 ers, Who, not satisfied with the simplicity of that religion 
 which was taught by the apostles, meditated changes of 
 doctrine and worship, and set up a new religion, drawn 
 from their own licentious imaginations. This we learn 
 
 & These observations will illustrate, and, perhaps, decide the question 
 concerning the right of administering baptism, which has been so long 
 debated among the learned, and with such ardour and vehemence. See 
 Bohmer, Dissert. xi. Juris Eccles. p. 500; and also Le Clerc, Biblioth. 
 Universelle et Historique, tom. iv. p. 92. 
 
 h James vy. 14. 
 
 i The accounts which the ancient authors have given of this custom 
 are the most of them collected in a treatise published by Launoy, de 
 Sacramentis Unctionis infirmorum, cap. 1. p. 444. in the first volume of 
 his works. Among these accounts there are very few drawn from the 
 writers of the first ages, and some passages applicable to this subject 
 have been omitted by that learned author. 
 
 k 1 Cor. vi. 5. 
 1 See the Shepherd of Hermas, book iii. Similitud. v. 
 
 _™ See Beverege’s Vindication of the Canon, in the second volume of 
 his edition of the Apostolic Fathers. 
 
Crap. VY. 
 
 from the writings of the apostles, and particularly from the 
 epistles of St. Paul, where we find, that some were inclined 
 to force the doctrines of Christianity into a conformity with 
 the philosophical systems they had adopted,* while others 
 were as studious to blend with these doctrines the opinions, 
 customs, and traditions of the Jews. | Several of these are 
 mentioned by the apostles, such as Hymenzus, Alexander, 
 Philetus, Hermogenes, Demas, and Diotrephes ; though 
 the four last are rather to be considered as apostates from 
 the truth, than as corrupters of it.» 
 
 If. The influence of these new teachers was at first 
 inconsiderable. During the lives of the apostles, their 
 attempts toward the perversion of Christianity were at- 
 tended with little success, and they had a very small 
 number of followers. ‘They, however, acquired credit and 
 strength by degrees ; and, even from the first dawn of the 
 Gospel, imperceptibly laid the foundations of those sects, 
 whose animosities and disputes produced afterwards such 
 trouble and perplexity in the Christian church. ‘The true 
 state of these divisions is more involved in darkness than 
 
 any other part of ecclesiastical history ; and this obscurity | 
 
 proceeds, partly from the want of ancient records, partly 
 from the abstruse and unintelligible nature of the doctrines 
 that distinguished these various sects; and, finally, from the 
 ignorance and prejudices of those, who have transmitted to 
 us the accounts of them, which are yet extant. Of one 
 thing, indeed, we are certain, and that is, that the greater 
 part of these doctrines were chimerical and extravagant in 
 
 the highest degree; and, far from containing any thing that | 
 
 could recommend them to a lover of truth, they rather de- 
 serve to occupy a place in the history of human delusion 
 and folly.< 
 
 III. Among the various sects that troubled the tranquil- 
 lity of the Christian church, the leading one was that of the 
 Gnostics. ‘These enthusiastic and self-sufficient philoso- 
 phers boasted of their being able to restore mankind to the 
 knowledge (gnosis) of the true and Supreme Being, which 
 had been lost in the world. They also foretold the ap- 
 proaching defeat of the evil principle, to whom they attri- 
 buted the creation of this globe, and declared, in the most 
 pompous terms, the destruction of his associates, and the 
 ruin of his empire. An opinion has prevailed, derived 
 from the authority of Clemens the Alexandrian, that the 
 first appearance of the Gnostic sect is to be dated after the 
 death of the apostles, and placed in the reign of the empe- 
 ror Adrian ; and it is also alleged, that, before this time, 
 ‘he church enjoyed a perfect tranquillity, undisturbed by 
 dissensions, or sects of any kind. But the smallest degree 
 of attention to the language of the Scriptures, not to men- 
 ‘ion the authority of other ancient records, will prevent us 
 from adopting this groundless notion. For, from several 
 passages of the sacred writings,‘ it evidently appears, that, 
 even in the first century, the general Christian meeting 
 was deserted, and separate assemblies were formed in seve- 
 ral places, by persons infected with the Gnostic heresy ; 
 
 *1 Tim. vi. 20. 1 Tim.i.3,4. Tit. iii.9. Col. ii. 8. 
 
 _>2 Tim. ii. 18; and in other places. See also the accurate accounts 
 given of these men by Vitringa, Observ. Sacr. lib. iv. cap. ix. p. 952. 
 Jitigius, de Heresiarchis ASvi Apostol. sect. i. cap. viii. Buddeus, de 
 
 ‘5 ) 
 Ecclesia Apostolica, eap. v. 
 
 * Certain authors have written professedly of the sects that divided the 
 church in this, and the following century, such as Ittigius, in his treatise 
 de Heresiarchis Avi Apostolici et Apostolico proximi, and also in the 
 Appendix to the same work ; Renatus Massuet, in his Dissertations pre- 
 fixed to Ircnezus, and Tillemont, in his Memoires pour servir a ’His- 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 29 
 
 though, at the same time, it must be acknowledged, that 
 this pernicious sect was not conspicuous, either for its 
 number, or its reputation, before the time of Adrian. — It 
 is proper to observe here, that, under the general appellation 
 of Gnostics, are comprehended all those who, in the first 
 ages of Christianity, corrupted the doctrine of the Gospel 
 by a profane mixture of the tenets of the oriental philoso- 
 phy (concerning the origin of evil and the creation of the 
 world,) with its divine truths. 
 
 IV. It was from this oriental philosophy, of which the 
 leading principles have been already mentioned, that the 
 Christian Gnostics derived their origin. — If it was one of 
 the chief tenets of this philosophy, that rational souls were 
 imprisoned in corrupt matter, contrary to the will of the 
 Supreme Deity, there were, however, in this same system, 
 other doctrines which promised a deliverance from this 
 deplorable state of servitude and darkness. ‘The oriental 
 sages expected the arrival of an extraordinary messenger 
 of the Most High upon earth ; a messenger invested with 
 a divine authority, endowed with the most eminent sanc- 
 tity and wisdom, and peculiarly commissioned to enlight- 
 en, with the knowledge of the Supreme Being, the dark- 
 ened minds of miserable mortals, and to deliver them 
 from the chains of the tyrants, and usurpers of this world. 
 When, therefore, some of these philosophers perceived that 
 Christ and his followers wrought miracles of the most 
 amazing kind and also of the most salutary nature to 
 mankind, they were easily induced to believe that he was 
 the great Messenger expected from above, to deliver men 
 from the power of the malignant g e777, or spirits, to which, 
 according to their doctrine, the world was subjected, and 
 to free their souls from the dominion of corrupt matter— 
 This supposition once admitted, they interpreted, or rather 
 corrupted, all the precepts and doctrines of Christ and his 
 apostles, in such a manner as to reconcile them with their 
 own pernicious tenets. 
 
 V. From the false principle above menticnéd, arose, as 
 it Was natural to expect, a multitude of sentiments and 
 notions, most remote from the tenor of the gospel doc- 
 trines, and the nature of its precepts. |'Uhe Gnostic doc- 
 trine, concerning the creation of the world by one or more 
 inferior beings, of an evil, or, at least, of an imperfect na- 
 ture, led that sect to deny the divine authority of the 
 books of the Old Testament, whose accounts of the origin 
 of things so palpably contradicted this idle fiction. 
 Through a frantic aversion to these sacred books, they 
 lavished their encomiums upon the serpent, the first au- 
 thor of sin, and held in veneration some of the most impious 
 and profligate persons of whom mention is made in sacred 
 history. "The pernicious influence of their fundamental 
 
 principle carried them to all sorts of extravagance, filled 
 
 them with an abhorrence of Moses and the religion he 
 taught, and induced them to assert, that in imposing such a 
 system of disagreeable and severe laws upon the Jews, he 
 was only actuated by the malignant author of this world, 
 
 toire de l’Eglise. But these authors, and others whom we shall not 
 mention, have rather collected the materials from which a history of the 
 ancient sects may be composed, than written their history. Hinckel- 
 man, Thomasius, Dodwell, Horbius, and Basnage, have some of them 
 promised, others of them attempted such a history ; but none of them 
 finished this useful design. It is therefore to be wished that some emi- 
 nent writer, who, with a competent knowledge of ancient philosophy 
 and literature, also possesses a penetrating and unbiassed judgment, 
 would undertake this difficult but interesting work. 
 
 41 John ii. 18, 1 Tim. vi. 20. Col. ii. & 
 
30 
 
 who consulted his own glory and authority, and not the 
 real advantage of men. Their persuasion that evil resided 
 in matter, as its centre and source, prevented their treating 
 the body with the regard that is due to it, rendered them 
 unfavourable to wedlock, as the means by which corporeal 
 
 beings are multiplied, and led them to reject the doctrine || 
 
 of the resurrection of the body, and its future re-union with 
 the immortal spirit. 'Their notion that malevolent genii 
 presided in nature, and that from them proceeded all 
 diseases and calamities, wars and desolations, induced 
 them to apply themselves to the study of magic, to weaken 
 the powers cr suspend the influences of these malignant 
 agents. I omit the mention of several other extravagan- 
 
 ces in their system, the enumeration of which would be | 
 | others boasted of their having drawn these opinions from 
 
 incompatible with the character of a compendious history. 
 
 VI. The notions of this sect concerning Jesus Christ 
 were impious and extravagant. For, though they cons!- 
 dered him as the Son of the Supreme God, sent from the 
 pleroma, or habitation of the Everlasting Father, for the 
 bia abitioes of miserable mortals, yet they” entertained un- 
 worthy ideas, both of his person and offices. They denied 
 his deity, lool cing upon him as the mere Son of God, and 
 consequently inferior to the Father ; and they rejected his 
 humanity, upon the supposition that every thing concrete 
 and corporeal is, in itself, essentially and intrinsically evil. 
 Hence the greatest part of the Gnostics denied that Christ 
 was clothed with a real body, or that he suffered really, 
 for the sake of mankind, the pains and sorrows which he 
 is said to have sustained in the sacred history. They 
 maintained that he came to mortals with no other view, 
 than to deprive the tyrants of this world of their influence 
 upon virtuous and heaven born souls, and, destroying the 
 empire of these wicked spirits, to teach mankind how 
 they might separate the divine mind from the impure 
 body, and render the former wor thy of bemg united to the 
 Father of spirits. 
 
 VIL Their doctrine, relating to morals and practice, 
 was of two kinds, which were extremely different from 
 each other. The greatest part of this sect adopted rules 
 of life that were full of austerity, recommended a strict 
 and rigorous abstinence, and prescribed the most severe 
 bodily mortifications, from a notion that these observances 
 had a happy influence in purifying and enlarging the 
 mind, and in disposing it for the contemplation of celestial 
 things. As they looked upon it to be the unhappiness of 
 the soul to have been associated, at all, to a malignant, 
 terrestrial body, so they imagined that the ‘more lie body 
 was extenuated, the less it would corrupt and degrade the 
 mind, or divert it from pursuits of a spiritual and divine 
 nature : all the Gnostics, however, were not so severe in 
 their moral discipline. Some maintained that there was 
 no moral difference in human actions ; and thus confound- 
 ing right and wrong, they gave a loose.rein to all the pas- 
 sions, ‘and asserted ‘the j innocence of following blindly all 
 their motions, and of living by their tumultuous dictates. 
 "There is nothing surprising or unaccountable in this dif- 
 ference between the Gnostic moralists ; for, when we 
 examine the matter with attention, we shall find, that the 
 same doctrine may very naturally have given rise to these 
 opposite sentiments. “As they all deemed the body the 
 centre and source of evil, those of that sect, who were ofa 
 morose and austere disposition, would be hence naturally 
 
 a a ep 
 
 * See the Stromota of Clemens Alexandrinus, lib. iii, cap, v. 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 to vulgar eyes ; 
 
 Parr II, 
 
 led to mortify and combat the body as the enemy of the 
 soul ; and those who were of a vuluptuous turn, might alsc 
 consider the actions of the body as having no relation, 
 either of congruity or incongruity, to the state of a soul in 
 communion with God. 
 
 VILL. Such extraordinary doctrines had certainly need 
 of an undoubted authority to support them ; and, as this 
 authority was not to be found in the writings of the evan- 
 
 'gelists or apostles, recourse was had to fables and strata- 
 
 gems. When the Gnostics were challenged to produce 
 the sources whence they had drawn such strange tenets, 
 and an authority proper to justify the confidence with 
 which they taught them, some referred to fictitious wri- 
 
 tings of Abraham, Zoroaster, Christ, and his apostles ; 
 
 certain secret doctrines of Christ, which were not exposed 
 others affirmed, that they had arrived at 
 these ‘sublime degr ees of wisdom by an innate force and 
 vigour of mind ; and some asserted, that they were instruc- 
 ted in. these mysterious parts of ‘theological science by 
 Theudas, a disciple of St. Paul, and by Matthias, one of the 
 friends of our Lord. As to those among the Gnostics who 
 did not utterly reject the books of the New 'Testament, it 
 is proper to observe, that they not only interpreted those 
 sacred books most absurdly, by neglecting the true spirit of 
 the words and the intention of the writers, but also corrupt- 
 ed them, in the most perfiduows raanner, by curtailing and 
 adding, in order to remove what was unfavourable, or to 
 produce something conformable to their pernicious and 
 extravagant system. 
 
 Ex. It has been already observed, that the Gnostics were 
 divided in their opinions before they embraced C hristianity. 
 This appears from the account which has been given 
 above of the oriental vhilosophy ; and hence we may see 
 the reason why they were formed into so many different 
 sects after their receiving tiie Christian faith. For, as all 
 of them endeavoured to force the doctrines of the Gospel 
 into a conformity with their particular sentiments and 
 tenets, so Christianity must have appeared in various 
 forms, among the different members of a sect, which pass- 
 ed, however, “under one general name. Another circum- 
 stance, which contributed to this diversity of sects, was, 
 that some, being Jews by birth (as Cerinthus and others, \ 
 could not so easily assume that contempt of Moses, and 
 that aversion to his history, which were so virulently 
 indulged by those who had no attachment to the Jewish 
 nation or to its religious institutions. We may also observe, 
 that the whole Gnostic system was destitute of any sure or 
 solid foundation, and depended both for its existence and 
 support, upon the airy suggestions of genius and fancy. 
 This consideration alone is a sufficient key to explain the 
 divisions that reigned in this sect, since wniformity can 
 never subsist, with assurance, but upon the basis ef evident 
 and substantial truth ; and variety must naturally intro- 
 duce itself into those systems and institutions which are 
 formed and conducted by the sole powers of invention and 
 fancy. 
 
 X. As then the Christian religion was, in its rise, 
 corrupted by the mixture of an impious and chimerical 
 philosophy with its pure and sublime doctrines, it will be 
 proper to mention here the heads of those sects, who, in the 
 first century, casta cloud upon the lustre of the rising 
 
 ,church, Among these, many have given the first place 
 
Crap. VY. 
 
 to Dositheus, a Samaritan. It is certain, that, about the 
 time of our Saviour, a man so named, lived among the 
 Samaritans, and abandoned that sect ;*but all the accounts 
 we have of him tend to show, that he is improperly placed 
 among mere heretics, and should rather be ranked among | 
 the enemies of Christianity; for this delirious man set him- 
 self up for the Messiah, whom God had promised to the 
 Jews, and disowning, in consequence, the divine mission 
 of Christ, could not be said to corrupt his doctrine.* 
 
 XI. The same observation is applicable to Simon Ma- | 
 gus. ‘This impious man is not to be ranked among those | 
 who corrupted with their errors the purity and simplicity 
 of the Christian doctrine; nor is he to be considered as the 
 parent and chief of the heretical tr ibe, in which point of | 
 light he has been injudiciously viewed by almost all 
 ancient and modern writers. He is rather to be placed in 
 the number of those who were enemies to the progress and 
 advancement of Christianity; for it is manifest, from all | 
 the records we have concerning him, that after his defec- | 
 tion from the Christians, he retained not the least attach- 
 ment to Christ, but opposed himself openly to that divine 
 personage, and assumed to himself blasphemously the title 
 of the supreme power of God.» 
 
 XII. The accounts which ancient writers give us of Si- 
 mon the magician, and of his opinions, seem so ‘different and 
 indeed so inconsistent with each other, that several learned 
 men have considered them as regar ding two different per- 
 sons, bearing the name of Simon: the one a magician, 
 and an apostate from Christianity ; the other a Gnostic 
 philosopher. This opinion, which supposes a. fact, without 
 any other proofthan a seeming difference in the narration 
 of the ancient historians, ought not to be too lightly 
 adopted. 'T'o depart from the authority of ancient writers 
 in this matter is by no means prudent: nor is it necessary to 
 reconcile the different accounts already mentioned, whose 
 inconsistency is not real, but apparent only. Simon was 
 by birth a Samaritan, or a Jew: when he had studied 
 philosophy at Alexandria,* he made a public profession of 
 magic (which was not a very uncommon circumstance 
 atethat time,) and persuaded the Samaritans, by fictitious 
 miracles, that he had received from God the power of 
 commanding and restraining those evil beings by which 
 mankind were tormented. Having seen the miracles 
 which Philip wrought by a divine power, he joined him- 
 self to this apostle, and embraced the doctrine of Christ, 
 but with no other design than to-receive the power of 
 working miracles, in order to promote a low interest, and 
 to preserve and increase his impious authority over the 
 minds of men. ‘Then St. Peter pointed out to him 
 solemnly the impiety of his intentions and the vanity of 
 
 * See Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, lib. ii. cap. xiii. and Rich. Simon, 
 Critique de la Bibliothéque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques de M. Du-Pin, 
 tom. lil. cap. xiii. 
 
 b Origen adv. Celsum, lib. v. 
 
 ¢ Clementina Homil. ii. p. 633, tom. ii. PP. Apost. 
 
 4 Acts viii. 9, 10. 
 
 * See Beausobre, Histoire de Manich. p. 203, 395—Van Dale’s Dis- 
 sertation, de Statua Simonis, subjoined to his discourse concerning the 
 ancient oracles ;—Dellingius, Observat. Sacr. lib. i. observ. xxxvi. Ti 
 paiont, Memoires pour servir & l’Histoire de |’Eglise, tom. i. p. 340. 
 
 z> The circumstances of Simon’s tragical end; his havi ing pretended 
 to ay by a miraculous power, in order to please the emperor Nero, who 
 was fond of magic’, his falling to the ground, and breaking his limbs, in 
 consequence of the prayers of St. Peter and St. Paul; and his putting 
 himself to death, through shame and despair, at having been thus defeat- 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 | reject as fabulous. 
 
 ed by the superior power of the apostles; all these romantic fictions 
 nave derived their credit from a set of ecclesiastical writers, who, on 
 
 31 
 
 his hopes, in that severe discourse recorded in the eighth 
 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles: then the vile impostor 
 not only returned to his former ways by an entire defection 
 from the Christians, but also opposed, wherever he came, 
 the progress of the Gospel, and even visited different coun- 
 tries with that odious intent. Many things are recorded — 
 of this impostor, of his tragical end, and of the statue erect 
 ed to him at Rome, which the greatest part of the learned 
 They are at least uncertain, and 
 destitute of all probability.e 
 
 XU. It is beyond all doubt, that Simon was in the class 
 of those philosophers, who not only maintained the eternity 
 of matter, but also the existence of an evil being who 
 presided, and thus shared the empire of the universe with 
 the supreme and beneficent Mind ; and, as there was a 
 considerable variety in the sentiments of the different mem- 
 bers of this sect, it is more than probable, that Simon 
 embraced the opinion of those who held that matter moved — 
 from eternity @y an intrinsic and necessary activity, had, 
 by its innate force, produced at a certain period, from its own 
 substance, the evil principle which now exercises domi- 
 nion over it, with all his numerous train of attendants. 
 From this pernicious doctrine, the other errors attributed 
 to him concerning fate, the indifference of human actions, 
 the impurity of the human body, the power of magic, and 
 the like extravagances, flow naturally, as from their true 
 and genuine source.’ But this odious magician still pro- 
 ceeded to more shocking degrees of enormity in his mon- 
 strous fictions ; for he pretended, that in his person resided 
 
 ‘the greatest and most powerful of the divine eons ; that 
 
 another won of the female sex, the mother of all hunian 
 souls, dwelt in the person of his mistress Helena,é and 
 that he came, by the command of God upon earth, to 
 abolish the empire of those who had formed this material 
 world, and todeliver Helena from their power and dominion. 
 
 XIV. Another wrong-headed teacher, named Menan- 
 der, a Samaritan also by birth, appeared in this century. 
 He is said to have been instructed by Simon; but this 
 opinion has no other foundation than the groundless notion, 
 that all the Gnostic sects derived their origin from that 
 magician. He ought rather to be ranked w ith the lunatics. 
 than with the heretics of antiquity, since he also took it 
 into his head to exhibit himself to the world as the promised 
 Saviour; for it appears, by the testimonies of Ireneus, 
 Justin, and 'Tertullian, that he pretended to be one of the 
 «eons sent from the pleronaa, or celestial regions, to succour 
 the souls that lay groaning under bodily oppression and 
 servitude, and to maintain them against the violence and 
 stratagems of the demons who held the reins of empire in 
 this sublunary world. As this doctrine was built upon the 
 
 many occasions, prefer the marvellous to the truth, as favourable to a 
 system of religion, or rather superstition, which truth and reason loudly 
 disown. 
 
 f The dissertation of Horbius, concerning Simon, the magician, which 
 was published not long ago in ‘the Biblioth. Heresiologica of Voigtius, 
 tom. 1. part li. seems ‘preferable to any thing else upon that subject, 
 though it be a juvenile performance, and not “sufficiently finished. He 
 follows the steps of his master, Thomasius, who, with admirable pene- 
 tration, discovered the true source of that multitude of errors with which 
 the Gnostics, and particularly Simon, were so Jismally polluted. Voig- 
 tius gives a list of the other authors who have rade mention of this im- 
 postor. 
 
 £ Some very learned men have given an allegorical explication ot 
 what the ancient writers say concerning Helena. the mistress of this 
 magician, and imagine, that by the name » Helena is signified either mat- 
 ler or spirit. - But ‘nothing is more easy than to show upon what slight 
 foundations this ¢ pinion is built. 
 
32 
 
 same foundation with that of Simon Magus, the ancient 
 writers looked upon him as the instructor of Menander. 
 
 XV. If then we separate these three persons now succes- 
 sively mentioned, from the heretics of the first century, we 
 may rank among the chief of the Christian sectaries, and 
 particularly those who bear the general name of Gnostics, 
 the Nicolaitans, whom Christ himself mentions 
 abhorrence by the mouth of his apostles It is true, 
 indeed, that the divine Saviour does not reproach them 
 with erroneous opinions concerning the deity, but with 
 the licentiousness of their practice, and the contempt of 
 that solemn law which the apostles had enacted (Acts, xv. 
 29.) against fornication, and the use of meats offered to 
 idols. It is, however, certain, that the writers of the second 
 and the following centuries, Irenceus, ‘Tertullian, Clemens, 
 and others, affirm, that the Nicolaitans adopted the senti- 
 ments of the Gnostics concerning the two principles of all 
 things, the «ons, and the origin of this terrestrial globe. 
 The authority of these writers would be egtirely satisfac- 
 tory in this matter, were there not some reason to imagine 
 that they confounded, in their narrations, two sects very 
 different from each other; that of the Nicolaitans, men- 
 tioned in the Revelations ; and another, founded by a cer- 
 tain Nicolaus, in the second century, upon the principles 
 of the Gnostics. But this is a matter of too doubtful a 
 nature to justify a positive decision on either side. 
 
 XVI. There is no sort of doubt, that Cerenthus may 
 be pinged with propriety among the Gnostics, though the 
 learned are not entirely agreed whether he belongs to the 
 heretics of the f he second centur y-” This man was 
 by birth a Jew, and, having applied himself to letters and 
 philosophy at Alexandria,’ ‘attempted at length, to form a 
 new and singular system of doctrine and discipline, by a 
 monstrous combination of the doctrines of Christ with the 
 opinions and errors of the Jews and Gnostics. From the 
 latter he borrowed their pleroma, their eons, their demi- 
 urge; &c. and so modified and tempered these fictions, as 
 to give them an air of Judaism, which must have consider- 
 ably favoured the progress of his heresy. He taught “ that 
 the Creator of this world, whom he considered also as the 
 sovereign and lawgiver of the Jewish people, was a being 
 endowed with the - greatest virtues, and derived his birth 
 from the Supreme God: that he fell by degrees, from his 
 native virtue and his primitiv e dignity; that God in conse- 
 quence of this determined to destroy his empire, and sent 
 upon earth, for this purpose, one of the ever-happy and 
 glorious eons, whose name was Christ; that this Christ 
 
 * Rev. ii. 6, 14, 15. sO 
 
 b See Sam. Bi isnage, Annal. Polit. Eccles. tom. ii; and Faydit, Eclair- 
 cissemens sur I’Histoire Eccles. des deux premiers Siecles, cap.v. The 
 
 rat ar 
 first oF 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 with | 
 
 | jected to the pains of an ignominious death.” 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 chose for his habitation the person of Jesus, a man of the 
 most illustrious sanctity and justice, the son of Joseph and 
 Mary, and, descending in the form of a dove, entered into 
 him while he was receiving baptism from John in the 
 waters of Jordan, that Jesus, after his union with Christ, 
 opposed himself with vigour to the God of the Jews, and 
 was by his instigation, seized and crucified by the Hebrew 
 chiefs; and that, when Jesus became a prisoner, Christ as- 
 cended into heaven, so that the man Jesus alone was sub- 
 Cerenthus 
 required of his followers, that they should worship the Fa- 
 ther of Christ, even the Supreme God, in conjunction with 
 the Son; that they should abandon the lawgiver of the 
 Jews , whom he looked upon as the Creator of the world ; 
 that they should retain a part of the law given by Moses, 
 but should, nevertheless, employ their principal attention 
 and care to regulate thei lives by the precepts of Christ. 
 To encourage them to this, he promised them the resur- 
 rection of this mortal body, after which was to commence 
 a scene of the most exquisite delights, during Christ’s earth- 
 ly reign of a thousand years, which would be succeeded 
 by a happy and never-ending life in the celestial world; for 
 he held, that Christ will one day return upon earth, and, re- 
 newing his former union with the man Jesus, will reign with 
 his people in the land of Palestine during a thousand years. 
 
 XVII. It has been already observed, that the church 
 was troubled with early disputes concerning the law of 
 Moses and the Jewish rites. Those, however, who consi- 
 dered the observance of the Mosaic rites as necessary to sal- 
 vation, had not, in this first century, proceeded so far as to 
 break off all communion with such as differed from them 
 in this matter; therefore they were still regarded as breth- 
 ren, though of the weaker sort. But when, after the 
 second destruction of Jerusalem, under the emperor Ad- 
 rian, these zealots for the Jewish rites deserted the ordinary 
 assemblies of Christians, and esta)lished separate meetings 
 among themselves, they were numbered with those sects 
 who had departed from the pure doctrine of Christ. Hence 
 arose the names of Nazarenes and Ebionites, by which 
 the judaizing Christians were distinguished from those 
 who looked upon the Mosaic worship and ceremonies as 
 entirely abolished by the appearance of Christ upon earth. 
 We shall only observe farther under this head, that though 
 the Nazarenes and Ebionites are generally placed among 
 the sects of the apostolic age, they really belong to the 
 second century, which was the earliest period of their exis- 
 tence as a sect. 
 
 opinion of these two learned men is opposed by Buddeus, de Eccles. 
 Apostolica, cap. v. 
 © Theodoret. Fabul. Heeret. lib. ii. cap. iii. 
 
 ~ 
 
THE SECOND CENTURY. 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. (y,.. dau ULacd 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concermag the prosperous Events that happened to 
 iae Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In this century, the Roman sceptre was, for the most 
 part, swayed by princes of a mild and moderate turn. 
 ‘Trajan, though wo eagerly bent upon the pursuit of glory, 
 and not always sufficiently attentive to his conduct, or 
 prudent in his useasures, was nevertheless endowed with 
 many virtues ; asd the predominant lines of his character 
 were clemency and benevolence. Adrian was of a more 
 harsh and intraceable temper, yet far from deserving the 
 odious appellatiow of a wicked or unjust prince. He was 
 of a mixed charucter, chargeable with several vices, and 
 estimable on accvunt of some excellent qualities. ‘The 
 Antonines were idustrious models of humanity, goodness, 
 and sublime virtue. Severus himself, in whose character 
 and disposition such an unexpected and disadvantageous 
 change was eflevted, was, in the beginning of his reign, 
 unjust toward noae ; and even the Christians were treat- 
 ed by him with equity and mildness. 
 
 [Il. This lenity of the emperors proved advantageous 
 to those Christiaizs who lived under the Roman sceptre ; 
 it sometimes suspended their suffering, and alleviated the 
 burthen of their distresses ; for, though edicts of a severe 
 nature were issued out against them, and the magistrates, 
 animated by the priests and by the multitude, shed their 
 blood with a cruelty which frequently exceeded even the 
 dictates of the most barbarous laws, yet there was always 
 some remedy that accompanied these evils, and softened 
 their severity. ‘Trajan, however condemnable in other 
 respects, on account of his.conduct toward the Christians, 
 was yet engaged, by the representation that Pliny the 
 younger gave of them, to forbid all search to be made after 
 them. He also prohibited all anonymous libels and 
 accusations, by which they had so often been perfidiously 
 exposed to the greatest sufferings. Antoninus Pius went 
 so far as to enact penal laws against their accusers ;> and 
 others, by various acts of beneficence and compassion, 
 defended them from the injurious treatment of the priests 
 and people. Hence it came to pass, that, in this century, the 
 limits of the church were considerably enlarged, and the 
 
 number of converts to Christianity prodigiously augmented. 
 
 * Sce Pliny’s epistles, book x. let. xeviii. 
 
 b Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. lib. iv. cap. xiii. 
 
 * See Moyle’s letters concerning tie thundering legion, with the re- 
 
 merks which Dr. Mosheim has annexed to his latin translation of them, 
 
 eee at the end of a work entitled, Syntagma Dissert. ad Sanctiores 
 isciplinas pertinentium, See also the Dialogue between Justin Mar- 
 
 tyr and Trypho the Jew. 
 
 4 Trerzeus contra Heres. lib. i, cap. x.—Tertullian adv. Judeos, cap. vii. 
 
 * Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. b. v. c.x.—Jerome, Catal. Script. Eccl.c.xxxvi. 
 f Ursinus, Bebelius and others, have written learnedly concerning the | 
 
 Of the truth of this, we have the most respectable and 
 authentic testimonies in the writings of the ancients; 
 testimonies, whose evidence and authority are every way 
 superior to the vain attempts which some have made to 
 obscure and weaken them.¢ 
 
 III. It is not easy to point out particularly the different 
 countries on which the light of celestial truth first rose in 
 this age. The ancient records that yet remain, do not 
 give us information sufficient to determine that point with 
 certainty ; nor is it, indeed, a matter of high importance. 
 We are, however, assured, by the most unexceptionable 
 testimonies, that Christ was worshipped as God almost 
 throughout the whole East, as also among the Germans, 
 Spaniards, Celts, Britons, and many other nations ;* but 
 which of them received the Gospel in the first century 
 and which in the second, is a question unanswerable at 
 this distance of time. Pantenus, the head of the Alexan- 
 drian school, is said to have conveyed to the Indians the 
 knowledge of Christ. But, after an attentive examina- 
 tion of the account which Eusebius gives of this point, it 
 will appear that these supposed Indians were Jews, inha- 
 bitants of the happy Arabia, whom Bartholomew the apos- 
 tle had before instructed in the doctrines of Christianity ; 
 for, according to the account of St. Jerome, Panteenus 
 found among this people the Gospel of St. Matthew which 
 they had received from Bartholomew, their first teacher. 
 
 IV. The Christian religion, having penetrated into the 
 province of Gaul, seems to have passed thence into that 
 part of Germany which was subject to the Romans, and 
 afterwards into Britain. Certain German churches, in- 
 deed, are fondly ambitious of deriving their origin from 
 St. Peter, and from the companions of the other apostles. 
 ‘The Britons also are willing to believe, upon the authority 
 of Bede, that in this century, and under the reign of 
 Marcus Antoninus, their king Lucius addressed himself 
 to Hieutherus, the Roman pontiff, for doctors to instruct 
 him in the Christian religion, and, having obtained his 
 request, embraced the- Gospel.¢ But, after all, these 
 traditions are extremely doubtful, and are, indeed, rejected 
 by such as have learning suflicient to weigh the credibility 
 of ancient narrations. 
 
 Y. It is very possible that the light of Christianity may 
 have reached 'Trans-Alpine Gaul, now called France, be- 
 
 origin of the German churches, which Tertéllian and Irenzeus mention 
 as erected in this century. Add to these the ample illustrations of this 
 subject, which are to be found in Liron’s Singularités Histor. et Liter. 
 tom. iv. The celebrated Dom. Calmet has judiciously refuted the com- 
 mon and popular accounts of the first Christian doctors in Germany, in 
 his Hist. de la Lorrame, tom. i. Diss. sur les Evéques de Lana ar 
 iii. iv. See also Bollandus, Act. Sanctor., and Hontheim, Diss. de ra 
 Episcop. Trevir. tom. i. 
 
 © See Usher’s Antiq. Eccles. Britann. cap. i.; as also Godwin, de Con- 
 versione Britan. cap. 1.; and Rapin’s History of England, 
 
34 
 
 fore the conclusion of the apostolic age, either by the minis- 
 try of the apostles themselves, or their immediate succes- 
 sors. But we have no records that mention, with certainty, 
 the establishment of Christian churches in this part of Eu- 
 rope before the second century. Pothinus, a man of ex- 
 emplary piety and zeal, set out from Asia in company with 
 Trenzeus and others, and laboured in the Christian cause 
 with such success among the Gauls, that churches were 
 established at Lyons and Vienne, of which Pothinus him- 
 self became the first bishop. 
 
 VI. The writers of this century attribute this rapid pro- 
 gress of Christianity to the power of God, to the energy of 
 divine truth, to the extraordinary gifis which were impart- 
 ad to the first Christians, and the miracles and prodigies 
 hat were wrought in their behalf, and at their command; 
 and they scarcely ascribe any part of the amazing success 
 that attended the preaching of the Gospel, te the interve- 
 ning succours of human means, or second causes. But 
 this is carrying the matter too far. ‘The wisdom of 
 human counsels, and the useful efforts of learning and 
 prudence, are too inconsiderately excluded from this ac- 
 count of things; for it is beyond all doubt, that the pious 
 diligence and zeal, with which many learned and worthy 
 men recommended the sacred writings, and spread them 
 abroad in translations, so as to render them useful to 
 those who were ignorant of the language in which they 
 were written, contributed much to the success and propa- 
 gation of the Christian doctrine. Latin versions of these 
 sacred books were multiplied by the pious labours of the 
 learned, with particular diligence, because that language 
 was now more general then any other.» Among these 
 versions, that which was distinguished by the name of 
 the Italic obtained universally the preference, and was 
 followed by the Syriac, Egyptian, and Aéthiopic versions, 
 whose dates it is impossible to fix with certainty.° 
 
 VIf. Among the obstacles that retarded the progress 
 of Christianity, the impious calumnies of its enemies were 
 the most considerable. ‘The persons, the characters, and 
 religious sentiments of the first Christians, were most 
 unjustly treated, and most perfidiously misrepresented to 
 the credulous multitude,t who were restrained by this 
 only from embracing the Gospel. ‘Those, therefore, who, 
 by their apologetic writings for the Christians, destroyed 
 the poisonous influence of detraction, rendered, no doubt, 
 signal service to the doctrine of Christ, by removing the 
 chief impediment to its progress. Nor were the writings 
 of such as combated with success the ancient heretics 
 without their use, especially in the early periods of the 
 
 * See the epistle of Peter de Marca, concerning the rise of Christiani- 
 ty in France, published among the dissertations of that author, and also 
 oy Valesius, in his edition of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History. See 
 aiso Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. i., and Liron’s Singularités 
 Histor. et Literaires, vol. iv. 
 
 © See Augustin. de doctrina Christiana, lib. ii. cap. xi. 
 
 © See Jo. Gottlob Carpzov. Critica sacra Vet. Test. p. 663. 
 
 37 4 Nothing more injurious can be conceived than the terms of con- 
 tempt, indignation, and reproach, which the Heathens employed in 
 
 expressing their hatred against the Christians, who were called by them || 
 
 athevsts, because they derided the heathen Polytheism; magicians, be- 
 eause they wrought miracles; self-murderers, because they suffered 
 martyrdom cheerfully for the truth; haters of the light, because, to avoid 
 the fury of the persecutions raised against them, they were obliged, at 
 first, to hold their religious assemblies in the night. See Bingham’s 
 Antiquities of the Christian Church, book i. cap. ii. 
 
 ¢ Pfanner, de donis miraculosis; Spencer. Not. ad Orig. contra Cel- 
 sum; Mammachius, Origines et Antiquitat. Christian. tom. i. 
 
 f Such readers as are desirous to know what learned men have alleged 
 on both sides of this curious question, may consult Witsius’ Dissertat. de 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | his name. 
 
 Part U 
 
 church ; for the insipid and extravagant doctrines of these 
 sectaries, and the gross immoralities with which they 
 were chargeable, were extremely prejudicial to the Chris- 
 tian religion, by disgusting many at whatever bore the 
 Christian name; but, when it was known by the writings 
 of those who defended Christianity, that these corrupt here- 
 tics were held in aversion, instead of being patronized by 
 the true followers of Christ, the clouds that were cast over 
 the religion of Jesus were dispersed, and the prejudices 
 that had been raised against it were fully removed. 
 
 VIIL. It is easier to conceive than to express, how much 
 the miraculous powers and extraordinary gifts, which 
 were displayed in the ministry of the first heralds of the 
 Gospel, contributed to enlarge the bounds of the church. 
 These gifts, however, which were bestowed for wise and 
 important reasons, began gradually to diminish ™ propor- 
 tion as the reasons ceased for which they were conferred. 
 And, accordingly, when almost all nations were enlighten- 
 ed with the truthand the number of Christian churches 
 daily increased, the miraculous gift of tongues began gra- 
 dually to decrease. It appears at the same time, from 
 unexceptionable testimonies, that the other extraordinary 
 gifts with which the omnipotence and wisdom of the Most 
 High had so richly endowed the rising church, were in 
 several places continued during this century.¢ 
 
 LX. We cannot indeed place, with certainty, among the 
 effects of a miraculous power yet remaining in the church, 
 the story of the Christian legion, who, by their prayers, 
 drew from heaven a refreshing shower upon the army of 
 Marcus Antoninus, ready to perish with thirst, when that 
 emperor was at war with the Marcomanni. ‘This remark- 
 able event (which gave to the Christians, to whom it was 
 attributed, the name of the thundering legion, on account 
 of the thunder and lightning that destroyed the enemy, 
 while the shower revived the fainting Romans) has been 
 mentioned by many writers. But whether *t was really 
 miraculous or not, has been much disputed among learned 
 men. Some think that the Christians, by a pious sort of 
 mistake, attributed this unexpected and seasonable shower, 
 which saved the Roman army, to a miraculous interposi- 
 tion ; and this opinion is, indeed, supported by the weighti- 
 est reasons, as well as by the most respectable authorities.‘ 
 _ X. Let us distinguish what is doubtful in this story, 
 from that which is certain. Itis undoubted, that the 
 Roman troops, enclosed by the enemy, and reduced to the 
 most deplorable and even desperate condition, by the 
 thirst under which they Janguished in a parched desert, 
 were revived by a sudden and unexpected rain. It is also 
 
 Legione Fulminatrice, which is subjoined to his Ai.gyptiaca, in defence 
 of this miracle; as also what is alleged against it by Dan. La-Roque, in 
 a discourse upon that subject subjoined to the Adversaria Sacra of Matth. 
 La Roque, his father. But, above all, the controversy between Sir 
 Peter King* and Mr. Waiter Moyle, upon this subject, is worthy of the 
 attention of the curious; and likewise the dissertation of the learned 
 Jablonski, inserted in thé eighth volume of the Miscellanea Lipsiensia, 
 p. 417, under the title of Spicilegium de Legione Fulminatrice. The 
 last mentioned author investigates, with great acuteness, the reasons and 
 motives which induced the Christians to place so inconsiderately this 
 shower in the list of miracles. 
 
 x’ * It is by mistake that Dr. Mosheim confounds Sir Peter King, 
 lord Chancellor of England, with the person who carried on the contro- 
 versy with Movle, concerning the thundering legion. Moyle’s adver- 
 sary was Mr. King, rector of Topsham, near Exeter, which was the 
 place of his nativity, and also that of the famous chancellor who bore 
 See the letters addressed to the Rev. Mr. King, in the posthu- 
 mous collection of Locke’s Letters, published by Collins. See also 
 Lardner’s Collection of Heathen and Jewish Testimonies, &c., vol. ii, , 
 
Crap. IL. 
 
 certain, that both the Heathens and the Christians consider- 
 ed this event as extraordinary and miraculous; the former 
 attributing it to Jupiter, Mercury, or the power of magic ; 
 the latter to Christ, interposing thus unexpectedly, in 
 consequence of their prayers. It is equally indisputable, 
 that a considerable number of Christians served at this 
 tine in the Roman army ; and it is exceedingly probable, 
 that, in such trying circumstances of calamity and distress, 
 they implored the merciful interposition and succour of their 
 God and Saviour; and, asthe Christians of those times look- 
 ed upon all extraordinary events as miracles, and ascribed 
 to their prayers all the uncommon occurrences ofan advan- 
 lageous nature that happened to the Roman empire, it will 
 not appear surprising, that, on the present occasion, they 
 attributed the deliverance of Antoninus and his army to a 
 miraculous interposition which they had obtained from 
 above. But, on the other hand, it must be carefully observ- 
 ed, that it is an invariable maxim, universally adopted by 
 the wise and judicious, that no events are to be esteemed 
 miraculous, which may be rationally attributed to natural 
 causes, and accounted for by a recourse to the ordinary 
 dispensations of Providence ; and, as the unexpected show- 
 er, which restored the expiring force of the Romans, may 
 be easily explained without rising beyond the usual and 
 ordinary course of nature, the conclusion is manifest ; nor 
 can it be doubtful in what light we are to consider that 
 remarkable event. 
 
 XI. The Jews were visited with new calamities, first 
 under Trajan, and then under Adrian, when, under the 
 standard of Barcochebas, who gave himself out for the 
 Messiah, they rose in rebellion against the Romans. In 
 consequence of this sedition, prodigious numbers of that 
 muserable people were put to the sword; and a new city, 
 
 called Adlia Capitolina, was raised upon the ruins of Jerusa- | 
 
 lem, into which no Jew was permitted to enters ‘This 
 defeat of the Jews tended to confirm, in some measure, 
 the external tranquillity of the Christian church ; for that 
 turbulent and perfidious nation had hitherto vexed and 
 oppressed the Christians, not only by presenting every 
 where to the Roman magistrates complaints and accusa- 
 tions against them, but also by treating them in the most 
 injurious manner in Palestine and the neighouring coun- 
 tries, because they refused to succour them against the Ro- 
 mans. But this new calamity, which fell upon that sedi- 
 tious nation, put it out of their power to exercise their 
 malignity against the disciples of Jesus, as they had for- 
 merly done. 
 
 XII. Among other accessions to the splendour and force 
 
 of the growing church, we may reckon the learned and | 
 
 ingenious labours of those philos sophers and literati, who 
 were converted to Christianity in this century. I am 
 
 sensible that the advantages hence avising to the cause of 
 
 true religion will be disputed by many; and, indeed, 
 when the question is thus proposed, whether, upon the 
 whole, the interests of Christianity have gained or lost by 
 the writings of the learned, and the speculations of philoso- 
 phers who have been employed in its defence, 1 confess 
 
 myself incapable of solving it in a satisfactory manner ; for 
 nothing is more manifest than this truth, that the noble 
 
 * Justin Mart. Dial. cum Tryphone, p. 49, 278. 
 b Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. tii. cap. xxxii. 
 Sze Pliny’ s Letters, book x. let. xcvii. and xeviii., which have been 
 Ditisnted by many learned men, such as Vossius, Bohmer, Baldwin, 
 Heuman, and others. 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS 
 
 35 
 
 | simplicity and dignity of religion were sadly corrupted in 
 
 /many places, when the philosophers blended their opinions 
 with its pure doctrines, and were so audacious as to sub- 
 mit that divine system of faith and piety to be scrutinized 
 and modified by the fallible rules of icabhie reason. 
 
 a/ 
 ‘ 
 
 CHAPTER Ti “err 8/1 
 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In the beginning of this century, there were no laws 
 in force against ‘the Christians: for the senate had annulled 
 the cruel edicts of Nero, and Nerva had abrogated the 
 sanguinary laws of his predecessor, Domitian. But 
 notwithstanding this, a horrid custom prevailed, of persecu- 
 ting the Christians, and even of putting them to death, as 
 
 | often as sanguinary priests, or an outrageous populace 
 instigated by those ecclesiastics, demanded their destruc- 
 tion. Hence it happened, that, even under the reign of the 
 good Trajan, popular clamours > were raised against the 
 Christians, many of whom fell victims to the rage of a 
 merciless multitude. Such were the riotous proceedings 
 that happened in Bithynia, under the administration of 
 Pliny the younger, who, on that occasion, wrote to the 
 emperor, to know in what manner he was to conduct 
 himself toward the Christians. The answer which he 
 received from Trajan amounted to this, “ That the Chris- 
 tians were not to be officiously sought after,* but that such as 
 
 were accused and convicted of an adherence to Christianity 
 were to be put to death as wicked citizens, if they did not 
 return to the religion of their ancestors.” 
 
 Il. This edict of Trajan, being registered among the 
 public and solemn laws of the Roman empire, set bounds, 
 indeed, to the fury of those who persecuted the Christians, 
 but was the occasion of martyrdom to many, even under 
 the best emperors. For, as often as an accuser appeared, 
 and the person accused of an adherence to Christianity 
 confessed the truth of the charge, the alternative was apos- 
 tasy or death, since a magnanimous perseverance in the 
 Christian faith was, according to the edict of Trajan, a 
 capital crime. And, accordingly, the venerable me aged 
 Simeon, son of Cleophas, and bishop of Jerusalem, was, 
 by this very law, crucified in consequence of an accusa- 
 tion formed against him by the Jews.‘ By the same law, 
 also, was the great and pious Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, 
 ordered by ‘Trajan himself to expire in the Roman theatre, 
 exposed to the rapacity of furious beasts ;* for, as the law 
 simply denounced death to such as were convicted of an 
 attachment to Christ, the kind of punishment was left by 
 the legislator to the choice of the judge. 
 
 Ill. Such of the Christians as could conceal their pro 
 fession were indeed sheltered under the law of Trajan, 
 which was, therefore, a disagreeable restraint upon the 
 heathen priests, who breathed nothing but fury against 
 the disciples of Jesus. The office of an accuser was also 
 become dangerous, and very few were disposed to under 
 take it, so thatthe sacerdotal craft was now inventing 
 new methods to oppress the Christians. The law of 'T'ra- 
 jan was therefore artfully evaded under the reign of his 
 
 4 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xxxii. p. 103. 
 
 * See the Acta Martyrii Ignatiani, published by Ruinart, and also in 
 the Collection of the Apostolic Fathers, 
 
36 
 
 successor Adrian. The populace, set in motion by the 
 priests, demanded of the magistrates, with one voice, 
 during the public games, the destruction of the Christians ; 
 and the magistrates, fearing that a sedition might be the 
 consequence of despising or opposing these popular cla- 
 mours, were too much disposed to indulge them in their 
 request. During these commotions, Serenus Granianus, 
 preconsul of Asia, represented to the emperor how barba- 
 rous and unjust it was to sacrifice, to the fury of a lawless 
 multitude, persons who had been convicted of no crime. 
 Nor were his wise and equitable remonstrances fruitless ; 
 for Adrian, by an edict issued out to these magistrates, 
 prohibited the putting the Christians to death, unless they 
 were regularly accused and convicted of crimes committed 
 against the laws; and this edict appears to have been a 
 solemn renewal of the law of Trajan. The moderation 
 of the emperor, in this edict, may, perhaps, have been 
 produced by the admirable apologies of Quadratus and 
 Aristides, in favour of the Christians, which were every 
 way proper to dispel the angry prejudices of a mind that 
 had any sense of equity and humanity left. But it was 
 not from the Romans alone, thatthe disciples of Christ 
 were to feel oppression ; Barcochebas, the pretended king 
 of the Jews, whom Adrian afterwards defeated, vented 
 against them all his fury, because they refused to join his 
 standard, and second his rebellion.» 
 
 IV. The law of Adrian, according to its natural sense, 
 seemed to cover the Christians from the fury of their 
 enemies, since it rendered them punishable on no other 
 account than the commission of crimes, and since the ma- 
 gistrates refused to interpret their religion as the crime 
 mentioned in the imperial edict. Therefore their enemies 
 invented a new method of attacking them under the reign 
 of Antoninus Pius, even by accusing them of impiety and 
 atheism. This calumny was refuted in an apology for 
 the Christians, presented to the emperor by Justin Martyr ; 
 in consequence of which, this equitable prince ordered 
 that all proceedings against them should be regulated by 
 the law of Adrian... his, however, was not sufficient to 
 suppress the rage of blood-thirsty persecution ; for some 
 time after this, on occasion of some earthquakes which 
 happened in Asia, the people renewed their violence 
 against the Christians, whom they considered as the au- 
 thors of those calamities, and treated consequently in the 
 most cruel and injurious manner. ‘The emperor, informed 
 of these unjust and barbarous proceedings, addressed an 
 edict to the whole province of Asia, in which he denounced 
 
 capital punishment against such as should, for the future, | 
 
 accuse the Christians, without being able to prove them 
 guulty of any crime.4 
 
 VY. This worthy prince was succeeded by Marcus 
 Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher, whom most writers 
 nave celebrated beyond measure on account of his extra- 
 ordinary wisdom aud virtue. It is not, however, in his 
 
 * Compare Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap, ix. with Balduinus ad 
 Edicta Princip. in Christianos, p. 73. 
 
 b Justin Mart. Apologia secunda, p. 72, edit. Colon. 
 
 ° Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxvi. p. 148. 
 
 4 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xii. p. 126. 34p It is proper to 
 be observed, that the word crime, in several former edicts, had not been 
 sufficiently determined in its signification; so that we find the enemies 
 of the Christians, and even the Roman magistrates, applying this term 
 
 to the profession of Christianity. But the equitable edict of this good || 
 
 emperor decided that point on the side of humanity and justice, as ap- 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I 
 
 conduct toward the Christians that we must look for the 
 reasons of these pompous encomiums ; for, here the cle- 
 mency and justice of that emperor-suffer a strange eclipse. 
 He did not, indeed, revoke the edict of Antoninus Pius, 
 or abrogate the laws which the preceding emperors had 
 enacted in favour of the Christians ; but he did what was 
 equally pernicious to them. Without examining impar- 
 tially their cause, he lent an easy and attentive ear to the 
 most virulent insinuations of their enemies, especially to 
 the malignant calumnies of the philosophers, who accused 
 them of the most horrid crimes and the most monstrous 
 impiety, and charged them with renewing the shocking 
 feasts of Thyestes, and the incestuous amours of the The- 
 ban prince; so that, if we except that of Nero, there was 
 no reign under which the Christians were more injuriously 
 and cruelly treated, than under that of the wise and virtu- 
 ous Marcus Aurelius; and yet there was no reign under 
 which such numerous and victorious Apologies were 
 published in their behalf. Those which Justin Martyr, 
 Athenagoras, and 'T'atian, wrote upon this occasion, are 
 still extant. 
 
 VI. This emperor issued against the Christians, whora 
 he regarded as a vain, obstinate, and vicious set of men, 
 edicts,* which, upon the whole, were very unjust ; though 
 we do not know, at this distance of time, their particular 
 contents. In consequence of these imperial edicts, the 
 
 judges and magistrates received the accusations, which 
 
 even slaves, and the vilest of the perjured rabble, brought 
 against the followers of Jesus; and the Christians were 
 put to the most cruel tortures and were condemned to 
 meet death in the most barbarous forms, notwithstanding 
 their perfect innocence, and their persevering and solemn 
 denial of the horrid crimes laid to their charge. 'The 
 imperial edicts were so positive and express against inflict- 
 ing punishment upon such of the Christians as were 
 guilty of no crime, that the corrupt judges, who, through 
 motives of interest or popularity, desired theif destruction, 
 were obliged to suborn false accusers to charge them with 
 actions that might bring them within the reach of the laws. 
 Hence many fell victims to cruel superstition and popular 
 fury, seconded by the corruption of a wicked magistracy 
 and the connivance of a prince, who, with respect to one 
 set of men, forgot those principles of justice and clemency 
 which directed his conduct toward all others. Among 
 these victims, there were many men of illustrious piety 
 and some of eminent learning and abilities, such as the 
 holy and venerable Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and Jus- 
 tin Martyr, so deservedly renowned for his erudition and 
 philosophy. Many churches, particularly those of Lyons 
 and Vienne, were almost entirely destroyed, during this 
 violent persecution, which raged in the year 177, and will 
 be an indelible stain upon the memory of the prince by 
 whose order is was carried on. . 
 VII. During the reign of Commodus, the Christians 
 
 the persecuted Christians, and which concludes with the following words: 
 “Tf any one, for the future, shall molest the Christians, and accuse them 
 merely on account of their religion, let the person thus accused be dis- 
 charged, though he is found to be a Christian, and the accuser be punish- 
 ed according to the rigour of the law.” 
 
 ® See Melito ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxvi. p. 147. 
 
 f A full account of their martyrdom is to be found in the valuable 
 work of Ruinart, entitled, Acta Sincera Martyrum. 
 
 % See the letter of the Christians at Lyons concerning this persecution, 
 which is to be found in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, book v. chap, 
 
 pears from the letter he addressed to the province of Asia, in favour of || ii. and also in Fox’s Martyrology, vol. i. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 suffered very little; no general persecution raged against 
 them; and any cruelties which they endured were confi- 
 ned to a small number, who had newly abandoned the 
 Pagan superstitions.s. But the scene changed toward the 
 latter end of this century, when Severus was declared em- 
 peror. ‘Chen Egypt and other provinces were dyed with 
 the blood of martyrs, as appears from the testimonies of 
 Tertullian, Clemens of Alexandria, and other writers. 
 Those, therefore, are not to be followed, who affirm, that 
 the Christians suffered nothing under Severus, before the 
 beginning of the third century, which was distinguished 
 by the cruel edicts of this emperor against their lives and 
 fortunes; for, as the imperial laws against the Christians 
 were not abrogated, and the iniquitous edicts of ‘T'rajan 
 and Marcus Antoninus were still in force, there was a door, 
 in consequence, open to the fury and injustice of corrupt 
 magistrates, as often as they were pleased to exercise them 
 upon the church. It was this series of calamities, under 
 which it groaned toward the conclusion of the second cen- 
 tury, which engaged Tertullian to write his Apology, and 
 several other books, i in defence of the Christians. 
 
 VIIL. It is very easy to account for the sufferings and 
 calamities with which the disciples of Jesus were loaded, 
 when we consider how they were blackened and rendered 
 odious by the railings, the calumnies, and libels of the 
 Heathen priests, and ‘the other defenders of a corrupt and 
 most abominable system of superstition. ‘The injurious 
 
 * Eusebius, lib. v. ° 
 
 3¢> > The learned Dr. Lardner does not think it possible that Celsus 
 could have been of the sect of Ammonius, since the former lived and 
 wrote in the second century, whereas the latter did not flourish before the 
 third. And indeed we learn from Origen himself, that he knew of two 
 
 No. IV. 10 
 
 == = ee ee ee eee eee 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 — I 
 
 37 
 
 imputations, the horrid charges, of which we took notice 
 above, are mentioned by all those who have written in 
 defence of the Christians, and ought indeed, to stand 
 always upon record, as proofs both of the weakness and 
 wickedness of their adversaries. Nothing can be more 
 frivolous and insignificant than the objections with which 
 the most famous defenders of Paganism assailed Chris- 
 tianity at this time; and such as desire a a convincing proof 
 of this assertion, have only to read the arguments of Cel- 
 sus on that subject. This philosopher wrote against the 
 Christians during the reign of Adrian, and was admirably 
 refuted, in the following century, by Origen, who repre- 
 sents him as an Epicurean, (a mistake which has been 
 almost generally followed ;) whereas it appears with the 
 utmost probability, that he was a Platonic philosopher of 
 the sect of Ammonius.” Be that as it will, Celsus was a 
 trifling caviller, as is manifest from the answer of Origen ; 
 nor do his writings against Christianity serve any other pur- 
 pose, than to show his malignant and illiberal turn of mind. 
 
 Fronto, the rhetorician, and Crescens, the Cynic philo- 
 sopher, made also some wretched attempts against Chris- 
 tianity. ‘The efforts of the former are only known by the 
 mention that is made of them by Minutius Felix; and the 
 enterprises of the latter were confined to a vehement zeal 
 for the ruin of the Christians, and a virulent persecution of 
 Justin Martyr, which ended in the cruel death of that emi- 
 nent saint.4 
 
 only of the name of Celsus, one who lived in the time of Nero, and the 
 other in the reign of Adrian, and afterwards. The latter was the phi- 
 losopher who wrote against Christianity. 
 
 © Octavius, p. 266, edit. Heraldi. 
 
 a Justin Mart. Apologia secunda, p. 21.—Tatian, Orat. contra Griecos. 
 
PART ATL 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the state of Letters and Philosophy during 
 this Century. 
 
 I. Unper the reign of Trajan, letters and philosophy 
 same forth from the retreat where they had languished 
 during the savage tyranny of his predecessors, and, by the 
 Auspicious protection of that excellent prince, were in some 
 measure restored to their former lustre. This happy revo- 
 Jution in the republic of letters, ;was indeed of a short dura- 
 tion, as it was not supported by the following emperors, 
 who were, for the most part, averse to literary pursuits. 
 Even Marcus Antoninus, who surpassed them all in learn- 
 ing, gave protection and encouragement to the Stoics 
 alone, and, after the example of that supercilious sect, 
 treated the arts and sciences with indifference and con- 
 tempt.’ And here we see the true reason why the writers 
 of this century are, in general, so much inferior to those of 
 the former in point of elegance and purity, eloquence and 
 taste. 
 
 II. It must be observed, at the same time, that this 
 degeneracy of erudition and taste did not amount to an 
 utter extinction of the one and the other; for, even in this 
 century, there were, both among the Greeks and Romans, 
 men of eminent genius and abilities, who set off, in the 
 most advantageous manner, the learning of the times in 
 which they lived. Among the learned Grecians, the first 
 place is due to Plutarch, a man of vast erudition, whose 
 knowledge was various, but indigested, and whose philoso- 
 phical taste was corrupted by the sceptical tenets of the 
 academics. ‘here were, likewise, in all the more con- 
 siderable cities of the Roman empire, rhetoricians, sophists, 
 and grammarians, who, by a variety of learned exercises, 
 seemed zealous in forming the youth to their arts of elo- 
 quence and declamation, and in rendering them fit, by 
 their talents and their acquisitions, to be useful to their 
 country. But the instruction acquired in these schools 
 was more specious than solid; and the youth who received 
 their education in them, distincuished themselves, at their 
 entrance upon the active stage of life, more by empty 
 declamation, than by true eloquence ; more by pompous 
 
 erudition, than by wisdom and dexterity in the manage- | 
 
 ment of public affairs. The consequence of this was, that 
 the rhetoricians and sophists, though agreeable to the cor- 
 rupt taste of the time, which was incapable, generally 
 speaking, of perceiving the native charms of truth, yet fell 
 nto contempt among the prudent and the wise, who 
 neld in derision the knowledge and education acquired in 
 heir auditories. Beside the schools now mentioned, there 
 were two public academies in the empire; one at Rome, 
 founded by Adrian, in which all the sciences were taught ; 
 and the other at Berytus in Pheenicia, which was princi- 
 
 ally destined for the education of youth in the science of 
 law. 
 
 4 Plin, epist. lib. iii. ep. 18. 
 
 b In the first book of his Meditations, sect. '7, 17. 
 _ © See the Meditations of Mareus Antoninus, boo! i. sect. 7, 10. - 
 
 | 
 
 Ill. Many philosophers ofall the different sects flourish- 
 ed at this time, whose names we do not think it necessary 
 to mention.? Two, however, there were, of such remark- 
 able and shining merit, as rendered them real ornaments 
 to the Stoic philosophy ; which the meditations of Marcus 
 Antoninus and the manual of Epictetus abundantly testify. 
 These two great men had more admirers than disciples 
 and foHowers ; for, in this century, the Stoical sect was not 
 in the highest esteem, as the rigour and austerity of its 
 doctrine were by no means suited to the dissolute manners 
 ofthe times. The Platonic schools were more frequente 
 
 | for several reasons, and particularly for these two, that 
 
 their moral precepts were less rigorous and severe than 
 those of the Stoics, and their doctrmes more conformable 
 to, or rather less incompatible with, the common opinions 
 concerning the gods. But, of all the philosophers, the 
 Epicureans enjoyed the greatest reputation, and had un- 
 doubtedly the greatest number of followers, because their 
 
 opinions tended to encourage the indolent security of a 
 voluptuous and effeminate life, and to banish the remorse 
 and terrors that haunt vice, and naturally incommode the 
 wicked in their sensual pursuits.*, 
 
 IV. Toward the conclusion of this century, a new sect 
 of philosophers suddenly arose, spread with amazing rapid- 
 ity through the greatest part of the Roman empire, swal- 
 lowed up almost ail other sects, and proved extremely 
 detrimental to the cause of Christianity. Alexandria in 
 Keypt, which had been, for a long time, the seat of learn- 
 ing, and, as it were, the centre of all the liberal arts and 
 sciences, gave birth to this new philosophy. Its votaries 
 chose to be called Platonists, though, far from adhering to 
 all the tenets of Plato, they collected from the different sects 
 such doctrines as they thought conformable to truth, and 
 formed thereof one general system. ‘The reason, then, 
 why they distinguished themselves by the title of Plato- 
 nists, was, that they thought the sentiments of Plato, con- 
 cerning that most noble part of philosophy, which has the 
 Deity and things invisible for its objects, much more ration- 
 al and sublime than those of the other philosophers. 
 
 V. What gave to this new philosophy a superior air of 
 reason and dignity, was, the unprejudiced spirit of candor 
 and impartiality on which it seemed to be founded. 
 This recommended it particularly to those real sages, 
 whose inquiries were accompanied with wisdom and mo. 
 deration, and who were sick of those arrogant and conten 
 tious sects, which required an invariable attachment 
 their particular systems. And, indeed, nothing Bik 
 have a more engaging aspect than a set of men, who, 
 abandoning all cavil, and all prejudices in favour of any 
 party, professed searching after the truth alone, and were 
 ready to adopt, from all the different systems and sects, 
 such tenets as they thought agreeable to it. Hence also 
 stl were called Eclectics. It is, however, to be observed, 
 
 s we hinted in the former section, that though these phi- 
 
 4 Justin Mart. Dialog. cam Tryphone, op. p. 218, &c. We find alsa 
 
 many of these philosophers mentioned in the meditations of Marcug 
 
 Antoninus. 
 © Lucian’s Pseudomant. p. 763. tom. i. op. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 7 
 
 losophers were attached to no particular sect, yet they 
 preferred, as appears from a variety of testimonies, the 
 
 sublime Plato to all other sages, and approved most of | 
 | that they differed from each other only in their method of 
 
 his opinions concerning the Deity, the universe, and the 
 human soul. | 
 
 VI. This new species of Platonism was embraced by 
 such of the Alexandrian Christians as were desirous of 
 retaining, with the profession of the Gospel, the title, the 
 
 dignity, and the habit of philosophers. It is also said to have | 
 
 had the particular approbation of Athenagoras, Pantenus, 
 Clemens the Alexandrian, and of all those who, in this 
 century, were charged with the care of the public school * 
 which the Christians had at Alexandria. ‘These sages 
 were of opinion, that true philosophy, the greatest and most 
 salutary gift of God to mortals, was scattered in various 
 portions through all the different sects ; and that it was, con- 
 sequently, the duty of every wise man, and more especially 
 of every Christian doctor, to gather it from the several 
 corners where it lay dispersed, and to employ it, thus 
 re-united, in the defence of religion, and in destroying 
 the dominion of impiety and vice. ‘The Christian Eclec- 
 tics had this also in common with the others, that they 
 preferred Plato to the other philosophers, and looked upon 
 his opinions concerning God, the human soul, and things 
 invisible, as conformable to the spirit and genius of the 
 Christian doctrine. 
 VIL. This philosophical system underwent some chan- 
 ges, when Ammonius Saccas, who taught, with the highest 
 applause, in the Alexandrian school about the conclusion 
 of this century, laid the foundations of that sect which 
 was distinguished by the name of the New Platonists. 
 This learned man was born of Christian parents, and 
 never, perhaps, gave up entirely the outward profession of 
 that divine religion in which he had been educated.» As 
 his genius was vast and comprehensive, so were his projects 
 bold and singular. For he attempted a general reconci- 
 liation or coalition of all sects, whether philosophical or re- 
 ligious, and taught a doctrine which he looked upon as 
 proper, to unite themall, the Christians not excepted, in the 
 most perfect harmony. And herein lies the difference be- 
 tween this new sect and the Eclectics, who had, before this 
 time, flourished in Egypt. The Eclectics held, that, in 
 every sect, there was a mixture of good and bad, of truth 
 and falsehood; and, accordingly, they chose and adopted, 
 out of each of them, such tenets as seemed to them con- 
 formable to reason and truth, and rejected such as they 
 
 * The title and dignity of philosophers delighted so much these honest 
 men, that though they were advanced in the church to the rank of pres- 
 byters, they would not abandon the philosophers’ cloak. See Origen, 
 Epist. ad. Eusebium, tom. i. op. edit. de la Rue. 
 
 » Porphyry, in his third book against the Christians, maintains, that 
 Ammonius deserted the Christian religion and went over to Paganism 
 as soon as he came to that time of life when the mind is capable of 
 making a wise and judicious choice. Eusebius, on the other hand, de- 
 nies this assertion; maintaining, that Ammonius persevered constantly 
 in the profession of Christianity ; and he is followed in this opinion by 
 Valesius, Bayle, Basnage, and others. The learned Fabricius is of 
 opinion, that Eusebius confounded two persons who bore the name of 
 
 mmonius, one of whom was a Christian writer, and the other a Hea- 
 then philosopher. See Fabric. Biblioth. Greca, lib. iv. cap. xxvi. 'The 
 truth of the matter seems to have been, that Ammonius Saccas was a 
 Christian, who adopted with such dexterity the doctrines of the pagan 
 philosophy, as to appear a Christian to the Christians, and a Pagano 
 the Pagans. See Dechaes Historia Critica Philosophia, vol. i. and 
 iii. Since the first edition of this work appeared, the learned Dr. Lard- 
 ner has maintained, not without a certain degree of asperity, which is 
 unusual in his valuable writings, the opinion of Fabricius, against Euse- 
 bius, and particulerly against Dr. Mosheim. Sec his Collection of 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 thought repugnant to both. Ammonius, on the contrary, 
 maintained, that the great principles of all philosophical 
 and religious truth were to be found equally in all sects ; 
 
 expressing them, and in some opinions of little or no im- 
 portance ; and that, by a proper interpretation of ifeir re- 
 spective sentiments, they might easily be united into one 
 body. It is farther to be observed, that the propensity of 
 Ammonius to singularity and paradox, led him to main- 
 tain, that all the Gentile religions, and even the Christian, 
 were to be illustrated and explained by the principles of this 
 universal philosophy ; but that, in order io this, the fables 
 of the priests were to be removed from Paganism, and the 
 comments and interpretations of the disciples of Jesus frorn 
 Christianity. 
 VUL. This arduous design, which Ammonius had form- 
 ed, of bringing about a coalition of all the philosophical 
 sects, and all the systems of religion that prevailed in the 
 world, required many difficult and disagreeable things in 
 order to its execution. Every particular sect or religion 
 must have several of its doctrmes curtailed or distorted, 
 before it could enter into the general mass. "The tenets of 
 the philosophers, the superstitions of the Heathen priests, 
 the solemn doctrines of Christianity, were all to suffer in 
 this cause, and forced allegories were to be employed with 
 subtilty in removing the difficulties with which it was 
 attended. How this vast project was effected by Ammo- 
 nius, the writings of his disciples and followers, that yet 
 remain, abundantly testify. In order to the accomplish- 
 ment of his purpose, he supposed, that true philosophy 
 derived its orgin and its consistence from the eastern na- 
 tions ; that it was taught to the Egyptians by Hermes ; 
 that it was brought from them to the Greeks, by whose 
 vain subtilties, and litigious disputes, it was rendered some- 
 what obscure and deformed ; but was however, preserved 
 in its original purity by Plato, who was the best interpreter 
 of Hermes, and of the other oriental sages. He maintain- 
 ed, that all the different religions which prevailed in the 
 world, were, in their original integrity, conformable to the 
 genius of this ancient philosophy ; but that it unfortunately 
 | happened, that the symbols and fictions, under which, 
 according to the eastern manner, the ancients delivered 
 their precepts and their doctrines, were, in process of time, 
 erroneously understood both by priests and people in a 
 literal sense; that, in consequence of this, the invisible 
 beings and demons, whom the Supreme Deity had placed 
 
 Heathen and Jewish Testimonies, vol. iii. Dr. Mosheim was once ot 
 the same opinion with Fabricius, and he maintained it in a Dissertation, 
 de ecclesia turbata per recentiores Platonicos ; but he afterwards saw 
 reason to change his mind. His reasons may be seen in his book, de 
 rebus Christianorum, ante Const. Mag. p.281, &e. They indeed weigh 
 little with Dr. Lardner, who, however, opposes nothing to them but 
 mere assertions, unsupported by the smallest glimpse of evidence. For 
 the letter of @igen, which he quotes from Eusebius, is so far from pro- 
 ving that Ammonius was merely a Heathen philosopher, and not a 
 Christian, that it would not be sufficient to demonstrate that there was 
 ever such a person as Ammonius in the world, since he is not so much 
 as named in that letter. But allowing with Valesius that it is Ammo- 
 nius whom Origen has in view, when he talks of the philosophical mas- 
 ter from whom he and Heracles received instruction, it seems very 
 whimsical to conclude from this circumstance, that Ammonius was no 
 Christian. The coalition between Platonism and Christianity, m the 
 second and third centuries, is a fact too fully proved to be rendered 
 dubious by mere afiirmations. The notion, therefore, of two persons 
 bearing the name of Ammonius, the one a Heathen philosopher, and 
 the other a Christian writer, of which Dr. Lardner seems so fond, rests 
 upon little more than an hypothesis fermed to remove an imaginary 
 difficulty. 
 
40 
 
 in the different parts of the universe as the ministers of his 
 providence, were, by the suggestions of superstition, con- 
 verted into gods, and worshipped with a multiplicity of vain 
 ceremonies. He therefore insisted, that the religions of all 
 nations should be restored to their original purity, and 
 reduced to their primitive standard, viz. ©The ancient phi- 
 losophy of the east;” and he affir med, that this his project. 
 was agreeable to the intentions of Jesus Christ, whose sole | 
 view, in descending upon earth, was, to set bounds to the 
 reigning superstition, and to remove the errors that had 
 crept into all religions, but not to abolish the ancient theo- 
 logy from which they were derived. 
 
 IX. Taking these principles for granted, Ammonius 
 adopted the doctrines which were received in Egypt, the 
 place of his birth and education, concerning the universe 
 and the Deity, considered as constituting one great whole ; 
 as also concerning the eternity of the world, the nature of 
 sous, the empire of Providence, and the government of 
 this world by demons. For it seems evident, that the 
 Egyptian philosophy, which was said to be derived from 
 Hermes, was the basis of that of Ammonius ; or, as it is 
 otherwise called, of modern Platonism; and the book of 
 Jamblichus, concerning the mysteries of the HKegyptians, 
 puts the matter beyond dispute. Ammonius, therefore, 
 associated the sentiments of the Egyptians with the doc- 
 tines of Plato, which was easily done by adulterating 
 some of the opinions of the latter, and foreing his expres- 
 sions from their obvious and natural sense; and, to finish 
 this conciliatory scheme, he so interpreted the doctrines of 
 the other philosophic al and religious sects, by the violent 
 
 succours of art, invention, and allegory, th at they seemed, || 
 
 at length, to bearesome resemblance to the Eg gyptian and 
 Platonic systems. 
 
 X. Tothis monstrous coalition of heterogeneous doc- 
 trines, its fanatical author added a rule of life and manners, 
 which carried an aspect of high sanctity and uncommon 
 austerity. He, indeed, permitted the people to live accord- 
 ing to the laws of their country, and the dictates of na- 
 ture ; ; but a more sublime rule was laid down for the 
 wise. They were to raise, above ail terrestrial things, by 
 the towering efforts of holy contemplation, those souls 
 whose origin was celestial and divine. They were order- 
 ed to extenuate, by hunger, thirst, and other mortifications, 
 the sluggish body, which confines the activity, and restrains 
 the liberty of the immortal spirit ; that thus, in this life, 
 they might enjoy communion with the Supreme Being, 
 and ascend after death, active and unencumbered, to the 
 universal Parent, to live in his presence for ever. As 
 Ammonius was born and educated among the Christians, 
 he embellished these i injunctions, and even gave them an 
 air of authority, by expressing them partly in terms 
 borrowed from the sacred scriptures, of which we find a 
 vast number of citations also in the writings of his disci- 
 ples. ‘I'o this austere discipline, he added the pretended 
 art of so purging and refining that faculty of the mind 
 which receives the images of things, as to render it capable 
 of perceiving the demons, and of performing many marvel- 
 lous things, by their assistance. "This art, which the disci- 
 ples of ‘Ammonius called theurgy, was not, however, 
 
 ® What we have here mentioned concerning the doctrines and opinions 
 of Ammonius, is gathered from the writings and disputations of his dis- 
 ciples, who are known by the name of the Ilodern Platonists. This 
 philosopher has left nothing in writing behind him. He even imposed 
 a law upon his disciples not to divulz ge his doctrines among the multi- | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 communicated to all the schools of this fanatical philoso- — 
 
 pher, but only to those of the first rank. 
 
 XI. The extravagant attempts of Ammonius did not 
 cease here. ‘T'o reconcile the popular religions of different 
 countries, and particularly the Christian, with this new 
 system, he fell upon the following inventions; Ist, He 
 turned into a mere allegory the whole history of the gods, 
 and maintained, that those beings whom the priests and 
 people dignified with this title, were no more than celestial 
 ministers, to whom a certain kind of worship was due, but a 
 worship inferior to that which was to be reserved for the 
 Supreme Deity. 2dly, He acknowledged Christ to be a 
 most excellent man, the friend of God, the admirable ¢he- 
 urge ; he denied, however, that Jesus intended to abolish 
 entirely the worship of demons, and of the other ministers 
 of divine Providence ; and affirmed, on the contrary, that 
 his only intention was to purify t the ancient religion, and 
 that his followers had manifestly corrupted the doctrine of 
 their divine master.* 
 
 XII. This new species of philosophy, imprudently adopt 
 ed by Origen and many other Christians, was extremely 
 prejudicial to the cause of the Gospel, and to the beautiful 
 simplicity of its celestial doctrines. For hence it was, that 
 the Christian doctors began to introduce their perplexed 
 and obscure erudition into the religion of Jesus; to involve, 
 in the darkness of a vain philosophy, some of the principal 
 truths of Christianity, that had been revealed with the 
 utmost plaimness, and were indeed obvious to the meanest 
 capacity ; and to add, to the divine precepts of our Lord, 
 many of their own, which had no sort of foundation in any 
 part of the sacred writings. From the same source arose 
 that melancholy set of men, who have been distinguished 
 by the name of Mystics, whose system, when separated 
 from the Platonic doctrine concerning the nature and ori- 
 gin of the soul, is but a lifeless mass, without any vigour, 
 form, or consistence. Ner did the evils, which sprang from 
 this Ammonian philosophy, end here. For, under the 
 specious pretext of the necessity of contemplation, it gave 
 occasion to that slothful and indolent course of life, which 
 continues to be led by myriads of monks retired in cells, 
 and sequestered from society, to which they are neither 
 useful by their instructions, nor by their examples. ‘To 
 this philosophy we may trace, as to their source, a mul- 
 titude of vain and foolish ceremonies, calculated only to 
 
 cast a veil over truth, and to nourish superstition ; and which 
 are, for the most part, religiously observed by many, even 
 in the times in which we live. It would be endless to enu 
 merate all the pernicious consequences that may be justly 
 attributed to this new philosophy, or rather to this mon- 
 strous attempt to reconcile falsehood with truth, and light 
 with darkness. Some of its most fatal effects were, “its 
 alienating the minds of many, in the following ages, from 
 the Christian religion ; and its substituting, in the place of 
 the pure and sublime simplicity of the Gospel, an unseem 
 ly mixture of Piatonism and Christianity. 
 
 XII. The number of learned men among the Chris- 
 tians, which was very small in the preceding century, 
 increased considerably in this. Among these there were 
 few rhetoricians, sophists, or orators. "Ihe majority were 
 
 tude; which law, however, they made no scruple to neglect and victaté, 
 See Poxsrhyr. Vit. Plotini, cap. 11. At the same time, there is no sort of 
 
 doubt, that all these inventions belong properly to Ammonius, whom al] 
 the later Platonists acknowledge as the founder of this sect, and the 
 author of their philosophy. 
 
 , 
 7 
 i 
 
i Cuapr. AL. 
 
 _ philosophers attached to the Eclectic system, though they 
 were not all of the same sentiments concerning the utility 
 of letters and philosophy. ‘Those who were “themselves 
 initiated into the depths of philosophy, were desirous that 
 others, particulary such as aspired to the offices of bishops 
 
 or doctors, should apply themselves to the study of human | 
 
 wisdom, in order to their being the better qualified for de- 
 fending the beat with vigour, and instructing the ignorant 
 with success. Others were of a quite different way of 
 thinking upon this subject, and were for banishing all 
 argumentation and philosophy from the limits of the 
 ahh, from a notion that erudition might prove detrimen- 
 tal to the true spirit of religion. Hence the early beginnings 
 of that unhappy contest “between faith and reason, reli- 
 gionand philosophy, piety and genius, which increased 
 in the succeeding ages, and is prolonged, even to our times, 
 with a violence that renders it extremely difficult to be 
 brought toa conclusion. ‘Those who maintained that 
 learning and philosophy were rather advantageous than 
 detrimental to the cause of religion, gained, by degr ees, the 
 ascendant ; and, in consequence thereof, laws were enact- 
 ed, which excluded the ignorant and illiterate from the 
 office of public teachers. "The opposite side of the question 
 was not, however, without defenders ; and the defects and 
 vices of learned men and philosophers contributed much 
 to increase their number, as will appear in the progress of 
 this history. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and the Form of its Government. 
 
 I. Tue form of ecclesiastical government, whose com- 
 mencement we have seen in thie last century, was brought 
 in this to a greater degree of stability and consistence. One 
 inspector, or bishop, presided over each Christian assembly, 
 to which office he was elected by the voices of the whole 
 people. In this post he was to be watchful and provident, 
 attentive to the wants of the church, and careful to supply 
 them. ‘To assist him in this laborious province, he formed 
 a council of presbyters, which was not confined to any 
 fixed number; and to each of these he distributed his task, 
 and appointed a station, in which he was to promote the 
 interests of the church. ‘To the bishops and _presbyters, 
 the ministers or deacons were subject ; and the latter were 
 divided into a variety of classes, as the state of the church 
 required. 
 
 {I. During a great part of this century, the Christian 
 churches were independent with respect to each other ; nor 
 were they joined by association, confederacy, or any other 
 
 |bonds than those of charity. Each Christian assembly 
 was a little state, governed by its own laws, which were 
 2ither enacted, or at least, approved by the society. But, in 
 process of time, all the Christian churches of a province were 
 formed into one large ecclesiastical body, which, like 
 confederate states, assembled at certain times in order to 
 deliberate about the common interests of the whole. "This 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 authoritative rules of faith and manners. 
 
 institution had its origin among the Greeks, with whom | 
 
 nothing was more common fy ae this confederacy of inde- | 
 
 pendent states, and the regular assemblies which met, in 
 consequence ther eof, at fixed times, and were comp sosed of | 
 the deputies of each respective state. But these ecclesias- 
 
 \tical associations were not long confined to the Greeks ; 
 il 
 
 Al 
 
 their great utility was no sooner perceived, than they be- 
 came universal, and were formed in all places where the 
 gospel had been planted. 'f'o these assemblies, in which 
 the deputies or commissioners of several churches consulted 
 together, the names of synods was appropriated by the 
 Greeks, and that of councils by the Latins; and the laws 
 that were enacted in these general meetings, were called 
 canons, 1. e. rules, : 
 
 If. These councils of which we find not the smallest 
 trace before the middle of this century, changed the whole 
 face of the church, and gave it a new form: for by them 
 the ancient privileges of the people were considerably dimi- 
 nished, and the power and authority of the bishops greatly 
 augmented, The humility, indeed, and prudence of these 
 pious prelates, prevented their assuming all at once the 
 power with which they were afterward invested. At their 
 first appearance in these general councils, they acknow- 
 ledged that they were no more than the delegates of their 
 respective churches, and that they acted in the name, and 
 by the appointment of their people. But they soon ¢ hanged 
 this humble tone, imperceptibly extended the limits of their 
 their authority, turned their influence into dominion, and 
 their counsels into laws; and openly asserted, at length, 
 that Christ had empowered them to prescribe to his people 
 Another effect 
 of these councils was, the gradual abolition of that perfect 
 equality which reigned among all bishops in the primitive 
 times. For the order and decency of these assemblies re- 
 quired, that some one of the provincial bishops, meeting in 
 council, should be invested with a superior degree of power 
 and authority; and hence the rights of Metropolitans derive 
 their origin. In the mean time the bounds of the church 
 were enlarged ; the custom of holding councils was fol- 
 lowed wherever the sound of the gospel had reached ; and 
 the universal church had now the appearance of one vast 
 republic, formed by a combination of a great number of 
 little states. ‘This occasioned the creation of a new order 
 of ecclesiastics, who were appointed, in different parts of 
 the world, as heads of the church, and whose office it was 
 to preserve the consistence and union of that immense 
 body, whose members were so widely dispersed through- 
 out the nations. Such were the nature and office of the 
 patriarchs, among whom, at length, ambition, having 
 reached its most insolent period, formed a new dignity, 
 investing the bishop of Rome, and his successors, with the 
 title and authority of prince of the patriarchs. 
 
 IV. The Christian doctors had the good fortune to per- 
 suade the people, that the ministers of the Christian church 
 succeeded to the character, rights, and privileges, of the 
 Jewish priesthood ; and this persuasion was a new source 
 both of honours and profit to the sacred order. "This notion 
 was propagated with industry some time after the reign 
 of Adrian, when the second destruction of Jerusalem had 
 extinguished ¢ among the Jews all hopes of seeing their 
 
 government restored to its former lustre, and their country 
 arising out of ruins. 
 dered themselves as invested with a rank and character 
 
 And, accordingly, the bishops consi- 
 
 similar to those of the high priest among the Jews, while 
 
 the presbyters repres sented the priests, and the deacons the 
 
 Levites. It is, indeed, highly probable, that they who first 
 introduced this absurd comparison of offices, so entirely dis- 
 tinct, did it rather through ignorance and error, ‘than 
 
 * Tertullian, Lib. de Jejuniis, cap. xiii. p. 711. 
 
A42 
 
 through artifice or design. ‘The notion, however, once 
 enterta ained, produced its natural effects ; and these effects 
 were pernicious. ‘The errors to which it gave rise were 
 ‘any ; and we may justly consider, as one of its immediat 
 sonsequences, the establishment ofa g 
 
 tween the pia pastors and their flock, than the ge- 
 nius of the Gospel seems to admit. 
 
 V. From the gov oeen of the church, let us ttirn our | 
 
 eyes to those who maintained its cause by their learned and 
 judicious writings. Among these we may mention Justin, 
 a man of great piety and considerable learning, who, from 
 a pagan philosopher, became a Christian martyr. He had 
 fr equented al all the different sects of philosophy in an ardent 
 
 and impartial pursuit of truth ; and finding, neither among 
 
 Stoics nor Peripatetics, neither in the Pythagorean nor | 
 
 Platonic schools, any satisfactory account of the perfections 
 of the Supreme Being, and the nature and destination of 
 the human soul, he embraced Christianity on account of 
 the light which it cast upon these interesting subjects.— 
 We have yet remaining his two Apologies in behalf of the 
 Christians, which are highly esteemed, as they deserve to 
 be, although, in some passages of them, he shows himself 
 an incautious disputant, and betrays a want of acquaint- 
 ance with ancient history. 
 
 Trenzeus, bishop of Lyons, a Greek by birth, and proba- 
 bly born of Christian parents, a disciple also of Polycarp, by 
 whom he was sent to preach the Gospel among the Gauls, 
 is another of the writers of this century, whose labours were 
 remarkably useful to the church. He tured his pen 
 against its internal and domestic enemies, by attacking 
 the monstrous errors which had been adopted by many 
 of the primitive Christians, as appears by his five Books 
 against Heresies, which are yet preserved in a Latin trans- 
 lation, « and are considered as one of the most precious 
 monuments of ancient erudition. 
 
 Athenagoras also deserves a place among the estimable 
 writers of this age. He was a philosopher of no mean 
 reputation ; and his apology for the Christians, and his 
 treatise upon the Resurrection, afford striking proofs of his 
 learning and genius. 
 
 ‘The works of Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, are more 
 remarkable for their erudition, than for their order and 
 method ; this, at least, is true of his three Books in Defence 
 of C ‘hristianity, addressed to Autolycus.” But the most 
 illustrious writer of this century, and the most justly renown- 
 ed for his various erudition, and his perfect acquaintance 
 with the ancient sages, was Clemens, the disciple of Pan- 
 teenus, and the head of the Alexans drian school, destined 
 for the i instruction of the catechumens. His Stromata, Pe- 
 dagogue, and Eixhortation, addressed to the Greeks, which 
 are yet extant, abundantly show the extent of his learning 
 and the force of his genius, though he is neither to be 
 admired for the precision of his ideas, nor for the perspl- 
 cuity of his style. It is also to be lamented, that his exces- 
 sive attachment to the reigning philosophy led him into a 
 variety of pernicious errors. 
 
 Hitherto we have made no mention of the Latin writers, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 cvreater ditference a 
 
 Parr If 
 
 who employed their pens in the Christian cause. And, 
 indeed, the only one of any note we find in this century, is 
 Tertullian, by birth a Carthaginian, who, having first em- 
 
 | braced the profession of the law, became afterwards a pres- 
 
 byter, and concluded by adopting the heretical visions of 
 Montanus. He was a man of extensive learning, of a fine 
 genius, and highly admired for his elocution in the Latin 
 tongue. We have several works of his yet remaining, 
 which were designed to explain and defend the truth, and 
 
 | to nourish pious affections in the hearts of Christians. 
 
 There was, indeed, such a mixture in the qualities of this 
 man, that it is difficult to fix his real character, and to deter 
 mine which of the two predominated—his virtues or his 
 defects. He was endowed with a great genius, but seemed 
 deficient in point of judgment. His piety was warm 
 and vigorous, but, at the same time, melancholy and 
 austere. His learning was extensive and profound; and 
 vet his credulity and superstition were such as could only 
 have been expected from the darkest ignorance. And with 
 respect to his reasonings, they had more of the subtilty 
 that dazzles the imagination, than of that solidity which 
 brings light and conviction to the mind.¢ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church in 
 this Century. 
 
 I. "THe Christian system, as it was hitherto taught, pre- 
 served its native and beautiful simplicity, and was compre- 
 hended in a small number of articles. ) ‘The public teachers 
 inculcated no other doctrines, than tidse which are con- 
 tained in what is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed; and 
 in the method of illustrating them, all vain subtilties, all 
 mysterious researches, every thing that was beyond the 
 reach of common capacities, were carefully avoided./ "This 
 will not appear surprising to those who consider that, at 
 this time, there was not the least controversy about those 
 capital doctrmes of Christianity, which were afterwards so 
 keenly debated in the church; and who reflect, that the 
 bishops of these primitive times were, for the most part 
 plain and illiterate men, remarkable rather for their piety 
 and zeal, than for their learning and eloquence. 
 
 IL. This venerable simplicity was not, indeed, of a long 
 duration y its beauty was gradually effaced by the labori- 
 ous efforts of human learning, and the dark subtilties of 
 imaginary science. Acute researches were employed upon 
 several religious subjects, concerning which genious de 
 cisions were pr ronounced ; and, w hat was worst of all, seve 
 ral tenets of a chimerical philosophy were imprudently 
 incorporated into the Christian system. This disadvan 
 tageous change, this unhappy alteration of the primitiv 
 simplicity of the Christian religion, arose partly from 
 pride, and partly from a sort of necessity. ‘The former 
 cause was the eagerness of certain learned men to bring 
 about a union between the doctrines of Christianity and 
 the opinions of the philosophers; for they thought it a very 
 fine accomplishment, to be able to express the precepts o: 
 
 3-37 * The first book is yet extant in the original Greek; of the rest, 
 
 we have only a Latin version, through the b: urbarity of which, though | 
 
 excessive, it is easy to discern the eloque nee and erudition that reign 
 throuchout the original. See Hist. Literaire de la France. 
 
 yb Theophilus was the author of several works, beside those men- 
 tioned by Dr. Mosheim, particularly of a commentary upon the Proverbs, 
 another upon the Four Evangelists, and of some short and pathetic dis- 
 courses, Which he published from time to time for the use of his flock. 
 
 He also wrote against Marcion and Hermogenes, and, in refuting the 
 errors of these heretics, he quotes several passages of the Revelations. 
 
 ¢ It is proper to peint out, to such as are desirous of a more particular 
 account of the works, as also of the excellencies and defects of these an- 
 cient writers, the authors who have professedly written of them; and the 
 principal are those who follow: Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in Biblioth. Gree. et 
 Latin.—Cave, Hist. Liter. Scriptor. Eccl. —Du-Pin et Cellier, Biblioth. 
 des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques. 
 
 PERRET «- 
 
 eee 
 
 << 
 
Crap. IIL. 
 
 Christ in the language of philosophers, civilians, and 
 rabbis. The other reason that contributed to alter the 
 simplicity of the Christian religion, was, the necessity of 
 having recourse to logical definitions and nice distinctions, 
 in order to confound the sophistical arguments which the 
 infidel and the heretic employed, one to overturn the Chris- 
 tian system, and the other to corrupt it. {13> These philo- 
 sophical arms, in the hands of the judicious and wise, 
 were both honourable and useful to religion; but, when 
 they were handled by every ignorant and self-sufficient 
 meddler, as was afterwards the case, they produced no- 
 thing but perplexity and confusion, under which genuine 
 Christianit y almost disappeared. 
 
 IIE. Many examples might be alleged, which verify 
 the observations we have now been making: and, if the 
 reader is desirous of a striking one, he has only to take a 
 view of the doctrines which began to be taught in this cen- 
 tury, concerning the state of the soul after ‘the dissolution 
 of the body. Jesus and his disciples had simply declared, 
 that the souls of good men were, at their departure from 
 their bodies, to be received into heaven, while those of the 
 wicked were to be sent to hell; and this was sufficient for 
 the first disciples of Christ to know, as they had more 
 piety than curiosity, and were satisfied with the knowledge 
 of this solemn fact, without any inclination to penetrate 
 its manner, or to pry into its secret reasons. But this plain 
 doctrine was soon disguised, when Platonism began to 
 infect Christianity. Plato had taught that the s souls of 
 heroes, of illustrious men, and eminent philosophers alone, 
 ascended after death into the mansions of light and felicity, 
 while those of the generality, weighed down by their lusts 
 and passions, sunk ito the infernal regions, whence they 
 were not permitted to emerge before they were purified from 
 their turpitude and corruption.s ‘This doctrine was seized 
 with avidity by the Platonic Christians, and applied as a 
 commentary upon that of Jesus. Hence a notion prevailed, 
 that only the martyrs entered upon a state of happiness 
 immediately after death, and that, for the rest, a certain 
 obscure region was assigned, in which they were to be 
 imprisoned until the second coming of Christ, or, at least, 
 until they were purified from their various pollutions. This 
 doctrine, enlarged by the irregular fancies of injudicious 
 men, became a source of innumerable errors, vain ceremo- 
 nies, and monstrous superstitions. 
 
 TV. But, however the doctrines of the Gospel may have 
 been abused by the commentaries and interpretations of 
 different sects, all were unanimous in regarding the Scrip- 
 tures with veneration, as the great rule of faith and man- 
 ners; and hence arose the laudable and pious zeal of adap- 
 ting them to general use. We have mentioned already 
 the translations that were made of them into different lan- 
 guages, and it will not be improper to say something here 
 concerning those who employed their useful labours in ex- 
 plaining and interpreting them. Pantznus, the head of 
 the Alexandrian school, was probably the first who enrich- 
 ed the church with a version of the sacred writings, which 
 has been lost among the ruins of time. ‘The same fate 
 attended the commentary of Clemens the Alexandrian, 
 
 “ See an ample account of the opinions of the Platonists and other an- 
 cient philosophers on this subject, inthe notes which Dr. Mosheim has 
 added to his Latin translation of Cudworth’s Intellectual System, vol. ii. 
 
 © Viz. Clementis Hypotyposes. 
 
 g“p ° Melito, beside his Apology for the Christians, and the treatises 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCA. 43 
 
 upon the canonical epistles; and also another celebrated 
 work? of the same author, in which he is said to have ex- 
 plained, im a compendious manner, almost all the sacred 
 writings. he Harmony of the Evangelists, composed 
 by 'Tatian, is yet extant. But the Lxposition of the Re- 
 velations, ‘by Justin Martyr, and of the four Gospels hy 
 J heophilus bishop of Antioch, together with several illus- 
 trations of the Mosaic history of the creation, by other 
 ancient writers, are lost. 
 
 V. 'The loss of these ancient productions is the less to be 
 regretted as we know, with certainty, their vast inferiority 
 to the expositions of the holy Scriptures that appeared in 
 succeeding times. Among the persons already mentioned, 
 none deserved the name of. an able and judicious interpreter 
 of the sacred text. hey all attributed a double sense to the 
 words of Scripture; the one obvious and literal, the other 
 hidden and mysterious, which lay concealed, as it were 
 under the veil of the outward letter. ‘The former they 
 treated with the utmost neglect, and turned the whole 
 force of their genius and application to unfold the latter ; 
 or, in other w ords, they were more studious to darken the 
 Scriptures with their idle fictions, than to investigate their 
 true and natural sense. Some of them also forced the ex- 
 pressions of sacred writ out of their obvious meaning, in 
 order to apply them to the support of their philesophical 
 systems ; of which dangerous and pernicious attempts, Cle- 
 mens of Alexandria is said to have given the first example. 
 With respect to the expositors of the Old Testament in 
 this century, we shall only make this general remark, that 
 their excessive veneration for the Alexandrian ver ‘slon, com- 
 monly called the Septuagint, which they regarded almost 
 as of divine authority, confined their views, fettered their 
 critical spirit, and hindered them from producing any thing 
 excellent in the way of sacred criticism or interpretation. 
 
 VI. If this age was not very fertile in sacred critics, it 
 was still less so in expositors of the doctrinal parts ‘of 
 religion; for hitherto there was no attempt made, at least 
 that has come to our knowledge, to compose a system or 
 complete view of the Christian doctrine. Some treatises of 
 Arabians, relative to this subject, are indeed mentioned ; 
 but, as they are lest, and seem not to have been much 
 known by any of the writers whose works have survived 
 them, we can form no conclusions concerning them. ‘The 
 books of P aplas, concerning the sayings of Christ and his 
 apostles, were according to the account which Eusebius 
 gives of them, rather an historical commentary, than a 
 theological system. Melito, bishop of Sardis, is said to 
 have written several treatises; one concerning faith, another 
 on the creation, a third respecting the church, and a fourth 
 for the illustration of truth; but it does not appear frem the 
 titles of these writings, w hether they were of a dectrinal or 
 controversial nature.e Several of the polemic writers, in- 
 deed, have been naturally led, in the course of controversv 
 to explain amply certain points of religion. But those aoc- 
 taines which have not been disputed, are very rarely 
 defined with such accuracy, by the ancient writers, as to 
 point out to us clearly w hat their opinions concerning them 
 were. Hence it ought not to appear surprising, that ‘all the 
 
 other dissertations, of which we have only some scattered fragments re- 
 maining; but what is worthy of remark here, is, that he is the first 
 Christian writer who has given us a catalogue ‘of the books of the Old 
 Testament. His catalogue, also, 1s perfectly conformable to that of the 
 Jews, except in this point only, that he has omitted in it the Look of 
 
 mentioned by Dr. Mosheim, wrote a discourse upon Esther and several || Esther. 
 
44. 
 
 different sects of Christians pretend to find, in the writings 
 of the fathers, decisions favourable to their respective tenets. 
 
 VII. The controversial writers, who shone in this 
 century, had three different sorts of adversaries to combat ; 
 the Jews, the Pagans, and those who, in the bosom of 
 Christianity, corrupied its doctrines, and produced various 
 sects and divisions in the church. Justin Martyr, and 
 "Tertullian, embarked in a controversy with the Jews, which 
 it was not possible for tiem to manage with the highest 
 success and dexterity, as they were very little acquainted 
 with the language, the history, and the learning of the 
 Hebrews, and wrote with more levity and inaccuracy, than 
 such a subject would justify. Of those who managed the 
 cause of Christianity against the Pagans, some performed 
 this important task by composing apologies for the Chris- 
 tians, and others by addressing pathetic exhortations to the 
 Gentiles. Among the former were Athenagoras, Melito, 
 Quadratus, Miltiades, Aristides, 'Tatian, and Justin Martyr; 
 and among the latter, 'Tertullian, Clemens, Justin, and 
 Theophilus bishop of Antioch. All these writers attacked, 
 with judgment, dexterity, and success, the pagan-supersti- 
 tion, and also defended the Christians, in a victorious man- 
 ner, against all the calumnies and aspersions of their ene- 
 mies. But they did not succeed so well in unfolding the 
 true nature and genius of Christianity, nor were the argu- 
 ments adduced by them to demonstrate its truth and divi- 
 nity so full of energy, so striking and irresisiible, as those 
 by which they overturned the pagan system. In a word, 
 both their explication and defence of many of the doctrines 
 of Christianity are defective aud unsatisfactory in several 
 respects. As to those who directed their polemic efforts 
 against the heretics, their number was prodigious, though 
 few of their writings have come down to our times. — Ire- 
 neeus refuted the whole tribe in a work destined solely for 
 that purpose. Clemens,* Tertullian,» and Justin Martyr, 
 wrote also against all the sectaries; but the work of the last, 
 upon that subject, is not extant. It would be endless to 
 mention those who combated particular errors; of whose 
 writings also, many have disappeared amidst the decays 
 of time, and the revolutions that have happened in the 
 republic of letters. A 
 
 VILL. If the primitive defenders of Christianity were not 
 always happy in the choice of their arguments, yet they 
 discovered more candour and probity than those of the 
 following ages. The artifice of sophistry, and the habit 
 of employing pious frauds in support of the truth, had not, 
 as yet, infected the Christians. And this, indeed, is all 
 that can be said in their behalf; for they are worthy of little 
 admiration on account of the accuracy or depth of their 
 reasonings. ‘The most of them appear!to have been 
 destitute of penetration, learning, order, application and 
 force. ‘i‘hey frequently make use of arguments void of 
 all solidity, and much more proper to dazzle the fancy, 
 than to enlighten and convince the mind. One, laying 
 aside the sacred writings, from which all the weapons of 
 
 ® In his work entitled, Stromata. 
 
 b In his Prescriptiones adversus Heereticos. 
 
 ° Several examples of this senseless method of reasoning are to be 
 found in different writers. See particularly Basnage, Histoire des 
 Juifs, tom. iii. p. 660, 694. 
 
 3 4 The @conomical method of disputing was that in which the 
 disputants accommodated themselves, as far as was possible, to the taste 
 and prejudices of those whom they were endeavouring to gain over to 
 the truth. Some of the first Christians carried this condescension too 
 far, and abused St. Paul’s example, (1 Cor. ix. 20, 21, 22.) to a degree 
 «iconsistent with the purity and simplicity of the Christian doctrine. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II 
 
 religious controversy ought to be drawn, refers to the 
 decisions of those bishops who ruled the apostolic churches. 
 Another thinks, that the antiquity of a doctrine is a mark 
 of its truth, and pleads prescription against his adversaries, 
 as if he was maintaining his property before a civil magis- 
 trate; than which method of disputing nothing can be 
 more pernicious to the cause of truth. A third imitates 
 those wrong-headed disputants among the Jews, who, 
 infatuated with their cabalistic jargon, offered, as argu- 
 ments, the imaginary powers of certain mystic words and 
 chosen numbers.< Nor do they seem to err, who are of 
 opinion, that, in this century, that vicious method ¢ of dis- 
 puting, which afterwards obtained the name of @conomi- 
 cal, was first introduced.¢ 
 
 IX. The principal points of morality were treated by 
 Justin Martyr, or, at least, by the writer of the Epistle to 
 Zena and Serenus, which is to be found among the works 
 of that celebrated author. Many other writers confined 
 themselves to particular branches of the moral system, 
 which they handled with much attention and zeal. ‘Thus 
 Clemens of Alexandria wrote several treatises concerning 
 calumny, patience, continence, and other virtues, which 
 discourses have not reached our times. ‘Those of 'Tertul- 
 lian upon chastity, upon flight in the time of persecution, 
 as also upon fasting, shows, female ornaments, and prayer. 
 have survived the waste of time, and might be read with 
 much fruit, were the style in which they are written less la- 
 boured and difficult, and the spirit they breathe less melan- 
 choly and morose. 
 
 X. Learned men are not unanimous with regard to the 
 degree of esteem that is due to the authors now mentioned, 
 and the other ancient moralists. Some represent them ag 
 the most excellent guides in the paths of piety and virtue ; 
 while others place them in the lowest rank of moral writers, 
 consider them as the worst of all instructers, and treat their 
 precepts and decisions as perfectly insipid, and, in many 
 respects, pernicious. We leave the determination of this 
 point to such as are more capable of pronouncing decisively 
 upon it, than we pretend to be.‘ It, however, appears to 
 us incontestable, that in the writings of the primitive 
 fathers, there are several sublime sentiments, judicious 
 thoughts, and many things that are naturally adapted to 
 form a religious temper, and to excite pious and virtuous 
 affections ; while it must be confessed on the other hand, 
 that they abound still more with precepts of an excessive 
 and unreasonable austerity, with stoical and academical 
 dictates, vague and indeterminate notions, and what is ye 
 worse, with decisions that are absolutely false, and in evi 
 dent opposition to the precepts of Christ. Before the ques 
 tion mentioned above concerning the merit of the ancients 
 fathers, as moralists, be decided, a previous question must 
 be determined, namely, What is meant by a bad director 
 in point of morals ? and, if by such a person be meant, one 
 who has no determinate notion of the nature and limits of 
 the duties incumbent upon Christians, no clear and distinct 
 
 © Rich. Simon, Histoire Critique des principaux Commentateurs du 
 N. T. cap. ii. p. 21. 
 
 f This question was warmly and learnedly debated between the de- 
 servedly celebrated Barbeyrac and Cellier,‘a Benedictine monk. Bud- 
 deus has given us a history of this controversy, with his own judgment 
 of it, in his Isagoge ad Theologiam, lib. 11. cap. iv. p. 620, &c. ~ Bar- 
 beyrac, however, published after this a particular treatise in defence of 
 the severe sentence he had pronounced against the fathers. This inge- 
 nious performance was printed at Amsterdam in 1720, under the title of 
 Traité sur la Morale des Peres; and is highly worthy of the perusal ot 
 those who have a taste for this interesting branch of literature, though 
 
Cuap. III. 
 
 ideas of virtue and vice; who has not penetrated the spirit | 
 and genius of those sacred books, to which alone we must 
 wpeal in every dispute about Christian virtue, and who, in 
 vonsequence thereof, fluctuates often in uncertainty, or falls 
 nto error in explaining the divine laws, though he may fre- 
 quently administer sublime and pathetic instructions ; if, 
 vy a bad guide in morals, such a person, as we have now 
 delineated, be meant, then it must be confessed, that this 
 title belongs indisputably to many of the fathers. 
 
 XI. The cause of morality, and indeed, of Christianity 
 in general, suffered deeply by a capital error which was 
 received in this century ; an error admitted without any 
 sinister views, but yet with great imprudence, and, which, 
 through every period of the church, even until the present 
 time, has produced other errors without number, and mul- 
 tiplied the evils under which the Gospel has so often groan- 
 ed. Jesus Christ prescribed to all his disciples one and the 
 same rule of life and manners. But certain Christian 
 doctors, either through a desire of imitating the nations 
 among whom they lived, or in consequence of a natural 
 propensity to a life of austerity (which is a disease not 
 uncommon in Syria, Egypt, and other Eastern provinces), 
 were induced to maintain, that Christ had established a 
 double rule of sanctity and virtue, for two different orders of 
 Christians. Of these rules one was ordinary, the other 
 extraordinary ; one of a lower dignity, the other more sub- 
 lime; one for persons in the active scenes of life, the other 
 for those who, in a sacred retreat, aspired to the glory of a 
 celestial state. In consequence of this wild system, they 
 divided into two parts all those moral doctrines and instruc- 
 tions which they had received, either by writing or tradi- 
 tion. One of these divisions they called precepts and the 
 other counsels. 'They gave the name of precepts to those 
 laws which were obligatory upon all orders of men ; and 
 that of counsels to such as related to Christians of a more 
 sublime rank, who proposed to themselves great and glo- 
 rious ends, and aspired to an intimate communion with 
 the Supreme Being. 
 
 XIL This double doctrine suddenly produced a new 
 set of men, who made profession of uncommon degrees of 
 sanctity and virtue, and declared their resolution of obeying 
 all the counsels of Christ, that they might enjoy commu- 
 nion with God here ; and also, that, after the dissolution of 
 their mortal bodies, they might ascend to him with ereater 
 facility, and find nothing to retard their approach to the 
 supreme centre of happiness and perfection. ‘They looked 
 upon themselves as prohibited from the use of things 
 which it was lawful for other Christians to enjoy, such as 
 wine, flesh, matrimony, and trades They thought it their 
 indispenseble duty, to extenuate the body by watchings, 
 abstinence, labour and hunger. ‘They looked for felicity 
 in solitary retreats, in desert places, where, by severe and 
 assiduous efforts of sublime meditation, they raised the soul 
 above all external objects and all sensual pleasures. Both 
 men and women imposed upon theinselves the most severe 
 tasks, the most austere discipline ; all which however the 
 fruit of pious intention, was, in the issue, extremely detri- 
 mental to Christianity. These persons were called Asce- 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. A5 
 
 | tics, Zersdaior, Exexro!, and philosophers; nor were they 
 | only distinguished by their title from other C ‘hristians, but 
 also by their garb.” In this century, indeed, such as 
 embraced this austere kind of life, submitted themselves to 
 all these mortifications in private, without breaking asun- 
 der their social bonds, or withdrawing themselves from the 
 concourse of men. But, i in process of time, they retired 
 into deserts ; and after the example of the Essenes and 
 Therapeutee, they formed themselves into certain com- 
 panies. 
 
 XII. Nothing is more obvious than the reasons that 
 gave rise to this austere sect. One of the principal was, 
 the ill judged ambition of the Christians to resemble the 
 Greeks and Romans, many of whose sages and _philoso- 
 phers distinguished themselves from the generality by their 
 maxims, by “their habits, and, indeed, by the whole plan of 
 life and manners which they had formed to themselves, 
 and by which they acquired a high degree of esteem 
 and authority. It is also well known, that, of all these 
 philosophers, there were none whose sentiments and disci- 
 pline were so well received by the ancient Christians as 
 those of the Platonists and Pythagoreans, who prescribed 
 in their lessons two rules of conduct ; one for the sages, 
 who aspired to the sublimest heights of virtue; and ano- 
 ther for the people, involved in the cares and hurry of an 
 active life: The law of moral conduct, which the Plato- 
 nists prescribed to the philosophers, was as follows : “ ‘The 
 soul of the wise man ought to be removed to the greatest 
 possible distance from the contagious influence of the 
 body ; and, as the depressing weight of the body, the force 
 
 of its appetites, and its connexions with a corrupt world, are 
 in direct opposition to this sacred obligation, all sensual 
 pleasures are tobe carefully avoided ; the body is to be 
 supported, or rather extenuated, by a slender diet ; solitude 
 is to be sought as the true mansion of virtue, and confem- 
 plation to be employed as the means of raising the soul, 
 as far as is possible, to a sublime freedom from all corpo- 
 real ties, and to a noble elevation above all terrestrial 
 things.¢ "The person who lives in this manner, shall 
 enjoy, even in the present state, a certain degree of commu- 
 nion with the Deity; and, when the corporeal mass is 
 dissolved, shall immediately ascend to the sublime regions 
 of felicity and perfection, without passing through that 
 state of purification and trial, which awaits the generality 
 of mankind.” Itis easy to perceive, that this rigorous 
 discipline was a natural consequence of the peculiar opi- 
 nions which these philosophers, and some others who 
 resembled them, entertained concerning the nature of the 
 soul, the influence of matter, the operations of invisible 
 beings, or demons, and the formation of the world ; and, 
 as these opinions were adopted by the more learned among 
 the Christians, it was natural that they should embrace also 
 the moral discipline which flowed from them. 
 
 XIV. There is a particular consideration that will ena- 
 ble us to render a natural account of the origin of those 
 religious severities of which we have been now speaking, 
 and that is drawn from the genius and temper of the people 
 by whom they were first Pe ractised. It was in Egypt that 
 
 they will find in it some imputations cast upon the fathers, against which 
 .uey may be easily defended. 
 
 * Athenagoras, Apologia pro Christian. cap. xxviii. 
 bt See Salmas. Comm. in Tertullianum de Pallio. 
 
 * These famous sects made an important distinction between living 
 tccording to nature, Liv xara giow, and living above nature, Ziv inxip 
 
 12 
 
 giow. The former was the rule prescribed to the vulgar; the latter, that 
 which was to direct the conduct of the philosophers, w ho aimed at supe- 
 rior degrees of virtue. See ASneas Gazeus in Theophrast. 
 
 4 The reader will find the principles of this fanatical discipline, in 
 Porphyry’s book zepi dxoyijs, 1. e. conce rning abstinence. That celebra- 
 ted Platonist has explained at large the respective duties that belong to 
 active and contemplative life, book i. sect. 27 and 41. 
 
46 
 
 this morose discipline had its rise. That country, we may || 
 observe, has in all times, as it were by an immutable law, | 
 or disposition of nature, abounded with persons of a melan- 
 choly complexion, and produced, in proportion to its extent, 
 more gloomy spirits than any other part of the world. 
 It was here that the Essenes and Therapeute, those dis- 
 mal and gloomy sects, dwelt principally, long before the 
 coming of Christ ; as also many others of the Ascetic tribe, 
 who, led by a melancholy turn of mind, and a delusive 
 notion of rendering themselves more acceptable to the 
 Deity by their austerities, withdrew themselves from hu- 
 man society, and from all the innocent pleasures and com- 
 forts of life.” From Egypt, this sour and insocial discipline 
 passed into Syria, and the neighbouring countries, which 
 also abounded with persons of the same dismal constitu- 
 tion with that of the Egyptians ;* and thence, in process of 
 time, its infection reached the European nations. Hence 
 arose that train of austere and superstitious vows and rites, 
 that still, in many places, throw a veil over the beauty 
 and simplicity of the Christian religion. Hence the celi- 
 bacy of the priestly order, the rigour of unprofitable penan- 
 ces and mortifications, the innumerable swarms of monks, 
 who, in the senseless pursuit of a visionary sort of perfec- 
 tion, refused their talents and labours to society. Hence 
 also that distinction between the theoretical and mysti- 
 eal life, and many other fancies of a like nature, which 
 we shall have occasion to mention in the course of this 
 history. 
 
 XY. It is generally true, that dglusions travel in a train, 
 and that one mistake produces many. The Christians 
 who adopted this austere system had certainly made a-very 
 false step, and done much injury to their excellent and 
 most reasonable religion. But they did not stop here; ano- 
 ther erroneous practice was adopted by them, which, though 
 it was not so general as the other, was yet extremely perni- 
 cious, and proved a source of numberless evils to the Chris- | 
 tian church. The Platonists and Pythagoreans held it asa 
 maxim, that it was not only lawful, but even praiseworthy, 
 to deceive, and even to use the expedient of a lie, in order 
 to advance the cause of truth and piety. The Jews, who 
 lived in Egypt, had learned and received thisemaxim from 
 them, before the coming of Christ, as appears incontesta- 
 
 ty from a multitude of ancient records; and the Christians 
 were infected from both these sources with the same per- 
 nicious error, as appears from the number of books attri- j 
 buted falsely to great and venerable namics, from the Sibyl- | 
 line verses, and several supposititious productions which 
 were spread abroad in this and the following century. - It 
 does not indeed seem probable, that all these pious frauds 
 were chargeable upon the professors of real Christianity, 
 upon those who entertained just and rational sentiments 
 of the religion of Jesus. The greatest part of these ficti- 
 tious writings undoubtedly flowed from the fertile inven- 
 tion of the Gnostic sects, though it cannot be affirmed that 
 even true Christians were entirely innocent and irreproach- 
 able in this respect. 
 
 XVI. As the boundaries of the church were enlarged, 
 the number of vicious and irregular persons who entered 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 into it, received a proportional increase, as appears from the 
 many complaints and censures that we find in the writers 
 of this century. Several methods were practised to stem 
 the torrent of iniquity. Excommiunication was peculiarly 
 employed to prevent or punish the most hemous and enor- 
 mous crimes, and the crimes deemed such, were murder, 
 idolatry, and adultery, which terms, however, we must here 
 understand in their more full and extensive sense. In some 
 places, the commission of any of these sins irrevocably cut 
 off the criminals from all hopes of restoration to the privi- 
 leges of church communion; in others, after a long, labo- 
 rious, and painful course of probation and discipline, they 
 were re-admitted into the bosom of the church.¢ 
 
 XVII. It is here to be attentively observed, that the form, 
 used in the exclusion of heinous offenders from the society 
 of Christians, was, at first, extremely simple. A small 
 number of plain, yet judicious rules, made up the whole of 
 this solemn institution, which, however was imperceptibly 
 altered, enlarged by an addition of a vast multitude of rites, 
 and new-modeled according to the discipline used in the 
 Heathen mysteries. ‘Those who have any acquaintance 
 with the singular reasons that obliged the Christians of 
 those ancient times to be careful in restraining the progress 
 of vice, will readily grant, that it was incumbent upon the 
 rulers of the church to perfect their discipline, and to render 
 the restraints upon iniquity more severe. ‘They will justi- 
 fy the rulers of the primitive church in then refusing to 
 restore excommunicated members to their forfeited privi- 
 leges, before they had given incontestable marks of the 
 sincerity of their repentance. Yet it remains to be exami- 
 ned, whether it was expedient to borrow from the enemies 
 of the truth the rules of this salutary discipline, and thus 
 to sanctify in some measure, a part of the Heathen super- 
 stition. But, however delicate such a question may be, 
 when determined with a view to all the mdirect or imme- 
 diate consequences of the matter in debate, the equitable 
 and candid judge will consider principally the good inten- 
 tions of those from whom these ceremonies and institutions 
 proceeded, and will overlook the rest from a charitable con- 
 descension and indulgence to human weakness. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. ; 
 Of the Ceremonies used in the Church during this 
 Century. 
 
 I. THERE is no institution so pure and excellent which 
 the corruption and folly of man will not in time alter for 
 the worse, and load with additions foreign to its nature 
 and original design. Such, in a particular manner, wa 
 the fate of Christianity. In this century many unnece 
 sary rites and ceremonies were added to the Christian 
 worship, the introduction of which was extremely offen- 
 sive to wise and good men.‘ "These changes, while they 
 destroyed the beautiful simplicity of the gospel, were natu- 
 rally pleasing to the gross multitude, who are more de- 
 lighted with the pomp and splendour of external institu- 
 tions, than with the native charms of rational and sclia 
 piety, and who generally give little attention to any objects 
 
 * See Maillet, Description de ’Egypte, tom. ii. 
 
 b Herodot. Histor. lib. ii—Epiphantus, Exposit. Fidei, sect. 11—Ter- 
 tullian, de Exhortatione Castitat. cap. xili—Athanas. Vita Antonii. 
 
 ° Voyages en Perse, par Jean Chardin, tom. iv. 
 
 1 By this distinction, we may easily reconcile the different opinions of | 
 tae learned concerning the effects of excommunication, See Morinus, de || 
 
 Disciplina Ponitent. lib. ix. eap. xix. p. 67—Sirmond, Historia Peni- 
 tentize publica, cap. i—Joseph. Augustin. Orsi, Dissert. de Criminuni 
 capitalium per tria priora Szecula Absolutione, published at Milan in 1730, 
 * See Fabricius, Bibliograph. Antiquar. p. 397, and Morinus, de 
 Peenitentia, lib. i. cap. xv, &e. 
 f Tertullian, Lib. de Creatione, p. 792, op. 
 
Crap. LV. 
 
 but. those which strike their outward senses. But other 
 reasons may he added to this, which, though they suppose 
 
 »o bad intention, yet manifest a corsaderaiie degree of | 
 
 precipitation and imprudence. 
 
 {I. And here we may observe, in the first place, that 
 there is a high degree of probability in the notion of those 
 who think that the bishops augmented the number of 
 religious rites in the Christian worship, by way of accom- 
 modation to the infirmities and prejudices, both of Jews 
 and heathens, in order to facilitate their conversion to 
 Christianity. Both Jews and heathens were accustomed 
 10 a great variety of pompous and magnificent ceremonies 
 in their religious service. And as they deemed these rites 
 an essential part of religion, it was natural that they should 
 behold with indifference, and even with contempt, the 
 simplicity of the Christian worship, which was destitute of 
 those idle ceremonies that rendered their service so specious 
 and striking. To remove then, in some measure, this 
 prejudice against Christianity, the bishops thought it ne- 
 cessary to increase the number of ceremonies, and thus to 
 tender the public worship more striking to the outward 
 senses.? 
 
 Ill. This addition of external rites was also designed to 
 remove the opprobious calumnies which the Jewish and 
 pagan priests cast upon the Christians on account of the 
 simplicity of their worship, considering them as little bet- 
 ter than atheists, because they had no temples, altars, 
 Victims, priests, nor any mark of that external pomp in 
 which the vulgar are so prone to place the essence of reli- 
 gion. ‘he rulers of the church adopted, therefore, cer- 
 tain external ceremonies, that thus they might captivate 
 the senses of the vulgar, and be able to refute the reproach- 
 es of their adversaries. {14 This, it must be confessed, 
 was a very awkward, and indeed, a very pernicious stra- 
 lagem ; it was obscuring the native lustre of the Gospel, 
 in order to extend its influence, and making it lose, in 
 point of real excellence, what it gained in point of popu- 
 lar esteem. Some accommodations to the infirmities of 
 mankind, some prudent instances of condescension to 
 their invincible prejudices, are necessary in ecclesiastical, 
 as well as in civil institutions ; but they must be of such 
 & nature as not to inspire ideas, or encourage prejudices, 
 incompatible with just sentiments of the great object of 
 reiigious worship, and of the fundamental truths which 
 God has it parted by reason and revelation to the human 
 race. How far this rule has been disregarded and viola- 
 ted, will appear too plainly in the progress of this history. 
 
 1V. A third cause of the multiplication of ceremonies in 
 the Christian church, may be deduced from the abuse of 
 
 3 * It is not improper to remark here, that this attachment of the 
 vulgar to the pomp of cer emonies, isa circumstance that has always been 
 favourable to the ambitious views of the Romish clergy, since the pomp 
 of religion naturally casts a part of its glory and magnificence upon its 
 ministers, and thereby gives them, imperceptibly, a vast ascendency over 
 the minds of the people. The late lord Bolingbroke, being present at 
 the elevation of the host in the cathedral at Paris, expressed to a noble- 
 man who stood near him, his surprise that the king of France should 
 commit the performance of such an august and striking ceremony to any 
 subject. How far ambition may, in this and the succeeding ages, have 
 contributed to the accumu.ation of gaudy ceremonies, is a question not 
 easily determined. 
 
 » A remarkable passage in the life of Gregory, surnamed Thauma- 
 turgus, 7. e. the wonder worker, will illustrate this point in the clearest 
 manner. The passage is as follows: “Cum animadvertisset (Gregorius) 
 quod ob corporeas deiectationes et voluptates simplex et imperitum vul- 
 ’ gus in simulacrorum cultus errore permaneret—permisit eis, ut in memo- 
 riam et recordationem sanctorum martyrum sese oblectarent, et in leti- 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 47 
 
 certain titles that distinguished the sacerdotal orders among 
 the Jews. Every one knows, that many terms used in 
 the New Testament to express the different parts of the 
 Christian doctrine and worship, are borrowed from the 
 Jewish law, or bear a certain analogy to the forms and 
 ceremonies instituted by Moses. "he Christian doctors 
 not only imitated this analogical manner of speaking, but 
 even extended it farther than the apostles had done ; and 
 though in this there was nothing that deserved reproach, 
 yet the consequences of this method of speaking became, 
 through abuse, detrimental to the purity of the Gospel ; 
 for, in process of time, many asserted, (whether through 
 ignorance or artifice is not easy to determine, ) that these 
 forthe of speech were not figurative, but highly proper, and 
 exactly suitable to the nature of the things they were de- 
 signed to express. ‘The bishops, by an innocent allusion 
 to the Jewish manner of speaking, had been called chief 
 priests ; the elders, or presbyters, had received the title of 
 priests, and the deacons that of Levites. But, in a little 
 time, these titles were abused by an aspiring clergy, who 
 thought proper to claim the same rank and station, the 
 same rights and privileges, that were conferred with those 
 titles upon the ministers of religion under the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation. Hence the rise of tithes, first-fruits, splendid 
 garments, and many other circumstances of external 
 crandeur, by which ecclesiastics fveré eminently distin- 
 cuished. In like manner the comparison of the Chris- 
 tian oblations with the Jewish victims and sacrifices, pro- 
 duced a multitude of unnecessary rites, and was the occa 
 sion of introducing that erroneous notion of the eucharist, 
 which represents it as areal sacrifice, and not merely as a 
 commemoration of the great oflering that was once made 
 upon the cross for the sins of mor tals. 
 
 V. The profound respect that was paid to the Greck 
 and Roman mysteries, and the extraordinary sanctity that 
 was attributed to them, were additional circumstances that 
 induced the Christians to give their religion a mystic air, 
 in order to put it upon an equal footing, in point of dignity, 
 with that ofthe Pagans. For this purpose, they gave the 
 name of mysteries to the institutions of the Gospel, and 
 decorated particularly the holy sacrament with that solemn 
 title. They used in that sacred institution, as also in that 
 of baptism, several of the terms employed in the Heathen 
 mysteries, and proceeded so far, at length, as even to adopt 
 some of the ceremonies of which those renowned mysteries 
 
 consisted. "This immation vegan in the eastern provinces; 
 but, after the time of Adrian, who first introduced the 
 
 mysteries among the Latins,¢ it was followed by the Chris- 
 tlans bine dwelt in the western parts of the empire. <A 
 
 tiam effunderentur, quod successu temporis aliquando futurem at i 
 sua sponte ad hone: stiorum et accuratiorem vite rationem transirent.’ 
 ‘When Gregory perceived that the ignorant multitude persisted in thei ir 
 idolatry, on account of the pleasures, and sensual gratifications which 
 they enjoyed at the pagan festivals, he granted them a permission tu 
 indulge themselves in the like pleasures, in celebrating the memory of 
 the holy martyrs, hoping that, in process of time, they would return of 
 their own accord, to a more v irtuous and regular course of life.” There 
 is no sort of doubt, that, by this permission, Gregory allowed the Chris- 
 tians to dance, sport, and feast at the tombs of the martyrs, upon their 
 respective festivals, and to do every thing which the pagans were ac- 
 customed to do in their temples, during the feasts celebrated in honour 
 of their gods.” 
 
 oce, (or many examples of this, Isaac Casaubon, Exercitat. xvi. in 
 Annal. Cardin. Baronii, p. 388, edit. Genev. 1654. Tollius, Insign. 
 itineris Italici, not. p. 151, 163.— Spanheim’s notes to his French tans 
 lation of Julian’s Cesar iS p. 133.—Clarkson on Liturgies. 
 
 a Spartian, Vit. Hadriani, c. Xill. 
 
aly 
 
 great part, therefore, of the service of the church, in this 
 century, had a certain air of the Heathen mysteries, and 
 resembled them considerably in many particulars. 
 
 VI. It may be farther observed, that the custom of teach- 
 ing their religious doctrines by images, actions, signs, and 
 other sensible representations, which prev ailed among the 
 Kgyptians, and, indeed, in almost all the eastern nations, 
 was another cause of the increase of external rites in the 
 church. As there were many persons of narrow capacities, 
 whose comprehension scarcely extended beyond sensible 
 odjects, the Christian doctors thought it advisable to in- 
 struct such in the essential truths of the Gospel, by placing 
 these truths as it were, before their eyes, under sensible 
 wnages. Thus they administered milk and honey, the 
 ordinary food of infants, to such as were newly, received 
 into the church, showing by this sign, that by their baptism 
 they were born again, and were bound to manifest the sim- 
 plicity and innocence of infants in their lives and conversa- 
 tion. Certain military forms were borrowed to express 
 the new and solemn engagements, by which Christians 
 @tiached themselves to Christ as their leader and their 
 chief; and the ancient ceremony of manumission was used 
 to signify the liberty of which they were made partakers, 
 in consequence of their redemption from the guilt and do- 
 minion of sin, and their deliverance from the power of the 
 prince of darkness.* 
 
 VIL. If it be considered, in the first place, that the Chris- 
 tians who composed the church, were Jews and Heathens, 
 accustomed from their birth, to various insignificant cere- 
 monies and superstitious rites,—and if it be also considered, 
 that such a long course of custom and of education forms 
 prejudices that are extremely obstinate and difficult to be 
 conquered—it will then appear, that nothing less than a 
 continued miracle could have totally prevented the entrance 
 of all superstitious mixtures into the Christian worship. A 
 single example will tend to the illustrations of this matter. 
 Before the coming of Christ, all the eastern nations perfor- 
 med divine worship with their faces turned to that part of 
 the heavens where the sun displays his rising beams. This 
 custom was founded upon a general opinion, that God, 
 whose essence they looked upon to be light,and whom they 
 considered as being circumscribed within certain limits, 
 dwelt in that part of the firmament, from which he sends 
 forth the sun, the bright image of his benignity and glory. 
 The Christian converts, indeed, rejected this gross error ; 
 but they retained the ancient and universal custom of wor- 
 eee toward the east, which sprang from it. Nor is 
 that custom abolished even in our times, but still prevails 
 in a great number of Christian churches. From the same 
 source arose various rites among the Jews, which many 
 Christians, especially those who live in the eastern coun- 
 tries, observe religiously at this very day.® 
 
 VILL We shall take no more than a brief view of these 
 rites and ceremonies, since a particular consideration of 
 them would lead us into endless discussions, and open a 
 field too vast to be comprehended in such a compendious 
 history as we fiere give of the Christian church. ‘The first 
 Christians assembled for the purposes of divine worship, in 
 private houses, in caves, and in vaults, where the dead 
 were buried. ‘Their meetings were on the first day of the 
 
 ® See Edm. Merillii Observat. lib. iii. cap. iii. 
 b 3ce Spencer de Legilus ritwalibus Hebreorum, Prolegom. 
 
 | 
 
 iNTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr I, 
 
 week; and, in some places, they-assembled also on the 
 seventh, which was celebrated by the Jews. Many also 
 observed the fourth day of the week, on which Christ was 
 
 betrayed; and the sixth, which was the day of his c.uct- 
 
 fixion. ‘The hour of the day appointed for holding these 
 religious assemblies varied according to the different times 
 and circumstances of the church; but it was generally in 
 the evening after sun-set, or in the morning before the 
 dawn. During these sacred meetings, prayers were repeat- 
 ed ; the holy : scriptures were publicly read; short discour 
 ses, upon the duties of Christians, were addressed to the 
 people; hymns were sung; and a portion of the oblation., 
 presented by the faithful was employed in the celebration 
 of the Lord’s Supper and the feast of charity. 
 
 sary festivals in commemoration of the death and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, and of the effusion of the Holy Ghost upon 
 the apostles. The day which was observed as the anni- 
 versary of Christ’s death was called the paschal day, or 
 
 passover, because it was looked upon to be the same with | 
 
 that on which the Jews celebrated the feast of that name 
 
 In the manner, however, of observing this solemn day 
 
 the Christians of Asia Minor differed much from the rest,, 
 and in a more especial manner from those of Rome. They) 
 
 both indeed, fasted during the great week (so that was cal- 
 led in which Christ died,) and afterwards celebrated, like 
 the Jews, a sacred feast; at which they distributed a paschal 
 lamb in memory of the holy supper. But the Asiatic Chris- 
 tians kept this feast on the fourteenth day of the first Jew- 
 ish month, when the Jews celebrated their passover, and, 
 three days after, commemorated the resurrection of the tri- 
 umphant Redeemer. They affirmed, that they had derived 
 this custom from the apostles John and Philip; and plead- 
 ed, moreover, in its behalf, the example of Christ himself 
 who held his paschal feast on the day of the Jewish pass- 
 over. ‘The western churches observed a different method; 
 they celebrated their paschal feast on the night that pre- 
 ceded the anniversary of Christ’s resurrection, and thus con- 
 nected the commemoration of nis crucifixion with that of 
 his victory over death and the grave. Nor did they difler 
 thus from the Asiatics, without pleading also apostolic 
 authority for what they did; for they alleged that of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul, as a justification of their conduct in 
 this matter. 
 
 X. The Asiatic rule for keeping the paschal feast, was 
 attended with two great inconveniences, to which the 
 Christians at Alexandria and Rome, and ‘all the western 
 churches, refused to submit; for, in the first place, as the 
 Asiatics celebrated their festival on the same day that 
 Christ is said to have eaten the paschal lamb with his dis- 
 ciples, this occasioned an inevitable interruption in the fast 
 of the great week, which the other churches looked upon 
 as almost criminal, at least as highly indecent. Nor was 
 this the only inconvenience arising from this rule: for, as 
 they celebrated the memory of Christ’s resurrection, pre- 
 cisely on the third day after their paschal supper, it hap- 
 pened for the most part, that this great festival (which 
 afterwards was called by the Latins pascha, and to whica 
 we give the name of H’aster) was holden on other daya 
 of the week than the first. This circumstance was ex- 
 
 ¢ There is an excellent account given of these prayers, and of the 
 Christian worship in general, in Tertullian’s Apology, chap, X¥£c« 
 which is one of the most noble productions of ancient limes. 
 
 ® 
 IX. The Christians of this century celebrated anniver-, 
 
 eae 
 
- churches, whose bishops were far from approving the con- 
 
 Cuar. ¥ 
 
 tremely displeasing to tne greatest part of the Christians, 
 who thought it unlawful to celebrate the resurrection of 
 aur Lord on any day but Sunday, as that was the day on 
 which this glorious event happened. \Hence arose sharp 
 and vehement contentions between the Asiatic and west- 
 ern Christians, { About the middle of this century, during 
 the reign of Antoninus Pius, the venerable Polycarp went 
 to Rome to confer with Anicet, bishop of that see, upon 
 this matter, with a view to terminate the warm disputes 
 which it had occasioned. |But this conference, though con- 
 ducted with great decency and moderation, was without 
 effect. Polycarp and Anicet only agreed in this, that the 
 bonds of charity were not to be broken on account of this 
 controversy; but they respectively continued, at the same 
 time, in their former sentiments; nor could the Asiatics be 
 engaged by any arguments to alter the rule which they 
 pretended to have received by tradition from St. John.* 
 XI. ‘Toward the conclusion of this century, Victor, bi- 
 shop of Rome, endeavoured to force the Asiatic Christians 
 by the pretended authority of his laws and decrees, to fol- 
 low the rule which was observed by the western churches 
 in this point. Accordingly, after having taken the advice 
 of some foreign bishops, he wrote an imperious letter to the 
 Asiatic prelates commanding them to imitate the example 
 ‘of the western Christians with respect to the time of cele- 
 brating the festival of Easter. The Asiatics answered this 
 lordly requisition by the pen of Polycrates, bishop of E:phe- 
 sus, who declared in their name, with great spirit and reso- 
 lution, that they would by no means depart, in this manner 
 from the custom handed down to them by their ancestors. 
 Upon this the thunder of excommunication began to roar. 
 Victor, exasperated by this resolute answer of the Asiatic 
 bishops, broke communion with them, pronounced them 
 unworthy of the name of his brethren, and excluded them 
 from all fellowship with the church of Rome. This excom- 
 munication, indeed, extended no farther: nor could it cut 
 off the Asiatic bishops from communion with the other 
 
 duct of Victor.» The progress of this violent dissension 
 was stopped by the wise and moderate remonstrances, 
 which Irenzus, bishop of Lyons, addressed to the Roman 
 prelate on this occasion, in which he showed him the im- 
 prudence and injustice of the step he had taken, and also by 
 the long letter which the Asiatic Christians wrote in their 
 own justification. In consequence therefore of this cessation 
 of arms, the combatants retained each their own customs, 
 until the fourth century, when the council of Nice abolished 
 that of the Asiatics, and rendered the time of the celebration 
 of Easter the same through all the Christian churches.° 
 XII. In these times, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper 
 was celebrated, for the most part, on Sundays, and the 
 ceremonies observed upon that occasion were such as fol- | 
 
 * Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. v. 
 
 b This whole affair furnishes a striking argument, among the multi- 
 tude that may be drawn from ecclesiastical history, against the supre- 
 macy and universal authority of the bishop of Rome. 
 
 3 ° Dr. Mosheim, in a note, refers us for a more copious account of 
 this controversy to his Commentar. de rebus Christianorum ante Con- 
 stantinum M. He had said in that work, that Faydit bad perceived the 
 error of the common opinion, concerning the disputes which arose in the | 
 church about the time of keeping Easter. But lire he retracts this enco- | 
 mium, and, after a second reading of Faydit’s book, finds himself obli- 
 ged to declare, that this writer has entirely missed the true state of the | 
 
 uestion. See the account of this controversy, given by the learned ! 
 feuman in one of the treatises of his Sylloge, or collection of acne 
 pieces. 
 
 No Y. is 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 49 
 
 low. Of the bread and wine, which were presented 
 among the other oblations of the faithful, a part was 
 separated from the rest, and consecrated by the prayers of 
 the bishop. ‘The wine was mixed with water, and the 
 bread was divided into several portions. A part of the 
 consecrated bread and wine was carried to the sick or ab- 
 sent members of the church, as a testimony of fraternal 
 love, sent to them by the whole society.< It appears by 
 many and undoubted testimonies, that this holy rite was 
 looked upon as essential to salvation ; and, when this is 
 duly considered, we shall be less disposed to censure, as 
 erroneous, the opinion of those who have affirmed, that the 
 Lord’s Supper was administered to infants during this 
 century. ‘I'he feasts of charity, that followed the celebra- 
 tion of the Lord’s Supper, have been already mentioned. 
 
 XIU. 'The sacrament of baptism was administered 
 publicly twice every year, at the festivals of Easter and 
 Pentecost or Whitsuntide,‘ either by the bishop, or, in con- 
 sequence of his authorization and appointment, by the 
 presbyters. ‘The persons that were to be baptized, after 
 they had repeated the Creed, confessed and renounced 
 their sins, and particularly the devil and his pompous 
 allurements, were immersed under water, and received 
 into Christ’s kingdom by a solemn invocation of Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the express command 
 of our Blessed Lord. After baptism, they received the 
 sign of the cross, were anointed, and by prayers and impo- 
 sition of hands, were solemnly recommended to the mercy 
 of God, and dedicated to his service ; in consequence ot 
 which they received milk and honey, which concluded the 
 ceremony. ‘lhe reasons of this particular ritual coincide 
 with what we have said in general concerning the origin 
 and causes of the multiplied ceremonies that crept from 
 time to time into the church. 
 
 Adult persons were prepared for baptism by abstinence 
 prayer, and other pious exercises. It was to answer for 
 them that sponsors, or godfathers, were first instituted, 
 though they were afterwards admitted also in the baptism 
 of infants.* i 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Heresies and Divisions that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Amone the many sects which divided the Christian 
 church during this century, it is natural to mention, in the 
 first place, that which an attachment to the Mosaic law 
 separated from the rest of their Christian brethren. ‘The 
 first rise of this sect is placed under the reign of Adrian ; 
 for, when this emperor had, at length, razed Jerusalem, 
 entirely destroyed even its very foundations, and enacted 
 laws of the severest kind against the whole body of the 
 
 4 Henricas Rixnerus, de Ritibus veterum Christianorum circa Eucha- 
 ristiam. 
 
 * See Jo. Frid. Mayer, Diss. de Eucharistia Infantum ; as also Zor- 
 nius, Histor. Eucharist. Infantura. ‘F 
 
 f See Wall’s History of Infant Baptism, and Vicecomes de Ritibus 
 Baptismi. 
 
 & See Tertullian on Baptism. ; 
 
 h See Ger. a Maestricht, de Susceptoribus Infantium ex Baptismo, 
 though he is of a different opinion in this matter, and thinks that sponsors 
 were not used in the baptism of adult persons. See also Wall’s History 
 of Infant Baptism. 3 See moreover, upon this subject, Isaaci Jundt, 
 Arg. de Susceptorum Baptismalium Origine Commentatio, published it 
 1755, of which an account may be seen in the Biblioth. des Sciences et 
 des Beaux Arts, tom. vi. 
 
50 
 
 Jewish people, the greatest part of the Christians, who lived 
 in Palestine, to prevent their being confounded with the 
 Jews, abandoned entirely the Mosaic rites, and chose a 
 bishop named Mark, a foreigner by nation, and conse- 
 quently an alien from the commonwealth of Israel. "This 
 step was highly shocking to those, whose attachment to 
 
 the Mosaic rites was violent and invincible; and such | 
 
 was the case of many. ‘These, therefore, separated them- 
 selves from the brethren, and founded in Perzea, a country 
 of Palestine, and in the neighbouring parts, particular 
 assemblies, in which the law of Moses maintained its 
 primitive dignity, authority, and lustre.* 
 
 If. This body of judaizing Christians, which set Christ 
 and Moses upon an equal footing, in point of authority, 
 afterwards divided itself into two sects, extremely different 
 both in their rites and in their opinions, and distinguished 
 by the names of Nazarenes and Ebionites. ‘The former 
 are not placed by the ancient Christians in the heretical 
 register ;» but the latter were considered as a sect, whose 
 tenets were destructive of the fundamental principles of 
 the Christian religion. These sects made use of a gospel, 
 or history of Christ, different from that which is received 
 among us, and concerning which there have been many 
 disputes among the learned.: The term Nazarene was 
 not originally the name of a sect, in that which distin- 
 guished the disciples of Jesus but general ; and, as those 
 whom the Greeks called Christians, received the name 
 of Nazarenes among the Jews, the latter name was not 
 considered as a mark of ignominy or contempt. ‘Those, 
 indeed, who, after their separation from their brethren, 
 retained the title of Nazarenes, differed much from the 
 true disciples of Christ, to whom that name had been 
 originally given : “ they held, that Christ was born of a 
 virgin, and was also in a certain manner united to the 
 divine nature; they refused to abandon the ceremonies 
 prescribed by the law of Moses, but were far from attempt- 
 ing to impose the observance of these ceremonies upon 
 the Gentile Christians ; and they rejected all those addi- 
 tions which had been made to the Mosaic institutions, by 
 the Pharisees and the doctors of the law ;”* and hence we 
 may easily see the reason why the greatest part of the 
 Christians treated the Nazarenes with a more than ordi- 
 nary degree of gentleness and forbearance. 
 
 III. It is doubtful whether the Ebionites derived their 
 name from one of their principal doctors, or from their 
 poverty. One thing, however, is certain, that their senti- 
 ments and doctrincs were much more pernicious than 
 those of the Nazarenes;‘ for, though they believed the 
 celestial mission of Christ, and his participation of a divine 
 nature, yet they regarded him as a man born of Joseph 
 and Mary, according to the ordinary course of nature. 
 
 * See Sulpitius Severus, Hist. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. xxxi. 
 
 > Epiphanius was the first writer who placed the Nazarenes in the list 
 of heretics. He wrote in the fourth century, but is very far from being 
 remarkable, either for his fidelity or judgment. 
 
 x * This gospel, which was calied indiscriminately the gospel of the 
 Nazarenes, or Hebrews, is certainly the same with the gospel of the 
 Ebionites, and that of the twelve apostles, and is probably that which St. 
 Paul refers to, Galatians, ch. i. ver.6. Dr. Mosheim refers his readers, 
 for an account of this gospel, to Fabricius, in his Codex Apocryph. Nov. 
 Test. tom. i. p. 355, and to a work of his own, entitled Vindiciz contra 
 Tolandi Nazarenum. The reader will, however, find a still more aceu- 
 rate and satisfactory account of this gospel, in the first volume of the 
 learned and judicious Mr. Jones’ incomparable Method of settling the 
 Canonical Authority of the New Testament. 
 
 4 See Mich. le Quien, Adnot. ad Damascenum, tom. i. as also a disser- 
 tation of the same author, de Nazarenis et eorum Fide, which is the 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 ] They also asserted, that the ceremonial law, instituted by 
 
 Moses, was not only obligatory upon the Jews, but upon 
 all others, and that the observance of it was essential to 
 salvation; and as St. Paul had very different sentiments 
 from them, concerning the obligation of the ceremonial 
 law, and had opposed the observance of it in the warmest 
 manner, so, in consequence, they held this apostle in abhor- 
 rence, and treated his writings with the utmost disrespect, 
 Nor were they only attached to the rites instituted by 
 Moses: they went still farther, and received, with an equal 
 degree of veneration, the superstitions of their ancestors, 
 and the ceremonies and traditions which the Pharisees 
 presumptuously added to the law.¢ 
 
 1V. These obscure and unfrequented heretical assem- 
 blies were very little detrimental to the Christian cause, 
 which suffered much more from those sects, whose leaders 
 explained the doctrines of Christianity in a manner con- 
 formable to the dictates of the oriental philosophy concern- 
 ing the origin of evil. 'The oriental doctors, who, before 
 this century, had lived in the greatest obscurity, came forth 
 from their retreat under the reign of Adrian,’ exposed 
 themselves to public view, and collected, in various provin- 
 ces, assemblies, whose numbers were very considerable. 
 The ancient records mention a great number of these 
 demi-christian sects, many of which are no farther known 
 than by their distinguishing names: which perhaps, is the 
 only circumstance in which they differ from each other. 
 One division, however, of these oriental Christians, may be 
 mentioned as real and important, since the two branches 
 it produced were considerably superior to the rest in reputa- 
 tion, and made more noise in the world than the other 
 multiplied subdivisions of this pernicious sect. Of this 
 famous division, one branch which arose in Asia, preser- 
 ved the oriental doctrine concerning the origin of ithe world, 
 unmixed with other sentiments and opinions ; while the 
 other, which was formed in Egypt, made a motley mixture 
 of this philosophy with the tenets and prodigies adopted in 
 ihe religious system of that superstitious country. ‘The 
 doctrine of the former surpassed in simplicity and perspi- 
 cuity that of the latter, which consisted of a vast variety of 
 parts, so artfully combined, that the explication of them be- 
 came exceedingly difficult. 
 
 VY. Among the doctors of the Asiatic branch, the first 
 place is due to Elxai, who, during the reign of ‘Trajan, is 
 said to have formed the sect of the Elcesaites. ‘This here- 
 tic, though a Jew, attached to the worship of one God, and 
 full of veneration for Moses, corrupted the religion of his 
 ancestors, by blending with it a multitude of fictions drawn 
 from the oriental philosophy. Pretending also, after the 
 example of the Essenes, to give a rational explication of 
 the law of Moses, he reduced it to a mere allegory. It is, 
 
 seventh of those that he has subjoined to his edition of the works of 
 Damascenus. 
 
 © See Fabric. ad Philostr. de Heresibus; and Itigius, de Hxresibus 
 Evi Apostoiici. 
 
 3x4 ! The learned Mr. Jones looked upon these two sects as differing 
 very little from one another. He attributes to them both much the same 
 doctrines, and alleges, that the Ebionites had only made some small addi- 
 tions to the old Nazarene system. 
 
  Ireneus, lib. i. contra Heres. cap. xxvi. p. 105, edit. Massueti. Epi- 
 phanius gives a large account of the Ehionites, Heres. xxx. But he 
 deserves little credit, since he confesses, (sect. 3, p. 127, and sect. 4, p. 
 141,) that he had confounded the Sampseans and Elcesaites with the 
 Ebionites, and also acknowledges that the first Ebionites were strangers 
 to the errors with which he charges them. 
 h Stromata of Clemens Alex. lib. vill. cap. xvii. p. 898, Cypriani epist. 
 XXYV. 
 
UOnap. V. 
 
 at the same time, proper to observe, that some have doubted 
 whether the Elcesaites are to be reckoned among the Chris- 
 tian or the Jewish sects; and Epiphanius, who was 
 acquainted with a certain production of Elxai, expresses 
 his uncertainty in this matter. Elxai, indeed, in that 
 book, mentions Christ with the highest encomiums, with- 
 gut, however, adding any circumstance from which it 
 might be concluded with certainty, that Jesus of Nazareth 
 was the Christ of whom he spoke. 
 
 VI. If, then, Elxai be improperly placed among the 
 leaders of the sect now under consideration; we may place 
 at its head Saturninus of Antioch, who is one of the first 
 Gnostic chiefs mentioned in history. He held the doctrine 
 of two principles, from which proceeded all things ; one 
 a wise and benevolent deity ; and the other, a principle 
 essentially evil, which he supposed to be under the super- 
 intendence of a certain intelligence of a malignant nature. 
 “'The world and its first inhabitants were (according to the 
 system of this raving philosopher) created by seven angels, 
 who presided over the seven planets. ‘This work was 
 carried on without the knowledge of the benevolent deity, 
 and in opposition to the will of the material principle. 'The 
 former, however, beheld it with approbation, and honoured 
 it with several marks of his beneficence. He endowed 
 with rational souls the beings who inhabited this new sys- 
 tem, to whom their creators had imparted nothing more 
 than the mere animal life; and, having divided the world 
 into seven parts, he distributed them among the seven 
 angelic architects, one of whom was the god of the Jews, 
 and reserved to himself the supreme empire over all. 'T’o 
 these creatures, whom the benevolent principle had endow- 
 ed with reasonable souls, and with dispositions that led to 
 goodness and virtue, the evil being, to maintain his empire, 
 added another kind, whom he formed of a wicked and 
 malignant character ; and hence arose the difference obser- 
 vable among men., When the creators of the world fell 
 from their allegiance to the Supreme Deity, God sent from 
 heaven, into our globe, a restorer of order, whose name 
 was Christ. 'This divine conqueror came clothed with a 
 corporeal appearance, but not with a real body ; he came 
 to destroy the empire of the material principle, and to point 
 out to virtuous souls the way by which they must return to 
 God. This way is beset with difficulties and sufferings, 
 since those souls, who propose returning to the Supreme 
 Being after the dissolution of this mortal body, must ab- 
 stain from wine, flesh, wedlock, and, in short, from every 
 thing that tends to sensual gratification, or even bodily 
 refreshment.” Saturninus taught these extravagant doc- 
 trines in Syria, but principally at Antioch, and drew after 
 him many disciples by the pompous appearance of an 
 extraordinary virtue.> 
 
 VII. Cerdo the Syrian, and Marcion, son to the bishop 
 of Pontus, belong to the Asiatic sect, though they began 
 to establish their doctrine at Rome, and, having given a 
 turn somewhat different to the oriental superstition, may 
 themselves be considered as the heads of a new sect, 
 which bears their names. Amidst the obscurity and 
 doubts that render so uncertain the history of these two 
 men, the following fact is incontestable, viz. That Cerdo 
 had been spreading his doctrine at Rome before the arrival 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 51 
 
 of Marcion there ; and that the latter having, through his 
 own misconduct, forfeited a place to which he aspired in 
 the church of Rome, attached himself through resent- 
 ment to the impostor Cerdo, and propagated his inapious 
 doctrines with an astonishing success throughout the 
 world. “After the example of the oriental doctors, they 
 held the existence of two principles, the one perfectly good, 
 and the other perfectly evil. Between these, they ima- 
 gined an intermediate kind of deity, neither perfectly good 
 nor perfectly evil, but of a mixed nature (so Marcion 
 expresses it,) and so far just and powerful, as to administer 
 rewards and inflict punishments. 'This middle deity is 
 the creator of this inferior world, and the god and legisla- 
 tor of the Jewish nation ; he wages perpetual war with the 
 evil principle, and one and the other aspire to the place 
 of the Supreme Being, and ambitiously attempt to reduce 
 under their authority all the inhabitants of the world. 
 The Jews are the subjects of that powerful genius, who 
 formed this globe ; the other nations, who worship a variety 
 of gods, are under the empire of the evil principle. Both 
 these conflicting powers exercise oppressions upon raticnal 
 and immortal souls, and keep them in a tedious and misera- 
 ble captivity. ‘Therefore the Supreme God, in order to 
 terminate this war, and to deliver from their bondage those 
 souls whose origin is celestial and divine, sent to the Jews 
 a being most like to himself, even his son Jesus Christ, 
 clothed with a certain shadowy resemblance of a body, 
 that thus he might be visible to mortal eyes. The 
 commission of this celestial messenger was to destroy the 
 empire both of the evil principle, and of the author of this 
 world, and to bring back wandering souls to Ged. On 
 this account, he was attacked with inexpressible violence 
 and fury by the prince of darkness, and by the god of the 
 Jews, but without effect, since, having a body only in 
 appearance, he was thereby rendered incapable of suffer- 
 ing. ‘Those who follow the sacred directions of this celes- 
 tial conductor, mortify the body by fastings and austerities, 
 call off their minds from the allurements of sense, and, 
 renouncing the precepts of the god of the Jews, and of 
 the prince of darkness, turn their eyes toward the Su- 
 preme Being, shall, after death ascend to the mansions of 
 felicity and perfection.” In consequence of all this, the 
 rule of manners which Marcion prescribed to his follow- 
 ers, Was excessively austere, containing -an express pro- 
 hibition ef wedlock, of the use of wine, flesh, and of all 
 the external comforts of life. Notwithstanding the rigor 
 of this discipline, great numbers embraced the doctrines 
 of Marcion, of whom Lucan (called also Lucian,) Severus, 
 Blastes, and principally Apelles, are said to have varied, in 
 some things, from the opinions of their master, and to have 
 formed new sects.° 
 
 VIII. Bardesanes and 'T'atian are commonly supposed 
 to Have been of the school of Valentine, the Egyptian. 
 But this notion is entirely without foundation, since their 
 doctrine differs in many things from that of the Valent- 
 nians, approaching nearer to that of the oriental philosophy 
 concerning the two principles. Bardesanes, a native ef 
 Edessa, was a man of a very acute genius, and acquired 
 a shining reputation by his writings, which were in great 
 number, and valuable for the profound erudition they con- 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cay. xxxviii—Epiphanius, Heres. xix. 
 sect. ili. Theodoretus, Fabul. Heret. lib. ii. cap. vil. 
 
 b Irenzus, lib. i. ce. xxiv—Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. vil.— 
 Theodorct. Fabul. Heret. lib. i, cap. ii Epiphan. Heres. xxxiii _ 
 
 * See Ireneus, Epiphanius, and particularly Tertullian’s Five Books 
 against the Marcionites, with his Poem against Marcion, and the Dia- 
 logue against the Marcionites, which is generally ascribed to Origen. See 
 also Tillemont’s Memo. and Beausobre’s Hist. du Manicheisme, tom. u. 
 
 U. OF ILL LIS. 
 
62 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 tained. Seduced by the fantastic charms of the oriental || distinguished from other sects by names relative to the aus- 
 
 philosophy, he adopted it with zeal, but, at the same time, 
 with certain modifications, that rendered his system less 
 extravagant than that of the Marcionites, against whom 
 he wrete a very learned treatise. 'The sum of his doctrine 
 is as follows: There is a Supreme God, pure and benevo- 
 lent, absolutely free from all evil and imperfection ; and 
 there is also a prince of darkness, the fountain of all evil, 
 diso;der and misery. God created the world without any 
 mixture of evil in its composition ; he gave existence also 
 to its inhabitants, who came out of his forming hand, pure 
 and incorrupt, endued with subtile etherial bodies, and 
 spirits of a celestial nature. But when, in process of time, 
 the prince of darkness had enticed men to sin, God, permit- 
 ted them to fall into sluggish and gross bodies, formed of 
 corrupt matter by the evil principle ; he permitted also the 
 depravation and disorder which this malignant being intro- 
 duced, both into the natural and the moral world, design- 
 ing, by this permission, to punish the degeneracy and rebel- 
 lion of an apostate race ; and hence proceeds the perpetual 
 conflict between reason and passion in the mind of man. 
 It was on this account, that Jesus descended from the upper 
 regions, clothed, not with a real, but with a celestial and 
 aerial body, and taught mankind to subdue that body of 
 corruption which they carry about with them in this mortal 
 life, and, by abstinence, fasting and contemplation, to dis- 
 engage themselves from tie servitude and dominion of that 
 malignant matter which chained down the soul to low and 
 ignoble pursuits. "Those, who hear the voice of this divine 
 mstructor, and submit themselves to his discipline, shall, 
 after the dissolution of this terrestrial body, mount up to 
 the mansions of felicity, clothed with ethereal vehicles, or 
 celestial bodies.” Such was the doctrine of Bardesanes, 
 who afterwards abandoned the chimerical part of this sys- 
 tem, and returned to a better mind; though his sect sub- 
 sisted a long time in Syria. 
 
 IX. Tatian, by birth an Assyrian, anda disciple of Jus- 
 tin Martyr, is more distinguished, by the ancient writers, 
 on account of his genius and learning, and the excessive 
 and incredible austerity of his life and manners, than by any 
 remarkable errors or opinions which he taught his follow- 
 ers. It appears, however, from the testimony of credible 
 writers, that Tatian looked upon matter as the fountain 
 of all evil, and therefore recommended, in a particular 
 manner, the mortification of the body; that he distinguish- 
 ed the creator of the world from the Supreme Being; denied 
 the reality of Christ’s body ; and corrupted the Christian 
 religion with several other tenets of the oriental philosophy. 
 He had a great number of followers, who were, after him, 
 called 'Tatianists,’ but were, nevertheless, more frequently 
 
 * See the writers who have given accounts of the ancient heresies, as 
 also Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxx.—Origen, Dial. contra 
 Marcionitas, sect. iii—F. Strunzius, Hist. Bardesanis—Beausobre, 
 Hist. du Manich. vol. ii. 
 
 b We have yet remaining of the writings of Tatian, an Oration ad- 
 dressed to the Greeks. As to his opinions they may be gathered from 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromat. lib. ii. p. 460.—Epiphanius, Heres. 
 xivi. cap. i. p. 391. Origen de Oratione, cap. xiii. None, however, of 
 the ancients wrote professedly concerning the doctrine of Tatian. 
 
 ¢ We have remaining a great number of gems, and receive more from 
 Egypt from time to time, on which, beside other figures of Egyptian 
 taste, we find the word Abraxas engraven. See, for this purpose, a 
 work entitled, Macarii Abraxas, seude Gemmis Basilidianis Disquisitio, 
 which was published at Antwerp with several improvements, by M. 
 Chifflet, in 1657. See also Montfaucon, Paleograph Gree. lib. ii. cap. 
 viii. All these gems are supposed to come from Basilides, and there- 
 fore bear his name. Most of them, however, contain the marks of a 
 
 terity of their manners; for, as they rejected, with a sort of 
 horror, all the comforts and conveniences of life, and ab- 
 stained from wine with such a rigorous obstinacy, as to use 
 nothing but water even at the celebration of the Lord’s 
 Supper; as they macerated their bodies by continual fas- 
 tings, and lived a severe life of celibacy and abstinence, so 
 they were called Encratites,* Hydroparastates,t and Apo- 
 tactites.{ 
 
 X. Hitherto, we have only considered the doctrine of the 
 Asiatic Gnostics. Those of the Egyptian branch differ 
 from them in general in this, that they blended into one 
 mass the oriental philosophy and the Egyptian theology ; 
 the former of which the Asiatics preserved unmixed in its 
 original simplicity. The Egyptians were, moreover, par- 
 ticularly distinguished from the Asiatic Gnostics by the 
 following difference in their religious system, viz. 1. That 
 though, beside the existence of a deity, they maintained 
 that also of an eternal matter, endued with life and motion, 
 yet they did not acknowledge an eternal principle of dark- 
 ness, or the evil principle of the Persians. 2. They sup- 
 posed that our blessed Saviour was a compound of two 
 persons, of the man Jesus, and of Christ, the Son of God ; 
 that the divine nature entered into the man Jesus, when 
 he was baptized by John in the river Jordan, and departed 
 from him when he was seized by the Jews. 3. They 
 attributed to Christ a real not an imaginary body; though 
 it must be confessed, that they were much divided in their 
 sentiments on thishead. 4. Their discipline, with respect 
 to life and manners, was much less severe than that of the 
 Asiatic sect, and seems, in some points, to have been fa- 
 vourable to the corruption and passions of men. 
 
 XI. Basilides has generally obtained the first place 
 among the Egyptian Gnostics. “He acknowledged the 
 existence of one Supreme God, perfect in goodness and wis- 
 dom, who produced from his own substance seven beings, 
 or xons, of a most excellent nature. "I'wo of these eons 
 called Dynamis and Sophia (power and wisdom), engen- 
 dered the angels ef the highest order. ‘These angels 
 formed a heaven for their habitation, and brought forth 
 other angelic beings, of a nature somewhat inferior to 
 their own. Many other generations of angels followed 
 these, and new heavens were also created, until the 
 number of angelic orders, and of their respective heavens 
 amounted to three hundred and sixty-five, and thus equal- 
 led the days of the year. All these are under the empire 
 of an omnipotent Lord, whom Basilides called Abraxas.”* 
 This word (which was certainly in use among the Egyp- 
 tians before his time) contains numeral letters to the 
 amount of 365, and thereby expresses the number of hea- 
 
 supsrstition too gross to be attributed even to a half-Christian, and tear 
 also emblematic characters of the Egyptian theology. It is not, therefore, 
 just to ettribute them all to Basilides (who, though erroneus in many of 
 his opinions, was yet a follower of Christ), but such of them orly as 
 exhibit some mark of the Christian doctrine and discipline. There is 
 no doubt that the old Egyptian word Abraxas was appropriated to the 
 governor or lord of the heavens, and that Basilides, having learned it 
 from the philosophy of his nation, retained it in his religions system, 
 See Beausobre, Fiige du Manicheisme. vol. 11. p. 51., and also Jo. Bapt. 
 Passerivs, in his Dissert. de Gemmes Basilidianis, which makes a part 
 of ‘he splendid work that he published at Florence, 1750, de Gemmis 
 steiliferis, tom. ii. p. 221. See also the sentiments of the learned Jablon- 
 ski, concerning the signification of the word Abraxas, as they are deliver- 
 ed in a dissertation inserted in the seventh volume of the Miscell. Leips, 
 Nova. Pesserius aflirms, that none of these gems can properly be saia 
 to relate to Basilides, but that they concern only magicians, i. e. sorcer- 
 * Temperate. +t Drinkers of water. + Renouncers. 
 
Cuap. V, 
 
 vens and angelic orders above-mentioned. “The inhabi- 
 tants of the lowest heavens, which touched upon the 
 borders of the eternal, malignant, and self-animated mat- 
 ter, conceived the design of forming a world from that 
 confused mass, and of creating an order of beings to people 
 it. This design was carried into execution, and was 
 approved by the Supreme God, who, to the animal life, 
 with which only the inhabitants of this new world were 
 at first endowed, added a reasonable soul, giving, at the 
 same time, to the angels, the empire over them.” 
 
 XII. “ These angelic beings, advanced to the govern- 
 ment of the world which they had created, fell, by degrees, 
 from their original purity, and manifested the fatal marks 
 of their depravity and corruption. ‘They not only endea- 
 voured to efface from the minds of men the knowledge of 
 the Supreme Being, that they might be worshipped in his 
 stead, but also began to war against one another, with an 
 ambitious view to enlarge, every one, the bounds of his 
 respective dominion. ‘The most arrogant and turbulent of 
 all these angelic spirits, was that which presided over the 
 Jewish nation. Hence God, beholding with compassion 
 the miserable state of rational creatures, who groaned 
 under the contests of these jarring powers, sent from hea- 
 ven his son Nus, or Christ, the chief of the zons, that, join- 
 ed in a substantial union with the man Jesus, he might 
 restore the knowledge of the Supreme Being, and destroy 
 the empire of those angelic natures which presided over 
 the world, and particularly that of the arrogant leader of 
 the Jewish people. ‘The god of the Jews, alarmed at this, 
 sent forth his ministers to seize the man Jesus, and put 
 him to death. ‘They executed his commands; but their 
 cruelty could not extend to Christ, against whom their 
 efforts were vain.* ‘Those souls, who obey the precepts 
 of the Son of God, shall, after the dissolution of their mor- 
 tal frame, ascend to the Father, while their bodies return to 
 the corrupt mass of matter from which they were formed. 
 Disobedient spirits, on the contrary, shall pass successively 
 into other bodies.” 
 
 XIU. The doctrine of Basilides, in point of morals, if 
 we may credit the account of most ancient writers, was 
 favorable to the lusts and passions of mankind, and per- 
 mitted the practice of all sorts of wickedness. But those 
 whose testimonies are the most worthy of regard, give a 
 quite different account of this teacher, and represent him 
 as recommending the practice of virtue and piety in the 
 strongest manner, and as having condemned not only the 
 actual commission of iniquity, but even every inward pro- 
 pensity of the mind to a vicious conduct. It is true there 
 were, in his precepts relating to the conduct of life, some 
 points which gave great offence to all real Christians; for 
 he affirmed it to be lawful for them to conceal their religion, 
 to deny Christ, when their lives were in danger, and to 
 partake of the feasts of the Gentiles that were instituted in 
 consequence of the sacrifices offered to idols. He endea- 
 aera also to diminish the glory of those who suffered 
 martyrdem for the cause of Christ impiously maintain- 
 
 ers, fortune-tellers, and the like adventurers. Here, however, this learn- 
 ed man seems to go too far, since he himself acknowledges (p. 225,) that 
 he had sometimes found, on these gems, vestiges of the errors of Basilides. 
 These famous monuments stand yet in need of an interpreter; but it 
 must be one who can join cireumspection to diligence and erudition. 
 
 * Many of the ancients have, upon the authority of Ireneus, accused 
 Basilides of denying the reality of Christ’s body, and of maintaining that 
 Simon the Cyrenian was crucified in his stead. But this accusation is 
 entirely groundless, as may be seen by consulting the Commentar. de 
 
 DIVISION AND HERESIES. 
 
 5 
 
 ing, that they were more heinous sinners than others, and 
 that their sufferings were to be looked upon as a punish- 
 ment inflicted upon them by the divine justice. He was 
 led into this enormous error, by an absurd notion that all 
 the calamities of this life were of a penal nature, and that 
 men never suffered but in consequence of their iniquities. 
 ‘This rendered his principles greatly suspected ; and the 
 irregular lives of some of his disciples seemed to justify the 
 unfavourable opinion that was entertained of their master.® 
 
 XIV. But whatever may be said of Basilides, it is cer- 
 tain, that he was far surpassed in impiety by Carpocrates, 
 who was also of Alexandria, and who carried the Gnostic 
 blasphemies toa more enormous degree of extravagance 
 than they had ever been brought by any of that sect. His 
 philosophical tenets agree, in general, with those of the 
 Keyptian Gnostics. He acknowledged the existence of a 
 Supreme God, and of the zons derived from him by suc- 
 cessive generations. He maintained the eternity of a cor- 
 rupt matter,and the creation of the world from it by angelic 
 powers, as also the divine origin of souls unhappily im- 
 prisoned in mortal bodies, &c. But, beside these, he pro- 
 pagated sentiments and maxims of a horrid kind. He as- 
 serted, that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary, according 
 to the ordinary course of nature, and was distinguished 
 from the rest of mankind by nothing but his superior for- 
 titude and greatness of soul. His doctrine, also, with res- 
 pect to practice, was licentious in the highest degree ; for 
 he not only allowed his disciples a full liberty to sin, but re- 
 commended to them a vicious-course of life, as a matter 
 both of obligation and necessity; asserting, that eternal 
 salvation was only attainable by those who had committed 
 all sorts of crimes, and had daringly filled up the measure 
 of iniquity. It is almost incredible, that one who main- 
 tained the existence of a Supreme Being, who acknowledg- 
 ed Christ as the Saviour of mankind, could entertain such 
 monstrous opinions. One might infer indeed, from cer- 
 tain tenets of Carpocrates that he adopted the common 
 doctrine of the Gnostics concerning Christ, and acknow- 
 ledged also the laws which this divime Saviour imposed 
 upon his disciples. Notwithstanding this, it is beyond 
 all doubt, that the precepts and opinions of this Gnostic 
 are full of impiety, since he held, that lusts and passions 
 being implanted in our nature by God himself, were con- 
 sequently void of guilt, and had nothing criminal in them; 
 that all actions were indifferent in their own nature, and 
 were rendered good or evil only by the opinions of men, or 
 by the laws of the state; that it was the will of God that 
 all things should be possessed in common, the female sex 
 not excepted; but that human laws, by an arbitrary ty- 
 ranny, branded those as robbers and adulterers, who only 
 used their natural rights. It is easy to perceive, that, by 
 these tenets, all the principles of virtue were destroyed, 
 and a door opened to the most horrid licentiousness, and 
 to the most profligate and enormous wickedness. 
 
 XV. Valentine, who was likewise an Egyptian by birth, 
 
 was eminently distinguished from all his brethren by the 
 
 rebus Christian. ante Constant. where it is demonstrated, that Basilides 
 considered the divine Saviour as compounded of the man Jesus, and 
 Christ the Son of God. It may be true, indeed, that some of the disciples 
 of Basilides entertained the opinion which is here unjustly attributed to 
 their master. 
 
 > For a farther account of Basilides, the reader may consult Ren. Massu- 
 et, Dissert. in Ireneeum, and Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, vol. ii. 
 
 ° See Iren. contra Heres. cap. xxv Clementis Alex. Stromata, lib 
 ili. p. 511. 
 
54 
 
 extent of his fame, and the multitude of his followers. 
 His sect, which took rise at Rome, grew up to a state of 
 consistence and vigour in the isle of Cyprus, and spread 
 itself through Asia, Africa, and Europe, with an amazing 
 rapidity. ‘The principies of Valentine were, generally 
 speaking, the same with those of the Gnosiics, whose 
 name he assumed; yet, in many points, he entertained 
 opinions that were peculiar to himself. “ He placed, for 
 instance, in the pleroma (so the Gnostics called the habi- 
 tation of the Deity) thirty zons, of which the one half were 
 male, and the other female. ‘'T'o these he added four 
 others, which were of neither sex, viz. Horus, who guard- 
 ed the korders of the pleroma, Christ, the Holy Ghost, and 
 Jesus. ‘The youngest of the mons, called Sophia (i. e. wis- 
 dom,) conceiving an ardent desire of comprehending the 
 nature of the Supreme Being, and by force of this propen- 
 sity, brought forth a daughter, named Achamoth, who, be- 
 ing exiled from the pleroma, fell down into the rude and 
 undigested mass of matter, to which she gave a certain 
 arrangement, and, by the assistance of Jesus, produced 
 the demiurge, the lord and creator of all things. This 
 demiurge separated the subtile or animal matter from that 
 of the grosser or more terrestrial kind; out of the former 
 he created the superior world, or the visible heavens; and 
 out of the latter he formed the inferior world, or this terra- 
 queous globe. He also made man, in whose composition 
 the subtile, and also the grosser matter, were both united 
 in equal portions ; but Achamoth, the mother of the demi- 
 urge, added to these two substances, of which the human 
 race was formed, a spiritual and celestial substance.” 'This 
 is the sum of that intricate and tedious fable, which the 
 extravagant brain of Valentine imposed upon the world for 
 a system of religious philosophy; and from this it appears 
 that, though, he explained the origin of the world, and 
 of the human race, in a more subiile manner than the 
 Gnostics, he did not differ from them in reality. His ima- 
 gination was more wild and inventive than that of his 
 brethren ; and this is manifest in the whole of his doc- 
 trine, which is no more than Gnosticism, set out with 
 some supernumerary fringes, as will farther appear from 
 what follows. 
 
 XVI. “ The Creator of this world, according to Valen- 
 tine, arrived, by degrees, at such a pitch of arrogance, that 
 he either imagined nimse!f to be God alone, or, at least, 
 was desirous tliat mankind should consider him as such. 
 I*or this purpose he sent forth prophets to the Jewish na- 
 tion, to declare his claim to the honour that is due to the 
 Supreme Being ; and in this point the other angels who 
 
 2?) 
 preside over the different parts of the universe itamediate- 
 ly began to imitate his ambition. To chastise this lawless 
 arrogance, and to illuminate the minds of rational beings 
 with the knowledge of the true and Supreme Deity, Christ 
 
 appeared upon earth, composed of an animal and spiritual 
 
 * It is proper to observe, for the information of those who desire a more 
 copious account of the Valentinian heresy, that many ancient writers 
 have written upon this subject, especially Ireneus, Tertullian, Clemens 
 Alex. &c. Among the moderns, see the dissertation of J. F. Buddeus 
 de heresi Valentiniana, which gave occasion to many disputes concern- 
 ing the origin of this heresy. Some of the moderns have endeavoured 
 to reconcile, with reason, this obscure aid absurd doctrine of the Valen- 
 tmians. See, for this purpose, the following authors: Souverain, Pla- 
 tonisme devoilé, ch. vill. Camp. Vitringa, Observ. Sacy. lib. i. cap. ii. 
 Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, p. 548. Jac. Basnage, Hist. des 
 Juifs, tom. iii. p.'729. Pierre Faydit, Eclaircissemens sur l’Hist. Eccle- 
 siast. des deux premiers Siecles. How vain all such endeavours are, 
 
 might easily be shown: and Valentine himself has determined the mat- | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IT. 
 
 substance, and clothed moreover, with an aerial body. 
 This Redeemer, in descending upon earth, passed through 
 the womb of Mary, as the pure water flows through the 
 untainted conduit. Jesus, ene of the supreme eons, was 
 substantially united to him, when he was baptized by 
 John in the waters of Jordan. The creator of this world, 
 when he perceived that the toundatious of his empire were 
 shaken by this divine man, caused him to be apprehend 
 ed and nailed to the cross. But before Christ submitted tc 
 this punishment, not only Jesus the Son of God, but alsc 
 the rational soul of Christ ascended on high, so that only 
 the animal soul and the ethereal body suffered crucifixion. 
 Those who abandoning the service of false deities, and the 
 worship of the God of the Jews, live according to the pre- 
 cepts of Christ, and sebmit the animal and sensuai soul to 
 the discipline of reason, shall be truly happy; their rational 
 and also their sensual souls shall ascend to those glorious 
 seats of bliss which border on the pleroma; and when all 
 the parts of the divine nature, or all souls are purified tho- 
 roughly, and separated from matter, then a raging fire, let 
 loose from its prison, shall spread its flames throughout the 
 universe, and dissolve the frame of this corporeal world.” 
 Such is the doctrine of Valentine and the Gnostics; such 
 also are-the tenets of the oriental philosophy, and they may 
 be summed up in the following propositions; “ his world 
 is a compound of good and evil. Whatever is good in it, 
 comes down from the Supreme God, the Father of light, 
 and to him it shall return; and then the world shall be 
 entirely destroyed.”* 
 
 XVII. We learn from ancient writers, that the Valen- 
 tinian sect was divided into many branches. One was the 
 sectof the Ptolemites, socalled from their chief Ptolemy, who 
 differed in opinion from his master Valentine, with respect 
 both to the number and nature of the aeons, another was 
 the sect of the Secundians, whose chief Secundus, one of 
 the principal followers of Valentine, maintained the doc- 
 trine of two eternal principles, viz. light and darkness, 
 whence arose the good and evil that are observable in the 
 universe. From the same source arose the sect of Hera- 
 cleon, from whose writings Clemens and Origen have 
 made many extracts; as also that of the Marcosians, whose 
 leaders, Mare and Colarbasus, added many absurd fictions 
 to those of Valentine; though it is certain, at the same time, 
 that many errors were attributed to them, which they did 
 not maintain.’ I omit the mention of some other seets, 
 to which the Valentinian heresy is said to have given rise. 
 Whether, in reality, they all sprang from this source, is a 
 question of a very doubtful kind, especially if we consider 
 the errors into which the ancients have fallen, in tracing 
 out the origin of thé various sects that divided the church.* 
 
 XVIII. It is not necessary to take any particular notice 
 of the more obscure and less considerable of the Gnostic 
 sects, of which the ancient writers scarcely mention any 
 ter, by acknowledging that his doctrine is absolutely and entirely differ- 
 ent from that of other Christians. 
 
 te > Marc did not certainly entertain all the opinions that are attribu- 
 ted tohim. Those, however, which we are certain that he adopted, are 
 sufficient to convince us that he was cut of his senses. He maintained, 
 among other crude fancies, that the plenitude and perfection of truth re- 
 sided in the Greek alphabet, and alleges that as the reason why Jesus 
 Christ was called the Alpha and the Omega. 
 
 © Concerning these sects, the reader will find something Tuller in 
 Ireneus and the other ancient writers, and a yet more learned and 
 satisfactory account in Grebe’s Spicilegium Patr. et Hereticor. sect. 2. 
 
 There is an ample account of the Marcosians in Ireneus, contra 
 Her. lib. i. 
 
Crap. VY. 
 
 thing but the name, and one or two of their distinguishing 
 tenets. Such were the Adamites, who are said to have 
 professed an exact imitation of the primitive state of inno- 
 cence ; the Cainites, who treated as saints, with the utmost 
 marks of admiration and respect, Cain, Cora, Dathan, the 
 inhabitants of Sodom, and even the traitor Judas. Such 
 also were the Abelites, who entered into the bonds of 
 matrimony, but neglected to fulfil its principal end, even 
 the procreation of offspring ; the Sethites, who honored 
 Seth in a particular manner, and looked upon him as the 
 same person with Christ ; the Florinians, who had F'lori- 
 nus and Blastus for their chiefs, and several others. It 
 is highly probable that the ancient doctors, deceived by the 
 variety of names that distinguished the heretics, may with 
 too much precipitation have divided one sect into many ; 
 and it may be farther questioned, whether they have, at all 
 times, represented accurately the nature and true meaning 
 of several opinions concerning which they have written. 
 
 XIX. The Ophites, or Serpentinians, a ridiculous sort 
 of heretics, who had for their leader a man called Euphra- 
 tes, deserve not the lowest place among the Egyptian 
 Gnostics. This sect, which had its origin among the Jews, 
 was of a more ancient date than the Christian religion. A 
 part of its followers embraced the Gospel, while the rest 
 retained their primitive superstition ; and hence arose the 
 division of the Ophites into Cliristian and anti-Christian. 
 The Christian Ophites entertained almost the same fantas- 
 tic opinions that were holden’by the other Egyptian Gnos- 
 tics, concerning the eons, the eternal matter, the creation 
 of the world in opposition to the will of God, the rulers of 
 the seven planets that presided over this world, the tyran- 
 ny of the demiurge, and also respecting Christ united to 
 the man Jesus, in order to destroy the empire of this usurp- 
 er. But, beside these, they maintained the following par- 
 ticular tenet (whence they received the name of Ophites) ; 
 “That the serpent, by which our first parents were deceived, 
 was either Christ himself, or Sophia, concealed under the 
 form of that animal;” and, in consequence of this opinion, 
 they are said to have nourished a certain number of ser- 
 pents, which they looked upon as sacred, and to which 
 they offered a sort of worship, a subordinate kind of divine 
 honours. It was no difficult matter for those, who made a 
 
 distinction between the Supreme Being and the Creator of | 
 
 the world, and who looked upon every thing as divine, 
 which was in opposition to the demiurge, to fall into these 
 extravagant notions. 
 
 XX. The schisms and commotions that arose in the 
 
 church, from a mixture of the oriental and Egyptian | 
 
 philosophy with the Christian religion, were, in the second 
 century, increased by those Grecian philosophers who 
 embraced the doctrine of Christ. ‘The Christian doc- 
 trines concerning the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and 
 the two natures united in our blessed Saviour, were by no 
 means reconcileable with the tenets of the sages and doc- 
 tors of Greece, who therefore endeavoured to explain them 
 in such a manner as to render them comprehensible. 
 Praxeas, a man of genius and learning, began to propa- 
 gate these explications at Rome, and was severely perse- 
 
 * Here Dr. Mosheim has fallen into a slight inaccuracy in confound- 
 ing the opinions of these two heretics, since it is certain, that Blastus was 
 for restoring the Jewish religion, and celebrating the passover on the 
 fourteenth day; whereas Florinus was a Valentinian, and maintained 
 the doctrine of the two principles, with other Gnostic errors. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 55 
 
 cuted for the errors they contained. He denied any real 
 distinction between the Father, Son, and, Holy Ghost, and 
 maintained that the Father, sole creator of ali things, had 
 united to himself the human nature of Christ. Hence his 
 followers were called Monarchians, because of their deny- 
 ing a plurality of persons in the Deity; and also Patri- 
 passians, because, according to Tertullian’s account, they 
 believed that the Father was so intimately united with 
 the man Christ, his son, that he suffered with him the 
 anguish of an afflicted life, and the torments of an igno- 
 minious death. However ready many may have been to 
 embrace this erroneous doctrine, it does not appear, that 
 this sect formed to itselfa separate place of worship, or re- 
 moved from the ordinary assemblies of Christians.® 
 
 XXI. An opinion highly resembling that tow men- 
 tioned, was, about the same time, professed at Rome by 
 'Theodotus, who, though a tanner, was a man of profound 
 learning, and also by Artemas, or Artemon, from whom 
 the sect of the Artemonites derived their origin. The ac- 
 counts given of these two persons, by the ancient writers, 
 are not only few in number, but are also extremely ambigu 
 ous and obscure. ‘Their sentiments, however, as far as 
 they can be collected from the best records, amount to this; 
 “That, at the birth of the man Christ, a certain divine 
 energy, or portion of the divine nature (and not the person 
 of the Father, as Praxeas imagined), united itself to him.” 
 
 It is impossible to decide with certainty which of the two 
 was the more ancient, Theodotus, or Artemon; as also 
 whether they both taught the same doctrine, or differed in 
 their opinions. One thing, indeed, is certain, that the 
 disciples of both applied the dictates of philosophy, and even 
 the science of geometry, to the explication of the Christian 
 doctrine. 
 
 XXII. A like attachment to the dictates of a presump- 
 tuous philosophy, induced Hermogenes, a painter by 
 profession, to abandon the doctrine of Christianity con- 
 cerning the origin of the world, and the nature of the soul, 
 and thus to raise new troubles in the church. Regarding 
 matter as the fountain of all evil, he could not persuade 
 himself that God had created it from nothing, by an 
 almighty act of his will; and therefore he maintained, 
 that the world, with whatever it contains, as also the souls 
 of men, and other spirits, were formed by the Deity from 
 an uncreated and eternal mass of corrupt matter. In this 
 doctrine there were many intricate things, and it mani- 
 festly jarred with the opinions commonly received among 
 Christians relative to that difficult and almost unsearcha- 
 ble subject. How Hermogenes explained those doctrines 
 of Christianity which opposed his system, neither 'Tertul- 
 lian, who refuted it, nor any of the ancient writers, in- 
 form us.° 
 
 XXIII. These sects, which we have now been slightly 
 surveying, may be justly regarded as the offspring of phi- 
 losophy. But-they were succeeded by one in which igno- 
 rance reigned, and which was the mortal enemy of philoso- 
 phy and letters. It was formed by Montanus, an obscure 
 man, without any capacity or strength of judgment, and 
 who lived in a Phrygian village called Pepuza. This 
 
 b Tertulliani lib. contra Praxeam; as also Petri Wesselingii Proba- 
 bilia, cap. xxvi. : 
 
 ¢ There is yet extanta book written by Tertullian against Hermoge- 
 nes, in which the opinions of the latter concerning matter, and the origin 
 of the world, are warmly opposed. We have lost ancther work of the 
 
56 
 
 weak man was so foolish and extravagant as to imagine 
 and pretend, that he was the paraclete, or comforter,* 
 whom the divine Saviour, at his departure from the earth, 
 promised to send to his disciples to lead them to all truth. 
 He made no attempts upon the peculiar doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, but only declared, that he was sent with a divine 
 commission, to give, to the moral precepts delivered by 
 Christ and his apostles, the finishing touch that wasto bring 
 them to perfection. 
 his apostles made, in their precepts, many allowances to the 
 infirmities of those among whom they lived, and that this 
 
 condescending indulgence rendered their system of moral | 
 
 laws imperfect and incomplete. He therefore added to 
 the laws of the Gospel many austere decisions ; inculcated 
 the necessity of multiplying fasts; prohibited second mar- 
 riages as unlawful; maintained that the church should 
 refuse absolution to those who had fallen into the commis- 
 sion of enormous sins; and condemned all care of the body, 
 especially all nicety in dress, and all female ornaments. 
 "The excessive austerity of this ignorant fanatic did not stop 
 here; he shewed the same aversion to the noblest employ- 
 ments of the mind, that he did to the innocent enjoyments 
 of life; and gave it as his opinion, that philosophy, arts, 
 and whatever savoured of polite literature, should be mer- 
 cilessly banished from the Christian church. He looked 
 upon those Christians as guilty of a most heinous transgres- 
 sion, who saved their lives by flight, from the persecuting 
 sword, or who ransomed them by money, from the hands 
 of their cruel and mercenary judges. 1 
 many other precepts of the same teacher, equal to these in 
 severity and rigour. 
 
 XXIV. It was impossible to suffer, within the bounds of 
 the church, an enthusiast, who gave himself out for a com- 
 municator of precepts superior in sanctity to those of Christ 
 
 same author, in which he refuted the notion of Hermogenes concerning 
 the soul. 
 
 * Those are undoubtedly in an error, who have asserted that Monta- 
 nus gave himself out for the Holy Ghost. However weak he may have 
 been in point of capacity, he was not fool enough to push his pretensions 
 so far. Neither have they, who inform us that Montanus pretended to 
 have received from above the same spirit or paraclete which formerly 
 animated the apostles, interpreted with accuracy the meaning of this 
 heretic. It is, therefore, necessary to observe here, that Montanus made 
 a distinction between the paraclete promised by Christ to his apostles, 
 and the Holy Spirit that was shed upon them on the day of Pentecost; 
 and understood, by the former, a divine teacher pointed out by Christ, as 
 a comforter, who was to perfect the Gospel by the addition of some doc- 
 trines omitted by our Saviour, and to cast a ful] light upon others which 
 were expressed in an obscure and imperfect manner, though for wise 
 reasons which subsisted during the ministry of Christ; and, indeed, 
 Montanus was not the only person who made this distinction. Other 
 Christian doctors were of cpinion, that the paraclete promised by Jesus 
 
 He was of opinion, that Christ and | 
 
 I might mention | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 himself, and who imposed his austere discipline upon 
 Christians, as enjoined by a divine authority, and dictated 
 by the oracle of celestial wisdom, which spoke to the world 
 through him. Besides, his dismal predictions concerning 
 the disasters that were to happen in the empire, and the 
 approaching destruction of the Roman republic, might be 
 expected to render him obnoxious to the governing powers, 
 and also to exite their resentment against the church, 
 which nourished such an inauspicious prophet in its bosom. 
 Montanus, therefore, first by a decree of certain assemblies, 
 and afterwards by the unanimous voice of the whole 
 church, was solemnly separated from the body of the 
 faithful. 
 
 It is, however, certain, that the very severity of his 
 doctrines gained him the esteem and confidence of many, 
 who were far from being of the lowest order. The most 
 eminent among these were Priscilla and Maximilla, ladies 
 more remarkable for their opulence than for their virtue, 
 and who fell with a high degree of warmth and zeal into 
 the visions of their fanatical chief, prophesied like him, and 
 imitated the pretended paraclete in all the variety of his 
 extravagance and folly. Hence it became an easy matter 
 for Montanus to erect a new church, which was first estab- 
 lished at Pepuza, and afterwards spread abroad through 
 Asia, Africa, and a part of Europe. ‘The most eminent 
 and learned of all the followers of this rigid enthusiast was 
 Tertullian, a man of great learning and genius, but of an 
 austere and melancholy temper. ‘This great man, by adopt: 
 ing the sentiments of Montanus, and maintaining his cause 
 with fortitude, and even vehemence, in a multitude of books 
 written upon that occasion, has exhibited a mortifying spec- 
 tacle of the deviations of which human nature is capable, 
 even in those in whom it seems to have approached the 
 nearest to perfection.» 
 
 to his disciples, was a divine ambassador, entirely distinct from the 
 Holy Ghost which was shed upon the apostles. In the third century, 
 Manes interpreted the promise of Christ in this manner. He pretended, 
 moreover, that he himself was the paraclete, and that, in his person, the 
 prediction was fulfilled. Every one knows, that Mohammed entertain- 
 ed the same notion, and applied to himself the prediction ef Christ. It 
 was, therefore, this divine messenger tha ontanus pretended to be, 
 and not the Holy Ghost. This will appear with the utmost evidence, 
 to those who read with attention the account given of this matter by Ter- 
 tullian, who was the most famous of all the disciples of Montanus, and 
 the most perfectly acquainted with every point of his doctrine. 
 
 b For an account of the Montanists, see Euseb. Eccles. History, book 
 vy. ch. xvi., and all the writers ancient and modern (especially Tertullian) 
 who have professedly written of the sects of the earlier ages. The learn- 
 ed Theophilus Wernsdorff published, in 1751, a most Ingenious exposi- 
 tion of whatever regards the sect of the Montanists, under the following 
 title: Commentatio de Montanists Sxculi secundi, vulgo creditis Here- 
 ticis. 
 
ol apa ea Bed trey fs dvs edn ord Beh 08 Ota ld Di ad 
 
 PART I 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Which contains the prosperous Events that happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tar the Christians suffered, in this century, cala- 
 mities and injuries of the most dreadful kind, is a matter 
 that admits no debate ; nor was there, indeed, any period 
 in which they were secure or free from danger. 
 to mention the fury of the people, set in motion so often 
 by the craft and zeal of their licentious priests, the evil 
 came from a higher source; the preetors and magistrates, 
 notwithstanding the ancient laws of the emperors in favor 
 of the Christians, had it in their power to pursue them with 
 all sorts of vexations, as often as avarice, cruelty, or super- 
 stition roused up the infernal spirit of persecution in their 
 breasts. At the same time, it is certain that the rights 
 and privileges of the Christians were multiplied, in this 
 century, much more than some are apt to imagine. In 
 the army, at court, and, indeed, in all the orders of the 
 nation, there were many Christians who lived entirely 
 unmolested; and, what is still more, the profession of 
 Christianity was no obstacle to the public preferment un- 
 der most of the emperors that reigned in this century. It 
 is also certain, that the Christians had, in many places, 
 houses where they assembled for the purposes of divine 
 worship with the knowledge and connivance of the em- 
 perors and magistrates. And though it be more than 
 probable, that this liberty was, upon various occasions, 
 and even for the most part, purchased at a high rate, yet 
 it is manifest, that some of the emperors were very favour- 
 ably inclined toward the Christians, and were far from 
 having any aversion to their religion. 
 
 II. Caracalla, the son of Severus, was proclaimed em- 
 peror in the year 211, and, during the six years of his 
 government, he neither oppressed the Christians himself, 
 nor permitted any others to treat them with cruelty or in- 
 justice. Heliogabalus also, though in other respects the 
 most infamous of all princes, * and, perhaps, the most odi- 
 ous of all mortals, shewed no marks of bitterness or aver- 
 sion to the disciples of Jesus. His successor, Alexander 
 Severus, who was a prince distinguished by a noble as- 
 semblage of the most excellent and illustrious virtues, did 
 not, indeed, abrogate the laws that had been enacted 
 against the Christians; and this is the reason why we 
 have some examples of martyrdom under his administra- 
 
 ® Lampridius, Vita Elagabali. 
 
 > Lamprid. di Vita Severi, cap. xxix. Vide Carol. Henr. Zeibichii | 
 
 Dis. de Christo ab Alexandro in larario culto, in Miscellan. Lips. nov. 
 tom. 111. 
 
 ¢ Vide F. Spanhemii Dis. de Lucii, Britonum Regis, Julie Mam- 
 mzz et Philipporum, conversionibus, tom. ii. op. p. 400. Item, Paul 
 Jablonski, Dis de Alexandro Severo sacris Christianis per Gnosticos 
 initiato, in Miscellan. Lips. nov. tom. iv. 
 
 Zr! The authors of the Universal History have determined the 
 question which Dr. Mosheim leaves here uncecided; and they think it 
 
 15 
 
 For, not | 
 
 tion. It is nevertheless certain, that he shewed them, in 
 many ways, and upon every occasion that was oflered te 
 him, the most undoubted marks of benignity: he is even 
 said to have gone so far as to pay a certain sort of worship 
 to the divine author of our religion.» The friendly incli- 
 nation of this prince toward the Christians probably arose, 
 at first, from the instructions and counsels of his mother, 
 Julia Mamma, for whom he had a high degree of love 
 and veneration. Julia had very favourable sentiments of 
 the Christian religion: and, being once at Antioch, sent 
 for the famous Origen from Alexandria, in order to enjoy 
 the pleasure and advantage of his conversation and in- 
 structions. ‘Those who assert, that Julia, and her son 
 Alexander, embraced the Christian religion, are by no 
 means furnished with unexceptionable testimonies to con- 
 firm this fact, though we may afiirm, with confidence, that 
 this virtuous prince looked upon Christianity as meriting, 
 beyond all other religions, toleration and favour from the 
 state, and considered its author as worthy of a place among 
 those who had been distinguished by their sublime virtues, 
 and honoured with a commission from above.° 
 
 Ill. Under Gordian, the Christians lived in tranquillity. 
 His successors the Philips, father and son, proved so fa- 
 vourable, and even friendly to them, that these two em- 
 perors passed, in the opinion of many, for Christians; and, 
 indeed, the arguments alleged to prove that they embraced, 
 though in a secret and clandestine manner, the religion of 
 Jesus, seem to render this pomt highly probable. But, as 
 these arguments are opposed by others equally specious, 
 the famous question, relating to the religion of Philip the 
 Arabian and his son, must be left undecided.¢ Neither 
 side offers reasons so victorious and unanswerable, as to 
 produce a full and complete conviction ; and this is there- 
 
 | fore one of those many cases, where a suspension of judg- 
 
 ment is both allowable and wise. With respect to Gallie- 
 nus, and some other emperors, of this century, if they did 
 not professedly favour the progress of Christianity, they 
 did not oppress its followers, or retard its advancement. 
 IV. This clemency and benevolence, which the followers 
 of Jesus, experienced from great men, and especially from 
 those of imperial dignity, must be placed, without doubt, 
 among the human means that contributed to multiply the 
 number of Christians, and to enlarge the bounds of the 
 church. Other causes, however, both divine and human 
 must be added here, to aflord a complete and satisfactory 
 
 may be affirmed, that Philip and his son embraced the Gospel, since that 
 opinion is built upon such respectable authority as that of Jerom, Chry- 
 sostom, Dionysius of Alexandria, Zonaras, Nicephorus, Cedrenus, Ruf 
 finus, Baden, Orosius, Jornandes, Ammianus Marcellinus, the learn- 
 ed cardinal Bono, Vincentius Lirinensis, Huetius, and others. Dr. 
 Mosheim refers his readers, for an account of this matter, to the following 
 writers: Spanheim, de Christianismo Philip. tom. ii. op. p. 400.—En- 
 tretiens Historiques sur le Christianisme de |’Empereur Philippe, par P, 
 De L. F.—Mammachii Origines et Antiqu. Christiane, tom. 1. D. 252 
 —Fabric. de Luce Evang. &e. p. 252. 
 
58 
 
 account of this matter. Among the causes which belong 
 to the first of these classes, we not only reckon the intrin- 
 sic force of celestial truth, and the piety and fortitude of 
 those who declared it to the world, but also that especial 
 and interposing providence, which, by such dreams and 
 Visions as were presented to the minds of many, who were 
 either inattentive to the Christian doctrine, or its professed 
 enemies, touched their hearts with a conviction of its truth 
 and a sense of its importance, and engaged them, without 
 delay, to profess themselves the disciples of Christ.» To 
 this may also be added, the healing of diseases, and other 
 miracles, which many Christians were yet enabled to per- 
 form by invoking the name of the divine Saviour.” The 
 number of miracles, however, we find to have been much 
 less in this than in the preceding century ; nor must this 
 alteration be attributed only to the divine wisdom, which 
 rendered miraculous interpositions less frequent in propor- 
 tion as they became less necessary, but also to that justice 
 which was provoked to diminish the frequency of gifts, 
 because some did not scruple to pervert them to mercenary 
 purposes.° 
 
 V. If we turn our view to the human means that con- 
 tributed, at this time, to multiply the number of Christians, 
 and extend the limits of the church, we shall find a great 
 variety of causes uniting their influence, and contributing 
 jointly to tlfis happy purpose. Among*these must be reck- 
 oned the translations of the sacred writings into various 
 languages, the zeal and labours of Origen in spreading 
 abroad copies of them, and the different works that were 
 published, by learned and pious men, in defence of the 
 Gospel. We may add to this, that the acts of beneficence 
 and liberality, performed by the Christians, even toward 
 persons whose religious principles they abhorred, had a 
 great influence in attracting the esteem, and removing the 
 prejudices of many, who were thus prepared for examin- 
 ing with candour the Christian doctrine, and, consequent- 
 ly, for receiving its divine light. "The adorers of the pagan 
 deities must have been destitute of every generous affec- 
 tion, of every humane feeling, if the view of that bound- 
 less charity, which the Christians exercised toward the 
 poor, the love they expressed even to their enemies, the 
 tender care they took of the sick and infirm, the humani- 
 ty they discovered in the redemption of captives, and the 
 other illustrious virtues, which rendered them so worthy 
 of universal esteem, had not touched their hearts, dispelled 
 their prepossessions, and rendered them more favourable 
 to the disciples of Jesus. If, among the causes of the pro- 
 pagation of Christianity, there is any place due to pious 
 frauds, it is certain that they merit a very small part of 
 the honour of having contributed to this glorious purpose, 
 since they were practised by few, and that very rarely. 
 
 VI. That the limits of the church were extended in this 
 century, is a matter beyond all controversy. It is not, 
 however, equally certain in what manner, by what per- 
 sons, or in what parts of the world, this was effected. Ori- 
 
 ® See, for an account of this matter, the following authors: Origen, 
 lib. i. adv. Celsum, p. 35. Homil. in Luce vii. p. 216, tom. ii. op. edit. 
 Basil—as also Tertullian, de Anima, cap. xiv. and Eusebius, lib. vi. 
 cape v. 
 
 » Origen, contra celsum, lib. i. Euscb. lib. v. cap. vii. Cypriani Ep. i. 
 ad Donat. and the notes of Baluze upon that passage, k 
 
 ¢ Spencer, not. in Origen. contra Celsurn. 
 4 Eusebius; Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xix. p. 221. 
 ¢ Sozomenus, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. vi. Paulus Diaconus, H’st. 
 
 Miscel. lib. ii. cap. xiv. Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles. lib, ii. cag.v. p. 470, 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parti. 
 
 | gen, invited from Alexandria by an Arabian prince, con- 
 verted, by his assiduous labours, a certain tribe of wander- 
 ing Arabs to the Christian faith.t | ‘The Goths, a fierce 
 and warlike people, who inhabited the countries of Mesia 
 and Thrace, and who, accustomed to rapine, harassed the 
 neighbouring provinces by perpetual incursions, received 
 the knowledge of the Gospei by the means of certain 
 Christian doctors sent thither from Asia. 'The holy lives 
 of these venerable teachers, and the miraculous powers 
 with which they were endowed, attracted the esteem, even 
 of a people educated to nothing but plunder and devasta- 
 tion, and absolutely uncivilized by letters or science; and 
 their authority and influence became so great, and pro- 
 duced, in process of time, such remarkable effects, that a 
 great part of this barbarous people professed themselves the 
 disciples of. Christ, and put off, in a manner, that ferocity 
 which had been so natural to them.° 
 
 VI. The Christian assemblies, founded in Gaul by the 
 Asiatic doctors in the preceding century, were few in 
 number, and of very smallextent; but both their number 
 and their extent were considerably increased from the 
 time of the emperor Decius. Under his sway, Dionysius, 
 Gatian, 'Trophimus, Paul, Saturninus, Martial, Stremonius, 
 men of exemplary piety, passed into this province, and, 
 amidst dangers and trials of various kinds, erected chur- 
 ches at Paris, Tours, Arles, and several other places. 
 This was followed by a rapid progress of the Gospel 
 among the Gauls, as the disciples of these pious teachers 
 spread, in a short time, the knowledge of Christianity 
 through the whole country. We must also place in this 
 century the origin of several German churches, such as 
 those of Cologne, Treves, Mentz, and others, of which 
 Eucharius, Valerius, Maternus, and Clemens, were the 
 principal founderss. The historians of Scotland inform 
 us, that the light of Christianity arose upon that country 
 during this century; but, though there be nothing impro- 
 bable in this assertion, yet it is not built upon incontesta- 
 ble authority.® 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events which happened to 
 the Church in this Century. 
 
 I. In the beginning of this century, the Christian 
 church suffered calamities of various kinds throughout the 
 provinces of the Roman empire. These suflerings in- 
 creased in a terrible manner, in consequence of a law 
 made, in the year 203, by the emperor Severus (who, in 
 other respects, was certainly no enemy to the Christians, 
 by which every subject of the empire was prohibited from 
 changing the religion of his ancestors for the Christian o1 
 Jewish faith.i ‘This law was, in its efiects, most. preju- 
 dicial to the Christians; for, though it did not formally 
 condemn them, and seemed only adapted to put a stop to 
 the progress of the Gospel, yet it induced rapacious and 
 
 f See the history of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, book i. ch. 
 xxviii. Theodor. Ruinart, Acta Martyr. sincera, p. 109. 
 
 & See Aug. Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, tom. 1. dissert. i. p. 7. Jo. 
 Nicol. ab Hontheim, Historia Trevirensis, tom. i. ubi. Diss. de wra 
 fundati Episcopatus Trevirensis. 
 
 h See Usher and Stillingfleet, Antiquit. et Origin. Ecclesiar. Brit. 
 See also Sir George Mackenzie, de Regali Scotorum prosapia, cap. viii. 
 pS, 
 
 i Eusebius, Histor. Eccles. lib, vi.cap, i Spartianus in Severo, cap. 
 XVI. XVil. 
 
Snap. I. 
 
 unjust magistrates to persecute even unto death the poorer 
 
 sort among the Christians, that thus the richer might be | 
 led, through fear of the like treatment, to purchase their | 
 
 tr anquillity and safety at an expensive rate. Hencemany 
 of the disciples of Christ, in several parts of Asia, also in 
 Egypt and other parts of Africa, were put to death in 
 consequence of this law. 
 father of Origen, Perpetua and F elicitas (those two famous 
 African ladies, whose acts* are come down to our times ,) 
 Potamiena Marcella, and other martyrs of both sexes, 
 acquired an illustrious name by the magnanimity and 
 tranquillity with which they endured the most cruel 
 sufferings. 
 
 II. From the death of Severus to the reign of Maxi- 
 min, the condition of the Christians was, in some places, 
 prosperous, and, in all, supportable. But with Maximin 
 the face of affairs changed. This unworthy emperor, 
 having animated the Roman soldiers to assassinate Alex- 
 ander Severus, dreaded the resentment of the Christians, 
 whom that excellent prince had favored and protected in 
 a distinguished manner; and, for this reason, he ordered 
 the bishops, whom he knew that Alexander had always 
 treated as his intimate friends, to be seized and put to 
 death». During his reign, the Christians suffered in the 
 most barbarous manner; for, though the edict of this 
 
 rant extended only to the bishops and leaders of the 
 ch hristian church, yet its shocking effects reached much 
 farther, as it animated the heathen priests, the magistrates, 
 and the multitude, against Christians of every rank and 
 order®. 
 
 Ill. This storm was succeeded by a calm, in which 
 the Christians. enjoyed a happy tranquillity for many 
 years. The accession of Decius Trajan to the imperial 
 throne, in the year 249, raised a new tempest, in which 
 the fury of persecution "fell in a dreadful manner upon 
 the church of Christ; for this emperor, either from an ill- 
 grounded fear of the Christians, or from a violent zeal for 
 the superstition of his ancestors, published most terrible 
 and cruel edicts ; by which the pretors were ordered, on 
 pain of death, either to extir pate the whole body of C hris- 
 tians without exception, or to force them, by torments of 
 various kinds, to return to the pagan worship. Hence, in 
 all the provinces of the empire, multitudes of Christians 
 were, in the course of two years, put to death by the most 
 horrid punishments’ which an ingenious barbarity could 
 invent. Of all these cruelties the most unhappy circum- 
 stance was, their fatal influence upon the faith and con- 
 stancy of many of the sufferers ; for as this persecution 
 was much more terrible than all those which preceded it, 
 so a great number of Christians, dismayed, not at the 
 approach of death, but at the aspect of those dreadful and 
 lingering torments, which a barbarous magistracy had 
 
 * Theod. Ruinart, Acta Martyr. p. 90. 
 
 > Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. Xxvill. p. 225. Orosius, Hist. lib. 
 Vii. cap. xix. p. 509. 
 
 ¢ Origen, tom. xxviii. in Matth. op. tom. i. p. 137. See also Firmili- 
 anus in ‘Cypriani Epistolis, p. 140. 
 
 4 Eusebius, lib. vi. cap. xxxix. xli, 
 maturgi. Cyprianus, de Lapsis. 
 
 ¢ These certificates were not all equally criminal; nor did all of them 
 indicate a degree of apostacy equally enormous. It is therefore neces- 
 sary to inform the reader of the following distinctions omitted by Dr. 
 Mosheim; these certificates were sometimes no more than a permission 
 0 abstain from sacrificing, obtained by a fee given to the judges, and 
 were not looked upon as an act of apostacy, unlese the Christians who 
 demanded them had declared to the judges that they had conformed them- 
 
 Gregorius Nyss. in vita Thau- 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 Among these Leonidas, the | 
 
 59 
 
 prepared to combat their constancy, fell from the profession 
 of their faith, and secured themselves from punishment, 
 either by offering sacrifices, or by burning incense, before 
 the images of the gods, or by purchasing certificates from 
 from the pagan priests. Hence arose the opprobrious 
 names of Sacrificati, given to those who sacrificed ; 
 
 Thurificati, to those who burned i incense; and Libellatici, 
 to those who produced certificates:. 
 
 LV. 'This defection of sucha prodigious number of Chris- 
 tians under Decius, was the occasion of great commotions 
 in the church, and produced debates of a very difficult 
 and delicate nature; for the lapsed, or those who had 
 fallen from their Christian profession, were desirous of 
 being restored to church-communion, without submitting 
 to that painful course of penitential discipline, which the 
 ecclesiastical laws indispensably required. 'The bishops 
 were divided upon this matter: some were for shewing 
 the desired indulgence, while others opposed it with al] 
 their might’. In. Africa, many, in order to obtain more 
 speedily the pardon of their apostacy, interested the mar- 
 tyrs in their behalf, and received from them letters ot 
 reconciliation and peace, i. e. a formal act, by which they 
 (the martyrs) declared in their last moments, that they 
 looked upon them as worthy of their communion, and 
 desired, of consequence, that they should be restored to 
 their place among the brethren. Some bishops and 
 presbyters re-admitted into the church, with too much 
 facility, apostates and transgressors, who produced such 
 testimonies as these. But Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, 
 aman of severe wisdom and great dignity of character, 
 
 acted in quite another way. ‘Though he had no inten- 
 tion of derogating from the authority of the venerable mar- 
 tyrs, yet he opposed with vigour this unreasonable lenity, 
 and set limits to the efficacy of these letters of reconcilia- 
 tion and peace. Hence arose a keen dispute between him 
 and the martyrs, confessors, presbyters,and lapsed, second- 
 ed by the people: and yet, notwithstanding this formida- 
 ble multitude of adversaries, the venerable bishop came 
 off victorious®. 
 
 V. Gallus, the successor of Decius and Volusianus , son 
 of the former, ye-animated the flame of persecution, which 
 was beginning to burn with less fury; and, beside the 
 sufferings which the Christians had to undergo in conse- 
 quence of their cruel edicts, they were also mvolved in 
 the public calamities that prevailed at this time, and 
 suffered grievously from a terrible pestilence, which spread 
 desolation through many previous of the empire.i This 
 pestilence also was an occasion which the pagan priests 
 used with dexterity to renew the rage of persecution 
 against them, by persuading the people that it was on 
 account of the lenity used towards the Christians, that 
 the gods sent down their judgments upon the nations. In 
 
 selves to the emperor's edicts. But, at other times, they contained c pro- 
 fession of paganism, and were either offered voluntarily by the apostate, 
 or were subscribed by him, when they were presented to him by the 
 persecuting magistrates. Many used certificates, as letters of security, 
 obtained from the priests, at a high rate, and which dispensed them from 
 either professing or denying their sentiments. See Spanheim’s Historia 
 Christiana, p. 732. See also Prud. Maranus in vita Cypriani, sect. 6. 
 
 f Eusebius, lib. vi. cap. xliv. Cypr. Epistole. 
 
 € The whole history of this controversy may be gathercd from the 
 epistles of Cyprian. See also Gabr. Albaspineus, Observat. Eccles. ib 
 i. observ. xx. and Dallzus, de Penis et Satisfactionibus humanis, lib. vii, 
 cap. Xvi. ; Pa as 
 
 h Euseb. lib. vii. cap. i. Cypriani. Epist, lvii. viii, 
 
 i Vid. Cypriani Lib. ad Demetrianum. 
 
60 
 
 the year 254, Valerian, being declared emperor, made the 
 fury of persecution cease, and restored the church to a 
 state of tranquillity. . 
 
 VI. The clemency and benevolence which Valerian 
 showed to the Christians, continued until the fifth year of his 
 reign. ‘Then the scene began to change, and the change 
 indeed was sudden. Macrianus, a superstitious and cruel 
 bigot to paganism, had gained an entire ascendency over 
 Valerian, and was chief counsellorin every thing thatrelated 
 to the affairs of government. By the persuasion of this 
 imperious minister, the Christians were prohibited from 
 assembling, and their bishops and doctors were sent into 
 banishment. ‘This edict was published in the year 257, 
 and was followed, the year after, by one still more severe; 
 in consequence of which, a considerable number of Chris- 
 lians, in the different provinces of the empire, were put to 
 death; and many of these were subjected to such cruel 
 modes of execution, as were more terrible than death 
 itself. Of those who suffered in this persecution, the 
 most eminent were Cyprian, bishop of Carthage; Sixtus, 
 bishop of Rome; and Laurentius, a Roman deacon, who 
 was barbarously consumed by a slow and lingering fire. 
 An unexpected event suspended, for awhile, the suffer- 
 ings of the Christians. Valerian was made prisoner in 
 the war against the Persians; and his son Gallienus, in 
 the year 260, restored peace to the church. 
 
 Vil. The condition of the Christians was rather sup- 
 portable than happy, under the reign of Gallienus, which 
 lasted eight years ; as also under the short administration 
 of his successor Claudius. Nor did they suffer much dur- 
 ing the first four years of the reign of Aurelian, who was 
 raised to the empire in the year 270. But the fifth year 
 of this emperor’s administration would have proved fatal 
 to them, had not his violent death prevented the execution 
 of his cruel purposes ; for while, instigated by the unjust 
 suggestions of his own superstition, or by the barbarous 
 counsels of a bigoted priesthood, he was preparing a formi- 
 dable attack upon the Christians, he was obliged to march 
 into Gaul, where he was murdered, in the year 275, before 
 his edicts were published throughout the empire.’ Few, 
 therefore, suffered martyrdom under his#eign; and in- 
 deed, during the remainder of this century, the Christians 
 enjoyed a considerable measure of ease and tranquillity. 
 ‘They were, at least, free from any violent attacks of oppres- 
 sion and injustice, except in a small number of cases, where 
 the avarice and superstition of the Roman magistrates in- 
 terrupted their tranquillity.« 
 
 VIUI. While the emperor, and proconsuls employed 
 against the Christians the terror of unrighteous edicts, and 
 the edge of the destroying sword, the Platonic philosophers, 
 who have been described above, exhausted against Chris- 
 tianity all the force of their learning and eloquence, and all 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. x. xi. p. 255. Acta Cypriani, as 
 they are to be found in Ruinarti Act. Martyrum, p. 216.” Cypriani 
 Epist. Ixxvii. 1xxxii. 
 
 » Eusebius, lib. vii. Lactantius, de mortibus Persecuutor. 
 
 * Among these vexations may be reckoned the cruelty of Galerius 
 Maximiam, who, toward the conclusion of this century, persecuted the 
 ministers of his court, and the soldiers of his army, who had professed 
 Christianity. See Eusebius, lib. viii. 
 
 «See Holstenius de vita Porphyr. cap. xi. Fabric. Lux Evang. p. 
 154. Buddeus, Isagoge in Theologium, tom. ii. 
 
 > ° This work of Porphyry against the Christians was burned, by 
 an edict of Constantine the Great. It was divided into fifteen books, as 
 we find in Eusebius, and contained the blackest calumnies against the 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the resources of their art. and dexterity, in rhetorical decla- 
 mations, subtile writings, and ingenious stratagems. These 
 artful adversaries wereso much the more dangerous and 
 formidable, as they had adopted several of the doctrines and 
 institutions of the Gospel, and, with a specious air of mode- 
 ration and impartiality, were attempting, after the example 
 of their master Ammonius, to reconcile paganism with 
 Christianity, and form a sort of coalition of the ancient and 
 the new religion. ‘These philosophers had at their head, in 
 this century, Porphyry (a Syrian, or, as some allege, a Ty- 
 rian, by birth,) who wrote against the Christians a long and 
 laborious work, which was destroyed afterwards by an im- 
 perial edict.t He was, undoubtedly, a writer of great dex- 
 terity, genius, and erudition, as those of his works which 
 yet remain sufficiently testify. But those very works, and 
 the history of his life, show us, at the same time, that he 
 was a much more virulent, than formidable enemy to the 
 Christians; for by them it appears, that he was much more 
 attentive to the suggestions of a superstitious spirit, and the 
 visions of a lively fancy, than to the sober dictates of right 
 reason and a sound judgment; and it may be more espe- 
 cially observed of the remaining fragments of his worl 
 against the Christians, that they are equally destitute of 
 
 judgment and equity, and are utterly unworthy of a wise 
 
 and a good man.° 
 
 IX. Many were the deceitful and perfidious stratagems 
 by which this sect endeavoured to obscure the lustre, and 
 diminish the authority of the Christian doctrine. None ot! 
 these seemed to be more dangerous than the seducing arti- 
 fice with which they formed a comparison between the life, 
 actions, and miracles of Christ, and the history of the an 
 cient philosophers, and placed the contending parties in 
 such fallacious points of view, as to make the pretended 
 sages of antiquity appear in nothing inferior to the divine 
 Saviour. With this view, Archytas of Tarentum, Pytha- 
 goras, of whom Porphyry wrote the life, Apollonius Tya- 
 
 'neus, a Pythagorean philosopher, whose miracles and pe- 
 
 regrinations were highly celebrated by the vulgar, were 
 brought upon the scene, and exhibited as divine teachers, 
 and rivals of the glory of the Son of God. Philostratus, 
 one of the most eminent rhetoricians of this age, composed 
 a pompous history of the life of Apollonius, who was little 
 better than a cunning knave, and did nothing but ape the 
 austerity and sanctity of Pythagoras. This history ap- 
 pears manifestly designed to draw a parallel between Christ 
 and the philosopher of ’yana; but the impudent fictions 
 and ridiculous fables, with which this work is filled, must, 
 one would think, have rendered it incapable of deceiving 
 any who possessed a sound mind; any, but such as, 
 through the corruption of vicious prejudices, were willing to 
 be deceived.‘ 
 
 X. But as there are no opinions, however absurd, and 
 
 Christians. The first book treated of the contradictions which he pre- 
 tended to have found in the sacred writings. The greatest part of the 
 twelfth is employed in fixing the time when the prophecies of Daniel 
 were written ; for Porphyry himself found these predictions so clearly 
 and evidently fulfilled, that, to avoid the force of the argument, thence 
 deducible in favor of Christianity, he was forced to have recourse to the 
 absurd supposition, that these prophecies had been published under the 
 name of Daniel by one who lived in the time of Antiochus, and wrote 
 after the arrival of the events foretold. Methodius, Eusebius, and Apol- 
 linaris, wrote against rorphyry; but their refutations have been long 
 since lost. 
 
 f See Olerius’ preface to the Life of Apo!lonius by Philostratus; as 
 also Mosheim’s notes to his Latin translation of Cudworth’s Intellectua. 
 System, p. 304, &c, : 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 no stories, however idle and improbable, that a weak and 
 ignorant multitude, more attentive to the pomp of words 
 than to the truth of ‘hings, will not easily swallow ; 
 happened, that many were ensnared by the absurd at- 
 tempts of these insidious philosophers. ‘Some were in- 
 duced by these perfidious stratagems to abandon the Chris- 
 tian religion, which they had “embraced. Others, when 
 they were taught to believe that true Christianity (as it was 
 inculcated by Jesus, and not as it was afterwards corrupted 
 by his disciples) differed in few points from the pagan sys- 
 tem, properly explained and restored to it# primitive purity, 
 determined to remain in the religion of their ancestors, and 
 in the worship of their gods. A third sort were led, by 
 these comparisons between Christ and the ancient philoso- 
 phers, to form to themselves a motley system of religion 
 composed of the tenets of both parties, whom they treated 
 with the same veneration and respect. Such was, particu- 
 larly, the method of Alexander Severus, who paid in- 
 discriminately divine honours to Christ and to Orpheus, to 
 Apollonius, and the other philosophers and heroes whose 
 hames were famous in ancient times. 
 
 * Hippolytus, Serm. in Susann. et Daniel. tom. i. op. 
 
 No. VI. 16 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 so it | 
 
 61 
 
 XI. The credit and power of the Jews were now too 
 much diminished to render them as capable of injuring 
 the Christians, by their influence over the magistrates, as 
 they had formerly been. This did not, however, discou- 
 rage their malicious efforts, as the books which ‘lertullian 
 and Cyprian have written against them abundantly show, 
 with several other writings of the Christian doctors, w ho 
 complained of the malignity of the Jews, and of their sinis- 
 ter machinations.*. During the persecution under Seve- 
 rus, a certain person called Dominus, who had embraced 
 Christianity, deserted to the Jews, doubtless to avoid the 
 punishments that were decreed against the Christians ; and 
 it was torecall this apostate to his duty and his profession, 
 that Serapion, bishop of Antioch, wrote a particular treatise 
 against the Jews.» We may easily conclude, from this in- 
 stance, that, when the Christians were persecuted, the Jews 
 were treated with less severity and contempt, on account of 
 their enmity against the disciples of Jesus. rom the same 
 fact we may also learn, that, though they were in a state of 
 great subjection and abasement, they were not entirely de- 
 prived of all power of oppr essing the ‘Christians. 
 
 > Eusebuis, list Eccles. lib. Vi. cap. Xil. p. 213, 
 
PAT PIT. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 {. Tk arts and sciences, which, in the preceding cen- 
 tury, were in a declining state, seemed, in this, ready to ex- 
 pire, and had lost all their vigour and lustre. The celebra- 
 ted rhetorician Longinus, and the eminent historian Dio 
 Cassius, with a few others, were the last among the Greeks, 
 who stood in the breach against the prevailing ignorance 
 and barbarism of the times. Men of learning and genius 
 were still less numerous in the western provinces of the em- 
 pire, though there were in several places flourishing schools, 
 appropriated to the advancement of the sciences and the 
 culture of taste and genius. Different reasons contributed 
 to this decay of learning. Few of the emperors patronised 
 the sciences, or encouraged, by the prospect of their favour 
 and protection, that emulation which is the soul of literary 
 excellence. Besides, the civil wars that almost always dis- 
 tracted the empire, were extremely unfavourable to the pur- 
 suit of science ; and the perpetual incursions of the barba- 
 rous nations interrupted that leisure and tranquility which 
 are so essential to the progress of learning and knowledge, 
 and extinguished, among a people accustomed to the din of 
 arms, all desire of literary acquisitions.* 
 
 Il. If we turn our eyes toward the state of philosophy, 
 the prospect will appear somewhat less desolate and com- 
 fortless. There were, as yet, in several of the Grecian 
 sects, men of considerable knowledge and reputation, of 
 whom Longinus has mentioned the greatest part.» But 
 all these sects were gradually eclipsed by the school of 
 Ammonius, whose origin and doctrines have been con- 
 sidered above. ‘This victorious sect, which was formed in 
 Egypt, issued thence with such a rapid progress, that, in 
 a short time, it extended itself almost throughout the Ro- 
 man empire, and drew into its vortex the greatest part of 
 those who applied themselves, through inclination, to the 
 study of philosophy. This amazing progress was due to 
 Plotinus, the most eminent disciple of Ammonius, a man 
 of a most subtile invention, endowed by nature with a 
 genius capable of the most profound researches, and equal 
 to the investigation of the most abstruse and difficult sub- 
 jects. "This penetrating and sublime philosopher taught 
 publicly, first in Persia, and afterwards at Rome, and in 
 Campania ; in all which parts the youth flocked in crowds 
 to receive his instructions. He comprehended the precepts 
 of his philosophy in several books, most of which are yet 
 extant.© 
 
 Iff. The number of disciples, formed in the school of 
 Plotinus, is almost beyond credibility. The most famous 
 was Porphyry,’ who spread abroad through Sicily, and 
 many other countries, the doctrine of his master, revived 
 
 _ * See the Literary History of France, by the Benedictine monks, vol. 
 1. part 11. 
 
 > In his life of Plotinus, epitomised by Porphyry, ch. xx. 
 
 * See Porphyrii vita Plotini, of which Fabricius has given an edition 
 in his Bibliotheca Greca, tom. iv—Bayle’s Diction. tom. iii—and 
 Brucker’s Historia Critica Philosophiz. 
 
 Z= 4 Porphyry was first the disciple of Longinus, author of the justly 
 
 with great accuracy, adorned with the graces of a flowing 
 and elegant style, and enriched with new inventions and 
 curious improvements.*. From the time of Ammonius, 
 until the sixth century this was almost the only system of 
 philosophy that was publicly taught at Alexandria. A 
 certain philosopher, whose name was Plutarch, having 
 learned it there, brought it into Greece, and renewed, at 
 Athens, the celebrated Academy, from which issued a set. 
 of illustrious philosophers, whom we shall have occasion to 
 mention in the progress of this work.‘ 
 
 IV. We have unfolded, above, the nature and doc- 
 trines of this philosophy, as far as was compatible with the 
 brevity of our present design. It is, however, proper to 
 add here, that its votaries were not all of the same senti- 
 ments, but thought very differently upon a variety of sub- 
 jects. 'This difference of opinion was the natural conse- 
 quence of that fundamental law, which the whole sect 
 was obliged to keep constantly in view, viz. ‘That truth 
 was to be pursued with the utmost liberty, and to be col- 
 lected from all the different systems in which it lay disper 
 sed. Hence it happened, that the Athenians rejected cer 
 tain opinions that were entertained by the philosophers of 
 Alexandria: yet none of those who were ambitious to be 
 ranked among these new Platonists, called in question the 
 main doctrines which formed the groundwork of their sin- 
 gular system; those, for example, which regarded the ex- 
 istence of one God, the fountain of all things; the eter- 
 nity of the world; the dependence of matter upon the Su 
 preme Being ; the nature of souls; the plurality of gods; 
 the method of interpreting the popular superstitions, &c. 
 
 V. The famous question concerning the excellence and 
 utility of human learning, was now debated with great 
 warmth among the Christians; and the contending 
 parties, in this controversy, seemed hitherto of equal force 
 in point of number, or nearly so. Many recommended 
 the study of philosophy, and an acquaintance with the 
 Greek and Roman literature; while others maintained, 
 that these were pernicious to the interests of genuine 
 Christianity, and the progress of true piety. ‘The cause 
 of letters and philosophy triumphed, however, by degrees ; 
 and those who wished well to them, continued to gain 
 ground, till at length the superiority was manifestly decid- 
 ed in their favour. This victory was principally due to 
 the influence and authority of Origen, who, having been 
 early instructed in the new kind of Platonism already 
 mentioned, blended it, though unhappily, with the purer 
 and more sublime tenets of a celestial doctrine, and recom- 
 mended it, in the warmest manner, to the youth who at- 
 tended his public lessons. The fame of this philosopher 
 increased daily among the Christians; and, in proportion 
 to his rising credit, his method of proposing and explain- 
 ing the doctrines of Christianity gained authority, ull it be- 
 
 celebrated Treatise on the Sublime; but, having passed from Greece to 
 Rome, where he heard Plotinus, he was so charmed with the genius and 
 penetration of this philosopher, that he attached himself entirely to him, 
 See Plotin. vit. p. 3. Eunap. c. ii. p. 17. 
 
 ¢ Holstenius, vit. Porphyrii, republished by Fabricius. 
 f Marini vita Procii, cap, xi. xii. 
 
Oar. Il. 
 
 came almost universal. Besides, some of the disciples of 
 Plotinus having embraced Christianity, on condition that 
 they should be allowed to retain such of the opinions of 
 ‘heir master as they thought of superior excellence and 
 merit," this must also have contributed, in some measure, 
 ‘o turn the balance in favour of the sciences. 'These Chris- 
 vian philosophers, preserving still a fervent zeal for the 
 doctrines of their Heathen chief, would naturally embrace 
 every opportunity of spreading them abroad, and instilling 
 ‘hem into the minds of the ignorant and the unwaty. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Respecting the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government, during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue form of ecclesiastical government that had been 
 adopted by Christians in general, had now acquired greater 
 degrees of stability and force, both in particular churches, 
 and in the general society of Christians. It appears incon- 
 testable, from the most authentic records and the best his- 
 cories of this century, that, in the larger cities, there was, at 
 the head of each church, a person to whom was given the 
 title of bishop, who ruled this sacred community with a 
 certain sort of authority, in concert, however, with the body 
 of presbyters, and consulting, in matters of moment, the 
 opinions and the voices of the whole assembly.” It is also 
 equally evident, that, in every province, one bishop was in- 
 vested with a certain superiority over the rest, in point of 
 rank and authority. 'This was necessary to the mainte- 
 nance of that association of churches which had been in- 
 troduced in the preceding century ; and it contributed to 
 facilitate the holding of general councils, and to give a cer- 
 
 tain degree of order and cons sistency to ‘their proceedings. 
 It must, at the same time, be carefully observed, that the 
 rights and privileges of these primitive bishops were not 
 every where accurately fixed, nor determined in such a 
 manner as to prevent encroachments and disputes; nor 
 does it appear, that the chief authority in the province was 
 always conferred upon that bishop who presided over the 
 church established in the metropolis. It may also be no- 
 ticed, as a matter beyond all dispute, that the bishops of 
 Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, considered as rules of pri- 
 mitive and apostolic churches, had a kind of pre-eminence 
 over all others, and were not only consulted frequently in af- 
 fairs of a diflicult and momentous nature, but were also dis- 
 tinguished by peculiar rights and privileges. 
 
 IL. With respect, particularly, to the bishop of Rome, he 
 is supposed hy Cyprian to have had, at this time, a certain 
 pre-eminence in the church ;* nor does he stand alone in 
 this opinion. But it ought to be observed, that even those, 
 who, with Cyprian, attributed this pre-eminence to the 
 Roman prelate, insisted, atthe same time, with the utmost 
 warmth, upoa the equality, in point of dignity and 
 authority y, that subsisted among all the members of i 
 episcopal order. In consequence of this opinion of 
 
 * Augustinus, Epistola lvi.ad Dioscor. p. 260, tom. ii. op. 
 
 > A satisfactory account of this matter may be seen in Blondelli Apo- 
 logia pro Sententia Hieronymi de Episcopis et Presbyteris, p. 136, as 
 that author has collected all ‘the testimonies of the ancients relative to 
 that subject. 
 
 ¢ Cyprian, Ep. lv. et Ixxiii. etiam de Unitate Ecclesix, p. 195, edit. 
 Baluzil. 
 
 i> ‘Sol have translated Principatus ordinis et consociationis, 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 63 
 
 | equality among all Christian bishops, they rejected, with 
 contempt, the judgment of the bishop of Rome, when 
 they thought it ill-founded or unjust, and followed their 
 own sense of things with a perfect independence. Of 
 this Cyprian himself gave an eminent example, in his 
 famous controversy with Stephen bishop of Rome, con- 
 cerning the baptism of heretics, in which he treated the 
 arrogance of that imperious prelate with a noble indig- 
 nation, and also with a perfect contempt. W hoever, there- 
 fore, compares these particulars, will easily perceive, that 
 the only dignity which the bishop of Rome could justly 
 claim was a pre-eminence of order and association, not 
 of power and authority. Or to explain the matter yet 
 more clearly, the pre-eminence of the bishop of Rome, in 
 the universal church, was such as that of Cyprian, bishop 
 of Carthage, was in the African churches ; and every one 
 knows, that the precedency of this latter prelate diminish- 
 ed in nothing the equality that subsisted among the Afri- 
 can bishops, and invalidated in no instance their rights 
 and liberties, but gave only to Cyprian, as the president 
 of their general assemblies, a power of calling councils, of 
 presiding in them, of admonishing his brethren in a mild 
 and fraternal manner, and of executing, in short, such of- 
 fices as the order and purposes of these ecclesiastical meet- 
 ines necessarily required.¢ 
 
 TIL. The face of things began now to change in the 
 Christian church. he ancient method of ecclesiastical 
 government seemed, in general, still to subsist, while, at 
 the same time, by imperceptible steps, it varied from the 
 primitive rule, and degenerated toward the form of a re- 
 ligious monarchy; for the bishops aspired to higher 
 degrees of power and authority than they had formerly 
 possessed, and not only violated the rights of the people, 
 but also made “aibee encroachments upon the privi- 
 leges of the presbyters; and that they might cover these 
 usurpations with an air of justice, and an appearance of 
 reason, they published new doctrines concerning the na- 
 ture of the church, and of the episcopal dignity, which, 
 however, were in ceneral so obscure, that they themselves 
 seemed to have understood them as little as those to whom 
 they were delivered. One of the principal authors of this 
 change, in the government of the church, was Cyprian, 
 who pleaded for the power of the bishops with more zeal 
 and vehemence than had ever been hitherto employed in 
 that cause, though not with an unshaken constancy and 
 perseverance ; for, in difficult and perilous times, necessity 
 sometimes obliged him to yield, and to submit several 
 things to the judgment and authority of the church. 
 
 IV. This send in the form of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment, was soon followed by a train of vices, which dis- 
 honored the character and authority of those to whom 
 the administration of the church was committed ; for, 
 though several yet continued to exhibit to the world 
 illustrious examples of primitive piety and Christian vir- 
 tue, yet many were sunk in luxury and voluptuousness, 
 
 which could not be otherwise rendered without a long cireumlocution 
 The pre-eminence here mentioned, signifies the right of convening 
 councils, of presiding in them, of collecting voices, and such other things 
 as were essential to the order of these assemblies. 
 
 ¢ See Steph. Baluzii adnot. ad Cypriani Epistolas, p. 387, 389, 400. 
 Consult particularly the seventy-first and seventy-third epistles of (i yp- 
 rian, and the fifty-fifth, addressed to Cornelius, bishop of Rome, im 
 which letters the Carthaginian prelate pleads with warmth and vehe- 
 mence for the equality of all Christian bishops. 
 
64 
 
 puffed up with vanity, arrogance, and ambition, possessed 
 with a spirit of contention and discord, and addicted to 
 many other vices that cast an undeserved reproach upon 
 the holy religion, of which they were the unworthy profes- 
 sors and ministers. ‘This is testified in such an ample 
 
 manner, by the repeated complaints of many of the most | 
 
 respectable writers of this age,* that truth will not permit 
 us to spread the veil, which we should otherwise be desi- 
 
 rous to cast over such enormities among an order so| 
 
 sacred. ‘The bishops assumed, in many places, a princely 
 
 authority, particularly those who had the greatest number | 
 
 of churches under their inspection, and who presided over 
 the most opulent assemblies. They appropriated to their 
 evangelical function the splendid ensigns of temporal ma- 
 
 jesty ; a throne, surrounded with ministers, exalted above | 
 his equals the servant of the meek and humble Jesus; ' 
 and sumptuous garments dazzled the eyes and the minds | 
 of the multitude into an ignorant veneration for this | 
 
 usurped authority. An example which ought not to 
 have been followed, was ambitiously imitated by the pres- 
 byters, who, neglecting the sacred duties of their station, 
 wbandoned themselves to the indolence and delicacy of an 
 effeminate and luxurious life. ‘The deacons, beholding 
 the presbyters thus deserting their functions, boldly invaded 
 their rights and privileges; and the effects of a corrupt 
 ambition were spread through every rank of the sacred 
 order. 
 
 VY. From what has been now observed, we may come, 
 perhaps, at the true origin of minor or inferior orders, 
 which were, in this century, added every where to those 
 of the bishops, presbyters, and deacons; for, certainly, the 
 titles and offices of sawbdeacons, acolythi, ostiarii, or 
 door-keepers, readers, exorcists, and copiate, would never 
 have been heard of in the church, if its rulers had-been 
 assiduously and zealously employed in promoting the in- 
 terests of truth and piety, by their labours and their 
 example. But, when the honors and privileges of the 
 bishops and presbyters were augmented, the deacons also 
 began to extend their ambitious views, and to despise 
 those lower functions and employments which they had 
 hitherto exercised with such humility and zeal. ‘The 
 additional orders that were now created to diminish the 
 labours of the present rulers of the church, had functions 
 allotted to them, which their names partly explain.» The 
 institution of exorcists was a consequence of the doctrine 
 of the New Platonists, which the Christians adopted, and 
 which taught, that the evil g@enzi, or spirits, were contin- 
 ually hovering over human bodies, toward which they 
 
 * Origen. Comm. in Mattheum, par. i. op. p. 420, 441. Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccles. lib. viii. cap. i. 
 
 34> > The sub-deacons were desiened to ease the deacons of the mean- 
 est part of their work. Their office, consequently, was to prepare the 
 sacred vessels of the altar, and to deliver them to the deacons in time of 
 divine service; to attend the doors of the church during the communion 
 service; to goon the bishop’s embassies, with his letters or messages to 
 foreign churches. In a word, they were so subordinate to the superior 
 rulers of the church, that by a canon of the council of Laodicea, they 
 were forbidden to sit in the presence of a deacon without his leave. 
 The order of acolythi was peculiar to the Latin church; for there was 
 no such order in the Greek church, during the four first centuries. Their 
 name signifies attendants; and their principal office was to light the 
 candles of the church, and to attend the ministers with wine for the 
 eucharist. The ostiarii, or door-keepers, were appointed to open and 
 shut the doors, as officers and servants under the deacons and sub- 
 deacons ; to give notice of the times of prayer and church assemblies, 
 which, in time of persecution, required a private signal for fear of dis- 
 covery ; and that, probably, was the first reason for instituting this or- 
 
 " 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il 
 
 | were carried by a natural and vehement desire; and tha 
 | vicious men were not so much impelled to sin by an innate 
 depravity, or by the seduction of example, as by the inter- 
 nal suggestions of some evil demon. The copiate 
 were employed in providing for the decent interment of 
 the dead. 
 
 VI. Marriage was permitted to all the various ranks 
 and orders of theclergy. Those, however, who continued 
 in astate of celibacy, obtained by this abstinence a higher 
 reputation of sanctity and virtue than others. 'This was 
 owing to an-almost general persuasion, that they, who 
 took wives, were of all others the most subject to the in- 
 fluence of malignant deemons.* And as it was of infinite 
 importance to the interests of the church, that no impure 
 or malevolent spirit should enter into the bodies of such as 
 were appointed to govern, or to instruct others, so the 
 people were desirous that the clergy should use their ut- 
 most efforts to abstain from the pleasures of the conjugal 
 life. Many of the sacred order, especially in Africa, con- 
 sented to satisfy the desires of the people, and endeavoured 
 to do this in such a manner as not to offer an entire vio- 
 lence to their own inclinations. For this purpose, they 
 formed connexions with those women who had made 
 vows of perpetual chastity; and it was an ordinary thing 
 for an ecclesiastic to admit one of these fair saints to the 
 participation of his bed; but still under the most solemn 
 declarations, that nothing passed in this commerce that 
 was contrary to the rules of chastity and virtue. These 
 holy concubines were called, by the Greeks, Suvewéxror; 
 and by the Latins, Mulieres subintroducte. 'This in- 
 decent custom alarmed the zeal of the more pious among 
 the bishops, who employed the utmost efforts of their 
 severity and vigilance to abolish it, though it was a long 
 time before they entirely effected this laudable purpose. 
 
 VII. 'Thus we have given a short, though not a very 
 pleasing view of the rulers of the church during this 
 century; and we ought now to mention the principal 
 writers who distinguished themselves in it by their learned 
 and pious productions. The most eminent of these, 
 whether we consider the extent of his fame, or the multi- 
 plicity of his labors, was Origen, a presbyter and catechist 
 of Alexandria, a man of vast and uncommon abilities, and 
 the greatest luminary of the Christian world that this age 
 exhibited to view. Had the soundness of his judgment 
 been equal tothe immensity of his genius, the fervour of 
 his piety, his indefatigable patience, his extensive erudition, 
 and his other eminent and superior talents, all encomiums 
 must have fallen short of his merit. Yet such as he was, 
 
 der in the-church of Rome, whose example, by degrees, was soon fol- 
 lowed by other churches.—The readers were those who were directed 
 to read the scripture in that part of divine service to which the catechu- 
 mens were admitted—The exorcists were appointed to drive out evil 
 spirits from the bodies of persons possessed ; they had been long known 
 in the church, but were not erected into an ecclesiastical order before the 
 latter end of the third century. —The copiata, or fossariz, were an order 
 of the inferior clergy, whose business it was to take care of funerals, 
 and to provide for the decent interment of the dead. In vain have Ba- 
 ronius and other Romish writers asserted, that these inferior orders 
 were of apostolical institution. The contrary is evidently proved, since 
 these offices are not mentioned by authentic writers as having taken 
 place before the third century, and the origin can be traced no highe 
 than the fourth. 
 
 © Porphyrius, wept droyiis, lib. iv. p: 417. 
 4 Credat Judeus Apella. See however Dodwell, Diss. tertia Cypri- 
 
 anica, and Lud. An. Muratorius, Diss. de Synisactis et Agapetis, in his 
 Anecdot. Gree. p. 218; as also Baluzius ad Cypriani Epistol. 
 
Ouap. Il. 
 
 his virtues and his labors deserve the admiration of all 
 ages; and his name will be transmitted with honor 
 through the annals of time, as long as learning and gen- 
 ius shall be esteemed among men.* 
 
 The second in renown, among the writers of this cen- 
 sury, was Julius Africanus, a native of Palestine, a man 
 of the most profound erudition, but the greatest part of 
 whose learned labors are unhappily lost. 
 
 Hippolytus, whose history is much involved in dark- 
 ness,” Is also esteemed among the most celebrated authors 
 and martyrs of this age; but those writings which at pre- 
 sent bear his name, are justly looked upon by many as 
 either extremely corrupted, or entirely spurious. 
 
 Gregory, bishop of New-Ceesarea, acquired, at this time, 
 the title of Thaumaturgus, i. e. wonder-worker, on ac- 
 count of the variety of great and signal miracles, which 
 he is said to have wrought during the course of his min- 
 istry. Few of his works have come down to our times, 
 and his miracles are called in question by many, as unsup- 
 ported by sufficient evidence.« 
 
 It is to be wished that we had more of the writings of 
 Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, than those which have 
 survived the ruins of time, since the few remaining frag- 
 " ments of his works display the most consummate wisdom 
 and prudence, and the most amiable spirit of moderation 
 and candor, and thus abundantly vindicate from all sus- 
 picion of flattery, the ancients who mentioned him under 
 the title of Dionysius the Great.4 
 
 Methodius appears to have been a man of great piety, 
 and highly respectable on account of his eminent virtue ; 
 but those of his works which are yet extant, evince no 
 great degree of penetration and acuteness in handling 
 controversy and weighing opinions. 
 
 VIII. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, a man of the most 
 eminent abilities and flowing eloquence, stands foremost in 
 the list of Latin writers. His letters, and indeed the great- 
 er part of his works breathe such a noble and pathetic 
 spirit of piety, that it is impossible to read them without 
 the warmest feelings of enthusiasm. We must however 
 observe, that he would have been a better writer, had he 
 been less attentive to the ornaments of rhetoric; and a 
 better bishop, had he been able to restrain the vehemence 
 of his temper and to distinguish with greater acuteness, 
 between truth and falsehood. 
 
 The dialogue of Minucius Felix, which bears the title 
 of Octavius, effaces with such judgment, spirit and force, 
 the calumnies and reproaches that were cast upon the 
 Christians by their adversaries, that it deserves an atten- 
 tive perusal from those who are desirous of knowing the 
 state of the church during this century. 
 
 The seven books of Arnobius, the African, written 
 against the Gentiles, form a still more copious.and ample 
 defence of the Christians, and, though obscure in several 
 places, may yet be read with pleasure and with profit. It is 
 true, that this rhetorician, too little instructed in the Chris- 
 tian religion, when he wrote this work, has mingled great 
 
 * See a very learned and useful work of the famous. Huet, bishop of 
 Avranches, entitled, Origeniana. See also, Doucin, Histoire d’Origene 
 et des Mouvemens arrivés dans l’Eglise au sujet de sa Doctrine; and 
 Bayle’s Dictionary. 
 
 b The benedictine monks have, with great labor and erudition, endea- 
 voured to dispel this darkness in their Histoire Literaire de la France, 
 tom. 1. p. 361. 
 
 ¢ See Van-Dale’s preface to his Latin treatise concerning Oracles, 
 
 17 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 65 
 
 errors with solemn and important truths, and has exhib- 
 ited Christianity under a certain philosophical form, very 
 different from that in which it is commonly received. 
 
 We refer our readers, for an account of the authors of 
 inferior note, who lived in this century, to those who have 
 professedly given histories or enumerations of the Chris- 
 tian writers. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church in 
 this Century 
 
 I. THe principal doctrines of Christianity were now 
 explained to the people in their native purity and simplici- 
 ty, without any mixture of abstract reasonings or subtile 
 inventions; nor were the feeble minds of the multitude 
 loaded with a great variety of precepts.: But the Christian 
 doctors who had applied themselves to the study of letters 
 and philosophy, soon abandoned the frequented paths, and 
 wandered in the devious wilds of fancy. The Egyptians 
 distinguished themselves in this new method of explain- 
 ing the truth. ‘They looked upon it as a noble and a glo- 
 rious task to bring the doctrines of celestial wisdom into a 
 certain subjection to the precepts of their philosophy, and 
 to make deep and profound researches into the intimate 
 and hidden nature of those truths which the divine Sa- 
 viour had delivered to his disciples. Origen was at the 
 head of this speculative tribe. This great man, enchant- 
 ed by the charms of the Platonic philosophy, set it up as 
 the test of all religion, and imagined that the reasons of 
 each doctrine were to be found in that favorite philosophy, 
 and their nature and extent to be determined byit.* It must 
 be confessed that he handled this matter with modesty and 
 caution; but he still gave an example to his disciples, the 
 abuse of which could not fail to be pernicious, and under 
 the authority of which, they would naturally indulge them- 
 selves without restraint in every wanton fancy. And so, 
 indeed, the case was ; for the disciples of Origen, break- 
 ing forth from the limits fixed by their master, interpreted, 
 in the most licentious manner, the divine truths of religion 
 according to the tenor of the Platonic philosophy. From 
 these teachers the philosophical, or scholastic theology, as 
 it is called, derived its origin; and, proceeding hence, pas- 
 sed through various forms and modifications according to 
 the genius, turn, and erudition of those who embraced it. 
 
 lJ. "he same principles gave rise to another species of 
 theology, which was called szystic. And what must seem 
 at first sight surprising here, is, that this mystic theology, 
 though formed at the same time, and derived from the 
 same source with the scholastic, had a natural tendency to 
 overturn and destroy it. The authors of this mystic science 
 are not known ; but the principles from which it sprang 
 are manifest. Its first promoters argued from that known 
 doctrine of the Platonic school, which also was adopted by 
 Origen and his disciples, that the divine nature was diflu- 
 sed through all human souls ; or in other words that the 
 
 4 The history of Dionysius is particularly illustrated by Jaques Bas- 
 nage, in his Histoire de I’Eglise, tom. i. 
 
 * See Origen, in Pref. Libro. de Principiis, tom. i. op. p. 49, and lib. 
 i.de Principiis, cap. ii. See also the Expositio Fidei by Gregorius 
 Neocesariensis. 
 
 | f This is manifest from what remains of his Stromata; as also from 
 his bocks de Principiis, which are still preserved in a Latin translation 
 | of them by Rufinus. 
 
66 
 
 faculty of reason, from which the health and vigour of the 
 mind proceed, was an emanation from God into the hu- 
 man soul, and comprehended in it the principles and 
 elements of all truth, human and divine. They denied 
 that men could, by labour or study, excite this celestial 
 flame in their breasts; and, therefore, they highly disap- 
 proved the attempts of those who, by definitions, abstract 
 theorems, and profound speculations, enueevoured to form 
 distinct notions of truth, and to discover ‘ts hidden nature. 
 On the contrary, they niaintained, that silence, tranquilli- 
 ty, repose, and solitude, accompanied with such acts of 
 mortification as might tend to extenuate and exhaust the 
 body, were the means by which the internal word was 
 excited to produce its latent virtues, and to instruct men mn 
 the knowledge of divine things. For thus they reasoned: 
 “They who behold with a noble contempt all human 
 affairs, they who turn away their eyes from terrestrial 
 vanities, and shut all the avenues of the outward senses 
 against the contagious influences of a material world, must 
 necessarily return to God, when the spirit is thus disenga- 
 ged from the impediments that prevented that happy 
 union ; and in this blessed frame, they not only enjoy in- 
 expressible raptures from their communion with the Su- 
 preme Being, but are also invested with the inestimable 
 privilege of contemplating truth, undisguised and uncor- 
 rupted, in its native purity, while others behold it in a vitia- 
 ted and delusive form.” 
 
 Ill. This method of reasoning produced strange effects, 
 and drove many into caves and deserts, where they mace- 
 rated their bodies with hunger and thirst, and submitted to 
 all the miseries of the severest discipline that a gloomy 
 imagination could prescribe; and it is not improbable, that 
 Paul, the first hermit, was rather engaged by this fanatical 
 system, than by the persecution under Decius, to fly into 
 the most solitary deserts of Thebais, where he led, during 
 the space of ninety years, a life more worthy of a savage 
 animal than of a rational being. It is, however, to be 
 observed, that though Paul is placed at the head of the 
 order of Hermits, yet that insocial manner of life was very 
 common in Egypt, Syria, India, and Mesopotamia, not 
 only long before his time, but even before the coming of 
 Christ; and it is still practised among the Mohammedans, 
 as well as the Christians, in those arid and burning cli- 
 mates; for the glowing atmosphere, that surrounds these 
 countries, is a natural cause of that love of solitude and 
 repose, of that indolent and melancholy disposition, which 
 are remarkably common among their languid inhabitants. 
 
 IV. But let us turn away our eyes from these scenes of 
 fanaticism, which are so opprobrious to human nature, and 
 consider some other circumstances that belong more or less 
 
 * The life of this hermit was written by Jerome. 
 
 » See the travels of Lucas, in 2714, vol. ii. 
 
 ¢ The fragments that yet remain of Origen’s Hexapla, were colleeted 
 and published, by the learned Montfaucon, in folio, at Paris, in 1713. 
 See also upon this head Buddei Isagoge in Theolog. tom. ii. and Carp- 
 zovil Uritic. Sacr. Veter. Testam. p. 574. 
 
 4 For a farther illustration of this matter, the reader may consult the 
 excellent preface of M. de la Rue, to the second volume of the works of 
 Origen, published at Paris in 1733. 
 Origen’s method of interpreting the Scripture may be found in the work 
 entitled Commentar. de rebts Christian. ante Constantinum M. p. 629; 
 where the philosophy and theology of that great man, and his econtro- 
 versy with Demetrius bishop of Alexandria, are treated of professedly, 
 and at large. 
 
 ¢ Origen, in his Stromata, book x., expresses himself in the following 
 manner: “ The source of many evils lies in adhering to th -arnal or 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 into various languages, aad published in correct editions. 
 | 
 
 Part ll 
 
 to the history of the Christian doctrine during this century. 
 And here it is proper to mention the useful labours of those 
 who manifested their zeal for the holy scriptures by the 
 care they took to have accurate copies of them multiplied 
 every where, and offered at such moderate prices, as ren- 
 dered them of easy purchase; as alsoto have them translated 
 
 Many of the more opulent among the Christians generous- 
 ly contributed a great part of their substance to the prose- 
 cution of these pious and excellent undertakings. Pieris 
 and Hesychius in Egypt, and Lucian at Antioch, employed 
 much pains in correcting the copies of the Septuagint , 
 and Pamphilus of Caesarea laboured with great diligence 
 and success in works of the same nature, until a glorious 
 martyrdom finished his course. But Origen surpassed all 
 others in diligence and assiduity; and his famous Hexapla, 
 the 
 
 though almost entirely destroyed by the waste of time, will, 
 even in its fragments, remain an eternal monument of the 
 incredible application with which that great man laboured 
 to remove those obstacles which retarded the progress of 
 the Gospel.° 
 
 -V. After the encomiums we have given to Origen, who 
 has an undoubted right to the first place among the inter- 
 preters of the Scriptures in this century, it is not without 
 a deep concern that we are obliged to add, that he also, by 
 an unhappy method, opened a secure retreat for all sorts of 
 errors that a wild and irregular imagination could bring 
 forth. Having entertained a notion that it was extremely 
 difficult, if not impossible, to defend every thing contained in 
 the sacred writings from the cavils of heretics and infidels, 
 so long as they were explained /iterally, according to the 
 real import of the terms, he had recourse to the fecundity 
 
 of a lively imagination, and maintained, that they were to 
 be interpreted in the same allegorical manner in which 
 the Platonists explained the history of the gods. In con- 
 sequence of this pernicious rule of interpretation, he alleged, 
 that the words of Scripture were, in many places, absolutely 
 void of sense; and that though in others there were, indeed, 
 certain notions conveyed under the outward terms accord- 
 ing to their literal force and import yet it was not in these 
 that the true meanings of the sacred writers were to be 
 
 An accurate and full account of |) 
 
 sought, but in a mysterious and hidden sense arising from 
 the nature ofthe things themselves.1. This hidden sense 
 he endeavours to investigate throughout his commentaries, 
 neglecting and despising, for the most part, the outward 
 letter; and in this devious path he displays the most inge- 
 nious strokes of fancy, though generally at the expense of 
 truth, whose divine simplicity is rarely discernible throug! 
 the cobweb veil of allegory.e Nor did the inventicns of 
 Origen end here. He divided this hidden sense, which he 
 
 external part of Scripture. Those who do so, shall not attain to the 
 kingdom of God. Let us, therefore, seek after the spirit and the sub- 
 stantial fruit of the word, which are hidden and mysterious. And again, 
 “ The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they 
 are written.” One would think it impossible that such expressions 
 should drop from the pen of a wise man. But the philosophy, which this 
 great man embraced with such zeal, was one of the sources of his delu- 
 _sion. He could not find in the Bible the opinions he had adopted, as 
 _long as he interpreted that sacred book according to its literal sense. 
 But Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and, indeed, the whole philosophical tribe, 
 could not fail to obtain, for their sentiments, a place in the Gospel, when 
 it was interpreted by the wanton inventions of fancy, and upon the sup- 
 | position of a hidden sense, to which it was possible to give all sorts of 
 | forms. Hence all who desired to model Christianity according to theit 
 | fancy, or their favorite system of philosophy, embraced Origen’s methoa 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 
 | of interpretation. 
 
c'uap. III. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF -THE CHURCH. 
 
 67 
 
 pursued with such eagerness into moral and mystical, or |, Cyprian, a prelate of eminent merit, who published several 
 
 spiritual. 
 doctrines that relate to the inward state of the soul and the 
 conduct of life. The mystical or spiritual sense represents 
 the nature, the laws, and the history of the spiritual or 
 mystical world. We are not yet at the end of the labyrinth; 
 for he subdivided this mystical world of his own creation 
 into two distinct regions, one of which he called the su- 
 erior, i. e. heaven, and the other the inferior, by which 
 be meant the church. This led to another division 
 of the mystical sense into an earthly or allegorical sense, 
 adapted to the inferior world, and a celestial or analogical 
 one, adapted to the superior region. ‘This chimerical 
 method of explaining the Scripture was, before Origen, 
 
 received by many Christians, who were deluded into it by | 
 
 ‘he example of the Jews. But, as this learned man re- 
 duced it into a system, and founded it upon fixed and deter- 
 mined rules, he is, on that account, commonly considered 
 as its principal author. 
 
 VI. A prodigious number of interpreters, both in this 
 
 and the succeeding ages, followed the method of Origen, 
 though with some variations ; nor could the few, who ex- 
 plained the sacred writings with Judgment and a true 
 spirit of criticism, oppose with success the torrent of alle- 
 gory that was overflowing the church. The commen- 
 taries of Hippolytus, which are yet extant, show man- 
 ifestly, that this good man was entirely addicted to the 
 system of Origen, and the same judgment may be hazard- 
 ed concerning Victorinus’ explications of certain books of 
 the Old and New ‘Testament, though these explications 
 are, long since, lost. The transiation of the Ecclesiastes 
 by Gregory Thaumaturgus, which is yet remaining, is 
 not chargeable with this reproach, notwithstanding the 
 tender and warm attachment of its authowto Origen. The 
 book of Genesis and the Song of Solomon were explain- 
 ed by Methodius, whose work is lost; and Ammonius 
 composed a Harmony of the Gospels. 
 
 VII. The doctrinal part of theology employed the pens 
 of many learned men in this century. In his Stromata, 
 and his four books of Elements, Origen illustrated the 
 greatest part of the doctrines of Christianity, or, to speak 
 more properly, rather disguised them under the lines of a 
 vain philosophy. ‘These books of elements, or principles, 
 were the first sketch that appeared of the scholastic or phi- 
 losophical theology. Something of the same nature was 
 attempted by 'Theognostus, in his seven books of Hypoty- 
 poses, which are only known at present by the extracts of 
 them in Photius, who represents them as the work of one 
 who was infected with the notions of Origen. Gregory 
 
 ‘'Thaumaturgus drew up a brief summary of the Christian 
 religion, in his Exposition of the Faith; and many treat- 
 ed, in a more ample manner, particular points of doctrine 
 in opposition to the enemies and corruptors of Christiani- 
 ty. ‘Thus Hippolytus wrote of the Deity, the resurrection, 
 Anti-Christ, and the end of the world ; Methodius, of free- 
 will; and Lucian, of faith. It is doubtful in what class 
 these productions are to be placed, as most of them have 
 perished among the ruins of time. 
 
 VIII. Among the moral writers, the first place, after 
 Tertullian, of whom we have already spoken, is due to 
 
 The moral sense of Scripture displays those | treatises concerning patience, mortality, works, alms, as 
 
 also an exhortation to martyrdom. In these dissertations, 
 there are many excellent things; but they are destitute 
 of order, precision, and method; nor do we always find 
 solid proofs in favour of the decisions they contain. Ori- 
 gen has written many treatises of this kind, and, among 
 others, an exhortation to suffer martyrdom for the truth ; 
 a subject handled by many authors in this century, but 
 with unequal eloquence and penetration. Methodius treat- 
 
 ed of chastity, in a work entitled, Symposiwm Virginum, 
 
 or, the Feast of Virgins: but this treatise is full of con- 
 fusion and disorder. Dionysius handled the doctrine of 
 penance and temptations. ‘The other moral writers of 
 this period are too obscure and trivial to render the men- 
 tion of them necessary. 
 
 IX. The controversial writers were exceedingly nume- 
 rous in this century. The Pagans were attacked, in a 
 
 | victorious manner, by Minucius Felix, in his dialogue 
 
 called Octavius ; by Origen; in his writings against Cel- 
 sus; by Arnobius in his seven books against the Gentiles; 
 and by Cyprian, in his treatise concerning the vanity of 
 idols. 'The chronicle of Hippolytus in opposition to the 
 Gentiles, and the work of Methodius against Porphyry, 
 that bitter adversary of the Christians, are both lost. 
 
 We may also reckon, in the number of the polemic 
 writers, those who wrote against the philosophers, or who 
 treated any subjects that were disputed between different 
 sects. Such was Hippolytus, who wrote against Plato, 
 and who also treated the nicest, the most difficult, and the 
 most controverted subjects, such as fate, free-will, and the 
 origin of evil, which exercised, likewise, the pens of Me- 
 thodius and other acute writers. What Hippolytus wrote 
 against the Jews, has not reached our times; but the work 
 of Cyprian, upon that subject, yet remains.» Origen, 
 Victormus, and Hippolytus, attacked, in general, the 
 various sects and heresies that divided the church; but 
 their labours in that immense field have entirely disappear- 
 ed; and as to those who only turned their controversial 
 arms against some few sects and particular doctrines, we 
 think it not necessary to enumerate them here. 
 
 X. It is, however, proper to observe, that the methods 
 now used of defending Christianity, and attacking Judaism 
 and idolatry, degenerated much from the primitive simpli- 
 city, and the true rules of controversy. The Christian 
 doctors, who had been educated in the schools of the rhe- 
 toricians and sophists, rashly employed the arts and eva- 
 sions of their subtile masters in the service of Christianity ; 
 and, intent only upon defeating the enemy, they were too 
 little attentive to the means of victory, indifferent whether 
 they acquired it by artifice or plain dealing. This method 
 of disputing, which the ancients called @conomical,: and 
 which had victory for its object, rather than truth, was in 
 consequence of the prevailing taste for rhetoric and sophis- 
 try, almost universally approved. The Platonists contri- 
 buted to the support and encouragement of this ungene- 
 
 -rous method of disputing, by that maxim which asserted 
 the innocence of defending the truth by artifice and false- 
 
 hood. 
 
 This will appear manifest to those who have read, 
 
 with any manner of penetration and judgment, the argu- 
 
 * See Barbbeyrac, de la Morale des Peres, chap. viii. 
 Z4 * This work is entitled, Testimonia contra Judeos. 
 * Souverain, Platonisme devoilé, p. 244. Daille, de vet, usu Patrum, 
 
 lib. i. p. 160. Jo. Christ. Wolfii Casaubon. p. 100. With regard to 
 the famous rule, to do a thing, kar’ étxovopiav, or @conomically, see par- 
 ticularly the ample illustrations of Gataker, ad Mare. Antoninum. lib. x1. 
 
68 
 
 ments of Origen against Celsus, and those of the other 
 Christian disputants against the idolatrous Gentiles. ‘The 
 method of ‘lertullian, who used to plead prescription 
 against erroneous doctrines, was not, perhaps, unfair in 
 this century ; but they must be unacquainted both with 
 the times, and, indeed, with the nature of things, who im- 
 agine that it is always allowable to employ this method.* 
 
 XI. This disingenuous and vicious method of surpris- 
 ing their adversaries by artifice, and striking them down, 
 as it were, by lies and fictions, produced among other dis- 
 agreeable effects, a great number of books, which were 
 falsely attributed to certain great men, in order to give 
 these spurious productions more credit and weight ; for, 
 as the greatest part of mankind are less governed by reason 
 than by authority, and prefer, in many cases, the decisions 
 of fallible mortals to the unerring dictates of the divine 
 word, tie disputants, of whom we are now speaking, 
 thought they could not serve the truth more effectually 
 than by opposing illustrious names and respectable autho- 
 rities to the attacks of its adversaries. Hence arose the 
 book of canons, which certain artful men ascribed falsely 
 to the apostles; hence, the apostolical constitutions, of 
 which Clement, bishop of Rome, is said to have formed a 
 collection ; hence the recognitions and the Clementina, 
 which are also attributed io Clement,’ and many other 
 productions of that nature, which, for a long time, were 
 too much esteemed by credulous men. 
 
 Nor were the managers of controversy the only persons 
 who employed these stratagems ; the Mystics had recourse 
 to the same pious frauds to support their sect. And ac- 
 cordingly, when they were asked from what chief their 
 establishment took its rise, to get clear of this perplexing 
 question, they feigned a chief, and chose, for that purpose, 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, a man of almost apostolical 
 weight and authority, who was converted to Christianity, 
 in the first century, by the preaching of St. Paul at Athens. 
 To render this fiction more specious, they attributed to 
 this great man various treatises concerning the monastic 
 life, the mystic theology, and other subjects of that nature, 
 which were the productions of some senseless and insipid 
 writers of after-times. Thus it happened, through the 
 pernicious influence of human passions, which too often 
 mingle themselves with the execution of the best purposes 
 and the most upright intentions, that they, who were de- 
 sirous of surpassing all others in piety, looked upon it as 
 lawful, and even laudable, to advance the cause of piety 
 by artifice and fraud. 
 
 XII. The most famous controversies that divided the 
 Christians during this century, were those concerning the 
 Millennium, ox reign of a thousand years; the baptism of 
 heretics, and the doctrine of Origen. 
 
 Long before this period, an opinion had prevailed, that 
 Christ was to come andreign a thousand years among men, 
 before the entire and final dissolution of this world. This 
 
 3 * We scarcely know any case in which the plea of prescription 
 can be admitted as a satisfactory argument, in favor of religious tenets, 
 or articles of faith, unless by prescription be meant, a doctrine’s being 
 established in the time, and by the authority of the apostles. In all 
 
 other cases, prescription is no argument at all: it cannot recommend 
 error, and truth has no need of its support. 
 
 37 > Itis not with the utmost accuracy that Dr. Mosheim places the 
 recognitions among the spurious works of antiquity, since they are 
 quoted by Origen, Epiphanius, and Rufinus, as the work of Clement. 
 It is true, indeed, that these writers own them to have been altered in 
 several placer and falsified by the heretics; and Epiphanius particu- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 opinion, which had hitherto met with no opposition, was 
 variously interpreted by different persons: nor did all pro- 
 mise themselves the same kind of enjoyments in that 
 future and glorious kingdom.° But, in this century, its 
 credit began to decline, principally through the influence 
 and authority of Origen, who opposed it with the greatest 
 warmth, because it was incompatible with some of his fa- 
 yourite sentiments. Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, endea- 
 voured to restore this opinion to its former credit, in a book 
 written against the Allegorists, for so he called, by way of 
 contempt, the adversaries of the Millennarian system. 'This 
 work, and the hypothesis it defended, were exceedingly 
 well received by great numbers in the canton of Arsinoe; 
 and among others by Coracion, a presbyter of no mean in- 
 fluence and reputation. But Dionysius of Alexandria, 
 a disciple of Origen, stopped the growing progress of this 
 doctrine by his private discourse, and also by two learned 
 and judicious dissertations concerning the divine pro- 
 
 | mises.¢ 
 
 XIII. The disputes concerning the baptism of heretics 
 were not carried on with that amiable spirit of candour, 
 moderation, and impartiality, with which Dionysius op- 
 posed the doctrine of the Millennium. ‘The warmth and 
 violence that were exerted in this controversy, were far 
 from being edifying to such as were acquainted with the 
 true genius of Christianity, and with that meekness and 
 forbearance that should particularly distinguish its doctors. 
 
 As there was no express law which determined the man- 
 ner and form, according to which those who abandoned 
 the heretical sects were to be received into the communion 
 of the church, the rules practised in this matter were not 
 the same in all Christian churches. Many of the Oriental 
 and African Christians placed recanting heretics inthe rank 
 of catechumens, and admitted them, by baptism, into the 
 communion of the faithful; while the greatest part of the 
 European churches, considering the baptism of heretics as 
 valid, used no other form in their reception than the impo- 
 sition of hands, accompanied with solemn prayer. ‘This 
 diversity prevailed for a long time without exciting conten- 
 tions or animosities. But, at length, charity waxed cold, 
 and the fire of ecclesiastical discord broke out. In this 
 century, the Asiatic Christians came to a determination in 
 a point that was hitherto, in some measure undecided; and 
 in more than one council established it as a law, that all 
 heretics were to be re-baptised before their adnission to 
 the communion of the true church.!. When Stephen bish- 
 op of Rome, was informed of this determination, he be- 
 haved with the most unchristian violence and arrogance 
 toward the Asiatic Christians, broke communion with 
 them, and excluded them from the communion of the 
 church of Rome. These haughty proceedings made no 
 impression upon Cyprian bishop of Carthage, who, not- 
 withstanding the menaces of the Roman pontiff, assem- 
 bled a council on this occasion, adopted with the rest of 
 
 larly, tells us, that the Ebionites scarcely left any thing sound in them, 
 As to the Clementina, they were undoubtedly spurious. 
 
 34p ¢ See the learned Treatise concerning the true Millennium 
 which Dr. Whitby kas subjoined to the second volume of his Commen- 
 tary upon the New Testament. See also, for an account of the doctrine 
 of the ancient Millennarians, the fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth volumes 
 of Lardner’s Credibility, &c. 
 
 4 See Origen, de Principiis, lib. il. cap. xi. p. 104. tom. i. op. 
 
 ¢ See Eusebius. Hist. Eccles. lib. vil. cap. xxiv. p. 271, as also Genna- 
 dius, de dogmatibus Ecclesiasticis, cap. lv. p. 32. edit. Elmenhorst. 
 
 f Euseb. lib. vil. cap. v. vil. Firmilianus, Epistol. ad Cyprianum, 
 printed among Cyprian’s Letters, 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 the African bishops, the opinion of the Asiatics, and gave 
 notice thereof to the imperious Stephen. The fury of the 
 latter was redoubled at this notification, and produced 
 many threatenings and invectives against Cyprian, who re- 
 plied with great force and resolution, and in a second coun- 
 cil holden at Carthage, declared the baptism, administered 
 by heretics, void of all efficacy and validity. Upon this the 
 wrath of Stephen was inflamed beyond measure ; and, by 
 a decree full of invectives, which was received with con- 
 tempt, he excommunicated the African bishops, whose mo- 
 deration on the one hand, and the death of their imperious 
 antagonist on the other, put an end to the violent contest. 
 
 XIV. The controversy concerning Origen was set in 
 motion by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, animated as 
 some say, by a principle of envy and hatred against that 
 learned man, with whom he had formerly lived in an in- 
 timate friendship. The assertion, however of those who 
 attribute the opposition of Demetrius to this odious princi- 
 ple, appears more than doubtful; for, in the whole of his 
 conduct toward Origen, there are no visible marks of envy 
 though many indeed of passion and arrogance, of violence 
 and injustice. The occasion of all this was as follows. 
 In the year 228, Origen having set out for Achaia, was in 
 his journey thither, received with singular marks of affec- 
 tion and esteem by the bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem, 
 who ordained him presbyter by imposition of hands. 'This 
 proceeding gave high offence to Demetrius, who declared 
 Origen unworthy of the priesthood, because he had castra- 
 ted himself, and maintained, at the same time, that it was 
 not lawful to advance, to a higher dignity, the principal 
 of the Alexandrian school, which was under his episcopal 
 inspection, without his knowledge and approbation. A 
 conclusion, however was put to these warm debates, and 
 Origen returned to Alexandria. This calm was indeed, 
 but of short duration, being soon succeeded by a new breach 
 between him and Demetrius, the occasion of which is not 
 known, but which grew to such a height as obliged Ori- 
 gen, in the year 231, to abandon his charge at Alexandria 
 and retire to Cesarea. His absence, however, did not ap- 
 pease the resentment of Demetrius, who continued to per- 
 secute him with the utmost violence. 'T’o satisfy fully his 
 vengeance against Origen, he assembled two councils, in 
 the first of which he condemned him unheard, and depri- 
 ved him of his office, and, in the second, procured his de- 
 gradation from the sacerdotal dignity. It is probable, that 
 in one of these councils, especially the latter, Demetrius 
 accused him of erroneous sentiments in matters of reli- 
 gion; for it was about this time that Origen published his 
 Book of Principles, containing several opinions of a dan- 
 gerous tendency.» The greatest part of the Christian 
 bishops approved the proceedings of the Alexandrian coun- 
 cil, against which the bishops of the churches of Achaia, 
 
 * Cyprian, Epist. lxx. lxxiii—Augustin, de Baptismo contra Donatis- 
 tas, lib. v. vil. tom. ix. op. where are to be found the acts of the council 
 of ele 4 A. D. 256.—Prud. Marani vita Cypriani, p. 107. 
 
 x¢> > This work, which was a sort of introduction to theology, has 
 only come down to us in the translation of Rufinus, who corrected and 
 maimed it, in order to render it more conformable to the orthodox doctrine 
 of the church than Origen had left it. It contains, however, even in its 
 present form, several bold and singular opinions, such as the pre-exis- 
 tence of souls, and their fall into mortal bodies, in consequence of their 
 deviation from the laws of order in their first state, and the final restora- 
 tion of all intelligent beings to order and happiness. Rufinus, in his 
 apology for Origen, alleges, that his writings were maliciously falsified 
 by the heretics; and that, in consequence thereof, many errors were at- 
 tributed to him which he did qc adopt; as also, that the opinions, in 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 69 
 
 Palestine, Phoenicia, and Arabia, declared at the same 
 time the highest displeasure.» 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. At the records of this century mention the multipli- 
 cation of rites and ceremonies m the Christian church. 
 Several of the causes that contributed to this, have been 
 already pointed out; to which we nfay add, as a princi- 
 pal one, the passion which now reigned for the Platonic 
 philosophy, or, rather, for the popular Oriental superstition 
 concerning demons, adopted by the Platonists, and bor- 
 rowed from them, unhappily, by the Christian doctors. 
 For there is not the least doubt, that many of the rites, 
 now introduced into the church, derived their origin from 
 the reigning opinions concerning the nature of demons, 
 and the powers and operations of invisible beings. Hence 
 arose the use of exorcisms and spells, the frequency of 
 fasts, and the aversion to wedlock; hence the custom of 
 avoiding all connexion with those who were not as yet bap- 
 tised, or who lay under the penalty of excommunication, 
 as persons supposed to be under the dominion of some 
 malignant spirit; and hence the rigour and severity of the 
 penance imposed upon those who had incurred by their 
 immoralities, the censures of the church.4 
 
 II. In most ofthe provinces there were, at this time, 
 some fixed places set apart for public worship among the 
 Christians as will appear evident to every impartial inquirer 
 into these matters. Nor is it absolutely improbable, that 
 these churches were, in several places, embellished with 
 images and other ornaments. 
 
 With respect to the form of divine worship, and the times 
 appointed for its celebration, there were few innovations 
 made in this century. 'T'wo things, however, deserve to 
 be noticed here: the first is, that the discourses, or sermons, 
 addressed to the people, were very different from those of 
 the earlier times of the church, and degenerated much from 
 the ancient simplicity; for, not to say any thing of Origen, 
 who introduced long sermons, and was the first who ex- 
 plained the Scriptures in his discourses, several bishops, 
 who had ‘received their education in the schools of the 
 rhetoricians, were exactly scrupulous in adapting their pub- 
 lic exhortations and discourses to the rules of Grecian elo- 
 quence; and this method gained such credit, as to be soon 
 almost universally followed. The second thing that we 
 proposed to mention as worthy of notice, is, that about this 
 time, the use of incense was introduced, at least into many 
 churches. 'This has been denied by some men of eminent 
 learning ; the fact, however, is rendered evident by the 
 most unexceptionable testimonies.* 
 
 which he differed from the doctrines of the church, were only proposed 
 by him as curious conjectures. 
 
 ¢ The accounts here given of the persecution of Origen, are drawn 
 from the most early and authentic sources,—from Eusebius’ History, 
 the Bibliotheca of Photius, Jerome’s Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Authors, 
 and Origen himself; and they differ in some respects from those 
 which common writers, such as Doucin, Huet, and others, give of this 
 matter. 
 
 4 For a more ample account of this matter, the reader may consult 
 Porphyry’s treatise concerning abstinence, and compare what that writer 
 has said on the subject, with the customs received among the Christians. 
 Several curious things are also to be found in Theodoret and Exsebyus 
 upon this head. 
 
 ¢ See Bishop Beverege ad Canon. iii. Apostol. p. 461; as aise 
 
70 
 
 III. Several alterations were now introduced in the cele- 
 bration of the Lord’s supper, by those who had the direction 
 of divine worship. The prayers, used upon this occasion, 
 were lengthened; and the solemnity and pomp, with which 
 this important institution was celebrated, were considera- 
 biy increased ; no doubt, with a pious intention to render 
 it still more respectable. ‘Those who were in a penitential 
 state and those also who had not received the sacrament 
 of baptism, were not admitted to this holy supper ; and it 
 is not difficult to perceive, that these exclusions were an 
 imitation of what was practised in the heathen mysteries. 
 
 We find, by the accounts of Prudentius: and others, that | 
 
 gold and silver vessels were now used in the adminstra- 
 tion of the Lord’s supper; nor is there any reason why 
 we should not adopt this opinion, since it is very natural to 
 imagine, that those churches, which were composed of the 
 most opulent members, would readily indulge themselves 
 in this piece of religious pomp. As to the time of celebra- 
 ting this solemn ordinance, it must be carefully observed, 
 that there was a considerable variation in different church- 
 es, arising from their different circumstances, and founded 
 upon reasons of prudence and necessity. In some, it was 
 celebrated in the morning; in others, at noon; and in 
 others, in the evening. It was also more frequently repeat- 
 ed in some churches, than in others; but was considered 
 in all as of the hizhest importance, and as essential to sal- 
 vation ; fur which reason it was even thought proper to 
 administer it toinfants. 'The sacred feasts, which accom- 
 panied this venerable institution, preceded its celebration 
 in some churches, and followed it in others. 
 
 IV. There were, twice a year, stated times when bap- 
 tism was administered to such as, after a long course of trial 
 and preparation, offered themselves as candidates for the 
 profession or Christianity. ‘This ceremony was performed 
 only in the presence of such as were already initiated into 
 the Christian mysteries. he remission of sin was thought 
 to be its immediate and happy fruit; while the bishop, by 
 prayer and the imposition of hands, was supposed to confer 
 those sanctifying gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are neces- 
 sary toa life of righteousness and virtue.» We have already 
 mentioned the principal rites that were used in the admin- 
 istration of baptism; and we have only to add, that no 
 persons were admitted to this solemn ordinance, until, by 
 the menacing and formidable shouts and declamation of 
 the exorcist, they had been delivered from the dominion of 
 the prince of darkness, and consecrated to the service of 
 God. ‘The origin of this superstitious ceremony may be 
 easily traced, when we consider the prevailing opinions of 
 the times. The Christians, in general, were persuaded, 
 that rational souls, deriving their existence from God, must 
 consequently be in themselves pure, holy, and endowed 
 with the noble principles of liberty and virtue. But, upon 
 this supposition, it was difficult to account for the corrupt 
 propensities and actions of men in any other way, than by 
 
 a 
 
 another work of the same author, entitled, Codex Canon. vindicatus, 
 p. 78. ® ILepi sefav. Hymn ii. p. 60, edit, Heinsii. 
 b That such was the notion prevalent at this time, is evident from 
 testimonies of sufficient weight. And as this point is of great cons2- 
 uence, in order to our understanding the theology of the ancients, which 
 iffers from ours in many respects, we shall mention one-of these testi- 
 monies, even that of Cyprian, who, in his 73d letter, expresses himself 
 thus: “Itis manifest where, and by whom the remission of sin, con- 
 ferred in baptism, is administered—They who are presented to the 
 ruiers of the church, obtain, by our prayers and imposition of hands, the 
 Holy Ghost.” See also Euseb. lib. vil. cap. vili. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 Parr 1, 
 
 attributing them either to the malignant nature of matter, 
 or the influence and impulse of some evil spirit, who was 
 perpetually compelling them to sin. ‘The former opinion 
 was embraced by the Gnostics, but was rejected by true 
 Christians, who denied the eternity of matter, considered 
 itas a creature of God, and therefore adopted the latter 
 notion, that in all vicious persons there was a certain evil 
 being, the author and source of their corrupt dispositions 
 and their unrighteous deeds.: The expulsion of this demon 
 was now considered as an essential preparation for baptism, 
 after the adminstration of which, the candidates returned 
 home, adorned with crowns, and arrayed in white garments, 
 as sacred emblems ; the former, of their victory over sin 
 and the world; the latter, of their inward purity and inno- 
 cence. 
 
 V. Fasting began now to be het\ 3a more esteem than 
 it had formerly been; a high deyvree of sanctity was attri- 
 buted to this practice, and it was even looked upon as of 
 indispensable necessity, from a notion that the demons 
 directed their stratagems principally against those who 
 pampered themselves with delicious fave, and were less 
 troublesome to the lean and hungry, whe Jived under the 
 severities of a rigorous abstinence. ‘The J atins, contrary 
 to the general custom, fasted on the seventh day of the 
 week ; and, as the Greeks and Orientals refused to follow 
 their example in this respect, a new subject of contention 
 arose between them. 
 
 The Christians offered up their ordinarv prayers at 
 three staied times of the day, viz. at the ¢hira, the sixth, 
 and the 2¢*th hour, accordmg to the custem ebserved 
 among the Jews. But, beside these stated devmons, true 
 believers were assiduous in their addresses to the Supreme 
 Being, and poured forth frequently their vows and sup 
 plications before his throne, because they considered vraye 
 as the most essential duty, as well as the noblest employ 
 ment, of a sanctified nature. At those festivals, whieh 
 recalled the memory of some joyful event, and were to he 
 celebrated with expressions of thanksgiving and praise, 
 they prayed standing, as they thought that posture the 
 fittest to express their joy and their confidence. On days 
 of contrition and fasting, they presented themselves upon 
 their knees before the throne of the Most High, to express * 
 their profound humiliation and self-abasement. Certain 
 forms of prayer were, undoubtedly, used in many places 
 both in public and in private; but many also expressed 
 their pious feeling in the natural effusions of an unpre- 
 meditated eloquence. 
 
 The sign of the cross was supposed to administer a 
 Victorious power over all sorts of trials and calamities, and 
 was more especially considered as the surest defence 
 against the snares and stratagems of malignant spirits; 
 and, hence it was, thet no Christian undertook any thing 
 of moment, without arming himself with the influence ot 
 this triumphant sign. 
 
 ° It is demonstrably evident, that exorcism was added to the other 
 baptismal rites in the third century, after the introduction of the Platonic 
 philosophy into the church; for, before this time, we hear no mention 
 made of it. Justin Martyr, in his second apology, and Tertullian, in 
 his book concerning the military crown, give us an account of the cere- 
 monies used in baptism during the second century, without any mention 
 of exorcism. This is a very strong argument of its being posterior ta 
 these two great men; and is every way proper to persuade us, that it 
 made its entrance into the Christian church in the third century, and 
 probably first in Egypt. 
 
 4 Clementin. Homil. ix. sect. 9. Porphyr. de abstinentia, lib. iv. 
 
Crap. VY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue. same sects that, in the former ages, had pro- 
 duced such disorder and perplexity in the Christian church, 
 continued, in this, to create new troubles, and to foment 
 new divisions. ‘Ihe Montanists, Valentinians, Marcionites, 
 and the other Gnostics, continued still to draw out their 
 forces, notwithstanding the repeated defeats thay had met 
 with ; and their obstinacy remained even when their 
 strength was gone, as it often happens in religious contro- 
 versy. Adelphius and Aquilinus, who were of the Gnostic 
 tribe, endeavoured to insinuate themselves and their doc- 
 trine into the esteem of the public, at Rome, and in other 
 parts of Italy.» They were, however, ckecked, not only 
 by the Christians, but also by Plotinus, the greatest Pla- 
 tonic philosopher of this age, who, followed by a nume- 
 rous train of disciples, opposed these two chimerical teach- 
 
 ers, and others of the same kind, with as much vigour 
 and success as the most enlightened Christians could have 
 done. The philosophical opinions which this faction 
 entertained concerning the Supreme Being, the origin of 
 the world, the nature of evil, and several other subjects, 
 were entirely opposite to thegdoctrines of Plato. Hence 
 the disciples of Jesus, and the followers of Plotinus, 
 united their efforts against the progress of Gnosticism: 
 and there is no doubt that their conjunct force soon 
 destroyed the credit and authority of this fantastic sect, 
 aud rendered it contemptible in the estimation of the 
 wise.? 
 
 If. While the Christians were struggling with these 
 corruptors of the truth, and upon the point of obtaining a 
 complete and decisive victory, a new enemy, mere vehe- 
 ment and odious than the rest, started up suddenly, and 
 engaged in the contest. This was Manes (or Manicheus, 
 as he sometimes is called by his diciples,) by birth a Per- 
 sian; educated among the Magi, and himself one of that 
 number, before he embraced the profession of Christianity. 
 Instructed in all those arts and sciences, which the Per- 
 sians, and the neighbouring nations, held in the highest 
 
 “esteem, he had penetrated into the depths of astronomy 
 in the midst of a rural life; studied the art of healing, 
 and applied himself to painting and philosophy. His 
 genius was vigorous and sublime, but redundant and un- 
 governed; and his mind, destitute of a proper temperature, 
 seemed to border on fanaticism and madness. He was so 
 adventurous as to attempt an amalgamation of the doc- 
 trine of the Magi with the Christian system, or rather the 
 explication of one by the other; and, in order to succeed 
 in this audacious enterprise, he affirmed that Christ had 
 left the doctrine of salvation unfinished and imperfect, and 
 that he was the comforter whom the departing Seviour 
 had promised to his disciples to lead them into all truth. 
 
 * Porphyr. vita Plotini, cap. xvi. p. 118. 
 
 _, > Plotinus’ book against the Gnostics is extant in his work, Ennead. 
 ii. lib. ix. 
 
 37 * Some allege, that Manes, having undertaken to cure the son of 
 the Persian monarch of a dangerous disease, by his medicinal art or his 
 miraculous power, failed in the attempt, precipitated the death of the 
 prince, and, thus incurring the indignation of the king his father, was 
 put toa cruel death. This account is scarcely probable, as it is men- 
 tioned by none of the Oriental writers cited by M. d’Herbelot, and as 
 Bar-Hebreus speaks of it in terms which shew that it was only an un- 
 certain rumor. ‘The death of Manes is generally attributed to another 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 71 
 
 || Many were deceived by the eloquence of this enthusiast, 
 by the gravity of his countenance, and the innocence and 
 simplicity of his manners; so that, in a short time, he 
 formed a sect not utterly inconsiderable in point of num- 
 ber. He was put to death by Varanes IL. king of the 
 Persians ; though historians are not agreed with respect 
 to the cause, time, and manner, of his execution.¢ 
 
 ff. 'The doctrine of Manes was a motley mixture of 
 the tenets of Christianity with the ancient philosophy of 
 the Persians, in which he had been instructed during his 
 youth. He combined these two systems, and applied and 
 accommodated to Jesus Christ the characters and actions 
 which the Persians attributed to the god Mithras. The 
 principal doctrines of Manes are comprehended in the 
 
 following summary : 
 
 “'There are two principles from which all things pro- 
 ceed; the one is a most pure and subtile matter, called 
 Light; and the other a gross and corrupt substance, 
 called Darkness. Both are subject to the dominion of a 
 superintending being, whose existence is from all eternity 
 The being who presides over the light, is called God; he 
 that rules the land.of darkness, bears the title of Hyle or 
 Demon. ‘The ruler of the light is supremely happy; and, 
 in consequence thereof, benevolent and good; the prince 
 of darkness is unhappy in himself; and, desiring to render 
 others partakers of his misery, is evil and malignant. 
 These two beings have produced an immense multitude 
 of creatures, resembling themselves, and distributed them 
 through their respective provinces.” 
 
 IV. “The prince of darkness knew not, for a long 
 series of ages, that light existed in the universe; and he 
 no sooner perceived it, by the means of a war that was 
 kindled in his dominions, than he bent his endeavours 
 toward the subjection of it to his empire. ‘The ruler of 
 the light opposed to his efforts an army commanded by 
 the first man, but not with the highest success ; for the 
 generals of the prince of darkness seized a considerable 
 portion of the celestial elements, and of the light itself, 
 and mingled them in the mass of corrupt matter. The 
 second general of the ruler of the light, whose name was 
 the living spirit, made war with greater success against 
 the prince of darkness, but could not entirely disengage 
 the pure particles of the celestial matter, from the corrupt 
 mass through which they had been dispersed. ‘The 
 prince of darkness, after his defeat, produced the first pa- 
 rents of the human race. The beings engendered from 
 this original stock, consists of a body formed out of the 
 corrupt matter of the kingdom of darkness, and of two 
 souls ; one of which is sensitive and lustful, and owes its 
 existence to the evil principle ; the other rational and im- 
 mortal, a particle of that divine light, which was carried 
 away by the army of darkness, and immersed into the 
 mass of malignant matter.” 
 
 V. “Mankind being thus formed by the prince of dark- 
 
 cause by the Oriental writers. They tell us, that (after having been 
 protected in a singular manner by Hormizdas, who succeeded Sapor on 
 the Persian throne, but who was not able to defetl him, at length, 
 against the united hatred of the Christians, the Magi, the Jews, and the 
 Pagans) he was shut up in a strong castle, which Hormizdas had erected 
 between Bagdad and Susa, to serve him as a refuge against those who 
 persecuted him on account of his doctrine. They «dd, that after the 
 | death of Hormizdas, Varanes I., his successor, first protected Manes, but 
 afterwards gave him up to the fury of the Magi, whose resentment 
 against him arose from his having adopted the Sadducean principles, as 
 some say, while others attributed it to his having mingled the tenets of 
 the Magi with the doctrines of Christianity. 
 
72 
 
 ness, and those minds which were the productions of the 
 eternal light, being united to their mortal bodies, God cre- 
 ated the earth out of the corrupt mass of matter, by that 
 living spirit, who had vanquished the prince of darkness. 
 The design of this creation was to furnish a dwelling for 
 the human race, to deliver, by degrees, the captive souls 
 from their corporeal prisons, and to extract the celestial ele- 
 ments from the gross substance in which they were invol- 
 ved. In order to carry this cesign into execution, God 
 produced two beings of eminent dignity from his own sub- 
 stance, who were to lend their auspicious succour to im- 
 prisoned souls; of these sublime entities one was Christ; and 
 the other, the Holy Ghost. Christ is that glorious intelli- 
 gence which the Persians called Mithras: he is a most 
 splendid substance, consisting of the brightness of the eter- 
 nal light; subsisting in and by himself, endowed with 
 life, and enriched with infinite wisdom; and his residence 
 isin the sun. The Holy Ghost is also a luminous and 
 animated body, diffused throughout every part of the at- 
 mosphere which surrounds this terrestrial globe. ‘This 
 genial principle warms and illuminates the minds of men, 
 renders also the earth fruitful, and draws forth gradually 
 from its bosom the latent particles of celestial fire, which it 
 wafts up on high to their primitive station. 
 
 VI. “ When the Supreme Being had, for a long time, 
 admonished and exhorted the captive souls, by the minis- 
 try of the angels, and of the holy men, appointed for that 
 purpose, he ordered Christ to leave the solar regions, and 
 to descend upon earth, in order to accelerate the return 
 of those imprisoned spirits to their celestial country. In 
 obedience to this divine command, Christ appeared among 
 the Jews, clothed with the shadowy form of a human 
 body, and not with the real substance. During his minis- 
 try, he taught mortals how to disengage the rational soul 
 from the corrupt body, and to conquer the violence of ma- 
 lignant matter; and he demonstrated his divine mission 
 by stupendous miracles. On theother hand, the prince 
 of darkness used every method to inflame the Jews against 
 this divine messenger, and incited them at length to put 
 him to death with ignominy upon a cross; which punish- 
 ment, however he suffered not in reality, but only in ap- 
 pearance, and in the opinion of men. When Christ had 
 fulfilled the purposes of his mission he returned to his 
 throne in the sun, and appointed a certain number of cho- 
 sen apostles to propagate through the world the religion 
 he had taught during the course of his ministry. But be- 
 fore his departure, he promised, that, at a certain time, he 
 would send an apostle superior to all others in eminence 
 and dignity, whom he called the paraclete or comforter, 
 who should add many things to the precepts he had deli- 
 vered, and dispel all the errors under which his servants 
 laboured concerning divine things. This comforter, 
 thus expressly promised by Christ, is Manes, the Persian, 
 who, by the order of the Most High, declared to mortals 
 the whole doctrine of salvation, without exception, and 
 without concealing any of its truths under the veil of meta- 
 phor or any @gher covering. 
 
 VII. “Those souls, who believe Jesus Christ to be the 
 Son of God, who renounce the worship of the God of the 
 Jews (the prince of darkness,) obey the laws delivered by 
 Christ as they are enlarged and illustrated by the com- 
 Sorter, Manes, and combat, with persevering fortitude, the 
 lusts and appetites of a corrupt nature, derive from this 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part } 
 
 faith and obedience the inestimable advantage of being, 
 gradually purified from the contagion of matter. ‘The to- 
 tal purification of souls cannot, indeed be accomplished 
 during this mortal life. Hence it is, that the souls of men 
 after death, must pass through two states more of proba- 
 tion and trial, by water and fire, before they can ascend te 
 the regions of light. ‘They mount, therefore, first into the 
 moon, which consists of benign and salutary water ; 
 whence, after a lustration of fifteen days, they proceed te 
 the sun, whose purifying fire entirely removes their cor- 
 ruption, and effaces all their stains. The bodies, compo- 
 sed of malignant matter, which they have left behind 
 them, return to their first state, aud enter into their origi 
 nal mass. 
 
 VIII. “ On the other hand, those souls who have neg- 
 lected the salutary work of their purification, pass, after 
 death, into the bodies of animals, or other natures, where 
 they remain until they have expiated their guilt, and ac 
 complished their probation. Some, on account of thei 
 peculiar obstinacy and perverseness, pass through a se- 
 verer course of trial, being delivered over, for a certain 
 time, to the power of aerial spirits, who torment them in 
 various ways. When the greatest part of the captive souls 
 are restored to liberty, and to the regions of light, then a 
 devouring fire shall break eC at the divine command, 
 from the caverns in which™t is at present confined, and, 
 shall destroy and consume the frame of the world. After 
 this tremendous event, the prince and powers of darkness 
 shall be forced to return to their primitive seats of anguish 
 and misery, in which they shall dwell for ever; for, to pre- 
 vent their ever renewing this war in the regions of light, 
 God shall surround the mansions of darkness with an in- 
 vincible guard, composed of those souls who have fallen 
 irrecoverably from the hopes of salvation, and who, set in 
 array, like a military band, shall surround those gloomy 
 seats of woe, and hinder any of their wretched inhabitants 
 from coming forth again to the light.” 
 
 IX. In order to remove the strongest obstacles that lay 
 against the belief of this monstrous system, Manes rejected 
 almost all the sacred books into which Christians lool for 
 the sublime truths of their holy religion. He affirmed, in 
 the first place, that the Old Testament was not the word of 
 God, but of the prince of darkness, who was substituted 
 by the Jews in the place of the true God. He maintained 
 farther that the Four Gospels, which contain the history 
 of Christ, were not written by the apostles, or, at least, that 
 they were corrupted and interpolated by designing and 
 artful men, and were augmented with Jewish fables and 
 fictions. He therefore supplied their place by a gospel 
 which he said was dictated to him by God himself, and 
 which he distinguished by the title of Hrieng. He re- 
 jected also the Acts of the Apostles ; and though he ac- 
 knowledged the epistles, that are attributed to St. Paul, 
 to be the productions of that divine apostle, yet he looked 
 upon them as grossly corrupted and falsified in a variety 
 of passages. We have not any certain account of the 
 judgment which he formed concerning the other books of 
 the New Testament. 
 
 X. The rules of life and manners that Manes prescri- 
 bed to his disciples were extravagantly rigorous and aus- 
 tere. He commanded them to mortify and macerate the 
 body, which he looked upon as intrinsically evil, and es- 
 sentially corrupt ; to deprive it of all those objects which 
 
Cap. V. 
 
 could contribute either to its conveniency or delight; to! 
 extirpate all those desires that lead to the pursuit of exter- 
 nal objects; and to divest themselves of all the passions | 
 and instincts of nature. Such were the unnatural rules of | 
 practice which this absurd fanatic prescribed to his follow- | 
 ers; but foreseeing, at the same time, that his sect could 
 not become numerous, if this severe manner of living 
 snould be imposed without distinction upon all his adhe- 
 rents, he divided his disciples into two classes; one of 
 which comprehended the perfect Christians, under the 
 name of the elect; and the other, the imperfect and feeble, 
 under the title of hearers. The elect were bound to 
 rigorous and entire abstinence from flesh, eggs, milk, 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 fish, wine, all intoxicating drink, wedlock, and all amor- 
 ous gratifications, and were required to live in a state of 
 the sharpest penury, nourishing, their shrivelled and ema- 
 ciated bodies with bread, herbs, pulse, and melons, and de- 
 priving themselves of all the comforts that arise from the 
 moderate indulgence of natural passions, and also from a 
 variety of innocent and agreeable pursuits. ‘The disci- 
 pline appointed for the hearers, was of a milder nature. 
 They were allowed to possess houses, lands, and wealth, 
 to feed upon flesh, and to enter into the bonds of conjugal 
 tenderness; but this liberty was granted to them with 
 many limitations, and under the strictest conditions of 
 moderation and temperance. 
 
 The general Manichean assembly was headed by a pre- 
 sident, who represented Jesus Christ. There were joined 
 to him twelve rulers, or masters, who were designed to re- | 
 present the twelve apostles; and these were followed by 
 seventy-two bishops, the images of the seventy-two disci- 
 ples of our Lord. ‘These bishops had presbyters and dea- 
 cons under them, and all the members of these religious 
 orders were chosen out of the class of the elect.* 
 
 XI. The sect of the Hieracites was formed in Egypt, | 
 toward the conclusion of this century, by Hierax of Leon- 
 tium, a bookseller by profession, distinguished eminently, 
 by his extensive learning, and a venerable air of sanctity 
 and virtue. Some have considered this as a branch uf 
 the Manichean sect, but without foundation; since, not- 
 withstanding the agreement of Manes and Hierax in some 
 points of doctrine, it is certain that they differed in many 
 respects. Hierax maintained, that the principal object of 
 Christ’s office and ministry was the promulgation of a new 
 law, more severe and perfect than that of Moses; and 
 hence he concluded, that the use of flesh and wine, wed- 
 lock, and other things agreeable to the outward senses, 
 which had been permitted under the Mosiac dispensation, 
 were absolutely prohibited and abrogated by Christ. If, 
 indeed we look attentively into his doctrine, we shall find 
 that, like Manes, he did not think that these austere acts 
 of self-denial were imposed by Christ indiscriminately up- 
 on all, but on such only as were ambitious of aspiring to 
 the highest summit of virtue. 'T'o this leading error he 
 added some others, which were partly the consequences of 
 this illusion, and were, in part, derived from other sources. 
 He excluded, for example, from the kingdom of heaven, 
 children who died before they had arrived at the use 
 
 * See all this amply proved in the work entitled Commentarii de rebus 
 Christianorum ante Cbiistanstintts Magnum. 
 
 > Epiphan. Heres. Ixvii. Hieracitarum, p. 710, &c. 
 
 ¢ See the Discourse of Hippolytus against the Heresy of Noetus, in 
 the second volume of his works, published by Fabricius; as also Epi- 
 phan. Heres. lvii. tom. i.; and Theodoret. Heret. Fabul. lib. iii. cap. iii, 
 
 73 
 
 of reason, upon the supposition that God was bound to 
 administer the rewards of futurity to those only who had 
 fairly finished their victorious conflict with the body and 
 its lusts. He maintained also, that Melchizedec, king of 
 Salem, who blessed Abraham, was the Holy Ghost; de. 
 nied the resurrection of the body; and cast a cloud of ob- 
 scurity over the sacred scriptures, by his allegorical fic- 
 tions.» 
 
 XII. The controversies relating to th; divine Trinity, 
 which took their rise in the former centw-y, from the intro- 
 duction of the Grecian philosophy into the Christian church, 
 were now spreading with considerable vigour, and_pro- 
 duced various methods of explaining that inexplicable 
 
 doctrine. One of the first who engaged in this idle and 
 perilous attempt of explaining what every mortal must 
 
 acknowledge to be incomprehensible, was Noetus of Smyr- 
 na, an obscure man, and of mean abilities. He affirmed 
 that the supreme God, whom he called the Father, and 
 considered as absolutely indivisible, united himself to the 
 man Christ, whom he called the Son, and was born, and 
 crucified with him. From this opinion, Noetus and his 
 followers were distinguished by the title of Patripassians, 
 i.e. persons who believe that the Supreme Father of the 
 universe, and not any other divine person, had expiated 
 the guilt of the human race ; and, indeed this appellation 
 belongs to them justly, if the accounts wliich ancient 
 writers give us of their opinions be accurate and in- 
 partial. 
 
 XIII. About the middle of this century arose Sabellius, 
 an African bishop or presbyter, who in Pentapolis, a pro- 
 vince of Cyrenaica, and in Ptolemais or Barce, its principal 
 city, explained, in a manner very little different from that 
 of Noetus, the doctrine of Scripture concerning the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ‘This dogmatist had a 
 considerable number of followers, who adhered to him, 
 notwithstanding that his opinions were refuted by Diony- 
 sius, bishop of Alexandria. His sentiments were, in some 
 respects, different from those of Noetus ; for the latter was 
 of opinion, that the person of the Father had assumed the 
 human nature of Christ; whereas Sabellius maintained, 
 that a certain energy only, proceeding from the Supreme 
 Parent, or a certain portion of the divine nature, was united 
 to the Son of God, the man Jesus; and he considered, in 
 the same manner, the Holy Ghost, as a portion of the ever- 
 lasting F’ather.4. Hence it appears, that the Sabellians, 
 though they might with justice be called Patripassians, 
 were yet called so by the ancients in a different sense from 
 that in which this name was given to the Noetians. 
 
 XIV. At this same period, Beryllus an Arabian, bishop 
 of Bozrah, and a man of eminent piety and learning, 
 taught that Christ, before his birth, had no proper subsis- 
 tence, nor any other divinity, than that of the Father ; 
 which opinion, when considered with attention, amounts 
 to this: that Christ did not exist before Mary, but that a 
 spirit issuing from God himself, and therefore superior to 
 all human souls, as being a portion of the divine nature, 
 was united to him, at the time of his birth. Beryllus, 
 however, was refuted by Origen, with such a victorious 
 
 4 Almost all the historians, who give accounts of the ancient here- 
 sies, have made particular mention of Sabellius. Among others, sce 
 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. vi. p. 252. Athanas. Lib. de senten 
 tia Dionysii. All the passages of the ancient authors, relating to 
 Sabellius, are carefully collected by the learned Christopher Wormius, 
 in his Historia Sabelliana. 
 
74 
 
 power of argument and zeal, that he yielded up the cause, 
 and returned into the bosom of the church. 
 
 XV. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, and also a 
 magistrate, or civil judge, was very different from the pious 
 and candid Beryllus, both in point of morals and doctrine. 
 He was a vain and arrogant man, whom riches had ren- 
 dered insolent and self-sufficient.» He introduced great 
 confusion and trouble into the eastern churches, by his 
 new explication of the doctrine of the Gospel concerning the 
 nature of God and Christ, and left behind him a sect, that 
 assumed the title of Paulians, cr Paulianists. As far as we 
 can judge of his doctrine, by the accounts of it that have 
 been transmitted to us, it seems to have amounted to this: 
 “That the Son and the Holy Ghost exist in God, in the 
 same manner as the faculties of reason and activity do in 
 man; that Christ was born a mere man; but that the reason 
 or wisdom of the Father descended into him, and by him 
 wrought miracles upon earth, and instructed the nations ; 
 and finally, that, on account of this union of the divine 
 word with the man Jesus, Christ might, though improperly, 
 oe called God.” 
 
 Such were the real sentiments of Paul. He involved 
 them, however, in such deep obscurity, by the ambiguous 
 forms of speech with which he affected to explain and de- 
 fend them, that, in severa! councils convoked for an inqui- 
 ry into his errors, he could not be convicted of heresy. At 
 Jeneth, however, a council was assembled in the year 269, 
 in which Malchion, the rhetorician, drew him forth from 
 his obscurity, detected his evasions, and exposed him in his 
 true colors; in consequence of which he was degraded 
 from the episcopal order.¢ 
 
 XVI. It was not only in the point now mentioned, that 
 the doctrine of the Gospel suffered, at this time from the 
 erroneous fancies of wrong headed doctors; for there 
 sprang up now, in Arabia, a certain sort of minute philoso- 
 phers, the disciples of a master, whose obscurity has con- 
 cealed him from the knowledge of after-ages, who denied 
 the immortality of the soul, and believed that it perished 
 with the body ; but maintained, at the same time, that it 
 was to be recalled to life with the body, by the power of 
 God. 'The philosophers, who held this opinion, were de- 
 nominated Arabians from their country. Origen was called 
 from Egypt, tomake head against this rising sect, and dis- 
 puted against them, in a full council, with such remark- 
 able success, that they abandoned their erroneous senti- 
 ments, and returned to the received doctrine of the church. 
 
 XVII. Among the sects that arose in this century, we 
 place that of the Novatians the last. This sect cannot be 
 charged with having corrupted the doctrine of Christianity 
 by their opinions ; their crime was, that, by the unrea- 
 sonable severity of their discipline, they gave occasion to 
 the most deplorable divisions, aid made an unhappy 
 schism in the church. Novatian, a presbyter ot the 
 church of Rome, a man of uncommon learning and elo- 
 quence, but of an austere and rigid character, entertained 
 the most unfavourable sentiments of those who had been 
 separated from the communion of the church. He indul- 
 
 * Euseb. lib. vi. cap. xx. xxxiii. Hieronym. Catalog. Scriptor. Eccles. 
 eap. lx. Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. vii.; and, among the 
 moderns, le Clere, Ars Critica, vol. i. part ii. sect. i. cap. xiv. Chauffe- 
 pied, Nouveau Diction. Hist. et Crit. tom. i. 
 
 b Euseb. lib. vii. cap. xxx. 
 
 * Epistol. Concil. Antioch. ad Paulum in Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. xi. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 ged his inclination to severity so far, as to deny that such 
 as had fallen into the commission of grievous transgres- 
 sions, especially those who had apostatised from the faith, 
 under the persecution set on foot by Decius, were to be 
 again received into the bosom of the church. ‘The great- 
 est part of the presbyters were of a different opinion in this 
 matter, especially Cornelius, whose credit and influence 
 were raised to the highest pitch by the esteem and admira- 
 tion which his eminent virtues so naturally excited. Hence 
 it happened, that when a bishop was to be chosen, in the 
 year 250, to succeed F'abianus in the see of Rome, Nova- 
 tian opposed the election of Cornelius, with the greatest 
 activity and bitterness. His opposition, however, was in 
 vain; for Cornelius was chosen to that eminent office of 
 which his distinguished merit rendered him so highly wor- 
 thy. Novatian, upon this, separated himself from the 
 jurisdiction of Cornelius, who, in his turn, called a council 
 at Rome, in the year 251, and cut off Novatian and his 
 partisans from the communion of the church. "This turbu- 
 lent man, being thus excommunicated, erected a new soci- 
 ety, of which he was the first bishop; and, which, on ac- 
 count of the severity of its discipline, was followed by ma- 
 ny, and flourished, until the fifth century, in the greatest 
 part of those provinces which had received the Gospel. 
 The chief person who assisted him in this enterprise was 
 Novatus, a Carthaginian presbyter, a man of no sound 
 principles, who, during the heat of this controversy, had 
 come from Carthage to Rome, to escape the resentment 
 and excommunication of Cyprian, his bishop, with whom 
 he was highly at variance. 
 
 XVIII. There was no difference, in point of doctrine, 
 between the Novatians and other Christians. What pe- 
 culiarly distinguished them, was their refusing to re-admit, 
 to the communion of the church, those who, after baptism, 
 had fallen into the commission of hemous crimes, though 
 they did not pretend, that even such were excluded from 
 all possibility or hopes of salvation. ‘They considered the 
 Christian church as a society where virtue and innocence 
 reigned universally, and none of whose members, from 
 their entrance into it, had defiled themselves with any 
 enormous crime ; and, in consequence, they looked upon 
 every society, which re-admitted heinous offenders to its 
 communion, as unworthy of the title of a true Christian 
 church. For that reason, also, they assumed the title of 
 Cathari, i. e. the pure; and what showed a still more 
 extravagant degree of vanity and arrogance, they obliged 
 such as came over to them from the general body of Chris- 
 tians, to submit to be baptized a second time, as a necessary 
 preparation for entering into their society ; for such deep 
 root had their favourite opinion concerning the irrevocable 
 rejection of heinous offenders taken in their minds, and so 
 great was its influence upon the sentiments they entertain- 
 ed of other Christian societies, that they considered the 
 baptism administered in those churches, which received the 
 lapsed to their communion, even after the most sincere and 
 undoubted repentance, as absolutely divested of the power 
 of imparting the remission of sins.‘ 
 
 p- 302. Dionysii Alex. Ep. ad Pauium. Decem Pauli Samosateni 
 Questiones. : 
 
 4 Eusebius, lib. vi. cap. xliii. Cyprianus, in variis Epistolis, xlix., &e. 
 Albaspinzus, Observat, Eccles. lib. ii. cap. xx. xxi. Jos. Aug. Orsi, de 
 Criminum capital. inter veteres Christianos Absolutione, p. 254. Kenc- 
 kel, de Heresi Novatiana, , 
 
AN 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: 
 
 BOOK THE SECOND: 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 FROM THE TIME OF 
 
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 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous and calamitous Events 
 which happened to the Church dnring this Century. 
 
 I. Tart I may not separate facts, which are intimately 
 connected with each other, I have judged it expedient to 
 combine, in the same chapter, the prosperous and calami- 
 tous events that happened to the church during this centu- 
 ry, instead of treating them separately, as I have hitherto 
 done. This combination, which presents things in their 
 
 natural relations, as causes or effects, is undoubtedly the | 
 
 principal circumstance that renders history truly interest- 
 ing. In following, however, this plan, the order of time 
 shall also be observed with as much accuracy as the com- 
 bination of events will allow. 
 
 In the beginning of the century, the Roman empire was 
 under the dominion of four chiefs, of whom two, Diocle- 
 tian and Maximian Herculius, were of superior dignity, 
 and were severally distinguished by the title of Augustus ; 
 while the other two, Constantius Chlorus and Maximian 
 Galerius, were in a certain degree of suborbination to the 
 former, and were honoured with the appellation of Czsars. 
 Under these four emperors, the church énjoyed an agreea- 
 bl. calm.: Diocletian, though much addicted to supersti- 
 tion, did not entertain any aversion to the Christians ; and 
 Constantius Chlorus, who, following the dictates of reason 
 alone in the worship of the Deity, had abandoned the 
 absurdities of polytheism, treated them with condescension 
 sion and benevolence. This alarmed the pagan priests, 
 whose interests were so closely connected with the contin- 
 uance of the ancient superstitions, and who apprehended, 
 not without cause, that to their great detriment the Chris- 
 tian religion would become daily more general and tri- 
 umphant throughout the empire. Under these anxious 
 fears of the downfall of their authority, they addressed 
 themselves to Diocletian, whom they knew to of be a tim- 
 orous and credulous disposition, and by fictitious oracles, 
 and other perfidious stratagems, endeavoured to engage 
 him to persecute the Christians.» 
 
 II. Diocletian, however, stood for some time unmoved 
 by the treacherous arts of these selfish and superstitious 
 priests, who, when they perceived the ill success of their 
 cruel efforts, addressed themselves to Maximian Galerius, 
 one of the Cesars, and also son-in-law to Diocletian, in or- 
 der to accomplish their unrighteous purposes. This prince, 
 whose gross ignorance of every thing but military affairs 
 
 * Eusebius, lib. viii. cap. i. p. 291, &c. 
 
 > Eusebius, de vita Constantini, lib. ii. cap. i. p. 467. Lactantii Insti- 
 tut. divin. lib. iv. cap. xxvii. et. de Mortibus Peasant cap. X. 
 
 ¢ Lactantius, de Mortibus Persequutorum, c. xi. Eusebius, lib. viii. 
 eap. ii. 
 
 ti Augustinus, Brev. collat. cum Donatistis, cap. xv. xvii. Baluzii 
 Miscellan. tom. ti. 
 
 * Optatus Milevit. de Schismate Donatistarum, lib. i. sect. xiii. 
 
 No. VII. 20 
 
 was accompanied with a fierce and savage temper, was a 
 proper instrument for executing their designs. Set on, 
 _ therefore, by the malicious insinuations of the heathen 
 priests, the suggestions of a superstitious mother, and the fe- 
 rocity of his own natural disposition, he solicited Diocletian, 
 with such urgent and indefatigable importunity, for an edict 
 against the Christians, that he at length, obtained his hor- 
 rid purpose ; for in the year 303, when this emperor was at 
 _ Nicomedia, an order was obtained from him to pull down 
 the churches of the Christians, to burn all their books and 
 writings, and to take from them all their civil rights and 
 privileges, and render them incapable of any honours or 
 civil promotion.’ 'T'his first edict, though rigorous and 
 severe, extended not to the lives of the Christians, for 
 Diocletian was extremely averse to slaughter and blood- 
 shed; it was, however, destructive to many of them, 
 particularly to those who refused to deliver the sacred books 
 into the hands of the magistrates.t| Many Christians, 
 therefore, and among them several bishops and presbyters, 
 seeing the consequences of this refusal, delivered up all the 
 religious books, and other sacred things that were in their 
 possession, in order to save their lives. "This conduct was 
 highly condemned by the most steady and resolute Chris- 
 tians, who looked upon this compliance as sacrilegious, 
 and branded those who were guilty of it with the ignomin- 
 ious appellation of traditors.* 
 
 IIf. Not long after the publication of this first edict 
 against the Christians, a fire broke out twice in the palace 
 of Nicomedia, where Galerius lodged with Diocletian. 
 The Christians were accused, by their enemies, as the 
 authors of this conflagration ;* and the credulous Diocle- 
 tian, too easily persuaded of the truth of this charge, 
 caused vast numbers of them to suffer, at Nicomedia, 
 the punishment of incendiaries, and to be tormented in 
 the most inhuman and infamous manner.s About the 
 same time, there arose tumults and seditions in Armenia 
 and in Syria, which were also attributed to the Christians 
 by their irreconcileable enemies, who took advantage of 
 those disturbances to inflame the emperor’s fury. And, 
 accordingly, Diocletian, by a new edict, ordered all the 
 bishops and ministers of the Christian church to be thrown 
 into prison. Nor did his inhuman violence end here; 
 for a third edict was soon issued, by which it was ordered, 
 that all sorts of torments should be employed, and the 
 most insupportable punishments invented, to force these 
 venerable captives to renounce their profession, by sacri- 
 
 x‘ f Lactantius assures us, that Galerius caused fire to be privately 
 set to the palace, that he might lay the blame of it upon the Christians 
 and thus incense Diocletian still more against them; in which horri 
 stratagem he succeeded; for never was any persecution so bloody and 
 inhuman, as that which this credulous emperor now set on foot against 
 them. 
 
 € Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. viii. cap. vi. Lactant. de Mortibus Perse» 
 quut. cap. xix. Constant. Mag. Oratio ad sanctor. Cetum, cap. xxv. 
 
78 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Farr J. 
 
 ficing to the heathen gods ;* for it was hoped, that, if the || Severus emperor. Maxentius, the son of Maximian Her- 
 bishops and doctors of the church could be brought to | culius, and son-in-law to Galerius, provoked at the prefer- 
 
 yield, their respective flocks would be easily induced to fol- 
 low their example. An immense number of persons, 
 illustriously distinguished by their piety and learning, be- 
 came the victims of this cruel stratagem through the whole 
 Roman empire, Gaul excepted, which was under the mild 
 and equitable dominion of Constantius Chlorus.» Some 
 were punished in such a shameful manner, as the rules 
 of decency oblige us to pass in silence ; some were put to 
 death after having had their constancy tried by tedious 
 and inexpressible tortures; and some were sent to the 
 mines to draw out the remains of a miserable life in po- 
 verty and bondage. 
 
 IV. In the second year of this horrible persecution, the 
 304th of the Christian era, a fourth edict was published 
 by Diocletian, at the instigation of Galerius and the other 
 inveterate enemies of the Christian name. By it the ma- 
 gistrates were ordered and commissioned to force all Chris- 
 tians, without distinction of rank, or sex, to sacrifice to the 
 gods, and were authorised to employ all sorts of torments, 
 in order to drive them to this act of apostasy... The dili- 
 gence and zeal of the Roman magistrates, in tne execution 
 of this inhuman edict, nearly proved fatal to the Christian 
 cause. 
 
 Galerius now made no longer a mystery of the ambi- 
 tious project which he had been revolving his mind. F'ind- 
 ing his scheme ripe for execution, he obliged Diocletian 
 and Maximian Herculius to resign’ the imperial dignity, 
 and declared himself emperor of the east; leaving in the 
 west Constantius Chlorus, with the ill state of whose 
 health he was well acquainted. He chose colleagues ac- 
 cording to his own fancy; and rejecting the proposal of 
 Diocletian, who recommended Maxentius and Constan- 
 tine (the son of Constantius) to that dignity, he made 
 of Severus and Daza, his sister’s son, to whom he had a 
 little before given the name of Maximin.e ‘This revolu- 
 tion restored peace to those Christians who lived in the 
 western provinces, under the administration of Constan- 
 tius “ while those of the east, under the tyranny of Gale- 
 rius, had their sufferings and calamities dreadfully aug- 
 mented.s 
 
 V. The divine providence, however, was preparing 
 more serene and happy days for the church. In order to 
 this, it confounded the schemes of Galerius, and brought 
 his counsels to nothing. In the year 306, Constantius 
 Chiorus dying in Britain, the army saluted, with the title 
 of Augustus, his son Constantine, surnamed afterwards 
 the Great on account of his illustrious exploits, and forced 
 him to accept the purple. This proceeding, which must 
 have stung the tyrant Galerius to the heart, he was, never- 
 theless, obliged to bear with patience, and even to confirm 
 with the outward marks of his approbation. Soon after 
 a civil war broke out, the occasion of which was as fol- 
 lows; Maximian Galerius, inwardly enraged at. the elec- 
 -tion of Constantine by the soldiers, sent him, indeed, the 
 purple, but gave him only the title of Cesar, and created 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. viii. cap. vii. et de Martyribus Palestine. 
 b Lactantius, cap. xv.—Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vill. cap. xiii. xviii. 
 ¢ Eusebius, de Martyribus Palestine, cap. iil. 
 4 Lactantius, Institut. divin. lib. v. cap. xi. 
 ¢ Lactant. de Mortibus Persequut. cap. xvii. xx, 
 
 Euseb. de Martyribus Palestinz, cap. xiii, 
 € Lactant. cap. xxi. 
 
 % 
 
 ence given to Severus, assumed the imperial dignity, and 
 found the less difficulty in making good this usurpation, 
 as the Roman people hoped, by his means, to deliver them- 
 selves from the insupportable tyranny of Galerius. Hav- 
 ing caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, he chose his 
 father Maximian for his colleague, who receiving the pur- 
 ple from the hands of his son, was universally acknow- 
 ledged in that character by the senate and the people. 
 Amidst all these troubles and commotions, Constantine, 
 beyond all human expectation, made his way to the im- 
 perial throne. . 
 
 The western Christians, those of Italy and Africa ex- 
 cepted," enjoyed some degree of tranquillity and liberty 
 during these civil tumults. Those of the east seldom con- 
 tii ued for any considerable time in the same situation. 
 They were subject to various changes and revolutions ; 
 their condition was sometimes adverse and sometimes to- 
 lerably easy, according to the different scenes that were 
 presented by the fluctuating state of publick affairs. At 
 length, however, Maximian Galerius, who had been the 
 author of their heaviest calamities, being brought to the 
 brink of the grave by a most dreadful and lingering 
 disease,i whose complicated horrors no language can ex- 
 press, published, in the year 311, a solemn edict, ordering 
 the persecution to cease, and restoring freedom and repose 
 to the Christians, against whom he had exercised such 
 horrible cruelties.* 
 
 Vi. After the death of Galerius, his dominions fell into 
 the hands of Maximin and Licinius, who divided be- 
 tween them the provinces he had possessed. At the same 
 time, Maxentius, who had usurped the government of Af- 
 rica and Italy, determined to make war upon Constan- 
 tine (who was now master of Spain and Gaul,) with the 
 ambitious view of reducing, under his dominion the whole 
 western empire. Constantine, apprised of this design, 
 marched with a part of his army into Italy, gave battle to 
 Maxentius at a small distance from Rome, and totally de- 
 feated that abominable tyrant, who, in his precipitate flight, 
 fell into the Tiber and was drowned. After this victory, 
 which happened in the. year 312, Constantine, and his 
 colleague Licinius, immediately granted to the Christians 
 a full power of living according to their own laws and in- 
 stitutions ; which power was specified still more clearly in 
 another edict, drawn up at Milan, in the following year.! 
 Maximin, indeed, who ruled in the east, was preparing 
 calamities for the Christians, and threatening also with 
 destruction the western emperors. But his projects were 
 disconcerted by the victory which Licinius gained over 
 his army, and, through distraction and despair, he ended 
 his life by poison, in the year 313. 
 
 VII. About the same time, Constantine the Great, who 
 had hitherto manifested no religious principles of any 
 kind, embraced Christianity, in consequence, as it is said 
 of a miraculous cross, which appeared to him in the air, 
 as he was marching toward Rome to attack Maxentius. 
 
 H*p 4 The reason of this exception is, that the provinces of Italy and 
 
 | Africa, though nominally under the government of Severus, were yet in 
 fact ruled by Galerius with an iron sceptre. 
 
 xp i See a lively description of the disease of Galerius in the Uni- 
 versal History. 
 
 k Euseb. lib. vill. cap. xvi. Lactantius, cap. xxxiil, 
 
 1 Euseb. lib. x. cap. v—Lactant. cap. xlviil. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 But that this extraordinary event was the reason of his | 
 
 conversion, is a matter that has never yet been placed in 
 such a light, as to dispel all doubts and difficulties. For 
 the first edict of Constantine in favor of the Christians, and 
 many other circumstances that might be here alleged, 
 show, indeed, that he was well-disposed to them and to 
 their worship, but are no proof that he looked upon Chris- 
 lianity as the only true religion; which, however, would 
 have been the natural effect of a miraculous conversion. 
 It appears evident, on the contrary, that this emperor con- 
 sidered the other religions, and particularly that which 
 was handed down from the ancient Romans, as also true 
 and useful to mankind; and declared it to be his intention 
 and desire, that they should all be exercised and professed 
 in the empire, leaving to each individual the liberty of ad- 
 hering to that which he thought the best. It is true that 
 he did not remain always in this state of indifference. In 
 process of time, he acquired more extensive views of the 
 excellence and importance of the Christian religion, and 
 gradually arrived at an entire persuasion of its bearing 
 
 alone the sacred marks of celestial truth and a divine ori- 
 
 gin. He was convinced of the falsehood and impiety of 
 all other religious institutions; and, acting in consequence 
 of this conviction, he exhorted earnestly all his subjects to 
 embrace the Gospel, and at length employed all the force 
 of his authority in the abolition of the ancient superstition. 
 It is not, indeed, easy, nor perhaps is it possible, to fix pre- 
 cisely the time when the religious sentiments of Constan- 
 tine were so far changed, as to render all religions but 
 that of Christ, the objects of his aversion. All that we 
 know, with certainty, concerning this matter is, that this 
 change was first published to the world by the laws and 
 edicts* which he issued in the year 324, when, after the 
 defeat and death of Licinius, he reigned as the sole lord 
 of the Roman empire. His designs, however, with re- 
 spect to the abolition of the ancient religion of the Romans, 
 and the toleration of no other form of worship than the 
 Christian, were only made known toward the latter end 
 of his life, by his edicts for destroying the heathen tem- 
 ples, and prohibiting sacrifices.» 
 
 VIII. The sincerity of Constantine’s zea] for Christianity 
 can scarcely be doubted, unless it be maintained that the 
 outward actions of men are, in no degree, a proof of their 
 inward sentiments. It must, indeed, be confessed, that 
 the life and actions of this prince were not such as the 
 Christian religion demands from those who profess to be- 
 
 * Eusebius, de vita Constant. lib. ii. cap. xx., xliv. 
 
 b See Godofred ad Codie. Theodosian. tom. vi. parti. 
 
 ¢ Eusebius, de vita Constantini, lib. iv. cap. Ixi. Ixi1. Those who, 
 upon the authority of certain records (whose date is modern, and whose 
 credit is extremely dubious) affirm, that Constantine was baptized in 
 the year 324, at Rome, by Sylvester, the bishop of that city, are evident- 
 ly in aa error. Those, even of the Romish church, who are the most 
 cniinent for their learning and sagacity, reject this notion. See Noris, 
 Fist. Donatist. tom. iv. op. p. 650. ‘Thom. Maria Mamachii Origin. et 
 Antiquit. Christian. tom. ii. p. 282. 
 
 4 eebing de vita Constant. lib. i. cap. xxvil. 34> It has been 
 sometimes remarked by the more eminent writers of the Roman history, 
 that the superstition of that people, contrary to what Dr. Moshceim here 
 observes, had a great influence in keeping them in their subordination 
 and ailegiance. It is more particularly observed, that inno other nation 
 was the solemn obligation of an oath treated with such respect, or ful- 
 filled with such a religious cireumspection, and such an inviolable fideli- 
 ty. But, notwithstanding all this, it is certain, that superstition, if it 
 may be dexterously turned to good purposes, may be equally employed 
 to bad. The artifice of an augur could have rendered superstition as 
 useful to the infernal designs of a Tarquin and a Catiline, as to the 
 noble and virtuous purposes of a Publicola, ora Trajan. But true 
 
 PROSPEROUS AND CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 79 
 
 lieve its sublime doctrines. It is also certain, that, from 
 his conversion to the last period of his life, he continued 
 in the state of a catechumen, and was not received by bap- 
 tism into the number of the faithful, until a few days be- 
 fore his death, when that sacred rite was administered to 
 him at Nicomedia, by Eusebius, bishop of that place.¢ 
 But these circumstances are not sufficient to prove that he 
 doubted the divinity of the Christian religion, or that his 
 profession of the Gospel was an act of mere dissimulation; 
 for it was a custom with many in this century, to put off 
 their baptism to the last hour, that thus immediately 
 after their receiving by this rite the remission of their sins, 
 they might ascend pure and spotless to the mansions of 
 life and immortality. 
 
 Nor are the crimes of Constantine any proof of the in- 
 sincerity of his profession, since nothing is more evident, 
 though it be strange and unaccountable, than that many 
 who believe, in the firmest manner, the truth and 
 divinity of the Gospel, violate its laws by repeated trans- 
 gressions, and live in contradiction to their own inward 
 principles. 
 
 Another question of a different nature might be proposed 
 here, viz. Whether motives of a worldly kind did not con- 
 tribute, in a certain measure to give Christianity, in the 
 esteem of Constantine, a preference to all other religious 
 systems? It is indeed probable, that this prince perceived 
 the admirable tendency of the Christian doctrine and pre- 
 cepts to promote the stability of government, by preserving 
 the citizens in their obedience to the reigning powers, and 
 in the practice of those virtues which render a state happy ; 
 and he must naturally have observed, how defective the 
 Roman superstition was in this important point. 
 
 IX. The doubts and difficulties that naturally arise in 
 the mind, concerning the miraculous cross that Constan- 
 tine solemnly declared he had seen, about noon, in the air, 
 are many and considerable. It is easy, indeed, to refute the 
 opinion of those who look upon this prodigy as a cunning 
 fiction, invented by the emperor to animate his troops in the 
 ensuing battle, or who consider the narration as wholly 
 fabulous.e The sentiment also of those, who imagine that 
 this pretended cross was no more than a natural phenom- 
 enon ina solar halo, is, perhaps, more Ingenious, than solid 
 and convincing.£ Nor, in the third place, do we think it 
 sufficiently proved, that the divine power interposed here 
 to confirm the wavering faith of Constantine by a stupen- 
 dous miracle. "The only hypothesis, then,s which remains 
 
 Christianity can animate or encourare to nothing except what is just 
 and good. It tends to support government by the principles of piety and 
 justice, and not by the ambiguous flight of birds, or the like delusions. 
 
 © Hornbeck. Cemment. ad Bullam Urbani viii. de Imagin. cultu, p. 
 182. Oiselius, Thesaur. Numism. Antiq. p. 463. Tollius, Preface to 
 the French Translation of Longinus, as also his Adnot. ad Lactantium 
 de Mort. Persequut. cap. xliv. Christ. Thomasius, Observat. Hallens. 
 tom. i. p. 380. : 
 
 f Jo. And. Schmidius, Disser. de lima in Cruce visa. Jo. Alb. Fabri- 
 cius, Disser. de Cruce a Constantino visa. 
 
 x * This hypothesis of Dr. Mosheim is not more credible than the 
 real appearance of a cross in the air—Both events are recorded by the 
 same authority; and, if the veracity of Constantine or of Eusebius be 
 questioned with respect to the appearance of a cross in the day, they can 
 scarcely be confided in with respect to the truth of the nocturnal vision. 
 It is very surprising to see the learned authors of the Universal Histo- 
 ry adopt, without exception, all the accounts of Eusebius, concerning this 
 cross, which are extremely liable to suspicion, which Eusebius himself 
 seems to have believed but in part, and for the truth of all which he is 
 eareful not to make himself answerable. (Sce that author’s Life of 
 Constantine, lib. ii. cap. ix.) wht cel 7 
 This whole story is atterded with 4'Mculties which render it, both as 
 
80 
 
 is, that we consider this famous cross as a vision represented 
 to the emperor ina dream, with the remarkable inscription, 
 Hac vince, i. e. In this conquer ; and this opinion is 
 maintained by authors of considerable weight. 
 
 X. The joy with which the Christians were elated on ac- 
 count of the favorable edicts of Constantine and Licinius, 
 was soon interrupted by the war which broke out between 
 these princes. Licinius, being defeated in a pitched battle, 
 in the year 314, concluded a treaty of peace with Con- 
 stantine, and observed it during the space of nine years. 
 But his turbulent spirit rendered him an enemy to repose ; 
 and his natural violence, seconded and still farther incensed, 
 by the suggestions of the heathen priests, armed him 
 against Constantine, in the year 324, for the second time. 
 During this war he endeavoured to engage in his cause all 
 who remained attached to the ancient superstition, that thus 
 he might oppress his adversary with numbers; and in order 
 to this, he persecuted the Christians in a cruel manner, 
 and put to death many of their bishops, after trying them 
 with torments of the most barbarous nature.® But all his 
 enterprises proved abortive; for, after several unsucessful 
 battles, he was reduced to the necessity of throwing him- 
 self at the victor’s feet, and imploring his clemency ; 
 which, however, he did not long enjoy ; for he was 
 strangled, by the order of Constantine, in the year 325. 
 After the defeat of Licinius, the empire was ruled by 
 Constantine alone until his death; and the Christian 
 cause experienced, in its happy progress, the effects of 
 his auspicious administration. ‘This zealous prince em- 
 ployed all the resources of his genius, all the authority of 
 his laws, and all the engaging charms of his munificence 
 and liberality, to eflace, by degrees, the superstitions of 
 Paganism, and to propagate Christianity in every corner 
 of the Roman empire. He had learned, no doubt, from the 
 disturbances continually excited by Licinius, that neither 
 himself nor the empire could enjoy a fixed state of tran- 
 quillity and safety as long as the ancient superstitions 
 subsisted; and therefore, from this period, he openly op- 
 posed the sacred rites of Paganism, as a religion detri- 
 mental to the interests of the state. 
 
 XI. After the death of Constantine, which happened 
 in the year 337, his three sons, Constantine II. Constan- 
 tius, and Constans, were, in consequence of his appoint- 
 ment, put in possession of the empire, and were all saluted 
 
 a miracle and as a fact, extremely dubious, to say no more.-—It will ne- 
 cessarily be asked, whence it comes to pass, that the relation of a fact, 
 which is said to have been seen by the whole army, is delivered by 
 Eusebius, upon the sole credit of Constantine? ‘This is the more unac- 
 countable, as Eusebius lived and conversed with many whu must have 
 been spectators of this event, had it really happened, and whose unani- 
 mous testimony would have prevented the necessity of Constantine’s 
 confirming it to him by an oath. ‘The sole relation of one man, concera- 
 ing a public appearance, is not sufficient to give complete conviction; 
 nor does it appear, that this story was generally believed by the Chris- 
 tians, or by others, since several ecclesiastical historians, who wrote after 
 Eusebius, particularly Rufin and Sozomen, make no inention of this 
 appearance of a cross in the heavens. The nocturnal vision was, it 
 must be confessed, more generally known and believed ; upon which Dr. 
 Lardner makes this conjecture, that when Constantine first informed the 
 people of the reason that induced him to make use of the sign of the 
 cross in his army, he alleged nothing but a dream for that purpose; but 
 that, in the latter part of his life, when he was acquainted with Euse- 
 bius, he added the other particular, of a luminous cross, seen somewhere 
 by him and his army in the day-time (for the place is not mentioned ;) 
 and that, the emperor having related this in the most solemn manner 
 Ensebius thought himself ebliged to mention it. / 
 
 * All the writers, who have given any accounts of Constantine the 
 Great, are carefully enumerated by J. A. Fabricius, in his Lux. Salut. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Evang. toti. Orbi exor. cap. xii. p. 260. who also mentions, cap. xiii. p. 
 237, the laws concerning religious matters, which were enacted by this | 
 
 Part II. 
 
 as emperors and Augusti by the Roman senate. There 
 were yet living two brothers of the late emperor, nameiy 
 Constantius Dalmatius and Julius Constantius, and they 
 had many sons. ‘These the sons of Constantine ordered 
 to be put to death, lest their ambitious views should excite 
 troubles in the empire ;* and they all fell victims to this 
 barbarous order, except Gallus and Julian, the sons of Ju- 
 lias Constantius, the latter of whom rose afterwards to the 
 imperial dignity. 'The dominions allotted to Constantine 
 were Britain, Gaul, and Spain ; but he did not possess them 
 long ; for, when he had made himself master, by force, of 
 several places belonging to Constans, this occasioned a war 
 between the brothers, in the year 340, in which Constan- 
 tine lost his life. Constans, who had received at first, for his 
 portion, Illyricum, Italy, and Africa, added now the domin- 
 ions of the deceased prince to his own, and thus became 
 sole master of all the western provinces. He remained in 
 possession of this vast territory until the year 350, when he 
 was crueily assassinated by the order of Magnentius, one of 
 his commanders, who had revolted and declared himself 
 emperor. Magnentius, in his turn, met with the fate he 
 deserved: transported with rage and despair at his ill success 
 in the war against Constantius, and apprehending the most 
 terrible and ignominious death from the just resentment 
 of the conqueror, he laid violent hands upon himself. 
 Thus Constantius, who had, before this, possessed the 
 provinces of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, became, in the 
 year 353, sole lord of the Roman empire, which he ruled 
 until the year 361, when he died at Mopsucrene, on the 
 borders of Cilicia, as he was marching against Julian. 
 None of these three brothers possessed the spirit and 
 genius of their father. 'They all, indeed, followed his 
 example, in continuing to abrogate and efface the ancient 
 superstitions of the Romans and other idolatrous nations, 
 and to accelerate the progress of the Christian religion 
 throughout the empire. ‘This zeal was, no doubt, lauda- 
 ble; its end was excellent; but,in the means used to ac- 
 complish it, there were many things not altogether lau- 
 dable. 
 
 XII. This flourishing progress of the Christian religion 
 was greatly interrupted, and the church reduced to the 
 brink of destruction, when Julian, the son of Julius Con- 
 stantius, and the only remaining branch of the imperial 
 family, was placed at the head of affairs. 'This active and 
 
 emperor, and digested into four parts. For a full account of these laws, 
 see Jac. Godofred. Adnotat. ad Codic. Theodos., and Balduinus in his 
 Constantin. Magn. seu de Legibus Constantini eccles. et civilibus, 
 lib. ii. 
 
 b Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. x. cap. vill. et de vita Constantint, lib. 
 i.cap. xlix. Julian himself, whose bitter aversion to Constantine gives 
 a singular degree of credibility to his testimony in this matter, could not 
 help confessing that Licinius was an infamous tyrant and a profligate, 
 abandoned to all sorts of wickedness. See the Cesars of Julian. And 
 here I beg leave to make a remark which has escaped the learned. Aure- 
 lius Victor, in his book de Ceesaribus, cap. xli. has mentioned the per- 
 secution under Licinius in the following terms; “ Licinio ne insontrum 
 quidem ac nobilium philosophorum servili more cruciatus adhibiti 
 modum fecere.” The philosophers, whom Licinius is here said to have 
 tormented, were, doubtless, the Christians, whom many, through igno- 
 rance, looked upon as a philosophical sect. This passage of Aurelius 
 has not been touched by the commentators, who are generally more in- 
 tent upon the knowledge of words than of things. 
 
 x4 ¢ It is more probable that the principal design of this massacre 
 was to recover the provinces of Thrace, Macedon, and Achaia, which, 
 in the division of the empire, Constantine the Great had given to young 
 Dalmatius, son to his brother of the same name; and also Pontus and 
 Cappadocia, which he had granted to Annibalianus, the brother of young 
 Dalmatius. Be that as it will, Dr. Mosheim has attributed this massacre 
 equally to the three sons of Constantine; whereas almost all authors agree 
 that neither young Constantine, nor Constans, had any concern in it. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 adventurous prince, after having been declared emperor by 
 the army, in the year 360, in consequence of his exploits 
 among the Gauls, was, upon the death of Constantius, in 
 the following year, confirmed in the undivided possession of 
 the empire. No event could be less favourable to the Chris- 
 tians; for, though he had been educated in the principles 
 of Christianity, he apostatised from that divine religion, 
 and employed all his efforts to restore the expiring super- 
 stitions of polytheism to their former vigour, credit, and 
 lustre. His apostasy was imputable, partly to his aversion 
 to the Constantine family, who had murdered his father, 
 brother, and kinsman; and partly to the artifices of the 
 Platonic philosophers, who abused his credulity, and flat- 
 tered his ambition, by fictitious miracles, and pompous 
 predictions. It is true, this prince seemed averse to the use 
 of violence, in propagating superstition, and suppressing the 
 truth: indeed, he carried the appearances of moderation 
 and impartiality so far, as to allow his subjects a full power 
 of judging for themselves in religious matters, and of wor- 
 shipping the Deity in the manner they thought the most 
 rational. But, under this mask of moderation, he attacked 
 Christianity with the utmost bitterness, and, at the same 
 time, with the most consummate dexterity. By art and 
 stratagem he undermined the church, annulling the privi- 
 leges which had been granted to Christians and_ their 
 spiritual rulers; shutting up the schools in which they 
 taught philosophy and the liberal arts; encouraging the sec- 
 taries and schismatics, who brought dishonour upon the 
 Gospel by their divisions ; composing books against the 
 Christians, and using a variety of other means to bring the 
 religion of Jesus to ruin and contempt. Julian extended 
 his views yet farther, and was meditating projects of a still 
 more formidable nature against the Christian church, 
 which would have felt, no doubt, the fatal or ruinous effects 
 of his inveterate hatred if he had returned victorious from 
 the Persian war, into which he entered immediately after 
 his accession to the empire. But in this war, which was 
 rashly undertaken and imprudently conducted, he fell by 
 the lance ofa Persian soldier, and expired in his tent in the 
 32d year of his age, having reigned alone, after the death 
 of Constantius, twenty months.* 
 
 XIII. It is to mea just matter of surprise, to find Julian 
 placed, by many learned and judicious writers,” among the 
 greatest heroes that shine forth in the annals of time, and 
 even exalted above all the princes and legislators who have 
 been distinguished by the wisdom of their government. 
 Such writers must either be too far blinded by prejudice, to 
 perceive the truth; or they cannot have perused, with any 
 degree of attention, those works of Julian which are still 
 extant; or, if neither of these be their case, they must, at 
 least, be ignorant of that which constitutes true greatness. 
 The real character of Julian has a few lines of that uncom- 
 mon merit which has been attributed to it; for, if we set 
 
 * For a full account of this emperor, it will be proper to consult (be- 
 side Tillemont and other common writers) La Vie de Julien, par I’ Abbé 
 Bleterie, which is a most accurate and elegant production. See also the 
 Life and character of Julian, illustrated inseven Dissertations by Des- 
 Voeux ; Ezech. Spanheim, Preefat. et adnot. ad op. Juliani; and Fabri- 
 cius, Lux Evangel. toti orbi exoriens, cap. xiv. p. 294. 
 
 » Montesquieu, in chap. x. of the twenty-fourth book of his work, 
 entitled, L’Esprit des Loix, speaks of Julian in the following terms: 
 “Tl n’y a point eu apres lui de prince plus digne de gouverner des 
 hommes.” 
 
 {> °¢ Nothing can afford a more evident proof of Julian’s ignorance 
 ef the true philosophy, than his known attachment to the study of ma- 
 
 No. VIL. 21 
 
 PROSPEROUS AND CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 8] 
 
 aside his genius, of which his works give no very high 
 idea ; if we except, moreover, his military courage, his love 
 of letters, and his acquaintance with that vain and fanatical 
 philosophy which was known by the name of modem 
 Platonism, we shall find nothing remaining, that is in any 
 measure worthy of praise, or productive of esteem. Besides, 
 the qualities now mentioned, were, in him, counterbalanced 
 by the most opprobrious defects. He was a slave to super- 
 stition, than which nothing isa more evident mark of a 
 narrow soul, of a mean and abject spirit. His thirst of 
 
 glory and eagerness for popular applause were excessive, 
 even to puerility; his credulity and levity surpass the 
 
 powers of description ; a low cunning, and a profound dis- 
 simulation and duplicity, had acquired, in his mind, the 
 force of predominant habits; and all this was accompanied 
 with a total ignorance of true philosophy:° go that, though, 
 in some things, Julian may be allowed to have excelled the 
 sons of Constantine the Great, yet it must be granted, on 
 the other hand, that he was, in many respects, inferior to 
 Constantine himself, whom upon all occasions, he leads 
 with the most licentious invectives, and treats with the 
 utmost disdain 
 
 XIV. As Julian affected, in general, to appear moderate 
 in religious matters, unwilling to trouble any on account of 
 their faith, or to seem averse to any sect or party, so to the 
 Jews, in particular, he extended so far the marks of his 
 indulgence, as to permit them to rebuild the temple of Jeru- 
 salem. ‘The Jews set about this important work; from 
 which, however, they were obliged to desist, before they 
 had even begun to lay the foundations of the sacred edifice ; 
 for, while they were removing the rubbish, formidable balls 
 of fire, issuing out of the ground with a dreadful noise, 
 dispersed both the works and the workmen, and repeated 
 earthquakes filled the spectators of this phenomenon with 
 terror and dismay. This signal event is attested in a man- 
 ner that renders its evidence irresistible,* though, as usually 
 happens in cases of that nature, the Christians have embel- 
 lished it by augmenting rashly the number of the miracles 
 which are supposed to have been wrought upon that occa- 
 sion. The causes of this phenomenon may furnish 
 matter of dispute; and learned men have, in effect, been 
 divided upon that point. All, however, who consider the 
 matter with attention and impartiality, will perceive the 
 strongest reasons for embracing the opinion of those who 
 attribute this event to the almighty interposition of the Su- 
 preme Being; nor do the arguments offered by some, to 
 prove it the effect of natural causes, or those alleged by 
 others to persuade us that it was the result of artifice ana 
 imposture, contain any thing that may not be refuted with 
 the utmost facility.* 
 
 XY. Upon the death of Julian, the suffrages of the army 
 were united in favour of Jovian, who, accordingly, suc- 
 ceeded him in the imperial dignity. After a reign of seven 
 
 gic, which Dr. Mosheim has omitted in his enumeration of the defects 
 
 | and extravagances of this prince. 
 
 4 See Jo. Alb. Fabricii Lux Evang. toti orbi exoriens, p. 124, where 
 all the testimonies of this remarkable event are carefully assembled; see 
 also Moyle’s Posthumous works. 
 
 ¢ The truth of this miracle is denied by the famous Basnage, Histoire 
 des Juifs, tom. iv., against whom Cuper has taken the affirmative, and 
 defended it in his Letters published by Bayer. A most ingenious dis- 
 
 'course was published, in defence of this miracle, by the learned Dr. 
 
 Warburton, under the title of Julian, or a Discourse concerning the 
 Earthquake and Fiery Eruption, &c. in which the objections of Basnage 
 
 ! are particularly examined and refuted. 
 
 s 
 
82 
 
 months, Jovian died in the year 364, and, therefore, had 
 not time to execute any thing of importance.s The empe- 
 rors who succeeded him, in this century, were Valentinian 
 
 I., Valens, Gratian, Valentinian If., and Honorius, who | 
 
 professed Christianity, promoted its progress, and endea- 
 voured, though not all with equal zeal, to root out entirely 
 the Gentile superstitions. In this they were all surpassed by 
 the last of the emperors who reigned in this century, viz. 
 Theodosius the Great, who began to reign in the year 
 379, and died in 395. As long as this prince lived, he 
 exerted himself, in the most vigorous and effectual manner, 
 for the extirpation of the pagan superstitions throughout 
 all the provinces, and enacted severe laws and penalties 
 against such as adhered to them. His sons, Arcadius and 
 Honorius, pursued with zeal, and not without success, the 
 same end; so that, toward the conclusion of this century, 
 the Gentile religion declined apace, and had also no prospect 
 left of recovering their primitive authority and splendour. 
 
 XVI. It is true, that, notwithstanding all this zeal and 
 severity of the Christian emperors, there still remained in 
 several places, and especially in the remoter provinces, tem- 
 ples and religious rites, consecrated to the service of the 
 pagan deities. And, indeed, when we look attentively into 
 the matter, we shall find, that the execution of those rigour- 
 
 us laws, which were enacted against the worshippers of the 
 gods, was rather levelled at the multitude, than at persons 
 of eminence and distinction ; for it appears, that, both du- 
 ring the reign, and after the death of "Theodosius, many of 
 the most honourable and important posts were filled by 
 persons, whose aversion to Christianity and attachment to 
 Paganism were sufficiently known. 
 
 The example of Libanius alone is an evident proof of this, 
 since, notwithstanding his avowed and open enmity to the 
 Christians, he was raised by Theodosius himself to the high 
 dignity of preefect, or chief of the Praetorian guards. It is 
 extremely probable, therefore, that, in the execution of the 
 severe laws enacted against the Pagans, there was an ex- 
 ception made in favour of philosophers, rhetoricians, and 
 military leaders, on account of the important services which 
 they were supposed to render to the state, and that they of 
 consequence enjoyed more liberty in religious matters, than 
 the inferior orders of men. 
 
 XVII. This peculiar regard shown to the philosophers 
 and rhetoricians will, no doubt, appear surprismg when it 
 is considered, that all the force of their genius, and all the 
 resources of their art, were employed against Christianity ; 
 and that those very sages, whose schools were reputed of 
 such utility to the state, were the very persons who opposed 
 the progress of the truth with the greatest vehemence and 
 contention of mind. Hlierocles, the great ornament of the 
 
 * See Bleterie, Vie de Jovien, vol. ii. in whict tne Life of Julian, by 
 the same author, is farther illustrated, and some productions of that em- 
 deror are translated into French. 
 
 ® Institut. Divin. lib. v. cap. ii. p. 535. 
 * See Photius, Biblioth. Cod. cap. xv. p. 355. 
 
 3X4 This notion, absurd as it is, has been revived, in the most ex- 
 travagant manner, in a work published at Harderwyk, in 1757, by Mr. 
 Struchtmeyer, professor of eloquence and languages in that university. 
 In this work, which bears the title of the Symbolical Hercules, the 
 rearned but wrong-headed author maintains (as he had also done in a 
 preceding work, entitled, An Explication of the Pagan Theology,) that 
 all the doctrines of Christianity were emblematically represented in the 
 Heathen mythology; and not only so, but that the inventors of that 
 mythology knew that the Son of God was to descend upon earth; be- 
 heved in Christ as the an fountain of salvation; were persuaded of 
 nis future incarnation, death, and resurrection; and had acquired all this 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Pari IL 
 
 Platonic school, wrote in the beginning of this century 
 two books against the Christians, in which he went so far 
 as to draw a parallel between Jesus Christ and Apol- 
 lonius T'yaneus. ‘ihis presumption was chastised with 
 
 great spirit, by Exusebius, in a treatise written expressly in 
 
 answer to Hierocles. JL.actantius takes notice of ancther 
 philosopher, who composed three books to detect the pre- 
 tended errors of the Christians, but does not mention his 
 name. After the time of Constantine the Great, beside the 
 long and laborious work which Julian wrote against the 
 followers of Christ, Himeriuse and Libanius, in their pub- 
 lic harangues, and Eunapius, i his lives of the philoso- 
 phers, exhausted all their rage and bitterness in their efforts 
 to defame the Christian religion, while the calumnies that 
 abounded in the discourses of the one, and the writings of 
 the other, passed unpunished. 
 
 X VIL. The prejudice which the Christian cause receiv- 
 ed in this century, from the stratagems of these philoso- 
 phers and rhetoricians, who were elated with a presumptu- 
 ous notion of their knowledge, and prepossessed with a bit- 
 ter aversion to the Gospel, was certainly very considerable. 
 Many examples concur to prove this point; and particn- 
 larly that of Julian, who was seduced by the artifices of 
 these corrupt sophists. The eflevis of their disputes and 
 declamations were not, indeed, the same upon all; some 
 who assumed the appearance of superior wisdom, and who, 
 either from moderation or indifference, professed to pursue a 
 middle way in these religious contioversies, composed mat- 
 ters in the following manner: they so far listened to the 
 interpretations and discourses of the rhetoricians, as to form 
 to themselves a middle kind of religion, between the an- 
 cient theology and the new doctrine that was now propaga- 
 ted in the empire ; and they persuaded themselves, that 
 the same truths which Christ taught, had been for a long 
 time concealed by the priests of the gods, under the veil of 
 ceremonies, fables, and allegorical representations. Of this 
 number were Ammianus Marcellinus, a man of singular 
 merit ; "hemistius, an orator highly distinguished by his 
 uncommon eloquence and the eniinence of his station : 
 Chalcidius, a philosopher, and others, who were all of opin- 
 ion, that the two religions, when properly interpreted and 
 understood, agreed perfectly well in the main points, and 
 that, therefore, neither the religion of Christ, nor that of 
 the gods, ought to be treated with contempt. 
 
 XIX. The zeal and diligence with which Constantine 
 and his successors exerted themselves in the cause of Chris- 
 tianity, and in extending the limits of the church, prevent 
 our surprise at the number of barbarous and uncivilized na- 
 tions, which received the Gospel.* It appears highly proba- 
 ble, from many circumstances, that both the Major and the 
 
 knowledge and faith by the perusal of a Bible much older than either the 
 time of Moses or Abraham, &c. The pagan doctors, thus instructed 
 (according to Mr. Struchtmeyer) in the mysteries of Christianity, 
 taught these truths under the veil of emblems, types, and figures. Ju- 
 piter represented the true God; Juno, who was obstinate and ungoverna- 
 ble, was the emblem of the ancient Israel ; the chaste Diana was a type 
 of the Christian church; Hercules was the figure or fore-runner of 
 Christ; Amphitryon was Joseph; the two Serpents, killed by Hercules 
 in his cradle, were the Pharisees and Sadducees, &c. Such are the 
 principal lines of Mr. Struchtmeyer’s system, which shows the sad 
 havock that a warm imagination, undirected by a just and solid judg- 
 ment, makes in religion. It is, however, honorable perhaps to the 
 present age, that a system, from which Ammianus Marcellinus and other 
 ancient philosophers derived applause, will be generally looked upon, at 
 present, as entitling its restorer to a place in Bethlehem hospital. 
 
 ¢ Gaudent. vita Philastrii, sect.3. Philast. de heres. Pref. Socrat. 
 Hist. Eccles. lib. i, cap. xix. Georg. Cedren. Chronograph, 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 Minor Armenia were enlightened with the knowledge of 
 the truth, not long after the promulgation of Christianity. 
 
 The Armenian church was not, however, completely for- | 
 
 med and established before this century; in the com- 
 
 mencement of which, Gregory, the son of Anax, who is | 
 
 commonly called the Hnlightener, from his having dis- 
 pelled the darkness of the Armenian superstitions, convert- 
 ed to Christianity Tiridates, king of Armenia, and all the 
 nobles of his court. In consequence of this, Gregory was 
 consecrated bishop of the Armenians, by Leontius, bishop 
 of Cappadocia; and his ministry was crowned with such 
 success, that the whole province was soon converted to the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 XX. Toward the middle of this century, a certain per- 
 son. named F'rumentius, went from Egypt to Abyssinia or 
 Ethiopia, whose inhabitants derived the name of Axumite 
 from Axuma, the capital city of that country. He made 
 known among this people the Gospel of Christ, and admin- 
 istered the sacrament of baptism to their king o and to seve- 
 ral persons of the first distinction at his court. As he was 
 returning into Egypt, he received consecration, as the first 
 bishop of the Axumite, or Ethiopians, from Athanasius : 
 and this is the reason why the Ethiopian church has, ev en 
 to our times, been considered as the daughter of the Alex- 
 andrian, from which it also receives its bishop.° 
 
 The light of the Gospel was introduced into [heria, a pro- 
 vince of Asia (now called Georgia), in the following man- 
 ner: a certain woman was carried into that country as a 
 captive, during the reign of Constantine ; and by the gran- 
 deur of her miracles, and the remarkable sanctity of her life 
 and manners, she made such an impression upon the king 
 and queen, that they abandoned their false gods, embraced 
 the faith of the Gospel, and sent to Constantinople for pro- 
 
 per persons to give them and their people a more satisfac- 
 tory and complete knowledge of the Christian religion.¢ 
 
 XXI. A considerable part of the Goths, who had in- 
 habited Thrace, Mcesia, and Dacia, had received the 
 knowledge and embraced the doctrines of Christianity be- 
 fore this “century ; and "Theophilus, their bishop, was pre- 
 sent at the council of Nice. Constantine, after having 
 vanquished them and the Sarmatians, engaged great 
 numbers of them to become Christians :¢ yet a large body 
 continued in their attachment to their ancient superstition 
 until the time of the emperor Valens. his prince permit- 
 ted them, indeed, to pass the Danube, and to inhabit Da- 
 cia, Moesia, and Thrace; but it was on condition that they 
 should live in subjection to the Roman laws, and embrace 
 the profession of Christianity ;* which stipulations were 
 accepted by their king F ritigern. The celebrated Ulphi- 
 las, bishop of those Goths who dwelt in Meesia, lived in 
 this century, and distinguished himself by his genius and 
 piety. Among other eminent services which he rendered 
 
 * Narratio de rebus Armeniz in France. Comdefisii Auctario Biblioth. 
 Patrum Grecor. tom. ii. p. 287. Mich. Lequien, Oriens Christianus, 
 ates i. p. 419. 1356. Jo. Joach. Schrod. Thesaur. lingue Armenice, p. 149. 
 
 > Athanasius, Apolog. ad Constantium, tom. i. op. part il. p. 315, edit. 
 Benedict. Socrates et Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. book i. chap. xix. of the 
 former, book ii. ch. xxiv. of the latter. Theodoret. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. 
 
 cap. xxiii. p. 54. Ludolf, Comment. ad Hist. A2thiopic. p. 281. Hier. 
 Lobo, Voyage @ Abyssinie, tom. ii. p. 13. Justus Fontaninus, Hist. 
 Liter. Aquileiz, p. 174. 
 
 * Rufinus, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. x. Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. 
 or v. Lequien, Oriens Christ. tom. i. p. 1333. 
 
 4 Socrat. Hist. Eccles. liv. i. cap. xviii. 
 
 * Soerat. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xxxiii. Lequien, Oriens Christ. 
 
 tom. 1. p. 1240. Eric. Benzelius, Pref. ad Quatuor Evangelia Gothica, 
 
 PROSPEROUS AND CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 83 
 
 to his country, he invented a set of letters for their pecu- 
 liar ere and translated the Scriptures into the Gothic lan- 
 guage.! 
 
 XXII. There remained still, in the European provinces 
 an incredible number of persons who adhered to the wor- 
 ‘ship of the Gods; and though the Christian bishops con- 
 tinued their pious efforts to gain them over to the Gospel, 
 yet the success was, by no means, proportionable to their 
 diligence and zeal, and the wor k of conversion went on 
 but slowly. In Gaul, the great and venerable Martin, 
 bishop of ‘Tours, set about this important work with tolera- 
 ble success ; for, in his various journeys among the Gauls, 
 he converted many, every where, by the energy of his dis- 
 courses, and by the power of his miracles, if we may re- 
 ly upon the testimony of Sulpitius Severus. He destroyed 
 
 ) Clristian religion, 
 
 also the temples of the gods, pulled down their statues,¢ 
 and on all these accounts merited the high and honourable 
 title of Apostle of the Gauls. | 
 
 XXIII. There is no doubt that the victories of Con- 
 stantine, the fear of punishment, and the desire of pleasing 
 this mighty conqueror and his imperial successors, were the 
 weighty arguments that moved whole natioiis, as well as 
 particular persons, to embrace Christianity. None, how- 
 ever, that have any acquaintance with the transactions of 
 his period of ime, will attribute the whole progress of 
 Christianity to these causes; for it is undeniably manifest 
 that the indefatigable zeal of the bishops and other 
 pious men, the innocence and sanctity which shone 
 forth with such lustre in the lives of many Chris- 
 tians, the translations that were published of the sacred 
 writings, and the intrinsic beauty and excellence of the 
 made as strong and deep impres- 
 sions upon some, as worldly views and selfish consider- 
 ations did upon others. 
 
 As to the miracles attributed to Antony, Paul the Her- 
 mit,and Martin. I give them up without the least diffi- 
 culty, and join with those who treat these pretended prodi- 
 gies with the contempt they deserve." I am also willing to 
 grant, that many events have been rashly deemed mira- 
 culous, which were the result of the ordinary laws of nature; 
 and also, that pious frauds were sometimes used, for the pur 
 pose of giving new degrees of weight and dignity to the 
 Christian cause. But T cannot, on the other hand, assent 
 to the opinions of those who maintain, that in this centu- 
 ry, miracles had entirely ceased; and that at this period, 
 the Christian church was not favoured with any extraor- 
 dinary or supernatural mark of a divine power engaged in 
 its cause. 
 
 XXIV. The Christians, who lived under the Roman 
 government, were not afilicted with any severe calamities 
 from the time of Constantine, except those which they suf- 
 fered during the troubles and commotions raised by Lici- 
 
 PY 
 as 
 
 | que Ulphile tribuuntur, cap. v. p. 18, published at Oxford, in 1750, 
 f Jo. Jac. Mascovii Historia Germanorum, tom. 1. p. 317; tom. il. 
 
 not. p.49. Acta SS. Martii, tom. ii. p. 619. Benzelius, cap. Vill. 
 
 Sui Sulpit. Severus, Dial. i. de Vita Martini, cap. xii. xv. Xvil. et 
 ial. 11 
 
 h Flier. a Prato, in his Preface to Sulpitius Severus, disputes warmly 
 
 {in favor of the miracles of Martin, and also of the other prodigies of 
 
 this centur 
 
 i See Eusebius’ book against Hierocles, chap. iv. and Henr} Dod- 
 | well’s Diss. i. in Irenzeum, sect. 55, p. 195. xr See Dr. Middleton’s 
 Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers which are said to have sub- 
 sisted in the Christian Chureh, &c. in which a very different opinion is 
 maintained. See, however, on the other side, the answers of Church 
 
 and Dodwell to Middleton's Inquiry. 
 
34 
 
 nius, and ander the transitory reign of Julian. 
 tranquillity, however, was, at different times, disturbed in 
 several places. Among others, Athanaric, king of the 
 Goths, persecuted for some time, with great bitterness, that 
 part of the Gothic nation which had embraced Christiani- 
 ty." In the remoter provinces, the Pagans often defended 
 their ancient superstitions by the force of arms, and massa- 
 cred the Christians who, in the propagation of their reli- 
 gion, were not always sufficiently attentive, either to the | 
 rules of prudence or the dictates of humanity.» The 
 Christians who lived beyond the limits of the Roman Em- 
 pire, had a harder fate; Sapor IL., king of Persia, vented 
 his rage against those of his dominions, in three dreadful 
 persecutions. lhe first of these happened in the eigh- , 
 
 _ 
 
 * See Acta Martyr. sincera, published by Ruinart, and (in that col-! 
 lection,) Acta 8S. Sabz, p. 598. 
 
 t See Ambrosius, de Officiis, lib. i. cap. xlii. sect. 17. | 
 
 * See Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. i. xiii. There is a particu. | 
 ar and express account of this persecution in the Bibliothec. Oriental. : 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 
 
 Parr J, 
 
 Their || teenth year of the reign of that prince; the second, in the 
 
 30th; and the third in the 31st year of the same reign. 
 This last was the most cruel and destructive of the three; it 
 carried off an incredible number of Christians, and conti- 
 nued during the space of forty years, having commenced 
 in the year 330, and ceased only in 370. It was not, how- 
 ever, the religion of the Christians, but the ill-erounded 
 suspicion of their treasonable designs against the state, 
 that drew upon them this terrible calamity ; for the Magi 
 and the Jews persuaded the Persian monarch, that all 
 the Christians were devoted to the interest of the Roman 
 emperor, and that Simeon, archbishop of Seleucia and of 
 Ctesiphon, sent to Constantinople intelligence of all that 
 passed in Persia.¢ 
 
 Clement. Vatican. tom. i. p.6, 16, 181; tom. iii. p.52; with which it 
 will be proper to compare tke preface to the Acta Martyrum Onentalium 
 et Occidentalium, by the learned Assemani, who has published the 
 Persian Martyrology in Syriac, with a Latin translation, and enriched 
 this valuable work with many excellent observations. 
 
PART IT. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 Which contains the History of Learning and Philo- 
 sophy. 
 
 I. Purnotocy, eloquence, poetry, and history, were 
 the branches of learning particularly cultivated at this time 
 by those among the Greeks and Latins, who were desi- 
 rous of acquiring fame. But, though several persons of 
 both nations obtained reputation by their literary pursuits, 
 they came all far short of the summit of fame. ‘The best 
 poets of this period, such as Ausonius, appear insipid, harsh, 
 and inelegant, when compared with the sublime bards of 
 the Augustan age. ‘The rhetoricians, departing now from 
 the noble simplicity and majesty of the ancients, instruct- 
 ed the youth in the fallacious art of pompous declamation ; 
 and the majority of historical writers were more intent 
 upon embellishing their narrations with vain and tawdry 
 ornaments, than upon rendering them interesting by their 
 order, perspicuity, and truth. 
 
 If. Almost all the philosophers of this age were of that 
 sect which we have already distinguished by the title of 
 Modern Platonists. It is not therefore surprising, that we 
 find the principles of Platonism in all the writings of the 
 Christians. Of these philosophers, however the number 
 was not so considerable in the west as in the eastern coun- 
 tries. Jamblichus of Chalcis explained, in Syria, the phi- 
 losophy of Plato, or rather propagated his own particular 
 opinions under that respectable name. He was an ob- 
 scure and credulous man, and his turn of mind was highly 
 superstitious and chimerical, as his writings abundantly 
 testify. His successors were, /udesius, Maximus, and 
 others, whose follies and puerilities are exposed at length 
 by Eunapius. Hypatia, a female philosopher of distin- 
 guished merit and learning, Isadorus, Olympiodorus, Sy- 
 nesius, afterwards a Semi-Christian, with others of inferior 
 reputation, were the principal persons concerned in propa- 
 gating this new modification of Platonism. 
 
 III. As the emperor Julian was passionately attached 
 to this sect, (which his writings abundantly prove,) he em- 
 ployed every method to increase its authority and lustre ; 
 and, for that purpose, engaged in its cause several men of 
 learning and genius, who vied with each other in exalting 
 its merit and excellence.» But, after his death, a dreadful 
 storm of persecution arose, in the reign of Valentinian, 
 against the Platonists; many of whom, being accused of 
 magical practices, and other heinous crimes, were capitally 
 convicted. During these commotions, Maximus, the mas- 
 ter and favourite of Julian, by whose persuasions this em- 
 peror had been engaged to renounce Christianity, and to 
 apply himself to the study of magic, was put to death with 
 several others. It is probable, indeed, that the friendship 
 and intimacy that had subsisted between the apostate em- 
 
 * Doctor Mosheim speaks here of only one Jamblichus, though 
 there were three persons who bore that name. It is not easy to 
 determine which of them wrote the works that have reached our 
 times under the name of Jamblichus; but, whoever it was, he does 
 not certainly deserve so mean a character as our learned historian here 
 gives him. 
 
 > See the learned Spanheim’s Preface to the works of Julian; and 
 hat also which he has prefixed to his French translation of Julian’s 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 | 
 
 peror and these pretended sages, were greater crimes, in 
 the eye of Valentinian, than either their philosophical sys 
 tem or their magic arts; and hence it happened, that such 
 of the sect as lived at a distance from the court, were not 
 involved in the dangers or calamities of this persecution. 
 
 IV. ’rom the time of Constantine the Great, the 
 Christians applied themselves with greater zeal and dilix 
 gence to the study of philosophy and of the liberal arts, 
 than they had formerly done. ‘The emperors encouraged 
 this taste for the sciences, and left no means unemployed 
 to excite and maintain a spirit of literary emulation among 
 the professors of Christianity. For this purpose, schools 
 were established in many cities; libraries were also 
 erected, and men of learning and genius were nobly 
 recompensed by the honours and advantages that were 
 attached to the culture of the sciences and arts.4 All this 
 was indispensably necessary to the successful execution 
 of the scheme that was laid for abrogating, by degrees, 
 the worship of the gods; for the ancient religion was 
 maintained, and its credit supported by the erudition and 
 talents which distinguished in so many places the sages 
 of Paganism; and there was just reason to apprehend, 
 that the truth might suffer, if the Christian youth, for 
 want of proper masters and instructors of their own reli- 
 gion, should have recourse, for their education, to the 
 schools of the pagan philosophers and rhetoricians. 
 
 V. From what has been here said concerning the state 
 of learning among the Christians, let not any reader con- 
 clude that an acquaintance with the sciences had becomie 
 universal in the church of Christ ; for, as yet, there was 
 no law enacted, which excluded the ignorant and illiterate 
 from ecclesiastical preferments and offices, and it is certain 
 that the greatest part, both of the bishops and presbyters, 
 were men entirely destitute of learning and education. 
 Besides, that savage and illiterate party, who looked upon 
 all sorts of erudition, particularly that of a philosophical 
 kind, as pernicious, and even destructive of true piety and 
 religion, increased both in number and authority. The 
 ascetics, monks, and hermits, augmented the strength of 
 this barbarous faction ; and not only the women, but also 
 all who took solemn looks, sordid garments, and a love 
 of solitude, for real piety, (and in this number we compre- 
 hend the generality of mankind,) were vehemently pre- 
 possessed in their favour. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Government of the Church, and the 
 Christian Doctors, during this Century. 
 I. Constantine the Great made no essential altera- 
 
 tions in the form of government that took place in the 
 Christian church before his time ; he only corrected it in 
 
 Cesars, and his Annotations to the latter; see also Bleterie, Vie de 
 Kacey Julien, lib. i. p. 26. 
 
 * Ammian. Marcellin. Hist. lib. xxix. cap. i. p. 556. edit. Valesii. 
 Bleterie, Vie de Julien, p. 30—155, 159, and Vie de Fovien, tom. i. p. 194. 
 
 4 See Godofred. ad Codicis Theodos. titulos de Professoribus et Arti- 
 bus Liberalibus. Franc. Balduinus in Constantino M_ p. 122. Herm. 
 Conring. Dissert. de Studiis Rome et Constantinop. at the end of his 
 Antiquitates Academica. 
 
86 
 
 some particulars, and gave ita greater extent. Although 
 he permitted the church to remain a body-politic, distinct 
 from that of the state, as it had formerly been, yet he 
 assumed to himself the supreme power over this sacred 
 body, and the right of modelling and governing it in such 
 a manner as should be most conducive to the public good. 
 This right he enjoyed without any opposition, as none of 
 the bishops presumed to call his authority in question. 
 The people therefore continued, as usual, to choose freely 
 their bishops and their teachers. 'The bishop governed 
 the church, and managed the ecclesiastical affairs of the 
 city or district, where he presided in council with the pres- 
 byters, not without a due regard to the suffrages of the 
 whole assembly of the people. The provincial bishops 
 also deliberated together upon those matters which related 
 to the interests of the churches of a whole province, as also 
 concerning religious controversies, the forms and rites of 
 divine service, and other things of like moment. 'To 
 these minor councils, which were composed of the eccle- 
 siastical deputies of one or more provinces, were afterwards 
 added a@cumenical councils, consisting of commissioners 
 from all the churches in the Christian world, and which, 
 consequently, represented the church universal. These 
 were established by the authority of the emperor, who 
 assembled the first of these councils at Nice. This 
 prince thought it equitable, that questions of superior im- 
 portance, and such as intimately concerned the interests of 
 Christianity in general, should be examined and decided 
 in assemblies that represented the whole body of the Chris- 
 tian church; and in this it is highly probable, that his 
 judgment was directed by that of the bishops. There 
 were never, indeed, any councils holden, which could, 
 with strict propriety, be called wniversal; those, however, 
 whose laws and decrees were approved and admitted by 
 the universal church, or the greatest part of that sacred 
 body, are commonly called a@cwmenical or general 
 councils. 
 
 II. The rights and privileges of the several ecclesiastical 
 orders were, however, gradually changed and diminished, 
 from the time that the church began to be torn with divi- 
 sions, and agitated with those “violent dissensions and 
 tumults, to which the elections of bishops, the diversity of 
 religious opinions, and other things of a like nature, too 
 frequently cave rise. In these religious quarrels, the 
 weaker generally fled to the court for ‘protection and suc- 
 cour; and thereby furnished the emperors with opportu- 
 nities of setting limits to the power of the bishops,of infring- 
 ing the liberties of the people, and of modifying, in various 
 ways, the ancient customs according to their pleasure. 
 And, indeed, even the bishops themselves , Whose opulence 
 and author ity were considerably increased since the reign 
 of Constantine, began to introduce innovations into the 
 forias of ecclesiastical discipline, and to change the ancient 
 government of the church. Their first step was an entire 
 exclusion of the people from all part in the administration 
 of ecclesiastical affairs; and, afterwards , they by degrees 
 divested even the presbyters of their ancient privileges, 
 and their primitive authority, that they might have no 
 
 mportunate protesters to control their ambition, or oppose |) 
 
 * See Bos. Histoire de la Monarchie Frangoise, tom. 1. p. 64. Gian- 
 none, Historia di Napoli, vol. i. 
 
 ® This appears from several passages in the useful work of Lud. 
 Thomassinus, entitled, Disciplina Ecclesie vet. et nove circa Beneficia, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il 
 
 their proceedings ; and, principally, that they might either 
 engross to themselves, or distribute as they thought proper, 
 the possessions and revenues of the church. Hence, at 
 the conclusion of this century, there remained no more 
 than a mere shadow of the ancient government of the 
 church. Many of the privileges which had formerly 
 belonged to the presbyters and people, were usurped by 
 the bishops ; s; and many of the rights, which had been 
 formerly vested in the universal church, were transferred 
 to the emperors, and to subordinate officers and magis- 
 trates. 
 
 III. Constantine, in order to prevent civil commotions, 
 and to fix his authority upon solid and stable foundations, 
 made several changes, not only in the laws of the empire, 
 but also in the form of the Roman government ;* and as 
 there were many important reasons, which induced him 
 to suit the administration of the church to these changes 
 in the civil constitution, this necessarily introduced, among 
 the bishops, new degrees of eminence and rank. ‘Three 
 prelates had, before this, enjoyed a certain degree of 
 pre-eminence over the rest of the episcopal order, viz. the 
 bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria ; and to these 
 the bishop of Cons stantinople was added, when the i impe- 
 rial residence was transferred to.zhat city. These four 
 prelates answered to the four Pretorian prefects created 
 by Constantine; and it is possible that, in this very cen- 
 tury, they were distinguished by the Jewish title of patri- 
 archs. After these, followed the exarchs, who had the 
 inspection over several provinces, and answered to the 
 appointment of certain civil officers who bore the same 
 title. Ina lower class were the metropolitans, who had 
 only the government of one province; under whom 
 were the archbishops, whose inspection was confined to 
 certain districts. In this gradation, the bishops brought up 
 the rear; the sphere of their authority was not, in all places, 
 equally ‘extensive 3 ; being in some considerably ample, 
 and in others confined within narrow limits. To these 
 various ecclesiastical orders, we might add that of the 
 chorediscop?, or superintendants of the country churches ; 
 but this order was, in most places, suppressed by the 
 bishops, with a design to extend their own authority, and 
 enlarge the sphere of their power and jurisdiction.» 
 
 IV. The administration of the church was divided, by 
 Constantine himself, into an external and an internal 
 inspection. The latter, which was committed to bishops 
 and councils, related to religious controversies, the forms of 
 divine worship, the offices of the priests, the vices of the 
 ecclesiastical orders, &c. "The external administration of 
 the church, the emperor assumed to himself. This com- 
 prehended all those things which relate to the outward 
 state and discipline of the church; it likewise extended to 
 all contests and debates that might arise among the minis- 
 ters of the church, superior as well as inferior, concerning 
 their possessions, their reputation, their rights and privileges, 
 their offences against the laws,and things ofa like nature; 
 but no controversies that related to matters purely religious 
 were cognizable by this external inspection. In conse- 
 quence of thisartful division of the ecclesiastical government, 
 Constantine and his successors called councils, presided in 
 
 tom. i. ¢ Euseh, de vita Constantini, lib. iv. cap. xxiv. p. 536. 
 4 See the imperial laws both in Justinian’s Code, and in the Theo 
 dosian ; as also Godofred. ad Codic. Theodos. tom. vi. 
 
Cuap. IT. 
 
 them, appointed the judges of religious controversies, termi- 
 nated the differences which arose between the bishops and 
 
 the people, fixed the limits of the ecclesiastical provinces, | 
 
 took cognisance of the civil causes that subsisted between 
 the ministers of the church, and punished the crimes com- 
 mitted against the laws by the ordinary judges appointed 
 for that purpose ; leaving all causes purely ecclesiastical to 
 the cognisance of bishops and councils. But this famous 
 division of the administration of the church was never 
 explained with perspicuity, or determined with a sufficient 
 degree of accuracy and precision; so that, both in this and 
 the following centuries, we find many transactions that 
 seem absolutely inconsistent with it. We find the empe- 
 rors, for example, frequently determining matters purely 
 ecclesiastical, which belonged to the internal Jurisdiction of 
 the church; and, on the other hand, nothing is more fre- 
 quent than the decisions of bishops and councils concerning 
 things that relate merely to the external form and govern- 
 ment of the church. 
 
 V. In the episcopal order, the bishop of Rome was the first 
 in rank, and was distinguished by a sort of pre-eminence 
 over all other prelates. Prejudices, arising from a great 
 variety of causes, contributed to establish this superiority ; 
 but it was chiefly owing to certain circumstances of gran- 
 deur and opulence, by which mortals, for the most part, 
 form their ideas of pre-eminence and dignity, and which 
 they generally confound with the reasons of a just and 
 legal “authority. The bishop of Rome surpassed all his 
 brethren in the magnificence and splendour of the church 
 over which he presided ; in the riches of his revenues and 
 possessions ; in the number and variety of his ministers ; 
 in his credit with the people; and in his sumptuous and 
 splendid manner of living.s, These dazzling marks of 
 human power, these seeming proofs of true greatness and 
 felicity, had such a mighty influence upon the minds of the 
 multitude, that the see of Rome became, in this century, a 
 most seducing object of sacerdotal ambition. Hence it hap- 
 pened, that when a new pontiff was to be elected by the 
 suffrages of the presbyters and the people, the city of Rome 
 was generally agitated with dissensions, tumults, and 
 cabals, whose consequences were often deplorable and fatal. 
 The intrigues and disturbances that prevailed in that city 
 in the year 366, when, upon the death of Liberius, another 
 pontiff was to be chosen in his place, are a sufficient proof 
 of what we have nowadvanced. Upon this occasion, one 
 faction elected Damasus to that high dignity, while the 
 opposite party chose Ursicinus, a deacon of the vacant 
 church, to succeed Liberius. ‘This double election gave 
 rise to a dangerous schism, and even to a civil war within 
 the city of Rome, which was carried on with the utmost 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus gives a striking description of the luxury in 
 re the bishops of Rome lived. See his Hist. lib. xxvii. cap. ili. 
 > Among the other writers of the papal history, see Bower’s History 
 ofthe Popes, vol. 1. 
 ¢ Those who desire a more ample accountof this matter, ‘may consult 
 Pet. de Marca, de Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii: Du Pin, de antiqua 
 Ecclesiz disciplina ; and the very learned and judicious work of Blon- 
 del, de la Primauté dans Eglise. 
 zp 4 The imprudence of the emperor, and the precipitation of the 
 bishops, were singularly discovered in the following event, which favour- 
 ed extremely the rise and the ambition of the Roman pontiff. About the 
 year 372, Valentinian enacted a law, empowering the occupant of the 
 see of Rome to examine and judge other bishops, that religions disputes 
 might not be decided by profane or secular judges. The bishops as- 
 sembled in council at Rome in 378, not considering the fatal consequen- 
 ces that must arise from this imprudent law, both to themselves and to 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 87 
 
 barbarity and fury, and produced the mostcruel massacres 
 and desolation. This inhuman contest ended in the vic- 
 tory of Damasus; but whether his cause was more just 
 than that of Ursicinus, is a question not so easy to deter 
 mine.” 'T'o neither, indeed, can we attribute such principles 
 as constitute a good Christian, much less that exemplary 
 virtue which should distinguish a Christian bishop. 
 
 VI. Notwithstanding the pomp and splendour that sur- 
 rounded the Roman see, it is certain that the bishops of 
 that city had not acquired, in this century, that pre- 
 eminence of power and jurisdiction in the church which 
 they afterwards enjoyed. In the ecclesiastical common 
 wealth, they were, indeed, the most eminent order of citi 
 zens; but still they were citizens, as well as their brethren 
 and subject, like them, to the edicts and laws of the empe- 
 rors. All religious causes of extraordinary importance were 
 examined and determined, either by judges appointed by 
 the emperors, or in councils assembled for that purpose 
 while those of inferior moment were decided, in each dis 
 trict, by its respective bishop. The ecclesiastical laws were 
 enacted, either by the emperor, or by councils. None of the 
 bishops acknowledged that they derived their authority 
 from the permission and appointment of the bishop of 
 Rome, or that they were created bishops by the favour of 
 the apostolic see. On the contrary, they all maintained, that 
 they were the ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ, 
 and that their authority was derived from above. It must, 
 however, be observed, that, even in this ceritury, several of 
 those steps were laid, by which the bishops of Rome mount- 
 ed afterwards to the summit of ecclesiastical power and 
 despotism. ‘These steps were partly laid by the impru- 
 dence of the emperors, partly by the dexterity of the Roman 
 prelates octane and partly by the inconsiderate zeit 
 and precipitate judgment of certain bishops.t The four ’ 
 
 canon of the council, holden at Sardis in the year 347, 
 considered, by the votaries of the Roman pontiff, as the 
 principal step to his sovereignty in the church; but, in my 
 opinion, it ought by no means to be looked upon in this 
 point of view ; for, not to insist upon the reasons that prove 
 the authority of this council to be extremely dubious, or 
 upon those which have induced some to regard its laws as 
 grossly corrupted, and others, to consider them as entirely 
 fictitious and spurious,® it w ill be sufficient to observe the 
 impossibility of proving, by the canon in question, that the 
 bishops of Sardis were of opinion, that, in all cases, an 
 appeal might be made to the bishop of Rome, in quality ot 
 supreme judge:' but if we suppose, for a moment, that this 
 was their opinion, what would follow? Surely that pretext 
 for assuming a supreme authority, must be very slender, 
 which arises only from the decree of one obscure council. 
 
 recommended the execution of it in an address to the emperor Gratian. 
 —Some think, indeed, that this law authorised the Reman prelate to 
 judge only the. bishops within the limits of his jurisdiction, 7. ¢. those o. 
 the suburbicarian provinces. Others are of opinion, that this power 
 was given only fora time, and extended to those bishops alone, who 
 were concerned in the present schism. The latter notion seenis proba- 
 ble: but still this privilege was an excellent instrument in the hands of 
 sacerdotal ambition. 
 
 * See Mich. Geddes, Diss. de Canonibus Sardicensibus amung his 
 Miscellaneous Tracts, tom. ii. 
 
 “> The fourth canon of the council of Sardis, supposing 1t genu- 
 ine and authentic, related only to the particular case of a bishop’s bei ing 
 deposed by the neighbori ing prelates, and demanding permission to make 
 his defence. In that case, “this canon prohibited the election of a succes- 
 sor to the deposed individual, before the pontiff had examined the cause 
 
 the church, declared their approbation of it in the strongest terms, and || and pronounced sentence. 
 
83 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 VII. Constantine the Great, by removing the seat of the || pled upon the rights of the people, violated the privileges of 
 
 empire to Byzantium, and building the city of Constanti- 
 nople, raised up, in the bishop of this new metropolis, a 
 formidable rival to the Roman pontiff, and a bulwark 
 which menaced his growing authority with vigorous oppo- 
 sition ; for, as the emperor, in order to render Constantino- 
 plea second Rome, enriched it with all the rights and privi- 
 deges, honours and ot naments, of the ancient capital of the 
 world ; soits bishop, measuring his own dignity and rank 
 by the magnificence of the new city, and by its eminence, 
 as the august residence of the emperor, assumed an equal 
 degree of dignity with the bishop of Rome, and claimed a 
 superiority over all the rest of the episcopal order. Nor did 
 the emperors disapprove these high pretensions, since they 
 considered their own. dignity as connected, in a certain 
 measure, with that of the bishop of their imperial city. Ac- 
 cordingly, in a council convoked at Constantinople in the 
 year 381, by the authority of Theodosius the Great, the 
 bishop of that city was, during the absence of the bishop of 
 Alexandria, and against the consent of the Roman prelate, 
 placed, by the third canon of that council, in the first rank 
 after the bishop of Rome, and, consequently, above those of 
 Alexandria and Antioch. Nectarius was the first who 
 enjoyed these new honours accumulated upon the see of 
 Constantinople. His successor, the celebrated John Chry- 
 sostom, & xtended the privileges of that see, and subjected to 
 its jurisdiction all Thrace, Asia Minor, and Pontus ;* nor 
 were the succeeding bishops of that imperial city destitute 
 of a fervent zeal for the augmentation of their privileges 
 and the extension of their dominion. 
 
 This sudden revolution in the ecclesiastical government, 
 and this unexpected promotion of the bishop of Byzantium 
 to a higher rank, to the detriment of other prelates of the 
 first eminence in the church, were productive of the most 
 disagreeable effects ; for this promotion not only filled the 
 bishops of Alexandria with the bitterest aversion to those of 
 Constantinople, but also excited those deplorable conten- 
 tions and disputes between the latter and the Roman pon- 
 tiffs, which were carried on, for many ages, with such vari- 
 ous success, and concluded, at length, in the entire separa- 
 ion of the Latin and Greek churches. 
 
 VIII. The additions made by the emperors and others 
 to the wealth, honours, and advantages of the clergy, were 
 followed by a proportionable augmentation of vices and 
 luxury, particularly among those of that sacred order, who 
 lived in great and opulent cities ; and that many such ‘addi- 
 tions were made to that order after the time of Constantine, 
 is a matter that admits no dispute. ‘The bishops, on one 
 hand, in the most scandalous manner, mutually disputed 
 the extent of jurisdiction ; while, on the other, they tram- 
 
 * See Pet. de Marca, Diss. de Constantinop. Patriachatus Institutione, 
 subjoined to his book de Concordia Sacerdoiti et Imperil; and Mich. 
 Lequien, Oriens Christianus, tom. 1. See also an Account of the 
 Government of the Christian Church for the first six hundred years, by 
 Dr. Parker, bishop of Oxford. 
 
 b See Sulpit. Sever. Hist. Sacr. lib. i. cap. xxiii. lib. ii. cap. xxxii. 
 Dialog. 1. cap. xxi. Add to this the account given by Clarkson (in his 
 Discourse upon Liturgies) of the corrupt and profligate manners of the 
 clergy, and, partic ularly, of the unbounded ambition of the prelates, to 
 enlarge the sphere of their influence and authority. 
 
 ¢ No writer has accused Eusebius of Arianism, with more bitterness 
 and erudition, than le Clerc, in the second of his Epist. Eccles. et Crit. 
 and Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccles, Nov. T. Sec. iv. All, however, 
 hat these writers prove, is, that Eusebius maintained that a certain 
 disparity and subordination subsisted between the persons of the Godhead. 
 If we suppose this to have heen his opinion, it will not thence follow 
 
 } 
 
 the inferior minister s, and imitated, in their conduct and in 
 their manner of living, the arrogance, voluptuousness, and 
 luxury of magistrates and princes.» "This pernicious ex- 
 ample was soon imitated by the several ecclesiastical orders, 
 The presbyters, in many places, assumed an equality with 
 the bishops in point of rank and authority. We find also 
 many complaints made, at this time, of the vanity and 
 effeminacy of the deacons. ‘Those presbyters and dea- 
 cons, more particularly, who filled the first stations of these 
 orders, carried their pretensions to an extravagant length, 
 and were offended at the notion of being placed upon an 
 equal footing with their colleagues. For this reason, they 
 not only assumed the titles of archpresbyters and archdea- 
 cons, but also claimed a degree of authority and power 
 much superior to that which was vested in the other mem- 
 bers of their respective orders. 
 
 TX. Several writers of great reputation lived in this cen- 
 tury, and were shining ornaments to tue countries to which 
 they belonged. Among those who flourished in Greece, 
 and in the eastern provinces, the following seem to deserve 
 the first rank. 
 
 Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Ceesarea in Palestine, 
 was a man of immense reading, justly famous for his 
 profound knowledge of ecclesiastical history, and singular- 
 ly versed in other branches of literature, more especially in 
 all the different parts of sacred erudition. ‘These emi- 
 nent talents and acquisitions were, however, accompanied 
 with errors and defects, and he is said to have inclined to- 
 ward the sentiments of those. who looked upon the three 
 person in the Godhead as different from each other in 
 rank and dignity. Some have represented this learned 
 prelate as a thorough Arian, but without foundation, if by 
 an Arian be meant one who embraces the doctrine taught 
 by Arius, presbyter of Alexandria.¢ 
 
 Peter of Alexandria is mentioned by Eusebius with the 
 highest encomiums.¢ 
 
 Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, is celebrated on ac- 
 count of his learned and pious labours, and particularly 
 famous for his warm and vigorous opposition to the Arians.* 
 
 Basil, surnamed the Great, bishop of Cesarea, in point of 
 genius, controversial skill, and a rich and flowing elo- 
 quence, was surpassed by very few in this century.‘ 
 
 Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, left some catechetical dis- 
 courses, which he delivered in that city; he has been accus- 
 ed by many of intimate connexions with the Semi-Arians.£ 
 
 John, surnamed Chrysostom on account of his extraor- 
 dinary eloquence, a man of a noble genius, governed suc- 
 cessively the churches of Antioch and Constantinople," and 
 left several monuments of his profound and extensive eru- 
 
 that he was an Arian, unless that word be taken in a very extensive and 
 improper sense. Nothing i is more common than the abusive application 
 of this term to persons, who have entertained opinions opposite to those 
 of Arius, though perhaps they may have erred in other respects. 
 
 4 Hist. Eccles. lib. ix. cap. vi. 
 
 ¢ Eusebius Renaudot, in his History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, 
 has collected all the accounts which the Oriental writers give of Athana- 
 sius, of whose works the learned and justly celebrated Benedictine, 
 Bernard de Montfaucon, gave a splendid edition. 
 
 f The works of Bazil were published at Paris by Julian Garnier, a 
 learned Benedictine. 
 
 ® 'The later editions of the works of this prelate, are these published 
 by Mr. Milles, and by Augustus Toutee, a Benedictine monk. 
 
 hIt must not be understood by this, that Chrysostom was bishop of 
 
 | both these churches; he was preacher at Antioch, (a function, indeed 
 
Cuap. IL. 
 
 dition; as also discourses* which he had preached with 
 great applause. 
 
 Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, in the isle of Cyprus, 
 wrote a book against all the heresies that had sprung up 
 in the church until his time. This work has little or no 
 reputation, as it is full of inaccuracies and errors, and be- 
 trays in almost every page the levity and ignorance of its 
 author.® 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa have ob- 
 tained a very honourable place among the celebrated theo- 
 logical and polemic writers of this century, and not with- 
 out foundation, as their works sufficiently testify... Their 
 reputation, indeed, would have yet been more confirmed, 
 had they been less attached to the writings of Origen,‘ 
 and less infected with the false and vicious eloquence of 
 the sophists. 
 
 Ephraim the Syrian acquired an immortal name by the 
 sanctity of his conversation and manners, and by the mul- 
 titude of those excellent works in which he combated the 
 sectaries, explained the sacred writings, and unfolded the 
 moral duties and obligations of Christians.¢ 
 
 Beside the learned men now mentioned, there are several 
 others, of whose writings but a small number have surviv- 
 ed the ruins of time; such as Pamphilus, a martyr, and 
 an intimate friend of Eusebius; Diodorus, bishop of Tar- 
 sus; Hosius, of Cordova; Didymus, of Alexandria; Eusta- 
 thius, bishop of Antioch; Amphilochius, bishop of Ico- 
 nium; Palladius, the writer of the Lausiac History;! Ma- 
 carius, the elder and the younger; Apollinaris the elder; 
 and some others, who are frequently mentioned on ac- 
 count of their erudition, and the remarkable events in 
 which they were concerned. 
 
 X. The Latins also were not without writers of consi- 
 derable note, the principal of whom we shall point out 
 here. 
 
 Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, acquired a name by twelve 
 books concerning the Trinity, which he wrote against 
 the Arians, and several other productions. He was a man 
 of penetration and genius; notwithstanding which, he 
 has, for the most part, rather copied in his writings 'Tertul- 
 lian and Origen, than given us the fruits of his own stu- 
 dy and invention.s 
 
 Lactantius, the most eloquent of the Latin writers in 
 this century, exposed the absurdity of the pagan supersti- 
 tions in his Divine Institutions, which are written with un- 
 
 which before him was always attached to the episcopal dignity,) and 
 afterwards patriarch of Constantinople. 
 
 “The best edition of the works of Chrysostom, is that published by 
 Montfaucon, in eleven volumes folio. 
 
 b The works of Epiphanius were translated into Latin, and published 
 with notes, by the learned Petau. His life, written by Gervase, appeared 
 at Paris in 1738. 
 
 ¢ There are some good editions of these two writers, which we owe 
 0 the care and industry of two learned French editors of the seventeenth 
 
 century,—Z‘> namely, the abbot Billy, who published the works of | 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen at Paris, in 1609, with a Latin translation and 
 learned notes, and father Fronton du Duc, who published those of Gre- 
 gory of Nyssa in 1605. 
 
 %> 1 The charge of Origenism seems to have been adduced by the 
 ancient writers only against Gregory of Nyssa. 
 
 * There is a large and accurate account of this excellent writer in the 
 Biblioth. Oriental Vatic. of Joseph Simon Asseman, tom. 1. Several 
 works ofEphraim were published at Oxford in Greek; and of these 
 Gerard Vossius has given a Latin translation. An edition of the same 
 works, in Syriac, appeared at Rome, under the auspices of Steph. Euod. 
 Asseman. 
 
 => ‘ This is the history of the solitaries, or hermits, which derived 
 the name of Lausiac history from Lausus, governor of Cappadocia, at 
 
 No. VIII. 23 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 89 
 
 common purity and eloquence. He wrote also upon other 
 subjects, but was much more successful’ in refuting the 
 errors of others, than careful in observing and correcting 
 his own.i 
 
 Ambrose, preefect, and afterwards bishop of Milan, was 
 not destitute of a certain degree of elegance both of genius 
 and style; his sentiments of things were, by no means, 
 absurd ; but he did not escape the prevailing defect of that 
 age, a want of solidity, accuracy, and order.* 
 
 Jerome, a monk of Palestine, rendered, by his learned 
 and zealous labours, such eminent services to the Christian 
 cause, as will hand down his name with honour to the la- 
 test posterity. But this superior and illustrious merit was 
 accompanied, and in some measure, obscured, by very 
 great defects. His complexion was excessively warm and 
 choleric, his bitterness against those who differed from him 
 extremely keen, and his thirst of glory insatiable. He was 
 so prone to censure, that several persons, whose lives were 
 not only irreproachable, but even exemplary, became the 
 objects of his unjust accusations. All this, joined to his 
 superstitious turn of mind, and the enthusiastic encomiums 
 which he lavished upon a false and degenerate sort of pie- 
 ty which prevailed in his time, sunk his reputation greatly, 
 even in the esteem of the candid and the wise. His wri- 
 tings are voluminous, but not all equally adapted to in- 
 struct and edify. His interpretations of the holy scriptures, 
 and his epistles, are those of his productions which seem 
 the most proper to be read with profit;! 
 
 The fame of Augustin, bishop of Hippo in Africa, filled 
 the whole Christian world; and not without reason, as a 
 variety of great and shining qualities were united in the 
 character of that illustrious man. <A sublime genius, an 
 uninterrupted and zealous pursuit of truth, an indefatigable 
 application, an invincible patience, a sincere piety, and a 
 subtle and lively wit, conspired to establish his fame upon 
 the most lasting foundations. It is, however, certain, that 
 the accuracy and solidity of his judgment were, by no 
 means, proportionable to the eminent talents now mention- 
 ed ; and that, on many occasions, he was more guided by 
 the violent impulse of a warm imagination, than by the 
 cool dictates of reason and prudence. Hence arose that 
 
 /ambiguity which appears in his writings, and which has 
 
 sometimes rendered the most attentive readers uncertain 
 with respect to his real sentiments ; and hence also the just 
 complaints which many have made of the contradictions 
 
 whose request it was composed, and to whom it was dedicated by 
 Palladius. 
 
 & There is a very accurate and ample account of Hilary, in the Histoire 
 de la France, tom. i The best edition we have of his works is that 
 published by the French Benedictines. 
 
 hSee a complete account of Lactantius, Histoire Literaire de la 
 France, tom. i. 
 
 3x“p i Lactantius considers Christ’s mission as having no other end, 
 than that of leading mankind to virtue by the most sublime precepts and 
 the most perfect example. The charge of Manicheism, brought against 
 this eminent writer, is refuted in the most evident and satisfactory 
 manner by Dr. Lardner, in the seventh volume of his Credibility of the 
 Gospel History, where the reader may find an ample and interesting ac- 
 count of his character and writings. Among those who have been editors 
 of the works of Lactantius, the most reputed are Bunemann, Heumann, 
 Walchius, and Lenglet du Fresnoy. 
 
 k The works of St. Ambrose have been published, by the Benedictines, 
 in two volumes in folio. 
 
 1'The defects of Jerome are exposed by Le Clerc, in his Quest. 
 Hieronym. published at Amsterdam in 1700. The Benedictine monks 
 have given an edition of the works of this father in five volumes 
 
 _ republished at Verona by Vallarsius with considerable additions. 
 
90 
 
 that are so frequent in his works, and of the levity and 
 precipitation with which he set himself to write upon a vari- 
 ety of subjects before he had examined them with a suff- 
 cient degree of attention and diligence.* 
 
 Optatus, bishop of Milevi in Numidia, acquired no small 
 degree of reputation, by a work which he wrote against the 
 schism of the Donatists.” 
 
 Paulinus, bishop of Nola, wrote some poems and epistles, 
 which are still extant. They are not remarkable either 
 for their excellence or their meanness.*, 
 
 Rufinus, presbyter of Aquileia, is famous on account of 
 his Latin translations of Origen and other Greek writers, 
 his commentaries on several books of the holy scriptures, 
 and his bitter contest with Jerome. He would have 
 obtained a very honourable place among the Latin writers 
 of this century, had it not been his misfortune to have the 
 powerful and foul-mouthed Jerome for his adversary.* 
 
 As to Philastrius, Damasus, Juvensus, and other writers 
 of that obscure class, we refer the reader, for an account of 
 them, to those authors whose principal object is to give an 
 exact enumeration of the Christian writers. We shall add, 
 nevertheless, to the list already given, Sulpitius Severus, 
 by birth a Gaul, and the most eminent historical writer of 
 this century;* as also Prudentius, a Spaniard, a poet of a 
 happy and elegant genius. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church in 
 this Century. 
 
 I. Tue fundamental principles of the Christian doctrine 
 were preserved hitherto incorrupt and entire in most 
 churches, though it must be confessed, that they were often 
 explained and defended in a manner that discovered the 
 greatest ignorance, and an utter confusion of ideas. The 
 disputes carried on in the council of Nice, concerning the 
 three persons in the Godhead, afford a remarkable example 
 of this, particularly in the language and explanations of 
 those who approved the decisions of that council. So little 
 light, precision, and order, reigned in their discourses, that 
 they appeared to substitute three gods, in the place of one. 
 
 Nor did the evil end here; for those vain fictions, which 
 an attachment to the Platonic philosophy, and to popular 
 opinions, had engaged the greatest part of the Christian 
 doctors to adopt, before the time of Constantine, were now 
 confirmed, enlarged, and embeilished, in various ways. 
 Hence arose that extravagant veneration for departed 
 saints, and those absurd notions of a certain fire destined 
 to purify separate souls, that now prevailed, and of which 
 the public marks were every where to be seen. Hence 
 also the celibacy of priests, the worship of images and relics, 
 
 * An accurate and splendid edition of the works of St. Augustin, has 
 neen given by the Benedictines, since that of the divines of Louvain. 
 This elegant edition bears the title of Antwerp, where it was published, 
 with some augmentations, by Le Clerc, under the fictitious name of Jo. 
 Phereponus. The Jesuits, "however, pr etend to have found many defects 
 in this edition. 
 
 » Since the edition of Optatus, published by Albaspinazus, another has 
 appeared, which we owe to the care and industry of M. Du-Pin, doctor 
 of the Sorbonne. 
 
 ¢ The best edition of Paulinus is that which was published at Paris, 
 in 1685, by Le Brun. 
 
 xP d Rufinus and Jerome had lived for many years in the most inti- 
 mate and tender friendship, which ended in a violent rupture, on occa- 
 sion of a translation which the former made of some of the works of 
 Origen, particularly his Book of Principles. For an account of Rufinus, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parv IL. 
 
 which, in process of time, almost utterly destroyed the 
 Christian religion, or at least eclipsed its lustre, and corrupt- 
 ed its very essence in the most deplorable manner. 
 
 II. An enormous train of different superstitions were 
 gradually substituted for true religion and genuine piety. 
 ‘This odious revolution proceeded from a var iety of causes. 
 A ridiculous precipitation in receiving new opinions, a 
 preposterous desire of imitating the pagan rites, and of 
 blending them with the Christian worship, and that idle 
 propensity, which the generality of mankind have toward 
 a gaudy and ostentatious religion, all contributed to estab- 
 lish the reign of superstition upon the ruins of Christianity. 
 Accordingly, frequent pilgrimages were undertaken to 
 Palestine, and to the tombs of the martyrs, as if there alone 
 the sacred principles of virtue and the certain hope of 
 salvation were to be acquired. The reins being once let 
 loose to superstition, which knows no bounds, absurd notions 
 and idle ceremonies multiplied almost every day. Quan- 
 tities of dust and earth brought from Palestine, and other 
 
 places remarkable for their supposed sanctity, were handed 
 
 about as the most powerful remedies against the violence 
 of wicked spirits, and were sold and bought every where 
 at enormous prices.‘ The public processions and sup- 
 plications, by which the Pagans endeavoured to appease 
 their gods, were now adopted into the Christian worship, 
 and celebrated in many places with great pomp and 
 magnificence. The virtues which had formerly been 
 ascribed to the heathen temples, to their lustrations, to 
 the statues of their gods and heroes, were now attributed 
 to Christian churches, to water consecrated by certain 
 forms of prayer, and to the images of holy men. And the 
 same privileges, that the former enjoyed under the dark- 
 ness of Paganism, were conferred upon the latter ynder 
 the light of the Gospel, or, rather, under that cloud of 
 superstition which was obscuring its glory. It is true, that, 
 as yet, images were not very common; nor were there any 
 statues at all. But it is, at the same time, as undoubtedly 
 certain, as it is extravagant and monstrous, that the wor- 
 ship of the martyrs was modelled, by degrees, according to 
 the religious services tHat were paid to the gods before the 
 coming of Christ." 
 
 From these facts, which are but small specimens of the 
 state of Christianity at this time, the discerning reader 
 will easily perceive what detriment the church received 
 from the peace and prosperity procured by Constantine, 
 and from the imprudent methods employed to allure the 
 different nations to embrace the Gospel. The brevity 
 we have proposed to observe in this history, prevents our 
 entering into an ample detail of the dismal effects that 
 arose from the progress and the baneful influence of super- 
 stition, which had now become universal. 
 
 Ul. This, indeed, among other unhappy eflects, opened 
 see Rich. Simon, Critique de la Bibliotheque des Auteurs Eccles. par 
 
 M. Du-Pin, tom.i. An ample account of the same writer is given by 
 Justus Fontaninus, Hist. Literar. Aquileiens. lib. v. 
 
 ° See Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. i1.; and consult also 
 liieron. a Prato, who has written, with great accuracy, the life of this 
 Listorian. 
 
 f See Gregor. ape seni Orat. ad eos qui Hicrosolymam adeunt, tom. 
 il. op.—Hieronym. Epist. xii1.ad Paulinum de instituto Monachi, tom. 
 i—Jac. Godofred. ae odicem Theodosian. tom. vi—Petri Wésselingii 
 Dissertat. de causis Peregrinat. Hierosolymit. quam Itinerario Burdiga- 
 lensi preemisit, inter vetcra Romanor. Itineraria, p. 537. 
 
 ® Augustinus, de Civitates Dei, lib. xxii. cap. viii. sect. 6. 
 
 h For a full account of this matter, see Beausobre, Hist. du Man 
 cheisme, tom. ii. 
 
Crap. Ill. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 a wide door to the endless frauds of those odious impostors, | 
 
 who were so far destitute ¢f all principle, as to enrich them- 
 selves by the ignorance and errors of the people. Rumors 
 were artfully spread abroad of prodigies and miracles to 
 be seen in certain places (a trick often practised by the 
 heathen priests); and the design of these reports was to 
 draw the populace, in multitudes, to these places, and to 
 impose upon their credulity. "These stratagems were gen- 
 erally successful; for the ignorance and slowness of 
 apprehension of the people, to whom every thing that is 
 new and singular appears miraculous, rendered them 
 easily the dupes of this abominable artifice.» Nor was 
 this all; certain tombs were falsely given out for the 
 sepulchres of saints? and confessors ; the list of the saints 
 was augmented with fictitious names, and even robbers | 
 were converted into martyrs.« Some buried the bones of 
 dead men in certain retired places, and then affirmed, that | 
 they were divinely admonished, by a dream, that the body 
 of some friend of God lay there.t_ Many, especially of the 
 monks, travelled through the different provinces ; and not 
 only sold, with the most frontless impudence, their fictitious 
 relics, but also deceived the eyes of the multitude with lu- 
 dicrous combats with evil spirits or genii.c. A whole vo- 
 Jume would be requisite to contain an enumeration of the 
 various frauds which artful knaves practised, with success, 
 to delude the ignorant, when true religion was almost en- 
 tirely superseded by horrid superstition. 
 
 IV. Many of the learned, in this century, undertook 
 translations of the Scriptures; but few succeeded in this 
 arduous enterprise. Among the many Latin versions of 
 
 the sacred books, that of Jerome was distinguished by its 
 undoubted superiority... ‘The same ingenious and inde- 
 fatigable writer, whose skill in the languages was by no 
 means inconsiderable, employed much pains upon the 
 Greek version of the seventy interpreters, in order to give a 
 more correct edition of it than had appeared before his 
 time; and it is said that Eusebius, Athanasius, and Eu- 
 thalius, had embarked in an undertaking of the same na- 
 ture.s Of interpreters the number was very considerable, 
 among whom Jerome, Hilary, Eusebius, Diodorus of 'Tar- 
 sus, Rufinus, Ephraim the Syrian, Theodore of Heraclea, 
 Chrysostom, Athanasius, and Didymus, are generally es- 
 teemed worthy of the first rank. It is however certain, that, 
 even of these first-rate commentators, few have discovered a 
 just discernment, or a sound judgment, in their laborious 
 expositions of the sacred writings. Rufinus, Theodore, and | 
 Diodorus, with some others, have, indeed, followed the | 
 natural signification of the words;" the rest, after the ex- 
 ample of Origen, are laborious in the search of far-fetched 
 interpretations, and pervert the expressions of Scripture, 
 which they very imperfectly understand, by applying them, 
 or Father straining them to points with which they have no 
 connexion.‘ St. Augustin and 'l'ychonius endeavoured to 
 establish plain and wise rules for the interpretation of 
 Scripture ; but their efforts were unsuccessful.« 
 
 * Henry Dodwell, Disser. ii. inIrenzeum, sect. 56. Le Clerc, in his Ap- 
 perdix Augustinian. p. 492, 550, 575. 
 
 » Concil. Carthag. v. Can. xiv. 
 
 * Sulpitius Severus, de vite S. MArtini, cap. viii. 
 
 4 Augustin. Serm. cecxviii. sect: i. tom. v. op. 
 
 * See Godofred. ad cod. Theod. tom. iii—Augustin. de opere Mona- |} 
 chor. cap. xxviii. sect. 36. Hieronymi. Epist. ad Rusticum, tom. i. op. 
 
 f Jo. France. Buddei Isagoge ad Theologiam, tom. ii. 
 
 @ Frickius, de Canone N. T. 
 
 t Simon, Critique de la Bibliotheque des Autews Ecclesiast. par 
 
 { 
 
 91 
 
 V. The doctrines of Christianity had not a better fate 
 than the sacred writings from which they are drawn. 
 Origen was the great model whom the most eminent o. 
 the Christian doctors followed in their explications of the 
 truths of the Gospel, which were consequently explain- 
 ed, according to the rules of the Platonic philosophy, as 
 it was corrected and modified by that learned father for the 
 instruction of the youth. Those who desire a more am- 
 ple and accurate account of this matter, may consult Gre- 
 gory Nazianzen among the Greeks, and Augustin among 
 the Latins, who were followed, for a long time, as the on- 
 ly patterns worthy of imitation, and who next to Origen, 
 may be considered asthe parents and supporters of the 
 philosophical or scholastic theology. ‘They were both 
 zealous Platonists ; and holding, for certain, all the tenets 
 of that philosopher which were not totally repugnant to 
 the truths of Christianity, they laid them down as funda- 
 mental principles, and drew from them a great variety of 
 subtile conclusions, which neither Christ nor Plato ever 
 thought of. 
 
 This, however, was not the only sect that flourished at 
 this time. That order of fanatics, who maintained that 
 the knowledge of divine truth was to be acquired, not by 
 reasoning, but by still contemplation, and by turning the 
 eye of the mind upon itself in an entire absence from all 
 external and sensible objects, became now much more 
 numerous. ‘This appears from many circumstances, par- 
 ticularly from the swarms of monks that almost overspread 
 the Christian world, and also from the books of Dionysius, 
 the pretended chief of the Mystics, which seem to have 
 been forged in this century, under that venerable name, 
 by some member of that fanatical tribe. 
 
 VI. Among the writers of this century, who published 
 expositions of the Christian doctrine, the first place is due 
 to Cyril of Jerusalem, justly celebrated for his catecheti- 
 cal discourses, which nothing but a partial blindness to the 
 truth could have induced any to attribute to a more mo- 
 dern author.!. Some have ranked Lactantius in the class 
 of writers now under consideration, but without reason, 
 since it is well known, that the labours of that eloquent 
 author were rather employed im refuting the errors of 
 idolatry, than in explaining the truths of the Gospel. 
 The System of Doctrine addressed to. the Clergy and Lai- 
 ty, which, by many, has been attributed to Athanasius, 
 seems to be of a much later date. ‘There are, however, 
 many things in the works of Chrysostom, Athanasius, the 
 Gregories, and others, by which we may be enabled to 
 form a just idea of the manner in which the principal points 
 of the Christian doctrine were explained by learned men 
 in this century. We may more particularly be assisted 
 in this matter by the twelve books of Hilary concerning 
 the Trinity ; the Ancoratus of Epiphanius, in which the 
 doctrine of Scripture, concerning Christ and the Holy 
 Ghost, is explained at large; the treatise of Pacian, concern 
 ing baptism, addressed to the catechumens; and the two 
 
 Du-Pin, tom. i.iv. as also Hist. Critique des principaux Commentateurs 
 du N. T’. cap. vi. 
 
 i See Gregor. Nazianz. Carmen de Seipso, in Tollius’ Insignia 
 Itineris Italici. 
 
 k This may be seen in the six books which Augustin wrote concerning 
 the Christian doctrine, and in the rules of interpretation laid down 
 
 _by Tychonius, which are to be found in the Biblioth. Patr. Maxim. 
 
 tom. v1. 
 1 See Jo. Fechtii Comment. de Origine Missarum in Honorem 
 Sanctorum, p. 404. 
 
92 
 
 books of Chrysostom on the same subject. We need not 
 mention here the various works of Jerome and Augustin, 
 in which appear the laborious and noble efforts of those 
 great men to inspire into the minds of the people just 
 notions of religion, and to detect and refute the errors of 
 those who were enemies of the truth. 
 
 VU. The controversial writings, that were levelled 
 against those who were considered as heretics, were en- 
 tirely destitute of that ancient simplicity, which is the na- 
 tural and the beautiful garb of truth. That simplicity was 
 now succeeded by logical subtilties, acute sophisms, sharp 
 invectives, and other disingenuous arts, more worthy of 
 the patrons of error, than the defenders of that ‘wisdom 
 which is from above.’ We find, accordingly, many great 
 and eminent men complaining of this abuse, and endea- 
 vouring in vain to oppose the muddy torrent of scurrility 
 and dialectic that was overflowing the Christian schools.* 
 T pass in silence those rhetorical figures and ornaments, by 
 which many evaded the arguments of their adversaries, 
 and artfully perplexed the true state of the case } that 
 odious custom, also, observed by some, of exciting the po- 
 pular resentment against those who differed from them, 
 and the total want of order and of perspicuity, chargeable 
 upon almost all. Several writers of this age are so far 
 from disowning these indecorous qualities, that they seem, 
 on the contrary, to glory in them. It must, indeed, be 
 observed, that the adversaries of the truth used the same 
 inglorious arms, though this does not in the least diminish 
 the reproach which is on that account due to its friends. 
 
 VIII. New methods of disputing were also added to 
 those which were practised in former times; for the truth 
 of a doctrine was now proved by the number of martyrs 
 that had professed it, by miracles, by the confession of 
 daemons, i. e. of persons possessed ‘with evil spirits. ‘The 
 smallest degree of discernment will persuade any one how 
 ambiguous ‘this method of reasoning was; how dangerous 
 to the truth, by furnishing innumerable occasions for the 
 exercise of fraud and imposture ; ; and I apprehend, that 
 the greatest part of those who used such arguments, how- 
 ever illustrious and respectable they may have been, will 
 be found, upon examination, chargeable with the dange- 
 rous and criminal design of imposing upon their brethren. 
 Ambrose, in his disputes with the Arians, produced men 
 possessed with devils, who on the approach of the relics of 
 Gervasius and Protasius, were obliged to acknowledge, with 
 loud cries, that the doctrine of the council of Nice, concern- 
 ing the three persons of the godhead, was true; and that of 
 the Arians not only false, but also of most dangerous conse- 
 quence. ‘This testimony of the prince of darkness was re- 
 garded by Ambrose, as an unexceptionable argument in 
 favour of his hypothesis. The Arians, on the other hand, 
 held this prodigy in the utmost derision, and maintained 
 that. Ambrose had suborned these infernal witnesses by a 
 weighty bribe ;» and I make no doubt that many will be 
 more disposed to believe the Arians, than to credit Ambrose, 
 
 * Methodius apud Epiphanium, Heres. Ixiv. tom. i. op.—Gregor. Na- 
 
 zian. in many places; and others. 
 +» Ambros. Epist. xxil. Paulinus, vita Ambrosii, p. 81. 
 
 * See Le Clerc, Appendix Augustiniana, p.375. Gregor. Nyss. vita 
 Gregorii Neoczsariensis, tom. ii. op. Sulpitius Severus, Hist. Sacr. lib. 
 il, cap. XXXVIll. 
 
 4 See Jos. Sim. Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vatic. tom. i. 
 pb. 118, 125. From the extracts, which this learned compiler has given 
 of the works of Ephraim, it appears that he was more distinguished by 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 Part 11. 
 
 though he be enrolled in the order of the saints, and they 
 stigmatised in the list of heretics.¢ ‘ 
 
 IX. There were, in this century, several controversial- 
 ists of considerable note; for, besidé Apollinaris, Gregory 
 Nazianzen, Cyril of Alexandria, and others who distin- 
 guished themselves in the lists against the emperor Julian, 
 many others disputed, with victorious force and a happy 
 success, against the worshippers of the gods. Of this num- 
 ber were, Lactantius, Athanasius, Julius Firmicus Mater- 
 nus, Apollinaris the younger, whose excellent writings 
 against Porphyry are unhappily lost; Augustin, in those 
 books of the City of God, and in the three books against the 
 Pagans, which have also perished ; and, above all, Euse- 
 bius of Cesarea, in his Evangelical Preparation, and his 
 book against Hierocles. Eusebius Emesenus, Diodorus of 
 Tarsus, and St. Chrysostom, whose treatise on the subject 
 is still extant, employed their learned labours to bring over 
 the Jews to the profession of Christianity. Ephraim the 
 Syrian,? James of Nisibis, Didymus, and Audentius, at- 
 tacked the whole body of heretics ; as did also Epiphanius, 
 in his voluminous work concerning heresies, entitled Pana- 
 rium, and Gregory Nazianzen with more brevity in his 
 discourse concerning faith. The books of Augustin and 
 Philastrius, on the same subject, contain rather a list than 
 a refutation of the several sects. 
 
 X. If the growth and perfection of a science were to be 
 
 estimated by the multitude of writers it produces, that of 
 
 morals must have flourished greatly at this time; for a 
 
 very considerable number of persons applied themselves to 
 ‘that excellent study. Among the eastern writers, James, 
 
 bishop of Nisibis,: and Ephraim, bishop of Syria, became 
 eminent for their zeal and assiduity in inculcating the pre- 
 cepts of morality. The writings of Basil the Great, Gre: 
 
 gory of Nyssa, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustin, and seve- 
 
 ral others, upon moral subjects, are neither worthy of high 
 encomiums, nor of entire contempt, as they contain a 
 
 | strange mixture of excellent reflections, and insipid details. 
 
 | 
 
 , tom. 
 
 concerning the duties of the Christian life. Among the 
 
 | productions of these writers, many give the preference to the 
 three books of Ambrose, concerning the duty of the minis- 
 
 ters of the church, which are written in the manner of 
 
 | Cicero, and are justly commended for the pious intention 
 
 they discover, and the beautiful sentiments they contain 
 though there be many things in them worthy of reprehen 
 sion. But Macarius, an Egyptian monk ,‘ undoubtedly 
 deserves the first rank among the practical writers of this 
 time, as his works display, some few things excepted,¢ the 
 brightest and most lovely portraiture of sanctity and 
 virtue. 
 
 XI. It must, however, be observed, that almost all the 
 writers of this class are defective in several respects. "They 
 have been entirely negligent of order in their compositions, 
 and have taken no sort of care to treat with method and 
 precision the subjects they undertook to explain. ‘They 
 seldom define their terms, and pour out their pious but 
 
 _his piety and genius, than by his skill in the management of controversy. 
 
 : ee Sim. Assemanus, in the work quoted in the preceding note, 
 , thinks, that the writings attributed to the bishop of Nisibis, 
 bolas "rather to the bishop of Saruga; he however corrects, in some 
 measure, this notion in his Addenda, p. 558. 
 
 t See the Acta Sanctorum, tom. i. Januar. p- 1005. 
 
 xp © The things here excepted by Dr. Mosheim, are some supersti- 
 tious tenets that are to be found in the writings of Macarius, and alse 
 certain opinions that seem tainted with Origenism. 
 
Cuap. IIL. 
 
 incoherent ideas in fortuitous combinations, just as they | 
 offer themselves. 'They, moreover, neglect deducing the 
 duties of mankind from their true principles, and even 
 sometimes derive them from doctrines and precepts which 
 are either manifestly false, or, at least, whose nature and 
 meaning are not determined with any degree of accuracy. 
 And hence it is, that the greatest part of them are extreme- 
 ly defective, when they come to demonstrate the obligations 
 of virtue, and the incongruity and unfitness of vice. ‘These 
 pretended demonstrations, instead of being deduced by 
 proper conclusions from the reason of things and the divine 
 laws, are nothing more than a collection of airy fancies, 
 cold and insipid allegories, quaint and subtile conceits, 
 whick are more proper to afford amusement to the imagi- 
 nation, than light to the understanding, or conviction to 
 the judgment. 
 
 XII. But, however defective this method of inculcating 
 the duties of morality may have been, it was much more 
 tolerable than that which was followed by the amphibious 
 disciples of Christ and Plato, those Alexandrian philoso- 
 phers, of whom Ammonius Sacca was the chief. ‘The 
 double doctrine of morals which they invented, and which 
 was compounded of two systems, one surpassing the other 
 in perfection, gained much ground in this century, to the 
 great detriment of true religion. A circumstance that 
 strongly tends to convince us of the growth and progress 
 of this fanatical sect is, that those who in former times 
 had inculeated a secret doctrine concerning divine things, 
 totally different from that which was publicly propagated 
 among the multitude, gave now the finishing touch to this 
 doctrine, and formed it into a system. ‘The famous Gre- 
 cian fanatic, who declared himself to be Dionysius the 
 Areopagite, disciple of St. Paul, and who, under the pro- 
 tection of this venerable name, gave laws and instructions 
 to such as were desirous of raising their souls above all 
 human things, in order to unite them to their great source 
 by sublime contemplation, lived most probably in this cen- 
 tury, though some place. him before, others after the present 
 period.s No sooner were the writings and instructions cf 
 this fanatic handed about among the Greeks and Syrians, 
 and particularly among the solitaries and monks, than a 
 gloomy cloud of religious darkness began to spread itself 
 over the minds of many. An incredible number of prose- 
 lytes joined those chimerical sectaries, who maintained that 
 communion with God was to be sought by mortifying the 
 senses, by withdrawing the mind from all external objects, 
 by macerating the body with hunger and labour, and by 
 a holy sort of indolence, which confined all the activity 
 of the soul to a lazy contemplation of things spiritual and 
 eternal. 
 
 XIII. The progress of this sect appears evidently from 
 
 * Those who have written concerning this impostor, are enumerated 
 by Jo. Franc. Buddeus, in his Isagoge ad Theologiam, lib. il. cap. iv. 
 See also Jo. Launott Judicium de Scriptis Dionysii. tom. ii. op. part i. 
 Ia Croze (in his Histoire du Christianisme d’Ethiopie,) endeavours to 
 prove, that Synesius, an Egyptian bishop, and also the most celebrated 
 philosopher of the fifth century, composed the writings attributed to Dio- 
 nysius, in order to defend the doctrine of those who held, that Christ 
 only possessed one nature. The arguments, however, of La Croze are 
 weak. Nor are those more satisfactory, which the learned Baratier has 
 employed, in a dissertation added to his book de Successione Rom. Epis- 
 cop. p. 286, to prove that Dionysius of Alexandria was the true author 
 of the writings in question. 
 
 > For a full account of Antony, and the discipline established by him, 
 see the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Januar. ad d. 17. 
 
 * See Jos. Simon. Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vatican, 
 tom. lil. part il. 
 
 No. VIII. 24 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 93 
 
 the prodigious number of solitary monks and sequestered 
 virgins, which, upon the return of tranquillity to the church, 
 had over-run the whole Christian world with an amazing 
 rapidity. Many of this order of men had, for a long time, 
 been known among the Christians, and had led silent and 
 solitary lives in the deserts of Egypt; but Antony was the 
 first who formed them into a regular body, engaged them 
 to live in society with each other, and prescribed rules to 
 them for the direction of their conduct.” 'These regulations, 
 which Antony brought forward in Egypt in 305, were, in 
 the year following, introduced into Palestine and Syria, 
 by his disciple Hilarion. Almost about the same time, 
 Aones and Eugenius, with their companions Gaddanas 
 and Azyzus, instituted the monastic order in Mesopotamia 
 and the adjacent countries;* and their example was fol- 
 lowed with such rapid success, that, in a short time, the 
 east was filled with a lazy set of mortals, who, abandon- 
 ing all human connexions, advantages, pleasures, and 
 concerns, wore out a languishing and miserable life, 
 amidst the hardships of want and various kinds of suffer- 
 ing, in order to arrive at a more close and rapturous 
 
 communion with God and angels. ‘The Christian church 
 would never have been disgraced by this cruel and inso- 
 cial enthusiasm, nor would any have been subjected to 
 those keen torments of mind and body to which it gave 
 rise, had not many Christians been unwarily caught by 
 the specious appearance and the pompous sound of that 
 maxim of the ancient philosophy, “ ‘That, in order to the 
 attainment of true felicity and communion with God, it 
 was necessary that the soul should be separated from the 
 | body, even here below, and that the body was to be 
 macerated and mortified for this purpose.” 
 
 XIV. From the east this gloomy institution passed into 
 the west, and first into Italy, and its neighbouring islands, 
 though it is utterly uncertain who transplanted it thither.4 
 St. Martin, the celebrated bishop of Tours, erected the first 
 monasteries in Gaul, and recommended this religious soli- 
 
 tude with such power and efficacy, both by his instructions 
 and his example, that his funeral is said to have been 
 attended by no less than two thousand monks. ‘Thence, 
 the monastic discipline gradually extended its progress 
 through the other provinces and countries of Europe. 
 
 It is, however, proper to observe, that there was a great 
 difference in point of austerity between the western and 
 oriental monks; the former of whom could never be 
 brought to bear the severe rules to which the latter volun- 
 tarily submitted. And, indeed, the reason of this difference 
 may be partly derived from the nature of the respective 
 climates in which they dwelt. ‘The European countries 
 abound not so much with delirious fanatics, or with persons 
 of a morose and austere complexion, as those arid regions 
 
 wl 
 
 4 Most writers, following the opinion of Baronius, maintain that St. 
 Athanasius brought the monastic institution from Egypt into Italy, 
 about the year 340, and was the first who built a monastery at Rome, 
 See Mabillon, Pref. ad Acta Sanctorum Ord. Bened. tom. i-——The 
 learned Muratori (Antiq. Ital. tom. = combats this opinion, and pretends 
 that the first monastery known in Europe, was erected at Milan: and 
 Just. Fontaninus, in his Hist. Liter. Aquileiens. affirms, that the first 
 society of monks was formed at Aquileia. But these writers do not 
 produce unexceptionable evidence for their opinions. If we may give 
 credit to the Ballerini (Dissert. ii. ad Zenonem Veronensem,) the first 
 convent of nuns was erected toward the end of this century, at Verona, 
 by Zeno, bishop of that city. 
 
 *See Sulpit. Sever. de vita Martini, cap. x. p. 17, edit. Veron., where 
 the method of living, used by the Martinian monks, is accurately de- 
 scribed. See also Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. i. part ii. p. 42. 
 
94 
 
 that lie toward the burning east ; nor are our bodies capa- | 
 ble of supporting that rigid and abstemious method of 
 living, which is familiar and easy to those who are placed 
 under a glowing firmament, and breathe in a sultry and 
 scorching atmosphere. It was, therefore, rather the name 
 only than the thing itself, which was transported into tive 
 European countries," though this name was indeed accom- | 
 panied with a certain resemblance or distant imitation of 
 the monastic life instituted by Antony and others in the 
 east. 
 
 XV. The monastic order, of which we have been taking | 
 a general view, was distributed into several classes. It was || 
 first divided into two distinct orders, of which one received | 
 the denomination of Ccenobites, the other that of Eremites. 
 The former lived together ina fixed habitation, and made 
 up one large community under a chief, whom they called 
 father, or abbot, which signifies the same thing in the 
 Egyptian language. 'The latter drew out a wretched life 
 in perfect solitude, and were scattered here and there in 
 caves, in deserts, in the cavities of rocks, sheltered from 
 the wild beasts only by the cover of a miserable cottage, 
 in which each lived sequestered from the rest of his spe- 
 cies. 
 
 The Anchorets were yet more excessive in the austerity 
 of their manner of living than the Eremites. They fre- 
 quented the wildest deserts without eithcr tents or cottages; 
 nourished themselves with the roots and herbs which 
 grew spontaneously out of the uncultivated ground ; wan- 
 dered about without having any fixed abode, reposing 
 wherever the approach of night happened to find them ; 
 and all this, that they might avoid the view and the socie- 
 ty of mortals.® 
 
 Another order of monks were those wandering fanatics, 
 or rather impostors, whom the Egyptians called Sarabaites, 
 who, instead of procuring a subsistence by honest indus- 
 try, travelled through various cities and provinces, and 
 gained a maintenance by fictitious miracles, by selling 
 relics to the multitude, and other frauds of a like nature. 
 
 Many of the Ccenobites were chargeable with vicious 
 and scandalous practices. This order, however, was not so 
 generally corrupt as that of the Sarabaites, who were for 
 the most part profligates of the most abandoned kind. As 
 to the Eremites, they seem to have deserved no other 
 reproach than that of a delirious and extravagant fanati- 
 cism.° All these different orders were hitherto composed 
 of the laity, and were subject to the jurisdiction and the 
 inspection of the bishops. But many of them were now 
 adopted among the clergy, even by the command of the 
 emperors ; and the fame of monastic piety and sanctity 
 became so general, that bishops were frequently chosen out 
 of that fanatical order.¢ 
 
 XVI. If the enthusiastic phrensy of the monks exag- 
 
 ® This difference between the discipline cf the eastern and western 
 monks, and the cause of it, have beén ingeniously remarked by Sulpi- 
 tius Severus, Dial. i. de Vita Martini, where one of the interlocutors, in 
 the dialogue, having mentioned the abstemiovs and wretched diet of the 
 Egyptian monks, adds what follows: “ Place‘ne tibi prandium, fascicu- 
 Jus herbarum et panis dimidius viris quinque?” To this question the 
 Gaul answers, “ Facis tuo more, qui nullam. occasionem omittis, quin 
 nos (i.e. the Gallic monks) edacitatis fatiges. Sed facis inhumané, qui 
 nos Gallos homines cogis exemplo angelorum vivere—Sed contentus sit 
 hoc [prandio] Cyrenensis ille, cui vel necessitas vel natura est esurire: 
 nos, quod tibt sepe testatus sum, Galli swmus.” The same speaker, 
 mn the above-mentioned dialogue, eap. vill. reproaches Jerome with hay- 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ing accused the monks of gluttony; and proceeds thus; ‘“ Sentio de ori- 
 entalibus illum potius monachis, quam de occidentalibus disputasse ; nam | 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 gerated, in a manner pernicious to the interests of morality, 
 the discipline that is obligatory upon Christians, the inter- 
 ests of virtue and true religion suffered yet more grievously 
 by two monstrous errors which were almost universally 
 adopied in this century, and became a source of innumer- 
 able calamities and misciefs in the succeeding ages. Of 
 these maxims one was, “iat, it was an act of virtue to 
 deceive and he, when by such means the interests of the 
 church might be promoted ;’ and the second, equally 
 horrible, though in another point of view, was, that “ errors 
 in religion, when maintained and adhered to, after proper 
 admonition; were punishabie with civil penalties and cor- 
 poreal tortures.” Of these erroneous maxims the former 
 was now of a long standing; it had been adopted for some 
 ages past, and had produced an incredible number of ridicu- 
 ious fables, fictitious prodigies, and pious frauds, to the 
 unspeakable detriment of that glorious cause in which they 
 were employed. And it must be frankly confessed, that 
 the greatest men, and most eminent saints of this century, 
 were more or less tainted with the infection of this corrupt 
 principle, as will appear evidently to such as look with an 
 attentive eye into their writings and their actions. We 
 would willingly except from this charge Ambrose and 
 Hilary, Augustin, Gregory Nazianzen, and Jerome ; 
 but truth, which is more respectable than these venerable 
 fathers, obliges us to involve them in the general accusa- 
 tion. We may add also, that it was, probably, the con- 
 tagion of this pernicious maxim, that engaged Sulpitius 
 Severus, who is far from being, in general, a puerile or cre- 
 dulous historian, to attribute somany miracles to St. Martin: 
 
 ' The other maxim, relating to the justice and expediency of 
 
 punishing error, was introduced in those serene and peace- 
 ful times which the accession of Constantine to the impe- 
 rial throne procured to the church. It was from that period 
 approved by many, enforced by several examples during 
 the contests that arose with the Priscillianists and Donatists, 
 confirmed and established by the authority of Augustin, 
 and thus transmitted to the following ages. 
 
 XVII. When we cast an eye toward the lives and mo- 
 rals of Christians at this time, w efind, as formerly, a mix- 
 ture of good and evil; some eminent for their piety, others 
 infamous for their crimes. The number, however, of im- 
 moral and unworthy Christians began so to increase, that 
 the examples of real piety and virtue became extremely 
 rare. When the terrors of persecution were totally dispel- 
 led; when the church, secured from the efforts of its ene- 
 mies, enjoyed the sweets of prosperity and peace ; when 
 the major part of the bishops exhibited to their flock the 
 contagious examples of arrogance, luxury, effeminacy, ani- 
 mosity, and strife, with other vices too numerous to men- 
 tion ; when the inferior rulers and doctors of the church 
 fell into a slothful and opprobrious negligence of the duties 
 
 ee 
 
 edacitas in Grecis et Orientalibus gula est, in Gallis natura.” It ap- 
 pears, therefore, that, immediately after the introduction of the monastic 
 order into Europe, the western differed greatly from the eastern monksin 
 their manners and discipline, and were, in consequence of this, accu 
 sed by the latter of voraciousness and gluttony. 
 
 b See Sulpit. Sever. Dial. i. de vita Martini, cap. x. 
 
 ¢ Whoever is desirous of a more ample account of the vices of 
 the monks of this century, may consult the above-mentioned dialogue 
 of Sulp. Sever. cap. vill. p. 69, 70. cap. xxi. p. 88, where he par- 
 ticularly chastises the arrogance and ambition of those who aspired 
 to clerical honours. See also Dial. ii. cap. viii. and also cap. xv., and 
 Consultat. Apollonii et Zachzi, published by Dacherius, Spicileg. 
 tom. 1. lib. iii. cap. ili. 
 
 4See J. Godofred. ad Codicem Theodosianum, tom. vi. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 of their respective stations, and employed, in vain wrang- 
 lings and idle disputes, that zeal and attention which were 
 due to the culture of piety and to the instruction of their 
 people ; and when (to complete the enormity of this horrid 
 detail) multitudes were drawn into the profession of Chris- 
 tianity, not by the power of conviction and argument, but 
 by the prospect of gain or by the fear of punishment ; then 
 it was, indeed, no wonder that the church was contamina- 
 ted with shoals of profligate Christians, and that the virtu- 
 ous few were, in a manner, oppressed and overwhelmed 
 by the superior numbers of the wicked and licentious. It 
 is true, that the same rigourous penitence, which had taken 
 place before the time of Constantine, continued now in full 
 force avainst flagrant transgressors ; but, when the reign of 
 corr.iption becomes universal, the vigour of the law yields 
 to its sway, and a weak execution defeats the purposes of 
 the most salutary discipline. Such was now unhappily the 
 case: the age was gradually sinking from one period of 
 corruption to another ; the great and the powerfel sinned 
 with impunity; and the obscure and the indigent alone 
 felt the severity of the laws. 
 
 XVII. Religious controversies among Christians were 
 frequent in this century; and, as it often happens in the 
 course of civil affairs, external peace gave occasion and lei- 
 sure for the excitation of intestine troubles and dissensions. 
 We shall mention some of the principal of these controver- 
 sies, which produced violent and obstinate schisms, not so 
 much, indeed, by their natural tendency, as by incidental 
 occurrences. 
 
 In the beginning of this century, about the year 306, 
 arose the famous Meletian controversy, so called from its 
 author, and which, for a long time, divided the church. 
 Peter, bishop of Alexandria, had deposed from the episco- 
 pal office, Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis in the Upper Egypt. 
 The reasons that occasioned this violent act of authority, 
 have not been sufficiently explained. 
 
 The partisans of Peter allege, that Meletius had sacrifi- 
 ced to the gods, and charge him also with various 
 crimes ;* while others affirm, that his only failing was an 
 excessive severity against the lapsed.’ However that 
 may be, Meletius treated the sentence of Peter with the 
 utmost contempt, and not only continued to perform all the 
 duties of the episcopal function, but even assumed the right 
 of consecrating presbyters ; a privilege, which, by the laws 
 of Egypt, belonged only to the bishop of Alexandria. The 
 venerable gravity and eloquence of Meletius drew many to 
 his party; and, among others, a considerable number of 
 monks adhered to his cause. ‘The council of Nice made 
 several ineffectual attempts to heal this breach; the Mele- 
 tians, on the other hand, whose chief aim was to oppose 
 the authority of the bishop of Alexandria, joined them- 
 selves to the Arians, who were his irreconcileae enemies. 
 Hence it happened, that a dispute, which had tov its first 
 object the authority and jurisdiction of the bishop of Alex- 
 andria, gradually degenerated into a religious controversy. 
 "I'he Meletian party was yet subsisting in the fifth century.« 
 
 * Athanasius, Apologia secunda, tom. i. op. 
 
 t Eyiphanius, Heres. Ixviii. tom. i. op. See also Dion. Petavius, 
 Not. in Epiphanium, tom. ii. and Sam. Basnagii Exercitat. de Rebus 
 sacris contra Baronium. 
 
 * Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. ¢, vi. p.14. Theodoret. Hist, Eccles. 
 hb. i. cap. viii. p. 548. 
 
 4 See Sam. Basnage. Annal. Polit. Eccles. tom. ii. 
 
 _ *Bocrates, lib. i. cap. xliii—Sozomen, lib. iii. cap. xiv. lib. iv. cap. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 95 
 
 XIX. Some time after this, a certain person named 
 Eustathius, was the occasion of great disorders and divi- 
 sions in Armenia, Pontus, and the neighbouring coun- 
 tries; and he was consequently condemned and excom- 
 municated by the council of Gangra, which soon followed 
 
 that of Nice. Whether this was the same Eustathius, who 
 was bishop of Sebastia in Armenia, and the chief of the 
 Semi-Arians ; or whether the ancient historians have con- 
 founded two different persons of the same name, is a matter 
 extremely difficult to determine.’ However that may be, 
 the leader of the Eustathian sect does not seem so much 
 chargeable with the corruption of any religious doctrine, as 
 with having set up a fanatical form of sanctity, an extrava- 
 gant system of practical discipline, destructive of the order 
 and happiness of society ; for he prohibited marriage, the 
 use of wine and flesh, feasts of charity, and other things of 
 that nature. He prescribed immediate divorce to those 
 who were joined in wedlock, and is said to have granted to 
 children and servants the liberty of violating the com- 
 mands of their parents and masters, upen pretexts of a re- 
 ligious nature.* 
 
 XX. Lucifer, bishop of Cagliaria in Sardinia, a man 
 remarkable for his prudence, the austerity of his character, 
 and the steadiness of his resolution and courage, was ban- 
 ished by the emperor Constantius, for having defended the 
 Nicene doctrine, concerning the three persons in the God- 
 head. THe broke the bonds of fraternal communion with 
 Eusebius, bishop of Verceil, in the year 363, because the 
 latter had consecrated Paulinus, bishop of Antioch ; and he 
 afterwards separated himself from the whole church, on 
 account of the absolution which it had decreed in favour 
 of these who, under Constantius, had deserted to the Ari- 
 ans.’ 'TI‘he small tribe, at least, that followed this prelate, 
 under the title of Luciferians, scrupulously and obstinately 
 avoided all commerce and fellowship, both with those 
 bishops who had declared themselves in favour of the Ari- 
 ans, and with those also who consented to an absolution 
 for such as returned from this desertion, and acknowledged 
 their error; and thus of consequence they dissolved the 
 bonds of their communion with the church in general.¢ 
 The Luciferians are also said to have entertained erroneous 
 notions concerning the human soul, whose generation they 
 considered as of a carnal nature, and maintained, that it 
 was transfused from the parents into the children.” 
 
 XXI. About this time A¥rius, a presbyter monk, and 
 a Semi-Arian, erected a new sect, and excited divisions 
 throughout Armenia, Pontus, and Cappadocia, by propaga- 
 ting opinions different from those which were commonly 
 received. His principal tenet was that bishops were no 
 distinguished from presbyters by any divine right, but that 
 according to the institution of the New Testament, theic 
 offices and authority were absolutely the same. How far 
 /Mrius pursued this opinion, through its natura! conse- 
 quences, is not certainly known; but we know, with cer- 
 tainty, that it was highly agreeable to many good Chris- 
 | tians, who were no longer able to bear the tyranny and 
 
 xvi—Wolfg. Gundling, Not. ad Concilium Gangrense. 
 
 f Rufin. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. xxx.—Socrates, lib. iii. cap. ix. See 
 also Tillemont’s Memoires pour servir 41’ Histoire de |’ Eglise. tom. vil. 
 
 € See, in the works of Sirmond, a book of Prayers, addressed to 'Theo- 
 dosius by Marcellinus and Faustinus, who were Luciferians. 
 
 h Augustin. de Heres. cap. lxxxi. with the observations of Lamb. Da- 
 neus, p. 346. 
 
 xxiv.—_Epiphan. Heres. ]xvi—Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 
 
96 
 
 arrogance of the bishops of this century. 'There were 
 other things in which A€rius differed from the common 
 uotions of the time ; he condemned prayers for the dead, 
 stated fasts, the celebration of Easter, and other rites of 
 that nature, in which the multitude erroneously imagine 
 that the life and soul of religion consist. His great pur- 
 pose seems*to have been that of reducing Christianity to 
 its primitive simplicity; a purpose, indeed, laudable and 
 noble when considered in itself, though the principles 
 whence it springs, and the means by which it is executed, 
 may in some respects deserve censure.” 
 
 X XI. The progress of superstition in this century, and 
 the erroneous notions that prevailed concerning the true 
 nature of religion, excited the zeal and the efforts of many 
 tustem the torrent. But their labours only exposed them to 
 infamy and reproach. Of these worthy opposers of the reign- 
 ing superstitions, the most eminent was Jovinian, an Italian 
 monk, who toward the conclusion of this century, taught 
 first at Rome, and afterwards at Milan, that all those who 
 kept the vows they made to Christ at their baptism, and lived 
 according to the rules of piety and virtue laid down in the 
 Gospel, had an equal title to the rewards of futurity; and 
 that, consequently, those who passed their days in insocial 
 celibacy, and severe mortifications and fastings, were in no 
 respect more acceptable in the eye of Ged, than those who 
 lived virtuously in the bonds of marriage, and nourished 
 their bodies with moderation and temperance. "These judi- 
 cious opinions, which many began to adopt, were first con- 
 demned by the church of Rome, and afterwards by Am- 
 brose, in a council holden at Milan in the year 390.° The 
 ~mperor Honorius seconded the authoritative proceedings of 
 tne bishops by the violence of the secular arm, answered 
 the judicious reasonings of Jovinian by the terror of coer- 
 cive and penal laws, and banished this pretended heretic 
 to the island of Boa. Jovinian published his opinions in 
 a book against which Jerome, in the following century, 
 wrote a most bitter and abusive treatise, still extant.‘ 
 
 XXII. Among all the religious controversies that divi- 
 ded the church, the most celebrated, both for their impor- 
 ance and their duration, were those relating to Origen 
 and his doctrine. 
 
 This illustrious man, though he had been, for a long 
 time, charged with many errors, was deemed, by the ge- 
 nerality of Christians, an object of high veneration; and 
 his name was so sacred as to give weight to the cause in 
 which it appeared. The Arians, who were sagacious in 
 searching for succours on all sides to maintain their sect, 
 affirmed that Origen had adopted their opinions. In this 
 they were believed by some, who consequently included 
 this great man in the hatred which they entertained 
 against the sect of the Arians. But several writers of the 
 first learning and note opposed this report, and endeavoured 
 
 « Epiphanius, Heres. Ixxv. p. 905.— Augustin. de Heres. cap. lili. 
 
 >The desire of reducing religious worship to the greatest possible 
 simplicity, however rational it may appear in itself, when abstractedly 
 considered, will! be considerably moderated in such as bestow a moment's 
 attention upon the imperfection and infirmities of human nature in its 
 present state. Mankind, generally speaking, have too little elevation 
 of mind to be much affected with those forms and methods of worship, 
 in which there is nothing striking to the outward senses. The great dif- 
 ficulty lies in determining the lengths, which it is prudent to go in the 
 accommodation of religious ceremonies to human infirmity; and the 
 grand point is, to fix a medium, in which a due regard may be shown to 
 the senses and imagination, without violating the dictates of right rea- 
 son, or tarnishing the purity of true religion. It has been said, that the 
 Romish church has gone thus far solely incondescension to the infirmities 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 'were spectators of this interesting combat. 
 
 eastern and western provinces. 
 ticularly fomented in the west by Rufinus, a presbyter of 
 _ Aquileia, who translated into Latin several books of Origen, 
 and insinuated, with sufficient plainness, that he acquies- 
 
 Part [I. 
 
 to vindicate the honour of their master from these injurious 
 insinuations. Of these the most eminent was Eusebius, 
 bishop of Caesarea, as appears by his learned work, ent- 
 tled, An Apology for Origen. It is extremely probable, 
 that these clamours raised against the memory and repu- 
 tation of a man, whom the whole Christian world beheld 
 with respect, would have been soon hushed, had it not 
 been for the rise of new commotions, which proceeded from 
 another source, and of which we shall treat in the follow- 
 
 Ing section. 
 
 XXIY. The monks in general, and the Egyptian 
 monks in particular, were enthusiastically devoted to Ori- 
 
 gen, and spared no labour to propagate his opinions in all 
 
 places. Their zeal, however, met with opposition, nor 
 could they convince all Christians of the truth and sound- 
 ness of the notions invented or adopted by that eminent 
 writer. Hence arose a controversy concerning the reasons 
 and foundations of Origenism, which was at first mana- 
 ged in a private manner, but afterwards, by degrees, broke 
 out into an open flame. Among the numerous partisans 
 of Origen was John bishop of Jerusalem; which furnish- 
 ed Epiphanius and Jerome with a pretext to cast an odium 
 upon this prelate, against whom they had been previously 
 exasperated on other accounts. But the ingenious bishop 
 conducted matters with such admirable dexterity, that, in 
 
 ‘defending himself, he vindicated, at the same time, the re- 
 
 putation of Origen, and drew to his party the whole mo- 
 
 “nastic body, and also a prodigious number of those who 
 
 This was 
 merely the begining of the vehement contests concerning 
 the doctrine of Origen, that were carried on both in the 
 "These contests were par- 
 
 ced in the sentiments they contained,* which drew upon 
 
 bim the implacable rage of the learned and choleric Je- 
 
 rome. But these commotions seemed to cease in the west 
 after the death of Rufinus, and in consequence of the 
 efforts which men of the first order made to check, both 
 by their authority and by their writings, the progress of 
 Origenism in those parts. 
 
 XXY. The troubles which the writings and doctrines 
 of Origen excited in the east were more grievous and ob- 
 
 'stinate. Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, irritated for se- 
 
 veral reasons against the Nitrian monks, represented them 
 as infected with the contagion of Origenism, and ordered 
 them to give up and abandon all the productions of Origen. 
 ‘The monks refused obedience to this command, and 
 alleged in their defence two considerations: one was, that 
 the passages in the writings of this holy and venerable 
 man, which seemed to swerve from the truth, were insert- 
 
 of mankind; and this is what the ablest defenders of its motley worship 
 have alleged in its behalf. But this observation is not just; the church 
 of Rome has not so much accommodated itself to humen weakness 
 
 as it has abused that weakness by taking occasion from it to es- 
 tablish an absurd variety of ridiculous ceremonies, destructive of true 
 religion, and only adapted to promote the riches and despotism: of tha 
 clergy, and to keep the multitude still hoodwinked in their ignorance and 
 superstition. How far a just antipathy to the church puppet-shows of 
 
 | the Papists has unjustly driven some Protestant churches into the oppo- 
 
 site extreme, is a matter that I shall not now examine, though it cer- 
 tainly deserves a serious consideration. 
 
 ¢ Hieronymus in Jovinianum, tom. ii. op.—Augustin. de Heres. cap. 
 [xxxii—Ambros. Epist. vi. 4 Codex Theodosianus. tom. iil. vi. 
 
 * See Just. Fontaninus, Historia Literar. Aquileicnsis. lib. iv. cap. ili, 
 
Cuap. IV. 
 
 ed in them by ill-designing heretics; and the other, that 
 a few censurable things were not sufficient to justify the 
 condemnation of the rest. Matters were more exaspera- 
 ted by this refusal of submission to the order of Theophi- 
 lus; for this violent prelate called a council at Alexandria, 
 in the year 399, in which having condemned tne follow- 
 ers of Origen, he sent a band of soldiers to drive the 
 monks from their residence on mount Nitria. ‘The poor 
 monks, thus scattered abroad by an armed force, fled first 
 to Jerusalem, whence they retired to Scythopolis; and 
 finding that they could not live here in security and peace, 
 determined, at length, to set sail for Constantinople, and 
 there plead their cause in presence of the emperor.* ‘The 
 issue of these proceedings will come under the history of 
 the following century. 
 
 It is, however, necessary to observe here, that we must 
 not reduce to the same class all those who are called Ori- 
 genists in the records of this century : for this ambiguous 
 title is applied to persons who differed widely in their reli- 
 gious notions. Sometimes it merely signifies such friends 
 of Origen, as acknowledged his writings to have been 
 adulterated in many places, and who were far from patro- 
 nising the errors of which he was accused; in other places 
 this title is attributed to those who confess Origen to be the 
 author of all the doctrines which are imputed to him, and 
 who resolutely support and defend his opinions; of which 
 latter there was a considerable number among the mo- 
 nastic orders. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Warte the Roman emperors were studious to pro- 
 mote the honour of Christianity by the auspicious protec- 
 tion they afforded to the church, and to advance its inter- 
 ests by their most zealous efforts, the inconsiderate and ill- 
 directed piety of the bishops cast a cloud over the beauty 
 and simplicity of the Gospel, by the prodigious number of 
 rites and ceremonies which they had invented to embellish 
 it. And here we may apply that well-known saying of 
 Augustin,® that ‘the yoke under which the Jews formerly 
 groaned, was more tolerable than that imposed upon many 
 Christians in his time.’ The rites and institutions, by 
 
 *hich the Greeks, Romans, and other nations, had_for- 
 merly testified their religious veneration for fictitious dei- 
 ties, were now adopted, with some slight alterations, by 
 Christian bishops, and employed in the service of the true 
 God. We have already mentioned the reasons alleged 
 for this imitation, so likely to disgust all who have a just 
 
 * See Pierre Danicl Huet, Origeniana, lib. ii. cap. iv—Louis Dou- 
 cin. Histoire de |’ Origenisme, livr. iti—Hlier. a Prato, Diss. vi. in 
 Sulpitium Severum de Monachis ob Origenis noman ex Nitra totaque 
 
 JE zypto senegli 273. . 
 _> Augustin. Epist. cxix. ad Januarium. according to the ancient divi- 
 sion. . 
 
 => © The lituus, which, among the ancient Romans, was the chief 
 ensign of the augurs, and derived its name from its resemblance to the 
 military trumpel, became a mark of Episcopal dignity. We call it the 
 crosier or bishop’s staff. 
 
 x‘p 4 The word swpplicationes, which I have rendered by that of pro- 
 cessiones, signified among the pagans, those solemn and public acts of 
 gratitude for national blessings, or deprecation of national calamities, 
 which were expressed by the whole body of the people by a religious 
 approach to the temples of the gods, which by a decree of the senate, 
 were open to all without distinction. See Cic, Catil. ili. 6. liv. x. 23. 
 
 No. [X. 25 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 97 
 
 sense of the native beauty of genuine Christianity. These 
 fervent heralds of the Gospel, whose zeal outran their can- 
 dour and integrity, imagined that the nations would re- 
 ceive Christianity with more facility, when they saw the 
 rites and ceremonies to which they were accustomed, 
 adopted in the church, and the same worship paid to 
 Christ and his martyrs, which they had formerly offered 
 to their idol deities. Hence it happened, that, in these 
 times, the religion of the Greeks and Romans differed very 
 little, in its external appearance, from that of the Chris- 
 tians. ‘They had both a most pompous and splendid 
 ritual. Gorgeous robes, mitres, tiaras, wax-tapers, cro- 
 siers,° processions,‘ lustrations, images, gold and _ silver 
 vases, and many such circumstances of pageantry, were 
 equally to be seen in the heathen temples and in the 
 Christian churches. 
 
 ‘II. No sooner had Constantine abolished the supersti- 
 tions of his ancestors, than magnificent churches were 
 every where erected for the Christians, which were richly 
 adorned with pictures and images, and bore a striking 
 resemblance to the pagan temples, both in their outward 
 and inward form.: Of these churches some were built 
 over the tombs of martyrs, and were frequented only at 
 stated times; while others were set apart for the ordinary 
 assemblies of Christians in divine worship. ‘The former 
 were called Martyria, from the places where they were 
 erected; and the latter 7%¢elz.£ Both of them were con- 
 secrated with great pomp, and with certain rites borrowed 
 mostly from the ancient laws of the Roman pontifls. 
 
 But our wonder will not cease here; it will rather be 
 augmented when we learn, that, at this time, it was looked 
 upon as an essential part of religion, to have in every 
 country a multitude of churches ; and here we must look 
 for the true origin of what is called the right of patronage, 
 which was introduced among Christians with no other 
 view than to encourage the opulent to erect a great num- 
 ber of churches, by giving them the privilege of appoint- 
 ing the ministers that were to officiate in them.s This 
 was anew instance of that servile imitation of the ancient 
 superstitions which reigned at this time; for it was a very 
 common notion among the people of old, that nations and 
 provinces were happy and free from danger, in proportion 
 to the number of fanes and temples, which they consecra- 
 ted to the worship of gods and heroes, whose protection 
 and succour could not fail, as it was thought, to be shed 
 abundantly upon those who worshipped them with such 
 zeal, and honoured them with so many marks of venera- 
 
 | tion and respect. The Christians unhappily contracted 
 
 the same erroneous way of thinking. 'The more numer- 
 ous were the temples which they erected in honour of 
 
 ¢ See Ezek. Spanheim, Preuves sur les Cesars de Julien, and particu- 
 larly Le Brun’s Explication literale et historique des Ceremonies de la 
 Messe, tom. ii. A description of these churches may be found in Euse- 
 bius, de vita Constantini M. lib. iii. cap. xxxv. and an exact plan of 
 their interior structure is accurately engraven in Bishop Beverage’s Ad- 
 notationes in Pandectas Canonum, tom. ii. and in Frederic Spanheim’s 
 Institut. Hist. Eccl. It raust also be observed, that certain parts of the 
 Christian churches were formed after the model of the Jewish temples. 
 See Camp. Vitringa de Synagoga vetere. lib. iii. 
 
 f Jo. Mabillon, ‘Mus. Iial. tom. ii. in Comment. ad ordin. Roman. p 
 xvi. 3 The Tituli were the smaller churches so called from this cir- 
 cumstance, that the presbyters, who officiated in them, were called by 
 the names of the places were they were erected, i. e. received titles, 
 which fixed them to those particular cures. 
 
 ® Just. Hen. Bohmeri Jus Eccles. Protestant. tom. iii. p. 466.—Bibho- 
 theque Italique, tom. v. p. 166. 
 
US 
 
 Christ, and his chosen friends and followers, the more san- 
 guine did their expectations grow of powerful succours from 
 them, and of a peculiar interest in the divine protection. 
 They were so weak as to imagine, that God, Christ, and 
 celestial intelligences, were delighted with those marks 
 and testimonies of respect, which captivate the hearts of 
 wretched mortals. 
 
 Lil. ‘The Christian worship consisted in hymns, prayers, 
 the reading of the Scriptures, and a discourse addressed to 
 the people; and concluded with the celebration of the Lord’s 
 supper. ‘I'o these were added various rites, more adapted 
 to please the eyes, and strike the imagination, than to 
 kindle in the heart the pure and sacred flame of genuine 
 piety... Weare not, however, to think, that the same me- 
 thod of worship was uniformly followed in every Christian 
 society ; for this was far from being the case. Every bi- 
 shop, consulting his own private judgment, and taking into 
 consideration the nature of the times, the genius of the 
 country in which he lived, and the character and temper 
 of those whom he was appointed to rule and instruct, form- 
 ed such a plan of divine worship as he thought the wisest 
 and the best. Hence arose that variety of liturgies which 
 were in use, before the bishop of Rome had usurped the 
 supreme power in religious matters, and persuaded the 
 credulous and unthinking, that the model, both of doctrine 
 and worship, was to be given by the mother-church, and 
 to be followed implicitly throughout the Christian world. 
 
 IV. It would be almost endless to enter into a minute 
 detail of all the different parts of public worship, and to 
 point out the disadvantageous changes they underwent. 
 A few observations will be sufficient upon this head. 'The 
 public prayers had lost much of the solemn and majestic 
 simplicity that characterised them in the primitive times, 
 and which now began to degenerate intoa vain and swell- | 
 ing bombast. The Psalms of David were now received 
 among the public hymns that were sung asa. part of divine 
 service.» ‘Ihe sermons, or public discourses addressed to 
 the people, were composed according to the rules of human 
 eloquence, and rather adapted to excite the stupid admira- 
 tion of the populace, who delight in vain embellishments, 
 than to enlighten the understanding, or to reform the heart. 
 It would even seem as if all possible means had been in- 
 dustriously used, to give an air of folly and extravagance 
 to the Christian assemblies ; for the people were permitted, 
 and even exhorted by the preacher himself, to crown his 
 talents with clapping of hands and loud acclamations of 
 applause ;° a recompense that was hitherto peculiar to the 
 actors on the theatre, and the orators in the forum. How 
 men set apart by their profession to exhibit examples of the 
 contempt of vain glory, and to demonstrate to others the 
 vanity and emptiness of all temporal things, could indulge 
 such a senseless indecent ambition, is difficult to be concei- 
 ved, though it is highly to be deplored. 
 
 V. The first day of the week, which was the ordinary 
 and stated time for the public assemblies of Christians, 
 Was, in consequence of a peculiar law enacted by Constan- 
 
 * For a full account of the forms of public worship, cr the liturgies 
 of this century, the reader will do well to consult the twenty-second cate- 
 chetical discourse of Cyril of Jerusalem, and the apostolical constitutions, 
 which are falsely attributed to Clementof Rome. ‘These writers are most. 
 learnedly illustrated and explained by Pierre Le Brun, in his Explica- 
 tion literale et historique de la Messe, tom. ii. 
 
 b Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, tom. il. p. 614. | 
 
 * Franc. Bern. Ferrarius, de Veterum Acclamationibus et Plausu, p. 66. || 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Ii, 
 
 tine, observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly 
 been.t. The festivals, celebrated in most of the churches, 
 were five in number. ‘l'hey were appointed in commemo- 
 ration of the birth, the sufferings and death, the resurrection, 
 and the ascension of the divine Saviour ; and also the effu- 
 sion of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles and first heralds 
 of the Gospel on the day of Pentecost. Of these festivals, 
 the Christians kept none with so much solemnity and 
 respect as the fourteen days that were appointed for the 
 commemoration of the resurrection.¢ 
 
 The eastern Christians celebrated the memory of Christ’s 
 birth and baptism in one festival, which was fixed on the 
 sixth of January; and this day was by them called the 
 Epiphany, as on it the immortal Saviour was manifested » 
 to the world.£. On the other hand, the Christians of the 
 west seem to have always celebrated the birth of our Lord 
 on the 25th of December; for there appears to be very little 
 certainty in the accounts of those who allege, that the 
 Roman pontiff, Julius L., removed the festival of Christ’s 
 birth from the 6th of January to the 25th of December.¢ 
 
 The unlucky success which some had in discovering the 
 carcasses and remains of certain holy men, multiplied the 
 festivals and commemorations of the martyrs in the most 
 extravagant manner. ‘The increase of these festivals would 
 not have been offensive to the wise and the good, if Chris- 
 tians had employed the time théy took up, in promoting 
 their spiritual interests, and in forming habits of sanctity 
 and virtue. But the contrary happened. ‘hese days, 
 which were set apart for pious exercises, were squandered 
 away in indolence, voluptuousness, and criminal pursuits, 
 and were less consecrated to the service of God, than em- 
 ployed in the indulgence of sinful passions. It is well 
 known, among other things, what opportunities of sinning 
 were offered to the licentious, by what were called the vigils 
 of Easter and Whitsuntide, or Pentecost. 
 
 VI. Fasting was considered in this century, as the 
 most effectual and powerful means of repelling the force, 
 and disconcerting the stratagems of evil spirits, and of ap- 
 peasing the anger of an offended Deity. Hence we may 
 easily understand what induced the rulers of the church to 
 establish this custom by express laws, and to impose, as an 
 indispensable duty, an act of humiliation, the observance 
 of which had hitherto been left to every one’s choice. The 
 Quadragesimal or Lent-fast was regarded as more sacred 
 than all the rest, though it was not yet confined toa fixed 
 number of days.» We must, however, remark, that the 
 fasts observed in this century, were very different from those 
 which were solemnized in the preceding times. Formerly 
 those who submitted themselves to the discipline of fasting 
 abstained wholly from meat and drink ; but nowa mere 
 abstinence from flesh and wine was, by many, judged sufhi- 
 cient for the purposes of fasting,i and the latter opinion 
 prevailed from this time, and became universal among the 
 Latins. 
 
 VII. Baptismal fonts were now erected in the porch 
 each church, for the more commodious administration 
 
 of 
 of 
 
 4 Jac. Godofred. ad Codicem Theodos. tom. i. p. 135. 
 
 ® Godofred. tom. i. p. 143. 
 
 f Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, tom. ii. p. 693. 
 
 $ See Jos. Sim. Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Clement. Vatican. tom. ii 
 and Alph. des Vignoles, Diss. dans la Bibliotheque Germanique, tom. i 
 
 a Jo. Dalleus, de Jejuniis et Quadragesiima, I1b. iv. 
 
 : See Barbeyrac, de la Morale des Peres, p. 250. 
 
 = 
 . 
 
 aoe 
 
Caap. LY. 
 
 that initiating sacrament. Baptism was administered du- 
 ring the vigils of Easter and Whitsuntide, with lighted ta- 
 pers, by the bishop, and the presbyters commissioned by 
 lim for that purpose. In cases, however, of urgent neces- 
 sity, and in such only, a dispensation was granted for per- 
 forming this sacred rite at other times than those now 
 mentioned. In some places salt was employed, as a sym- 
 bol of purity and wisdom, and was thrown, with this view, 
 nto the mouth of the person baptised ; and a double unc- 
 ion was every where used in the celebration of this ordi- 
 sance, one preceding its administration, and the other 
 ‘ollowing it. ‘The persons who were admitted into the 
 shurch by baptism, were obliged, after the celebration of 
 hat holy ordinance, to go clothed in white garments during 
 he space of seven days. Many other rites ; and ceremonies 
 night be mentioned here; but, as they neither acquired 
 tability by their duration, nor received the sanction of 
 wiversal approbation and consent, we shall pass them over 
 n silence. 
 
 VUL The institution of catechumens, and the disci- 
 pline through which they passed, suffered no variation in 
 this century, but continued upon its ancient footing. It 
 appears farther, by innumerable testimonies, that the 
 Lord’s supper was administered, (in some places two or 
 three times in a week, in others on Sunday only,) to all 
 those who were assembled to worship God. It was also 
 sometimes celebrated at the tombs of martyrs and at 
 funerals; which custom, undoubtedly, gave rise to the 
 masses, that were afterwards performed in honour of the 
 saints, and for the benefit of the dead. 
 bread and wine were holden up to view before their distri- 
 bution, that they might be seen by the people, and contem- 
 plated with religious respect ; and hence, not long after, 
 the adoration of the symbols was unquestionably derived. 
 Neither catechumens, penitents, nor those who were suppo- 
 sed to be under the influence and impulse of evil spirits, 
 were admitted to this holy ordinance ; nor did the sacred 
 orators in their public discourses ever dare to unfold its true 
 and genuine nature with freedom and simplicity. The 
 reason of thus concealing it from the knowledge and obser- 
 
 vation of many, was a very mean and shameful one, as 
 we have already observed: many, indeed, offer a much 
 more decent and satisfactory argument in favour of this 
 custom, when they allege, that, by these mysterious pro- 
 ceedings, the desire of the catechumens would naturally 
 burn to penetrate, as soon as was possible, the sublime se- 
 cret, and that they would thereby be animated to prepare 
 themselves with double diligence for receiving this pri- 
 vilege. —_—--———_ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. The sects which had sprung up in the preceding ages, 
 transmitted their contagious principles to this century. 
 Many of them yet remained, particularly in the east, and, 
 notwithstanding their absur dity, continued to attract fol- 
 lowers. ‘The Manichean faction surpassed the rest in its 
 
 * The severe laws enacted by the emperors against the Manicheans, 
 are to be found in the Theodosian Code, vol. vi. part i. In 372, Valen- 
 tinian the elder prohibited their assemblies, and imposed heavy penalties 
 on their doctors. In 381, Theodosius the Great branded them with 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 |influence and progress. 
 
 In many places, the | 
 
 99 
 
 The very turpitude and enormity 
 of its doctrines seemed to seduce many into its snares ; and, 
 what is still more surprising, men of genius and penetra- 
 tion were deluded by its enchantments, as the example of 
 Augustin sufficiently testifies. It is true, the wisest and 
 most learned writers of the times (and, among others, Au- 
 gustin, when he returned from his errors) endeavoured to 
 oppose the growth of this spreading pestilence ; nor were 
 their efforts entirely unsuccessful. But the root of this 
 horrible disease was deep ; and neither the force of argu- 
 ment, nor the severity of the most rigorous laws, were 
 sufficient to extirpate it thoroughly.» For some ‘time, 
 indeed, it seemed to disappear, and many thought it utter. 
 ly eradicated ; ; but it gathered force secretly, and broke out 
 |afterwards with new violence. 'l’o avoid the severity of 
 the laws, the Manicheans concealed themselves under a 
 variety of names, which they adopted successively, and 
 changed, in proportion as they were discovered under them. 
 Thus they assumed the names of Encratites, Apotactics, 
 | Saccophori, Hydroparastates, Solitaries, and several others, 
 under which they lay concealed for a certain time, but 
 could not long escape the vigilance of their enemies.» 
 
 IL. The state had little danger to apprehend from a sect 
 which the force of severe laws and cf penal restraints 
 could not fail to undermine, gradually, throughout the Ro- 
 man empire. Buta new and much more formidable fac 
 tion started up in Africa, which, though it arose from small 
 beginnings, afflicted most griev ously both the church and 
 state for more than a century. Its origin was as follows: 
 
 Mensurius (bishop of Carthage) dying in the year 311, 
 the greatest part of the clergy and the people chose, in his 
 place, the archdeacon Cecilianus, who without waiting for 
 the assembly of the Numidian bishops, was consecrated 
 'by those of Africa Minor alone. ‘This hasty proceeding 
 was the occasion of much trouble. ‘The Numidian pre- 
 lates, who had always been present at the consecration of 
 the bishops of Carthage, were highly offended at their 
 being excluded from this solemn ceremony, and assena- 
 bling at Carthage, called Ceecilianus before them, to give 
 an account of his conduct. The flame, thus kindled, was 
 greatly augmented by several Carthagimian presbyters, 
 who were competitors with Cicilianus, particularly Botrus 
 ‘and Celesius. Lucilla, also, an opulent lady, who had 
 been reprimanded by Cwcilianus for her superstitious 
 | practices, and had conceived against lim a bitter enmity 
 on that account, was active in exasperating the spirits of 
 his adversaries, and distributed a large sum of money 
 among the Numidians to encourage them, in their oppo- 
 sition to the new bishop In consequence of all this, Ce- 
 cilianus, refusing to submit to the judgment of the Nu- 
 midians, was condemned in a council, assembled by Se- 
 cundus, bishop of 'Tigisis, consisting of seventy prelates, 
 who with the consent of a considerable part of the clergy 
 and people, declared him unworthy of the episcopal digni- 
 ty, and chose his deacon Majorinus for his successor. By 
 this proceeding, the Carthaginian church was divided into 
 
 two factions, and groaned under the contests of two rival 
 bishops, Ceecilianus and Majorinus. 
 IU. The Numidians alleged two important reasons to 
 
 ! 
 ! 
 | infamy, and deprived them of all the rights and privileges of citizens. 
 Add, to these, several edicts more dreadful, which may be seen in pages 
 
 137 , 138, 170, of the above-mentioned work. 
 b "Bee the law of Theodosius, tom. vi. p. 134, Ke. 
 
100 
 
 justify their sentence against Ceecilianus; first, that Felix 
 of Aptungus, the chief of the bishops who assisted at his 
 consecration, was a traitor, (7. e. one of those who, during 
 the persecution under Diocletian, had delivered the sacred 
 writings and the pious books of the Christians to the ma- 
 gistrates in order to be burned;) and that, as he had thus 
 apostatised from the service of Christ, it was not possible 
 that he could impart the Holy Ghost to the new bishop. 
 A second reason for their sentence against Cevilianus was 
 drawn from the harshness and even cruelty that he had 
 discovered in his conduct, while he was a deacon, towards 
 the Christian confessors and martyrs during the persecu- 
 tion above mentioned, whom he abandoned, in the most 
 merciless manner, to all the extremities of hunger and 
 want, leaving them without food in their prisons, and pre- 
 cluding the grant of relief from those who were willing to 
 succour them. 'T'o these accusations they added the inso- 
 lent contumacy of the new prelate, who refused to obey 
 their summons, and to appear before them in council to 
 justify his conduct. None of the Numidians opposed Cee- 
 cilianus witb such bitterness and vehemence, as Donatus 
 bishop of Casze-Nigre; and hence the whole faction was 
 called after him, as most writers think; though some are 
 of opinion, that the sect derived this name from another 
 Donatus, surnamed the Great.2 | This controversy, in a 
 short time, spread far and wide, not only throughout Nu- 
 midia, but even through all the imperial provinces in Af- 
 tica, which entered so zealously into this ecclesiastical war, 
 that in most cities there were two bishops, one at the head 
 of Cecilianus’ party, and the other acknowledged by the 
 followers of Majorinus. 
 
 IV. The Donatists having brought this controversy 
 before Constantine, that prince, in the year 313, commis- 
 sioned Melchiades, bishop of Rome, to examine the matter, 
 and named three bishops of Gaul to assist him in this 
 inquiry. ‘The result of this examination was favourable to 
 
 Cecilianus, who was entirely acquitted of the crimes laid | 
 
 to his charge. The accusations adduced against Felix, by 
 whom he was consecrated, were at that time left out of the 
 question ; but, in the year 314, the cause of that prelate 
 was examined separately by /Elian, proconsul of Africa, 
 by whose decision he was absolved. 'The Donatists, whose 
 cause necessarily suffered by these proceedings, complain- 
 ed much of the judgment pronounced by Melchiades and 
 fElian. The small number of bishops, that had been 
 appointed to examine their cause jointly with Melchiades, 
 excited, in a particular manner, their reproaches, and even 
 their contempt. ‘They looked upon the decision of seventy 
 venerable Numidian prelates, as infinitely more respectable 
 than that pronounced by nineteen bishops (for such was 
 the number assembled at Rome,)» who, beside the inferiori- 
 ty of their number, were not sufficiently acquainted with 
 the African affairs to be competent judges in the present 
 question. ‘The indulgent emperor, willing to remove these 
 
 * In the faction of the Donatists, there were two eminent persons of 
 the name of Donatus; one was a Numidian, and bishop of Case- 
 Nigra; the other succeeded Majorinus, bishop of Carthage, as leader of 
 the Donatists, and received from this sect, on account of his learning 
 and virtue, the title of Donatus the Great. Hence it has been a ques- 
 tion among the learned, from which of these the sect derived its name? 
 The arguments that support the different sides of this trivial question are 
 nearly of equal force; and why may we not decide it by supposing that 
 the Donatists were so called from them both. 
 
 >> The emperor, in his letter to Melchiades, named no more than 
 
 three prelates, viz. Maternus, Rheticius, Marinus, bishops of Cologne, 
 Autun, and Arles, to sit with himas judges of this controversy ; but after- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 specious complaints, ordered a much more numerous 
 assembly to meet at Arles, composed of bishops from Italy, 
 Germany, Gaul, and Spain. Here again the Donatists lost 
 their cause, but renewed their efforts by appealing to the 
 immediate judgment of the emperor, who condescended 
 so far as to admit their appeal; and, in consequence thereof, 
 examined the whole affair himself in the year 316 at 
 Milah, in presence of the contending parties. The issue 
 of this third trial was not more favourable to the Donatists 
 than that of the two preceding councils, whose decisions the 
 emperor confirmed by the sentence he pronounced.¢ 
 Hence this perverse sect loaded Constantine with the bit- 
 terest reproaches, and maliciously complained that Osius, 
 bishop of Cordova, who was honoured with his friendship, 
 and was intimately connected with Cecilianus, had by 
 corrupt insinuations, engaged him to pronounce an unrigh 
 teous sentence. ‘I'he emperor, animated with a just 
 indignation at such odious proceedings, deprived the Dona- 
 tists of their churches in Africa, and sent into banishment 
 their seditious bishops; and he carried his resentment so 
 far as to put some of them todeath, probably on account of 
 the intolerable petulance and malignity they discovered 
 both in their writings and in their discourses. Hence 
 
 | arose violent commotions and tumults in Africa, as the 
 
 Donatists were exceedingly powerful and numerous in that 
 part of the empire. Constantine endeavoured, by embas- 
 sies and negotiations, to allay these disturbances; but his 
 efforts were fruitless. 
 
 VY. These unhappy commotions gave rise, no doubt, to 
 a horrible confederacy of desperate ruffians, who passed 
 under the name of Circumcelliones. 'This furious, fear- 
 less, and bloody set of men, composed of the rough and 
 savage populace, who embraced the party of the Donatists, 
 maintained their cause by the force of arms, filled the Af 
 rican provinces with slaughter and rapine, and committed 
 the most enormous acts of perfidy and cruelty against the 
 followers of Cecilianus. This outrageous multitude, 
 whom no prospect of sufferings could terrify, and who, 
 upon urgent occasions, faced death itself with the most 
 audacious temerity, contributed to render the sect of the 
 Donatists an object of the utmost abhorrence; though it 
 cannot be proved, by any records of undoubted authority, 
 that the bishops of that faction (those, at least, who had any 
 reputation for piety and virtue) either approved the proceed- 
 ings, or stirred up the violence of this odious rabble. In 
 the mean time, the flame of discord gathered strength 
 daily, and seemed to portend the approaching horrors of a - 
 civil war; to prevent which, Constantine, having tried in 
 vain every other method of accommodation, abrogated at 
 last, by the advice of the governors of Africa, the laws that 
 had been enacted against the Donatists, and allowed to the 
 people a full liberty of adhering to that party which they 
 in their minds preferred. 
 
 VI. After the death of Constantine the Great, his son 
 wards he ordered seven more to be added to the number, and as many 
 as could soon and conveniently assemble; so that there were nine- 
 teen in all. 
 
 ° The proofs of the supreme power of the emperor, in religious mat- 
 ters, appear so incontestable in this controversy, that it is amazing it 
 should have been called in question. Certain it is, that, at this time, the 
 notion of a supreme judge set over the church universal, by the appoint- 
 ment of Christ, never had entered into any one’s head. ‘The assemblies 
 of the clergy at Rome and Arles are commonly called cowncils, but 
 
 improperly, since, in reality, they were nothing more than meetings of 
 judges or commissaries appointed by the emperor. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 Constans, to whom Africa was allotted in the division of the | 
 
 empire, sent Macarius and Paulus into that province, with 
 a view to heal this deplorable schism, and to engage the 
 Donatists to conclude a peace. Their principal bishop op- 
 posed all methods of reconciliation with the utmost vehe- 
 mence, and his example was followed by the other prelates 
 of the party. The Circumcelliones also continued to sup- 
 port the cause of the Donatists by assassinations and mas- 
 sacres, executed with the most unrelenting fury. ‘hey 
 were, however, stopped in their career, and were defeated 
 by Macarius in the battle of Bagnia. Upon this, the affairs 
 of the Donatists rapidly declined; and Macarius no longer 
 used the soft voice of persuasion té engage them to an ac- 
 commodation, but employed his authority for that purpose. 
 A few submitted; the greatest part saved themselves by 
 flight; numbers were sent into banishment, among whom 
 was Donatus the Great; and many of them were punished 
 with the utmost severity. During these troubles, which 
 continued near thirteen years, several steps were taken 
 against the Donatists, which the equitable and impartial 
 will be at a loss to reconcile with the dictates of humanity 
 and justice; nor, indeed, do the Catholics themselves deny 
 the truth of this assertion. Such treatment naturally ex- 
 cited, among the Donatists, loud complaints of the cruelty 
 of their adversaries.” ' 
 Vil. The emperor Julian, upon his accession to-the 
 throne in the year 362, permitted the exiled Donatists to 
 return to their country, and restored them to the enjoy- 
 ment of their former liberty. This step so far renewed 
 their vigour, that they brought over, in a short time, the 
 majority of the African provincials to their interests. Gra- 
 tian, indeed, published several edicts against them, and, in 
 the year 377, deprived them of their churches, and pro- 
 hibited all their assemblies, public and private. But the 
 fury of the Circumcelliones, who may be considered as the 
 soldiery of the Donatists, and the apprehension of intes- 
 tine tumults, prevented, no doubt, the vigorous execution 
 of these laws. ‘This appears from the number of churches 
 which this people had in Africa toward the conclusion of 
 the century, and which were served by no less than four 
 aundred bishops. Two things, however, diminished con- 
 siderably the power and lustre of this flourishing sect, and 
 made it decline apace about the end of this century: one 
 was, a violent division that arose among them, on account 
 of a person named Maximin; and this division, so proper 
 to weaken the common cause, was the most effectual in- 
 strument the catholics could use to combat the Donatists. 
 But a second circumstance which precipitated their decline, 
 was the zealous and fervent opposition of Augustin, first 
 presbyter, and afterwards bishop of Hippo. This learned 
 and ingenious prelate attacked the Donatists in every way. 
 In his writings, in his public discourses, and in his private 
 conversation, he exposed the dangerous and seditious prin- 
 ciples of this sect in the strongest manner; and as he was 
 
 * The testimony of Optatus of Milevi is beyond exception in this 
 matter; it is quoted from the third book of his treatise, de Schismate 
 Donatistarum, and runs thus: “ Ab operariis Unitatis (i. e. the emperor’s 
 ambassadors Macarius and Paulus) multa quidem asperé gesta sunt. 
 Fugerunt omnes episcopi cum clericis suis; aliqui sunt mortui; qui for- 
 tiores fuerunt, captiet longe relegati sunt.” Optatus, through the whole 
 of this work, endeavours to excuse the severities committed against the 
 Donatists, of which he lays the principal fault upon that sect itself, con- 
 fessing, however, that, in some instances, the proceedings against them 
 were too rigorous to deserve approbation, or admit an excuse. 
 
 No. IX. 26 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 10! 
 
 of a warm and active spirit, he animated against them the 
 whole Christian world, as well as the imperial court. 
 
 VIII. "The doctrine of the Donatists was conformable 
 to that of the church, as even their advérsaries confess; 
 nor were their lives less exemplary than those of other 
 Christian societies, if we except the enormous conduct of 
 the Circumceelliones, which the greatest part of the sect 
 regarded with the utmost detestation and abhorrence. The 
 crime, therefore, of the Donatists lay properly in the fol- 
 lowing points; in their declaring the church of Africa, 
 which adhered to Cecilianus, fallen from the dignity and 
 privileges of a true church, and deprived of the gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost, on account of the offences with which 
 the new bishop, and Felix, who had consecrated him, were 
 charged; in their pronouncing all the churches, which 
 held communion with that of Africa, corrupt and polluted; 
 in maintaining, that the sanctity of their bishops gave 
 their community alone a full right to be considered as the 
 true, the pure, and holy church; and in their avoiding all 
 communication with other churches, from an apprelten- 
 sion of contracting their impurity and corruption. ‘This 
 erroneous principle was the source of that most shocking 
 uncharitableness and presumption which appeared in 
 their conduct to other churches. Hence they pronounced 
 the sacred rites and institutions void of all virtue and 
 efficacy among those Christians who were not precisely 
 of their sentiments, and not only re-baptised those who 
 came over to their party from other churches, but even with 
 respect to those who had been ordained ministers of the 
 Gospel, they observed the severe custom, either of depri- 
 ving them of their office, or obliging them to be ordained 
 a second time. ‘This schismatic pestilence was almost 
 wholly confined to Africa; for the few pitiful assemblies, 
 which the Donatists had formed in Spain and Italy, had 
 neither stability nor duration.° 
 
 IX. The faction of the Donatists was not the only one 
 that troubled the church during this century. In the year 
 317, a contest arose in Egypt upon a subject of much higher 
 importance, and its consequences were of a yet more perni- 
 cious nature. ‘The subject of this warm controversy, which 
 kindled such deplorable divisions throughout the Chris- 
 tian world, was the doctrine of three persons in the God- 
 head ; a doctrine which, in the three preceding centuries, 
 had happily escaped the vain curiosity of human researches, 
 and been left undefined and undetermined by any particu- 
 lar set of ideas. he church, indeed, had frequently decid- 
 ed, against the Sabellians and others, that there was a real 
 difierence between the Father and Son, and that the Holy 
 Ghost was distinct from both ; or, as we commonly speak, 
 that three distinct persons exist in the Deity; but the exact 
 relation of these persons to each other, and the nature of 
 the distinction that subsists between them, are matters that 
 hitherto were neither disputed nor explained, and with re- 
 spect to which the church had, consequently, observed 
 
 b See Collat. Carthag. diei tertiz, sect. 258, at the end of Optatus. 
 
 ¢ A more ample account of the Donatists will be found in the follow- 
 ing writers: Henr. Valesius, Dissert. de Schismate Donatistarum, 
 (subjoined to his edition of the ecclesiastical history of Eusebius.)— 
 Thom. Ittigius’ History of Donatism, published in the Appendix to his 
 book concerning the Heresies of the apostolic age—Henn. W itsius, 
 Miscellanea Sacra, tom. i. lib. iv.; Henr. Novis, Hist. Donat. augmented 
 by the Ballerini, op. tom. iv—Long’s History of the Donatists, ‘London, 
 1677. These are the sources whence we have drawn the accounts that 
 we have given of this troublesome sect. 
 
102 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IIL. 
 
 a profound silence. Nothing was dictated on this head to || assembled at Alexandria, accused Arius of impiety, and 
 
 the faith of Christians, nor were there any modes of} 
 expression prescribed as requisite to be used in speaking of | 
 
 this mystery. Hence it happened, that the CHristian doc- 
 tors entertained different sentiments upon this subject with- 
 out giving the least offence, aud discoursed variously con- 
 
 cerning the distinctions in the Godhead, each following | 
 
 his respective opinion with the utmost liberty. In Egypt, 
 and the adjacent countries, the greatest part embraced, in 
 this as well as in other matters, the opinion of Origen, who 
 held that the Son was, in God, that which reason is in man, 
 and that the Holy Ghost was nothing more than the divine 
 energy, or active force. This notion is attended with 
 many difficulties ; and, when it is not proposed with the 
 utmost caution, tends, in a particular manner, to remove 
 all real distinction between the persons in the God-head, or, 
 in other words, leads directly to Sabellianism. 
 
 X. In an assembly of the presbyters of Alexandria, the 
 bishop of that city, whose name was Alexander, expressed 
 his sentiments on this subject with a high degree of freedom 
 and confidence, maintaining, among other things, that the 
 Son was not only of the same eminence and dignity, but 
 also of the same essence, with the Father.» ‘This assertion 
 was opposed by Arius, one of the presbyters, a man of a 
 subtile turn, and remarkable for his eloquence. Whether 
 his zeal for his own opinions, or personal resentment 
 against his bishop, was the motive that influenced him, is 
 not very certain. Be that as it will, he first treated, as false, 
 the assertion of Alexander, on account of its affinity to the 
 Sabellian errors, which had been condemned by the 
 church ; and then, rushing into the opposite extreme, he 
 maintained, that the Son was totally and essentially distinct 
 from the Father; that he was the first and noblest of those 
 beings, whom God had created out of nothing, the instru- 
 ment by whose subordinate operation the Almighty Father 
 formed the universe, and therefore inferior to the Father, 
 both in nature and in dignity. His opinions concerning 
 the Holy Ghost are not so well known. It is however 
 certain, that his notion concerning the Son of God was 
 accompanied and connected with other sentiments, that 
 were very different from those commonly received among 
 Christians, though none of the ancient writers have given 
 us a complete and coherent system of those religious te- 
 nets which Arius and his followers really held.» 
 
 XI. The opinions of Arius were no sooner divulged, 
 than they found in Egypt, and the neighbouring provin- 
 ces, a multitude of abettors, and among these, many who 
 were distinguished as much by the superiority of their 
 learning and genius, as by the eminence of their rank and 
 station. Alexander, on the other hand, in two councils 
 
 * See Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. v. and Theodoret, lib. i. 
 
 » For an account of the Arian controversy, the curious reader must 
 consult the Life of Constantine, by Eusebius; the various libels of 
 Athanasius, which are to be found in the first volume of his works; the 
 Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, the sixty- 
 ninth Heresy of Epiphanius, and other writers of this and the following 
 age. But, among all these, there is not one to whom the merit of im- 
 partiality can be attributed with justice; so that the Arian history stands 
 yet in need of a pen guided by integrity and candour, and unbiassed by 
 affection or hatred. Both sides have déseryed reproach upon this head; 
 and those who have hitherto written the history of the Arian controversy 
 have only espied the faults of one side; e. g. it is a common opinion 
 that Arius was too much attached to the opinions of Plato and Oricen 
 (see Petav. Dogm. Theol. tom. ii. lib. i. cap. viii.); but this common 
 opinion is a vulgar error. Origen and Plato entertained notions en- 
 tirely different from those of Arius; whereas Alexander, his antagonist, 
 undoubtedly followed the manner of Origen, in explaining the doctrine 
 
 caused him to be expelled from the communion of the 
 church. Arius received this severe and ignominious shock 
 with great firmness and constancy of mind; retired into 
 Palestine; and thence wrote several letters to the most 
 eminent men of those times, in which he endeavoured to 
 demonstrate the truth of his opinions, and that with such 
 surprising success, that vast numbers were drawn over to 
 his party; and among these Eusebius, bishop of Nicome 
 dia, a man distinguished in the church by his influence 
 and authority. 'The emperor Constantine, looking upon 
 _the subject of this controversy as a matter of small impor- 
 tance, and as little connected with the fundamental and 
 essential doctrines of religion, contented himself at first 
 _ with addressing a letter to the contending parties, in which 
 _ he admonished them to put an end to their disputes. But 
 when the prince saw that his admonitions were without 
 effect, and that the troubles and commotions, which the 
 passions of men too often mingle with religious disputes, 
 were spreading and increasing daily throughout the empire, 
 he convoked, in the year 325, a great council at Nice in 
 Bithynia, hoping and desiring that the deputies of the 
 church universal would put an end to this controversy. In 
 this general assembly, after many keen debates, and vio- 
 lent efforts of the two parties, the doctrine of Arius was 
 /condemned; Christ was declared consubstantial,: or ot 
 the same essence with the Father; the vanquished presbyter 
 was banished among the Illyrians, and his followers were 
 compelled to give their assent to the creed,? or confession of 
 faith, which was composed on this occasion. 
 
 XII. The council assembled by Constantine at Nice, is 
 one of the rnost famous and interesting events that are pre- 
 sented to us in ecclesiastical history; and yet, what is 
 most surprising, scarcely any part of the history of the 
 church has been unfolded with such negligence, or rather 
 _ passed over with rapidity. The ancient wniters are neither 
 _agreed with respect to the time or place in which it was 
 _assembled, the number of those who sat in the council, nor 
 _the bishop who presided in it; and no authentic acts of its 
 famous sentence are now extant.‘ 
 
 The eastern Christians differ from all others both with 
 regard to the number and the nature of the laws which 
 were enacted in this celebrated council. ‘The latter men- 
 tion only twenty canons; but, in the estimate of the for- 
 mer, they amount toa much greater number. It appears, 
 however, by those laws which all parties have admitted as 
 genuine, and also from other authentic records, not only 
 that Arius was condemned in this council, but that some 
 other points were determined, and certain measures agreed 
 _upon, to calm the religious tumults that had so long troubled 
 
 of the three persons. See Cudworth’s Intellectual System of the 
 Universe. 
 
 © ‘Ouoéctos. 
 
 4 John Christ. Luicer has illustrated this famous creed from several 
 | important and ancient records, in avery learned book published at Ut- 
 recht in 1718. 
 
 € See Ittigius, Hist. Concilii Niceeni—Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Histor, 
 et Universelle, tom. x. xxii—Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, 
 tom.i. The accounts, which the Oriental writers have given of this 
 
 council, have been collected by Euseb. Renaudot, in his History of the 
 | Patriarchs of Alexandria. . 
 
 f See the Annotations of Valesius upon the Ecclesiastical History of 
 Eusebius, and Jos. Sim. Asseman. Bibl. Oriental. Clement. Vatican, 
 tem. i. ‘The history of this council was written by Maruthas, a Syrian, 
 but is long since lost. 
 
 © Th, Ittigius, Supplem. op. Clement. Alex.—J. 8. Asseman. tom. i, 
 Euseb. Renaudot. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 the church. The controversy concerning the time hf oclo-| 
 brating Easter was terminated ;* the troubles whic No | 
 
 vatian had excited, by opposing the re-admission of the laps- 
 ed to the communion of the church, were composed ; the 
 Meletian schism was condemned,® and the jurisdiction of 
 the greater bishops precisely defined and determined, with 
 several other matters of a like nature. But, while these good 
 prelates were employing all their zeal and attention to cor- 
 rect the errors of others, they were upon the point of falling | 
 intoa very capital one themselves; for they had almost come | 
 io a resolution of imposing upon the clergy the yoke of per-. 
 petual celibacy, when Paphnutius put a stop to their pro- 
 ceedings, and warded off that unnatural law.¢ | 
 XI. But, notwithstanding all these determinations, | 
 the comimotions excited by this controversy remained yet in | 
 the minds of many, and the spirit of dissension triumphed | 
 both ovei the decrees of the council and the authority of | 
 the empergr. For those who, in the main, were far from. 
 being vide st to the party of Arius, found many things 
 reprehensible, both in the decrees of the council, and in 
 the forms of expression which it employed to explain the 
 controverted points; while the Arians, on the other hand, 
 left no means untried to heal their wounds, and to recover 
 their place and their credit in the church. And their efforts | 
 were crowned with the desired success: for, a few years | 
 afier the council of Nice, an Arian priest, who had ote 
 recommended to the emperor, in the dying words of his 
 sister Constantia, found means to persuade him, that the 
 condemnation of Arius was utterly unjust, and was rather 
 occasioned by the malice of his enemies, than by their zeal | 
 for the truth. In consequence of this, the emperor recalled | 
 him from banishment in the year 330,* repealed the laws 
 that had been enacted against him, and permitted his chief 
 protector Eusebius of | Nicomedia, and his vindictive fac- 
 tion, to vex and oppress the partisans of the Nicene council | 
 in various ways. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, was 
 one of those who suffered most from the violent measures. 
 of the Arian party. Invincibly firm in his purpose, and | 
 deaf to the most powerful solicitations and entreaties, he 
 obstinately refused to restore Arius to his former rank and 
 
 ay The decision, with respect to Easter, was in favour of the cus- 
 tom of the western churches ; and accordingly all churches were ordered 
 to celebrate that festival on the Sunday which imm: ediately followed the 
 [4th of the first moon that happened after the vernal equinox. 
 
 => » Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis in Egypt, was accused and con- 
 victed of having offered incense to idols; and, in consequence thereof, 
 was deposed by. Peter, bishop of Alexandria, w ‘hose j javisdiction extend- 
 ed over all Egypt. Meletius, upon this, became the head of a schism in 
 the church, by assuming to himself the power of ordination, which was 
 vested in the bishop of Alexandria, and exercised by him in all the 
 Ezyptian churches. Epiphanius attributes the dissensions between 
 Meletius and Peter to another cause (Her. 68.): he alleges, that the 
 vigorous proceedings of Peter against Meletius were occasioned by the 
 latter’s refusing to re-admit into the church those who had fallen from 
 the faith during Dioeletian’s persecution, before their penitential trial 
 was entirely finished. The former opinion is maintained by Socrates | 
 and Theodoret, whose authority is certainly more respectable than that 
 of Epiphanius. 
 
 37° The confusion that Meletius introduced, by presuming (as was 
 observed in the preceding note) to violate the jurisdiction of Peter, the 
 metropolitan of Alexandria, by conferring ordination ina province where 
 he alone had a right to ordain, was rectified by the council of Nice, 
 which determined (nat the metropolitan bishops, in their respective pro- 
 vinces, should have the same power and authority that the bishops of 
 Rome exercised over the suburbicarian churches and countries. 
 
 4 Socrates, Hist. Eccles. tib.i. ¢. viii. compared with Franc. Balduinus, 
 in Constant. Magn. and George Calixtus, de Conjugio Clericorum. 
 
 * The precise time in which Arius was recalled from banishment, 
 has not been fixed with such perfect certainty as to prevent a diversity of 
 sentiment on that head. 'The Annotations of the learned Valesius (or 
 Valois) upon Sozomen’s History, will throw some light upon this mat- 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 103 
 
 office. On this account he was deposed, by the council 
 holden at Tyre, in the year 335, and was afterwards ban- 
 ished into Gaul, while Arius and his followers were, with 
 great solemnity, reinstated in their privileges, and received 
 into the communion of the church. 'The people of Alexan- 
 dria, unmoved by these proceedings in favour of Arius, 
 persisted in refusing to grant hima place among their pres- 
 byters; upon which the emperor invited him to Constan- 
 tinople in the year 336, and ordered Alexander, the bishop 
 of that city, to admit him to his communion. But, before 
 this order could be put in execution, Arius diéd in the impe- 
 rial city ina very dismal manner ;‘ and his sovereign did 
 not long survive hii. 
 
 XIV. After the death of Constantine the Great, one of 
 his sons, Constantius, who, in the division of the empire, 
 became ruler of the east, was warmly attached to the 
 Arian party, whose principles were also zealously adopted 
 by the empress, and, indeed, by the whole court. On the 
 other hand, Constantine and Constans , emperors of the 
 west, maintained the decrees of the council of Nice in all 
 the provinces over which their jurisdiction extended. Hence 
 arose endless animosities and seditions, treacherous piots, 
 and open acts of injustice and violence between the con- 
 tending parties. Council was assembled against. council; 
 and their jarring and contradictory decrees spread perplex- 
 ity and confusion through the Christian world. 
 
 In the year 350, Constans was assassinated; and, about 
 two years after this, a great part of the western empire, 
 particularly Rome and Italy, fell into the hands of Con- 
 stantius. This change was extremely unfavourable to those 
 who adhered to the decrees of the council of Nice. "The 
 emperor’s attachment to the Arias animated him against 
 their adversaries, whom he involved in various troubles 
 and calamities, and he obliged many of them, by threats 
 and punishment, to come over to the sect w hich he esteem- 
 ed and protected. One of these forced proselytes was Libe- 
 rius, the Roman pontiff, who was compelled to embrace 
 Arianism in the year 357. The Nicene party meditated 
 reprisals, and waited only a convenient time, a fit place, 
 and a proper occasion, for executing their resentment. 
 
 ter, and make it probable, that Dr. Mosheim has placed the recall of 
 Arius, too late, at least by two years. Valesius has proved, from the 
 authority of Philostorgius, and from other most respectable monuments 
 and records, that Eusebits of Nicomedia, and Theognis, who were 
 banished by the emperor about three months after the council of Nic e, 
 (i. e. in 325) were recalled in 328. Now, in the writing by which the y 
 obtained their return, they pleaded the restoration of Arius, as an argue 
 ment for theirs, which proves that he was recalled before the year 330, 
 The same Valesius proves, that Arius, the first head of the Arian sect, 
 was dead before the council of Tyre, which was transferred to Jerusalem; 
 and thatthe letters which Constantine addressed to that council in favour 
 of Arius and his followers, were in behalf of a second chief of thatname, 
 who put himself at the head of the Arians, and who, in conjunction w ith 
 Euzoius, presented to Constantine such a confession of their faith as 
 made him i imagine their doctrine to be orthodox, and procured their re- 
 conciliation with the church at the council of Jerusalem. 
 
 #¢p (The dismal manner in which Arius is said to have expired, by 
 his entrails falling out as he was discharging one of the natural fune- 
 tions, is a fact that has been called in question by some modern writers, 
 though without foundation, since it is confirmed by the unexce ptionable 
 testimonies of Socrates, Sozome n, Athanasius, and others. The causes 
 of this tragical death have, however, furnished much matter of dispute. 
 The ancient writers, who considered this event as a judgment of Heaven, 
 miraculously drawn down by the prayers of the just, to punish the im- 
 piety of Arius, will find little credit in our times, among such as have 
 studied with attention and i impartiality the history of Arianism. After 
 having considered this matter with the utmost care, it appears to me ex- 
 tremely probable, that this unhappy man was a victim to the resentment 
 of his enemies, and was destroyed by poison, or some suc h violent me- 
 thod. A blind and fanatical zeal for certain systems of faith, has ia 
 all ages produced such horrible acts of cruelty and injustice. 
 
104 
 
 Thus the history of the charch, under the emperor Con- 
 stantius, presents to the reader a perpetual scene of tumult 
 and violence, and the deplorable spectacle of a war, carried | 
 on between brothers. without religion, justice, or humanity. 
 
 XV. The death of Constantius, i in the year 362, changed 
 considerably the face of religious affairs, and diminished 
 greatly the strength and influence of the Arian party. 
 Julian, who, by his principles, was naturally prevented 
 from taking a part in the controversy, bestowed his pro- 
 tection on neither side, but treated them both with an 
 impartiality Which was the result ofa perfect indifference. 
 Jovian, his successor, declared himself in favour of the Ni- 
 cene doctrine; and immediately the whole west, with a 
 considerable part of the eastern provinces, changed sides, 
 conformed to the decrees of the council of Nice, and abjured 
 the Arian system. 
 
 The scene, however, changed again in the year 364, 
 when Valentinian, and his brother Valens, were raised to 
 the empire. Valentinian adhered to the decrees of the 
 Nicene council; and hence the Arian sect, a few churches 
 excepted, suffered extirpation in the west. Valens, on the 
 other hand, favoured the Arians; and his zeal for their 
 cause exposed their adversaries, the Nicenians, in the 
 eastern provinces, to many severe trials and sufferings. 
 ‘These troubles, however, ended with the reign of this 
 emperor, who fell in a battle which was foaht against 
 the Goths in the year378, and was succeeded by Gratian, a 
 friend to the Nicenians, and therestorer of their tranquillity. 
 His zeal for their interests, though fervent and active, was 
 surpassed by that of his successor, Theodosius the Great, 
 who raised the secular arm against the Arians, with a 
 terrible degree of violence; drove them from their churches; 
 enacted laws whose sev erity exposed them to the greatest 
 
 calamities ;* and rendered, throughout his dominions, the 
 decrees of the council tr iumphant over all opposition ; so that 
 the public profession of the Arian doctrine was confined to 
 the barbarous and unconquered nations, such as the Bur- 
 gundians, Goths, and Vandals. 
 
 During this long and viclent contest between the 
 Nicenians and Arians, the attentive and impartial will 
 acknowledge that unjustifiable measures were taken, and 
 great excesses committed, on both sides: so that when, 
 abstractedly from the merits of the cause, we only consider 
 with what temper, and by what means, the parties defended 
 their respective opinions, it will be difficult to determine 
 which of the two exceeded most the bounds of probity, 
 charity, and moderation. 
 
 XVI. The efforts of the Arians to maintain their cause, 
 would have been much more prejudical to the church than 
 they were in effect, had not the members of that sect been 
 divided among themselves, and torn into factions, which 
 viewed each other with the bitterest aversion. Of these, the 
 ancient writers make mention under the names of Semi- 
 Arians, EKusebians, Aétians, Eunomians, Acacians, Psa- 
 thyrians, and others; but they may all be ranked with 
 propriety in three classes. The first of these were the 
 primitive and genuine Arians, who, rejecting all these forms 
 and modes of expression which the moderns had invented 
 to render their opinions less shocking to the Nicenians, 
 
 ® See the Theodosian Code, tom. vi. p. 5, 10, 130, 146; as also Godo- 
 fred’s annotation upon it. 
 
 > See Prud. Maran’s Dissert. sur les Semi-Arians, published in Voigt’s 
 Biblioth. Heresiolog. tom. ii. 
 
 *See Basnage’s Dissert, de Eunomio, in the Lectiones Antique of } 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Tart II. 
 
 taught simply, “That the Son was not begotten of the 
 Father, (i. e. produced out of his substance,) but was only 
 created out of nothing.” ‘This class was opposed by the 
 Semi-Arians, who, in their turn, were abandoned by the 
 Eunomians, or Anomeans, the disciples of Aétius and 
 Eunomius, of whom the latter was eminent for his know- 
 ledge and penetration. ‘The Semi-Arians held, that the Son 
 Was 6yoSois, i. e. similar to the Father in his essence, 
 not by nature but by a peculiar privilege; and the leading 
 men of this party were George of Laodicea and Basilius of 
 Ancyra.” ‘lhe Eunomians, who were also called Aétians 
 and Exucontians, and may be reckoned in ithe number of 
 pure Arians, maintained, that Christ was éreposews, or 
 dvepoios, 1. e. unlike the Father, as well in his essence, 
 as in other respects. Under this general division, many 
 
 | other subordinate sects were comprehended, whose subtil- 
 
 ties and refinements have not been clearly developed by 
 the ancient writers. 'The Arian cause suffered as much 
 from the discord and animosities that reigned among these 
 sects, as from the laboured confutations and the zealous 
 efforts of the orthodox party. 
 
 XVII. The Arian controversy produced new sects, occa- 
 sioned by the indiscreet lengths to which the contending 
 parties pushed their respective opinions ; and such, indeed, 
 are too generally the unhappy effects of disputes, in which 
 human passions have so large a part. Some, while they 
 were careful in avoiding, and zealous in opposing, the senti- 
 ments of Arius, ran headlong into systems of doctrine of an 
 equally dangerous and pernicious nature. Others, in de- 
 
 | fending the Arian notions, went farther than their chief, 
 
 and thus fell mto errorsmuch more extravagant than those 
 which he maintained. Thus does it generally happen in 
 religious controversies: the human mind, amidst its present 
 imperfection and infirmity, and its unhappy subjection to 
 the empire of imagination and the dictates of sense, rarely 
 follows the middle way in search of truth, or contemplates 
 spiritual and divine things with that accuracy and simpli- 
 city, that integrity and moderation, which alone can guard 
 against erroneous extremes. 
 
 Among those who fell into such extremes by their incon- 
 siderate violence in opposing the Arian system, Apollinaris 
 the younger, bishop of Laodicea, may be justly placed, 
 though otherwise a man of distinguished merit, and one 
 whose learned labours had rendered to religion the most 
 important services. He strenuously defended the divinity 
 of Christ against the Arians; but, by indulging himeelf 
 too freely in philosophical distinctions and subtilities, he 
 was carried so far as to deny, in some measure, his human- 
 ity. He maintained, that the body which Christ assumed, 
 was endowed with a sensitive, and not a rational, soul ; 
 and that the Divine Nature performed the functions of 
 reason, and supplied the place of what we call the mind, 
 the spiritual and intellectual principle in man; and from 
 this it seemed to follow, asa natural consequence, that the 
 divine nature in Christ was blended with the human, and 
 suffered with it the pains of crucifixion and death itself. 
 This great man was led astray, not only by his love of 
 disputing, but also by an immoderate attachment to the 
 Platonic doctrine, concerning the two-fold nature of the 
 
 Canisius, tom. i. where we find the confession and apology of Eunomius 
 yet extant. See also Jo. Alb. Fabric: Bibliotheca Gree. vol. viii. and 
 the Codex Theodos. tom. vi. 
 
 37 4 However erroneous the hypothesis of Apollinaris may have 
 been, the consequences here drawn trom it are not entirely just; for if it 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 soul, which was too generally adopted by the divines of this 
 
 age ; and which, undoubtedly, perverted their judgment 
 in several respects, and led them i into erroneous and extrava- | 
 
 gant decisions on various subjects. 
 Other errors, beside that now mentioned, are imputed to 
 
 Apollinaris by certain ancient writers ; but it is not easy to_ 
 
 determine how far they deserve credit upon that head. 
 Be that as it may, his doctrine was received by great num- 
 bers in almost all the eastern provinces, though, by the 
 diferent explications that were given of it, its votaries were 
 subdivided into various sects. It did not, however, long 
 maintain its ground; but, being attacked at the same time 
 by the laws of the emperors, the decrees of councils, and the 
 writings of the learned, it sunk by degrees under their uni- 
 ted force. 
 
 XVII. Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra, in Galatia, may 
 
 .be ranked in the same class with Apollinaris, if we are to 
 give credit to Eusebius of Caesarea, and the rest of his 
 adversaries, who represent his explication of the doctrine 
 of the Trinity as bordering upon the Sabellianand Samosa- 
 tenian errors. Many however are of opinion that this 
 Eusebius, and that bishop of Nicomedia who bore the same 
 name, represented with partiality the sentiments of Marcel- 
 lus, on account of the bitterness and vehemence which he 
 discovered in his opposition to the Arians, and their protec- 
 
 But though it should be acknowledged, that, in some 
 particulars, the accusations of his enemies carried an aspect 
 of partiality and resentment, yet it is manifest that they 
 were far from being entirely groundless ; for, if the doctrine 
 of Marcellus be attentively examined, it will appear, that 
 he considered the Son and the Holy Ghost as two emana- 
 tions from the Divine Nature, which, after performing their 
 respective offices, were at length to return into the sub- 
 stance of the Father ; and every one will perceive, at first 
 sight, how incompatible this opinion is with the belief of 
 three distinct Desir in the Godhead. Beside this, a 
 particular circumstance, which augmented considerably 
 the aversion of many to Marcellus, and strengthened the 
 suspicion of his erring in a capital manner, was his obsti- 
 nately refusing , toward the conclusion of his life, to con- 
 demn the tenets of his disciple Photinus.» 
 
 XIX. Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, may, with propri- 
 ety, be placed at the head of those whom the Arian contro- 
 versy was the occasion of seducing into the most extrava- 
 gant errors. ‘This prelate publis shed, in the year 343, his 
 opinions concerning the Deity, which were equally repug- 
 nant to the orthodox and Avian systems. His notions, 
 which have been obscurely, and indeed sometimes incon- 
 sistently represented by the ancient writers, amount to this, 
 when attentively examined: “'That Jesus Christ was born 
 of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; that a certain 
 divine emanation, or ray (which he called the word) de- 
 
 ~ scended upon this extraordinary man ; that, on account of. 
 
 the union of the divine word with his human nature, Jesus 
 
 is true that the human soul does not, in any respect, suffer death by the | 
 
 dissolution of the body, the same must hold good with respect to the 
 divide nature. ei 
 * See Basnage’s Histor. Heres. Apollin. published by Voigt in his Bib- 
 
 liotheca Heer siologica, tom. i. mrele i. p. L—96, and improved by some | 
 
 learned and important additions. See also tom. 1. fascic. iii. and p. 607 
 of the latter work. The laws enac seted against the followers of A polli- 
 naris, are extant in the Theodosian Code , tom. vi. See an account 
 of Apollinaris, and his heresy, in the English edition of Bayle’s Dic- 
 tionary. 
 
 ’ See Montfaucon’s Diatriba de Causd Marcelli in Nova Collectione 
 
 No. LX. 27 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 105 
 
 was called the Son of God, and even God himself; and 
 that the Holy Ghost was not a distinct person, Init a ce- 
 lestial virtue proceeding from the Deity.” The temerity 
 of this bold innovator was chastised, not only by the ortho- 
 dox in the councils of Antioch: and Milan, holden in the 
 years 345 and 347, and in that of Sirmium, whose date is 
 uncertain, but also by the Arians in one of thels assemblies 
 at Sirmium, convoked in 351. In consequence of all this, 
 Photinus was Hegraded from the episcopal dignity, and 
 died in exile in 372 
 
 XX. After him arose Macedonius, bishop of Constanti- 
 nople, a very eminent Semi-Arian doctor, who, through 
 the influence of the Badaniatis, was depose d by the coun- 
 cil of Constantinople, in 360, and sent into exile, where he 
 formed the sect of the Macedonians, or Pneumatoma- 
 chians. In his exile, he declared with the utmost freedom 
 those sentiments which he had formerly either concealed, 
 or, at least, taught with much circumspection. He consi- 
 dered the Holy Ghost as “a divine energy, diffused 
 throughout the universe, and .not as a person distinct 
 from the Father and the Son.”* This opinion had many 
 partisans in the Asiatic provinces; but the council assem- 
 bled by Theodosius, in 381, at Constantinople, (to which the 
 second rank, among the cecumenical or general councils, 
 is commonly edialrnted ,) puta stop by its authority to the 
 growing evil, and er ushed this rising sect before it had ar- 
 rived at maturity. A hundred and fifty bishops, who were 
 present at this council, gave the finishing touch to what 
 the council of Nice had left imperfect, and fixed in a full 
 and determined manner, the doctrine of ‘iree persons in 
 one God, which is still received among the generality of 
 Christians. 'This venerable assembly did not stop here; they 
 branded with infamy all the errors, and set a mark of 
 execration upon all the heresies, that were hitherto known; 
 they advanced the bishop of Constantinople, on account 
 of the eminence and extent of the city in which he resid- 
 ed, to the first rank after the Roman pontiff, and determin- 
 ed several other points, which they looked upon as 
 essential to the well-being of the church in general.' 
 
 XXI. The phrensy of the ancient Gnostics, which had 
 been so often vanquished, and in appearance remov ed, by 
 the various remedies that had been used for that purpose, 
 broke out anew in Spain. It was transported thither, in 
 the beginning of this century, by a certain person named 
 Mare, ‘of Memphis i in Egypt, whose converts at first were 
 not very numerous. T hey increased, however, in process 
 of time, and counted in their number several persons 
 highly eminent for their learning and piety. Among 
 others, Priscillian, a layman, distinguished by his birth, 
 fortune and eloquence, and aflerw ards bishop of Abila, 
 was infected with this odious doctrine, and became its most 
 zealous and ardent defender. Hence he was accused by 
 several bishops, and, by a rescript obtained from the em- 
 peror Gratian, he was banished with his followers from 
 
 Patrum Grecorum, tom. ii. p. 51; as also Gervaise, Vie de S. Epip. p. 42. 
 
 * According to Dr. Lardner’s account, this council of Antioch, in 345, 
 was holden by the Arians, or Eusebians, and not by the orthodox, as 
 our author affirms. See Lardner’s Credi ibility, &e. vol. ix. p. 13; see 
 also Athanas. de Synod. N. vi. vii. compared with Socrat. lib. 
 es MVM. XIX. 
 
 4 Or in 375, as is concluded from Jerome’s Chronicle——Matt. Lar- 
 roque, de Photini, et ejus multiplici condemnatione—Thom. Ittigius, 
 Historia Photini, in Ap. ad librum de Heresiarchis Evi Apostolici. 
 
 ¢ Socrat. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. eap. iv. 
 £ Socrat. lib. v. cap. viii, Sozomen, lib. vii. cap. vil. 
 
106 
 
 Spain ;* but he was restored, some time after, by an edict 
 of the same prince, to his country and his functions. His 
 sufferings did not end here; for he was accused a second 
 time, in 384, before Maximus, who had procured the as- 
 sassination of Gratian, and made himself master of Gaul ; 
 and by the order of that prince, he was put to death at 
 Teves with some of his associates. "he agents, however, 
 by whose barbarous zeal this sentence was obtained, were 
 justly regarded with the utmost abhorrence by the bishops 
 of Gaul and Italy ;° for Christians had not yet learned, 
 that giving over heretics to be punished by the magistrates, 
 was either an act of piety or justice.t [No: this abomin- 
 able doctrine was reserved for those times, when religion 
 was to become an instrument of despotism, or a pretext 
 for the exercise of pride, malevolence, and vengeance. | 
 
 The death of Priscillian was less pernicious to the 
 progress of his opinions, than might naturally have been 
 expected. His doctrine not only survived him, but was 
 propagated through the greatest part of Spain and Gaul; 
 and even so far down as the sixth century, the followers 
 of this unhappy man gave much trouble to the bishops and 
 clergy in those provinces. 
 
 XXII. No ancient writer has given an accurate ac- 
 count of the doctrine of the Priscillianists. Many authors, 
 on the contrary, by their injudicious representations of it, 
 have highly disfigured it, and added new degrees of obscu- 
 vity to a system which was before sufficiently dark and 
 perplexed. It appears, however, from authentic records, 
 that the difference between their doctrine, and that of the 
 Manicheans, was not very considerable. For “they de- 
 nied the reality of Christ’s birth and incarnation; main- 
 tained, that the visible universe was not the production of 
 the Supreme Deity, but of some demon, or malignant 
 principle; adopted the doctrine of eons, or emanations 
 from the divine nature; considered human bodies as prisons 
 formed by the author of evil, to enslave celestial minds ; 
 condemned marriage, and disbelieved the resurrection of 
 the body.” ‘Their rules of life and manners were rigid 
 and severe; and the accounts which many have given of 
 their lasciviousness and intemperance deserve not the least 
 credit, as they are totally destitute of evidence and authori- 
 ty. ‘That the Priscillianists were guilty of dissimulation 
 upon some occasions, and deceived their adversaries by 
 cunning stratagems, is true; but that they held it as a 
 maxim, that lying and perjury were law/ul, is a most no- 
 torious falsehood, without even the least shadow of proba- 
 bility,s however commonly this odious doctrine has been 
 laid to their charge. In the heat of controversy, the eye 
 
 37 * This banishment was the effect of a sentence pronounced against 
 Priscillian, and some of his followers, by a Synod convened at Sara- 
 gossa in 380; in consequence of which, Idacius and Ithacius, two cruel 
 and persecuting ecclesiastics, obtained from Gratian the rescript above 
 mentioned. See Sulpit. Sever. Hist. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. xvii. 
 
 b Upon the death of Gratian, who had favoured Priscillian toward the 
 latter end of his reign, Ithacius presented to Maximus a petition against 
 him; whereupon this prince appointed a council to be holden at Bour- 
 deaux, from which Priscillian appealed to the prince himself. Sulp. Se- 
 ver. lib. ii. cap. xlix. p. 287. 
 
 3“ ° It may be interesting to the reader to hear the character of the 
 first person that introduced ¢‘vii persecution into the Christian church. 
 “Fle was a man abandoned to the most corrupt indolence, and without 
 the least tincture of true piety. He was talkative, audacious, impudent 
 luxurious, and a slave to his belly. He accused as heretics, and as protec- 
 tors of Priscillian, all those whose lives were consecrated to the pursuit 
 of piety and knowledge, or distinguished by acts of mortification 
 and abstinence,” &c. Such is the character which Sulpitius Severus, 
 who had an extreme aversion to the sentiments of Priscillian, gives 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I 
 
 | of passion and of prejudice is too apt to confound the prin- 
 ciples and opinions of men with their practice. 
 
 XXIIL To what we have here said concerning those 
 sects which made a noise in the world, it will not be nn- 
 proper to add some account of those of a less considerable 
 kind. 
 
 Audeus, a man of remarkable virtue, being excommu- 
 nicated in Syria, on account of the freedom and importu- 
 nity with which he censured the corrupt and licentious 
 manners of the clergy, formed an assembly of those who 
 were attached to him, and became, by his own appoint- 
 ment, their bishop. Banished into Scythia by the empe- 
 ror, he went among the Goths, where his sect flourishcd, 
 and augmented considerably. ‘The ancient writers are 
 not agreed about the time in which we are to date the cri- 
 gin of this sect. With respect to its religious institutions 
 we know that they differed in some points from those ob- 
 served by other Christians; and, particularly, that the fol- 
 lowers of Audzeus celebrated Easter, or the Paschal feast, 
 with the Jews, in repugnance to the express decree of the 
 council of Nice. With respect to their doctrine, several 
 errors have been imputed to them,‘ and this, among others, 
 that they attributed to the Deity a human form. 
 
 XXIV. The Grecian and Oriental writers place, in 
 this century, the rise of the sect of the Messalians, or Eu- 
 chites, whose« doctrine and discipline were, indeed, much 
 more ancient, and subsisted, even before the birth of Christ 
 in Syria, Egypt, and other eastern countries, but wno do 
 not seem to have been formed into a religious bedy befove 
 the latter part of the century of which we now write. 
 "These fanatics, who lived after the monkish fashion, and 
 withdrew from all commerce and society with their fellow- 
 creatures, seem to have derived their name from their habit 
 of continual prayer. “ 'They imagined that the mind of 
 every man was inhabited by an evil demon, whom it was 
 impossible to expel by any other means han by constant 
 prayer and singing of hymns; and that, when this malig- 
 nant spirit was cast out, the pure mind returned to God, 
 and was again united to the divine essence from which it 
 had been separated.” 'T'o this leading tenet they added 
 many other enormous opinions, which bear a manifest 
 resemblance to the Manichean doctrine, and are evidently 
 drawn from the same source whence the Manicheans deri- 
 ved their errors, even from the tenets of the Oriental philoso- 
 phy.¢ Ina word, the Euchites were a sort of Mystics, who 
 imagined, according to the Oriental notion, that two souls 
 resided in man, the one good, and the other evil; and who 
 were zealous in hastening the return of the good spirit to 
 
 us of Ithacius, bishop of Sossuba, by whose means he was put to death. 
 
 4 See Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacr. edit. Leips. 1709, where Martin, the 
 truly apostolical bishop of Tours, says to Maximus, ‘novum esse et inau- 
 ditum nefas ut causam ecclesiz judex seculi judicaret.’ See also Dial. 
 iii. de vita Martini, cap. xi. p. 495. 
 
 ¢See Simon de Vries, Dissert. Critica de Priscillianistis, printed at 
 Utrecht, in 1745. The only defect in this dissertation is the implicit 
 manner in which the author follows Beausobre’s History of the Mani- 
 cheans, taking every thing for granted which is affirmed in that work. 
 See also Franc. Girvesii Historia Priscillianistarum Chronologica, pub- 
 lished at Rome in 1750. We find, moreover, in the twenty-seventh vo- 
 lume of the Opuscula Scientifica of Angelus Calogera, a treatise entitled 
 Bachiarius Illustratus, seu de Priscilliané Heresi Dissertatio; but this 
 dissertation seems rather intended to clear up the affair of Bachiarius, 
 than to give a full account of the Priscillianists and their doctrine. 
 
 f Epiphanius, Heres. Ixx. p. 811.— Augustin. de Heres. cap. l—'Theo- 
 doret. Fabul. Heeret. lib. iv. cap. ix—J. Joach. Schroder, Dissertat. de 
 Audeanis, published in Voigt’s Bibliotheca Historie Heresiolog. tom. 1. 
 
 § Epiphanius, Heres. lxxx. p. 1067.—Theodoret. Heret. Fabul. lib. iv. 
 
Hap. V. 
 
 God, by contemplation and prayer. 
 piety and devotion, which accompanied this sect, imposed 
 upon many, while the Greeks, on the other hand, opposed 
 it with vehemence in all succeeding ages. 
 
 It is proper to observe here, that the title of Messalinians 
 or Euchites had a very extensive application among the 
 Greeks and the Orientals, for they gave it to all those who 
 endeavoured to raise the soul to God by recalling and with- 
 drawing it from terrestrial and sensible objects, however 
 these enthusiasts might differ fron. each other in their 
 opinions upon other subjects. 
 
 XXY. ‘Toward the conclusion of this century, two oppo- 
 site sects involved Arabia and the adjacent countries in the 
 
 cap. x. p. 672.—Timotheus, Presbyter, de receptione Hereticor. publish- 
 ed in the third volume of Cotelerius’ Monumenta Eccles. Grece.—Jac. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 The external air of |) troubles apd tumults of a new controversy. 
 
 107 
 
 ) trou These jarring 
 , factions went by the names of Antidjco-Marianites and 
 (Collyridians. The former maintained, that the Virgin 
 Mary did not always preserve her immaculate state, but 
 received the embraces of her husband Joseph after the birth 
 of Christ. The latter, on the contrary, (who were singularly 
 favoured by the female sex), running into the opposite ex: 
 treme, worshipped the Blessed Virgin as a goddess, and 
 Judged it necessary to appease her anger, and seek her 
 favour and protection, by libations, sacrifices, oblations of 
 cakes, (collyrid@,) and the like services. 
 
 Other sects might be mentioned here; but they are too 
 obscure and inconsiderable to deserve notice. 
 
 Tollii Insignia Itineris Italici, p. 110—Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis 
 Vaticana, tom. i. et ili. * See Epiphan. Heyes. lxxvaii. lxxix. 
 
THE FIFTH CENTURY. 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened 
 to the Church. 
 
 I. In order to arrive at a true knowledge of the causes to 
 which we are to attribute the outward state of the church, 
 and the events which happened to it during the fifth cen- 
 tury, we must keep in view the civil history of this period. 
 It is, therefore, proper to observe, that, in the beginning of 
 this century, the Roman empire was divided into two sove- 
 reignties; one of which comprehended the eastern provin- 
 ces, the other those of the west. Arcadius, the emperor 
 of the east reigned at Constantinople; and Honorius, who 
 governed the western provinces, chose Ravenna for the 
 place of his residence. "The latter prince, remarkable 
 only for the sweetness of his temper and the goodness 
 of his heart, neglected the great affairs of the empire; and, 
 inattentive to the weighty duties of his station, held the 
 reins of government with an unsteady hand. "he Goths, 
 taking advantage of this criminal indolence, made incur- 
 sions into Italy, laid waste its fairest provinces, and some- 
 times carried their desolations as far as Rome, which they 
 ravaged and plundered in the most dreadful manner. 
 These calamities, which fell upon the western part of the 
 empire from the Gothic depredations, were followed by 
 others still more dreadful under the succeeding emperors. 
 A fierce and warlike people, issuing from Germany, over- 
 spread Italy, Gaul, and Spain, the noblest of all the Eu- 
 ropean provinces, and erected new kingdoms in these fer- 
 tile countries; and Odoacer, at last, at the head of the 
 Heruli, having conquered Augustulus, in 476, gave the 
 mortal blow to the western empire, and reduced all Italy 
 under his dominion. About sixteen years after this, Theo- 
 doric, king of the Ostrogoths, made war upon these bar- 
 barian invaders, at the request of Zeno, emperor of the 
 east; conquered Odoacer in several battles; and obtained, 
 as the fruit of his victories, a kingdom for the Ostrogoths 
 in Italy, which subsisted under various turns of fortune 
 from the year 493 to 552.* 
 
 ‘These new monarchs of the west pretended to acknow- 
 ledge the supremacy of the emperors, who resided at 
 Constantinople, and gave some faint external marks of a 
 disposition to reign in subordination to them; but, in reali- 
 ty, they ruled with an absolute independence in their res- 
 pective governments; and, as appears particularly from 
 
 * See, for a fuller illustration of this branch of history, the learned 
 work of M. de Boss, entitled, Histoire Critique de la Monarchie Fran- 
 Goise, tom\. 1. p.258; as also Mascow’s History of the Germans. 
 
 * Car. cu Fresne, Dissert. xxiii. ad Histor. Ludovici S. p. 280.—Mu- 
 ratori, Antiq. Ital. tom. ii. p. 578, 832.—Giannone, Historia di Napoli, 
 tom. 1. p. 207.—Vita Theodorici Ostrogothorum Regis, a Johanne Coch- 
 lwo, prinfed in 1699, with the observations of Peringskiold. 
 
 * See the Theodosian Code, tom. vi. p. 327. 
 
 4 See the Saturnalia of Macrobius, lib. i—Scipio Maffei delli Anfi- 
 
 'the dominion exercised by Theodoric in Italy, they left 
 nothing to the eastern emperors but a mere shadow of 
 | power and authority.® 
 
 | _ Hl. These constant wars, and the inexpressible calami- 
 ties with which they were attended, were undoubtedly 
 detrimental to the cause and progress of Christianity. It 
 must, however, be acknowledged that the Christian empe- 
 rors, especially those who ruled in the east, were active and 
 assiduous in extirpating the remains of the ancient super- 
 stitions. ‘Theodosius the younger distinguished himself 
 in this pious and noble work, and many remarkable monu- 
 ments of his zeal are still preserved;* such as the laws 
 which enjoined either the destruction of the heathen tem- 
 | ples, or the dedication of them to Christ and his saints; the 
 edicts, by which he abrogated the sacrilegious rites and ce- 
 |remonies of Paganism, and removed from all offices and 
 employments in the state such as persisted in their attach 
 
 ment to the absurdities of Polytheism. 
 
 This spirit of reformation appeared with less vigour in 
 the western empire. ‘There the feasts of Saturn and Pan, 
 the combats of the gladiators, and other rites that were 
 instituted in honour of the pagan deities, were celebrated 
 with the utmost freedom and impunity; and persons of 
 
 the highest rank and authority publicly professed the re- 
 ligion of their idolatrous ancestors.. his liberty was, 
 however, from time to time, reduced within narrower li- 
 mits: and all those public sports and festivals, which were 
 more peculiarly incompatible with the genius and sanctity 
 of the Christian religion, were every where abolished.¢ 
 ILL. 'The limits of the church continued to extend them- 
 selves, and gained ground daily upon the idolatrous na- 
 tions, both in the eastern and western empires. In the 
 east, the inhabitants of the mountains Libanus and Anti- 
 Libanus, being dreadfully infested with wild beasts, im- 
 plored the assistance and counsels of the famous Simeon 
 the Stylite, of whom we shall have occasion to speak here- 
 after. Simeon gave them for answer, that the only effec- 
 tual method of removing this calamity was, to abandon 
 the superstitious worship of their ancestors, and substitute 
 the Christian religion in its place. The docility of this 
 people, joined to the extremities to which they were redu- 
 ced, engaged them to follow the counsels of this holy man. 
 They embraced Christianity, and, in consequence of their 
 conversion, they had the pleasure of seeing their savage 
 enemies abandon their habitations, if we may believe the 
 
 teatri, lib. i. p. 56.—Pierre le Brun, Hist. Critique des Pratiques super- 
 stitieuses, tom. i. p. 237; and, above all, Monttaucon’s Diss. de Mor- 
 bus Tempore Theodosii M. et Arcadii, which is to be found in Latin, 
 in the eleventh volume of the works of St. Chrysostom, and in French, 
 in the twentieth volume of the Memoires de |’Academie des Inscriptions 
 et des Belles Lettres, p. 197. 
 
 ¢ Anastasius prohibited, toward the conclusion of this century, the 
 combats with the wild beasts, and other shows. Asseman. Biblioth, 
 Orient. Vatic. tom. i. p. 246. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 writers who may affirm the truth of this prodigy. The same 
 Simeon, by this influence and authority, introduced the 
 Christian worship into a certain district of the Arabians : 
 some allege, that this also was effected by a miracle, which 
 to me appears more than doubtful. To these instances 
 of the progress of the Gospel, we may add the conversion 
 of a considerable number of Jews in the isle cf Crete: 
 finding themselves grossly deluded by the impious preten- 
 sions of an impostor, called Moses Cretensis,” who gave 
 himself out for the Messiah, they opened their eyes upon the 
 truth, and spontaneously embraced the Christian religion.¢ 
 
 IV. he German nations, who rent in pieces the Ro- 
 man empire in the west, were not all converted to Chris- 
 tianity at the same time. Some of them had embraced 
 the truth before the time of their incursion; and such, 
 among others, was the case of the Goths. Others, after 
 having erected their little kingdoms in the empire, embra- 
 ced the Gospel, that they might thus live with more secu- 
 rity amidst a people, who, in general, professed the Chris- 
 tian religion. It is, however, uncertain (and likely to 
 continue so) at what time, and by whose ministry, the 
 Vandals, Sueves, and Alans, were converted to Christian- 
 ity. With respect tothe Burgundians, who inhabited the 
 banks of the Rhine, and thence passed into Gaul, we are 
 informed, by Socrates, that they embraced the Gospel of 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 their own accord, from a notion that Christ, or the God 
 of the Romans, who had been represented to them as a 
 most powerful being, would defend them against the 
 rapines and incursions of the Huns. ‘They afterwards 
 sided with the Arian party, to which also the Vandals, 
 Sueves, and Goths, were zealously attached. All these 
 fierce and warlike nations considered a religion as excel- 
 lent, in proportion to the success which crowned the arms 
 of those who professed it; and therefore, when they saw 
 the Romans in possession of an empire much more exten- 
 sive than that of any other people, they concluded that 
 Christ, their God, was of all others the most worthy of re- 
 ligious homage. 
 : sch Zé 
 
 V. It was the same principle, as well as the same views, 
 that engaged Clovis,* king of the Salii, a nation of the 
 Franks, to embrace Christianity. This prince, whose sig- 
 
 ; ? 5 
 
 nal valour was accompanied with barbarity, arrogance, 
 and injustice, founded the kingdom of the Franks in Gaul, 
 after having made himself master of a great part of that 
 
 * Vide idem Opus, tom. i. p. 246. 
 
 34> > We shall give the relation of Socrates, concerning this impos- 
 tor, in the words of the learned and estimable author of the Remarks on 
 Ecclesiastical History. ‘In the time of Theodosius the younger, an 
 impostor arose, ealled Moses Cretensis. He pretended to be a second 
 Moses, sent to deliver the Jews who dwelt in Crete, and promised to 
 divide the sea, and give them a safepassage through it. They assembled 
 together, with their wives and children, and followed himto a promontory. 
 He there commanded them to cast themselves into the sea. Many of 
 
 them obeyed, and perished in the waters; and many were taken up and 
 saved by fishermen. Upon this, the deluded Jews would have torn the 
 
 impostor to pieces; but he escaped them, and was seen no more.” See 
 Jortin’s Remarks, vol. iii. | 
 ¢ Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. xxxviii. p. 383. | 
 
 4 Socrat. lib. vii. cap. xxx. p. 371. 
 
 ¢p * Besides the name of Clovis, this prince was also called Clodo- 
 veus, Hludovicus, Ludovicus, and Ludicin. 
 
 > ¢ Tollbiacum is thought to be the present Zulpick, which is about 
 twelve miles from Cologne. 
 
 See Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, lib. ii. cap. xxx, 
 xxxi—Count Bunau’s Historia Imperii Romano-Germanici, tom. i. 
 p. a ge Bos’ Histoire Critique de la Monarchie Frangoise, tom. ii. 
 
 . 340. 
 : 3“p » The epitomiser of the history of the Franks tells us, that Re- 
 migius having preached to Clovis, and those who had been baptized with 
 him, a sermon on the passion of our Saviour, the king, in hearing him, | 
 Ne, X. ‘ 
 
 109 
 
 country, and meditated with remarkable eagerness and 
 avidity the conquest of the whole. His conversion to the 
 Christian religion is dated from the battle he fought w th 
 the Alemans, in 496, at a village called Tolbiacum ;° ip 
 which, when the Franks began to give ground, and their 
 affairs seemed desperate, he implored the assistance of 
 Christ, (whom his queen Clotildis, daughter of the king of 
 the Burgundians, had often represented to him, in vain, as 
 the Son of the true God,) and solemnly engaged himself, 
 by a vow, to worship him as his God, if he would render 
 him victorious over hisenemies. Victory decided in favour 
 of the Franks; and Clovis, faithful to his engagement, 
 received baptism at Rheims, toward the conclusion of the 
 same year, after having been instructed by Remigius, 
 bishop of that city, in the doctrines of Christianity.» The 
 example of the king had such a powerful eflect upon the 
 minds of his subjects, that three thousand of them imme- 
 diately followed it, and were baptized with him. Many 
 are of opinion, that the desire of extending his dominions 
 principally contributed to render Clovis faithful to his 
 engagement, though some influence may also be allowed 
 to the zeal and exhortations of his queen Clotildis. Be that 
 as it will, nothing is more certain than that his profession 
 of Christianity was, in effect, of great use to him, both in 
 confirming and enlarging his empire. 
 
 The miracles, which are said to have been wrought 
 at the baptism of Clovis, are unworthy of the smallest de- 
 gree of credit. Among others, the principal prodigy, that 
 of the phial full of oil said to have been brought from hea- 
 ven by a milk-white dove during the ceremony of baptisin, 
 is a fiction, o-rather, perhaps, an imposture ; a pretended 
 miracle contrived by artifice and fraud.i Pious frauds of 
 this nature were very frequently practised in Gaul and in 
 Spain at thistime, in order to captivate, with more facility, 
 the minds of a rude and barbarous people, who were scarce- 
 ly susceptible of a rational conviction. 
 
 The conversion of Clovis is looked upon by the learned 
 as the origin of the titles of Most Christian King, and Eld- 
 est Son of the Church, which have been so long attribu- 
 ted to the kings of France ;* for, if we except this prince, 
 all the kings of those barbarous nations, who seized the Ro- 
 man. provinces, were either yet involved in the darkness 
 of Paganism, or infected with the Arian heresy. 
 
 VI. Celestine, the Roman pontiff, sent Palladius into 
 
 could not forbear crying out, “If I had been there with my Franks, 
 that should not have happened.” 
 
 i The truth of this miracle has been denied by the learned John James 
 Chiflet, in his book De Ampullaé Rhemensi, printed at Antwerp, in 1651; 
 and it has been affirmed by Vertot, in the Memoires de |’ Academie des 
 Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, tom. iv. p. 350. After a mature consi- 
 deration of what has been alleged on both sides of the question, I can 
 scarcely venture to deny the fact: J am therefore of opinion, that, in order 
 to confirm and fix the wavering faith of this barbarian prince, Remi- 
 gius had prepared his measures before-hand, and trained a pigeon, by 
 great application and dexterity, in such a manner, that, during the bap- 
 tism of Clovis, it descended from the roof of the church with a phial of 
 oil. Among the records of this century, we find accounts of many such 
 miracles. #%p There is one circumstance, which obliges me to differ 
 
 | ffom Dr. Mosheim upon this point, and to look upon the story of the fa- 
 
 mous phia! rather as a mere fiction, than as a pious fraud, or pretended 
 miracle brougit shout by artifice; and that circumstance is, that Gre- 
 gory of Tours, from whom we have a full account of the conversion and 
 baptism of Clovis, and who, from his proximity to this time, may almost 
 
 | be called a contemporary writer, has not made the least mention of this 
 
 famous miracle. ‘This omission, ina writer whom the Roman catholics 
 themselves consider as an over-credulous historian, amounts to a proof, 
 that, in his time, this fable was not yet invented. _ : Pia © 
 
 k Sce Gab. Daniel et De Camps, Dissert. de Titulo Regis Christianis- 
 simi, in the Journal des Scavans for the year 1720, p. 243, 336, 404, 448. 
 Memoires de l’Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 466, 
 
110 
 
 Ireland, to propagate the Christian religion among the 
 rude inhabitants of that island. ‘This first mission* was 
 not attended with much fruit; nor did the success of Pal- 
 ladius bear any proportion to his laborious and pious endea- 
 vours. After his death, the same pontiff employed, in 
 this mission, Succathus, a native of Scotland, whose 
 name he changed into that of Patrick, and who arrived 
 among the Irish in 432. The success of his ministry, 
 and the number and importance of his pious exploits, 
 stand upon record as undoubted proofs, not only of his re- 
 solution and patience, but also of his dexterity and address. 
 Having attacked, with much more success than his pre- 
 decessor, the errors and superstitions of that uncivilized 
 people, and brought great numbers of them over to the 
 Christian religion, he founded, in 472, the archbishoprick 
 of Armagh,” which has ever since remained the metropoli- 
 tan see of the Irish nation. Hence this famous missionary, 
 though not the first who brought among that people the 
 wht of the Gospel, has yet been justly entitled the Apos- 
 tle of the Trish, and the father of the Hibernian church, 
 and is still generally acknowledged and revered in that 
 honourable character. 
 
 VIL. The causes and circumstances by which these 
 different nations were engaged to abandon the supersti- 
 tion of their ancestors, and to embrace the religion of 
 Jesus, may be easily deduced from the facts we have re- 
 lated in the history of their conversion. It would, indeed, 
 be an instance of the blindest and most perverse partiality, 
 not to acknowledge, that the labours and zeal of great and 
 eminent men contributed to this happy purpose, and were 
 the means by which the darkness of many was turned into 
 light. But, on the other hand, they must be very inatten- 
 tive and superficial observers of things, who do not per- 
 ceive that the fear of punishment, the prospect of honours 
 and advantages, and the desire of obtaining succour 
 against their enemies from the countenance of the Chris- 
 fians, or the miraculous influence of their religion, were 
 the prevailing motives that induced the greatest part to 
 renounce the service of their impotent gods. 
 
 How far these conversions were due to real miracles at- 
 tending the ministry of the early preachers is a matter 
 extremely difficult to be determined; for, though I am per- 
 suaded that those pious men, who in the midst of many 
 dangers, and in the face of obstacles seemingly invinci- 
 ble, endeavoured to spread the light of Christianity among 
 the barbarous nations, were sometimes accompanied with 
 the more peculiar presence and succours of the Most 
 High, yet [am equally convinced, that the greatest part 
 of the prodigies, recorded in the histories of this age, are 
 liable to the strongest suspicions of falsehood or imposture. 
 ‘The simplicity and ignorance of the generality in those 
 times furnished the most favourable occasion for the exer- 
 
 27° From the fragments of the lives of some Irish bishops who are 
 said to have converted many of their countrymen in the fourth century, 
 archbishop Usher concludes, that Palladius was not the first bishop of 
 Ireland; (see his Antiquities of the British Church;) but it has been evi- 
 deutly proved, among others by Bollandus, that these fragments are of 
 no earlier date than the twelfth century, and are besides, for the most 
 part, fabulous. Dr. Mosheim’s opinion is farther confirmed by the au- 
 thority of Prosper, which is decisive in this matter. 
 
 > See the Acta Sanctor. tom. ii. Martii, p. 517, tom. iii. Februar. p. 
 131,179; and the Hibernia Sacra of Sir James Ware, printed at Dub- 
 lin in 1717. The latter published at London, in 1656, the Works of 
 St. Patrick. Accounts of the synods, that were holden by this eminent 
 missionary, are to be found in. Wilkins’ Concilia Magne Brit. et Hiber- 
 nia, tom.1. With respect to the famous cave, called the Purgatory of 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part l 
 
 cise of fraud, and the impudence of impostors, in contri- 
 ving false miracles, was artfully proportioned to the credu- 
 lity of the vulgar,* while the sagacious and the wise, who 
 perceived these cheats, were overawed into silence by the 
 dangers that threatened their lives and fortunes, if they 
 should expose the artifice.e Thus does it generally hap- 
 pen in human life, that, when danger attends the discovery 
 and profession of the truth, the prudent are silent, the 
 multitude believe, and impostors triumph. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Calamitous Events which happened to 
 the Church-during this Century. 
 
 T. Ir has been already observed, that the Goths, Heruli, 
 Franks, Huns, and Vandals, with other fierce and warlike 
 nations, for the most part strangers to Christianity, had 
 invaded the Roman empire, and rent it asunder in the 
 most deplorable manner. Amidst these calamities, the 
 Christians were grievous (we may venture to say, the 
 principal) sufferers. It is true, these savage nations were 
 much more intent upon the acquisition of wealth and do- 
 minion, than upon the propagation or support of the pagan 
 superstitions ; nor did their cruelty and opposition to the 
 Christians arise from any religious principle, or from an 
 enthusiastic desire to ruin the cause of Christianity; it 
 was merely by the instigation of the Pagans who remain- 
 ed yet in the empire, that they were excited to treat with 
 such severity and violence the followers of Christ. The 
 painful consideration of their abrogated rites, and the hope 
 of recovering their former liberty and privileges by the 
 means of their new masters, induced the worshippers of the 
 gods to seize with avidity every opportunity of inspiring 
 them with the most bitter aversion to the Christians. 
 Their endeavours, however, were without the desired effect, 
 and their expectations were entirely disappointed. 'The 
 greatest part of these barbarians embraced Christianity, 
 though it be also true, that, in the beginning of their usur- 
 pations, the professors of that religion suffered heavily 
 under the rigour of their government. 
 
 II. 'To destroy the credit of the Gospel, and to excite 
 the hatred of the multitude against the Christians, the Pa- 
 gans took occasion, from the calamities and tumults whith 
 distracted the empire, to renew the obsolete complaint of 
 their ancestors against Christianity, as the source of these 
 complicated woes. They alleged, that, before the coming 
 of Christ, the world was blessed with peace and prosperity ; 
 but that, since the progress of his religion every where, the 
 gods, filled with indignation to see their worship neglected 
 and their altars abandoned, had visited the earth with 
 plagues and desolations, which increased every day. This 
 feeble objection was entirely removed by Augustin, in his 
 
 St. Patrick, the reader may consult Le Brun, Histoire Critique des Pra- 
 tiques superstitieuses, tom. iv. p. 34. 
 
 ¢ There is a remarkable passage, relating to the miracles of this cen- 
 tury, in the dialogue of AZneas Gazzus concerning the immortality of 
 the soul, entitled Theophrastus. See the controversy concerning the time 
 when miracles ceased in the church, that was carried on about the mid- 
 dle of the eighteenth century, on occasion of Dr. Middleton’s Free 
 Inquiry. 
 
 4 This is ingenuously confessed by the Benedictine monks in their 
 Literary History of France, tom. ii. p. 33, and happily expressed by 
 Livy, Hist. lib. xxiv. cap. x. sect. 6. ‘Prodigia multa nuntiata sunt, que 
 quo magis credebant simplices et religiosi homines, eo plura nuntia- 
 | bantur. 
 
 | © Sulpitius Severus, Dial.i. p. 438. Ep. i.p. 457. Dial. iii. cap. ii. p, 487. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 hook de Civitate Dei ; a work exceedingly rich and am- 
 
 ple in point of matter, and filled with the most profound | 
 
 and diversified erudition. It also drew a complete confu- 
 tation from the learned pen of Orosius, who, in a history 
 written expressly for that purpose, showed, with the strong- 
 est evidence. that not only the same calamities now com- 
 plained of, but also plagues of a much more dreadful kind, 
 
 had afflicted niankind before the Christian religion appear- | 
 
 ed in the world. 
 
 The misfortunes of the times produced still more per- 
 nicious effects upon the religious sentiments of the Gauls. 
 ‘They introduced among that people the most desperate 
 notions, and led many ‘of them to reject the belief of a 
 superintending providence, and to exclude the Deity from 
 the government of the universe. Against these phrenetic 
 infidels, Salvian wrote his book concerning the divine go- 
 vernment. 
 
 III. Hitherto we have given only a general view of 
 
 the sufferings of the Christians; it is, however, proper, that 
 we should enter into a more distinct and particular ac- 
 sount of those misfortunes. 
 
 In Gaul, and the neighbouring provinces, the Goths and 
 
 Vandals (whose cruel and sacrilegious soldiery respected | 
 
 neither the majesty of religion, nor the rights of humani- 
 Ly) committed acts of barbarity and violence against a 
 multitude of Christians. 
 
 In Britain, a long series of tumults and divisions invol- 
 ved the Christians in many troubles. When the affairs 
 af the Romans declined in that country, the Britons were 
 tormented by the Picts and Scots, nations remarkable for 
 their violence and ferocity. Hence, after many suflerings 
 and disasters, they chose, in 445, Vortigern for their king. 
 This prince, finding himself too weak to make head 
 against the enemies of his country, called the Anglo- 
 Saxons from Germany to his aid, about the year 449. The 
 consequences of this measure were pernicious; and it soon 
 appeared, that the warriors, who came as auxiliaries into 
 Britain, oppressed it with calamities more grievous than 
 those which it had suffered from its enemies; for the 
 
 Saxons aimed at nothing less than te subdue the ancient 
 
 inhabitants of the country, and to reduce the whole island 
 under their dominion. Hence a most bloody and obstinate 
 war arose between the Britons and the Saxons, which, af- 
 ter having been carried on, during a hundred and. thirty 
 years, with various successes, ended in the final defeat of the 
 Britons, who were at length constrained to seek a retreat 
 in Wales. During these commotions, the state of the Bri- 
 uish church was deplorable beyond expression; it was al- 
 most totally overwhelmed and extinguished by the Anglo- 
 
 Saxons, who adhered to the worship of the gods, and | put 
 an immense number of Christians to the most cruel | 
 
 deaths.* 
 
 * See, beside Bede and Gildas, archbishop Usher’s Antiquitat. Eccle- 
 Bie Britannice, cap. xii. p. 415, and Rapin’s Histoire d’ Angleterre, tom. 
 i. livr. ii. 
 
 b Theodoret, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap. xxix. p. 245. Bayle’s Diction- 
 ary, at the article Abdas. Barbeyrac, de la Morale des Peres, p. 320. 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 111 
 
 IV. In Persia, the Christians suffered grievously hy 
 the imprudent zeal of Abdas, bishop of Susa, who pulled 
 down the Pyreum, which was a temple dedicated to fire ; 
 for when. this stetiiate prelate was ordered by the king 
 (Yezdejird) to rebuild that temple, he refused to co mply: ; 
 for which he was put to death in 414, and the churches 
 of the Christians were demolished. 'This persecution was 
 not, however, of long duration, but seems to have been 
 extinguished soon after its commencement. 
 
 Warharan or Bahram, the son of the monarch already 
 mentioned, treated the Christians, in 421, in a manner 
 yet more Hasbarcuiss and inhuman, to which he was led 
 partly by the instigation of the Magi, and partly by his 
 keen aversion to the Romans, with whom he was at 
 war; for, as often as the Persians and the Romans were 
 at variance, the Christians, who dwelt in Persia, felt new 
 and redoubled effects of their monarch’s wrath ; and this 
 from a prevailing notion, not perhaps entirely groundless, 
 that they favoured the Romans, and rendered real services 
 to their empire.» In this persecution, a prodigious num- 
 ber of Christians perished in the most exquisite tortures, 
 and by various kinds of punishment.* But they were, at 
 length, delivered from these cruel oppressions by the peace 
 that was made in 427, between Warharan and the empe- 
 ror Theodosius the younger. 
 
 It was not from the Pagans only that the Christians 
 were exposed to suffering “and persecution; they were 
 also harassed and oppressed in a variety of ways by the 
 Jews, who lived in great opulence, and enjoy eda high 
 degree of favour and credit in several parts of the east. 
 Among these, none treated them with greater rigour and 
 arrogance than Gamaliel, the patriarch of that nation, a 
 man of the greatest power and influence, whose authority 
 and violence were, on that account, restrained, in 415, by 
 an express edict of Theodosius.‘ 
 
 V. It does not appear, from extant records, that any 
 writings against Christ and his followers were " published 
 in this centur y, unless we consider as such the histories 
 of Olympiodorust and Zosimus, of whom the latter loses 
 no opportunity of reviling the Christians, and loading them 
 with the most unjust and bitter reproaches. But, though 
 so few books were written against Christianity, we are 
 not to suppose that its adversaries had laid aside the spirit 
 of opposition. "The schools of the philosophers and rheto- 
 riclans were yet open in Greece, Syria, and Egypt; and 
 there is no doubt. that these artful teachers laboured assi- 
 duously to corrupt the minds of the youth, and to instil 
 into them, at least some of the principles of the ancient 
 superstition." "The history of these times, and the wri- 
 tings of several Christians who lived in this century, exhi- 
 bit evident proofs of these clandestine methods of opposing 
 the progress of the Gospel. 
 
 ¢ Jos. Sim. Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. p. 182, 248, 
 4 Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. xx. 
 
 © Socrat. lib. vii. cap. xiii. xvi. Codex Theodos. tom. vi. p. 265. 
 
 f Codex Theodos. tom. vi. p. 262. ® Photii Biblioth. cod. Ixxx, 
 
 h Zacharias Mitylen, de Opificio Dei. 
 
PART IL. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. from Augustin’s account of them, consisted only of a certain 
 number of dry, subtile, and useless precepts, and were con- 
 sequently more adapted to load and perplex the memory, 
 I. Tovau, in this century, the illiterate and ignorant | than to improve and strengthen the judgment ; so that, 
 were advanced to eminent and important stations, both | toward the conclusion of this century, the sciences were 
 ecclesiastical and civil, yet we must not thence conclude, || almost totally extinguished; at least, what remained of 
 that the sciences were treated with universal contempt. || them was no more than a shadowy form, without solidity 
 The value of learning, and the excellence of the fine arts, | or consistence. 
 were generally acknowledged among the thinking part of | III. The few who applied themselves to the study of 
 mankind. Hence public ‘schools were erected i in almost philosophy in this age, had not yet embraced the doctrine 
 all the great cities, such as Constantinople, Rome, Mar- || or method of Aristotle. They looked upon the system of 
 seilles, Edessa, Nisibis, Carthage, Lyons, and Treves; and | this eminent philosopher, as a labyrinth beset with thorns 
 public instructors of capacity and genius were set apart for || and thistles;’ and yet, had they been able to read and 
 the education of the youth, and maintained oe the expense || understand his works, it is probable that many of them 
 of the emperors. Several bishops and monks contributed || would have become his followers. The doctrine of Plato 
 also to the advancement of knowledge, by imparting to | had a more established reputation, which it had enjoyed 
 others their small stock of learning and science. But the || for several ages, and was considered, not only as less sub- 
 infelicity of the times, the incursions of the barbarous | tile and difficult than that of the Stagirite, but also as more 
 nations, and the scarcity of great geniuses, rendered the || conformable to the genius and spirit of the Christian reli- 
 fruits of these excellent establishments much less i impor- || gion. Besides, the most valuable of Plato’s works were 
 tant than their generous founders and promoters expected. || translated into Latin by Victorinus, and were thus adapted 
 1I. In the western provinces, and especially in Gaul, | to general use;* and Sidonius Apollinaris* informs us, that 
 there were indeed some men eminently distinguished by | all those, < among the Latins, who had any inclination to the 
 their learning and talents, and every way proper to serve | study of truth, fell into the Platonic notions, and followed 
 as models to the lower orders in ihe republic of letters. Of || that sage.as their philosophical guide. 
 this we have abundant proof in the writings of Macrobius, IV. The fate of learning was less deplorable among the 
 Salvian, Vincentius bishop of Liris, Ennodius, Sidonius |} Greeks and Orientals, than in the western provinces; and 
 Apollinaris, Claudian, Mamertus, Dracontius, and others, || not only the several branches of polite literature, but also 
 who, though in some respects inferior to the celebrated || the more solid and profound sciences, were cultivated by 
 authors of antiquity, are yet far from being destitute of ele- | them with tolerable success. Hence we find among them 
 gance, and discover in their productions a most laborious || more writers of genius and learning than in other countries. 
 application to literary researches of various kinds. But || Those, who were inclined to the study of law, reserted 
 the barbarous nations, which either spread desolation, or || generally to Berytus, famous for its learned academy,° or to 
 formed settlements in the Roman territories, choked the || Alexandria,’ which was frequented by the students of 
 growth of those genial seeds, which the hand of science had |} physic and chemistry. 'The professors of eloquence, poetry, 
 sown in more auspicious times. ‘These savage invaders, || philosophy, and the other liberal arts, taught the youth in 
 who possessed no other ambition than that of conquest, || public schools, which were erected in almost every city. 
 and considered military courage as the only source of true || Those however of Alexandria, Constantinople, and Edessa, 
 virtue and solid glory, beheld, in consequence, the arts and || were deemed superior to all others, both in point of erudi- 
 sciences with the utmost contempt. Wherever therefore | tion and method.s 
 they extended their conquests, ignorance and darkness fol- VY. The doctrine and sect of the modern Platonics, 01 
 lowed their steps; and the culture of science was confined || Platonists, retained, among the Syrians and Alexandrians 
 to the priests and monks alone; and even among these, || a considerable part of their ancient splendour. Olympio- 
 learning degenerated from its primitive lustre, and put on || dorus, Hero," and other philosophers of the first rank. 
 the most unseemly and fantastic form. Amidst the seduc- || added a lustre to the Alexandrian school. That of Athena 
 tion of corrupt examples, the alarms of perpetual danger, || was rendered famous by the talents and erudition of 'Theo- 
 aud the horrors and devastations of war, the sacerdotal and phrastus, Plutarch, and his successor Syrianus. These were 
 monastic orders gradually lost all taste for solid science, in | the instructors of the renowed Proclus, who far surpassed 
 | 
 
 Concerning the state of Learning and Philosophy. 
 
 the place of which they substituted a lifeless spectre, an || the Platonic philosophers of this century, and acquired 
 enormous phantom of barbarous erudition. ‘They indeed || such a high degree of the public esteem, as enabled him tc 
 kept public schools, and instructed the youth in what they || give new life to the doctrine of Plato, and restore it to its 
 called the seven liberal arts ;* but these, as we learn || former credit in Greece.i Marinus, of Neapolis, Ammo- 
 
 x4 * These arts were grammar, rhetoric, eee arcane faire arithmetic, music, © See Hasei Lib. de Academia Jureconsultorum Berytensi; as also 
 geometry, and astronomy. See cent. viii. part ii. ch. ii. in this volume. Mityleneus, de Opificio Dei, p. 164. 
 
 ’The passages of different writers, that prove what is here advanced, f Mitylenzeus de Opificio Dei, palo: 
 are collected by Launoy, in his book, de varia Aristotelis Forlund in || - & ASneas Gazzus in Theophr asto. h Marinus, Vita Procli, cap. ix. 
 
 Academia Parisiensi. i The life of Proclus, written by Marinus, was published at Hamburg, 
 ¢ See Augustini Confess. lib. i. cap. i. sect. i. p. 105, 106. tom. i. op. || in 1700, by John Albert Fabricius, and was enriched by the famous 
 4 See his ‘Epistles, book iv, ep. iil. xi. book iv. ep. ix. 1 editor, with a great number of learned observations. 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 113 
 
 nius the son of Hermias, Isidorus and Damascius, the || state of the empire, had much more influence, than the 
 
 disciples of Proclus, followed, with an ardent emulation, 
 the traces of their master, and formed successors who 
 resembled them in all respects. But the imperial laws, and | 
 the daily progress of the Christian religion, gradually | 
 diminished the lustre and authority of these philosophers;* | 
 and, as there were many of the Christian doctors who adop- | 
 ted the Platonic system, and were sufficiently qualified to 
 explain it to the youth, this naturally prevented the schools | 
 of these heathen sages from being so much frequented as | 
 they had formerly been. 
 
 VI. The credit of the Platonic philosophy, and the pre- 
 ference that was given to it, as more excellent in itself, and 
 less repugnant to the genius of the Gospel than other sys- 
 tems, did not prevent the doctrine of Aristotle from com- 
 ing to light after a long struggle, and forcing its way into 
 the Christian church. 'The Platonists themselves inter- 
 preted, in their schools, some of the writings of Aristotle, 
 particularly his Dialectics, and recommended that work to 
 such of the youth as had a taste for logical discussions, and | 
 were fond of disputing. In this, the Christian doctors 
 imitated the manner of the heathen schools; and this was 
 the first step to that universal dominion, which the Stagi- 
 rite afterwards obtained in the republic of letters. A second 
 and yet larger stride toward this universal empire was 
 made by the Aristotelian philosophy during the controver- 
 sies which Origen had occasioned, and the Arian, Euty- | 
 chian, Nestorian, and Pelagian dissensions, which, in this 
 century, were so fruitful of calamities to the Christian | 
 church. Origen, as is well known, was zealously attached 
 to the Platonic system. When, therefore, he was publiciy 
 condemned, many, to avoid the imputation of his errors, | 
 and to preclude their being reckoned among the number 
 of his followers, adopted openly the philosophy of Aristotle, | 
 which was entirely different from that of Origen. ‘The 
 Nestorian, Arian, and Kutychian controversies were mana- 
 ged, or rather drawn out, on both sides, by a perpetual 
 recourse to subtile distinctions and captious sophisms; and 
 no philosophy was so proper to furnish such weapons, as 
 that of Aristotle; for that of Plato was far from being 
 adapted to form the mind to the polemic arts. Besides, 
 the Pelagian doctrine bore a striking resemblance to the 
 Platonic opinions concerning God and the human soul; 
 and this was an additional reason which engaged many to 
 desert the Platonists, and to assume, at least, the name of 
 Peripatetics. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Christian 
 Church, and its Form of Government. 
 
 I. SEVERAL causes contributed to bring about a change 
 in the external form of ecclesiastical government. 'The 
 power of the bishops, particularly those of the first order, 
 Was sometimes augmented, and sometimes diminished, 
 
 o 
 
 according as the times and the occasions offered ; and in all 
 
 these changes the intrigues of the court and the pplitical 
 
 * See Aneas Gazcus in Theophrasto. 
 
 b Le Quien, Oriens Christ. tom. i. p. 36. 
 
 * See Bayle’s Dictionaire Historique, at the article Acacius. 
 
 Xp 4 By ail Palestine, the reader is desired to understand three dis- 
 tinct provinces, of which each bore the name of Palestine; and accord- 
 ingly the original is thus expressed, Triwm Palestinarum Episcopum 
 sew Patriarcham, After the destruction of Jerusalem, the face of Pa- 
 
 No. X. 29 
 
 rules of equity and wisdom. 
 
 These alterations were, indeed, matters of small 
 moment. But an affair of much greater consequence 
 now drew the general attention; and this was the vast 
 augmentation of honours and rank, accumulated upon the 
 bishopsof Constantinople, in opposition to the most vigorous 
 efforts of the Roman pontiff. In the preceding century, the 
 council of Constantinople had, on account ef the dignity 
 and privileges of that imperial city, conferred on its bishops 
 a place among the first rulers of the Christian church. 
 This new dignity adding fuel to their ambition, they ex- 
 tended their views of authority and dominion; and, en- 
 couraged, no doubt, by the consent of the emperor, reduced 
 the provinces of Asia Minor, Thrace, and Pontus, under 
 their spiritual jurisdiction. In this century, they grasped 
 at still farther accessions of power; so that not only the 
 whole eastern part of Ilyricum was added to their former 
 acquisitions, but they were also exalted to the highest sum- 
 mit of ecclesiastical authority ; for, by the 25th canon of 
 the council holden at Chalcedon in 451, it was resolved 
 that the same rights and honours which had been conferred 
 upon the bishop of Rome, were due to the bishop of Con- 
 stantinople, on account of the equal dignity and lustre of 
 the two cities, in which these prelates exercised theirautho- 
 rity. ‘The same council confirmed also, by a solemn act, 
 the bishop of Constantinople in the spizitual government 
 of those provinces over which he had ambitiously usurped 
 the jurisdiction. Pope Leo the Great, bishop of Rome, 
 opposed with venemence the passing of these decrees ; and 
 his opposition was seconded by that of several other prelates. 
 But their efforts were vain, as the emperors threw their 
 weight into the balance, and thus supported the decisions 
 of the Grecian bishops.® In consequence then of the decrees 
 of this famous council, the prelate of Constantinople began 
 to contend obstinately for the supremacy with the Roman 
 pontiff, and to crush the bishops of Alexandria and Anticch, 
 so as to make them feel the oppressive effects of his 
 pretended superiority ; and no one distinguished himself 
 more by his ambition and arrogance in this affair, than 
 Acacius.° 
 
 If. It was much about this time that Juvenal, bishop 
 of Jerusalem, or rather of Aélia, attempted to withdraw 
 himself and his church from the jurisdiction of the bishop 
 of Cesarea, and aspired to a place among the first prelates 
 of the Christian world. 'The high degree of veneration 
 and esteem, in which the church of Jerusalem was holden 
 among al] other Christian societies (on account of its rank 
 among the apostolical churches, and its title to the 
 appellation. of smother-church, as having succeeded the 
 first Christian assembly founded by the apostles,) was 
 extremely favourable to the ambition of Juvenal, and 
 rendered his project much moye practicable than it would 
 otherwise have been. Encouraged by this, and animated 
 by the favour and protection of the younger ‘Theodosius 
 the aspiring prelate not only assumed the dignity of pa- 
 triarch of all Palestine, a rank that rendered him su 
 
 lestine was almost totally changed; and it was so parcelled out and 
 wasted by a succession of wars and invasions, that it scarcely preserved 
 any trace of its former condition. Under the Christian emperors there 
 were three Palestines formed out of the ancient country of that name, 
 each of which was an episcopal see ; and it was these three disceses that 
 Juvenal usurped and maintained the jurisdiction. See, for a further ac- 
 count of the three Palestines, Spanhemii Geographia Sacra, 
 
114 
 
 preme and independent of all spiritual authority, but also 
 invaded the rights of the bishop of Antioch, and usurped 
 his jurisdiction over the provinces of Phoenicia and Ara- 
 bia. Hence arose a warm contest between Juvenal and 
 Maximus, bishop of Antioch, which the council of Chalce- 
 don decided, by restoring to the latter the provinces of 
 Pheenicia and Arabia, and confirming the former in the 
 spiritual possession of all Palestine, and in the high rank 
 which he had assumed in the church.» Thus were 
 created, in the fifth century, five superior rulers of the 
 church, who were distinguished from the rest by the title of 
 Patriarchs.©. The oriental historians mention a sixth, viz. 
 the bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, to whom, according 
 to their account, the bishop of Antioch voluntarily ceded 
 a part of his jurisdiction. But this addition to the num- 
 ber of the patriarchs is unworthy of credit, as the only 
 proof of it is drawn from the Arabic laws of the council 
 of Nice, which are notoriously destitute of all authority. 
 
 IU. The patriarchs were distinguished by considerable 
 and extensive rights and privileges, that were annexed to 
 their high station. ‘They alone consecrated the bishops, 
 who lived in the provinces that belonged to their juris- 
 diction. ‘They assembled yearly in council the clergy of 
 their respective districts, in order to regulate the affairs of 
 the church. The cognisance of all important causes, 
 and the determination of the more weighty controversies, 
 were referred to the patriarch of the province where they 
 arose. ‘They also pronounced a decisive judgment in 
 those cases, where accusations were br ought against bishops, 
 and, lastly, they appointed vicars,* or de emuties, clothed with 
 their authority, for the preservation of order and tranquillity 
 in the remoter provinces. {Such were the great and distin- 
 guishing privileges of the patriarchs; and they were accom- 
 panied with others of less moment, which it is needless to 
 mention. It must, however, be carefully observed, that the 
 authority of the patriarchs was not acknowledged through 
 all the provinces without exception. Several districts, both 
 in the eastern and western empires, were exempted from 
 their jurisdiction. ‘The emperors, who reserved to them- 
 selves the supreme power in the Christian hierarchy, and 
 received, with great facility and readiness, the complaints 
 of those who considered themselves as injured by the pa- 
 triarchs; and the councils also, in which the majesty 
 and levislative: power of the church immediately resided ; 
 were obstacles to the arbitrary proceedings of the patriar- 
 chal order. 
 
 IV. 'Tais constitution of ecclesiastical government was 
 so far from contributing to the peace and prosperity of the 
 Christian church, that it proved, on the contrary, a perpe- 
 tual source of dissensions and animosities, and was produc- 
 tive of various inconveniences and grievances. ‘The 
 patriarchs, who, by their exalted rank and extensive au- 
 thority, were equally able to do much good and much 
 mischief, began to encroach upon the rights , and trample 
 upon the prerogatives of their bishops, and thus introdu- 
 ced, gradually, a sort of spiritual bondage into the church; 
 and that they might invade, without opposition, the rights 
 of the tshops, they permitted the latter, in their turn, to 
 
 * See also, for an account of the Three Palestines, Caroli 4 8S. Paulo 
 Geographia Sacra, p. 307. 
 
 b See Mich. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. iii. 
 
 * See the authors who have written of the patriarchs, mentioned and 
 recommended by the learned Fabricius, in_ his Bibliograph. Antiquar. 
 cap, xii. p. 453. ¢ Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican, tom. i. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr [IL 
 
 trample with impunity upon the ancient rights and _pri- 
 vileges of the people; for, in proportion as the bishops 
 muitiplied their privileges and extended their usurpations, 
 the patriarchs gained new accessions of power by the des- 
 potism which they exercised over the episcopal order. 'They 
 fomented also divisions among the bishops, and excited 
 animosities between them and the other ministers of the 
 church. They went still farther, and sowed the seeds of 
 discord between the clergy and the people, that all these 
 combustions might furnish them with perpetual matter for 
 the exercise of their authority, and procure them a miulti- 
 tude of clients and dependents. They left no artifice unem- 
 ployed to strengthen their own authority, and to raise 
 opposition against the prelates from every quarter. For 
 this purpose it was that they engaged in their cause by the 
 most alluring promises, and attached to their interests by 
 the most magnificent acts of liberality, whole swarms of 
 monks, who served as intestine enemies to the bishops, 
 and as a dead weight on the side of patriarchal tyranny. 
 The efforts of these monastic hirelings contributed more 
 than any other means to ruin the ancient ecclesiastical 
 discipline, to diminish the authority of the bishops, and 
 raise, to an enormous and excessive height, the power and 
 prerogatives of their insolent and ambitious patrons. 
 
 V. ‘To these lamentable evils, were added the ambitious 
 quarrels, and the bitter animidsilies that rose among the 
 patriarchs themselves, and which produced the most 
 bloody wars and the most detestable and horrid crimes. 
 The patriarch of Constantinople distinguished himself 
 in these odious contests. Elate with the favour and proxi- 
 mity of the imperial court, ne cast a haughty eye on all 
 sides, where any objects were to be found on which he might 
 exercise his lordly ambition. On one hand, he reduced 
 under his jurisdiction the patriarchs of Alexandria and 
 Antioch, as prelates only of the second order; and, cn the 
 other, he invaded the diocese of the Roman pontiff, and 
 despoiled him of several provinces. 'The two former pre- 
 lates, though they struggled with vehemence, and raised 
 considerable tumults by ‘their opposition, laboured ineflec- 
 tually, both for want of strength, and likewise on account 
 of a variety of unfavourable circumstances. But the pope, 
 far superior to them in wealth and power, contended also 
 with more vigour and obstinacy, and in his turn, gave a 
 deadly wound to the usurped supremacy of the Byzantine 
 patriarch. 
 
 The attentive inquirer into the affairs of the church, 
 from this period, will find, in the events now mentioned, 
 the principal source of those most scandalous and deplora- 
 ble dissensions, which divided first the eastern church into 
 various sects, and afterwards separated it entirely from that 
 of the west. He will find, that these ignominious schisms 
 flowed chiefly from the unchristian contentions for domi- 
 nion and supremacy, which reigned among those who set 
 themselves up for the fathers and defenders of the church. 
 
 VI. No one of the contending bishops found the occur- 
 rences of the times so favourable to his ambition, as the Ro- 
 man pontiff. Notwithstanding the redoubled efforts of the 
 bishop of Constantinople, a variety of circumstances con- 
 
 ¢ Dav. Blondel, de la Primauté de l’Eglise, chap. xxv. p. 332. ‘Theod. 
 Ruinart, de Pallio Archi-Episcopali, p. 445; tom. ii. of the posthumous 
 works of Mabillon. 
 
 f Brerewood’s Dissert. de veteris Ecclesiz Gubernatione patriarchali, 
 printed at the end of archbishop Usher’s book, entitled, Opusculum de 
 Origine Episcoporum et Metropolitanorum, 
 
OCnar. IL. 
 
 curred to augment his power and authority, though he | 
 had not yet assumed the dignity of supreme lawgiver and | of mankind been sunk in superstition and ignorance, and 
 
 ‘The bishops of | 
 
 judge of the whole Christian church. 
 Alexandria and Antioch, unable to make head against the 
 lordly prelate of Constantinople, often fled to the Roman 
 pontifl for succour against his violence; and the inferior 
 order of bishops used ‘the same method, when their rights 
 were invaded by the prelates of Alex candria and Antioch: 
 so that the bishop of Rome, by taking all these prelates 
 alternately under his protection, daily. ‘added new degrees 
 of influence and authority to the Roman see, rendered it 
 every where respected, and was thus imperceptibly estab- 
 lishing its supremacy. Such were the means by which 
 that pontiff extended his dominion in the east. In the 
 West i's increase arose from other causes. ‘The declining 
 power and the supine indolence of the emperors, left the 
 authority of the bishop, who presided in their capital, al- 
 most without control. ‘The incursions, moreover, and 
 triumphs of the barbarians were so far from being preju- 
 dicial to his rismg dominion, that they rather contributed 
 to its advancement: for the kings who penetrated into the 
 empire, were only solicitous about the methods of giving 
 a sufficient degree of stability to their respective govern- 
 ments; and when they perceived the s subjection of the 
 multitude to the bishops, and the dependence of the latter 
 upon the Roman pontiff, they immediately resolved to re- 
 concile this ghostly ruler to their interests, by loading him 
 with benefits and honours of various kinds. 
 
 Among all the prelates who ruled the church of Rome 
 during this century, there was not one who asserted his 
 authority and pretensions with such vigour and success, 
 as Leo, surnamed the Great. It must however be obser- 
 ved, that neither he, nor the other promoters of the same 
 claims, were able to overcome all the obstacles that were 
 laid in their way, or the various checks which weré given 
 to their smbition. Many examples might be alleged in 
 proof of *his assertion, particularly the case of the Africans,. 
 whom pr threats or promises could engage to submit the 
 decision of their controversies, and the determination of 
 their causes, to the Roman tribunal.s 
 
 VII. The vices of the clergy were now carried to the 
 most enormous excess; and all the writers of this century, 
 whose probity and virtue render them worthy of credit, 
 are unanimous in their accounts of the luxury, arrogance, 
 avarice, and voluptuousness of the sacerdotal orders. The 
 bishops, and particularly those of the first rank, created vari- 
 ous delegates, or ministers, who managed for them the af- 
 fairs of their dioceses; and courts were gradually formed, 
 where these pompous ecclesiastics ¢ gave audience, and recel- 
 ved the homage of a cringing multitude. The office of a 
 presbyter was looked upog of such a high and eminent 
 nature, that Martin, bishop of Tours, audaciously main- 
 tained, at a public entertainment, that the emperor was 
 inferior, in dignity, to one Of that order.» As to the dea- 
 cons, their pride and licentiousness occasioned many and 
 grievous Ey as appears from the decrees of several 
 councils.¢ 
 
 These opprobrious stains, in the characters of the clergy, 
 
 * Du-Pin, de Antiqua Ecclesiz, Disciplina, Diss. ii. p. 166. Mele h. 
 Leydeck. Historia Eccles. Africanz, tom. il. Diss. ii. p. 505. 
 
 b Sulpitius Severus, de Vita Martini, cap. xx. p. 339, compared with 
 Dialog. ii. cap. vi. p. 457. 
 
 * See Dav. Blondel. Apologia pro Sententiad Hieronymi de Episcopis 
 et Presbyteris, p. 140. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 115 
 would never have been endured, had not the greatest part 
 people in general formed their ideas of the rights and liber- 
 
 ties of Christian ministers from the model exhibited by 
 the sacerdotal orders among the Hebrews, during the pre- 
 
 valence of the law of Moses, and among the Greeks and 
 
 Romans in the darkness of paganism. ‘The barbarous 
 nations also, which, on the ruin of the Romans, divided 
 among themselves the western empire, bore, w ith the ut- 
 
 /most patience and moderation, both the dominion and vices 
 
 of the bishops and priests, because, upon their conversion to 
 Christianity, they became naturally subject to their jurisdic- 
 tion; and still more, because they considered the ministers 
 of Christ as invested with the same rights and privileges, 
 which distinguished the priests of their fictitious deities. 
 VIII. The corruption of an order, appointed to promote, 
 by doctrine and example, the sacred interests of piety and 
 virtue, will appear less surprising when we consider, that 
 multitudes of people were in every country admitted, with- 
 out examination or choice, into the body of the clergy, 
 the greatest part of whom had no other view, than the 
 enjoyment of a lazy and inglorious repose. Many of 
 these ecclesiastics were confined to no fixed places or 
 assemblies, and had no employment of any kind, but 
 sauntered about wherever they pleased, gaining their main- 
 tenance by imposing upon the ignorant multitude, and 
 sometimes by mean and dishonest practices. But if any 
 should*ask, how this account is reconcileable with the 
 number of saints, who, according to the testimonies both of 
 
 the eastern and western writers, are said to have shone 
 
 forthin this century, the answer is obvious; these saints were 
 canonised by the ignorance of the times; for, in an age of 
 darkness and corruption, those who distinguished them- 
 selves from the multitude, either by their genius, their 
 writings, or their eloquence, by their prudence and dex- 
 terity in conducting affairs of importance, or by their 
 meekness and moderation, and the ascendancy which 
 they had gained over their resentments and passions, were 
 esteemed something more than men; they were reveren- 
 ced as gods; or, to “speak more properly, they appeared to 
 others as men divinely inspired, and full of ‘the Deity. 
 
 IX. The monks, who had formerly lived only for them- 
 selves in solitary retreats, and had never thought of assu- 
 ming any rank among ‘the sacerdotal orders , Were how 
 gradually distinguished from the populace, and were en- 
 dowed with such opulence and such honourable privileges 
 that they found themselves in a condition to claim an emi- 
 nent station among the supports and pillars of the Chris- 
 tian community.2. The fame of their piety and sanctity 
 was at first so great, that bishops and presbyters were often 
 chosen out of their order; * and the passion of erecting edi- 
 fices and convents, in which the monks and holy virgins 
 might serve God i in the most commodious manner, was at 
 this time carried beyond all bounds.‘ 
 
 The monastic orders did not all observe the same rule 
 of discipline, or the same manner of living. Some fol- 
 lowed the rule of Augustine, others that of Basil, others 
 that of Antony, others that of Athanasius, others that of 
 
 4 Epiphanius, Exposit. Fidei, tom. i. op. p. 1094.—Mabillon’s Reponse 
 aux Chanoines Reguliers. 
 
 ° Severus, de Vita Martini, cap. x. p. 320. Dial. i. cap. xxi. p. 426. 
 
 t Severus, Dial. i. p. 419.—Norisius, Histor. Pelag. lib. i. cap. iil. p, 
 273. tom. i. op— Histoire Literaire de !a France, tom. ii. p. 35. 
 
116 
 
 Pachomius; but they must all have become extremely 
 negligent and remiss in observing the laws of their res- 
 pective orders, since the licentiousness of the monks, even 
 in this century, was even proverbial,* and they are said to 
 have excited in various places the most dreadful tumults 
 and seditions. All the monastic orders were under the 
 protection of the bishops in whose provinces they lived; nor 
 did the patriarchs claim any authority over them, as ap- 
 pears with the utmost evidence from the decrees of the 
 councils holden in this century.® 
 
 X. Several writers of considerable merit adorned this 
 century. Among the Greeks and Orientals, the first place is 
 due to Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, so famous for his learn- 
 ed productions, and the various controversies in which 
 he was engaged. It would be unjust to derogate from 
 the praises which are due to this eminent man; but it 
 would betray, on the other hand, a criminal partiality, if 
 we should pass uncensured the turbulent spirit, the liti- 
 gious and contentious temper, and other defects, which 
 are laid to his charge.« 
 
 After Cyril we may place Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, 
 (or Cyropolis,) an eloquent, copious, and learned writer, 
 eminent for his acquaintance with all the branches of sa- 
 cred erudition, but unfortunate in his attachment to some 
 of the Nestorian errors.4 
 
 Isidore, of Pelusium, was a man of uncommon learning 
 and sanctity. A great numbers of his epistles are yet ex- 
 tant, and discover more piety, genius, erudition, and wis- 
 dom, than are to be found in the voluminous productions 
 of many other writers.‘ 
 
 Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, few of whose wri- 
 tings are now extant, acquired an immortal name, by his 
 violent opposition to Origen and his fouowers.¢ 
 
 Palladius deserves a rank among the better sort of au- 
 thors by his Lausiac History and his Life of Chrysostom. 
 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia, though accused after his death 
 of the greatest errors, was one of the most learned men of 
 his time. Those who have read, with any attention, the 
 fragments of his writings, which are to be found in Photius, 
 will lament the want of these excellent compositions, 
 
 * Sulp. Severus, Dial. i. cap. vill. p. 399. 
 
 » See Jo. Launoii Inquisitio in Chartam Immunitatis B. Germani, op. 
 tom. iil. part ii. p. 3. In the ancient records, posterior to this century, 
 the monks are frequently called Clerks. (See Mabillon’s Pref. ad See. 
 ii. Actor. Sanctor. Ord. Benedicti.) And this shews, that they now be- 
 gan to be ranked among the clergy, or ministers of the church. 
 
 ° ‘The works of Cyril were published at Paris by Aubert, in six vols. 
 folio, in 1638. 
 
 4'The Jesuit Sirmond gave at Paris, in 1642, a noble edition of the 
 works of this prelate in four volumes; a fifth was added by Garnier, in 
 1685. 3 We must observe, in favour of this excellent ecclesiastic, so 
 renowned for the sanctity and simplicity of his manners, that he aban- 
 doned the doctrines of Nestorius, and thus effaced the stain he had 
 contracted by his personal attachment to that heretic, and to John of 
 Antioch. 
 
 x ¢ These epistles amount to 2012, and are divided into five books. 
 They are short, but admirably written, and are equally recommendable 
 for the solidity of the matter, and the purity and elegance of their style. 
 
 f The best edition of Isidore’s Epistles, is that which was published 
 by the Jesuit Scott, at Paris, in 1638. 
 
 £ See Euseb. Renaudot, Historia Patriarchar. Alexandrinor. p. 103. 
 
 b See Assemani Bibl. Oriental. Clement. Vatic. tom. iii. part il. p. 227. 
 
 Xi It appears by this account of the works of Theodore, that Dr. 
 Mosheim had not seen the Dissertations of the late duke of Orleans, in 
 one of which that learned prince has demonstrated, that the commentary 
 upon the Psalms, which is to be found in the Chain er Collection of Cor- 
 derius, and which bears the name of Theodore, is the production of 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia. There exists, also, beside the fragments that 
 are to be found in Photius, a manuscript commentary of this illustrious 
 author upon the twelve minor prophets. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr [L 
 
 which are either entirely lost, or, if any remain," are only 
 extant among the Nestorians, and in the Syriac language.i 
 
 Nilus, disciple of Chrysostom, composed several treatiseg 
 of a practical and pious kind; but these performances de- 
 rive more merit from the worthy and laudable intention 
 of their author than from any other circumstance. 
 
 We pass over in silence Basilius of Seleucia, Theodotus of 
 Ancyria, and Gelasius of Cyzicum, for the sake of brevity. 
 
 XI. A Roman pontiff, Leo I. surnamed the Great, 
 shines forth at the head of the Latin writers of this century. 
 He was a man of uncommon genius and eloquence, which 
 he employed however too much in extending his authori- 
 ty; a point in which his ambition was both indefatigable 
 and excessive.* : 
 
 Orosius acquired a considerable degree of reputation by 
 the History which he wrote to refute the cavils of the Pa 
 gans against Christianity, and by his books against the Pe 
 Jagians and Priscilhanists.! 
 
 Cassian, an illiterate and superstitious man, inculcated 
 in Gaul, both by his discourse and his writings, the disci- 
 pline and manner of living which prevailed among the Sy- 
 rian and Egyptian monks, and was a sort of teacher ta 
 those who were called Semi-Pelagians.™ 
 
 Maximus of ‘Turin published several Homilies, which 
 are yet extant, and, though short, are for the most part 
 recommended both by elegance and piety. 
 
 fucherius, bishop of Lyons, was one of the most consi- 
 derable moral writers that flourished among the Latins in 
 this century." 
 
 Pontius of Nola,° distinguished by his eminent and fer- 
 vent piety, is also esteemed for his poems, anid other good 
 performances. 
 
 Peter, bishop of Ravenna, obtained by his eloquence the 
 title of Chrysologus; nor are his discourses entirely desti- 
 tute of genius. 
 
 Salvian was an eloquent, but, at the same time, a me- 
 lancholy and sour writer, who, in his vehement declama- 
 tions against the vices of bis times, unwarily discovers the 
 defects of his own character.’ 
 
 Prosper of Aquitaine,and Marius Mercator, are abundant- 
 
 k All the works of Leo were published at Lyons, in 1700, by the care 
 of the celebrated Quesnel of the Oratory. 
 
 1 See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Orosiws. A valuable edition 
 of this author, enriched with ancient coins and medals, was published at 
 Leyden, in 1738, by the learned Havercamp. 
 
 ™ Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. 11. p. 215.—Simon, Critique de 
 la Biblioth. Ecclesiastique par Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 156.—The works of 
 Cassian were published at Frankfort, in 1722, with a copious Commen- 
 tary by Alardus Gazeus. 
 
 » See a satisfactory account of this prelate, in the Histoire Literaire 
 de la France, tom. ii. p. 275. 
 
 3p ° This pious and ingenious ecclesiastic is more generally known 
 by the name of Paulin. See Hist. Lit. de Ja France, tom. ii. p. 179. The 
 best edition of his work is that published by Le Brun, at Paris, 1685. 
 
 P Agnelli, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesia Ravennatis, tom. i. p. 321. 
 
 4 Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. ii. p. 517. 3¢pr The authors of the 
 history here referred to, give a different account of Salvian’s character. 
 ‘They acknowledge, that his declamations against the vices of the age, 
 in his Treatise against Avarice, and his Discourse concerning Provi- 
 dence, are warm and vehement; but they represent him, notwith::and- 
 ing, as one of the most humane and benevolent men of his time. It 1s, 
 however, beyond all doubt, that he was extravagantly austere in the 
 rules he prescribed for the conduct of life. For what is more unnatural 
 than to recommend to Christians, as a necessary condilion of salvation, 
 their leaving their whole substance to the poor, to the utter ruin of their 
 children and relations ? It must, however, be confessed, that his austerity 
 in point of discipline was accompanied with the most amiable modera- 
 tion toward those who differed from him in articles of faith. There isa 
 most remarkable passage to this purpose, in his treatise concerning Pro» 
 vidence, book vy. p. 100. 
 
Cnap. Ill. 
 
 ly known to such as have employed any part of their time 
 and attention in the study of the Pelagian disputes, and 
 the other controversies that were agitated in this century. 
 
 Vincent of Lerins gained a lasting reputation by his 
 short, but excellent treatise against the sects, entitled 
 Commonitorium.* 
 
 Sidonius Apollinaris, a tumid writer, though not en- 
 tirely destitute of eloquence; Vigilius of Tapsus ; Arno- 
 bius the younger, who wrote a commentary on the book 
 of Psalms; Dracontius, and others of that class, are of 
 too little consequence to deserve more particular notice. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Church during this 
 Century. 
 
 I. Many points of religion were more largely explained, 
 and many of its doctrines determined with more accuracy 
 and precision, than they had been in the preceding ages. 
 This was one result of the controversies that were multi- 
 plied, at this time, throughout the Christian world, concern- 
 ing the person and nature of Christ; the innate corrup- 
 tion and depravity of man; the natural inability of men to 
 live according to the dictates of the divine law; the neces- 
 sity of the divine grace in order to salvation; the nature. 
 and existence of human liberty ; and other such intricate 
 and perplexing questions. ‘The sacred and venerable 
 simplicity of the primitive times, which required no more 
 than a true faith in the word of God, and a sincere obe- 
 dience to his holy laws, appeared little better than rusticity 
 and ignorance to the subtile doctors of this quibbling age. 
 Yet so it happened, that many of the over-curious divines, 
 who attempted to explain the nature, and remove the diffi- 
 culties of these intricate doctrines, succeeded very ill in this 
 matter. Instead of leading men into the paths of humble 
 faith and genuine piety, they bewildered them in the laby- 
 rinths of controversy and contention, and rather darkened 
 than illustrated the sacred mysteries of religion by a thick 
 cloud of unintelligible subtilties, ambiguous terms, and 
 obscure distinctions. Hence arose new matter of animosity 
 and dispute, of bigotry and uncharitableness, which flowed 
 like a torrent through succeeding ages, and which all 
 human efforts seem unable to vanquish. In these disputes, 
 the heat of passion, and the excessive force of religious 
 antipathy and contradiction, frequently hurried the con- 
 tending parties into the most dangerous and disgraceful 
 extremes. 
 
 II. If, before this time, the lustre of religion was clouded 
 with superstition, and its divine precepts were adulterated 
 with a mixture of human inventions, this evil, instead of 
 diminishing, increased daily. 'The happy souls of depart- 
 ed Christians were invoked by numbers, and their aid 
 implored by assiduous and fervent prayers, while none 
 stood up to censure or oppose this preposterous worship. 
 The question, how the prayers of mortals ascended to the 
 celestial spirits, (a question which afterwards produced 
 
 3+ *This work of Vincent, which is commended by our author, 
 seems scarcely worthy of such applause. I see nothing in it, but that 
 blind veneration for ancient opinions, which is so fatal to the discovery 
 and progress of truth, and an attempt to prove that nothing but the voice 
 of tradition is to be consulted in fixing the sense of the Scriptures. 
 
 An ample account of Vincent, Prosper, and Arnobius, is tobe found in 
 the Histoire Literaire de Ja France, tom. ii. p. 305, 342, 369. 
 
 b Sce the Institutiones Divine of Lactantius, lib. i. p. 164,and Hesiod. 
 Op. et Dies, ver. 122. Compare with these, Sulp. Severus, Epist. ii. p. 
 
 No. X. 30 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 117 
 
 much wrangling, and many idle fancies,) did not yet occa- 
 sion any difficulty ; for the Christians of this century did 
 not imagine that the souls of saints were so entirely con- 
 fined to the celestial mansions, as to be deprived of the 
 privilege of visiting mortals, and travelling when they 
 pleased, through various countries. ‘They were farther of 
 opinion, that the places most frequented by departed spirits 
 were those where the bodies which they had formerly ani- 
 mated were interred; and this opinion, borrowed by the 
 Christians from the Greeks and Romans, rendered the se- 
 pulchres of the saints the general rendezvous of suppliant 
 multitudes.» The images of those who, during their lives, 
 had acquired the reputation of uncommon sanctity, were 
 now honoured with a particular worship in several places ; 
 and many imagined that this worship drew down into the 
 images the propitious presence of the saints or celestial 
 beings they represented ; deluded, perhaps, into this idle 
 fancy by the crafty fictions of the heathen priests, who had 
 published the same things concerning the statues of Jupiter 
 and Mercury.« A singular and irresistible efficacy was 
 also attributed to the bones of martyrs, and to the figure of 
 the cross, in defeating the attempts of Satan, removing all 
 sorts of calamities, and in healing, not only the diseases of 
 the body, but also those of the mind.t. We shall not enter 
 into a particular account of the public supplications, the 
 holy pilgrimages, the superstitious services paid to depart- 
 ed souls, the multiplication of temples, chapels, altars, 
 penitential garments, and a multitude of other circumstan- 
 ces, that showed the decline of genuine piety, and the 
 corrupt darkness that was eclipsing the lustre of primitive 
 Christianity. As none in these times forbade the Chris- 
 tians to retain the opinions of their pagan ancestors con- 
 cerning departed souls, heroes, demons, temples, and other 
 things, or even to transfer them into their religious services ; 
 and as, instead of entirely abolishing the rites and institu- 
 tions of ancient times, these institutions were still observed, 
 with only some slight alterations; all this swelled of neces- 
 sity the torrent of superstition, and deformed the beauty of 
 the Christian religion and worship with those corrupt re- 
 mains of paganism, which still subsist in a certain church. 
 
 It will not be improper to observe here, that the famous 
 pagan doctrine, concerning the purification of departed 
 souls, by means of a certain kind of fire, was now more 
 amply explained and established than it had formerly 
 been.e Jivery one knows, that this doctrine proved an 
 inexhaustible source of riches to the clergy through the 
 succeeding ages, and that it still enriches the Romish 
 church with its nutritious streams. 
 
 Ill. 'The interpretation of the Scriptures employed fewer 
 pens in this century than in the preceding age, in which 
 the Christian doctors were less involved in the labyrinths 
 of controversy. Yet, notwithstanding the multiplication 
 of religious disputes, a considerable number of learned men 
 undertook this useful and important task. We shall not 
 mention those who confined their illustrations to some one, 
 or a few books of the divine word, such as Victor of Arti- 
 371. Dial. ii. cap. xiii. p. 474. Dial. iii. p. 512 —/Eneas Gazieus, in Theo- 
 phrasto—Macarius, in Jac. Tollii Insignibus Itineris Italici, and other 
 writers of this age. 
 
 *Clementina, Homil x. p. 697, tom. i. PP. Apostolic —Arnobius 
 adv. Gentes, lib. vi. p. 254.—Casp. Barthius, ad Rutilium Numantian. 
 Per xadba tion Hymn xi. de Coronis, p. 150.—Sulp. Severus, Ep. i. p. 
 364.— /Eneas Gazieus, in Theophrasto. a 
 
 * See, particularly concerning this matter, Augustin’s book de viii. 
 
118 
 
 och, Polychronius, Philo Carpathius, Isidore of Cordova, || 
 Salonius, and Andrew of Cesarea. We must not, however, 
 pass over in silence Theodoret and Theodore, bishops of | 
 Cyrus and Mopsuestia, the two most famous expositors of | 
 this age, whe illustrated a great part of the Scriptures by 
 their pious labours. ‘They were truly eminent, both in 
 point of learning and genius; and, free and unprejudiced | 
 in their search after truth, they followed the explications | 
 given by their predecessors, only as far as they found them 
 agreeable to reason. ‘I'he commentaries of 'Theodoret are 
 yet extant, and in the hands of the learned;* those of 
 Theodore are concealed in the east among the Nestorians 
 
 though on many accounts worthy to see the light.” Cyril, 
 of Alexandria, deserves also a place among the commen- 
 tators of this century; but a still higher rank, among that 
 useful and learned body, is due to Isidore of Pelusium, 
 whose epistles contain many observations, which cast a con- 
 siderable degree of light upon several parts of Scripture.: 
 
 IV. It is, however, to be lamented, that the greatest part 
 of the commentators, both Greek and Latin, follow ing the 
 idle fancies of Origen, overlooked the true and natural 
 sense of the words, and hunted after subtle and hidden 
 significations, or mysteries (as the Latins then termed 
 them,) in the plainest precepts of the Scriptures. Several 
 of the Greeks, and particularly 'Theodoret, laboured, with 
 success and precision, in illustrating the books of the New 
 Testament; and their success in that task is to be princi- 
 pally attributed to their perfect knowledge of the Greek 
 language, which they had learned from. their infancy. 
 But neither the Greeks nor Latins threw much light 
 upon the Old Testament, which was cruelly tortur ed “by 
 the allegorical pens of almost all who attempted to illustrate 
 and explain it; for nothing is more common, than to see 
 the inter preters of the fifth. century straining all the pas- 
 sages of that sacred book, either to typify Christ, and the 
 blessings of his kingdom, or Antichrist, and the wars and 
 desolations which he was to bring upon the earth,—without 
 the least spark of judgment, or “the smallest air of proba- 
 bility. 
 
 Y. A few chosen spirits, superior to the others in saga- 
 city and wisdom, were bold enough to stand up against 
 these critical delusions, and to point out a safer and plainer 
 way to divine truth. 'This we learn from the epistles of 
 Isidore of Pelusium, who, though he was not himself en- 
 tirely free from this allegor ical. contagion, censures judi- 
 ciously, in many places, such as abandoned the historical 
 sense of the Old Testament, and applied its narrations and 
 predictions to Christ alone. But none went greater lengths 
 in censuring the fanciful followers of Origen, than Theo- 
 
 Questionibus ad Dulcitium, N. xiii. tom. vi. op. p. 128; de fide et ope- 
 ribus, cap. xvi. p. 182; de fide, spe, et charitate, sect. 118, p. 222. Enar- 
 ratione Psal. xxxv. sect. 3, &e. 
 
 ee Simon’s Histoire critique des principaux Commentateurs du N. 
 Test chap. xxii. p. 314; as also his Critique de Ja Biblioth. Ecclesiast. 
 de M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 180. 3x¢> Theodoret wrote Commentaries upon 
 the five books ‘of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chroni- 
 cles, the Psalms, the Canticles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, 
 Exe: ctel, Daniel, the 12 minor "Prophets, and St. Paul’s 14 Epistles. 
 
 h Asseman’s Biblioth. Orient. Clem. Vatic. tom. iii. ae 2, p. 227.— 
 Simon's Critigae de la Biblioth. Eccles. tom. i. p. 108, ap We are 
 assured by Fapricis, upon the testimony of Lambecius, ‘that Theodore’s 
 ‘Sommentary upon the twelve Prophets is still extant in MS. in the em- 
 peror’s library at Vienna. See Fabr. Bibl. Gree. tom. ix. p. 162. See 
 also, for an ample and learned account of the writings of this author, 
 Lardner’s Credibility, vol. ix. p. 389. 
 
 ° See, for an account of these two authors, Simon’s Histoire des prin- 
 cipaux Commentateurs du Nouveau Testament, ch, xxi. p. 300. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 : Part il. 
 dore of Mopsuestia, who not only wrote a book concerning 
 allegory and history, against Origen,? but also in his com- 
 mentary on the prophets did not hesitate to apply the 
 greater part of their predictions to various events in ancient 
 history. This manner of interpreting Scripture was very 
 il] received, and contributed, perhaps, more to raise the 
 general cry against him, than all the erroneous doctrines 
 with which he was charged.! The Nesterians followed 
 the example of this remarkable and eminent man ;* and 
 
 they continue to consider him as a saint of the first or der, 
 
 and to preserve his writings with the utmost care, as pre- 
 
 | 
 cious monuments of his piety and learning. 
 
 VI. The doctrines of religion were, at this time, under- 
 stood and represented in a manner that savoured little of 
 their native purity and simplicity. ‘They were drawn 
 out by laboured commentaries beyond the terms in which 
 the divine wisdom had thought fit to reveal them; and 
 
 | were examined with that minuteness and subtlety which 
 
 were only calculated to cover them with obscurity ; and 
 (what was still worse) the theological notions that generally 
 prevailed, were proved rather by the authorities and logical 
 discussions of the ancient doctors, than by the unerring 
 dictates of the divine word. It does not appear that in this 
 century any attempted to forma complete system of theo- 
 logy, unless we give that title to six books of instruction, 
 which Niceeas is said to have composed for the use of the 
 Neophytes." But, as we have already observed, the prin- 
 cipal branches of religion were laboriously explained in the 
 various books that were written against the Nestorians, 
 Eutychians, Pelagians, and Arians. 
 
 VII. 'The number of those who disputed in this century 
 against paganism and infidelity, was very considerable, 
 yet not greater than the exigency of the times, and the 
 frequent attacks made upon Christianity, rendered neces- 
 sary. 'Theodoret in his ingenious and learned treatise, de 
 curandis Grecorum Affectionibus, Orientius in his Com- 
 monitorium, and Evagrius in his Dispute between Za- 
 cheeus and Apollonius, “opposed, with fortitude and vigour, 
 those who worshipped images, and who offered their re- 
 ligious services to the pagan deities: To these we may add 
 Philip Sidetes and Philostorgius, of whom the latter attack- 
 ed Porphyry, and the former Julian. Basilius of Seleucia, 
 Gregentius in his Controversy with Herbanus, and Eva- 
 grius in his Dialogue between Theophilus and Judzus, 
 exposed and refuted the errors and cavils of the Jews. 
 Voconius the African, Syagrius in his book concerning 
 Faith, Gennadius of Marseilles, who deserves to be placed 
 in the first rank, and 'Theodoret in his ‘Treatise concerning 
 
 the Fables of the Heretics, opposed all the different sects ; 
 
 4 Facundus Hermianensis, de tribus Capitulis, lib. ii. cap. vi—Liber. 
 atus in Breviario, cap. xxiv. 
 
 e Acta Coneilii Constantinopol. II. seu Gecumenici V. tom. iii. Con 
 ciliorum, p. 58, edit. Harduini. 
 
 xp Theodore, after his death, was considered as the parent of the 
 Pelagian and Nestorian heresies, though d during his life he was an object 
 of the highest esteem, and died i in the communion of the church. 
 
 © This. appears by the testimony of Cosmas Indicopleustes, a writer of 
 the sixth century, who was undoubtedly a Nestorian ; for this author, in 
 the fifth book of his Christian Topography, which Montfaucon published 
 in his new collection of the Greek fathers, maintains that, of all the Psalms 
 of David, four only are applicable to Christ; and, to confirm this op! 
 nion, he boldly asserts, that the writers of the New Testament, when they 
 apply to Jesus the prophesies of the Old, do this by a mere accommoda- 
 tion of the words, without any regard to their true and genuine sense. 
 
 h Gennadius Massiliensis, de Scriptor. Ecclesiast. cap. xxii. 
 
 i See for an account of Orientius and Evagrius, the Histoire Literaire 
 dela France, tom. ii. p. 121, and 252, 
 
Ouap. III. 
 
 not to mention those who wrote only against the errors 
 of one or other party of sectaries. 
 
 VII. Those who disputed against the Christian sects, 
 observed a most absurd and vicious method of controversy. 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 They proceeded rather according to the rules of the ancient | 
 
 sophists, and, what is still more surprising, according to the 
 spirit of the ae luw, than by the examples and instruc- 
 tions of Christ and his apostles. In the Roman courts, 
 matters of a dificult and doubtful nature were decided by 
 the authority of certain aged lawyers, who were distin- 
 guished by their abilities and exper ience; and, when they 
 happened to differ in opinion, the point was determined 
 
 either by a plurality of voices, or by the sentiments of the | 
 
 more learned and illustrious members of that venerable 
 body.s This procedure of the Roman tribunals, was, in 
 this century, admitted as a standing law, both in the deli- 
 berations of councils, and in the management of religious 
 controversy, to the great and unspeakable detriment of 
 truth; for, by this, reason, and even common sense, were in 
 some measure excluded from every question; and that was 
 determined as right and true, which appeared such to the 
 
 eatest number, or had been approved by doctors of the 
 greatest note in preceding times. ‘The acts of the various 
 councils, which are yet extant, manifestly show that this 
 was the case; and this circumstance, combined with what 
 we have already observed with respect to the disputants of 
 the age now under consideration, will make it easy for us 
 to imagine the various defects that must have prevailed in 
 the methods of defending truth, and opposing error. 
 
 IX. This absurd imitation of the Roman law in the 
 management of religious controversy, and this preposterous 
 method of deciding truth by human authorities, were 
 fruitful sourcesof spurious and supposititious productions ; 
 for many audacious impostors were hence encouraged to 
 publish their own writings under the names of ancient 
 Christian worthies, and even under the sacred names of 
 Christ himself and his holy apostles, that thus, in the 
 deliberations of councils, and in the course of controversy, 
 they might have authorities to oppose to authorities in 
 defence of their respective opinions. "Ihe whole Chiistian 
 church was, in this century, overwhelmed with these 
 spurious productions, these infamous impositions.  'T'his is 
 said to have engaged Gelasius, the Roman pontiff, to call 
 a council, composed of the bishops of the Latin church ; in 
 which assembly, after strict examination of those writings 
 which appeared under great and venerable names, the 
 famous decree passed, that deprived so many apocryphal 
 books of their borrowed authority. ‘That something of 
 this kind really happened, it would be, perhaps, an instance 
 of temerity to deny: but many learned men assert, that the 
 decree attributed to Gelasius, labours under the same impu- 
 tation with the books which it condemns, and was by no 
 means the production of that pontiff, but of some deceiver, 
 who usurped clandestinely his name and authority.» 
 
 X. Eucherius, Salvian, and Nilus, shine with a su- 
 perior lustre among the moral writers of this century. ‘The 
 epistle of Eucherius, concerning the Contempt of the 
 World and the secular Philosophy, i is an excellent perform- 
 ance, both in point of matter and style. The works of 
 Mark the hermit breathe a spirit of fervent piety, but are 
 
 * See the Codex Theodys. lib. i. tit. iv. de re va aaa prudentum. 
 
 b Pearson, Vindiciw Ignatian, part i. cap. iv. p. 189.—Cave, Hist. 
 Liter. Scriptor. Ecclesias. p. 260.—Urb. Godofr. Biberus, Preefat. ad En- 
 chiridion Sexti, p. 79. 
 
 | 
 
 119 
 
 highly defective in many respects : the matter is ill chosen 
 and is treated without order, perspicuity, or force of reason- 
 ing. Fastidius composed several discourses concerning 
 moral duties ; but they have not survived the ruins of time. 
 The works that are yet extant of Diadochus, Prosper, and 
 Severian, are extremely pleasing, on account of the solidity 
 and elegance which are to be found, for the most part, in 
 their moral sentences, though they aflord but indifferent 
 entertainment to such as are desirous of precision, method, 
 and sound argumentation; and indeed this want of method 
 in the distribution and arrangement of their matter, and 
 aconstant neglect of tracing their subject to its first princi- 
 ples, are defects common to almost ail the moral writers of 
 this century. 
 
 XI. Had this, indeed, been their only defect, the candid 
 and impartial would have supported it with patience, and. 
 attributed it charitably to the infelicity of the times. But 
 many of the writers and teachers of this age did unspeak- 
 able injury to the cause of true piety by their crude and 
 enthusiastic inventions. The Mystics, who pretended to 
 higher degrees of perfection than other Christians, drew 
 every where to their party, particularly in the eastern pro- 
 vinces, a vast number of the ignorant and inconsiderate 
 multitude, by the striking appearance of their austere and 
 singular piety. It is impossible to describe the rigour and 
 severity of the laws which these senseless fanatics imposed 
 upon themselves, in order, as they alleged, to appease the 
 Deity, and to deliver the celestial spirit from the bondage 
 of this mortal body. ‘They not only lived among the wild 
 beasts, but also lived after the manner of these sav age 
 animals ; they ran naked through the lonely deserts with 
 a furious aspect, and with all the agitations of madness 
 and phrensy; they prolonged the existence of their ema- 
 ciated bodies by the wretched nourishment of grass and 
 wild herbs, avoided the sight and conversation of men, 
 remained motionless in certain places for several years, 
 exposed to the rigour and inclemency of the seasons ; and, 
 toward the conclusion of their lives, shut themselves up 
 in narrow and miserable huts; and all this was considered 
 as true piety, the only acceptable method of worshipping 
 the Deity, and rendering him propitious... The major 
 part of the Mystics were led into the absurdities of this 
 extravagant discipline, not so much by the pretended force 
 of reason and argument, as by a natural propensity to 
 solitude, a gloomy and melancholy cast of mind, and an 
 implicit and blind submission to the authority and ex- 
 amples of others ; for the diseases of the mind, as well az 
 those of the body, are generally contagious, and no pestilence 
 spreads its infection with a more dreadful rapidity than 
 superstition and enthusiasm. Several persons have com- 
 mitted to writing the precepts of this severe discipline, and 
 reduced its absurdities mto a sort of system, such as Julia- 
 nus Pomerius among the Latins,? and many among the 
 Syrians, whose names it is needless to mention. 
 
 XU. Of all the instances of superstitious phrensy that 
 disgraced this age, none obtained higher veneration, or 
 excited more the wonder of the multitude, than that of a 
 certain order of men, who were called ‘Stylites by the 
 Greeks, and Sancti Columnares, or Pillar Saints, by the 
 Latins. 'These were persons of a most singular and ex- 
 
 * See the Pratum Spirituale of Moschus, the Lausiac History of Palla- 
 dius, and Sulpitius Severus, Dial. i. 
 
 3-> 4 Pomerius wrote a treatise, de Vita Contemplativa, in which the 
 doctrines and precepts of the Mystics were carefully collected. 
 
120 
 
 travagant turn of mind, who stood motionless upon the | 
 tops of pillars, expressly raised for this exercise of their 
 patience, and remained there for several years, amidst the 
 admiration and applause of the stupid populace. The in- 
 ventor of this strange and ridiculous discipline was Simeon | 
 Sisanites, a Syrian, who began his follies by changing the 
 agreeable employment of a shepherd for the senseless aus- 
 terities of the monkish life. But his enthusiasm carried 
 him still greater lengths; for, in order to climb as near 
 heaven as he could, he passed thirty-seven years of his 
 wretched life upon five pillars, of the height of six, twelve, 
 twenty-two, thirty-six, and forty cubits, and thus acquired 
 a most shining reputation, and attracted the veneration of 
 all about him. Many of the inhabitants of Syria and 
 Palestine, seduced by a false ambition, and an utter igno- 
 rance of true religion, followed the example of this fanatic, 
 though not with the same degree of austerity ;> and (what 
 is almost incredible) this superstitious practice continued 
 in vogue until the twelfth century, when, however, it was 
 totally suppressed.¢ 
 
 The Latins had too much wisdom and prudence to imi- 
 tate the Syrians and Orientals in this whimsical supersti- | 
 tion; and when acertain fanatic, or impostor, named | 
 Wulfilaicus, erected one of these pillars in the country of, 
 Treves, and proposed living upon it after the manner of 
 Simeon, the neighbouring bishops ordered it to be pulled | 
 down, and thus nipped this species of superstition in the | 
 bud.4 
 
 XIII. The Mystic rules of discipline and manners had | 
 a bad effect upon the moral writers, and those who were | 
 set apart for the instruction of Christians. Thus, in in- 
 structing the catechumens and cthers, they were more dili- | 
 gent and zealous in inculcating a regard for the external 
 parts of religion, and an attachment to bodily exercise, 
 than in forming the heart and the affections to inward 
 piety and solid virtue. ‘They even went so far, as to pre-| 
 scribe rules of sanctity and virtue little different from the. 
 unnatural rigour and fanatical piety of the Mystics. Sal-' 
 vian, and other celebrated writers, gave it as their opinion, 
 that none could be truly and perfectly holy, but those who 
 abandoned all riches and honours, abstained from matri- 
 mony, banished all joy and cheerfulness from their hearts, 
 and mawerated their bodies with various sorts of torments 
 and mortifications: and, as all could not support such in- 
 ordinate degrees of severity, those madmen, or fanatics, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 whose robust constitutions and savage tempers were the 
 best adapted to this kind of life, were distinguished by the 
 public applause, and saw their influence and authority 
 daily increase. ‘Thus saints started up like mushrooms in 
 almost every place. 
 
 XIV. A small number of ecclesiastics, animated by the 
 Jaudable spirit of reformation, boldly attempted to pluck 
 up the roots of this growing superstition, and to bring! 
 back the deluded multitude from this vain and chimerical | 
 
 ® Sec the Acta Sanctorum Mensis Januarii, tom. i. p. 261—277, where | 
 the reader will find the account we have given of this whimsical disci- | 
 pline. Theodoret, indeed, had before given several hints of it, alleging, 
 among other things, that Simeon had gradually added to the height of his 
 pillar, in the hope of making nearer approaches to heaven. See Tille- 
 mont’s Memoires pour servir a |’ Histoire de l’Eglise, tom. xv. See also 
 the acts of Simeon the Stylite, in Assemani Act. Martyrum, vol. il. 
 
 3¢p » The learned Frederic Spanheim, in his Ecclesiastical History, 
 p. 1154, speaks of a second Simeon the Stylite (mentioned by Evagrius,) | 
 who lived in the sixth century. This second fanatic seems to have car- 
 
 ried his austerities still farther than the chief of his sect: for he remain- 
 
 Part II 
 
 discipline to the practice of solid and genuine piety. But 
 the votaries of superstition, who were superior in number 
 reputation, and authority, soon reduced them to silence, 
 andrendered their noble and pious efforts utterly ineffectnal.* 
 We have an example of this in the case of Vigilantius, a 
 man remarkable for his learning and eloquence, who was 
 born in Gaul, and thence went to Spain, where he per- 
 formed the functions of a presbyter. ‘This ecclesiastic, on 
 his return from a voyage he had made ivto Palestine and 
 Egypt, began, about the commencement of this century 
 to propagate several doctrines, and to publish repeated ex- 
 hortations quite opposite to the opinions and manners of 
 the times. Among other things, he denied that the tombs 
 and the bones of the martyrs ought to be honoured with 
 any sort of homage or worship, and therefore censured the 
 pilgrimages that were made to places which were reputed 
 holy. He turned into derision the prodigies which were 
 said to be wrought in the temples consecrated to martyrs, 
 and condemned the custom of performing vigils in them. 
 He asserted, and indeed with reason, that the custom of 
 burning tapers at the tombs of the martyrs in broad day, 
 was imprudently borrowed from the ancient superstitioa 
 of the Pagans. He maintained, moreover, that prayes 
 addressed to departed saints were void of all efficacy; aid 
 treated with contempt fasting and mortifications, the cein- 
 bacy of the clergy, and the various austerities of the monas- 
 tic life; and, finally, he affirmed, that the conduct of those 
 who, distributing their substance among the indigent, sub 
 mitted to the hardships of a voluntary poverty, or sent a 
 part of their treasures to Jerusalem for devout purposes, 
 had nothing in it acceptable to the Deity. 
 
 There were among the Gallic and Spanish. bishops 
 several who approved the opinions of Vigilantius: but Je- 
 rome, the great monk of the age, assailed this bold reform- 
 er of religion with such bitterness and fury, that the honest 
 presbyter soon found that nothing but his silence could 
 preserve his life from the intemperate rage of bigotry and 
 superstition. ‘This project then of reforming the corrup- 
 tions, which a fanatical and superstitious zeal had introdu- 
 ced into the church, was choked in its birth;’ and the . 
 name of the good Vigilantius remains still in that list of 
 heretics, which is acknowledged as authentic by those who, 
 without any regard to their own judgment or the declara- 
 tions of Scripture, blindly follow the decisions of antiquity. 
 
 XV. The controversies, which had been raised in 
 Egypt, concerning Origen and his doctrine, toward the 
 conclusion of the preceding century, were now renewed at 
 Constantinople, and carried on without either decency or 
 
 prudence. 'The Nitrian monks, banished from Egypt on 
 account of their attachment to Origen, took refuge at Con- 
 
 stantinople, and were treated by John Chrysostom, the 
 bishop of that city, with clemency and benignity. ‘This 
 no sooner came to the knowledge of Theophilus, patriarch 
 of Alexandria, than he formed a perfidious project against 
 
 ed upon his pillar sixty-eight years, and from it, like the first Simeon, he 
 taught, or rather deluded the gazing multitude, declaimed against heresy, 
 pretended to cast out devils, to heal diseases, and to foretel future events. 
 
 © See Urb. Godofr. Siberi Diss. de Sanc. Column. and Caroli Majelli 
 Diss. de Stylitis, published in Assemani Act. Martyr. tom. ii. p. 246, 
 
 4 Gregor. Turonens. Histor. Francor. lib. viii. cap. xv. p. 387. 
 . * Augustin complains of this, in his famous epistle to Januarius, 
 
 Vo. 119. 
 
 f Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Vigilantius—Barbeyrac, de la 
 Morale des Peres, p. 252.—Ger. Jo. Vossius, Theses Historico-T heolo- 
 gice, p. 170,—Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. ii. p. 57 
 
Cuap. LY. 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 121 
 
 the eloquent prelate, and sent the famous Epiphanius, with | cils, and the records left us by the most celebrated ancient 
 
 several other bishops, to Constantinople, to compass his 
 fall, and deprive him of his episcopal dignity. No time 
 could be more favourable for the execution of this project, 
 than that in which it was formed; for Chrysostom, by his 
 austerity, and his vehemei:t declamations against the vices 
 of the people, and the corrupt manners of the ladies of the 
 court, had incurred the displeasure of many, and had also 
 excited, in a more particular manner, the resentment and 
 indignation of the empress Eudoxia, wife of Arcadius. 
 This violent princess sent for Theophilus and the Egyp- 
 tian bishops, who, pursuant to her orders, repaired to Con- 
 stantinople, and having called a council, inquired into the 
 religious sentiments of Chrysostom, and examined his mo- 
 rals, and the whole course of his conduct and conversation 
 with the utmost severity. This council, which was holden 
 in the suburbs of Chalcedon, in 403, with Theophilus at 
 its head, declared Chrysostom unworthy of his high rank 
 in the church, on account of his favourable inclinations 
 toward Origen and his followers; and in consequence of 
 this decree, condemned him to banishment. ‘The people 
 of Constantinople, who were tenderly attached to their pious 
 and worthy bishop, rose ina tumultuous manner, and pre- 
 vented the execution of this unrighteous sentence. When 
 this wuamult was entirely hushed, the same unrelenting 
 judges, in order to satisfy their vindictive rage and that of 
 Hudoxia, renewed their sentence, in the following year, 
 under another pretext, and with greater effect, for the pious 
 ‘hrvsostom, yielding to the redoubled efforts of his ene- 
 mies, was banished to Cucusus, a city of Cilicia, where he 
 ied about three years after.¢ 
 
 ‘I'he exile of this illustrious man was followed by a terri- 
 «le sedition of the Johannists (so his votaries were called,) 
 which was calmed, though with much difficulty, by the 
 edicts of Arcadius.? Itis beyond all doubt, that the pro- 
 ceedings against Chrysostom were cruel and unjust; in 
 this however he was to blame, that he assumed the autho- 
 rity and rank, which had been granted by the council of 
 Constantinople to the bishops of that city, and even acted 
 as a judge of the controversy between Theophilus and the 
 Egyptian monks, which the Alexandrian prelate could not 
 behold without the utmost impatience and resentment. 
 These monks, when they lost their protector, were restored 
 tothe favour of Theophilus; but the faction of the Origenists 
 continued, notwithstanding all this, to flourish in Egypt, 
 Syria, and the adjacent countries, and held their chief resi- 
 dence at Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. To enumerate the rites and institutions that were 
 added, in this century, to the Christian worship, would re- 
 quire a volume of a considerable size. The acts of coun- 
 
 => * This is not quite exact ; for it appears, by the accounts of the 
 best historians, that this sentence was really executed, and that the em- 
 peror confirmed the decree of this first Synod, by banishing Chrysostom 
 into Bithynia; or, as others allege, by ordering him to retire iuto the 
 country. 
 
 A violent earthquake, and a terrible shower of hail, which were looked 
 upon by the multitude as judgments occasioned by the unrighteous per- 
 secution of their pious bishop, alarmed the court, and engaged them to 
 recall Chrysostom to his office. 
 
 3 > This new pretext was the indecent manner in which Chrysos- 
 
 No. XI. ol 
 
 a A 
 
 1 
 
 writers, are the sources from which the curious may draw 
 a particular and satisfactory account of this matter; and 
 to these we refer such as are desirous of something more 
 than a general view of the subject under consideration. 
 Several of these ancient writers, uncorrupted by the conta- 
 gious examples of the times in which they lived, have inge- 
 nuously acknowledged, that true piety and virtue were 
 smothered as it were, under that enormous burthen of cere- 
 monies under which they lay groaning in this century. 
 This evil was owing, partly, to the ignorance and disho- | 
 nesty of the clergy ; partly to the calamitics of the times, 
 which were extremely unfavourable to the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, and to the culture of the mind; and partly, indeed, to 
 the natural depravity of imperfect mortals, who are much 
 more disposed to worship with the eye than with the heart, 
 and are more ready to offer to the Deity the laborious pomp 
 of an outward service, than the nobler, yet simple obla- 
 tion of pious dispositions and holy affections. 
 
 II. Divine worship was now daily rising from one de- 
 gree of pomp to another, and degenerating more and more 
 into a gaudy spectacle, only calculated to attract the stupid 
 admiration of a gazing populace. The sacerdotal garments 
 were embellished with a variety of ornaments, with a view 
 of exciting in the minds of the multitude a greater venera- 
 tion for the sacred order.’ New acts of devotion were also 
 celebrated. In Gaul particularly, the soleran prayers and 
 supplications, which usually precede the anniversary of 
 Christ’s ascension, were now instituted for the first time.¢ 
 In other places, perpetual acclamations of praise to God 
 were performed both night and day by successive singers, 
 so-that the service suffered no interruption;' as if the Su- 
 preme Being took pleasure in such noisy and turbulent 
 shouting, or received any gratification from the blandish- 
 ments of men. ‘The riches and magnificence of the 
 churches exceeded all bounds. They were also adorned 
 with costly images, among which, in consequence of the 
 Nestorian controversy, that of the Virgin Mary, holding 
 the child Jesus in her arms, obtained the principal place. 
 The altars, and the chests in which the relics were preser- 
 ved were in most places made of solid silver; and from 
 this we: may easily imagine the splendour 21.2 expenses 
 that were lavished upon the other utensils which were em- 
 ployed in the service of the church. 
 
 III. On the other hand, the agape, or feasts of charity, 
 were now suppressed, on account of the abuses to which 
 they gave occasion, amidst the daily decline of that piety 
 and virtue, which had rendered these mectings useful and 
 edifying in the primitive ages. 
 
 -A new method also of proceeding with penitents was 
 introduced into the Latin church; for grievous offenders, 
 who had formerly been obliged to confess their guilt in the 
 face of the congregation, were now delivered from this mor- 
 tifying penalty, and obtained from Leo the Great, a per- 
 mission to confess their crimes privately to a priest appointed 
 
 tom issaid to have declaimed against Eudoxia,on account of her having 
 erected her statue in silver near the church. 
 
 * See Tillemont and Hermant, who have both written the life ot 
 Chrysostom ; as also Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Acacius. 
 
 4 See Cyrilli Vita Sab in Cotelerii Monument. Eccles. Gree. tom. ii, 
 p. 274. Jos. Sim. Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 31. 
 
 * See Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. lib. v. Epist. xvi. lib. vi. Epist. i. j- 
 as also Martenne, Thesaurus Anecdotorum, tom. v. 
 
 f Gervais, Histoire de Suger, tom. i. p. 23. 
 
 ® See Zacharias of Mitylene, de Opificio Mundi, p. 165. 
 
122 
 
 for that purpose. By this change of the ancient discipline, 
 one of the greatest restraints upon licentiousness (and the 
 only remaining barrier of chastity) was entirely removed, 
 and the actions of Christians were subject to no other 
 scrutiny than that of the clergy ; a change, which was 
 frequently convenient for the sinner, and also advanta- 
 geous in many respects to the sacred order. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Dissensions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Severan of those’ sects, which had divided the 
 church in the preceding ages, renewed their efforts at this 
 time, to propagate their respective opinions, and introduced 
 new tumults and animosities among the Christians. We 
 shall say nothing of the Novatians, Marcionites, and Ma- 
 nicheans, those inauspicious and fatal names which dis- 
 grace the earlier annals of the church, though it is evident, 
 that those sects still subsisted, and were even numerous In 
 many places. We shall confine ourselves to an account 
 of the Donatists and Arians, who were the pests of the pre- 
 ceding century. 
 
 The Donatists had hitherto maintained themselves with 
 a successful obstinacy, and their affairs were in a good 
 state. But, about the beginning of this century, the face 
 of things changed much to their disadvantage, by the 
 means of St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo. 'T he catho- 
 lic bishops of Afti ica, animated by the exhortations, and 
 conducted by the counsels of this zealous prelate, exerted 
 themselves with the utmost vigour in the destruction of 
 those seditious sectaries, whom they justly looked upon, not 
 only as troublesome to the church by their obstinacy, but 
 
 also as a nuisance to the state by the brutal soldiery* which 
 they employed in their cause. Accordingly, deputies were 
 sent, in 404, from the council of Carthage to the emperor 
 Honorius, to request, that the laws enacted against heretics 
 by the preceding emperors, might have force against the 
 Donatists, who denied that they belonged to the heretical 
 tribe; and also to desire, that bounds might be set to the 
 barbarous fury of the Circumcelliones. The first step 
 that the emperor took, in consequence of this request, was 
 to impose a fine upon all the Donatists who refused to 
 return into the bosom of the church, and to send their bi- 
 shops and doctors into banishment. In the following year, 
 new laws, much more severe than the former, were enact- 
 ed against this rebellious sect, under the title of Acts uf 
 Uniformity; and, as the magistrates were remiss in the 
 execution of them, the council of Carthage, in 407, sent 
 a second time deputies to the emperor, to desire that certain 
 persons might be appointed to execute the new edicts with 
 vigour and imparuality; and this request was granted. 
 
 iL. 'The Donatist faction, though much broken by these 
 repeated shocks, was yet far from being totally extinguish- 
 ed. It recovered a part of its strength in 408, after Stilicho 
 had been put to death by the order of Honori lus, and gained 
 wn accession of vigour in the following year, in which the 
 
 * The Circwmcelliones already mentioned. 
 
 > See Franc. Balduin, Hist. Collationis Carthag. in Optat. Milev. Pini- 
 an. p.307. It is proper to observe here, that this meeting, holden by 
 Marcellinus, is very improperly termed a conference (collatio ; for 
 there was no dispute carried on at this meeting between the catholics and 
 the Donatists, nor did any of the parties endeavour to gain or defeat the 
 other by superiority of argument. This conference, then, was properly a 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part JI. 
 
 emperor published a law in favour of liberty of conscience, 
 
 and prohibited all compulsion in matters of religion. This 
 
 law, however, was not of long duration. It was abrogated 
 at the earnest and repeated solicitations of the council, 
 which met at Carthage in 410; and Marcellinus the tri- 
 bune was sent by Honorius into Africa, with full power to 
 bring to a conclusion this tedious and unhappy contest. 
 Marcellinus, therefore, held at Carthage, in 411, a solemn 
 conference, in which he examined the cause with much 
 attention, heard the contending parties during the space of 
 three days, and at length, pronounced sentence in favour 
 of the catholics.» The catholic bishops, who were present 
 at this conference, were 286 in number; and those of the 
 Donatists were 279. The latter, upon their defeat, appeal- 
 ed to the emperor, but without eflect. ‘The glory of their 
 defeat was due to Augustine, who bore the principal part 
 in this controversy, and who, indeed, by his writings, coun- 
 sels, and admonitions, governed almost the whole African 
 church, and also the principal and most illustrious heads 
 of that extensive province. 
 
 If. This conference greatly weakened the party of the 
 Donatists; nor could they ever get the better of this terrible 
 shock, though the face of affairs changed afterwards in a 
 manner that seemed to revive their hopes. The greatest 
 part of them, through the fear of punishment, submitted to 
 
 , the emperor’s decree, and returned into the bosom of the 
 
 church ; while the severest penalties were inflicted upon 
 those who remained obstinate, and persisted in their rebel- 
 lion. Fines, banishment, confiscation of goods, were the 
 ordinary punishments ef the obstinate Donatists; and 
 even the pain of death was inflicted upon such as surpass- 
 ed the rest in perverseness, and were the seditious ring- 
 leaders of that stubborn faction. Some avoided these pen- 
 alties by flight, others by concealing themselves, and some 
 were so desperate as to scel deliverance by self-murder, to 
 which the Donatists had a shocking propensity. In the 
 mean time, the Circumcelliones used more violent methods 
 of warding off the execution of the sentence that was pro- 
 nounced against their sect; for they ran up and down 
 through the province of Africa in the most outrageous man- 
 ner, committing acts of great cruelty, and defending them- 
 selves by force of arms. 
 
 The Donatists, indeed, recovered afterwards their former 
 liberty and tranquillity by the succour and protection they 
 received from the Vandals, who invaded Africa, with Gen- 
 seric at their head, in 427, and took that province out of 
 the hands of the Romans. ‘The wounds, however, which 
 this sect had received from the vigorous execution of the 
 imperial laws, were so deep, that though it began to revive 
 and multiply by the assistance of the Vandals, it could 
 never regain its former strength and lustre. 
 
 IV. he Arians, oppressed and persecuted by the im- 
 perial edicts, took refuge among those fierce and savage 
 nations, who were gradually overturning the western em- 
 pire, and found ameng the Goths, Suevi, Heruli, Vandals, 
 and Burgundians, a fixed residence and a peaceful retreat; 
 and, as their security animated their courage, they treated 
 
 judicial trial, in which, Marcellinus was, by the emperor, appointed 
 ‘judge, or arbiter, of this religious controversy, and eecordingly pronoun- 
 ced sentence after a proper hearing of the cause. It appears, therefore, 
 from this event, that the notion of a supreme spiritual judge of contro- 
 versy, and ruler of the church appointed by Christ, had not yet entered 
 into any one’s head, since we see the African bishops appealing to the 
 emperor in the present religious question, 
 
‘ape. V. 
 
 the catholics with tie same violence which the latter had 
 employed against them and other heretics, and harassed 
 and persecuted in various ways such as professed their 
 rdherence to the Nicene doctrines. The Vandals who 
 reigned in Africa, surpassed all the other savage nations in 
 barbarity and injustice toward the catholics. The kings 
 of this fierce people, particularly Genseric and Huneric 
 his son, pulled down the churches of those Christians 
 who acknowledged the divinity of Christ, sent their 
 bishops into exile, and maimed and tormented such as 
 were nobly firm and inflexible in the profession of their 
 faiths "Chey however declared, that in using these severe 
 and violent methods, they were authorised by the example 
 of the emperors, who had enacted laws of the same rigo- 
 rous nature against the Donatists, the Arians, and other 
 sects who differed in opinion from the Christians of Con- 
 stantinople.® 
 
 We must not here omit mentioning the stupendous 
 miracle, which is said to have been wrought during these 
 persecutions in Africa, and by which the Supreme Being 
 
 *See Victor Vitens. lib. iit. de Persequutione Vandalicé, which 
 Theod. Ruinart published at Paris in 1694, with his own history of the 
 same persecution. 
 
 » See the edict of Huneric, in the history of Victor, lib. iv. cap. ii. p. 64. 
 
 x ° These witnesses, who had themselves ocular demonstration of 
 the fact, were Victor of Utica, AXneas of Gaza (who examined the 
 mouths of the persons in question, and found that their tongues were en- 
 tirely rooted out,) Procopius, Marcellinus the count, and the emperor 
 Justinian. WJpon the authority of such respectable testimonies, the 
 learned Abt adie formed a laboured and dexterous defence of the miracu- 
 lous nature of this extraordinary fact, in his work entitled, La Triomphe 
 de la Provi tence, vol. iii. p. 255, whereall the fire of his zeal, and all the 
 subtlety of his logic, seem to have been exhausted. Dr. Berriman, in his 
 Historical Account of the Trinitarian Controversy, as also in his ser- 
 mons preached at Lady Moyer’s Lectures, in 1725, and Dr. Chapman, 
 in his Miscellaneous Tracts, have maintained the same hypothesis. ‘To 
 the former, an answer was published by an anonymous writer, under the 
 following title: “ An Inquiry into the Miracle said to have been wrought 
 in the fifth century, upon some orthodox Christians, in favour of the 
 Doctrine of the Trinity, &c. in a Letter toa Friend.” We may ven- 
 ture to say, that this answer is utterly unsatisfactory. The author of it, 
 after having laboured to invalidate the testimony alleged in favour of 
 the fact, seems himself scarcely convinced by his own arguments; for he 
 acknowledges at last the possibility of the event, but persists in denying 
 the miracle, and supposes, that the cruel operation was so imperfectly 
 performed upon these confessors, as to leave in some of them such a 
 share of the tongue, as was sufficient for the use of speech. Dr. Mid- 
 dleton (to whom-some have attributed the above-mentioned Answer) 
 maintains the same hypothesis, in his Free Inquiry into the Miracu- 
 lous Powers, &c. supposing, that the tongues of the persons in question 
 were not entirely rooted out, which he corroborates by the following con- 
 sideration, that two of the sufferers are said to have utterly lost the facul- 
 ty of speaking; for though this might be ascribed to a peculiar judg- 
 ment of God, punishing the immoralities of which they were afterwards 
 guilty, yet this appears to be a forced and improbable solution of the 
 matter, in the opinion of the doctor, who imagines that he solves it better, 
 by supposing, that they had not been deprived of their entire tongues. 
 He goes yet farther, and produces two cases from the Memoirs of the 
 Academy of Sciences at Paris, which prove, in his opinion, “That this 
 pretended miracle owed its whole credit to our ignorance of the powers 
 of nature.” The first is that of “a girl born without a tongue, who yet 
 talked as easily and distinctly, as if she had enjoyed the full benefit of 
 that organ;” and the second, that of “a boy, who, at the age of eight or 
 nine years, lost his tongue by a gangrene, or ulcer, and yet retained the 
 faculty of speaking.” See Middleton’s Free Inquiry, p. 183, 184. 
 
 This reasoning of the sceptical doctor of divinity appeared superficial 
 and unsatisfactory to the judicious Mr. Dodwell, who (saying nothing 
 about the case of the two Trinitarians who remained dumb, after their 
 tongues were cut out, and whose dumbness is but indifferently accounted 
 for by their immorality, since gifts have been often possessed without 
 grace) confines himself to the consideration of the two parallel facts 
 drawn from the Academical Memoirs already mentioned. ‘To show that 
 these facts prove little or nothing against the miracle in question, he just- 
 ly observes, that though, in one or two particular cases, a mouth may be 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 123 
 
 is supposed to have declared his displeasure against the 
 Arians, and his favour towards their adversaries. This 
 miracle consisted in enabling those catholics whose tongues 
 had been cut out by the Arian tyrant Huneric, to speak 
 distinctly, and to proclaim aloud the divine majesty of the 
 Saviour of the world. This remarkable fact can searcely 
 be denied, since it is supported by the testimony of the 
 most credible and respectable witnesses ;° but whether it is 
 to be attributed to a supernatural and miraculous power, is 
 a point which admits dispute.¢ 
 
 Vy. A new sect, which was the source of most fatal and 
 deplorable divisions in the Christian church, was formed 
 by Nestorius, a Syrian bishop of Constantinople, a disciple 
 of the celebrated Theodore of Mopsuestia, and a man re- 
 markable for his learning and eloquence, which were, 
 however, accompanied with much levity, and with intole- 
 rable arrogance. Before we enter into a particular account 
 of the doctrine of this sectary, it is proper to observe, that 
 though, by the decrees of former councils, it had been 
 clearly and peremptorily determined, that Christ was, at 
 
 vent their preaching a discountenanced doctrine. To deny the miracle 
 in question, we must maintain, that it is as easy to speak without a 
 tongue, as with it. See Mr. Dodwell’s Free Answer to Dr. Middleton’s 
 Free Inquiry, p. 96. 
 
 Mr. Toll, who defended Middleton’s hypothesis, has proposed an ob- 
 jection, d@ priori, as it may be justly called, to the truth of this miracle. 
 He observes, that the occasion on which it was wrought was not of suf- 
 ficient consequence or necessity to require a divine interposition; for it 
 was not wrought to convert infidels to Christianity, but to bring over the 
 followers of Arius to the Athanasian faith; it was wrought, in a word, 
 for the explication of a doctrine, which both sides allowed to be founded 
 in the New Testament. Now, as the Scriptures are a revelation of the 
 will of God, “it seems (says Mr. Toll) to cast a reflection on his wis- 
 dom, as if he did things by halves, to suppose it necessary for him to 
 work miracles in order to ascertain the sense of those Scriptures. This 
 (continues he) would be multiplying miracles te an infinite degree :-— 
 besides, it would destroy the universal truth of that proposition from 
 which we cannot depart, namely, That the Scriptures are sufficiently 
 plain in all things necessary to salvation.” Sec Mr. Toll’s Defence of 
 Dr. Middleton’s Free Inquiry, against Mr. Dodwell’s Free Answer. To 
 this specious objection Mr. Dodwell replies, that on the doctrine in dis- 
 pute between the Arians and the orthodox, the true notion, as well as the 
 importance and reality of our salvation, may be said to depend; that the 
 doctrines, duties, and motives of Christianity, are exalted or debased, as 
 we embrace one or the other of those systems; that, on the divinity of 
 Christ, the meritoriousness of the propitiation offered by him must en- 
 tirely rest; and that therefore, no occasion of greater consequence can be 
 assigned on which a miracle might be expected. He adds, that the dis- 
 putes which men have raised about certain doctrines, are no proof that 
 these doctrines are not plainly revealed in Scripture, since this would 
 prove that no truth is there sufficiently revealed, because, at one time or 
 other, they have been all disputed; and he observes judiciously, that the 
 expediency of interposing by miracles, is what we always are not 
 competent judges of, since God alone knows the times, seasons, and oc- 
 casions, in which it is proper to alter the usual course of nature, in order 
 to maintain the truth, to support the oppressed, and to carry on the great 
 purposes of his gospel kingdom. It is enough, that the present interpo- 
 sition be not zncredible, to remove Mr. Toll’s objection, without consi- 
 dering its particular use, and the unexceptionable manner in which it 
 is attested. See Mr. Dodwell’s Full and final Reply to Mr. Toll’s De- 
 fence, p. 270. 
 
 We must observe here that the latter objection and answer are merely 
 hypothetical, 7. e. they draw their force only from the different opinions, 
 which the ingenious Mr. Toll and his learned antagonist entertain con- 
 cerning the importance of the doctrine, in favour of which this pretend- 
 ed miracle is said to have been wrought. The grand question, whose 
 decision alone can finish this controversy, is, whetherthe tongues of these 
 African confessors were entirely rooted out, or not. The case of the two 
 who remained dumb furnishes ashrewd presumption, that the cruel opera- 
 tion was not equally performed upon all. The immorality of these two, 
 and the judgment of God, suspending with respect to them the in- 
 fluence of the miracle, do not solve this difficulty entirely, since (as 
 we observed above) many have possessed supernatural gifts without 
 grace; and Christ tells us, that many have cast out devils in his 
 
 so singularly formed as to utter articulate sounds, without the usual in- |] name, whomeat the last day he will not acknowledge as his faithful 
 
 strument of speech (some excrescence probably supplying the defect,) 
 yet it cannot be any thing less than miraculous, that this should happen 
 
 servants. a i 
 4 See Ruinarti Histor. Persequut. Vandal. part ii. cap. vii. p. 482. See 
 
 to a considerable number of persons, whose tongues were cut out to pre- ;| Bibliotheque Britannique, tom. iii. partii. p. 339. tom. v. part i. p. 17a, 
 
124 ? INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 the same time, true God and true man, yet no council bad 
 hitherto decreed anv thing concerning the manner and 
 effect of this union of the two natures in the divine Saviour, 
 nor had this point yet become a topic of inquiry or dispute 
 wmong Christians. ‘I'he consequence of this was, that the 
 Christian doctors expressed themselves differently on the 
 subject of this mystery. Some used such forms of expres- 
 sion as seemed to widen the difference between the Son of 
 God and the son of man, and thus to divide the nature of 
 Christ into two distinct persons. Others, on the contrary, 
 seemed to confound too much the Son of God with the son 
 of man, and to suppose the nature of Christ composed of 
 his divinity and humanity blended into one. 
 
 The heresy of Apollinaris had given occasion to these 
 different ways of speaking; for he maintained that the man 
 Christ was not endowed with a human soul, but with the 
 divine nature, which was substituted in its place, and per- 
 formed its functions; and this doctrine manifestly supposed 
 a confusion of the two natures in the Messiah. The Syrian 
 doctors, therefore, that they might avoid the errors of A pol- 
 linaris, and exclude his followers from the communion 
 of the church, were careful in establishing an accurate dis- 
 tinction between the divine and the human nature in the 
 Son of God; and for this purpose they used such forms 
 of expression as seemed to favour the notion of Christ’s 
 being composed of two distinct persons. The manner of 
 speaking adopted by the Alexandrians and Egyptians, had 
 a different tendency, and seemed to countenance the doc- 
 trine of Apollinaris, and, by a confusion of the two natures, 
 to blend them into one. Nestorius, who was a Syrian, 
 and had adopted the sentiments of the divines of his na- 
 tion, was a violent enemy to all the sects, but to none so 
 much as to the Apollinarian faction, at whose ruin he 
 aimed with an ardent and inextinguishable zeal. He 
 therefore discoursed of the two natures in Christ after the 
 Syrian manner, and commanded his disciples to distin- 
 guish carefully between the actions and perceptions? of the 
 Son of God, and those of the son of man.° 
 
 VI. The occasion of this disagreeable controversy was 
 furnished by the presbyter Anastasius, a friend of Nesto- 
 rius. ‘This ecclesiastic, in a public discourse, delivered in 
 428, declaimed warmly against the title of @ceréxes, or 
 mother of God, which was now more frequently attribu- 
 ted to the Virgin Mary, in the controversy against the 
 Arians, than it had formerly been, and was a favourite term 
 with the followers of Apollinaris. He, at the same time, 
 gave it as his opinion, that the Holy Virgin was rather to 
 be called Xerrerox0s, 1. e. mother of Christ, since the Deity 
 can neither be born nor die, and of consequence, the son of 
 man alone could derive his birth from an earthly parent. 
 Nestorius applauded these sentiments, and explained 
 and defended them in several discourses.©. But both 
 he and his friend Anastasius were keenly opposed by 
 
 Zp * The original word perpessio, which signifies properly suffering 
 or possion, we have here translated by the general term, perception, be- 
 cause suffering or passion cannot be, in any sense, attributed to the 
 divine nature. 
 
 b The Jesuit Doucin published at Paris, in 1716, a History of Nesto- 
 rianism; but it is such a history as might be expected from a writer, 
 who was obliged, by his profession, to place the arrogant Cyril among 
 the saints, and Nestorius among the heretics. The ancient writers, on 
 both sides of the controversy, are mentioned by Jo. Franc. Buddeus, in 
 his Isagoge in Theologiam, tom. ii. 
 by the oriental writers, are collected by Renandot, in his Historia Patri- 
 ae Alexandrin. and by Jos. Sim. Assemanus, in his Biblioth. Orient. 
 
 atican. 
 
 the majority on their side. 
 
 The accounts given of this dispute | 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 certain monks of Constantinople, who maintained that the 
 son of Mary was God incarnate, and excited the zeal and 
 fury of the populace to maintain this doctrine against Nes- 
 torius. Notwithstanding all this, the discourses of the lat- 
 ter were extremely well received in many places, and had 
 The Egyptian monks had no 
 sooner perused them, than they were persuaded, by the 
 weight of the arguments they contained, to embrace the 
 opinions of Nestorius, and accordingly ceased to call the 
 Blessed Virgin the mother of God. 
 
 VII. The prelate who then ruled the see of Alexandria, 
 was Cyril, a man of a haughty, turbulent, and imperious 
 temper, and painfully jealous of the rising power and au- 
 thority of the bishop of Constantinople. As soon as this 
 controversy came to his knowledge, he censured the Egyp- 
 tian monks and Nestorius; and, finding the latter little 
 disposed to submit to his censure, he proceeded to vio- 
 lent measures; took counsel with Celestine, bishop of Rome, 
 whom he had engaged on his side; assembled a council 
 at Alexandria in 430; and hurled twelve anathemas at 
 the head of Nestorius. ‘The thunderstricken prelate did 
 not sink under this violent shock; but, seeing himself un- 
 justly accused of derogating from the majesty of Christ, he 
 retorted the same accusation upon his adversary, charged 
 him with the Apollinarian heresy, with confounding the 
 two natures in Christ, and loaded Cynil with as many ana- 
 themas as he had received from him. 'This unhappy 
 vontest between prelates of the first order, proceeded rather 
 from corrupt motives of jealousy and ambition, than from 
 a sincere and disinterested zeal for the truth, and was the 
 source of unnumbered evils and calamities. 
 
 VIII. When the spirits were so exasperated on both 
 sides, by reciprocal excommunications and polemic wri- 
 tings, that there was no prospect of an amicable issue to 
 this unintelligible controversy, Theodosius the younger 
 called a council at Ephesus, in 431, which was the third 
 general council in the annals of the church. In this coun- 
 cil Cyril presided, though he was the party concerned, and 
 the avowed enemy of Nestorius ; and he proposed examin- 
 ing and determining the matter in debate before John of 
 Antioch and the other eastern bishops arrived. Nestorius 
 objected to this proceeding, as irregular and unjust ; but, 
 his remonstrances being without effect, he refused to com- 
 ply with the summons which called him to appear before 
 the council. Cyril, on the other hand, pushing on matters 
 with a lawless viclence, Nestorius was judged without 
 being heard ; and, during the absence of a great number 
 of those bishops who belonged to the council, he was com- 
 pared with the traitor Judas, charged with blasphemy 
 against the divine majesty, deprived of his episcopal dig- 
 nity, and sent into exile, where he finished his days.¢ The 
 transactions of this council will appear to the candid and 
 equitable reader in the most unfavorable light, as full of 
 
 © See Harduini Concilia, tom. i.; and the Biblioth. Orient. Vat. tom. iil. 
 
 4 Those who desire a more ample account of this council, may consult 
 the Variorum Patrum Epistole ad Concilium Ephesinum pertinentes, 
 published at Louvain in 1682, from some Vatican and other manuscripts, 
 by Christian Lupus. Nestorius, in consequence of the sentence pro- 
 nounced against him in this council, was banished to Petra in Arabia, 
 and afterwards to Oasis, a solitary place in the deserts of Egypt, where 
 he died in 435. The accounts given of his tragical death by Evagrius, 
 in his Eccl. Hist. lib. i. cap. vu. and by Theodorus the Reader, Hist. 
 Eccl. lib. ii. p. 565, are entirely fabulous. 34> Dr. Mosheim’s account ot 
 the time of Nestorius’ death is perhaps inexact; for it appears that Nes- 
 torius was at Oasis, when Socrates wrote, that is, in 43¥. Sce Socrat. 
 lib. vii. cap, Xxxiv. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 low artifice, contrary to all the rules of justice, and even des- | 
 
 titute of the least air of common decency. ‘The doctrine, 
 
 hawever, that was established in it concerning Christ, was 
 
 that which has heen always acknowledged and adopted by | 
 
 the majority of Christians, viz. “That Christ wasone divine 
 
 person, in whom fivo natures were most closely and inti- | 
 
 mately united, but without being mixed or confounded.” 
 LX. Nestorius, among accusations of less moment, was 
 charged with dividing “the nature of Christ into two 
 
 distinct persons, and with having maintained, that the | 
 
 divine nature was superadded to the human nature of 
 Jesus, after it was formed, and was no more than an auxili- 
 
 ary support to the man Christ, through the whole of his | 
 
 life. Nestorius denied this charge even to the last, and 
 solemnly professed his entire disapprobation of this doc- 
 trine.s Nor indeed was this opinion ever proposed by him 
 in any of his writings: it was only charged upon him by 
 his iniquitous adversaries as a consequence drawn from 
 some incautious and ambiguous terms he used, and par- 
 ticularly from his refusing to call the Virgin Mary the mo- 
 ther of God.» Hence many, and indeed the majority of 
 writers, both ancient and modern, after a thorough exami- 
 nation of this matter, have positively concluded, that the 
 opinions of Nestorius, and of the casncil which condemned 
 them, were the same in effect ; that their difference was in 
 words only, and that the whole blame of this unhappy 
 controversy was to be charged Bpon the turbulent spirit of 
 Cyril, and his aversion to Nestorius. 
 
 This judgment may be just upon the whole ; but it is, 
 however, true, that Nestortus committed two fe vals in the 
 course of this controversy. The first was, his giving offence 
 to many Christians by abrogating a trite ‘and innocent 
 term ;* and the second, his presumptuously attempting to 
 explain, by uncouth comparisons and improper expres- 
 sions, a mystery which infinitely surpasses the extent of our 
 imperfect reason. If to these defects we add the despotic || ¢ 
 spirit and the excessive warmth of this persecuted prelate, 
 it will be difficult to decide who is most to be blamed, as the 
 principal fomenter of this violent contest, Cyril or Nes- 
 torius.° 
 
 X. The council of Ephesus, instead of healing these 
 divisions, only inflamed them more and more, and almost 
 destroyed all hope of restoring concord and tranquillity in 
 the church. John of Antioch, and the other eastern bi- 
 shops, for whose arrival Cyril had refused to wait, met at 
 
 Ephesus, and pronounced against him and Memnon, the | 
 
 bishop of that city, who was his creature, as severe a sen- 
 t J) } 4 : 
 tence as they had thundered against Nestorius. Hence 
 d DS 
 
 *See Garnier’s edition of the works of Marius Mercator, tom. ii. p. 
 286. See also the fragments of some letters from Nestorius, which are 
 to be found in the Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. 
 
 3p © It is remarkable, that Cyril would not hear the explanations 
 which Nestorius offered to give of his doctrine. The latter even offered 
 to grant the title of Mother of God to the Virgin Mary, provided that 
 nothing else was thereby meant, but that the man born of her was 
 united to the divinity. See Socrat. lib. vii. cap. XXXiv. 
 
 © Luther was the first of the modern writers who thought thus ; and he 
 inveighed against Cyril with the greatest bitterness, in his book de Con- 
 ciliis, tom. viii. op. Altenb. p. 265, 266, 273. See also Bi tyle’s Dictiona- 
 ry, at the articles Nestorius and Rodon.—Christ. August. Salig, de 
 Eutychianismo ante Eutychem, p. 200.—Otto Fred. Schutzius, de Vita 
 Chytrei, lib. ii. cap. xxix. p. 190, 191—Jo. Voigt Biblioth. Hi storie He- 
 restologice, tom. i. part. ii. p. 457—Paul. Evnest. Jablonsky, Exere. de 
 Nestorianismo.—T hesaur. Epistolic. Crozianus, tom. i. p. 184, toma. iii. p. 
 175.—La Vie de la Croze, par Jordan, p. 231, and many others. As to 
 
 the faults that have been laid to the charge of Ne sstorius, they are collected | 
 
 by Asseman in his Biblioth, Orient. Vatican. tom. iil. part 1i. p. 210. 
 377 4 The title of Mother of God, applied to the Virgin Mary, is not 
 
 No. XI. 32 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 125 
 
 arose a new and obstinate dissension between Cyril and 
 the Orientals, with the bishop of Antioch at their head. 
 This flame indeed abated in 433, after Cyril had received 
 the articles of faith drawn up by John, and abandoned 
 certain phrases and expressions, of which the litigious 
 might make a pernicious use. But the commotions, which 
 
 | arose from this fatal controversy, were more diablo in the 
 
 east." Nothing could oppose the progress of Nestorianism 
 in those parts. The disciples and friends of the persecu- 
 ted prelate carried his doctrine through all the Oriental 
 provinces, and erected every where congregations which 
 professed an invincible opposition to the decrees of the 
 council of Ephesus.. ‘The Persidns, among others, oppo- 
 sed Cyril in the most vigorous manner, maintained that 
 Nestorius had been unjustly condemned at Ephesus, and 
 charged Cyril with removing that distinction which 
 subsists between the two natures in Christ. But nothing 
 tended so much to propagate with rapidity the doctrine of 
 Nestorius, as its being received in the famous school which 
 had for a long time flourished at Edessa. For the doctors 
 of this renowned academy not only instructed the youth 
 in the Nestorian tenets, but translated from the Greek into 
 the Syriac language the books of Nestorius, of his master 
 "Theodorus of Mopsuestia, and the writings also of Diodo- 
 rus of ‘Tarsus, and spread them abroad throu ghout Assyria 
 and Persia.s 
 XI. Of all the promoters of the Nestorian cause, there 
 was not one to whom it has such weighty obligations as 
 to the famous Barsumas, who was removed from his place 
 in the school of Edessa, and created bishop of Nisibis in 
 435. 'This zealous prelate laboured with incredible assidu- 
 ity and dexterity, from the year 440 to 485, to procure, for 
 the Nestorians, a sotid and permanent settlement in Persia; 
 and he was vigorously seconded in this undertaking by 
 Maanes, bishop of Ar dascira. So remarkable was the suc- 
 ess which crowned the labours of Barsumas, that his fame 
 extended throughout the east; and those Nestorians who 
 still remain in Chaldea, Persia, Assyria, and the adjacent 
 countries, consider him alone, and not without reason, as 
 their parent and founder. This indefatigable ecclesiastic 
 not only persuaded Firouz, the Persian monarch, to expel 
 from Iris dominions such Christians as had adopted the 
 opinions of the Greeks, and to admit the Nestorians in 
 their place, but he even engaged him to put the Jatter in 
 possession of the principal seat of ecclesiastical authority 
 in Persia, the see of Seleucia, which the Patriarch, or 
 Catholic of the Nestorians, has always filled even down 
 to our time." The zealand activity of Barsumas did not 
 
 perhaps so innocent as Dr. Mosheim takes it to be. To the judicious 
 and learned it can present no idea at all; and to the ignorant and unwary 
 it may present the most absurd and monstrous notions. ‘The imvention 
 and use of such mysterious terms, as have no place in Scripture, are un- 
 doubtedly pernicious to true religion. 
 
 a‘ © There is no difficulty at all in deciding this question. Nesto- 
 rius, though possessed of an arrogant and persecuting spirit in general, 
 yet does not seem to deserve, in this particular case, the reproaches the it 
 are due to Cyril. Anastasius, not Nestorius, was the first who kindled 
 the flame; and Nestorius, was the suflerimg and persecuted party from 
 the beginning of the controve rsy to his death. His offers of accommoda- 
 tion were refuse od, his explanations were not read, his submission was 
 meet d, and he was condemned unheard. 
 
 ‘See Christ. Aug. Salig, de Eutychianisme ante Eutychem, p. 243. 
 
 E See Assemani Biblioth. tom. i. p. 351: tom. iti. part il. p. 69. This 
 learned author may be advantageously used to correct what Renaudot 
 has said (in the second tome of his Liturgiz Orientales, p. 99,) concern- 
 ing the rise of the Nestorian doctrine in the eastern provinces. See 
 also the Ecclesiastical History of Theodorus the Reader, book ii. p. 558. 
 
 374 The bishop of Seleucia was, by the twenty- -third canon of the 
 
126 
 
 end here: he erected a famous school at Nisibis, whence 
 issued those Nestorian doctors, who, in this and the fol- 
 lowing century, spread abroad their tenets through Egypt, 
 tie, | . ‘ . . r id ™ . bd 
 Syria, Arabia, India, Tartary, and China.* 
 
 XIL The Nestorians, before their affairs were thus 
 
 aappily settled, had been divided among themselves with | 
 
 cespect to the method of explaining their doctrine. Some 
 
 maintained, that the manner in which the two natures | 
 
 were united in Christ, was absolutely unknown ; others, 
 that the union of the divine nature with the man Jesus 
 
 was only an union of will, operation, and dignity.” This | 
 dissension, however, entirely ceased, when the Nestorians 
 
 were gathered into oné religious community, and lived in 
 tranquillity under their own ecclesiastical government and 
 laws. ‘Their doctrine, as it was then determined in several 
 councils assembled at Seleucia, amounts to what follows: 
 “That in the Saviour of the world, there were two persons, 
 or vresez7ees; of which one was divine, even the eternal 
 
 word; and the other, which was human, was the man | 
 
 Jesus; that these two persons had only one aspect;* that 
 the union between the Son of God and the son of man, 
 was formed in the moment of the Virgin’s conception, and 
 was never to be dissolved; that it was not, however, an 
 union of nature, or of person, but only of will and affection; 
 that Christ was, therefore, to be carefully distinguished 
 from God, who dwelt in him as in his temple; and that 
 Mary was to be called the mother of Christ, and not the 
 mother of God.” : 
 
 The abettors of this doctrine hold Nestorius in the hig¢h- 
 est veneration, as a man of singular and eminent sanctity, 
 and worthy to be had in perpetual remembrance; but they 
 maintain, at the same time, that the doctrine he taught 
 was much older than himself, and liad been handed down 
 from the earliest times of the Christian church; and for 
 this reason they absolutely refused the title of Nestorians ; 
 and, indeed, if we examine the matter attentively, we shall 
 find, that Barsumas and his followers, instead of teaching 
 their disciples precisely the doctrine of Nestorius, rather 
 polished and improved his uncouth system to their own 
 taste, and added to it several tenets of which the good man 
 never dreamed. 
 
 XII. A violent aversion to the Nestorian errors led 
 many into the opposite extreme. ‘This was the case with 
 the famous Hutyches, an abbot at Constantinople, and 
 founder of a sect, which was in direct opposition to that of 
 Nestorius, yet equally prejudicial to the interests of the 
 Christian church, by the pestilential discords and animosi- 
 ties it produced. ‘The opinions of this new faction shot 
 like lightning through the east; and it acquired such 
 
 council of Nice, honoured with peculiar marks of distinction, and among 
 others with the title of Catholic. He was invested with the power of 
 ordaining archbishops (a privilege which belonged to the patriarchs 
 alone,) exalted above all the Grecian bishops, honoured as a patriarch, 
 and, in the ceeumenical councils, was the sixth in rank after the bi- 
 shop of Jerusalem. See Acta Concilii Niceni Arab. Alphons. Pisan. 
 lid. ill. cap. xxiii. xxxiv. 
 
 * See, for an ample account of this matter, Assem. Bib. t. ili. pt. ii. p..77. 
 
 » Leontius Byzant. adversus Nestorian. et Eutychian. p. 537, tom. i. 
 Lection, Antiquar, Henr. Canisii—Jac. Basnage, Prolegomen. ad Cani- 
 sium, tom. i. cap. ii. p. 19. 
 
 3-> ° This is the only way I know of translating the word barsopa 
 which was the term used by Nestorius and which the Greeks render by 
 the term rodcwrov. The word person would havedone better in this unin- 
 tclligible phrase, had it not been used immediately before in a different 
 sense from that which Nestorius would convey by the obscure term aspect. 
 _ 4 That Cyril expressed himself in this manner, and appealed, for his 
 justification in so doing, to the authority of Athanasius, 1s evident be- 
 yond all possibility of contradiction. But it is uncertain whether this 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ] 
 | 
 
 Part JI. 
 
 strength in its progress, as to create much uneasiness, both 
 
 to the Greeks and Nestorians, whose most vigorous efforts 
 
 were not sufficient to prevent its rising to a high degree of 
 credit and splendour. Eutyches began these troubles in 
 448, when he was far advanced in years; and to exert his 
 utmost force and vehemence in opposing the progress of 
 the Nestorian doctrine, he expressed his sentiments con- 
 cerning the person of Christ, in the very terms which the 
 Egyptians made use of for that purpose, and taught, that 
 in Christ there was only one nature, namely, that of the 
 incarnate word.t Hence he was thought to deny the exis- 
 tence of the human nature in Christ, and was accused of 
 this, by Eusebius of Doryleum, in the council that was 
 assembled by Flavianus at Constantinople, probably in 
 this same year. By a decree of this council he was ordered 
 to renounce the above-mentioned opinion, which he obsti- 
 nately refused to do, and was, on this account, excommu- 
 nicated and deposed; unwilling, however, to acquiesce 
 in this sentence, he appealed to the decision of a general 
 council. 
 
 XIV. Inconsequence of this appeal, the emperor 'Theo- 
 dosius assembled an cecumenical council at Ephesus in 
 449, at the head of which he placed Dioscorus, bishop of 
 Alexandria, the succe&or of Cyril, the faithful imitator of 
 his arrogance and fury, and a declared enemy to the bishop 
 of Constantinople. Accordingly, by the mfluence and 
 caballing of this turbulent man, matters were carried on 
 in this assembly with the same want of equity and of 
 decency that had dishonoured a former Ephesian council, 
 and characterized the proceedings of Cyril against Nesto- 
 rius. Dioscorus, in whose church a doctrine, almost the 
 same with that of the Eutychians, was constantly taught, 
 confounded matters with such artifice and dexterity, that 
 the doctrine of one incarnate nature triumphed, and Euty- 
 ches was acquitted of the charge of error that had been 
 brought against him. Flavianus, on the other hand, was, 
 by the order of this unrighteous council, publicly scourged 
 in the most barbarous manner, and banished to Epipas, a 
 city of Lydia, where he soon after ended his days. The 
 Greeks called this Ephesian council a band or assembly 
 of robbers, cavodey Anrremiy, to signify that every thing 
 was carried in it by fraud or violence;‘ and many councils, 
 indeed, both in this and the following ages, are equally 
 entitled to the same dishonourable appellation. 
 
 XY. Affairs soon changed, and assumed an aspect utter- 
 ly unfavourable to that party which the Ephesian council 
 had rendered triumphant. Flavianus and his followers 
 not only engaged Leo the Great, bishop of Rome, in their 
 interests, (for the Roman pontiff was the ordinary refuge of 
 manner of expression was adopted by Athanasius or not, since many 
 are of opinion, that the book in which it is found, has been falsely at- 
 tributed tohim. See Mich. Le Quien, Dissert. i1.in Damascenum; and 
 Christ. Aug. Salig, de Eutychianismo ante Eutychem, p. 112. It appears 
 by what we read in the Biblioth. Orient., that the Syrians expressed 
 themselves in this manner before Eutyches, without intending thereby to 
 broach any new doctrine, but rather without well knowing what they said. 
 We are yet in want of a solid and accurate history of the Eutychian 
 troubles, notwithstanding the Jabours of the learned Salig upon that 
 
 a , 
 tee the Concilia Jo. Harduini, tom. i. p. 82.—Liberati Breviarium, 
 cap. xii. p. 76—Leonis M. Epist. xciii—Nicephori Hist. Ecclesiast. 
 lib. xiv. cap. Ixvil. : 
 
 3x¢> f Though Flavianus died soon after the council of Ephesus, of 
 | the bruises he had received from Dioscorus, and the other bishops of his 
 
 ‘party in that horrid assembly, yet, before his death, he had appealed to 
 Leo; and this appeal, pursued by the pontiff, occasioned the council; 
 
 in which Eutyches was condemned, and the sanguinary Dioscorus 
 i deposed, 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 the oppressed and conquered party in this century,) but | 
 ulso remonstrated to the emperor, that a matter of such an | 
 arduous and important nature required, in order to its deci- | 
 sion, a council composed out of the church universal. Leo | 
 seconded the latter request, and demanded of Theodosius 
 a general council, which no entreaties could persuade this 
 emperor to grant. Upon his death, however, his successor 
 Marcian consented to Leo’s demand, and called, in 451, 
 the council of Chalcedon,s which is reckoned the fourth 
 general or cecumenical council. The legates of Leo, who, 
 in his famous letter to Flavianus, had already condemned | 
 the Eutychian doctrine, presided in this grand and crowd- 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 ed assembly. Dioscorus was condemned, deposed, and 
 banished into Paphlagonia; the acts of the council of | 
 Ephesus were annulled; the epistle of Leo was received 
 as a rule of faith ;» Kutyches, who had been already sent | 
 into banishment, and deprived of his sacerdotal dignity by 
 the emperor, was now condemned, though absent; and 
 the following doctrine, which is at this time almost gene- 
 rally received, was inculcated upon Christians as an object 
 of faith, viz. “That in Christ two distinct natures were | 
 united in one person, without any change, mixture or 
 confusion.” 
 
 XVI. The remedy applied by this council, to heal the 
 wounds of a torn and divided church, proved really worse 
 than the disease; for a great number of Oriental and 
 Egyptian doctors, though of various characters and differ- 
 ent opinions in other respects, united in opposing, with the 
 utmost vehemence, the council of Chalcedon and the epistle 
 of Leo, which that assembly had adopted as a rule of faith, 
 and were unanimous in maintaining an unity of nature, 
 as well as of person, in Jesus Christ. Hence arose deplo- 
 rable discords and civil wars, whose fury and barbarity 
 were carried to the most excessive and incredible lengths. 
 On the death of the emperor Marcian, the populace assem- 
 bled tumultuously in Egypt, massacred Proterius, the 
 successor of Dioscorus, and substituted in his place 'Timo- 
 theus Allurus, who was a zealous defender of the Euty- 
 chian doctrine of one incarnate nature in Christ. This 
 latter, indeed, was deposed and banished by the emperor 
 Leo; but, upon his death, was restored by Basilicus both 
 to his liberty and episcopal dignity. After the death of 
 A@lurus, the defenders of the council of Chalcedon chose, 
 as his successor, Timotheus, surnamed Salophaciolus, 
 while the partisans of the Kutychian doctrine elected schis- 
 matically Peter Moggus to the same dignity. An edict of 
 the emperor Zeno obliged the latter to yield. The triumph, 
 
 however, of the Chalcedonians, on this occasion, was but 
 transitory ; for, on the death of Timotheusr, John 'Talaia, 
 whom they had chosen in his place, was removed by the 
 
 ‘4p * This council was first assembled at Nice, but afterwards re- 
 moved to Chalcedon, that the emperor, who on account of the irruption 
 of the Huns into Illyricum, was unwilling to go far from Constantino- 
 ple, might assist at it in person. 
 
 #¢p > This was the letter which Leo had written to Flavianus, after 
 having been informed by him of what had passed in the council of Con- 
 stantinople. In this epistle, Leo approves the decisions of that coun- 
 cil, declares the doctrine of Eutyches heretical and impious, and exp!ains 
 with great appearance of perspicuity, the doctrine of the catholic church 
 npon this perplexed subject; so that this letter was esteemed a master- 
 ptece, both of logic and eloquence, and was constantly read, during the 
 Advent, in the western churches. 
 
 © See Liberati Breviarium, cap. xvi. xvii. xviii—Evagr. Hist. Eccles. 
 lib ii. cap. viii. lib. iii. cap. iii. Le Quien, Oriens Christ. tom. 1. p.410. 
 
 %4p 4 The Barsumas, here mentioned, was he who assisted the bishop 
 
 of Alexandria (Dioscorus) and the soldiers, in beating Flavianus to 
 deoth in the council of Ephesus, and to shun whose fury, the orthodox | 
 
 127 
 
 same emperor;* and Moggus, or Mongus, by an imperial 
 edict, and the favour of Acacius, bishop of Constantinople, 
 was, in 482, raised to the see of Alexandria. 
 
 XVII. 'Vhe abbot Barsumas (whom the reader must be 
 careful not to confound with Barsumas of Nisibis, the fa- 
 mous promoter of the Nestorian doctrines,) having been 
 condemned by the council of Chalcedon,“ propagated the 
 Eutychian opinions in Syria, and, by the ministry of his 
 disciple Samuel, spread them amongst the Armenians 
 about the year 460. ‘This doctrine, however, as it was 
 commonly explained, had something so harsh and shock- 
 ing in it, that the Syrians were easily engaged to abandon 
 it by the exhortations of Xenaias, otherwise called Phi- 
 loxenus, bishop of Hierapolis, and the famous Peter Fullo. 
 These doctors rejected the opinion, attributed to Eutyches, 
 that the human nature of Christ was absorbed by the di- 
 vine,* and modified matters so as to form the following 
 hypothesis: “'That m the Son of God there was one na- 
 ture, which notwithstanding its wnity, was dowble and 
 compounded.” 'This notion was not less repugnant to 
 the decisions of the council of Chalcedon than the Euty- 
 chian doctrine, and was therefore strongly opposed by those 
 who acknowledged the authority of that council.‘ 
 
 XVIII. Peter, surnamed Fullo, from the trade of a ful- 
 ler, which he exercised in his monastic state, had usurped 
 the see of Antioch, and after having been several times 
 deposed and condemned on account of the bitterness of 
 his opposition to the council of Chaleedon, was at last fixed 
 in it, in 482, by the authority of the emperor Zeno, and 
 the favour of Acacius, bishop of Constantinople.s ‘This 
 troublesome and contentious man excited new discords In 
 the church, and seemed ambitious of forming a new sect 
 under the name of 'Theopaschites ;" for, to the words, ‘ O 
 God most holy, &c. in the famous hymn which the 
 Greeks called Tris-agium, he ordered the following phrase 
 to be added in the eastern churches, ‘who hast suffered for 
 us upon the cross.’ His design in this was manifestly to 
 raise a new sect, and also to fix more deeply, in the minds 
 of the people, the doctrine of one nature in Christ, to which 
 he was zealously attached. His adversaries, and espe- 
 cially Felix the Roman pontiff, terpreted this addition to 
 the above-mentioned hymn in a quite different manner, 
 and charged him with maintaining, that all the three per- 
 sons of the Godhead were crucified; and hence those who 
 approved his addition were called Theopaschites. 'The 
 consequence of this dispute was, that the western Chris- 
 tians rejected the addition inserted by Fullo, which they 
 judged relative to the whole 'T'rmity, while the Orientals 
 used it constantly after this period, without giving the least 
 offence, because they applied it to Christ alone.: 
 
 bishops were forced to creep into holes, and hide themselves under 
 benches, in that piows assembly. 
 
 3x%> ¢ Eutyches never affirmed what is here attributed to him; he 
 raaintained simply, that the two natures, which existed in Christ before 
 his incarnation, became one after it, by the hypostatical union. ‘This 
 miserable dispute about words was nourished by the contending parties 
 having no clear ideas of the terms person and nalwre, as also by an 
 invincible ignorance of the subject. 
 
 f Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vat. tom. ii.; and the Dissertation of 
 the same author, de Monophysitis. 
 
 & Valesii Dissertatio de Pet. Fullone, et de Synodis adversus eum 
 collectis, which is added to the 3d vol. of the Scriptor. Hist. Ecclesiast. 
 
 3¢> » This word expresses the enormous error of those frantic doc- 
 tors, who imagined that the Godhead sufferedin and with Christ. 
 
 i See Norris, Lib. de uno ex Trinitate carne passo, tom. ill.‘ op. diss. 
 i. cap. iii. 782.—Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. i. p. 518; tom, 
 li. p. 36, 180. 
 
. 
 
 128 
 
 XIX. To put an end to this controversy, which had 
 produced the most unhappy divisions both in church and 
 state, the emperor Zeno, by the advice of Acacius, bishop of 
 Constantinople, published, in 482, the famous Henoticon, 
 or Decree of Union, which was designed to reconcile the 
 contending parties. ‘his decree repeated and confirmed 
 all that had been enacted in the councils of Nice, Con- 
 stantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, against the Arians, 
 Nestorians, and Hutychians, without making any particu- 
 lar mention of the council of Chalcedon ;* for Acacius had 
 persuaded the emperor, that the present opposition was not 
 carried on against the decrees that had passed in the coun- 
 cil of Chalcedon, but against the assembly itself; with 
 respect to which, therefore, an entire silence was undoubt- 
 edly prudent in a proposal, which, instead of reviving, was 
 designed to put an end to all disputes, and to reconcile the 
 most jarring principles. 
 
 In the mean time, Mongus and-Fullo, who filled the 
 sees of Alexandria and Antioch, and headed the sect of the 
 Monophysites,” subscribed this Decree of Union, which was 
 also approved by Acacius, and by all those of the two 
 contending parties who were at all remarkable for their 
 candour and moderation. But there were on all sides vio- 
 lent and obstinate bigots, who opposed with vigour these 
 pacific measures, and complained of the Henoticon as inju- 
 rious to the honour and authority of the most holy .coun- 
 cil of Chalcedon. Hence arose new contests and new di- 
 visions, not less deplorable than those which the decree was 
 designed to suppress. . 
 XX. A considerable body of the Monophysites, or Eu- 
 tychians, looked upon the conduct of Mongus, who had 
 subscribed the decree, as highly criminal, and consequent- 
 
 ly formed themselves into a new faction, under the title of: 
 
 Acephali, 1. e. headless, because, by the submission of 
 Mongus, they had been deprived of their chief.¢ This sect 
 was afterwards divided into three others, who were called 
 Anthropomorphites, Barsanuphites, and Esaianists; and 
 these again, in the following century, were the unhappy 
 occasion of new factions of which the ancient writers make 
 trequent mention.¢ It is, however, necessary to observe 
 here, for the information of those whose curiosity interests 
 them in inquiries of this nature, that these subdivisions of 
 the Eutychian sect are not to be adopted with too much 
 facility. Some of them are entirely fictitious; others are 
 characterized by a nominal, and not by a real difference ; 
 the division is in words and not in things; while a third 
 sort are distinguished, not by their peculiar doctrines, but 
 
 _by certain rites and institutions, and matters of a merely 
 
 circumstantial nature. Be that as it will, these numerous 
 branches of the Eutychian faction did not flourish long ; 
 
 ® Evagrii Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. eap. xiv—Liberati Breviarium, cap. xviii. 
 
 3-> » This word expresses the doctrine of those who believed, that in 
 Christ there was but one nature, and is, in most respects, the same with 
 the term Eutychians. 
 
 ¢ See Facund. Hermian. Defens. trium Capitulor. lib. xii. cap. iv. 
 
 4 Evagr. Hist. Eccles. lib. ili. cap. xiiii—Leontius Byzant. de Sectis, 
 tom.i. lLection. Antiq. Canisii, p. 537.—Timoth. in Cotelerii Monu- 
 rent. Ecclesie Greece, tom. ili. p. 409, 
 
 ¢ These sects are enumerated by Basnage, in his Prolegom. ad Canisii 
 Lection. Antiq. cap. iii. and by Asseman, in his Dissertatio de Mono- 
 physitis. 
 
 3“y f This again is one of the periods of ecclesiastical history, in 
 which we find a multitude of events, which are so many proofs how far 
 the supremacy of the pope was from being universally acknowledged. 
 Felix II. deposes and excommunicates Acacius the patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople, who not only receives this sentence with contempt, but, in his 
 turn, anathematises and excommunicates the pope, and orders his name 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. ; 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 | they declined gradually in the following century; and the 
 influence and authority of the famous Baradeus contribu- 
 ted principally to their total extinction, by the union he es- 
 tablished among the members of that sect. 
 
 XXI. The Roman pontiff, Felix IL., having assembled 
 an Italian council, composed of sixty-seven bishops, con- 
 demned and deposed Acacius, and excludea him from the 
 communion of the church, as a perfidious enemy to the 
 truth. Several articles were alleged against him to fur- 
 nish a pretext for the severity of this sentence; such as his — 
 attachment to the Monophysites, and their leaders Mon- 
 gus and Fullo, the contempt with which he treated the 
 council of Chalcedon, and other accusations of a like na- 
 ture. But the true reasons of these proceedings, and of 
 the irreconcilable hatred which the Roman pontiffs indul- 
 ged against him, were his denying the supremacy of the 
 bishop of Rome, his opposing it throughout the whole course 
 of his ministry,‘ and his ambitious eflorts to enlarge, be- 
 yond all bounds, the authority and prerogatives of the see 
 of Constantinople. 'The Greeks, however, defended the 
 character and memory of their bishop against all the asper- 
 sions which were cast upon him by the Romans. Hence 
 arose a new schism and a new contest, which were carried 
 on with great violence, until the following century, when 
 the obstinacy and perseverance of the Latins triumphed 
 over the opposition of the Oriental Christians, and brought 
 about an agreement, in consequence of which, the names 
 of Acacius and Fullo were erased from the diptychs, or 
 sacred registers, and thus branded with perpetual infamy. 
 
 XXII. These deplorable dissensions and contests had, 
 for their object, a matter of the smallest importance. Eu- 
 tyches was generally supposed to have maintained, “'That 
 the divine nature of Christ had absorbed the human, and 
 that, consequently, in him there was but one nature, name- 
 ly, the divine;” but the truth of this supposition is desti- 
 tute of sufficient evidence. However that may have been, 
 this opinion, and also Eutyches, its pretended author, were 
 rejected and condemned by those who opposed the council 
 of Chalcedon, and principally indeed by Xenaias and Ful- 
 lo, who are, therefore, improperly called Hutychians, and 
 belong rather to the class of the Monophysites. ‘They, 
 who assumed this latter title, held, “'That the divine and 
 human nature of Christ-were so united, as to form only 
 one nature, yet without any change, confusion, or mixture, 
 of the two natures :” and that this caution might be care- 
 fully observed, and their meaning be well understood, they 
 frequently expressed themselves thus: “In Christ there is 
 one nature; but that nature is two-fold and compound- 
 ed.”" They disowned all relation and attachment to Eu- 
 tyches; but regarded, with the highest veneration, Dios- 
 
 to be stricken out of the diptychs. This conduct of Acacius is approved 
 by the emperor, the church of Constantinople, by almost all the eastern 
 bishops, and even by Andreas of Thessalonica, who was at that time the 
 pope’s vicar for East Hlyricum. This was the occasion of that general 
 schism, which continued for twenty-five years, between the eastern and 
 western churches. It is here worthy of observation, that the eastern 
 bishops did fiot adhere to the cause of Acacius, from any other principle, 
 as appears from the most authentic records of those times, than a persua- 
 sion of the illegality of his excommunication by the Roman pontiff, who, 
 in their judgment, had not a right to depose the first bishop of the east. 
 without the consent of a general council. 
 
 & Hen. Valesius, Dissert. de Synodis Roman. in quibus damnatus est 
 Acacius, ad calcem, tom. iil. Scriptor. Eccles. p. 179.—Basnage, Histoire 
 de l’Eglise, tom. i. p. 301, 380, 381.—Bayle’s Dictionary —David Blon- 
 del, de la Primauté dans l’Eglise, p. 279.—Acta Sanctorum, tom. iii. 
 Februar. p. 502. 
 
 h See the passages drawn from the writings of the Monophysites by 
 
Cuap. V. 
 
 corus, Barsumas, Xenaias, and Fullo, as the pillars of their 
 sect; and rejected, not only the Epistle of Leo, but also | 
 the decrees of the council of Chalcedon. "The opinion of | 
 the Monophysites, if we judge of it by the terms in which 
 it is here delivered, does not seem to differ in reality, but 
 only in the manner of expression, from that which was 
 established by the council... But if we attend carefully to 
 the metaphysical arguments and subtleties which the for- 
 mer employed to confirm their doctrine,» we shall, perhaps, 
 be induced to think, that the controversy between the 
 Monophysites and Chalcedonians is not merely a dispute 
 about words. 
 
 XXII. A new controversy arose in the church during 
 this century, and its pestilential effects extended themselves 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 through the following ages. ‘The authors of it were Pela- 
 gius and Ceelestius, both monks; the former a Briton, and 
 the latter a native of Ireland.: They lived at Rome in the 
 greatest reputation, and were universally esteemed for their 
 
 extraordinary piety and virtue. These monks looked upon 
 the doctrines, which were commonly received, concerning 
 “the original corruption of human nature, and the necessity 
 of divine grace to enlighten the understanding, and purify 
 the heart, as prejudicial to the progress of holiness and vir- 
 tue, and tending to lull mankind in a presumptuous and 
 fatal security. "hey maintained, that these doctrines were 
 as false as they were pernicious ; that the sins of our first 
 parents were imputed to them alone, and not to their pos- 
 terity ; that we derive no corruption from their fall, but are 
 born as pure and unspotted as Adam came out of the form- 
 ing hand of his Creator; that mankind, therefore, are 
 capable of repentance and amendment, and of arriving at 
 the highest degrees of piety and virtue by the use of their 
 natural faculties and powers ; that, indeed, external grace 
 is necessary to excite their endeavours, but that they have 
 no need of the internal succours of the divine Spirit. These 
 notions, and others intimately connected with them,’ were 
 propagated at Rome, though ina private manner, by the 
 two monks already mentioned, who, retiring from that. city, 
 in 410, upon theapproach of the Goths, went first into Sicily, 
 and afterwards into Africa, where they published their doc- 
 trine with greater freedom. From Africa Pelagius passed 
 into Palestine, while Ceelestius remained at Carthage with a 
 view to preferment, desiring to be admitted among the pres- 
 byters of that city. But the discovery of his opinions having 
 
 the most learned, and, frequently, impartial Asseman, in his Biblioth. 
 Orient. Vatic. tom. iii. p. 25, 26, 29, &c. 
 
 * Many learned men treat this controversy as a mere dispute about 
 words. Gregory Abulpharajius, himself a Monophysite, and the most 
 learned of the sect, declares this as his opinion. See the Biblioth. Itali. tom. 
 xvi. p. 285.—La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes, p. 23; and 
 the Histoire du Christianisme d’Ethiopie, p. 14. Asseman, though a Ro- 
 man by birth and by religion, seems, in a good measure, to have adopted 
 the same way of thinking, as appears by p. 297, in his second volume. 
 
 bSee the subtle argumentation of Abulpharajius, in the Biblioth. 
 Orient. tom. ii. p. 288. 
 
 Z% ° Nothing very certain can be advanced with respect to the native 
 country of Ceelestius, which some say was Scotland, and others Campa- 
 nia in Italy. We know, however, that he was descended of an illustri- 
 ous family ; and that, after having applied himself to the study of the law 
 for some time, he retired from the world, and embraced the monastic life. 
 Bee Gennad. de Script. Eccles. cap. xliv. 
 
 x 4 The learned and furious Jerome, who never once thought of 
 doing common justice to those who had the misfortune to differ from him 
 i opinion, accused Pelagius of gluttony and intemperance, after he had 
 heard of his errors, though he had admired him before for his exemplary 
 virtue. Augustin, more candid and honest, bears impartial testimony to 
 the truth; and, even while he writes against this heretic, acknowledges 
 that he had made great progress in virtue and piety, that his life was 
 chaste and his manners were blameless ; and this, indeed, is the truth. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 | 
 
 129 
 
 blasted his hopes, and his errors being condemned in a 
 council holden at Carthage, in 412, he departed from that 
 city, and went into the east. It was from this time that 
 Augustin, the famous bishop of Hippo, began to attack 
 the tenets of Pelagius and Cerlestius in his learned and 
 eloquent writings; and to him, indeed, is principally 
 due the glory of having suppressed this sect in its very 
 birth.‘ 
 
 XXIV. Things went more smoothly with Pelagius in 
 theeast, where heenjoyed the protection and favour of John, 
 bishop of Jerusalem, whose attachment to the sentiments of 
 Origen led him naturaily to countenance those of Pelagius, 
 on account of the conformity that seemed to exist between 
 these systems. Under the shadow of this powerful protec- 
 tion, Pelagius made a public profession of bis opinions, 
 and formed disciples in several places; and though, in 415, 
 he was accused by Orosius, a Spanish presbyter, whom 
 Augustin had sent into Palestine for that purpose, before 
 an assembly of bishops who met at Jerusalem, yet he 
 was dismissed without the least censure; and not only so, 
 but was soon after fully acquitted of all errors by the council 
 of Diospolis.¢ 
 
 "Liiis controversy was brought to Rome, and referred by 
 Ceeiestius and Pelagius to the decision of Zosimus," who 
 was raised to the pontificate in 417. The new pontiff, 
 gained over by the ambiguous and seemingly orthodox 
 confession of faith, that Caelestius, who was now at Rome, 
 had artfully drawn up, and also by the letters and protesta- 
 tions of Pelagius, pronounced in favour of these monks, de- 
 clared them sound in the faith, and unjustly persecuted by 
 their adversaries. ‘The African bishops, with Augustin 
 at their head, little affected with this declaration, con- 
 tinued obstinately to maintain the judgment they had 
 pronounced in this matter, and to strengthen it by their 
 exhortations, their letters, and their writings. Zosimus 
 yielded to the perseverance of the Africans, changed his 
 mind, and condemned, with the utmost severity, Pelagius 
 and Ceelestius, whom he had honoured with his appreba- 
 tion, and covered with his protection. This was followed by 
 a train of evils, which pursued these two monks without 
 interruption. ‘They were condemned by the same Ephe- 
 sian council which had launched its thunder at the head 
 of Nestorius ; in short, the Gauls, Britons, and Africans, by 
 their councils, and the emperors, by their edicts and penal 
 
 4p ¢ The doctrines that were more immediately connected with the 
 main principles of Pelagius, were, that infant baptism was not a sign or 
 seal of the remission of sins, but a-mark of admission to the kingdom of 
 heaven, which was only open to the pure in heart; that good works were 
 meritorious, and the only conditions of salvation ;—with many others too 
 tedious to mention. 
 
 f The Pelagian controversy has been historically treated by many 
 learned writers, such as Usher, in his Antiquit. Eccles. Britannice , 
 Laet. Ger. Vossius; Norris; Garnier, in his Supplement; Oper. 'Theo- 
 doreti; Jansenius in Augustino, and others. Iongueval also, a French 
 Jesuit, wrote a History of the Pelagians. See the preface to the ninth 
 volume of his Historia Eccles. Gallicane. Afier all, it must be con- 
 fessed, that these learned writers have not exhausted this interesting sub- 
 ject, or treated it with a sufficient degree of impartiality. 
 
 € See Daniel, Histoire du Concile de Diospolis, which is to be found 
 in the Opuscula of that eloquent and learned Jesuit, published at Paris, 
 in 1724. Diospolis was a city in Palestine, known in Seripture by the 
 name of Lydda; and the bishop who presided in this council was Eulo- 
 gius of Cesarea, metropolitan of Palestine. 
 
 3’7 b To preserve the thread of the history, and prevent the reader’s 
 being surprised to find Pelagius and Celestius appealing to Rome after 
 having been acquitted at Diospolis, it is necessary to observe that these 
 monks were condemned anew, in 416, by the African. bishops assembled 
 at Carthage, and those of Numidia assembled at Milevum; upon which 
 they appealed to Rome. 
 
130 
 
 laws, demolished this sect in its infancy, and suppressed it 
 en‘:rely before it had acquired any tolerable degree of vigour 
 or consistence. 
 
 XXV. The unhappy disputes about the opinions of 
 Pelagius occasioned, as usually happens, other controversies 
 equally prejudicial to the peace of the church, and the in- 
 terests of true Christianity. In the course of this dispute, 
 Augustin had delivered his opinion, concerning the ne- 
 cessity of divine grace in order to our salvation, and the 
 decrees of God with respect to the future conditions of men, 
 without being always consistent with himself, or intelligible 
 to others. Hence certain monks of Adrumetum, and others, 
 were led into a notion, “That God not only predestinated 
 the wicked to eternal punishment, but also to the guilt and 
 transgression for which they are punished ; and that thus 
 both the good and bad actions of all men were determined 
 from eternity by a divine decree, and fixed by an invincible 
 necessity.” "hose who embraced this opinion, were called 
 Predestinarians. Augustin used his utmost influence and 
 authority to prevent the spreading of this doctrine, and ex- 
 plained his true sentiments with more perspicuity, that it 
 might not be attributed to him. His efforts were seconded 
 oy the councils of Arles and Lyons, in which the doctrine 
 in question was publicly rejected and condemned.* But 
 we must not omit observing, that the existence of this 
 Predestinarian sect has been denied by many learned men, 
 and looked upon as an invention of the Semi-Pelagians, 
 designed to decry the followers of Augustin, by attributing 
 to them unjustly this dangerous and pernicious error.¢ 
 
 XXVI. A new and different modification was given 
 to the doctrine of Augustin by the monk Cassian, who 
 came from. the east into France, and erected a monaste- 
 ry near Marseilles. Nor was he the only one who at- 
 tempted to fix upona certain temperature between the 
 errors of Pelagius and the opinions of the African ora- 
 cle ; several persons embarked in this undertaking about 
 the year 430, and hence arose a new sect, the members of 
 which were called, by their adversaries, Semi-Pelagians. 
 
 ‘The opinions of this sect have been misrepresented, by 
 its enemies, upon several occasions; such is usually the 
 fate of all parties in religious controversies. ‘heir doctrine, 
 as it has been generally explained by the learned, amount- 
 ed to this: “ That inward preventing grace was not neces- 
 sary to form in the soul the beginnings of true repentance 
 and amendment; that every one was capable of producing 
 these by the mere power of his natural faculties, as also of 
 
 * See the Historia Pelagiana of Ger. J. Vossius, lib. i. cap. lv. p. 130; 
 as also the learned observations that have been made upon this contro- 
 versy, in the Biblio. Ital. tom. v. p. 74. The writers on both sides are 
 mentioned by Jo. rane. Buddeus, in his Isagoge ad Theologiam, tom. ii. 
 1071. The learned Wall, in his History of Infant Baptism, vol. i. chap. 
 xix. has given a concise and elegant account of the Pelagian contro- 
 versy ; an account which, though imperfect in several respects, abounds 
 with solid and useful erudition. 
 
 > See Jac. Sirmondi Historia Predestinatiana, tom. iv. op. p. 271.— 
 Basnage, Histoire de l’Evlise, tom. i. livr. xii. cap. Ui. p. 698. Dion. 
 Petavius, Dogmat. Theol. tom. vi. p. 168, 174, &e. 
 
 ¢ See Gilb. Manguini Fabula Predestinatiana confutata, which he sub- 
 joined to the second tome of his learned work, entitled, Collectio vario- 
 rum Scriptorum qui See. ix. de Pradestinatione et Gratia scripserunt.— 
 Fred. Spanhemius, Introd. ad Hist. Eccles. t.i. op. p. 993.—Jac. Basnag. 
 Adnot. ad Prosperi Chronicon ct Pref. ad Faustum Regiensem, tom. 1. 
 Lection. Aniign. Canisii, p. 315, 348. Granet (who wrote the life of Lau- 
 noy) observes, that Sirmond had solicited Launoy to write against Mau- 
 guin, who denied the existence of the predestinarian sect ; but that the for- 
 mer, having examined the matter with care and application, adopted the 
 sentimentof Mauguin. The whole dispute about the existence of this sect 
 wil, when closely ‘ooked into, appear to be little more, perhaps, than a dis- 
 pute about words 3 It may be very true, that, about this time, or even 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. F 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 exercising faith in Christ, and forming the purposes ef a 
 holy and sincere obedience.” But they acknowledged at the 
 same time, ‘That none could persevere or advance in that 
 holy and virtuous course which they had the power of be- 
 ginning, without the perpetual support and the powerful 
 assistance of the divine grace.”4 'The disciples of Augus- 
 tin, in Gaul, attacked the Semi-Pelagians with the utmost 
 vehemence, without being able to extirpate or overcome 
 them.* ‘The doctrine of this sect was so suited to the ca- 
 pacities of the generality of men, so conformable to the way 
 of thinking that prevailed among the monastic orders,and 
 so well received among the gravest and most learned Gre- 
 cian doctors, that neither the zeal nor industry of its adver- 
 saries could stop its rapid and extensive progress. Add to 
 its other advantages, that neither Augustin, nor his follow- 
 ers, had ventured to condemn it in all its parts, or to brand 
 it as an impious and pernicious heresy. 
 
 XXVH. This was the commencement of those unhappy 
 contests, those subtle and perplexing disputes concerning 
 grace, or the nature and operation of that divine power, 
 which is essentially required in order to salvation, that rent 
 the church into the most deplorable divisions through the 
 whole course of the succeeding age, and which, to the deep 
 sorrow and regret of every true and generous Christian, 
 have been continued to the present time. The doctrine 
 of Augustin, who was. of opinion, that, in the work of 
 conversion and sanctification, all was to be attributed to a 
 divine energy, and nothing to human agency, had many 
 followers in all ages of thechurch, though his disciples have 
 never agreed entirely about the manner of explaining what 
 he taught on that head. The followers of Cassian were 
 however, much more numerous; and his doctrine, though 
 variously explained, was received in the greatest part of the 
 monastic schools in Gaul, whence it spread itself through 
 other parts of Europe. As to the Greeks, and other Hastern 
 Christians, they had embraced the Semi-Pelagian doctrine 
 before Cassian, and still adhere firmly to it. The gene- 
 rality of Christians looked upon the opinions of Pelagius as 
 daring and presumptuous ; and even to those who adopted 
 them in secret, they appeared tco free and too far removed 
 from the notions commonly received, to render the public 
 profession of them advisable and prudent. Certain, however, 
 it is, that in all ages of the church there have been several 
 persons, who, in conformity with the doctrine attributed to 
 this heretic, have believed mankind endowed with a natu- 
 ral power of paying to the divine laws a perfect obedience. 
 
 from the time of St. Paul, certain persons embraced the predestinarian opi- 
 nions here mentioned; but there is no solid proof, that the abettors of these 
 opinions ever formed themselves into a sect. See Basnage, tom. i. p. 700. 
 
 4p 4 The leading principles of the Semi-Pelagians were the five fol- 
 lowing: 1. That God did not dispense his g7vace to one more than ano- 
 ther, in consequence of predestination, i. e. an eternal and absolute de- 
 cree, but was willing to save all men, if they complied with the terms of 
 his Gospel; 2. that Christ died for all men; 3. that the grace purchased 
 by Christ, and necessary to salvation, was offered to all men; 4. that man, 
 before he received grace, was capable of faith and holy desires; 5. that 
 man, born free, was consequently capable of resisting the influences of 
 graee, or complying with iis suggestions. See Basnage, tom. i. livr. xii 
 
 * Basnage, tom. 1. livr. xii—-Hist. Literaire de la France, tom. ii. pref. 
 p. 9.—Vossii Histor. Pelagiana, lib. v. p. 588.—Scipio Maffei, (under the 
 fictitious name of Irenzeus Veronensis,) de Heresi Pelagiana, tom. xxix. 
 —Opuscul. Scientif. Angeli Calogerz, p. 399. 
 
 3x f It is well known that the Jansenists and Jesuits both plead the 
 authority of St. Augustin, in behalf of their opposite systems with re- 
 spect to predestination and grace. This knotty doctrine severely exer- 
 cised the pretended infallibility of the popes, and exposed it to the laugh- 
 ter of the wise upon many occasions; and the famous bull Unigeniius 
 set Clement XI. in direct opposition to several of the most celebrated 
 Roman pontiffs. Which are we to believe ? 
 
eS 
 
 Soe OR NTURY: 
 
 BAR Lal 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ‘CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tu zeal of the bishops of Constantinople, seconded 
 by the protection and influence of the Grecian emperors, 
 increased the number of Christians in the east, and contri- 
 buted to the conversion of some barbarous nations; of those 
 particularly who lived upon the borders of the Euxine sea, 
 as appears from the most authentic records of Grecian his- 
 
 tory. Among these nations were the Abasgi, who inhabit-. 
 
 ed the country lying between the coast of the Euxine and 
 mount Caucasus, and who embraced Christianity under 
 the reign of Justinian ;* the Heruli, who dwelt beyond the 
 Danube, and who were converted in the same reign ;? as 
 also the Alans, Lazi, and Zani, with other uncivilized 
 people, whose situation, at this time, is only known by vague 
 and imperfect conjectures. hese conversions, indeed, how- 
 ever pompously they may sound, were extremely super- 
 ficial and imperfect, as we learn from the most credible ac- 
 counts that have been given of them. All that was required 
 of these darkened nations, amounted to an oral profession 
 of their faith in Christ, to their abstaining from sacrifices to 
 the gods, and their committing to memory certain forms of 
 doctrine, while little care was taken to enrich their minds 
 with pious sentiments, or to cultivate in their hearts virtu- 
 ous affections; so that even after their conversion to 
 Christianity, they retained their primitive ferocity and say- 
 age manners, and continued to distinguish themselves by 
 horrid acts of cruelty and rapine, and the practice of all 
 kinds of wickedness. In the greatest part of the Grecian 
 provinces, and even in the capital of the eastern empire, 
 there were still multitudes who preserved a secret attach- 
 ment to the Pagan religion. Of these, however, vast 
 numbers were brought over to Christianity under the 
 reign of Justin, by the ministerial labours of John, bishop of 
 Asia.° 
 
 II. In the western parts, Remigius, or Remi, bishop 
 of Rheims, who is commonly called the Apostle of the 
 Gauls, signalized his zeal in the conversion of those who 
 still adhered to the ancient superstition ;4 and his suc- 
 cess was considerable, particularly after that auspicious 
 period when Clovis, king of the Franks, embraced the 
 Gospel. 
 
 * Procopius, de Bello Gothico, lib. iv. cap. iii—Le Quien, Oriens 
 Christianus, tom. i. p. 1351. 
 
 » Procopius, lib. il.‘cap. xiv 
 
 ¢ Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. ii. p. 85. 
 
 4 Histoire Literaire dela France, tom. iil. p. 155. 
 
 xr ° This British apostle was prior of the Benedictine monastery of 
 St. Andrew at Rome. After his arrival in England, he converted the 
 heathen temples into places of Christian worship, erected Christ-Church 
 into a cathedral, opened a seminary of learning, founded the abbey of 
 St. Augustin, received episcopal ordination from the primate of Arles, 
 was invested by pope Gregory with power over all the British bishops 
 and Saxon I['relates, and was the first archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 | 
 
 | In Britain, several circumstances concurred to favour 
 
 the propagation of Christianity. Ethelbert, king of Kent, 
 the most considerable of the Anglo-Saxon princes, among 
 ~whom that island was at this tine divided, married Bertha, 
 daughter of Cherebert, king of Paris, toward the conclu- 
 sion of this century. ‘This princess, partly by her own in- 
 fluence, and partly by the pious efforts of the clergy who 
 followed her into Britain, gradually formed, in the mind of 
 Ethelbert, an inclination to the Christian religion. While 
 the king was in this favourable disposition, Gregory 
 the Great, in 596, sent over forty Benedictine monks, 
 with Augustin at their head,* in order to bring to per- 
 fection what the plous queen had so happily begun. 
 This monk, seconded by the zeal and assistance of 
 Bertha, converted the king and the greatest part of the 
 inhabitants of Kent, and Jaid anew the foundations of 
 | the British church.! 
 
 The labours of Columbas, an Irish monk, were attend- 
 ed with success among the Picts and Scots, many of whom 
 embraced the Gospel. 
 
 In Germany, the Bohemians, Thuringians, and Bon, 
 are said to have abandoned, in this century, their ancient 
 superstitions," and to have received the light of divine 
 truth; but this assertion appears extremely doubtful to 
 many. 
 
 All these conversions and sacred exploits will Jose much 
 of their importance in the esteem of such as examine with 
 attention the accounts which have heen given of them by 
 the writers of this and the succeeding ages; for by these 
 accounts it appears, that the converted nations now men- 
 tioned, retained a great part of their’ former impiety, 
 superstition, and licentiousness, and that, attached to Christ 
 by a mere outward and nominal profession, they, in effect, 
 renounced the purity of his doctrine and the authority of his 
 Gospel by their flagitious lives, and the superstitious and 
 idolatrous rites and institutions which they continued to ob- 
 serve.i 
 
 Ill. A vast multitude of Jews, converted to Christianity 
 in several places, were added to the church during the 
 course of this century. Many of that race, particularly the 
 inhabitants of Borium in Libya, were brought over to the 
 truth by the persuasion and influence of the emperor Justi- 
 nian.« Inthe west,the zeal and authority of the Gallic and 
 | Spanish monarchs, the efforts of Gregory the Great, and the 
 
 f Bede’s Histor. Eccles. Gentis Angior. lib. i. cap. xxiii—Rapin’s His- 
 | tory of England.—Acta Sanctor. tom. ili. Februar. p. 470. 
 
 2 Bede’s Histor. Eccles. lib. 11. cap. iv. 
 
 h Henr. Canisii Lection. Antique, tom. iii. part. ii. p. 208.—Aventin. 
 Annal. Boiorwm. 
 
 i This is ingenuously confessed by the Benedictine monks, in the His 
 toire Literaire de ja France, tom. iii. Introduc. See also the orders 
 given to the Anglo-Saxons by Gregory the Great, in his Epist. lib. xi. 
 Ixxvi. where we find him permitting them to sacrifice to the saints, on 
 their respective holidays, the victims which they had formerly offered te 
 
 | the gods. See also Wilkins’s Concilia Magne Britannic, tom. 1. 
 | & Procopius, de A&dificiis Justiniani, lib. vi. cap. i. 
 
132 
 
 labours of Avitus, bishop of Vienne, engaged numbers to 
 receive the Gospel. It must, however, be acknowledged, 
 that of these conversions, the greatest part arose from the 
 liberality of Christian princes, or the fear of punishment, 
 rather than from the force of argument or the love of truth. 
 In Gaul, the Jews were compelled by Childeric to receive 
 the ordinance of baptism; and the same despotic mode of 
 conversion was practised in Spain. 'This method, how- 
 ever, was entirely disapproved by Gregory the Great, who, 
 though extremely severe upon the heretics, would sufter no 
 violence to he offered to the Jews.” 
 
 IV. If credit is to be given to the writers of this century, 
 the conversion of these uncivilized nations to Christianity 
 was principally effected by the prodigies and miracles 
 which the heralds of the Gospel were enabled to work in its 
 behalf. But the conduct of the converted nations is suf- 
 ficient to invalidate the force of these testimonies ; for cer- 
 tainly, if such miracles had been wrought among them, 
 their lives would have been more suitable to their profes- 
 sion, and their attachment and obedience to the doctrines 
 and laws of the Gospel more stedfast and exemplary 
 than they appear to have been. Besides (as we have al- 
 ready had occasion to observe,) in abandoning their an- 
 cient superstitions, the greatest part of them were more 
 influenced by the example and authority of their princes, 
 than by force of argument, or the power ofa rational con- 
 viction; and indeed, if we consider the wretched manner 
 in which many of the first Christian missionaries perform- 
 ed the solemin task they had undertaken, we shall perceive 
 that they wanted not many arguments to enforce the doc- 
 trines they taught, and the discipline they recommended ; 
 for they required nothing of these barbarous people that 
 
 was difficult to be performed, or that laid any remarkable | 
 
 restraint upon their appetites and passions. ‘The principal 
 injunctions they imposed upon these rude proselytes were, 
 that they should get by heart certain summaries of doctrine, 
 and pay to the images of Christ and the saints the same 
 religious services which they had formerly offered to the 
 statues of the gods. Nor were they at all delicate or 
 scrupulous in choosing the means of establishing their cre- 
 dit; for they deemed it lawful, and even meritorious, to 
 deceive an ignorantand inattentive multitude, by represent- 
 ing, as prodigies, things that were merely natural, as we 
 learn from the most authentic records of these times. 
 
 *Greg. Turon. Histor. Francor. lib. vi. cap. xvii. Launoius, de veteri 
 More baptizandi Judos et Infideles, cap. i. p. 700, 704, tom. ii. part ii. op. 
 
 >See his Epistles, particularly those which he wrote to Vigilius of 
 Arles, Theodore of Marseilles, and Peter of Terracina. 
 
 gp ° The religion of Chalcidius has been much disputed among the 
 learned. Cave ssems inclined to rank him among the Christian writers, 
 though he expresses some uncertainty about the matter. Huet, G. J. 
 Vossius, Fabricius, and Beausobre, decide with greater assurance that 
 Chalcidius was a Christian. Some learned men have maintained, on 
 the contrary, that many things in the writings of this sage entitle him to 
 a place among the pagan philosophers. Our learmed author, in his notes 
 to his Latin translation cf Cudworth’s Intellectual System, and in a 
 
 an hypothesis, which holds the middle way between these extremes. He 
 is of opinion that Chaleidius neither rejected nor embraced the whole Sys- 
 tem of the Christian doctrine, but selected, out of the religion of Jesus 
 and the tenets of Plato, a body of divinity, in which, however, Plato- 
 nisn; was predominant; and that he was one of those Syneretist or 
 Eclectic philosophers, who abounded in the fourth and fifth centuries, and 
 
 who attempted to unite Paganism and Christianity into one motley Sys- 
 
 tem. This account of the matter, however, appears too vague to the 
 celebrated author of the Critical History of Philosophy, M. Brucker. 
 This excellent writer agrees with Dr. Mosheim in this, that Chalcidius 
 followed the motley method of the eclectic Platonists, but does not see 
 any thing in this inconsistent with his having publicly professed the 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part l. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Concerning the calamitous Events which happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. THoven the abjuration of Paganism was, by the impe- 
 rial laws, made a necessary step to preferment, and to the 
 exercising of all public offices, yet several persons, respected 
 for their erudition and gravity of maxmers, persisted in their 
 adherence to the ancient superstition. "T'ribonian, the fa- 
 mous compiler of the Roman law, is thought, by some, to 
 have been among the number of those who continued in 
 their prejudices against the Christian religion ; and such 
 
 _also, in the opinion of many, was the case of Procopius, the 
 
 celebrated historian. It is at least certain, that Agathias, 
 who was an eminent lawyer at Smyrna, and who had 
 also acquired a considerable reputation as an_ historical 
 
 _ writer, persevered in his attachment to the pagan worship. 
 
 "These illustrious Gentiles were exempted from the seve- 
 rities which were frequently employed to engage the 
 lower orders to abandon the service of the gods. ‘The ri- 
 gour of the laws, as it usually happens in human life, fell 
 only upon those who had neither rank, fortune, nor court- 
 favour, to ward off their execution. 
 
 II. Surprised as we may be at the protection granted 
 to the persons now mentioned, at a time when the Gospel 
 was, In many instances, propagated by unchristian me- 
 thods, it will appear still more astonishing that the Platonic 
 philosophers, whose opposition to Christianity was univer- 
 sally known, should be permitted, in Greece and Egypt, to 
 teach publicly the tenets of their sect, which were absolute- 
 ly incompatible with the doctrines of the Gospel. These 
 doctors indeed affected (generally speaking) aver degree 
 of moderation and prudence, and for the most part modi- 
 fied their expressions in such a manner as to give to the 
 pagan system an evangelical aspect, extremely adapted to 
 deceive the unwary, as the examples of Chalcidius,:and Al- 
 exander of Lycopolis, abundantly testify. Some of them, 
 however, were less modest, and carried their audacious ef- 
 forts against Christianity so far as to revile it publicly. 
 Damascius, in the life of Isidorus, and in other places, 
 cast upon the Christians the most ignominious aspersions 5° 
 Simplicius, in his illustrations of the Aristotelian philosophy, 
 throws out several malignant insinuations against the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel; and the Epicheiremata of Proclus, 
 
 Christian religion. The question is not, whether this philosopher was a 
 sound and orthodox Christian, which M. Brucker denies him to have 
 been, but whether he had abandoned the pagan rites, and made a public 
 profession of Christianity ; and this our philosophical historian looks 
 upon as evident; for though, in the commentary upon Plato’s Timeus, 
 Chalcidius teaches several doctrines that seem to strike at the foundations 
 of our holy religion, yet the same may be said of Origen, Clemens 
 Alexandrinus, Arnobius, and others, who are, nevertheless, reckoned 
 among the professors of Christianity. The reader will find an excellent 
 view of the different opinions concerning the religion of Chalcidius, ir. 
 the third volume of Brucker’s History. The truth of the matter seems 
 
 ) ‘| to be this, that the Eclectics, before Christianity became the religion of 
 Dissertation ‘de turbata per recentiores Platonicos Ecclesia,’ lays down | 
 
 the state, enriched their system from the Gospel, but ranged themselves 
 under the standards of Plato; and that they repaired to those of Christ, 
 without any considerabie change of their system, when the examples 
 and authority of the emperors rendered the profession of the Christian 
 religion a matter of prudence, as well as its own excellence rendered it 
 mostjustly a matter of choice. 
 
 x+p @ Alexander wrote a treatise against the Manicheans, which i 
 published by Combefis, in the second tome of his Auctor. Noviss. Bi- 
 blioth. PP, Photius, Combefis, and our learned Cave, !ooked upor 
 Alexander as a proselyte to Christianity ; but Beausobre has demonstra- 
 
 | ted the contrary. See the Histoire du Manicheisme, part.i1, Discour 
 || Preliminaire, sect. 13, p. 236. 
 
 * Photii Bibliotheca, cod. ccxlii. p. 1027, 
 
Cuap. I ’ 
 
 written expressly against the disciples of Jesus, were uni- 
 versally read, and were, on that account, accurately refuted 
 by Philoponus.* All this shows that many of the magis- 
 trates, who were witnesses of these calumnious attempts, 
 were not so much Chiistians in reality, as in appearance ; 
 otherwise they would not have permitted the slanders of 
 these licentious revilers to pass without correction or re- 
 straint. 
 
 Ill. Notwithstanding the extensive progress of the 
 Gospel, the Christians, even in this century, suffered griev- 
 ously, in several countries, from the savage cruelty and 
 bitterness of their enemies. The Anglo-Saxons, who were 
 masters of the greater part of Britain, involved a multitude 
 of its ancient inhabitants, who professed Christianity, in 
 the deepest distresses, and tormented them with all that va- 
 riety of suffering, which the injurious and malignant spirit 
 of persecution could invent.’ "he Huns, in their irruptions 
 into ‘Thrace, Greece, and the other provinces, during the 
 reign of Justinian, treated the Christians with great bar- 
 barity ; not so much, perhaps, from an aversion to Christi- 
 anity, as from a spirit of hatred against the Greeks, and 
 a desire of overturning and destroying their empire. The 
 face of affairs was totally changed in Italy, about the 
 middle of this century, by a gran. sevolution which hap- 
 pened in the reign of Justinian 1. This emperor, by the 
 arms of Narses, overturned the kinydom of the Ostrogoths, 
 which had subsisted ninety years; and subdued all Italy. 
 ‘Lhe political state, however, which this revolution intro- 
 
 * See J. A. Fabricii Bibliotheca Greca, vol. ili. p. 522. 
 * Usher’s Chron. Index to his Antiquit. Eccles. Britann. ad annum 508. 
 ¢ Paui. Diacon. de Gestis Longobardorum. lib. ii, cap. ii, xxviii 
 
 No. XII. 34 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 133 
 
 duced, was not of a very long duration; for the Lombards, 
 a fierce and warlike people, headed by Alboinus their king, 
 and joined by several other German nations, issued from 
 Pannonia in 568, under the reign of Justin ; invaded 
 Italy ; and having made themselves masters of the whole 
 country, except Rome and Ravenna, erected a new king- 
 dom at 'Ticinum. Under these new tyrants, who, to the 
 natural ferocity of their characters, added an aversion to 
 the religion of Jesus, the Christians, in the beginning, 
 endured calamities of every kind. But the fury of these 
 savage usurpers gradually subsided; and their manners 
 contracted, from time to time, a milder character. Au- 
 tharis, the third monarch of the Lombards, embraced 
 Christianity, as it was professed by the Arians, in 587 ; 
 but his successor Agilulf, who married his widow Theu- 
 deiinda, was persuaded by that princess to abandon Arian- 
 ism, and to adopt the tenets of the Nicene catholics.« 
 The calamities of the Christians, in all other countries, 
 were light and inconsiderable in comparison of those 
 which they suffered in Persia under Chosroes, the inhu- 
 man monarch of that nation. This monster of impiety 
 aimed his audacious and desperate efforts against Heaven 
 itself; for he publicly declared, that he would make war 
 not only upon Justinian, but also upon the God of the 
 Christians; and, in consequence of this blasphemous 
 
 | ‘ A : 
 menace, he vented his rage against the followers of Jesus 
 
 in the most barbarous manner, and put multitudes of 
 them to the most cruel and ignominious deaths.¢ 
 
 Muratorii Antiquit. Italie, tom. i. ii, Giannone, Historia di Napoli, 
 tom. 1. 
 ¢ Procopius, de Bello Persico, lib. ii. cap. xxvi. 
 
PART II. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue incursions of the barbarous nations into the 
 greatest part of the western provinces, were extremely pre- 
 judicial to the interests of learning and philosophy, as must 
 be known to all who have any acquaintance with the history 
 of these unhappy times. During these tumultuous scenes 
 of desolation and horror, the liberal arts and sciences would 
 have been totally extinguished, had they not found a place 
 of refuge, such as it was, among the bishops, and the mo- 
 
 peo) 
 
 nastic orders. Here they assembled their scattered remains, | 
 
 and received a degree of culture which just served to keep 
 them from peris shing. Those churches, which were distin- 
 guished by the appellation of cathedrals, had schools erect- 
 ed under their jurisdiction, in which the bishop, or a certain 
 person appointed by him, instructed the youth in the seven 
 liberal arts, as a preparatory introduction to the study of the 
 Scriptures. « Persons of both sexes, who had devoted them- 
 selves to the monastic life, were obliged, by the founders 
 of their respective orders, to employ daily a certain portion 
 of their time in reading the ancient doctors of the church, 
 whose writings were looked upon as the rich repertories of 
 celestial wisdom, in which all the treasures of theology 
 were centred.» Hence libraries were formed in all the 
 monasteries, and the pious and Jearned productions of the 
 Christian and other writers were copied and dispersed by 
 the diligence of transcribers appointed for that purpose, who 
 were generally such monks as, by weakness of constitu- 
 tion, or other bodily infirmities, were rendered incapable of 
 more severe labour. ‘T’o these establishments we owe the 
 preservation and possession of all the ancient authors, 
 sacred and profane, who escaped in this manner the 
 savage fury of Gothic ignorance, and are happily trans- 
 mitted to our times. It is also to be observed, that, beside 
 the schools annexed to the cathedrals, seminaries were 
 opened in the greater part of the monasteries, in which 
 the youth who were set apart for the monastic life were 
 instructed by the abbot, or some of his ecclesiastics, in the 
 arts and sciences.° 
 II. But these institutions and establishments, however 
 Jaudable, did not produce such happy effects as might have 
 been expected from them. For, not to speak of the indo- 
 lence of certain abbots and bishops, who neglected entirely 
 the duties of their stations, or of the bitter aversion which 
 others discovered towards every sort of learning und eru- 
 dition, which they considered as pernicious to the progress 
 of piety ;* not to speak of the illiberal ignorance which 
 several prelates affected, and which they injudiciously 
 
 a eet Discours sur!’ Histoire peer Daag Liter. de la France, 
 
 Pref. ad Ske: ih ee SS. Ord. Bere p. ve 
 
 ° Benedict. Concord. Reg. lib. ii. p. 232. Se Acta Ord. Bened. 
 tom. 1. 
 
 4 Gregory the Great is said to have been of this number, and to have 
 ordered a multitude of the productions of pagan writers, and among 
 others Livy’s history, to be committed to the flames. See Liron’s Sin. 
 gularités Hist. et Lit. tom. i. 
 
 confounded with Christian simplicity ;*even those who 
 applied themselves to the study and propagation of the 
 sciences, were, for the most part, extremely unskilful and 
 illiterate; and the branches of learning taught in the 
 schools were inconsiderable, both as to their quality and 
 their number. Greek literature was almost every where 
 neglected; and those who by profession, had devoted 
 themselves to the culture of Latin erudition, spent their 
 time and labour in grammatical subtilties and quibbles, as 
 the pedantic examples of Isidorus and Cassiodorus abun- 
 dantly show. Eloquence was degraded into a rhetorical 
 bombast, a noisy kind of declamation, which was composed 
 of motley and frigid allegories and barbarous terms, as may 
 even appear from several parts of the writings of those 
 superior geniuses who surpassed their contemporaries in 
 precision and elegance, such as Boethius, Cassiodorus, En- 
 nodius, and others. Asto the other liberal ar ts, they shared 
 the common calamity; and, from the mode in which they 
 were now cultivated, they had nothing very liberal or 
 elegant in their appearance, consisting entirely of a few dry 
 rules, which, instead of a complete and finished system, 
 produced only a ghastly and lifeless skeleton. 
 
 lil. The state of philosophy was still more deplorable 
 than that of literature; for it was entirely banished from 
 those seminaries which were under the inspection and 
 government of the ecclesiastical order. ‘The greatest part 
 of these zealots looked upon the study of philosophy, not 
 only as useless, but even pernicious to those who had 
 dedicated themselves to the service of religion. The most 
 eminent, indeed almost the only Latin philosopher of this 
 age, was the celebrated Boethius, privy counsellor to Theo- 
 doric, king of the Ostrogoths. This iliustrious senator had 
 embraced the Platonic philosophy,¢ and approved also, as 
 was usual among the modern Platonists, the doctrine of 
 Aristotle, and illustrated it in his wntings; and it was un- 
 doubtedly in consequence of the diligence and zeal with 
 which he explained and recommended the Aristotelian 
 philosophy, that it rose now among the Latins to a higher 
 | degree of credit than it had before enjoyed. 
 
 1V. The state of the liberal arts, among the Greeks, 
 was, in several places, much more flourishing than that in 
 which we have left them among the Latins; and the em- 
 perors raised and nourished a spirit of literary emulation, 
 by the noble rewards and the distinguished honours which 
 they attached to the pursuit of all the various branches of 
 learning.» It is, however, certain, that, notwithstanding 
 these encouragements, the sciences were cultivated with 
 less ardour, and men of learning and genius were less nu- 
 merous, than in the preceding century. In the beginning 
 of this, the modern Platonists yet maintained their credit, 
 
 ¢ Mabillon, Pref. ad See. i. Benedict. p. 46. 
 
 f See M. Aur. Cassiodori Liber de septem Disciplinis, which is extant 
 among his works. 
 
 & This will « appear evident to such as, with a competent knowledge of 
 modern Platonism, read attentively the books of Boethius, de Consola- 
 tione, &c. See also, on this subject, Renat. Vallin. p. 10, 50. Holstenius 
 in Vit. Porphyrii, and Mascov. Histor. Germanor. tom. ii. 
 
 h See the Codex Theodos. tom. il. lib. vi. and Herm. Conringius, de 
 
 Studiis Urbis Rome et Constantinop. in a Dissertation subjoined to his 
 | Antiquitates Academice. 
 
 eae. 
 
Cuap. L 
 
 and their philosophy was in vogue. The Alexandrian 
 and Athenian schools flourished under the direction of Da- 
 mascius, Isidorus, Simplicius, Eulamius, Hermias, Piiscia- 
 nus, and others, who were placed on the highest summit 
 of literary glory. But when the emperor Justinian, bya 
 particular edict, prohibited the teaching of philosophy at 
 Athens, (which edict, no doubt, was levelled at the modern 
 Platonism already mentioned,) and when his resentment, 
 began to flame out against those who refused to abandon 
 the pagan worship, all these celebrated philosophers took 
 refuge among the Persians, who were at that time the ene- 
 mies of Rome.® They, indeed, returned from their volun- 
 tary exile, when the peace was concluded between the Per- 
 sians and the Romans in 533 ;° but they could never 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 recover their former credit, and they gradually disappeared 
 
 from the public schools and seminaries , which ceased, at | 
 | pal rulers of the Christian church, were engaged in perpe- 
 
 ieneth, to be under their direction. 
 
 Thus expired that famous sect, which was distinguish- 
 ed by the title of the Modern or Later Platonic; and 
 which, for a series of ages, had produced such divisions 
 and tumults in the Christian church, and been, in other 
 gespects, prejudicial to the interests and progress of the 
 Gospel. It was succeeded by the Aristotelian philosophy, 
 which arose imperceptibly out of its obscurity, and was 
 placed in an advantageous light by the illustrations of the 
 learned, but especially and principally by the celebrated 
 commentaries of Philoponus ; and, indeed, the knowledge 
 
 of this philosophy was necessary for the Greeks, s since it 
 was from the depths of this peripatetical wisdom that the 
 Monophysites and Nestorians drew the subtilties with 
 which they endeavoured to overwhelm the abettors of the 
 Ephesian and Chalcedonian councils. 
 
 ‘The Nestorians and Monophysites, who lived in the 
 east, equally turned their eyes toward Aristotle, and, in 
 order to train their respective followers to the field of con- 
 
 logic, translated the principal books of that deep philoso- 
 pher into their native languages. Sergius, a Monophysite 
 and philosopher, translated the books of Aristotle into Sy- 
 riac.* Uranius, a Syrian, propagated the doctrines of this 
 philosopher in Persia, and disposed in their favour Chos- 
 roes, the monarch of that nation, who became a zealous 
 abettor of the peripatetic system.* 'The same prince recei- 
 ved from one of the Nestorian faction (which, after having 
 procured the exclusion of the Greeks, triumphed at this 
 time unrivalled in Persia) a translation of the Stagirite’s 
 works into the Persian language.‘ 
 
 It is, however, to be observed, that among these eastern 
 Christians there were some w ho rejected both the Platonic 
 and Aristotelian doctrines, and who, unwilling to be obli- 
 ged to others for their philosophical knowledge, invented 
 
 * Johannes Malala, Historia Chronica, part ii. page 187, edit. Oxon. 
 Another testimony concerning this matter is cited from a certain Chroni- 
 cle, not yet published, by Nic. Alemannus, ad Procopii Histor. Arcanam, 
 cap. XXVi. 
 
 » Agathias, de Rebus Justiniani, lib. ii. 
 
 © See Wesse lingii Observat. Var. lib. i. cap. xviil. 
 
 4 See the Histor. Dynastiarum, by Abulpharajius, published by Dr. 
 Pocock, p. 94, 172. 
 
 * See ’Agathias, de Rebus Justiniani, lib. ii. p. 48. That Uraniws made 
 use of the Aristotelian philosophy in the Eutychian controversy, is evi- 
 dent from this cireumstance, that Agathias represents him disputing 
 concerning the passibility pie immiscibility of God (xat rd raQnrdv Kat 
 des yivror.) f Agathias, ibid. 
 
 ® Bernard de Montfaucon, Prafat. ad Cosmam, p. 10. tom. ii. Collec- 
 tionis nove Patrum Grecorum. b Biblioth. cod. xxxvi. 
 
 327 | We cannot avoid taking notice of some mistakes which have 
 
 . 
 
 | occasion second the title of ccumenical or univers 
 
 judged proper to second his opposition. 
 
 135 
 
 systems of their own, which were inexpressibly chimeri- 
 caland pregnant w ith absurdities. Of this class of origi- 
 nal philosophers was Cosmas, a Nestorian , commonly call- 
 ed Indicopleustes, whose doctrines are singular, and 
 resemble more the notions of the Orientals than the opi- 
 nions of the Greeks.s Such also was the writer, from 
 whose Eixposition of the Octateuch, Photius has drawn 
 several citations.” 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church. 
 
 I. Te external form of church government continued 
 without any remarkable alteration during the course of 
 this century. But the bishops of Rome and Censtantino- 
 ple, who were considered as the most eminent and princi- 
 
 tual disputes about the extent and limits of their respective 
 jurisdictions; and both seemed to aim at the supreme 
 authority in ecclesiastical affairs. The latter prelate not 
 only claimed an unrivalled sovereignty over the eastern 
 chu: ‘ches, but also maintained, that his church w as, in 
 point of dignity, no way inferior to that of Rome. The 
 Roman pontiffs beheld, with impatience, these lordly pre- 
 tensions, and warmly asserted the pre-eminence of their 
 church, and its superiority over that of Constantinople. 
 Gregory the Great distinguished himself in this violent 
 contest; and the fellowing event furnished him with an 
 opportunity of exerting his zeal. In 588, John, bishop of 
 Constantinople, surnamed the Faster, on account of. his 
 extraordinary abstinence and austerity, assembled a coun- 
 cil, by his own authority, to inquire into an accusation 
 brought against Peter, patriarch of Antioch; and on this 
 sal bi- 
 
 shop.i Now, although this title had been formerly enjoy- 
 
 troversy, and arm them with the subtilties of a contentious | ed by the bishops of Constantinople, and was also suscep- 
 
 tible of an interpretation that might have prevented its 
 giving umbrage or offence to any,* yet Gregory suspected, 
 both from the time and the eccasion of John’s renewing 
 
 i his claim to it, that he was aiming at a supremacy over 
 
 all the Christian churches ; ; and therefore he epposed his 
 claim in the most vigorous manner, in letters to that pur- 
 pose addressed to the emperor, and to such persons as he 
 But all his efforts 
 were without effect; and the bishops of Constantinople 
 continued to assume the title in question, though not in the 
 sense in which it had alarmed the pope. 
 
 li. This pontiff, however, adhered tenaciously to his 
 purpose, opposed with velhemence the bist op of Constan- 
 tinople, raised new tumults and dissensior. among the sa- 
 cred order, and aimed at no less than an u, limited supre- 
 
 slipped from the pen of Dr. Mosheim in his narratiun of this event. 
 First, the council here mentioned was holden under the pontificate of Pe- 
 lagius If. and not of Gregory the Great, who was not chosen bishop of 
 Rome before the year 590. Secondly, the person accused before this 
 council was not Peter, but Gregory, bishop of Antioch. Thirdly, it does 
 not appear that the council was summoned by John of Constantinople, 
 but by the emperor Mauricius, to whom Gregory had appealed from the 
 governor of the east, before w hom he was first accused. 
 
 347k The title of universal bishop, which had been given by Leo and 
 Justinian to the patriarch of Constantinople, was not attended with any 
 accession of power. 
 
 1 Gregor. Magni Epist. lib. iv. v. vil. All the passages in these epis- 
 tles that relate to this famous contest, have been extracted and illustrated 
 by Launoy, in his Assertio i Privileg. S. Medardi, tom. iii. op. part ii, 
 p. 266. See also Lequien, Oriens Chri istianus, tom. i. p. 67. Pfaffi Dis- 
 sertatio de Titulo Gicumen. in the Tempe Helvetica, tom. iv. p. 99. 
 
136 
 
 macy over the Christian church. This ambitious design 
 succeeded in the west; while, in the eastern provinces, his 
 arrogant pretensions were scarcely respected by any but 
 those who were at enmity with the bishop of Constanti- 
 nople; and this prelate was always in a condition to make 
 head against the progress of his authority in the east. 
 How much the opinions of some were favourable to the 
 lordly demands of the Roman pontifis, may be easily ima- 
 gined from an expression of Ennodius, that infamous and 
 extravagant flatterer of Symmachus, who was a prelate of 
 ambiguous fame. his parasitical panegyrist, among other 
 impertinent assertions, maintained, that the pontiff was 
 constituted judge in the place of God, which he filled as the 
 vicegerent of the Most High On the other hand, it is 
 certain, from a variety of the most authentic records, that 
 both the emperors and the nations in general were far 
 from being disposed to bear with patience the yoke of ser- 
 vitude, which the popes were imposing upon the Christian 
 church.’ ‘The Gothic princes set bounds to the power of 
 those arrogant prelates in Italy, permitted none to be raised 
 to the pontificate without their approbation, and reserved 
 to themselves the right of judging of the legality of every 
 new election. hey enacted spiritual laws, called the reli- 
 gious orders before their tribunals, and summoned councils 
 by their legal authority. In consequence of all this, the 
 pontiffs, amidst all their high pretensions, reverenced the 
 
 majesty of their kings and emperors, and submitted to | 
 
 their authority with the most profound humility; nor were 
 they,yet so lost to all sense of shame, as to aim at the sub- 
 jection of kings and princes to their spiritual dominion.¢ 
 Ill. The rights and privileges of the clergy were 
 very considerable before this period, and the riches, which 
 they had accumulated, immense; and both received daily 
 augmentations from the growth of superstition in this 
 century. ‘The arts of a rapacious priesthood were practi- 
 sed upon the ignorant devotion of the simple; and even 
 the remorse of the wicked was made an instrument of in- 
 creasing the ecclesiastical treasure; for an opinion was 
 propagated with industry among the people, that a remis- 
 sion of sin was to be purchased by their liberalities to the 
 churches and monks, and that the prayers of departed 
 saints, whose efficacy was victorious at the throne of God, 
 were to be bought by offerings presented to the temples, 
 which were consecrated to these celestial mediators. But, 
 in proportion as the riches of the church increased, the va- 
 
 rious orders of the clergy were infected with those vices | 
 which are too often the consequences of an affluent pros- 
 
 perity. ‘This appears, with the utmost evidence, from the 
 imperial edicts and the decrees of councils, which were so 
 frequently levelled at the immoralities of those who were 
 distinguished by the appellation of clerks ; for, what neces- 
 sity would there have been for the enactment of so many 
 
 * See his Apologeticum pro Synodo, in the xvth volume of the Bib- 
 liotheca Magna Patrum. 3% One would think that this servile adulator 
 had never read the 4th verse of the 2d chapter of St. Paul’s 2d Epistle to 
 the Thessalonians, where the Anti-Christ, or man of sin, is described 
 in the very terms in which he represents the authority of the pontiff 
 Symmachus. 
 
 b See particularly the truth of this assertion, with respect to Spain, in 
 Geddes’ Dissertation on the Papal Supremacy, chiefly with relation to the 
 ancient Spanish Church, which is to be found in vol. ii. of his Miscel- 
 laneous Tracts. | * See Mascovii Hist. German. tom. ii. not. p. 113. 
 
 4 Basnage, Histoire des Eglises Reformées, tom. i. p. 381. 
 
 * See the citations from Gregory the Great, collected by Launoy, de 
 regia Potestate in Matrimon. tom. 1. op. part li. p. 691, and in his Assertio 
 in Privilegium S. Medardi, p. 272, tom. iii, op. part ii, See also Gian- 
 none, Historia di Napoli, tom. ii. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Pirt II. 
 
 laws to restrain the vices, and to preserve the morais of the 
 ecclesiastical orders, if they had fulfilled even the obliga- 
 tions of external decency, or shown, 1n the general tenor 
 of their lives, a certain degree of respect for religion and 
 virtue? Be that as it will, the effect of all these laws and 
 edicts was so inconsiderable as to be scarcely perceived; for 
 so high was the veneration paid, at this time, to the clergy, 
 that their most flagitious crimes were corrected by the 
 slightest and gentlest punishments; an unhappy circum- 
 stance, which added to their presumption, and rendered 
 them more daring and audacious in iniquity. 
 
 IV. The bishops of Rome, who considered themselves 
 as the chiefs and fathers of the Christian church, are not 
 to be excepted from this censure, any more than the clergy 
 who were under their jurisdiction. We may form some 
 notion of their humility and virtue by that long and ve- 
 hement contention, which arose in 498, between Symma- 
 chus and Laurentius, who were on the same day elected to 
 the pontificate by different parties, and whose dispute was, 
 at length, decided by Theodoric king of the Goths. Each 
 of these ecclesiastics maintained obstinately the validity 
 of his election; they reciprocally accused each other of the 
 most detestable crimes; and to their mutual dishonour, their 
 accusations did not appear, on either side, entirely destitute 
 of foundation. Three different councils, assembled at 
 Rome, endeavoured to terminate this odious schism,‘ but 
 without success. A fourth was summoned, by Theodoric, 
 
 | to examine the accusations brought against Symmachus, 
 
 to whom this prince had, at the beginning of the schism, 
 adjudged the papal chair. 'This council met about the 
 commencement of the century, and in it the Roman pontiff 
 was acquitted of the crimes laid to his charge. But the 
 adverse party refused to acquiesce in this decision; and 
 this gave occasion to Ennodius of 'Ticinum (now Pavia) 
 to draw up his adulatory Apology for the Council and 
 Symmachus.s In this apology, which disguises the truth 
 under the seducing colours of a gaudy rhetoric, the reader 
 will perceive that the foundations of that enormous power, 
 which the popes afterwards acquired, were now laid; but 
 he will in vain seek, in this laboured production, any satis- 
 factory proof of the injustice of the charge brought against 
 Symmachus.* : 
 
 V. The number, credit, and influence of the monks, 
 augmented daily in all parts of the Christian world. 
 They multiplied so prodigiously in the east, that whole ar- 
 mies might have been raised out of the monastic order, with- 
 out any sensible diminution of that enormous body. 'The 
 monastic life was also highly honoured, and had an incre- 
 dible number of patrons and followers in all the western 
 provinces, as appears from the rules which were prescri- 
 bed in this century, by various doctors, for directing 
 the conduct of the cloistered monks, and the holy vir- 
 
 x4 ¢ This schism may be truly termed odious, as it was carried on 
 by assassinations, massacres, and all the cruel proceedings of a desperate 
 civil war. See Paulus Diaconus, lib. xvi. 
 
 é This apology may be seen in the fifteenth volume of the Magn. Bibl. 
 Patrum, p. 248. ‘ 
 
 37> » That Symmachus was never fairly acquitted, may be presumed 
 from the first, and proved from the second of the following circumstances: 
 first, that Theodoric, who was a wise and equitable prince, and who had 
 attentively examined the charge brought against him, would not have 
 referred the decision to the bishops, if the matter had been clear, but 
 would have pronounced judgment himself, as he had formerly done with 
 respect to the legality of his election. The second circumstance is, that 
 the council acquitted him without even hearing those who accused him, 
 and he himself did not appear, though frequently summoned, 
 
Cuapr II. 
 
 gins, who had sacrificed their capacity of being useful in 
 the world, to the gloomy charms of aconvent.* In Great- 
 Britain, a certain abbot, named Congal, is said to have per- 
 suaded an incredible number of persons to abandon the 
 affairs, obligations, and duties of social life, and to spend 
 the remainder of their days in solitude, under a rule of dis- 
 cipline, of which he was the inventor.» His disciples tra- 
 velled through many countries, in which they propagated, 
 with such success, the contagion of this monastic devotion 
 that, in a short time, Treland, Gaul, Germany, and Swit- 
 zerland, swarmed with those lazy orders, and were, in a 
 manner, covered with convents. ‘The most illustrious 
 disciple of the abbot now mentioned, was Columban, whose 
 singular rule of discipline is yet extant, and surpasses all 
 the rest in simplicity and brevity... The monastic orders, 
 m general, abounded with fanatics and profligates; the lat- 
 fer were more numerous than the former in the western 
 convents, while in those of the east, the fanatics were 
 predominant. 
 
 VI. A new order, which in a manner absorbed all the 
 others that were established in the west, was instituted, in 
 
 29, by Benedict of Nursia, a man of piety and reputation 
 for the age he lived in. From his rule of discipline, which 
 is yet extant, we learn that it was not his intention to 
 lunpose it upon all the monastic societies, but to form an 
 order whose discipline should be milder, establishment 
 more solid, and manners more regular, than those of the 
 other monastic bodies; and whose members, during the 
 course of a holy and peaceful life, were to divide their-time 
 between prayer, reading, the education of youth, and other 
 pious and learned labours.‘ But in process of time, the 
 followers of this celebrated ecclesiastic degenerated sadly 
 from the piety of their founder, and lost sight of the duties 
 of their station, and the great end of their establishment. 
 Having acquired immense riches from the devout liberality 
 of the opulent, they sunk into luxury, intemperance, and 
 sloth, abandoned themselves to all sorts of vices, extended 
 their zeal and attention to worldly affairs, insinuated them- 
 selves into the cabinets of princes, took part in political ca- 
 bals and court factions, made a vast augmentation of su- 
 perstitious ceremonies in their order, to blind the multitude 
 and supply the place of their expiring virtue; and among 
 other meritorious enterprises, laboured most ardently to 
 swell the arrogance, by enlarging the power and authority 
 of the Roman pontiff. The good Benedict never dreamed 
 that the great purposes of his institution were to be thus 
 perverted; much less did he give any encouragement or 
 permission to such flagrant abuses. His rule of discipline 
 was neither favourable to luxury nor to ambition; and it 
 is still celebrated on account of its excellence, though it has 
 not been observed for many ages. 
 
 It is proper to remark here, ‘that the institution of Bene- 
 dict changed, in several respects, the obligations and 
 duties of the monastic life, as it was regulated in the west. 
 Among other things, he obliged those who entered into 
 
 * These rules are extant in Holstenius’ Codex Regularum, part ii. 
 
 ublished at Rome in 1661. See also Edm. Martenne et Ursin. Durand. 
 
 “hesaur. Anecdot. Nov. tom. i. p. 4. 
 
 b Archbishop Usher’s Antiq. Eccles. Britan. 
 
 * Usserii Sylloge Antiq. Epis. Hiber. p. 5—15.—Holstenii Codex Regu- 
 larum, tom. i. p. 48.—Mabillon, Pref. ad See. ii. Benedictinum, p. 4. 
 
 4 See Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened. Sec. i. and Annales Ordin. 
 Ben. tom.i. See also Helyot, and the other writers who have given 
 accounts of the monastic orders. 
 
 *See Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. iv. Benedict. 
 
 No. XI. 35 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 137 
 
 his order to promise, at the time of their being received as 
 novices, and afterwards at their admission as menibers of 
 the society, to persevere in an obedience to the rules he 
 had laid dow n, without attempting to change them in any 
 respect. As he was exceedingly solicitous about the stability 
 of his institution, this particular regulation was wise and 
 prudent; and it was so much the more necessary, as, before 
 his time, the monks made no scruple of altering the laws 
 and alee of their founders whenever they thought proper.* 
 VIL. ‘This new order made a most rapid progress in the 
 west, and soon arrived at the most flourishing state. In 
 Gaul, its interests were promoted by St. Maurus; in Sicily 
 and Sardinia, by Placidus; in England, by Aucustin and 
 Mellitus; in Italy, and other countries, by Gregory the 
 Great, who is himself reported to have been for some time 
 a member of thissociety;* and it was afterwards received 
 in Germany by the means of Boniface.¢ "This amazing 
 progress of the new order was ascribed by the Benedictines 
 to the wisdom and sanctity of their discipline, and to the 
 miracles wrought by their founder and his followers. But 
 a more attentive view of things will convince the impar- 
 tial observer, that the protection of the pontiffs, to the ad- 
 vancement of whose grandeur and authority the Benedic- 
 tines were most servilely devoted, contributed much more 
 
 to the lustre and influence of their order, than any other 
 | circumstances, and indeed more than all other considera- 
 
 tions united. But, however general their credit was, they 
 did not reign alone; other orders subsisted in several coun- 
 tries until the ninth century. ‘Then, however, the Bene- 
 dictines absorbed all the other religious societies, and held 
 unrivalled, the reins of the monastic empire. 
 
 VIII. he most celebrated Greelx and Oriental writers 
 that flourished in this century, were the following: 
 
 Procopius of Gaza, who interpreted with success several 
 books of Scripture. 
 
 Maxentius, a monk of Antioch, who, beside several trea- 
 tises against the sects of his time, composed Scholia on 
 Dionysius the Areopagite. 
 
 Agapetus, whose Scheda Regia, addressed to the empe- 
 ror Justinian, procured him a place among the wisest and 
 most judicious writers of this century. 
 
 Eulogius, a presbyter of Antioch, who was the terror of 
 heretics, and a warm and strenuous defender of the ortho- 
 dox faith. 
 
 John, patriarch of Constantinople, who, on account of 
 his austere method of life, was surnamed the Faster, 
 
 |and who acquired a certain degree of reputation by 
 
 several little productions, and more particularly by his 
 Penitential. 
 
 Leontius of Byzantium, whose book against the sects, 
 and other writings, are yet extant. 
 
 Nvagrius, a scholastic writer, whose Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory is, in many places, corr upted with fabulous narrations. 
 
 Anastasius of Sinai, whom most writers consider as the 
 
 author of a trifling performance, written against a sort of 
 
 ! See Mabillon's preface last mentioned, and his Dissertation de Vita 
 Monust. Gregoru M. This circumstance, however, is denied by some 
 bE eX } and mong others by Gallonius, concer: ling whose book upon 
 
 that subject, see » Simon’s Lettres Choisie s, tom. lil. p. "63. 
 
 © Anion. Dadini Alteserre, Origines rei Monastic, lib. i. cap. ix. 
 The propagation of the Benedictine ‘order, through the different provinces 
 of Europe, is related by Mabillon, Preef. ad Swe. i, et ad See. iv. 
 
 h L’Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Constance, tom. ul. 
 
 i See Simon’s Cri itique de la Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique de M. Du 
 Pin, tom. i. p. 197. 
 
138 
 
 heretics called Acephali, of whom we shall have occasion 
 to speak hereafter.* 
 
 IX. Among the Latin writers, the following are princi- 
 pally worthy of mention : 
 
 Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who united the 
 most inconsistent and contradictory qualities; as in some 
 cases he discovered a sound and penetrating judgment, 
 and in others the most shameful and superstitious weak- 
 ness; and in general manifested an extreme aversion to 
 all kinds of learning, as his Epistles and Dialogues suffi- 
 ciently testify.» 
 
 Cesarius of Arles, who composed some moral writings, 
 and drew up a rude of conduct and discipline for the Holy 
 Virgins.¢ 
 
 B ulgentius, bishop of Raapian who attacked with great 
 warmth the Arians and Pelagians in Africa ; but whose 
 style and manner were harsh and uncouth, as was gene- 
 rally the case of the African writers.¢ 
 
 Ennodius, bishop of 'Ticinum, who was not one of the 
 
 meanest authors of this century, whether we consider his 
 compositions in prose or in verse; though he disgraced his 
 talents, and dishonoured his eloquence, by his “infamous 
 adulation of the Roman pontiff, whom he so exalted 
 above all mortals, as to maintain that he was answerable 
 to none upon earth for his conduct, and subject to no hu 
 man tribunal.: 
 
 Benedict of Nursia, who acquired an immortal name, 
 by the rules he laid down for the order which he insti- 
 tuted, and the multitude of religious societies that submit- 
 ted to his discipline. 
 
 Dionysius, who was surnamed the Little, on account of 
 his extraordinary humility, and was deservedly esteemed 
 for his Collection of the ancient Canons, and also for his 
 Chronological Researches. 
 
 Fulgentius Ferrandus, an African, who acquired a con- 
 siderable degree of reputation by several treatises, but es- 
 pecially by ‘his Abridgment of the Canons, though his 
 style and diction were entirely destitute of harmony and 
 elegance. 
 
 Facundus, a strenuous defender of the Three Chap- 
 ters, of which we shall give an account in their place. 
 
 Arator, who translated, with tolerable success, the Acts 
 of the Apostles into Latin verse. 
 
 Primasius of Adrumetum, whose Commentary upon the 
 Epistles of St. Paul, as also his book concerning Heresies, 
 are yet extant. 
 
 Liberatus, whose Compendious History of the Nesto- 
 rian and Eutychian controversies, must entitle him to an 
 eminent rank among the writers of this century. 
 
 Fortunatus, a man of various erudition, and whose 
 poetic compositions are far from being destitute of genius.‘ 
 
 Gregory of 'Tours, who is esteemed the father of Gallic 
 history : and who would have descended with honour to 
 yosterity, did not his Annals of the Franks; and the rest of 
 fis writings, carry so many marks of levity, credulity, and 
 weakness.¢ 
 
 ®* See, for an account of this book, Simon, tom. i. p 232; as also Barat. 
 Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. i. p. 21. 
 
 b A splendid edition of the works of Gr egory was published at Paris, 
 in 1705, by father St. Marthe, a Benedictine monk. See an account of 
 this ontiff, Acta Sancetor. tom. ii. Martii, p. 121. 
 
 fthis writer, the Benedictine monks have given a learned account, 
 in ee Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. i. p. 190. 
 4 See, for an account of Fulgentius, the Acta Sanet. tom. i. Jan. p- 32, &c. 
 * Hist. Lit, de la France, tom. ii. p. 96. f Ibid. tom. 111, p. 464, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 Gildas, the most ancient of the British writers, whe 
 composed a'book concerning the destruction of Britain, in 
 which there are several things not altogether unworthy of 
 the curiosity of the learned. 
 
 Columban, a native of Ireland, who became famous on 
 account of the monastic rules he prescribed to his followers, 
 his zeal for establishing religious orders, and his poetical 
 productions.® 
 
 Isidore, bishop of Seville, whose grammatical, theologi- 
 cal, and historical productions, discover more learning and 
 pedantr y, than judgment and taste. 
 
 We may conclude this enumeration of the Latin wri- 
 ters with the illustrious names of Boethius and Cassiodo- 
 rus, who far surpassed all their contemporaries in learning 
 and knowledge. The former shone forth with the bright- 
 est lustre in the republic of letters, as a philosopher, an 
 orator, a poet, anda divine, and both in elegance and sub- 
 tilty of genius had no superior, nor indeed any equal in 
 this century; the latter, though in n.any respects inferior 
 to him, was nevertheless far from being destitute of merit.i 
 Several productions of these writers have been transmitted 
 to our times. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 the Doctrine of the Church during 
 Century. 
 
 Concerning this 
 > . 
 
 I. WuHeEn once the ministers of the church had departed 
 from the ancient simplicity of religious worship, and sullied 
 the native purity of divine truth by a motley mixture of 
 human inventions, it was difficult to set bounds to this 
 growing corruption. Abuses were daily multiplied, and su- 
 perstition drew from its horrid fecundity an incredible num- 
 ber of absurdities, which were added to the doctrine of 
 Christ and his apostles. "lhe controversial writers in the 
 eastern provinces continued to render perplexed and ob- 
 scure some of the principal doctrines of Christianity, by the 
 subtile distinctions which they borrowed from a vain and 
 chimerical philosophy. he public teachers and instructors 
 of the people grievously degenerated from the apostolic cha- 
 racter. ‘They seemed to aim at nothing else, than to smk 
 the multitude into the most opprobrious ignorance and su- 
 perstition, to efface from their minds all sense of the beauty 
 and excellence of genuine piety, and to substitute, in the 
 place of religious principles, a blind veneration for the clergy 
 and astupid zeal for a senseless round of ridiculous cere- 
 monies. ‘This, perhaps, will appear less surprising, when 
 we consider, that the ‘blind led the blind ;’ for the public 
 ministers and teachers of religion were, for the most part, 
 grossly ignorant ; indeed, almost as much so as the people 
 whom they were appointed to instruct. 
 
 II. To be convinced of the truth of the dismal repre- 
 sentation we have here given of the state of religion at this 
 time, nothing more is necessary, than to cast an eye upon 
 the doctrines now taught concerning the worship of ima- 
 ges and saints, the fire of purgatory, the efficacy of good 
 
 € The life of Gregory of Tours is to be found in the work last quoted, 
 and his faults are mentioned by Pagi, in his Dissert. de Dionysio Paris. 
 sect. 25, which is added to the fourth tome of the Breviarium Pontif. 
 Romanor. Launoy defends this historian in many things in his works, 
 tom. 1. part il. p. 131. 
 
 h No writers have given more accurate accounts of Gildas and Colum- 
 ban, than the learned Benedictines, in the Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. 
 
 lil. p. 279, 505. 
 i See Simon’s Critique de la Bibliotheque de M. Du-Pin, tom.i. p. 211 
 
Cuap. III. 
 
 works, i. e. the observance of human rites and institu- 
 tions, toward the attainment of salvation, the power of 
 relics to heal the diseases of body and mind; and the like 
 sordid and miserable fancies, which are inculcated in many 
 of the superstitious productions of this century, and parti- 
 cularly in the epistles and other writings of Gregory the 
 Great. Nothing could be more ridiculous on one hand, 
 than the solemnity and liberality with which this good, 
 but silly pontiff, distributed the wonder-working relics; 
 and nothing more lamentable on the other, than the stu- 
 pid eagerness and devotion with which the deluded mul- 
 titude received them, and suffered themselves to be per- 
 suaded, that a portion of rancid oil, taken from the lamps 
 which burned at the tombs of the martyrs, had a super- 
 natural efficacy to sanctify its possessors, and to defend 
 them from all dangers, both of a temporal and spiritual 
 nature.* 
 
 ILf. Several attempts were made in this century to lay 
 down a proper and judicious method of explaining the 
 Scriptures. Of this nature were the two books of Juni- 
 lius the African, concerning the various parts of the divine 
 law ;® a work destitute of precision and method, and from 
 which it appears that the author had not sufficient know- 
 ledge and penetration for the task he undertook. 
 
 Cassiodorus also, in his two books concerning the divine 
 laws, has delivered several rules for the right interpreta- 
 tion of the Scriptures. 
 
 Philoxenus the Syrian translated, into his native lan- 
 guage, the Psalms of David, and the Books of the 
 New ‘Testament.° 
 
 Interpreters were numerous in this century. Those 
 who made the greatest figure among the Greeks in this 
 character, were Procopius of Gaza, Severus of Antioch, 
 Julian, and a few others; the first was an expositor of 
 no mean abilities.« The most eminent rank, among the 
 Latin commentators, is due to Gregory the Great, Cassio- 
 dorus, Primasius,° Isidore of Seville,‘ and Bellator. 
 
 IV. It must, however, be acknowledged, that these writers 
 scarcely deserve the name of expositors, if we except a 
 small number of them, and among these the eastern Nes- 
 torians, who following the example of Theodore of Mop- 
 suestia, were careful in exploring the true sense and the 
 native energy of the words employed in the Scriptures. 
 We may, therefore, divide the commentators of this age 
 into two classes. In the first, we rank those who did 
 nothing more than collect the opinions and interpretations 
 
 which had been received by the ancient doctors of the ! 
 
 church ; which collections were afterwards called chains 
 by the Latins. Such were the chains of Olympiodorus 
 on Job, and of Victor of Capua on the four Gospels ; and 
 the commentary of Primasius on the Epistle to the Romans, 
 which was compiled from the works of Augustin, Jerome, 
 Ambrose, and others. Fiven Procopius of Gaza may be 
 ranked in this class, though not with so much reason as the 
 mere compilers now mentioned, since, in many cases, he 
 has consulted the dictates of his own judgment, and not 
 followed, with a servile and implicit submission, the voice 
 of antiquity. ‘To the second class belong those fanciful 
 
 * See the List of sacred Oils which Gregory the Great sent to the 
 queen Theudelinda, in the work of Ruinartus, entitled, Acta Martyrum 
 sincera et selecta, p. 619. b See Simon’s Critique, tom. i. p. 229. 
 
 ¢ Asserman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 83. 
 
 4 See Simon’s Lettres Choisies, tom. iv. 
 
 * Simon’s Critique, tom. i. p. 226; and his Histoire des principaux | 
 Cominentateurs du N, T. chap. xxiv. p. 337. 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 139 
 
 expositors, who, setting up Origen as their great model, 
 neglect and overlook entirely the sense of the words em- 
 ployed by the sacred writers, lose themselves in spiritual 
 refinements and allegorical digressions, and by the aid ofa 
 lively and luxuriant imagination, draw from the Scriptures 
 arguments in favour of every whim they have thought 
 proper toadopt. Such was Anastasius the Sinaite, whose 
 Mysterious Contemplations, upon the six-days’ Creation," 
 betray the levity and ignorance of their author. Such e!so 
 was Gregory the Great, whose Moral Observations upon 
 the Book of Job, formerly met with unmerited commenda- 
 tions. Such were Isidore of Seville and Primasius, as 
 manifestly appears from that Book of Allegories upon the 
 Holy Scriptures,i which was invented by the former, and 
 from the Mystical Exposition of the book of the Revela- 
 tion,* which was imagined by the latter. 
 
 V. It would be needless to expect from the divines of 
 this century, an accurate view, or a clear and natural ex- 
 planation, of the Christian doctrine. The greatest part of 
 them reasoned and disputed concerning the truths of the 
 Gospel, as the blind would argue about light and cclours ; 
 and imagined that they had acquitted themselves nobly, 
 when they had thrown out a heap of crude and indigested 
 notions, and overwhelmed their adversaries with a torrent 
 of words. 
 
 We may perceive, however, in the writers of this age, 
 evident marks of the three different methods of explain- 
 ing and inculcating the doctrines of religion which are yet 
 practised among the Greeks and Latins; for some collected 
 a heap, rather than a system of theological opinions, from 
 the writings of the ancient doctors, from the decrees of 
 councils, and from the Scriptures; such were Isidore of 
 Seville among the Latins, (whose three books of sentences 
 or opinions are still extant,) and Leontius the Cyprian 
 among the Greeks, whose common-place book of divinity 
 was much esteemed. ‘These authors gave rise to that 
 species of divinity, which the Latins afterwards distin- 
 guished by the name of posttive theology. 
 
 Others endeavoured to explain the various doctrines of 
 Christianity by reasoning upon their nature, their excellency 
 and fitness; and thus it was, with the strong weapons of 
 reason and argument, that many of the Christian doctors 
 disputed against the Nestorians, the Eutychians, and the 
 Pelagians. These metaphysical divines were called schoel- 
 men, and their writings were afterwards characterized by 
 the general term of scholastic divinity. 
 
 A third class of theological teachers, very different from 
 those already mentioned, comprehended a certain species 
 of fanatics, who maintained that the knowledge of divine 
 truth was only to be derived from inward feeling and men- 
 tal contemplation. ‘This class assumed the appellation of 
 mystics. 'These three methods of deducing and unfold- 
 ing the doctrines of the Gospel have been transmitted down 
 to our times. No writer of this century composed a judicious 
 or complete system of divinity, though several branches of 
 that sacred science were occasionally illustrated. 
 
 Vi. Those who consecrated their pious labours to the 
 advancement of practical religion, and moral virtue, aimed 
 
 f Simon’s Critique, tom. i. p. 259. iam 
 £ Le Moyne, Prolegomena ad varia Sacra, p. 53—Fabricii Biblicth. 
 Greca, lib. v. cap. xvul. 
 b The title is, Contemplationes Anagogice in Hexaémeron. 
 “1 Liber Allegoriarum in Scripturam Sacram. 
 & Expositio Mystica in Apocalypsin. 
 
140 
 
 at the accomplishment of this good purpose, partly by lay- 
 ing down precepts, and partly by exhibiting edifying exam- 
 ples. They who promoted the cause of piety and virtue 
 in the former way modified their instructions according to 
 the state and circumstances of the persons for whom they 
 were designed. Peculiar precepts were addressed to those 
 
 who had not abandoned the connexions of civil society, but | 
 
 lived amidst the hurry of worldly affairs; while different 
 rules were administered to those who aspired to higher de- 
 grees of perfection, and lived in a state of seclusion from 
 the contagion and vanities of the world. 'The precepts, ad- 
 dressed to the former, represent the Christian life, as con- 
 sisting in certain external virtues and acts of religion ; 
 as appears from the Homilies and Exhortations of Czsa- 
 rius, the Capita Pareenetica of Agapetus, and especially 
 from the Formula honest Vite, i. e. the Summary of a 
 virtuous Life, drawn up by Martin, archbishop of Braga. 
 The rules administered to the latter sort of Christians, 
 were more spiritual and sublime : they were exhorted to 
 separate, as far as was possible, the soul from the body by 
 divine contemplation; and for that purpose, to enervate 
 and emaciate the latter by watching, fasting, perpetual 
 prayer, and singing of psalms; as we find in the disserta- 
 tion of Fulgentius upon fasting, and those of Nicetius, 
 concerning the vigils of the servants of God, and the 
 good effects of psalmody. ‘he Greeks adopted for their 
 leader, in this mystic labyrinth, Dionysius, falsely called 
 the Areopagite, whose pretended writings John of Scytho- 
 polis illustrated with annotations in this century. We 
 need not be at any pains in pointing out the defects of 
 these injudicious zealots; the smallest acquaintance with 
 that rational religion, which is contained in the Gospel, 
 will be sufficient to open the eyes of the impartial to the 
 absurdities of that chimerical devotion we have now been 
 describing. 
 
 VIL. They who enforced the duties of Christianity, by 
 exhibiting examples of piety and virtue to the view of 
 those for whom their instructions were designed, wrote, for 
 this purpose, the Lives of the Saints; and there was a 
 considerable number of this kind of biographers both 
 among the Greeks and Latins. Ennodius, Eugypius, 
 Cyril of Scythopolis, Dionysius the Little, Cogitosus, and 
 others, are to be ranked in this class. But, however 
 pious the intentions of these biographers may have been, 
 it must be acknowledged, that they executed their task 
 in a most contemptible manner. No models of rational 
 piety are to be found among those pretended worthies, 
 whom they propose to Christians as objects of imitation. 
 They amuse their readers with gigantic fables and trifling 
 romances ; the examples they exhibit are those of certain 
 delirious fanatics, whom they call saints, men of acor- 
 rupt and perverted judgment, who offered violence to rea- 
 son and nature by the horrors of an extravagant austerity 
 in their own conduct, and by the severity of those singu- 
 lar and inhuman rules which they prescribed to others. 
 For by what means were these men sainted? By starving 
 themselves with senseless obstinacy, and bearing the use- 
 
 ® See the Acta Sanctor. Martii, tom. iii. p. 86. 
 
 » Cyril. Scythop. Vit. Sabz, which is to be found in Cotelerius, Monu- 
 menta Ecclesie Grace, p. 370.—Henr. Norris, Dissertat. de Synodo 
 Quinta, cap. i. il. p. 554. tom. i. op. 
 
 ¢ This edict is published in Harduini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 243. 
 
 x 4 This edict was procured by the solicitation of Pelagius, who 
 was legate of Vigilius at the court of Constantinople, with a view to 
 confound the Acephali, who were admirers of Origen, and particularly 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 less hardships of hunger, thirst, and inclement seasons 
 
 with stedfastness and perseverance; by running about the 
 country like madmen, in tattered garments, and sometimes 
 half-naked, or shutting themselves up in a narrow space, 
 where they continued motionless; by standing for a long 
 time in certain postures, with their eyes closed, in the enthu- 
 slastic expectation of divine light. All this was ‘ saint-like 
 and glorious ;’ and the more any ambitious fanatic departed 
 from the dictates of reason and common sense, and coun- 
 terfeited the wild gestures and the incoherent conduct of 
 an idiot or a lunatic, the surer was his prospect of obtain- 
 ing an eminent rank among the heroes and demi-gods 
 of a corrupt and degenerate church. 
 
 VUI. Many writers laboured with diligence to termi- 
 nate the reigning controversies, but none with success. Nor 
 shall we be much surprised, that these efforts were ineffec- 
 tual, when we consider how they were conducted ; for 
 scarcely ean we name a single writer, whose opposition to 
 the Eutychians, Nestorians, and Pelagians, was carried on 
 with probity, moderation, or prudence. Primasius and Phi 
 loponus wrote concerning all the sects, but their works are 
 lost; the treatise of Leontius, upon the same extensive sub- 
 ject, is still extant, but is scarcely worth perusing. Isidore 
 of Seville, and Leontius of Neapolis, disputed against the 
 Jews; but with what success and dexterity will be easily 
 imagined by those who are acquainted with the learning 
 and logic of these times. We omit, therefore, any farther 
 mention of the miserable disputants of this century, from 
 a persuasion that it will be more useful and entertaining 
 to lay before the reader a brief account of the controversies 
 that now divided and troubled the Christian church. 
 
 IX. Though the credit of Origen, and his system, 
 seemed to le expiring under the blows it had received 
 from the zeal of the orthodox, and the repeated thunder of 
 synods and councils, yet it was very far from being totally 
 sunk. On the contrary, this great man, and his doctrine, 
 were held by many, and especially by the monks, in the 
 highest veneration, and cherished with a kind of enthusi- 
 asm which became boundless and extravagant. In the 
 west, Bellator translated the works of Origen into the 
 Latin language. In the eastern provinces, and particular- 
 ly in Syria and Palestine, which were the principal seats 
 of Origenism, the monks, seconded by several bishops, and 
 chiefly by Theodore of Czsarea in Cappadocia, defended 
 the truth and authority of the doctrines of Origen against 
 all his adversaries with incredible vehemence.® 'This cause 
 was at length brought before Justinian; who, in a long and 
 verbose edict, addressed to Mennas, patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople,* passed a severe condemnation upon Origen and 
 his doctrine, and ordered it to be entirely suppressed.‘ he 
 effects of this edict were more violent than durable; for, 
 upon the breaking out of the controversy concerning the 
 three chapters,* soon after this time, Origenism not only 
 revived in Palestine, but even recovered new vigour, and 
 spread itself farand wide. Hence many commotions were 
 raised in the church, which were, however, terminated by 
 the fifth general council, assembled at Constantinople by 
 to vex Theodore, of whose credit with the emperor Pelagius was ex- 
 tremely jealous. It was to return this affront, as well as to effect the pur- 
 poses mentioned in the following section, that Theodore set on foot the 
 controversy concerning the three chapters, which produced such tedious, 
 cruel, and fatal dissensions in the church. See Basnage, Histoire de 
 lEglise, livr. x. ch. vi. p. 520. 
 
 * For an explication of what is meant by the diree chapters, see note b 
 of the xth section. 
 
Cuap. III. 
 
 Justinian, in 533, in which Origen and his followers were 
 again condemned.* 
 
 X. This controversy produced another, which continued 
 much longer, was carried on with still more excessive de- 
 grees of animosity and violence, and the subject of which 
 was of much Jess moment and importance. ‘The emperor 
 Justinian was eagerly bent upon extirpating that violent 
 branch of the Monophysites, which was distinguished by 
 the name of Acephali; and consulted, upon this matter, 
 Theodore, bishop of Caesarea, who was a Monophysite, and, 
 at the same time, extremely attached to the doctrine of 
 Origen. ‘The artful prelate considered this as a favourable 
 occasion for procuring repose to the followers of Origen by 
 exciting a new controversy, as also for throwing a reproach 
 upon the council of Chalcedon, and giving a mortal blow to 
 the Nestorians and their cause. In order to effect these 
 three important purposes, he persuaded the emperor, that 
 the Acephali would return to the bosom of the church, 
 under the following easy and reasonable conditions ; 
 namely, “That those passages in the acts of the council of 
 Chalcedon, in which Theodore of Mopsuestia, heodoret 
 of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa, had been pronounced ortho- 
 dox, shouid be effaced; and that the productions of these 
 prelates, which were known by the appellation of the ¢hree 
 chapters, as also other writings of theirs, which disco- 
 vered a manifest propensity toward the Nestorian errors, 
 should be condemned and prohibited.” 
 a propitious ear to the counsels of this prelate ; and, by an 
 edict, published in 544, ordered the three chapters to be con- 
 demned and effaced, without any prejudice, however, to the 
 authority of the council of Chalcedon.:. This edict was 
 warmly opposed by the African and western bishops, and 
 particularly by Vigilius, the Roman pontiff, who considered 
 it as highly injurious not only to the authority of the council 
 now mentioned, but also to the memory of those holy men 
 whose writings and characters it covered with reproach.* 
 Upon this, Justinian ordered Vigilius to repair immediately 
 to Constantinople, that, having him in his power, he might 
 compel him with greater facility to acquiesce in the edict, 
 and reject the three chapters; and this method was attended 
 with success, for the pontiff yielded. On the other hand, 
 the bishops of Africa and Illyricum obliged Vigilius to 
 retract his judicatum, by which, in a council of seventy 
 bishops, he had condemned the three chapters in obedience 
 to the emperor; for they separated themselves from the 
 
 * See Harduini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 283.—Evagrius, Hist. Eccl. lib. 
 iv. cap. xxxvili—Basnage, livr. x. chap. vi. p. 517, &c.—Pet. Dan. 
 Huetit Origeniana, lib. 11. p. 224—Doucin’s Singular. Dis. subjoined to 
 his Historia Origeniana, p. 345. ; 
 
 3’> > The pieces that were distinguished by the appellation of the 
 three chapters, were. 1. The writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia; 2. 
 The books which Theodoret of Cyrus wrote against the twelve Anathe- 
 mas which Cyril had published against the Nestorians; 3. The letter 
 whick Ibas of Edessa had written to one Maris a Persian, concerning the 
 council of Ephesus and the condemnation of Nestorius. These writings 
 were supposed to favour the Nestorian doctrine, and such indeed was 
 their tendency. Itis, however, to be observed, that Theodore of Mop- 
 suextia lived before the time of Nestorius, and died, not only in the com- 
 munion of the church, but also in the highest reputation for his sanctity. 
 Nor were the writings of the other two either condemned or censured by 
 the council of Chalcedon; indeed, the faith of Theodoret and of Ibas was 
 there declared entirely orthodox. The decision of the council of Con- 
 eeinople, In opposition to this, shows that councils, as well as doctors, 
 
 iffer. 
 
 * See Harduini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 287,—Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. 
 lib. iv. cap. xxxviii. p. 412. 
 
 4 Hen, Norris, de Synodo quinta, cap. x. p. 579, tom. i. op.—Basnage, 
 tom. i. livr. x. cap. vi. 
 
 Z*>* We do not find in the acts of this council any one which con- 
 
 a) 
 
 No. XII. 36 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The emperor lent | 
 
 demns the doctrines of Origen. 
 
 141 
 
 communion of this pope, refused to acknowledge him as one 
 of their brethren, and even treated himas an apostate, until 
 he approved what he had been obliged to condemn. The 
 effect of this retraction redoubled the zeal and violence of 
 Justinian, who, by a second edict, published in 551, con- 
 demned anew the three chapters. 
 
 XI. After many cabals, commotions, and dissensions, 
 which were occasioned by this trifling controversy, it was 
 thought proper to submit the final decision of it to an assem- 
 bly of the universal church. "This assembly was according- 
 ly convoked at Constantinople by Justinian, in 553, and is 
 considered as the fifth cecumenical or general council. The 
 emperor now gained his point; for, beside the doctrines of 
 Origen,° the three chapters, the condemnation of which 
 he had solely in view, were, by the bishops of the east, (for 
 there were very few western prelates present at this council,) 
 declared heretical and pernicious. Vigilius, who was now 
 at Constantinople, refused his assent to the decrees of this 
 council ; for which reason, after having received various 
 affronts, he was sent into exile. He was not permit- 
 ted to return before he had acquiesced in the decisions 
 of this assembly,‘ and, changing his sentiments for the 
 fourth time, had declared the opinions contained in the 
 three chapters to be execrable blasphemies. His successor 
 Pelagius, and all the Roman pontiffs that have since lolled 
 in the papal chair, adhered to the decrees of this council ; 
 but neither their authority, nor that of the emperor, could 
 prevail upon the western bishops to follow their example 
 in this respect. Many of these, on the contrary, carried 
 matters so far as to separate themselves from the commu- 
 nion of the pope on this account; and the divisions that 
 hence arose in the church, were too violent to admit an 
 expeditious or easy reconciliation, and could only be healed 
 by length of time.s 
 
 XII. Another controversy, much more important, had 
 been carried on before this period among the Greeks; it was 
 first kindled in the year 519, and it arose upon the following 
 question: Whether it could be said with propriety, that one 
 of the 'T'rinity suffered on the cross? 'This was designed to 
 embarrass the Nestorians, who seemed to separate too much 
 the two natures in Christ; and the Scythian monks, who 
 seconded this design, and to whom the rise of this contro- 
 versy is principally to be imputed, maintained the affirma- 
 tive of this nice and difficult question. Others asserted, on 
 the contrary, that this manner of speaking ought by no 
 
 It is, however, generally imagined, 
 that these doctrines were condemned by this assembly ; and what gave 
 rise to this notion was probably the fifteen Greek canons yet extant, in 
 which the principal errors of Origen are condemned, and which are en- 
 titled, ‘I'he canons of the 160 fathers, assembled in the council of Con- 
 stantinople. The tenets of Origen, which gave the greatest offence, 
 were the following: 1. That, in the Trinity, the Father is greater than 
 the Son, and the Son than the Hely Ghost; 2. The pre-existence of 
 souls, which Origen considered as sent into mortal bodies for the pun- 
 ishment of sins committed in a former state of being; 3. That the soul 
 of Christ was united to the word before the incarnation; 4. That the sun, 
 moon, and stars, &e. were animated and endowed with rational souls: 
 5. That after the resurrection all bodies will be of a round figure ; 6. That 
 the torments of the damned will have an end; and that, as Christ had 
 been crucified in this world to save mankind, he is to be crucified in the 
 next to save the devils. 
 
 f See Petr. de Marca, Dissert. de Decreto Vigilii pro Confirmatione 
 Synodi V. which is to be found among the Dissertations subjoined to his 
 leacned work, de Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii. 
 
 © The best account of this matter is to be found in Norris, de Synodo 
 quinta ecumenica, though even this excellent author cannot be vin- 
 dicated from the imputation of a certain degree of partiality. See 
 also Christ. Lupus, Not. adConcilium quintum, in his Adnotat. ad Con- 
 
INTERNAL HISTORY OF 'THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 means to be adopted, since it bordered upon the erroneous || Had they been acquainted with the opinions and customs 
 
 expressions and tenets of the Theopaschites, who composed 
 one of the sects into which the Eutychians were sub- | 
 divided.» The latter opinion was confirmed by Hormisdas 
 the Roman pean to whom the Scythian monks had 
 appealed in vain; but this, instead of allaying the heat of 
 the present controversy, only added new fuel to the flame. 
 John If. who was one of the successors of Hormisdas, 
 approved the proposition which the latter had condemned ; 
 and, confirming the opinion of the Scythian monks, expo- 
 sed the decisions of the papal oracle to the laughter of the 
 wise. His sentence was afterwards sanctioned by the fifth 
 general council; and thus peace was restored to the church 
 by the conclusion of these unintelligible disputes.? 
 
 With the question now mentioned there was another 
 closely and intimately connected, namely, Whether the 
 person of Christ could be considered as compounded? Of 
 this question the Scythian monks maintained the affirma- 
 tive and their adversaries the negative. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In this century the cause of true religion sunk apace, 
 and the gloomy reign of superstition extended itself in 
 proportion to the decay of genuine piety. ‘This lamentable 
 decay was supplied by a multitude of rites and ceremonies. 
 In the east the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies 
 gave occasion tothe invention of various rites and external 
 institutions, which were used as marks to distinguish the 
 contending parties. 'The western churches were loaded 
 with rites by Gregory the Great, who had a marvellous 
 fecundity of genius in inventing, and an irresistible force 
 of eloquence in recommending “superstitious observances. 
 Nor will this appear surprising to those who know, that 
 in the opinion of this pontiff the words of the sacred | 
 writings were images of mysterious and invisible things ; 
 for such as embrace this chimerical system will easily be 
 led to express all the doctrines and:precepts of religion by 
 external rites and symbols. Gregory, indeed, is worthy of 
 praise in this, that he did not pretend to force others to the 
 
 observance of his inventions; though this forbearance, 
 perhaps, was as much occasioned by a want of power, as 
 by a principle of moderation. 
 
 I. This prodigious augmentation of rites and ceremo- 
 nies rendered an augmentation of doctors and interpreters 
 of these mysteries indispensably necessary. Hence a new 
 kind of science arose, which had, for its object, the explica- 
 tion of these ceremonies, and the i investigation of the causes 
 and circumstances whence they derived their origin. But 
 most of those, whe entered into these researches, never 
 
 went to the fountain head, to the true sources of these idle 
 inventions. ‘I‘hey endeavoured to seek their origin in rea- 
 son and Christianity ; but in this they deceived themselves, 
 or, at least, deluded others, and delivered to the world their 
 own fancies, instead of disclosing the true causes of things. 
 
 7 
 
 = * The deacon Victor, and those who opposed the Scythian monks, 
 expressed their opinion in ‘the following proposition: viz. One person 
 of the Trinity suffered in the flesh. Both sides received the council of 
 Chalcedon, acknowledged two natures in Christ, in opposition to Euty- 
 ches, and ‘only one person in opposition to Nestorius ; and yet, by a 
 torrent of j jargon, and a long chain of unintelligible syllogisms, the Scy- 
 thian monks accused their adversaries of Nestorianism, ‘and were accue 
 sed by them of the Eutychian heresy. 
 
 | of remote antiquity, or studied the pontifical law of the 
 
 Greeks and Romans, they would have discovered the true 
 origin of many institutions, which were falsely lookec\ 
 upon as venerable and sacred. 
 
 IU. The public worship of God was still celebrated by 
 every nation in its own language, but was enlarged, from 
 time to time, by the addition of various hymns, and othe) 
 things of that nature, which were considered as proper tc 
 enliven devotion by the power of novelty. Gregory the 
 Great prescribed anew method of administering the Lord’s 
 supper, with a magnificent assemblage of pompous cere 
 monies. ‘This institution was called the canon of the 
 mass ; and, if any are unwilling to give it the name of a 
 new appointment, they must at least acknowledge, that it 
 was a considerable augmentation of the ancient canon for 
 celebrating the eucharist, and occasioned sa remarkable 
 change in the administration of that ordinance. Many 
 ages, however, passed before this Gregorian canon wag 
 adopted by all the Latin churches.° 
 
 Baptism, except in cases of necessity, was administered 
 only on great festivals. We omit mentioning, for the sake of 
 brevity, the litanies that were addressed to the saints, the 
 different sorts of supplications, the stations or assemblies of 
 Gregory, the forms of consecration, and other such in- 
 stitutions, which were contrived, in this century, to excite 
 a species of external devotion, and to engage the outward 
 senses in religious worship. An inquiry into these topics 
 would of itself deserve to be made the subject of a ‘separate 
 work. 
 
 1V. An incredible number of temples arose in honour 
 of the saints, during this century, both in the eastern and 
 western provinces. ‘The places set apart for public wor- 
 ship were already very numerous; but it was now that 
 Christians first began to consider these sacred edifices as 
 the means of purchasing the favour and protection of the 
 saints, and to be persuaded that these departed spirits 
 defended and guarded, against evils and calamities of 
 every kind, the provinces, lands, cities, and villages, in 
 which they were honoured with temples. "The number of 
 festivals, which were now observed in the Christian church, 
 and many of which seem to have been instituted upon a 
 pagan model, nearly equalled the amount of the temples. 
 
 To those that were celebrated, in the preceding century 
 were now added the festival of the purification of the bless 
 ed Virgin, (invented with a design to remove the uneasi- 
 
 ness of the heathen converts on account of the loss of their 
 Lupercalia or feasts of Pan,) the festival of the immaculate 
 conception, the day set apart to commemorate the birth of 
 St. John, and others less worthy of-mention. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 {. The various sects which had fomented divisions among 
 Chrisiians in the early ages of the church, were far from 
 
 » See Historia Controversiz de uno ex Trinitate passo, by Norris, 
 tom. ili. op. p. 771. The ancient writers who mention this controversy, 
 call the monks who set it on foot, Scythians. But la Croze (Thesaur, 
 Epist. tom. iii.) imagines, that the country of these monks was Egpyt, 
 and not Seythia; and this conjec ture Is aippact by reasons waich carry 
 in them, at least, a high degree of bane 
 
 © See Theod. Chr. Lilienthal, de Canone Misse Gregoriano. 
 
Crap. Y. 
 
 being effectually suppressed or totally extirpated. 'Though 
 they had been persecuted and afllicted with a variety of 
 hardships, trials, and calamities, yet they still subsisted, 
 and continued to excite dissensions and tumults in many 
 places. he Manicheans are said to have gained such a 
 degree of influence among the Persians, as to have corrupt- 
 ed even the son of IXobad, the monarch of that nation, who 
 repaid their zeal in making proselytes with a terrible mas- 
 sacre, in which numbers of that impious sect perished in 
 the most dreadful manner. Nor was Persia the only 
 country which was troubled with the attempts of the Man- 
 icheans to spread their odious doctrine ; other provinces of 
 the empire were undoubtedly infected with their errors, 
 as we may judge from the book that was written against 
 them by Heraclian, bishop of Chalcedon. In Gaul and 
 Africa, dissensions of a different kind prevailed; and the 
 coutroversy between the Semi-Pelagians and the disciples 
 of Augustin continued to divide the western churches. 
 
 Il. 'The Donatists enjoyed the sweets of freedom and 
 tranquillity, as long as the Vandals reigned in Africa ; 
 but the scene was greatly changed with respect to them, 
 when the empire of these barbarians was overturned in 
 534. ‘They, however, still remained in a separate body, 
 and not only held their church, but, toward the conclusion 
 of this century, and particularly from the year 591, defend- 
 ed themselves with new degrees of animosity and vigour, 
 and were bold enough to attempt the multiplication of 
 their sect. Gregory, the Roman pontiff, opposed these 
 efforts with great spirit and assiduity ; and as appears from 
 his epistles,” tried various methods of depressing this fac- 
 tion, which was pluming its wings anew, and aiming at 
 the revival of those lamentable divisions which it had for- 
 merly excited in the church. Nor was the opposition of the 
 zealous pontiff without effect ; it seems on the contrary to 
 have been attended with the desired success, since in this 
 century, the church of the Donatists dwindled away to 
 nothing, and after this period no traces of it are to be found. 
 
 If. About the commencement of this century, the 
 Arians were triumphant in several parts of Asia, Africa, 
 and Europe. Many of the Asiatic bishops favoured them 
 secretly, while their opinions were openly professed, and 
 their cause maintained by the Vandals in Africa, the Goths 
 in Italy, the Spaniards, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and 
 the greatest part of the Gauls. It is true, that the Greeks, 
 who had received the deerees of the council of Nice, perse- 
 cuted and oppressed the Arians wherever their influence 
 and authority could reach; but the Nicenians, in their 
 turn, were not less rigorously treated by their adversaries, 
 particularly in Africa and Italy, where they felt, in a very 
 severe manner, the weight of the Arian power, and the 
 bitterness of hostile resentment.° 
 
 The triumphs of Arianism were, however, transitory, 
 and its prosperous days were entirely eclipsed, when the 
 Vandals were driven out of Africa, and the Goths out of 
 
 * See Photius, Biblioth. cod. cxiv. p. 291. 
 
 4 See his Epis. lib. iv. ep. xxxiv. xxxv. p. 714, 715, lib. vi. ep. Ixv. p. 841, 
 ep. xxxvil. p. 821, lib. ix. ep. lili. p. 972. lib. ii. ep. xlviui. p. 611, t. ii. op. 
 
 * Procopius, de Béllo Vandal. lib. i. cap. viii, and de Bello Gothico, lib. 
 ii. cap. ii—Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iv. cap. xv. 
 
 4 See Mascovii Historia German. tom. ii. p. 76, 91. See also an ac- 
 count of the barbarian kings, who abandoned Arianism, and received 
 the doctrines of the Nicene council, in the Acta Sanctorum, tom. i. 
 Martii, p. 275, and April. p. 134. 
 
 * Cosmas Indicopleustes, Topograph. Christian. lib. ii. p. 125, which 
 is tobe found in Montfaucon’s Collectio nova PP. Grecorum. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 143 
 
 Italy, by the arms of Justinian ;? for the other Arian princes 
 were easily induced to abandon, themselves, the doctrine 
 of that sect; and not only so, but to employ the force of 
 laws and the authority of councils to prevent its progress" 
 among their subjects, and to extirpate it entirely out of 
 their dominions. Such was the conduct of Sigismond 
 king of the Burgundians ; also of Theodimir king of the 
 Suevi, who had settled in Lusitania; and Recared kin 
 
 of Spain. Whether this change was produced by the force 
 of reason and argument, or by the influence of hopes and 
 fears, is a question which we shall not pretend to deter- 
 mine. One thing, however, is certain, that, from this pe- 
 riod, the Arian sect declined apace, and could never after 
 recover any considerable degree of stability and consistence. 
 
 IV. The Nestorians, after having gained a firm foot- 
 ing in Persia, and established the patriarch or head of 
 their sect at Seleucia, extended their views, and spread 
 their doctrines, with a success equal to the ardour of their 
 zeal, through the provinces situated beyond the limits of the 
 Roman empire. ‘There are yet extant authentic records, 
 from which it appears, that throughout Persia, as also in 
 India, Armenia, Arabia, Syria, and other countries, there 
 were vast numbers of Nestorian churches, all under the 
 jurisdiction of the patriarch of Seleucia.* It is true, indeed 
 that the Persian monarchs were not all equally favour- 
 able to this growing sect, and that some of them even per- 
 secuted, with the utmost severity, all those who bore the 
 Christian name throughout their dominions ;f but it is also 
 true that such of these princes, as were disposed to exercise 
 moderation and benignity toward the Christians, were 
 much more indulgent to the Nestorians, than to their ad- 
 versaries who adhered to the council of Ephesus, since the 
 latter were considered as spies employed by the Greeks, 
 with whom they were connected by the ties of religion. 
 
 VY. The Monophysites, or Eutychians, flourished also in 
 this century, and had gained over to their doctrine a con- 
 siderable part of the eastern provinces. The emperor Anas- 
 tasius was warmly attached to the doctrine and sect of 
 the Acephali, who were reckoned among the more rigid 
 Monophysites;¢ and, in 5138, he created patriarch of An- 
 tioch, (in the room of Flavian, whom he had expelled 
 from that see,) Severus, a learned monk, of Palestine, 
 from whom the Monophysites were called Severians.* 
 This emperor exerted all his influence and authority to 
 destroy the credit of the council ef Chalcedon in the east, 
 and to maintain the cause of those who adhered to the 
 doctrine of one nature in Christ; and by the ardour and 
 vehemence of his zeal, he excited the most deplorable 
 seditions and tumults in the church.i After the death of 
 Anastasius, which happened in 518, Severus was expelled 
 in his turn; and the sect which the late emperor had 
 maintained and propagated with such zeal and assiduity, 
 was every where opposed and depressed by his successor 
 Justin, and the following emperors, in such a manner, that 
 
 f Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. iii. part i. p. 109, 407, 413, 
 441, 449; tom. iii. part ii. cap. v. sect. ii. p. 83. y 
 
 ¢ Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iii. cap. xxx. xliv., &c. Theodor 
 Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. ii. p.562. See also the Index Operum Severi, as it 
 stands collected from ancient MSS. in Montfaucon’s Bibliotheca Coisl2- 
 miana, p. 53. 
 
 h See Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 47, 321.—Euseb. 
 Renaudot, Historia Patriarch. Alexandrinor. p. 127, &c. 5 
 
 i Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iii. eap. xxxiii—Cyrillus, vita Saba 
 in Jo. Bapt. Cotelerii Monument. Ecclesia Grace, tom. ili. p. 312.— 
 Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Anastasius. 
 
144 
 
 it seemed to be on the very brink of ruin, notwithstand- 
 ing that it had created Sergius patriarch in the place of 
 Severus. 
 
 * VI. When the affairs of the Monophysites were in such 
 a desperate situation, that almost all hope of their recovery 
 had vanished, and their bishops were reduced, by death 
 and imprisonment, to a very small number, an obscure 
 man whose name was Jacob, and who was distinguished 
 from others so called, by the surname of Baradeeus, or 
 Zanzalus, restored this expiring sect to its former prospe- 
 rity and lustre. » ‘This poor monk, the greatness of whose 
 views rose far above the obscurity of his station, and whose 
 fortitude and patience no dangers could daunt, nor any 
 labours exhaust, was ordained to the episcopal office by a 
 handful of captive bishops, travelled on foot through the 
 whole east, established bishops and presbyters every ‘where, 
 revived the drooping spirits of the Monophysites, and pro- 
 duced such an astonishing change in their affairs by the 
 power of his eloquence, and by his incredible activity and 
 diligence, that when he died bishop of Edessa, in 578, 
 he left his sect in a most flour ishing state in Syria, Meso- 
 potamia, Armenia, Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and other 
 countries.© This dexterous monk had prudence to con- 
 trive the means of success, as well as activity to put them 
 in execution; for he almost totally ‘extinguished all the 
 aniimosities, and reconciled all the factions, that had divided 
 the Monophysites; and when their churches grew so nu- 
 merous in the east, that they could not all be conveniently 
 comprehended under the sole j jurisdiction of the patriarch of 
 Antioch, he appointed, as his assistant, the primate of the 
 east, whose residence was at Tagritis, on the borders of 
 Armenia.?’ The laborious efforts of Jacob were seconded 
 in Egypt and the adjacent countries, by Theodosius bi- 
 shop of Alexandria; and he became so famous, that all 
 the Monophysites of the east considered him as their 
 second parent and founder, and are to this day called Ja- 
 cobites, in honour of their new chief. 
 
 VU. Thus it happened, that, by the imprudent zeal and 
 violence which the ‘Greeks employed in defending the 
 truth, the Monophysites gained considerable advantages, 
 and, at length, obtained a solid and permanent settlement. 
 From this period their sect has been under the jurisdiction 
 of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, who, not- 
 withstanding the difference of opinion which subsists, with 
 respect to some points, between the Syrian and Egyptian 
 Monophysites, are exceedingly careful to maintain commu- 
 nion with each other, both by letters, and by the exchange 
 of good offices. 'T he Abyssinian primate is subject to the 
 patriarch of Alexandria; and the primate of the east, who 
 resides at 'T'agritis, is under the jurisdiction of the patri- 
 arch of Antioch. 'The Armenians are ruled by a bishop 
 of their own, and are distinguished by certain opinions 
 and rites from the rest of the Monophysites. 
 
 Vili. The sect of the Monophysites, before it was thus 
 happily established, was torn with factions and intestine dis- 
 putes, and suffered, in a particular manner, from that nice 
 
 * See Abulpharajii Series Patriarch. Antiochen. in Biblioth. Orient. 
 Vatican. tom. 11. 
 
 » See Biblioth. Orient. &c. tom. ii. cap. viii. p. 62,72, 326, 331, 414.— 
 Eusebii Renaud. Hist. Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 119, 133, "425, ‘and the 
 Liturgise Orient. tom. il. p. 333, 342,—F'austus Naironus, Euoplia Fidei 
 Catholice ex Syrorum Monumentis, part 1. p. 40, 41. 
 
 * With regard tothe Nubians and Abyssinians, see the Biblioth. Orient. 
 tom. i. p. 330.—Lobo, Voyage a’ Abyssinie, tom. ii. p. 36.—Ludolph. 
 Commentar. ad Historiam 4Ethiopicam, p. 451. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 and subtile controversy concerning the body of Christ 
 which arose at Alexandria. Julian, bishop of Halicarnas- 
 sus, affirmed, in 519, that the divine nature had so in- 
 sinuated itself into the body of Christ, from the very mo- 
 ment of the Virgin’s conception, that the body of our Lord 
 changed its nature, and became incorruptible. ‘This opi- 
 nion was also embraced by Caianus, bishop of Alexandria; 
 from whom those who adopted it were called Caianists. 
 They were, however, divided into three sects, two of which 
 debated this question, whether the body of Christ was 
 created or uncreated, while the third asserted, that our 
 Lord’s body was indeed corruptible, but never actually 
 corrupted, since the energy of the divine nature must have 
 prevented its dissolution. 
 
 This sect was warmly opposed by Severus of Antioch, 
 and Damianus, who maintained that the body of Christ, 
 before his resurrection, was truly corruptible, i. e. subject 
 to the affections and changes with which human nature is 
 generally attended. "Those who embraced the opinion of 
 Julian, were called Aphthartodocetae, Doceta, Phantasiasts, 
 and even Manicheans, because it was supposed to follow 
 from their hypothesis, that Christ did not suffer in reality, 
 but only in appearance, hunger and thirst, pain and death; 
 and that he did not actually assume the common affections 
 and properties of human nature. On the other hand, the 
 votaries of Severus were distinguished by the names 
 Phthartolatre, IKtistolatree, and Creaticole. "This misera- 
 ble controversy was carried on with great warmth un- 
 der the reign of Justinian, who favoured the Aphthartodo- 
 ceta ; soon after, it subsided gradually; and, at length, 
 was happily hushed in silence.» Xenaias of Mierapolis 
 struck out an hypothesis upon this knotty matter, which 
 seemed equally remote from those of the contending par- 
 ties; for he maintained that Christ had, indeed, truly 
 suflered the various sensations to which humanity is expo- 
 sed, but that he suffered them not in his nature, but by a 
 submissive act of his wll. 
 
 IX. Some of the Corrupticolz, (for so they were called 
 who looked upon the body of Christ to be corruptible,) 
 particularly hemistius, a deacon of Alexandria, and 
 ‘Theodosius, a bishop of Mat city, were led by the inconsi- 
 derate heat of controversy into another opinion, which pro- 
 duced new commotions in the church toward the conclusion 
 of this century. They affirmed, that to the divine nature 
 of Christ all things were known, but that from his human 
 nature many things were concealed. The rest of the sect 
 charged the authors of this opmion with imputing ignorance 
 to the divine nature of Christ, since they held, that there 
 was but one nature in the Son of God. Hence the vota- 
 ries of this new doctrine were called Agnoéte;: but their 
 sect was so weak and ill-supported, that, notwithstanding 
 their eloquence and activity, which seemed to promise 
 better success, it gradually declined, and came to no- 
 thing. 
 
 X. From the controversies with the Monophysites arose 
 
 the sect of the Tritheists, whose chief was John Ascusnage. 
 
 4 Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 410. See also this learned 
 writer’s Dissertatio de Monophysitis. 
 
 ® Timotheus, de Receptione Hereticorum, in Cotelerii Monumentis 
 Ecclesie Greece, tom. iil. p. 409.—Liberatus, in Breviario Controv. cap. 
 xx.—Forbesii Instructiones Historico-Theologice, lib. iil. cap. xvill. p 
 108.—Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. tom. ii. part ii. p. 457. 
 
 f Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 22, and 168. 
 
 £ Cotelerius, ad Monumenta Ecclesize Greece, tom. iii. p. 641—Mich., 
 le Quien, ad Damascenum de Heresibus, tom. i. p. 107.—Forbes, Ins- 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 a Syrian philosopher, and, at the same time, a Monophy- 
 site. ‘This man imagined in the Deity three natures, or 
 substances, absolutely equal in all respects, and joined toge- 
 ther by no common essence ; to which opinion his adver- 
 saries gave the name of 'T'ritheism. One of the warmest 
 defenders of this doctrine was John Philoponus, an Alex- 
 andrian philosopher, and a grammarian of the highest 
 reputation ; and hence he has been considered by many 
 as the author of this sect, whose members have conse- 
 quently derived from him the title of Philoponists.» 
 
 This sect was divided into two parties, the Philoponists 
 and the Cononites ; the latter of whom were so called from 
 Conon bishop of 'Tarsus, their chief. They agreed in the 
 doctrine of three persons in the Godhead, and differed only 
 in their manner of explaining what the Scriptures taught 
 concerning the resurrection of the body. Philoponus main- 
 tained, that the form and matter of all bodies were gene- 
 
 tructiones Historico-Theo. lib. iii. ees xix. p. 119.—Photius, Bib. Cod. 230. 
 * See Gregor. Abulpharajius, in Biblioth. Orient. tom. 1. p. 323. 
 > See Fabricii Biblioth. Gree. lib. v. cap. xxxvii. p. 358.—Harduini 
 
 Concilia, tom. ili. p. 1288.—Timotheus, de Receptione Hereticorum, ' 
 
 No. XIII. 37 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 145 
 
 rated and corrupted, and that both therefore were to oe 
 restored in the resurrection. Conon held, on the contrary, 
 that the body never lost its form: that its matter alone 
 was subject to corruption and decay, and was consequent- 
 ly to be restored when ‘ this mortal shall put on immor- 
 tality.’ 
 
 A third faction was that of the Damianists, who were 
 so called from Damian bishop of Alexandria, and whose 
 opinion concerning the Trinity was different from those 
 already mentioned. 'They distinguished the divine essence 
 from the three persons, and denied that each person was 
 God, when considered in itself, abstractedly from the other 
 two ; but affirmed that there was a common divinity, by 
 the joint participation of which each was God. They there- 
 fore called the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, hypostases, 
 | or persons, and the Godhead, which was common to them 
 all, substance or nature.’ 
 
 apud Cotelerii Monumenta Ecclesie Greece, tom. iii. p. 414.—Jo. [a- 
 mascenus, de Heresibus, tom. i. op. 
 | * Photii Biblioth. Cod. xxiv.—Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. n, 329. 
 
 é@ Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 78, 332, d&c. 
 
THE SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 PART LI. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened in 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In this century the progress of Christianity was great- 
 ly accelerated both in the eastern and western hemispheres, 
 and its divine light was widely diffused through the dark- 
 ened nations. ‘he Nestorians who dwelt in Syria, Persia, 
 and India, contributed much to its propagation in the east, 
 by the zeal and diligence, the laborious efforts and indefa- 
 tigable assiduity, with which they preached it to those 
 fierce and barbarous nations, who lived in the remotest 
 regions and deserts of Asia, and among whom, as we 
 learn from authentic records, their ministry was crowned 
 with remarkable success. It was by the labours of this 
 sect, that the light of the Gospel first penetrated mto the 
 immense empire of China, about the year 636, when 
 Jesuiabas of Gadala was at the head of the Nestorians, as 
 will appear probable to those who consider as genuine the 
 famous Chinese monument, which was discovered at 
 Sigenfu by the Jesuits during the last century. Some 
 look, inleed, upon this monument as a mere forgery of 
 the Jesuits, though, perhaps, without reason: there are, 
 however, some unexceptionable proofs, that the northern 
 parts of China, even before this century, abounded with 
 Christians, who, for many succeeding ages, were under 
 the inspection of a metropolitan sent to them by the Chal- 
 dean or Nestorian patriarch.» 
 
 Il. The attention and activity of the Greeks were so 
 entirely occupied by their intestine divisions, that they were 
 little solicitous about the progress of Christianity. In the 
 west, Augustin laboured to extend the limits of the church 
 and to spread the light of the Gospel among the Anglo- 
 Saxons; and, after his death, other monks were sent from 
 Rome, to exert themselves in the same glorious cause. 
 Their efforts were attended with the desired success: and 
 the efficacy of their labours was manifested in the conver- 
 
 * This celebrated monument has been published and explained by 
 
 several learned writers, particularly by Kircher, in his China IIlustrata ; 
 by Muller, in a treatise published at Berlin in 1672; by Renaudot, in his 
 Relations anciennes des Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voyageurs Ma- 
 hometans, p. 228—271, published at Paris in 1718; and by Assemanus, 
 in his Biblioth. Orient. tom. iil. in part ii. cap. iv. sect. 7. p.533. A still 
 more accurate edition of this famous monument was promised to us by 
 the learned Theoph. Sigefred Bayer, the greatest proficient of this age in 
 Chinese erudition ; but his death has blasted our expectations. For my 
 art, I see no reason to doubt the genuineness of this monument; nor can 
 understand what advantage could redound to the Jesuits from the inven- 
 tion of such a fable. See Liron, Singularités Historiques et Literaires, 
 tom. ii. p. 500. 
 > See Renaudot, p. 56, 68, &e. also Assemani Biblioth. cap. 1x. p. 522; 
 the learned Bayer, in the Preface to his Museum Sinicum, assures us, 
 
 that he had in his hands such proofs of the truth of what is here af- | 
 
 firmed, as put the matter beyond all doubt. 3% See on this subject a 
 
 very learned dissertation published by M. de Guines in the thirtieth vol. || 
 of the Memoires de Literature, tirés des Registres de Academie Royale || 
 des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, in which he proves that the Christians | 
 were settled in China so early as the seventh century. He remarks, | 
 
 sion of the six Anglo-Saxon kings, who had hitherto re- 
 mained under the darkness of the ancient superstitions, to 
 the Christian faith, which gained ground by degrees, and 
 was, at length, embraced universally in Britains We 
 are not, however, to imagine, that this general change in 
 favour of Christianity was wholly due to the discourses of 
 the Roman monks and doctors; for other causes were cer- 
 tainly instrumental in accomplishing this great event; 
 and it is not to be doubted that the influence which some 
 Christian queens, and ladies of high distinction, had over 
 their husbands, and the pains they took to convert them to 
 Christianity, as also the severe and rigorous laws that were 
 afterwards enacted against idolaters,’ contributed much to 
 the progress of the Gospel. 
 Ili. Many of the British, Scotish, and Irish ecclesiastics, 
 travelled among the Batavian, Belgic, and German na- 
 tions, with the pious intention of propagating the know- 
 ledge of the truth, and of erecting churches, and forming 
 religious establishments. "This was the true reason which 
 induced the Germans, in after-times, to found so many con 
 vents for the Scotch and Irish, of which some yet remain.¢ 
 Columban, an Irish monk, seconded by the labours oi 
 a few companions, had happily extirpated, in the prece- 
 ding century, the ancient superstitions in Gaul, and the 
 parts adjacent, where idolatry had taken the deepest root ; 
 he also carried the lamp of celestial truth among the Suevi, 
 the Boii, the Franks, and other German nations,‘ and per 
 severed in these pious and useful labours until his death, 
 which happened in 615. St. Gal, who was one of his 
 companions, preached the Gospel to the Helvetii, and the 
 Suevi.e St. Kilian set out from Scotland, the place of 
 his nativity, and exercised the ministerial function with 
 such success among the eastern Franks, that vast numbers 
 of them embraced Christianity.» ‘Toward the conclusion 
 of this century, the famous Willebrod, by birth an Anglo- 
 Saxon, accompanied with eleven of his countrymen, vz. 
 Suidbert, Wigbert, Acca, Wilibald, Unibald, Lebwin, the 
 
 indeed, that the Nestorians and other Christians were for a long time 
 confounded in the Chinese annals with the worshippers of Fo, an Indian 
 idol, whose rites were introduced into China about 65 years after the 
 birth of Christ; and that this circumstance has deceived De la Croze, 
 Beausobre, and some other learned men, who have raised specious objec- 
 tions-against the hypothesis that maintains the early introduction of 
 Christianity into this great empire. A reader, properly informed, will 
 ay little or no attention to the account given of this matter by Voltaire 
 
 in the first volume of his Essai sur |’Histoire Generale. A poet, who 
 recounts facts, or denies them, without deigning to produce his authori- 
 ties, must not expect to meet with the credit that is due to an historian. 
 
 ¢ Bede Historia Ecclesiast. Gentis Anglor. lib. ii. cap. ill. xiv. lib 
 iii. cap. xxi—Rapin de Thoyras, tom. i. 
 
 @ Wilkins’ Concilia Magne Britanniz, tom. 1. p. 222. 
 
 © See the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Febr. p. 362. 
 
 f Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ordinis Benedicti, tom. ii. iii Adaman, 
 lib. iii. de S. Columbano, in Canisii Lection. Antiq. tom. i. 
 
 @ Walafridi Strabonis Vit. S. Galli in Actis S. Ord. Benedict. tom. ii. 
 —Canisii Lection, Antiq. tom. 1. 
 
 h Vita S. Kiliani in Canisii Lection. Antiq. tom. iii—Jo. Pet. de Lude- 
 wig, Scriptores Rerum Wurzburgens. p. 966. 
 
Omar. L. 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 147 
 
 two Ewalds, Werenfrid, Marcellin, and Adalbert, crossed || tudes of them to be inhumanly dragged into the Chris- 
 
 over into Batavia, which lay opposite to Britain, in order 
 to convert the F'riselanders to the religion of Jesus. Hence, 
 in 692, they went into Fosteland, which most writers look 
 upon to have been the same with the isle of Heligoland, 
 or Heiligland; but, being cruelly treated there by Radbod, 
 king of the F'riselanders, who put Wigbert, one of the 
 company, to death, they departed thence for Cimbria, and 
 the adjacent parts of Denmark. "They, however, returned 
 to Friseland in 693, and were much more successful than 
 they had formerly been in opposing the ancient supersti- 
 tions, and propagating the knowledge of divine truth. 
 Willebrod was ordained, by the Roman pontiff, archbi- 
 shop of Wilteburg, now Utrecht, and died among the Ba- 
 tavians in a good old age, while his associates continued 
 to spread the light of the Gospel among the Westphalians 
 and the neighbouring nations.* 
 
 IV. These voyages, and many others, undertaken in 
 the cause of Christ, carry, no doubt, a specious appearance 
 of piety and zeal; but the impartial and attentive inqui- 
 rer after truth will find it impossible to form the same fa- 
 vourable judgment of them all, or to applaud, without 
 distinction, the motives that animated these laborious mis- 
 sionaries. ‘That the designs of some of them were truly 
 pious, and their characters without reproach, is unques- 
 tionably certain; but it is equally certain, that this was 
 not the case of them all, or even of the greatest part of 
 them. Many of them discovered, in the course of their 
 ministry, the most turbulent passions, and dishonoured 
 the glorious cause in which they were engaged, by their 
 arrogance and ambition, their avarice and cruelty. They 
 abused the power which they had received from the Ro- 
 man pontifis, of forming religious establishments among 
 the superstitious nations; and instead of gaining souls to 
 Christ, they usurped a despotic dominion over their obse- 
 quious proselytes, and exercised a princely authority over 
 the countries where their ministry had been successful. 
 Nor are we to consider, as entirely groundless the suspi- 
 cions of those who allege that many of the monks, desi- 
 rous of rule and authority, concealed their vices under the 
 mask of religion, and endured for a time the austerities of 
 a rigid mortification and abstinence, merely with a view to 
 rise to the episcopal dignity. 
 
 VY. The conversion of the Jews seemed at a stand in 
 . this century; for few or none of that obstinate nation em- 
 braced the Gospel in consequence of an inward convic- 
 tion of its truth, though in many places they were barbar- 
 ously compelled, by the Christians, to make an outward 
 and feigned profession of their faith in Christ. The em- 
 peror Heraclius, incensed against that miserable people 
 by the insinuations, as it is said, of the Christian doctors, 
 persecuted them in a cruel manner, and ordered multi. 
 
 * Aleuini Vita Willebrodi in Mabillon, Act. SS. Ord. Benedict. and 
 Molleri Cimbria Literatz, tom. ii. p. 980. 
 
 » Eutychii Annales Eccles.. Alexandr. tom. ii. p. 212. 
 
 ¢ Eutychii Annales, tom. ii. p. 236. Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Historia 
 Orientalis, lib. i. cap. il. p. 129. 
 
 4 Mohammed himself expressly declared, that he was totally ignorant 
 of all branches of learning and science, and was even unable either to 
 write or read: and his followers have drawn from this ignorance an 
 argument in favour of the divinity of his mission, and of the religion 
 he taught. It is, however, scarcely credible, that his ignorance was such 
 us it is here described; and several of his sect have called in question 
 the declarations of their chief relating to this point. See Chardin’s Voy- 
 ages en Perse, tom. iv. If we consider that he carried on, for a consi- 
 
 derable time, a successful commerce in Arabia and the adjacent countries, 
 this alone will convince us, that he must have been, in some measure, 
 
 tian churches, in order to be baptized by violence and 
 compulsion.” 'The same odious method of converting was 
 practised in Spain and Gaul, by the monarchs of those 
 nations, against which even the bishops of Rome expressed 
 their displeasure and indignation. Such were the horrid 
 and abominable practices to which an ignorance of the true 
 spirit of Christianity, and the barbarous genius of this age, 
 led the heralds of that divine religion, which was designed 
 to spread abroad charity upon earth, and to render man- 
 kind truly and rationally free. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Christians suffered less in this than in the pre- 
 ceding centuries. ‘They were sometimes persecuted by 
 the Persian monarchs, but usually recovered their former 
 tranquillity after transitory scenes of violence and oppres- 
 sion. In England, the new converts to Christianity suf- 
 fered various calamities under the petty kings, who go- 
 verned in those boisterous times; but these kings embraced 
 the Gospel themselves, and then the sufferings of the 
 Christians ceased. In the eastern countries, and particu- 
 larly in fSyria and Palestine, the Jews, at certain times, 
 attacked the Christians with a merciless fury,’ but with 
 so little success, that they always had reason to repent of 
 their temerity, which was severely chastised. It is true, 
 the church had other enemies, even those who, under the 
 treacherous profession of Christianity, were laying secret 
 schemes for the restoration of Paganism; but they were 
 too weak and too inconsiderable to form any attempts that 
 could endanger the Christian cause. 
 
 - II. But a new and most powerful enemy to the Chris- 
 tian cause started up in Arabia in 612, under the reign of 
 Heraclius. ‘This was Mahomet, or Mohammed, an illite- 
 rate man, but endowed by nature with the most flowing 
 and attractive eloquence, and with a vast and penetrating 
 genius,° distinguished also by the advantages he enjoyed 
 from the place of his birth, which added a lustre to his 
 name and his undertakings. 'This adventurous impostor 
 publicly declared, that he was commissioned by God to 
 destroy polytheism and idolatry, and then to reform, first 
 the religion of the Arabians, and afterwards the Jewish 
 and Christian worship. For these purposes he delivered 
 a new law, which is known by the name of the Koran 
 i. e. the book, by way of eminence;! and, having gained 
 several victories over his enemies, he compelled an incredi- 
 ble multitude of persons, both in Arabia and the neigh- 
 bouring nations, to receive his doctrine, and range them- 
 
 > 
 selves under his standard. Elate with this rapid and 
 
 instructed in the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with the know- 
 ledge of which a merchant cannot dispense. 
 
 ¢ The writers, to whom we are indebted for the accounts of the life 
 and religion of Mohammed, are enumerated by Fabricius, in his Delec- 
 tus et Syllabus Argumentorum, pro Veritate Religionis Christiane ; to 
 which we may add Boulainvilliers’ Vie de Mahomet, published at Lon- 
 don in 1730, which, however, deserves rather the character of a romance, 
 than of a history; Gagnier’s Vie de Mahomet, printed at Amsterdam 
 in 1732, and commendable both for the learning and candour with which 
 it appears to have been composed; and, above all, the learned and judi- 
 cious Sale’s Preliminary Discourse, prefixed to his English translation 
 of the Koran, sect. ii. p. 37. 
 
 f For an account of the Koran, see principally Sale’s preface. See 
 also Vertot’s Discours sur ]’Alcoran, subjoined to the third volume of his 
 History of the Knights of Malta, and Chardin’s Voyages en Perse, tom, 
 
148 
 
 unexpected success, he greatly extended his ambitious 
 views, and formed the vast and arduous project of found- 
 ing an empire. Here again success crowned his adven- 
 turous efforts; and his plan was executed with such 
 intrepidity and impudence, that he died master of all Ara- 
 bia, beside several adjacent provinces. 
 
 IIL. It is, perhaps, impossible, at this time, to form such 
 an accurate judgment of the character, views, and conduct 
 of Mohammed, as would entirely satisfy the curiosity of a 
 sagacious inquirer after truth. 'T'o give entire credit to the 
 Grecian writers in this matter, is neither prudent nor safe, 
 since their bitter resentment against this hostile invader led 
 them to invent, without scruple or hesitation, fables and 
 calumnies to blacken his character. "he Arabians, on the 
 other hand, are as little to be trusted to, as their historians 
 are destitute of veracity and candour; they conceal the vices 
 and enormities of their chief, and represent him as the most 
 divine person that ever appeared upon earth, and as the 
 best gift of God to the world. Add to this, that a consi- 
 derable part of his life, indeed the part of it that would be 
 the most proper to lead us toa true knowledge of his charac- 
 ter, and of the motives from which he acted, is absolutely 
 unknown. It is highly probable that he was so deeply 
 affected with the odious and abominable superstition which 
 dishonoured his country, that it threw him into a certain 
 fanatical disorder of mind, and made him really imagine 
 
 that he was supernaturally commissioned to reform the | 
 
 religion of the Arabians, and to restore among them the 
 worship of one God. It is, however, at the same time, un- 
 doubtedly evident, that when he saw his enterprise crowned 
 with the desired success, he made use of impious frauds to 
 establish the work he had so happily begun, deluded the 
 giddy and credulous multitude by various artifices, and even 
 forged celestial visions to confirm his authority, and remove 
 the difficulties that frequently arose in the course of his 
 affairs. ‘his mixture of imposture is by no means incom- 
 patible with a spirit of enthusiasm; for the fanatic, through 
 the unguided warmth of zeal, looks often upon the artifices 
 that are useful to his cause as pious and acceptable to the 
 Supreme Being, and therefore deceives when he can do it 
 with impunity.« The religion which Mohammed taught, 
 is certainly different from what it would have been, if he 
 had met with no opposition in the propagation of his opi- 
 nions. ‘The difficulties he had to encounter obliged him to 
 yield, in some respects, to the reigning systems: the obsti- 
 nate attachment of the Arabians to the religion of their an- 
 cestors on one hand, and the fond hope of gaining over to 
 his cause both the Jews and Christians on the other, en- 
 gaged, no doubt, this fanatical impostor to admit into his 
 system several tenets, which he would have rejected with- 
 out hesitation, had he been free from the restraints of 
 ambition and artifice. 
 
 IV. The rapid success which attended the propagation 
 of this new religion was produced by causes that are plain 
 
 ii. p. 281. The book which the Mohammedans call the Koran, is com- 
 posed of several papers and discourses of the impostor, which were dis- 
 covered and gollected after his death, and is by no means that same law 
 whose excellence he vaunted so highly. That some parts of the true 
 Koran may be copied in the modern one, is indeed very possible; but 
 that the Koran, or Law, given by Mohammed to the Arabians, is enti rely 
 distinct from the modern Koran, is manifest from this, that, in the latter, 
 he appeals to, and extols the former, and therefore they must be two dif- 
 ferent compositions. May it not be conjectured, that the true Koran 
 was an Arabic poem, which he recited to his followers without giving it 
 
 to tnem in writing, ordering them only to commit it to memory? Such || 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part L 
 
 and evident, and must remove, or rather prevent our sur- 
 prise, when they are attentively considered. The terror 
 of Mohammed’s arms, and the repeated victories which 
 were gained by him and his successors, were, without 
 doubt, the irresistible argument that persuaded such mul- 
 titudes to embrace his religion, and submit to his doii- 
 nion. Besides, his law was artfully and wonderfully adapt- 
 ed to the corrupt nature of man, and, in a more particular 
 manner, to the manners and opinions of the eastern nations 
 and the vices to which they were naturally addicted ; for 
 the articles of faith which it proposed were few in number, 
 and extremely simple; and the duties it required were 
 neither many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible, 
 with the empire of appetites and passions.’ It is to be ob- 
 served farther, that the gross ignorance, under which the 
 Arabians, Syrians, Persians, and the greatest part of the 
 eastern nations, laboured at this time, rendered many an 
 easy prey to the artifice and eloquence of this bold adven- 
 turer. 'T'o these causes of the progress of the Mohammedan 
 faith, we may add the bitter dissensions and cruel animosi- 
 ties that reigned among the Christian sects, particularly the 
 Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monophysites, dis- 
 sensions that filled a great part of the east with carnage, 
 assassinations, and such detestable enormities, as rendered 
 the very name of Christianity odious tomany. We might 
 add here, that the Monophysites and Nestorians, full of 
 resentment against the Greeks, from whom they had suf- 
 fered the bitterest and most injurious treatment, assisted 
 the Arabians in the conquest of several provinces,° into 
 which, consequently, the religion of Mohammed was after- 
 wards introduced. Other causes of the sudden progress 
 of that religion will naturally occur to such as consider at- 
 tentively its spirit and genius, and the state of the world at 
 that time. 
 
 V. After the death of the pseudo-prophet, which hap- 
 pened in 632, his followers, led on by an amazing intrepi- 
 dity and a fanatical fury, and assisted, as we have already 
 observed, by those Christians whom the Greeks had treat- 
 ed with such severity, extended their conquests beyond the 
 limits of Arabia, and subdued Syria, Persia, Egypt, and 
 other countries. On the other hand, the Greeks, exhaust- 
 ed with civil discord, and wholly occupied by intestine 
 troubles, were unable to stop these intrepid conquerors in 
 their rapid career. 
 
 For some time these enthusiastic invaders used their 
 prosperity with moderation, and treated the Christians, 
 particularly those who rejected the decrees of the councils 
 of Ephesus and Chalcedon, with the utmost indulgence 
 and lenity. But, as an uninterrupted course of success 
 and prosperity renders, too generally, corrupt mortals inso- 
 lent and imperious, so the moderation of this victorious 
 sect degenerated by degrees into severity; and they treated 
 the Christians, at length, rather like slaves than citizens, 
 loading them with insupportable taxes, and obliging them 
 
 were the laws of the Druids in Gaul and Britain, and suer. also those 
 of the Indians, which the Bramins receive by oral tradition, and get by 
 heart. 
 
 * This, perhaps, is the best way of adjusting the controversy that has 
 been carried on by some learned men upon this curious question,— 
 whether Mohammed was a fanatic or an impostor? See Bayle’s Dic 
 tionary; also Ockiey’s Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by the Sa- 
 racens, vol. i.; and Sale’s Preface to his Translation of the Koran, sect. 11. 
 
 b See Reland, de Religione Mahumedicaé; also Sale’s Preliminary 
 Discourse. 
 
 * See Ockley’s Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt, by the Saracens 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 to submit to a variety of vexatious and oppressive mea- 
 sures. 
 
 VI. The progress, however, of this triumphant sect re- 
 ceived a considerable check by the civil dissensions which 
 arose among them immediately after the death of Moham- 
 med. Abubeker and Ali, the former the father-in-law, 
 and the latter the son-in-law, of this pretended prophet, 
 aspired to succeed him in the empire which he had erect- 
 ed. Upon this arose a tedious and cruel contest, whose 
 flame reached to succeeding ages, and produced that 
 schism which divided the Mohammedans into two great 
 factions, whose separation not only gave rise to a variety 
 of opinions and rites, but also excited the most implacable 
 hatred and the most deadly animosities. Of these factions, 
 one acknowledged Abubeker as the true khalif, or succes- 
 sor of Mohammed, and its members were distinguished 
 oy the name of Sonnites; while the other adhered to Ali, 
 and received the appellation of Shiites.» Both, however, 
 
 * See Reland, de Religione Turcica, lib. i. p. 36, 70, 74, 85; and Char- 
 din’s Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. p. 236 ; ; 
 » For an account of the Mohammedan sects, see Hottingeri Histor. 
 
 No. XIII. 38 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 149 
 
 adhered to the Koran as a divine law, and as the rule of 
 fxith and manners; to which, indeed, the former added, 
 by way of interpretation, the sonna, i. e. a certain law 
 which they looked upon as derived from Mohammed by 
 oral tradition, and which the Shiites refused to admit. 
 Among the Sonnites, or followers of Abubeker, we are to 
 reckon the ‘Turks, Tartars, Arabians, Africans, and the 
 greatest part of the Indian Moslems; whereas the Per- 
 sians, and the subjects of the great Mogul, are generally 
 considered as the followers of Ali; though the latter in- 
 deed seem rather to observe a strict neutrality in this 
 contest. 
 
 Beside these two grand factions, there are several subor- 
 dinate sects among thé Moslems, which dispute with 
 warmth upon several points of religion, though without 
 violating the rules of mutual toleration.» Of these sects 
 there are four, which far surpass the rest in point of repu 
 tation and importance. 
 
 Orient. lib. ii. cap. vi. p. 340.—Ricaut’s Etat de l’Empire Ottoman, liv, 
 li. p. 242.—Chardin’s Voyages en Perse, tom. ii.; and Sale’s Prelimi- 
 nary Discourse, sect. viii. 
 
eA eae 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concer? ing the state of Letters and Philosophy during 
 this Century. 
 
 I. Nornine can equal the ignorance and darkness that 
 
 reigned in this century; the most impartial and accurate 
 account of which will appear incredible to those who are 
 unacquainted with the productions of this barbarous period. 
 Any remains of learning and if Dae that yet survived, 
 were, a few particular cases excepted, to be found principally 
 among the Latins, in the obscure retreats of cloistered 
 monks. he monastic institutions prohibited the election of 
 any abbot to the government of a convent, who was not 
 aman of learning, or, at least, endowed with some share of 
 the erudition of the times. ‘The monks were obliged to 
 consecrate certain hours every day to reading and study: 
 and, that they might improve this appointment to the 
 most adv antageous purposes, there were, in most of the 
 monasteries, stated times marked out, at which they were 
 to assemble, in order to communicate to each other the fruits 
 of their studies, and to discuss the matters upon which 
 ‘hey had beenreading.s 'The youth also, who were destined 
 for the service of the church, were obliged to- prepare them- 
 “selves for their ministry by a diligent application to study ; 
 and in this they were directed by the monks, one of whose 
 principal occupations it was to preside over the education 
 of the rising priesthood. 
 
 It must, however, be acknowledged, that all these insti- 
 tutions were of little use to the advancement of solid learn- 
 ing, or of rational theology, because very few in those days 
 
 were acquainted with the true nature of the liberal arts and | 
 
 sciences, or with the important ends which they were 
 adapted to serve ; and the greatest part of those who were 
 looked upon as learned men, threw away their time in read- 
 ing the marvellous lives of a parcel of fanatical saints, 
 instead of employing it in the perusal of well-chosen and 
 excellent authors. ‘They, who distinguished themselves 
 most by their taste and genius, eared their studies little 
 farther than the works of Augustin and Gregory the Great; 
 and it was of scraps collected out of these two writers, and 
 patched together without much uniformity, that the best 
 productions of this century were composed. 
 
 Ii. 'T’he sciences enjoyed no degree of protection, at this 
 time, from kings and princes ; nor r did they.owe any thing 
 to men of high and eminent stations in the empire. On the 
 other hand the schools which had been committed to the 
 care and inspection of the bishops, whose ignorance and 
 indolence were now become enormous, began to decline 
 apace, and had, in many places, fallen into ruin.. ‘The 
 bishops in general were so illiterate, that few of them were 
 capable of ¢ composing the discourses which they delivered 
 to the people. Such prelates as were not totally destitute of 
 genius composed, out of the writings of Augustin and 
 Gregory, a certain number of insipid homilies, which they 
 
 * Mabillon, Acta Sanct. Ord. Benedict. tom. ii. p. 479, 513. 
 
 > Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. ii. p. 428. 
 
 4 ° In the original we read Eligius Noviomagensis, which is a mis- 
 take either of the ‘author, or pr inter. 
 
 It is probable that Noviomagensis } 
 
 i 
 
 | Sophronius among the former; 
 
 divided between themselves and their stupid colleagues. 
 that they might not be obliged through incapacity .to dis- 
 continue preaching the doctrines of “Christianity to the 
 people, as appears from the examples of Cesarius bishop ot 
 Arles, and Eloi bishop of Noyon.: "There is yet extant a 
 summary of theological doctrine, which was unskilfully 
 compiled by 'T'aion bishop of Saragossa, from the writings 
 of Augustin and Gregory ; and which was so highly ex- 
 tolled in this illiterate age, that its author was called, by the 
 
 _rest of the bishops, the true salt of the earth, and a divine 
 
 light that was sent to illuminate the world. é Man y such 
 instances of the i ignorance and harbarity of this century 
 will occur to those who have any acquaintance w ith the 
 writers it produced. England, it is true, was happier in this 
 respect than the other nations of Europe, which was prin- 
 cipally owing to 'Theodore 'Tarsus, of whom we e shall have 
 occasion to speak afterwards, who was appointed archbishop 
 of Canterbury, and contributed much to introduce, among 
 the English, a certain taste for literary pursuits, and to 
 excite in that kingdom a zeal for the advancement of learn- 
 ing.® 
 
 Tif. In Greece, the fate of the sciences was truly la 
 mentable. A turgid eloquence, and an affected pomp 
 and splendour of' style, which cast a perplexing obscurity 
 over subjects in themselves the most clear and perspicuous, 
 now formed the highest point of perfection to which both 
 prose writers and “poets aspired. ‘The Latin eloquence 
 was still very considerably below that of the Greeks; 
 had not spirit enough even to be turgid, and, a few com- 
 positions excepted, it had sunk to the very lowest degree 
 of barbarity and corruption. Both the Greek and Latin 
 writers, who attempted historical compositions, degraded 
 most miserably that important science. Moschus and 
 and among the latter 
 Braulio, Jonas an Hibernian, Audoenus, Dado, and Ada- 
 mannus, wrote the lives of several saints, or rather a heap 
 of insipid and ridiculous fables, void of the least air of pro- 
 bability, and without the smallest tincture of eloquence. 
 The Greeks related, without discernment or choice, the 
 most vulgar reports that were handed about concerning 
 the events of ancient times; and hence arose that multi 
 tude of absurd fables, which the Latins afterwards copied 
 from them with the utmost avidity. 
 
 IV. Among the Latins, philosophy was at its lowest ebly 
 If there were any that retained some faint reluctance tc 
 abandon it entirely, such confined their studies to the wri 
 tings of Boethius and Cassiodorus, from which they com- 
 mitted to memor y a certain number of phrases and sen- 
 tences; and that was all their philosophical stock. The 
 Greeks, abandoning Plato to the monks, gave themselves 
 entirely up to the direction of Aristotle, and studied, with 
 
 eagerness, the subtilties of his logic, which were of sional 
 
 use in the controversies carried on between the Monophy 
 sites, the Nestorians, and Monothelites. All these different 
 
 slipped from the pen of Dr. Mosheim, in the place cf Noviodunensis; for 
 Eloi was bishop of Noyon, and not of Nimeguen. 
 
 4 Mabillon, Analecta veteris Zvi, tom. il. p. 7. 
 
 e Wilkins’ Con. Mag. Brit. tom. i. p. 42.—Conringii Ant. Aca. p, 277. 
 
4 wap, Il. 
 
 sects called the Stagirite to their assistance, when they 
 were to plead their cause, and to defend their doctrines. 
 Hence it was, that James, bishop of Edessa, who was a 
 Monophysite, translated, in this century, the dialectics of 
 Aristotle into the Syriac language. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue disputes about pre-eminence, that had so long 
 subsisted between the bishops of Rome and Constantino- 
 ple, proceeded, in this century, to such violent lengths, as 
 laid the foundation of that deplorable schism, which after- 
 wards separated the Greek and Latin churches. The 
 most learned writers, and those who are most remarkable 
 for their knowledge of antiquity, are generally agreed that 
 Boniface IT. engaged Phocas, that abominable tyrant, 
 who waded to the imperial throne through the blood of 
 the emperor Mauritius, to take from the bishop of Con- 
 stantinople the title of a@cuwmenical or universal bishop, 
 and to confer it upon the Roman pontiff. ‘They relate 
 this, however, upon the sole authority of Baronius; for 
 none of the ancient writers have mentioned it. If, indeed, 
 we are to give credit to Anastasius and Paul the deacon, 
 something. like what we have now related was* transacted 
 by P hocas: for, when the bishops of Constantinople main- 
 tained that their church was not only equal in dignity 
 and authority to that of Rome, but also the head of all 
 the Christian churches, this tyrant opposed their preten- 
 sions, and granted the pre-eminence to the church of 
 Rome: and thus was the papal supremacy first intro- 
 duced. 
 
 If. The Roman pontiffs used all sorts of methods to 
 maintain and enlarge the authority and pre-eminence 
 which they had acquired by a grant from the most odious 
 tyrant that ever disgraced the annals of history. We 
 find, however, in the most authentic accounts of the trans- 
 actions of this century, that not only several emperors 
 and princes, but also whole nations, opposed the ambitious 
 views of the bishops of Rome. The Byzantine history, 
 ‘and the Formulary of Marculfus, contain many proofs of 
 the influence which the civil magistrate yet retained in 
 religious matters, and of the subordination of the Roman 
 pontiffs to the regal authority. It is true, the Roman wri- 
 ters affirm, that Constantine Pogonatus abdicated the pri- 
 vilege of confirming, by his approbation, the election of 
 the bishop of that city; and, as a proof of this, they allege 
 a passage of Anastasius, in which it is said, that according 
 to an edict of Pogonatus, the pontiff, who should be elect- 
 ed, was to be ordained immediately, and without the 
 least delay... But every one must see, that this passage 
 is insufficient to prove what these writers assert with such 
 confidence. It is however certain, that this emperor aba- 
 ted, some say remitted, the sum which, from the time of 
 
 * See Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. p. 498. 
 
 » Anastasius, de vitis Pontificum. Paul. Diacon. de rebus gestis 
 Longobard. lib. iv. cap. xxxvil. apud Muratorii Scriptor. rerum Italicar. 
 tom. i. p. 465. 
 
 * Anastasti vit. Pontif. in Bened. p. 146, in Muratorii Scriptor. rerum 
 Italicar. tom. ill. 
 
 4 Anastas. vit. Pontif. in Agathone, p. 144, compared with Mascovii || 
 
 Hist. German. tom. ii. p. 121, in the annotations. 274 It will not be im- 
 proper to observe here, that by the same edict, which i disninishee the ordi- 
 nation-money paid by the bishops of Rome to the emperor, Constantine 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 151 
 
 Theodoric, the bishops of Rome had been obliged to pay 
 to the imperial treasury before they could be ordained, or 
 have their election confirmed.4 
 
 The ancient Britons and Scots persisted long in the 
 maintenance of their religious liberty; and neither the 
 threats nor promises of the legates of Rome could engage 
 them to submit to the decrees and authority of the ambi- 
 tious pontiff, as appears manifestly from the testimony of 
 Bede. The churches of Gaul and Spain attributed as 
 much authority to the bishop of Rome, as they thought 
 suitable to their own dignity, and consistent with their in- 
 terests: even in Italy his supreme authority was obsti- 
 nately rejected, since the bishop of Ravenna, and other 
 prelates, refused an implicit submission to his orders. Be- 
 side all this, multitudes of private persons expressed pub- 
 licly, and without the least hesitation, their abhorrence of 
 the vices, and particularly of the lordly ambition of the 
 Roman pontifis: and it is highly probable, that the Val- 
 denses or Vaudois had already, in this century, retired 
 into the valleys of Piedmont, that they might be more 
 at liberty to oppose the tyranny of those imperious pre- 
 lates.‘ 
 
 III. The progress of vice, among the subordinate rulers 
 and ministers of the church, was at this time truly deplo- 
 rable: neither bishops, presbyters, deacons, nor even the 
 cloistered monks, were exempt from the general contagion, 
 as appears from the unanimous confession of all the writers 
 of this century that are worthy of credit. In those very 
 places, that were consecrated to the advancement of piety, 
 and the service of God, there was little to be seen but spiri- 
 tual ambition, insatiable avarice, pious frauds, intolerable 
 pride, and a supercilious contempt of the natural rights of 
 the people, with many other vices still more enormous. 
 There reigned also in many places the most bitter dissen- 
 sions between the bishops and the monks. The former had 
 employed the greedy hands of the latter to augment the 
 episcopal treasure, and to draw the contributions from all 
 parts to support them in their luxury, and the indulgence 
 of their lust. he monks perceiving this, and also unwil- 
 ling to serve the bishops in such a dishonourable character, 
 fled for refuge to the emperors and princes, under whose 
 civil jurisdiction they lived ; and afterwards, for their far- 
 ther security, had recourse to the protection of the Roman 
 pontiff.s ‘This protection they readily obtained ; and the 
 imperious pontifls, always fond of exerting their authority, 
 exempted, by degrees, the monastic orders from the j juris- 
 diction of the bishops. The monks, in return for this im- 
 portant service, devoted themselves wholly to advance the 
 interest, and to maintain the dignity of the bishop of 
 Rome. They made his cause their own, and represented 
 him as a sort of god to the ignorant multitude, over whom 
 they had gained a prodigious ascendency by the notion that 
 generally prevailed of the sanctity of the monastic order. 
 It is, at the same time, to be observed, that this hamanity 
 toward the monks proved a fruitful source of licentious- 
 
 resumed the power of confirming the election of the pope, which his pre- 
 decessors had invested in the exarchs of Ravenna; so that the bishop 
 elect was not to be ordained till his election was notified to the court of 
 Constantinople, and the imperial decree confirming it was received by 
 the electors at Rome. See Anastasius, in his life of Agatho. 
 
 * See Geddes’ Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. ii. p. 6. 
 
 f See Antoine Leger’s Histoire des Eglises Vaudoises, liv. i. p. 15. 
 
 €See Launoii Assertio Inquisitionis in Chartam Immunitatis 8 S. Ger- 
 mani, op. tom. iii. par. i. p. 50. Baluzii Miscellan. tom. ii. p. 159; tom, 
 iv. p. "108. Muratorii Antiq. Italic. tom. il. p. 944, 949. 
 
152 
 
 ness and disorder, and occasioned the greatest part of the 
 vices with which they were afterwards so justly charged. 
 Such, at least, is the judgment of the best writers upon 
 this subject.* 
 
 IV. In the mean time the monks were every where in 
 high repute, and their cause was accompanied with the 
 most surprising success, particularly among the Latins, 
 through the protection and favour of the Roman pontiff, 
 and their pharisaical affectation of uncommon piety and 
 devotion. The heads of families, striving to surpass each 
 other in their zeal for the propagation and advancement of 
 monkery, dedicated their children to God, by shutting them 
 up in convents, and devoting them to a solitary life, which 
 they looked upon as the highest felicity ;» nor did they 
 fail to send with these innocent victims a rich dowry. 
 Abandoned profligates, who had passed their days in the 
 most vicious pursuits, and whose guilty consciences filled 
 them with terror and remorse, were comforted with the 
 delusive hopes of obtaining pardon, and making atonement 
 for their crimes, by leaving the greatest part of their for- 
 tune to some monastic society. Multitudes, impelled by 
 the unnatural dictates of a gloomy superstition, deprived 
 their children of fertile lands and rich patrimonies, in 
 favour of the monks, by whose prayers they hoped to ren- 
 der the Deity propitious. Several ecclesiastics laid down 
 tules for the direction of the monastic orders. ‘Those 
 among the Latins, who undertook this pious task, were 
 F'ructuosus, Isidore, Johannes Gerundinensis, and Colum- 
 ban.e The rule of discipline, prescribed by St. Benedict, 
 was not yet universally followed, so as to exclude all 
 others. 
 
 V. The writers of this age, who distinguished them- 
 selves by their genius or erudition, were very few in num- 
 ber. Among the Greeks, the first rank is due to Maxi- 
 mus, a monk, who disputed with great obstinacy and 
 warmth against the Monothelites, composed some illustra- 
 tions upon the Holy Scriptures, and was, upon the whole, 
 a man of no mean capacity, though unhappy through the 
 impatience and violence of his natural temper. 
 
 Isychius, bishop of Jerusalem, explained several books 
 of Scripture ;¢ and left several homilies, and some produc- 
 tions of less importance. 
 
 Dorotheus, abbot of Palestine, acquired a considerable 
 name by his Ascetic Dissertations, in which he laid down 
 a plan of monastic life and manners. 
 
 Antiochus, a monk of Saba in Palestine, and a monk 
 of avery superstitious complexion, composed a Pandect of 
 the Holy Scriptures, i. e. a summary or system of the 
 Christian doctrine, which is by no means worthy of high 
 commendation. 
 
 Sophronius, bishop of Jerusalem, was rendered illustrious 
 and attracted the veneration of succeeding ages, by the 
 controversies he carried on against those who, at this time, 
 were branded with the name of heretics; and particularly 
 
 * See Launoti Examen Privilegii 8. Germani, tom. iii. par. i. p. 282. 
 Wilkins’ Cencilia Magne Britanniz, tom. i. p. 43, 44, 49, &c. 
 
 > Gervais, Histoire de l’Abbé Suger, tom. i. p. 9—16. 
 
 © Luce Holstenii Codex Regular. tom. ii. p. 225. 
 
 4 See Simon’s Critique de la Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques 
 de M. Du-Pin, tom. 1. p. 261. 
 
 ° See the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Martii add. xi. p. 65. 
 
 f See the Acta Sanctorum, Januar. tom. il. p. 535. 
 
 € Histoire Literaire de ic France, tom. 111. p. 565. 
 
 3> » This prelate certainly deserved a more honourable mention than 
 is here made of him by Dr. Mosheim. His poetical talents were by no 
 means the most distinguishing pa:t of his character. He was profoundly 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | nimio ardore fidei indagante, patefacta proderentur.” 
 
 Part II. 
 
 against the Monothelites, of whose doctrine he was the 
 first opposer, and also the fomenter of the dispute which 
 it occasioned.* ' 
 
 There are yet extant several homilies, attributed to An- 
 drew bishop of Crete, which are destitute of true piety and 
 eloquence, and which are, moreover, considered by some 
 writers as entirely spurious. 
 
 Gregory, surnamed Pisides, deacon of Constantinople, 
 besides the History of Heraclius and the Avares, composed 
 several poems, and other pieces, of too little moment to de- 
 serve mention. 
 
 Theodore, abbot of Raithu, published a book which is 
 still extant, against those sects who seemed to introduce 
 corrupt innovations into the Christian religion by then 
 doctrine relating to the person of Christ. 
 
 VI. Among the Latin writers, a certain number were 
 distinguished from the rest by their superior abilities. 
 Ildefonso, archbishop of 'Toledo, was in repute for his 
 learning ; the Spaniards, however, attribute to him with- 
 out foundation certain treatises concerning the Virgin 
 Mary.‘ 
 
 We have yet extant two books of Epistles, written by 
 Desiderius, bishop of Cahors, and published by the learn- 
 ed Canisius. 
 
 Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Limoges, left behind him 
 several homilies, and some other productions. 
 
 Marculf, a Gallic monk, composed two books of ecclesi- 
 astical forms, which are highly valuable, as they are ex- 
 tremely proper to give us a just idea of the deplorable 
 state of religion and learning in this century.¢ 
 
 Aldhelm, an English prelate, composed several poems, 
 concerning the Christian life, which exhibit but indiffere 
 marks of genius and fancy.* 
 
 Julian Pomerius confuted the Jews, and acquired a 
 name by several other productions, which are neither 
 worthy of much applause nor of utter contempt. ‘T’o all 
 these we might add Cresconius, whose Abridgment of the 
 Canons is well known; Fredegarius the historian, and a 
 few others. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine. of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Iw this barbarous age, religion lay expiring under a 
 motley and enormous heap of superstitious inventions, and 
 had neither the courage nor the force to raise her head, or 
 to display her native charms, to a darkened and deluded 
 world. In the earlier periods of the church, the Christian 
 worship was confined to the one Supreme God, and his 
 Son Jesus Christ ; but the Christians of this century multi- 
 plied the objects of their devotion, and paid homage to the 
 remains of the true cross, to the images of the saints, and to 
 bones, whose real owners were extremely dubious. The 
 versed in the Greek, Latin, and Saxon languages. He appeared also 
 with dignity in the paschal controversy, that so long divided the Saxon 
 and British churches. See Collier’s Ecclesiastical Hist. vol. 1. 
 
 ilt will not be amiss to quote here a remarkable passage out of the 
 
 Life of St. Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Noyon, which is to be found in M, 
 d@Achery’s Spicilegium veter. Scriptor. tom. 1. p. 92. This passage, 
 
 | which is very proper to give us a just idea of the piety of this age, is as 
 
 follows: ‘ Huic sanctissimo viro, inter cetera virtutum suarum miracula, 
 id etiam a Domino concessum erat, ut sanctorum martyruin corpora, qua 
 per tot secula abdita populis hactenus habebantur, eo investigante ac 
 It appears by this 
 passage, that St. Eloi was a zealous relic-hunter; and, if we may give 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 primitive Christians, in order to excite men toa course of 
 piety and virtue, set before them that heavenly state, and 
 those mansions of misery, which the Gospel has revealed 
 as the different portions of the righteous and the wicked ; 
 while the Christians of this century talked of nothing else 
 but a certain fire which effaced the stains of vice, and puri- 
 fied souls from their corruption. 'The former taught that 
 Christ, by his sufferings and death, had made atonement 
 for the sins of mortals ; the latter seemed, by their super- 
 stitious doctrine, to exclude, from the kingdom of heaven, 
 such as had not contributed, by their offerings, to augment 
 the riches of the clergy or the church.s The former were 
 only studious to attain a virtuous simplicity of life and man- 
 ners, and employed their principal zeal and diligence in the 
 culture of true and genuine piety, while the latter placed 
 the whole of religion in external rites and bodily exercises. 
 The methods also of solving the difficulties, and dissipating 
 the doubts, which often arose in inquisitive minds, were 
 of a piece with the rest of the superstitious system that 
 now prevailed. ‘The two great and irresistible arguments 
 against all doubts, were the authority of the church and the 
 working of miracles, and the production of these prodigies 
 required no extraordinary degree of dexterity in an age of 
 such gross and universal ignorance. 
 
 II. Few, either of the Greeks or Latins, applied them- 
 selves to the interpretation of the Scriptures during this 
 century. ‘There are yet extant some commentaries of Isy- 
 chius, bishop of Jerusalem, upon certain books of the Old 
 ‘Testament, and upon the Epistle to the Hebrews. Maxi- 
 
 credit to the writer of his life, he was very successful at this kind of game; 
 for he smelt and unkenneled the carcases of St. Quintin, St. Plato, St. 
 Crispin, St. Crispinian, St. Lucian, and many more. The bishops of this 
 age, who were either ambitiously desirous of popular applause, or intent 
 upon accumulating riches, and filling their coffers with the oblations of a 
 superstitious people, pretended to be endowed with a miraculous saga- 
 city in discovering the bodies of saints and martyrs.* 
 
 * St. Eloi expresses himself upon this matter in the following manner: 
 * Bonus Christianus est, qui ad ecclesiam frequentius venit, et oblatio- 
 nem, que in altari Deo offeratur, exhibet; qui de fructibus suis non gustat, 
 nisi prius Deo aliquid offerat; qui, quoties sanctz solemnitates adveniunt, 
 ante dies plures castitatem etiam cum propria uxore custodit, ut secura 
 conscientia Domini altare accedere possit; qui postremo symbolum vel 
 grationem Dominicam memoriter tenet.—Redimite animas vestras de 
 pena, dum habetis in potestate remedia; oblationes et decimas ecclesiis 
 offerte, luminaria sanctis locis, juxta quod hahetis, exhibete; ad ecclesiam 
 quoque frequentius convenite, sanctorum patrocinia humiliter expetite ; 
 quod si observaveritis, securi in die judicii ante tribunal zterni judicis 
 venientes dicetis, Da, Domine, quia dedimus.” 4p We see here a large 
 and ample description of the character of a good Christian, in which 
 there is not the least mention of the love of God, resignation to his will, 
 obedience to his laws, or of justice, benevolence, and charity toward 
 men; and in which the whole of religion is made to consist in coming 
 often to the church, bringing offerings to the altar, lighting candles in con- 
 secrated places, and the like vain services.t 
 
 b This useless production has been usually published with the works 
 of Gregory the Great; in consequence of which, the Benedictine monks 
 have inserted it in their splendid edition of the works of that pontiff, tom. 
 lV. part ni. 
 
 * Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 93, 94. 
 
 * That much imposition was practised in this respect, even the catho- 
 lics must admit. The biographer of Eloi says, that, ‘some relics were 
 honoured with popular worship in places where they did not exist, while 
 no one knew, to a certainty, in what spot they were to be found.’ To 
 supply this deficiency of knowledge, it became expedient, in the opinion 
 of the clerical zealots, to point out the places of interment; and thus relics 
 were wantonly multiplied, many saints having two or three heads found 
 for each person, and a great number of arms and legs. This reminds us 
 of the remark of a lady, who, having seen at a museum a relic which 
 was said to be Cromwell’s scull, asked the keeper of another repository, 
 whether he could produce a scull of the same great personage. ‘No 
 Madam,’ he replied; ‘we have nothing of the kind.’—* That seems very 
 
 odd,’ said the lady; ‘I saw ong at Oxford, and I should have thought | 
 
 that you would have had another.’—Epir. 
 t Some modern writers of the Romish persuasion have exclaimed 
 against these strictures in terms of severe reprehension; and Dr. Lin- 
 
 No. XIII. 39 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 153 
 
 mus published a solution of sixty-five questions relating to 
 the Scriptures, and other productions of the same nature. 
 Julian Pomerius attempted, but without success, to recon- 
 cile the seeming contradictions that are to be found in the 
 sacred writings, and to explain the prophecy of Nahum. 
 All these writers were manifestly inferior to the meanest 
 expositors of modern times. The Grecian doctors, par- 
 ticularly those who pretended to be initiated in the most 
 mysterious depths of theology, were continually hunting 
 after fantastic allegories, as is evident from the Questions 
 of Maximus already mentioned. ‘lhe Latins, on the con- 
 trary, were so diffident of their abilities, that they did not 
 dare to enter these allegorical labyrinths, but contented 
 themselves with what flowers they could pluck out of the 
 rich collections of Gregory and Augustin. Of this we 
 see a manifest example in Paterius’ Exxposition of the Old 
 and New ‘Testament, which is entirely compiled from the 
 writings of Gregory the Great.» Among the interpreters 
 of this century, we must not forget Thomas, bishop of 
 Heraclea, who gave a second Syriac version of the New 
 ‘Testament.¢ 
 
 III. While philosophy and theology had scarcely any 
 remains of life, any marks of existence among the Latins, 
 the Greeks were wholly occupied with fruitless controver- 
 sies about particular branches of religion, and did not 
 think of reducing all the doctrines of Christianity into one 
 regular and rational system. It is true, Antiochus, a monk 
 of Palestine, composed a short summary of the Christian 
 doctrine, which he entitled the Pandect of the Holy Scrip- 
 
 gard, in particular, says, ‘ This citation from the writings of St Eloi 
 holds a distinguished place in every invective which has been published 
 against the clergy of former ages; and this definition of a good Christian 
 has been re-echoed a thousand times by the credulity of writers and their 
 readers ;’ but it appears, upon due investigation, he adds, that the ‘ bishop 
 of Noyon has been fowlly calumniated ;’ for his definition of a good 
 Christian is of the following tenor: ‘Non vobis sufficit, charissimi, 
 quod Christianum nomen accepistis, si opera Christiana non facitis. Illi 
 enim prodest, quod Christianus vocatur, qui semper Christi precepta 
 mente retinet, et opere perficit; qui furtum, scilicet, non facit; qui falsum 
 testimonium non dicit; qui nec mentitur, nec pejerat; qui adulterium 
 non committit; qui nullum hominem odit, sed omnes sicut semetipsum 
 diligit; qui inimicis suis malum non reddit, sed magis pro ipsis orat; 
 qui lites non concitat, sed discordes ad concordiam revocat.” ‘It is not 
 sufficient for your characters or your credit, my dearest friends, that you 
 merely bear the name of a christian; you must perform the acts and 
 duties of a Christian. He alone is worthy of the name, who retains in 
 his mind the precepts of religion, and carries them into effect ; who avoids, 
 as a crime, the commission of theft; who shuns the guilt of perjury or 
 falsehood; who does not commit adultery ; who hates no one, but is 
 ready to serve even his enemies; and who is so far from promoting 
 strife, that he is eager to prevent all disputes, and allay all animosities.’ 
 These and other evidences of the Christian character and temper, in the 
 century to which Dr. Mosheim refers, are given by the catholic historian 
 in the words of Audoénus (St. Ouen) bishop of Rouen, who wrote the 
 life of St. Eloi; and we are bound to state, because we have ascertained 
 the point, that he has quoted the original fairly and correctly, according 
 to the best edition of the Spicilegium. (Paris, 1723, 3 vols. folio.) We are 
 induced to mention this circumstance, because some protestant divines 
 have been so eager to exculpate Dr. Mosheim, that they have accused 
 Dr. Lingard of following a spurious edition, in which various interpo- 
 lations might have been made by the Romanists to support the credit of 
 the early church. We areaware that papists seem to have a fellow-feel- 
 ing with their religious ancestors, and are frequently hurried by their 
 zeal into misrepresentation, and sometimes into gross deviations from 
 truth; but it is certainly illiberal to suspect them without cause, or to 
 condemn them without inquiry. 
 
 In the present case, we cannot conscientiously decide in favour of Dr. 
 Mosheim. His general impartiality we readily admit; but he did not, on 
 this occasion, strictly attend to that duty. In the very page from which 
 he extracted the unfavourable passage, he must, we think, have seen 
 (for he was usually keen in his researches) the detail of religious and 
 moral duties quoted by Dr. Lingard, and he ought to have given one as 
 well as the other. Some blame is also imputable to the translator, for 
 not making due inquiry into the validity of Dr. Mosheim’s charge 
 against the churchmen of the seventh century —EpiTor. 
 
{54 
 
 tures. It is, however, easy to perceive what sort of an au- 
 thor he was, how void of dignity and true judgment, from 
 many circumstances, and particularly from that rueful 
 poem which is subjoined to his work; in which he de- 
 plores, in lamentable strains, the loss of that precious frag- 
 ment of the true cross, which is said to have been vartied 
 away by the Persians, among other spoils. ‘The most 
 elegant and judicious summary of theology that appeared 
 among the Latins in this century, was the treatise of Ide- 
 fonso, de Cognitione Baptismi, which was saved by Baluze 
 
 from the ruins of time; a work, indeed, which is not ex- |! 
 
 tremely necessary, since the ignoble frauds of superstition 
 have been so fully brought to light, though it contains re- 
 markable proofs, that many of the corrupt inventions and 
 practices, which disfigure Christianity in the popish 
 churches, were not contrived till after this period.* 'The dry 
 and insipid body of divinity composed by 'T'aio, or ‘Tago, 
 bishop of Saragossa, under the title of Five Books of Sen- 
 tences, and compiled from the writings of Gregory and 
 Augustin, is scarcely worthy of mention, though, in this 
 century, it was considered as an admirable and immortal 
 work.® 
 
 Several particular branches of doctrine were treated by 
 the theological writers of this age: thus Maximus wrote of 
 the nature of Theology, and the Manifestation of the Son 
 in the Flesh, and also upon the Two Natures in Christ; 
 and Theodore Raithu composed a treatise concerning 
 Christ’s Incarnation. But a small acquaintance with the 
 state of learning and religion at this period, will enable us 
 to form a just though disadvantageous idea of the merit 
 of these performances, and also of their authors. 
 
 IV. The moral writers of this century, and their mise- 
 rable productions, show too plainly to what a wretched 
 state that noble and important science was now reduced. 
 Among these moralists, the first rank is due to Dorotheus 
 fauthor of the Ascetic Dissertations,) Maximus, Aldhelm, 
 Hesychius, Thalassius, and some others: yet, even in 
 their productions, what groveling notions do we find! what 
 rubbish, what a heap of superstitious fancies! and how 
 many marks of extravagance e, perplexity, and doubt! Be- 
 sides, the laity had little reason to complain of the severity 
 of their moral directors, whose custom it was to reduce all 
 the obligations of Christianity to the practice of a small 
 number of virtues, as appears from Aldhelm’s Treatise 
 concerning the eight principal Virtues. Nor was the neg- 
 lect of these duties attended with such penalties as were 
 proper to restrain offenders. "I'he false notions also, which 
 prevailed in this age, tended much to diminish a just sense 
 of the nature and “obligation of virtue; for the solitude of 
 the monastic life, though accompanied with no marks of 
 solid and genuine piety, was deemed sufficient to atone for 
 all sorts of crimes, and was therefore honoured among the 
 Latins with the title of the second baptism; which circum- 
 stance alone may serve to show us the miserable state of 
 Christianity at this time. The greatest part of the Gre- 
 cian and Oriental monks laboured to arrive at a state of 
 perfection by mere contemplation, and studiously endea- 
 
 * See Baluzii Miscellanea, tom. vi. p. 1. From the work of Ildefonso 
 it appears evident, that the monstrous doctrine of Transubstantiation 
 was absolutely unknown to the Latins in this century, and that the 
 Scriptures were in the hands of all Christians, and were perused by 
 them without the least molestation or restraint. Ildefonso, it is true, is 
 zealous for banishing reason and philosophy from religious matters; he, 
 however, establishes the Scriptures, and the writings of the ancient doc. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II 
 
 voured to form their tempers and characters after the model 
 of Dionysius, the chief of the Mystics. 
 
 V. Theodore of Tarsus, a Grecian monk, restored among 
 the Latins the discipline of penance, as it is commonly 
 termed, which had been for a long time almost totally 
 neglected, and enforced it by a body of severe Jaws borrowed 
 from the Grecian canons. ‘This zealous prelate, being 
 raised beyond his expectation to the see of Canterbury, in 
 
 | 668, formed and executed several pious and laudable pro- 
 jects ; and, among other things, reduced to a regular science 
 . ) y] to) oOo”) 
 
 that branch of ecclesiastical law, which is known by the 
 name of penitential discipline. He published a Peni. 
 tential, which was entirely new to the Latin world, by 
 which the clergy were taught to distinguish sins into 
 various classes, according as they were more or less hei- 
 nous, private or public : to judge of them, and determine 
 
 _ the degrees of their guilt, by their nature and consequences, 
 | by the intention of the offender, the time and place in which 
 
 they were committed, and the circumstances with which 
 they were attended. This new Penitential contained also 
 the methods of proceeding with respect to offenders ; pointed 
 out the penalties that were suitable to the various classes 
 of transgressions ; prescribed the forms of consolation, ex- 
 hortation and absolution ; and described, in an ample and 
 accurate manner, the duties and obligations of those who 
 were to receive the confessions of the penitent.c. This new 
 discipline, though of Grecian origin, was eagerly adopted 
 by the Latin churches ; and, in a short space of time, passed 
 from Britain into all the western provinces, where the book 
 of Theodore became the model of all other penitentials, and 
 was multiplied in a vast number of copies. ‘The duration 
 of this discipline was transitory ; for, in the eighth century, 
 it began to decline, and was, at length, entirely supplanted 
 by what was called the new canon of indulgences. 
 
 VI. The doctors who opposed the various sects are 
 
 scarcely worthy of mention, and would still less deserve 
 
 an attentive perusal, did not their writings contribute to 
 
 illustrate the history of the times in which they lived. 
 
 Nicias composed two books against the Gentiles; and 
 Photius informs us, that a certain writer, whose name is 
 
 “unknown, embarked in the same controversy, and sup- 
 _ ported the good cause by a prodigious number of arguments 
 
 drawn from ancient records and monuments.‘ Julian 
 Pomerius exerted his polemic talent against the Jews. The 
 views of 'Timotheus were yet more extensive ; for he gave 
 an ample description and a laboured confutation of all the 
 
 | various heresies that divided the church, in his book con- 
 
 cerning the reception of Heretics. 
 
 As to the dissensions of the catholic Christians among 
 themselves, they produced, at this time, few or no events 
 worthy of mention. We shall, therefore, only observe, that 
 in this century were sown the seeds of those fatal discords, 
 which rent asunder the bonds of Christian communion 
 between the Greek and Latin churches ; indeed, these 
 seeds had already taken root in the minds of the Greeks, to 
 whom the Roman power became insupportable, and the 
 pretensions of the sovereign pontiff odious. 
 
 tors, as the supreme tribunals before which all theological opinions are 
 to be tried, p. 14,22.» See Mabillon’s Analecta veteris A®vi, t. il. p. 68. 
 © The Penitential of Theodore is yet extant, though maimed and im- 
 perfect, in an edition published at Paris in 1679, by “Petit, and enriched 
 with learned dissertations and notes of the editor. We have also the exx 
 Capitula Ecclesiastica Theodori, published in the Spicilegium of M, 
 d’Achery, and in the Concilia Harduini. 4 Biblioth. cod. elxx. p. 379 
 
Cnap. IV. 
 
 In Britain, warm controversies concerning baptism and 
 the tonsure, and particularly the famous dispute concern- 
 ing the time of telebrating the Easter festival, were carried 
 on between the ancient Britons, and the new converts to 
 Christianity, whigh Augustin had made among the Anglo- 
 Saxons.* The fundamental doctrines of Christianity were 
 not at all affected by these controversies, which, on that 
 account, were more innoceut, and Jess important than they 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 would have otherwise been. Besides, they were entirely 
 terminated in the eighth century, in favour of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, by the Benedictine monks.° 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In the council of Constantinople, which was called 
 Quinisextum,: the Greeks enacted several laws concern- 
 ing the ceremonies that were to be observed in divine wor- 
 ship, which rendered their ritual, in some respects, different 
 from that of the Romans. ‘These laws were publicly re- 
 ceived by all the churches, which were established in the 
 dominions of the Grecian emperors; and also by those 
 which were joined with them in communion and doctrine, 
 though under the civil jurisdiction of barbarian princes. 
 Nor was this all; for every Roman pontiff added some- 
 thing new to the ancient rites and institutions, as if each 
 supposed it to be an essential mark of zeal for religion, and 
 of a pious discharge of the ministerial functions, to divert 
 the multitude with new shows and new spectacles of de- 
 vout mummery. ‘hese superstitious inventions were, in 
 the time of Charlemagne, propagated from Rome among 
 the other Latin churches, whose subjection to the Roman 
 ritual was necessary to satisfy the ambitious demands of 
 the lerdly pontiff. 
 
 IL. It will not be improper to select here a few, out of 
 the many instances we could produce of the multiplica- 
 tion of religious rites in this century. The number of fes- 
 tivals under which the church already groaned, was now 
 augmented; a new festival was instituted in honour of the 
 true cress on which Christ suffered, and another in com- 
 memoration of the Saviour’s ascension into heaven. Boni- 
 face V. enacted that infamous law, by which the churches 
 became places of refuge to all who fled thither for protec- 
 tion ; a law which procured a sort of impunity to the. 
 most enormous crimes, and gave indulgence to the licen- 
 tiousness of the most abandoned profligates. Honorius em- 
 ployed all his diligence and zeal in embellishing churches, 
 and other consecrated places, with the most pompous and 
 magnificent ornaments; for, as neither Christ nor his apos- 
 tles had left any injunctions of this nature to their fol- 
 lowers, their pretended vicar thought it but just to supply 
 this defect by the most splendid display of his ostentatious 
 beneficence. We shall pass in silence the richness and va- 
 riety of the sacerdotal garments that were now used at the 
 
 * Cummani Epistola in Jac. Usserii Sylloge Epistolar. Hibernicar. p. 
 23.—Bede Historia Ecclesiast. gentis Ancglor. lib. iii. cap. xxv —Wil- 
 kins’ Concilia Magne Britann. tom. i. p. 37, 42.—Acta Sanctor. Februar. 
 tum. iii. p. 21,84. 3% See also Dr. Warner’s Ecclesiastical History of 
 England, books ti. and iii. This history, which has lately appeared, 
 deserves the highest applause, on account of the noble spirit of liberty, 
 candour, and moderation, that seems to have guided the pen of the judi- 
 cious author. It is, at the same time, to be wished, that this elegant his- 
 torian had less avoided citing authorities, and been a little more lavish 
 of ihat erudition which he is known to possess: for then, after having 
 suroassed Collier in all other respects, he would have equalled him in | 
 
 155 
 
 celebration of the eucharist, and in the performance of di- 
 vine worship, as this would lead us into a tedious detail of 
 minute and unimportant matters, 
 
 CHAPTER YV. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tr Greeks were engaged, during this century, in 
 the most bitter and virulent controversy with the Pauli- 
 cians of Armenia, and the adjacent countries, whom they 
 considered as a branch of the Manichean sect. This dis- 
 pute was carried to the greatest height under the reigns 
 of Constans, Constantine Pogonatus, and Justinian II. ; 
 and the Greeks were not only armed with arguments, but 
 were also aided by the force of military legions, and the 
 terror of penal laws. A certain person, whose name was 
 Constantine, revived, under the reign of Constans, the 
 drooping faction of the Paulicians, now ready to expire; 
 and propagated with great success its pestilential’ doctrines. 
 But this is not the place to enlarge upon the tenets and his- 
 tory of this sect, whose origin is attributed to Paul and 
 John, two brothers, who revived and modified the doctrine 
 of Manes. As it was in the ninth century that the Pauli- 
 cians flourished most, and acquired strength sufficient to 
 support the rigours of an open and cruel war with the 
 Greeks, we shall reserve a more particular account of them 
 for our history of that period. 
 
 II. In Italy, the Lombards preferred the opinions of the 
 Arians to the doctrine which was established by the coun- 
 cil of Nice. In Gaul and in England, the Pelagian and Se- 
 ni-Pelagian controversies continued to excite the warmest 
 animosities and dissensions. In the eastern provinces, the 
 ancient sects, which had been weakened and oppressed by 
 the imperial laws, but not extirpated or destroyed, began 
 in many places to raise their heads, to recover their vigour, 
 and gain proselytes. The terror of penal laws had obli- 
 ged them, for some time, to seek safety in obscurity, and 
 therefore to conceal their opinions from the public eye; but, 
 as soon as they saw the fury or the power of their adver- 
 saries diminish, their hopes returned, and their courage 
 was renewed. 
 
 Ill. 'The condition, both of the Nestorians and Mono- 
 physites, was much more flourishing under the Saracens, 
 who had now heceme lords of the east, than it had been 
 hitherto under the Christian emperors, or even the Persian 
 monarchs. ‘These two sects met with a distinguished pro- 
 tection from their new masters, while the Greeks suflercd 
 under the same sceptre all the rigours of persecution and 
 banishment. Jesuiabas, the sovereign pontiff of the Nes- 
 torians, concluded a treaty, first with Mohammed, and af- 
 terwards with Omar, by which he obtained many signa, 
 advantages for his sect.e "There is yet extant a testamen- 
 tary diploma of the pseudo-prephet, in which he premises 
 and bequeaths to the Christians, in his dominions, the 
 
 that depth of learning, which is the only meritorious circumstance of his 
 partial and disagreeable history. 
 
 > Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. ii. Benedictinum, p.2. 34> See also Dr. 
 Warner’s Ecclesiastical Hist. book iit. 
 
 24> ° This council was called Quinisextum, from its being considered 
 as a supplement to the fifth and sixth*councils of Constantinople, in 
 which nothing had been decreed concerning the morals of Christians, 
 or religious ceremonies. 
 
 4 Photius, lib. i. contra Manich, p. 61.—Petri Seculi Historia Ma- 
 nich. p. 41.—Georg. Cedrenus, Compend. Hist. 
 
 * Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican, tom. iii. part ii. p. 94. 
 
156 
 
 quiet and undisturbed enjoyment of their religion, together 
 with their temporal advantages and possessions. Some 
 learned men have, indeed, called in question the authen- 
 ticity of this deed; it is, however, certain, that the Moham- 
 medans unanimously acknowledge it to be genuine. Ac- 
 cordingly, the successors of Mohammed in Persia em- 
 ployed the Nestorians in the most important affairs, both 
 of the cabinet and of the provinces, and suffered the pa- 
 triarch of that sect alone to reside in the kingdom of 
 Bagdad. The Monophysites enjoyed in Syria and Egypt 
 an equal degree of favour and protection. Amrou, hav- 
 ing made himself master of Alexandria, in 644, fixed 
 Benjamin, the pontiff of the Monophysites, in the epis- 
 copal residence of that noble city; and, from this period, 
 the Melchites: were without a bishop for almost a whole 
 century.‘ 
 
 IV. Though the Greek church was already torn asunder 
 by the most lamentable divisions, yet its calamities were 
 far from being at an end. A new sect arose, in 630, 
 under the reign of the emperor Heraclius, which in a 
 short course of time, excited such violent commotions, as 
 engaged the eastern and western churches to unite their 
 “orces in order to its extinction. 'The source of this tumult 
 was an unseasonable plan of peace and union. Heraclius, 
 considering, with pain, the detriment which the Grecian 
 empire had suffered by the emigration of the persecuted 
 Nestorians, and their settlement in Persia, was ardently 
 desirous of re-uniting the Monophysites to the bosom of 
 the Greek church, lest the empire should receive a new 
 wound by their departure from it. He therefore held a 
 conference during the Persian war, in 622, with Paul, a 
 man of great credit and authority among the Armenian 
 Monophysites; and another, at Hierapolis, in 629, with 
 Athanasius, the Catholic or bishop of that sect, upon the 
 methods that seemed most proper to restore tranquillity 
 and concord to a divided church. Both these persons as- 
 sured the emperor, that they who maintained the doctrine 
 of one nature might be induced to receive the decrees of 
 the council of Chalcedon, and thereby to terminate their 
 controversy with the Greeks, provided that the latter 
 would give their assent to the truth of the following pro- 
 position, namely, that in Jesus Christ there existed, after 
 the union of the two natures, but one will, and one opera- 
 tion. Heraclius communicated this suggestion to Sergius, 
 patriarch of Constantinople, who was a Syrian by birth, 
 
 * This famous Testament was brought from the east in the seventeenth 
 century, by Pacificus Scaliger, a Capuchin monk, and was published 
 first in Arabic and Latin at Paris, by Gabriel Sionita, in 1630; after- 
 wards in Latin by the learned Fabricius, in 1638; and also by Hinckel- 
 man, in 1690. See Henr. Hottinger. Hist. Orient. lib. il. cap. xx. p. 237. 
 Assemant Biblioth. tom. iii. part i. p. 95; and Renaudot, Histor. Patri- 
 archar. Alexandr. p. 168. ‘They who, in comformity with the opinion 
 of Grotius) reject this testament, suppose it to have been forged by the 
 Syrian and Arabian monks, with a view to soften the Mohammedan 
 yoke, under which they groaned, and to render their despotic masters 
 less severe. Nor is this representation of the matter at all incredible; for 
 it is certain, that the monks of mount Sinai formerly showed an edict 
 attributed to Mohammed, of the same nature with the one now under 
 consideration, which they pretend was drawn up by him while he was 
 yet ina private station. This edict was extremely advantageous to them, 
 and was, undoubtedly, an artful piece of forgery. The fraud was plain; 
 but the Moslems, in consequence of their ignorance and stupidity, believ- 
 ed it to be a genuine production of their chief, and continue still in the 
 same opinion. There is an account of this fraud given by Cantemir, 
 in bis Histoire de PEmpire Ottoman, tom. ii. p. 269. The argument 
 therefore which Renaudot and others draw in favour of the testament in 
 question from the acknowledgment which the Mohammedans make of 
 its authenticity, is of little or no weight, since those infidels of all others 
 are the most liable to be deceived in things of this nature, by their gross 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 Part Ul. 
 
 and whose parents adhered to the doctrine of the Monophy- 
 sites. This prelate gave it as his opinion, that the doc- 
 trine of one will and one operation, after the union of the 
 two natures, might be safely adopted without the least in- 
 jury to truth, or the smallest detriment to the authority of 
 the council of Chalcedon. In consequence of this, the 
 emperor published an edict, 630, in favour of that doctrine, 
 and hoped, by this act of authority, to restore peace and 
 concord, both in church and state.® 
 
 V. The first reception of this new project was promis- 
 ing, and things seemed to go on smoothly; for though 
 some ecclesiastics refused to submit to the imperial edict, 
 Cyrus and Athanasius, the patriarchs of Alexandria and 
 Antioch, received it without hesitation; and the see of Je- 
 rusalem was at that time vacant.‘ As to the Roman pon 
 tiff, he was entirely overlooked in the matter, as his con- 
 sent was not deemed necessary in an affair that related 
 only to the eastern church. In the mean time, Cyrus, 
 who had been promoted by Heraclius from the see of 
 Phasis to that of Alexandria, assembled a council, by the 
 seventh decree of which, the doctrine of Monothelitism, ~ 
 or one will, which the emperor had introduced by the edict 
 already mentioned, was solemnly confirmed. ‘This new 
 modification of the doctrine of the council of Chalcedon, 
 which seemed to bring it nearer to the Eutychian system, 
 had the desired effect upon the Monothelites, and induced 
 great numbers of them, who were dispersed in Egypt, 
 Armenia, and other remote provinces, to return into the 
 bosom of the church. 'They, however, explained the per- 
 plexed and ambiguous doctrine of one will in Christ, in a 
 manner peculiar to themselves, and not quite conform- 
 able to the true principles of their sect. 
 
 VI. This smiling prospect of peace and concord was, 
 however, but transitory, and was unhappily succeeded by 
 the most dreadful tumults, excited by a monk of Palestine, 
 whose name was Sophronius. 'This monk, being pre- 
 sent at the council assembled at Alexandria by Cyrus, 
 in 633, had violently opposed the decree, which confirmed 
 the doctrine of one will in Christ. His opposition, which 
 was then treated with contempt, became more formidable 
 in the following year; when, raised to the patriarchal see 
 of Jerusalem, he summoned a council, in which the Mono- 
 thelites were condemned as heretics, who had revived and 
 propagated the Eutychian errors concerning the mixture- 
 and confusion of the two natures in Christ. Multitudes, 
 
 and unparalleled ignorance. On the other hand, several of the arguments 
 used by those who deny its authenticity, are equally unsatisfactory ; that 
 particularly, which is drawn from the difference between the style of 
 this deed and that of the Koran, proves absolutely nothing at all, since it 
 is not essential to the genuineness of this testament to suppose it penned 
 by Mohammed himself, because the impostor might have employed a 
 secretary to compose it. But, whether it be genuine or spurious, it is 
 certain that its contents were true, since many learned men have fully 
 proved, that the pseudo-prophet, at his first setting out, prohibited, in the 
 strongest manner, the commission of all sorts of injuries against the 
 Christians, and especially the Nestorians. 
 
 b Asseman, p. 97.—Renaud. Histor. Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 163, 169. 
 
 ¢ The Melchites were those Christians in Syria, Egypt, and the 
 
 Levant, who, though not Greeks, followed the doctrines and ceremonies 
 of the Greek church. They were called Melchites, i. e. Royalists, by 
 their adversaries, by way of reproach, on account of their implicit sub- 
 mission to the edict of the emperor Marcian, in favour of the council of 
 Chalcedon. 
 
 ¢ Renaud. Hist. Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 163. 
 
 ¢ The authors, who have written of this sect, are mentioned by Jo. Aub. 
 Fabricius, in his Biblioth. Gree. vol. x. p. 204. The account which I 
 have here given is drawn from the fountain head, and is supported by 
 the best authorities. 
 
 f See Lequien, Oriens Christianus, tom. iii. p. 264. 
 
doar. V. 
 
 alarmed at the cry of heresy raised by this seditious monk, 
 adopted his sentiments; but it was Honorius, the Roman 
 pontiff, that he laboured principally to gain over to his 
 side. His efforts, however, were vain: for Sergius, the 
 patriarch of Constantinople, having informed Honorius, 
 by a long and artful letter, of the true state of the ques- 
 tion, determined that pontiff in favour of the doctrine, 
 which maintained one will and one operation in Christ. 
 Hence arose those obstinate contests, which rent the 
 church into two sects, and the state into two factions. 
 
 VII. In order to put an end to these commotions, He- 
 raclius promulgated, in 639, the famous edict composed by 
 Sergius, and called the ethesis, or exposition of the faith, 
 by which all controversies upon the question, whether in 
 Christ there were two operations, or only one, were strictly 
 prohibited, though in the same edict the doctrine of one 
 will was plainly inculcated. A considerable number of 
 the eastern bishops declared their assent to this new law, 
 which was also submissively received by their chief 
 Pyrrhus, who, on the death of Sergius in 639, was raised 
 to the see of Constantinople. In the west, the case was 
 quite different. John, the fourth pontiff of that name, as- 
 sembled a council at Rome in 639, in which the Ecthesis 
 was rejected, and the Monothelites were condemned. Nor 
 was this all: for, in the progress of this contest, a new 
 edict, known by the name of T'ype or Formulary, was 
 oublished in 648 by the emperor Constans, by the advice 
 of Paul of Constantinople,» by which the Ecthesis was 
 suppressed, and the contending parties were commanded 
 ‘0 terminate their disputes concerning one will and one 
 operation in Christ, by observing a profound silence upon 
 that difficult and ambiguous subject. This silence, so wise- 
 ly commanded in a matter which it was impossible to de- 
 termine to the satisfaction of the contending parties, ap- 
 peared highly criminal to the angry and contentious monks. 
 They, therefore, excited Martin, bishop of Rome, to op- 
 pose his authority to an edict which hindered them from 
 propagating strife and contention in the church; and their 
 importunities had the desired effect ; for this prelate, in a 
 council of a hundred and five bishops assembled at Rome, 
 in 649, condemned both the Ecthesis and the 'T'ype, 
 though without any mention of the names of the em- 
 perors who had published those edicts, and thundered out 
 the most dreadful anathemas against the Monothelites and 
 their patrons, who were solemnly consigned to the devil 
 and his angels. 
 
 Viil. The emperor Constans, justly irritated at these 
 haughty and impudent proceedings of Martin, who treated 
 the imperial laws with such contempt, ordered him to be 
 sei®d and carried into the isle of Naxos, where he was 
 Kept prisoner a whole year. This order, which was fol- 
 lowed by much cruel treatment, was executed by Callio- 
 pas, exarch of Italy, in 650; and, at the same time, 
 Maximus, the ringleader of the seditious monks, was 
 banished to Bizyca; and other rioters of the same tribe 
 
 * The Roman Catholic writers have employed all their art and indus- 
 try to represent the conduct of Honorius in such a manner, as to save his 
 pretended infallibility from the charge of error ina question of such im- 
 
 ortance. (See, among others, Harduin, de Sacramento Altaris, pub- 
 tished in his Opera Selecta, p. 255.) And, indeed, it is easy to find both 
 matter of accusation and defence in the case of this pontiff. On one hand, 
 it would appear that he himself knew not his own sentiments nor at- 
 tached any precise and definite meaning to the expressions he used in 
 the course of this controversy. On the other hand, it is certain, that he 
 gave it as his opinion, that in Christ there existed only one will and one 
 
 No XIV. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 157 
 
 were differently punished in proportion to the part they 
 had acted in this rebellion. These resolute proceedings 
 rendered Eugenius and Vitalianus, the succeeding bishops 
 of Rome, more moderate and prudent than their prede- 
 cessor had been; especially the latter, who received Con- 
 stans, on his arrival at Rome in 663, with the highest 
 marks of distinction and respect, and used the wisest. pre- 
 cautions to prevent the flame of that unhappy controversy 
 from breaking out a second time. And thus, for several 
 years, it seemed to be extinguished ; but it was so only in 
 appearance; it was a lurking flame, which spread itself 
 secretly, and gave reason, to those who examined things 
 with attention, to dread new commotions both in church 
 and state. ‘l'o prevent these, Constantine Pogonatus, the 
 son of Constans, in pursuance of the advice of Agatho, 
 the Roman pontiff, summoned, in 680, the sixth cecume- 
 nical or general council, in which he permitted the Mono- 
 thelites, and pope Honorius himself, to be solemnly con- 
 demned in presence of the Roman legates, who represent- 
 ed Agatho in that assembly, and confirmed the sentence 
 pronounced by the council, by the sanction of penal laws 
 enacted against such as should dare to oppose it. 
 
 IX. It is difficult to give a clear and accurate account 
 of the sentiments of those who were called Monothelites; 
 nor is it easy to point out the objections of their adversa- 
 ries. Neither of the contending parties express themselves 
 consistently with what seem to have been their respective 
 opinions; and they both disavow the errors with which 
 they reciprocally charge each other. The following observa- 
 tions contain the clearest notion we can form of the state 
 of this subtile controversy. 1.’The Monothelites declared, 
 that they had no connexion with the Eutychians and Mo- 
 nophysites ; but maintained, in opposition to these two sects, 
 that in Christ there were two distinct natures, which were 
 so united, though without the least mixture or confusion, 
 asto form by their union only one person: 2. They acknow- 
 ledged that the soul of Christ was endowed with a will, or 
 faculty of volition, which it still retained after its union with 
 the divine nature; for they taught that Christ was not 
 only perfect God, but also perfect man ; whence it followed, 
 that his soul was endowed with the faculty of volition: 
 3. They denied that this faculty of Volition in the soul of 
 Christ was absolutely inactive, maintaining, on the con- 
 trary, that it co-operated with the divine will: 4. They, 
 therefore, in effect, attributed to our Lord two wills, and 
 these, moreover, operating and active: 5. They, however, 
 affirmed, that, in a certain sense, only one will and one 
 manner of operation were in Christ. 
 
 X. We must not indeed imagine, that all, who were 
 distinguished by the title of Monothelites, were unanimous 
 in their sentiments with respect to the points now mention- 
 ed. Some, as appears from undoubted testimonies, meant 
 no more than this, that the two wills in Christ were one, 
 i.e. in perfect harmony; that the human will was in per- 
 petual conformity with the divine, and was, consequently, 
 
 operation. It was for this that he was condemned in the council of Con- 
 stantinople; and he must consequently have been a heretic, if it is true, 
 that general councils cannot err. See Bossuet’s Defence of the Declara- 
 tion made by the Gallican Clergy, in the year 1682, concerning Ecclesi- 
 astical Power; and also Basnage, tom. i. te 
 37> » It is proper to observe here that Paul, who was a Monothelite in 
 his heart, and had maintained the Ecthesis with great zeal, devised this 
 prudent measure with a view to appease the Roman pontiff and the Afri- 
 can bishops, who were incensed against him to the highest degree, on 
 
 ‘ account of his attachment to the doctrine of one will. 
 
158 
 
 always holy, just, and good; in which opinion there is no- 
 thing reprehensible. Others, more nearly approaching 
 the sentiment of the Monophysites, imagined that the two 
 wills or faculties of volition in Christ were blended into 
 one, in that which they called the personal union: ac- 
 knowledging, at the same time, that the distinction between 
 these wills was perceivable by reason, and that it was also 
 necessary to distinguish carefully in this matter. The 
 greatest part of this sect, and those who were also the 
 most remarkable for their subtilty and penetration, were 
 of opinion, that the human will of Christ was the instru- 
 ment of the divine; or, in other words, never operated or 
 acted of itself, but was always ruled, influenced, and im- 
 pelled by the divine will; in such a manner, however, that, 
 When it was once set in motion, it decreed and operated 
 with the ruling principle. The doctrine of one will, and 
 of one operation in Christ, which the Monothelites main- 
 tained with such invincible obstinacy, was a natural con- 
 sequence of this hypothesis, since the operation of an in- 
 strument and of the being who employs it, is one simple 
 operation, and not two distinct operations or energies. 
 
 According to this view of things, the Eutychian doctrine | 
 
 was quite out of the question; and the only point of con- 
 troversy to be determined, was, whether the human will in 
 Christ was a self-moving faculty determined by its own 
 internal impulse, or derived all its motion and operations 
 from the divine. 
 
 Inthe mean time, we may learn from this controversy, 
 that nothing is more precarious, and nothing more danger- 
 ous and deceitful, than the religious peace and concord 
 which are founded upon ambiguous doctrines, and ce- 
 mented by obscure and equivocal propositions, or articles of 
 faith. The partisans of the council of Chalcedon endea- 
 voured to ensnare the Monophysites, by proposing their 
 doctrine in a manner that admitted a double explication; 
 and, by this imprudent piece of cunning, which showed 
 so little reverence for the truth, they involved both the 
 church and state in tedious and lamentable divisions. 
 
 XI. The doctrine of the Monothelites, condemned and 
 exploded by the council of Constantinople, found a place 
 of refuge among the Mardaites, a people who inhabited the 
 mounts Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and who, about the 
 conclusion of this century, were called Maronites, from 
 Maro their first bishop, a name which they still retain. 
 No ancient writers give any certain account of the first 
 
 * This ecclesiastic received the name of Maro, from his having lived in 
 the character of a monk in the famous convent of St. Maro, upon the bor- 
 ders of the Orontes, before his settlement among the Mardaites. For an 
 ample account of this prelate, see Assemani Biblioth. Oriem Clement. 
 Vatic. tom. 1. p. 496. 
 
 > ‘The cause of the Maronites has been pleaded by the writers of that 
 nation, such as Abraham Ecchellensis, Gabriel Sionita, and others; but 
 the most ample defence of their uninterrupted orthodoxy was made by 
 Faustus Nairon, partly in his Dissertatio de Origine, Nomine, ac Reli- 
 gione Maronitarum, published at Rome in 1679, and partly in his Euo- 
 plia Fidei Catholice ex Syrorum et Chaldzorum Monumentis, published 
 in 1694. None of the learned, however, appeared to be persuaded by his 
 arguments, except Pagi* and La Rocque, of whom the latter has given 
 us, in his Voyages de Syrie et de Mont-Liban, tom. ii. p. 23—128, a 
 long dissertation concerning the origin of the Maronites. Even the 
 learned Assemanus, himself a Maronite, and who has spared no pains 
 to defend his nationt against the reproach in question, ingenuously ac- 
 knowledges, that among the arguments used by Nairon and others in fa- 
 vour of the Maronites, there are many destitute of force. See Jo. Morinus, 
 
 ENTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part ILI. 
 
 person Who instructed these mountaineers in the doctrine 
 of the Monothelites; it is probable, however, from several 
 circumstances, that it was John Maro, whose name they 
 had adopted. One thing, indeed, we know, with the 
 utmost certainty, from the testimony of 'T'yrius and other 
 unexceptionable witnesses, as also from the most authentic 
 records,—that the Maronites retained the opinions of the 
 Monothelites until the twelfth century, when, abandoning 
 and renouncing the doctrine of one avill in Christ, they 
 were re-admitted, in 1182, tothe communion of the Romish 
 church. ‘I'he most learned of the modern Maronites have 
 left no method unemployed to defend their church against 
 this accusation ; they have laboured to prove, by a variety 
 of testimonies, that their ancestors always persevered in 
 the catholic faith and in their attachment to the pope, 
 without ever adopting the doctrines, either of the Mono- 
 physites or Monothelites. But all their efforts are insuffi- 
 cient to prove the truth of these assertions to such as have 
 any acquaintance with the history of the church, and the 
 records of ancient times: for, to all such, the testimonies 
 they allege will appear absolutely fictitious and destitute of 
 authority.® 
 
 XII. Neither the sixth general council, in which tive 
 Monothelites were condemned, nor the fifth, which hed 
 been assembled in the preceding century, had determined 
 any thine concerning ecclesiastical discipline, or religious 
 ceremonies. ‘To supply this defect, a new episcopal assem 
 bly was holden in pursuance of the order of Justinian IT. 
 ina spacious hall of the imperial palace called 'Trullus, 
 i.e. Cupola, from the form of the building. 'This council, 
 which met in 692, was called Quinisextum, as we had oc- 
 casion to observe formerly, from its being considered, by the 
 Greeks, as a supplement to the fifth and sixth cecumenical 
 councils, and as having given to the acts of these assem- 
 blies the degree of perfection which they had hitherto 
 wanted. ‘There are yet extant a hundred and two laws, 
 which were enacted in this council, and which related to 
 the external celebration of divine worship, the government 
 of the church, and the lives and manners of Christians. 
 Six of these are diametrically opposite to several opinions 
 and rites of the Romish church; for which reason the 
 pontiffs have refused to adopt, without restriction, the de- 
 cisions of this council, or to reckon it in the number of 
 those called cecumenical, though they consider the greatest 
 part of its decrees as worthy of applause.* ‘ 
 
 de Ordinat. Sacris, p. 380.—Rich. Simon, Histoire Critique des Chretiens 
 Orientaux, chap. xui. p. 146.—Euseb. Renaudot, Historia Patriarchar. 
 Alexandrinor. p. 179., and Pref. ad Liturgias Orientales.—Le Brun, 
 Explication de la Messe, tom. ii. The arguments of the con ee 
 parties are enumerated impartially in such a manner as leaves the deci- 
 sion to the reader, by Le Quien, in his Oriens Christianus, tom. 111. 
 
 ° See Franc. Pagi Breviar. Pontif. Roman. tom. i. p. 486., and Christ. 
 Lupus, Dissertat. de Concilio Trulliano, in Notis et Dissertat. ad Con- 
 cilia, tom. iii. op. p. 168. The Roman Catholics reject the following 
 decisions of this council: 1. The fifth canon, which approves the eighty- 
 five apostolical canons commonly attributed to Clement: 2. the thirteenth, 
 which allows the priests to marry: 3. the fifty-fifth, which condemns the 
 Sabbath fast, that was an institution of the Latin church: 4. the sixty- 
 seventh, which prescribes the most rigorous abstinence from blood and 
 things strangled: 5. the eighty-second, which prohibits the representing 
 of Christ under the image of a lamb: 6. the thirty-sixth, concerning the 
 equal rank and authority of the bishops of Rome and Constantinople. 
 
 * See Critica Baroniana ad A. 694. 
 
 + See Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. p. 496. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY; 
 
 BOOK THE THIRD, 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 
 
 FROM 
 
 CHARLEMAGNE TO THE REFORMATION BY LUTHER. 
 
ee Beet Cb NT UR 
 
 ARE Lf. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened to 
 the Church in this Century. 
 
 I. Waite the Mohammedans were infesting with 
 their arms, and adding to their conquests, the most flou- 
 rishing provinces of Asia, and obscuring, as far as their in- 
 fluence could extend, the lustre and glory of the rising 
 church, the Nestorians of Chaldea were carrying the lamp 
 of Christianity among those barbarous nations, called Scy- 
 thians by the ancients, and by the moderns, Tartars, who, 
 unsubjected to the Saracen yoke, had fixed their habita- 
 -tions within the limits of mount Imaus.* It is now well 
 known, that 'Timotheus, the Nestorian pontiff, who had 
 been raised to that dignity in 778, converted to the Chris- 
 tian faith, by the ministry of Subchal Jesu, whom he had 
 consecrated bishop, first the Gelze and Dailamites by whom 
 a part of Hyrcania was inhabited ; and afterwards, by the 
 labours of other missionaries, the rest of the nations, who 
 had formed settlements in Hyreania, Bactria, Margiana, 
 and Sogdia.® It is also certain, that Christianity enjoyed, 
 in these vast regions, notwithstanding occasional attacks 
 from the Mohammedans, the advantages of a firm and 
 solid establishment for a long course of ages; while the 
 bishops, by whose ministry it was propagated and support- 
 ed, were all consecrated by the sole authority of the Nes- 
 torian pontiff. 
 
 li. If we turn our eyes toward Europe, we find many 
 nations that were yet unenlightened with the knowledge 
 of the Gospel. Almost all the Germans, (if we except the 
 Bayarians, who had embraced Christianity under Theo- 
 doric, or Thierry, the son of Clovis, and the eastern 
 Franks, with a few other provinces,) lay buried in the 
 grossest darkness of pagan superstition. Many attempts 
 were made, by pious and holy men, to infuse the truth 
 into the minds of these savage Germans; and various 
 ellorts were used for the same purpose by kings and prin- 
 ces, whose interest it was to propagate a religion that was 
 50 adapted to mitigate and tame the ferocity of those war- 
 like nations; but neither the attempts of pious zeal, nor 
 the eilorts of policy, were attended with success. "This 
 great werk was, however, effected in this century, by the 
 ministry of Winfred, a Benedictine monk, born in Eng- 
 
 land of illustrious parents, and afterwards known by the 
 
 name of Boniface. This famous ecclesiastic, attended by 
 two companions of his pious labours, passed over into 
 Friseland in 715, to preach the Gospel to the people of 
 
 > * The southern regions of Scythia were divided by the ancients 
 (to whom the northern were unknown) into three parts, name ly, Scythia 
 within, and Scythia beyond Imaus, and Sarmatia. Itisof the first of these 
 three that Dr. Mosheim speaks, as enlightened atthis time with the know- 
 tedge of the Gospel; andi it comprehended ‘Turkestan, the Mongol, Usbeck, 
 
 Kalmuck , and Nogaian Tartary, which were pe opled by the Bactrians 
 
 Sogdians, Gandari, 
 
 ‘No. XLV. 
 
 Sacs, and ‘Massagetes, not to mention the land of 
 
 Al 
 
 || spects, 
 fl conduct and ministry of the primitive and true aposiles. 
 
 * 
 
 | that country ; but this first attempt was unsuccessful ; and 
 a war breaking out between Radbod, the king of that 
 country, and Charles Martel, our zealous missionary re- 
 turned to England. He resumed, however, his pious un- 
 dertaking in 719; ; and being solemnly empow ered by the 
 Roman pontiff, Gregory L., to preach the Gospel, not only 
 in Friseland, but ali over Germany, he performed the 
 functions of a christian teacher among the Thuringians, 
 Friselanders, and Hessians, with considerable success.° 
 
 III. This eminent missionary was, in 723, consecrated 
 bishop by Gregory IL, who changed the name of Winfred 
 into that of Boniface: seconded also by the powerful pro- 
 tection, and encouraged by the liberality of Charles Mar- 
 tel, mayor of the palace to Chilperic, king of France, he 
 resumed his ministerial Jabours among the Hessians and 
 Thuringians, and finished with glory the task he had un- 
 dertaken, in which he received considerable assistance 
 from a number of pious and learned men, who repaired to 
 him from England and France. As the Christian churches 
 erected by Boniface were too numerous to be governed by 
 one bishop, this prelate was advanced to the dignity of 
 archbishop, in 738, by Gregory UL, by whose authority, 
 and the auspicious protection of Carloman and Pepin, the 
 sons of Charles Martel, he founded the bishoprics of 
 Wurtzburg, Buraburg, Exfort, and Hichstadt, to which he 
 added, in 744, the famous monastery of Fulda. His last 
 promotion (the last recompense of his assiduous labours 
 in the propagation of the truth) was his advancement to 
 the archiepiscopal- see of Mentz, in 746, by Zachary, 
 bishop of Rome, by whom he was, at the same time, 
 created primate of Germany and Belgium. In his old age, 
 he returned to Friseland, that he might finish his minis- 
 try in the same place where he had entered first upon its 
 functions ; but his piety was ill rewarded _by that barba- 
 rous people, by whom he was murdered in 755, while fifty 
 ecclesiastics, who accompanied him in his journey, shared 
 the same unhappy fate. 
 
 1V. Boniface, on account of his ministerial labours and 
 holy exploits, was distinguished by the honourable title of 
 the Apostle of the Germans; ; hor, if we consider impar- 
 tially the eminent services he rendered to Christianity, 
 will this title appear to have been undeservedly bestowed. 
 
 3ut it is necessary to observe, that this eminent prelate 
 was an apostle of modern fashion, and had, in many re- 
 departed from the excellent model exhibited in the 
 
 Beside his zeal for the glory and authority of the Roman 
 
 Siberia, Samoiedia, and Nova Zembla, which were uninhabited in an- 
 cient times. 
 
 + Thomas Margensis, Historia Monastica, lib. iii. in Assemani Bib- 
 lioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. iii. 
 
 ¢ An ample account of this eminent man is to be found in a learned 
 dissertation of Gudenius, de S. Bonifacio German. Apost, published 
 | at Helmstadt in 1722. See also Fabricii Bib. Lat. medii ZEvi, tem. i. p. 
 
162 
 
 pontiff, which equalled, if it did not surpass, his zeal for 
 the service of Christ and the propagation of his religion,* 
 many other things unworthy of a truly Christian minis- 
 ter are laid to his charge. In combating the pagan su- 
 perstitions, he did not always use those arms with which 
 the ancient heralds of the Gospel gained such victories in 
 behalf of the truth; but often employed violence and 
 terror, and sometimes artifice and fraud, in order to mul- 
 tiply the number of Christians. His epistles, moreover, 
 discover an imperious and arrogant temper, a cunning 
 and insidious turn of mind, an excessive zeal for increas- 
 ing the honours and pretensions of the sacerdotal order, 
 and a profound ignorance of many things of which the 
 knowledge was absolutely necessary an an apostle, and 
 particularly of the true nature and genius of the Chris- 
 tian religion. 
 
 V. 'The famous prelate, of whom we have been now 
 speaking, was not the only Christian minister who at- 
 tempted to deliver the German nations from the miserable 
 bondage of pagan superstition; several others signalized 
 their zeal in the same laudable and pious undertaking. 
 Corbinian, a French Benedictine monk, after having la- 
 boured with great assiduity and fervour in planting the 
 Gospel among the Bavarians, and in other countries, be- 
 came bishop of Freysingen.’ Firmin, a Gaul by birth, 
 preached the Gospel under various kinds of suffering and 
 opposition in Alsatia, Bavaria, and Helvetia, now Switzer- 
 land, and bad inspection overa considerable number of mon- 
 asteries.© Lebuin, an Englishman, laboured with the most 
 ardent zeal and assiduity to engage the fierce and warlike 
 Saxons, and also the Friselanders, Belge, and other na- 
 tions, to receive the light of Christianity : but his ministry 
 was attended with very little fruit.¢ We pass over in si- 
 lence several apostles of less fame; nor is it necessary to 
 mention Willibrod, and others of superior reputation, who 
 persisted now with great alacrity and constancy in the la- 
 boursthey had undertaken in the preceding century, in or- 
 der to the propagation of divine truth. 
 
 VI. A war broke out at this time between Charlemagne 
 and the Saxons, which contributed much to the propaga- 
 tion of Christianity, though not by the force of a rational 
 persuasion. 'The Saxons of that age were a numerous and 
 
 709.—Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. iv. p. 92, and Mabillon, in Annali- 
 bus Benedictinis. 
 
 * The French Benedictine monks ingenuously confess that Boniface 
 was an over-zealous partizan of thesRoman pontiff, and attributed more 
 authority to him than was just and reasonable. Their words, in their 
 Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iv. p. 106, are as follow: “Il ex- 
 prime son devouement pour le Saint Siege en des termes qui ne sont pas 
 assez proportionnés & la dignité du caractere episcopal.” 
 
 b Baronius, Annal. Eccles. tom. viii. ad annum 716. sect. 10. Car. 
 Maichelbeck, Historia Frisingensis, tom. i. 
 
 ¢ Hlerm. Bruschii, Chronologia Monaster. German. p.30. Anton. Pagi, 
 Critica in Annales Baronii, tom. ii. ad annum 759, sect. ix. Histoire 
 Literaire de la France, tom. iv. p. 124. 
 
 4 Hucbaldi Vita 8. Lebuini in Laur. Surii Vitis Sanctor. d. 12. Nov. - 
 
 77.—Jo. Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 464. 
 
 * It will be proper here to transcribe, from the epistles of the famous 
 Alcuin, once abbot of Canterbury, a remarkable passage, which will 
 show us the reasons that contributed principally to give the Saxons an 
 aversion to Christianity, and at the same time will expose the absurd and 
 preposterous manner of teaching used by the ecclesiastics who were sent 
 to convert them. This passage, in the 104th epistle, and 1647th page of 
 his works, is as follows: ‘Si tanta instantia leve Christi jugum et onus 
 ejus leve durissimo Saxonum populo predicarentur, quanta decimarum 
 redditivel legalis pro parvissimis quibuslibet culpis edictis necessitas exi- 
 gebatur, forte baptismatis sacramenta non abhorrerent. Sint tandem ali- 
 quando doctores fidei apostolicis eruditi exemplis: sint predicatores, non 
 predatores.” Here the reader may see a lively picture of the kind of 
 apostles that flourished at this time: apostles who were more zealous in 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part L 
 
 formidable people, who inhabited a considerable part of 
 Germany, and were engaged in perpetual quarrels with 
 the Franks concerning their boundaries, and other mat- 
 ters of complaint. Hence Charlemagne turned his arms 
 against this powerful nation, in 772, with a design, not 
 only to subdue that spirit of revolt with which they had 
 so often troubled the empire, but also to abolish their idola- 
 trous worship, and engage them to embrace the Christian 
 religion. He hoped, by their conversion, to vanquish their 
 obstinacy, imagining that the divine precepts of the Gos- 
 pel would assuage their impetuous and restless passions, 
 mitigate their ferocity, and induce them to submit quietly 
 to the government of the Franks. ‘These projects were 
 great in idea, but difficult in execution; accordingly, the 
 first attempt to convert the Saxons, after having subdued 
 them, was unsuccessful, because it was made, without the 
 aid of violence or threats, by the bishops and monks, 
 whom the victor had left among that conquered people, 
 whose obstinate attachment to idolatry no arguments or 
 exhortations could overcome. More forcible means were 
 afterwards used to draw them into the pale of the church, 
 in the wars which Charlemagne carried on, in the years 
 775, 776, and 780, against that valiant people, whose love 
 of liberty was excessive, and whose aversion to every spe- 
 cies of sacerdotal authority was mexpressible.e During 
 these wars, their attachment to the superstition of their an- 
 cestors was so warmly combated by the allurements of 
 reward, by the terror of punishment, and by the imperious 
 language of victory, that they suffered themselves to be 
 baptised, though with inward reluctance, by the mission- 
 aries whom the emperor sent among them for that purpose.‘ 
 Fierce seditions, indeed, were soon after renewed, and fo- 
 mented by Witekind and Albion, two of the most valiant 
 among the Saxon chiefs, who attempted to abolish the 
 Christian worship by the same violent methods which had 
 contributed to its establishment. But the courage and li- 
 berality of Charlemagne, alternately employed to suppress 
 this new rebellion, engaged these chiefs to make a public 
 and solemn profession of Christianity in 785, and to pro- 
 mise an adherence to that divine religion for the rest of 
 their days.¢ ‘To prevent, however, the Saxons from re- 
 nouncing a religion which they had embraced with reluc- 
 
 exacting tithes, and extending their authority, than in propagating the 
 sublime truths and precepts of the Gospel; and yet these very apostles 
 are said to have wrought stupendous miracles. 
 
 f Aleuinus apud Gul. Malmesbur. de Gestis Regum Anglorum, lib.i. 
 cap. iv. p. 23, inter Rer. Anglic. Script. edit. Francof. 1601. In this work 
 we find the followmg passage, which proves what we have said with 
 respect to the unworthy methods that were used in converting the Saxons. 
 “ Antiqui Saxones et omnes F'resonum populi, instante rege Carolo, alios 
 premiis et alios minis solicitante, ad fidem Christi conversi sunt.” See 
 also two passages in the Capitularia Regum Francor. tom. i. p. 246 and 
 252. From the first we learn, that those Saxons who abandoned the 
 pagan superstitions were “restored to the liberty they had forfeited by 
 the fate of arms, and freed from the obligation of paying tribute;” and 
 in the second, we find the following severe law, that “every Saxon 
 who contemptuously refused to receive the sacrament of baptism, and 
 persisted in his adherence to Paganism, was to be punished with death.” 
 ‘While such rewards and punishments were employed in the cause ot 
 religion, there was no occasion for miracles to advance its progress ; for 
 these motives were sufficient to draw all mankind to an hypocritical and 
 external profession of the Gospel; but it is easy to imagine what sort of 
 Christians the Saxons must have been, who were dragooned into the 
 church in this abominable manner. Compare with the authors mentioned 
 in this note, Launoius, de veteri More baptizandi Judzos et Infideles, 
 cap. v. vi. p. 703, tom. il. op. parti. This author assures us, that Adrian, 
 the first Roman pontiff of that name, honoured with his approbation 
 Charlemagne’s method of converting the Saxons. 
 
 € Eginhartus, de Vita Caroli M.—Adam Bremensis, lib. i. cap. viii. 
 
 || See also the writers of the history and exploits of Charlemagne, enu 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 tance, many bishops were appointed to reside among them, 
 schools also were erected, and monasteries founded, thatthe 
 means of instruction might not be wanting. 'The same 
 precautions were employed among the Huns in Pannonia, 
 to maintain in the profession of Christianity that fierce 
 people whom Charlemagne had converted to the faith, 
 when, exhausted and dejected by various defeats, they 
 were 0 longer able to make head against his victorious 
 arms, and chose rather to be Christians than slaves. 
 
 VIL. Succeeding generations, filled with a grateful 
 sense of the exploits which Charlemagne had_ performed 
 in the service of Christianity, canonised his memor y, and 
 turned this bloody warrior into aneminent saint. In the 
 twelfth century, Frederic I. emperor of the Romans, order- 
 ed Paschal LL., whom he had raised to the pontificate, to 
 enroll the name of this mighty conqueror among the 
 tntelary saints of the church ; and indeed Charlemagne 
 merited this honour, ac cording to the opinions which pre- 
 vailed in that dark period ; for, to have enriched the clergy 
 with large and magnificent donations,* and to have ex- 
 tended the boundaries of the church, no matter by what 
 methods, were then considered as the highest merits, and 
 as sufficient pretensions tothe honour of saintship ; but, 
 in the esteem of those who judge of the nature and cha- 
 racters of sanctity by the decisions of the Gospel upon 
 that head, the sainted emperor will appear to have been 
 utterly unworthy of that dignity; for, not to enter into a 
 particular detail of his vices, the number of which coun- 
 terbalanced that of his virtues, it is undeniably evident, 
 that his ardent and ill-conducted zeal for the conversion 
 of the Huns, Friselanders, and Saxons, was more ani- 
 mated by the suggestions of ambition, than by a princi- 
 ple of true piety; and that his main view, in these reli- 
 gious exploits, was to subdue the converted nations under 
 his dominion, and to tame them to his yoke, which they 
 supported with impatience, and shook off by frequent re- 
 volts. It is, moreover, well known, that this boasted saint 
 made no scruple of seeking the alliance of the infidel Sara- 
 cens, that he might be more effectually enabled to crush 
 che Greeks, notwithstanding their profession of the Chris- 
 van religion.4 
 
 VU. 'f he many and stupendous miracles which are 
 said to have been wrought by the Christian missionaries, 
 who were sent to convert the barbarous nations, have lost, 
 in our times, the credit they obtained in former ages. The 
 corrupt discipline that then prevailed, admitted those falla- 
 cious stratagems, which are very improperly called pious 
 frauds; nor did the heralds of the Gospel think it at all 
 unlawful to terrify or allure to the profession of Christianity, 
 by fictitious prodigies, those obdurate hearts which they 
 could not subdue by reason and argument. It is not, how- 
 ever, to be supposed, that all those, who acquired renown 
 by their miracles, were chargeable with this fanatical spe- 
 cies of artifice and fraud; for as, on one hand, those igno- 
 rant and superstitious nations were disposed to look upon, 
 as miraculous, every event which had an unusual aspect, 
 so, on the other, the Christian doctors themselves were so 
 
 merated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Bibliotheca Latina medii Avi, 
 tom. i. p. 950. 
 
 * Vita S. Rudberti in Henric. Canisii Lectionibus antiquis, tom. iii. 
 part. il. p. 340.—Pauli Debreceni Historia Eeclesize Reformat. in Hungar. 
 et seated ania, a Lampio edita, cap. ti. p. 10. 
 
 > Henr. Canisii Lect. tom. iii. par. it p. 207.—Walchii Dissert. de 
 
 Caroli Magni Canouizatione. 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 | 
 
 | Interpositions of the Most High. 
 
 163 
 
 uninstructed and superficial, so little acquainted with the 
 powers of nature, and the relations and connexions of 
 things in their ordinary course, that uncommon events, 
 however natural, were considered by them as miraculous 
 This will appear obvious 
 to such as read, without superstition or partiality, the Acts 
 of the Naints who flourished in this and the following 
 centuries. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Concerning the Calamitous Events that happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tr eastern empire had now fallen from its former 
 strength and grandeur through the repeated shocks of 
 dreadful revolutions, and the « consuming power of intes- 
 tine calamities. 'The throne was now become the seat of 
 terror. inquietude, and suspicion; nor was any reign at- 
 tended with an uninterrupted tranquillity. In this century 
 three emperors were dethroned, loaded with ignominy, and 
 sent into banishment. Under Leo the Isaurian, and his 
 son Constantine, surnamed Copronymus, arose that fatal 
 controversy about the worship of images, which proved a 
 source of innumerable calamities and troubles, and weak- 
 ened, almost incredibly, the force of the empire. These 
 troubles and dissensions left the Saracens at liberty to 
 ravage the provinces of Asia and Africa, to oppress the 
 Greeks in the most barbarous manner, and to extend their 
 territories and dominion on all sides, as also to oppose every 
 where the progress of Christianity, and, in some places, 
 even to extirpate it. But the troubles of the empire, and 
 the calamities of the church, did not end here: for, about 
 the middle of this century, they were assailed by new 
 enemies, still more fierce and inhuman than those whose 
 usurpations they had hitherto suffered. ‘These were the 
 Turks, a tribe of the 'Tartars, or at least their descendants, 
 who, breaking forth from the inaccessible wilds about 
 mount Caucasus, overspread Colchis, Iberia, and sie, 
 rushed into ‘Armenia, and after having subdued the Sara- 
 cens, turned their victorious arms against the Greeks, whom, 
 in process of time, they reduced under their dominion. 
 
 If. In 714, the Saracens crossed the sea which sepa- 
 rates Spain from Africa, dispersed the army of Roderic 
 king of the Spanish Goths,* whose defeat was principally 
 occasioned by the treachery of their general Julian, and 
 madethemselves mastersof the greatest part of the territories 
 of this vanquished prince. At that time the empire of the 
 Visigoths, which had subsisted in Spain above three hun- 
 dred years, was totally overturned by these fierce and sav- 
 age invaders, who also took possession of all the maritime 
 parts of Gaul, from the Pyrenean mountains to the river 
 Rhone, whence they made frequent excursions, and rava- 
 ged the neighbouring countries with fire and sword. 
 
 The rapid progress of these bold invaders was, indeed, 
 checked by Charles Martel, who gained a sional vic tory 
 over them in a bloody action near Poictiers in 732." But 
 
 the vanquished spoilers soon recovered their strength and 
 
 * Vid. Caroli Testamentum in Steph. Baluzii Capitularibus Regum 
 Francor. tom. i. p. 487. 
 
 4 See Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, tom. ix. chap. ii. p. 40. 
 
 * Jo. Mariana, Rerum Hispaniearuma Hist. lib. vi. cap. xxi—Renaudot, 
 Historia Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 253.—Jo. de Ferreras, Hist. de Espana, 
 tom. ii. p. 425. 
 
 f Paulus Diaconus, de Gestis Longobard. lib. vi. cap, xlvi. liii— 
 
164 
 
 their ferocity, and returned with new violence to their de- 
 vastations. This engaged Charlemagne to lead a formi- 
 dable army into Spain, in the hope of delivering that whole 
 country from the oppressive yoke of the Saracens : but this 
 grand enterprise, though it did not entirely miscarry, was 
 not attended with the signal success that was expected 
 fiom it.* 
 
 The inroads of this warlike people were felt by several 
 of the western provinces, beside those of France and 
 Spain. Several parts of Italy suffered from their incur- 
 sions; the island of Sardinia was reduced under their 
 
 Mariana, lib. vii. cap. ili—Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Abderamus. 
 —Ferreras, tom. 11. p. 403. 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ; 
 
 Part L, 
 
 yoke; and Sicily was ravaged and uppressed by them in 
 the most inhuman manner. Hence the Christian relivion 
 in Spain and Sardinia suffered inexpressibly under these 
 violent usurpers. 
 
 In Germany, and the adjacent countries, the Christians 
 were assailed by another sort of enemies; for all such 
 as adhered to the pagan superstitions beheld them with 
 the most inveterate hatred, and persecuted them with the 
 most unrelenting violence and fury. Hence, in several 
 places, castles and various fortifications were erected to re 
 strain the incursions of these barbarian zealots. 
 
 * Henr. de Bunau, Teutsche Keyser-und-Reichs-Historie, tom. 11. p 
 392.—Ferreras, tom. il. p. 506. > Servati Lupi Vita Wigberti, p. 304. 
 
PART IL. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CITURCIHL. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Petes sae the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 1. Amone the Greeks of this age were some men of 
 genius and talents, who might have contributed to pre- 
 vent the total decline of literature; but their zeal was 
 damped by the tumults and desolations that reigned in the 
 empire ; and while both church and state were menaced 
 with approaching ruin, the learned were left destitute of 
 that protection which gives both vigour and success to 
 the culture of the arts and sciences. Hence few or none 
 of the Greeks were famous, either for elegance of diction, 
 true wit, copious erudition, or a zealous attachment to the 
 study of philosophy, and the investigation of truth. Frigid 
 homilies, insipid narrations of the “exploits of pretended 
 
 saints, vain and subtle disputes about inessential and tri- 
 
 vial subjects, vehement and bombastic declamations for 
 or against the erection and worship of images, and histo- 
 ries ‘composed without method or judgment, were the 
 monuments of Grecian learning in this miserable age. 
 
 If. It must, however, be observed, that the Aristotelian 
 philosophy was taught every where in the public schools, 
 and was propagated in all places with considerable suc- 
 cess. ‘The doctrine of Plato had lost all its credit in the 
 schools, after the repeated sentences of condemnation that 
 had been passed upon the opinions of Origen, and the 
 troubles which the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies 
 had excited in the church; so that Platonism now was al- 
 most confined to the solitary retreats of the monastic orders. 
 Of all the writers in this century, who contributed to the il- 
 lustration and progress of the Aristotelian philosophy, the 
 most eminent was John Damascenus, who composed a 
 concise, yet comprehensive view of the doctrines of the 
 Stagirite, for the instruction of the more ignorant, and in 
 a manner adapted to common capacities. ‘This little work 
 excited numbers, both in Greece and Syria, to the study 
 of that philosophy, whose proselytes increased daily. The 
 Nestorians and Jacobites were also extremely diligent in 
 the study of Aristotle’s writings ; and from this repository 
 they armed themselves with sophisms and quibbles, which 
 they employed against the Greeks in the controversy con- 
 cerning the nature and person of Christ. 
 
 Ill. 'The literary history of the Latins exhibits innu- 
 merable instances of the grossest ignorance,* which will 
 not, however, appear surprising to such as consider, with 
 attention, the state of Europe in this century. If we ex- 
 cept some poor remains of learning, which were yet to be 
 found at Rome, and in certain cities of Italy,> the sciences 
 seemed to have abandoned the continent, and fixed their 
 residence in Britain and Ireland.« Those, therefore, of 
 the Latin writers, who were distinguished by their learn- 
 ing and genius, were all (a few French and Italians ex- 
 
 * See Steph. Baluz. Observat. ad Reginonum Prumiensem, p. 540. 
 
 b Lud. Ant. Maratori. Antiq. Italice medii Evi, tom. iii. p. SIL. 
 
 ¢ Jac. Usserius, Prof. ad Syllogen Epistolarum Hibernicarum. 
 
 @ The reasons that have been used, to prove Charlemagne the founder of 
 the university of Paris, are accurately collected by Du Boulay, Historia 
 
 No. XIV. 42 
 
 cepted) either Britons or Hibernians, such as Alcuin, Bede, 
 Egbert, Clemens, Dungallus, Acca, and others. Charle- 
 magne, whose political talents were embellished by a con- 
 siderable degree of learning, and an ardent zeal for the 
 culture of the sciences, endeavoured to dispel the profound 
 ignorance that reigned i in his dominions ; in which excel- 
 lent undertaking ‘he was animated and directed by the 
 counsels of Alcuin. With this view he drew, first from 
 Italy, and afterwards from Britain and Ire] and, by his 
 liberality, eminent men, who had distinguished them- 
 selves in the various branches of literature ; and excited 
 the several orders of the clergy and mienike , by various 
 encouragements, and the nobility, and others of eminent 
 rank, by his own example, to the pursuit of knowledge 
 in all its branches, human and divine. 
 
 IV. In the prosecution of this noble design, the greatest 
 part of the bishops erected, by the express order of the 
 emperor, cathedral schools, (s0 called from their contiguity 
 to the principal church in each diocese,) in which the 
 youth, set apart for the service of Christ, received a learned 
 and religious education. Those abbots also, who had any 
 zeal for the cause of Christianity, opened schools in their 
 monasteries, in which the more learned of the fraternity 
 instructed such as were designed for the monastic state, or 
 the sacerdotal order, in the Latin language, and other 
 branches of Jearning, suitable to their future destination. 
 It was formerly believed that the university of Paris was 
 erected by Charlemagne ; but this opinion is rejected by 
 such as have studied, with impartiality, the history of this 
 age, though it is undeniably evident, that this great prince 
 had the honour of laying, in some measure, the foundation 
 
 of that noble institution, and that the beginnings from 
 
 which it arose may be ascribed to him.¢ However this 
 question be decided, it is certain, that the zeal of this em- 
 peror, for the propagation and advancement of letters, 
 was very great, and manifested its ardour by a considerable 
 number of excellent establishments; nor among others 
 must we pass in silence the famous Palatine school, which 
 he erected with a view to banish ignorance from his court, 
 and in which the princes of the blood, and the children of 
 the nobility, were educated by the most learned and illus- 
 trious masters of the times.¢ 
 
 V. These establishments were not, however, attended 
 with the desired success ; nor was the improvement of the 
 youth, in learning and virtue, at all proportioned to the 
 pains that were taken, and the bounty that was bestowed 
 to procure them a liberal education. ‘This, indeed, will 
 not appear surprising, when we consider, that the most 
 learned and renowned masters of these times were men 
 of very little genius and abilities, and that their system of 
 erudition and philosophy was nothing more than a lean 
 and ghastly skeleton, equally unfit for ornament and use. 
 The whole circle of science was composed of, what they 
 
 Academiz Paris. tom. i. p- 91. But they have been refuted by the fol- 
 lowing learned men in a victorious manner, viz. Mabillon, Act. Sanet. 
 Ord. Benedict. tom. v. Pref. sect. 181, 182. Launoy. Claud. Joly, de 
 Scholis. 
 
 * Boulay, tom. i. p. 281.—Mabillon, sect. 179. 
 
166 
 
 called, the seven liberal arts, viz. grammar, rhetoric, logic, 
 arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy ;* the three 
 former of which they distinguished by the title of triviwm, 
 and the four latter by that of guadrivium. Nothing can 
 be conceived mort wretchedly barbarous than the man- 
 ner in which these sciences were taught, as we may easily 
 perceive from Alcuin’s treatisecconcerning them,” and from 
 the dissertations of St. Augustin on the same subject, 
 which were in the highest repute at this time. In the 
 greatest part of the schools, the public teachers ventured 
 no farther than the trivium, and confined their instructions 
 to grammar, rhetoric, and logic ; they, however, who, after 
 passing the trivium and also the quadrivium, were desirous 
 of rising yet higher in their literary pursuits, were exhorted 
 to apply themselves to the study of Cassiodore and Boe- 
 thius, as if the progress of human knowledge had been 
 bounded by the discoveries of those two learned writers. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. Trav corruption of manners, which dishonoured the 
 clergy in the former century, increased, instead of dimin- 
 ishing, in this, and discovered itself under the most odious 
 characters, both in the eastern and western provinces. In 
 the east there arose the most violent dissensions and quar- 
 rels among the bishops and doctors of the church, who, 
 forgetting the duties of their stations, and the cause of 
 Christ in which they were engaged, threw the state into 
 combustion by their outrageous clamours and their scanda- 
 lous divisions, and even went so far as to stain their hands 
 with the blood of their brethren, who differed from them 
 in opinion. In the western world, Christianity was not 
 less disgraced by the lives and actions of those who pre- 
 tended to be the luminaries of the church, and who ought 
 to have been so in reality, by exhibiting examples of piety 
 and virtue to their flock. The clergy abandoned them- 
 selves to their passions without moderation or restraint: 
 they were distinguished by their luxury, their gluttony, 
 and their lust; they gave themselves up to dissipations of 
 various kinds, to the pleasures of hunting, and, what 
 seemed still more remote from their sacred character, to 
 military studiess and enterprises. They had also so far 
 extinguished every principle of fear and shame, that they 
 became incorrigible; nor could the various laws enacted 
 against their vices by Carloman, Pepin, and Charlemagne, 
 at all contribute to set bounds to their licentiousness, or to 
 bring about their reformation.4 
 
 * Herm. Conringit Antiquitat. Academice, Diss. iii. p. 80.—Jac. 
 Thomasii Programmata, p. 368.—Observat. Halens. tom. vi. Obs. 
 Kiva py 1 LS: 
 
 > Alcuini Opera, par. ii. p. 1245, edit. Quercetani. It is, however, to 
 be observed, that the treatise of Alcuin, here referred to, is not only im- 
 
 erfect, butis almost entirely transcribed from Cassiodore. 
 
 ¢ Steph. Baluzius, ad Reginon. Prumiensem, p. 563.— Wilkins, Con- 
 cilia Magne Britannia, tom. i. p. 90. 
 
 4 Steph. Baluz. Capitular. Regum Francor. tom. i. p. 189, 208, 275, 
 493, &c. 
 
 * Julius Cesar, de bello Gallico, lib. vi. cap. 13. “ Druides magno sunt 
 apud eos honore: nam fere de omnibus controversiis, publicis privatisque, 
 constituunt; et, si quod est admissum fucinus, si cedes facta, si de here- 
 ditate, si de finibus controversia est, idem decernunt, pramia peenasque 
 constituunt: si quis aut privatus aut publicus eorum decreto non stetit, 
 sacrificiis interdicunt—Druides a bello abesse consueverunt, neque tri- 
 buta una cum reliquis pendunt: militia vacationem, omniumque rerum 
 habent immunitatem. Tantis excitati premiis, et sua sponte multi in 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I] 
 
 II. It is, indeed, amazing, that, notwithstanding the 
 shocking nature of such vices, especially in a set of men 
 whose profession required them to display to the world the 
 attractive lustre of virtuous example ; and notwithstand- 
 ing the perpetual troubles and complaints which these 
 vices occasioned ; the clergy were still thought worthy of 
 the highest veneration, and honoured, as a sort of deities, by 
 the submissive multitude. This veneration for the bish- 
 ops and clergy, and the influence and authority it gave 
 them over the people, were, indeed, carried much higher 
 in the west than in the eastern provinces ; and the rea- 
 sons of this difference will appear manifest to such as con- 
 sider the customs and manners that prevailed among the 
 barbarous nations, which were, at this time, masters of 
 Europe, before their conversion to Christianity. All these 
 nations, during their continuance under the darkness of 
 paganism, were absolutely enslaved to their priests, without 
 whose counsel and authority they transacted nothing of 
 the least importance, either in civil or military affairs. On 
 their conversion to Christianity, they, therefore, thought 
 proper to transfer to the ministers of their new religion, 
 the rights and privileges of their former priests: and the 
 Christian bishops, in their turn, were not only ready to 
 accept the offer, but used all their diligence and dexterity 
 to secure and assert, to themselves and their successors, the 
 dominion and authority which the ministers of paganism 
 had usurped over an ignorant and brutish people. 
 
 IIL. 'The honours and privileges, which the western na- 
 tions had voluntarily conferred upon the bishops and other 
 doctors of the church, were now augmented with new and 
 immense accessions of opulence and authority. 'The en- 
 dowments of the church and monasteries, and the reve- 
 nues of the bishops, were hitherto considerable; but in 
 this century a new and ingenious method was found out 
 of acquiring much greater riches to the church, and of 
 increasing its wealth through succeeding ages. An opinion 
 prevailed universally at this time, though its authors are 
 not known, that the punishment which the righteous 
 judge of the world has reserved for the transgressions of 
 the wicked, was to be prevented and annulled by liberal 
 donations to God, to the saints, to the churches and clergy. 
 In consequence of this notion, the great and opulent, who 
 were, generally speaking, the most remarkable for their 
 flagitious and abominable lives, offered, out of the abun- 
 dance which they had received by inheritance, or acquired 
 by rapine, rich donations to departed saints, their minis- 
 ters upon earth, and the keepers of the temples that were 
 erected to their honour, in order to avoid the sufferings and 
 penalties annexed by the priests to transgression in this 
 
 disciplinam conveniunt, et a parentibus propinquisque mittuntur.” Ta 
 citus (de Mor. Germanorum, cap. aa expresses also the power and au- 
 thority of the priests or Druids in the following terms: ‘‘ Neque enim 
 animadvertere, neque vincire, neque verberare quidem, nisi sacerdotibus 
 permissum, non quasi in peenam, nec ducis jussu, sed velut Deo impe- 
 rante;” and again, cap. uu. ‘ Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus et tum 
 coércendi jus est, imperatur.” Helmoldus (Chron. Sclavorum, lib. i. 
 cap. Xxxv1.) expresses himself to the same purpose. “ Major flaminis 
 quam regis, apud ipsos, veneratio est ;” and again, lib. ii. cap. xi. “Rex 
 apud eos modice wstimationis est comparatione flaminis; ille enim re- 
 sponsa perquirit ;—rex et populus ad illius nutum pendent.” This an- 
 cient custom of honouring their priests, and submitting in all things to 
 their decisions, was still preserved by the Germans, and the other Euro- 
 pean nations, after their conversion to Christianity ; and this furnishes a 
 satisfactory answer to the question, how it came to pass that the Christian 
 priesthood obtained in the west thatenormous degree of authority, which 
 is so contrary to the positive precepts of Chfist, and the nature and 
 genius of his divine religion. 
 
Cuap. I. 
 
 lifes and to escape the misery denounced against the 
 wicked in a future state. ‘This new and commodious 
 method of making atonement for iniquity, was the prin- 
 cipal source of those immense treasures, which, from this 
 period, began to flow in upon the clergy, the churches, 
 and monasteries, and continued to enrich them through 
 succeeding ages down to the present time.” 
 
 IV. But here it is highly worthy of observation, that 
 the donations which princes and persons of the first rank 
 presented, in order to make expiation for their sins, and to 
 satisfy the justice of God and the demands of the clergy, 
 did not merely consist of those private possessions, which 
 every citizen may enjoy, and with which the churches and 
 convents were already abundantly enriched; for these 
 donations were carried to a much more extravagant 
 length, and the church was endowed with several of those 
 public grants, which are peculiar to princes and sovereign 
 states, and which are commonly called regalia, or royal 
 domains. Emperors, kings, and princes, signalized their 
 superstitious veneration for the clergy, by investing bishops, 
 churches, and monasteries, with princely possessions. 
 Those who, by their holy profession, were appointed to 
 proclaim to the world the vanity of human grandeur, and 
 to inspire the minds of men, by their instructions and their 
 example, with a noble contempt of sublunary things, be- 
 came themselves scandalous spectacles of worldly pomp, 
 ambition, and splendoutr,; were created dukes, counts, and 
 marquisses, judges, legislators, and sovereigns ; and not 
 only gave laws to nations, but also, upon many occasions, 
 gave battle to their enemies at the head of numerous ar- 
 mies of their own raising. It is here that we are to look 
 for the source of those dreadful tumults and calamities 
 that spread desolation through Europe in after-times, par- 
 ticularly of those bloody wars concerning investitures, 
 and those obstinate contentions and disputes about the 
 regalia. 
 
 VY. The excessive donations that were made to the 
 clergy, and the extravagant liberality that augmented 
 daily the treasures of the European churches, (to which 
 those donations and this liberality were totally confined,) 
 began in this century; nor do we find any examples of 
 the like munificence in preceding times. Hence we may 
 conclude, that these donations were owing to customs pe- 
 culiar to the European nations, and to the maxims of 
 
 « The temporal penalties here mentioned were rigorous fasts, bodily 
 pains and mortifications, long and frequent prayers, pilgrimages to the 
 tombs of saints and martyrs, and the like austerities. 'These were the 
 penalties which the priests imposed upon such as had confessed their 
 crimes; and as they were singularly grievous to those who had led vo- 
 luptuous lives, and were desirous of continuing in the same course of 
 licentious pleasure, effeminacy, and ease, the richer sort of transgressors 
 embraced eagerly this new method of expiation, and willingly gave a 
 part of their substance to avoid such severe and rigorous penalties. 
 
 » Hence, by a known form of speech, they who offered donations to 
 the church or ¢lergy were said to do this for the redemption of their 
 souls ; and the gifts themselves were generally called the price of _trans- 
 
 ression. See Lud. Ant. Muratori Diss. de Redemptione Peccatorum, 
 in his Antiquitates Italice medii AEVi, tom. v. p. 712. 
 
 * The account here given of the rise of the clergy to such enormous 
 degrees of opulence and authority, is corroborated by the following re- 
 markable passage of William of Malmesbury (lib. v. de Rebus gestis 
 Regum Angliz.) ‘Carolus Magnus, pro contundenda gentium illarum 
 ferocia, omnes pene terras ecclesiis contulerat, consiliosissime perpen- 
 dens, nolle sacri ordinis homines, tam facile quam laicos, fidelitatem 
 Domini rejicere ; preterea, si laici rebellarent, illos posse excommunica- 
 tionis auctoritate et potentiz severitate compescere.” This is, doubtless, 
 the true reason why Charlemagne, who was far from being a supersti- 
 tious prince, or aslave to the clergy, augmented so vastly the jurisdiction of 
 the Roman pontiff in Germany, Italy, and the other countries where he had 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 167 
 
 policy which were established among those warlike peo- 
 ple. ‘The kings of these nations, who were employed 
 either in usurpation or self-defence, endeavoured, by all 
 means, to attach warmly to their interests those whom 
 they considered as their friends and clients ; and, for this 
 purpose, they distributed among them extensive territo- 
 ries, cities, and fortresses, with the various rights and 
 privileges belonging to them, reserving to themselves only 
 the supreme dominion, and the military service of their 
 powerful vassals. ‘This then being the method of goy- 
 erning customary in Europe, it was esteemed by princes a 
 high instance of political prudence to distribute among the 
 biskops, and other Christian doctors, the same sort of do- 
 nations that they had formerly made to their generals and 
 clients ; for it is not to be believed, that superstition alone 
 was always the principle that drew forth their liberality. 
 They expected greater fidelity and loyalty from a set of 
 ; men who were bound by the obligations of religion, and 
 consecraied to the service of God, than from a body of 
 nobility, composed of fierce and impetuous warriors, and 
 accustomed to little else but bloodshed and rapine; and 
 they hoped also to check the seditious and turbulent spi- 
 rits of their vassals, and maintain them in their obedience, 
 by the iniluence and authority of the bishops, whose com- 
 mands were highly respected, and whose spiritual thun- 
 derbolts, rendered formidable by ignorance, struck terror 
 into the boldest and most resolute hearts.¢ 
 
 VI. This prodigious accession to the opulence and 
 authority of the clergy in the west began with their head, 
 the Roman pontiff, and spread gradually from him among 
 the inferior bishops, and also among the sacerdotal and 
 monastic orders. ‘The barbarous nations, who received 
 the Gospel, looked upon the bishop of Rome as the suc- 
 cessor of their chief druid, or high priest. And as this 
 tremendous druid had enjoyed, under the darkness of 
 paganisnf a boundless authority, and had been treated 
 with a degree of veneration, that, through its servile excess, 
 degenerated into terror; so the barbarous nations, on their 
 conversion to Christianity, thought proper to confer upon 
 the chief of the bishops the same honours and the same 
 authority that had formerly been vested in their arch- 
 druid. The pope received, with something more than a 
 mere spiritual delight, these august privileges; and lest, 
 upon any change of affairs, attempts might be made to 
 
 extended his conquests, and accumulated upon the bishops such amp'e 
 possessions. He expected more loyalty and submission from the clergy, 
 than from the laity ; and he augmented the riches and authority of the 
 former, in order to secure his throne against the assaults of the latter. 
 As the bishops were universally held in the highest veneration, he made 
 use of their influence in checking the rebellious spirit of his dukes, 
 counts, and knights, who were. frequently very troublesome. For in- 
 stance, he had much to fear from the dukes of Benevento, Spoleto, and 
 Capua, when the government of the Lombards was overturn d; he 
 therefore made over a considerable part of Italy to the Roman pontiff, 
 whose ghostly authority, opulence, and threatenings, were so proper to 
 restrain those powerful and vindictive princes from seditious insurrec- 
 tions, or to quell such tumults as they might venture to excite. Nor was 
 he the only prince who honoured the clergy from such political views ; 
 
 the other kings and princes of Europe acted much in the same manner, 
 and from the same principles, as will appear evident to all who consi- 
 der, with attention, the forms of government, and the methods of govern- 
 ing, that took place’ in this century: so that the successive augmentation 
 of sacerdotal opulence and authority, which many look upon as the work 
 of superstition alone, was, in many instances, an effect of political pru- 
 dence. We shall consider, presently, the terrors of excommunication, 
 which William of Malmesbury touches but cursorily in the latter words 
 | of the passage above quoted. 
 
 « Cesar speaks thus of the chief or arch-druid: “ His omnibus druidi- 
 | bus preest unus, qui summam inter eos (Celtas) habet auctoritatem, 
 
168 
 
 deprive him of them, he strengthened his title to these 
 extraordinary honours, by a variety of passages drawn 
 from ancient history, and (what was still more astonish- 
 ing) by arguments of a religious nature. This conduct 
 of a superstitious people swelled the arrogance of the 
 
 Rome, in civil and political affairs, a high pre-eminence 
 and a despotic authority, unknown to former ages. Hence, 
 among other unhappy circumstances, arose that monstrous 
 and most pernicious opinion, that such persons as were 
 excluded from .the communion of the church by the 
 pontiff himself, or any of the bishops, forfeited thereby 
 not only their civil rights and advantages as citizens, but 
 even the common claims and privileges of humanity. 
 This horrid opinion, which was a fatal source of wars, 
 massacres, and rebellions without number, and which 
 contributed more than any other means to augment and 
 confirm the papal authority, was, unhappily for Europe, 
 borrowed by Christians, or rather by the clergy, from the 
 pagan superstitions.* 
 
 VII. We observe, in the annals of the French nation, 
 the following remarkable and shocking instance of the 
 enormous power that was, at this time, vested in the Ro- 
 man pontiff. Pepin was mayor of the palace to Childeric 
 IIL, and, in the exercise of that high office, possessed in 
 reality the royal power and authority; but, not content 
 with this, he aspired to the titles and honours of majesty, 
 and formed the design of dethroning his sovereign. For 
 this purpose, the states of the realm were assembled by 
 Pepin, in 751; and though they were devoted to the 
 interests of this ambitious usurper, they gave it as their 
 opinion, that the bishop of Rome was previously to be 
 consulted, whether the execution of such a project was 
 lawful or not. In consequence of this, ambassadors were 
 sent by Pepin to Zachary, the reigning pontiff, with the 
 
 Hoc mortuo, si qui ex reliquis excellit dignitate, succedit. At, si sunt 
 plures pares, suffragio Druidam adlegitur: nonnunquam etiam armis de 
 prmecipatu contendunt.” Jul. Cesar, de Bello Gallico, lib. vi. cap. xiil. 
 
 * Though excommunication, from the time of Constantine the Great, 
 was, in every part of the Christian world, attended with many disagrée- 
 able effects, yet its highest terrors were confined to Europe, where its 
 aspect was truly formidable and hideous. It acquired also, in the eighth 
 century, new accessions of terror; so that, from that period, the excom- 
 munication practised in Europe differed entirely from that which was in 
 use in other parts of Christendom. Excommunicated persons were in- 
 deed considered, in all places, as objects of aversion both to God and 
 
 men; but they were not, on this account, robbed of the privileges of citi- 
 zens, or of the rights of humanity; much less were those kings and 
 princes, whom an insolent bishop had thought proper to exclude from the 
 communion of the church, supposed to forfeit, on that account, their crown 
 or their territories. But from this century, it was quite otherwise in 
 Europe; excommunication received that infernal power which dissolved 
 all connexions; so that those whom the bishops, or their chief, excluded 
 from church communion, were degraded to a level with the beasts. Un- 
 der this horrid sentens», the king, the ruler, the husband, the father, and 
 even the man, forfeited all their rights, all their advantages, the claims 
 of nature, and the privileges of society. What then was the origin 
 of this unnatural power which excommunication acquired? It was 
 briefly as follows: On the conversion of the barbarous nations to Christi- 
 anity, those new and ignorant proselytes confounded the excommunication 
 in use among Christians, with that which had been practised in the 
 times of paganism by the priests of the gods, and considered both as of 
 the same nature and effect. ‘The Roman pontiffs, on the other hand, 
 
 fore, employed all sorts of means to gain credit to an opinion that tended 
 to gratify theirambition, ani to aggrandise, in general, the episcopal order. 
 That this is the true origin of the extensive and horrid influence 
 of the European and papal excommunication, will appear evident to 
 such as cast an eye upon the following passage of Cesar, de Bello Gal- 
 lico, lib. vi. cap. xi, “Si quis aut privatus aut publicus Druidum de- 
 ercto non Stetit, sacrificiis interdicunt. He pena est apud eos gravissi- 
 ma. (Quibus ita est interdictum, ii numero impiorum et sceleratorum | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Roman druid to an enormous size, and gave to the see of 
 
 | garded as fabulous. 
 ; | was, however, more ancient than the time of Pepin, and was observed 
 were too artful not to countenance and encourage this,error ; and, there- |) 
 
 Parr Il 
 
 following question: Whether the divine law did not permi 
 a valiant and warlike people to dethrone a pusillauimous 
 and indolent monarch, who was incapable of discharging 
 
 -any of the functions of royalty, and to substitute in his 
 
 place one more worthy to rule, and who had already ren- 
 dered most important services to the state? "The situation 
 of Zachary, who stood much in need of the aid of Pepin 
 against the Greeks and Lombards, rendered his answet 
 such as the usurper desired. When this favourable decision 
 of the Roman oracle was published in France, the unhap- 
 py Childeric was stripped of royalty without the least 
 opposition; and Pepin, without the smallest resistance 
 from any quarter, stepped into the throne of his master 
 and his sovereign. Let the abettors of the papal autho- 
 rity see how they can justify, in Christ’s pretended vice- 
 gerent upon earth, a decision which is so glaringly repug- 
 nant to the laws and precepts of the divine Saviour. 
 This decision was solemnly confirmed by Stephen IL., the 
 successor of Zachary. He undertook a journey into 
 France, in 754, in order to solicit assistance against the 
 Lombards ; dissolved the obligation of the oath of fidelity 
 and allegiance which Pepin had sworn to Childeric, and 
 violated by his usurpation ; and, to render his title to the 
 crown as sacred as possible, anointed and crowned him, 
 with his wife and two sons, for the second time.¢ 
 
 Vil. This compliance of the Roman pontiffs proved 
 an abundant source of opulence and credit to the church, 
 and to its aspiring ministers. When that part of Italy 
 which was yet subject to the Grecian empire, was involved 
 in confusion and trouble, by the seditions and tumults which 
 arose from the imperialedicts*against the erection and wor- 
 ship of images, the kings of the Lombards employed the 
 united influence of their arms and negotiations in order to 
 terminate these contests. Their success, indeed, was only 
 advantageous to themselves ; for they managed matters so 
 
 habentur, iis omnes decedunt, aditum eorum sermonemque defugiunt, ne 
 quid ex contagione incommodi accipiant; neque iis petentibus jus reddi- 
 tur, neque honos ullus communicatur.” 
 
 b See Le Cointe, Mezeray, Daniel, and other Gallic and German his- 
 torians, concerning this important event; but particularly Bossuet, De- 
 fens. Declarationis Cleri Gallicani, parti. p. 226.—Petr. Rival. Disserta 
 tions Histor. et Critiques sur divers Sujets, Diss. ii. p. 70; Diss. i. p. 15€ 
 —Henr. de Bunau, Historia Imperit Germanici, tom. 11. p. 288. This 
 remarkable event 1s not, indeed, related in the same manner by all histe- 
 rians, and it is generally represented under false colours by those who, 
 from a spirit of blind zeal and excessive adulation, seize every occa 
 sion of exalting the dignity and authority of the bishops of Rome. 
 Such writers assert, that it was by Zachary’s authority as pontiff, anc 
 not in consequence of his opinion as a casuist or divine, that the crown 
 was taken from the head of Childeric, and placed upon that of Pepin. 
 But this the French absolutely and justly deny. Had it, however, been 
 so, the crime of the pontiff would have been much greater than it 
 was in reality. 
 
 z’>¢ Pepin had been anointed by the legate Boniface at Soissons, 
 soon after his election; but, thinking that the performance of sucha 
 ceremony by the pope would recommend him more to the respect of his 
 subjects, he desired that the unction should be administered anew by 
 Stephen. Pepin was the first French monarch who received this unc- 
 tion as aceremony of coronation, at least according to the reports of the 
 most credible historians. His predecessors were proclaimed by being 
 lifted up ona shield; and the holy phial of Clovis is now universally re- 
 The custom of anointing kings at their coronation 
 
 long before that period both in Scotland and Spain. See Edmund Mar- 
 tenne, de Antiq. Eceles. Ritib. tom. ili.cap. x.; and also Bunau, Historia 
 Imperii Germanici, tom. 11. p. 301, 366. 
 
 34> 4 The author has here in view the edicts of Leo Isauricus and 
 Constantine Copronymus. The former published, in 726, a famous edict 
 against the worship of images, which occasioned many contests and 
 much disturbance both in church and state; and the latter assembled at 
 Constantinople, in 754, a council of 358 bishops, who unanimously con- 
 demned, not only the worship, but even the wse of images. 
 
Cnap. Il. 
 
 as to become, by degrees, masters of the Grecian provinces 
 in Italy, which were subject to the exarch who resided at 
 Ravenna. One of these monarchs, named Aistulphus, car- 
 ried his views still farther. Elate with these accessions to | 
 his dominions, he meditated the conquest of Rome and its : 
 territory, and formed the ambitious project of reducing all 
 lialy under the yoke of the Lombards. Stephen now 
 
 addressed himself to his powerful patron and protector | 
 Pepin, represented to him his deplorable condition, and 
 implored his assistance. ‘The French monarch embarked | 
 with zeal in the cause of the terrified and suppliant pontiff; 
 
 crossed the Alps, in 754, with a numerous army ; and, 
 
 having defeated Aistulphus, obliged him, by a solemn 
 
 treaty, to deliver up to the see of Rome the exarchate of 
 Ravenna, Pentapolis, and all the cities, castles, and terri- 
 tories, which he had seized in the Roman dukedom. It 
 was not, however, long before the Lombard prince viola- 
 
 ted, without remorse, an engagement which he had _ con- 
 tracted with reluctance. In 755, he laid siege to Rome 
 
 for the second time, but was again obliged to sue for peace 
 
 by the victorious arms of Pepin, who returned into Italy, 
 
 and, forcing the Lombard to execute the treaty he had so 
 
 audaciously violated, made a new grant of the exarchate* 
 
 and of Pentapolis to the pontiff and his successors. And 
 
 thus was the bishop of Rome raised to the rank of a tem- 
 
 poral prince. 
 
 IX. After the death of Pepin, a new attack was made | 
 upon the patrimony of St. Peter, by Dideric, king of the. 
 l.ombards, who invaded the territories that had been grant- | 
 ed by the French monarch to the see of Rome. In this | 
 extremity, pope Adrian I. fled for succour to Charles, the | 
 son of Pepin, who, on account of his heroic exploits, was 
 | 
 
 '*See Car. Sigonius, de Regno Italia, lib. ii. p. 202, tom. il. op.— 
 Bunau, Historia Imperii Germanici, tom. ii. p. 301, 366.—Muratori, An- 
 nales ltaliz, tom. iv. p.310. The real limits of the exarchate granted by 
 Pepin to the Roman pontiff, have been much controverted among the 
 learned, and have, particularly in our times, employed the researches of | 
 several eminent writers. The bishops of Rome extend the limits of 
 this territory as far as they can with any appearance of decency or pro- 
 bability, while their adversaries are as zealous in contracting this famous 
 grant within narrower bounds. See Lud. Ant. Murator. Droits de l’Em- 
 pire sur |’Etat Ecclesiastique, cap. i. ii.; a3 also his Antiquitat. Ital. 
 medii Avi, tom. i. p. 64, 68, 986, 987. The same author treats the mat- 
 ter with more circumspection, tom. v. p. 790. This controversy can only be 
 terminated with facility by an inspection of Pepin’s grant of the territory 
 in question. Fontanini, in his first Defence of the temporal Jurisdiction 
 of the See of Rome over the City of Commachio, written in Italian, inti- 
 mates that this grant is yet extant, and even makes use of some phrases 
 that are said to be contained in it (see the pages 242 and 346 of that 
 work.) This, however, will scarcely be believed. Were it indeed true, 
 that such a deed remains, its being published to the world would be, un- 
 doubtediy, unfavourable to the pretensions and interests of the church of 
 Rome. It is at least certain, that, in the dispute between the emperor 
 Joseph I. and the Roman pontiff concerning Commachio, the partizans 
 of the latter, though frequently called upon by those of the emperor to 
 produce this grant, refused constantly to comply with this demand. On | 
 the other hand, it must be confessed, that Bianchini, in his Prolegom. | 
 ad Anastasium de Vitis Pontif. Rom. has given us, from a Farnesian | 
 manuscript, a specimen of this grant, which seems to carry the marks of 
 remote antiquity. Be that as it may, a multitude of witnesses unite in 
 essuring us, that the remorse of a wounded conscience was the source of | 
 Pepin’s liberality, and that his grant to the Roman pontiff was the su- | 
 perstitious remedy by which he aed to expiate his enormities, and par- 
 ticularly his horrid perfidy to his master Childeric. 
 
 ’ See Car. Sigonius, de Regno Italie, lib. iii. p. 223. tom. ii. op.— 
 Bunau, Historia Imperii Germanici, tom. ii. p. 368.—Petr. de Marca, de 
 Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii, lib. i. cap. xii. p. 67—Lud. Anton. Mu- 
 ratori Droits de Empire sur |’Etat Ecclesiastique, cap. ii. p. 147.—Con- 
 ringius, de Imperio Roman. German. cap. vi. The extent of Charle- 
 magne’s grant to the see of Rome is as much disputed as the magnitude 
 of Pepin’s donation between the partizans of the pope, and those of the 
 emperor. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 They who plead the cause of the Roman see, maintain that || 
 
 169 
 
 afterwards distinguished by the name of Charlemagne. 
 This prince, whose enterprising genius led him to seize 
 with avidity every opportunity of extending his conquests, 
 and whose veneration for the Roman see was carried very 
 far, as much from the dictates of policy as superstition, 
 adopted immediately the cause of the trembling pontiff. 
 He passed the Alps with a formidable army, in 774; 
 overturned the empire of the Lombards in Italy, which 
 had subsisted above two hundred years; sent their exiled 
 monarch into France, and proclaimed himself king of the 
 Lombards. ‘These conquests offered to Charlemagne an 
 occasion of visiting Rome, where he not only confirmed 
 the grants which had been made by his father to that see, 
 but added to them new donations, and ceded to the Roman 
 pontifls several cities and provinces in Italy, which had 
 not been contained in Pepin’s grant. What those cities 
 and provinces were, is a question difficult to be resolved at 
 this period, as it is perplexed with much obscurity, from 
 the want of authentic records.» 
 
 X. By this act of liberality, which seems to carry in it 
 the contradictory characters of policy and imprudence, 
 Charlemagne opened for himself a passage to the empire 
 of the west, and to the supreme dominion over the city of 
 Rome and its territory, upon which the western empire 
 seemed then to depend.s He had, no doubt, been medita- 
 ting for a considerable time this arduous project, which his 
 father Pepin had probably formed before him; but the 
 circumstances of the times obliged him to wait for a 
 favourable occasion of putting it inexecution. This was 
 offered him in 800, when the affairs of the Greeks were 
 reduced to extremity after the death of Leo II., and the 
 barbarous murder of his son Constantine, and while the 
 
 and several other districts, were solemnly granted by Charlemagne to 
 St. Peter and his successors. They, on the other hand, who assert the 
 rights of the emperor, diminish as far as they can the munificence of 
 Charles, and confine this new grant within narrow limits. The reader 
 may consult upon this subject the authors of the present age, who have 
 published their opinions of the pretensions of the emperors and the 
 popes to the cities of Commachio and Florence, and the duchies of Par- 
 ma and Placentia; but above all, the learned Berret’s excellent treatise, 
 entitled Dissertatio Chorographica de Italia medii A®vi, f. 33. The 
 spirit of party seems, in this controversy, as in many others, to have 
 blinded the disputants on both sides of the question; and this, together 
 with the difficulty of avoiding mistakes upon a point involved in such 
 deep obscurity, has, in many cases, rendered the truth invisible to both 
 the contending parties. With respect to the motives that induced Charle- 
 magne to make this grant, they are much less doubtful than the extent of 
 the grant itself. Adrian affirms that the monarch’s view was to atone 
 
 for has sins by this act of liberality to the church, as we see in a letter 
 
 from that pontiff to Charlemagne, which is published in Muratori’s 
 Scriptores Rerum Italicar. tom. iil. part i. p. 265, and of which the fol- 
 lowing passage is remarkable: “ Venientes ad nos de Capua, quam 
 beato Petro apostolorum principi pro mercede anime vestre atque sempi- 
 terna memoria cum ceteris civitatibus obtulistis.” It is not indeed impro- 
 bable, that Charlemagne, who affected that kind of piety which was the 
 characteristic of this barbarous age, mentioned this superstitious motive 
 in the act of cession by which he confirmed his donation to the church; 
 but such as are acquainted with the character of this prince, and the his- 
 tory of this period, will be cautious in attributing his generosity to this 
 religious principle alone. His grand motive was, undoubtedly, of an 
 ambitious kind; he was obstinately bent upon adding the western em- 
 pire to his dominions; and the success of this grand project depended 
 much upon the consent and assistance of the pope, whose approbation, in 
 those times, was sufficient to sanctify the most iniquitous projects. ‘Thus 
 Charlemagne lavished gifts upon the bishops of Rome, that, by their as- 
 sistance, he might assume, with a certain air of decency, the empire of 
 the west, and confirm his new dominion in Italy. Of this policy we 
 have already taken notice, and it must appear manifest to all who view 
 things with the smallest degree of impartiality and attention. 
 
 ¢ Charles, in reality, was already emperor of the west, that is, the 
 most powerful of the European monarchs. He wanted, therefore, no- 
 thing more than the title of emperor, and the supreme dominion in Rome 
 
 Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, the territory of Sabino, the duchy of Spoleto, || and its territory, both of which he obtained by the assistance of Leo IIL. 
 
 No. XV. 
 
170 
 
 impious Irene held the reins of empire. ‘This opportunity 
 was seized with avidity by Charles, who set out for Rome, 
 where he was received with lively demonstrations of zeal 
 by the sovereign pontiff,s who had entered into his views, 
 and persuaded the people, elate at this time with high 
 notions of their independence and elective power, to unite 
 their suffrages in favour of this prince, and proclaim him 
 emperor of the west.» 
 
 XI. Charles, on his elevation to the empire of the west 
 and the government of Rome, seems to have reserved to 
 himself the supreme dominion, and the inalienable rights 
 of majesty, while he granted to the church of Rome a 
 subordinate jurisdiction over that great city and its annexed 
 territory... This grant was undoubtedly suggested to him 
 by the ambitious pontiff as a matter of sacred and indis- 
 pensable obligation; and many fictitious deeds were 
 probably produced to make out the pretensions, and justify 
 the claims of the church to this high degree of temporal 
 authority and civil jurisdiction. In order to reconcile the 
 new emperor to this grant, it was without doubt alleged, 
 that Constantine the Great, his renowned predecessor, 
 when he removed the seat of empire to Constantinople, 
 delivered up Rome, the old metropolis, with its adjacent 
 territories, commonly called the Roman dukedom, to be 
 possessed and governed by the church, with no other 
 
 * Leo III. : 
 
 >See the historians who have transmitted to us accounts of this 
 century, and more especially Bunau, in his Hist. Imperi: Romano-Ger- 
 man. tom. ii. p. 5387. The partisans of the Roman pontiffs generally 
 maintain that Leo IL. by a divine right, vested in him as bishop of 
 Rome, transferred the western empire from the Greeks to the Franks, 
 and conferred it upon Charlemagne, the monarch of the latter. Hence 
 they conclude, that the Roman pontiff, as the vicar of Christ, is the su- 
 preme lord of the whole earth, and, in a particular manner, of the Roman 
 empire. The temerity of these pretensions, and the absurdity of this 
 reasoning, are exposed with much learning and judgment by the cele- 
 brated Fred. Spanheim, de ficté translatione Imperii in Carolum M. per 
 Leonem III. tom. ii. op. p. 557. 
 
 ° That Charlemagne, in effect, preserved entire his supreme authority 
 over thecity of Rome and its adjacent territory, gave law to the citizens by 
 jedges of his own appointment, punished malefactors, enjoyed the pre- 
 rogatives, and exercised all the functions of royalty, has been demonstra- 
 ted by several of the learned in the most ample and satisfactory manner, 
 and confirmed by the most unexceptionable and authentic testimonies. 
 To be convinced of this, it will be sufficient to consult Muratori’s Droits 
 de Empire sur l’Etat Ecclesiastique, cap. vi. p. 77. And, indeed, they 
 must have a strange power of resisting the clearest evidence, who are 
 absurd enough to assert, as does Fontanini, in his treatise, entitled Do- 
 minio della 8, Sede sopra Commachio, Diss. i. c. 95,96, that Charles 
 sustained at Rome the character of the advocate of the Roman church, 
 and not that of its sovereign or its lord, the dominion of the pontiff being 
 unlimited and universal. On the other hand, we must acknowledge in- 
 genuously, that the power of the pontiff, both in the city of Rome and 
 its annexed territory, was very great, and that, in several cases, he 
 seemed to act witha princely authority. But the extent and the founda- 
 tions of that authority are concealed in the deepest obscurity, and have 
 given occasion to endless disputes. Muratori maintains in his work 
 above cited, p. 102, that the bishop of Rome discharged the function of 
 exarch or vicar, to the emperor ; an opinion which Clement XI. reject- 
 ed as injurious to the papal dignity, and which, indeed, does not appear 
 to have any solid foundation. After a careful examination of all the 
 circumstances that can contribute toward the solution of this perplexed 
 question, the most probable account of the matter seems to be this: That 
 the Roman pontiff possessed the city of Rome and its territory, by the 
 same right by which he held the exarchate of Ravenna, and the other 
 lands granted by Charlemagne; that is to say, he possessed Rome by 
 a feudal tenure, though charged with fewer marks of dependence than 
 other fiefs generally are, on account of the lustre and dignity of a city 
 which had been so long the capital of the empire. This opinion derives 
 much strength from what we shall have occasion to observe in the fol- 
 lowing note, and it has the peculiar advantage of reconciling the jarring 
 testimonies of ancient writers, and the various records of antiquity rela- 
 ting to this point. 
 
 4 Most writers are of opinion, that Constantine’s pretended grant was 
 posterior to this period, and was forged in the tenth century. It appears 
 to me, on the contrary, that this fictitious grant was in being in the eighth 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 restriction, than that this should be no detriment to his 
 supreme dominion; and it was insinuated to Charles, that 
 he could not depart from the rule established by that pious 
 emperor, without incurring the wrath of God, and the 
 indignation of St. Peter.4 
 
 XII. While the power and opulence of the Roman 
 pontiffs were rising to the greatest height by the events 
 which we have now been relating, they received a morti- 
 fying check in consequence of a quarrel which broke out 
 between those haughty priests and the Grecian emperors. 
 Leo the Isaurian, and his son Constantine Copronymus, 
 incensed at the zeal which Gregory Il. and III. discovered 
 for the worship of images, not only confiscated the trea- 
 sures and lands which the church of Rome possessed in 
 Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia, but also withdrew the bishops 
 of these countries, and likewise the various provinces and 
 churches of Illyricum, from the jurisdiction of the Roman 
 see, and subjected them to the spiritual dominion of the 
 bishop of Constantinople. And so inflexibly were the 
 Grecian emperors bent upon humbling the arrogance of 
 the Roman pontiffs, that no entreaties, supplications, or 
 threats, could engage them to abandon their purpose, or to 
 restore this rich and signal portion of St. Peter’s patrimony 
 to his greedy successors.* It is here that we must look for 
 the original source, and the principal cause of that vehe- 
 
 century ; and it is extremely probable, that both Adrian and his succes- 
 sor Leo IIf. made use of it to persuade Charlemagne to that donation. In 
 favour of this opinion we have the unexceptionable testimony of Adrian 
 himself in his letter to Charlemagne, which is published in Muratori’s 
 Rerum IJtalicarum Scriptores, tom. 11. p. 11. p. 194, and which is extremely 
 worthy of an attentive perusal. In this letter, Adrian exhorts Charles, 
 before his elevation to the empire, to order the restitution of all the grants 
 and donations that had formerly been made to St. Peter and to the church 
 of Rome. In this demand also he distinguishes, in the plainest manner, 
 the donation of Constantine from those af the other prices and empe- 
 rors, and what is particularly remarkable, from the ezarchate which was 
 the gift of Pepin, and even from the additions that Charles had already 
 made to his father’s grant; whence we may justly conclude, that by the do- 
 nation of Constantine, Adrian meant the city of Rome, and its annexed 
 territory. He speaks first of this grant,in the following terms: “Depre- 
 camur vestram excellentiam... pro Dei amore et ipsius ciavigeri regni 
 celorum...ut secundum promissionem quam polliciti estis eidem Dei 
 apostolo pro anime vestre mercede et stabilitate regni vestri, omnia nos- 
 tris temporibus adimplere jubeatis ... et sicut temporibus beati Silvestri 
 Romani pontificis, a sanctze recordationis piissimo Constantino M. imper- 
 atore, per ejus largitatem (here Constantine’s donation is evidently men- 
 tioned) sancta Dei catholica et apostolica Romana ecclesia elevata atque 
 exaltata est, et potestatem in his Hesperiz partibus largiri dignatus est; 
 ita et in his vestris felicissimis temporibus atque nostris sancta Dei ec- 
 clesia germinet...et amplius atque amplius exaltata permaneat...quia 
 ecce novus Christianissimus Dei gratia Constantinus imperator (here we 
 see Charles, who at that time was only a king, styled emperor by the 
 pontiff, and compared with Constantine) his temporibus surrexit, per 
 quem omnia Deus sancte sue ecclesie...largiri dignatus est.” So 
 much for that part of the letter that relates to Constantine’s grant; as to 
 the other donations which the pontiff evidently distinguishes from it, 
 observe what follows: “Sed et cuncta alia quz per diversos imperatores 
 patricios, etiam etalios Deum timentes, pro eorum animz mercede etvenia 
 delictorum, in partibus Turciz, Spoleto, seu Benevento, atque Corsica, 
 simul et Pavinensi patrimonio, beato Petro apostolo concessa sunt, et per 
 nefandam gentem Longobardorum per annorum spatia abstracta et ab- 
 lata sunt, vestris temporibus restituantur.” (The pontiff intimates far- 
 ther, that all these grants were carefully preserved in the office of the La- 
 teran, and that he sends them to Charles by his legates.) ‘‘ Unde et 
 plures donationes in sacro nostro scrinio Lateranensi reconditas habe- 
 mus, tamen et pro satisfactione Christianissimi regni vestri, per jam 
 fatos viros, ad demonstrandum eas vobis, direximus, et pro hoc petimus 
 eximiam precellentiam vestram, ut in integro ipsa patrimonia beato Pe- 
 tro et nobis restituere jubeatis.” By this it appears that Constantine’s 
 grant was now in being among the archives of the Lateran, and was 
 sent to Charlemagne with the other donations of kings and princes, 
 whose examples were adduced with a view of exciting his liberality te 
 the church. 
 
 ¢ See Mich. Lequien’s Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 96. Among the 
 Greek writers also Theophanes and others acknowledge the fact; but they 
 are not entirely agreed about the reasons to which it is to be attributed. 
 
Onap. II. 
 
 ment contest between the Roman pontiff and the bishop 
 of Constantinople, which, in the following century, divided 
 the Greek and Latin churches, and proved so pernicious 
 to the interests and advancement of true Christianity.— 
 These lamentable divisions, which wanted no new incident 
 to foment them, were nevertheless augmented by a con- 
 troversy which arose, in this century, concerning the 
 derivation of the Holy Spirit, which we shall have occa- 
 sion to mention more largely in its proper place. It is 
 more than probable that this controversy would have been 
 terminated with the utmost facility, had not the spirits of 
 the contending parties been previously exasperated by 
 disputes founded upon avarice and ambition, and carried 
 on, without either moderation or decency, by the holy 
 patriarchs of Rome and Constantinople, in defence of their 
 respective pretensions. 
 
 XIU. The monastic discipline was extremely relaxed at 
 this time both in the eastern and western provinces, and, 
 as appears by the concurring testimonies of the writers of 
 this century, had fallen into a total decay. The only 
 monks who escaped this general corruption, were those 
 who passed their days in the deserts of Egypt, Syria, and 
 Mesopotamia, amidst the austerities of a wretched life, 
 remote from all the comforts of human society: yet the 
 merit of having preserved their discipline was sadly 
 counterbalanced by the gross ignorance, the fanatical 
 madness, and the sordid superstition that reigned among 
 these miserable hermits. ‘Those of the monastic orders, 
 who lived nearer to cities and populous towns, frequently 
 disturbed the public tranquillity by the tumults and sedi- 
 tions they fomented among the multitude, so that it 
 became necessary to check their rebellious ambition by the 
 severe laws that were enacted against them by Constan- 
 tine Copronymus, and other emperors. ‘The greatest part 
 of the western monks followed, at this time, the rule of 
 St. Benedict; though there were every where convents 
 which adopted the discipline of other orders.s But, as 
 they increased in opulence, they lost sight of all rules, and 
 submitted, at length, to no other discipline than that of 
 intemperance, voluptuousness, and sloth.» Charlemagne 
 attempted, by various edicts, to put a stop to this growing 
 evil; but his efforts were attended with little success.¢ 
 
 XIV. This general depravity and corruption of the 
 monks gave rise to a new order of priests in the west, a 
 sort of middle order between the monks or regulars, and 
 the secular clergy. This new species of ecclesiastics 
 adopted the monastic discipline and manner of life, so far 
 as to have their dwelling and their table in common, and 
 to assemble at certain hours for divine service; but they 
 
 * See Mabillon, Pref. ad acta SS. Ord. Benedicti, Sec. i. p. 24. and 
 Swe. iv. part i. p. 26. 
 
 > ‘The author mentioned in the preceding note, discourses with a noble 
 frankness and courage concerning the corruption of the monks, and its 
 various causes, in the same work, Pref. ad Swe. iv. part i. p. 64. 
 
 * See the Capitularia Caroli, published by Baluze, tom. 1. p. 148, 157, 
 237, 355, 366, 375, 503. Laws so severe, and so often repeated, show 
 
 vidently that the corruption of the monks must have been truly enormous. 
 
 4 See Le Beuf, Memoires sur Histoire d’Auxerre, tom. i. p. 174, the 
 Paris edition, published in 1743. 
 
 * See, for an account of Chrodegangus, the Histoire Literaire de la 
 France, tom. iv. p. 128.—Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, tom. i. p. 513.— 
 Acta Sanctor, tom. i. Martii, p. 452. The rule which he prescribed to 
 his canons, may be seen in Le Cointe’s Annales Francor. estes tom. v. 
 ad An. 757, sect. 35; as also in the Concilia Labbei, tom. vii. 1444. He 
 is not, however, the author of the rule which is published in his name, in 
 the Spicilegium veter. Scriptor. tom. i. p.565. Longueval, in his Histoire 
 de I’glise Gallicane, tom. iv. p. 435, has given a neat and elegant 
 abridgment of the rule of Chrodegangus. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 | Disciplina Ecclesiz Vet et. Nov. part. i. lib. iii. 
 
 171 
 
 entered not into the vows which were peculiar to the 
 monks, and they were also appointed to discharge the 
 ministerial functions in certain churches which were 
 committed to their pastoral direction. ‘These ecclesiastics 
 were at first called fratres dominici, but soon after 
 received the name of canons.¢. The common opinion 
 attributes the institution of this order to Chrodegangus, 
 bishop of Metz; nor is this opmion destitute of truth ;¢ 
 for though, before this time, there were in Italy, Africa, 
 and other provinces, convents of ecclesiastics, who lived 
 after the manner of the canons,‘ yet Chrodegangus, who, 
 toward the middle of this century, subjected to this rule 
 the clergy of Metz, not only added to their religious cere- 
 monies the custom of singing hymns and anthems to God, 
 at certain hours, and probably a variety of rites, but also, 
 by his example, excited the Franics, the Italians, and the 
 Germans, to distinguish themselves by their zeal in favour 
 of the canons, to erect colleges for them, and to introduce 
 their rule into their respective countries. , 
 
 XV. The supreme dominion over the church and its 
 possessions was vested in the emperors and kings, both in 
 the eastern and western world. ‘The sovereignty of the 
 Grecian emperors, in this respect, has never been contested; 
 and though the partisans of the Roman pontiffs endeavour 
 to render dubious the supremacy of the Latin monarchs 
 over the church, yet this supremacy is too manifest to be 
 disputed by such as have considered the matter attentive- 
 ly;s and it is acknowledged by the wisest and most 
 candid writers, even of the Romish communion. Adrian 
 I.,in a council of bishops assembled at Rome, conferred 
 upon Charlemagne and his successors the right of election 
 to the see of Rome ;® and though neither Charlemagne, 
 nor his son Louis, were willing to exercise this power in 
 all its extent, by naming and creating the pontiff upon 
 every vacancy, yet they reserved the right of approving 
 and confirming the person who was elected to that high 
 dignity by the priests and people: nor was the consecration 
 of the elected pontiffof the least validity, unless performed 
 in presence of the emperor’s ambassadors.i The Roman 
 pontiffs obeyed the laws of the emperors, received their 
 judicial decisions as of indispensable obligation, and exe- 
 cuted them with the utmost punctuality and submission.« 
 The kings of the Franks appointed extraordinary judges, 
 whom they called envoys, to inspect the lives and man- 
 ners of the clergy, superior and inferior, take cognizance 
 of their contests, terminate their disputes, enact laws 
 concerning the public worship, and punish the crimes of the 
 sacred erder, as well as those of the other citizens.! All 
 churches also, and monasteries, were obliged to pay to the 
 
 f Murator. Antiq. Italic, tom. v. p. 185; as also Lud. Thomassin’s 
 The design of this in- 
 stitution was truly excellent. The authors of it, justly shocked at the 
 vicious manners of a licentious clergy, hoped that this new institution 
 would have a tendency to prevent the irregularities of that order, by de- 
 livering its members from the cares, anxicties, and occupations of this 
 ee life. ; But the event showed how much these pious views have 
 een disappointed. 
 € For an accurate account of the rights of the Grecian emperors in 
 religious matters, we refer the reader to Lequien’s Oriens Chiistianus, 
 tom. i. p. 136. 
 h This Act is mentioned by Anastasius ; it has been preserved by Yvo 
 and Gratian, and has been the subject of a multitude of treatises. 
 i See Mabillon, Coram. in Ordinem Romanum, in Museo Ital. tom. ii 
 p- 113.—Muratori, Droits de Empire sur )’Etat Ecclesiastique, p. 87. 
 _& This has been amply demonstrated by Baluze, in his Pref. ad Ca- 
 pitularia Regum Francorum, sect. 21. 
 1 See Muratori Antiq. Ital. tom. i. Diss, ix. p. 470.—Franc. de Roye, 
 de Missis Dominicis, cap. x. p. 44. cap. viii. p. 118, 134, 168, 195, 
 
172 
 \ 
 
 the public treasury a tribute proportioned to their respec- 
 
 tive lands and possessions, except such as, by the pure 
 
 favour of the supreme powers, were graciously exempted 
 
 from this general tax.* 
 
 XVI. It is true, indeed, that the Latin emperors did 
 not assume to themselves the administration of the church, 
 or the cognizance and decision of controversies that were 
 purely of a religious nature. They acknowledged, on the 
 contrary, that these affairs belonged to the tribunal of the 
 Roman pontiff and to the ecclesiastical councils.» But 
 this jurisdiction of the pontiff was confined within narrow 
 limits ; he could decide nothing by his sole authority, but 
 was obliged to convene a council when any religious 
 differences were to be terminated by an authoritative 
 judgment. Nor did the provinces, when any controversy 
 arose, wait fer the decision of the bishop of Rome; but 
 assembled, by their own authority,their particular councils, 
 in which the bishops gave their thoughts with the utmost 
 freedom upon the points in debate, and voted often in 
 direct opposition to what was known to be the opinion of 
 the Roman pontiff; all which is evident from what pas- 
 sed in the councils assembled by the Franks and Germans, 
 in order to determine the celebrated controversy concerning 
 
 | 
 
 the use and worship of images. It is farther to be 
 observed, that the power of convening councils, and the 
 right of presiding in them, were the preregatives of the 
 emperors and sovereign princes in whose dominions these 
 assemblies were holden; and that no decrees of any 
 council obtained the force of laws, until they were approved 
 and confirmed by the supreme magistrate. ‘Thus was 
 the spiritual authority of Rome wisely bounded by the 
 civil power; but its ambitious pontiffs fretted under the 
 imperial curb, and, eager to loosen their bonds, lefi no 
 means unemployed for that purpose. ‘They even formed 
 projects which seemed less the effects of ambition than of 
 phrensy: for they claimed a supreme dominion, not only 
 over the church, but also over kings themselves, and 
 pretended to reduce the whole universe under their ghostly 
 jurisdiction. However jextravagant these pretensions 
 were, they were followed by the most vigorous efforts ; 
 and the wars and tumults that arose in the following 
 century, contributed much to render these eflorts success- 
 ful. 
 
 XVII. If we turn our- eyes toward the writers of this 
 century, we shall find very few that stand distinguished in 
 the lists of fame, either on account of erudition or genius. 
 Among the Greeks, the following only seem worthy of 
 mention. 
 
 Germanus, bishop of Constantinople, the greatest part 
 of whose high renown was due to his violent zeal for 
 image worship.4 
 
 Cosmas, bishop of Jerusalem, who acquired some repu- 
 tation by his lyric vein, consecrated to the service of religion 
 
 * See Muratori Antiq. Ital., tom. i. Dis. xvii. p. 926. See also the 
 collection of the varicus pieces that were published on occasion of the 
 dispute between Louis XV. and his clergy, relating to the immunities of 
 that order in France. These pieces were printed in 1751, under the fol- 
 lowing title: Ecrits pour et contre les lmmunités pretendues par le 
 Clergé de France. 
 
 > See the Dissertation of Charlemagne, de Imaginibus, lib. i. cap. iv. 
 
 * All this is fully and admirably demonstrated by Baluze, in his preface 
 to the Capitularia, or laws of the kings of the Franks, and is also 
 amply illustrated in that work. See also J. Basnage, Histoire de I’Eglise, 
 tom. 1. p. 270. 
 
 4See R. Simon, Critique de la Bib. Eccles. de M. Du-Pin, t. i. p. 270. | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 and employed in composing hymus for public and private 
 devotion. 
 
 George Syncellus and Theophanes, who are not the 
 least considerable among the writers of the Byzantine 
 
 history, though they be in all respects infinitely below the 
 
 ancient Greek and Latin historians. 
 
 But the writer, who surpassed all his contemporaries 
 among the Greeks and Orientals, was John Damascenus, 
 aman of genius and eloquence, who, in a variety of pro- 
 ductions full of erudition, explained the Peripatetic philoso- 
 phy, and illustrated the capital points of the Christian 
 doctrine. It must, however, be acknowledged, that the 
 eminent talents of this great man were tainted with that 
 sordid superstition and that excessive veneration for the 
 ancient fathers, which were the reigning defects of the 
 age he lived in, not to mention his wretched method of 
 explaining the doctrines of the Gospel according to the 
 principles of the Aristotelian philosophy.° 
 
 XVIII. The first place, among the Latin writers, is due 
 to Charlemagne, whose love of letters formed one of the 
 brightest ornaments of his imperial dignity. The laws 
 which are known by the title of Capitularia, with several 
 Bpistles, and a Book concerning images, are attributed to 
 this prince; though it seems highly probable that most of 
 these compositions were drawn up by other pens.‘ 
 
 After this learned prince, we may justly place the vener- 
 
 | able Bede, so called from his illustrious virtues ;= Alcuin,® 
 
 the preceptor of Charlemagne; Paulinus of Aquileia ;\ 
 who were all distinguished by their laborious application, 
 and their zeal for the advancement of learning and science, 
 and who treated the various branches of literature, known 
 in this century, in such a manner as to convince us, that 
 it was the infelicity of the times, rather than the want of 
 genius, that prevented them from rising to higher degrees 
 of perfection than what they attained to. Add to these, 
 Boniface, of whom we have already spoken: Eginhard, 
 the celebrated author of the Life of Charlemagne, and 
 other productions; Paul, the deacon, who acquired a 
 considerable and lasting reputation by bis History of the 
 Lombards, his Book of Homilies, and his miscellaneous 
 labours; Ambrose Authpert, who wrote a commentary on 
 the Revelations; and Theodulphus, bishop of Orleans ; 
 and thus we shall have a complete list of all the writers 
 who acquired any degree of esteem in this century by 
 their literary productions, either sacred or profane. 
 
 A CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tur fundamental doctrines of Christianity were, as 
 yet, respected and preserved in the theological writings, 
 both of the Greeks and Latins, as seems evident from the 
 
 ¢ Bayle, Diction. tom. ii. p. 950; as also the account of the writings 
 of Johan Damascenus, which is published in Le Quien’s edition of his 
 works, and was composed by Leo Allatius. 
 
 f See Jo. A. Fabricii Bibliotheca medii Avi Lat. tom. i. p. 936. His- 
 toire Literaire de la France, tom. iv. rR 368. ; 
 
 & See the Acta Sanctorum tom. i. April. p. 866, and the Gen. Diction- 
 ary, at the article Bede. A list of the writings of this vencrable Briton, 
 composed by himself, is published by Muratori, in his Anti. Italic, 
 medii ASvi, tom. ill. p. 329. 
 
 h Fist. Liter. de la France, tom. iv. p. 295.—Gen. Dictiona 
 ria $2e Hist. Lit. &c. tom. iv. p. 286.—Acta Sanct. tom. 1. 
 
 Jeune 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 discourse of John Damascenus concerning the orthodox 
 faith, and the confession of faith which was drawn up by 
 Charlemagne.s The pure seed of celestial truth was, 
 however, choked by a monstrous and incredible quantity 
 of noxious weeds. The rational simplicity of the Chris- 
 tian worship was corrupted by an idolatrous veneration for 
 images, and other superstitious inventions, and the sacred 
 flame of divine charity was extinguished by the violent 
 contentions and animosities which the progress of these 
 superstitions occasioned in the church. All acknowledged 
 the efficacy of our Saviour’s merits: and yet all, in one 
 way or another, laboured, in effect, to diminish the persua- 
 sion of this efficacy in the minds of men, by teaching, 
 that Christians might appease an offended Deity by vo- 
 luntary acts of mortification, or by gifts and oblations 
 lavished upon the church, and by exhorting such as 
 were desirous of salvation to place their confidence in the 
 works and merits of the saints. Were we to enlarge 
 upon all the absurdities and superstitions which were in- 
 vented to flatter the passions of the misguided multitude, 
 and to increase, at the expense of reason and Christianity, 
 the opulence and authority of a licentious clergy, such an 
 immense quantity of odious materials would swell this 
 work to an enormous size. 
 
 If. The piety in vogue, during this and some succeed- 
 ing ages, consisted in building and embellishing churches 
 and chapels, in endowing monasteries, erecting basilics, 
 hunting after the relics of saints and martyrs, and treating 
 them with an excessive and absurd veneration, in procu- 
 ring the intercession of the saints by rich oblations or 
 superstitious rites, in worshipping images, in pilgrimages 
 to those places which were esteemed holy, and chiefly to 
 Palestine, and the like absurd and extravagant practices 
 and institutions. The pious Christian, and the profligate 
 transgressor, showed equal zeal in the performance of 
 these superstitious services, which were looked upon as 
 of the highest efficacy in order to the attainment of eter- 
 nal salvation: they were performed by the latter as an 
 expiation for his crimes, and a mean of appeasing an 
 offended Deity ; and by the former with a view to obtain, 
 from above, the good things of this life, and an easy and 
 commodious passage to life eternal. The true religion of 
 Jesus, if we except a few of its doctrines contained in the 
 Creed, was utterly unknown in this century, not only to 
 the multitude in general, but also to the doctors of the first 
 rank and eminence in the church; and the consequences 
 of this corrupt ignorance were fatal to the interests of 
 virtue. All orders of men, regardless of the obligations 
 of morality, of the duties of the Gospel, and of the cul- 
 ture and improvement of their minds, rushed headlong 
 with a perfect security into all sorts of wickedness, from 
 the delusive hopes, that by the intercession and prayers of 
 the saints, and the credit of the priests at the throne of 
 God, they might easily obtain the remission of their enor- 
 mities, and render the Deity propitious. This dismal 
 account of the religion and morals of the eighth century, 
 
 * See the treatise of this prince concerning images, book iii. The 
 reader may also consult Mich. Syncellus’ Confession of Faith, published 
 by Montfaucon, in his Bibliotheca Coisliniana, p. 90: and, among the 
 Latins, an Exposition of the principal Doctrines of the Christian Reli- 
 gion, composed by Benedict, abbot of Aniane, and published by Baluze 
 in his Miscellanea, tom. v. p. 56; as also the Creed of Leo IIL, published 
 in the same work, tom. vii. p. 18. 
 
 > See for an account of the commentaries of Bede, Rich. Simon’s Cri- 
 
 90 V6 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 173 
 
 ‘is confirmed by the unanimous testimony of all the 
 historians who have written of the affairs of that pe- 
 riod. 
 
 Ill. The Greeks were of opinion, that the holy scrip- 
 tures had been successfully interpreted and explained by 
 the ancient commentators, and therefore imagined that 
 they rendered a most important service to the students in 
 divinity, when, without either judgment or choice, they 
 extracted or compiled from the werks of these admired 
 sages their explanatory observations on the sacred writings. 
 The commentary of John Damascenus upon the epistles 
 of St. Paul, which was taken from the writings of Chry- 
 sostom, is alone sufficient to serve as a proof of the little 
 discernment with which these compilations were generally 
 made. 
 
 The Latin expositors may be divided into two classes, 
 according to the different nature of their productions.— 
 In the first, we place those writers who, after the example 
 of the Greeks, employed their labour in collecting into one 
 body the interpretations and commentaries of the ancients. 
 Bede distinguished himself among the expositors of this 
 class, by his explication ofthe epistles of St. Paul, drawn 
 from the writings of Augustin and others.» Still more 
 estimable are the writers of the second class, who made 
 use of their own penetration and sagacity in investigating 
 the sense of the holy scriptures. Such were Alcuin, 
 Ambrose Authpert, the expositor of the Revelations, and 
 Bede also, who belongs, in reality, to both classes. It 
 must, however, be acknowledged, that all these comm  ‘a- 
 tors were destitute of the qualities that are essential to the 
 sacred critic; for we find them in their explications neg- 
 lecting the natural sense of the words of Scripture, and 
 running blindfold after a certain hidden and mystical 
 meaning, which, to use their jargon, they usually divided 
 into allegorical, anagogical, and tropological ;- and 
 thus they delivered their own rash fictions and crude 
 fancies, as the true and genuine sentiments of the sacred 
 writers. Of this we are furnished with many examples 
 in Alcuin’s Commentary on St. John, Bede’s allegorical 
 illustrations of the Books of Samuel, and Charlemagne’s 
 
 Book concerning Images, in which various passages of 
 the holy scriptures are occasionally explained according to 
 the taste of the times.‘ 
 
 IV. The veneration of Charlemagne for the sacred 
 writings was so excessive,’ as to induce him to suppose, 
 that they contained the latent seeds and principles of all 
 arts and sciences ; an opinion, no doubt, which he early 
 imbibed from the lessons of his preceptor Alcuin, and the 
 other divines who frequented his court. Hence arose the 
 zeal with which that prince excited and encouraged the 
 more learned among the clergy to direct their pious 
 labours toward the illustration of the holy scriptures. Se- 
 veral laws which he published to encourage this species of 
 learning are yet extant, as also various monuments of his 
 deep solicitude about the advancement and propagation of 
 Christian knowledge. And lest the faults that were to 
 
 tique de la Biblioth. Ecclesiast. de M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 280. See also 
 Bed Explicatio Geneseos ex Patribus, in Martenne’s Thesaur. Anec- 
 dot. t. v. p. 111, 116, 140,and his interpretation of Habakkuk, ibid. p. 295 
 
 * See Carolus Magnus de Imaginibus, lib. i. p. 138. 
 
 4 See the same imperial author, book i. p. 84, 91, 123, 127, 131, 133 
 136, 138, 145, 160, 164, 165, &e. 
 
 * See Carolus Magnus de Imagin. lib. i. p. 231, 236. 
 
 f Jo. Frickius, de Canone Scripture Sacra, p. 184, 
 
174 
 
 be found in severai places of the Latin translation of the 
 Scriptures should prove an obstacle to the execution and 
 accomplishment of his pious views, he employed Alcuin 
 in correcting these errors,* and is said, in the last years 
 of his life, to have spent a considerable part of his time in 
 the same learned and pious work.® It is also to his en- 
 couragement and direction, that some writers attribute the 
 first German translation of the sacred writings, though 
 others contend that this honour.is due to his son and suc- 
 cessor Louis, surnamed the Debonnaire. 
 
 V. This zeal and industry of the emperor contributed, 
 
 no doubt, to rouse from their sloth a lazy and ignorant | 
 
 clergy, and to raise up a spirit of application to literary 
 pursuits. We cannot, however, help observing, that this 
 laborious prince imprudently established certain customs, 
 and confirmed others, which had a manifest tendency to 
 
 defeat, in a great measure, his laudable design of promoting | 
 
 Christian knowledge. He confirmed the practice already 
 in use, of reading and explaining to the people, in the 
 public assemblies, certain portions only of the scriptures ; 
 and reduced the ditferent methods of worship, followed in 
 different churches, into one fixed rule, which was to be 
 observed with the most perfect uniformity in all.e Persua- 
 ded also that few of the clergy were capable of explaining 
 with perspicuity and judgment the portions of Scripture, 
 which are distinguished in the ritual by the name of 
 epistle and gospel, fe ordered Paul the deacon, and Alcuin, 
 to compile (from ‘the ancient doctors of the church) 
 homilies or discourses upon the epistles and gospels, which 
 a stupid and ignorant set of priests were to commit to 
 memory, and recite to the people. This gave rise to that 
 famous collection, which went by the title of the homili- 
 arium of Charlemagne, and which, being followed as a 
 model by many productions of the same kind, composed 
 by private persons from a principle of pious zeal, contri- 
 
 buted much to nourish the indolence, and to perpetuate | 
 
 the ignorance of a worthless clergy.e. The zeal and 
 activity of this great prince did not stop here; for he 
 ordered the lives of the principal saints to be written in a 
 moderate volume, of which copies were dispersed through- 
 out his dominions, that the peop!e might have, in the dead, 
 
 * Baronius, Annal. ad A. pccLxxvitl. n. xxvii.—Jo. A. Fabricius, Bib- 
 lioth. Lat. medii AX vi, tora. i. p. 950.-—Hist. Lit. dela France. 
 
 bJ. A. Fabricius, tom. i. p. 950.—Usserius, de sacris Scripturis 
 vernacul. p. 110. 
 
 * They who imagine that the portions of Scripture which are still 
 explained, every year, to Christians in their religious assemblies, were 
 selected for that purpose hy the order of Charlemagne, are undoubtedly 
 in an error; since it is manifest, that in the preceding ages there were 
 certain portions of Scripture set apart for each day of worship in the 
 greatest part of the Latin churches. See Jo. Henr. Thameri Sche- 
 diasma de Origine et Dignitate Pericoparum que Evangelia et Epistole 
 vulgo vocantur. See also Jo. Franc. Buddei Isagoge ad Theologiam, 
 tom. ii. p. 1640. It must, hewever, be confessed, that Charlemagne in- 
 troduced some new regulations into this part of divine service; for where- 
 as, before his time, the Latin churches differed from each other in several 
 cireumstances of the public worship, and particularly in this, that the same 
 
 lished a solemn edict, commanding all the religious assemblies within 
 nis territories to conform themselves, in that respect, to the rules estab- 
 lished in the church of Rome. With respect to the portions of Scripture 
 which we call the epistles and gospels, and which, frorn the time of 
 Charlemagne down to us, continue to be used in divine worship, it is 
 certain that they were read in the church of Rome so early as the sixth 
 century. It is also certain, that this prince was extremely careful in re- 
 
 forming the service of the Latin churches, and appointed the form of | 
 
 worship used at Rome to be observed in allof thera, Hence the churches 
 which did not adopt the Roman ritual, have different epistles and gospels 
 from those which are used by us, and the other western churches, who 
 were commanded by Charlemagne to imitate the Roman service, The 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | in the Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. vi. part i. p. 83. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 examples of piety and virtue, which were no where to be 
 found among the living. All these projects and designs 
 were certainly formed and executed with upright and 
 pious intentions, and, considering the state of things m 
 this century, were, in several respects, both useful and 
 necessary; they, however, contrary to the emperor’s 
 intention, contributed, undoubtedly, to enconrage the 
 priests in their criminal sloth, and their shameful neglect 
 of the study of the Scriptures. For the majority of them 
 employed their time and labour only upon those parts ot 
 the sacred writings, which the emperor had appointed to 
 be read in the churches, and explained to the people; and 
 never attempted to exercise their capacities upon the rest 
 of the divine word. 'The greatest part of the clergy also, 
 instead of composing themselves the discourses they 
 recited in public, confined themselves to the book of 
 homilies, published by the authority of their sovereign, 
 and thus suffered their talents to lie uncultivated and 
 unemployed. 
 
 VI. None ofthe Latins carried their theological enter- 
 prises so far as to give a complete, connected, and accurate 
 system of the various doctrines of Christianity. It would 
 be absurd to comprehend, under this title, the various 
 discourses concerning the person and nature of Christ, 
 which were designed to refute the errors of Felix' and 
 Elipand, or to combat the opinions which were now spread 
 abroad concerning the origin of the Holy Ghost,s and 
 several other points; since these discourses aflord no 
 proofs either of precision or diligence in their authors. 'The 
 labours and industry of the divines of this age were wholly 
 employed in collecting the opinions and authorities of the 
 fathers, by whom are meant the theological writers of 
 the first six centuries; and so blind and servile was 
 their veneration for these doctors, that they regarded 
 their dictates as infallible, and their writings as the 
 boundaries of truth, beyond which reason was not per- 
 mitted to push its researches. ‘I'he Irish or Hibernians, 
 who in this century were known by the name of Scots, 
 were the only divimes who refused to dishonour their 
 reason by subjecting it implicitly tothe dictates of authority, 
 Naturally subtle and sagacious, they applied their philo- 
 
 church of Corbetta is an example of this, as may be seen in Mu- 
 ratori’s Antiq. Ital. tom. iv. p. 836; and also the church of Milan, 
 which follows the rite of St. Ambrose. If any are desirous to know 
 what epistles and gospels were used by the Franks and other west- 
 ern churches before the time of Charlemagne, they have only to consult 
 
 the Calendars published by Martenne, in his Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. v. 
 
 p. 66, the Discourses of Bede published in the same work,tom. v. p. 339, 
 and Mabillon, de Antiqua Liturgia Gallicana; to all which may be 
 added Peyret, Antiquités de Ja Chapelle du Roi de France, p. 566. 
 
 4 See for an account of this book of Homilies, the learned Seelen’s 
 Selecta Literaria, p. 252. 
 
 * Alan, abbot of Farfa in Italy, wrote in this century a very copious 
 Book of Homilies, the preface to which is published by Bernard Pezius, 
 In the following age 
 several works under the same tithe were composed by learned men ; one 
 
 : ee | by Haymo, of Halberstadt, which is still extant; another by Rabanus 
 portions of Scripture were not read and explained in them all, he pub- | 
 
 Maurus, at the request of the emperor Lothaire ; and a third by Heri- 
 cus, mentioned by Pezius in the work above quoted, p. 93. All these 
 were written in Latin. ‘The famous Ottfrid, of Weissenburg, was the 
 first who composed a Book of Homilies in the Teutonic language ; for 
 an account of this work, which was written in the ninth century, see 
 Lambecius, de Biblioth. Vindobon, August. tom. it. cap. v. p. 419. 
 
 z¢> f The doctrine taught by Felix, bishop of Urgel, and his disciple 
 Elipand archbishop of Toledo, was, that Jesus Christ was the Son of 
 God, not by nature, but by adoption. This doctrine was also intimately con- 
 nected withthe Nestorian hypothesis, and was condenined, in this century, 
 
 | by the synod of Ratisbon, and the councils of Frankfort and F'rioul. 
 
 a¢p © The error now published relating to the Holy Ghost was, that 
 it proceeded from the Father only, and not from the Father and the Son, 
 
Cn ap. III. 
 
 sophy (such as it was) to the illustration of the truth and 
 doctrines of religion; a method which was almost 
 generally abhorred and exploded by all other nations.* 
 
 The Greeks were not so destitute of systematical 
 divines as the Latins. John Damascenus composed a 
 complete body of the Christian doctrine in a scientifical 
 method, under the title of Four Books concerning the 
 Orthodox Faith. 'The two kinds of theology, which the 
 Latins termed scholastic and didactic, were united in this 
 laberious performance, in which the author not only 
 explains the doctrines he delivers by subtle and profound 
 reasoning, but also confirms his explications by the autho- 
 rity of the ancient doctors. "his book was received among 
 the Greeks with the highest applause, and was so exces- 
 sively admired, that at length it came to be acknowledged 
 among that people as the only rule of divine truth. Many, 
 however, complain of this applauded writer, as having 
 consulted more, in his theological system, the conjectures 
 of human reason, and the opinions of the ancients, than the 
 genuine dictates of the sacred oracles, and of having, in 
 consequence of this method, deviated from the true source 
 and the essential principles of theology.” ‘To the work of 
 Damascenus now mentioned, we may add his Sacred 
 Parallels, in which he has collected, with uncommon care 
 and industry, the opinions of the ancient doctors concern- 
 ing various points of the Christian religion. We may, 
 therefore, look upon this writer as the Thomas and Lom- 
 bard of the Greeks. 
 
 VII. None of the moral writers of this century attempt- 
 ed to form a complete system of the duties and virtues of 
 the Christian life. John, surnamed Carpathius, a Greek 
 writer, composed some exhortatory discourses, in which 
 there are scarcely any marks of judgment or genius. 
 Among the monastic orders nothing was relished but the 
 enthusiastic strains of the Mystics, and the doctrines of 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, their pretended chief, whose 
 supposititious writings were interpreted and explained by 
 Johannes Darensis out of complaisance to the monks.° 
 The Latin writers confined their labours in morality to 
 some general precepts concerning virtue and vice, which 
 seemed rather intended to regulate the external actions of 
 Christians, than to purify their inward principles, or to fix 
 duty upon its proper foundations. Their precepts also, 
 such as they were, and their manner of explaining them, 
 had now imbibed a strong tincture of the Peripatetic philo- 
 sophy, as appears from certain tracts of Bede, and the 
 
 ® That the Hibernians, who were called Scots in this century, were 
 lovers of learning, and distinguished themselves, in those times of ig- 
 norance, by the culture of the sciences beyond all the other European 
 nations, travelling through the most distant lands, both with a view to 
 improve and to communicate their knowledge, is a fact with which I have 
 long been acquainted, as we see them, in the most authentic records of 
 antiquity, discharging, with the highest reputation and applause, the 
 doctorial function in France, Germany, and Italy, both during this end 
 the following century. But that these Hibernians were the first teachers 
 of the scholastic theology in Europe, and, so early as the eighth century, 
 illustrated the doctrines of religion by the principles of philosophy, I 
 learned but lately fromthe testimony of Benedict, abbot of Aniane, who 
 lived in this period. This learned abbot, in his Letter to Guarnarius, p. 
 54, expresses himself thus: “ Apud modernos scholasticos (i. e. public 
 teachers, or schoolmasters) maxime apud Scotos est syllogismus delu- 
 sionis, at dicant, Trinitatem, sicut personarum, ita esse substantiarum ;” 
 ‘by this it appears, that the Irish divines made use of a certain syllogism, 
 which Benedict calls delusive, Le. fallacious and sophistical, to demon- 
 strate that the persons in the Godhead were substances ; a captious syllo- 
 gism this, as we may see from what follows, and also every way proper 
 te throw the ignorant into the greatest perplexity) ‘ quatenus si adsen- 
 serit illectus auditor, Trinitatem esse trium substantiarum Deum, trium 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 175 
 
 treatise of Alcuin concerning virtue and yice.t| That the 
 people, however, might be animated to the pursuit of virtue 
 by the commanding power of example, Bede, F'lorus, 
 Alcuin, Marcellinus, Ambrose, Authpert, and others, em- 
 ployed their pious industry in writing the lives of such as 
 had been eminent for their piety and worthy deeds. 
 
 VII. The controversies that turned upon the main 
 and essential points of religion were, during this century, 
 few in number; and scarcely any of them were managed 
 with tolerable sagacity or judgment. 'Vhe greatest part 
 of the Greeks were involved in the dispute concerning 
 images, in which their reasonings were utterly destitute of 
 precision and perspicuity, while the Latins employed their 
 chief zeal and industry in confuting and extirpating the 
 doctrine of Elipand concerning the person of Christ. John 
 Damascenus exposed the errors of all the different sects 
 
 ‘in a short, but useful and interesting treatise ; he also at- 
 
 tacked the Manicheans and Nestorians with a particular 
 vehemence, and even went so far in his polemic labours, 
 as to combat the erroneous doctrines of the Saracens. In 
 these compositions we find several proofs of subtlety and 
 genius, but very little of that clearness and simplicity that 
 constitute the chief merit of polemic writings. ‘The Jews 
 were left almost unmolested, as the Christians were sufli- 
 ciently employed by the controversies that had arisen 
 among themselves: Anastasius, abbot of Palestine, how 
 ever, made some attempts to subdue the infidelity of that 
 obstinate people. 
 
 IX. Of all the controversies which agitated and per- 
 plexed the Christian church during this century, that 
 which arose concerning the worship of images in Greece, 
 and was thence carried into both the eastern and western 
 provinces, was the most unhappy and pernicious in its 
 consequences. ‘The first sparks of this ternble flame, 
 which threatened ruin both to the interest of religion and 
 government, had already appeared under the reign of 
 Philippicus Bardanes, who was created emperor of the 
 Greeks soon after the commencement of this century. 
 This prince, with the consent of John, patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, ordered a picture, which represented the sixth 
 general council, to be pulled down from its place in the 
 church of Sophia, in 712, because this council had condemn- 
 ed the Monotholites, whose cause the emperor espoused 
 with the greatest ardour and vehemence. Nor did Bar- 
 danes stop here; but sent immediately an order to Rome 
 to remove all representations of that nature from the 
 
 derogetur cultor Deorum: si autem abnuerit, personarum denegator cul- 
 petur.” It was with such miserable sophistry, that these subtle divines 
 puzzled and tormented their disciples and hearers, accusing those of 
 Tritheism who admitted their argument, and casting the reproach of Sa- 
 bellianism upon those who rejected it. For thus they reasoned or rather 
 uibbled; ‘* You must either affirm or deny that the three Persons in the 
 eity are three substances. If you affirm it, you are undoubtedly a 
 Tritheist, and worship three Gods; if you deny it, this denial implies 
 that they are not three distinct persons, and thus you fall into Sabellian- 
 ism.” Wonbaies condemns this Hibernian subtlety, and severely animad- 
 verts upon the introduction of it into theology; he also recommends in 
 its place that amiable simplicity which is so conformable to the nature 
 and genius of the Gospel: ‘“‘ Sed hee de fide (says he) et omnis callidi- 
 tatis versutia, simplicitate fidei catholics et puritate, vitanda, non captio- 
 sQ interjectione linguarum, sceeva impactione interpolanda.” Hence it 
 appears, that the philosophical or scholastic theology, among the Latins, 
 is of more ancient date than is commonly imagined. 
 b Jo. Henr. Hottinger. Bibliotheear, Quadripart. lib. iii. cap. il. sect. 
 iii. p. 372.—Mart. Chemnitius, de Usu et Utilitate Locor. Commun. p.26. 
 ¢ Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 120. 
 4 This treatise is extant in the works of Alcuin, published by Quer- 
 cetanus, tom. ii, p. 1218, 
 
176 
 
 churches and other places of worship. His orders, however, 
 were far from being received with submission, or produci 
 their designed effect: on the contrary, Constantine, the 
 Roman povrtiff, not only rejected, by a formal protest, the 
 imperial edict, but resolved to express his contempt of it by 
 his actions as well as his words. He ordered six pictures, 
 representing the six general councils, to be placed in the 
 porch of St. Peter’s church; and that no act of rebellion 
 or arrogance might be left unemployed, he assembled a 
 council at Rome, in which he caused the emperor himself 
 to be condemned as an apostate from the true religion. 
 These first tumults were quelled by a revolution, which, 
 inthe following year, deprived Bardanes of the imperial 
 throne.* 
 
 X. The dispute, however, broke out with redoubled fury 
 under Leo the Isaurian, a prince of the greatest resolution 
 and intrepidity; and the new twmults which it excited 
 were both violent and durable. Leo, unable to bear any 
 
 longer the excessive height to which the Greeks carried | 
 
 their superstitious attachment to the worship of images, 
 and the sharp railleries and serious reproaches which this 
 idolatrous service drew upon the Christians from the Jews 
 and Saracens, resolved, by the most vigorous proceedings, 
 to root out at once this growing evil. For this purpose he 
 issued an edict in 726, by which jf wax ordered, not only 
 that the worship of images should be abrogated and relin- 
 quished, but also that all the images, except that of Christ’s 
 crucifixion, should be removed out of the churches.’ In 
 this proceeding the emperor acted more from the impulse 
 of his natural character, which was warm and vehement, 
 than from the dictates of prudence, which avoids precipi- 
 tancy where prejudices are to be combated, and destroys 
 and undermines inveterate superstitions rather by slow 
 and imperceptible attacks, than by open and _ violent 
 assaults. "The imperial edict produced such effects as 
 might have been expected from the frantic enthusiasm of 
 a superstitious people. A civil war broke out in the islands 
 of the Archipelago, ravaged a part of Asia, and afterwards 
 reached Italy. ‘The people, partly from théir own igno- 
 rance, but principally in .consequence of the perfidious 
 suggestions of the priests and monks, who had artfully 
 rendered the worship of images a source of opulence to 
 their churches and cloisters, were led to regard the empe- 
 ror as an apostate; and hence they considered themselves 
 as freed from their oath of allegiance, and from all the 
 obligations which attach subjects to their lawful sove- 
 reign. 
 
 ® See Fred. Spanhemii Historia Imaginum restituta ; also the Annales 
 Italie by Muratori, vol. iv.--Maimbourg’s history of the controversy is 
 full of the most absurd and malignant fictions. 
 
 37 > In this account of the imperial edict, Dr. Mosheim follows the 
 opinions of Baronius, Fleury, and Le Sueur. Others affirm, with great 
 probability, that this famous edict did not enjoin the pulling down images 
 every where, and casting them out of the cliurches, but only prohibited 
 the paying to them any kind of adoration or worship. It would seem as 
 if Leo was not, at first, averse to the use of images, as ornaments, or 
 even as helps to devotion and memory ; for, atthe same time that he for- 
 pade them to be worshipped, he ordered them to be placed higher in the 
 churches, some say, to avoid this adoration; but afterwards finding that 
 they were the occasion of idolatry, he caused them to be removed from 
 the churches and broken. 
 
 ¢ The Greek writers teil us, that both the Gregories carried their inso- 
 lence so far as to excommunicate Leo and his son Constantine, to dis- 
 solve the obligation of the oath of allegiance, which the people of Italy 
 had taken tothese princes, and to prohibit their paying tribute to them, or 
 showing them any marks of submission and obedience. These facts are 
 also acknowledged by many of the partisans of the Roman pontiffs, such 
 as Baronius, Sigonius, and their numerous followers. Gn the other hand, 
 
 } 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part If. 
 XI. The Roman pontiffs, Gregory II. and III., were 
 
 the authors and ringleaders of these civil commotions and 
 insurrections inItaly. The former, on the emperor's 
 refusing to revoke his edict against images, declared him, 
 without hesitation, unworthy of the name and privileges of 
 a Christian, and thus excluded him from the communion 
 of the church ; and no sooner was this formidable sentence 
 made public, than the Romans, and other Italian commu- 
 nities, that were subject to the Grecian empire, violated 
 their allegiance, and, rising in arms, either massacred or 
 banished all the emperor’s deputies and officers. Leo, 
 exasperated by these insolent proceedings, resolved to 
 chastise the Italian rebels, and to make the haughty pon- 
 tiff feel ina particular manner the effects of his resentment}; 
 but he failed in the attempt. Doubly irritated by this 
 disappointment, he vented his fury against images, and their 
 worshippers, in 730, ina much more terrible manner than 
 he had hitherto done; for, in a council assembled at Con- 
 stantinople, he degraded from his office Germanus, the 
 bishop of that imperial city, who was a patron of images, 
 put Anastasius in his place, ordered all the images to be 
 publicly burned, and inflicted a variety of severe punish- 
 
 /ments upon such as were attached to that idolatrous 
 
 worship. ‘These rigorous measures divided the Christian 
 Church into twe violent factions, whose contests were 
 carried on with an ungoverned rage, and produced nothing 
 but mutual invectives, crimes, and assassinations. Of 
 these factions, one adopted the adoration and worship of 
 images, and were on that account called Iconoduli or 
 Iconolatre ; while the other maintained that such wor- 
 ship was unlawful, and that nothing was more worthy of 
 the zeal of Christians, than to demolish and destroy the 
 statues aiid pictures that were the occasions and objects of 
 this gross idolatry ; and hence they were distinguished by 
 the titles of Iconomachi and Iconoclaste. © The furious 
 zeal which Gregory IL. had shown in defending the odious 
 superstition of image-worship, was not only imitated, but 
 even surpassed, by his successor, who was the third pontiff 
 ofthat name; and though, at this distance of time, we are 
 not acquainted with all the criminal circumstances that 
 attended the intemperate zeal of these insolent prelates, we 
 know with certainty that it was their extravagant attach- 
 ment to image-worship that chiefly occasioned the se- 
 paration of the Italian provinces from the Grecian em- 
 pire.¢ 
 
 XII. Constantine, to whom the furious tribe of the 
 image-worshippers had given, by way of derision, thename 
 
 some learned writers, particularly among the French, alleviate consider- 
 ably the crime of the Gregories, and positively deny that they either ex- 
 communicated the emperors above mentioned, or called off the people 
 from their duty and allegiance. See Launoius, Epist. lib. vil. Ep. vii. p. 
 456. tom. v. op. par. i1—Nat. Alexander, Select. Histor. Ececlesiast. Ca- 
 pit. See. vill. dissert. i. p. 456—De Marca, Concordia Sacerdotii et Im- 
 perii, lib. iil. cap. xi—Bossuet, Defens. Declarationis Cleri Gallic. de 
 Potestate Eccles. par. 1. lib. vi. cap. xii. p. 197.—Giannone, Historia di 
 Napoli, vol. i. All these found their opinions, concerning the conduct of 
 the Gregories, chiefly upon the authority of the Latin writers, such as 
 Anastasius, Paul the Deacon, and others, who seem to have known 
 nothing of that audacious insolence, with which these pontiffs are said 
 to have opposed the emperors, and even represent them as having given 
 several marks of their submission and obedience to the imperial authority. 
 Such are the contrary accounts of the Greek and Latin writers; and the 
 most prudent use we can make of them is, to suspend our judgment 
 
 | with respect to a matter, which the obscurity that covers the history of 
 
 this period renders it impossible to clear up. All that we can know with 
 certainty is, that the zeal of the two pontiffs above mentioned for the 
 worship of images, furnished to the people of Italy the occasion of falling 
 from their allegiance to the Grecian emperors. 
 
Onap. III. 
 
 of Copronymus,* succeeded his father Leo in the empire, 
 in741,and, animated with an equal zeal and ardouragainst | 
 the new idolatry, employed all his influence for the aboli- 
 tion of the worship of images, in opposition to the vigorous 
 efforts of the Roman ponti{ls and the superstitious monks. 
 His manner of proceeding was attended with greater marks 
 of equily and moder wai than had appeared in the mea- 
 sures pursued by Leo: for, knowing the respect which the 
 Greeks had for the i ee of general councils, whose 
 authority they considered as supreme and unlimited in 
 religious matters, he assembled at Constantinople, in 754, 
 a council composed of the eastern bishops, in order to have 
 this important question examined with the utmost care, 
 and decided with wisdom, seconded by a just and lawful 
 authority. This assembly, which the Greeks regard as 
 the seventh cecumenical council, gave judgment, as was 
 the custom of those times, in favour “of the opinionembraced j; 
 by the emperor, and solemnly condemned the worship and 
 also the use of images.» But this decision was not sufii- 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 cient to vanquish the blind obstinacy of superstition : many 
 adhered still to their idolatrous worship ; and none made a 
 more turbulent resistance to the wise decree of this council 
 than the monks, who still continued to excite commotions 
 in the state, and to blow the flames of sedition and rebellion | 
 among the people. Their malignity was, however, chas- 
 tised by Constantine, who, filled with a just indignation 
 at their seditious practices, punished several of them in an 
 exemplary manner, and by new laws set bounds to the |) 
 violence of monastic rage. Leo IY., who, after the death 
 of Constantine, was declared emperor, in 775, adopted the 
 sentiments of his father and grandfather, and pursued the 
 measures which they had concerted for the extirpation of 
 idolatry out of the Christian church; for, having perceived 
 that the worshippers of images could not be engaged by | 
 mild and gerttle proceedings to abandon this superstitious 
 practice, he had recourse to the coercive influence of penal 
 laws. 
 
 XIII. A cup of poison, administered by the impious | 
 
 counsel of a perfidious wife, deprived Leo IV. of his life, 
 in 780, and rendered the idolatrous cause of images tri- 
 umphant. The profligate Irene, after having thus dis- 
 missed her husband from the world, held the reins of em- 
 pire during the minority of her son Constantine; and, 
 to establish her authority on more solid foundations, enter- 
 ed into an alliance with Adrian, bishop of Rome, in 786, 
 and summoned a council at Nice in Bithynia, which is 
 known by the title of the second Nicene council. In this 
 assembly the imperial laws concerning the new idolatry { 
 were abrogated, the decrees of the council of Constantino- 
 ple reversed, the worship of images and of the cross re- | 
 stored, and severe punishments denounced against such as 
 maintained that God was the only object of ‘religious ado- | 
 OEE NE ST AS. eR ee aa eet ee ee 
 
 Zp * This nick-name was given to Constantine, from his having defi- 
 led the sacred font at his baptism. 
 
 37 > The authority of this council is not acknowledged by the Roman j} i 
 catholics, who also disregard the obligation of the second commandment, | 
 which they have predently struck out of the decalogue. 
 
 © Mart. Chemnitius, Examen Concilii Tridentint, par. iv. lib. ii. ca 
 v. p. 52.—L’Enfant, Preservatif contre la Réunion avec le Siege e 
 Rome, par. iii. lettre xvii. p- 446. 
 
 4 The aversion the Britons had to the worship of images, may be seen 
 in Spelman, Concil. Magne Britanniz, tom. i. p. 73. 
 
 ¢ The books of Charle magne concerning Images, which deserve an 
 attentive perusal, are yet extant; and, when | they were extremely scarce, 
 
 were republished at Hanover, in 1731, b the celebrated Christopher Aug. 
 Houman, who enriched this edition with a learned preface. These books 
 
 No. XV. 
 
 177 
 
 ration. It is impossible to imagine any thing more ridi- 
 ilous and trifling than the arguments upon which the 
 ishops, assembled in this council, founded their decrees.¢ 
 The Romans, however, held sacred the authority of these 
 decrees ; and ‘the Greeks considered in the light of parri- 
 cides and traitors all such as refused to submit to them. 
 The other enormities of the flagitious Irene, and her de- 
 served fate, cannot, with propriety, be treated of here. 
 XIV. In these violent contests , the greater part of the 
 Latins, such as the Britons, Germans, and Gauls, seemed te 
 steer a middle way between the opposite tenets of the con- 
 tending parties. They were of opinion that images might 
 be lawfully preserved, and even placed in the churches ; 
 but, at the same time, they looked upon all worship of 
 them as highly injurious and offensive to the Supreme 
 
 . Being. Such, particularly, were the seatiments of Charle- 
 
 magne, who distinguished himself in this important con- 
 troversy. By the advice of the French bishops, who were 
 no friends to this second council of Nice, he ordered some 
 learned and judicious divine to compose Four Books con- 
 cerning Images, which he sent, in 790, to Adrian, the Ro- 
 man pontiff, with a view of engaging him to withdraw his 
 daar oprewees of the decrees of that council. In this perform- 
 ance the reasons alleged by the Nicene bishops to justify 
 the worship of images, are refuted with great accuracy and 
 spirit.e hey were not, however, left without detence: 
 Adrian, who was afraid of acknowledging even an emperor 
 for his master, composed an answer to the four books men- 
 tioned above; but neither his arguments, nor his authority, 
 were sufficient to support the superstition he endeavoured to 
 
 | maintain ; for, in 794, Charlemagne assembled, at Frank- 
 
 fort on the Maine, a council of three hundred bishops, in 
 order to re-examine this important question; in which the 
 opinions contained in the four books were solemnly con 
 firmed, and the worship of images unanimously con- 
 demned.f Hence we may conclude, that in this century 
 
 '| the Latins deemed it neither impious, nor unlawful, to dis- 
 
 sent from the opinion of the Roman pontiff, and even to 
 charge that prelate with error. 
 
 XV. While the controversy concerning images was at its 
 height, a new contest arose among the Latins and Greeks 
 about the source whence the Holy Ghost proceeded. The 
 Latins affirmed, that this Divine Spirit proceeded from the 
 Father and the Son: the Greeks, on the contrary, as- 
 serted, that it proceeded from the Father only. The origin 
 of this controversy is covered with perplexity and doubt. 
 It is, however, certain, that it was agitated in the council 
 of Gentilli, near Paris, in 767, in presence of the empe- 
 ror’s legates ;s and from this we may conclude, with a 
 high degree of probability, that it arose in Greece at that 
 | time when the contest about images was carried on with 
 the greatest vehemence. In this controversy the Latins 
 
 are adorned with the venerable name of Charlemagne; but it is easy to 
 ; preceive that they are the productions of a scholastic divi ine, and not of 
 | oF emperor. Several learned men have conjectured, that Charle magne 
 composed these books with the assistance of his preceptor Alevin; see 
 Heuman’s Pref. p. 51; and Bunau’s Historia Imperii German. tom. i. p. 
 490. This conjecture, though far from being contemptible, cannot be 
 admitted without hesitation, since Alcuin was in England when these 
 books were composed. We learn from the history of his life, that he 
 want into England in 789, and did not thence return before 792. 
 ¢ This event is treated with a degree of candour, not more laudable 
 than surprising, by Mabillon, in Pref. ad Seculum IV. Actorum SS, 
 Ord. Benedict. part v. See also Jo. Georg. Dorscheus, Collats ad Con- 
 cilium Francofordiense. 
 * See Le Cointe, Annales Eccles, Francorum, tom. v. p. 698. 
 
178 
 
 alleged, in favour of their opinions, the creed of Constanti- 
 nople, which the Spaniards and Irench had successiv 
 corrupted, (upon what occasion is not well known,) by 
 adding the words filio-que to that part of it which con- 
 tained the doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost. The 
 Greeks, on the other hand, made loud complaints of this 
 criminal attempt of the Latins to corrupt by a manifest 
 interpolation a creed, which served as a rule of doctrine for 
 the church universal, and declared this attempt impudent 
 and sacrilegious. ‘Thus, the dispute changed at length its 
 object, and was transferred from the matter to the interpo- 
 lated words above-mentioned.* In the following century 
 it was carried on with still greater vehemence, and added 
 new fuel to the dissensions which already portended a 
 schism between the eastern and western churches.° 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue religion of this century consisted almost en- 
 tirely in a motley round of external rites and ceremonies. 
 We are not, therefore, to wonder that more zeal and déli- 
 gence were employed in multiplying and regulating these 
 outward marks of a superstitious devotion, than in correct- 
 ing the vices and follies of men, in enlightening their un- 
 derstandings, and forming their hearts. The administra- 
 tion of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, which was 
 deemed the most solemn and important branch of divine 
 worship, was now every where embellished, or rather 
 deformed, with a variety of senseless fopperies, which de- 
 stroyed the beautiful simplicity of that affecting and salu- 
 tary institution. We also find manifest traces, in this 
 century, of that superstitious custom of celebrating what 
 were called solitary masses, though it be difficult to de- 
 cide whether they were instituted by a public law, or 
 mtroduced by the authority of private persons.¢ Be that 
 as it may, this single custom is sufficient to give us an 
 idea of the superstition and darkness that sat brooding 
 over the Christian church in this ignorant age, and ren- 
 egers it unnecessary to enter into a farther detail of the | 
 absurd rites with which a designing priesthood continued 
 to disfigure the religion of Jesus. 
 
 II. Charlemagne seemed disposed to stem this torrent 
 of superstition, which gathered force from day to day ; for, 
 not to mention the zeal with which he opposed the wor- 
 ship of images, there are other circumstances that bear 
 testimony to his intentions in this matter, such as his pre- | 
 venting the multiplication of festivals, by reducing them | 
 
 “Learned men generally imagine that this controversy began abou 
 the words /ilio-que. which some of the Latins had added to the creed 
 that had been drawn up by the council of Constantinople, and that from 
 the words the dispute proceeded to the doctrine itself ; see Mabillon (Act. 
 Sanctor. Ord. Bened. See. iv. part i. pref. p.iv.) whois followed by many 
 in this particular. But this opinion is certainly erroneous. The doc- 
 trine was the first subject of controversy, which afterwards extended to 
 the words jilio-que, considered by the Greeks as a manifest interpolation. 
 Among other proofs of this, the council of Gentilli shows evidently, that 
 the doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit had been, fora considerable time 
 the subject of controversy when the dispute arose about the words now 
 mentioned. Pagi, in his Critica in Baronium, tom. iii. p. 323, is of opinion 
 that this controversy had both its date and its occasion from the dispute 
 concerning images; for when the Latins treated the Greeks as heretics, on 
 account of their opposition to image worship, the Greeks in their turn 
 charged the Latins also with heresy, on account of their maintaining 
 that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father andthe Son. The learn. 
 ed critic has, however, advanced this opinion without sufficient proof; 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 to a fixed and limited number, his prohibiting the cere- 
 mony of consecrating the church bells by the rite of 
 holy aspersion, and his enactment of other ecclesiastical 
 laws, which redound to his honour. Several circumstan 
 ces, however, concurred to render his designs abortive, and 
 to blast the success of his worthy purposes; and none 
 more than his excessive attachment to the Roman pontiffs, 
 who were the patrons and protectors of those who exerted 
 themselves in ithe cause of ceremonies. ‘This vehement 
 passion for the lordly pontiff was inherited by the great 
 prince, of whom we are now speaking, from his father 
 Pepin, who had already commanded the manner of sing- 
 ing, and the kind of church-music in use at Rome, to be 
 observed in all Christian churches. It was in conformity 
 with his example, and in compliance with the repeated and 
 *mportunate solicitation of the pontiff Adrian, that Charle- 
 | magne laboured to bring all the Latin churches to follow, 
 as their model, the church of Rome, not only in the article 
 now mentioned, but also in the whole form of their wor- 
 ship, in every circumstance of their religious service.* 
 Several churches, however, among which those of Milan 
 and Corbetta distinguished themselves eminently, abso- 
 lutely rejected this proposal, and could neither be brought 
 by persuasion nor by violence, to change their usual method 
 of worship. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tar Arians, Manicheans, and Marcionites, though 
 often depressed by the force of penal laws and the powe1 
 of the secular arm, gathered strength in the east, amidst 
 the tumults and divisions with which the Grecian empire 
 was perpetually agitated, and drew great nurfbers into the 
 profession of their opinions.£ ‘The Monothelites, to whose 
 cause the emperor Philippicus, and many others of the 
 first rank and dignity, were most zealous well-wishers, 
 regained their credit in various countries. The condition 
 also both of the Nestorians and Monophysites was easy and 
 agreeable under the dominion of the Arabians; their 
 power and influence were considerable; nor were they 
 destitute of means of weakening the Greeks, their irre- 
 concilable adversaries, of spreading their doctrines, ana 
 extensively multiplying the number of their adherents. 
 
 If. In the church which Boniface had newly erected in 
 Germany, he himself tells us, that there were many per- 
 verse and erroneous reprobates, who had no true notion o} 
 religion ; and his friends and adherents confirm this as- 
 
 and we must therefore consider it as no more than a probable conjecture. 
 
 bSce Pithei Hist. Controy. de Processione Spiritus St. at the end of 
 his Cod. Canon. Eccles. Roman. p. 355.—Le Quien, Oriens Christian. 
 tom. ill. p. 354.—Ger. J. Vossius, de Tribus Symbolis, Diss. iii. p. 65; 
 and, above all, Jo. Georg. Walchius, Histor. Controv. de Processione 
 Spiritus St. published at Jena, in 1751. 
 
 34> *° Solitary or private masses were such as were celebrated by the 
 priests alone in behalf of souls detained in purgatory, as well as on some 
 other particular occasions. These masses were pronibited by the laws of 
 the church ; but they were a rich source of profit to the clergy. They were 
 condemned by the canons of a synod assembled at Mentz under Charle- 
 magne, as criminal innovations, and as the fruits of avarice and sloth. 
 
 4 See the Treatise concerning Images, attributed to Charlemagne, p. 
 245; as also George Calixtus, de Missis Solitariis, sect. 12. 
 
 ¢See the Treatise concerning Images, p. 52; and Eginhard, de Vita 
 Caroli Magni, cap. 26. 
 
 f In Evrope also Arianism prevailed greatly among the barbarous na- 
 tions that embraced the Christian faith. 
 
Crap. Y. 
 
 sertion. But the testimony is undoubtedly partial, and 
 unworthy of credit, since it appears from the most evident 
 proofs, that the persons here accused of errors and heresies 
 were Irish and French divines, whqrefused that blind 
 submission to the church of Rome, which Boniface was so 
 zealous to propagate every where. Adalbert, a Gaul, and 
 Clement, a native of Ireland, were the persons whose 
 opposition gave the most trouble to the ambitious legate. 
 The former procured himself to be consecrated bishop, 
 without the consent of Boniface; excited seditions and 
 tumults among the eastern Franks; and appears, indeed, 
 to have been both flagitious in his conduct, and erroneous 
 in his opinions. Among other irregularities, he was the 
 forger* of a letter to the human race, which was said to 
 have been written by Jesus Christ, and to have been 
 brought from heaven by the archangel Michael.’ As to 
 Clement, his character and sentiments were maliciously 
 misrepresented, since it appears, by the best and most 
 authentic accounts, that he was much better acquainted 
 with the true principles and doctrines of Christianity than 
 Boniface himself; and hence he is considered by many as 
 a confessor and sufferer for the truth in this barbarous 
 age.’ Be that as it will, both Adalbert,and Clement were 
 condemned, at the instigation of Bonimece, by the pontiff 
 Zachary, in a council assembled at Rome, in 748,4 and 
 were committed: to prison, where, in all probability, they 
 concluded their days. 
 
 III. Religious discord ran still higher in Spain, France, 
 and Germany, toward the conclusion of this century ; 
 and the most unhappy tumults and commotions were 
 occasioned by a question proposed to Felix bishop of Ur- 
 gel, by Elipand, archbishop of T’cledo, who desired to 
 know in what sense Christ was the son of God. The 
 
 * See the Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iv. p. 82. 
 
 > There is an edition of this letter published by the learned Baluze in 
 the Capitularia Regum Francorum, tom. ii. p. 1396. 
 
 * We find an enumeration of the erroneous opinions of Clement in 
 the letters of Boniface, -Epistol. exxxv. p. 189. See also Usserii 
 Sylloge Epistolarum Hibernicarum, p. 12. Nouveau Dictionnaire His- 
 tor. et Critique, tom. i. p. 133. 3% The zealous Boniface was too 
 ignorant to be a proper judge of heresy, as appears by his condemn- 
 ing Vigilius for believing that there were antipodes. The great heresy 
 of Clement seems to have been his preferring the decisions of Scrip- 
 ture to the decrees of councils, and the opinions of the fathers, which 
 he took the liberty to reject when they were not conformable to the 
 word of God. 
 
 x 4 This is the true date of the council assembled by Zachary for 
 the condemnation of Adalbert and Clement, and not the year 745, as 
 Fleury and Mabillon have pretended; in which error they are followed 
 by Mr. Bower, in his History of the Popes. The truth is, that the letter 
 of Boniface, in consequence of which this council was assembled, must 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 179 
 
 answer given to this question, was, that Christ, considered 
 in his divine nature, was truly and essentially the Son of 
 God ; but that, considered as a man, he was only so, nomi- 
 nally and by adoption. This doctrine was spread abroad 
 by the tworprelates; lipand propagated it in the different 
 provinces of Spain, and Felix throughout Septimania, 
 while the pontiff Adrian, and the greatest part of the Latin 
 doctors, looked upon this opinion as a renovation of the 
 Nestorian heresy, by its representing Christ as divided into 
 two distinct persons. In consequence of this, Felix was 
 successively condemned by the councils of Narbonne, 
 Ratisbon, Frankfort on the Maine, and Rome, and was 
 finally obliged, by the council of Aix-la-Chapelle, to re- 
 tract his error, and to change his opinion. The change 
 he made was, however, rather nominal than real, the com- 
 mon shift of temporising divines ; for he still retained his 
 doctrine, and died in the firm belief of it at Lyons, to which 
 city he had been banished by Charlemagne.‘ Elipand, 
 on the contrary, lived secure in Spain under the dominion 
 of the Saracens, far removed from the thunder of synods 
 and councils, and out of the reach of that coercive power 
 in religious matters, whose utmost efforts can go no farther 
 than to make the erroneous, hypocrites or martyrs. Many 
 are of opinion, that the disciples of Felix, who were called 
 Adoptians, departed much less from the doctrine generally 
 received among Christians, than is commonly imagined ; 
 and that what chiefly distinguished their tenets were the 
 terms they used, and their manner of expression, rather 
 than a real diversity of sentiments. But, as this sect and 
 their chief thought proper to make use of singular and 
 sometimes of contradictory expressions, this furnished such 
 as accused them of Nestorianism, with plausible reasons to 
 support their charge. 
 
 have been written in 748, since he declares in that letter, that he had 
 been near thirty years legate of the holy see, into which commission he 
 entered, as all authors agree, about the year 719. F 
 
 xp ° The council of Narbonne, which condemned Felix, was holden 
 in 788, that of Ratisbon in 792, that of Frankfort in 794, that of Rome 
 in 799. 
 
 f The authors, who have written of the sect of Felix, are mentioned 
 by Fabricius, Biblioth. Lat. medii A®vi, tom. ii. p.482. Add to these 
 Petrus de Marea, in his Marca Hispanica, lib. ui. cap. x11. p. 368.—Jo. 
 de Ferreras, Historia de Espana, tom. ii—Mabillon, Pref. ad. See. iv. 
 Actor SS. Ord. Benedicti, part 11. ‘There are also very particular ac- 
 counts given of Felix by Dom. Colonia, in his Histoire Literaire de la 
 Ville de Lyon, tom. ii. and by the Benedictine monks in the Histoire 
 Literaire de la France, tom. iv. 
 
 & Jo. G. Dorscheus, Collat.ad Concilium Francofurt. p. 101—Weren- 
 fels, de Logomachiis Eruditerum, p. 459.—Basnagius, Pref. ad Ethe- 
 rium in Canisii Lection, antiquis, tom. ii. part i. p. 284.—G,. Calixtus, 
 Singul. Diss. 
 
THE NINTH CEN,EURY: 
 
 _—- 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue reign of Charlemagne had been singularly 
 auspicious to the Christian cause; the life of that great 
 prince was principally employed in the most zealous efforts 
 to propagate and establish the religion of Jesus among the 
 Huns, Saxons, Friselanders, and other unenlightened na- 
 ions ; but his piety was mixed with violence, his spiritual 
 conquests were generally made by the force of arms, and 
 this impure mixture tarnishes the lustre of his noblest 
 exploits. His son Louis, undeservedly surnamed the 
 Debonnaire, or the Meek, inherited the defects of his 
 father without his virtues, and was his equal in violence 
 and cruelty, but greatly his inferior in all worthy and 
 valuable accomplishments. Under his reign a very favour- 
 able opportunity was offered of propagating the Gospel 
 among the northern nations, and particularly among the 
 inhabitants of Sweden and Denmark. A petty king of 
 Jutland, named Harald Klack, being driven from his 
 kingdom and country, in 826, by Regner Lodbrock, threw 
 himself at the emperor's feet, and implored his succours 
 against the usurper. Louis granted his request, and 
 promised the exiled prince his protection and assistance, 
 on condition, however, that he would embrace Christiani- 
 ty, and admit the ministers of that religion to preach in 
 his dominions. Harald submitted to these conditions, was 
 baptized with his brother at Mentz, in 826, and returned 
 into his country attended by two eminent divines, Ansgar 
 or Anschaire, and Authbert; the former a monk of Cor- 
 bey in Westphalia, and the latter belonging to a monastery 
 of the same name in France. These venerable mission- 
 aries preached the Gospel with remarkable success, during 
 the course of two years, to the inhabitants of Cimbria 
 and Jutland. 
 
 If. After the death of his learned and pious companion 
 Authbert, the zealous and indefatigable Ansgar made a 
 veyage into Sweden, in 828, where his ministerial labours 
 were also crowned with distinguished success. Returning 
 into Germany, in 831, he was loaded by Louis with 
 ecclesiastical honours, being created archbishop of the new 
 church at Hamburg, and also of the whole north, to 
 which dignity, in 844, the superintendence of the church 
 
 * The writers to whom we are indebted for accounts of this pious and 
 illustrious prelate, the founder of the Cimbrian, Danish, and Swedish 
 churches, are mentioned by Fabricius in his Biblioth. Latin. medii Aévi 
 tom. 1. p. 292, as also in his Lux Evangelii Orbi Terrarum exoriens, p. 
 425. Add to these the Benedictine monks, in their Histoire Lit. de la 
 France, tom. v. p. 277—Acta Sanctor. Mens. Februar. tom. i. p. 391.— 
 Erici Pontoppidani Annales Eccles. Danice Diplomat. tom. i. p. 18,— 
 Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. iii. These writers give us also circum- 
 stantial accounts of Ebbo, Withmar, Rembert, and others, who were 
 either the fellow-labourers or successors of Ansgar. 
 
 A 
 
 at Bremen was added. The profits attached to this high 
 and honourable charge were very inconsiderable, while the 
 perils and labours, in which it involved the pious prelate, 
 
 were truly formidable. Accordingly, he travelled frequent- 
 
 ly among the Danes, Cimbrians, and Swedes, in order to 
 
 promote the cause of Christ, to form new churches, and 
 
 to confirm and establish those which he had already 
 
 incorporated; in all which arduous enterprises he passed 
 his life in the most imminent dangers, until, in 865, he 
 
 concluded his glorious course.* : 
 
 IlJ. About the middle of this century the Meesians,* 
 Bulgarians, and Gazarians, and after them the Bohemi- 
 ans and Moravians, were converted to Christianity by 
 Methodius and Cyril, two Greek monks, whom the em- 
 press Theodora had sent to dispel the darkness of those 
 idolatrous nations... The zeal of Charlemagne, and of 
 his pious missionaries, had been formerly exerted in the 
 same cause, and among the same people,’ but with so 
 little success, that any faint notions which they had 
 received of the Christian doctrine were entirely eflaced.—- 
 The instructions of the Grecian doctors had a much bet- 
 ter, and also a more permanent effect; but, as they recom- 
 mended to their new disciples the forms of worship, and 
 the various rites and ceremonies used among the Greeks,° 
 this was the occasion of much religious animosity and 
 contention jn after-times, when the lordly pontiffs exerted 
 all their vehemence, and employed all the means which 
 they could devise, though with imperfect success, for 
 reducing these nations under the discipline and jurisdiction 
 of the Latin church. fl 
 
 IV. Under the reign of Basilius, the Macedonian, who 
 ascended the imperial throne of the Greeks in 867, the 
 Sclavonians, Arentani, and certain communities of Dal- 
 matia, sent a solemn embassy to Constantinople to declare 
 their resolution of submitting to the jurisdiction of the_ 
 Grecian empire, and of embracing, at the same time, the 
 Christian religion. ‘This proposal was received with 
 admiration and joy; and it was also answered by a suit- 
 able ardour and zeal for the conversion of a people that 
 seemed so ingenuously disposed to embrace the truth: 
 accordingly, a competent number of Grecian doctors were 
 sent among them to instruct them in the knowledge of 
 the Gospel, and to admit them by baptism into the Chris- 
 tian church. he warlike nation of the Russians were 
 
 34> > We have translated thus the term Mysi, which is an error in 
 the original. Dr. Mosheim, like many others, has confounded the My- 
 sians with the inhabitants of Mesia, by giving to the latter, who were 
 Europeans, the title of the former, who dwelt in Asia. ; 
 
 * Jo. George Stredowsky, Sacra Moravice Historia, lib. ii. eap. ii. p. 
 94, compared with Pet. Kohlii Introduct. in listoriam et Rem liter. Sla 
 vorum, p. 124. 
 
 4 Stredowsky, lib. 1. cap. ix. p. 55. 
 
 * L’Enfant, Histoire de la Guerre des Hussites, liv. i. 
 
 f Weare indebted for this account of the conversion of the Sclavonians 
 
Crap. IT. 
 
 converted under the same emperor, but not in the same 
 manner, or from the same noble and rational motives. 
 Having entered into a treaty of peace with that prince, 
 they were engaged by various presents and promises to 
 embrace the Gospel, in consequence of which they re- 
 ceived not only the Christian ministers that were appoint- 
 ed to instruct them, but also an archbishop, whom the 
 Grecian patriarch Ignatius had sent among them, to per- 
 fect their conversion and establish their church.s | Such 
 were the beginnings of Christianity among the bold and 
 warlike Russians, who were inhabitants of the Ukraine, 
 and who, before their conversicn, had fitted out a formi- 
 dable fleet, and, setting sail from Kiow for Constantino- 
 ple, had spread terror and dismay through the whole. 
 empire.® 
 V. It is proper to observe, with respect to the various 
 conversions which we have now been relating, that they 
 were undertaken upon much better principles, and exe- 
 cuted in a more pious and rational manner, than those of 
 the preceding ages. ‘The ministers, who were now sent 
 to instruct and convert the barbarous nations, did not, 
 like many of their predecessors, employ the terror of penal 
 laws, to affright men into the profession of Christianity ; 
 nor, in establishing churches upon the ruins of idolatry, 
 were they principally attentive to promote the grandeur 
 and extend the authority of the Roman pontifls; their 
 views were more noble, and their conduct more suitable 
 to the genius of the religion they professed. They had 
 -uiefly in view the happiness of mankind, endeavoured to 
 fomote the gospel of truth and peace by rational persua- 
 sion, and seconded their argumeuts by the victorious power 
 of exemplary lives. It must, however, be confessed, that 
 the doctrine they taught was far from being comformable 
 lo the pure and excelient rules of faith and practice laid 
 down by our divine Saviour and his holy apostles ; for 
 their religious system was corrupted by a variety of super- 
 stitious rites, and a multitude of absurd inventions. It is 
 farther certain, that there remained among these converted 
 nations too many traces of the idolatrous religion of their 
 ancestors, notwithstanding the zealous labours of their 
 Christian guides: and it appears also, that these pious 
 missionaries were content with introducing an external 
 profession of the true religion among their new proselytes. 
 It would be, however, unjust to accuse them on this 
 account of negligence or corruption in the discharge of 
 their ministry, since, in order to gain over these fierce and 
 savage nations to the church, it may have been absolutely 
 necessary to indulge them in some of their infirmities and 
 prejudices, and to connive at many things, which pious 
 missionaries could not approve, and which, in other cir- 
 cumstances, they would have been careful to correct. 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 181 
 CHAPTER. II. 
 
 Concerning the Calamitous Events that happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tur Saracens had now extended theirusurpations 
 with amazing success. Masters of Asia, a few provinces 
 excepted, they pushed their conquests to the extremities 
 of India, and obliged a great part of Africa to receive their 
 yoke; nor were their enterprises in the west without effect, 
 since Spain and Sardinia submitted to their arms, and fell 
 under their dominion. But their conquests did not end 
 here; for, in 827, by the, treason of Euphemius, they 
 
 imade themselves masters of the rich and fertile island of 
 
 Sicily; and, toward the conclusion of this century, an 
 army of those barbarians, proceeding from Asia, seized 
 several cities of Calabria, and spread the terror of their 
 victorious arms even to the very walls of Rome, while 
 Crete, Corsica, and other islands, were either joined to 
 their possessions, or ravaged by their incursions. It is 
 easy to comprehend that this overgrown prosperity of a 
 nation accustomed to bloodshed and rapine, and which 
 also beheld the Christians with the utmost aversion, must 
 have been every where detrimental to the progress of the 
 Gospel, and to the tranquillity of the church. In the 
 east, more especially, a prodigious number of Christian 
 families embraced the religion of their conquerors, that 
 they might live in the peaceful enjoyment of their posses- 
 sions. Many, indeed, refused this base and criminal com- 
 pliance, and with a pious magnanimity adhered to their 
 principles in the face of persecution: but such were 
 gradually reduced to a miserable condition, and were not 
 only robbed of the best part of their wealth, and deprived 
 of their worldly advantages, but, what was still more 
 deplorable, they fell by degrees into such incredible igno- 
 rance and stupidity, that, in process of time, there were 
 scarcely any remains of Christianity to be found among 
 them, beside the mere name and a few external rites and 
 ceremonies. ‘Ihe Saracens who had fixed themselves in 
 Europe, particularly those who were settled in Spain, were 
 of a much milder disposition, and seemed to have put off the 
 greatest part of their native ferocity ; so that the Christians, 
 generally speaking, lived peaceably under their dominion, 
 and were permitted to observe the laws, and to enjoy the 
 privileges of their holy profession. It must, however, be 
 confessed, that this mild and tolerating conduct of the 
 Saracens was not without some few exceptions of cruelty. 
 
 Il. The European Christians had the most cruel suf- 
 ferings to undergo from another quarter,—even from the 
 insatiable fury of a swarm of barbarians that issued out 
 from the northern provinces. ‘The Normans, under which 
 general term are comprehended the Danes, Norwegians, 
 
 to the treatise de administrando Imper.o, composed by the learned em- 
 
 eror Constantine Porphyrogeneta, and published by Bandurius in his 
 lowes Orient. tom. i. Constantine gives the same account of this event 
 in the life of his grandfather Basilius, the Macedonian, sect. 54, pub- 
 lished in the Corpus Seripterum Byzantinorum, tom. xvi. 
 
 * Constantinus Porph. in Vita Basilii Macedonis, sect. 96. p. 157. 
 Corp. Byzant. See also the Narratio de Ruthenorum Conversione, 
 published both in Greek ard in Latin by Bandurius, in his Imper. 
 Orient. 
 
 > The earned Lequien, in his Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 1257, 
 gives a very inaccurate account of those Russians who were converted 
 to Christianity under the reign of Basilius the Macedonian; and in this 
 he does no more than adopt the errors of many who wrote before him on 
 the same subject. Nor is he consistent with himself; for in one place 
 he affirms, that the people here spoken of were the Russians who lived |} 
 
 No. XVL. 46 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the Bulgarians, while in another he maintains, 
 that by these Russians we are to understand the Gazarians. The only 
 reason he alleges to support the latter‘opinion is, that, among the Chris- 
 tian doctors sent to instruct the Russians, mention is made of Cyril, who 
 converted the Gazari to Christianity. This reason shows, that the 
 learned writer had a most imperfect knowledge both of these Russians 
 and the Gazari. He is also guilty of other mistakes upon the same 
 subject. There is a much better explanation of this matter given by the 
 very learned Theoph. Sigifred Bayer, Dissert. de Russorum prima Ex- 
 peditione Constantinopolitana, which is published in the sixth volume of 
 the Commentaria Acad. Scientiar. Petropolitane. 
 
 ° See, for example, the account that is given of Eulogius, who suffer- 
 ed martyrdom at Cordova, in the Acta Sanctorum ad d. xi. Marti, tom. 
 ii. p. 88; as also of Roderic and Solomon, two Spanish martyrs of this 
 century Ibid. ad d, xiii, Marti, p. 328. 
 
182 
 
 and Swedes, whose habitations lay along the coasts of the 
 Baltic sea, were a people accustomed to carnage and 
 rapine. ‘Their petty kings and chiefs who subsisted by 
 piracy and plunder, had already, during the reign of 
 Charlemagne, infested with their fleets the coasts of the 
 German ocean, but were restrained by the opposition they 
 met with from the vigilance and activity of that warlike 
 prince. In this century, however, they became more 
 bold and enterprising, made frequent irruptions into Ger- 
 many, Britain, Friseland, and Gaul, and carried along 
 with them, wherever they went, fire and sword, desolation 
 and horror. ‘The impetuous fury of these savage barba- 
 rlans not only spread desolation through the Spanish 
 provinces,* but even penetrated into the very heart of Italy; 
 for, in 857, they ravaged and plundered the city of Luna 
 in the most cruel manner; and, about three years after, 
 Pisa, and several other towns of Italy, met with the same 
 fate.» The ancient histories of the ranks abound with 
 the most dismal accounts of their horrid exploits. 
 
 Ill. The first views of these savage invaders extended 
 no farther than plunder; but, charmed at length with the 
 
 * Jo. de Ferreras, Historia de Espana, vol. ii. Piracy was esteemed 
 among the northern nations a very honorable and noble prefession; and 
 hence the sons of kings, and the young nobility, were trained up to this 
 species of robbery, and made it their principal business to )yerfect them- 
 selves in it. Nor will this appear very surprising to such as consider 
 the religion of these nations, and the barbarism of the tines. See Jo. 
 Lud. Hlolberg, Historia Danorum et Norvegorum Navalis, in fcriptis 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 beauty and fertility of the provinces which they were so 
 cruelly depopulating, they began to form settlements in 
 them ; nor were the European princes in a condition to 
 oppose their usurpations. On the contrary, Charles the 
 Bald was obliged, in 850, to resign a considerable part 
 of his dominions to the powerful banditti;: and a few 
 years after, under the reign of Charles the Gross, emperor 
 and king of France, the famous Norman chief Godofred 
 entered with an army into Friseland, and obstinately 
 refused to sheathe his sword before he was master of the 
 whole province.* Such, however, of the Normans as set- 
 tled among the Christians, contracted a more gentle turn 
 of mind, and gradually departed from their primitive 
 brutality. ‘Their marriages with the Christians contribu- 
 ted, no doubt, to civilize them; and engaged them to 
 abandon the superstition of their ancestors with more 
 facility, and to embrace the Gospel with more readiness 
 than they would have otherwise done. Thus the proud 
 conqueror of Friseland solemnly embraced the Christian 
 religion after he had received in marriage, from Charles 
 the Gross, Gisela, the daughter of Lothaire the younger. 
 
 Societatis Scientiar. Hafniensis, tom. iii. p. 349, in which there are a 
 multitude of curious and interesting relations concerning the ancient pira- 
 cies, drawn from the Danish and Norwegian annals. ; 
 
 > See the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, published by Muratori. 
 
 * Annales incerti Auctoris, in Pithewi Scriptoribus Francicis, p. 46. 
 
 4 Reginonis Prumiensis Annal. lib. ii, 
 
* p. 545, 
 
 183 
 
 PART It. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 
 during this Century. e 
 
 I. Tue Grecian empire, in this century, was in circum- 
 stances seemingly calculated to extinguish all taste for 
 letters and philosophy,.and all zeal for the cultivation of 
 the sciences. ‘The liberality, however, of the emperors, 
 some of whom were men of learning and taste, and the 
 wise precautions taken by the patriarchs of Constantinople, 
 among whom Photius deserves the first rank in point of 
 erudition, contributed to attach a certain number of learn- 
 ed men to that imperial city, and thus prevented the total 
 decline of letters. Accordingly, we find in Constantinople, 
 at this time, several persons who excelled in eloquence 
 and poetry; some who displayed, in their writings against | 
 the Latins, a considerable knowledge of the art of reason- 
 ing, and a high degree of dexterity in the management 
 of controversy ; and others who composed the history of 
 their own times with accuracy and elegance. 'The con- 
 troversy with the Latins, when it grew more keen and 
 animated, contributed, in a particular manner, to excite 
 the literary emulation of the disputants; rendered them 
 studious to acquire new ideas, and a rich and cerious elo- 
 cution, adorned with the graces of elegaiice and wit; and 
 thus roused and invigorated talents that were ready to 
 perish in indolence and sloth. ' 
 
 Il, We learn from Zonaras, that the study of philoso- 
 phy lay for a long time neglected in this age ; but it was 
 revived, with a zeal for the sciences in general, under the 
 emperor ‘Mheophilus, and his son Michael Tif. This re- 
 vival of letters may principally be ascribed* to the encou- 
 ragement and protection which the learned received from 
 Bardas, who had been declared Cesar, himself an illiterate 
 man, but a warm friend of the celebrated Photius, the 
 great patron of science, by whose counsel he was, un- 
 doubtedly, directed in this matter. At the head of all the 
 learned men, to whom Bardas committed the culture of the 
 sciences, he placed Leo, surnamed the Wise, a man of the 
 most profound and uncommon erudition, and who after- 
 wards was consecrated bishop of Thessalonica. Photius 
 explained the Categories of Aristotle, while Michael Psel- 
 lus gave a brief exposition of the better works of that 
 great philosopher. | 
 
 Ill. The Arabians, who, instead of cultivating the arts 
 and sciences, had thought of nothing hitherto, but of ex- 
 tending their territories, were now excited to literary 
 pursuits by Almamoun, otherwise called Abu Giafar Ab- | 
 dallah, whose zeal for the advancement of letters was 
 great, and whose munificence toward men of learning and 
 genius was truly royal. Under the auspicious protection 
 of this celebrated khalif of Syria and Egypt, the Arabians 
 made a rapid and astonishing progress in various kinds of 
 learning. ‘This excellent prince began to reign about the 
 
 * Zonar. Annal. tom. ii. lib. xvi. 
 b Abulpharajius, Historia Dynastiar. p. 246.—Georg. Elmacin. His- 
 tor. Saracen. lib. ii. p. 139.—Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. article Mamun, 
 
 I 
 
 time of the death of Charlemagne, and died in 833. He 
 erected the famous schools of Bagdad, Cufa, and Basra, 
 and established seminaries of learning in several other 
 cities ; he drew to his court men of eminent parts by his 
 extraordinary liberality, set up noble libraries in various 
 plices, caused translations to be made of the best Grecian 
 productions into the Arabic language at a vast expense, 
 and employed every method of promoting the cause of 
 learning, that became a great and generous prince, whose 
 zeal for the sciences was attended with knowledge. It 
 was under the reign of this celebrated khalif, that the 
 Arabians began to take pleasure in the Grecian learning, 
 and to propagate it, by degrees, not only in Syria and 
 Africa, but also in Spain and Italy ; and from this period 
 they give us a long catalogue of celebrated philosophers, 
 physicians, astronomers, and mathematicians, who were 
 
 |ornamenis to their nation through several succeeding 
 
 ages ;° and in this certainly they do not boast without 
 reason, though we are not to consider as literally true, 
 all the wonderful and pompous things which the more 
 modern writers of the Saracen history tell us of these illus- 
 trious philosophers. 
 
 After this period the European Christians profited much 
 by the Arabian learning, and were highly indebted to the 
 Saracens for improvement in the various sciences ; for the 
 mathematics, astronomy, physic, and philosophy, that 
 were taught in Europe from the tenth century, were, for 
 the most part, drawn from the Arabian schools that were 
 established in Spain and Italy, or from the writings of the 
 Arabian sages. Hence the Saracens may, in one respect, 
 be justly considered as the restorers of learning in Europe. 
 
 IV. In that part of Europe which was subject to the 
 dominion of the Franks, Charlemagne laboured with in- 
 credible zeal and ardour for the advancement of useful 
 learning, and animated his subjects to the culture of the 
 sciences in all their various branches: so that, had his 
 successors been disposed to follow his example, and capable 
 of acting upon the noble plan which he formed, the empire, 
 in a little time, would have been entirely delivered from 
 barbarism and ignorance. It is true, this great prince left 
 in his family a certain spirit of emulation, which animated 
 his immediate successors to imitate, in some measure, his 
 zeal for the prosperity of the republic of letters. Louis 
 the Debonnaire both formed and executed several designs 
 that were extremely conducive to the progress of the arts 
 and sciences;* and his zeal, in this respect, was surpassed 
 by the ardour with which his son, Charles the Bald, exerted 
 himself in the propagation of letters, and in exciting the 
 emulation of the learned by the most alluring marks of 
 his protection and favour. This great patron of the 
 sciences drew the literati to his court from all parts, took 
 a particular delight in their conversation, multiplied and 
 embellished the seminaries of learning, and protected, in a 
 more especial manner, the Aulic school, of which mention 
 
 © See the treatise of Leo Africanus, de Medicis et Philosophis Arabi- 
 bus, published by Fabricius in his Bibliotheca Greca, tom. Xu. DP» 
 9 
 
 4 See the Histoire Literaire de la France, .om. iv. p. 582. 
 
{84 
 
 has already been made, and which was first erected in the 
 seventh century, for the education of the royal family and 
 the first nobility.s His brother Lothaire endeavoured to 
 revive in Italy the drooping sciences, and to rescue them 
 
 from that state of languor and decay into which the cor- | 
 
 ruption and indolence of the clergy had permitted them to 
 fall. For this purpose he erected schools in the eight 
 principal cities of Italy, in 823, but with little success, 
 since that country appears to have been entirely destitute 
 of men of learning and genius during the ninth century.° 
 
 In England learning had a better fate under the auspi- 
 cious protection of king Alfred, who acquired an immortal 
 name, not only by the admirable progress he made in all 
 kinds of elegant and useful knowledge, but also by the 
 care he took to multiply men of letters and genius in his 
 dominions, and to restore to the sciences, sacred and pro- 
 ane, the credit and lustre which they so eminently de- 
 serve.° 
 
 V. But the infelicity of the times rendered the effects of 
 all this zeal and all these projects for the advancement of 
 learning much less considerable than might have other- 
 wise been expected. ‘The protectors and patrons of the 
 learned were themselves learned; their authority was 
 respectable, and their munificence was boundless; and 
 yet the progress of science toward perfection was but slow, 
 because the interruptions arising from the troubled state 
 of Europe were frequent. 'The discords that arose be- 
 tween Louis and his sons, which were succeeded by a 
 rupture between the latter, retarded considerably the pro- 
 gress of letters in the empire; and the incursions and 
 victories of the Normans, which afflicted Europe during 
 the whole course of this century, were so inimical to the 
 culture of the arts and sciences, that, in most of the re- 
 gions of this part of the world, and even in France, there 
 remained but a small number who truly deserved the title 
 of learned men.‘ The wretched and incoherent frag- 
 ments of erudition that yet remained among the clergy 
 were confined to the monasteries, and to the episcopal 
 schools ; but the zeal of the monkish and priestly orders 
 for the improvement of the mind, and the culture of the 
 sciences, diminished in proportion as their revenues in- 
 creased, so that their indolence and ignorance grew with 
 their possessions. 
 
 VI. It must, however, be confessed, that several exam- 
 ples of learned men, whose zeal for science was kindled 
 by the encouragement and munificence of Charlemagne, 
 shone forth with a distinguished lustre through the dark- 
 ness of this barbarous age. Among these, the first rank 
 is due to Rabanus Maurus, whose fame was great through 
 all Germany and France, and to whom the youth re- 
 
 * Herman. Conringii Antiquit. Academice, p. 320—Cwzs. Eg. du 
 Boulay, Hist Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 178—Launoy, de Scholis Caroli 
 M. cap. xi, xii. p. 47.—-Histoire Liter. de la France, tom. v. p. 483. 
 
 b See the edict for that purpose among the Capitularia, published by 
 Muratori in the first volume of his compilation de Rebus Italicis. 
 
 * See Muratori’s Antiq. Ital. medii A.vi, tom. iii. p. 829. 
 
 4 See Ant. Wood. Hist. et Antiquit. Academ. Oxoniens. lib. i. p. 13.— 
 Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p.211.—General Dictionary, at the 
 article Alfred. (This prince, among other pious and learned labours 
 translated the Pastoral of Gregory IL, Boetius de Consolatione, and 
 Bede’s Ecclesiastical History.) ‘ 
 
 == ° This excellent prince not only encouraged by his protection and 
 liberality such of his own subjects as made any progress in the liberal 
 arts and sciences, but invited over from foreign countries men of distin- 
 guished talents, whom he fixed in a seminary at Oxford, and, in conse- 
 
 uence, may be looked upon as the founder of that noble university.— 
 ohannes Scotus Erigena, who had been in the service of Charles the 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 his instructions in the liberal arts and sciences. 
 
 Part ILI. 
 
 sorted, in” prodigious numbers, from all parts, to receive 
 "The wri- 
 ters of history, whose works have deservedly preserved 
 their names from oblivion, are Eginhard, Freculph, The- 
 gan, Haymo, Anastasius, Ado, and others of less note. 
 Florus, Walafridus Strabo, Bertharius, and Rabanus, ex 
 celled in poetry. Smaragdus and Bertharius were emt 
 nent for their skill in grammar and languages, as was 
 af€o the celebrated Rabanus already mentioned, who ac- 
 quired a very high degree of reputation by a learned and 
 subtle treatise concerning the causes and the rise of lan- 
 guages. he Greek and Hebrew erudition was cultivated 
 with considerable success by William, Servatus Lupus, 
 Scotus, and others. Eginhard, Agobard, Hincmar, and 
 Servatus Lupus, were famed for the eloquence which ap- 
 peared both in their discourses and in their writings.¢ 
 VU. 'The philosophy and logic that were taught in the 
 Kuropean schools during this century, scarcely deserved 
 such honourable titles, and were little better than an 
 empty jargon. -'There were, however, to be found in 
 various countries, particularly among the Irish, men of 
 acute parts and extensive knowledge, who were perfectly 
 well entitled to the appellation of philosophers. Of these, 
 the chief was Johannes Scotus Erigena,® a native of Ire- 
 land, the friend and companion of Charles the Bald, who 
 delighted so much in his conversation as to honour him 
 with a place at his table. Scotus was endowed with an 
 excellent and truly superior genius, and was considerably 
 versed both in Greek and Latin erudition. He explained 
 to his disciples the philosophy of Aristotle, for which he 
 was singularly well qualified by his thorough knowledge 
 of the Greek language ; but, as his genius was too bold 
 and aspiring to confine itself to the authority and decisions 
 of the Stagirite, he pushed his philosophical researches 
 yet farther, dared to think for himself, and ventured to 
 pursue truth without any other guide than his own reason. 
 We have yet extant of his composition, five Books con- 
 cerning the Division of Nature; an intricate and subtle 
 production, in which the causes and principles of all things 
 are investigated with a considerable degree of sagacity, 
 and in which also the precepts of Christianity are alle- 
 gorically explained, yet in such a manner as to show, that 
 their ultimate end is the union of the soul with the Su- 
 preme Being. He was the first who blended the scholas- 
 tic theology with the mystic, and formed both into one 
 system. It has also been imagined, that he was far from 
 rejecting the opinions of those who consider the union of 
 God and nature, as similar to the union that subsists be- 
 tween the soul and the body,—a notion much the same 
 with that of many ancient philosophers, who looked upon 
 
 Bald, and Grimbald, a monk of St. Bertin in France, were the most 
 famous of those learned men who came from abroad: Asserius, Were- 
 frid, Plegmund, Dunwuf, Wulfsig, and the abbot of St. Neot’s, deserve 
 the first rank among the English literati who adorned the age of Alfred. 
 See Collier’s Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. book ili. and Rapin’s History 
 of England. 
 
 f Servati Lupi Op. Epist. xxxiv. p. 69—Conringii Antiq. Acad. p. 
 322.— Histoire Liter. de la France, tom. iv. p. 251. 
 
 ® Such as are desirous of a more circumstantial account of these wri- 
 ters, and of their various productions, may consult the Histoire Literaire 
 de la France, tom. iv. p. 251 to 271; or the more ample account given ot 
 them by the celebrated Le Beuf, in his Etat des Sciences en France 
 depuis Charlemagne, jusqu’au Roi Robert, which is published in his 
 Recueil de divers Ecrits pour servir d’Eclaircissement a Histoire de 
 France, tom. ii. 
 
 34> » Erigena signifies properly a native of Ireland, us Erin was the 
 ancient name of that kingdom, 
 
Cuap Il. 
 
 the Deity as the soul 9f the world. But it may, perhaps, 
 be alleged, and not without reason, that what Scotus said 
 upon this subject amounted to no more than what the 
 Realists,s as they are called, maintained afterwards, 
 though it must be allowed that he has expressed himself 
 in a very perplexed and obscure manner.» ‘This cele- 
 brated philosopher formed no particular sect, at least as far 
 as we know; and this will be considered, by those who 
 are acquainted with the spirit of the times in which he 
 lived, as a proof that his immense learning was accom- 
 panied with meekness and modesty. 
 
 About this time a certain person named Macarius, a na- 
 tive of Ireland, propagated in France that enormous error, 
 which was afterwards adopted and professed by Averrces, 
 that one individual intelligence, one soul, performed the 
 spiritual and rational functions in all the human race. 
 This error was confuted by Ratram, a famous monk of 
 Corbey.* Before these writers flourished Dungal, a native 
 of Ireland also, who left his country, and retired into a 
 French monastery, where he lived during the reigns of 
 Charlemagne and his son Louis, and taught philosophy 
 and astronomy with the greatest reputation.? Heric, a 
 monk of Auxerre, made likewise an eminent figure 
 among the learned of thisage; he was a man of uncom- 
 mon sagacity, was endowed with a great and asptcang 
 genius, apd is said, in many things, to have anticipated 
 the famous Des-Cartes in the manner of investigating 
 truth.* 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. Tr impiety and licentiousness of the greatest part of 
 the clergy arose, at this time, to an enormous height, and 
 stand upon record, in the unanimous complaints of the 
 most candid and impartial writers of this century.£ In 
 the east, tumult, discord, conspiracies, and treason, reigned 
 uncontrolled, and aii things were carried by violence and 
 force. 'These abuses appeared in many things, but par- 
 ticularly in the election of the patriarchs of Constanti- 
 nople. ‘The favour of the court was now the only step 
 to that high and important office ; and, as the patriarch’s 
 continuance in that eminent post depended upon such an 
 uncertain and precarious foundation, nothing was more 
 usual than to see a prelate pulled down from his episcopal 
 throne by an imperial decree. In the western provinces, 
 the bishops were voluptuous and effeminate in a very high 
 
 347 * The Realists, who followed the doctrine of Aristotle with re- 
 spect to universal ideas, were so called in opposition tothe Nominalists, 
 who embraced the hypothesis of Zeno and the Stoics upon that perplexed 
 and intricate subject. Aristotle held, against Plato, that previous to, and 
 indenendent of, matter, there were no universal ideas or essences; and 
 that the ideas, or exemp'ars, which the latter supposed to have existed 
 in the divine mind, and to have been the models of all created things, 
 had been eternally impressed upon matter, and were coéval with, and 
 inherent in, their objects. Zeno and his followers, departing both from 
 the Platonic and Aristotelian systems, maintained that these pretended 
 universals had neither form nor essence, and were no more than mere 
 terms and nominal representations of their particular objects. ‘The doc- 
 trine of Aristotle prevailed until the eleventh century, when Roscellinus 
 embraced the Stoical system, and founded the sect of the Nominalists, 
 whose sentiments were propagated with great success by the famous 
 Abelard. These two sects differed considerably among themselves, 
 and explained, or rather obscured, their respective tenets in a variety of 
 ways. 
 
 » The work here alluded to was published Ly Mr. Thomas Gale, in 
 No. XVI. AT 
 
 ee ee ee ee ee a a ee ee 
 = —< 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 185 
 
 degree. 'They passed their lives amidst the splendour of 
 courts and the pleasures of a luxurious indolence, which 
 corrupted their taste, extinguished their zeal, and rendered 
 them incapable of performing the solemn duties of their 
 functions ;¢ while the inferior clergy were sunk in licen- 
 tiousness, minded nothing but sensual gratifications, and 
 infected with the most heinous vices the flock, whom it 
 was the very business of their ministry to preserve, or to 
 deliver from the contagion of iniquity. Besides, the igno- 
 rance of the sacred order was, in many places, so deplo- 
 rable, that few of them could either read or write; and 
 still fewer were capable of expressing their wretched no- 
 tions with any degree of method or perspicuity. Hence it 
 happened, that, when letters were to be penned, or any 
 matter of consequence was to be committed to writing, 
 they commenly had recourse to some person who was sup- 
 posed to be endowed with superior abilities, as appears in 
 the case of Servatus Lupus." 
 
 II. Many circumstances concurred, particularly in the 
 European nations, to produce and augment this corrup- 
 tion and licentiousness, so shameful in an order of men, 
 who were set apart to exhibit examples of piety to the 
 rest of the world. Among these we may reckon, as the 
 chief sources of the evil under consideration, the calami- 
 ties of the times, the bloody and perpetual wars that were 
 carried on between Louis the Debonnaire and his family, 
 the incursions and conquests of the barbarous nations, the 
 gross and incredible ignorance of the nobility, and the 
 riches that flowed in upon the churches and religious se- 
 minaries from all quarters. Many other causes also con- 
 iributed to dishonour the church, by introducing into it a 
 corrupt ministry. A nobleman, who, through want of 
 talents, of activity, or courage, was rendered incapable of 
 appearing with dignity in the cabinet, or with honour in 
 the field, immediately turned his views toward the church, 
 aimed at a distinguished place among its chiefs and ru- 
 lers, and became, in consequence, a contagious example 
 of stupidity and vice to the inferior clergy.: ‘The patrons 
 of churches, in whom resided the right of election, unwil- 
 ling to submit their disorderly conduct to the keen cen- 
 sure of zealous and upright pastors, industriously looked 
 for the most abject, ignorant, and worthless ecclesiastics, 
 to whom they committed the care of souls.« But one of 
 the circumstances, which contributed in a particular man- 
 ner to render, at least, the higher clergy wicked and de- 
 praved, and to take off their minds from the duties of 
 their station, was the obligation of performing certain ser- 
 vices to their sovereigns, in consequence of the possessions 
 
 1681. The learned Heuman has made several extracts from it, and has 
 given also an ample account of. Scotus, in his Acts of the Philosophers, 
 written in German, tom. iii. p. 858. 
 
 ¢ Mabillon, Pref. part ii. Actor. SS. Ord. Benedicti, sect. 156. p. 53 
 
 4 Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. iv. p. 493. 
 
 ¢ Le Beuf, Memoires pour I’ Histoire d’ Auxerre, tom. ii. p. 481.— Acta 
 Sanctorum, tom. iv. M. Junii ad d. xxiv. p, 829, et ad d. xxxi. Jul. p. 249; 
 for this philosopher has obtained a place among the saintly order. 
 
 £ See Agobardus, de Privilegiis et Jure Sacerdotii, sect. 13. 
 
 ® The reader will be convinced of this by consulting Agobard, passim 
 and by looking over the laws enacted in the Latin councils for restrain- 
 ing the disorders of the clergy. See also Servatus Lupus, Epist. xxxv. 
 p. 73, 281, and Steph. Baluze, in Adnot. p. 378. 
 
 h See the works of Servatus Lupus, Epist. xeviii. xcix. p. 126, 142, 
 148; as also his Life. See also Rodolphi Bicgaleenate Capitula ad Cle- 
 rum suum, in Baluzii Miscellaneis, tom. vi. p. 139, 148. 
 
 i Hinemarus, in Opere Posteriore contra Godeschaleum, cap. xxxvi. 
 tom. i. op. p. 318.—Servatus Lupus, Epist. Ixxix. p. 120. : 
 
 k A gobardus, de Privilegiis etJure Sacerdotii, cup. xi. p. 341. tom. 1. op, 
 
£86 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il 
 
 they derived from the royal bounty. The bishops and || bishop. On the contrary, the greatest part of them are 
 heads of monasteries held many lands and castles by a || only known by the flagitious actions that have transmitted 
 
 feudal tenure; and, being thereby bound to furnish their 
 princes with a certain number of soldiers in time of war, 
 were obliged also to take the field themselves at the head 
 of these troops,* and thus to act in a sphere that was ut- 
 terly inconsistent with the nature and duties of their sacred 
 character. Beside all this, it often happened that rapa- 
 cious princes, in order to satisfy the craving wants of their 
 soldiers and domestics, boldly invaded the possessions of 
 the church, which they distributed among their armies ; 
 in consequence of which the priests and monks, in order 
 to avoid perishing through hunger, abandoned themselves 
 to the practice of violence, fraud, and all sorts of crimes, 
 considering these acts as the only remaining means by 
 which they could procure a subsistence.° 
 
 Ill. The Roman pontiffs were raised to that high dig- 
 
 nity by the suffrages of the sacerdotal order, accompanied | 
 
 by the voice of the people; but, after their election, the 
 approbation of the emperor was necessary, in order to 
 their consecration. An edict, indeed, is yet extant, sup- 
 posed to have been published, in 817, by Louis the De- 
 bonnaire, in which he abolishes this imperial right, and 
 grants to the Romans, not only the power of electing their 
 pontiff, but also the privilege of installing and consecrating 
 him when elected, without waiting for the consent of the 
 emperor.*. But this grant will not deceive those who in- 
 quire into the affair with any degree of attention and dili- 
 gence, since several learned men have proved it spurious 
 by the most irresistible arguments.¢ It must, however, 
 be confessed, that, after the time of Charles the Bald, a 
 new scene of things arose; and the important change 
 above mentioned was really introduced. ‘What prince, 
 having obtained the imperial dignity by the good offices 
 
 of the bishop of Rome, returned this eminent service by | 
 delivering the succeeding pontiffs from the obligation of 
 
 waiting for the consent of the emperors, in order to their 
 being installed in their office ; and thus we find, that from 
 the time of Eugenius IIL, who-was raised to the pontifi- 
 cate in 884, the election of the pope was carried on with- 
 out the least regard to law, order, and decency, and was 
 generally attended with civil tumults and dissensions, un- 
 til the reign of Otho the Great, who put a stop to these 
 disorderly proceedings. 
 
 IV. Among the pontiffs of this century, there were very 
 few who distinguished themselves by their learning, pru- 
 dence, and virtue, or who were studious of those particular 
 qualities which are essential to the character of a Christian 
 
 * Steph. Baluzii Appendix Actor. ad Servatum, p. 508—Muratori 
 Antiq. Ital. medii Avi, tom. ii. p. 446.—Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. 
 vi. p. 587.-—Du-Fresne, ad Joinvillii Hist. Ludovici S. p.'75, 76. 
 
 * Agobardus, de Dispens. Rerum Ecclesiast. sect. iv.—Flodoardus, 
 Histor, Eecles. Rhemensis, lib. i. cap. ix.—Servatus Lupus, Epist. 
 xlv. p. 87, 437,&¢.—Muratori, tom. vi. Antiq. Ital. p. 302—Lud. Thomas- 
 sin, Disciplina Ecclesiz vet. et nove circa Beneficia, par. ii. lib. iil. cap. xi. 
 These corrupt measures prevailed also amqng the Grecks and Lombards, 
 as may be seen in the Oriens Chyistianus of Lequien, tom. i. p. 142, 
 
 * See De Bunau, Histor, Imper. German. tom. iii. 
 
 a Harduini Concilia, tom. iy. p. 1236.—Le Cointe, An. Eccl. Francor. 
 tom. vii. ad An. 817. sect. 6—Baluzii Capit. Regum Fran. t. i. p. 591. 
 
 * Muratori, Droi's de ’Empiire suv !’Etat Ecclesiast, p, 54, and Antiq. 
 Ital. tom. iii. p. 29, 30, in which tha: learned man conjectures, that this 
 edict was forged in the eleventhcentu:y. Bunau, Hist. Imper, German. 
 tom. iil. p, 34. The partisans, howeyer, of the papal authority, such as 
 Fontanini and others, plead sirenuoyusiy, though ineffectually, for the 
 authenticity of the edict in question. 3 
 
 f The arguments of those who maintained the truth of this extraor- 
 dinary event are collected im one striking voint of view, wiih great iearn- 
 
 | 
 
 their names with infamy to our times; and all seem to 
 have vied with each other in their ambitious efforts to ex- 
 tend their authority, and render their dominion unlimited 
 and universal. It is here that we may place, with pro- 
 priety, an event which is said to have interrupted the 
 much-vaunted succession of regular bishops in the see of 
 Rome, from the first foundation of that church to the pre- 
 
 | article Papesse. 9 
 | Oriental. tom. ii. lib. xxx. sect. 119. p. 436,) who has adopted and ap- 
 | propriated the sentiments of the great Leibnitz, upon the matter in 
 eet 
 
 sent times. Between the pontificate of Leo IV., who died 
 in 855, and that of Benedict IIL, a certain woman, who 
 artfully disguised her sex for a considerable time, is said, 
 by learning, genius, and dexterity, to have made good her 
 way to the papal chair, and to have governed the church 
 with the title and dignity of pontiff about two years. 
 This extraordinary person is yet known by the title of 
 Pope Joan. During the five succeeding centuries this 
 event was generally believed, and a vast number of wri- 
 ters bore testimony to its truth; nor, before the reforma- 
 tion undertaken by Luther, was it considered by any, 
 either as incredible in itself, or as disgraceful to the church.‘ 
 | But, in the last century, the elevation, and indeed the ex 
 istence of this female pontiff, became the subject of a keen 
 and learned controversy; and several men of distinguished 
 abilities, both among the Roman catholics and protestants, 
 employed all the force of their genius and erudition to de- 
 stroy the credit of this story, by invalidating, on the one 
 hand, the weight of the testimonies on which it was found- 
 ed, and by showing, on the other, that it was inconsistent 
 with the most accurate chronological computations.¢ Be- 
 tween the contending parties, some of the wisest and most 
 learned writers have judiciously steered a middle course ; 
 they grant that many fictitious and fabulous circumstances 
 have been interwoven with this story; but they deny that 
 it is entirely destitute of foundation, or that the controversy 
 is yet ended, in a satisfactory manner, in favour of those 
 who dispute the truth ; and, indeed, upon a deliberate and 
 impartial view of this whole matter, it will appear more 
 than probable, that some unusual event must have hap- 
 pened at Rome, from which this story derived its origin, 
 because it is not at all credible, from any principles of mo- 
 ral evidence, that an event should be universally believed 
 and related in the same manner by a multitude of histo- 
 rians, during five centuries immediately succeeding its 
 supposed date, if that event had been absolutely destitute 
 of all foundation. But what it was that gave rise to this 
 story is yet to be discovered, and is likely to remain un- 
 certain,» 
 
 ing and industry, by Fred. Spanheim, in his Exercitatiode Papa Fe- 
 mina, tom. ii. op. p. 577. This dissertation was translated into French 
 by the celebrated L’Enfant, who digested it into a better method, and 
 enriched it with several additions. 
 
 = The arguments of those who reject the story of Pope Joan as a fa- 
 ble, have been collected by David Blondel, and after him with still more 
 art and erudition by Bayle, in the third volume of his Dictionary, at the 
 Add to these Jo. Georg. Eccard. (Histor. Francie 
 
 See also Lequien’s Oriens Christian. tom. ii. p. 777, and 
 
 euman’s Sylloge Dissert. Sacr. tom. i. part ii. p. 352. The very 
 learned Jo. Christoph. Wagenselius has given a just and accurate 
 view of the arguments on both sides, which may be seen in the Ameni- 
 tates Literarie of Schelhcrnius, part i. p. 146; and the same has been 
 done by Basnage in his Histoire de |’Eglise, tom. i. p. 408. A list of the 
 other writers, who have employed their labours upon this intricate ques- 
 tion, may be seen in Casp. Sagittarius’ Introd. in Hist. Eccles. tom. i. cap. 
 xxv. p. 676, and in the Biblioth. Bremens. tom. viil. part v. p. 935. 
 
 b Such is the opinion of Paul Sarpi, in his Lettere Italiane, Lett 
 
Buar. Il. 
 
 VY. The enormous vices, that must have covered so 
 many pontifls with infamy in the judgment of the wise, 
 formed noi the least obstacle to their ambition in these 
 miserable tines, nor hindered them from extending their 
 influence, and augmenting their authority, both in church 
 and state. It coes not, indeed, appear from any authentic 
 records, that their possessions increased in proportion to 
 the progress of their authority, or that any new grants of 
 land were added to what they had already obtained from 
 the liberality of the kings of France. ‘The donations, 
 which Louis the Debonnaire is reported to have made to 
 them, are mere inventions, equally destitute of truth and 
 probability ;* and nothing is more groundless than the 
 accounts of those writers who: affirm that Charles the 
 Bald divested himself, in 875, of his right to the city of 
 Rome and its territory, in favour of the pontifls, whom he 
 at the same time enriched with a variety of noble and 
 costly presents, in return for the good services of John VIIL, 
 by whose assistance he had been raised to the empire. 
 Be that as it may, it is certain, that the authority and 
 affluence of the bishops of Rome increased greatly from 
 the time of Louis, but more especially from the accession 
 of Charles the Bald to the imperial throne, as all the his- 
 torical records of that period abundantly testify.® 
 
 VI. After the death of Louis If. a fierce and dreadful 
 war broke out between the posterity of Charlemagne, 
 among which there were several competitors for the em- 
 pire. This furnished the Italian princes and pope John 
 VIII. with an opportunity of assuming the right of nomi- 
 nating to the imperial throne, and of excluding from all 
 concern in this election the nations who had formerly the 
 right of suffrage; and, as the occasion was favourable, it 
 was seized with avidity, and improved with the utmost 
 dexterity and zeal. ‘Their favour and interest were ear- 
 nestly solicited by Charles the Bald, whose entreaties were 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 rendered effectual by rich presents, prodigious sums of | 
 
 money, and most pompous promises, in consequence of 
 which he was proclaimed, in 876, by the pope and the 
 Italian princes assembled at Pavia, king of Italy and em- 
 peror of the Romans. Carloman and Charles the Gross, 
 who succeeded him in the kingdom of Italy, and in the 
 Roman empire, were also elected by the Roman pontiff 
 and the princes of Italy. After the reigns of those poten- 
 tates, the empire was torn in pieces: the most deplorable 
 tumults and commotions arose in Italy, France, and Ger- 
 many, which were governed or rather subdued and usurp- 
 ed by various chiefs; and, in this confused scene, the 
 highest bidder was, by the aid of the greedy pontiffs, gene- 
 
 Ixxxii. p. 452; of L’Enfant, Biblioth. Germanique, tom. x. p. 27; of 
 Theod. Feheod, Biblioth. Bremens. tom. vili. part v. p.935; and of the 
 celebrated Pfaff, Instit. Histor. Eccles. p. 402; to whom we might add 
 Wernsdorf, Boecler, Holberg, and many others, were such an enumera- 
 tion necessary. Without assuming the character of a judge in this in- 
 tricate controversy, concerning which so many decisions have been confi- 
 dently pronounced, I shall only take the liberty to observe, that the mat- 
 ter in debate is yet dubious, and has not, on either side, been represented 
 in such a light as to bring conviction. 
 
 * See above, sect. 3. 
 
 b Bunau, Histor. Imperii Rom. German. tom. ii. p. 482.—Jo. George 
 Eccard, Histor. Francie Orient. tom. ii. lib, xxxi. p. 606. 
 
 ¢ This matter is amply illustrated by Sigonius, in his famous book de 
 Regno Italie, and by the other writers of German and Italian history. 
 
 4 See the excellent work of an anonymous and unknown author, who 
 signs himself D. B. and whose book is entitled Histoire du Droit Eccle- 
 siastique public Frangois, published first at London, in 1737, and lately 
 republished in a more splendid edition. The author of this performance 
 shows, in a judicious and concise manner, the various steps by which the 
 
 187 
 
 rally raised to the government of Iialy, and to the imperial 
 throne.¢ 
 
 Vil. 'Thus the power and influence of the pontiffs, in 
 civil affairs, rose in a short time to an enormous height, 
 through the favour and protection of the princes, in whose 
 cause they had employed the influence which superstition 
 had given them over the minds of the people. The in- 
 crease of their authority, in religious matters, was not less 
 rapid or less considerable; and it arose from the same 
 causes. ‘The wisest and most impartial among the Ro- 
 man catholic writers, not only acknowledge, but have 
 even taken pains to demonstrate, that, from the time of 
 Louis the Debonnaire, the ancient rules of ecclesiastical 
 government were gradually changed in Europe by the 
 counsels and instigation of the court of Rome, and new 
 laws substituted in their place. ‘The European princes 
 suffered themselves to be divested of the supreme authority 
 in religious matters, which they had derived from Charle- 
 magne ; the episcopal power was greatly diminished, and 
 even the authority of both provincial and general councils 
 began to decline. 'The Roman pontiffs, elate with their 
 overgrown prosperity, and the daily accessions that were 
 made to their authority, were eagerly bent upon persua- 
 ding all, and had, indeed, the good fortune to persuade ' 
 many, that the bishop of Rome was constituted, by Jesus 
 Christ, supreme legislator and judge of the church univer- 
 sal; and that, therefore, the bishops derived all their au- 
 thority from the pope, nor could the councils determine 
 any thing without his permission and consent.4 "This 
 opinion, which was inculcated with the utmost zeal and 
 ardour, was opposed by such as were acquainted with the 
 ancient ecclesiastical constitutions, and the government of 
 the church in the earlier ages ; but it was opposed in vain. 
 
 VIII. In order to gain credit to this new ecclesiastical 
 system, so different from the ancient rules of church go- 
 vernment, and to support the haughty pretensions of the 
 pontiffs to supremacy and independence, it was necessary 
 to produce the authority of ancient deeds, to stop the 
 mouths of such as were disposed to set bounds to their 
 usurpations. 'The bishops.of Rome were aware of this; 
 and as those means were deemed the most lawful that 
 tended best to the accomplishment of their purposes, they 
 employed some of their most ingenious and zealous parti- 
 sans in forging conventions, acts of councils, epistles, and 
 the like records, by which it might appear, that, in the 
 first ages of the church, the Roman pontifis were clothed 
 with the same spiritual majesty and supreme authority 
 which they now assumed.e Among these fictitious sup- 
 
 papal authority rose to such a monstrouy height. His account of the 
 ninth century may he seen in the first volume of his work, at the 
 160th page. 
 
 ° There is just reason to imagine, that these cecretals, and various other 
 acts, such as the gran:s of Charlemagne and hi son Louis, were forged 
 with the knowledge and consent of the Roman pcutiffs, since it is utterly 
 incredible that these pontiffs should, for many ages, have constantly ap- 
 pealed, in support of their pretended rights and privileges, to acts and 
 records that were only the fictions of private persona, and should with 
 such weak arms hae stood out against kings, princes, councils, and 
 bishops, who were inwilling to receive their yoke. Acts of a private 
 nature would have veen useless here, and public deeds we12 necessary to 
 accomplish the views of papal ambition. Such forgeries were in this 
 century deemed lawful, on account of their supposed tendercy to pro- 
 mote the glory of God, and to advance the prosperity of the ehush: and, 
 therefore, it is not surprising, that the good pontiffs should feel no re- 
 morse in imposing upon the world frauds and forgeries, that were design- 
 ed to enrich the patrimony of St. Peter, and to aggrandise his successors 
 in the apostolic see. 
 
188 
 
 ports of the papal dignity, the famous Decretal F’pistles, 
 as they are called, said to have been written by the pon- 
 tiffs of the primitive time, deserve chiefly to be stigmatized. 
 They were the productions of an obscure writer, who 
 fraudulently prefixed to them the name of Isidore, bishop 
 of Seville, to make the world believe that they had been 
 collected by this illustrious and learned prelate. ‘Some of 
 them had appeared in the eighth century,” but they were 
 now entirely drawn from their obscurity, and produced, 
 with an air of ostentation and triumph, to demonstrate 
 the supremacy of the Roman pontiffs.. The decisions of 
 a certain Roman council, which is said to have been hold- 
 en during the pontificate of Sylvester, were likewise alleged 
 in behalf of the same cause; but this council had not been 
 heard of before the present century, and the accounts now 
 given of it proceeded from the same source with the de- 
 cretals, and were equally authentic. Be that as it may, 
 the decrees of this pretended council contributed much to 
 enrich and aggrandize the Roman pontiffs, and exalt them 
 above all human authority and jurisdiction. 
 
 IX. ‘There were, however, among the Latin bishops, 
 some men of prudence and sagacity, who saw through 
 these impious frauds, and perceived the chains that were 
 forging both for them and forthe church. The French 
 bishops distinguished themselves, in a particular and glo- 
 rious manner, by the zeal and vehemence with which 
 they opposed the spurious decretals, and other fictitious 
 monuments and records, and protested against their 
 being received among the laws of the church. But the 
 obstinacy of the pontiffs, and particularly of Nicolas L, 
 conquered this opposition, and reduced it to silence. And 
 as the empire, in the periods that succeeded this con- 
 test, fell back into the grossest ignorance and darkness, 
 there scarcely remained any who were capable of detect- 
 ing these odious impositions, or disposed to support the 
 expiring liberty of the church. The history of the 
 following ages shows, in a multitude of deplorable 
 examples, the disorders and calamities that sprang from 
 the ambition of the aspiring pontiffs; it represents these 
 despotic lords of the church, labouring, by the aid of 
 their impious frauds, to overturn its ancient government, 
 to undermine the authority of its bishops, to engross its 
 riches and revenues into their own hands; and, what is 
 still more horrible, it represents them -aiming perfidious 
 blows at the thrones of princes, and endeavouring to lessen 
 their power, and to set bounds to their dominion. All this 
 is unanimously acknowledged by such as have looked, 
 with attention and impartiality, into the history of the 
 times of which we now write, and is ingenuously con- 
 fessed by men of learning and probity, who are well affected 
 to the Romish church and its sovereign pontiff. 
 
 X. The monastic life was now universally in the high- 
 est esteem; and nothing could equal the veneration that 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 was paid to such as devoted themselves to the sacred 
 gloom and indolence of a convent. The Greeks and 
 Orientals had been long accustomed to regard the monkish 
 orders and discipline with the greatest admiration ; but it 
 was only from the beginning of the eighth century, that 
 this holy passion was indulged among the Latins to 
 such an extravagant length. In the present age it went 
 beyond all bounds: kings, dukes, and counts, forgot their 
 true dignity, even the zealous discharge of the duties of 
 their high station, and affected that contempt of the 
 world and its grandeur, which they took for magnanimity, 
 though it was really the resultof a narrow and superstitious 
 spirit. "hey abandoned their thrones, their honours, and 
 their treasures, and shut themselves up in monasteries, 
 with a view of-devoting themselves entirely to God. Seve- 
 ral examples of this fanatical extravagance were exhibited 
 in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, both in this and 
 in the preceding century; and if the allurements of 
 worldly pleasures and honours had too much power over 
 the minds of many, to permit their separating themselves 
 from human society during their lives, such endeavoured 
 to make amends for this in their last hours; for, when 
 they perceived death approaching, they demanded the 
 monastic habit, and actually put it on before their depar- 
 ture, that they might be regarded as of the fraternity, and 
 be in consequence entitled to the fervent prayers and other 
 spiritual succours of their ghostly brethren. 
 
 But nothing affords such a striking and remarkable 
 proof of the excessive and fanatical veneration that was 
 paid to the monastic order, as the conduct of several kings 
 and emperors, who drew numbers of monks and abbots 
 from their cloisters, and placed them in stations entirely 
 foreign to their vows and their character, even amidst the 
 splendour of a court, and at the head of affairs. The tran- 
 sition, indeed, was violent, from the obscurity of a convent, 
 and the study of aliturgy, to sit at the helm of an empire, 
 and manage the political interests of nations. But such 
 was the case ; and pious princes alleged, as a reason for 
 this singular choice, that the government of a state could 
 never be better placed than in the hands of such holy men, 
 who had subdued all irregular appetites and passions, and 
 were so divested of the lusts of pleasure and ambition, as 
 to be incapable of any unworthy designs, or any low, sor- 
 did, or selfish views. Hence we find, in the history of 
 these times, frequent examples of monks and abbots per- 
 forming the functions of ambassadors, envoys, and minis- 
 ters of state, and displaying their talents with various 
 success in these high and eminent stations. 
 
 XI. 'The morals, however, of the monks, were far from 
 being so pure as to justify the reason alleged for their pro- 
 motion. ‘Their patrons and protectors, who loaded them 
 with honours and preferment, were sensible of the irregu- 
 lar and licentious lives, that many of them led, and used 
 
 * It is certain that the forger of the decretals was extemely desirous of 
 persuading the world that they were collected by Isidore, the celebrated 
 bishop of Seville, who lived in the sixth century, See Fabricii Biblioth. 
 Latin. medii AZvi, tom. v. p. 561. It was a custom among the bishops to 
 add, from a principie of humility, the epithet peccator, i. e. sinner, to 
 their titles ; and, accordingly, this forger has added the word peccator 
 after the name of Isidore: but this some ignorant transcribers have ab- 
 surdly changed into the word. mercator ; and hence it happens that one 
 Isidorus Mercator passes for the fraudulent collector, or forger of the 
 decretals. 
 
 b See Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, tom. i. p. 528—B. Just. Hen. 
 Bohmer, Pref. ad novam Edit. Juris Canon. tom. i. p. x. xix. Not. 
 
 * Beside the authors of the Centurie Magdeburgenses and other 
 
 writers, the learned Blondel has demonstrated, in an ample and satisfac- 
 tory manner, the spuriousness of the decretals, in his Pseudo-Isidorus et 
 Tuwrrianus vapulantes ; and in our time the imposition is acknowledged 
 even by the Roman catholics, at least by such of them as possess some 
 degree of judgment and impartiality. See Buddeus’ Isagoge in Theolo- 
 giam, tom. il. p. 726; as also Petr. Constantius’ Prolegom. ad Epistolas 
 Pontificum, tom. i. p. 30; and a dissertation of Fleury, prefixed tothe six- 
 teenth volume of his Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 4 See J. Launoy, de cura Ecclesiz erga pauperes et miseros, cap. 1. Ob- 
 servat. i. p. 576. tom. il. part 11. op. 
 
 * See the above-mentioned author’s treatise, entitled Regia Potestas in 
 Causis Matrimonial. tom. 1. part ii. op. p. 764; as also Petr. Constanti'as, 
 Pref. ad Epist. Romanor. Pontif. tom. i. p. 127, 
 
 —- 
 
ae No. XVL 
 
 Crap. IL. 
 
 their utmost efforts to correct their vices, and to reform | 
 their manners. Louis the Debonnaire distinguished his 
 zeal in the executjon of this virtuous and noble design ; 
 and, to render it more effectual, he employed the pious 
 labours of Benedict, abbot of Aniane, in reforming the mon- 
 asteries, first in Aquitaine, and afterwards throughout the 
 whole kingdom of France, and in restoring, by new and 
 salutary laws, the monastic discipline, which had been so 
 neglected as to fall into decay. This worthy ecclesiastic 
 presided, in 817, in the council of Aix-la-Chapelle, where 
 several wise measures were taken for removing the disor- 
 ders that reigned in the cloisters; and, in consequence of 
 the unlimited authority he had received from the emperor, 
 he subjected all_the monks, without exception, to the rule 
 of the famousBenedict, abbot of Mont-Cassin, annulled the 
 variety of rites and customs that had prevailed in the 
 different monasteries, prescribed to them all one uniform 
 method of living, and thus united, as it were, into one 
 general body or society, the various orders which had 
 hitherto been connected by no common bond. This 
 admirable discipline, which acquired to Benedict of Aniane 
 the highest reputation, and occasioned him to be revered 
 as the second father of the western monks, flourished 
 during a ceriain time, but afterwards declined through 
 various causes, until the conclusion of this century, when, 
 under the calamities that oppressed both the church and 
 the empire, it almost entirely disappeared. 
 
 XII. The same emperor, who had appeared with such 
 zeal, both in protecting and reforming the monks, gave also 
 distinguished marks of his favour to the order of canons, 
 which Chrodegangus had introduced in several places 
 during the last century. He distributed them through all 
 the provinces of the empire, and instituted also an order of 
 canonesses, the first female convent known in the Chris- 
 tian world.” For each of these orders the zealous emperor 
 had a rule drawn up, in 817, in~the council of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, substituting it for that which had been appointed 
 by Chrodegangus ; and this new rule was observed in 
 most of the monasteries and convents of the canons and 
 canonesses in the west until the twelfth century, although 
 zt was disapproved by the court of Rome. The author of 
 the rule, framed for the canons, was undoubtedly Amal- 
 arius, a presbyter of Metz ; but it is not so certain whether | 
 that which was drawn up for the canonesses, was com- 
 posed by the same hand.¢ “Be that as it may, the canoni- 
 cal order grew into high repute; and from this time | 
 great number of convents were erected for its members in 
 all the western provinces, and were richly endowed by the 
 
 * Jo. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Benedict. Sec. IV. par. i. Pref. p. 
 xxvii. and Pref.ad Sec. V. p. xxv. et ejusdem Annales Ordin. 8S. Bene- 
 dict. tom. ii. p. 430.—Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, tom. i. p. 596. Fora 
 particular account of Benedict of Aniane, and his illustrious virtues, see 
 the Acta Sanctor. tom. il. Febr. 606; and the Histoire Lit. de la France, 
 tom. iv. p. 447. 
 
 b See Mabillon, Annal. Ordin. 8. Benedicti, tom. ii. p. 428. 
 
 ¢ This rule was condemned in a council held at Rome, A. D. 1059, 
 under the pontiff Nicolas II. The pretexts used by the pontiff and the 
 assembled prelates, to justify their disapprobation of this rule, were, that 
 it permitted the canons to enjoy the possessions they had before their 
 vows, and allowed to each of them too large a portion of bread and wine; 
 but the true reason was, that this order had been instituted by an empe- 
 ror without either the consent or knowlege of the Roman pontiff. For 
 an account of the rule and discipline of these canons, see F leury’s Hist. 
 Eccles. tom. x. p. 163, 164, &c. Brussels edition in 12mo. 
 
 4 Lud. Thomassin, Disciplin. Eccles. Vet. et Nove, part i. lib. iii. cap. 
 xlii, xliii—Muratori, Antiq. Ital. medii AS vi, tom. v. p. 186, 540. No 
 accounts of the canons are less worthy of credit, than those which are 
 given by writers, who have been themselves members of that order, such | 
 
 48 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 189 
 
 liberality of pious and opulent Christians. But this insti- 
 tution degenerated in a short time, like all others, from its 
 primitive purity, and ceased to answer the laudable 
 intention and design of its worthy founders.* 
 
 XIII. Of the theological writers who flourished among 
 the Greeks, the following are the most remarkable: 
 
 Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, a man of most 
 profound and universal erudition, whose Bibliotheca,‘ 
 Epistles, and other writings, are yet valuable on many 
 accounts. 
 
 Nicephorus, also a patriarch of the above-mentioned 
 city, who, among other productions, published a warm 
 defence of the worship of images against the enemies of 
 that idolatrous service.’ 
 
 Theodorus Studites, who acquired a name chiefly by his 
 warm opposition to the Iconoclasts, and by the zeal with 
 which he wrote in favour of image worship." 
 
 The same cause has principally contributed to transmit 
 to after ages the names of Theodorus Graptus, Methodius, 
 who obtained the title of Confessor for his adherence to 
 image worship in the very face of persecution, ‘Theodorus 
 Abucara,i Petrus Siculus, Nicetas David, and others, who 
 would probably have been long since buried in oblivion, 
 had not the various contests between the Greek and Latin 
 churches, and the divisions of the former among them- 
 selves upon the question concerning images, excited the 
 vehemence of these inconsiderable writers, and furnished 
 them with an occasion of making some noise in the 
 world. 
 
 Moses Barcepha, a Syrian bishop, far surpassed all 
 whom we have now been mentioning, and deserved the 
 shining reputation which he has obtained in the republic 
 of letters, as what we have yet extant of his works disco- 
 ver marks of true genius, and an uncommon acquaintance 
 with the art of writing.« 
 
 XIV. Rabanus Maurus, archbishop of Metz, is deser- 
 vedly placed at the head of the Latin writers of this age ; 
 the force of his genius, the extent of his knowledge, and 
 the multitude of productions that flowed from his pen, 
 entitle him to this distinguished rank, and render impro- 
 per all comparison between him and his contemporaries. 
 He may be called the great light of Germany and F'rance, 
 since it was from the prodigious fund of knowledge he pos- 
 sessed, that those nations derived principally their religious 
 instruction. His writings were every whete in the hands 
 of the learned, and were holden in such veneration, that, 
 during four centuries, the most eminent of the Latin divines 
 appealed to them as authority in religious matters, and 
 
 as Raymond Chapponel’s Histoire des Chanoines, published at Paris in 
 1699 ; for these writers, from fond prejudices in favour of their institution, 
 and an ambitious desire of enhancing its merit, and rendering it respecta- 
 ble, derive the origin of the canonical order from Christ and his apostles, 
 or trace it up, at least, to the first ages of the Christian church. 
 
 * Calmet, Hist. de Lorraine, tom. i. p. 591.—Hist. Lit. de la Frence, 
 tom. iv. p. 536. 
 
 f See Camusat, Histoire des Journaux, tom. i. p. 87. 
 
 ® Acta Sanctor. tom. ii. Martii ad d. xiii. p. 293.—Oudinus, Scriptor. 
 Eccles. tom. ii. p. 2. 
 
 3’p h Theodore Studites was one of the most voluminous writers of this 
 century, and would certainly have been known as a man of genius and 
 learning in after ages, even if the controversy concerning images had 
 never existed. There are of his writings, yet extant, 265 letters, several 
 treatises against the Iconoclasts, 124 epigrams in iambics, and a large 
 manuscript, Which contains a course of catechetical instruction concern- 
 ing the duties of the monastic life. 
 
 i See Bayle’s Dictionary, vol. i. a 
 
 k Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 127. 
 
 1 See, for a particular account of the life and writings of Rabanu 
 
190 
 
 adopted almost universally the sentiments they con‘ained. 
 After this illustrious prelate, the writers who are most 
 worthy of mention are, 
 
 Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, a man of wisdom and 
 prudence, and far from being destitute of literary merit; 
 hut whose reputation has deservedly suffered hy Lis vin- 
 dicating, and even fomenting the rebellion of Lothaire 
 and Pepin against Louis the Debonnaire, their father 
 and their sovereign.* 
 
 Hilduin, abbot of St. Denis, who acquired no small 
 reputation by a work entitled Areopagitica.» 
 
 Kginhard, abbot of Selingestadt, the ceiebravsd author 
 of the Life of Charlemagne, remarkable fer the |,euuty of 
 his diction, the perspicuity and elegance of his style, and 
 a variety of other literary accomplishments.° 
 
 Claudius, bishop of Turin, whose exposition of several 
 books of Scripture,‘ as also his Chronology, gained him an 
 eminent and lasting reputation.* 
 
 Freculph, bishop of Lisieux, whose Chronicle, which 
 isno more than a heavy compilation, is yet extant. 
 
 Servatus Lupus, of whose composition we have several 
 epistles and treatises: and who, though a copious and 
 subtle writer, is yet defective in point of elegance and 
 erudition. 
 
 Drepanius F"lorus, who left behind him several poems, 
 an exposition of certain books of Scripture, and other per- 
 formances less worthy of attention.¢ 
 
 Christian Druthmar, the author of a Commentary upon 
 St. Matthew’s Gospel." 
 
 Godeschalc, a monk of Orbais, who rendered his name 
 immortal by the controversy which he commenced con- 
 cerning predestination and free grace. 
 
 Paschasius Radbert,i a name famous in the contests 
 concerning the real presence of Christ’s body in the eu- 
 charist ;;and who, to pass in silence his other writings, 
 composed a book upon this very subject, which furnished 
 abundant matter of dispute throughout this century. 
 
 Bertram, or Ratram, a monk of Corby, who deserves the 
 first rank among the writers that refuted the doctrine of 
 Radbert; and whose book concerning the sacrament of the 
 Lord’s supper, composed by the order of Charles the Bald, 
 gave occasion to many contests among learned divines.« 
 
 Haymo, bishop of Halberstadt, the laborious author of 
 several treatises upon various subjects, and who is more 
 to be esteemed for his industry and diligence, than for his 
 genius and learning. 
 
 Walafridus Strabo, who acquired no mean reputation by 
 
 his Poems, his Lives of the Saints, and his explications of | 
 
 many of the more difficult passages of Scripture.™ 
 Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, a man of an imperi- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 ous and turbulent spirit, but who deserves a distinguished 
 place among the Latin writers of this century, since his 
 works discover an aspiring genius, and an ardent zeal 
 in the pursuit of truth, and tend, in a singular manner, 
 to throw light both upon the civil and ecclesiastical his- 
 tory of the age in which he lived." 
 
 Johannes Scotus Erigena, the friend and companion 
 of Charles the Bald, an eminent philosopher, and a learned 
 divine, whose erudition was accompanied with uncommon 
 marks of sagacity and genius, and whose various per- 
 formances, as well as his translations from the Greek, 
 gained him a shining and lasting reputation.° 
 
 It is sufficient barely to name Remigius Bertharius, Ado, 
 Aimoin, Heric, Regino, abbot of Prum, and others, of 
 
 | whom the most common writers of ecclesiastical history 
 
 give ample accounts. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue zeal of Charlemagne for the interests of 
 Christianity, and his liberality to the learned, encouraged 
 many to apply themselves diligently to the study of the 
 Scriptures, and to the pursuit of religious truth: and, 
 as long as this eminent set of divines remained, the west- 
 ern provinces were happily preserved from many errors, 
 and from a variety of superstitious practices. ‘Thus we 
 find among the writers of this age several men of eminent 
 talents, whose productions show that the lustre of true 
 erudition and theology was not yet totally eclipsed. But 
 these illustrious luminaries of the church disappeared one 
 after another; and barbarism and ignorance, encouraged 
 by their departure, resumed their ancientseats, and brought, 
 in their train, a prodigious multitude of devout follies, 
 odious superstitions, and abominable errors. | Nor did any 
 encourage and propagate with more zeal and ardour, 
 these superstitious innovations, than the sacerdotal orders, 
 the spiritual guides of a deluded people; and if we in- 
 quire how it came to pass, that the clergy were so zealous 
 in such an inglorious cause, we shall find that this zeal 
 was in some the effect of ignorance, and, in others, the 
 fruit of avarice andambition, since much was to be gained, 
 both in point of authority and opulence, from the progress 
 of superstition. Among the Greeks and orientals, Chris- 
 tianity was almost in the same declining and deplorable 
 state, though there arose, from time to time, in the eastern 
 provinces, men of superior abilities, who endeavoured to 
 support the cause of true religion, and to raise it from the 
 pressures under which it laboured. 
 
 Maurus, the Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. v. p- 151; as also the 
 Acta Sanctor. tom. i. Mehr. p. 500. 
 
 * See Colonia, Hist. Liter. de la ville de Lyon, tom. ii. p. 93.—General 
 Dictionary, at the article Agobard.—Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. iv. p. 
 567. [Agobard opposed with great zeal both the worship and the use of 
 images, in his famous book, de Picturis et Imaginibus, a work which has 
 Hoe embarrassed the doctors of the Romish church. ] 
 
 b Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. iv. p. 607. 
 
 ° Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. iv. p. 550. See also the Life of Charle- 
 magne, the best edition of which is that published by Schminkius, at 
 Utrecht, in 1711. 
 
 3 4 This prelate, who was famous for his knowledge of the holy 
 Scriptures, composed 111 books of commentaries upon Genesis, 4 upon 
 Exodus, and several upon Leviticus. He wrote also acommentary upon 
 the Gospel of St. Matthew, in which there are many excellent things 
 and an exposition of all the Epistles of St. Paul. His commentary ‘on 
 the Epistle to the Galatiaus is printed, but all the rest are in manuscript. 
 
 € See Simon, Critique de la Biblioth. Eccles. de M. Du-Pin, t.i. p. 284. 
 
 f Histoire Lit. dela France, tom. v. p. 255. 
 
 ® Colonia, Histoire Liter. de Lyon, tom. 1i. p. 135.--Hist. Lit. de la 
 France, tom. v. p. 213. 
 
 h Hist. Lit. de la France, tom. v. p. 84. 
 
 i For an account of Radbert, see the work last quoted, tom. v. p. 287. 
 
 k We shall have occasion to speak more particularly of Bertram, and 
 his book, in the following chapter. 
 
 1It is proper to observe, that a great part of the writings that are attri- 
 buted to Haymo, bishop of Halberstadt, were composed by Remi, or 
 Remigius, of Auxerre. See Casimir Oudinus, Comment. de Scriptor. 
 Eccles. tom. ii. p. 330.—Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. v. p. 111. 
 tom. vi. p. 166.—Le Beuf, Recueil de Diss. sur l’Histoire de la France, 
 tom. i. p. 278. ™ See the Histoire de la France, tom. v. p. 544. 
 
 » The sarae work, tom. v. p. 416. 
 
 ° See Herm. Conringius, Antiq. Academice, p. 309, and the Hist. 
 Lit. dela France, tom. v. p. 416. 
 
Cu are. III. 
 
 II. The causes of this unhappy revolution, that covered 
 the Christian church with superstition and darkness, will 
 appear evident to such as are at all acquainted with the 
 history of these times. 'The Oriental doctors, miserably 
 divided among themselves, and involved in the bitterest 
 contentions and quarrels with the western churches, lost 
 all notion of the true spirit and genius of Christianity, 
 and, corrupted and biassed by the prejudices and passions 
 that are generally excited and nourished by ill-managed 
 controversy, became incapable of promoting the true and 
 essential interests of religion. Intent also upon defending 
 the excellence and divine authority of their doctrine and 
 discipline against the Latin doctors, and in maintaining 
 among themselves the worship of images, which begat: to 
 be warmly opposed, tuey advanced, in the course of these 
 disputes, many things that were highly erroneous; and, 
 as one error follows another, their number increased from 
 day today. The savage and unnatural lives of the monks 
 and hermits, whose number was prodigious, and whose 
 authority was considerable, who haunted the woods and 
 deserts, the gloomy scenes of their extravagant devotion, 
 —contributed much, among other causes, to the decay of 
 solid and rational piety. Add to all this, the iruptions of 
 the barbarous nations into the west, the atrocious exploits 
 of usurping princes, the drooping and neglected condition 
 of the various branches of learning, the ambitious phrensy 
 of the Roman pontiffs, (who were incessantly gaping after 
 new accessions of authority and dominion,) the frauds and 
 tricks of the monastic orders carried on under the specious 
 mask of religion ; and then we shall see the true causes 
 that founded the empire of superstition and error, upon the 
 ruin of virtue, piety, and reason. 
 
 lil. The ignorance and corruption that dishonoured 
 the Christian church, in this century, were great beyond 
 measure; and if there were no other examples of their 
 enormity upon record, than the single instance of the stu- 
 pid veneration that was paid to the bones and carcasses of 
 departed saints, this would be sufficient to convince us of 
 the deplorable progress of superstition. ‘This idolatrous 
 devotion was now considered as the most sacred and mo- 
 mentous branch of religion; nor did any dare to entertain 
 the smallest hopes of finding the Deity propitious, before 
 they had assured themselves of the protection and inter- 
 cession of some one or other of the saintly order. Hence 
 it was that every church, and indeed every private Chris- 
 tian, had their particular patron among the saints, from an 
 apprehension that their spiritual interests would be but in- 
 differently managed by those, who were already employed 
 about the souls of others; for they judged, in this respect, 
 of the saints, as they did of mortals, whose capacity is 
 too limited to comprehend a vast variety of objects. This 
 notion rendered it necessary to multiply prodigiously the 
 number of saints, and to create daily new patrons for the 
 deluded people; and this was done with the utmost zeal. 
 The priests and monks set their invention at work, and 
 peopled, at discretion, the invisible world with imaginary 
 
 [* See Dr. Middleton’s Letter from Rome, in which we find the names 
 of St. Baccho, St. Viar, St. Amphibolus, Euodia, &c. ] 
 
 b Mabillon, Act. Sanctor. Ord. Benedicti, Sec. V. Pref. p. 44.—Lau- 
 ney, de Lazari, Magdalene, et Marthe in Provinciam Appulsu, cap. i. 
 sect. xii.—Franc. Pagi, Breviarum Pontif. Roman. tom. ii. p. 259, tom. 
 iii. p. 30. 
 
 * Sce Dan. Papebrochius, de solennium Canonizationum Initiis et 
 Progress. in Propyleo Actor. SS. mens. Maii, p. 171; and the other au- 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ———— = === — MSS SO ——————Ssaa—a—_—_u0—00000000000———————SSSS eee ————eeeeooool—lllEouooaea——eeEeeeeeeeeeeee—eeESao—=—EEEE 
 
 191 
 
 protectors. They dispelled the thick darkness which 
 covered the pretended spiritual exploits of many holy men; 
 and invented both names and histories of saints* that never 
 existed, that they might not be at a loss to furnish the 
 credulous and wretched multitude with objects proper to 
 perpetuate their superstition, and to nourish their confi- 
 dence. Many chose their own guides, and committed 
 their spiritual interests either to phantoms of their own 
 creation, or to distracted fanatics, whom they esteemed as 
 saints, for no other reason than their having lived like 
 madmen. 
 
 IV. The ecclesiastical councils found it necessary, at 
 length, to set limits to the licentious superstition of those 
 ignorant wretches, who, with a view to have still more 
 friewc's at ecart, (for such were their gross notions of things,) 
 were daily adding new saints to the list of their celestial 
 mediators. 'They, accordingly, declared by a solenin de- 
 cree, that no departed Christian should be considered as a 
 member of the saintly order before the bishop in a _pro- 
 vincial council, and in the presence of the people, had 
 pronounced him worthy of that distinguished honour. 
 ‘This remedy, feeble and illusory as it was, contributed, in 
 some measure, to restrain the fanatical temerity of the 
 saint makers: but, in its consequences, it was the occasion 
 of a new accession of power to the Roman pontiff. Even 
 so early as this century, many were of opinion, that it was 
 proper and expedient, though not absolutely necessary, 
 that the decisions of bishops and councils should be con 
 
 - firmed by the consent ahd authority of the pope, whom 
 
 they considered as the supreme and universal bishop; and 
 this will not appear surprising to any who reflect upon the 
 enormous strides which the bishops of Rome made toward 
 unbounded dominion in this barbarous and superstitious 
 age, whose corruption and darkness were peculiarly fa- 
 vourable to their ambitious pretensions. It is true, we 
 have no example of any person solemnly sainted by the 
 bishop of Rome alone, before the tenth century,s when 
 Udalric, bishop of Augsburg, received this dignity in a 
 formal manner from John XY. It is, however, certain, 
 that before that time the pontiffs were consulted in matters 
 of that nature, and their judgment respected in the choice 
 of those who were to be honoured with saintship ;2 and it 
 was by such steps as these, that the church of Rome en- 
 grossed to itself the creation of these tutelary divinities, 
 which at length was distinguished by the title of canonzi- 
 zation. r : 
 
 V. This preposterous multiplication of saints was a new 
 source of abuses and frauds. It was thought necessary to 
 write the lives of these celestial patrons, in order to pro- 
 cure for them the veneration and confidence of a deluded 
 multitude ; and here lying wonders were invented, and all 
 the resources of forgery and fable exhausted, to celebrate 
 exploits which had never been performed, and to perpetu- 
 ate the memory of holy persons who had never existed. 
 We have yet extant a prodigious quantity of these trifling 
 legends, the greatest part of which were, undoubtedly 
 
 thors who have written upon this subject, of which there is an ample iist 
 in the Bibliographia Antiquar. of Fabricius, cap. vii. sect. 25. 
 
 4 See the candid and impartial account that is given cf tis matter by 
 the late pope Benedict XIV. in his laborious work, de Servorum Dei Be- 
 atificatione et Beatorum Canonizatione, lib. i. cap. 7. p. 59, tom. i. op. It 
 is to be wished, that historians of the church of Rome wou!d learn to 
 a the prudence, moderation, and equity of that illustricus pon- 
 ull, 
 
192 
 
 forged afier the time of Charlemagne, by the monastic 
 writers, who had both the inclination and leisure to edify 
 the church by these piows frauds. ‘The same impostors, 
 who peopled the celestial regions with fictitious saints, 
 employed also their fruitful inventions in embellishing, 
 with filse miracles and various other impertinent forgeries, 
 the histories of those who had been really martyrs or 
 confessors in the cause of Christ ; these fictions, however, 
 did not pass without animadversion; but were severely 
 censured by some of the most eminent writers of the 
 times. Various were the motives that engaged different 
 persons to propagate these impositions, and countenance 
 their authors. Some were incited to this by the seductions 
 of a false devotion, which reigned in this perverse and 
 ignorant age, and made them imagine, that departed saints 
 were highly delighted with the applause and veneration 
 of mortals, and never failed to crown, with peculiar marks 
 of their favour and protection, such as were zealous in 
 honouring their memories, and in celebrating their exploits. 
 The prospect of gain, and the ambitious desire of being 
 reverenced by the multitude, engaged others to multiply 
 the n unber, and to maintain the credit of the legends, or 
 saintly registers. ‘The churches, that were dedicated to 
 the saints, were perpetually crowded with supplicants, who 
 flocked to them with rich presents, in order to obtain suc- 
 cour under the afflictions they suffered, or deliverance from 
 the dangers which théy had reason to apprehend ; and it 
 was regarded also as a very great honour to be the more 
 immediate ministers of these mediators, who, as it is like- 
 wise proper to observe, were esteemed and frequented in 
 oroportion to their antiquity, and to the number and im- 
 portance of the pretended miracles that had rendered their 
 lives illustrious. The latter circumstance offered a strong 
 temptation to such as were employed by the yarious 
 churches in writing the lives of their tutelar saints, to 
 supply by invention the defects of truth, and to embellish 
 their legends with fictitious prodigies; indeed, they were 
 not only tempted to this imposture, but were even obliged 
 to make use of it in order to swell the fame of their re- 
 spective patrons.? 
 
 VI. But even all this was insufficient to satisfy the de- 
 mands of superstition, nourished by the stratagems of a 
 corrupt and designing priesthood, and fomented by the 
 zeal of the more ignorant and stupid sons of the church. 
 It was not enough to reverence departed saints, and to 
 conlide in their intercession and succours; it was not 
 enough to clothe them with an imaginary power of heal- 
 ing diseases, working miracles, and delivering from ati 
 sorts of calamities and dangers; their bones, thei clothes, 
 the apparel and furniture they had possessed during their 
 lives, the very ground which they had touched, or in which 
 their putrefied carcasses were laid, were treated with a 
 stupid veneration, and supposed to retain the power of 
 
 * See Servatus Lupus’ Vita Maximini, p. 275, and the candid and 
 fearned observations upon this subject that are to be found in various 
 
 laces of the works of the celebrated Launoy: e. g. in his Dispunctio 
 
 pistole Petri de Marca, de Tempore quo in Gallia Christi Fides recepta, 
 cap. xiv. p. 110, in his Dissertationes de primis Christiane Relig. in 
 Gallia Initiis, diss. ii. 142, 144, 145, 147, 168, 169, 181—De Lazari, Mag- 
 Jal. et Marthe, in Galliam Appulsu, p. 340.—De duobus Dionysiis, p. 
 027, 529, 530. tom. ii. part 1. op.—See also Martenne, Thesaurus Anec- 
 dotor. tom. i. p. 151—Hiistoire de la France, tom. iv. p. 273. 
 
 » Of all the lives of the saints written in this century, those which were 
 drawn up by the monks of Great Britain, and of Bretagne in France, 
 seem to be the most liable to suspicion. See Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. I. 
 Benedictin. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 i 
 
 Part I. 
 
 healing all disorders both of body and mind, and of de 
 fending such as possessed them against all the assauits and 
 devices of Satan. ‘The consequence of this absurd notion 
 was, that every one was eager to provide himself with 
 these salutary remedies ; for which purpose great numbers 
 undertook fatiguing and perilous voyages, and subjected 
 themselves to all sorts of hardships, while others made use 
 of this delusion to accumulate riches, and to impose upon 
 the miserable multitude by the most impious and shocking 
 inventions. As the demand for relics was prodigious and 
 universal, the clergy employed all their dexterity to satisfy 
 these demands, and were far from being scrupulous in the 
 methods they used for that end. 'The bodies of the saints 
 were sought by fasting and prayer, instituted by the priest 
 in order to obtain a divine answer and an infallible direc- 
 tion, and this pretended direction never failed to accomplish 
 their desires ; the holy body was always found, in conse- 
 quence, as they impiously gave out, of the suggestion and 
 inspiration of God himself. Each discovery of this kind 
 was attended with excessive demonstrations of joy, and 
 animated the zeal of these devout seekers to enrich the 
 church still more and more with this new kind of trea- 
 sure. Many travelled with this view into the eastern 
 provinces, and frequented the places which Christ and his . 
 disciples had honoured with their presence, that, with the 
 bones and other secret remains of the first heralds of the 
 Gospel, they might comfort dejected minds, calm trembling 
 consciences, save sinking states, and defend their inhabi- 
 ‘tants from all sorts of calamities. Nor did these pious 
 pilgrims return home with empty hands; for the craft, 
 dexterity, and knavery of the Greeks, found a rich prey in 
 the stupid credulity of the Latin relic-hunters, and made 
 profitable commerce of this new devotion. The latter 
 paid considerable sums for legs and arms, skulls and jaw- 
 bones, (several of which were pagan, and some not hu- 
 man,) and other things that were supposed to have be- 
 longed to the primitive worthies of the Christian church ; 
 and thus the Latin churches came to the possession of 
 those celebrated relics of St. Mark, St. James, St. Bartholo- 
 mew, Cyprian, Panteleon, and others, which they show at 
 ‘this day with so much ostentation. But there were many 
 who, unable to procure for themselves these spiritual trea- 
 sures by voyages and prayers, had recourse to violence 
 and theft; for all sorts of means, and all sorts of attempts 
 in a cause of this nature, were considered, when success~ 
 ful, as pious and acceptable to the Supreme Being.: 
 
 Vit. The study of the Scriptures languished much 
 among the Greeks in this centusy. Photius, who com 
 posed a book of Questions,‘ relating to various passages 
 of Scripture, an exposition of the Epistles of St. Paul, and 
 other productions of the same nature,* was one of the 
 few who employed their talents in the illustration of the 
 sacred writings. He was a man of great sagacity and 
 
 ¢ See Muratori, (Antiq. Ital. tom. v.) who gives examples of the truth 
 of this assertion. 
 
 4p 4 This work, which is entitled Amphilochia, from its having been 
 addressed to Amphilochius, bishop of Cyzicum, consists of 308 ques- 
 tions, and answers to them; a sixth part of which, at least, are to be 
 _ found in the Epistles of Photius, published in 1651 by bishop Montague. 
 The greater part of these questions relate to different texts of the Old 
 'and New Testament; but these are interspersed with others of a philoso- 
 _phical and literary kind. The work is still extant in manuscript in the 
 | Vatican, Barberinian, and Bavarian libraries. 
 
 377 ° Such as a calena (a chain) of commentaries on the book of 
 Psalms, compiled from the writings of Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, 
 &e., anda commentary upon the Prophets, both of which are yet extant 
 
Cuap. Ill. 
 
 genius, who preferred the dictates of reason to the decisions 
 of authority ; notwithstanding all which, he cannot be 
 recommended as a model to other commentators. The 
 other Greek writers, who attempted to explain the Scrip- 
 tures, did little more than compile and accumulate various 
 passages from the commentators of the preceding ages ; 
 and this method was the origin of those Catene, or 
 chains of commentaries, so much in vogue among the 
 Greeks during this century, of which a considerable num- 
 ber have come down to our times, and which consisted en- 
 tirely in a collection of the explications of Scripture that 
 were scattered up and down in the ancient authors. The 
 greatest part of the theological writers, finding themselves 
 incapable of more arduous undertakings, confined their 
 labours to this compilatory practice, to the great detriment 
 of sacred criticism. 
 
 VII. The Latin commentators were greatly superior 
 in number to those among the Greeks, in consequence of 
 the zeal and munificence of Charlemagne, who, both by 
 his liberality and by his example, had excited and en- 
 couraged the doctors of the preceding age to the study of 
 the Scriptures. Of these expositors there are two, at-least, 
 who are worthy of esteem,—Christian Druthmar, whose 
 Commentary on St. Matthew has reached our times ;* 
 and the abbot Bertharius, whose Two Books concerning 
 Fundamentals are also said to be yet extant. The rest 
 seem to have been unequal to the important office of 
 sacred critics, and may be divided into two classes, which 
 we have already had occasion to mention in the course of 
 this history; the class of those who merely collected and 
 reduced into a mass the opinions and explications of the 
 ancients, and that of a fantastic set of expositors, who were 
 always hunting after mysteries in the plainest expressions, 
 and labouring to deduce a variety of abstruse and hidden 
 significations from every passage of Scripture, all which 
 they did, for the most part, in a very clumsy and uncouth 
 manner. At the head of the first class was Rabanus Mau- 
 rus, who acknowledges that he borrowed from the ancient 
 doctors the materials of which he made use in illustrating 
 the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistles of St. Paul. 
 To this class also belonged Walafrid Strabo, who borrowed 
 his explications chiefly from Rabanus; Claudius of Turin, 
 who trod in the footsteps of Augustin and Origen ; Hine- 
 mar, whose Exposition of the four Books of Kings, com- 
 piled from the fathers, we still possess; Remigius of Aux- 
 erre, who derived from the same source his i/lustrations of 
 the Psalms and other books of sacred writ; Sedulius, 
 who explained in the same manner the Epistles of St. 
 Paul; Florus, Haymo bishop of Halberstadt, and others, 
 whom, for the sake of brevity, we pass in silence. 
 
 IX. Rabanus Maurus, whom we introduced above at 
 the head of the compilers from the fathers, deserves also 
 an eminent place among the allegorical commentators, on 
 account of his diffuse and tedious work, entitled Scripture 
 Allegories. 'To this class also belong Smaragdus, Haymo, 
 Scotus, Paschasius Radbert, and many others, whom it 
 is not necessary to particularize. The fundamental and 
 
 in manuscript, the former in the Bibliotheca Segueriana or Coisliniana, 
 and the latter in the Vatican library. 
 
 *See R. Simon, Histoire critique des principaux Commentateurs du 
 Nouv. Testament. chap. xxv. p. 348; as also his Critique de la Biblio- 
 theque Ecclesiastique de M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 293. 
 
 > See the preface to his Commentary on the Book of Kings, in the 
 Bibliotheca Patrum, Maxima, tom. xv. p. 308. The commentary of An- 
 
 No. XVIL. 49 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 193 
 
 general principle, in which all the writers of this class 
 agree, is, that, beside the literal signification of each pas- 
 sage in Scripture, there are hidden and deep senses which 
 escape the vulgar eye; but they are not agreed about the 
 number of these mysterious significations. Some attri- 
 bute to every phrase three senses, others four, and some 
 five; and the number is carried to seven by Angelome, a 
 monk of Lisieux, an acute, though fantastic writer, who 
 is far from deserving the meanest rank among the expo- 
 siters of this century.” 
 
 X. The teachers of theology were still more contempt- 
 ible than the commentators; and the Greeks, as well as 
 ihe Latins, were extremely negligent both in unfolding 
 the nature, and proving the truth of the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity. ‘Their method of inculcating divine truth was 
 dry and unsatisfactory, and more adapted to fill the me- 
 mory with sentences, than to enlighten the understanding, 
 or to improve the judgment. ‘I'he Greeks, for the most 
 part, followed implicitly Damascenus, while the Latins 
 submitted their hoodwinked intellects to the authority of 
 Augustine. Authority became the test of truth, and sup- 
 plied in arrogance what it wanted in argument. hat 
 magisterial decisions were employed in the place of rea- 
 son, appears manifestly from the Collectanewm de tribus 
 Questionibus of Servatus Lupus; and also from a trea- 
 tise of Remigius, concermng the necessity of holding fast 
 the truths of the Gospel, and of maintaining inviolable 
 the sacred authority of the holy and orthodox fathers. _ [f 
 any deigned to appeal to the authority of the Scriptures 
 in defence of their systems, they either explained them in 
 an allegorical manner, or understood them in the sense 
 that had been given to them by the decrees of councils, 
 or in the writings of the fathers; from which senses they 
 thought it both unlawful and impious to depart. The 
 Irish doctors alone, and particularly Johannes Scotus, had 
 the courage to spurn the ignominious fetters of authority, 
 and to explain the sublime doctrines of Christianity in a 
 
 ‘manner conformable to the dictates of ‘reason, and the 
 
 principles of true philosophy. But this noble attempt 
 drew upon them the malignant fury of a superstitious age, 
 and exposed them to the hatred of the Latin theologians, 
 who would not permit either reason or philosophy to in- 
 terfere in religious matters.° 
 
 XI. The important science of morals suffered, like all 
 others, in the hands of ignorant and unskilful writers. 
 The labours of some were wholly employed in collecting 
 from the fathers an indigested heap of maxims and sen- 
 tences concerning religious and moral duties; and such, 
 among others, was the work of Alvarus, entitled Scintille 
 Patrum. Others wrote of virtue and vice, in a more sys- 
 tematic manner; such as Halitgarius, Rabanus Maurus, 
 and Jonas, bishop of Orleans ; but the representations they 
 gave of one and the other were very different from those 
 which we find in the Gospel. Some deviated into that 
 most absurd and delusive method of instructing the igno- 
 rant in the will of God by a fantastic combination of 
 figures and allegories; and several of the Greeks began 
 
 gelome upon the book of Genesis was published by Bernard Pezius, in 
 his Thesaurus Anecdotorum, tom. i. parti.; but, indeed, the loss would 
 not have been great, if it had never seen the light. 
 
 * For an account of the persecution and hatred that Johannes Scotus 
 suffered in the cause of reason and liberty, see Du Boulay, Hist. Academ. 
 Paris. tom. i. p. 182; as also Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened. Sec 
 V.p 392, 
 
 . 
 
194 
 
 to turn their studies towards the solution of cases of con- 
 science,* in order to remove the difficulties that arose in 
 scrupulous and timorous minds. We pass in silence the 
 writers of homilies and books of penance, of which a con- 
 siderable number appeared in this century. 
 
 XU. The doctrine of the mystics, whose origin is falsely 
 attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, and whose precepts 
 were designed to elevate the soul above all sensible and 
 terrestrial objects, and to unite it tothe Deity in an inef- 
 fable manner, had been now for a long time in vogue 
 among the Greeks, and more especially among the mo- 
 nastic orders; and to augment the credit of this fanatical 
 sect, and multiply its followers, Michael Syncellus and 
 Methodius composed the most pompous and eloquent 
 panegyrics upon the memory of Dionysius, in which his 
 virtues were celebrated with the utmost exaggeration. 
 The Latins were not yet bewitched with the specions 
 appearance, and the illusory charms of the mystic devo- 
 tion, which was equally adapted to affect persons of a lively 
 fancy and those of a mere gloomy turn of mind. ‘They 
 lived in a happy ignorance of this contagious doctrine, 
 when the Grecian emperor Michael Balbus sent to Louis 
 the Debonnaire, in 824, a copy of the pretended works 
 of Dionysius the Areopagite, which fatal present imme- 
 diately kindled the holy flame of mysticism in the western 
 provinces, and filled the Latins with the most enthusiastic 
 admiration of this new religion. ‘lhe translation of these 
 spurious works into Latin by the express order of the em- 
 peror,* who could not be easy while his subjects were de- 
 prived of such a valuable treasure, contributed much to 
 the progress of mysticism. By the order of the same em- 
 peror, Hilduin, abbot of St. Denys, composed an account 
 of the life, actions, and writings of Dionysius, under the 
 title of Areopagitica, in which work, among other impu- 
 dent fictions, usual in those times of superstition and im- 
 posture, he maintained, in order to exalt the honour of his 
 nation, that Dionysius the Areopagite, and Dionysius the 
 bishop of Paris, were one and the same person.¢ ‘This 
 fable, which was invented with unparalleled assurance, 
 was received with the most perfect and unthinking cre- 
 dulity, and made such a deep and permanent impression 
 upon the minds of the French, that the repeated demon- 
 strations of its falsehood have not yet been sufficient en- 
 tirely to ruin its credit. As the first translation of the 
 works of Dionysius that had been executed by order of 
 Louis, was probably ina barbarous and obscure style, a 
 new and more elegant one was given by the famous Jo- 
 hannes Scotus Erigena, at the request of Charles the Bald, 
 the publication of which increased considerably the parti- 
 sans of the mystic theolotry among the French, Italians, 
 and Germans. Scotus himself was so enchanted with 
 
 * See Nicephori Chartophylac. Epistole Duz, in the Bibliotheca Mag- 
 na Patrum, tom. iii. p. 413. 
 
 » Usserii Sylloge Ep. Hibernicar. p. 54,55. zp The spuriousness 
 of these works is now admitted by the most learned and impartial of the 
 Roman catholic writers, as they contain accounts of many events that 
 happened several ages after the time of Dionysius, and were not all men- 
 tioned until after the fifth century. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. 54. 
 tom. vi. p. 528. edit. Bruxelles. 
 
 * That these books were translated by the order of Louis, appears 
 manifestly from the Epistle to that emperor, which Hilduin prefixed to 
 his Areopagitica, and in which we find the following passage: “de no- 
 titid librorum, quos (Dionysius) patrio sermone conseripsit, et quibus 
 petentibus illos composuit, lectio nobis per Dei gratiam et vestram ordi- 
 nationem, cujus dispensatione interpretatos, scrinia nostra eos petentibus 
 reserat, satisfacit.” From this passage, it is evident that they are in an 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. * 
 
 Part II. 
 
 this new doctrine, that he incorporated it into his philoso- 
 phical system, and upon all occasions either accommodated 
 his philosophy to it, or explained it according to the prin- 
 ciples of his philosophy. 
 
 XIU. The defence of Christianity, against the Jews 
 and Pagans, was greatly neglected in this century, in 
 which the intestine disputes and dissensions that divided 
 the church, gave sufficient employment to such as had an 
 inclination to controversy, or a talent of managing it with 
 dexterity and knowledge. Agobard, however, as also Amu- 
 lo and Rabanus Maurus, chastised the insolence and ma- 
 lignity ef the Jews, and exposed their various absurdities 
 and errors, while the emperor Leo, Theodorus Abucara, 
 and other writers, whose performances are lost, employed 
 | their polemic labours against the progress of the Saracens, 
 and refuted their impious and extravagant system. But 
 it may be observed in generai of those who wrote against 
 the Saracens, that they reported many things, both con- 
 cerning Mohammed and his religion, which were far from 
 being true; and if, as there is too much reason to imagine, 
 they did this designedly, knowing the falsehood, or at 
 least the uncertainty of their allegations against these 
 infidels, we must look upon their writings rather as intend- 
 ed to deter the Christians from apostacy, than to give a 
 rational refutation of the Saracen doctrine. 
 
 XIV. The contests of the Christians among themselves 
 were carried on with greater eagerness and aaimosity than 
 the disputes in which they were engaged with the com- 
 mon enemies of their faith; and these contests were daily 
 productive of new calamities and disorde:s, which dishon- 
 | oured their profession, and threw a neavy, though unde- 
 served reproach, upon the cause of true religion. After 
 the banishment of Irene, the coniroversy concerning 
 images broke out anew among the Greeks, and was 
 catried on by the contending parties, during the half of 
 this century, with various and uncertain success. The 
 emperor Nicephorus, though he did not abrogate the 
 decrees of the council of Nice, or order the images to be 
 taken out of the churches, deprived the patrons of iimage- 
 worship of all power to molest or injure their adversaries, 
 and seems upon the whole to have been an enemy to that 
 idolatrous service. But his successor Michael Curopalates, 
 surnamed Rhangebe, acted in a very different manner. 
 Feeble and timorous, and dreading the rage of the priests 
 and monks who maintained the cause of images, he 
 favoured that cause during his short reign, and persecuted 
 its adversaries with the greatest bitterness and cruelty. 
 ‘The scene changed again, upon the accession of Leo the 
 Armenian to the empire, who abolished the decrees of 
 the Nicene council relating to the use and worship of 
 images, in a council assembled at Constantinople, in 814;¢ 
 
 error who affirm that the Latin translauon of the works of Dionysius 
 
 was not executed before the time of Charles the Bald. And they err also, 
 
 who, with Mabillon, (Annal. Benedict. tom. ii. lib. xxix. sect. 59. p. 488.) 
 
 and the authors of the Hist. Lit. de la France, (tom. v. p. 425.) inform 
 
 us, that Michael Balbus sent these works already translated into Latin 
 
 to the emperor Louis. It is amazing how men of learning could fall into . 
 | the latter error, after reading the following passage in the Epistle above 
 
 quoted: “ Authenticos namque eosdem (Dionysit) libros Greca lingua 
 
 | conseriptos, cum ceconomus ecclesiz Constantinopolitane et ceteri missi 
 
 Michaelis legatione—functi sunt—pro munere magno suscepimus.” 
 
 4 Launoy, Diss. de Discrimine Dionysii Areopag. et Parisiensis, cap. 
 iv. p. 38. tom. li. p.i. op.; as also the writings of this great man concern- 
 ing both those divines. 
 
 3° Fleury and some other writers place the meeting of this coun- 
 
 j, cil in 815. 
 
Cuap. Il. DOCTRINE OF 
 without however enacting any penal laws against their 
 idolatrous worshippers. This moderation, far from si tisfy- 
 ing the patriarch Nicephorus, and the other partisans of 
 image-worship, only served to encourage their obstinacy, | 
 and to increase their insolence; upon which the emperor 
 removed the haughty prelate from his office, and chastised 
 the fury of several of his adherents with a deserved pun- 
 ishment. His successor Michael, surnamed Balbus, or the 
 Stammerer, was obliged to observe the same conduct, and 
 to depart from the clemency and indulgence which, in the 
 beginning of his reign, he had discovered toward the 
 Ww orshippers of images, “whose idolatry, however, he was 
 far from approving. The monks more especially provo- 
 ked his indignation by their fanatical rage, and forced 
 him to treat them with particular severity. But the zeal 
 of his son and successor Theophilus, in discouraging this 
 new idolatry, was sti]l more vehement; for he opposed 
 the adorers of images with great violence, and went so 
 far as to put to death some of the more obstinate ringlead- 
 ers of that impetuous faction. 
 
 XV. On the death of Theophilus, which happened in 
 842, the regency was entrusted to the empress ‘Theodora 
 during her son’s minority. ‘I'his superstitious princess, 
 futizued with the importunate solicitations of the monks, 
 deluded by their forged miracles, and not a little influenced 
 also by their insolent threats, assembled, in the year above 
 mentioned, a council at Constantinople, in which the de- 
 crees of the second Nicene council were reinstated in their 
 fost authority, and the Greeks were indulged in their cor- 
 rupt propensity to image-worship by a law which encou- 
 raged that wretched idolatr y ;* so that, after a controversy, 
 which had been carried on during the space of a hundred 
 and ten years, the cause of idolatry triumphed over the 
 dictates of reason and Christianity ; the whole east, the 
 Armenians excepted, bowed down before the victorious 
 images ; nor did any of the succeeding emperors attempt 
 to cure the Greeks of this superstitious phrensy, or restrain 
 them in the performance of this puerile worship. |The 
 council that was holden at Constantinople under Photius, 
 in 879, and which is reckoned by the Greeks the eighth 
 general council, gave a farther degree of force and vigour 
 to idolatry, by maintaining the sanctity of images, ‘and 
 approving, confirming, and renewing the Nicene decrees. 
 The superstitious Greeks, who were biind-led by the 
 monks in the most ignominious manner, esteemed this 
 council as a most signal blessing derived to them from the 
 immediate interposition of Heaven, ana y insti- 
 tuted, in commemoration thereof, an anniversary “festival, | 
 which was called the Feast of Orthodoxy.” 
 
 XVI. The triumph of images, notwithstanding the 
 zealous efforts of the Roman pontiffs in their favour, was 
 obtained with much more difficulty among the Latins, 
 than it had been among the Greeks; for the former yet 
 maintained the inalienable privilege of judging for them- 
 
 according! 
 
 * See Fred. Spanheim, Historia Imaginum, sect. viii. p. 845, tom. ii. 
 epp.—L’Enfant, Preservatif contre la Reunion avec le Siege de Rome, 
 tom. iii. lett. xiv. p. 147; lett. xviii, xix. p. 509. 
 
 » See Gretser’s Observat. in Codinum de Officiis Aula et Eccles. Con- 
 stantinopolitanze, lib. iii.cap. vill. ; as also the Ceremoniale Byzantinum, 
 published by Rei sk, lib. 1. ¢. xxviii. p. 92, 
 
 x ° So Mic chael and his son The sophilus style Louis in their letter | 
 to him, refusing him the title of emperor, to which, however, he had an 
 undoubted right, in consequence of the treaties which they now desired 
 to renew. 
 
 37 4 Fleury, Le Sueur, and other historians, unanimously place this 
 council in 825. It may be proper to observe, that the proceedings of this 
 
 9 
 
 THE CHURCH. 19 
 selves in religious matters, and were far from being disposed 
 to submit their reason implicitly to the decisions of the 
 pontiff, or to regard any thing as infallible and true, which 
 had authority | for its only foundation. 'The greater part 
 of the European Christians, as we have seen already, 
 steered a middle course between the idolaters and the 
 Iconoclasts, between those who were zealous for the wor- 
 ship of images on the one hand, and those who were 
 averse to all use of them on the other. They were of 
 opinion, that images might be suffered as the means of 
 aiding the memory: of the faithful, and of calling to their 
 remembrance the pious exploits and the virtuous actions 
 of the persons they represented; but they detested all 
 thoughts of paying them the least marks of religious 
 homage or adoration. Michael Balbus, when he sent, in 
 824, a solemn embassy to Louis the Debonnaire, to renew 
 and confirm the treaties of peace and friendship which 
 had been concluded between his predecessors in the em- 
 pire and Charlemagne, charged his ministers, in a particu- 
 lar manner, to bring over the king of the Franks: to the 
 party of the Iconoclasts, that they might gradually suppress, 
 by their united influence, the worship of images, and thus 
 restore concord and tranquillity to the church. Louis, on 
 this occasion, assembled a council at Paris, in 824," in 
 order to examine the proposal of the Grecian emperor; in 
 which it was resolved to adhere to the decrees of the coun- 
 cil of Frankfort, which allowed the wse of images in the 
 churches, but severely prohibited the treating of them with 
 the smallest marks of religious worship. But in process 
 of time the European Christians departed gradually from 
 the observance of this injunction, and fell imperceptibly into 
 a blind submission to the decisions of the pope, whose in- 
 
 | fluence and authority daily became more forinidable ; so 
 that, toward the conclusion of this century, the Gallican 
 clergy began to pay a certain kind of religious homage to 
 
 the saintly images, in which their example was followed 
 by the Germans and other nations.° 
 
 XVII. Notwithstanding this apostacy, the Iconoclasts 
 were not destitute of adherents among the Latins. Of 
 these, the most eminent was Claudius, bishop of Turin, 
 by birth a Spaniard, and also a disciple of Felix, bishop of 
 
 Urgel. This zealous prelate, as soon as he had obtained 
 
 the episcopal dignity through the favour of Louis the 
 
 Debonnaire, began to exercise the duties of his function, 
 
 in 823, by ordering all images, and even the cross, to be 
 
 cast out of the churches, and committed to the flames. 
 
 The year following he composed a treatise, in which he 
 
 not only defended these vehement proceedings, and de- 
 
 clared against the use, as well as the worship, of images, 
 but also broached several other opinions, that were quite 
 contrary to the notions of the multitude, and to the preju- 
 dices of the times. He denied, among other things, in 
 opposition to the Greeks, that the cross was to be honoured 
 with any kind of worship; he treated relics with the 
 
 council evidently show, that the decisions of the Roman pontiff were by 
 no means looked upon at this time either as obligatory, or infallible ; for, 
 when the letter of pope Adrian, in favour of images, was read in the coun- 
 cil, it was almost unanimously rejected, as containing absur d and erroneous 
 opinions. ‘The decrees of the second council of Nice, relating to image- 
 worship, were also censured by the Gallican bishops ; and the authori ity 
 of that council, though received by several popes as an ecumenical one, 
 absolutely rejected ; ‘and what is remarkable is, that the pope did not, on 
 this account, declare the Gallican bishops heretics, or exclude them from 
 the communion of the apostolic see. See Fleury, ‘liv. xlvii. 
 
 * Mabillon, Annal. Benedictin. tom. ii. p. 488, et Act. Sanctorum Ord 
 Bened. sec. IV.—Le Cointe, Annal. Eccles. Francor. t. iv. ad Ann. 824. 
 
 . 
 
L96 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 utmost contempt, as absolutely destitute of the virtues that 
 were attributed to them, and censured with great freedom 
 and severity those pilgrimages to the holy land, and those 
 journeys to the tombs of the saints, which, in this century, 
 were looked upon as extremely salutary, and particularly 
 meritorious. ‘This noble stand in the defence of true 
 religion, drew upon Claudius a multitude of adversaries ; 
 the sons of superstition rushed upon him from all quarters; 
 Theodemir, Dungallus, Jonas of Orleans, and Walafrid 
 Strabo,* combined to overwhelm him with their volumi- 
 nous answers. But the learned and venerable prelate 
 maintained his ground,® and supported his cause with such 
 dexterity and force, that it remained triumphant, and 
 gained new credit; and hence it happened, that the city 
 of Turin and .the adjacent country were, for a long time 
 after the death of Claudius, much less infected with super- 
 stition than the other parts of Europe. 
 
 XVIII. The controversy that had been carried on in 
 the preceding century concerning the procession (if we 
 may be allowed to use that term) of the Holy Ghost from 
 the Father and the Son, and also concerning the words 
 filio-que, foisted by the Latins into the creed of Constan- 
 tinople, broke out now with redoubled vehemence, and 
 from a private dispute became a flaming Gontest between 
 the Greek and Latin churches. ‘The monks of Jerusalem 
 distinguished themselves in this controversy, and com- 
 plained particularly of the interpolation of the words /ilio- 
 gue, 1. e. and from the son, in the above-mentioned 
 ‘ symbol; nor did they stop here, but despatched to Charle- 
 magne, in 809, a certain ecclesiastic of their order, whose 
 name was John, to obtain satisfaction in this matter.: 
 The affair was debated im due form, in a council assembled 
 in that year at Aix-la-Chapelle, and also at Rome, in the 
 presence of pope Leo IIL. to whom the emperor had sent 
 ambassadors for that purpose. Leo adopted the doctrine 
 which represented the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the 
 Father and the Son, but he condemned the addition that 
 had been made to the symbol,! and declared it as his 
 opinion, that filio-que, being evidently an interpolation, 
 ought to be omitted in reading the symbol, and at length 
 stricken out of it entirely, not every where at once, but in 
 such a prudent manner as to prevent disturbance. His 
 successors were of the same opinion ; the word, however, 
 being once admitted, not only kept its place in opposition 
 to the Roman pontiils, but was by degrees added to the 
 gymbol in all the Latin churches.e 
 
 XIX. 'T'o these disputes of ancient origin were added 
 controversies entirely new, and particularly that famous 
 one concerning the manner in which the body and blood 
 of Christ were present in the eucharist. It had been 
 hitherto the unanimous opinion of the church that the 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part II. 
 body and blood of Christ were administered to those who 
 received the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and that 
 they were consequently present at that holy institution , 
 but the sentiments of Christians concerning the nature 
 and manner of this presence were various and contradic- 
 tory, nor had any council determined with precision that 
 important point, or prescribed the manner in which this 
 pretended presence was to be understood. Both reason 
 and folly were hitherto left free in this matter; nor had 
 any imperious mode of faith suspended the exercise of the 
 one, or restrained the extravagance of the other. But. 
 in this century, Paschasius Radbert, a monk, and after- 
 wards abbot of Corbey, pretended to explain with preci- 
 sion, and to determine with certainty, the doctrine of the 
 church on this head ; for which purpose he composed, in 
 | 831, a treatise concerning the sacrament of the body and 
 blood of Christ.£ A second edition of this treatise, revised 
 with care, and considerably augmented, was presented, in 
 845, to Charles the Bald; and it principally gave occasion 
 to the warm and important controversy that ensued. ‘The 
 doctrine of Paschastus amounted, in general, to the two 
 following propositions: first, that, after the consecration of 
 the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, nothing remain- 
 ed of these symbols but the outward figure, under which 
 the body and blood of Christ were really and locally pre- 
 sent; and, secondly, that the body of Christ thus present 
 in the eucharist was the same body that was born of the 
 Virgin, that suffered upon the cross, and was raised from 
 the dead. This new doctrine, and more especially the 
 second proposition now mentioned, excited, as might well 
 be expected, the astonishment of many. Accordingly it 
 was opposed by Rabanus Maurus, Heribald, and others, 
 though they did not all refute it in the same method, or on 
 the same principles. Charles the Bald, on this occasion, 
 ordered the famous Ratram and Johannes Scotus to draw 
 up a clear and rational explication of that important doc- 
 trine which Radbert seemed to have so egregiously cor- 
 rupted. ‘These learned divines executed with zeal and 
 diligence the orders of the emperor. The treatise of 
 Scotus perished in the ruins of time; but that of Ratram 
 is still extant,» which furnished ample matter of dispute, 
 both in the last and present century.: 
 
 XX. [tis remarkable that in this controversy each of 
 the contending parties were almost as much divided among 
 themselves as they were at variance with their adversaries. 
 Radbert, who began the dispute, contradicts himself in 
 many places, departs from his own principles, and main- 
 tains, in one part of his book, conclusions that he had 
 disavowed in another. His principal adversary Bertram, 
 or Ratram, seems in some respects liable to the same 
 charge; he appears to follow in general the doctrine of 
 
 34> * In order to do justice to the adversaries of Claudius here men- 
 tioned, it is necessary to observe, that they only maintained the innocence 
 and usefulness of images, without pretending to represent‘them as ob- 
 jects of religious worship. . 
 
 > Mabillon, Annal. Benedictin. tom. ii. p.488.—Pref. ad sec. IV. Actor. 
 SS. Ord. Benedict. p.8.—Histoire Liter. de ia France, tom. iv. p. 491, 
 and tom. v. p. 27, 64.—Basnage, Histoire des Eglises Reformées, tom. i. 
 
 ¢ See Steph. Baluzii Miscellanea, tom. vii. p. 14. 
 
 34> 4 This addition of filio-que to the symbol of Nice and Constanti- 
 nople, was made in the fifth and sixth centuries by the churches of Spain; 
 and their example was followed by most of the Gallican churches, where 
 the symbol was read and sung with this addition. ‘ 
 
 * See Le Cointe, Annal. Eccles. Francor. tom. iv. ad a. 809.—Lon- 
 gueval, Histoire de l’Eglise Gallicane, tom. v. p. 151. 
 
 f See Mabillon, Annales Benedict. ii. p. 539. An accurate edition of 
 Radbert’s book was published by Martenne, in the sixth volume of his 
 
 * 
 
 Ampliss. Collect. veter. Scriptor. p. 378. The life and actions of this 
 wrong-headed divine are treated of at large by Mabillon, in his Acta 
 Sanctor. Ord. Benedict. Sec. TV. part Ii. 126, and by the Jesuits. in the 
 Acta SS. Antwerp. ad d. xxvi. Aprilis.. 
 
 ¢ For an account of Ratram, or Bertram, and his famous book which 
 made so much noise in the world, sce the Biblioth. Lat. of Fabricius, 
 tom. 1.p. 1661. 
 
 3“p » A new English translation of the book of Bertram, (who was 
 a priest and a monk of Corbey) concerning the Body and Blood of Jesus 
 | Christ in the Sacrament, was published at Dublin in 1752: to which is 
 | prefixed a very learned and judicious historical dissertation respecting 
 | this famous author and his works, in which both are ably defended 
 + against the calumnies and fictions of the Roman catholic writers. 
 ! i There is an account, but a partial one, of this controversy in Mabil- 
 lon’s Pref. ad See. IV. part ii. Benedict. p. viii. which the curious reader 
 
 | will therefore do well to compare with Basnage’s Hist. de PEglise,t. i. 909 
 
Cnap. III. 
 
 those, who deny that the body and blood of Christ are 
 really present in the holy sacrament, and to affirm on 
 the contrary that they are only represented by the bread 
 and wine as their signs or symbols. "There are, however, 
 several passages in his book which seem inconsistent with 
 this just and rational notion of the eucharist, or at least 
 are susceptible of different interpretations, and have there- 
 fore given rise to various disputes. Johannes Scotus, 
 whose philosophical genius rendered him more accurate, 
 and shed through his writings that logical precision so 
 much wanted, and so highly desirable in polemical pro- 
 ductions, was the only disputant in this contest who 
 expressed his sentiments with perspicuity, method, and 
 consistency, and declared plainly that the bread and wine 
 were the signs and symbols of the absent body and blood 
 of Christ. All the other theologians of his time fluctuate 
 and waver in their opinions, express themselves with 
 ambiguity, and embrace and reject the same tenets at 
 different times, as if they had no fixed or permanent 
 principles on this subject. Hence it evidently appears, 
 that there was not yet in the Latin church any fixed or 
 universally received opinion concerning the manner in 
 which the body and biood of Christ are present in the 
 eucharist. 
 
 XXI. The disputants in this controversy charged each 
 other reciprocally with the most odious doctrines, which 
 each party drew by way of consequences from the tenets 
 they opposed,—a method of proceeding as unjust, as it is 
 common in all kinds of debate. Hence arose the imagina- 
 ry heresy, that, on the triumphant progress of the doctrine 
 of transubstantiation in the eleventh century, was branded 
 with the title of Stercoranism, and of which the true 
 orizin was as follows: They who, embracing the opinion 
 of Paschasius Radbert, believed that the bread and wine 
 in the sacrament were substantially changed after the 
 consecration, and preserved only their external figure, 
 drew a most unjust conclusion from the opinion of their 
 adversaries, who maintained, on the contrary, that the 
 bread and wine preserved their substance, and that Christ’s 
 body and blood were only figuratively, and not really, 
 present in the eucharist. ‘They alleged that the doctrine 
 of the latter implied, that the body of Christ was digested 
 in the stomach, and was thrown out with the other excre- 
 ments. But this consequence was quickly retorted upon 
 those that imagined it; for they who denied the conversion 
 of the bread and wine info the real body and blood of 
 Christ, charged the same enormous consequence upon 
 their antagonists who believed this transmutation; and 
 the charge certainly was much more applicable to the 
 latter than to the former. ‘The truth is, that it was neither 
 truly applicable to the one nor to the other; and their 
 mutual reproaches, most wretchedly founded, show rather 
 a spirit of invective, than a zeal for the truth. The charge 
 of Stercoranism is but a malignant invention; it can 
 never, without the most absurd impudence, be brought 
 against those who deny the transmutation of the bread 
 into the body of Christ; it may indeed be charged upon 
 such as allow this transmutation, though it be a conse- 
 quence that none of them, except those whose intellects 
 were unsound, perhaps ever avowed.* 
 
 XXIL While this controversy was at its greatest 
 
 *For an account of the Stercoranists, see Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. 
 [V. Benedict. ps ii. p. 21.—J, Basnage, Histoire de VEglise, tom. i. p. 
 50 ; 
 
 No. XVII. 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 197 
 
 height, another of a quite different kind, and of much 
 greater importance, arose, whose unhappy consequences 
 are yet felt in the reformed churches. The subject of 
 this new contest was the doctrine of predestination and 
 divine grace, and its rise is universally attributed to Godes- 
 chalcus, an illustrious Saxon, who had entered involuntas 
 rily into the monastic order in the convent of Fulda, 
 whence he removed to the monastery of Orbais, in the 
 diocese of Soissons, where he prosecuted his theological 
 Studies, not only with ereat ey but also with an 
 insatiable desire of sounding the deepest mysteries, and of 
 being ‘wise above what is written.’ This eminent eccle- 
 siastic, upon his return from Rome in 847, took up his 
 lodging for some time with count [berald, one cf the 
 principal noblemen at the court of the emperor Lothaire, 
 where he discoursed largely of the intricate doctrine of pre- 
 destination in the presence of Nothingus, bishop of Verona, 
 and maintained that God, from all eternity, had pre- 
 ordained some to everlasting life, and others to everlasting 
 punishment and misery. Rabanus Maurus, who was by 
 no means his friend, being informed of the propagation of 
 this doctrine, opposed him with ereat vigour. ‘T'o render 
 his opposition more successful, he began by representing 
 Godeschalcus as a corrupter of the true religion, and a 
 forger of monstrous heresies, in some letters addressed to 
 count Eberald and to the bishop of Verona; and when 
 the accused monk came from Italy into Germany to justify 
 himself against these clamours, and for that purpose appear- 
 ed at. Mentz, of which Rabanus his accuser was arch- 
 bishop, he was condemned, in a council assembled by the 
 latter in that city, in 848, and sent thence to Hincmar, 
 archbishop of Rheims, in whose diocese he had received 
 the order of priesthood. Hincemar, who was devoted to the 
 interests of Rabanus, assembled a council at Quiercy in 
 849, in which Godeschalcus was condemned a second 
 time, and was also treated in a manner equally repugnan | 
 to the principles of religion and the dictates of humanity. 
 Because he was firm in maintaining his doctrine, which 
 he affirmed, and indeed with truth, to be the doctrine of St. 
 Augustine, the imperious Hincmar degraded him from the 
 priesthood, and was so barbarous as to order him to be 
 scourged with the utmost severity, until the force of his 
 pain overpowering his constancy, obliged him, according 
 to the commands of his reverend executioners, to burn 
 with his own hands that justification of his opinions 
 which he had presented to the council of Mentz. After 
 these barbarous proceedings, the unfortunate monk was 
 cast into prison in the monastery of Hautvilliers, where he 
 ended his misery and his days in 868, or the following 
 year, maintaining with his last breath the doctrine for 
 which he had suffered. 
 
 XXIII. While Godeschalcus lay in prison, his doctrine 
 gained him followers; his sufferings excited compassion ; 
 and both together produced a considerable schism in the 
 Latin church. Ratram, monk of Corbey, Prudentius, 
 bishop of ‘Troyes, Loup, or Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres, 
 F'lorus, deacon of Lyons, Remi, archbishop of the same 
 city, with his whole church, and many other ecclesiastics, 
 whom it would be tedious to menticn, pleaded with the 
 utmost zeal and vehemence, both in their writings and in 
 their discourse, the cause of this unhappy monk, and of 
 
 on and a Treatise of the learned Dr. Pfaff, published at Tubingen in 
 0. 
 
198 
 
 his condemned opinions. Some, indeed, confined them- | 
 selves principally to the defence of his person and conduct, 
 while others went farther, and employed all their zeal, 
 and all their labour, in the vindication of his doctrine. On 
 the opposite side of the question were Hincmar, his un- 
 righteous judge, Amalarius, the celebrated Johannes | 
 Scotus, and others, who all maintained, that Godeschal- 
 cus and his opinions had received the treatment they 
 deserved. As the spirit of controversy ran high between 
 these contending parties, and grew more vehement from | 
 day to day, Charles the Bald. summoned a new council, 
 or synod, which met at Quiercy in 853, in which, by the | 
 credit and influence of Hincmar, the decrees of the former 
 council were confirmed, and in consequence Godeschalcus | 
 was again condemned. But the decrees of this council | 
 were declared null; and decisions of a different kind, by 
 which he and his doctrine were vindicated and defended, | 
 were enacted in a council assembled at Valence in Dau- 
 phiné, in 855. 'This council was composed of the clergy 
 of Lyons, Vienne, and Arles, with Remi, archbishop of } 
 Lyons, at their head ; and its decrees were confirmed, in 
 859, by the council of Langres, in which the same clergy 
 were assembled, and in 860, by the council of 'Tousi, in 
 which the bishops of fourteen provinces supported the 
 cause of the persecuted monk, whose death allayed the 
 heat of this intricate controversy.* 
 
 XXIV. If we attend to the merits of this cause, we 
 shall find that the debate still subsists in all its force, and 
 that the doctrine of Godeschaleus has in our days both 
 able defenders and powerful adversaries. He undoubtedly 
 maintained a two-fold predestination, one to everlasting 
 life, and the other to eternal death. He held also, “that 
 God did not desire or will the salvation of all mankind, but | 
 that of the elect only; and that Christ did not suffer 
 death for the whole human race, but for those persons only 
 whom God has predestinated to eternal salvation.” These 
 decisions, which carry a severe and rigorous aspect, are 
 softly and favourably interpreted by the followers of Go- 
 deschalcus. They deny, for example, that their leader 
 represents God as predestinating, to a necessary course of 
 iniquity, those whom he has previously predestinated to 
 eternal misery; and, according to them, the doctrine of 
 Godeschaleus amounts to no more than this: “ That God | 
 has, from all eternity, doomed to everlasting misery such 
 as he foresaw would go on impenitent in a sinful course, 
 and has decreed their ruin in consequence of their sins 
 freely committed and eternally foreseen: that the salutary 
 effects of the mercy of God, and the sufferings of Christ, 
 
 * Beside the commen writers, who speak of this controversy, the 
 curious reader will do well to consult the more learned and impartial | 
 accounts he will tind of it in Boulay’s Hist. Acad. Paris, tom. i. p. 178. 
 ~-Mabillon’s Pref. ad See. IV. Benedict. part ii. p. xlvii—Hist. Lite- 
 raire de la France, tom. vy. p. 352.—Usserii Historia Godeschalei.—Ge- 
 rard. Joh. Vossii Historia Pelagiana, lib. vii. cap. iv—Fabricii Biblioth. 
 Latin. medii AZvi, tom. iii. p. 210. 
 
 » The cause of Godeschaleus has been yery learnedly defended by the 
 celebrated Maguin, who published also a yaluable edition of all the trea- 
 tises that were composed on both sides of this intricate controversy. 
 This interesting collection, which was printed at Paris in 1650, bears 
 the following title: “ veterum Auctorum qui Nono Seculo de Preedesti- ' 
 “ natione et Gratia scripserunt, Opera et Fragmenta, cum Historia et 
 “oemina Prefatione.” Cardinal Norris maintained also the cause of | 
 the predestinarian monk with more brevity, but less moderation than 
 Maguin. This brief vindication may be seen in the Synopsis Historise 
 Godeschaleane, which is inserted in the 4th volume of the works of that 
 cardinal, p. 677. All the Benedictines, Jansenists, and Augustin monks 
 maintain, almost without exception, that Godeschalcus was most unjustly 
 
 ; INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 extend indeed only to the elect, and are made good to 
 them alone; though this mercy and these sufferings, con- 
 sidered in themselves, belong equally to all mankind.” 
 But this contradictory jargon did not satisfy the adversa- 
 ries of the predestinarian monk ; they maintained, on the 
 contrary, that, under ambiguous terms and perplexed sen- 
 tences, Godeschalcus had concealed the most enormous 
 errors, propagating it assiduously as an article of faith, 
 “That God had not only by an original decree predesti- 
 nated one part of mankind to eternal damnation, but had 
 also pushed them on by an irresistible necessity, by a pre- 
 pollent force, to those crimes and transgressions which 
 were proper to render that damnation just.”* Without 
 determining any thing upon such an intricate and incom- 
 prehensible subject, with respect to which silence is the 
 truest wisdom, we shall only observe, that the private 
 quarrels, and mutual hatred, that prevailed between Ra- 
 banus Maurus and Godeschalcus, were the real source of 
 the predestinarian controversy, and of all the calamities 
 in which it involved the unfortunate menk.¢ 
 
 XXYV. Another, though less important, controversy, 
 arose about this time, concerning the concluding words of 
 avery ancient hymn, which runs thus; ¢e, trina Deitas 
 unaque, poscimus, which may be thus translated, ‘O 
 God, who art three, and at the same time but one, we be- 
 seech thee, &c. Hincmar wisely prohibited the singing 
 of these words in the churches that were under his juris- 
 diction, from a persuasion that they teiided to imtroduce 
 into the minds of the multitude notions meonsistent with 
 the unity and simplicity of the Supreme Being, and might 
 lead them to imagine that there were three Gods. But 
 the Benedictine monks refused to obey this mandate, and 
 Bertram, who was one of the most eminent of that order, 
 wrote a copious work to prove the expression trina Deitas, 
 or threefold Deity, orthodox, from the authority of fathers, 
 esteemed the only criterion of truth in those miserable 
 times. Godeschalcus, who now lay in prison, heard of 
 this dispute, entered warmly into it, and in a laboured dis- 
 sertation supported the cause of his Benedictine brethren ; 
 on which account Hincmar accused him of tritheism, and 
 drew up a treatise to prove the charge, and to refute that 
 impious and enormous heresy. ‘This controversy, how- 
 ever, was but of a short duration; and the exceptionable 
 passage of the hymn in question maintained its credit, 
 notwithstanding all the efforts of Hinemar, and continued, 
 as before, to be sung in the churches.4 
 
 XXVI A vain curiosity, and not any design of pro- 
 moting useful knowledge and true piety, was the main 
 
 persecuted and oppressed by Rabanus Maurus. The Jesuits are of a 
 different opinion; they assert in general, and Louis Cellot, one of their 
 order, has in a more particular manner laboured to demonstrate, in his 
 Historia Godeschalci Predestinationis, published at Paris in 1655, 
 that the monk in question was justly condemned, and deservedly pu- 
 nished. 
 
 ¢ The parents of Godeschalcus consecrated him to God, by devoting 
 him from his infancy, as was the custom of the times, to the monastic 
 life in the monastery of Fulda. The young monk, however, having 
 arrived at a certain age, seemed much disposed to abandon his retreat, 
 to shake off his religious fetters, and to return into society; but he was 
 prevented from the execution of this purpose by Rabanus Maurus, who 
 kept bim against his will in his monastic bonds. Hence a violent con- 
 test arose between these ecclesiastics, in which Louis the Debonnaire 
 was obliged to interpose; and hence proceeded the furious disputes con- 
 cerning predestination and grace. See Centurie Magdeb. Cent. ix. c. 
 10,—Mabillon, Annal. Bened. tom. ii. ad annum 829, p. 523. 
 
 ¢ An account of this controversy is given by the writers of the life, 
 actions, and dogtrines of Godeschalcus. 
 
Cuaap. III. DOCTRINE OF 
 source of the greatest part of the controversies that were | 
 carried on in this century; and it was more especially this 
 idle curiosity, carried to an indecent and most extravagant 
 length, that gave rise to the controversy concerning the | 
 manner in which Christ was born of the Virgin, which 
 began in Germany, and made its way from that coun- 
 try into France. Certain Germans maintained, that Jesus | 
 proceeded from his mother’s womb in a manner quite dif- 
 ferent from those general and uniform laws of nature that 
 regulate the birth of the human species; which opinion | 
 was no sooner known in France, than it was warmly op- | 
 posed by the famous Ratram, who wrote a book expressly 
 to prove that Christ entered into the world in the very same 
 way with other mortals, and that his Virgin mother bore 
 him, as other women bring forth their offspring. Pascha- 
 sius Radbert, who was constantly employed, either in 
 inventing or patronising the most extravagant fancies, 
 adopted the opinion of the German doctors, and composed 
 an elaborate treatise to prove that Christ was born, without | 
 his mother’s womb being opened, in the same manner as 
 he came into the chamber where his disciples were assem- 
 bled after his resurrection, though the door was shut. He 
 also charged those who held the opinion of Ratram with 
 denying the virginity of Mary. ‘This fruitless dispute was 
 soon hushed, and gave place to controversies of superior 
 moment." 
 
 XXVIL. Of all the controversies that divided Christians 
 in this century, the most interesting, though at the same 
 time the most Jamentable, was that which occasioned the 
 fatal schism between the Greek and Latin churches. A 
 vindictive and jealous spirit of animosity and contention 
 had long prevailed between the bishops of Rome and Con- 
 stantinople, and had sometimes broken out into acts of 
 violence and rage. ‘The ambition and fury of these con- 
 tending prelates became still more keen and vehement 
 about the time of Leo the Isaurian, when the bishops of 
 Constantinople, seconded by the power and authority of: 
 the emperors, withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Roman 
 pontiff’ many provinces, over which they had hitherto 
 exercised a spiritual dominion.’ In this century the con- 
 test rose toan enormous height, and broke forth into a most 
 dreadful flame, in 858,° when the learned Photius was 
 chosen the patriarch of Constantinople, by the emperor 
 Michael, in the place of Ignatius, whom that prince had 
 driven from his see and sent into exile. 'This violent pro- 
 ceeding, though it was vindicated and even applauded by 
 a council assembled at Constantinople in 861, was far 
 from being attended with a generai approbation. Ignatius 
 appealed from this council to pope Nicolas IL, who es- 
 poused his interests, and, in a council assembled at Rome 
 in 862, excommunicated Photius as unlawfully elected, 
 and his abettors for having been concerned in such an 
 unrighteous cause. ‘lhe new patriarch, however, was so 
 far from being terrified or dejected by this excommunica- 
 tion, that he returned the compliment to the pope, and, 
 in a council assembled at Constantinople, in 866, he de- 
 clared Nicolas unworthy of the place he held in the 
 church, and also of being admitted to the communion of 
 Christians. 
 
 * See the Spicilegium veterum Scriptorum, published by M. d’Ache- 
 ri, tom, i. p. 396.—Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. [V. Benedict. part ii. p. 51. 
 
 b See Giannone, Historia di Napoli, tom. i—Petr. de Marca, de Con- 
 cordia Sacerdotii et Imperii, lib. i. cap. i. p. 6—Lequien, Oricns Chris- 
 tianus, tom. i. p. 96. 
 
 THE CHURCH. 199 
 
 XXVIIf. The Roman pontiff alleged a specious pre- 
 text for his acting with such violence, and exciting such 
 unhappy commotidns in the church. This pretence was 
 the innocence of Ignatius, whom, upon an accusation of 
 treason, whether true or false, the emperor had degraded 
 from his patriarchal dignity. This, however, was not the 
 true reason; ambition and interest were the real though 
 
 | secret springs that directed the motions of Nicolas, who 
 would have borne with patience, and viewed with indif- 
 
 ference, the unjust sufferings of Lenatius, if he could have 
 recovered from the Greeks the provinces of Illlyricum, 
 Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, Thessaly, and Sicily, which 
 the emperor and Photius had removed from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Roman pontiff. Before he engaged in the 
 cause of Ignatius, he sent a solemn embassy to Constan- 
 tinople, to demand the restitution of the provinces; but his 
 demand was rejected with contempt. Hence, under pre- 
 tence of avenging the injuries committed against Ignatius, 
 he indulged without restraint his own private resentment, 
 and thus covered with the mask of justice the fury of dis- 
 appointed ambition and avarice. 
 
 XXIX. While affairs were in this troubled state, and 
 the flame of controversy was growing more violent from 
 day to day, Basilius the Macedonian, who by the murder 
 of his predecessor, had paved his way to the imperial 
 throne, calmed at once these tumults, and restored peace 
 to the church, by recalling Ignatius from exile, to the high 
 station from which he had been degraded, and by confin- 
 ing Photius ina monastery. ‘This act of authority was 
 solemnly approved and confirmed by a council assembled 
 at Constantinople, in 869, in which the legates of pope 
 Adrian II. had great influence, and were treated with the 
 highest marks of distinction.¢) The Latins acknowledge 
 this assembly as the eighth cecumenical council; and in 
 it the religious contests between them and the Greeks were 
 concluded, or at least hushed and suspended. But the 
 controversy concerning the authority of the pontifls, the 
 limits of their just power, and particularly their jurisdiction 
 in Bulgaria, still subsisted; nor could all the efforts of 
 papal ambition engage either Ignatius or the emperor to 
 give up Bulgawia, or any other province, to the see of 
 Rome. 
 
 XXX. The contest that had arisen between the Greeks 
 and Latins concerning the elevation of Photius, was of 
 such a nature as to admit an easy and effectual remedy. 
 But the haughty and ambitious spirit of this learned and 
 ingenious patriarch fed the flame, of discord instead of 
 extinguishing it, and unhappily prolonged the troubles 
 and divisions of the Christian church. In the year 866, 
 he added to the see of Constantinople the province of Bul- 
 garia, with which Nicolas had formed the design of aug- 
 menting his spiritual dominion. While the pope was 
 most bitterly provoked at missing his aim, Photius went 
 yet farther, and entered into measures every way unworthy 
 of his character and station: for he not only senta circular 
 letter to the oriental patriarchs to engage them to espouse 
 
 _his private cause, as the public and momentous cause of 
 the church, but drew up a most violent charge of heresy 
 
 against the Roman bishops, who had heen sent among 
 
 > * In the original, we find the date of 852; but, as this is probably 
 an error of the press, the translator has taken the liberty to correct it in 
 the text. 
 
 4 The writers on both sides of this controversy are enumerated by Fa- 
 bricius, in his Biblioth. Greca, vol. iv. c. xxxvili. p. 372. 
 
200 
 
 the newly-conyerted Bulgarians, and against the church 
 of Rome in general. The articles of corrupt doctrine, or 
 heresy, which this imperious and exasperated prelate 
 brought against the votaries of the Romish system, were 
 as follow: first, that they fasted on the Sabbath, or 
 seventh day of the week: secondly, that in the first week 
 of Lent they permitted the use of milk and cheese : third- 
 ly, that they prohibited their priests from marrying, and 
 separated from their wives such as had been married when 
 they entered into orders:* fourthly, that they represented 
 the bishops alone as authorized to anoint with the holy 
 
 chrism baptized persons, and, in consequence, obliged 
 
 those who had been anointed by presbyters, to receive that 
 unction a second time from the hand of a bishop: lastly, 
 that they had adulterated the symbol or creed of Constan- 
 tinople, by adding to it the words filio-que, 1. e. and from 
 the son, and were therefore of opinion that the Holy Spinit 
 did net proceed from the Father only, but also from the 
 Son. Nicolas I. finding the Roman church thus attack- 
 ed, sent the articles of this accusation to Hincmar and the 
 other Gallican bishops in 867, desiring trem to assemble 
 their respective suffragans in order to examine and answer 
 the reproach of Photius. In pursuance of this exhortation 
 of the pontiff, Odo, Aineas, and Ado, bishops of Beauvais, 
 Paris, and Vienne, as also the celebrated Ratram, stepped 
 forth gallantly into the field of controversy against the 
 Greeks, answered one by one the accusations of Photius, 
 and employed the whole force of their erudition and zeal 
 in maintaining the cause of the Latin church.: 
 
 XXXI. On the death of Ignatius, which happened in 
 878, the emperor took Photius into favour, and placed him 
 again at the head of the Greek church. ‘This restoration 
 of the degraded patriarch was agreed to by the Roman 
 pontiff John VIII. on condition, however, that Photius 
 would permit the Bulgarians to come under the jurisdiction 
 of the see of Rome. The latter promised to satisfy in this 
 the demands of the pontiff, to which the emperor also seem- 
 ed to consent ;4~and hence it was that John VIII. sent 
 legates to the council holden in 879 at Constantinople, 
 by whom he declared his approbation of the acts of that 
 assembly, and acknowledged Photius as his brother in 
 Christ. The promises, however, of the emperor and the 
 patriarch were far from being accomplished ; for after this 
 council the former, most probably by the advice, or at 
 least with the consent of the latter, refused to transfer the 
 province of Bulgaria to the Roman pontiff ; and it must be 
 confessed that this refusal was founded upon most weighty 
 and important reasons. ‘The pope was highly irritated at 
 this disappointment, and sent Marinus to Constantinople 
 in the character of legate, to declare that he had changed 
 his mind with reference to Photius, and that he entirely 
 approved the sentence of excommunication that had been 
 formerly given against him. ‘The legate, upon delivering 
 this disagreeable message, was cast into prison by the 
 emperor, but was afterwards liberated; and, being raised 
 to the pontificate upon the death of John VIIL, recalled the 
 
 * Photius attributes, to this forced and unnatural celibacy of the clergy, 
 that multitude of children whose fathers were unknown. Remarkable to 
 this purpose 1s the following passage from a book of Alvaro Pelagio, 
 bishop of Sylva in Portugal, de Planctw Ecclesia : ‘It is to be wished,” 
 says he, “ that the clergy had never vowed chastity, especially the clergy 
 of Spain, where the sons of the laity are not much more numerous 
 than the sons of the clergy.” 
 
 * See the letter of Photius in the collection published by bishop Mon- 
 tague, N. ii. p. 47. Other writers mention ten heads of accusation 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il 
 
 remembrance of this injurious treatment, and levelled a 
 new sentence of condemnation against Photius. 
 
 XXXII. This sentence was treated with contempt by 
 the haughty patriarch; but, about six years after this 
 period, he experienced anew the fragility of sublunary 
 grandeur and elevation, by a fall which concluded his 
 prosperous days; for, in 886, Leo, surnamed the Philoso- 
 pher, the son and successor of Basilius, deposed him from 
 the patriarchal see, and confined him in an Armenian mo- 
 nastery, where he died in 891. ‘The death of Photius, who 
 was the only author of the schisms that divided the Greeks 
 and Latins, might have been an occasion of removing these 
 unhappy contests, and of restoring peace and concord in 
 the church, if the Roman pontifis had not been regardless 
 of the demands of equity as well as of the duty of Christian 
 moderation. But these imperious lords of the church 
 indulged their vindictive zeal beyond all measure, and 
 would be satisfied with nothing of less moment than the 
 degradation of all the priests and bishops, who had been 
 ordained by Photius. 'The Greeks, on the other hand, 
 were shocked at the arrogance of these unjust pretensions, 
 and would not submit to them on any conditions. Hence 
 aspirit of resentment and irritation renewed the rage of dis- 
 pute, which had been happily declining; religious as wellas 
 civil contests were again set on foot; new controversics 
 were added to the old, until the fatal schism took place, 
 which produced a lasting and total separation between the 
 Greek and Latin churches. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tar religious rites and ceremonies were progres- 
 sively multiplied, evidently appears from the labours. of 
 those writers who began in this century to explain to the 
 ignorant multitude their origin, their nature, and the pur- 
 poses they served ; for the multiplicity alone of these reli- 
 gious rites could render the explication of them necessary. 
 Johannes Scotus, Angelome, Remi or Remigius, bishop of 
 Auxerre, and Walafrid Strabo, were the principal authors 
 who distinguished themselves in this species of sacred 
 literature, to whom we may add Amalarius, many of whose 
 explanations were, however, refuted by Agobard and F'lo- 
 rus. ‘heir works are generally entitled De Officiis Di- 
 vinis ; for in the style of this age religious ceremonies 
 were called by that name. ‘The labours of these pious 
 and learned men in illustrating the ritual were undoubt- 
 edly undertaken with good intentions; but their utility 
 may be well called into question; and it would be bold 
 to affirm that they were not as prejudicial to the church in 
 some respects, as they might be advantageous toit in others. 
 Their books afforded, indeed, a certain sort of spiritual 
 nourishment to the minds of Christians in their attendance 
 upon public worship; but this nourishment was both 
 coarse and unwholesome. ‘The reasons alleged for the 
 
 brought against Photius; but such do not distinguish between the first 
 and second controversy that arose between the Greeks and Latins, and 
 they add to the articles, with which this patriarch was charged, those that 
 were drawn up in the time of Michacl Cerularius. Certain it is, that in 
 the epistle of Photius, which relates only to the first contréversy, and is 
 the only criterion by which we ought to judge of it, there are no more 
 heads of accusation than the five which we have enumerated in the text, 
 
 ¢ Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. IV. Bened. part ii. p. 55. 
 
 4 Mich, le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 103. 
 
eo 
 
 Crap. LY. 
 
 ceremonies in vogue at this time in the church, and the 
 purposes they were supposed to answer, were, for the most 
 
 part, not only far-fetched, childish, and ridiculous, but also | 
 
 bore the strongest marks of forgery and fiction. It is also 
 farther observable, that these illustrations not only encou- 
 raged, but augmented prodigiously, to the detriment of real 
 piety, the veneration and zeal of the multitude for exter- 
 nal rites and ceremonies; for who would dare to refuse 
 their admiration and reverence to institutions, which they 
 were taught to consider as full of the most mysterious 
 wisdom, and founded upon the most pious and affecting 
 reasons ? 
 
 Il. It would be endless to enter into an exact enume- 
 ration of the various rites and ceremonies, which were now 
 introduced, for the first time, and of which some were 
 adopted by the whole body of Christians, and others only 
 by certain churches. We shall therefore dismiss this mat- 
 ter with the general account which follows, and point out 
 in the notes the sources from which the curious reader may 
 derive a more particular knowledge of the absurdities of 
 this superstitious age. ‘he carcases of the saints trans- 
 ported from foreign countries, or discovered at home by the 
 industry and diligence of piousor designing priests, not only 
 obliged the rulers of the church to augment the number of 
 festivals or holidays already established, but also to diver- 
 sify the ceremonies in such a manner, that each saint 
 might have his peculiar worship; and, as the authority 
 and credit of the clergy depended much upon the high 
 notion which was generally entertained of the virtue and 
 merit of the saints whom they had canonised, and present- 
 ed to the multitude as objects of religious veneration, it 
 was necessary to amuse and surprise the people by a va- 
 riety of pompous and striking ceremonies, by images and 
 the like inventions, in order to keep up and nourish their 
 stupid admiration for the saintly tribe. Hence arose the 
 
 * See the work of J. Fecht, de Missis in Honorem Sanctorum. 
 
 b See Mabillon, de Re Diplomatica, p. 537. 
 
 ¢ The holidays or festivals of the saints were yet but few in number 
 among the Latins, as appears from a poem of Florus, published by Mar- 
 tenne in the fifth volume of his Thesaurus Anecdotorum. 
 
 = 4 All these were presumptuous attempts to force the divine pro- 
 vidence to declare itself miraculously in favour of the truth. In the trial 
 of cold water, the person accused had the right foot and left hand bound 
 together, and was, in this posture, thrown naked into the water. If he 
 sink, he was acquitted ; but, if he floated upon the surface, this was 
 considered as an evidence of guilt. The most respectable authors, an- 
 cient and modern, attribute the invention of this superstitious trial to pope 
 Eugenius II., and it is somewhat surprising that Mr. Bower has taken 
 no notice of it in his history of that pontiff. Baluze has inserted, in the 
 second volume of his Capitularia, the solemn forms of prayer and pro- 
 testation, which Eugenius had caused to be drawn up as an introduction 
 to this superstitious practice; and both Fleury and Spanheim look upon 
 that pontiff as its inventor. On the other hand, father Le Brun, a priest 
 of the oratory, maintains in his Histoire Critique des Pratiques Super- 
 stitieuses, tom. iL, that this custom was much more ancient than Eugenius, 
 and his reasons are not unworthy of attention. Be that as it may, this 
 custom was condemned and abrogated at the request or rather by the au- 
 thority of Louis the Debonnaire, about the year 829. It was, however, 
 revived afterwards, and was practised in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
 centuries, as we shall see in the progress of this history. For an account 
 of this mode of trial, Dr. Mosheim refers us, in a note, to Mabillon’s 
 Analecta veteris Evi, tom. i. p. 47, and Roye’s work de Missis 
 Dominicis, p. 152. 
 
 The trial by duel, or single combat, was introduced toward the con- 
 
 clusion of the fifth century by Gondehald, king of the Burgundians, when | 
 
 the abuse of oaths had occasioned the most horrible perjuries, and open- 
 ed the door to all sorts of injustice. The duel was then added to the oath 
 by Gondebald ; the successful combatant was supposed to be in the right, 
 anil this barbarous test of truth and justice was, in spite of humanity 
 and common sense, adopted by the Lombards, I’rench, and Germans, 
 and borrowed from them by other nations. It was first prohibited in 855, 
 in the third council of Valence. 
 
 The fire ordeal was practised in various ways. 
 
 No. XVII. 51 
 
 The accused either 
 
 4 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 201 
 
 splendour and magnificence that were lavished upon the 
 
 churches in this century, and the prodigious number of 
 
 costly pictures and images with which they were adorned ; 
 hence the stately altars, which were enriched with the 
 noblest inventions of painting and sculpture, and illumi- 
 nated with innumerable tapers at noon-day; hence the 
 multitude of processions, the gorgeous and splendid gar- 
 ments of the priests, and the masses that were celebrated in 
 honour of the saints.» | Among other novelties, the feast 
 of All-Saints was added, in this century, by Gregory LV. 
 to the Latin calendar ;* and the festival of St. Michael, 
 which had been long kept with the greatest marks of de- 
 votion and respect by the Orientals and Italians, began now 
 to be observed more zealously and universally among the 
 Latin Christians.° 
 
 ILf. Nor was it only in the solemn acts of religious wor- 
 ship that superstition reigned with unlimited sway ; its 
 influence extended even to the affairs of private life, and 
 was observable in the civil transactions of men, particu- 
 larly among the Latin Christians, who retained with more 
 obstinacy than the Greeks a multitude of customs, which 
 derived their origin from the sacred rites of paganism. The 
 
 | barbarous nations, which were converted to Christianity, 
 
 could not support the thoughts of abandoning altogether 
 the laws and manners of their ancestors, however incon- 
 sistent they might be with the indispensable demands of 
 the Gospel: on the contrary, they persuaded the Chris- 
 tians among whem they lived to imitate their extravagant 
 superstition in this respect; and this was the true and 
 original source of the barbarous institutions that prevailed 
 among the Latins, during this and the following century ; 
 such as the various methods by which it was usual for 
 persons accused to prove their innocence in doubtful cases, 
 either by the trial of cold water, by single combat, by the 
 fire ordeal, or by the cross.4. It is no longer a question 
 
 held a burning ball of iron in his hand, or was obliged to walk bare- 
 footed upon heated ploughshares, whose number was increased in pro- 
 portion to the number or enormity of the crimes imputed to him: and 
 sometimes a glove of red-hot iron was used on this occasion, as we see in 
 the tenth book of the histury of Denmark, by Saxo the Grammarian. If 
 in these trials the person impeached remained unhurt, and discovered no 
 signs of pain, he was discharged as innocent; otherwise he was punish- 
 ed as guilty. The first account we have of Christians appealing to this 
 kind of trial as a proof of their innocence, is that of Simplicius, bishop 
 of Autun, who lived in the fourth century. This prelate, as the story 
 goes, before his promotion to the episcopal order, had entered into the 
 matrimonial state; and his fond wife, unwilling to quit him after his ad- 
 vancement, continued to sleep in the same chamber with her spouse. The 
 sanctity of Simplicius suffered, at least in the voice of fame, by the con- 
 stancy of, his wife’s affection; and it was rumoured that the holy man, 
 though a bishop, persisted, in opposition to the ecclesiastical canons, to 
 taste the sweets of matrimony ; upon which the dame, in the presence 
 of a great concourse of people, took up a considerable quantity of burn- 
 ing coals, which she held in her clothes, and applied to her breasts, with- 
 out the least hurt to her person or damage to her garments, as the legend 
 says, and her example being followed by her husband with like success, 
 the silly multitude admired the miracle, and proclaimed the innocence of 
 the loving pair, Bricius, or St. Brice, (whom Mr. Collier, in his Eccle- 
 siastical History of England, represents by mistake as the first Christian 
 who endeavoured to clear himself in this way,) played a trick of much the 
 same nature in the fifth century, 
 
 The trial by the cross was made by obliging the contending parties to 
 stretch out their arms, and he that continued the longest in this posture 
 gained his cause. 
 
 Jo. Loccenii Antiquit. Sueo-Gothice, lib. ii. cap. vii. vili.p. 144. This 
 barbarous method of deciding controversies by duel was practised even 
 by the clergy. See Just. Hen. Bohmeri Jus Eccles. Prot. t. v. p. 88. 
 
 Petr. Lambecius, Res Hamburg. lib. ii. p. 39.—Usserii Sylloge 
 Fpistol. Hibernic. p.81.—Johnson, Leges Eccles. Britannie.—Michel 
 de la Roche, Memoires Liter. de la Grande Bretagne, tom. viii. p. 391. 
 
 See Agobardus, contra Judicium Dei, tom. i. op. et contra Legem 
 
 | Gundobaldi, cap. ix. p. 114.—Hier. Bignonius, ad Formulas Marculphi, 
 
 cap. xiii—Baluzius, ad Agobardum, p. 104. 
 
202 
 
 in our days, from what source these methods of deciding 
 dubious cases and accusations derived their origin; all 
 agree that they were mere delusions, drawn from the bar- 
 barous rites of paganism,* and not only opposite to the 
 precepts of the Gospel, but absolutely destructive of the 
 spirit of true religion. The pontiffs, however, and the 
 inferior clergy, encouraged these odious superstitions, and 
 went so far as toaccompany the practice of them with the 
 celebration of the Lord’s Supper and other rites, in order 
 to give them a Christian aspect, and to recommend them 
 to the veneration and confidence of the multitude. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue sects, that had sprung up in the earlier ages of 
 the church, subsisted still, with little change in their situ- 
 ations or circumstances. Such of them as were consider- 
 ably numerous, fixed their settlements beyond the limits 
 both of the Greek and Latin empires, and thus out of the 
 reach of their enemies. The Nestorians more especially, 
 and the Monophysites, secure under the protection of the 
 Arabians, were extremely industrious in maintaining their 
 credit, and also discovered a warm and active zeal in the 
 propagation of Christianity among those who were yet 
 unacquainted with that divine religion. Some learned 
 men are of opinion, that it was only in this century that the 
 Abyssinians or Ethiopians embraced the sentiments of the 
 Monophysites, in consequence of the exhortations address- 
 ed to them by the doctors of that sect who resided in 
 Kigypt. But this is undoubtedly an erroneous account of 
 the matter; for it is certain, that the Abyssinians, who 
 were accustomed to receive their spiritual guides from the 
 bishop of Alexandria, commenced Monophysites in the 
 seventh century, if not sooner; for in that period the Ara- 
 bians made themselves masters of Egypt, oppressed the 
 Creeks, and granted to the Monophysites such a powerful 
 protection, as enabled them to reduce under their jurisdic- 
 tion almost all the churches that had been established in 
 Egypt.» 
 
 If. The Greeks, during the greatest part of this cen- 
 tury, were engaged in a most bitter controversy, or, to 
 spealc more properly, in a bloody and barbarous war with 
 the Paulicians, a sect that may be considered as a branch 
 of the Manichzeans, and which resided principally in Ar- 
 menia. ‘This pernicious sect is said to have been formed 
 by two brothers, Paul and John, sons of Callinices, and 
 inhabitants of Samosata, from the former of whom it de- 
 rived its name; though others are of opinion that the 
 Paulicians were so called from another Paul, an Armenian 
 by birth, who lived under the reign of Justinian Il« Be 
 that as it may, a certain zealot called Constantine, revived, 
 in the seventh century, under the government of Con- 
 stans, this drooping faction, which had suffered deeply from 
 the violence of its adversaries, and was ready to expire un- 
 
 * Strabo tells us, in the fifth book of his Geography, that, while the 
 sacred rites of the goddess Ferona were celebrated in a grove not far 
 from mount Soracte, several persons, transported with the imaginary 
 presence of this pretended divinity, fell into fits of enthusiasm, and 
 walked bare-footed over heaps of burning coals without receiving the 
 least damage. The historian adds, that a spectacle so extraordinary 
 drew a prodigious concourse of people to this annual solemnity. Pliny 
 relates something of the same nature concerning the Hirpii. See his 
 Nat. Hist. book vii. chap. ii. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 ‘der the severity of the imperial edicts, and of those pena. 
 
 | laws which were executed against its adherents with the 
 
 -utmost rigour. Constans, Justinian [I.,and Leo the Isau 
 rian, exerted their zeal against the Paulicians with a pe 
 culiar degree of bitterness and fury, left no method o 
 oppression unemployed, and neglected no means of accom 
 plishing their ruin ; but their efforts were ineffectual, nor 
 could all their power, or all their barbarity, exhaust the pa 
 tience or conquer the obstmacy of that inflexible people, 
 who, with a fortitude worthy of a better cause, seemed to 
 despise the calamities to which their erroneous doctrine 
 exposed them. The face of things changed, however, to 
 their advantage toward the commencement of this cen- 
 tury; and their affairs wore a more prosperous aspect 
 under the protection of the emperor Nicephorus, who fa- 
 voured them in a particular manner, and restored to them 
 their civil privileges, as well as their religious liberty.? 
 
 III. Their tranquillity, however, was but of short du- 
 ration; it was a transient scene that was soon to be suc- 
 ceeded by yet more dreadful sufferings than they had 
 hitherto experienced. The cruel rage of persecution, 
 which had for some years been suspended, broke forth 
 with redoubled violence under the reigns of Michael Cu- 
 ropalates, and Leo the Armenian, who caused the strictest 
 search to be made after the Paulicians, in all the provinces 
 of the Grecian empire, and inflicted capital punishment 
 upon such of them as refused to return to the bosom of 
 the church. ‘This rigorous decree turned the afflictions of 
 the Paulicians, who dwelt in Armenia, into vengeance, 
 and drove them into the most desperate measures. ‘They 
 massacred Thomas, bishop’of New Cesarea, and also the 
 magistrates and judges whom the emperors had establish- 
 ed in Armenia; and, after avenging themselves thus 
 cruelly, they took refuge in the countries that were go-? 
 verned by the Saracens, and thence infested the neigh- 
 bouring states of Greece with perpetual incursions.* After 
 these reciprocal acts of cruelty and vengeance, the Pauli- 
 cians, as it would seem, enjoyed an interval of tranquil- 
 
 | lity, and returned to their habitations in the Grecian pro- 
 
 vinces. 
 
 IV. But the most dreadful scene of persecution that was 
 exhibited against these wretched heretics, arose from the 
 furious and inconsiderate zeal of the empress 'Theodora. 
 This impetuous woman, who was regent of the empire 
 during the minority of her son, issued out a decree, which 
 placed the Paulicians in the perplexing alternative either 
 of abandoning their principles, or of perishing by fire and 
 sword. ‘The decree was severe; but the cruelty with 
 which it was put in execution by those who were sent 
 into Armenia for that purpose, was horrible beyond ex- 
 pression; for these ministers of wrath, after confiscating 
 the goods of above a hundred thousand of that miserable 
 people, put their possessors to death in the most barbarous 
 manner, and made them expire slowly in a variety of the 
 most exquisite tortures. Such as escaped destruction fled 
 for protection and refuge to the Saracens, who received 
 
 b Nouveaux Memoires de la Compagnie de Jesus dans le Levant, tom 
 iv. p. 283, 284—Le Grand, Dissert. iv—Lobo, Voyage Historique de 
 l’ Abyssinie, tom. il. p. 18. 
 
 ¢ Photius, lib. i. contra Manicheos, p. 74, in B. Wolfii Anecdotis 
 Grecis, tom. i. 
 
 4 See Georg. Cedrenus, Compend. Historiar. tom. ii. ; 
 
 ° Photius, lib. i. contra Manicheos, p. 125.—Petri Siculi Historia 
 Manicheorum, p. 71. 
 
Har. Vv. 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 them with compassion and humanity, and permitted them | 
 
 to build a city for their residence, which was called 'Tibri- 
 ca. Upon this they entered into a league with the Sara- | 
 cens; and, choosing for their chief an officer of the great- | 
 est resolution and valour, whose name was Carbeas, they 
 declared against the Greeks a war which was carried on 
 with the utmost vehemence and fury. ‘This war conti- 
 nued during the whole century ; the victory seemed often 
 doubtful, but the slaughter was terrible, and the numbers 
 that perished on both sides prodigious. Many of the Gre- | 
 cian provinces felt, in a more particular manner, the dire | 
 effects of this cruel contest, and exhibited the most affect- 
 ing scenes of desolation and misery. During these com- 
 motions, some Paulicians, toward the conclusion of the 
 century, spread abroad among the Bulgarians their. pesti- | 
 lential doctrines, which were received with docility, and 
 took root speedily, as might naturally be expected, among 
 a barbarous people, recently converted tothe Christian faith.” 
 V. The Greeks treated the Paulicians, of whom we have | 
 now been speaking, as Mamichzans; though, if we may) 
 credit the testimony of Photius, the Paulicians expressed 
 the utmost abhorrence of Manes and his doctrine... Most 
 evident it is, that they were not altogether Manichzeans, 
 though they embraced some opinions that resembled cer- 
 tain tenets of that abominable sect. hey had not, like. 
 the Manichzeans, an ecclesiastical zovernment administer- | 
 ed by bishops, priests, and deacons: they had no sacred 
 order of men distinguished by their manner of life, their 
 habit, or any other circumstance, from the rest of the as- 
 sembly ; nor had councils, synods, or the like institutions, 
 any place in their religious polity. They had certain doc-. 
 tors whom they called Synecdemi, i. e. companions in the - 
 journey of life, and also Notarii. Among these, there 
 reigned a perfect equality; and they had no peculiar rights 
 or privileges, nor any external mark of dignity to distin- 
 guish them from the people. The only singularity that 
 attended their promotion to the doctorial rank was, that 
 they changed their lay-names for Scripture ones, as if there 
 had been something peculiarly venerable in the names of 
 the holy men, whose lives and actions are recorded in the 
 sacred writings. ‘They received all the books of the New 
 ‘Testament, except the two Epistles of St. Peter, which 
 they rejected for reasons unknown to us; and their copies 
 of the Gospel were exactly the same with those used by 
 all other Christians, without the least interpolation of the 
 
 * Georg. Cedrenus, Compend. Hist. p. 541, edit. Paris——Zonoras, 
 Annal. lib. xvi. The principa' authors who have given accounts of the 
 Paulicians are Photius, lib. 1. contra Manicheos, and Petrus Siculus, | 
 whose history of the Manicheans Matth. Raderus published in Greek | 
 and Latin in 1604. By the account of Petrus Siculus that is given by 
 himself, we learn that, in 870, under the reign of Basilius the Macedo- 
 nian, he was sent ambassador to the Paulicians at Tibrica, to treat with 
 them for the exchange of prisoners, and lived among them during the | 
 space of nine months; this is sufficient to give us a high idea of the | 
 power and prosperity of the Paulicians at that time. It is from this 
 eminent writer that Cedrenus seems to have taken what he has advanced | 
 in his Compend. Efist. p. 481. What we learn concerning the Paulicians | 
 from more modern writers, (such as Bayle, in his Dictionary, and B. Jo. | 
 Christ. Wolfius, in his Manichezismus ante Manicheos, p. 247,) seems | 
 to be derived trom Bossuct’s Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protes- | 
 tantes, tom. ii, p. 129. But this authority is highly exceptionable ; for 
 Bossuet did nbt consult the true sources of knowledge upon this point; 
 and, what is still worse, the spirit of party seems to have led him into 
 eoluntary errors. 
 
 » It is not improbable that there are yet, in Thrace and Bulgaria, Pau- 
 licians, or Paulians as they are called by some. It appears at least cer- 
 
 tain, that in the seventeenth century some of that sect still subsisted, and 
 
 203 
 
 sacred text; in which respect also they differed consider- 
 ably from the Manicheans.e hey moreover recom- 
 mended to the people without exception, with the most 
 allecting and ardent zeal, the constant and assiduous pe- 
 rusal of the Scriptures, and expressed the utmost indigna- 
 tion against the Greeks, who allowed to priests alone an 
 access to these sacred fountains of divine knowledge.f— 
 In explaining, however, the doctrines of the Gospel, they 
 often departed from the literal sense and the natural signi- 
 fication of the words, and interpreted them in a forced and 
 allegorical manner, when they opposed their favourite opi- 
 nions and tenets ;s and such more especially were the de- 
 lusive and erroneous explications, which they gave of what 
 is said concerning the institutions of baptism and the 
 Lord’s Supper, and the divine authority of the Old 'Ces- 
 tament, all which they obstinately rejected. Beside the 
 books of the New Testament, they treated with particular 
 veneration certain epistles of Sergius, the most eminent 
 and illustrious doctor of their sect. 
 
 VI. The Greck writers, instead of givmg a complete 
 view of the Paulician system, which was undoubtedly 
 composed of a great variety of tenets, content themselves 
 with mentioning six monstrous errors, which, in their es- 
 timation, rendered the Paulicians unworthy of enjoying 
 either the comforts of this world, or the happiness of the 
 next. These errors are as follow: 1. “’They denied that . 
 this inferior and visible world was the production of the 
 Supreme Being, and they distinguished the creator of 
 this world, and of human bodies, from the most high 
 God,, who dwells in the heavens.” It was principally 
 on acceunt of this odious doctrine, which was, however, 
 adopted by all the Gnostic sects, that the Paulicians were 
 deemed Manicheans by the Greeks. But what their sen- 
 timents were concerning the creator of this world, and 
 whether they considered him as ‘a being distinct from the 
 evil principle, are matters that no writer has hitherto ex- 
 plained in a satisfactory manner. We learn only from 
 Photius, that, according to the Paulician doctrine, the evil 
 principle was engendered by darkness and fire; whence 
 it plainty follows that he was neither self-originated, nor 
 eternal.» %. “They treated contemptuously the Virgin 
 Mary ;” that is to say, according to the manner of speak- 
 ing usual among the Grecks, they refused to adore and 
 worship her. They maintained, indeed, that Christ was 
 the son of Mary, and was bern of her (although they 
 
 tells us, in his Etat present de ’F glise Romaine, that Peter Deodati. 
 archbishop of Sophia, caused them to abandon their errors, and to return 
 to the catholic faith; but whether the latter part of the account be true or 
 false, is more than we shall pretend to determine. 
 
 ¢ Photius, lib. 1. contra Manicheos, p. 17, 56, 65. 
 Manich. p. 43. 
 
 4 Photius, |. ¢. p. 31, 32.—Petr. Sicul. p. 44.—Cedrenus, |. ¢. p. 431. 
 
 ¢ Photius, p. 11.—Petr. Sicul. p. 19. 
 
 f Photius, p. 101.—-Petr. Sicul. p. 57. £ Photius, p. 12. 
 
 h Photius, lib. ii. contra Manicheos, p. 147. Itis evident, beyond all 
 contradiction, that the Paulicians, in imitation of the Oriental philoso- 
 phers from whom the Gnostics and Manicheans derived their origin, con- 
 sidered eternal matter as the seat and source of all evil: but they believ- 
 ed, at the same time, like many of the Gnosties, that this matter, endued 
 from all eternity with life and motion, had produced an active principle, 
 which was the fountain of vice, misery, and disorder. This principle, 
 according to them, is the author of all material substances, while God is 
 the Creator and Father of spirits. These tenets resemble, no.doubt, the 
 Manichean doctrine; yet they differ from it in several points. The 
 Paulicians seemed to have emanated from one of the old Gnostic sects, 
 and to have been very numerous and diversified ; and, though persecuted 
 and oppressed from age to age in the most rigorous manner ly many 
 
 Petr. Siculus, Hist. 
 
 dwelt at Nicopolis, as we learn from the testomony of Urb. Cerri, who | emperors, they could never be entirely suppressed, or extirpated. 
 
204 
 
 maintained, as appears from the express testimony of 
 their adversaries, that the divine Saviour brought with 
 him from heaven his human nature, and that Mary, after 
 the birth of Christ, had other children by Joseph;) they 
 only fell into the sentiments of the Valentinians, and held, 
 that Christ passed through the womb of the Virgin, as 
 the pure stream of limpid water passes through a con- 
 duit, and that Mary did not preserve her virginity to the 
 end of her days; all which assertions the Greeks rejected 
 with the utmost antipathy and abhorrence. 3. “'They 
 refused to celebrate the holy institution of the Lord’s 
 Supper ;” for, as they imagined many precepts and in- 
 junctions of the Gospel to be of a merely figurative and 
 parabolical nature, so they understood, by the bread and 
 wine which Christ is said to have administered to his dis- 
 ciples at his last supper, the divine discourses and exhor- 
 tations of the Saviour, which are a spiritual food and 
 nourishment to the soul, and fill it with repose, satisfac- 
 tion, and delight.» 4. “They loaded the cross of Christ 
 vith contempt and reproach ;” by which we are only to 
 
 * The Grecks do not charge the Paulicians with any error concerning 
 baptism; it is, however, certain, that the accounts of that sacred institu- 
 tion, which are given in Scripture, were allegorically explained by 
 this extravagant sect; and Photius, in his first book against the Mani- 
 chwxans, expressly asserts that the Paulicians treated baptism as a mere 
 alleworical ceremony, and by the baptismal water understood the Gospel. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. , 
 
 Part Il 
 
 understand, that they refused to follow the absurd and su- 
 perstitious ‘practice of the Greeks, who paid to the pre- 
 tended wood of the cross a‘certain sort of religious homage. 
 As the Paulicians believed that Christ was clothed with 
 an ethereal, impassible, and celestial body, they could Ly 
 no means grant that he was readly nailed to the cross, or 
 that he expired, in effect, upon that ignominious tree: 
 and hence naturally arose that treatment of the cross, of 
 which the Greeks accused them. 5. “'They rejected, af- 
 ter the example of the greatest part of the Gnostics, the 
 books of the Old Testament, and looked upon the wri- 
 ters of that sacred history as inspired by the Creator of 
 this world, and not by the Supreme God.” 6. “'They 
 entirely excluded presbyters and lay-elders from the ad- 
 ministration of the church.” By this, however, no more 
 can be meant, than that they refused to call their doctors 
 by the name of presbyters, a name which had its origin 
 among the Jews, and was peculiar to that odious people, 
 who persecuted Jesus Christ, and attempted, as the Pauli- 
 cians speak, to put him to death.» 
 
 b These six famous errors of the Paulicians I have taken from the 
 Manichzan history of Petrus Siculus, with whom Photius and Cedre- 
 nus agree, although their accounts of these opinions be less perspicuous 
 and distinct. ‘The explanatory remarks that I have added, are the result 
 3 my own reflections upon the Paulician system, and the doctrine of the 
 
 reeks. 
 
He = eee OE N TUR Y. 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. THe deplorable state of Christianity in this century, 
 arising partly from that astonishing ignorance that gave a 
 loose rein both to superstition and immorality, and partly 
 from an unhappy concurrence of causes of another kind, 
 is unanimously lamented by the various writers, who have 
 transmitted to us the history of these miserable times. 
 Yet, amidst all this darkness, some gleams of light were 
 perceived from time to time, and several occurrences hap- 
 pened, which deserve a place in the prosperous annals of 
 the church. ‘The Nestorians in Chaldea extended their 
 spiritual conquests beyond mount Imaus, and introduced 
 the Christian religion into 'Tartary, (properly so called,) 
 whose inhabitants had hitherto lived in their natural state 
 of ignorance and ferocity, uncivilized and savage. 'The 
 same successful missionaries spread, by degrees, the know- 
 ledge of the Gospel among that mosi powerful nation of the 
 ‘Turks, or Tartars, which went by the name of Karit, and 
 bordered on Kathay, or the northern part of China.s | The 
 laborious industry of this sect, and their zeal for the propa- 
 gation of the Christian faith, deserve, no doubt, the high- 
 est encomiums; it must, however, be acknowledged, that 
 the doctrine and worship, which they introduced among 
 these barbarians, were far from being, in all respects, con- 
 formable to the true spirit and genius of the Christian re- 
 ligion. 
 
 II. The Prince of that country, whom the Nestorian 
 converted to the Christian faith, assumed, if we may giye | 
 credit to the vulgar tradition, the name of John after his 
 baptism, to which he added the surname of Presbyter, 
 from a principle of modesty. Hence it was, as some learn- 
 ed men imagine, that the successors of this monarch re- 
 tained these names until the time of Genghiz-KKhan, who 
 flourished in the fourteenth» century, and were each of | 
 them called Prester John.* But all this has a very fabu- 
 lous air; at least it is advanced without any solid proof; 
 it even appears evident, on the contrary, that the famous 
 Prester John, who made so much noise in the world, did 
 not begin to reign in that part of Asia before the conclu- 
 sion of the eleventh century. It is, however, certain, be- 
 yond all contradiction, that the monarchs of the nation | 
 
 * Assemani Bibliotheca Oriental. Vatic. tom. iii. part ii. p. 482.—Her- 
 pelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 256. 
 
 > Dr. Mosheim, and his translator, ought to have said the thirteenth | 
 eentury. Enpir. 
 
 * See Assemani Biblioth. tom. iii. part ii. p. 282. 
 
 4 The late learned Sigefred Bayer, in his Preface to the Museum Sini- | 
 cum, p. 145, informed us of his design to give the world an accurate ac- 
 count of the Nestorian churches established in Tartary and China, 
 drawn from some curious ancient records and monuments, that have not 
 been as yet made public. His work was to have been entitled Historia 
 Ecclesiarum Sinicarum, et Septentrionalis Asie; but death prevented | 
 
 No. XVII 52 tl 
 
 called Karit, (which makes a large part of the empire of 
 the Mogul, and is by some denominated a tribe of the 
 Turks, and, by others, of the Tartars,) embraced Chris- 
 tianity in this century; and that a considerable part of 
 Tartary, or Asiatic Scythia, lived under the spiritual ju- 
 risdiction of bishops who were sent among ther by the 
 Nestorian pontiff. 
 
 Ill. If we turn our eyes to the western world, we shall 
 find the Gospel making its way with more or less rapidity 
 among the most rude and uncivilized nations. ‘The fa- 
 mous arch-pirate Rollo, son of a Norwegian Count, being 
 banished from his native land,’ had, in the preceding 
 century, put himself at the head of a resolute band of 
 Normans, and seized one of the maritime provinces of 
 France, whence he infested the neighbouring country 
 with perpetual incursions and depredations. In 912, ahis 
 valiant chief, with his whole army, embraced the Chris- 
 tian faith, on the following occasion. Charles the Simple, 
 who wanted both resolution and power to drive this war- 
 like and intrepid invader out of his dominions, was obliged 
 to have recourse to negotiation. He accordingly offered to 
 make over to Rollo a considerable part of his territories, 
 on condition that the latter would consent to a peace, es- 
 pouse his daughter Gisela,’ and embrace Christianity. 
 These terms were accepted by Rollo without the least he- 
 sitation; and his army, following the example of their 
 leader, professed a religion of which they were totally ig- 
 norant.s These Norman pirates, as appears from many 
 authentic records, were absolutely without religion of any 
 kind, and therefore were not restrained, by the power of 
 prejudice, from embracing a religion which presented to 
 them the most advantageous prospects. They knew no 
 distinction between interest and duty, and they estimated 
 truth and virtue only by the profits with which they were 
 attended. It was from this Rollo, who received at his bap- 
 tism the name of Robert, that the famous line of Nor- 
 man dukes derived its origin; for the province of Bre- 
 tagne, and a part of Neustria, which Charles the Simple 
 conveyed to his son-in-law by a solemn grant, were from 
 this time known by the name of Normandy,* which they 
 derived from their new possessors. 
 
 IV. 'The Christian religion was introduced into Po- 
 land, by the zealous efforts of female piety. Dambrow- 
 ska, daughter of Boleslaus, duke of Bohemia, persuaded, 
 
 the execution of this interesting plan, and also of several others, which 
 
 | this great man had formed, and which would undoubtedly have thrown a 
 
 new light upon the history of the Asiatic Christians. 
 
 * Holbergi Historia Danorum Navalis in Scriptis Societat. Scient. 
 Hafniens. part iii. p. 357. 
 
 Zp ‘ Other writers more politely represent the offer of Gisela as one 
 of the methods that Charles employed to obtain a peace with Rolto. 
 
 © Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 296.—Daniel, Hist. de France, 
 
 | tom. ii. p. 587. 
 
 Z’p 4 It was Neustria, and not Bretagne, that received the name of 
 Normandy, from the Normans who chose Rollo for their chief 
 
206 
 
 by the force of repeated exhortations, her husband Micis- 
 laus, duke of Poland, to abandon paganism ; and, in 965, 
 he embraced the Gospel. "The account of this agreeable 
 event was no sooner brought to Rome, than the pontiff, 
 John XIIL, sent into Poland Adgidius, bishop of Tuscn- 
 lum, attended with a numerous train of ecclesiastics, in 
 order to second the pious efforts of the duke and duch- 
 ess, who desired, with impatience, the conversion of 
 their subjects. "The exhortations and endeavours of these 
 devout missionaries, who were unacquainted with the lan- 
 guage of the people they came to instruct, would have 
 been entirely without effect, had they not been accompa- 
 nied with the edicts and penal laws, the promises and 
 threats of Micislaus, which dejected the courage, and con- 
 quered the obstinacy of the reluctant Poles. When there- 
 fore the fear of punishment, and the hope of reward, had 
 laid the foundations of Christianity in Poland, two na- 
 tional archbishops and seven bishops were consecrated to 
 the ministry, whose zeal and labours were followed with 
 such success, that the whole body of the people abandon- 
 ed, by degrees, their ancient superstitions, and made pub- 
 lic profession of the religion of Jesus.* It was, indeed, no 
 more than an external profession; for that inward change 
 of affections and principles, which the Gospel requires, 
 was far from being an object of attention in this barbarous 
 age. 
 
 V. The Christian religion was established in Russia by 
 means similar to those that had occasioned its propagation 
 in Poland; for we must not lay any stress upon the 
 proselytes that were made to Christianity among the Rus- 
 sians in the preceding century, since those conversions 
 were neither permanent nor solid, and since it appears 
 evidently that such of that nation, as, under the reign of 
 Basilius the Macedonian, had embraced the doctrine of the 
 Greek church, relapsed soon after into the superstition of 
 their ancestors. Wlodomir, duke of Russia and Muscovy, 
 married, in 961, Anne, sister of Basilius, the second Gre- 
 cian emperor of that name; and this zealous princess, by 
 her repeated entreaties and her pious importunity, at length 
 persuaded her reluctant spouse to receive the Christian 
 faith, and he was accordingly baptised, in 987, assuming 
 on that occasion the name of Basilius. The Russians 
 spontaneously followed the example of their prince; we 
 have, at least, no account of any compulsion or violence 
 being employed in their conversion ;» and this is the true 
 date of the entire establishment of Christianity among that 
 people. Wlodomir and his duchess were placed in the 
 highest order of the Russian saints, and are still worshipped 
 at Kiow,(where they were interred,) with the greatest de- 
 votion. ‘lhe Latins, however, paid no such respect to the 
 
 * Duglossi Historia Polonica, lib. ii. p. 91, lib. iii. p. 95, 239.—Regen- 
 volscii Historia Eecles. Slavon. lib. ii. cap. i. p. 8—Henr. Canisii Lec- 
 ao os tom. iil. part 1. p. 41—Solignac, Hist. de Pologne, tom. 
 (emo gh 
 
 See Anton. Pagi Critica in Baron. tom. iv. ad annum 987, p. 55, et 
 ud an. 1015, p. 110.—Car. du Fresne, Famil. Byzant. p. 143. 
 
 ¢ Ditmari, Merseb. Episcopi, Chronic. lib. vii. Caronic. p. 417, tom. i. 
 Scriptor Brunsyic. Leibnitii. 
 
 4 Pauli Debrezeni Historia Eccles. Reformator. in Ungaria, part i. | 
 cap. 1. p. 19. 
 
 «The Hungarians and Transylvanians were at this time known to 
 the Grecians by the name of Turks. 
 
 f The Greeks, Germans, Bohemians, and Poles, severally claim the 
 honour of having been the founders of the Christian religion in Hungary ; 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 and their respective pretensions have introduced not a little obscurity 
 tito this matter. The Germans allege, that the Christian religion was | 
 
 Part I. 
 
 memory of Wlodomir, whom they represented as abso- 
 lutely unworthy of saintly honours.° 
 
 VI. The Hungarians and Avari had received some faint 
 notions of Christianity under the reign of Charlemagne, 
 in consequence of the measures that had been taken by 
 that zealous prince for the propagation of the Gospel. 
 These notions, however, were soon and easily extinguished 
 by various circumstances, which took their rise from the 
 death of Charlemagne: and it was not before the century 
 of which we now write that the Christian religion obtained 
 a fixed settlement among these warlike nations.¢ 'Toward 
 the middle of this century, Bulosudes and Gyula or Gylas, 
 two ‘Turkish chiefs, whose governments lay upon the 
 banks of the Danube,’ made public profession of Chris- 
 tianity, and were baptised at Constantinople. The former 
 apostatized soon after to the religion of his ancestors, while 
 the latter not only persevered stedfastly in his new profes- 
 sion, but also showed the most zealous concern for the con- 
 version of his subjects, who, in consequence of his express 
 order, were instructed in the doctrines and precepts of the 
 Gospel by Hierotheus, a learned prelate, by whom he had 
 been accompanied in his journey to Constantinople. Sa- 
 rolta, the daughter of Gylas, was afterwards given in 
 marriage to Geysa, the chief of the Hungarian nation, 
 whom she persuaded to embrace the divine religion in 
 which she had been educated. The faith, however, of 
 this new convert was feeble and unsteady, and he retained 
 a strong propensity to the superstition which he had been 
 engaged to forsake; but his apostacy was prevented by 
 the pious remonstrances of Adalbert, archbishop of Prague, 
 who went into Hungary towards the conclusion of this 
 century, and by whom also Stephen, the son of Geysa, 
 was baptised with great pomp and solemnity. H was 
 to this young prince that the Gospel was principally in- 
 debted for its propagation and establishment among the 
 Hungarians, whose general conversion was the fruit of his 
 zeal for the cause of Christ; for he perfected what his 
 father and grandfather had only begun; fixed bishops, 
 
 with large revenues, in various places; erected magnifi- 
 
 cent temples for Divine worship; and, by the influence of 
 instructions, threatenings, rewards, and punishments, 
 
 brought his subjects, almost without exception, to abandon 
 
 the wretched superstition of their idolatrous ancestors. 
 ‘These vigorous proceedings, by which Stephen introduced 
 the religion of Jesus among the Hungarians, procured 
 him the most distinguished honours of saintship in suc. 
 ceeding ages.‘ 
 
 VUl. The Christian religion was in a very unsettled 
 state among the Danes under the reign of Gormon ; and, 
 
 ko) 
 notwithstanding the protection it received from his queen, 
 
 \ 
 | brought into Hungary by Gisela, sister to their emperor Henry IL, who, 
 
 being given in marriage to Stephen, the king of that nation, persuaded 
 that prince to embrace the Gospel. The Bohemians tell us, on the other 
 hand, that it was by the ministry of Adalbert, archbishop of Prague, 
 that Stephen was converted. The Poles affirm, that Geysa, having mar- 
 ried a Christian princess of their nation, viz. Adelhcid, sister to Micis- 
 
 laus, duke of Poland, was induced by her remonstrances and exhorta- 
 
 tions to make profession of Christianity. In consequence of a careful 
 examination of all these pretensions, we have followed the sentiments 
 and decisions of the Greek writers, after having diligently compared 
 
 , them with the Hungarian historians; and we are encouraged in this by 
 | the authority of the learned Gabriel de Juxta Hornad, who, in his Initia 
 
 Religionis Christiane inter Hungaros Ecclesiz orientali adserta, pub- 
 lished in 1740, decides this question in favour of the Greeks. All other 
 accounts of the matter are extremely imperfect, and subject to many 
 doubts and difficulties. 
 
Cuap. I. 
 
 who professed it publicly, it was obliged to struggle with 
 many difficulties, and to encounter much opposition. "The | 
 face of things changed, indeed, afier the death of Gor- 
 mon. His son Harald, surnamed Blaatand, being de- 
 feated by Otho the Great, in 949, embraced the Gospel, 
 and was baptised, together with his consort and his son 
 Sueno or Swein, by Adaldagus, archbishop of Hamburg, 
 or, as others allege, by Poppon, a pious ecclesiastic, who 
 attended the emperor in this expedition. It is probable 
 that Harald, educated by his mother Tyra, who was a 
 Christian, was not extremely averse to the religion of Je- 
 sus; it appears, however, certain, that his conversion was 
 less the effect of his own choice, than of the irresistible 
 commands of his victorious enemy ; for Otho, persuaded 
 that the Danes would never desist from their hostile in- 
 cursions and rapines, while they persevered in the religion 
 of their ancestors, which was calculated to nourish a fe- 
 rocity of temper, and to animate to military exploits, made 
 it the principal condition of the treaty of peace, which he 
 concluded with Harald, that he and his subjects should re- 
 ceive the Christian faith.s On the conversion of this 
 prince, Adaldagus and Poppon employed their ministerial 
 labours among the Cimbrians and Danes, in order to en- 
 gage them to imitate such an illustrious example ; and 
 the exhortations were crowned with remarkable success, 
 to which the stupendous miracles performed by Poppon 
 are suid to have contributed in a particular manner. These 
 miracles, indeed, were of such a kind, as manifestly shows 
 that they derived their origin from human art, and not 
 from a divine interposition.” As long as Harald lived, he 
 used every wise and probable method of confirming his 
 subjects in the religion they had embraced. For this pur- 
 pose he established bishops in several parts of his do- 
 minions, enacted excellent laws, abrogated superstitious 
 customs, and imposed severe restraints upon all vicious and 
 immoral practices. But, after all these picus efforts, and | 
 salutary measures, which promised such fair prospects to 
 the rising church, his son Sueno, or Swein, apostatized 
 from the truth, and, during a certain time, involved the 
 Christians in the deepest calamity and distress, and treated 
 them with the greatest cruelty and injustice. "This perse- 
 cuting tyrant felt, however, in his turn, the heavy strokes 
 of adversity, which produced a salutary Change in his con- 
 duct, and happily brought him to a better mind ; for, 
 being driven from his kingdom, and obliged to seek his 
 safety in a state of exile among the Scots, he embraced 
 anew the religion he had abandoned, and, on his restora- 
 
 3¢p * Dr. Moshei.n attributes here to Swein the honour which is due 
 to his predecessor Olaus Tryg-gueson; if it can be deemed an honour 
 to have promoted a rational and divine religion by compulsion and vio- 
 lence, by fire and sword. Olaus, who had abjured paganism in England, 
 during his youth, in consequence of a warm and pathetic discourse 
 which he had heard from a British priest, returned to Norway witha 
 firm resolution to propagate Christianity throughout his dominions. For 
 this purpose he travelled from one province to another, attended by a 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 207 
 
 tion to his dominions, exerted the most ardent and exem-. 
 plary zeal in the cause of Christianity, which he endea- 
 voured to promote to the utmost of his power. 
 
 VILL. It was in this century, that the first dawn of 
 the Gospel arose upon the Norwegians, as we learn from 
 the most authentic records. ‘The conversion of that peo- 
 ple was attempted, in 933, by their monarch, Hagen Adel- 
 steen, who had been educated among the English, and 
 who employed certain ecclesiastics of that nation to in- 
 struct his subjects in the doctrines of Christianity. But 
 his pious efforts were rendered fruitless by the brutal ob- 
 stinacy with which the Norwegians persevered in their 
 ancient prejudices ; and the assiduity and zeal with which 
 his successor Harald Graufeldt pursiied the.same plan of 
 reformation, were also without effect.¢ The succeeding 
 princes, far from being discouraged by these obstacles, 
 persisted firmly in their worthy purpose; and Haco, among 
 others, yielding to the entreaties of Harald, king of Den- 
 mark, to whom he was indebted for the Norwegian crown, 
 embraced, himself, the Christian religion, and recommend- 
 ed it with the greatest fervour to his subjects, in an as- 
 sembly of the people, holden in 945.¢ ‘This recommen- 
 dation, notwithstanding the solemnity and zeal with 
 which it was accompanied, made little impression upon 
 the minds of this fierce and barbarous people; nor were 
 they entirely gained over by the zealous endeavours of 
 Olaus to convert them to Christianity, though the pious 
 diligence of that prince, which procured him the honour 
 of saintship, was not altogether without effect. But that 
 which gave the finishing stroke to the conversion of the 
 Norwegians was their subjection to Sueno, or Swein, king 
 of Sweden, who, having defeated their monarch Olaus 
 ‘Tryg-gueson, became master of Norway, and obliged its 
 inhabitants to abandon the gods of their ancestors, and to 
 embrace universaliy the religion of Jesus.¢ Among the 
 various doctors who were sent to instruct this barbarous 
 people, the most eminent, both in merit and authority, 
 was Guthebald, an English priest.» From Norway, 
 Christianity spread its salutary light through the adjacent 
 countries, and was preached, with success, in the Orkney 
 islands, which were, at that time, subject io the Norwegian 
 kings, and also in Iceland and Old Groenland ; for it is 
 evident, from many circumstances and records of un- 
 doubted authority, that the greatest part of the inhabi- 
 tants of these countries received the Gospel in this century. 
 
 1X. In Germany the pious exploits of Otho the Great 
 contributed, in asignal manner, to promote the interest of 
 
 chosen band of soldiers, and, sword in hand, performed the functions of 
 missionary and apostle. His ministry, thus enforced, was followed with 
 the desired success throughout all the provinces, except that of Dron- 
 theim, which rose in rebellion against him, and attacked Christianity 
 with the same kind of arggyments that Olaus employed in establishing 
 it. This opposition Vi ae several bloody battles, which ended, 
 however, in the defeat of the rebels, andof the god Thor, their tutelar 
 deity, whose statue Olaus dragged from its place, and burned publicly in 
 the sight of his worshippers. This event dejected the courage of the 
 inhabitants of Drontheim, who submitted to the religion and lews 0 
 their conqueror. And thus, before the reign of Sueno, at least before the 
 defeat of Olaus by that prince, Norway was Christian. See the History 
 of Denmark, published in French by M. Mallet, vol. i. p. 52, 53. 
 
 h Chron. Danicum a Ludewigio editum in Reliquiis Manuscriptorum, 
 tom ix, p. 1), 16,17. 
 
 1.On the subject of the conversion of the inhanitants of the Orkneys, 
 see Torfei Historia Rerum Oreadens lib. i. p. 22, and, for an account of 
 the Icelanders, the reader may consult Arngrim Jonas’ Crymogea, lib. i. 
 and Arius’ Multis. in Schedis Islandiw; as also Torfeeus, Histor. Nor- 
 veg. tom. ii. p. 378, 379,417; and Gabriel Liron’s Singularités Histo- 
 riques et Literaires, t.i.p. 188 —The same Torfeus gives a full account 
 
208 
 
 Christianity, and to fix it upon solid foundations through- 
 out the empire. ‘This truly great prince, whose pious 
 magnanimity clothed him with a lustre infinitely superior 
 to that which he derived from his imperial dignity, was 
 constantly employed in extirpating the remains of the an- 
 cient superstitions, and in supporting and confirming the 
 infant church, which in several provinces liad not yet at- 
 tained any considerable degree of consistence and vigour. 
 That there might be rulers and pastors to govern the 
 church, and to contribute both by their doctrine and exam- 
 ple to the reformation and improvement of an unpolished 
 and illiterate people, he established bishops in several pla- 
 ces, and generously erected and endowed the bishoprics 
 of Brandenburg, Havelberg, Meissen, Magdeburg, and 
 Naumberg ; by which excellent establishments the church 
 was furnished with eminent doctors from various parts, 
 whose instructions were the occasion of raising up new 
 labourers in the spiritual harvest, and of thus multiplying 
 the ministers of Christ from time to time. It was also 
 through the munificence of the same prince, that many 
 convents were erected for those who, in conformity with the 
 false piety of the times, chose to finish their Christian 
 course in the indolent sanctity of a solitary life; and it 
 was by his express order that schools were established in 
 almost every city for the education of the youth. All 
 this may serve to show us the generosity and zeal of this 
 illustrious emperor, whose merit would have surpassed the 
 highest encomiums, had his prudence and moderation 
 been equal to the fervour of his piety and the uprightness 
 of his intentions. But the superstition of his empress,* 
 and the deplorable ignorance of the times, deluded this 
 good prince into the notion, that he obliged the Deity in 
 proportion as he loaded the clergy with riches and honours, 
 and that nothing was more proper to draw down upon 
 him the divine protection, than the exercise of a bound- 
 less liberality to his ministers. In consequence of this idle 
 and extravagant fancy, Otho opened the sources of his 
 opulence, which flowed into the church like an overgrown 
 torrent, so that the bishops, monks, and the religious fra- 
 ternities in general, wallowed in wealth and abundance. 
 But succeeding ages perceived the unhappy effects of this 
 excessive and ill-judged munificence, when the sacred or- 
 ders employed this opulence, which they had acquired 
 without either merit or labour, in gratifying their passions, 
 in waging war against all who opposed their ambitious 
 pretensions, and in purchasing the various pleasures of a 
 luxurious and effeminate life. 
 
 X. It was no doubtful mark of the progress and 
 strength of the Christian cause, that the European kings 
 and princes began so early as this century to form the 
 project of a holy war against the Mohammedans, who 
 were masters of Palestine. Theygeonsidered it as an in- 
 tolerable reproach upon Christians, that the very land in 
 which the divine author of their religion had received his 
 birth, had exercised his ministry, and made expiation for 
 the sins of mortals, should be abandoned to the enemies of 
 the Christian name. ‘They also looked upon it as highly 
 just, and suitable to the majesty of the Christian religion, 
 to avenge the calamities and injuries, the persecution and 
 
 of the introduction of Christianity into Groenland, in his Histor. Nor- 
 veg. tom. ii. p. 374, and also in his Groenlandia Antiqua, c. xvii. p. 127. 
 * See ‘he life of the empress, whose name was Adelaide, in the Lec- 
 tiones Antique of Henry Canisius, tom. iii. 
 ¢ This is the twenty-eighth Epistle in the first part of the collection of 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 reproach, which its professors had suffered under the Mo- 
 hammedan yoke. 'The bloody signal was accordingly 
 given toward the conclusion of this century, by Sylvester 
 If. in the first year of his pontificate; and this signal was 
 an epistle, written in the name of the church of Jerusalem, 
 to the church universal throughout the world, in which 
 the European powers were solemnly exhorted and entreat- 
 ed to succour and deliver the Christians in Palestine. ‘The 
 pope’s exhortations, however, were without effect, except 
 upon the inhabitants of Pisa, who.are said to have obey- 
 ed the summons with the utmost alacrity, and to have 
 prepared themselves immediately for a holy campaign.* 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Calamitous Events thas happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Christian religion suffered less in this century 
 from the cruelty of its enemies, than from the defection 
 of its friends. Of all the pagan monarchs, under whose 
 government the Christians lived, none behaved to them 
 in a hostile manner, or tormented them with the execu- 
 tion of compulsive edicts or penal laws, except Gormon 
 and Swein, kings of Denmark. Notwithstanding this, 
 their affairs were far from being either in a fixed or flou- 
 rishing state; and their situation was full of uncertainty 
 and peril, both in the eastern and western provinces. "The 
 Saracens in Asia and Africa, amidst the intestine divi- 
 sions under which they groaned, and the calamities that 
 overwhelmed them from different quarters, were extreme- 
 
 ly assiduous in propagating the doctrines of Mohammed ; 
 
 nor were their efforts unsuccessful. Multitudes of Chris. 
 tians fell into their snares; and the Turks, a valiant and 
 fierce nation, who inhabited the northern coast of the 
 Caspian sea, received their doctrine. "The uniformity of 
 religion did not, however, produce a solid union of inter- 
 est between the Turks and Saracens; on the contrary, 
 their dissensions and quarrels were never more violent 
 than from the time that Mohammed became their com- 
 mon chief in religious matters. The Persians, whose 
 country was a prey to the ambitious usurpations of the 
 latter, implored the aid of the former, by whom succours 
 were granted with the utmest alacrity and readiness. 
 The Turks accordingly fell upon the Saracens in a furi- 
 ous manner, drove them out of the whole extent of the 
 Persian territories, and afterwards, with incredible rapidi- 
 ty and success, invaded, seized, and plundered the other 
 provinces that belonged to that people, whose desolation, 
 in reality, came on like awhilwind. ‘Thus the powerful 
 empire of the Saracens, which its enemies had for so 
 many years attempted in vain to overturn, fell at last by 
 the hands of its allies and friends. ‘The Turks accom- 
 plished’ what the Greeks and Romans ineffectually aimed 
 at; they struck suddenly that dreadful blow, which ruin- 
 ed at once the affairs of the Saracens in Persia, and then 
 deprived them by degrees of their other dominions; and 
 thus the Ottoman empire, which is still an object of ter- 
 ror tothe Christians, was established upon the ruins of the 
 Saracen dominion.* 
 
 the letters of Sylvester II. published by Du-Chesne, in the third volume 
 of his Seriptor. Histor. Franc. ‘ 
 
 ¢ See Muratori, Seriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. p. 400. 
 
 4 For a more ample account of these revolutions, seethe Annales Tur- 
 cici of Leunclayius, and Elmacini Historia Saracenica. 
 
Snap. II. - 
 | 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 209 
 
 U. In the western provinces, the Christians had much || tions, and calamities, which the Christians suffered from 
 
 to suffer from the hatred and cruelty of those who remain- 
 ed under the darkness of paganism. 'The Normans, 
 during a great part of this century, committed, in several 
 parts of France, the most barbarous hostilities, and involv- 
 ed the Christians, wherever they carried their victorious 
 arms, in numberless calamities. The Sarmatians, Scla- 
 vonians, Bohemians, and others, who had either conceiy- 
 ed an aversion for the Gospel, or were sunk in a stupid 
 ignorance of its intrinsic excellence and its immortal bless- 
 ings, not only endeavoured to extirpate Christianity out of 
 their own territories by the most barbarous efforts of eru- 
 elty and violence, but infested the adjacent countries, 
 where it was professed, with fire and sword, and left, 
 wherever they went, the most dreadful marks of their un- 
 relenting fury. ‘The Danes, moreover, did not cease to 
 molest the Christians, until they were subdued by Otho 
 the Great, and thus, from being the enemies, became the 
 friends of the Christian cause. The Hungarians also 
 contributed their part to the sufferings of the church, by 
 their incursions into several parts of Germany, which they 
 turned into scenes of desolation and misery; while the 
 fierce Arabs, by their tyranny in Spain, and their depreda- 
 tions in Italyand the neighbouring islands, spread calamity 
 and oppression all around them, of which, no doubt, the 
 Christiansestablished in those parts had the heaviest portion. 
 
 Ii]. Whoever considers the endless vexations, persecu- 
 
 No. XVIII. 33 
 
 vo 
 
 | savage fury they experienced from time to time. 
 
 the nations that.continued in their ancient superstitions, 
 will easily perceive the reason of that fervent and inex- 
 tinguishable zeal, which Christian princes discovered for 
 the conversion of those nations, whose impetuous and 
 A prin- 
 ciple of self-preservation, and’a prudent regard to their 
 own safety, as well as a pious zeal for the propagation of 
 the Gospel, engaged them to put in practice every method 
 that might open the eyes of their barbarous adversaries, 
 from a rational and well-grounded hope that the precepts 
 of Christianity would mitigate, by degrees, the ferocity of 
 these nations, and soften their rugged and intractable tem- 
 pers. Hence it was, that Christian kings and emperors 
 left no means unemployed to draw these infidels within 
 the pale of the church. For this purpose, they proposed 
 to their chiefs alliances of marriage, and offered them cer- 
 tain districts and territories, with auxiliary troops to main- 
 tain them against their enemies, upon condition that they 
 would abandon the superstition of their ancestors, which 
 tended to nourish their ferecity, and to increase their pas- 
 sion for blood and carnage. ‘These offers were attended 
 with the desired success, as they induced the infidel chiefs 
 not only to lend an ear themselves to the instructions and 
 exhortations of the Christian missionaries, but also to 
 oblige their subjects and armies to follow their examples 
 in this important respect. 
 
PART II. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy dur- 
 ing this Century. 
 I. Tite deplorable ignorance of this barbarous age, in 
 which the drooping arts were totally neglected, and the 
 
 sciences seemed to be on the point of expiring for want of 
 
 encouragement, is unanimously confessed and lamented 
 
 by all the writers who have transmitted to us any ac- | 
 
 counts of this period. Nor, indeed, will this fatal revolu- 
 tion, in the republic of letters, appear astonishing to such 
 as consider, on one hand, the terrible vicissitudes, tumults, 
 and wars, that threw all things into confusion both in 
 the eastern and western world, and, on the other, the ig- 
 nominious stupidity and dissoluteness of those sacred or- 
 ders which had been appointed as the guardians of truth 
 and learning. Leo, surnamed the philosopher, who as- 
 cended the imperial throne of the Greeks toward the 
 commencement of this century, was himself an eminent 
 lover of learning, and an auspicious and zealous protec- 
 tor of such as distinguished themselves in the culture of 
 the sciences. ‘This noble and generous disposition ap- 
 peared with still greater lustre in his son Constantine Por- 
 phyrogeneta, who evinced the greatest ardour for the re- 
 vival of the arts and sciences in Greece,’ and employed 
 what he deemed the most effectual measures for the ac- 
 complishment of this excellent purpose. It was with 
 this view that he spared no expense in drawing to his 
 court, and supporting in his dominions, a variety of learn- 
 ed men, each of whom excelled in some of the different 
 branches of literature, and in causing the most diligent 
 search to be made for the writings of the ancients. With 
 this view, also, he became himself an author,‘ and thus 
 animated by his example, as- well as by his protection, 
 men of genius and abilities to enrich the sciences with 
 their learned productions. He employed, moreover, a con- 
 siderable number of able pens, in making valuable ex- 
 tracts from the commentaries and other compositions of 
 the ancients; which extracts were preserved in certain 
 places for the benefit and satisfaction of the-curious; and 
 thus, by various exertions of liberality and zeal, this 
 learned prince restored the arts and sciences to a certain 
 degree of life and vigour. But there were few of the 
 Greeks who followed this great and illustrious example ; 
 nor did any of the succeeding emperors equal these two 
 excellent princes in zeal for the advancement of learning, 
 or in lending, by protection and encouragement, an aus- 
 picious hand to raise, out of obscurity and dejection, neg- 
 lected and depressed genius. But (what is still more re- 
 markable) Constantine Porphyrogeneta, whom we have 
 now been representing as the restorer of letters, and whom 
 the Greeks unanimously admire in this character, is sup- 
 posed by some to have done considerable prejudice to the 
 
 * See Jo. Alb. Fabricii Biblioth. Gree. lib. v. part ii. cap. v. p. 363. 
 
 » Fabricius, lib. v. part il. cap. v. p. 486. 
 
 3=> * We have yet remaining the following productions of this 
 prince: The Life of the Emperor Basilius ;—a Treatise upon the art of 
 Governing, in which he investigates the origin of several nations, treats 
 of their power, their progress, their revolutions, and their decline, and 
 
 cause of learning by the very means he employed to 
 promote its advancement ; for, by employing learned men 
 to extract from the writers of antiquity what they thought 
 might contribute to the improvement of the various arts 
 and sciences, he gave too much occasion to neglect the 
 sources, and flattered the indolence of the effeminate 
 Greeks, who confined their studies to these »xtracts, and 
 neglected, in effect, the perusal of the writers from whom 
 they were drawn. Hence it unfortunately happened, that 
 many of the most celebrated authors of antiquicy were 
 lost, at this time, through the sloth and negligeace of the 
 Greeks. 
 
 Il. This method, as the event manifestly showed, was 
 really detrimental to the progress of true learning and ge- 
 nius. And accordingly we find among the Greek writers 
 of this century only a small number, who acquired a dis- 
 tinguished and shining reputation in the republic of letters; 
 so that the fair and engaging prospects which seemed ta 
 arise in the cause of learning from the munificence and 
 zeal of its imperial patrons, vanished in a short time; and 
 though the seeds of science were richly sown, the natura. 
 expectations of an abundant. harvest were unhappily dis- 
 appointed. Nor did the cause of philosophy succeed bet- 
 ter than that of literature. Philosophers indeed there were; 
 and some of them were not destitute cf genius and abilities 
 but not one of them rendered his name immortal by pro- 
 ductions that were worthy of being transmitted to posterity, 
 A certain number of rhetoricians and grammarians, a few 
 poets who were above contempt, and several historians 
 who, without deserving the highest encomiums, were not 
 totally destitute of merit, were the members that composed, 
 at this time, the republic of letters in Greece, whose inha- 
 bitants seemed to take pleasure in those kinds of literature 
 alone, in which industry, imagination, and memory, are 
 concerned. 
 
 Ill. Egypt, though at this time it groaned under a 
 heavy and exasperating yoke of oppression and bondage, 
 produced writers, who, in genius and learning, were no- 
 wise inferior to the most eminent of the Grecian literati. 
 Among the many examples we might mention to prove 
 the truth of this assertion, we shall confine ourselves to 
 that of Eutychius, bishop of Alexandria, who cultivated 
 the sciences of physic and theology with the greatest suc- 
 cess, and cast a new light upon them both by his excellent 
 writings. The Arabians, during this whole century, pre- 
 served that noble passion for the arts and sciences, which 
 had been kindled among them in the preceding age; and 
 hence their country abounded with physicians, mathema- 
 ticians, and philosophers, whose names and characters, 
 together with an account of their respective abilities and 
 talents, are given by Leo Africanus, and other literary his- 
 torians. : 
 
 IV. The Latins present to us a spectacle of a very dif 
 
 gives a series of their princes and rulers ;—a Discourse concerning the 
 Manner of forming a Land Army and Naval Force in Order of Battle 
 
 Two Books concerning the eastern and western Provinces, which may be 
 || considered as an account of the state of the empire in the time ofthis prince. 
 « All this appears evident from the accounts left upon record by Zona- 
 
 || Tas, in his Annales, tom. iil. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 ferent kind. They were almost without exception sunk | 
 in the most brutish and barbarous ignorance ; so that, ac- 
 cording to the unanimous accounts of the most credible | 
 writers, nothing could be more melancholy and deplorable 
 than the darkness that reigned in the western world during 
 this century, which, with respect to learning and philoso- 
 phy at least, may be called the Jron Age of the Latins. 
 Sonie learned men of modern times have, we confess, ven- 
 tured to call this in question: but their doubts are cer- 
 tainly without foundation, and the matter of fact is too 
 firmly established by unquestionable authorities to lose 
 any part of its credit in consequence of the objections they | 
 allege against it.» It is true, there were public schools 
 
 founded in most of the European provinces, some of. 
 which were erected in the monasteries, and the rest in| 
 those cities where the bishops resided. It is also true, 
 
 that through this dismal night of ignorance there shone 
 
 forth from time to time, and more especially toward the 
 
 conclusion of this century, some geniuses of a superior 
 
 order, who eyed with ardour the paths of science, and cast 
 
 some rays of light upon the darkness of a barbarous age. 
 
 But they were very few in number, and their extreme 
 
 rarity is a sufficient proof of the infelicity of the times in 
 
 which they appeared. In the seminaries of learning, such | 
 as they were, the seven liberal arts were taught in the 
 
 most unskilful and miserable manner by the monks, who 
 
 esteemed the arts and sciences no farther than as they 
 
 were subservient to the interests of religion, or, to speak 
 
 more properly, to the views of superstition. 
 
 V. They who were the most learned and judicious 
 among the monastic orders, and who were desirous of 
 employing usefully a part of their leisure, applied them- 
 selves to the composition of annals and _ histories, which 
 savoured of the ignorance and barbarism of the times. | 
 Such were Abo, Luitprand, Wittekind, Fulcuin, Johannes | 
 Capuanus, Ratherius, Flodoard, Notker, Ethelbert, and 
 others, who, though very different from each other in 
 their respective degrees of merit, were all ignorant of the 
 true nature and rules of historical composition. Several 
 of the poets of this age gave evident marks of true genius; 
 but they were strangers to the poetic art, which was not 
 indeed necessary to satisfy a people utterly destitute of 
 elegance and taste. "he grammarians and rhetoricians 
 of these unhappy times are scarcely worthy of mention ; 
 their method of instructing was full of absurdities ; and 
 their rules were trivial, and, for the most part, injudicious. | 
 ‘he same judgment may be formed in general of the | 
 geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music, which were | 
 more or less taught in the public schools, and of which a | 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPITY. 
 
 211 
 
 4 e . . - 
 more particular account would be uninstructive and in- 
 
 —sipid. 
 
 VI. "The philosophy of the Latins extended no farther 
 
 than the single science of logic or dialectics, which they 
 looked upon as the sum and substance of all human wis- 
 
 dom. But this logic, which was so highly admired, was 
 drawn without the least perspicuity or method from a 
 book of Categories, which some have unjustly attributed 
 to Augustin, and others to Porphyry. It is true, indeed, 
 that the 'Timeeus of Plato, the ‘Topica of Cicero and Aris- 
 totle, and the book of the latter concerning: interpretation, 
 with other compositions of the Greeks and Romans, were 
 in the hands of several of the doctors of this century, as we 
 learn from credible accounts; but the same accounts in- 
 form us, that the true sense of these excellent authors was 
 scarecly understood by any of those who daily perused 
 them.: It will appear, no doubt, surprising, that in such 
 an ignorant age such a subtle question as that concerning 
 universal ideas should ever have been thought of; true 
 however it is, that the famous controversy, whether uni- 
 versal ideas belonged to the class of objects or of mere 
 names (a controversy which perplexed and bewildered the 
 Latin doctors im succeeding times, and gave rise to the 
 opposite sects of the Nominalists and Realists,) was started 
 for the first time in this century. Accordingly we find, in 
 several passages of the writers of this period, the seeds and 
 beginnings of this tedious and intricate dispute.¢ 
 
 VIL. "The drooping sciences found an eminent and illus- 
 trious patron, toward the conclusion of this century, in the 
 learned Gerbert, a native of 'rance, who, upon his eleva 
 tion to the pontificate, assumed the title of Sylvester II 
 The genius of this famous pontiff was extensive and sub- 
 lime, embracing all the branches of literature; but its 
 more peculiar bent was turned toward mathematical stu- 
 dies. Mechanics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and 
 every other kind of knowledge that had the least affinity 
 to these important sciences, were cultivated by this restorer 
 of learning with the most ardent zeal, and not without 
 success, as his writings abundantly testify; nor did he 
 stop here, but employed every method that was proper to 
 encourage and animate others to the culture of the liberal 
 arts and sciences. ‘The effects of this noble zeal were 
 visible in Germany, France, and Italy, both in this and 
 in the following century; as by the writings, example, 
 and exhortations of Gerbert, many were incited to the 
 study of physic, mathematics, and philosophy, and in ge- 
 neral to the pursuit of science in all its branches. — If, in- 
 deed, we compare this learned pontiff with the mathema- 
 ticians of modern times, his merit, in that point of view, 
 
 « The testimonies that prove the ignorance which prevailed in the 
 tenth century, are collected by du Boulay, in his Historia Acad. Paris. 
 tom. i. p. 288; and also by Lud. Ant. Muratori, in his Antiquitat. Ital. | 
 medi AB vi, tom. iii. p. 831, et tom. ii. p. 141, &e. 
 
 b The famous Leibnitz, in his preface to the Cod. Juris Nat. et Genti- } 
 um Diplomat, affirms that more knowledge and learning existed in the 
 tenth century, than in the sueceeding ages, particularly in the twelfth 
 
 “and thirteenth centuries. But this is washing the Ethiopian; it is an ex- 
 travagant assertion, and borders upon paradox. We shall be better | 
 directed in our notions of this matter by Mabillon, in his Preefat. ad Act. | 
 Bened. Quint. Sec. p. 2; by the authors of the Histoire Literaire de la , 
 France; and by Le Beuf’s Dissertat. de Statu Literarum in Francia, a 
 Carolo M. ad Regem Robertum; who all agree in acknowledging the 
 gross ignorance of this century, though they would engage us to believe 
 that its barbarism and darkness were not so hideous as they are common- | 
 ly represented. There are, indeed, several considerations that render | 
 the reasons an] testimonies even of these writers not a little defective; || 
 Lut weagree with them so far as to grant that all learning and know- i 
 
 ledge were not absolutely extinguished in Europe at this time, and 
 that, in the records of this century, we shall find a few chosen spirits, 
 who pierced through the cloud of ignorance that covered the multi- 
 
 | tude., 
 
 * Gunzo, Epistol. ad Monachos Augiensis in Maricnne’s Collect. Am- 
 pliss. Monumentor. Veter. tom. iii. p. 304. 
 
 4‘his appears evident from the following remaikable passage, which 
 the reader will find in the 304th page of the work cited in the preceding 
 note, and in which the learned Gunzo expresses himself in the following 
 manner: “ Aristoteles, genus, speciem, differentiam, proprium et accidens, 
 subsistere denegavit, que Platoni subsistertia persuasit. Aristoteli an 
 Platoni magis credendum putatis? Magna est utriusque auctoritas, qua- 
 tenus vix audeat quis alterum alteri dignitate preferre.” Here we see 
 plainly the seeds of discord sown, and the foundation laid for that knotty 
 dispute which puzzled the metaphysical brains of the Latin doctors in 
 after times. Gunzo was not adventurous enough to attempt a solutien of 
 this intricate ouestion, which he leaves undecided; others were less mo- 
 dest, without being more successful, 
 
212 
 
 will almost totally disappear under such a disadvantageous | 
 comparison, for his Geometry, though it be easy and per- | 
 spicuous, is merely elementary and superficial. Yet, such 
 as it was, it was marvellous in an age of barbarism and 
 darkness, and surpassed the apprehension of those pigmy 
 philosophers, whose eyes, under the auspicious direction of | 
 Gerbert, were just beginning to open upon, the light. 
 Hence it was, that the geometrical figures, described by 
 this mathematical pontiff, were regarded by the monks as | 
 magical operations, and the pontiff himself was treated as 
 a magician and a disciple of Satan.» 
 
 VII. It was not however to the fecundity of his genius 
 alone, that Gerbert was indebted for the knowledge with 
 which he now began to enlighten the European provinces; | 
 he had derived a part of his erudition, particularly in phy- 
 sic, inathematics, and philosophy, from the writings and | 
 instructions of the Arabians, who were settled in Spain. 
 "Thither he had repaired in pursuit of knowledge, and had 
 spent some time in the seminaries of learning at Cordova 
 and Seville, with a view of hearing the Arabian doctors ;° 
 and it was, perhaps, by his example, that the Europeans 
 were directed and engaged to have recourse to this source 
 of instruction in after times; for it is undeniably certain, 
 that from the time of Gerbert, such of the Europeans as 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 were ambitious of making any considerable progress im 
 physic, arithmetic, geometry, or philosophy, entertained 
 the most eager and impatient desire of receiving instruc- 
 tion either from the academical lessons, or from the wri- 
 tings of the Arabian philosophers, who had founded schools 
 in several parts of Spain and Italy. Hence it was, that the 
 most celebrated productions of these doctors were transla- 
 ted into Latin; their tenets and systems were adopted with 
 zeal in the European schools; and numbers went over to 
 Spain and Italy to receive instruction from the mouths of | 
 these famous teachers, which were supposed to utter no- 
 thing but the deepest mysteries of wisdom and knowledge. 
 However excessive this veneration for the learned Arabians 
 may have been, it must be owned, thai all the knowledge, 
 whether of physic, astronomy, philosophy, or mathematics, 
 which flourished in Europe from the tenth century, was 
 originally derived from them: and that the Spanish Sa- 
 racens, in a more particular manner, may be looked upon 
 as the fathers of European philosophy. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and iis Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. 'To those who consider the primitive dignity and the 
 solemn nature of the ministerial character, the corruptions 
 of the clergy must appear deplorable beyond all expression. 
 ‘These corruptions had risen to the most enormous height 
 in that dismal period of the church which we have now 
 before us. Both in the eastern and western provinces, 
 
 * This work was 
 tom. lll. part il. p. 7. 
 
 b See the Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. vi. p. 558.—Du Boulay, Hist. 
 Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 314, 319—Naude, Apologie pour les Grands + 
 Hommes faussement accusés de la Magie, chap. xix. sect. 4. 
 
 * Du Boulay, tom. i. p. 314. 
 
 x1 This exemplary prelate, who sold every ecclesiastical benefice 
 as soon as it became vacant, had in his stable above 2000 hunting horses, 
 which he fed with pig-nuts, pistachios, dates, dried grapes, and fies 
 steeped in the most exquisite wines, to all which he added the richest 
 perfumes. On Holy Thursday, as he was celebrating high-mass, his 
 
 published by Pezius, in his Thesaurus Anecdotorum, 
 
 greom brought him the joyful news that one of his favourite mares had 
 
 Part I]. 
 the clergy were, for the most part, a most worthless set of 
 men, shamefully illiterate and stupid, ignorant more espe- 
 cially in religious matters, equally enslaved to sensuality 
 and superstition, and capable of the most abominable and 
 flagitious deeds. ‘This dismal degeneracy of the sacred 
 order, according to the most credible accounts, principally 
 arose from the scandalous examples of those who ought to 
 have presented models of good conduct,—namely, the pre- 
 tended chiefs and rulers of the universal church, who in- 
 dulged themselves in the commission of odious crimes, and 
 abandoned themselves to the lawless impulse of the most 
 licentious passions without reluctance or remorse; who 
 confounded, in ‘short, all difference between just and un- 
 
 just acts, to satisfy their impious ambition; and whose 
 
 spiritual empire was such a diversified scene of iniquity 
 and violence, as never was exhibited under any of those 
 temporal tyrants, who have been the scourges of mankind. 
 We may form some notion of the Grecian patriarchs from 
 the single example of Theophylact, who, according to the 
 testimonies of the most respectable writers, made the most 
 impious traffic of ecclesiastical promotions, and expressed 
 no sort of care about any thing but his dogs and _horses.4 
 Degenerate, however, and licentious as these patriarchs 
 might be, they were, in general, less profligate and inde- 
 cent than the Roman pontifls. 
 
 If. 'The history of the popes, who lived in this century, 
 is a history of so many monsters, and not of men, and ex- 
 hibits a horrible series of the most flagitious, tremendous, 
 and complicated crimes, as all writers, even those of the 
 Romish communion, unanimously confess. The source 
 of these disorders must be sought principally in the cala- 
 mities that fell upon the greatest part of Europe, and 
 which afflicted Italy in a particular manner, after the ex- 
 tinction of the race of Charlemagne. On the death of Be- 
 nedict [V., in 903, Leo V. was raised to the pontificate, 
 which he enjoyed no longer than forty days, being de- 
 throned by Christopher, and cast into prison. Christopher, 
 in his turn, was deprived of the pontifical dignity in the 
 following year by Sergius III., a Roman presbyter, second- 
 ed by the protection and influence of Adalbert, a most 
 powerful Tuscan prince, who had a supreme and unli- 
 mited direction in all the affairs that were transacted at 
 Rome. Anastasius II., and Lando, who, on the death 
 of Sergius, in 911, were raised successively to the papal 
 dignity, enjoyed it but for a short time, and did nothing 
 that could contribute to render their names illustrious. 
 
 Til. After the death of Lando, which happened in 914, 
 Alberic,* marquis or count of ‘Tuscany, whose opulence 
 was prodigious, and whose authority in Rome was despo- 
 tic and unlimited, obtained the pontificate for John X., 
 archbishop of Ravenna, in compliance with the solicitation 
 of Theodora, his mother-in-law, whose lewdness was the 
 principle that interested her in this promotion.£ This in- 
 famous election will not surprise such as know that the 
 
 foaled; upon which he threw down the liturgy, left the church, and ran 
 in raptures to the stable, where having expressed his joy at that grand 
 event, he returned to the altar to finish the divine service, which he had 
 left interrupted during his absence. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. livre 
 lv. a 
 
 32> ¢ It was Albert or Adalbert, of whom Dr. Mosheim here speaks. 
 Alberic was grandson to the elder Theodora, by her daughter Marozia, 
 who was married to Albert. See Spanheim, Eccles. Hist. Secul. X. p. 
 1432.—Fleury, Hist. Eccles. livre liv. The latter historian is of opinion, 
 that it was the younger Theodora, the sister of Marozia, who, from an 
 amorous principle, raised John to the pontificate. 
 
 3 ‘ Theodora, mistress of Rome, procured the elevation of John, 
 
Crap. It. DOCTORS 
 
 ° 
 
 laws of Rome were at this time absolutely silent ; that the 
 dictates of justice and equity were overpowered ‘and sus- 
 pended ; and that ali things were carried on in that great 
 city by interest or corruption, by violence or fraud. John X.., 
 
 though ia other respects a scandalous example of iniquity 
 and lewdness in the papal chair, , acquired a certain degree 
 of reputation by his glorious campaign against the Sara- 
 cens, whom he drove fromsthe settlement Which they had 
 made upon the banks of the Garigliano He did not, 
 however, long enjoy his glory ; for ihe enmity of Marozia, 
 daughter of Theodora and wife of Alberic, proved fatal to 
 him ; ; for this inhuman female, having espoused Wido, or 
 Guy, marquis of Tuscany, after the death of her first con- 
 sort, engaged him to seize the wanton pontiff, who was 
 her mother’s lov er, and to put him to death in the prison 
 where he lay confined. ‘This licentious pontiff was suc- 
 ceeded by Leo VL, who sat but seven months in the apos- 
 tolic chair, which was filled after him by Stephen VII. 
 The death of the latter, which happened in 931, presented 
 to the ambition of Marozia an obiect worthy of its grasp ; 
 
 and accordingly she raised to the ‘papal dignity John XIL., 
 
 CHURCH-GOVERNME 
 
 who was the fruit of her lawless amours with one of ihe 
 pretended successors of St. Peter, Sergius ILL, whose adul- | 
 
 terous commerce with that infamous woman gave an in- 
 Jallible guide to the Romish church.® 
 
 LV. John XI., who was placed at the head of the church 
 by the credit and influence of his mother, was pulled down 
 from this summit of spiritual grandeur, in 933, by Alberic 
 his half-brother, who had conceived the utmost, aversion 
 against him. His mother Marozia had, after the death of 
 Wido, entered anew into the bonds of matrimony with 
 Ilugo, king of Italy, who, having offended his step-son 
 Alberic, felt sev erely ‘the weight of his resentment, which 
 vented its fury upon the whole family; for Alberic drove 
 out of Rome not only Hugo, but also Marozia and her 
 son the pontiff, and confined them in prison, where the 
 latter ended his days in 936. 'The four pontiffs, who, in 
 their turns, succeeded John XL, and filled the papal chair 
 until the year 956, were Leo VIL, Stephen VILT., Mari- 
 nus IL, and Agapet, whose characters were much better 
 than that of their predecessor, and whose government, at 
 least, was not attended with those tumults and revolutions 
 that had so often shaken the pontifical throne, and banish- 
 ed from Rome the inestimable blessings of peace and con- 
 cord. On the death of Agapet, which happened in 956, 
 Alberic LL, who to the dignity of Roman consul joined a 
 degree of authority and opulence which nothing could re- 
 sist, raised to the pontificate his son Octavian, who was yet 
 in the early bloom of youth, and destitute, besides, of every 
 quality that was requisite for discharging the duties of that 
 high and important office. "This unworthy pontiff assu- 
 med the name of John XIL., and thus introduced the cus- 
 tom that has since been adopted by all his successors in 
 
 that she might continue the licentious commerce in which she had lived 
 with that carnal ecclesiastic for many years before. 
 
 xr" In the original we have Montem Garilianum, which is, wn- 
 doubtedly a mistake, as the Garigliano is a river in the kingdom of Na- 
 ples, and not a mountain. ; 
 
 > Ths character and conduct of Marozia are acknowleged to have 
 been most infamous by the geaeral testimony both of ancient ‘and modern 
 historians, who affirm, with one voice, that John XI. was the fruit of her 
 commerce with Sergius HI. Eccard alone (in his Origines Guelphice, 
 tom. i. lib. iii.) has ventured to clear her from this reproach, and to assert, 
 that Sergius, before his elevation to the pontificate, was her lawful and 
 first husband. The attempt, however, is highly extravagant, if not im- 
 prudent, to pretend to acquit, without the least testimony « or proof of her 
 
 No: X VIM. 54 
 
 ENT, BTC. 213 
 the see of Rome, of assuming another name upon the ac 
 quisition of the pontificate. 
 
 V. 'The fate of John XII. was as unhappy as his pro- 
 motion had been scandalous. Unable to bear the eppres- 
 ve yoke of Berenger IL. king of Italy, he sent ambassa- 
 aie in 960, to Otho the ‘Grent, urgipg ‘him to march into 
 Italy at the head of a powerful army, to deliver the church 
 and the people from the tyranny under which the *y groaned, 
 lo these entreaties the perplexed pontiff added a solemin 
 promise, that, if the German monarch would come to his 
 assistance, he would array him with the purple aud the 
 other ensigns of sovereignty, and proclaim him emperor 
 of the Romans. Otho received this embassy with plea- 
 sure, marched into Italy at the head of a large body of 
 troops, and was accordingly saluted by John with tie pro- 
 mised title. 'The pontiff, however, soon perceiving that 
 he had acted with too much precipitation, repented of the 
 step he had taken, and, though he had sworn allegiance 
 to the emperor, as his lawful sovereign, in the most solemn 
 manner, he broke his oath, and joined with Adalbert, the 
 son of Berenger, against Otho. ‘This revolt was not left 
 unpunished. ‘The emperor returned to Rome in 965 ; 
 called a council, before which he accused and convicted 
 the pope of many crimes ; and, after having degraded him 
 in the most ignominious manner from his high office, he 
 appointed Leo VILL to fill his place. On Otho’s depar- 
 ture from Rome, John returned to that city, and in a ceun- 
 cil, which he assembled in 964, condemned the pontiff 
 whom the emperor had elected, and soon after died in a 
 miserable and violent manner. After his death the Ko- 
 mans chose Benedict V., bishop of Rome, in opposition to 
 Leo ; but the emperor annulled this election, restored Leo 
 to the papal chair, and carried Benedict to Hamburg, where 
 
 he died in exile.¢ 
 
 VI. The prelates who governed the see of Rome from 
 Leo VIII., who died in 965, to Gerbert, or Sylvester IL., 
 who was raised to the pontificate toward the conclusion of 
 this century, were more happy in their administration, as 
 well as more decent in their conduct, than their infanicus 
 predecessors ; yet none of them acted in so exemplary a 
 manner as to deserve the applause that is due to eminent 
 virtue. John XIII, who was raised to the pontificate, in 
 965, by the authority of Otho the Great, was driven out 
 of Rome in the beginning of his administration ; but in 
 the following year, on the emperor's return to ltaly, he was 
 restored to his high dignity, in the calm possession of which 
 he ended his days in 972. His successor Benedict VI. 
 was not so happy. ‘Thrown into prison by Crescentius, 
 son of the famous Theodora, in consequence of the hatred 
 which the Romans had conceived both against his person 
 and government, he was loaded with all sorts of ignominy, 
 and was strangled i in 974, in the apartment where he lay 
 confined. Unfortunately for him, Otho the Great, whose 
 
 innocence, a woman who is known to have been entirely destitute of every 
 principle of virtue. 
 
 ¢ In the account I have here given of the pontiffs of this century, I 
 have consulted Muratori’s Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, as also Baro- 
 nius, Peter de Marca, Sigonius de Regno Italie (with the learned anno- 
 tations of Ant. Saxius, ) the same Muratori in his Annales Italize Pagi, 
 and oiher writers, all of whom had access to the fountain-head, and to 
 several ancient manuscripts, not yet published. The narrations | have 
 here given, are certainly true upon the whole. It must, however, be con- 
 fessed, that many parts of the papal history lie yet in great obse urity, 
 and, therefore , require farther illustration ; nor Ww ill I deny that a spirit of 
 partiality has ‘been extremely detrime ntal to the history of the pontiff, 
 by corrupting it, and rendering it uncertain in a multitude of places. 
 
~ 
 
 214 
 
 power and severity had kept the Romans in awe, died in 
 973; and with him expired that order and discipline 
 which he had restored in Rome by salutary laws executed 
 with impartiality and vigour. That event changed the as- 
 pect of affairs. Licentiousness and disorder, seditions and 
 assassinations, resumed their former sway, and diffused 
 
 their horrors through that miserable city. After the death | 
 of Benedict, the papal chair was filled by Franco, who as- | 
 
 sumed the name of Boniface VIL., but enjoyed his dignity 
 only for a short time, for scarcely a month had passed after 
 his promotion, when he was deposed from his office, ex- 
 pelled from the city, and succeeded by Donus IL.,* who is 
 known by no. other circumstance than his name. Upon 
 his death, which happened in 975, Benedict VIL. was crea- 
 ted pontiif ; 
 church without much opposition, and ended his days in 
 peace. ‘This peculiar happiness, without doubt, princi- 
 pally resulted from the opulence and credit of the family 
 to which he belonged; for he was nearly related to the 
 famous Alberic, whose power, or rather ‘despotism, had 
 been unlimited in Rome. 
 
 VII. His successor John XIV., who from the bishop- 
 ric of Pavia was raised to the pontificate, derived no sup- 
 port from his birth, which was obscure; nor did he con- 
 tinue to enjoy the protection of Otho IIL, to whom he 
 owed his premotion. Unsupported as he thus was, ca- 
 lamities fell upon him with fury, and misery concluded 
 his transitory grandeur; for Boniface VIL, who had 
 usurped the papal throne, i in 974, and ina little time after 
 had been banished from Rome, returned from Constanti- 
 nople, (whither he had fled for ‘vefuge,) seized the unhap- 
 py pontiff, threw him into prison, and afterwards put him 
 to death. Thus Boniface resumed the government of the 
 church: but his reign was also transitory ; for he died 
 about six months after his restoration.» He was succeed- 
 ed by John XV., whom some writers call John XVI., be- 
 cause, as they allege, there was another John, who ruled 
 the church during a period of four months, and whom they 
 consequently call John XV.° Leaving it to the reader’s 
 choice to call that John of whom we speak, the X Vth or 
 the X Vith of that name, we shall only observe, that he pos- 
 sessed the papal dignity from the year 985 to 996 ; that 
 his administration was as happy as the troubled state of 
 the Roman affairs would permit ; and that the tranquilli- 
 ty he enjoyed was not so much the effect of his wisdom 
 and prudence, as of his being a Roman by birth, and a 
 descendant from nob le and illustrious ancestors. It is cer- 
 tain, at least, that his successor Gregory V., who was a 
 German, and who was elected pontiff by the order of Otho 
 IIL, in 996, met with a quite different treatment; for 
 neesane the Roman consul, drove him out of the city, 
 and conferred his dignity upon John XVI, formerly 
 known by the name “of Philags athus. ‘This ‘revolution 
 was not, however, permanent in its effec ts; for Otho IIL, 
 alarmed by these disturbances at Rome, marched into 
 Italy, in 998, at the head of a powerful army; and, im- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 i 
 and, during the space of nine years, ruled the 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 | prisoning the new pontiff, whom the soldiers, in the first 
 moment of their fury, had maimed and abused in a most 
 barbarous manner, he re-instated Gregory in his former 
 honours. It was on the death of the latter pontiff, which 
 happened soon after his restoration, that the same empe- 
 ror raised to the papal dignity his preceptor and friend, the 
 famous and learned Gerbert, or Sylvester U., w hose’ pro- 
 motion was attended with the universal approbation of the 
 Roman people.¢ 
 
 VIII. Amidst these frequent commotions, and even 
 ‘amidst the repeated enormities and flagitious crimes of 
 those who gave themselves out for Christ’s vicegerents 
 upon earth, the power and authority of the Roman pon- 
 tiffs gradually and imperceptibly increased ; such were the 
 effects of that ignorance and superstition which reigned 
 without control in these miserable times. Otho the Great 
 had indeed published a solemn edict, prohibiting the elec- 
 tion of any pontiff without the previous knowledge and 
 '| consent of the emperor ; which decree, as all writers unani- 
 mously agree, remained in force from the time of its pub- 
 lication to the conclusion of this century. It is also to be 
 observed, that the same emperor (and likewise his son and 
 grandson, who succeeded him in the empire) maintained, 
 without interruption, the right of supremacy over the city 
 of Rome, its territory, and its pontiff, as may be clearly 
 proved by a multitude of examples. It is, moreover, equal- 
 ly certain that the German, French, and Italian bishops, 
 who were not ignorant of the nature of their privileges 
 and the extent of their jurisdiction, were, during this whole 
 century, perpetually upon their guard against every eventu- 
 al attempt of the pope for the exclusive assumption of a 
 legislative authority in the church. But, notwithstanding 
 all this, the bishops of Rome found the means of augment- 
 ing their influence, and partly by open violence, partly by 
 secret and fraudulent stratagems, encroached, not only 
 upon the privileges of the bishops, but also upon the juris- 
 diction and rights of kings and emperors.e Their ambi- 
 tious attempts were seconded and vindicated by the scan- 
 dalous adulation of certain mercenary prelates, who ex- 
 alted the dignity and prerogatives of, what they called, the 
 apostolic see, in the most pompous and extravagant terms. 
 Several learned writers have observed, that in this cen- 
 tury certain bishops maintained publicly that the popes 
 were not only bishops of Rome, but of the whole world, an 
 assertion which hitherto none had ventured to make ;f aid 
 that even among the French clergy it had been affirmed 
 by some, that thie authority of the bishops, though divine 
 in its origin, was conveyed to them by St. Peter, the prince 
 of the aposties.s 
 
 IX. ‘The adventurous ambition of the bishops of Rome, 
 who left no means unemployed to extend their jurisdic- 
 tion, exhibited an example which the inferior prelates fol- 
 lowed with the most zealous and indefatigable emulation. 
 Several bishops and abbots had begun, even from the time 
 that the descendants of Charlemagne. sat on the muperial 
 throne, to enlarge their prerogatives, and had actually ob 
 
 34> * Some writers place Donus II. before Benedict VI. See the Ta- 
 
 bule Synoptic Hist. Eccles. by tne learned Pfaff. 
 
 a¢> > Fleury says, eleven months. 
 
 x ° Among these authors, is the learned Pfaff: but the Roman 
 
 catholic writers, whom Dr. Mosheim follows with good reason, do not 
 
 reckon, among the number of the pontiffs, that John who soverned the 
 church of Rome, during the space of four months after the death of Boni- 
 face VIL, because he was never duly invested, by consecration, with the 
 oapal dignity. 
 
 4 The history of the pontiffs of this period is not only extremcly bar- 
 ren of interesting events, but also obscure, and uncertain in many 
 respects. In the accounts I have here given of them, I have followed 
 principally Lud. Ant. Muratori’s Annales Ttaliz, and the Conatus 
 Chronologico-Historicus de Romanis Pontificibus, which the learned 
 Papebrochius prefixed to his Acta Sanctorum Mensis Maii. 
 
 * Several examples of these usurpations may he found in the Histoire 
 du Droit Eccles. Frangois, tom. i. p. 217, edit. in 8vo. 
 
 f Fist. Lit. de la France, t. vi. p. 98. s The same work, p. 186. 
 
 u 
 
Cirar. UU. 
 
 tained, for their tenants and their possessions, an immu- 
 nity from the jurisdiction of the counts and other magis- 
 trates, as also from taxes and imposts of all kinds. But in| 
 this century they carried their pretensions still farther ; 
 aimed at the civil jurisdiction over the cities and territories 
 in which they exercised a spiritual dominion, and even 
 aspired to the honours and authority of dukes, marquises, 
 and counts of the empire. Among the principal circum- 
 stances that animated their zeal in the pursuit of these dig- 
 nities, we may reckon the perpetual and bitter contests 
 concerning jurisdiction and other matters, that reigned be- 
 tween the dukes and counts, who were governors of cities, 
 and the bishops and abbots, who were their spiritual rulers. 
 The latter, therefore, seizing the opportunity that was of- 
 fered to them by the superstition of the times, used every 
 method that might be effectual to obtain that high rank, | 
 which had hitherto stood, in the way of their ambition ; 
 and the emperors and kings to whom they addressed their 
 presumptuous requests, generally granted them, either from 
 a desire of pacifying the contentions and quarrels that arose 
 between civil and military magistrates, or from a devout | 
 reverence for the sacred order, or with a view to augment 
 theii own authority, and to confirm their dominion by the’ 
 good services of the bishops, whose influence was very | 
 great over the minds of the people. Such were the dif- | 
 ferent motives that engaged princes to enlarge the autho- 
 rity and jurisdiction of the clergy ; and hence we see from | 
 this century downwards so many bishops and abbots in- 
 vested with characters, employments, and titles so foreign 
 to their spiritual offices and functions, and clothed with the 
 honours of dukes, marquises, counts, and viscounts.* 
 
 X. Beside the reproach of the grossest ignorance, which | 
 the Latin clergy in this century so justly deserved,” they 
 vere also chargeable, in a heinous degree, with two other 
 odious vices, even concubinage and simony, which the 
 greatest part of the writers of these unhappy times ac- 
 knowledge and deplore. As to the former of these vices, it | 
 was practised too openly to admit any doubt. ‘The priests, 
 and what is still more surprising, even the sanctimonious | 
 monks, fell victims to the triumphant charms of the sex, 
 and to the imperious dominion of their carnal lusts; and, 
 entering into the bonds of wedlock, or concubinage, squan- 
 
 * The learned Louis Thomassin, in his book, de Disciplina Ecclesie 
 veteri et nova, tom. it. lib. i. cap. xxvili., has collected a multitude of 
 examples to prove that the titles and prerogatives of dukes and counts 
 were conferred upon certain prelates so early as the ninth century ; and 
 some bishops trace even as far back as the eighth century the beginning 
 of that princely dominion which they now enjoy. But notwithstand- 
 ing all this, if Ido not grossly err, there €annot be produced any evi- 
 dent and indisputable example of this princely dominion, previous to the ; 
 tenth century. | 
 b Ratherius, speaking of the clergy cf Verona in his Itinerarium, | 
 which is published iw tue Spicilegium of M. d’Acheri, tom. i. p. 381, | 
 says, thar ne found many among them who could not even repeat the 
 Apostles’ Creed. His words are, ‘Sciscitatus de fide illorum, inveni 
 lurimos neque ipsum sapere Symbolum, qui fuisse creditur Aposto- 
 orum.’ | 
 * That this custom was introduced toward the commencement of this _ 
 century is manifest, from the testimony of Ordericus Vitalis and other | 
 writers, and also from a letter of Mantio, bishop of Chalons in Cham- 
 pagne, published by Mabillon, in his Analecta veterum. As to the 
 charge »rought against the Italian monks, of their spending the treasures | 
 of the church upon their wives or mistresses, see Hugo’s narrative de 
 Monasterii_Farfensis destructione, in Muratori’s Antiq. Ital. medii Avi 
 tom. vi. p. 278. 
 ¢ Many infamous and striking examples and proofs of simoniacal 
 ractice may be found in the work entitled Gallia Christiana, tom. i. p. | 
 , 37; tom. ii. p. 173, 179. Add to this Abbonis Apologeticum, pub- 
 lished at the end of the Codex Canon, Pithwi, p. 398, as also Mabillon’s 
 Annal, Benedict. tom. v. ss 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 5 
 
 21 
 | dered away in a most luxurious manner, with their wives 
 and mistresses, the revenues of the church. 'T'be other 
 vice reigned with an equal degree of impudence and licen- 
 tiousness. Elections of bishops and abbots were no lon- 
 ger adjusted by the laws of the church; but kings and 
 princes, or their ministers and favourites, either conferred 
 these ecclesiastical dignities upon their friends and crea- 
 tures, or sold them, without shame, to the highest bid- 
 der." Hence it happened, that the most stupid and flagi- 
 tious wretches were frequently advanced to the most im- 
 portant stations in the church; and that, upon several oc- 
 casions, even soldiers, civil magistrates, and counts, were 
 by a strange metamorphosis converted into bishops and 
 abbots. Gregory VII. endeavoured, in the following cen- 
 
 tury, to put a stop to these two growing evils. 
 
 XI. While the monastic orders, among the Greeks and 
 Orientals, still maintained an external appearance of reli- 
 gion and decency, the Latin monks, toward the commence- 
 ment of this century, had so entirely lost sight of all sub- 
 ordination and discipline, that the greatest part of them 
 knew not even by name the rule of St. Benedict, which 
 they were obliged to observe. A noble Frank, whose name 
 was Odo, a man as learned and pious as the ignorance 
 and superstition of the times would permit, endeavoured 
 to remedy this disorder ; nor were his attempts totally un- 
 successful. ‘This zealous ecelesiastic being created, in 
 927, abbot of Clugni, in the province of Burgundy, on the 
 death of Berno, not only ‘obliged the monks to live in a 
 rigorous observance of their rules, but also added to their 
 discipline a new set of ceremonies, which, notwithstanding 
 the air of sanctity that attended them, were, in reality, in- 
 significant and trifling, and yet, at the same time, severe 
 and burd@nsome.® ‘This new rule of discipline coverea 
 its author with glory, and, in a short time, was adopted in 
 all the European convents: for the greatest part of the 
 ancient monasteries, Which had been founded in France 
 Germany, Italy, Britain, and Spain, received the rule a 
 the monks of Clugni. to which also the convents, newly 
 established, were subjected by their founders ; and thus it 
 was, that the Order of Clugni attained that high degree 
 of eminence and authority, opulence and dignity, which 
 it exhibited to the Christian world in the following century. 
 
 ° See Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. i. p. 386, and Pref. ad Acta 
 Sanct. Ord. Benedict. Sec. V. p.26. See also the Acta Sanctor. Bencd. 
 Sec. V. p. 66, in which he speaks largely of Berno, the first abbot ot 
 Clugni, who laid the foundations of that order, and of Odo, (p. 122,) who 
 gave it anew degree of perfection. The learned Helyot, in his Histoire 
 
 des Ordres Religieuses, tom. v. p. 184, has given a complete and elegant 
 history of the order of Clugni; and the subsequent state of that famous 
 raonastery is described by Martenne, in his Voyage Liter. de deux Be- 
 nedict. part i. p. 227. 
 
 f The majority of ecclesiastical historians do not appear to have per- 
 ceived the true meaning and force of the word order in its application to 
 the Cistertian monks, those of Clugni, and other convents. 'l'hey ima- 
 gine that this term signifies a new monastic institution, as if the Order 
 of Clugni imported a new sect of monks never before heaxd of. But this 
 is apparently a great crror, into which they fall by confounding the an- 
 cient meaning of that term with the sense in which it is used in modern 
 times. The word order, when employed by the writers of the tenth cen- 
 tury, signified no more at first than a certain form or rule of monastic 
 discipline; but, from this priniitive signification, another (a secondary 
 one) was gradually derived: so that by the same word is also understood, 
 an association or confederacy of several monasteries, subjected to the 
 same rule of discipline under the jurisdiction and inspection of one com- 
 mon chief. Hence we conclude, that the Order of Clugni was not a new 
 sect of monks, such as were the Carthusian, Dominican, and Franciscan 
 Orders ; but signified only, iirst, that new institution or rule of discipline, 
 which Odo had prescribed to the Benedictine monks, who were settled at 
 Clugni, and, afterwards, that prodigious multitude of monasteries through- 
 out Europe, which received the rule establisned at Ciugni, and were form- 
 
216 
 
 XII. The more eminent Greek writers of this century 
 are easily numbered ; among them we find Simeon, high 
 treasurer of Constantinople, who, from his giving a new 
 and more elegant style to the Lives of the § Saints, which 
 had been originally composed in a gross and barbarous 
 language, was distinguished by the title of Met taphrast, or 
 Translators He did not, however, content himself with 
 digesting, polishing, and etnbellishing the saintly chronicle, 
 but went so far as to augment it w ‘ith a multitude of tri- 
 fling fables drawn from the fecundity of his own imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 Nicon, an Armenian monk, composed a treatise con- 
 cerning the Religion of the Armenians, which is not alto- 
 gether contemptible. 
 
 Some place in this century Olympiodorus and Gcu- 
 menius,” who distinguished themselves by those compila- 
 tions which were known by the name of Catene, or 
 Chains, and of which we have had occasion to speak 
 more than once in the course of this history. But it is 
 by no means certain, that these two writers belong to the 
 tenth century, and they are placed there only by con- 
 jecture. 
 
 It is much more probable, that the learned Suidas, au- 
 thor of the celebrated Greek Lexicon, lived in the period 
 now before us. 
 
 Among the Arabians, no author acquired a higher re- 
 putation than Eutychius, bishop of Alexandria, whose 
 Annals, with several other productions of his learned pen, 
 are still extant. ° 
 
 XU. The most eminent of the Latin writers of this 
 century was Gerbert, or Sylvester Il, who has already 
 been mentioned withthe applause due to his singular 
 merit. ‘I'he other writers of this age were notgvery emi- 
 nent in any respect. 
 
 Odo, who laid the foundations of the celebrated Order 
 of Clugni, left several productions in which the grossest 
 superstition reigns, and in which it is difficult to perceive 
 the smallest marks of true genius or solid judgment.¢ 
 
 The learned reader will form a different opinion of Ra- 
 their, bishop of Verona, whose works, yet extant, afford 
 evident proofs of sagacity and judgment, and breathe 
 throughout an ardent love of virtue.¢ 
 
 Auto, bishop of Vercelli, composed a treatise, de pres- 
 suris Lcclesiasticis, i. e. concerning the Sufferings and 
 Grievances of the Church, which shows in their true 
 colours the spirit and complexion of the times.‘ 
 
 Dunstan, the famous abbot of Glastonbury, and after- 
 
 wards archbishop of Canterbury, composed in favour of 
 
 the monks a book de Concordia Regularum, i. e. con- 
 cerning the Harmony of the Monastic Rules.s 
 
 Elfric, archbishop of Canterbury, acquired a consider- 
 able reputation, among the Anglo-Saxons established in 
 Britain, by various productions. w 
 
 Burchard, bishop of Worms, is highly esteemed among 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr ll. 
 
 the canonists on account of his celebrated Decreta, divided 
 into twenty books, though a part of the merit of this col- 
 lection of canons may be considered as due to Olbert, with 
 whose assistance it was composed. 
 
 Odilo, archbishop of Lyons,* was the author of some 
 insipid discourses, and other productions, whose mediocrity 
 has almost sunk them in a total oblivion. 
 
 As to the historical writers and annalists who lived in 
 this century, their works and abilities have been already 
 considered in their proper place. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue state of religion in this century was such as might 
 be expected in times of prevailing ignorance and corrup- 
 tion. ‘lhe most important doctrines of Christianity were 
 disfigured and perverted in the most wretched manner ; 
 and such as had preserved, in unskilful hands, their primi- 
 tive purity, were nevertheless obscured with a multitude 
 of vain opinions and idle fancies, so that their intrinsic ex- 
 cellence and lustre were little attended to. This will ap- 
 pear evident to those who look with the smallest degree 
 of attention into the writers of thisage. Both Greeks and 
 Latins placed the essence and life of religion in the wor- 
 ship of images and departed saints; in seeking with zeal, 
 and preserving with a devout care and veneration, the 
 sacred relics of holy men and women, and in accumula- 
 ting riches upon the priests and monks, whose opulence 
 increased with the progress of superstition. Scarcely did 
 any Christian dare to approach the throne of God, with- 
 out rendering first the saints and images propitious by a 
 solemn round of expiatory rites and lustrations. ‘The ar- 
 dour with which relics were sought almost surpasses credi 
 bility ; it had seized all ranks and orders among the peo- 
 ple, and had become a sort of fanaticism aud “phrensy ; 
 and, if the monks are to be believed, the Supreme Being 
 interposed, i in a special and extraordinary manner, to dis. 
 cover, to doting old women, and bareheaded friars, the 
 places where the bones or carcases of the saints lay dis- 
 persed or interred. ‘The fears of purgatory, of that fire 
 which was to destroy the remaining impurities of departed 
 souls, were now carried to the ereatest height, and far ex- 
 ceeded the terrifying apprehensions of infernal torments ; 
 for they hoped to avoid the latter easily, by dying enriched 
 with the prayers of the clergy, or covered with the merits 
 and mediation of the saints, while from the pains of pur- 
 gatory they thought there was no exemption. ‘The cler- 
 gy, therefore, finding these superstitious terrors admirably 
 adapted to increase their authority and to promote theit 
 interest, used every method to augment them; and by 
 the most pathetic discourses, accompanied with monstrous 
 fables and fictitious miracles, they laboured to establish the 
 
 oo 
 
 ed by association into a sort of community, of which the abbot of Clugni 
 was the chief. 
 
 *See Leo Allatius, de Simeonum Scriptis, p. 24.—Jo. Bollandus, 
 Pref. ad Acta Sanctoram Antwerp. sect. iii. p. 6. 
 
 » For an account of (Ecumenius, see Montfaucon’s 
 niana, p. 274. 
 
 © See Jo. Albert. Fabricii, Bibliographia Antiquaria, p. 179—as also 
 Eusebii Renaudoti Historia Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 347. 
 
 4 Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. vi. p. 229, 
 
 * Id. ibid. p. 339. f Id. ibid. p. 281. 
 
 Z> © See the ample account that is given of this eminent prelate in 
 
 Biblioth. Coisli- 
 
 Colber s Ecclesiastical History of England, vol. i. cent. X. p. 181, 183, &e, 
 
 3¢p h We havea Grammar and a Dictionary pattie | by this learn 
 ed apenas ; as also an Anglo-Saxon translation of the first books of the 
 Holy Scripture, a History ‘of the Church, and 180 sermons. See Fleury, 
 Hist. Eccl. livre lviii. 
 
 i See the Chronicon Wormatiense in Ludwig’s Reliquiz Manuscrip- 
 torum, tom. il. p. 43.—Histoire Liter. de la France, tom. vil. p. 295. 
 
 xp k Odilo was abbot of Clugni, and not archbishop of Lyons; for he 
 obstinately refused the latter station, notwithstanding the urgent entrea- 
 ties employed both by pontiffs and emperors to engage him to accept it 
 See Fleury, Hist. Eccl. livre lix. 
 
 ’ 
 
Caap. IL. 
 
 docirine of purgatory, and also to make it appear that they 
 hada mighty influence in that formidable region. 
 
 If. The contests concerning predestination and grace, 
 as alsp concerning the eucharist, that had agitated the 
 church in the preceding century, were in this happily re- 
 duced to silence. This was the result of the mutual to- 
 leration that was practised by the contending parties, who 
 as we learn from writers of undoubted credit, left it to each 
 other’s free choice to retain, or to change their former 
 opinions. Besides, the ignorance and stupidity of this de- 
 generate age were ill suited to such deep inquiries as these 
 
 contests de:nanded ; nor was there any great degree of cu-- 
 
 riosity among an illiterate multitude to know the opinions 
 of the ancient doctors concerning these and other knotty 
 points of theology. ‘Thus it happened, that the followers 
 of Augustin and Pelagius flourished equally in this cen- 
 tury; and that, if there were many who maintained the 
 corporal presence of the body and blood of Christ in the 
 holy sacrament, there were still more who either came to 
 no fixed determination upon this point, or declared it pub- 
 licly as their opinion, that the Divine Saviour was really 
 absent from the eucharistical sacrament, and was received 
 only by a certain inward impulse of faith, in a manner 
 wholly spiritual.s This mutual toleration, as it is easy to 
 conclude from what has been already observed, must not 
 be attributed either to the wisdom, or virtue of an age, 
 which was almost totally destitute of both. The truth of 
 the matter is, that the divines of this century wanted both 
 the capacity and the inclination to attack, or defend any 
 doctrine, whose refutation or defence required the ‘smallest 
 portion of learning or logic. 
 
 lif. That the whole Christian world was covered, at 
 this time, with a thick and gloomy veil of superstition, is 
 evident from a prodigious number of testimonies and ex- 
 amples, which it is needless to mention. ‘This horrible 
 cloud, which hid almost every ray of truth from the eyes 
 of the multitude, furnished the priests and monks with 
 many opportunities of propagating absurd and ridiculous 
 opinions, which contributed not a little to confirm their 
 credit. Among these opinions, which so frequently dis- 
 honoured the Latin church, and produced from time to 
 time such violent agitations, none occasioned such a gene- 
 ral panic, or such dreadful impressions of terror or dismay, 
 as a notion that now prevailed of the immediate approach 
 of the day of judgment. ‘Phis notion, which took its rise 
 from a remarkable passage in the Revelations of St. John,» 
 and had been entertained by some doctors in the pre- 
 
 * It is certain, that the Latin theologians of this century differed much 
 m their sentiments about the manner in which the body and blood of 
 Shrist were present in the eucharist; this is granted by such of the Ro- 
 nan catholic writers as have been ingenuous enough to sacrifice the spirit 
 of party to the love of truth. ‘That the doctrine of transubstantiation, as 
 jt is commonly called, was unknown to the English in this century, has 
 heen abundantly proved from the public homilies, by Rapin de Thoyras, 
 in his History of England, vol. i. 
 other hand, that this absurd doctrine was already adopted by several 
 French and German divines. 
 opinions of the Anglo-Saxon church concerning the cucharist, see Collier’s 
 Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, vol. i. cent. X. 
 
 3 > The passage here referred to, is in the twentieth chapter of the Book 
 of Revelations, at the 2d, 3d, and 4th verses: “ And he took hold of the 
 dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound hima 
 
 and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till 
 the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a 
 
 ment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were be- 
 headed for the witness of Jesus, and 
 
 No. ALX. 
 
 vd 
 
 t is, however, to be confessed, on the | 
 
 =4> For a more judicious account of the | 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 217 
 
 ceding century, was advanced publicly by many at this 
 time; and, spreading itself with an amazing rapidity 
 through the Kuropean provinces, it threw them into the 
 deepest consternation and anguish; for they imaginea 
 that St. John had clearly foretold that, after a thousand 
 years from the birth of Christ, Satan was to be let loose 
 from his prison; that Antichrist was to come, and the 
 conflagration and destruction of the world were to follow 
 these great and terrible events. Hence prodigious num- 
 bers of people abandoned all their civil connexions and 
 their parental relations, and, giving over to the churches 
 or monasteries all their lands, treasures, and worldly ef- 
 fects, repaired with the utmost precipitation to Palestine, 
 where they imagined that Christ would descend from 
 heaven to judge the world. Others devoted themselves 
 by a solemn and voluntary oath to the service of the 
 churches, convents, and priesthood, whose slaves they be- 
 came, in the most rigorous sense of that word, performing 
 daily their heavy tasks; and all this from a notion that 
 the Supreme Judge would diminish the severity of their 
 sentence, and look upon them with a more favourable and 
 propitious eye, on account of their having made themselves 
 the slaves of his ministers. When an eclipse of the sun or 
 moon happened to be visible, the cities were deserted, and 
 their miserable inhabitants fled for refuge to deep caverns, 
 and hid themselves among the craggy rocks, and under the 
 bending summits of steep mountains. The opulent attempt- 
 ed to bribe the Deity, and the saintly tribe, by rich donations 
 conferred upon the sacerdotal and monastic orders, who 
 were regarded as the immediate vicegerents of heaven. 
 In many places, temples, palaces, and noble edifices, both 
 public and private, were suffered to decay, and were even 
 deliberately pulled down, from a notion that they were no 
 longer of any use, since the final dissolution of all things 
 approached. In a word, no language is sufficient to ex- 
 press the confusion and despair that tormented the minds 
 of miserable mortals upon this occasion. "This general 
 delusion was, indeed, opposed and combated by the dis- 
 cerning few, who endeavoured to dispel these groundless 
 terrors, and to eflace the notion from which they arose, in 
 the minds of the people. But their attempts were inef- 
 fectual; nor could the dreadful apprehensions of the su- 
 perstitious multitude be entirely removed before the con- 
 clusion of this century. ‘Then, when they saw that the 
 dreaded period had passed without the arrival of any greut 
 calamity, they began to understand that St. John had not 
 really foretold what they so much feared.< 
 
 not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his 
 mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years.” 
 
 ¢ Almost all the donations that were made to the church during this 
 century, bear evident marks of this groundless panic that, had seized 
 all the European nations, as the reasons of these donations are generally 
 expressed in the following words : ‘ Appropinquante mundi, termino,’ &c. 
 i.e. ©The end of the world being now at hand,’ &c. Among the many 
 undeniable testimonies that we have from ancient records of this univer- 
 sal delusion, that was so profitable to the sacerdotal order, we shall con 
 fine ourselves to the quotation of one very remarkable passage in the 
 Apologeticum of Abbo, abbot of Fleury, adversus Arnulphum, i. e. Ar- 
 noul bishop of Orleans: which apology is published by the learned 
 
 | Francis Pithou, in the Codex Canonum Ecclesia Romane, p. 401. The 
 | words of Abbo are as follows: “ De fine quoque mundi coram pepulo 
 thousand years ;—and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, | 
 
 sermonem in ecclesia Parisiorum adolescentu'ns audivi, qued statim 
 finito mille annorum numero Antichrist.s advemiret, et non longo post 
 
 | tempore universale judicium succederet; cui predicationi ex evangeliis, 
 little season.—And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg- | 
 
 ac apocalypsi, et libro Danielis, qua potui virtute resi. Denique et er- 
 rorem, qui de fine mundi inolevit. abbas meus beate memorize Richardus 
 
 for the word of God, and which had | sagaci animo propulit, postquam litera’ > Lothariensibus accepit, quibus 
 pe ° 
 
218 
 
 IV. The number of the saints, who were looked upon 
 as ministers of the kingdom of heaven, and whose. pa- 
 tronage was esteemed such an unspeakable blessing, had 
 now an extraordinary increase; and the celestial courts 
 were filled with new legions of this species of beings, 
 some of which, as we have had formerly occasion to ob- 
 serve, had no existence but in the imagination of their de- 
 Juded clients and worshippers. This multiplication of 
 saints may be easily accounted for, when we consider that 
 superstition, the source of fear, had risen to such an enor- 
 mous height in this age, as rendered the creation of new 
 patrons necessary to calm the anxiety of trembling mor- 
 tals. Besides, the corruption and impiety that now reign- 
 ed with a horrid sway, and the licentiousness and disso- 
 lution that had so generally infected all ranks and orders 
 of men, rendered the reputation of sanctity very easy to 
 be acquired ; for, amidst such a perverse generation, it de- 
 manded no great efforts of virtue to be esteemed holy, and 
 this, no doubt, contributed to increase considerably the 
 number of the celestial advocates. All those, to whom 
 nature had given an austere complexion, a gloomy tem- 
 per, or enthusiastic imagination, were, in consequence of 
 an advantageous comparison with the profligate multitude, 
 revered az the favourites of heaven and the friends of God. 
 
 ‘The Roman pontiff, who before this period had pre- 
 tended to the right of creating saints by his sole authori- 
 ty, gave, in this century, the first specimen of this spiri- 
 tual power ; for in the preceding ages there is no example 
 of his having exercised this privilege alone. ‘This speci- 
 men was given, in 993, by John XV., who, with all the 
 formalities of a solemn canonisation, enrolled Udalric, 
 bishop of Augsburg, in the number of the saints, and 
 thus conferred upon him a title to the worship and vene- 
 ration of Christians.« We must not, however, hence 
 conclude, that after this period the privilege of canonising 
 new saints was vested solely in the pontifis ;° for there are 
 several examples upon record, which prove, that not only 
 provincial councils, but .also several of the first order 
 among the bishops, advanced to the rank of saints such 
 as they thought worthy of that high dignity, and conti- 
 nued thus to augment the celestial patrons of the church, 
 without consulting the pope, until the twelfth century. 
 ‘Then Alexander HI. abrogated this privilege of the bish- 
 
 ops and councils, and placed canontsation in the num- | 
 ber of the more important acts of authority,’ which the | 
 sovereign pontiff alone, by a peculiar prerogative, was | 
 
 entitled to exercise. 
 
 V. ‘The expositors and commentators, who attempted 
 in this century to illustrate and explain the sacred wri- 
 tings, were too mean in their abilities, and too unsuccess- 
 ful in their undertakings, to deserve more than a slight 
 and transiert notice; for it is extremely uncertain, whe- 
 ther or no the works of Olympiodorus and Gicumenius 
 are to be considered as the productions of this age. 
 Among the Latins, Remi, or Remigius, bishop of Auxerre, 
 continued the exposition of the Scriptures, which he had 
 
 me respondere jussit. Nam fama pene totum mundum impleverat, quod 
 quando Annunciatio Dominica in Parasceve contigisset, absque ullo Scrit- 
 pulo finis szeculi esset. 
 
 * Franc. Pagi Breviar. Pontif. Roman. tom. ii. p. 259. 
 
 > This absurd opinion has been maintained with warmth by Phil. Bo- 
 nanni, in his Numismata Pontif. Romanorum, tom. i. p. 41. 
 
 ¢ See Franc. Pagi Breviar. tom. ii. p. 260; tom. iit. p. 30.—Arm. de 
 Ja Chapelle, Biblioth. Angloise, tom. x. p. 105.—Mabillon, Prefat. ad 
 Sec. V. Benedict, p. 53. 
 
 ? 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part JI, 
 
 begun in the preceding century; but his work is highly 
 defective in various respects; for he took very little pains 
 in explaining the literal sense of the words, and employ- 
 ed the whole force of his fantastic genius in unfolding 
 their pretended mystical signification, which he looked 
 upon as infinitely more interesting than their plain and 
 literal meaning. Besides, his explications are rarely the 
 fruit of his own genius and invention, but are, generally 
 speaking, mere compilations from ancient commentators, 
 As to the Moral Observations of Odo upon the book of 
 Job,¢ they are transcribed from a work of Gregory the 
 Great, which bears the same title. We mention no more ; 
 if, however, any are desirous of an ample account of those 
 who were esteemed the principal commentators in this 
 century, they will find it in a book written professedly 
 upon this subject by Notkerus Balbulus. 
 
 VL. The science of theology was absolutely abandon- 
 ed in this century; nor did either the Greek or Latin 
 church furnish any writer who attempted to explain in 
 a regular method the doctrines of Christianity. ‘The 
 Greeks were contented with the works of Damascenus, 
 and the Latins with those of Augustin and Gregory, who 
 were now considered as the greatest doctors that had 
 adorned the church. Some added to these the writings 
 of venerable Bede and Rabanus Maurus. 'The moral 
 science was still more neglected than that of theology in 
 this wretched age, and was reduced to a certain number 
 of dry and insipid homilies, and to the lives of the saints,. 
 which Simeon among the Greeks, and Hubald, Odo, and 
 Stephen,’ among the Latins, had drawn up with a se- 
 ducing eloquence that covered the most impertment fic 
 tions. Such was the miserable state of morals and theo- 
 logy in this century; in which, we may add, there did 
 not appear any defence of the Christian religion against 
 its professed enemies. 
 
 VII. The controversies between the Greek and Latin 
 churches, were now carried on with less noise and im- 
 petuosity than in the preceding century, on account of the 
 troubles and calamities of the times; yet they were not 
 entirely reduced to silence.s The writers therefore who 
 affirm, that this unhappy schism was healed, and that the 
 contending parties were really reconciled to each other 
 for a certain space of time, have grossly mistaken the 
 matter ;" though it be, mdeed, true that the tumults of 
 the times produced now and then a cessation of these 
 contests, and occasioned several truces, which insidiously 
 concealed the bitterest. enmity, and served often as a cover 
 to the most treacherous designs. ‘The Greeks were, 
 moreover, divided among themselves, and disputed with 
 great warmth concerning the lawfulness of repeatedi mar- 
 riages. to which violent contest the cause of Leo, sur- 
 named the Philosopher, gave rise. ‘This emperor, having 
 buried successively three wives without having had by 
 them any male issue, espoused a fourth, whose name was 
 Zoe Carbinopsina, and who was born in the obscurity of 
 a mean condition. As marriages contracted for the fourth 
 
 4 These were called the Cause Majores. 
 
 © Moralia in Jobum. f Bishop of Liege. 
 
 Mich. Lequien, Dissert. 1. Damascenica de Processione Spiritus 
 Sancti, sect. xiii. p. 12.—Fred. Spanheim, de perpetuaé Dissensione Ee- 
 clesiw Oriental. et Occidental. part iv. sect. vil. p. 529, tom. ii. op. 
 
 h Leo Allatius, de perpetua Consensione Ecclesiz Orient. et Occident. 
 lib. il. cap. vil. vill. p. 600. 
 
 3¢p ilourth marriages our author undoubtedly means, since second 
 
 |} and third nuptials were allowed on certain conditions. * 
 
Cuap. LV. 
 
 time were pronounced impure and unlawful by the Greek 
 canons, Nicolas, the patriarch of Constantinople, suspend- 
 ed the emperor, on this occasion, from the communion of 
 the church. Leo, incensed at this rigorous proceeding, 
 deprived Nicolas of the patriarchal dignity, and raised 
 Buthymius to that high office, who, though he re-admit- 
 
 ted the emperor to the bosom of the church, opposed the | 
 
 law which he had resolved to enact in order to render 
 fourth marriages lawful. Upon this a schism, attended 
 with the bitterest animosities, divided the clergy ; one part 
 of which declared for Nicolas, the other for Kuthymius. 
 Some time after this, Leo died, and was succeeded in the 
 empire by Alexander, who deposed Euthymius, and re- 
 stored Nicolas to his eminent rank in the church. No 
 sooner was this zealous patriarch re-instated in his office, 
 than he began to load the memory of the late emperor 
 with the bitterest execrations and the most opprobrious 
 invectives, and to maintain the unlawfulness of fourth 
 marriages with the utmost obstinacy. In order to appease 
 these tumults, which portended numberless calamities to 
 the state, Constantine Porphyrogeneta convoked an as- 
 sembly of the clergy of Constantinople, in 920, in which 
 fourth marriages were absolutely prohibited, and marriages 
 for the third time were permitted on certain conditions ; 
 and thus the public tranquillity was restored. 
 
 Several other contests of like moment arose among the 
 Greeks during this century; and they serve to convince 
 us of the ignorance that prevailed among that people, and 
 of their blind veneration and zeal for the opinions of their 
 ancestors. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In order to have some notion of the load of cere- 
 monies under which the Christian religion groaned du- 
 ring this superstitious age, we have only to cast an eye 
 upon the acts of the various councils which were assem- 
 bled in England, Germany, France, and Italy. The 
 number of ceremonies increased in proportion to that of 
 the saints, which multiplied from day to day; for each 
 new saintly patron had appropriated to his service a new 
 festival, a new form of worship, a new round of religious 
 rites ; and the clergy, notwithstanding their gross stupid- 
 ity in other matters, discovered, in the creation of new 
 ceremonies, a marvellous fertility of invention, attended 
 with the utmost dexterity and artifice. It is also to be 
 observed, that a great part of these new rites derived their 
 origin from the various errors which the barbarous na- 
 ‘tions had received from their ancestors, and still retained, 
 even after their conversion to Christianity. "he clergy, 
 instead of extirpating these errors, either gave them a 
 Christian aspect by inventing certain religious rites to 
 cover their deformity, or by explaining them in-a forced 
 allegorical manner; and thus they were perpetuated in 
 
 * These facts are faithfully collected from Cedrenus, Leunclavius de 
 Jure Greeco-Rom. tom. i. p. 104, from Leo the Grammarian, Simeon the 
 Treasurer, and other writers of the Byzantine history. 
 
 > In the year 998. 
 
 * See Mabillon, Acta SS. Ord. Bened. See. VI. part i. p. 584, where 
 the reader will find the Life of Odilo, with his decree for the institution 
 of this festival. 
 
 4 Benedict XIV. was artful enough to observe a profound silence with 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 219 
 
 the church, and devoutly transmitted from age to age. 
 We inay also attribute a considerable number of the rites 
 and institutions, that dishonoured religion in this century, 
 to absurd notions both concerning the Supreme Being and 
 ‘departed saints ; for it was imagined that God was like 
 the princes and great ones of the earth, who are render- 
 ed propitious by costly presents, and are delighted with 
 those cringing salutations, and other marks of veneration 
 and homage, which they receive from their subjects ; and 
 it was believed likewise, that departed spirits were agree- 
 ably affected with the same kind of services. 
 
 Il. The famous yearly festival that was celebrated in 
 remembrance of all. departed souls, was instituted by the 
 authority of Odilo, abbot of Clugni, and added to the 
 Latin calendar toward the conclusion of this century.” 
 Before this time, a custom had been introduced in many 
 places of offering up prayers on certain days, for the souls 
 that were confined in purgatory; but these prayers were 
 made by each religious society, only for its own members, 
 friends, and patrons. ‘The pious zeal of Odilo could not 
 be confined within such narrow limits ; and he therefore 
 extended the benefit of these prayers to all the souls that 
 laboured under the pains and trials of purgatory.. ‘To 
 this proceeding Odilo was prompted by the exhortations 
 of a Sicilian hermit, who pretended to have learned, by 
 an immediate revelation from heaven, that the prayers of 
 the monks of Clugni would be effectual for the deliver- 
 ance of departed spirits from the expiatory flames of a 
 middle state... Accordingly this festival was, at first, cele- 
 brated only by the congregation of Clugni; but, having 
 afterwards received the approbation of one of the popes, 
 it was, by his order, kept with particular devotion in ail 
 the Latin churches. 
 
 Itf. The worship of the Virgin Mary, which, before 
 this century, had been carried to a very high degree of 
 idolatry, now received new accessions of solemnity and 
 superstition. Near the close of this century, a custom 
 was introduced among the Latins of celebrating masses, 
 and abstaining from flesh, in honour of the blessed Vir- 
 gin, every Sabbath-day. After this, what the Latins call- 
 ed the minor office was instituted in honour of St. Mary, 
 which was, in the following century, confirmed by Urban 
 Il. in the council of Clermont. ‘There are also to be 
 found in this age manifest indications of the institution 
 of the rosary and crown of the Virgin, by which her 
 worshippers were to reckon the number of prayers that 
 they were to offer to this new divinity ; for, though some 
 place the invention of the rosary in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, and attribute it to St. Dominic, yet this supposition 
 is made without any foundation.© The rosary consists 
 in fifteen repetitions of the Lord’s prayer, and a hundred 
 and fifty salutations of the blessed Virgin; while the 
 crown, according to the different opinions of the learned 
 concerning the age of the blessed Virgin, consists in six or 
 seven recitations of the Lord’s prayer, and six or seven 
 times ten salutations.‘ 
 
 respect to the superstitious and dishonorable origin of this anniversary 
 festival, in his treatise de Festis J. Christi, Marie, et Sanctorum, lib. iit. 
 cap. xxii. p. 671, tom. x. oper., and by his silence he has plainly shown to 
 the world what he thought of this absurd festival. ‘This is not the 
 only mark of prudence that is to be found in the works of that famous 
 pontiff. 
 
 * This ‘is demonstrated by Mabillon, Pref. ad Acta SS. Ord. Bened 
 See. V. p. 58. f In these words—Ave, ‘Maria! 
 
220 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 J. 'Tur profound ignorance and stupidity, that were 
 productive of so many evils in this century, had at least 
 this advantage attending them, that they contributed 
 much to the tranquillity of the church, and prevented the 
 rise of new sects and new commotions of a religious kind. 
 But, though no new inventions were broached, the an- 
 cient errors still remained. The Nestorians and Mono- 
 physites still lived under the Arabian government: they 
 were, however, much more rigorously treated than in form- 
 er times, and were often persecuted with the utmost i- 
 justice and violence. But, as some of them excelled in 
 medical knowledge, which was highly esteemed among 
 the Arabians, while others rendered themselves acceptable 
 to the great, by the dexterous management of their do- 
 mestic affairs, as overseers and stewards, all this contri- 
 buted to diminish the violence of the storms which arose 
 against them from time to time. 
 
 Il. The Manicheans or Paulicians, whose errors have 
 been already pointed out, gathered considerable strength 
 in Thrace under the reign of John 'Tzimisces. A great 
 part of this restless and turbulent sect had been transport- 
 ed into that province, by the order of Constantine Cepro- 
 nymus, so early as the eighth century, to put an end to 
 the commotions which they had excited in the east; but 
 a still greater number of them were left behind, especially 
 in Syria and the adjacent countries. Hence it was, that 
 "Theodore, bishop of Antioch, from a pious apprehension of 
 the danger to which his flock lay exposed from the neigh- 
 bourhood of suclr pernicious heretics, engaged the empe- 
 ror, by his ardent and importunate solicitations, to send a 
 new colony of these Manichxans from Syria to Philippi.* 
 From Thrace they passd into Bulgaria and Sclavonia, 
 where they long resided under the jurisdiction of their own 
 pontiff, or patriarch. After the council of Basil had com- 
 menced its deliberations, these sectaries removed into Italy, 
 and thence spreading themselves through the other pro- 
 vinces of Europe, they became extremely troublesome to 
 the popes on many occasions.° 
 
 Ill. In the last year of this century arose a certain 
 teacher, whose name was Leutard, who lived at Vertus, 
 in the diocese of Chalons, and, in a short time, drew after 
 him a considerable number of disciples. This new doctor 
 could not bear the superstitious worship of images, which 
 he is said to have opposed with the utmost vehemence, 
 and even to have broken in pieces an image of Christ, 
 which he found in a church where he went to perform 
 
 * Jo. Zonaras, Annal. lib. xvil. 
 
 > It is extremely probable, as we have already had occasion to observe, 
 that the remains of this sect are still to be found in Bulgaria. 
 
 | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II 
 
 his devotions. He, moreover, exclaimed with the greatest 
 warmth against the payment of tithes to the priests, and 
 in several other respects showed that. he was no cordial 
 friend to the sacerdotal order. But that which showed 
 evidently that he was a dangerous fanatic, was his affirm- 
 ing that in the prophecies of the Old Testament there 
 was a manifest mixture of truth and falsehood. Gebouin, 
 bishop of Chalons, examined the pretensions which this 
 man made to divine inspiration, and exposed his extrava- 
 gance to the view of the public, whom he had so artfully 
 seduced; upon which he threw himself into a well, and 
 ended his days like many other fanatics.* It is highly pro- 
 bable, that this upstart doctor taught many other absurd 
 notions beside those which we have now mentioned, and 
 that, after his death, his disciples formed a part of the sect 
 that was afterwards known in France under the name of 
 the Albigenses, and which is said to have adopted the 
 Manichean errors. 
 
 IV. There were yet subsisting some remains of the sect 
 of the Arians in several parts of Italy, and particularly in 
 the territory of Padua; but Ratherius, bishop of Verona, 
 had a still more enormous heresy to combat in the system 
 
 || of the Anthropomorphites, which -was revived in 939. In 
 
 the district of Vicenza, a considerable number, not only of 
 the illiterate multitude, but also of the sacerdotal order, 
 adopted that most absurd and extravagant notion, that 
 the Deity was clothed with a human form, and seated, 
 like an earthly monarch, upon a throne of gold, and that 
 his angelic ministers were men arrayed in white garments, 
 and furnished with wings, to render them more expeditious 
 in executing their sovereign’s orders. "his monstrous er- 
 ror will appear less astonishing, when we consider that the 
 stupid and illiterate multitude had constantly before their 
 eyes, in all the churches, the Supreme Being and his an- 
 gels represented in pictures and images with the human 
 figure. 
 
 The superstition of another set of blinded wretches, 
 mentioned also by Ratherius, was yet more unaccountable 
 and absurd than that of the Anthropomorphites ; for they 
 imagined that, every Monday, mass was performed in 
 heaven by St. Michael in the presence of God ; and hence 
 on that day, they resorted in crowds to all the churches 
 which were dedicated to that highly honoured saint? It 
 is more than probable that the avarice of the priests, who 
 officiated in the church of St. Michael, was the real source 
 of this extravagant fancy; and that in this, as In many 
 other cases, the rapacity of the clergy took advantage of 
 the credulity of the people, and made them believe what- 
 
 ever they thought would contribute to augment the opu- 
 
 lence of the church. 
 
 © All this is related by Glaber Radulphus, Hist. lib. ii. cap. xi. 
 4 Ratherii Epist. Synodica in Dacherii Spicilegio Script, Veter. tom 
 ii. p. 294.—Sigeberti Gemblacens. Chron. ad annum 939, 
 
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 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Concerning the prosperous Events which happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In the preceding century some faint notions of the 
 Christian religion, sume scattered rays of that divine light 
 which it administers to mortals, had been receive among 
 the Hungarians, Danes, Poles, and Russians ; but the rude 
 and savage spirit of those nations, together with their de- 
 plorable ignorance and their violent attachment to the 
 superstitions of their ancestors, rendered their total con- 
 version to Christianity a work of great difficulty, which 
 could not be very rapidly accomplished. The zeal, how- 
 ever, with which this important work was carried on, did 
 great honour to the piety of the princes and governors of 
 these unpolished countries, who united their influence 
 with the labours of the learned men whom they had in- 
 vited into their dominions, to open the eyes of their sub- 
 jects upon the truths In 'Tartary,” and the adjacent 
 countries, the zeal and diligence of the Nestorians gained 
 
 over considerable numbers, almost daily, to the profession | 
 
 of Christianity. It appears also evident from a multitude 
 of unexceptionable testimonies, that metropolitan prelates, 
 with a greater number of inferior bishops under their ju- 
 risdiction, were established at this time in the provinces of 
 Casgar, Nuacheta, Turkestan, Genda, and Tangut;° from 
 which we may conclude, that, in this and the following 
 century, a prodigious number of Christians lived in those 
 very countries which are at present overrun with idolatry, 
 or with the Mohammedan errors. All these Christians 
 were undoubtedly Nestorians, and lived under the jurisdic- 
 tion of the patriarch of that sect, who resided in Chaldzea. 
 
 Il. Among the European nations that lay yet grovel- 
 ling in their native darkness and superstition, were the 
 Sclavonians, the Obotriti,¢ the Venedi,* and the Prussians, 
 whose conversion had been attempted, but with little or no 
 success, by certain missionaries, from whose piety and zeal 
 
 * For an account of the Poles, Russians, and Hungarians, see Ro- 
 mualdi Vita in Actis Sanctor, tom. ii. Februar. 
 
 » 'Tartary is taken here in its most comprehensive sense; for between 
 theinhabitants of Tartary, properly so called, and the Calmues, Mogols, 
 and the inhabitants of Tangut, there is a manifest difference. 
 
 ¢ Mareus Paul. Venetus de Regionibus Orientalibus, lib. 1. cap. 38, 
 40, 45, 17, 48, 49, 62, 63, 64, lib. ii. cap. 39.—Euseb. Re saute An- 
 ciennes Relations des Indes et delaChine, p. 420.—Assemani B at 
 Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. part ii. p. 502, &e. The successful propage 
 tion of the Gospel, by the ministry of the Nestorians, in Tartary, Chine, 
 and the neighbourifig provinces, is a most important event, and every way 
 worthy to employ the researches and the pen of some able writer, well 
 acquainted with oriental history. It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that, 
 if this subject be important, it is also difficult on many accounts. It was 
 atterapted, however, notwithstanding its difficulty, by the most learned 
 Theoph. Sigefred Bayer, who had collected a great quantity of mate- 
 rials relative to this interesting branch of the history of Christianity, || 
 both from the works that have been published upon this subject, | 
 from manuscripts that lie yet concealed in the cabinets of the con | 
 But, unhappily for the republic of letters, the death of that excellent man 
 
 No. XIX. 56 
 
 better fruits might have been expected. Toward the con- 
 clusion of the preceding century, Adalbert, bishop of 
 Prague, had endeavoured to instil, into the minds of the 
 fierce and savage Prussians, the salutary doctrines of the 
 Gospel; but he perished in the fruitless attempt, and re- 
 ceived, in 996, from the murdering lance of Siggo, a pagan 
 priest, ‘the crown of martyrdom." Boleslaus, king of Po- 
 land, revenged the death of this pious < apostle by entering 
 
 into a bloody war with the Prussians; and he obtained, 
 
 by the force of penal laws and of a victorious army, W hat 
 Adalbert could not effect by exhortation and argument.s 
 He dragooned this savage people into the C hristian church ; ; 
 yet, beside this violent method of conv ersion, others of a 
 more gentle kind were certainly practised by the attendants 
 of Boleslaus, who seconded the military arguments of their 
 prince by the more persuasive influence of admonition and 
 instruction. A certain ecclesiastic of illustrious birth, whose 
 name was Boniface, and who was one of the disciples of 
 St. Romuald, undertook the conversion of the Prussians, 
 and was succeeded in this pious enterprise by Bruno," who 
 set out from Germany with a company of eighteen per- 
 sons, who had entered with zeal into the same laudable 
 desion. These were, how ever, all barbarously massacred 
 byt the fierce and cru rel Prus sians ; and neither the vigorous 
 efforts of Boleslaus, nor of the succeeding kings of Poland, 
 
 could engage this rude and inflexible nation to abandon 
 totally the idolatry of their ancestors.: 
 
 Ill. Sicily had been groaning under the dominion of 
 the Saracens from the ninth century; ; nor had the repeated 
 attempts of the Greeks and Latins to dispossess them of 
 that rich and fertile country, been hitherto crowned with 
 the desired success. But in this century the face of affairs 
 changed entirely in that island ; for, in 1059, Robert Guis- 
 card, who had formed a settlement in Italy, at the head 
 of a Norman colony, and was afterwards created duke of 
 Apulia, encouraged by the exhortations of pope Nicolas U., 
 and seconded by the assistance of his brother Roger, at- 
 
 interrupted his labours, and prevented him from executing a desigu 
 which was worthy of his superior abilities, and his well known zeal for 
 the interests of religion. 
 
 Z% 4 The Obotriti were a great and_powerful branch of the Vandals, 
 whose kings resided in the country of Mecklenburg, extending their do- 
 minion along the coasts of the Baltic from the river Pene iri Pomerania to 
 the duchy of Holstein. 
 
 ape The Venedi dwelt upon the banks of the Weissel, or Vistula, 
 in, what. is at present called, the Palatinate of Marienburg. 
 
 ¢ See the Acta Sanctor. ad d. xxii. Aprilis, p. 174. 
 
 € Solignac’s. Hist. de Pologne, tom. i. p. 133. 
 
 Zp h Fleury differs from Dr. Mosheim in his account of Bruno, in 
 two points. First, he maintains, that Boniface and Bruno were one ‘and 
 the same person, and here he is manife sstly in the right; but he maintains 
 farther, that he suffered martyrdom in Russia, which i is an evident mis- 
 take. It is proper farther to admonish the re sader to distinguish carefully 
 the Bruno here mentioned, from a monk of the same name, who founded 
 | the order of the Carthusians. 
 
 i Ant. Pagi Critica in Baronium, tom. iv. ad annum 1008, p. 
 ona Hartknoch’s Eccles. Hist. of puieta. book i. chap. i. 
 
222 
 
 tacked with the greatest vigour and intrepidity the Sara- 
 eens in Sicily; nor did the latter chieftain sheathe the vic- 
 torious sword before he had rendered Ifimself master of that 
 island, and cleared it absolutely of its former tyrants. As 
 soon as this great work was accomplished, w hich was not 
 before the year 1090, count Roger not only restored to its 
 former glory and lustre the Christian religion, which had 
 been almost totally extinguished under the Saracen yoke, 
 but also established bishoprics, founded monasteries, erect- 
 ed magnificent churches throughout that province, and 
 bestowed upon the clergy those immense revenues and 
 those distinguished honours which they still enjoy.* It is 
 in the privileges conferred upon this valiant chief, that we 
 find the origin of that supreme authority in matters of re- 
 ligion, which is still vested in the kings of Sicily, within 
 the limits of their own territories, and which is known by 
 the name of the Sicilian monarchy; for pope Urban IL. is 
 said to have granted, in 1097, by a special diploma, to 
 Roger and his successors, the title, authority, and preroga- 
 tives, of hereditary legates of the apostolic see. The court 
 of Rome affirms, that, this diploma is not authentic; and 
 hence warm contentions, about the spiritual supremacy, 
 have arisen even in our times between the popes and the 
 kings of Sicily. The successors of Roger governed that 
 island, under the title of dukes, until the twelfth century, 
 when it was erected into a kingdom.» 
 
 IV. The pontiffs, from the “time of Sylvester II., had 
 been forming plans for extending the limits of the church 
 in Asia, and especially for driving the Moslems out of Pa- 
 lestine; but the troubles in w hich Europe was so long in- 
 volved, prevented the execution of these arduous designs. 
 Gregor y VIL, the most enterprising and audacious priest 
 that ever sat in the apostolic chair, animated and inflamed 
 by the repeated complaints which the Asiatic Christians 
 made of the cruelty of the Saracens, resolved to undertake 
 in person a holy war for the deliverance of the church ; 
 and above fifty thousand men were speedily mustered to 
 follow him in this bold expedition. But his quarrel with 
 the emperor Henry IV., of which we shall have occasion 
 to speak hereafter, and other unforeseen occurrences, obli- 
 ged hin to relinquish a personal invasion of the holy land. 
 The project, however, was renewed toward the conclusion 
 of this century, by the enthusiastic zeal of an inhabitant 
 of Amiens, who was known by the name of Peter the 
 Hermit, and who suggested to Urban I. the means of ac- 
 complishing what had been unfortunately suspended. 
 This famous hermit, in a journey, which he had made 
 through Palestine, in "1093, had observed, with inexpress- 
 ible anguish, the vexations and persecutions which the 
 Christians, who visited the holy places, suffered from the 
 barbarous and tyrannic Saracens. Inflamed_ therefore 
 with a holy indignation and a furious zeal, which he 
 ooked upon as the effects of a divine impulse, he implored 
 the assistance of Simeon, patriarch of Constantinople, and 
 also of the pope, but without effect. Far from being dis- 
 couraged by this, he renewed his efforts with the utmost 
 
 * See Burigni’s Histoire Generale de la Sicile, tom. i. p. 386. 
 
 b’ See Baronii Liber de Monarchia Siciliz, tom. xi, Annal.; as also 
 the Traité de la Monarchie Sicilienne, by M. Du-Pin. 
 
 * Gregorii VII. Epist. lib. i. 3, in Harduini Concil. tom. vi. 
 
 a This circumstance is mentioned by the abbot Dodechinus, in his 
 Continuat. Chronici Mariani Scoti, ay yud Scriptores Germanicos pe Pis- 
 torii, tom. i. p. 402. For an decal ae Peter, see Du-Fresne’s 
 the Alexias of Anna Comnena. 
 
 Z¢> * This council was the most numerous of any that had been 
 
 notes upon 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part l 
 
 vigour, went through all the countries of Europe sounding 
 the alarm of a holy war against the infidel nations, and 
 exhorting all Christian princes to draw the sword against 
 the tyrants of Palestine; nor did he stop here; but, with 
 a view to engage the superstitious and ignorant multitude 
 in his cause, he carried about with him a letter, which he 
 said was written in heaven, and addressed to all true 
 Christians, to animate their zeal for the deliverance of 
 their brethren, who groaned under the oppressive burthen 
 of a Mohammedan yoke.# 
 
 V. When Urban saw the way prepared by the exhor- 
 tations of the hermit, who had put the spirits of the peo- 
 ple every where in a ferment, and had kindled in their 
 breasts a vehement zeal for that holy carnage which the 
 church had been so long meditating, he “assembled a 
 grand and numerous council at Placentia, in 1095, and 
 recommended warmly, for the first time, the sacred expe- 
 dition against the Saracens.e This arduous enterprise 
 was far from being approved by the greatest part of this 
 numerous assembly, notwithstanding the presence of the 
 emperor’s legates, who, in their master’s name, represented 
 most pathetically how necessary it was to set limits to the 
 power of the victorious infidels, whose authority and do- 
 minion increased from day to day. The pontiff’s propo- 
 sal was, however, renewed with the same zeal, and with 
 the desired success, some time afler this, in the council as- 
 
 sembled at Clermont, where Urban was present. ‘The 
 pompous and pathetic speech which he delivered on this 
 occasion, made a deep and powerful impression upon the 
 minds of the French, whose natural character renders 
 them much superior to the Italians in encountering difhi- 
 culties, facing danger, and attempting the execution of 
 the most perilous designs : so that an innumerable mul- 
 titude, composed of all ranks and orders in the nation, 
 offered themselves as volunteers in this sacred expedition. 
 This numerous host was looked upon as formidable in 
 the highest degree, and equal to the most glorious enter- 
 prises and exploits, while, in reality, it was no more than 
 an unwieldy body w ithout life and vigour, and was weak 
 and contemptible in every respect. ‘This will appear suf- 
 ficiently evident when we consider that this army was a 
 
 -motley assemblage of monks, prostitutes, artists, labourers, 
 
 lazy tradesmen, merchants, boys, girls, slaves, malefactors, 
 and profligate "debauchees, and that it was principally 
 composed of the lowest dregs of the multitude, who were 
 animated solely by the prospect of spoil and plunder, and 
 hoped to make thew fortunes by this holy campaign. 
 Every one will perceive how little discipline, counsel, or 
 fortitude, were to be expected from such a miserable aly 
 ble. This expedition was distinguished, in the French 
 langua age, by the name of a croisade, and all who em- 
 barked in it were called croisés, croisards, or cross-hear- 
 ers, not only because the end of this holy war was to wrest 
 the cross of Christ out of the hands of the infidels , but 
 also on account of the consecrated cross of various colours, 
 which every soldier wore upon his right shoulder.s 
 
 hitherto assembled, and was, on that account, holden in the open fields, 
 There were present at it two hundred bishops, four thousand ecclesias- 
 tics, and three hundred thousand laymen. 
 
 ‘'Theod. Ruinart. in Vit. Urbani IL. sect. eexxv. p. 224, 229, 240, 
 272, &c. tom. iil. op. posthum, Mabilloni et Ruinarti.—Jo. Harduini Con: 
 cilia, tom. xi. part il. p. 1726—Baron. Annal. Eccles. tom. xi. ad annum 
 1095, n. xxxil. p. 648. 
 
 € See Abrah. Bzovius, Continuat. Annal. Baronii, tom. xv. ad annum 
 1410, n. ix, p, 322, edit. Colon —L’ Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Pise, 
 
Cuar. I. 
 
 VI. In consequence of these grand preparations, eight 
 hundred thousand men, in separate bodies, and under dif- 
 ferent commanders, set out for Constantinople, in 1096, 
 that, afier receiving both assistance and direction from 
 Alexis Comnenius the Grecian emperor, they might pur- 
 sue their march into Asia. One of the principal divisions 
 of thig great body marched under the guidance of Peter 
 the Hermit, the author and fomenter of the war, who was 
 girded with a rope, and continued to appear with all the 
 marks of an austere solitary. ‘he adventurers who com- 
 posed this first division committed the most flagitious 
 crimes, which so incensed the inhabitants of the countries 
 through which they passed, particularly those of Hungary 
 and Bulgaria, that they rose up in arms and massacred 
 the greatest part of them. <A like fate attended several 
 other divisions of the same army, who, under the conduct 
 of weak and unskilful chiefs, wandered about like an un- 
 disciplined band of robbers, plundering the cities that lay 
 in their way, and spreading misery and desolation wher- 
 ever they came. The armies that were headed by illustri- 
 ous commanders, distinguished by their birth and their mi- 
 litary endowments, arrived more happilyyat the capital of 
 the Grecian empire. ‘That which was commanded by 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lorrain, who deserves a 
 place among the greatest heroes, whether of ancient or 
 modern times,* and by his brother Baldwin, was composed 
 of eighty thousand well chosen troops, horse and _ foot,» 
 and directed its march through Germany and Hungary. 
 Another host, which was headed by Raymond, earl of 
 Toulouse, passed through the Sclavonian territories. Ro- 
 bert, earl of Flanders, Robert, duke of Normandy,* Hugh, 
 brother to Philip {. king of France, embarked their re- 
 spective forces in a fleet which was assembled at Brundisi 
 and 'Tarento, whence they were transported to Durazzo, 
 or Dyrrhachium, as it was anciently called. hese armies 
 were followed by Boemond, duke of Apulia and Calabria, 
 at the head of a chosen and numerous body of valiant 
 Normans. | 
 
 VII. This army was the greatest, and, in outward ap- 
 pearance, the most formidable, that had been known in 
 the memory of man; and though, before its arrival at 
 Constantinople, it was diminished considerably by the 
 difficulties and oppositions it had met with on the way, 
 yet, such as it was, it made the Grecian emperor tremble, 
 
 ———- 
 
 tom. ii. lib. v. p. 60—The writers who have treated of this holy war 
 are mentioned by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii toto Orbe ex- 
 oriens, cap. xxx. p. 518. 
 
 * The Benedictine monks have given an ample account of this mag- 
 nanimous chief, whose character was a bright assemblage of all Chris- 
 tian, civil, and heroic virtues, in their Hist. Lit.de la France, t. vill. p.598. 
 
 Z¢r » The engaging and illustrious virtues of Godfrey had drawn 
 from all parts a prodigious number of volunteers, who were ambitious to 
 fizht under his standard. ‘The magnitude of this host, however, per- 
 plexed the valiantchief, who on that account, divided it into several bodies, 
 and, finding in Peter the Hermit the same ambitious and military spirit 
 that had prevailed in him before his retreat from the world, declared him 
 the general of the first division, which was detached from the rest, and 
 ordered to march immediately to Constantinople. By this measure God- 
 frey freed himself from the dregs of that astonishing multitude which 
 flocked to his camp. Father Maimbourg, notwithstanding his immode- 
 rate zeal for the hely war, and that fabulous tur which enabled lium to 
 represent it in the most favourable points of view, acknowledges frankly, 
 that the first divisions of this prodigious army committed the most abo- 
 minable enormities in the countries through which they passed, and that 
 there was no kind of insolence, injustice, impurity, barbarity, and vio- 
 lence, of which they were not guilty. Nothing perhaps in the annals 
 of histery can equal the flagitious deeds of this infernal rabble. See par- 
 ticularly Maimbourg, Histoire des Croisades, tom. i. liv. 1. p. 57, 58, 59, 
 60, G1, 62, second edit, in L2mo, 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 223 
 
 and filled his mind with the most anxious and terrible ap- 
 prehensions of some secret design against his dominions. 
 His fears, however, were dispelled, when he saw these le- 
 gions pass the straits of Gallipolis, and direct their march 
 toward Bithynia.@ 
 
 The first successful enterprise,e that. was formed 
 against the infidels, was the siege of Nice, the capital of 
 Bithynia, which was taken in 1097 ; thence the victorious 
 army proceeded into Syria, and in tlie following year sub- 
 dued Antioch, which, with its fertile territory, was granted, 
 by the assembled chiefs, to Poemond, duke of Apulia. 
 Edessa fell next into the hands of the victors, and hecame 
 the property of Baldwin, brother to Godfrey of Bouillon. 
 The conquest of Jerusalem, which, after a siege of five 
 weeks, submitted to their arms in 1099, seemed to crown 
 their expedition with the desired success. In this city 
 were laid the foundations of a new kingdom, at the head 
 of which was placed the famous Godfrey, whem the army 
 saluted king of Jerusalem with an unanimous voice. 
 
 But this illustrious hero, whose other eminent qualities 
 were adorned with the greatest modesty, refused that high 
 title,- though he governed Jerusalem with that valour, 
 equity, and prudence, which have rendered his name im- 
 mortal. Having chosen a small army to support him in 
 his new dignity, he permitted the rest of the troops to re- 
 turn into Europe. He did not, however, long enjoy the 
 fruits of a victory, in which his heroic valour had been so 
 gloriously displayed, but died about a year after the con- 
 quest of Jerusalem, leaving his dominions to his brother 
 Baldwin, prince of Edessa, who assumed the title of king 
 without the least hesitation. 
 
 VIil. If we examine the motives that engaged the 
 
 "popes, more particularly Urban IL., to kindle this holy war, 
 
 which in its progress and issue was so detrimental to al- 
 most all the countries of Europe, we shall probably be per- 
 suaded that its origin is to be derived from the corrupt no- 
 tions of religion, which prevailed in those barbarous times. 
 It was thought inconsistent with the duty and character 
 of Christians, to suffer that land which was blessed with 
 the ministry, distinguished by the miracles, and consecra- 
 ted by the blood of the Saviour of men, to remain under 
 the dominion of his most inveterate enemies. | It was also 
 deemed a very important branch of true piety to visit the 
 holy places in Palestine ; but such peregrinations were 
 
 34> ¢ Eldest son of William the Conqueror. 
 
 3 4 Our author, for the sake of brevity, passes over the contests and 
 jealousies that subsisted between the chief of the crusade and the Grecian 
 emperor. ‘The character of the latter is differently painted by different his- 
 torians. The warm defenders of the crusade represent him as a most perfi- 
 dious prince, who, under the show of friendship and zeal, aimed at the des- 
 | truction of Godfrey’s army. Others consider him asa wise, prudent politi- 
 
 cian, who, by artifice and stratagem, warded off the danger he had reason 
 toapprehend from the formidable legions that passed through his demins 
 ions; and part of which, particularly the army commanded by Peter the 
 Hermit, ravaged his most fruitful territories inthe most barbarous manner, 
 and pillaged even the suburbs of the capital of the empire. The truth of 
 the matter is, that, if Alexis cannot be vindicated from the charge of per- 
 fidy, the holy warriors are, on the other hand, chargeable with many acts 
 of brutality and injustice. See Maimbourg, Hist. des Crois. liv. i. et ii. 
 x=> ° Before the arrival of Godfrey in Asia, the army, or rather rab- 
 ble, commanded by Peter the Hermit in such a ridiculous manner as 
 might be expected from a wrong-headed monk, received a ruinous defeat 
 from the young Soliman. 
 
 3p ¢ All the historians, who have written of this holy war, applaud 
 | the answer which Godfrey returned to the offer that was made him of a 
 crown of gold, as a mark of his accession to the throne of Jerusalem ; the 
 | answer was, that “he could not bear the thought of wearing a crown of 
 _ gold in that city, wherethe King of kings had been crowned with thorns.” 
 
 | This answer was sublime in the eleventh century. 
 
224 
 
 extremely dangerous, while the despotic Saracens were 
 in possession of that country. Nor is it to be denied, that 
 these motives of a religious kind were accompanied and 
 rendered more effectual by an anxious apprehension of 
 the growing power of the Turks, who had already subdued 
 the greatest part of the Grecian empire, and might soon 
 carry into Europe, and more particularly into Italy, their 
 victorious arms, 
 
 There are, it must be confessed, several learned men 
 who have accounted otherwise for this pious, or rather 
 fanatical, expedition. They imagine that the Roman 
 pontiffs recommended this sacred campaign with a view 
 of augmenting their own authority, and weakening the 
 power of the Latin emperors and princes ; and that these 
 princes countenanced and encouraged it in hopes of get- 
 ting rid, by that measure, of their powerful and warlike 
 vassals, and of becoming masters of their lands and pos- 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part L 
 
 sessions.* ‘These conjectures, however plausible in ap- 
 pearance, are still no more than conjectures. The truth 
 seems to be this; that the pope and the European princes 
 were engaged at first in these crusades by a principle of 
 superstition only; but when, in process of time, they 
 learned by experience, that these holy wars contributed 
 much to increase their opulence and to extend their au- 
 thority, by sacrificing their wealthy and powerful rivals, 
 new motives were presented to encourage these expedi- 
 tions into Palestine, and ambition and avarice seconded 
 and enforced the dictates of fanaticism and superstition. 
 IX. Without determining any thing concerning the 
 justice or injustice? of these wars, we may boldly affirm, 
 that they were highly prejudicial, both to the cause of re- 
 ligion, and to the civil interests of mankind; and that, in 
 Kurope more especially, they occasioned innumerable evils 
 and calamities, the effects of which are yet perceptible in 
 
 * The part of this hypothesis, that relates to the views of the Roman 
 pontiffs, has been adopted as an undoubted truth, not only by many pro- 
 testant historians, but also by several writers of the Romish communion. 
 See Bened. Accoltus de bello Sacro in Infideles, lib. i. p. 16—Basnage, 
 Histoire des Eglises Reformées, tom. 1. period. v. p. 235.—Vertot, His- 
 toire des Chevaliers de Malthe, tom. i. liv. 111. p. 302, 308 ; liv. iv. p. 428. 
 —Baillet, Histoire des Demelez de Boniface VIII. avec Philippe le Bel, 
 p. 76.—Histoire du Droit Ecclosiastique Frangois, tom. 1. p. 296, 299. To 
 such, however, as consider mattsrs attentively, this hypothesis will appear 
 destitute of any solid foundation. Certain it is, that the pontiffs could 
 never have either foreseen, or imagined, that so many European princes, 
 and such prodigious niultitudes of people, would take arms against the 
 infidels, and march into Palestine; nor could they be assured before-hand, 
 that this expedition would tend to the advancement of their opulence and 
 authority ; for all the accessions of influence and wealth, which the 
 popes, and the clergy in general, derived from these holy wars, were of 
 a much later date than their origin, and were acquired by degrees, rather 
 oy lucky hits, than by deep-laid schemes ; and this alone is sufficient to 
 show, that the pontiffs, in forming the plan, and exhorting to the prosecu- 
 tion of these wars, had no thoughts of extending thereby the limits of 
 their authority. We may add, to this consideration, another of no less 
 weight in the matter before us; and that is, the general opinion which 
 prevailed at this time, both among the clergy and the people, that the 
 conquest of Palestine would be finished in a short time, ina single cam- 
 paign; that the Divine Providence would interpose, in a miraculous 
 manner, to accomplish the ruin of the infidels; and that, after the taking 
 of Jerusalem, the greatest part of the European princes would return 
 home with their troops, which last circumstance was by no means favour- 
 able to the views which the popes are supposed to have formed of increas- 
 ing their opulence and extending their dominion, Of all the conjectures 
 that have been entertained upon this subject, the most improbable and 
 groundless is that which supposes that Urban II. recommended, with 
 such ardour, this expedition into Palestine, with a view of weakening 
 the power of the emperor Henry IV. with whom he had a violent dispute 
 concerning the investiture of bishops. They who adopt this conjecture, 
 must be little acquainted with the history of these times: or at least they 
 forget, that the first armies that marched into Palestine against the infi- 
 dels, were chiefly composed of Franks and Normans, and that the Ger- 
 mans, who were the enemies of Urban II., were, in the beginning, 
 ‘extremely averse to this sacred expedition. Many other considerations 
 might be added to illustrate this matter, which, for the sake of brevity, I 
 pass in silence. 
 
 That part of the hypothesis, which relates to the kings and princes of 
 Europe, and supposes that they countenanced the holy war to get rid of 
 their powerful vassals, is as groundless as the other, which we have been 
 now refuting. It is, indeed, adopted by several eminent writers, such as 
 Vertot, (Hist. de Malthe, liv.iii. p. 309,) Boulainvilliers, and others, who 
 pretend to a superior and uncommon insight into the policy of these re- 
 mote ages. ‘The reasons, however, which these great men employed to 
 support their opinion, may be all comprehended in this single argument, 
 viz. ‘“‘ Many kings, especially among the Franks, became more opulent 
 and powerful, by the number of their vassals who lost their lives and 
 fortunes in this holy war; therefore, these princes not only permitted, 
 but warmly countenanced the prosecution of this war from selfish and am- 
 bitious principles.” ‘The weakness of this conclusion must strike every 
 oue at Orst sight. 
 
 We are wonderfully prone to attribute both tothe Roman pontiffs, and 
 to the princes of this barbarous age, much more sagacity and cunning 
 than they really possessed; and we deduce from the events the princi- 
 ples and views of the actors, which is a defective and uncertain manner 
 of reasoning. With respect to the pontiffs, it appears most probable 
 that their immense opulence and authority were acquired, rather by 
 
 their improving dexterously the opportunities that were offered to them, 
 than by the schemes they had formed for extending their domiion, or 
 filling their coffers. 
 
 b I do not pretend to decide the question concerning the lawfulness of 
 the crusades; a question which, when it is considered with attention and 
 impartiality, will appear not only extremely difficult, but also highly 
 doubtful. Itis, however, proper to inform the reader, that in the twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries the justice of this holy war was called in question, 
 and warmly disputed among Christians. The Waldensesand Albigenses, 
 who were distinguished by the name of Cathari, and Puritans, consider- 
 ed these expeditions into Palestine as absolutely unlawful. The reasons 
 they alleged were collected and combated by Francis Moneta, a Dominican 
 friar of the thirteenth century, ina book entitled Summa contra Cathayros et 
 Waldenses, lib. v. cap. xiii. p. 581, which was published at Rome by 
 Riccini. But neither the objections of the Waldenses, nor the answers of 
 Moneta, were at all remarkable for their weight and solidity, as will ap- 
 pear evidently from the following examples. The former alleged against 
 the holy war, the words of St. Paul, 1 Cor. x. 82.‘ Give none offence ; 
 neither to the Jews norto the Gentiles.” By the Gentiles, said they, are 
 to be understood the Saracens. And therefore the European Christians 
 are to abstain from making war upon the Saracens, lest they give offence 
 to the Gentiles. Weshall give Moneta’s answer to this argument in his 
 own words: ‘ We read,” says he, “ Gen. xii. 7, that God said unto Abra- 
 ham, Unto thy seed will I give this land: Now we (Christians who 
 dwell,in Europe) are the seed of Abraham, as the apostle affirms, Galat. 
 ili. 29. Therefore we are heirs of the promise, and the holy land is 
 given to us by the covenant as our lawful possession. Hence it appears, 
 that it is the duty of civil and temporal rulers to use their most zealous 
 efforts to put us in possession of the promised land, while it is, at the 
 same time, incumbent upon the church and its ministers to exhort these 
 rulers in the most urgent manner to the performance of their duty.” A 
 rare argument this truly! but let us hear him out. ‘ The church has 
 no design to injure or slaughter the Saracens, nor is such the intention 
 of the Christian princes engaged in this war. Yet the blood of the infi- 
 dels must of necessity be shed, if they make resistance and oppose the 
 victorious arms of the princes. The church of God therefore is entirely 
 innocent and without reproach in this matter, and gives no offence to the 
 Gentiles, because it does no more, in reality, than maintain its undoubt- 
 ed right.” Such is the subtle reasoning of Moneta, on which it is not 
 necessary to make any reflections. 
 
 3x Dr. Moshcim scems too modest, and even timorous, in his manner 
 of arraigning the justice of this holy war, which was so absurd in its 
 principle, and so abominable in the odious circumstances that attended it. 
 His respect, perhaps, for the Teutonic crosses which abound in Germany, 
 and are the marks of an order that derives its origin from these fanatical 
 expeditions into Palestine, may have occasioned that ambiguity and 
 circumspection in his expressions, through which, however, it is easy to 
 perceive his disapprobation of the crusades. The holy place profaned 
 by the dominion of infidels, was the apparent pretext for this fanatical 
 war. What holy place? Jerusalem, say the knights errant of Pales- 
 tine. But they forget that Jerusalem was a city which, by the conduct 
 of its inhabitants and the crucifixion of Christ, had become most odious 
 in the eye of God; that it was visibly loaded with a divine malediction, 
 and was the miserable theatre of the most tremendous judgments and ca- 
 Jamities that ever were inflicted upon any nation. Had the case been 
 otherwise, we know of no right which Christianity gives its professors 
 to seize the territories, and invade the possessions of unbelievers. Had 
 the Jews attempted the conquest of Palestine, they would have aeted 
 conformably with their apparent rights, because it was formerly their coun- 
 try; and consistently also with their religious principles, because they 
 expected a Messiah who was to bind the kings of the Gentiles in chains, 
 and to reduce the whole world under the Jewish yoke. 
 
Cnap. I. 
 
 our times. The European nations were deprived of the 
 greatest part of their inhabitants by these ill-jadged expe- 
 ditions ; immense sums of money were exported into Asia 
 for the support of the war; and numbers of the most 
 powerful and opulent families either became extinct, or 
 were involved in the deepest miseries of poverty and want. 
 [It could not easily be otherwise, since the heads of the 
 most illustrious houses either mortgaged or sold their 
 lands and possessions in order to pay the expenses of their 
 voyage,* while others imposed such, intolerable burthens 
 upon their vassals and tenants, as obliged them to aban- 
 don their houses and all their domestic concerns, and to 
 enlist themselves, rather through wild despair than. reli- 
 gious zeal, under the sacred banner of the cross. Hence 
 the face of Europe was totally changed, and all things 
 were thrown into the utmost confusion. We pass in si- 
 lence the various enormities that were occasioned by these 
 crusades, the murders, rapes, and robberies of the most 
 infernal nature, that were every where committed with im- 
 punity by these holy soldiers of God and of Christ, as they 
 were impiously called; nor shall we enter into a detail of 
 the new privileges and rights, to which these wars gave 
 rise, and which were often attended with the greatest in- 
 conveniences.° 
 
 X. These holy wars were not less prejudicial to the 
 cause of religion, and the true interests of the Christian 
 church, than they were to the temporal concerns of men. 
 One of their first and most pernicious effects was the enor- 
 mous augmentation of the influence and authority of the 
 Roman pontiffs: they also contributed, in various ways, 
 to enrich the churches and monasteries with daily acces- 
 
 sions of wealth, and to open new sources of opulence to all | 
 
 the sacerdotal orders. For they, who assumed the cross, 
 disposed of their possessions as if they were at the point 
 of death, on account of the great and innumerable dan- 
 gers to which they were to be exposed in their passage to 
 the holy land, and the opposition they were to encounter 
 there upon their arrival. ‘They therefore, for the most 
 part, made their wills before their departure, and left a con- 
 
 siderable part of their possessions to the priests and monks, | 
 
 in order to obtain, by these pious legacies, the favour and 
 protection of the Deity.t| Many examples of these dona- 
 
 ® We find many memorable examples of this in the ancient records. 
 Robert, duke of Normandy, mortgaged his duchy to his brother William, 
 king of England, to defray the expenses of his voyage to Palestine. See 
 the Histor. Major of Matthew Paris, lib. i. p. 24.—Odo, viscount of 
 Bourges, sold his territory to the king of France. Gallia Christiana Bene- 
 dictinorum, tom. ii. p. 45. See, for many examples of this kind, Car. du 
 Fresne, Adnot. ad Joinvillii Vitam Ludoviei S. p. 52.—Boulainvilliers 
 sur l’Origine et les Droits de la Noblesse, in Molet’s Memoires de Litera. 
 ture et de l’Histoire, tom. ix. part i. p. 68—Jo. George Cramer, de Juri- 
 bus et Prerogativis Nobilitatis, tom. i. p. 81,409. J’rom the commence- 
 ment therefore of these holy wars, a vast number of estates, belonging 
 
 to the European nobility, were either mortgaged, or totally transferred,. 
 
 some to kings and princes, others to priests and monks, and not a few to 
 persons of a private condition, who by possessing considerable sums of 
 ready money, were enabled to make advantageous purchases. 
 
 » Such persons as entered into these expeditions, and were distin- 
 guished by the badge of the military cross, acquired thereby certain re- 
 markable rights, which were extremely prejudicial to the rest of their 
 fellow-citizens. Hence it happened, that when any of these holy sol- 
 diers contracted any civil obligations, or entered into conventions of sale, 
 purchase, or any such transactions, they were previously required to re- 
 nounce all privileges and immunities, which they had obtained, or might 
 
 obtain, in time to come, by assuming the cross. See Le Beuf, Memoires | 
 
 sur |’Histoire d’Auxerre, Append. tom. ii. p. 292. 
 ¢r ° The translator has here inserted, in the text, the note (r) of the 
 original, as it is purely historical, and makes an interesting part of the 
 narration. 
 57 
 
 No. XIX. 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 22h 
 
 tions are to be found in ancient records. Such of the holy 
 soldiers, as had been engaged in suits of law with the 
 priests or monks, renounced their pretensions, and sub- 
 missively gave up whatever it was that had been the sub- 
 ject of debate ; and others, who had seized any of the pos- 
 sessions of the churches or convents, or had heard of any 
 injury that had been committed against the clergy by the 
 remotest of their ancestors, made the most liberal restitu- 
 tion, both for their own usurpations and those of their fore- 
 fathers, and made ample satisfaction, for the real or pre- 
 tended injuries committed against the church, by rich and 
 costly donations.° 
 
 Nor were these the only unhappy effects of these holy 
 expeditions, considered with respect to their influence up- 
 on the state of religion, and the affairs of the Christian 
 church ; for, while whole legions of bishops and abbots 
 girded the sword to the thigh, and went as generals, vo- 
 lunteers, or chaplains, into Palestine, the priests and monks, 
 who had lived under their jurisdiction, and were more or 
 less awed by their authority, threw off all restraint, led the 
 most lawless and profligate lives, and abandoned them- 
 selves to all sorts of licentiousness, committing the most 
 flagitious and extravagant excesses without reluctance or 
 remorse. ‘lhe monster superstition, which was already 
 grown to an enormous size, received new accessions of 
 strength and influence from this holy war, and exercised 
 with greater vehemence than ever its despotic dominion 
 over the minds of the Latins. ‘To the crowd of saints and 
 tutelar patrons, whose number was prodigious before this 
 period, were now added many fictitious saints of Greek 
 and Syrian origin,’ hitherto unknown in Europe; and 
 an incredible quantity of relics, the greatest part of which 
 were ridiculous in the highest degree, were imported into 
 the European churches. The armies, that returned from 
 Asia after the taking of Jerusalem, brought with them a 
 vast number of these saintly relics, which they had bought 
 at a high price from the crafty Greeks and Syrians, and 
 which they considered as the noblest spoils that could crown 
 their return from the holy land. 'These they committed 
 to the custody of the clergy in the churches and monas- 
 teries, or ordered them to be most carefully preserved in 
 their families from one generation to another.¢ 
 
 4 See Plessis, Hist. de Meaux, tom. ii. p. 76, '79, 141.—Gallia Christi- 
 ana, tom. il. p. 138, 139.—Le Beuf, Append. p. 31.—Du Fresne, Notz 
 ad Vitam Ludovici Sancti, p. 52. 
 
 ° Du-Fresne, p. 52. 
 
 f The Roman catholic historians acknowledge, that, during the time 
 of the crusades, many saints unknown to the Latins before that period, 
 were imported into Europe from Greece and the eastern provinces, and 
 were treated with the utmost respect and the most devout veneration. 
 Among these new patrons, there were some, whose exploits and even exis- 
 tence are called in question. Such, among others, was St. Catharine, 
 whom Baronius and Cassander represent as having removed from Syria 
 into Europe. See Baronius, ad Martyrol. Roman. p. 728.—George Cas- 
 sander, Schol. ad Hymnos Ecclesiew. It is extremely doubtful, whether 
 this Catharine, who is honoured as the patroness of learned men, ever 
 existed. 
 
 © The sacred treasures of musty relics which the French, Germans, 
 Britons, and other European nations, preserved formerly with so much 
 care, and show even in our times with such pious ostentation, are cer- 
 tainly not more ancient than these holy wars, but were then purchased 
 at a high rate from the Greeks and Syrians. These cunning traders in 
 superstition, whose avarice and fraud were excessive, frequently imposed 
 upon the credulity of the simple and ignorant Latins, by the sale of ficti- 
 tious relics. Richard, king of England, bought in 1191, from the famous 
 Saladin, all the relics that were to be found in Jerusalem, as appears 
 
 _from the testimony of Matthew Paris, who tells us also, that the Domini- 
 
 cans brought frony Palestine, a white stone, in which Jesus Christ had 
 left the print of his feet. The Genoese pretended to have received from 
 
226 
 CHAPTER ILI. 
 
 Concerning the Calamitous Events that happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tix greatest opposition the Christians met with, in 
 this century, was from the Saracens and Turks. 'T'o the 
 latter, the Christians and Saracens were equally odious, 
 and felt equally the fatal consequences of their increasing 
 dominion. The Saracens, notwithstanding their bloody 
 contests with the Turks, which gave them constant occu- 
 pation, and the vigorous, though ineffectual efforts they 
 were continually making to set limits to the power of that 
 fierce nation, which was daily extending the bounds of its 
 empire, persisted in their cruelty toward their Christian 
 subjects, whom they robbed, plundered, maimed, or mur- 
 dered in the most barbarous manner, and loaded with all 
 sorts of injuries and calamities. The Turks, on the other 
 hand, not only reduced the Saracen dominion to very nar- 
 row bounds, but also seized the richest provinces of the 
 Grecian empire, the fertile countries situated upon the 
 coasts of the Euxine sea, and subjected them to their yoke, 
 while they impoverished and exhausted the rest by per- 
 petual incursions, and by the most severe and unmerciful 
 exactions. 'The Greeks were not able to oppose this im- 
 petuous torrent of prosperous ambition. ‘Their force was 
 weakened by intestine discords, and their treasures were 
 exhausted to such a degree as rendered them incapable of 
 raising new troops, or of paying the armies they had al- 
 ready in their service. 
 
 II. The Saracens in Spain opposed the progress of the 
 Gospel in a different, yet still more pernicious way. ‘They 
 used all sorts of methods to allure the Christians into the 
 profession of the Mohammedan faith. Alliances of mar- 
 riage, advantageous contracts, flattering rewards, were em- 
 
 Baldwin, second king of Jerusalem, the very dish in which the paschal 
 lamb was served up to Christ and his disciples at the last supper ; though 
 this famous dish excites the laughter of even father Labat, in his Voy- 
 ages en Espagne et en Italie, tom. ii. For an account of the prodigious 
 quantity of relics, which St. Louis brought from Palestine into France, 
 we refer the reader to the life of that prince composed by Joinville, and 
 published by Du-F'resne; as also to Plessis, Histoire de l’Eglise de Meaux, 
 tom. i. p. 120; and Lancelot, Memoires pour la Vie de Abbé de St. 
 Cyran, tom. 1.p.175. Christ's handkerchief, which is worshipped at 
 Besangon, was brought thither from the holy land. See J. Jaques Chif- 
 let, Visontio, part. i. p. 108; and de Linteis Christi Sepulchralibus, ec. 
 ix. p. 50. Many other examples of this miserable superstition may be 
 seen ir. Anton. Matthzi Analecta veteris Avi, tom. ii. p. 677.—Jo. Ma- 
 billon, Annal. Bened. tom. vi. p. 52; and principally Chiflet’s Crisis 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part 1. 
 
 | ployed to seduce them with too much success; for great 
 
 numbers fell into these fatal snares, and apostatized from 
 the truth ;* and these allurements would have, undoubt- 
 edly, still continued to seduce multitudes of Christians from 
 the bosom of the church, had not the face of affairs been 
 changed in Spain by the victorious arms of the kings of 
 Arragon and Castile, and more especially Ferdinand I. ; 
 for these princes, whose zeal for Christianity was equal to 
 their military courage, defeated the Saracens in several 
 battles, and deprived them of a great part of their territo- 
 ries and possessions.” 
 
 The number of those among the Danes, Hungarians, 
 and other European nations, who retained their prejudices 
 in favour of the idolatrous religion of their ancestors, was 
 yet very considerable ; and they persecuted, with the ut- 
 most cruelty, the neighbouring nations, and also such of 
 their fellow-citizens as had embraced the Gospel. 'T’o put 
 a stop to this barbarous persecution, Christian princes ex- 
 erted their zeal in a terrible manner, proclaiming capital 
 punishment against all who persisted in the worship of the 
 Pagan deities. This dreadful severity contributed much 
 more toward the extirpation of paganism, than the ex- 
 hortations and instructions of ignorant missionaries, who 
 were unacquainted with the true nature of the Gospel, and 
 dishonoured its pure and holy doctrines by their licentious 
 lives and superstitious practices. 
 
 The Prussians, Lithuanians, Sclavonians, Obotriti, and 
 several other nations, who dwelt in the lower parts of Ger- 
 many, and lay still grovelling in the darkness of pagan- 
 ism, continued to harass the Christians, who lived in their 
 neighbourhood, by perpetual acts of hostility and violence, 
 by frequent incursions into their territories, and by putting 
 numbers of them to death in the most inhuman man- 
 ner.° 
 
 Historica de Linteis Christi Sepulchralibus, c. ix. x. p. 50, and also 59, 
 where we find the following passage: “ Sciendum est, vigente immani 
 et barbara Turcorum persecutione, et imminente Christiane religionis in 
 oriente nanfragio, educta e sacrariis et per Christianos quovis modo re- 
 condita ecclesiarum pignora.—Hisce plane divinis opibus illecti pre aliis, 
 sacra Aciaya qua vi, qua pretio, a detinentibus hac illac extorserunt.” 
 
 @Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Histor. Ecclesiast. Sec. XI. §. il. p. 452; and 
 Michael Geddes’ History of the Expulsion of the Morescoes out ef 
 Spain, whichis to be found in the Miscelian. Tracts of that Author, tom. 1. 
 
 > For an account of these wars between the first Christian kings of 
 Spain and the Moslems or Moors, see the Spanish histories of Mariana 
 and Ferreras. 
 
 ¢ Helmoldi Chron. Slavorum, lib. i. cap. xvi, p, 52—Adami Bremens 
 Histor. lib. ii. cap. xxvii, ‘ 
 
PART IT. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue declining condition of the Grecian empire was 
 fatal to the progress of letters and philosophy. Its glory 
 and power diminished from day to day under the insults 
 and usurpations of the Turks and Saracens ; and, while 
 the empire suffered by these attacks from without, it was 
 consumed gradually by the internal pestilence of civil dis- 
 cord, by frequent seditions and conspiracies, and by those 
 violent revolutions which shook from time to time the im- 
 perial throne, and were attended with the sudden fall and 
 elevation of those who held the reins of government. 
 So many foreign invasions, so many internal troubles, 
 so many emperors dethroned, deprived the political body 
 of its strength and consistency, broke in upon the public 
 order, rendered alt things precarious, and, dejecting the 
 spirits of the nation, damped the fire of genius, and discou- 
 raged the efforts of literary ambition. There were, how- 
 ever, some emperors, such as Alexius Commnenus, who 
 seemed to cherish and encourage the drooping sciences, and 
 whose zeal was seconded by several prelates, who were 
 willing to lend a supporting hand to the cause of letters. 
 ‘The controversies also that subsisted between the Greeks 
 and Latins, impelled the former, amidst all their disad- 
 vantages, to a certain degree of application to study, and 
 prevented them from abandoning entirely the culture of 
 the sciences. And hence it is, that we find among the 
 Greeks of this century some writers, at least, who “have 
 deserved well of the republic of letters. 
 
 II. We pass in silence the poets, rhetoricians, and phi- 
 lologists of this century, who were neither highly eminent 
 nor absolutely contemptible. Among the writers of his- 
 tory, Leo the grammarian, John “Scylizes, Cedrenus, 
 and a few others, deserve to be mentioned with some share 
 of praise, notw ithstanding the palpable partiality with 
 which they are chargeable, and the zeal they discover for 
 many of the fabulous records of their nation. But the 
 
 reatest ornament of the republic of letters, at this time, was 
 
 Tichael Psellus, a man illustrious In every respect, and 
 leeply versed in all the various kinds of erudition that were 
 known in his age. This great man recommended warmly 
 to his countrymen the study of philosophy, and particu- 
 larly the system of Aristotle, which he embeilished and il- 
 lustrated in several learned and ingenious productions. 
 
 If we turn our eyes toward the Arabians, we shall. find | 
 
 that they still retained a high degree of zeal for the cul- 
 ture of the sciences ; as appears evidently from the num- 
 ber of physicians, mathematicians, and astronomers, who 
 flourished among them in this century.¢ 
 
 37 * The sentence which begins with the words so many foreign, 
 and ends with the words literary y ambition, is added by the translator to 
 render the connexion with what follows more evident. 
 
 » Leo Allatius, Diatriba de Psellis, p. 14, edit. Fabricii. 
 
 ¢ Elmacini Historia Saracen. p- 281 —Jo. Henr. Hottinger, Histor. 
 Eccles. See. XL. p. 449. 
 
 4 See Muratori, Antiquitates Ital. medii AZ vi, tom. iii. p. 871—Gian- 
 none, Historia di ‘Napoli, vol. il. 
 
 * Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. vii. at the Introduction—Du 
 
 III. ‘The arts and sciences seemed, in some measure, 
 to revive in the west, among the clergy, at least, ana the 
 monastic orders ; they were not indeed ‘eahaiated by any 
 other set of men ; and the nobility, if we except such of 
 them as were designed to fill certain ecclesiastical digni- 
 ties, or had voluntarily devoted themselves to a religious 
 solitude, treated all sorts of learning and erudition with 
 indifference and contempt. The schools of learning flou- 
 rished in several parts of Italy about the year 1050; and 
 of the Italian doctors, who acquired a name by their wri- 
 tings, or their academical lectures, several removed after- 
 wards into France, and particularly into Normandy, where 
 they instructed the youth, who had consecrated thervis selves 
 to the service of the church.¢ The French also, though 
 
 ‘they acknowledge their obligations to the learned Italians 
 
 who settled in their provinces, exhibit, at the same time, a 
 considerable list of their countrymen, who, without any 
 
 foreign succours, cultivated the sciences, and contributed 
 not a little to the advancement of letters in this century ; 
 they mention also several schools erected in different parts 
 of that kingdom, which were in the highest reputation, 
 both on account of the fame of their masters, and the mul- 
 titude of disciples that resorted to them.e And, indeed, 
 it is certain beyond all contradiction, that the liberal arts 
 and sciences were cultivated in France, which abounded 
 with learned men, while the greatest part of Italy lay as 
 yet covered with a thick cloud of ignorance and darkness. ° 
 For Robert, king of France, son and successor of Hugh 
 Capet, disciple of the famous Gerbert (afterwards Sylves- 
 ter If.) and the great protector of the sciences, and friend 
 of the learned, reigned from the close of the preceding cen- 
 tury to the year 1031,‘ and exerted upon all occasions the 
 most ardent zeal for the restoration of letters ; nor were 
 his noble efforts without success. The provinces of Si- 
 cily, Apulia, Calabria, and other southern parts of Italy, 
 
 were indebted, for the introduction of the sciences among 
 them, to the Normans, who became their masters, and who 
 brought with them from France the knowledge of letters 
 to a people benighted in the darkest ignorance. 'To the 
 Normans also was due the restoration of learning in Eng- 
 land. William the Conqueror, a prince of uncommon sa- 
 gacity and genius, and the great Maecenas of his time, 
 
 upon his accession to the throne of England, in the year 
 1066, engaged, by the most alluring solicitations s, a consi- 
 derable number of learned men, from Normandy, and 
 other countries, to settle in his new dominions, and ex 
 
 erted his most zealous endeavours to dispel that savage ig 
 
 norance, which is always a source of innumerable evils.* 
 The reception of Christianity had polished and civilized, 
 in an extraordinary manner, the rugged minds of the va- 
 liant Normans: for those fierce warriors, who, under the 
 
 Boulay, Hist. Academ. Paris. tom. i. p. 355. rr Beuf, Diss. sur lEtat 
 
 | des Sciences en France depuis la Mort du Roi Robert, which is published 
 
 among his Dissertations sur |’ Histoire Ecclesiastique et Civile de Paris, 
 tom. 11. part i. 
 
 x f Robert succeeded Hugh Capet, and reigned thirty-five years. 
 
 € Daniel, Histoire de la France, tom. iii. p. 58—Du Boulay, Hist. 
 Academ. Paris. tom. i. p. 636, et passim. 
 
 h See Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. viii. p. 171—“ The English,’ 
 says Matthew Paris, “ were so illiterate and ignorant before the time of 
 
228 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 darkness of paganism, had manifested the utmost aversion 
 to all branches of knowledge and every kind of instruc- 
 tion, distinguished themselves, after their conversion, by 
 their ardent application to the study of religion and the 
 pursuits of learning. 
 
 IV. This vehement desire of knowledge, that increased 
 from day to day, and became, at length, the predominant 
 passion of the politest European nations, produced many 
 happy effects. 'T’o it, more particularly, we must attribute 
 the considerable number of public schools that were opened 
 in various places, and the choice of more able and emi- 
 nent masters, than those who had formerly presided in the 
 seminaries of learning. ‘Toward the conclusion of the 
 preceding age, there were no schools in Europe but those 
 which belonged to monasteries, or episcopal residences; nor 
 were there any other masters, except the Benedictine 
 monks, to instruct the youth in the principles of sacred 
 and profane erudition. But, not long after the commence- 
 ment of this century, the face of things was totally 
 changed, in a manner the most advantageous to the cause 
 of letters. In many cities of France and Italy, learned 
 men, both among the clergy and laity, undertook the 
 
 weighty and important charge of instructing the youth, | 
 
 and succeeded much better in this worthy undertaking 
 than the monks had done, not only by comprehending in 
 their course of instruction more branches of knowledge 
 than the monastic doctors were acquainted with, but also 
 by teaching ina better method, and with more perspicuity 
 and precision, many of the same branches of science, 
 which the others had taught before them. "The most 
 eminent of these new masters were such as had either 
 travelled into Spain with a view to study in the schools of 
 the Saracens, (which was extremely customary in this age 
 among those who were ambitious of a distinguished repu- 
 tation for wisdom and knowledge) or had improved their 
 stock of erudition and philosophy by a diligent and atten- 
 tive perusal of the writings of the Arabians, of which a 
 great number were translated into Latin; for with these 
 foreign succours they were enabled to teach philosophy, 
 mathematics, physic, astronomy, and the other sciences 
 that are connected with them, in a much more learned 
 and solid manner than the monks, or such as had received 
 their education from them alone. The school of Saler- 
 num, in the kingdom of Naples, was renowned above all 
 others for the study of physic in this century, and vast 
 numbers crowded thither from all the provinces of Europe 
 to receive instruction in the art of healing: but the me- 
 dical precepts which rendered the doctors of Salernum so 
 famous, were all derived from the writings of the Ara- 
 
 William the Conqueror, that a man who understood the principles of 
 grammar was universally looked upon as a prodigy of learning. 
 
 * Muratori, Antiq. Ital. tom. iii. p. 935.—Giann me, Hist. di. Napoli 
 tom. il. p. 151.— Freind’s History of Physic.—It is well known, that the 
 famous precepts of the school of Salernum, for the preservation of health, 
 were composed in this century, at the request of the kine of Eneland. 
 
 HS > The triviwm was a term invented in the times of barbarism to 
 express the three sciences that were first learned in the schools. viz. 
 grammar, rhetoric, and logic; and the schools in which these sciences 
 alone were taught, were called ¢riviales. The quadrivium comprehend- 
 ed the four mathematica! sciences,—arithmetic, music, geometry, and 
 astronomy. 
 
 ¢See Boulay, tom. i. p. 408, 511—This is too likely to become the 
 nrevailing taste even in our times ; but it is an ancient taste, as we may 
 easily perceive, by casting an eye upon the literary history of the 
 eleventh century , and to confirm still farther the truth of the vulgar say- 
 ing, that there 1s nothing new wnder the swn, we shall quote the follow- 
 ing passage from the Metalogicum of John of Salisbury, a writer of no 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part Il. 
 bians, or from the s@hools of the Saracens in Spain and 
 Africa.s. It was also from the schools and writings of the 
 Arabian sages, that the absurd and puerile tricks of divi- 
 nation, and the custom of foretelling future events from 
 the position of the stars, the features of the face, and the 
 lines of the hand, derived their origin. ‘These ridiculous 
 practices, proceeding from so respectable a source, and 
 moreover adapted to satisfy the idle curiosity of impatient 
 mortals, were carried on in all the European nations ; and 
 in process of time the pretended sciences of astrology and 
 divination acquired the highest reputation and authority, 
 
 V. The seven liberal arts, as they were now styled, 
 were taught in the greatest part of the schools that were 
 erected in this century for the education of youth. The 
 first stage was grammar, which was followed by rhetoric 
 and logic. 
 branches, which were generally known by the name of 
 trivium, extended his ambition, and was desirous of new 
 improvement in the sciences, he was conducted slowly 
 through the guadriviwm® to the very summit of literary 
 fame. But this method of teaching, which had been re- 
 ceived in all the western schools, was considerably changed 
 toward the latter end of this century ; for, as the science 
 of logic, under which metaphysics were in part compre- 
 hended, received new degrees of perfection from the deep 
 meditations and the assiduous industry of certain acute 
 thinkers, and was taught with more detail and subtlety 
 than in former times, the greatest part of the studious 
 youth became so enamoured of this branch of philosophy, 
 as to abandon grammar, rhetoric, and all the other libera 
 arts, that they might consecrate their whole time to the 
 discussion of logical questions, and the pursuit of meta 
 physical speculations. Nor was this surprising, when we 
 consider, that, according to the opinion which now pre- 
 vailed in the republic of letters, a man who was well versed 
 in dialectics, i. e. in logical and metaphysical knowledge, 
 was reputed sufficiently learned, and was supposed to 
 stand in need of no other branches of erudition.» Hence 
 arose that contempt of languages and eloquence, of the 
 more elegant sciences, and the fine arts, which spread its 
 baneful influence through the Latin provinces ; and hence 
 that barbarism and pedantic sophistry which dishonoured, 
 in succeeding ages, the republic of letters, and deplorably 
 corrupted the noble simplicity of true theology, and the 
 purest systems of philosophical wisdom. 
 
 VI. 'The philosophy of the Latins, in this century, was 
 absolutely confined within the circle of dialectics, while 
 the other philosophical sciences were scarcely known by 
 name.? ‘This dialectic, indeed, was miserably dry and 
 
 mean abilities, lib. i. cap. ili. “‘ Poetz, historiographi habebantur infa- 
 mes, et si quis incumbebat laboribus antiquorum, notabatur ut non modo 
 asello Arcadiz tardior, sed obtusior plumbo vel lapide, omnibus erat in 
 risum. Suis enim, aut magistri sui, quisque incumbebat inventis._—Fie- 
 bant ergo summi repente philosophi: nam qui illiteratus accesserat, fere 
 non morabatur in scholis ulterius quam eo curriculo temporis, quo avium 
 pulli plumescunt.—Sed quid docebant novi doctores, et qui plus somnio- 
 rum quam vigiliarum in scrutinio philosophiz consumserant? Ecce nova 
 fiebant omnia: innovabatur grammatica, immutabatur dialectica, con- 
 temnebatur rhetorica, et novas totius quadrivii vias, evacuatis priorum 
 regulis, de ipsis philosophie adytis proferebant. Solam convenientiam 
 sive rationem loquebantur, argumentum sonabat in ore omnium—ac in- 
 eptum nimis aut rude et a philosopho alienum, impossibile credebatur 
 convenienter et ad rationis normam quicquam dicere aut facere, nisi co7- 
 venientie et rationis mentio expressim esset inserta.” Many more 
 passages of this nature are to be found in this author. 
 
 4 We shall, indeed, find many, in the records of this century, honoured 
 with the title of PAilosophers. Thus we hear of Manegoldus the philo- 
 
 When the disciple, having learned these three | 
 
 : 
 ; 
 
Cuap. L 
 
 barren, as iong as it was drawn from no other source than 
 the ten categories falsely attributed to St. Augustin, or 
 from the explications of the Aristotelian philosophy, com- 
 posed by Porphyry and Averroes. These, however, were 
 the only guides which the schools had to follow in the be- 
 ginning of this century; nor had the public teachers 
 either genius or courage enough to enlarge the system, or 
 to improve upon the principles of these dictators in phi- 
 losophy, whose authority was treated as infallible, and 
 whose productions, for a long time, were regarded as per- 
 fect, to the great detriment of true science. But, about 
 the year 1050, the face of philosophy began to change, 
 and the science of logic assumed a new aspect. This re- 
 volution began in France, where several of the books of 
 Aristotle had been brought from the schools of the Sara- 
 cens in Spain; and it was effected by a set of men highly 
 renowned for their abilities and genius, such as Berenger, 
 Roscelinus, Hildebert, and after them by Gilbert de la 
 Porrée, the famous Abelard, and others. These eminent 
 logicians, though they followed the Stagirite as their guide, 
 took the liberty to illustrate and model anew his philoso- 
 phy, and to extend it far beyond its ancient limits. 
 
 VIL. The philosophers of this age, who were most fa- 
 mous for their zealous and successful endeavours to im- 
 prove the science of logic, and accommodate it to general 
 use, were Lanfranc, an Italian by birth, (who was abbot of 
 St. Stephen’s at Caen, and was thence called by William 
 the Conqueror to the see of Canterbury,) Anselm his suc- 
 cessor, and Odo, whose last promotion was the bishopric 
 of Cambray. Lanfranc was so deeply versed in this science, 
 that he was commonly called the Dialectician ; and he 
 employed with great dexterity the subtleties of logic in the 
 controversy which was carried on between him and the 
 learned Berenger, against whom he maintained the real 
 presence of Christ’s body and blood in the holy sacrament. 
 Anseim, in a very learned dialogue, throws much light 
 upon the darkness and perplexity in which the science of 
 logic had been so long involved ; and, among other things, 
 he investigates, with no small sagacity, the nature of sub- 
 stance, and mode or quality, in order to convey more just 
 notions of these metaphysical entities than had been hi- 
 therto entertained.* This great prelate, who shone with a 
 distinguished lustre in several branches of literature both 
 sacred and profane, was the first of the Latin doctors who 
 dispelled the clouds of ignorance and obscurity that hung 
 over the important sciences of metaphysics and natural 
 theology, as appears from two books of his composition, 
 
 sopher, Adsalardus the Philosopher, &c. But we must not attribute to 
 that term, when applied to these grammarians, the sense which it bore 
 among the ancient Greeks and Latins, and which it still bears in our 
 times. In the style of what we call the middle ages, every man of 
 earning, of whatever kind his erudition might be, was called a philoso- 
 vher; and this title was also given to the interpreters of Scripture, 
 Sees that set of men were, generally speaking, destitute of true phi- 
 osophy. 
 
 See Mite Chronicon Salernitanum in Muratori’s collection Scriptor. 
 Rerum Italicar. tom. ii., part il. cap. cxxiv. p. 265, where we are told, 
 that in the tenth century, in which the sciences were almost totally extin- 
 
 ished in Italy, there were thirty-two philosophers at Benevento. We 
 rn, however, by what follows, that these philosophers were partly 
 
 rammarians, and partly persons who were more or less versed in certain 
 Fiberal arts. 
 
 * This dialogue, de Grammatico, is to be found in the works of An- 
 selm, published by father Gerberon, tom. i. p. 143. 
 
 bGaunilo’s Treatise is to be found in the works of Anselm, with 
 the answer of that learned prelate. 23% As Anselm makes such a shi- 
 ning figure in the literary history of England, it will not be improper to 
 add here a more ample account of his character and writings than that 
 
 No. XX. 58 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 oo oooaoaaeoaBOoaapEoEooaoaaSaSaaaaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaSESSESESESISESIIIEIEIEqq—~&q&=—Eq—=q—eEEEEEESESEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSESaaaaEoEIoaEoIoaoIiaEeESEeEeEeEeEeESESSESES—SSESESESESeSESEeESESEEeEEEeESESESESESESSS—L—SESESESEE==|=VSSSS="” 
 
 229 
 
 wherein the truths concerning the Deity, which are dedu- 
 cible from the mere light of nature, are enumerated and 
 explained with a degree of sagacity which could not well 
 be expected from a writer of this century. He was the 
 inventor of that famous argument, vulgarly and errone- 
 ously attributed to Des-Cartes, which demonstrates the ex- 
 istence of God from the idea of an infinitely perfect Being 
 naturally implanted in the mind of man, and which is to 
 be found, without exception, in the breast of every mortal. 
 The solidity of this argument was, indeed, called in ques- 
 tion, almost as soon as it was proposed, by Gaunilo, a 
 French monk, whose objections were answered by Anselm, 
 in a treatise professedly written for that purpose.» Odo, 
 the third restorer of logic whom we mentioned above, 
 taught that science with the greatest applause, and illus- 
 trated it in three learned productions, which have not sur- 
 vived the ruins of time.° 
 
 VIII. The restoration of logic was immediately followed 
 by a vehement dispute between its restorers and patrons, 
 concerning the object of that science ; such was the term 
 employed by the contending parties. ‘This controversy, 
 which was long agitated in the schools, was in its nature 
 extremely trivial and unimportant: but, considered in its 
 consequences, it became a very serious and weighty aflair, 
 since the disputants on both sides made use of their re- 
 spective opinions in explaining the doctrines of religion, 
 and reciprocally loaded each other with the most odious 
 invectives and the most opprobrious accusations. In one 
 point only they were unanimous, acknowledging that 
 logic or dialectic had for its essential object the considera- 
 tion of universals in their various relations and points of 
 comparison, since particular and individual things, Leing 
 liable to change, could not be the objects of a sure and 
 immutable science. But the great question was, whether 
 these universals, which came within the sphere of logical 
 inquiries, belonged to the class of real thing's, or to that of 
 mere denominations. One set of these subtle disputants 
 maintained, that universals were undoubted realities, and 
 supported their hypothesis by the authority of Plato, Boe- 
 tius, and other ancient sages ; the other affirmed, that they 
 were mere words and outward denominations, and plead- 
 ed in behalf of their cause the respectable suflrages of Aris- 
 totle and Porphyry. ‘The former were called Realists, on 
 account of their doctrine, and the latter Nominalists, for 
 the same reason. ‘The contending parties were, in pro- 
 cess of time, subdivided into various sects, on account of 
 the different modes in which many explained the doctrine 
 
 which is given by Dr. Mosheim. His life and manners were without 
 reproach, though his spiritual ambition justly exposed him to censure. 
 His works are divided into three parts. The first contains his dogmati- 
 cal tracts, and begins with a discourse concerning the Existence of God, 
 the Divine Attributes, and the Trinity. This discourse is called Mono- 
 logia, because it is drawn up in the form of a soliloquy. In this first part 
 of the works of Anselm, there are many curious researches upon sub- 
 
 jects of a very difficult and mysterious nature, such as the fall of Satan, the 
 
 Reason why God created Man, the ‘doctrine of Original Sin, and the 
 Manner of its Communication to Adam’s Posterity, the Liberty of the 
 Will, and the Consistency of Freedom with the Divine Prescience. The 
 second and third parts of the writings of this eminent prelate contain his 
 practical and devotional performances, such as Homilies, Poems, Prayers, 
 &c. and his Letters, which are divided into four books. 
 
 ° The titles of these three treatises are as follow: de Sophista de Com- 
 plexionibus, de Re et Ente. The learned Heriman, in his Narratio Re- 
 staurationis Abbatiz Sti. Martini Tornacensis, which is published in M. 
 D’Acheri’s Spicilegium Scriptor. Veter. tom. ii. p. 889, speaks of Odo in 
 the following honourable manner: “ Cum Odo septem liberalium artium 
 esset peritus, preecipue tamen in dialectica eminebat, et pro ips4 maxime 
 clericorum frequentia eum expetebat.” 
 
230 
 
 that was the badge and characteristic of their sect... This 
 controversy made a prodigious noise in all the schools 
 throughout Europe during many succeeding ages, and 
 often produced unhappy contentions and animosities be- 
 tween philosophers and divines. Some are of opinion, 
 that it derived its origin from the disputes between Beren- 
 ger and his adversaries, concerning the eucharist ;» a no- 
 
 tion which, though it be advanced without authority, is by | 
 
 no means destitute of probability, since the hypothesis of 
 the Nominalists might be very successfully employed in 
 defending the doctrine of Berenger, concerning the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord’s supper. 
 
 IX. 'The Nominalists had for their chief a person 
 named John, who, on account of his logical subtlety, was 
 surnamed the Sophist, which is the only circumstance we 
 know of his history.s His principal disciples were Robert 
 of Paris, Roscelin of Compiegne, and Arnoul of Laon, who 
 propagated his doctrine with industry and success; to 
 whom we may add, with some probability, Raimbert, the 
 master of a famous school at Lisle, who is said, according 
 to the quibbling humour of the times, ‘to have read nomi- 
 nal logic to his disciples, while Odo (whom we have al- 
 ready had occasion to mention) instructed his scholars in 
 reality... ‘The most renowned of all the nominal philo- 
 sophers of this age was Roscelin: hence many considered 
 him as the chief and founder of that sect, and he is still re- 
 garded as such by several learned men. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. Axx the records of this century loudly complain of 
 the vices that reigned among the rulers of the church, and, 
 in general, among all the sacerdotal orders ; they also de- 
 plore that universal decay of piety and discipline, which 
 was the consequence of this corruption in a set of men, 
 who were bound to support, by their example, their au- 
 thority, and their instructions, the sacred interests of reli- 
 gion and virtue. ‘lhe western bishops were no sooner 
 elevated to the rank of dukes, counts, and nobles, and en- 
 riched with ample territories, than they gave themselves 
 up entirely tothe dominion of pleasure and ambition, and, 
 wholly employed in displaying the magnificence of. their 
 temporal stations, frequented the courts of princes, accom- 
 panied always with a splendid train of attendants and do- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ‘councils.! 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 mestics.¢ The inferior orders of the clergy were also licen- 
 tious in their own way; few among them preserved any 
 remains of piety and virtue, we might add, of decency and 
 discretion. While their rulers were wallowing in luxury, 
 and basking in the beams of worldly pomp and splendour, 
 they were indulging themselves, without the least sense 
 of shame, in fraudulent practices, in impure and lasciviour 
 gratifications, and even in the commission of flagitioug 
 crimes. ‘The Grecian clergy were less chargeable with 
 these shocking irregularities, as the calamities under which 
 their country groaned, imposed a restraint upon their pas- 
 sions, and gave a check to their licentiousness. Yet, not- 
 withstanding these salutary restraints, there were few ex- 
 amples of piety and virtue to be found among them. 
 
 Uf. The authority and lustre of the Latin church, or, te 
 speak more properly, the power and dominion of the Ro- 
 man pontifls, rose in this century to the highest point, 
 though they rose by degrees, and had much opposition 
 and many difficulties to conquer. In the preceding age 
 the pontiffs had acquired a great degree of authority in re- 
 ligious affairs, and in every thing that related to the go- 
 vernment of the church; and their credit and influence 
 increased prodigiously toward the commencement of this 
 century. For then they received the pompous titles of 
 ‘masters,of the world, and ‘ popes,’ i. e. universal ‘ fathers;’ 
 they presided also every where in the councils by their le- 
 gates; assumed the authority of supreme arbiters in all 
 controversies that arose concerning religion or church disci- 
 pline ; and maintained the pretended rights of the church 
 against the encroachments and usurpations of kings and 
 princes. ‘Their authority, however, was confined within 
 certain limits; for, on one hand, it was restrained by so- 
 vereign princes, that it might not arrogantly aim at civil 
 dominion; and, on the other, it was opposed by the bishops 
 themselves, that it might not rise to a spiritual despotism, 
 and utterly destroy the liberty and privileges of synods and 
 From the time of Leo LX. the popes employed 
 every method which the most artful ambition could sug- 
 gest, to remove these limits, and to render their dominion 
 both despotic and universal. They not only aspired to 
 the character of supreme legislators in the church, to an 
 unlimited jurisdiction over all synods and councils, whe- 
 ther general or provincial, to the sole distribution of all eccle- 
 siastical honours and benefices, as being divinely autho- 
 rised and appointed for that purpose ; but they carried their 
 insolent pretensions so far as to give themselves out for 
 
 * The learned Brucker (in his Historia Critica Philosophie, tom. iii. 
 p. 904,) gives an ample account of the sect of the Nominalists, and en- 
 larges upon the nature and circumstances of this logical contest; he also 
 mentions the various writers, who have made this sect and its doctrine 
 the object of their researches. Among these writers, the principal was 
 John Salabert, presbyter in the diocese of Agen, who, in 1651, published 
 a treatise entitled Philosophia Nominalium Vindicata. This book, which 
 is extremely rare, has been seen by none of the authors who have writ- 
 ten professedly concerning the sect of the Nominalists. A copy of it 
 taken from the manuscript in the French king’s library, was communi- 
 cated to me, fron which it appears, that Salabert, who was certainly a 
 very acute and ingenious logician, employed his labour rather in defend- 
 ing the doctrine of the Nominalists, than in giving an accurate account 
 of their sect. There are, however, several things to be found in his book 
 which are far from being generally known, even among the learned. 
 
 > Du Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 443.—Ger. du Bois, His- 
 tor. Ecclesiz Paris. tom. 1. 770. 
 
 * This account we have from the unknown author of the Fraementum 
 Historiz Francice a Roberto Rege ad Mortem Philippi I., which is pub- 
 lished in Du Chesne’s Seriptores Historie Francice, tom.iv. His words 
 are as follow: “In dialectica hi potentes extiterunt sophiste, Johannes, 
 qui artem sophisticam vocalem esse disseruit,” &¢.—Du Boulay conjec- 
 tures that this John the Sophist was the same person with John of 
 
 Chartres, surnamed the Deaf, who was first physician to Henry I. king 
 of France, and had acquired a great degree of renown by his genius and 
 erudition. The same author tells us, that John had for his master Giral- 
 dus of Orleans, who was an incomparable poet, and an excellent rhetori- 
 cian; but he advances this without any proof. Mabillon, on the other 
 hand, in his Annal. Benedict. tom. v. supposes, that John the Nominalist 
 was the same person who made known to Anselm the error of Roscelinus 
 concerning the Three Persons in the Godhead. 
 
 4 The passage in the original is: ‘‘Qui dialecticam clericis suis in 
 voce legebat, quam Odo in 7e discipulis legeret.” See Herimannus, His- 
 tor. Restaurationis Monasterii Sti. Martini 'Tornacens. in D’Acheri’s 
 Spicileg. Vet. Scriptorum, vol. ili. p. 889. 
 
 ¢ See among other examples of this episcopal grandeur, that of Adal- 
 bert, in Adam. Bremens. lib. ili. cap. xxii. p. 38. lib. iv. cap. xxxv. p. 52, 
 that of Gunther, in the Lectiones Antique of Canisius, tom. lil. part 1, 
 p. 185. and that of Manasses, in the Museum Italicum of Mabillon, tom, 
 1. p. 114. Addto all these Muratori’s Antiq. Ital. medii A2vi, tom. vi. p. 72, 
 
 f The very learned Launoy (in his Assertio contra Privilegium Sti, 
 Medardi, part ii.) cap. xxxi. op. tom, ii. has given us an accurate account 
 of the ecclesiastical laws, and of tne power of the hierarchy, during thig 
 century, which ne collected from the letters of pove Gregory VIL; from 
 which account it appears, that Gregory, ambitious as ne was, did not 
 pretend to a supreme and despotic authority in the church. 
 
 —_— 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 lords of the universe, arbiters of the fate of kingdoms and 
 einpires, and supreme rulers over the kings and princes of 
 the earth. Before Leo LX. no pope was so enormously 
 impudent as to claim this unbounded authority, or to as- 
 sume the power of transferring territories and provinces 
 from their lawful possessors to new masters. ‘This pontiff 
 gave the example of such an amazing pretension to his 
 holy successors, by granting to the Normans, who had set- 
 tled in Italy, the lands and territories which they had al- 
 ready usurped, or were employed in forcing out of the 
 hands of the Greeks and Saracens.«| The ambitious 
 views, however, of the aspiring popes were opposed by the 
 emperors, the kings of France, by William the Conqueror, 
 who was now seated on the throne of England, and was 
 the boldest assertor of the rights and privileges of royalty 
 against the high claims of the apostolic see,® and also by 
 several other princes. Nor did the bishops, particularly 
 those of France and Germany, sit tamely silent under the 
 papal yoke; many of them endeavoured to maintain their 
 rights and the privileges of the church ; but others, seduced 
 by the allurements of interest or the dictates of superstition, 
 sacrificed their liberties, and yielded to the pontiffs. Hence 
 it happened, that these imperious lords of the church, 
 though they did not entirely gain their point, or satisfy to 
 the full their raging ambition, yet obtained vast augmen- 
 tations of power, and extended their authority from day 
 to day. 
 
 Ill. The see of Rome, after the death of Sylvester I. 
 which happened in 1003, was filled successively by John 
 XVIL, John XVUI., and Sergius IV., whose pontificates 
 were not distinguished by any memorable events. It is, 
 however, proper to observe, that these three popes were 
 confirmed in the see of Rome by the approbation and au- 
 thority of the emperors under whose reigns they were 
 elected to that high dignity. Benedict VIIL, who was 
 raised to the pontificate in 1012, being obliged by his 
 competitor Gregory to leave Rome, fled into Germany for 
 succour, and threw himself at the feet of Henry IL., by 
 whom he was reinstated in the apostolic chair, which he 
 possessed in peace until the year 1024. It was during 
 his pontificate, that those Normans, who make such a 
 shining figure in history, came into Italy, and reduced 
 several of its richest provinces under their dominion. Be- 
 nedict was succeeded by his brother John XTX. who ruled 
 the church until the year 1033. The five pontifls whom 
 we have now been mentioning were not chargeable with 
 dishonouring their high station by that licentiousness and 
 immorality which rendered so many of their successors 
 infamous ; their lives were virtuous; at least their conduct 
 was decent. But their examples had little effect upon 
 
 * See Gaufr. Malaterra, Hist. Sicula, lib. i. cap. xiv. p. 553, tom v. 
 Scriptor. Ital. Muratori. 3% The translator has here incorporated the 
 note (s) of the original into the text. 
 
 tSee Eadmeri Historia Novorum, which is published at the end of 
 the works of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury. It is proper to ob- 
 serve here, that if it is true on one hand, that William the Con- 
 
 ueror opposed, on many occasions, with the utmost vehemence and zeal, 
 the growing power of the Roman pontiffs, and of the aspiring bishops, 
 it 1s no less certain, on the other, that to accomplish his ambitious views, 
 he, like many other European princes, had recourse to the influence of 
 the pontiffs upon the minds of the multitude, and thereby nourished and 
 encouraged the pride and ambition of the court of Rome. For, while 
 he was preparing all things for his expedition into England, he sent em- 
 bassadors to pope Alexander H. “in order, (as Matthew Paris says, 
 Hist. Major. lib. i.) to have his undertaking approved and justified by 
 apostolical authority ; and the pope having considered the claims of the 
 contending parties, sent a standard to William as the omen of his ap- 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 OO oeeeeoe=seoeaanana=a alll OO aa—0—~—$0— Soe Ss 
 
 231 
 
 Benedict IX., a most abandoned profligate, and a wretch 
 capable of the most horrid crimes, whose flagitious conduct 
 drew upon him the just resentment of the Romans. whe 
 
 in 1038, removed him from his station. He was afterwards 
 indeed restored, by the emperor Conrad, to the papal chair: 
 but, instead of learning circumspection and prudence from 
 his former disgrace, he became still more scandalous in his 
 life and manners, and so provoked the Roman people by 
 his repeated crimes, that they deposed him a second time, 
 in 1044, and elected in his place John, bishop of Sabina, 
 who assumed the name of Sylvester III. About three 
 months after this new revolution, the relatives and adhe- 
 rents of Benedict rese up in arms, drove Sylvester out of 
 the city, and restored the degraded pontiff to his forfeited 
 honours, which, however, he did not long enjoy; for, per- 
 ceiving that there was no possibility of appeasing the re- 
 sentment of the Romans, he sold the pontificate to John 
 
 -Gratian, arch-presbyter of Rome, who took the name of 
 
 Gregory VI. ‘hus the church had, at the same time, two 
 chiefs, Sylvester and Gregory, whose rivalry was the oc- 
 casion of much trouble and confusion. ‘This contest was 
 terminated, in 1046, in the council holden at Sutri by the 
 emperor Henry IIL, who so ordered matters, that Benedict, 
 Gregory, and Sylvester, were declared unworthy of the 
 pontificate, and Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, was raised to 
 that dignity, which he enjoyed for a short time under the 
 title of Clement IL.° 
 
 IV. After the death of Clement I., which happened in 
 1047, Benedict IX., though twice degraded, aimed anew 
 at the papal dignity, and accordingly forced himself into 
 St. Peter’s chair for the third time. But, in the following 
 year, he was obliged to surrender the pontificate to Poppo, 
 bishop of Brixen, known by the name of Damasus IL, 
 whom Henry II. elected pope in Germany, and sent into 
 Italy to take possession of that dignity. On the death of 
 Damasus, who ruled the see of Rome only three and 
 twenty days, the same emperor, in the diet holden at 
 Worms, in 1048, appointed Bruno, bishop of Toul, to suc- 
 ceed him in the pontificate. This prelate is known in the 
 list of the popes by the name of Leo LX.; and his private 
 virtues, as well as his public acts of zeal and piety in the 
 government of the church, were deemed meritorious 
 enough to entitle him to a place among the saintly order. 
 But if we deduct from these pretended virtues his vehe- 
 ment zeal for augmenting the opulence and authority of 
 the church of Rome, and his laudable severity in correct- 
 ing and punishing certain enormous vices,’ which were 
 common among the clergy during his pontificate, there 
 will remain little in the life and administration of this 
 pontiff, that could give him any pretension to such a dis- 
 
 proaching royalty.” It is highly probable, that the Normans in Italy 
 had made the same humble request to Leo [X., and demanded his confirma- 
 tion both of the possessions they had acquired, and of those which they 
 intended to usurp. And when we consider all this, it will not appear so 
 surprising that the popes aimed at universal empire, since they were en- 
 couraged in their views by the mean submissions and servile homage of 
 the European princes. 
 
 * In this compendious account of the popes, I have followed the rela- 
 tions of Francis and Anthony Pagi, Papebrock, and also those of Mu- 
 ratori, in his Annales Italie, persuaded that the learned and judicious 
 reader will justify my treating, with the utmost contempt, what Baronius 
 and others have alleged in favour of Gregory VI. 
 
 x 4 In several councils which he assembled in Italy, France, and 
 Germany, he proposed rigorous laws against simony, sodomy, inces- 
 tuous and adulterous marriages, the custom of carrying arms, (which had 
 become general among the clergy, ) the apostacy of the monks, who aban- 
 doned their habit and renounced theif profession, &c. 
 
232 
 tinction. It is at least certain, that many, who industri- 
 ously conceal or excuse the numerous infirmities and fail- 
 ings of the pontifls, censure, with the utmost freedom, the 
 temerity and injustice of the measures he took toward the 
 conclusion of his days. Such, among others, was the war 
 into which he inconsiderately entered, in 1053, with the 
 Normans, whom he was grieved to see in the possession 
 of Apulia. His temerity, indeed, was severely punished 
 by the issue of this war, from which he derived the bitter- 
 est fruits, being taken prisoner by the enemy, and led 
 captive to Benevento. Here dismal reflections upon his 
 unhappy fate preyed upon his spirits, and threw him into 
 a dangerous illness; so that, after a year’s imprisonment, 
 he was sent to Rome, where he concluded his days on the 
 19th of April, 1054. 
 
 V. After the death of Leo the papal chair was filled, in 
 1055, by Gebhard, bishop of Eichstadt, who assumed the 
 name of Victor IL, and, after governing the church about 
 three years, was succeeded by Stephen [X., brother to 
 Godfrey, duke of Lorrain, who died a few months after 
 his election. Nothing memorable happened under the ad- 
 ministration of these two pontiffs. Gerard, bishop of F'lo- 
 rence, who obtained the papacy in 1058, and took the 
 name of Nicolas I., makes a greater figure in history than 
 several of his predecessors.» We pass in silence John, 
 bishop of Veletri, who usurped the pontificate, as also the 
 title of Benedict X., after the death of Stephen, and who 
 was deposed with ignominy, after having possessed about 
 nine months the dignity to which he had no other title, 
 than what he derived from lawless violence. Nicolas, on 
 the removal of this usurper, assembled a council at Rome, 
 in 1059, in which, among many salutary laws for healing 
 the inveterate disorders that had afflicted the church, one 
 remarkable decree was passed for altering the ancient form 
 of electing the pontiff. 'This alteration was intended to 
 prevent the tumults and commotions which arose in Rome, 
 and the factions which divided Italy, when a new pope 
 was to be elected. The same pontiff received the homage 
 of the Normans, and solemnly created Robert Guiscard 
 duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, on condition that he 
 should observe, as a faithful vassal, an inviolable allegiance 
 to the Roman church, and pay an annual tribute in ac- 
 knowledgment of his subjection to the apostolic see. By 
 
 * See the Acta Sanctorum ad d. xix. Aprilis, tom. iii. p. 642—His- 
 toire Literaire de la France, tom. vii. p. 450.—Giannune, Historia di 
 Napoli, tom. ii. 
 
 » Beside the accounts giyen of Nicolas II. by the writers of the papal 
 history, there is a particular and accurate history of this pontiff drawn 
 up by the Benedictine monks, in the Histoire Literaire de la France, 
 tom. vil. p. 515. 
 
 * See Muratori’s Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 186—Baronius Annales 
 ad anno 1060. 
 
 zp 4 It does not appear, that Nicolas was at all solicitous about the 
 privileges of the emperor, and his authority in the election of the bishop 
 of Rome; for the words of the decree in all the various copies of it are 
 to this import: “ The cardinals shall first deliberate concerning the elec- 
 tion of a pontiff, and the consent of the other clergy and of the people 
 shall be required to confirm their choice. The pope shall be chosen out 
 of the members that compose the church of Rome, if a proper person 
 can be found among them: if not, he shall be elected elsewhere: all this 
 without any prejudice to the honour of our dear son Henry, (who is now 
 king, and shall be soon emperor, as we have already promised him,) or 
 to the honour of his successors on whom the apostolic see shall confer 
 personally and successively the same high privilege.” Here we see the 
 good pontiff manifestly taking advantage of the minority of Henry IV. 
 to depreciate and diminish the ancient prerogatives of the imperial crown, 
 and to magnify the authority of the papal mitre; for he declares, as a 
 personal right granted by the Roman see to each emperor for himself, the 
 privilege of confirming the pope’s election; whereas it is well known 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. - 
 
 Part ll 
 
 what authority Nicolas confirmed the Norman prince in 
 the possession of these provinces, is more than we know; 
 certain it is, that he had ne sort of property in the lands 
 which he granted so liberally to the Normans, who held 
 them already by the odious right of conquest.° Perhaps 
 the lordly pontiff founded this right of cession upon the 
 fictitious donation of Constantine, which has been already 
 noticed in the course of this history; or, probably, seduced 
 by the artful and ambitious suggestions of Hildebrand, 
 who had himself an eye upon the pontificate, and after- 
 wards filled it under the adopted name of Gregory VIL. 
 he imagined that, as Christ’s vicegerent, the Roman pon- 
 tiff was the king of kings, and had the whole universe for 
 his domain. It is well known that Hildebrand had a su- 
 preme ascendency over the mind of Nicolas, and that the 
 latter neither undertook nor executed any thing without 
 his direction. Be that as it may, it was the feudal grant 
 made to Guiscard by this pope, that laid the foundation of 
 the kingdom of Naples, or of the two Sicilies, and of the 
 sovereignty over that kingdom which the Roman pontiffs 
 constantly claim, and which the Sicilian monarchs annu- 
 ally acknowledge. ‘ 
 
 VL. Before the pontificate of Nicolas II., the popes were 
 chosen not only by the suffrages of the cardinals, but also 
 by those of the whole Roman clergy, the nobility, the bur- 
 gesses, and the assembly of the people. An election, in 
 which such a confused and jarring multitude was con- 
 cerned, could not but produce continual factions, animo- 
 sities, and tumults. 'To prevent these, as far as was pos- 
 sible, this artful and provident pontiff had a law passed, 
 by which the cardinals, as well presbyters as bishops, were 
 empowered, on a vacancy in the see of Rome, to elect a 
 new pope, without any prejudice to the ancient privileges 
 of the Roman emperors in this important matter.t Nor 
 were the rest of the clergy, with the burgesses and people, 
 excluded from all participation in this election, since thei 
 consent was solemnly demanded, and also esteemed ot 
 much weight.e In consequence, however, of this new re- 
 gulation, the cardinals acted the principal part in the cre- 
 ation of the new pontiff, though they suffered for a long 
 time much opposition, both from the sacerdotal orders and 
 the Roman citizens, who were constantly either reclaim- 
 ing their ancient rights, or abusing the privilege they yet 
 
 that this privilege had been vested in the emperors of Germany during 
 many preceding ages. See Fleury, Eccles. Hist. vol. xiii. liv. lx. Itis 
 proper to observe here, that the cringing and ignoble submission of 
 Charles the Bald, who would not accept the title of emperor before it was 
 conferred upon him by the pontiff, occasioned, in process of time, that 
 absurd notion, that the papal consecration was requisite in order to qua- 
 lify the kings of Germany to assume the title of Roman emperors, though, 
 without that consecration, these kings had all Italy under their dominion, 
 and exercised in every part of it various rights and prerogatives of so- 
 vereignty. Hence the kings of Germany were first styled kings of the 
 Franks and Lombards, afterwards kings of the Romans until the year 
 1508, when Maximilian I. changed the title of king into that of eperor. 
 
 e The decree of Nicolas concerning the election of the pontiff is to be 
 found in many authors, and particularly in the Concilia. But, upon 
 comparing several copies of this famous decree, I found them in many 
 respects very different from each other. In some copies the decree ap- 
 pears abridged; in others, it is long and prolix. In some it seems fa- 
 vourable to the rights and privileges of the emperors; in others it ap- 
 pears to have the contrary tendency. The most ample copy is that which 
 we find in the Chronicon Farfense in Muratori’s Script. Rerum Italica- 
 rum, tom. il. part il. p. 645, which differs, however, in various circum- 
 stances, from that which was published by Hugo Floriacensis, in his 
 book de regia& Potestate et sacerdotali Dignitate, in Baluzii Miscellaneis, 
 tom. iv. p. 62. Notwithstanding the diversity that exists in the copies 
 of this famous decree, they all agree in confirming the accounts we have 
 given of the plans and pontificate of Nicolas. 
 
Curr. I. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 233 
 
 retained of confirming the election of every new pope by || people?) When this is known with certainty, we shall 
 
 their approbation and consent. In the following century 
 an end was put to all these disputes by Alexander IIL, 
 who was so fortunate as to complete what Nicolas had 
 only begun, and who transferred and confined to the col- 
 lege of cardinals the right of electing to the apostolic see, 
 excluding the nobility, the people, and the rest of the 
 clergy, from all concern in this important matter.* 
 
 It may not be improper here to give some account of 
 the origin of the cardinals,’ and the nature of their privi- 
 leges and functions. Many writers: have treated this sub- 
 ject in an ample manner, and have shed upon it a profu- 
 sion of erudition, which deserves, no doubt, the highest 
 applause; but they are, generally speaking, defective in 
 perspicuity and precision; nor do I know of any, who 
 have confined themselves to the true state of the question, 
 and investigated, in a satisfactory manner, the origin of 
 the office of cardinal, and the reasons that occasioned the 
 institution of that order of ecclesiastics. Several learned 
 men have employed much time and labour in fixing the 
 sense of the word cardinal, and in illustrating its mean- 
 ing from ancient monuments and records; but, however 
 worthy of a curious philologist these researches may be, 
 they contribute little to clear up the point in question, or 
 to convey an accurate and satisfactory notion of the true 
 origin of the college of cardinals, and the nature of that 
 ecclesiasfical dignity. It is certain, that the word in ques- 
 tion, when applied to persons or things, and more espe- 
 cially to the sacred order, was, in the language of the 
 middle ages, a term of dubious signification, and was sus- 
 ceptible of various senses. It is also well known, that, in 
 former times, this title was by no means peculiar to the 
 priests and ministers of the church of Rome, but was in 
 use in all the Latin churches, and that not only the secu- 
 Jar clergy, but also the regular, such as abbots, canons, 
 and monks, were capable of this denomination, though in 
 different senses. But, after the pontificate of Alexander IIT, 
 the common use of the term was gradually diminished, 
 and it was confined to such only as were immediately 
 concerned in the election of the pope, and had the right of 
 suffrage in this weighty matter; so that, when we inquire 
 into the origin of the sacred college at Rome, the question 
 is not, who they were, that in the remoter periods of the 
 church were distinguished, among the Latins in general, 
 or at Rome in particular, from the rest of the clergy, by 
 the name of cardinals; nor do we inquire into the proper 
 signification of that term, or into the various senses in 
 which it was formerly employed. ‘The true state of the 
 question is this: who the persons were that Nicolas II. 
 comprehended under that denomination, when he vested 
 in the Roman cardinals alone the right of electing the 
 new pontiff, and excluded from that important privilege 
 the rest of the clergy, the nobility, the burgesses, and the 
 
 * See Mabillon, Comm. in Ord. Roman. tom. ii. Musei Italici, p. 114. 
 —Constant. Cenni Pref. ad Concilium Lateran. Stephani iil. p. 18.— 
 Franc. Pagi Breviarium Pontif. Romanor. tom. ii. p. 374. 
 
 327 » The translator has here incorporated into the text the long and 
 important note (c) of the original concerning the cardinals. The cita- 
 tions ard references only are thrown into the notes. 
 
 ¢ The authors who have written of the name, origin, and rights of 
 the cardinals, are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Bibliogr. 
 Antiquar. p. 455—Casp. Sagittarius, Introd. ad Historiam Ecclesiast. 
 cap. xxix. p. 771, et Jo. And. Schmidius in Supplement. p. 644.— 
 Christ. Gryphius, Isagoge ad Historiam Seculi XVII. p. 430. Add to 
 these Ludov. Thomassini Disciplina Ecclesiz vetus et nova, tom. i. lib. 
 
 ii. cap. 115, 116, p. 616, and Lud. Ant. Muratori, whose learned disser- 
 
 iG Ae 59 
 
 have a just notion of the college of cardinals in its rise, 
 and shall also perceive the difference existing between the 
 first cardinals and those of our times. Now this may easily 
 be learned from the edict of Nicolas IL. which sets the 
 matter in the clearest light. “We have thought proper to 
 enact (says the pontiff,) that, on the decease of the bishop 
 of the Roman catholic, or universal church, the affair of 
 the election be treated principally, and previously to all 
 other deliberations, among the cardinal bishops alone, 
 who shall afterwards call in to their council the cardinal 
 clerks, and require finally the consent of the rest of the 
 clergy, and the people, to their election.”* Here we see that 
 the pontiff divides into two classes the persons who were 
 to have the right of suffrage in the election of his success- 
 ors. By the former we are manifestly to understand the 
 seven prelates who belonged to the city and territory of 
 Rome, whom Nicolas calls, in the same edict, comprovin- 
 ciales episcopt, (an epithet which had been used before 
 by Leo L,) and who had been distinguished by the title 
 of cardinal bishops long before the century of which we 
 are treating. The words of Nicolas confirm this account 
 of the matter, and place it beyond all possibility of contra- 
 diction ; for he declares, that by cardinal bishops he un- 
 derstands those to whom it belonged to consecrate the 
 pontiff elect ; “Since the apostolic see,” observes the papal 
 legislator, “cannot be under the jurisdiction of any supe- 
 rior or metropolitan,® the cardinal bishops must necessarily 
 supply the place of a metropolitan, and fix the elected 
 pontiff on the summit of apostolic exaltation and empire.”! 
 Now it is well known that the seven bishops of Rome 
 above mentioned, had the privilege of consecrating the 
 pontiff. 
 
 All these things being duly considered, we shall imme- 
 diately perceive the true nature and meaning of the fa- 
 mous edict, according to which it is manifest, that, upon 
 the death of a pontiff, thg-cardinal bishops were first to 
 deliberate alone with regard to a proper successor, and to 
 examine the respective merit of the candidates who might 
 pretend to this high dignity, and afterwards to call in the 
 cardinal clerks, not only to demand their counsel, but 
 also to join with them in the election. The word clerk 
 here bears the same sense with that of presbyter, and it 
 is undeniably certain that the name of cardinal presby- 
 ter was given to the ministers of the eight and twenty 
 Roman parishes, or principal churches. All the rest of 
 the clergy, of whatever order or rank they might be, 
 were, together with the people, expressly excluded from 
 the right of voting in the election of the pontiff, though 
 they were allowed what is called a negative suffrage, and 
 their consent was required to what the others had done ; 
 from all which it appears that the college of electors, who 
 chose the Roman pontiff, and who after this period were 
 
 tation, de Origine Cardinalatus, is published in his Antiq. Ital. medii 
 Evi, tom. v. 
 
 x= 4 The passage of the edict (which we have here translated from 
 Hugo Floriacus, in Baluzii Miscel. tom. iv. p. 62.) runs thus in the ori- 
 ginal: “Constituimus ut, obeunte hujus Romane universalis ecclesia 
 pontifice, imprimis, cardinales episcopi diligentissima simul considera- 
 tione tractantes, mox sibi clericos cardinales adhibeant, sicque reliquus 
 clerus et populus ad consensum nove electionis accedant.” 
 
 x ° In the consecration of a new bishop in any province, the me- 
 tropolitan always bore the principal part: as therefore there was no me- 
 tropolitan to install the pope, cardinal bishops performed that ceremony. 
 
 f Such are the swelling and bombastic terms of the edict: “ Quia 
 sedes apostolica super se metropolitanum habere non potest, cardinales 
 
234 
 
 called cardinals in a new and unusual acceptation of that 
 term, consisted, according to their original establishment 
 by Nicolas IL, of only two orders, namely, cardinal bish- 
 ops, and cardinal clerks or presbyters.* 
 
 ii is necessary to observe, before we finish this digres- 
 sion, that the famous decree of Nicolas could not obtain 
 the force of alaw. “It is evident (says Anselm, bishop 
 of Lucca’) that the edict of Nicolas is, and always has 
 been, without the smallest degree of weight or authority. 
 But, in affirming this, I have not the least design to cast 
 any reflection upon the blessed memory of that pontiff, 
 or to derogate from the applause that is due to his vir- 
 tues..... As a man, however, he was fallible, and, 
 through the weakness that is inseparable from humanity, 
 was liable to be seduced into measures that were incon- 
 sistent with equity and justice.” It is true, the prelate 
 has here principally in view that part of the edict in 
 which Nicholas acknowledges and confirms the right of 
 the emperors to ratify the election of the Roman pontiff; 
 yet what he says is undoubtedly true of the whole edict 
 in all its parts. For the seven Palatine judges, who 
 were excluded by this decree from the important privilege 
 they had formerly enjoyed of voting in the election to the 
 apostolic see, ccmplained loudly of the injury that was 
 done them; and, seconded in their complaints by the va- 
 rious orders of the clergy, and by the clamours of the army, 
 the citizens, and the multitude, they declared their oppo- 
 sition to the execution of this edict, and gave much trou- 
 ble and uneasiness to the cardinals, who had been con- 
 stituted electors by Nicolas. 'T’o appease these tumults, 
 Alexander IIL. augmented the college of the electing car- 
 dinals, by conferring that dignity upon the prior, or arch- 
 presbyter, of St. John Lateran, the arch-presbyters of St. 
 Peter and St. Mary the Greater, the abbots of St. Paul 
 and St. Laurence without the wall, and lastly, upon the 
 seven Palatine judges.t By this dexterous stratagem, the 
 higher order of the clergy was defeated, and ceased to op- 
 pose the measures of the cardinal electors; nor, indeed, 
 could its opposition be of any significancy, since its chiefs 
 and leaders were become members of the sacred college 
 instituted by Nicolas. ‘The inferior clergy continued yet 
 obstinate; but their opposition was vanquished in the 
 same manner, and they were reduced to silence by the 
 promotion of their chiefs, the cardinal deacons, to the dig- 
 nity of electors. Who it was (whether Alexander LI. or 
 some other pontiff) that raised the principal Roman dea- 
 cons to the rank of cardinals, is not certain ; but nothing 
 is more evident than that the design of this promotion 
 was to put an end to the murmurs and complaints of the 
 inferior clergy, who highly resented the violation of their 
 privileges. 
 
 When the various orders of the clergy were drawn off 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il. 
 
 from the opposition, it was no difficult matter to silence 
 the people, and to exclude them from all part in the elec- 
 tion of the pontiff. And accordingly, when, upon the 
 death of Alexander III., it was proposed to choose Lu- 
 cius II].° as his successor, the consent and approbation of 
 the clergy and people, which had hitherto been always 
 esteemed necessary to ratify the election, were not even 
 demanded, and the affair was transacted by the college of 
 cardinals alone, who have continued to maintain that ex- 
 clusive and important privilege éven to our times. Scme 
 writers affirm, that Innocent II. had been elected in the 
 same manner, by the cardinals alone, without the consent 
 of the clergy or the people, several years before the pon- 
 tificate of Lucius ;‘ this may be true, but it is nothing to 
 the purpose ; for, as the election of Innocent IL. was irre- 
 gular, it cannot properly be alleged in the case before us 
 
 VII. From what has been observed in the preceding 
 section, we may conclude, that the college of cardinals, 
 and the extensive authority and important privileges they 
 enjoy at this day, derive their origin from the edict pub- 
 lished at the request and under the pontificate of Nicolas 
 II.; that, under the title of cardinals, this pontiff com- 
 prehended the seven Roman bishops, who were consider- 
 ed as his suffragans, and of whom the bishop of Ostia 
 was the chief, as also the eight and twenty ministers, who 
 had inspection over the principal Roman churches; and 
 that to these were added, in process of time, wader Alex- 
 ander III. and other pontiffs, new members, in order ts 
 appease the resentment of those who looked upon them 
 selves as injured by the edict of Nicolas, and also to an 
 swer other purposes of ecclesiastical policy. We see, also 
 from an attentive view of this matter, that though the 
 high order of purpled prelates, commonly called cardinals, 
 had its rise in the eleventh century, yet it does not seem 
 to have acquired the firm and undisputed authority of a 
 Jegal council before the following age, and the pontificate 
 of Alexander HI. 
 
 VIII. Though Nicolas If. had expressly acknowledged 
 and confirmed im his edict the right of the emperor to 
 ratify by his consent the election of the pontiff, his eyes 
 were no sooner closed, than the Romans, at the instiga- 
 tion of Hildebrand, arch-deacon and afterwards bishop of 
 Rome, violated this imperial privilege in the most presump- 
 tuous manner ; for they not only elected to the pontifi- 
 cate Anselm, bishop of Lucca, who assumed the name of 
 Alexander IL, but also solemnly installed him in that 
 high office without consulting the emperor Henry IV. 
 or giving him the least information of the matter. Ag 
 nes, the mother of the young emperor, no sooner received 
 an account of this irregular transaction from the bishops 
 of Lombardy, to whom the election of Anselm was ex- 
 tremely disagreeable, than she assembled a council at 
 
 episcopi metropolitani vice procul-dubio fungantur, qui electum antisti- 
 tem ad apostolici culminis apicem provehant.” 
 
 « We must therefore take care that we be not misled by the error of 
 Onuphr. Panvinius, who affirms,* that the cardinal bishops were not added 
 to the college of cardinals before the pontificate of Alexander II. Nor 
 are we to listen to the supposition of those writers, who imagine that cer- 
 tain deacons were, from the beginning, members of that college of cardinals 
 by whom the popes were elected. There were, indeed, in the Roman 
 church, long before the edict of sNicolas, (and there still remain) eardi- 
 nal deacons, i. e. superintendents of those churches which have hospitals 
 annexed to them, and whose revenues are appropriated to the support of 
 the poor; but they were evidently excluded from the election of the pope, 
 which, by the edict of Nicolas, was to be made by the cardinal bishops 
 and clerks alone. Hence we find the cardinals plainly distinguished 
 
 from the deacons in the diploma that was drawn up for the election of 
 Gregory VII. 
 
 » Anselm. Luccensis, lib. ii. contra Wibertum Antipapam et sequaces 
 ejus, in Canisii Lection. Antiquis. tom. ili. part i. p. 383. 
 
 ¢ These judges were the Primicerius, Secundicerius, Arcarius, Sac- 
 cellarius, Protoscriniarius, Primicerius Defensorum, et Adminicula- 
 lor ; for a particular account of whose respective offices, services, and 
 privileges, see Grevius, Du Cange, &c. 
 
 4 Cenni Pref. ad Concil. Lateran. Stephan. iii. p. 19—Mabillon, Com- 
 ment. ad Ord. Roman. p. 115, ex Panvinio. 
 
 37> ¢ In the original, instead of Lucius III., we read Victor IIL, which 
 was certainly a mistake of inadvertency in the learned author. 
 
 € See Pagi Breviar. Pontif. Romanor. tom. ii. p, 615. 
 
 * See Mabillon, Comment. in Ord. Rom. p. 115, tom. ii. Musei Italic 
 
Char. I, 
 
 Basil, and, in order to raaintain the authority of her son, 
 who was yet a minor, caused Cadolaus, bishop of Parma, 
 to be created pope, under the title of Honorius I. Hence 
 arose a long and furious contest between the rival pon- 
 tiffs, who maintained their respective pretensions by the 
 force of arms, and presented a scene of bloodshed and 
 horror in the church of Chirist, which was designed to be | 
 the centre of charity and peace. In this violent con- 
 tention Alexander triumphed, though he could never 
 engage his obstinate adversary to desist from his preten- 
 sions.* 
 
 IX. This contest, indeed, was of little consequence 
 when viewed in comparison with the dreadful commo- 
 tions which Hildebrand, who succeeded Alexander, and 
 assumed the name of Gregory VIL., excited both in church 
 and state, and nourished and fomented until the end of 
 his days. ‘This vehement pontiff, who was a ‘Tuscan, 
 born of mean parents, rose, by various steps, from the ob- | 
 scure station of a monk of Clugni, to the rank of arch- 
 deacon in the Roman church, and, from the time of Leo 
 
 IX., who treated him with peculiar marks of distinction, 
 vas accustomed to govern the Roman pontiffs by his 
 counsels, which had acquired the highest degree of influ- 
 ence and authority. In the year 1073, and on the same 
 day that Alexander was interred, he was raised to the 
 pontificate by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals, 
 bishops, abbots, monks, and people, without regard to the 
 edict of Nicolas If.; and his election was confirmed by 
 the approbation and consent of Henry IV., king of the 
 Romans, to whom ambassadors had been sent for that 
 purpose. ‘This prince, indeed, had soon reason to repent 
 of the consent he had given to an election, which became 
 so prejudicial to his own authority and to the interests and 
 liberties of the church, and so detrimental, in general, to 
 the sovereignty and independence of kingdoms and em- 
 pires.» Hildebrand was a man of uncommon genius, 
 whose ambition in forming the most arduous projects 
 was equalled by his dexterity in bringing them into exe- 
 cution. Sagacious, crafty, and intrepid, he suffered no- 
 thing to escape his penetration, defeat his stratagems, or 
 
 * Ferdin. Ughelli Italia Sacra, tom. il. p. 166.—Jo. Jac. Mascovius, 
 de Rebus Imperii sub Henrico IV. et V. lib. i. p. 7—Franc. Pagi Bre- 
 viar. Pontificum Roman. t. ii. p. 385.—Mauratori, An. d’Italia, t. vi. p.214. 
 
 > The writers who have given the most ample accounts of the life and 
 exploits of Gregory VII. are enumerated by Casp. Sagittarius, in his 
 Introd. ad Hist. Ecclesiast. tom. i p. 687, and by And. Schmidius, in his 
 Supplement, tom. ii. p. 627.—See also the Acta Sanctor. tom. v. Maii 
 ad d. xxv. p. 568, and Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ordin. Benedicti, Secul. 
 VI. p. 406. Add to these the Life of Gregory VI. published at Frank- 
 fort in 1710, by Just. Christopher Dithmar, as also the authors who have 
 written the history of the contests that arose between the empire and 
 the hierarchy of Rome, and of the wars that were occasioned by the dis- 
 putes concerning investitures. 
 
 > Dictatus Hildebrandini. By these are understood twenty-seven 
 apothegms, or short sentences, relating to the supreme authority of 
 the Roman pontiffs over the universal church and the kingdoms of the 
 world, which are to be found in the second book of the Epistles of Gre- 
 gory VIL., between the fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth Epistle, under the title of | 
 Dictates Papa, i. e. Dictates of the Pope. See Harduini Concilia, tom. 
 vi. part i. p. 1304, and the various writers of Ecclesiastical History. | 
 Baronius, Lupus,* and other historians, who have signalized, upon all | 
 occasions, their vehement attachment to the Roman pontiffs, maintain, | 
 
 that these Dictates were drawn up by Gregory VII. and proposed as | 
 _ the ruins of time, and published them in the form im which they now af- 
 
 laws in a certain council; and hence the protestant writers have ventu- 
 red to attribute them to Hildebrand. But the learned John Launoy, Na- 
 talis Alexander, Antony t and Francis Pagit, Elias Du-Pin, and other 
 authors of note, affirm in the most positive manner that these senten- | 
 ces, or dictates, were a downright forgery imposed upon the world 
 under the name of Gregory, by some perfidious impostor, who proposed 
 thereby to flatter the Roman pontiffs in their ambitious pretensions. As | 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 235 
 
 daunt his courage: haughty and arrogant beyond all 
 measure, obstinate, impetuous, and intractable, he looked 
 up to the summit of universal empire with a wishful eye, 
 and laboured up the steep ascent with uninterrupted ar- 
 dour and invincible perseverance: void of all principle, 
 and destitute of every pious and virtuous feeling, he suf- 
 fered little restraint in his audacious pursuits, from the 
 dictates of religion or the remonstrances of conscience. 
 Such was the character of Hildebrand, and his conduct 
 was every way suitable to it; for no sooner did he find 
 himself in the papal chair, than he displayed to the world 
 the most odious marks of his tyrannic ambition. Not 
 content to enlarge the jurisdiction, and to augment the 
 opulence of the see of Rome, he laboured indefatigably to 
 render the universal church subject to the despotic go- 
 vernment and the arbitrary power of the pontiff alone, to 
 dissolve the jurisdiction which kings and emperors had 
 hitherto exercised over the various orders of the clergy, 
 and to exclude thein from the management or distribution 
 of the revenues of the church. ‘The outrageous pontiff 
 even went farther, and impiously attempted to subject to 
 his jurisdiction the emperors, kings, and princes of the 
 earth, and to render their dominions tributary to the see of 
 Rome. Such were the pious and apostolic exploits that 
 employed the activity of Gregory VIL. during his whole 
 life, and which rendered his pontificate a continual scene 
 of tumult and bloodshed. Were it necessary to bring 
 farther proofs of his tyranny and arrogance, his fierce 
 impetuosity and boundless ambition, we might appeal 
 to those famous sentences, which are generally called, 
 after him, the dictates of Hildebrand, and which show, in 
 a lively manner, the. spirit and character of this restless 
 pontiff. 
 
 X. Under the pontificate of Hildebrand, the face of the 
 Latin church was entirely changed, its government sub- 
 verted, and the most important and valuable of those 
 rights and privileges that had been formerly vested in its 
 councils, bishops, and sacred colleges, were usurped by the 
 greedy pontiff. It is, however, to be observed, that the 
 weight of this tyrannic usurpation did not fall equally 
 
 a proof of this assertion, they observe, that while some of these senten- 
 ces express indeed in a lively manner the ambitious spirit of Gregory, 
 there are others which appear entirely opposite to the sentiments of that 
 pontiff, as they are delivered in several parts of his Epistles. The 
 French writers have important reasons (which it is not necessary to 
 mention here) for affirming that no Roman pontiff ever presumed to speak 
 of the papal power and jurisdiction in such arrogant terms as are here 
 put imto the mouth of Gregory. It may be easily granted, that these 
 sentences, in their present form, are not the composition of this famous 
 pontiff; for many of them are obscure, and they are all thrown together 
 without the least order, method, or connexion, and it is not to be imagi- 
 ned, that a man of such genius, as Gregory discovered, would have neg- 
 lected either perspicuity or precision in describing the authority, and fix- 
 ing what he looked upon to be the rights and privileges of the bishops or 
 Rome. But, notwithstanding all this, if we consider the matter of these 
 sentences, we shall be entirely persuaded that they belonged originally 
 to Hildebrand, since we find the greatest part of them repeated word for 
 word in several places in his Epistles, and since such of them as appear 
 inconsistent with some passages in these epistles, are not so in reality, 
 but may be easily explained in perfect conformity with what they are 
 said to contradict. The most probable account of the matter seems to 
 be this: that some mean author extracted these sentences, partly frons 
 the extant epistles of Gregory, partly from those that have perished in 
 
 pear, without judgment or method. 
 
 * Lupus, in his Note et Dissertationes in Concilia, tom. vi. op. p. 164, 
 has given us an ample commentary on the Dictates of Hildebrand, 
 which he looks upon as both authentic and sacred. 
 
 + Sce Anton. Pagi Critica in Baronium. 
 
 +See Franc. Pagi Breviar. Pontif. Roman. tom. ii. p. 473. 
 
236 
 
 upon all the European provinces; several of these provin- 
 ces preserved soine remains of their ancient liberty and 
 independence, in the possession of which a variety of cir- 
 cumstances happily concurred to maintain them. 
 
 But, as we insinuated above, the views of Hildebrand 
 were not confined to the erection of an absolute and uni- 
 versal monarchy in the church; they aimed also at the 
 establishment of a civil monarchy equally extensive and 
 despotic ; and this aspiring pontiff, after having drawn up 
 a system of ecclesiastical laws for the government of the 
 thurch, would have introduced also a new code of political 
 aws, had he been permitted to execute the plan he had 
 formed. His purpose was to engage, in the bonds of 
 fidelity and allegiance to St. Peter, i. e. to the Roman pon- 
 tiffs, all the kings and princes of the earth, and to estab- 
 lish at Rome an annual assembly of bishops, by whom 
 the contests that might arise between kingdoms or sove- 
 reign states were to be decided, the rights and pretensions 
 of princes to be examined, and the fate of nations and em- 
 pires to be determined. This ambitious project met, how- 
 ever, with the warmest opposition, particularly from the 
 vigilance and resolution of the emperors, and also from 
 the British and French monarchs.* 
 
 That Hildebrand had formed this audacious plan is un- 
 doubtedly evident, both from his own epistles, and also 
 from other authentic records of antiquity. ‘The nature of 
 the oath which he drew up for the king or emperor of the 
 Romans, from whom he demanded a profession of subjec- 
 tion and allegiance,” shows abundantly the arrogance of 
 his pretensions. But his conduct toward the kingdom of 
 France is worthy of particular notice. It is well known, 
 that whatever dignity and dominion the popes enjoyed 
 were originally derived from the French princes; and yet 
 Hildebrand, or (as we shall hereafter entitle him) Gregory 
 VII. pretended that the kingdom was tributary to the see 
 of Rome, and commanded his legates to demand yearly, 
 in the most solemn manner, the payment of that tribute 5° 
 their demands, however, were treated with contempt, and 
 the tribute was never either acknowledged or offered. No- 
 thing can be more insolent than the language in which 
 he addressed himself to Philip I. king of France, to whom 
 he recommended an hamble and obliging carriage, from 
 this consideration, that both bis “kingdom and his soul 
 
 32> * The long note (g) in the original, which contains the ambitious 
 exploits of Hildebrand, is inserted in the following paragraph, except 
 the citations, which are thrown into notes. 
 
 > See the ninth book of his epistles, Epist. ili. The form of the oath runs 
 thus: “Ab hac hora et deinceps fidelis ero per rectam fidem B. Petro 
 Apostolo, ejusque vicario Papz Gregorio... . et quodeunque ipse Papa 
 preceperit sub his videlicet verbis, per veram obedientiam, fideliter, sicut 
 
 _ oportet Christianum, observabo. Et eo die, quando eum primitus videro, 
 fideliter per manus meas miles Sancti Petri et illius efficiar.” What is 
 this but a formal oath of allegiance ? 
 
 ¢ Epist. lib. vili. ep. xxiii. in Harduin’s Concilia, tom. vi. p. 1476. “ Di- 
 cendumautem est omnibus Gallis et per veram obedientiam precipiendum, 
 ut unaquaque domus saltem unum denarium annuatim solvat Beato Pe- 
 tro, si eum recognoscant patrem et pastorem suum more antiquo.” Every 
 one knows that ure demand made with the form, per veram obedientiam, 
 was supposed to oblige indispensably. 
 
 4 Lib. vii. epist. xx. in Harduin’s Concilia, tom. vi. p. 1468.“ Maxi- 
 me enitere ut B. Petrum, in cujus potestate est regnum tuum et anima 
 tua, qui te potest in ceelo et in terra ligare et absolvere, tibi facias debi- 
 torem.” 
 
 © Lib. x. ep. vil. “ Regnum Hispaniz ab antiquo proprii juris S. Petri 
 fuisse et soli apostolicee sedi ex quo pertinere.” 
 
 f Lib. x. epist. xxviii. 
 
 ® See Peter de Marca, Histoire de Bearn, liv. iv. p. 331. 
 
 xh The impost of Peter-pence (so called from its being collected on 
 the festival of St. Peter in Vinculis,) was an ancient tax of a penny on 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II, 
 
 were under the dominion of St. Peter (i. e. his vicar the 
 Roman pontiff,) who had the power to bind and to loose 
 him, both in heaven and upon earth.” Nothing escaped 
 his all-grasping ambition; he pretended that Saxony was 
 a fief holden in subjection to the see of Rome, to which 
 it had been formerly yielded by Charlemagne as a pious 
 offering to St. Peter. He also extended his pretension+ 
 to the kingdom of Spain, maintaining in one of his letters, 
 
 that it was the property of the apostolic see from the ear- 
 liest times of the church, yet acknowledging in another,‘ 
 that the transaction by which the successors of St. Peter 
 had acquired this property, had been lost among other 
 ancient records. His claims, however, were more respect- 
 ed in Spain than. they had been in France; for it is 
 proved most evidently by authentic records, that the King 
 of Arragon, and Bernard, count of Besalu, gave a favour- 
 able answer to the demands of Gregory, and paid him re- 
 gularly an annual tribute ;s and their example was fol- 
 lowed by other Spanish princes, as we could show, were 
 it necessary, by a variety of arguments. The despotic 
 views of this lordly pontiff were attended with less success 
 in England, than in any other country. William the 
 Conqueror was a prince of great spirit and resolution, ex- 
 tremely jealous of his rights, and tenacious of the preroga- 
 tives he enjoyed asa sovereign and independent monarch ; 
 and accordingly, when Gregory wrote him a letter demand- 
 ing the arrears of the Peter-pence,» and at the same time 
 summoning him to do homage for the kingdom of Eng- 
 land, as a fief of the apostolic see, William granted the 
 former, but refused the latter! with a noble obstinacy, de- 
 claring that he held his kingdom of God only, and his 
 own sword. Obliged to yield to the obstinacy of the En- 
 glish monarch, whose name struck terror into the boldest 
 hearts, the restless pontiff addressed his imperious man- 
 dates where he imagined they would be received with more 
 facility. He wrote circular letters to the most powerful of 
 the German princes,* to Geysa, king of Hungary,! and 
 Swein, king of Denmark,” soliciting them to make a so- 
 lemn grant of their kingdoms and territories to the prince 
 of the apostles, and to hold them under the jurisdiction of 
 his vicar at Rome, as fiefs of the apostolic see. What suc- 
 cess attended his demands upon these princes, we cannot 
 say; but certain it is, that in several countries his efforts 
 
 each house, first granted, in 725, by Ina, king of the West Saxons, for the 
 establishment and support of an English college at Rome, and afterwards 
 extended, in 794, by Offa, over all Mercia and East Anglia. In process 
 of time it became a standing and general tax throughout England; and, 
 though it was for some time applied to the support of the English col- 
 lege according to its original design, the popes at length found means to 
 appropriate it to themselves. It was confirmed by the laws of Canute, 
 Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, &c. and was never to- 
 tally abolished till the reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 i The letter of William is extant in the Miscellanea of Baluzius, tom. 
 vii. p. 127; as also in Collier’s Ecclesiastical History, in the Collection 
 of Records, at the end of the first volume, p. 743, No. 12. ‘‘ Hubertus 
 legatus tuus (says the resolute monarch to the audacious pontiff, ) admo- 
 nuit me, quatenus tibi et successoribus tuis fidelitatem facerem, et de pe- 
 cunia, quam antecessores mei ad ecclesiam mittere solebant, melius co- 
 gitarem. Unum admisi, alterum non admisi. Fidelitatem facere, nolai 
 nec volo,” &c.” 
 
 k See, in Harduin’s Concilia, his famous letter (lib. ix. epist. iii.) to the 
 bishop of Padua, exhorting him to engage Welpho, duke of Bavaria, 
 and other German princes, to submit themselves and their dominions to 
 the apostolic jurisdiction. ‘* Admonere te volumus (says the pontiff) du- 
 cem Welphonem, ut fidelitatem B. Petro faciat ... Ilum enim totum in 
 eremio Beati Petri collocare desideramus, et ad ejus servitium specialiter 
 provocare; quam yoluntatem si in eo, vel etiam in aliis potentibus viris, 
 amore B. Petri ductis, cognoveris, ut perficiant, elabora.” 
 
 1 Lib. ii. ep. Ixx. ™ Lib. ii. ep, ]i. 
 
 —~- 
 
Crap. IL. 
 
 were effectual, and his sodest proposals were received with 
 the utmost decility and zeal. The son of Demetrius, czar 
 of the Russians, se: out for Rome, in consequence of the 
 pontiff’s letter, in order to “obtain, asa gift from St. Peter, 
 by the hands of Gregory, after professing his subjection 
 and allegiance to the prince of the apostles,” the kingdom 
 which was to devolve to him upon the death of his father ; 
 and his pious request was readily granted by the officious 
 pope, who was extremely liberal of what did not belong 
 to him. Demetrius Sninimer, duke of Croatia and Dal- 
 matia, was raised to the rank and prerogatives of royalty 
 by the same pontiff in 1076, and solemnly proclaimed king 
 by his legate at Salona, on condition that he should pay 
 an annual tribute of two hundred pieces of gold to St. Pe- 
 ter at every Easter festival.» This bold step was injurious 
 to the authority of the emperors of Constantinople, who, 
 before this time, comprehended the province of Croatia 
 within the limits of their sovereignty. ‘The kingdom of 
 Poland became also the object of Gregory’s ambition, and 
 a favourable occasion was offered for the execution of his 
 iniquitous views; for, when Boleslaus I. had assassina- 
 ted Stanislaus, bishop of Cracow, the pontiff not only ex- 
 communicated him with all the circumstances of infamy 
 that he could invent, but also hurled him from his throne, 
 dissolved the oath of allegiance which his subjects had 
 taken, and, by an express and imperious edict, prohibited 
 ‘the nobles and clergy of Poland from electing a new king 
 without the pope’s consent.°. Many other examples might 
 be alleged of the phrenetic ambition of Gregory; but those 
 which have been already mentioned are sufficient to ex- 
 cite the indignation of every impartial reader. Had the 
 success of that pontiff been equal to the extent of his inso- 
 lent views, all the kingdoms of Europe would have been 
 at this day tributary to the Roman see, and its princes the 
 soldiers or vassals of St. Peter, in the person of his pre- 
 tended vicar upon earth. But, though his most important 
 projects were ineffectual, many of his attempts were crown- 
 ed with a favourable issue ; for, from the time of his pon- 
 tificate, the face of Kurope underwenta considerable change, 
 and the prerogatives of the emperors and other sovereign 
 
 * Lib. ii. ep. Ixxiv. 
 
 b See Du Mont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. i. n. 88, p. 53.—Jo. Lucius, 
 de Regno Dalmatiz, lib. ii. p. 85. 
 
 * See Dlugossi Histor. Polon. tom. i. p. 295. 
 
 4 The life and exploits of this heroic princess (who was one of the 
 strongest bulwarks of the Roman church against the power of the em- 
 perors, and the most tender and obedient of all the spiritual daughters of 
 Gregory VII.) have been written by Bened. Luchinus, Domin. Mellinus, 
 Felix Contelorius, and Julius de Puteo, but more amply by Francis Ma- 
 ria of Florence, in his Records concerning the Countess Matilda, writ- 
 ten in Italian, and Bened. Bacchinius, in his Historia Monasterii Poda- 
 lironensis. ‘The famous Leibnitz, in his Scriptores Brunsvic. tom. i. p. 
 629, and Lud. Ant. Muratori, in his Seriptores Rerum Italic. tom. v. p. 
 335, hayepublished, with annotations, the ancient histories of the life of 
 Matilda, composed by Donizo, and another writer, whose name is un- 
 known, together with the copy of the second act of cession by which that 
 princess confirmed her former grant to the church of Rome. We may 
 add here, that nothing relating to this extraodinary woman is more 
 worthy of perusal, than the accounts that we find of her and her second 
 husband, in the Origines Guelphice, t. i. lib. iii. cap. v. et t. ii. lib. vi. 
 
 * Many learned men conclude from the very act by which this dona- 
 tion was confirmed to the see of Rotne, that Matilda comprehended in 
 the gift only her allodial possessions, and not the territories which she 
 held as the fiefs of the empire, such as the marquisate of Tuscany, and 
 the duchy of Spoleto. For the words of the act run thus: ‘ Ego Mathil- 
 dis... . dedi et obtuli ecclesia S. Petri. ... omnia mea bona jure pro- 
 
 eram, sive jure successionis, sive alio quocunque jure ad me pertineant.” || 
 See the Origines Guelphicz, tom. i. lib. iii. p. 448. But it is much to be | 
 
 DOCTORS CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 i 
 
 _ substance. 
 the fiefs of the empire, which Matilda possessed, were comprehended in 
 
 237 
 
 princes were much diminished. It was particularly under 
 the administration of Gregory, that the emperors were de- 
 prived of the privilege of ratifying, by their consent, the 
 election of the pope; a privilege of no small importance, 
 which they have never recovered. 
 
 XI. ‘The zeal and activity which Gregory employed in 
 extending the jurisdiction of the Roman see, and enriching 
 the patrimony of St. Peter, met, in no part of Europe, 
 with such remarkable success as in Italy. His intimate 
 
 ‘familiarity with Matilda, the daughter of Boniface, duke 
 
 of Tuscany, and tke most powerful and opulent princess 
 in that country, (who found by experience that neither 
 ambition nor grace had extinguished the tender passions 
 in the heart of Gregory,) contributed much to this success ; 
 for he engaged that princess, after the death of her hus- 
 band Godfrey, duke of Lorrain, and her mother Beatrix, 
 which happened in the years 1076 and 1077, to settle all 
 her possessions in Italy and elsewhere upon the church of 
 Rome, and thus to appoint St. Peter and his pretended 
 vicar the heirs of her immense treasures. This rich do- 
 nation was, indeed, considerably invalidated by the second 
 marriage, which Matilda contracted, in 1089, with Welph, 
 or Guelph, the son of the Duke of Bavaria, not without 
 the consent of pope Urban If. She, however, renewed it 
 in a solemn manner in 1102, about seven years after her 
 separation from her second husband, by which she be- 
 came again sole mistress of her vast possessions.‘ But, 
 notwithstanding this new act, the popes did not remain in 
 
 the peaceful possession of this splendid inheritance. It 
 
 was warmly and powerfully disputed, first by the empe- 
 ror Henry V., and afterwards by several other princes ; nor 
 
 ' were the pontifls so successful in this contest as to pre- 
 
 serve the whole inheritance, though, after various strug- 
 
 | gles and efforts, they remained in the possession of a con- 
 siderable part of it, which they still enjoy.® 
 
 XIL The plan that Gregory had formed for raising the 
 church above all human authority, to a state of perfect su- 
 premacy and independence, had many kinds of opposition 
 to encounter, but none more difficult to surmount than 
 that which arose from the two reigning vices of concubi- 
 
 words jure proprictario, from which it is inferred that Matilda disposed 
 of only her allodial possessions in favour of St. Peter, do not, in my 
 opinion, relate to the possessions of the testatrix, but to the nature of the 
 
 | gift, and must be interpreted in conjunction with the preceding verbs, 
 
 “dedi et obtuli.” The princess does not say, “dedi omnia bona que 
 jure proprietario possideo et habeo,” i.e. “I have granted that part of 
 my property which I hold by a supreme and independent right,” in 
 which case the opinion of the learned men above mentioned would be 
 well founded ; but she says, “dedi omnia bona mea ecclesia jure proprie- 
 ‘tarlo,” i.e. “my willis, that the church shall possess as its own property 
 the inheritance I have Jeft to it.” Besides, the following words mani- 
 festly show, that the opinion of these learned men is destitute of all 
 foundation, since Matilda would not have added, “sive jure successionis, 
 sive alio quocunque jure ad me pertineant,” i. e. “TI grant all my posses- 
 sions, under whatever title I enjoy them, whether by right of succession, 
 
 or by any other right,” &c. had she intended to confine her donation to 
 
 her allodial possessions. Certain it is, thatin this ample grant she ex- 
 cepts no partof her property, but evidently comprehends in it her whole 
 If it be objected to this, that the pontiffs never affirmed that 
 
 this grant to their church, and that they only claimed her allodial and in- 
 dependent possessions, I answer, by questioning the fact, since many 
 
 _ circumstances concur to prove, that they claimed the whole substance of 
 Matilda, all her possessions without exception, as their undoubted right. 
 
 But suppose for a moment that the case was otherwise, and that the Ro- 
 
 See | man church had never made such an universal claim, this would, by no 
 prietario, tam que tune habueram, quam ea que in antea acquisitura |; 
 
 means, invalidate the opinion I here maintain, since the question under 
 consideration is not, how far the pontiffs may have moderated their pre- 
 tensions to the territories of Matilda, but what is the true and genuine 
 
 questioned, whether this distinctiun is so evident as is pretended; for the || sense of the words in which her donation is expressed. 
 
 No. XX. 60 
 
238 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 nage and simony, that had infected the whole body of the 
 European clergy. ‘The pontifts, from the time of Stephen 
 IX., had combated with zeal and vehemence those mon- 
 strous vices,* but without success, as they had become too 
 inveterate and too general to be extirpated without the 
 greatest diiliculty and the most extraordinary efforts. Ac- 
 cordingly Gregory, in the year 1074, which was the se- 
 cond of his pontificate, exerted himself with much more 
 vigour than his predecessors had done in opposition to the 
 vices already mentioned. For this purpose he assembled 
 a council at Rome, in which all the laws of the’ former 
 pontifis against simony were renewed and confirmed, and 
 the purchase or sale of ecclesiastical benefices prohibited 
 in the strictest and severest manner. It was also decreed 
 in the same council, that the sacerdotal order should ab- 
 stain from marriage, and that such priests as already had 
 Wives or concubines, should immediately dismiss them, or 
 quit their office. ‘These decrees were accompanied with 
 circular letters, written by the pontiff to all the European 
 bishops, enjoining the strictest obedience to the decisions 
 of this solemn council, under the severest penalties. Gre- 
 gory did not stop here, but sent ambassadors into Germa- 
 ny to Henry VL, king of the Romans, in order to engage 
 that prince to summon a council for the trial and punish- 
 ment of such ecclesiastics as had been guilty of simoniacal 
 practices. 
 
 a Monstrous vices we may justly call them; for, though it be true, that, 
 in the methods Gregory took to extirpate these vices, he violated not only 
 the laws of religion, but also the dictates of natural equity and justice, 
 and, under the mask of a pious zeal, committed the most abominable 
 enormities, yet it is certain, on the other hand, that these vices produced 
 the most unhappy effects both in church and state, and that the suppres- 
 sion of them had now become absolutely necessary. There were, indeed, 
 among the clergy several men of piety and virtue, who lived in the bonds 
 of wedlock, and these Gregory ought to have spared. But there is no 
 doubt that a prodigious number of ecclesiastics throughout Europe, not 
 only of priests and canons, but also of monks, lived in the bonds of a 
 criminal love; kept, under the title of wives, mistresses whom they dis- 
 missed, at pleasure, to enjoy the sweets of a licentious variety; and not 
 only spent, in the most profuse and scandalous manner, the revenues 
 and treasures of the churches and convents to which they belonged, but 
 even distributed a great part of them among their bastards. As to the 
 vice of simony, its general @xtent and its pernicious fruits appear evi- 
 dently from those records which the Benedictine monks have published in 
 several parts of their Gallia Christiana, not fo mention a multitude of 
 other ancient papers to the same purpose. One or two examples will 
 be sufficient to give the reader an idea of this matter. We find in the 
 first volume of the admirable work now mentioned, (in the Append. 
 Document. p. 5,) a public act by which Bernard, a viscount, and Froterius 
 bishop of Albi, grant, or rather sell, openly to Bernard Aimard and his 
 son, the bishopric of Albi, reserving to themselves a considerable part of 
 its revenues. This act is followed by another, in which count Pontius 
 bequeaths to his wife the same bishopric of Albi in the following terms: 
 “Ego Pontius dono tibi dilectee sponse me episcopatum Albiensem— 
 cum ipsa ecclesia et cum omni adjacentié sua—et medietatem de episco- 
 patu’ Nemauso,—et medietatem de abbatid Sti. AS gidii—post obitum 
 tuum remaneat ipsius alodis ad infantes qui de me erunt creati.”—In the 
 second volume of the same learned work, (in the Append. p. 173.) there 
 is a letter of the clergy of Limoges, beseeching William, count of Aqui- 
 taine, not to sell the bishopric, but to give them a pastor, and not a de- 
 vourer of the flock. ‘“Rogamus tuam pietatem, ne propter mundale 
 lucrum vendas Sti. Stepani locum, quia, si tu vendis episcopalia, ipse 
 nostra manducabit communia.—Mitte nobis ovium custodem, non devo- 
 ratorem.” Ademar, viscount of Limoges, laments (tom. il. p. 179,) that 
 “he himself had formerly made traffic of the cure of souls by selling 
 benefices to simoniacal abbots.” The barefaced impudence of the sa- 
 cerdotal orders, in buying and selling benefices, exceeded all measure 
 and almost all credibility ; and they carried matters so far as to vindicate 
 that abominable traffic, as may be seen in a remarkable passage in the 
 Apologeticum of Abbo, which is added by Pithou to the Codex Can. 
 Ecclesie Romane ; this passage, which deserves to be quoted, is as fol- 
 lows: “ Nihil pene ad ecclesiam pertinere videtur, quod ad pretium non 
 largiatur, scilicet episcopatus, presbyteratus, diaconatus, et aliqui mi- 
 nores gradus, archidiaconatus quoque, decania, prepositura, thesauri 
 custodia, baptisterium—et hujusmodi negotiatores subdolé responsione 
 solent astruere, non ‘se emere benedictionem, qua percipitur gratia spi- 
 
 i 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Parr Il 
 
 XIII. These decrees, which were in part equitable and 
 just, and which were, in every respect, conformable with 
 the notions of religion that prevailea in this age, were 
 looked upon by the people as highly salutary, since they 
 rendered a free election, and nota mercenary purchase, 
 the way to ecclesiastical promotion, and obliged the priests 
 to abstain from marriage, which was absurdly considered 
 as inconsistent with the sanctity of their office. Yet both 
 these decrees were attended with the most deplorable tu- 
 mults and dissensions, and were fruitful, in their conse- 
 quences, of innumerable calamities. No sooner was the 
 law concerning the celibacy of the clergy published, than 
 the priests, in the several provinces of Europe, who lived in 
 the bonds of marriage with lawful wives, or of lascivious- 
 ness with hired concubines,’ complained loudly of the se- 
 verity of this council, and excited dreadful tumults in the 
 greatest part of the European provinces. Many of these 
 ecclesiastics, especially the Milanese priests, chose rather to 
 abandon their spiritual dignities than their sensual plea- 
 sures, and to quit their benefices that they might cleave to 
 their wives. ‘They went still farther: for they separated 
 themselves entirely from the church of Rome, and brand- 
 ed with the infamous name of Paterini,: 1. e. Mani- 
 cheeans, the pontiff and his adherents, who condemned so 
 unjustly the conduct of such priests as entered into the 
 
 bonds of a lawful and virtuous wedlock. 'The proceedings 
 
 ritus sancti, sed res ecclesiarum vel possessiones episcopi.” An acute 
 distinction truly ! 
 
 b All the historians who give an account of this century mention the 
 tumults excited by such priests as were resolved to continue with their 
 wives or concubines. For an account of the seditions which arose in 
 Germany, upon this occasion, see Sigonius de Regno Italiz, lib. ix. p. 
 557. tom. il. as also Tengnagel’s Collectio Veter. Monument. p. 45, 47, 
 54. Those which the priests excited in England, are mentioned by M. 
 Paris, in his Hist. Maj. lib. i. The tumults occasioned by the same rea- 
 son in the Belgic and Gallic provinces, are described in the Epistola Cle- 
 ricorum Cameracensium ad Remenses pro Uxoribus suis, published in 
 Mabillon’s Annal. Benedictin. tom. v. p. 634; and in the Epistola Novi- 
 omagensium Clericorum ad Cameracenses, published in Mabillon’s Mu- 
 seum Italicum, tom. 1. p. 128. Great was the flame which the laws of 
 Gregory excited in Italy, and particularly in the province of Milan, of 
 which we have an ample relation, given by Arnulph and Landulph, 
 two Milanese historians, whose works were published with annotations 
 by Muratori, in his Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. iv. p. 36. Both 
 these historians maintain, against Gregory and his successors, the cause 
 of the injured priests, and the lawfulness of their marriages. 
 
 ¢ Palerinus is one of the names by which the Paulicians or Mani- 
 cheans (who came during this century from Bulgaria into Italy, and 
 were also known by the title of Cathari, or Pure) were distinguished 
 among the Italians. But, in process of time, the term Palerinus he- 
 came a common name for all kinds of heretics, as we might show by 
 many examples taken from the writers of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 
 turies. There are various opinions concerning the origin of this word, 
 the most probable of which is that which supposes it derived from a cer- 
 tain place called Pataria, in which the heretics held their assemblies ; 
 and it is well known, that a part of the city of Milan is, to this very day, 
 called Patara, or Contrada de Patart. See Annotat. ad Arnulphum 
 Mediolanensem in Muratori’s Scriptores Rerum Italicar. tom. iv. p. 39; 
 seé also Saxius ad Sigonium de Regno Italie, lib. ix. p. 536. An opinion 
 (of which, if I err not, Sigonius was the author) prevailed, that the 
 name in question was given to the Milanese priests who separated from 
 the church of Rome, and retained their wives in opposition to the laws 
 of the pontiffs. But this opinion is without foundation ; and it appears 
 evidently from the testimony of Arnulph and other historians, that not 
 the married priests, but the faction of the pontiffs, who condemned their 
 conjugal bonds, were branded with the opprobrious name of Paterint. 
 See Arnulph. lib. ili. c. x—Anton. Pagi, Crit. in Ann. Bar. tom. ii. ad 
 an. 1057, s. iii. Lud. Ant. Muratori Antiq. Ital. medii A®vi, t. v. p. 82, who 
 have demonstrated this in the most ample, learned, and satisfactory man- 
 ner. Nor need we, indeed, look any where else for the origin of this word. 
 Itis abundantly known, that the Manichzans, and their brethren the Pau- 
 licians, were extremely averse to marriage, which they looked upon as 
 an institution invented by the evil principle: they, in consequence, who 
 considered the marriages of the clergy as lawful, employed the ignominious 
 name of Paterini, to show that the pontiffs, who prohibited these mar- 
 riages, were followers of the odious doctrine of the Manicheans. 
 
Crap. IL. 
 
 of Gregory appeared to the wiser part, even of those who 
 approved the celibacy of the clergy, unjust and criminal 
 in two respects: first, because his severity fell indiscrimi- 
 
 nately, and with equal fury, upon the virtuous husband | 
 
 7 ” .. . . . 
 and the licentious rake; and he dissolved, with a merci- 
 
 less hand, the chastest bonds of wedlock, and thus invol-. 
 
 ved husbands and wives, with their tender offspring, in 
 disgrace, perplexity, anguish, and want.* 
 thing criminal in the measures taken by this pontiff was, 
 that, instead of chastising the married priests with wisdom 
 and moderation, and according to the laws of the ecclesi- 
 astical discipline, whose nature is wholly spiritual, he gave 
 them over to the civil magistrate, to be punished as diso- 
 bedient and unworthy subjects, with the loss of their sub- 
 stance, and with the most shocking marks of undeserved 
 infamy and disgrace.» 
 
 XIV. This vehement contest excited great tumults and 
 divisions, which, however, were gradually calmed by length 
 of time, and also by the perseverance of the obstinate pon- 
 tif; nor did any of the Kuropean kings and princes con- 
 
 The second. 
 
 cern themselves so much about the marriages of the clergy. 
 
 as to maintain their cause, and thereby.to prolong the con- 
 troversy. But the troubles -which arose from the law that 
 
 regarded the extirpation of simony were not so easily ap-. 
 
 peased ; the tumults it occasioned became greater from 
 day to day; the methods of reconciliation more difficult ; 
 
 and it involved beth the church and state during several, 
 
 years in the deepest calamities, and in the most complicated 
 scenes of confusion and distress... Henry IV. received in- 
 
 deed graciously the legates of Gregory, and applauded his, 
 zeal for the extirpation of simony ; but neither this prince, | 
 
 nor the German bishops, would permit these legates to as- 
 semble in council in Germany, or to proceed judicially 
 against those who, in time past, had been chargeable with 
 simoniacal practices. The pontiff, exasperated at this re- 
 straint in the execution of his designs, called another 
 council to meet at Rome, in 1075, in which he pursued his 
 
 adventurous project with greater impetuosity and vehe- 
 
 * We must always remember that the priests, to whom their wives or 
 mistresses were much dearer than the laws of the pontiffs, were not all 
 of the same character; nor were such of them as might be justly deem- 
 ed criminal, all criminal in the same degree. The better sort of these 
 ecclesiastics (among which we may count the Belgie and Milanese 
 clergy) desired nothing more than to live after the manner of the Greeks, 
 maintaining that it was lawful for a priest, before his consecration, to 
 marry one virgin, though a plurality of wives had been justly prohibit- 
 ed; and they grounded this their opinion upon the authority of St. Am- 
 brose. See Jo. Petri Puricelli Dissertatio utrum S. Ambrosius Clero 
 
 suo Mediolan, permiserit, ut Virgini semel nubere possent, republished | 
 
 by Muratori, in his Scriptores Italic. tom. iv. p. 123. Gregory and his 
 successors ought to have dealt more gently with this kind of ecclesiastics 
 (as the warmest admirers of the pontiffs acknowledge) than with those 
 
 »riests who were either the patrons of concubinage, or who pretended to | 
 
 justify their espousing of a plurality of wives. It was also’ unjust to 
 
 treat, in the same manner, the monks, who, by the nature of their pro- | 
 
 fussion and vows, were necessarily excluded from the nuptial state ; and 
 the priests, who could not bear the thoughts of being torn from the 
 chaste partners of their beds, whom they had espoused with virtuous 
 sentiments and upright intentions, or from the tender offspring which 
 were the fruit of virtuous love. 
 
 » Theodorici Verdunensis Epistola ad Gregorium VII. in Martenne’s ° 
 
 Thesaur. Anecdotorum, tom. i. p. 218—‘“Faciem meam in eo vel 
 maxime confusione perfundunt, quod legem de clericorum incontinentia 
 
 per laicorum insanias cohibenda unquam susceperim—Nec putetis eos | 
 
 ui ita sentiunt....ecelesiasticorum graduum incontinentiam talibus de- 
 Peraietbos foveregvelle. Honestam conversationem in desiderio habent, 
 nec aliter, quam oportet, ecclesiastice ultionis censuram intentari gau- 
 dent.” 
 ¢ We have extant a great number both of ancient and modern wri- 
 ters, who have related the circumstances of this dispute concerning in- 
 vestitures, which was begun by Gregory VII., was carried on by him 
 
 and his successors on the one side, and the emperors Henry IV. and V. | 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 239 
 
 mence than ever; for he not only excluded from the com- 
 munion of the church several German and Italian bishops, 
 and certain favourites of Henry, of whose counsels that 
 prince was said to make use in the traffic of ecclesiastical 
 dignities, but also pronounced, in a formal edict, an “ Ana- 
 thema against whoever received the investiture of a 
 bishopric or abbacy from the hands of a layman, as also 
 against those by whom the investiture should be per- 
 formed.” 'This decree alarmed the emperors, kings, and 
 princes of Europe, who, in consequence of a prevailing 
 custom, had the right of conferring the more important 
 ecclesiastical dignities, and the government of monasteries 
 and convents, of which they disposed in a solemn manner 
 by the well known ceremony of the ring, and the staff or 
 crosier; which they presented to the candidate on whom 
 their choice fell. ‘This solemn investiture was the main 
 support of that power of creating bishops and abbots, which 
 the European princes claimed as their undoubted right, 
 and the occasion of that corrupt commerce called simony, 
 in consequence of which, ecclesiastical promotion was sold 
 to the highest bidder; and hence arose the zeal and ar- 
 dour of Gregory for the annulment of these investitures, 
 that he might extirpate simony on the one hand, and di- 
 minish the power of princes in ecclesiastical matters on the 
 other. 
 
 A short digression concerning Investitures.* 
 
 Tr will not be improper to illustrate the custom now 
 mentioned of investing bishops and abbots in their re- 
 spective dignities by the ceremony of the ring and crosier, 
 since this custom has been ill understood by some, and 
 imperfectly explained by others. Even the learned cardi- 
 nal Norris appears highly defective here; for though, in 
 his History of Investitures,’ there are some pertinent hints 
 and remarks upon the reasons which engaged Gregory to 
 prohibit investitures altogether, yet that learned prelate 
 does not seem to have had a complete notion of this im- 
 portant matter, since he omits in his history certain points 
 
 on the other, and became a source of innumerable calamities to the 
 greatest part of Europe. But few or none of these writers have treated 
 this weighty subject with an entire impartiality. They all pleaded 
 either the cause of the pontiffs, or that of the emperors, and decided the 
 controversy, not by the laws then in being, (which ought, no doubt, to be 
 principally consulted, ) or by the opinions that generally prevailed at the 
 time of this contest, but by laws of their own invention, and by the 
 opinions of modern times. The famous Gretser, in his Apologia pro 
 Gregorio VII. (which is published in the sixth volume of his works, and 
 also separately,) has collected the principal of the ancient writers who 
 maintained the cause of the pontiff: in opposition to whom, they who 
 defended the cause of Henry IV. are collected by Melchior Goldastus, 
 in his Replicatio contra Gretserum et Apologia pro Henrico I'V., Hanov. 
 1611, 4to. Among the modern writers who have treated this subject, we 
 may reckon the Centuriatores Magdeburgenses, Baronius, the German 
 and Italian historians, and those who have written the life of the fa- 
 mous Matilda. But, besides these, it will be highly proper to consult Jo, 
 Schilterus, de Libertate Ecclesia Germanice, lib. iv. p. 481.—Christ. 
 Thomasius, Historia Contentionis inter Imperium et Sacerdotium—Hen. 
 Meibomius, Lib. de Jure Investiture Episcopalis, tom. ili. Seriptorum 
 Rer. Germanic.—Just. Chris. Dithmarus, Historia Belli inter Imperium 
 et Sacerdotium, and, above all, the famous cardinal Norris, who far sur- 
 pease in point of erudition those whom we have mentioned, and whose 
 storia delle Investiture delle Dignita Ecclesiastiche, which was pub- 
 lished at Mantua, after his death, in 1741, is a most learned work, though 
 it be imperfect and probably maimed, and also extremely partial in fa- 
 vour of the pontiffs; which is not surprising from the pen of a cardinal, 
 See also Jo. Jac. Mascovii Commentarii de Rebus Imperii Germanici 
 sub Henrico IV. et V. 
 
 4 Ant. Pagi Critica in Baronium, tom. iii. ad an. 1075—Hen. Norris, 
 Hist. Investiturarum, p. 39.—Christ. Lupus, Scholia et Dissertation. ad 
 Concilia, tom. vi. op. p. 39—44. 
 
 * Here the translator has placed the note (r) of the original in the text, 
 under the form of a dissertation. f Chup. iil. p. 56, 
 
249 
 
 vhat are necessary to the proper knowledge of it.* The | 
 investiture of bishops and abbots commenced, undoubtedly, 
 at that period when the European emperors, kings, and | 
 princes, made grants to the clergy of certain territories, 
 lands, forests, castles, &c. According to the laws of those 
 times, (laws which still remain in force,).no persons were 
 deemed as lawful possessors of the lands or tenements 
 which they derived from the emperors or other princes, be- 
 ‘ore they repaired to court, took the oath of allegiance to 
 their respective sovereigns, as the supreme proprietors, and 
 received from their hands a solemn mark, indicating a 
 transfer of the property of their respective grants. Such 
 was the manner in which the nobility, and those who had 
 distinguished themselves by military exploits were con- 
 firmed in the possessions which they owed to the liberality 
 of their sovereigns. But the custom of investing the 
 bishops and abbots with the ring and the crosier, which 
 are the ensigns of the sacred function, is of a much more 
 recent date, and was then first introduced, when the Euro- 
 pean emperors and princes, annulling the elections that 
 were made in the church according to the ecclesiastical 
 laws which had been from the earliest times established 
 for that purpose, assumed to themselves the power of con- 
 ferring, on whom they pleased, the bishoprics and abbeys 
 that became vacant in their dominions, and even of selling 
 them to the highest bidder. 'T’his power, then, being once 
 usurped by the kings and princes of Europe, they at first 
 confirmed the bishops and abbots in their dignities and 
 possessions, with the same forms and ceremonies that were 
 used in investing the counts, knights, and others, with 
 their feudal tenures, even by written contracts, and the 
 ceremony of presenting them with a wand or bough.* 
 And this custom of investing the clergy and the laity with 
 the same ceremonies would have undoubtedly continued, 
 had not the clergy, to whom the right of electing bishops 
 and abbots originally belonged, artfully eluded the usurpa- 
 tion of the emperors and other princes by the following 
 stratagem. When a bishop or abbot died, they who looked 
 upon themselves as authorized to fill up the vacancy, 
 elected immediately some one of their order in the place 
 of the deceased, and were careful to have him consecrated 
 without delay. The consecration. being thus performed, 
 the prince, who had proposed to himself the profit of sell- 
 ing the vacant benefice, or the pleasure of conferring it 
 upon one of his favourites, was obliged to desist from his 
 purpose, and to consent to the election, which the ceremony 
 of consecration rendered irrevocable. Many examples of 
 the success of this stratagem, which was practised both in 
 chapters and monasteries, and which disappointed the li- 
 
 * This appears from a passage in cardinal Humbert’s third book 
 adverstts Simoniacos, which was composed before Gregory had set on 
 foot the dispute concerning investitures, and which is published in Mar- 
 tenne’s Thesaur. Anecd. tom. v. p. 787. The passage is as follows: 
 ‘* Potestas secularis primo ambitiosis ecclesiasticarum dignitatum vel pos- 
 sessionum cupidis favebat prece, dein minis, deinceps verbis concessivis; 
 in quibus omnibus cernens sibi contradictorem neminem, nec qui move- 
 ret pennam, vel aperiret os et ganniret, ad majora progreditur, et jam 
 sub nomine investiture dare primo tabellas vel qualescumque porrigere 
 virgulas, dein baculos. -Quod maximum nefas sic inolevit ut id solum 
 ree, tame credatur, nec que sit ecclesiastica regula sciatur aut atten- 
 
 ‘y We see this fact confirmed in the following passage in Ebbo’s Life 
 of Otho, bishop of Bamberg, lib. i. sect. 8, 9, in Actis Sanctor. mensis 
 Julii, tom. i. p. 426.“ Nec multo post annulus cum virga pastorali Bre- 
 mensis episcopi ad aulam regiam translata est. Eo siquidem tempore 
 
 eeclesia liberam electionem non habebat....sed cum quilibet antistes 
 viam universe carnis ingressus fuisset, mox capitanei civitatis illius an- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 nulum et virgam pastoralem ad Palatium transmittebant, sicque regia 
 
 Part I 
 
 berality or avarice of several princes, might here be alleged ; 
 they abound in the records of the tenth century, to which 
 we refer the curious reader. No soofier did the emperors 
 and princes perceive this artful management, than they 
 turned their attention to the most proper means of render- 
 ing it ineffectual, and of preserving the valuable privilege 
 they had usurped. For this purpose they ordered, that, 
 as soon as a bishop expired, his ring and crosier should be 
 transmitted to the prince, to whose jurisdiction his diocese 
 was subject ; for it was by the solemn delivery of the ring 
 and crosier of the deceased to the new bishop that his 
 election was irrevocably confirmed, and this ceremony was 
 an essential part of his consecration ; so that, when these 
 two badges of the episcopal dignity were in the hands of 
 
 the sovereign, the clergy could not consecrate the person 
 
 whom their suffrages had appointed to fill the vacancy. 
 Thus their stratagem was defeated, as every election that 
 was not confirmed by the ceremony of consecration might 
 be lawfully annulled and rejected; nor was the bishop 
 qualified to exercise any of the episcopal functions before 
 the performance of that important ceremony. As soon, 
 therefore, as a bishop drew his last breath, the magistrate 
 of the city in which he had resided, or the governor of the 
 province, seized his ring and crosier, and sent them to 
 court.’. he emperor or prince conferred the vacant see 
 upon the person whom he had chosen, by delivering to him 
 these two badges of the episcopal office; after which the 
 new bishop, thus invested by his sovereign, repaired to 
 his metropolitan, to whom it belonged to perform the cere- 
 mony of consecration, and delivered to him the ring and 
 crosier which he had received from his prince, that he 
 might receive them again from his hands, and be thus 
 doubly confirmed in his sacred function. It appears, 
 therefore, from this account, that each new bishop and 
 abbot received twice the ring and the crosier ; once from 
 the hands of the sovereign, and once from those of the 
 metropolitan bishop, by whom they were consecrated.° 
 
 It is very uncertain by what prince this custom was 
 originally introduced. If we may believe Adam of Bre- 
 men,‘ this privilege was exercised by Louis the Debon- 
 naire, who, in the ninth century, granted to the new bish- 
 ops the use and possession of the episcopal revenues, and 
 confirmed this grant by the ceremony now under consi- 
 deration. But the accuracy of this historian is liable to 
 suspicion; and it is probable that he attributed to the 
 transactions of ancient times the same form that accom- 
 panied similar transactions in the eleventh century, in 
 which he lived; for it is certain that, in the ninth centu- 
 ry, the greatest part of the European princes made no op- 
 
 auctoritate, communicato cum aulicis consilio, orbate plebi idoneum con- 
 stituebat presulem.... Post paucos vero dies rursum annulus et virga 
 pastoralis Babenbergensis episcopi domino imperatori transmissa est: 
 quo audito, multi nobiles—ad aulam regiam confluebant, qui alteram 
 harum prece vel pretio sibi comparare tentabant.” 
 
 * This appears from a variety of ancient records. See particularly 
 Humbert, lib. 11. contra Simoniacos, cap. vi. in Martenne’s Thesaur, 
 Anecdot. tom. v. p. 779, in which we find the following passage: “ Sic 
 enceniatus (i. e. the bishop invested by the emperor) violentus invadit 
 clerum, plebem er ordinem prius dominaturus, quam ab eis cognoscatur, 
 queratur, aut petatur. Sic metropolitanum agegreditur, non ab eo judi- 
 candus, sed ipsum judicaturus.—Quid enim sibi jam pertinet aut prodest 
 baculum et annulum, quos portat, reddere ? Numaeel quia a laica per- 
 sona dati sunt? Cur redditur quod habetur, nisi ut aut denuo res ecclesi- 
 astica sub hac specie jussionis vel donationis vendatur, aut certe ut pra-~ 
 sumptio laice ordinationis pallietur colore et velamento quodam disci- 
 pline clericalis ? 
 
 ¢ In his Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. i. cap. xxxu. p. 10, xxxix. p, 12; 
 published among the Scriptores Septentrionales of Lindenbrogius. 
 
senting to them the ring and crosier, 
 
 Cuavp. II. 
 
 ition to the right of electing the bishops, which was 
 "both claimed and exercised by the clergy and the people ; 
 and consequently, there was ‘then no occasion for the in- 
 vestilure mentioned by Adam of Bremen. We there- 
 fore choose to adopt the supposition of cardinal Humbert," 
 who places the commencement of the custom now under 
 consideration in the reign of Otho the Great ; for, though 
 this opinion has not the approbation of Louis T homassin 
 and Natalis Alexander, yet these learned men, in their 
 deep researches into the origin of investitures,’ have ad- 
 
 vanced nothing sufiicient to prove it erroneous. We learn 
 also from Humbert, ‘that the emperor Henry IIL., the son 
 of Conrad Il. was desirous of abrogating these investi- 
 tures, though a variety of circumstances concurred to 
 prevent the execution of his design; but he represents 
 Henry L, king of France, in a different point of light, 
 as a turbulent prince, who tumed all things into confu- 
 sion, and indulged himself beyond all measure in simo- 
 niacal practices; and he therefore loads him with the bit- 
 terest invectives. 
 
 In this method of creating bishops and abbots, by pre- 
 there were two 
 things that gave particular offence to the Roman pontiffs. 
 One was,-that by this the ancient right of election was to- 
 tally changed, and the power of choosing the rulers of the 
 church was usurped by the emperors and other sovereign 
 princes, and was confined to them alone. This indeed 
 was the most plausible reason of complaint, when we 
 consider the religious notions of those times, which were 
 by no means favourable to the conduct of the emperors in 
 this affair. Another circumstance that grievously dis- 
 tressed the pretended vicars of St. Peter, was, to see the 
 ring aud crosier, the venerable badges of spiritual autho- 
 rity. and distinction, delivered to the bishop elect by the 
 profane hands of unsanctified laymen; an abuse which 
 they looked upon as little better than sacrilege. Hum- 
 bert, who, as we previously stated, wrote his book against 
 simony before the contest between the emperor and Gre- 
 gory had commenced, complains? heavily of this suppo- 
 sed profanation, and shudders to think, that the staff 
 which denotes the ghostly shepherd, and the ring which 
 seals the mysteries of heaven,‘ deposited in the bosoms of 
 the episcopal order, should be polluted by the unhallowed 
 touch of a civil magistrate; and that emperors and 
 princes, by presenting them to their favourites, should 
 ‘hereby usurp the prerogatives of the church, and exer- 
 cise the pastoral authority and power. This complaint 
 was entirely consistent, as we have already observed, 
 with the opinions of the times in which it was made; for, 
 as the ring and crosier were generally esteemed the marks 
 and badges of pastoral power and spiritual authority, so 
 he who conferred these sacred badges was supposed to con- 
 fer and communicate with them the spiritual authority of 
 which they were the emblems. 
 
 All these things being duly considered, we shall imme- 
 
 * Add to this the refutation of Adam of Bremen, by Daniel Pape- 
 broch, in the Acta Sanctorum, tom. i. Febr. p. 557. 
 ai lib. iii, contra Simoniacos ,cap. vii. p. 780. and cap. xi. p. 
 * See Ludov. Thomassini Disciplina Eccles. circa Benef. tom. ii. lib. 
 ii. Hae 431; and Natal. Alexander, Select. Histor. Eccles. Capit. Sac. XI. 
 Dis. iv. p. 725. 
 4 Lib. iii. cap. vil. 
 * See Humbert, lib. iii. contra Simoniac. cap. vi. p. 779,795. His 
 words are, “ Quid ad laicas pertinet personas sacramenta ecclesiastica 
 
 No. XXI. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 241 
 
 diately perceive what it was that rendered Gregory VIT. 
 so averse to the pretensions of the emperors, and so zeal- 
 ous in depriving them of the privilege they had assumed 
 of investing the bishops with the ceremony of the ring 
 and crosier. In the first council which, he assembled at 
 Rome, he made no attempt, indeed, against investitures, 
 nor did he aim at any thing farther than the abolition of 
 simony, and the restoration of the sacerdotal and monas- 
 tic orders to their ancient right of electing their respective 
 bishops and abbots. But, when he afterwards found that 
 the affair of investiture was inseparably connected with 
 the pretensions of the emperors, who seemed to consider 
 it as empowering them to dispose of the higher ecclesias- 
 tical dignities and benefices, he was persuaded that simo- 
 ny could not be extirpated as long as investitures were in 
 being: and, therefore, to pluck up the evil by the root, he 
 opposed the latter custom with the utmost vehemence. All 
 this shows the true rise of the war that was carried on be- 
 tween the pontiff and the emperor with such bitterness and 
 fury. 
 
 And to understand still more clearly the merits of this 
 cause, it will be proper to observe, that it was not investi- 
 ture, generally considered, that Gregory oppesed with such 
 keenness and obstinacy, but that particular species which 
 prevailed at this time. He did not pretend to hinder the 
 bishops from swearing allegiance to kings and emperors, 
 or even from becoming their vassals; and so far was he 
 from prohibitng that kind of investiture which was _per- 
 formed by a verbal declaration or by a written deed, that, 
 on the contrary, he allowed the kings of England and 
 France to invest in this manner, and probably consented 
 to the use of the sceptre in this ceremony, as did also after 
 him Calixtus Hl. But he could not bear the ceremony of 
 investiture that was performed with the ensigns of the sa- 
 cerdotal order, much less could he endure the performance 
 of the ceremony before the solemn rite of consecration ; 
 but what rendered investitures most odious to this pontiff 
 was their destroying entirely the free elections of bishops 
 and abbots. It is now time to resume the thread of our 
 history. 
 
 XY. The severe law that had been enacted against in- 
 vestitures, by the influence and authority of Gregory, 
 made very little impression upon Henry. He acknow- 
 ledged, indeed, that in exposing ecclesiastical benefices to 
 sale, he had acted improperly, and he promised amend- 
 ment in that respect; but he remained inflexible against 
 all attempts that were made to persuade him to resign his 
 power of creating bishops and abbots, and the right of in- 
 vestiture, which was intimately connected with this im- 
 portant privilege. Had the emperor been seconded by the 
 German princes, he might have maintained this refusal 
 with dignity and success; but this was far from being the 
 case; a considerable number of these princes, and among 
 others the states of Saxony, were the secret or declared 
 enemies of Henry; and this furnished Gregory with an 
 
 et pontificalem seu pastoralem gratiam distribuere, camyros scilicet bacu- 
 los et annulos, quibus preecipue perfici itur, militat ‘et jnnititur tota episco- 
 palis consecratio ? Equidemin camyris baculis—de signatur, que eis com- 
 mittitur cura pastoralis—Porro annulus signaculum secretorum ceeles- 
 tium indicat, premonens predicatores, ut secretam Dei sapientiam cum 
 apostolo dissignent. Quicunge ergo his duobus aliquem initiant, pro- 
 cul- dubio omnem pastoralem auctoritatem hoe presumendo sibi vendi- 
 cant.” 
 
 f Humbert mistook the spiritual signification of this holy ring, which 
 was the emblem of a nuptial bond betwcen the bishop and his see. 
 
242 
 
 opportunity of extending his authority, and executing his 
 ambitious projects. This was by no means neglected ; the 
 imperious pontiff took occasion, from the discords that di- 
 vided the empire, to insult and depress its chief; he sent, 
 by his legates, an insolent message to the emperor at Gos- 
 lar, ordering him to repair immediately to Rome, and clear 
 himself, before the council that would be ass embled there, 
 of the various crimes that were laid to his charge. "he 
 emperor, whose high spirit could not brook such arrogant 
 treatment, was filled with the warmest indignation at the 
 view of that insolent mandate; and, in the vehemence of 
 his just resentment, convoked without delay a council of 
 the German bishops at Worms. In that assembly, Gre- 
 gory was charged with several flagitious practices, and de- 
 posed from the pontificate, of which he was declared un- 
 worthy; and orders were given for the election of a new 
 pontiff.. Gregory opposed violence to violence; for no sooner 
 had he received, by the letters and ambassadors of Henry, 
 an account of the sentence that had been pronounced 
 against him, than, in a fit of vindictive phrensy, he thun- 
 dered his anathemas at the head of that prince, excluded 
 him both from the communion of the church and from 
 the throne of his ancestors, and impiously dissolved the 
 oath of allegiance which his subjects had taken to him as 
 their lawful sovereign. ‘Thus war was declared on both 
 sides; and the civil and ecclesiastical powers were divided 
 into two great factions, of which one maintained the rights 
 of the emperor, while the other seconded the ambitious 
 views of the pontiff. No terms are sufficient to express the 
 complicated scenes of misery that arose from this deplora- 
 ble schism. 
 
 XVI. At the entrance upon this war, the Suabian chiefs, 
 with duke Rodolph at their head, revolted from Henry; 
 and the Saxon princes, whose former quarrels with the 
 emperor had been lately terminated by their defeat and 
 submission, followed their example. These united powers, 
 being solicited by the pope to elect a new emperor, if Henry 
 should persist in his disobedience to the orders of the 
 
 church, met at Tribur in 1076, to take counsel together | 
 
 concerning a matter of such high importance. The re- 
 sult of the deliberation was far from being favourable to 
 the emperor ; for they agreed, that the determination of 
 the controversy between him and them should be referred 
 to the pope, who was to be invited for that purpose to a 
 congress at Augsburg in the following year, and that, in 
 the mean time, Henry should be suspended from his royal 
 dignity, and live in the obscurity of a private station ; to 
 which rigorous conditions they also added, that he w as to 
 forfeit his kingdom, if, within the space of a year, he should 
 not be restored to the bosom of the church, and delivered 
 from the anathema that lay upon his head. When things 
 were come to this desperate extremity, and the faction, 
 which was formed against this unfortunate prince, grew 
 more formidable from day to day, his friends advised “him 
 to go into Italy, and implore in person the clemency of the 
 poniiff. ‘The emperor yielded to this iznominious counsel, 
 without, however, obtaining from his voyage the advan- 
 tages he expected. He passed the Alps, amidst the rigour 
 
 34> * This same Rodolph nad, the year before this revolt, vanquished 
 the Saxons, and obliged theni to submit to the emperor. Beside the 
 Suabian and Saxon chiefs, the dukes of Bavaria and Carinthia, the bi- 
 shops of Wurtzburg and Worms, and several other eminent personages, 
 were concerned in this revolt. 
 
 » The ancient and moderm writers of Italian and German history 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 of a severe winter, and arrived, in February, 1077, at the 
 fortress of Canusium, where the sanctimonious pontiff 
 resided at that time with the young Matilda, countess of 
 Tuscany, the most powerful patroness of the church, and 
 the most tender and affectionate of all the spiritual daugh- 
 ters of Gregory. Here the suppliant prince, unmindful of 
 his dignity, stood, during three days, in the open air at the 
 entrance of this fortress, with his feet bare, his head un- 
 covered, and with no other raiment than a wretched piece 
 of coarse woollen cloth thrown over his body to cover his 
 
 nakedness. On the fourth day, he was admitted to the 
 presence of the lordly pontiff, who with difficulty granted 
 him the absolution he demanded ; but, as to his political 
 restoration, he refused to determine that point before the 
 approaching congress, at which he made Henry promise 
 to appear, forbidding him, at the same time, to assume, 
 
 te) 
 during this interval, the title of king, or to wear the orna- 
 
 3?) 
 
 ments or exercise the functions of royalty. ‘This oppro- 
 brious convention justly excited the indignation of the 
 princes and bishops of Italy, who threatened Henry with 
 all sorts of evils, on account of his base and pusillanimous 
 conduct, and would undoubtedly have deposed him, had 
 not he allay ed their resentment by violating the conven- 
 tion into which he had heen forced to enter with the im- 
 perious pontiff, and resuming the title and other marks of 
 royalty which he had been obliced to relinquish. On the 
 other hand, the confederate princes of Suabia and Saxony 
 were no sooner informed of this unexpected change in the 
 conduct of Henry, than they assembled at Forcheim in 
 March, 1077, and unanimously elected Rodolph, duke of 
 Suabia, emperor in bis place.® 
 
 XVII. This rash step kindled a terrible flame in Ger- 
 many and Italy, and involved, for a long time, those un- 
 happy Jands in the calamities of war. In Italy, the Nor- 
 mans, who were masters of the lower parts of that country, 
 and the armies of the powerful and valiant Matilda, main- 
 tained successfully the cause of Gregory against the Lom. 
 bards, who espoused the interests of Henry; while this 
 unfortunate prince, with all the forces he could assemble, 
 carried on the war in Germany against Rodolph and the 
 confederate princes. Gregory, considering the events of 
 war as extremely doubtful, was at first afraid to declare for 
 either side, and therefore observed, during a certain time. 
 an appearance of neutrality; but encouraged by the battle 
 of Fladenheim, in which Henry was defeated by the Sax- 
 ons, in 1080, he excommunicated anew that vanquished 
 prince, and, sending a crown to the victor Rodolph, de- 
 clared him lawful “king of the Germans. 'The injured 
 emperor did not suffer this new insult to pass serine 
 Seconded by the suffrages of several of the Italian and 
 German bishops, he deposed Gregory a second time in a 
 council which met at Mentz, and, in a synod that was 
 soon after assembled at Brixen, in the province of ‘Tirol, 
 he raised to the pontificate Guibert, archbishop of Raven- 
 na, who assumed the title of Clement HI., when he was 
 consecrated at Rome, in 1084, four years after his election. 
 
 XVIIL. This election was soon followed by an occur- 
 rence which gave an advantageous turn to the affairs of 
 
 ie 
 
 have given ample relations of all these events, though not all with the same 
 fidelity andaccuracy. In the brief account I have given of the events, I 
 have followed the genuine sources, and those writers whose te stimonies 
 are the most respectable and sure, such as Sigonius, Pagi, Murator., 
 Mascovius, Norris, &c. who, though they differ in some minute circum- 
 stances, yet agree in those matters which are of the most importance. 
 
Onap. IL. 
 
 Henry: this event was a bloody battle fought upon the 
 banks of the river Elster, where Rodolph received a mor- 
 tal wound, of which he died at Mersburg. The emperor, 
 freed from this formidable enemy, marched into Italy, in 
 the following year (1081,) with a design to crush Gregory 
 and his adherents, whose defeat he imagined would con- 
 tribute effectually to put an end to the troubles in Germany. 
 Accordingly he made several campaigns, with various suc- 
 cess, against the valiant troops of Matilda; and, after he- 
 ving raised twice the siege of Rome, he resumed with 
 alacrity that bold enterprise, and became, in 1084, master 
 of the greatest part of that city. His first step after this 
 success was to place Guibert in the papal chair: he then 
 réveived the imperial crown from the hands of the new 
 pontil, was saluted emperor by the Roman people, and 
 laid close siege to the castle of St. Angelo, whither his de- 
 termined enemy, Gregory, had fled for safety. He was, 
 however, forced to raise this siege by the valour of Robert 
 (ruiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria, who brought Gre- 
 gory in triumph to Rome; but, not thinking him safe 
 there, conducted him afterwards to Salernum. Here the 
 famous pontiff ended his days in the succeeding year, and 
 left Europe involved in those calamities which were the 
 fatal effects of his boundless ambition. He was certainly 
 a man of extensive abilities, endowed with a most enter- 
 prising genius, and an invincible firmness of mind; but 
 it must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that he was 
 the most arrogant and audacious pontiff that had hitherto 
 filled the papal chair. "The Roman church worships him 
 as a saint, though it is certain that he was never placed in 
 that order by a regular canonization. Paul V., about the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, appointed the 
 twenty-fifth day of May, as a festival sacred to the me- 
 mory of this pretended saint ;* but the emperors of Ger- 
 many, the kings of France, and other European princes, 
 have always opposed the celebration of this festival, and 
 have thus effectually prevented its becoming universal. 
 In our times, the zeal of Benedict XIII. to secure to Gre- 
 gory the saintly honours, occasioned a contest, the result 
 of which was by no means favourable to his superstitious 
 views. 
 
 XIX. The death of Gregory neither restored peace to 
 the church, nor tranquillity to the state; the tumults and 
 divisions which he had excited still continued, and they 
 were augmented from day to day by the same passions to 
 which they owed their origin. Clement ILI., who was the 
 emperor’s pontiff,* was master of the city of Rome, and was 
 acknowledged as pope by a great part of Italy. Henry car- 
 cied on the war in Germany against the confederate princes. 
 The faction of Gregery, supported by the Normans, chose 
 for his successor, in 1086, Dideric, abbot of Mount-Cassin, 
 who adopted the title of Victor HL, and was consecrated in 
 ithe church of St. Peter, in 1087, when that part of the city 
 was recovered by the Normans from the dominion of Cle- 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 243 
 
 ment. But this new pontiff was of a character quite oppo- 
 site to that of Gregory; he was modest and timorous, and 
 also of a mild and gentle disposition; and finding the papal 
 chair beset with factions, and the city of Rome under the 
 dominion of his competitor, he retired to his monastery, 
 where he soon after ended his days in peace. But, before 
 his abdication, he held a council at Benevento, where he 
 confirmed and renewed the laws that Gregory had enacted 
 for the abolition of investitures. 
 
 XX. Otho, monk of Clugni, and bishop of Ostia, was, 
 by Victor’s recommendation, chosen to succeed him. This 
 new pontiff was elected at ‘Terracina, in 1088, and assu- 
 med the name of Urban HI. Inferior to Gregory in forti- 
 tude and resolution, he was, however, his equal in arro- 
 gance and pride, and surpassed him greatly in temerity 
 and imprudence.*? The commencement of his pontificate 
 had a fair aspect, and success seemed to smile upon his 
 undertakings ; but on the emperor’s return into Italy, in 
 1090, the face of affairs was totally changed ; victory crown- 
 ed the arms of that prince, who, by redoubled efforts of 
 valour, at length defeated Guelph, duke of Bavaria, and 
 the famous Matilda, who were the formidable heads of the 
 papal faction. ‘The abominable treachery of his son Con- 
 rad, who, yielding to the seduction of his father’s enemies, 
 revolted against him, and, by the advice and assistance of 
 Urban and Matilda, usurped the kingdom of Italy, revived 
 the drooping spirits of that faction, who hoped to see the 
 laurels of the emperor blasted by this odious and unnatural 
 rebellion. The consequences, however, of this event were 
 less mischievous to Henry, than his enemies expected. In 
 the mean time the troubles of Italy still continued ; nor 
 could Urban, with all his efforts, reduce Rome under his 
 lordly yoke. Finding all his ambitious measures discon- 
 certed, he assembled a council at Placentia, in 1095, where 
 he confirmed the laws and the anathemas of Gregory; 
 and afterwards undertook a journey into France, where 
 he held the famous council of Clermont, and had the plea- 
 sure of kindling a new war against the infidel possessors 
 of the holy land. In this council, instead of endeavouring 
 to terminate the tumults and desolations that the dispute 
 concerning investitures had already produced, this un- 
 worthy pontiff added fuel to the flame, and so exasperated 
 matters by his imprudent and arrogant proceedings, as to 
 render an accommodation between the contending parties 
 more difficult than ever. Gregory, notwithstandiag his 
 insolence and ambition, had never carried matters so far 
 as to forbid the bishops and the rest of the clergy to take 
 the oath of allegiance to their respective sovereigns. This 
 rebellious prohibition was reserved for the audacious arro- 
 gance of Urban, who published it as a law in the council 
 of Clermont.* After this noble expedition, the restless pon- 
 tiff returned into Italy, where he made himself master of 
 the castle of St. Angelo, and soen after ended his days, in 
 1099; he was not long survived by his antagonist Cle- 
 
 *See the Acta Sanctor. Antwerp. ad d. xxv. Maii, and Mabillon, 
 Acta Sanct. Ord. Benedict. See. VI. part ii. 
 
 * The ceader will find an ample and curious account of this matter in 
 a Freacl: book published in Holland, in 1743, under the following title : 
 L’Avoeat du Diable, ou Memoires Historiques et Critiques sur la Vie et 
 si la Legende du Pape Gregoire VII. 
 
 * This pontiff died in 1100, as appears evidently from the Chronicon 
 Beneventanum, published by Muratori, in his Antiq. Ital. tom. i. p. 262. 
 See also Rubei Historia Ravennat. lib. v. p. 307. 
 
 4 We find in the Posthumous Works of Mabillon, tom. iii. the Life 
 of Urban II. composed by Theod. Ruinart, with much learning and ine 
 dustry, but with too little impartiality and fidelity, as we may naturally, 
 
 suppose even from the name of its author, since it is known that no 
 monkish writer durst attempt to paint the pontiffs in their true colours — 
 See also, for an account of Urban, the Hist. Lit. dela France, tom. viii. 
 p. 514. 
 © To the fifteenth canon of this council the following words were added 
 
 “ Ne episcopus vel sacerdos regi vel alicui laico in manibus ligiam fide- 
 litatem faciat,” i. e. “It is enacted, that no bishop or priest shall pro- 
 mise upon oath liege obedience to any king or any layman.” They are 
 entirely in an error, who affirm that Gregory prohibited the bishops from 
 taking oaths of allegiance to their respective sovereigns, as cardinal 
 Norris has sufficiently demonstrated in his Istoria delie Investiture, 
 chap. x. p. 279. 
 
244 
 
 ment III. who died in the following year, and thus left 
 Raynier (a Benedictine monk, who was chosen successor 
 to Urban, and assumed the name of Pascal IT.) sole pos- 
 sessor of the papal chair at the conclusion of this century. 
 
 XXI. Among the eastern monks in this century, there 
 happened nothing worthy of being consigned to the records 
 of history, while these of the west were concerned imme- 
 diately in transactions of great consequence, and which 
 deserve the attention of the curious reader. ‘The western 
 monks were remarkable for their attachment to the Ro- 
 man pontiffs. This connexion had been long formed, and 
 it was originally occasioned by the avarice and violence of 
 both bishops and princes, who, under various pretexts, 
 were constantly encroaching upon the possessions of the 
 monks, and thus obliged them to seek for security against 
 these invasions of their property in the protection of the 
 popes. ‘Mhis protection was readily granted by the por- 
 tiffs, who seized, with avidity, every occasion of enlarging 
 their authority ; and the monks, in return, engaged them- 
 selves to pay an annual tribute to their ghostly patrons. 
 But in this century things were carried still farther; and 
 the pontiffs (more especially Gregory VII. who was eager- 
 ly bent upon humbling the bishops, and transferring their 
 privileges to the Roman see,) enlarged their jurisdiction 
 over the monks at the expense of the episcopal order. 
 They advised and exhorted the monks to withdraw them- 
 selves and their possessions from the jurisdiction of the 
 bishops, and to place both under the inspection and do- 
 minion of St. Peters Hence, from the time of Gregory, 
 the number of monasteries that had received immunities, 
 both from the temporal authority of the sovereign, and the 
 spiritual jurisdiction of the bishops, increased beyond mea- 
 sure throughout Europe; and the rights of princes, to- 
 gether with the interests and privileges of the episcopal 
 order, were violated and trampled upon, or rather en- 
 grossed, to swell the growing despotism of the all-grasping 
 pontiffs.” 
 
 XXII. All the writers of this age complain of the ig- 
 norance, licentiousness, frauds, debaucheries, dissensions, 
 and enormities, that dishonoured the greatest part of the 
 monastic orders, not to mention the numerous marks of 
 their profligacy and impiety that have been handed down 
 to our times.©. However astonished we may be at such 
 gross irregularities among a set of men whose destination 
 was so sacred, and whose profession was so austere, we 
 shall still be more surprised to learn that this degenerate 
 order, far from losing aught of their influence and credit 
 on account of their licentiousness, were promoted, on the 
 sontrary, to the highest ecclesiastical dignities, and beheld 
 their opulence and authority increasing from day to day. 
 Our surprise, indeed, will be diminished, when we con- 
 sider the gross ignorance and superstition, and the un- 
 
 * A specimen of this may be seen in the seventh Epistle of Gregory, 
 in which he reduces the monks of Redon under the jurisdiction of the 
 Roman see, by a mandate conceived in terms that had never been used 
 before his time: see Martenne’s Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. i. p. 204. We 
 may add to this, several similar mandates of Urban IT. and the suc- 
 ceeding pontiffs, which are to be found in the collection now cited, and 
 in others of that kind. 
 
 > There is not, perhaps, in Germany, a single instance of this perni- 
 cious immunity before the time of Gregory VIL. 
 
 * See Jo. Launoi, Assert. in Privileg. 8. Medardi, cap. xxvi. sect. vi. 
 op. t. il. part IT. p. 499; and Simon, Bibl. Critique, t. iii. cap. xxxii. p. 331. 
 
 4 For an account of the astonishing corruption of this age, see Blondel, 
 de Formula, regnante Christo, p. 14—Boulainvilliers, de l’Origine et des 
 Droits de la Noblesse, in Molet’s Memoires de Literature et d’Histoire, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 bounded licentiousness and corruption of manners, that 
 reigned in this century among all ranks and orders of 
 men.‘ Jgnorance and corruption pervert the taste and 
 judgment even of those who are not void of natural sa- 
 
 gacity, and often prevent their being shocked at the great- 
 
 est inconsistencies. Amidst this general depravation of 
 sentiment and conduct, amidst the flagitious crimes that 
 were daily perpetrated, not only by the laity, but also by 
 the various orders of the clergy, both secular and regular, 
 all such as respected the common rules of decency, or pre- 
 served in their external demeanour the least appearance of 
 piety and virtue, were looked upon as saints of the highest 
 rank, and considered as the peculiar favourites of heaven. 
 This circumstance was, no doubt, favourable to many “of 
 the monks who were less profligate than the rest of their 
 order, and might contribute more or less to support the 
 credit of the whole body. Besides, it often happened, that 
 princes, dukes, knights, and generals, whose days had 
 been consumed in debauchery and crimes, and distin- 
 guished by nothing but the violent exploits of unbridled 
 lust, cruelty, and avarice, felt at the approach of old age, 
 or death, the inexpressible anguish of a wounded con- 
 science, and the gloomy apprehensions and terrors it ex- 
 cites. In this dreadful condition, what was their resource ? 
 What were the means by which they hope2 to disarm the 
 uplifted hand of divine justice, and render tne governor of 
 the world propitious? "They purchased, at an encrmous 
 price, the prayers of the monks to screen them from judg- 
 meant, and devoted to God and to the saints a large portion 
 of the fruits of their rapine, or entered into the monastic 
 order, and bequeathed their possessions to their new breth- 
 ren. And thus it was that monkery perpetually received 
 new accessions of opulence and credit. 
 
 XXIII. The monks of Clugni in France surpassed all 
 the other religious orders in the renown they had acquired, 
 from a prevailing opinion of their eminent sanctity and 
 virtue. Hence their discipline was universally respected, 
 and hence also their rules were adopted by the founders of 
 new monasteries, and the reformers of those that were in 
 a state of decline. ‘These famous monks arose, by de- 
 grees, to the highest summit of worldly prosperity, by the 
 presents which they received from all quarters ; and their 
 power and credit grew, with their opulence, to such a 
 height, that, toward the conclusion of this century, they 
 were formed into a separate society, which still subsists, 
 under the title of the Order, or Congregation of Clugni.¢ 
 And no sooner were they thus established, than they ex- 
 tended their spiritual dominion on all sides, reducing, un- 
 der their jurisdiction, all the monasteries which they had 
 reformed by their counsels. "The famous Hugo, sixth ab- 
 bot of Clugni, who was in high credit at the court of 
 Rome, and had acquired the peculiar protection and esteem 
 
 tom. ix. part i. p. 63. The corruption and violence that reigned with 
 impunity in this horrid age, gave occasion to the institutions of chivalry 
 or knighthood, in consequence of which, a certain set of equestrian 
 heroes undertook the defence of the poor and feeble, and particularly of 
 the fair sex, against the insults of powerful oppressors and ravishers. 
 This order of knights errant certainly became very useful ir these mi- 
 
 serable times, when the majesty of laws and government had fallen 
 
 into contempt, and when they who bore the titles of sovereigns and ma- 
 gistrates, had neither resolution nor power to maintain their authority, 
 or to perform the duties of their stations. 
 
 ° For a particular account of the rapid and monstrous strides which 
 the order of Clugni made to opulence and dominion, see Steph. Baluze, 
 Miscellan. tom, v. p. 343, and tom. vi. p. 426, as also Mabillon, Annak 
 Benedict. tom. v. passim. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 of several princes, laboured with such success, in extend- | 
 ing the power and jurisdiction of his order, that, before the 
 end of tts century, he saw himself at the head of five- 
 and-thirty of the principal monasteries in France, beside a 
 considerable number of smaller convents that acknow- | 
 ledged him as their chief. Many other religious societies, 
 though they refused to enter into this new order, and con- 
 tinued to choose their respective governors, yet showed | 
 such respect for the abbot of Clugni, or the Arch-Abbot,+| 
 as he styled himself, that they regarded him as their spi- 
 ritual chief: This enormous augmentation of opulence 
 and authority was, however, fruitful of many evils ; it in- 
 creased the arrogance of these aspiring monks, and con- 
 tributed much to the propagation of the several vices that 
 dishonoured the religious societies of this licentious nd su- 
 perstitious age. The monks of Clugni soon degenerated 
 from their primitive sanctity, and were distinguished by 
 nothing but the peculiarities of their discipline, from the 
 rest of the monastic orders. 
 
 XXIV. The example of these monks excited several 
 pious men to erect particular monastic fraternities, or con- 
 gregations, like that of Clugni, the consequence of which 
 was, that the Benedictine order, which had been hitherto 
 one great and compact body, was now divided into sepa- 
 rate societies, which, though they were subject to one ge- 
 neral rule, differed from each other in various circumstan- 
 ces, both of their dicipline and manner of living, and rendered 
 their division still more conspicuous by reciprocal exertions 
 of animosity and hatred. In 1023, Romuald, an Italian 
 fanatic, retired to Camaldoli,® on the mount Apennine, and, 
 in that solitary retreat, founded the order, or Congregation 
 of the Camaldolites, which still remains in a flourishing | 
 state, particularly in Italy. His followers were distin- 
 guished into two classes, the Ceenobites and the Eremites. 
 Both observed a severe discipline; but the Coenobites gra- 
 dually degenerated from their primitive austerity... Some 
 time after this, Gualbert, a native of Florence, founded at 
 Val-Ombroso, amidst the Apennines, a congregation of 
 Benedictine monks, who quickly propagated their discipline 
 in several parts of Italy. To these two Italian monaste- 
 ries we may add that of Hirsauge in Germany,° erected 
 by William, an eminent abbot, who had reformed many 
 ancient convents, and was the founder of several new es- 
 tablishments. It is, however, to be observed, that this mo- 
 nastery was rather a branch of the congregation of Clugni, 
 whose laws and manner of living it had adopted, than a 
 new fraternity. 
 
 XXV. Toward the conclusion of this century,’ Robert, 
 abbot of Molesme in Burgundy, having in vain employed 
 his most zealous efforts to revive the decaying piety and 
 discipline of his convent, and to oblige his monks to ob- | 
 
 * Mabillon, Pref. Acta SS. Ord. Bened. Sec. V.—Hist. Gen. de Bour- 
 gogne par les Moines Benedictins, t.i.p. 151, Paris, 1739.—Hist. Liter. 
 
 e Ja France, t. ix. p. 470. » Otherwise called Campo-Malduli. 
 
 * The writers, who have given any satisfactory accounts of the order 
 of the Camaldolites, are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius in his Biblio- 
 theca Lat. medii Evi, tom. i. p. 895—Add to these Romualdi Vita, in 
 Actis Sanctor. Februar. tom. il. p. 101, and in Mabillon’s Act. Sanctor. 
 Ord. Bened. Sec. VI. part i p. 247.—Helyot, Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. 
 p. 236.—Mabillon, Annal. Ord. Bened. tom. v. p 261—Magnoaldi Zei- 
 gelbauer, Centifolium Camaldulense, sive Notitia Scriptor. Camaldulen- |; 
 sium, published at Venice in 1750. 
 
 4 See the life of Gualbert in Mabillon’s Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened, 
 Sec. VL. part ii. p. 273. See also Helyot’s Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. p. 
 298. Many interesting circumstances relating to the history of this 
 
 order have been published by the learned Lami, in the Delicie Erudito- 
 rum, tom. ii. where the ancient laws of the order are enumerated. 
 
 No. X XI. 62 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 ' lished in four volumes folio, at Lyons, in the year 1642. 
 
 245 
 
 serve, with greater exactness, the rule of St. Benedict, re- 
 tired, with about twenty monks, who had not been infected 
 with the dissolute turn of their brethren, to Citeaux, in the 
 diocese of Chalons. In this retreat, which was at that 
 time a miserable desert, covered on all sides with brain- 
 bles and thorns, but which bears, at present, a quite differ- 
 ent aspect, Robert laid the foundations of the famous order, 
 or, Congregation of Cistertians, which, like that of Clugni, 
 made a most rapid and astonishing progress, was propa- 
 
 _gated through the greatest part of Europe in the following 
 
 century, and was not only enriched with the most liberal 
 and splendid donations, but also acquired the form and 
 privileges of a spiritual republic, and exercised a sort of 
 dominion over all the monastic orders.¢ 'The great and 
 fundamental law of this new fraternity, was the rule of 
 
 St. Benedict, which was to be solemnly and rigorously 
 observed ; to this were added several other institutions and 
 injunctions, which were designed to maintain the autho- 
 
 rity of this rule, to ensure its observance, and to defend it 
 against the dangerous effects of opulence, and those rest- 
 less efforts of human corruption which render the best es- 
 tablishments imperfect. hese injunctions were excessively 
 austere, and grievous to nature, but pious and laudable in 
 the esteem of a superstitious age. ‘They did not, however, 
 secure the sanctity of this holy congregation ; for the se- 
 ductive charms of opulence, that corrupted the monks of 
 Clugni much sooner than was expected, produced the same 
 effect among the Cistertians, whose zeal in the rigorous 
 observance of their rule began gradually to diminish, and 
 
 | who, in process of time, became as negligent and dissolute 
 as the rest of the Benedictines.» 
 
 XXVI. Beside these convents, that were founded upon 
 the principles, and might be considered as branches of the 
 Benedictine order, several other monastic societies were 
 formed, which were distinguished by peculiar laws, and 
 by rules of discipline and obedience, which they had drawn 
 up for themselves. 'T'o many of those gloomy and fana- 
 tical monks, whose austerity was rather the fruit of a bad 
 habit of body, than the result of a religious principle, the 
 tule of Benedict appeared too mild; to others it seemed 
 incomplete and defective, and not sufficiently accommo- 
 dated to the exercise of the various duties we owe to tha 
 Supreme Being. Hence, Stephen, a nobleman of Auvergne 
 (who is called by some Stephen de Muret, from the place 
 
 | where he first erected the convent of his order,) obtained 
 
 from Gregory VIL, in 1073, the privilege of instituting a 
 new species of monastic discipline. His first design was 
 to subject his fraternity to the rule of St. Benedict ; but 
 
 he changed his intention, and composed a code which was 
 
 to be their rule of life, piety, and manners. In his laws 
 there were many injunctions, that showed the excessive 
 
 ° See Mabillon, part ii. p. 716.—Helyot, tom. v. p. 332. 
 
 f In the year 1098. 
 
 => © In about a hundred years after its first establishment, this order 
 boasted of 1800 abbeys, and had become so powerful, that it governed 
 almost all Europe, both in spirituals and temporals. 
 
 h The principal historian of the Cistertian order, is Ang. Manriques, 
 whose Annales Cistertienses (an ample and learned work) were pub- 
 After him we 
 may place Pierre le Nain, whose Essai de Histoire de |’Ordre des 
 Citeaux, was printed in the year 1696, at Paris, in nine volumes in 8vo. 
 The other historians, who have given accounts of this famous order, are 
 enumerated by Fabricius, in his Biblioth. Latina medii AX vi, tom. i. p. 
 1066. Add to these Helyot’s Hist. des Ordres, tom. v. p. 341. and Ma- 
 billon, who, in the fifth and sixth volumes of his Annales Benedictini, 
 has given a learned and accurate account of the origin and progress of 
 the Cistertians. 
 
246 
 
 austerity of their author. Poverty and obedience were the 
 two great points which he inculcated with the warmest 
 zeal, and all his regulations were directed to promote and 
 secure them in this new establishment. For this purpose 
 it was solemnly enacted that the monks should possess no 
 lands beyond the limits of their convent ; that the use of 
 flesh should be allowed to none, not even to the sick and 
 infirm ; and that none should be permitted to keep cattle, 
 that they might not be exposed to the temptation of viola- 
 ting their frugal regimen. 'To these severe precepts many 
 others of equal rigour were added; for this gloomy legisla- 
 tor imposed upon his fraternity the solemn observance of 
 a profound and uninterrupted silence, and insisted so much 
 upon the importance and necessity of solitude, that none 
 but a few persons of the highest eminence and authority 
 were permitted to pass the threshold of his monastery. 
 He prohibited all intercourse with the female sex, and, 
 indeed, excluded his order from all the comforts and en- 
 joyments of life. His followers were divided into two clas- 
 ses, one of which comprehended the clerks, and the other 
 what he called the converted brethren. The former were 
 totally absorbed in the contemplation of divine things, 
 while the latter were charged with the care and adminis- 
 tration of whatever related to the concerns and necessities 
 of the present life. Such were the principal circumstan- 
 ces of the new institution founded by Stephen, which arose 
 to the highest pitch of renown in this and the following 
 century, and was regarded with the most profound vene- 
 ration as long as its laws and discipline were observed : 
 but two things contributed to its decline, and at length 
 orought on its ruin ; the first was, the violent contest which 
 arose between the clerks and the converts, on account of 
 the pre-eminence which the latter pretended over the for- 
 mer ; and the second was, the gradual diminution of the 
 rigour and austerity of Stephen’s rule, which was softened 
 and mitigated from time to time, both by the heads of the 
 order and by the pontiffs. "This once famous monastic 
 society was distinguished by the title of the Order of Grand- 
 montains, as Muret, where they were first established, 
 was situated near Grammont, in the province of Limo- 
 ges.* 
 
 X XVII. In the year 1084, was instituted the famous 
 order of Carthusians, so called from Chartreux, a dismal 
 
 * The origin of this order is related by Bernard Guidon, whose trea- 
 tise on that subject is published in the Bibliotheca Manuseriptoram Phil. 
 Labbei, tom. i. p. 275. For an account of the history of this celebrated 
 society, see Mabillon, Annal. Bened. tom. vy. p. 65, s. p. 99; tom. vi. p. 
 116; and Pref. ad Acta SS. Ord. Bened. Sec. VL. part ii. 340; Helyot, 
 tom. vil. p. 409.—Gallia Christ. Monachor. Bened. tom. ii. p. 645.— 
 Baluzii, Vite Pontif. Avenionens. tom. i. p. 158. et Miscellanea, tom. 
 vil. p. 486.—4“p The life and spiritual exploits of the founder of this or- 
 der, are recorded in the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Febr. 
 
 b Some place the institution of this order in 1080, and others in 1086. 
 
 ¢ The learned Fabricius mentions, in his Bibl. Lat. medii AX vi, tom. 
 li. p. 784, several writers who have composed the history of Bruno and 
 his order; but his enumeration is incomplete, since there are yet extant 
 many histories of the Carthusians, that have escaped his notice. See 
 Innocent. Massoni Annales Carthus. published in 1687;—Petri Orlandi 
 Chronicon Carthusianum, and the elegant, though imperfect history of 
 the order in question, which is to be found in Helyot’s Hist. des Ordres, 
 tom. vil. Many important illustrations of the nature and laws of this 
 famous society have been published by Mabillon, in his Annales Bene- 
 dict. tom. vi. and a particular and accurate account of Bruno has been 
 given by the Benedictine monks in their Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. 
 ix. It was acurrent report in ancient times, that the occasion of his re- 
 treat was the miraculous restoration of a certain priest to life, who, du- 
 ring the performance of the funeral service, raised himsclf up and said, 
 “By the just judgment of God I am damned,” and then expired anew. 
 This story is looked upon as fabulous by the most respectable writers, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II 
 
 and wild spot of ground near Grenoble, surrounded with 
 barren mountains and craggy rocks. The founder of this 
 monastic society, which surpassed all the rest in the ex- 
 travagant austerity of its manners and discipline, was Bru- 
 no, a native of Cologne, and canon of the cathedral of 
 theims. 'This zealous ecclesiastic, who had neither pe wer 
 to reform, nor patience to bear, the dissolute manneis of 
 his archbishop Manasse, retired from his church with stx 
 ‘of his companions, and, having obtained the permission 
 of Hugh, bishop of Grenoble, fixed his residence in the 
 miserable desert already mentioned.* He at first adopted 
 the rule of St. Benedict, to which he added a considerable 
 number of severe and rigorous precepts; his successors 
 however, went still farther, and imposed upon the Carthu 
 sians new laws, much more intolerable than those of thei 
 founder,—laws which inculcated the highest degrees o 
 austerity that the most gloomy imagination could invent.¢ 
 Yet it may be affirmed, (and the fact is remarkable,) that 
 no monastic society degenerated so little from the severity 
 of its primitive institution and discipline as this of the Car 
 thusians. 'The progress of the order was indeed less rapid 
 and its influence less extensive in the different countries 
 of Europe, than the progress and influence of those mo- 
 nastic establishments, whose laws were less rigorous, and 
 whose manners were less austere. It was a long time be- 
 fore the tender sex could be engaged to submit to the 
 savage rules of this melancholy institution ; nor had the 
 Carthusian order ever reason to boast of a multitude of fe- 
 males subjected to its jurisdiction ; it was too forbidding 
 to captivate a sex which, though susceptible of the seduc- 
 tions of enthusiasm, is of a frame too delicate to support 
 the severities of a rigorous self-denial.¢ 
 XXVIUI. Toward the conclusion of this century,’ the 
 order of St. Antony of Vienne, in Dauphine, was insti- 
 tuted for the relief and support of such as were seized with 
 grievous disorders, and particularly with the disease called 
 St. Antony’s fire. All who were infected with that pesti- 
 lential disorder repaired to a cell built near Vienne by the 
 Benedictine monks of Grammont, in which the body of 
 St. Antony was said to repose, that, by the prayers and 
 intercessions of this eminent saint, they might be miracu- 
 lously healed. Gaston, an opulent nobleman, and his son 
 Guerin, pretended to have experienced, in their complete 
 
 even of the Romish church, especially since it has been refuted by Lau- 
 noy, in his treatise de Causé Secessus Brunonis in Desertum. Nor does 
 it seem to preserve its credit among the Carthusians, who are more inter- 
 ested than others in this pretended miracle. Such of them, at least, as 
 affirm it, do it with a good deal of modesty and diffidence. The argu- 
 ments on both sides are candidly and accurately enumerated by Ces. 
 Egasse du Boulay, in his Histor. Academ. Paris. tom. i. p. 467. 
 
 4d See Mabillon, Pref. ad Sec. VI. part 1. Actor. SS. Ord. Bened. 
 
 * The Carthusian nuns have not sufficiently attracted the attention ot 
 the authors who have written of this famous order; and several writers 
 have even gone so far as to maintain, that there was not in this order a 
 single convent of nuns. This notion, however, is highly erroneous, as 
 there were formerly several convents of Carthusian virgins, of which, 
 indeed, the greatest part have not subsisted to our times. In the yeaa 
 1368, an extraordinary law was enacted, by which the establishment 
 of any more female Carthusian convents was expressly prohibited. 
 Hence there remain only five at this day; four in France, and one at 
 Bruges in Flanders. See the Varietés Historiques, Physi ues, et Lite- 
 raires, tom. i. p. 80, published in 1752. Certain it is, that the rigorous 
 discipline of the Carthusians is quite inconsistent with the delicacy and 
 tenderness of the female sex; and, therefore, in the few female convents 
 of this order that still subsist, the austerity of that discipline has been 
 diminished, as well from necessity as from humanity and wisdom; it 
 Was more particularly found necessary to abrogate those severe injunc- 
 tions of silence and solitude, that are so little adapted to the known cha- 
 racter and genius of the sex. f In the vear 1095. 
 
Ouap. II. 
 
 recovery, the marvellous efficacy of the saint’s intercession, 
 and, in consequence thereof, devoted themselves and their 
 possessions, from a principle of pious gratitude, to his 
 service, and to the performance of generous and charitable 
 offices toward all such as were afflicted with the miseries 
 of poverty and sickness. Their example was followed, at 
 first, only by eight persons ; their community, however, 
 was afterwards considerably augmented. ‘They were not 
 bound by particular vows like the other monastic orders, 
 but were consecrated, in general, to the service of God, 
 and lived under the jurisdiction of the monks of Gram- 
 mont. In process of time, growing opulent and powerful 
 by the multitude of pious donations which they received 
 from all parts, they withdrew themselves from the dominion 
 of the Benedictines, propagated their order in various 
 countries, and at length obtained, in 1297, from Boniface 
 VIII. the dignity and privileges of an independent congre- 
 gation, under the rule of St. Augustin.* 
 
 XXIX. The licentiousness and corruption which had 
 nfected all the other ranks and orders of the clergy, were 
 also remarkable among the canons, who composed a 
 middle sort of order between the monks and secular priests, 
 and whose first establishment was in the eighth century. 
 In certain provinces of Europe, the canons were corrupt 
 in a very high degree, and surpassed, in the profligacy of 
 their manners, all the other ecclesiastical and monastic 
 orders. Hence several pious and virtuous persons exerted 
 their zeal for the reformation of this degenerate body ; 
 some pontiff’ appeared in this good cause, and more 
 especially Nicolas II., who, in a council holden at Rome, 
 in 1059, abrogated the ancient rule of the canons, which 
 had been drawn up at Aix-la-Chapelle, and substituted 
 another in its place.» These laudable attempts were 
 attended with considerable success ; and a much better 
 ‘ule of discipline was established in almost all the canonical 
 orders, than that which had been formerly in use. It was 
 not, however, possible to regulate them all upon the same 
 footing, and to subject them to the same degree of refor- 
 mation and discipline ; nor indeed was this necessary. 
 Accordingly, a certain number of these canonical colleges 
 were erected into communities, the respective members of 
 which had one common dwelling, and a common table, 
 
 * See Acta Sanctor. tom, ii. Januarii, p. 160.—Helyot, tom. ii. p. 108. 
 --Gabr. Penot, Histor. Canonicoram regular. lib. ii. cap. 70.—Jo. Erh. 
 Aapii Diss. de Fratribus S. Anton. From an account of the present 
 state of the principal hospital, or residence of this order where the ab- 
 bot remains, see Martenne and Durand, Voyage Liter. de deux Benedic- 
 tins de Ja Congreg. de St. Maur, tom. i. p. 260. 
 
 > This decree, by which the primitive rule of the canons was changed, 
 is published by Mabillon among the papers which serve as proofs to the 
 fourth volume of his Annales Bened. and also in the annals them- 
 selves. 
 
 x’ ° St. Augustin committed to writing no particular rule for his cler- 
 ey; but his manner of ruling them may be learned from several pas- 
 sages in his Epistles. 
 
 See Maljillon, Annal. Bened. tom. iv. p. 586, et Opera Posthuma, 
 tom. ii. p. 102, 115.—Helyot, tom. ii. p. 11. —Lud. Thomassini Disciplina 
 Ecclesiz circa Beneficia, tom. i. part i. 1. iii. ¢. xi. p. 657.—Muratori, An- 
 tiq. Ital. medii AS vi, tom. v. p. 257. In the Gallia Christiana of the 
 Benedictine monks, we find frequent mention made both of this reforma- 
 tion of the canons, and also of their division into seculars and regulars. 
 The regular canons are much displeased with all the accounts that ren- 
 der the origin of their community so recent; they are extremely ambi- 
 tious of appearing with the venerable character of an ancient establish- 
 ment, and therefore trace back their rise, through the darkness of remote 
 ages, to Christ himself, or, at least, toSt. Augustin. But the arguments 
 and testimonies, by which they pretend to support this imagined anti- 
 quity of their order, are proofs of the weakness of their cause and the 
 vanity of their pretensions, and are therefore unworthy of serious refuta- 
 tion. It is true, the title of canon is undoubtedly of much more ancient 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 247 
 
 which was the point chiefly insisted upon by the pontiffs, 
 as this alone was sufficient to prevent the canons from 
 entering into the bonds of matrimony. It did not, how- 
 ever, exclude them from the possession or enjoyment of 
 private property ; for they reserved to themselves the right 
 of appropriating the fruits and revenues of their benefices, 
 and of employing them as they thought expedient. Other 
 canonical congregations subjected themselves to a rule of 
 life less agreeable and commodious, in consequence of the 
 zealous exhortations of Ivo, bishop of Chartres, renouncing 
 all their worldly possessions and prospects, all private 
 property, and living in a manner that resembled the 
 austerity of the monastic orders. Hence arose the well- 
 known distinction between the secular and the regular 
 canons; the former of which observed the decree of 
 Nicolas I., while the latter, more prone to mortification 
 and self-denial, complied with the directions and jurisdic- 
 tions of Ivo; and, as this austere prelate imitated St. Au- 
 gustin® in the manner of regulating the conduct of his 
 clergy, his canons were called, by many, “ the regular 
 canons of St. Augustin.Ӣ 
 
 XXX. 'The most eminent Greek writers in this century, 
 were, 
 
 Theophanes Cerameus, i. e. the potter, of whom there 
 is yet extant a volume of Homilies, not altogether con- 
 temptible ; : 
 
 Nilus Doxopatrius, who was remarkable for his know- 
 ledge in matters relating to ecclesiastical polity ; 
 
 Nicetas Pectoratus, who was a most strenuous de- 
 fender of the religious sentiments and customs of the 
 Greek church ; 
 
 Michael Psellus, whose vast progress in various kinds of 
 learning and science procured him a most distinguished 
 and shining reputation ; 
 
 Michael Cerularius, bishop or patriarch of Constantino- 
 ple, who imprudently revived the controversy between the 
 Greeks and Latins, which had been for some time happily 
 suspended ; 
 
 Simeon, the Younger, author of a book of Medi- 
 tations on the Duties of the Christian Life, which is 
 yet extant 5 
 
 Theophylact, a Bulgarian, whose illustrations of the 
 
 date than the eleventh century, but not as, applied to a particular order or 
 institution ; for at its rise it was used in a very vague general sense, (see 
 Claud. de Vert, Explication: des Geremonies de la Messe, tom. i.,) and 
 therefore the mere existence of the title proves nothing. At the same 
 time, it is evident, beyond all possibility of contradiction, that we find not 
 the least mention made of the division of the canons into regular and 
 secular before the eleventh century; and it is equally certain that those 
 canons who had nothing’in common but their dwelling and table, were 
 called secular, while those who had divested themselves of all private 
 property, and had every thing, without exception, in common with their 
 fraternity, were distinguished by the title of regular canons. 
 
 37 To Dr. Mosheim’s account of the canons, it may not be improper 
 to add a few words concerning their introduction into England, and their 
 progress and establishment among us. ‘The order of regular canons of 
 St. Augustin was brought into England by Adelwald, confessor to Hen- 
 ry I., who first erected a priory of his order at Nostel in Yorkshire, and 
 had influence enough to have the church of Carlisle converted into an 
 episcopal see, and given to regular canons, invested with the privilege 
 of choosing their bishop. This order was singularly favoured and pro- 
 tected by Henry IL, who gave them, in the year 1107, the priory of Dun- 
 stable ; and by queen Matilda, who erected for them, the year following 
 the priory of the Holy Trinity in London, the prior of which was always 
 one of the twenty-four aldermen, They increased so prodigiously, that, 
 beside the noble priory of Merton, which was founded for them in the 
 year 1117, by Gilbert, an earl of the Norman blood, they had, under the 
 reign of Edward L., fifty-three priories, as appears by the catalogue pre- 
 sented to that prince, when he obliged all the monasteries to receive his 
 protection, and to acknowledge his jurisdiction. 
 
248 
 
 sacred writings were received with universal approbation 
 and esteem.* 
 
 XXXI. The writers who distinguished themselves 
 most among the Latins, were the following : 
 
 Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, eminent for his love of | 
 letters, and his zeal for the education of youth; as also | 
 trifling round of ceremonies, imposed upon them by the 
 
 for various compositions, particularly his epistles ; and 
 
 famous for his excessive and enthusiastic attachment to | 
 ‘is true, retained still some notions of the truth, which, 
 however, they obscured and corrupted by a wretched 
 
 the Virgin Mary ;> 
 
 Humbert, a cardinal of the Roman church, who far 
 surpassed all the Latins, both in the vehemence and 
 learning which appeared in his controversial writings 
 against the Greeks ;° 
 
 Petrus Damianus, who, on account of his genius, 
 candour, probity, and various erudition, deserves to be 
 ranked among the most learned and estimable writers of 
 this century, though he was not altogether untainted 
 with the reigning prejudices and defects of the times :4 
 
 Marianus Scotus, whose Chronicle and other composi- 
 tions are yet extant ; 
 
 Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, a man of great 
 genius and subtlety, deeply versed in the dialectics of this 
 age, and most illustriously distinguished by his prefound 
 and extraordinary knowledge in theology ;* 
 
 Lanfranc, also archbishop of Canterbury, who acquired 
 a high degree of reputation by his Commentary upon 
 the Epistles of St. Paul, as also by several other produc- 
 tions, which, considering the age in which he lived, 
 discover an uncommon measure of sagacity and 
 erudition ;8 
 
 Bruno of Mount-Cassin, and the other famous ecclesi- 
 astic of that name, who founded the monastery of the 
 Carthusians ; 
 
 Ivo, bishop of Chartres, who was so eminently distin- 
 guished by his zeal and activity in maintaining the rights 
 and privileges of the church ; 
 
 Hildebert, archbishop of Tours, who was a philosopher 
 and a poet, as well as a divine, without being either 
 eminent or contemptible in any of these characters ; but, 
 upon the whole, a man of considerable learning and 
 capacity ; 
 
 Gregory VII., that imperious and arrogant pontiff, of 
 whom we have several productions, beside his Letters. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 I. Ir is not necessary to draw at full length the hideous 
 portrait of the religion of this age. It may easily be 
 
 imagined, that its features were full of deformity, when 
 we consider that its guardians were equally destitute of 
 
 *Fora more ample account of these Greek writers, the reader may 
 consult the Bibliotheca Greca of Fabricius. 
 
 b For a farther account of this eminent man, see the Hist. Liter. de la 
 France, tom. vil. p. 261. 
 
 ¢ See Martenne, Thesaurus Anecdot. tom. v. p. 629.—Hist. Liter. de 
 la France, tom. vil. p. 527. 
 
 4 See the Acta Sanctor. Febr. tom. iii. p. 406. General Dictionary 
 at the article Damien.—Casim. Oudini Diss. in tom. ii. Comm. de Serip- 
 tor. Eccles. p. 686. 
 
 * See the Hist. Literaire de la France, tom. ix. p. 398—Rapin Thoy- 
 ras, Hist. d’Angleterre, tom. ii. p. 65, 166, de led. en 4to.—Colonia 
 Hist. Liter. de Lyon, tom. ii. p. 210—We have already given a more 
 ample account of the eminent abilities and learned productions of Anselm. 
 
 i> ‘ Among these productions we may reckon Lanfranc’s Letters to 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 ad 
 
 knowledge and virtue, and that the heads and rulers of 
 
 the Christian church, instead of exhibiting models of 
 
 piety, held forth in their conduct scandalous examples of 
 
 the most flagitious crimes. 'The people were sunk in the 
 erossest superstition, and employed all their zeal in the 
 worship of images and relics, and in the performance of a 
 
 tyranny of a despotic priesthood. ‘The more learned, it 
 
 mixture of opinions and precepts, of which some were 
 ludicrous, others pernicious, and most of them equally 
 destitute of truth and utility. There were, no doubt, in 
 several places, judicious and pious men, who would have 
 willingly lent a supporting hand to the declining cause of 
 true religion ; but the violent prejudices of a barbarous 
 age rendered all such attempts not only dangerous, but 
 even desperate: and those chosen spirits, who had escaped 
 the general contagion, lay too much concealed, and had 
 therefore too little influence, to combat with success the 
 formidable patrons of impiety and superstition, who were 
 very numerous, in all ranks and orders, from the throne 
 to the cottage. 
 
 II. Notwithstanding all this, we find, from the time o. 
 Gregory VII., several proofs of the zealous efforts of those, 
 who are generally called, by the Protestants, the witnesses 
 of the truth ; by whom are meant such pious and judicious 
 Christians as adhered to the pure religion of the Gospel, 
 and remained uncorrupted amidst the growth of super- 
 stition ; who deplored the miserable state to which Chris- 
 tianity was reduced, by the alteration of its divine doc- 
 trines, and the vices of its profligate ministers ; who 
 opposed, with vigour, the tyrannic ambition, both of the 
 lordly pontiff and the aspirmg bishops; and in some 
 provinces privately, in others openly, attempted the refor- 
 mation of a corrupt and idolatrous church, and of a 
 barbarous and superstitious age. ‘This was, indeed, 
 bearing witness to the truth in the noblest manner; and 
 it was principally in Italy and France that the marks of. 
 this heroic piety were exhibited. [$4> Nor is it at all 
 surprising that the reigning superstition of the times met 
 with this opposition; it is astonishing, on the contrary, 
 that this opposition was not much greater and more 
 general, and that millions of Christians suffered themselves 
 to be hood-winked with such a tame submission, and 
 closed their eyes upon the light with so little reluctance. | 
 For, notwithstanding the darkness of the times, and the 
 general ignorance of the true religion, that prevailed in 
 all ranks and orders, yet the very fragments of the 
 Gospel (if we may use that term) which were still read 
 and explained to the people, were sufficient, at least, to 
 convince the most stupid and illiterate, that the religion. 
 
 pope Alexander ITI., to Hildebrand, while archdeacon of Rome, and te 
 several bishops in England and Normandy; as also a Commentary upon 
 the Psalms, a Treatise concerning Confession, an Ecclesiastical Histo 
 ry, which is not extant, and a remarkable Dissertation concerning the 
 Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. In this last performance, 
 Lanfranc endeavours to prove, against Berenger, the reality of a corpora. 
 presence in the eucharist, though it is manifest that this opinion was not 
 the docrine of the church of England at the conclusion of the tenth, or 
 the commencement of the following century. See Collier’s Eccles. His- 
 tory of Great Britain, vol. i. p. 260, 263. 
 
 ® Hist. Liter. de la France, tom. viii. p. 260. 
 
 h The Benedictine monks published in folio, at Paris, in tne year 
 ie the Works of Hildebert, illustrated bv the observations of Beau- 
 gendre, 
 
Cuap. IIT. 
 
 which was now imposed upon them, was not the true 
 religion of Jesus ; that the discourses, the lives and morals 
 of the clergy, were directly opposite to what the divine 
 Saviour required of his disciples, and to the rules he had 
 laid down for the direction of their conduct; that the 
 pontifls and bishops abused, in a scandalous manner, their 
 power and opulence ; and that the favour of God, and the 
 salvation exhibited in his blessed Gospel, were not to be 
 obtained by performing a round of external ceremonies, 
 by pompous donations to churches and priests, or by 
 founding and enriching monasteries, but by real sanctity 
 of heart and manners. . 
 
 IIL. It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that they who 
 undertook, with such zeal and ardour, the reformation of 
 the church, were not, for the most part, equal to this ar- 
 duous and important enterprise, and that, by avoiding, 
 with more vehemence than circumspection, certain abuses 
 and defects, they rushed unhappily into the opposite ex- 
 tremes. They all perceived the abominable nature of 
 those inventions with which superstition had disfigured 
 the religion of Jesus; but they had also lost sight of the 
 true nature and genius of that celestial religion, which 
 lay thus disfigured in the hands of a superstitious and 
 dissolute priesthood. They were shocked at the absurdi- 
 ties of the established worship; but few of them were 
 suificiently acquainted with the sublime precepts and doc- 
 trines of genuine Christianity, to substitute in the place of 
 that superstitious worship a rational service. Hence their 
 attempts of reformation, even where they were not whol- 
 ly unsuccessful, were very imperfect, and produced little 
 more than a motley mixture of truth and ‘falsehood, of 
 wisdom and indiscretion; of which we might allege a 
 multitude of examples. Observing, for instance, that the 
 corruption and licentiousness of the clergy were, in a great 
 measure, occasioned by their excessive opulence and 
 their vast possessions, they rashly conceived the highest 
 ideas of the salutary effects of indigence, and looked upon 
 voluntary poverty as the most eminent and illustrious vir- 
 tue of a Christian minister. They had also formed to 
 themselves a notion, that the primitive church was to be 
 the standing and perpetual model, according to which the 
 rites, government, and worship of all Christian churches, 
 were to be regulated in all the ages of the world; and 
 that the lives and manners of the holy apostles were to 
 be rigorously followed, in every respect, by all the minis- 
 ters of Christ. [{-These notions, which were injudi- 
 ciously taken up, and blindly entertained, (without any re- 
 gard to the difference of times, places, circumstances, and 
 characters ; without considering that the provident wis- 
 dom of Christ and his apostles left many regulations to 
 the prudence and piety of the governors of the church,) 
 were productive of many pernicious effects, and threw 
 these good reformers, whose zeal was not always accord- 
 ing to knowledge, from the extreme of superstition into 
 the ‘extreme of enthusiasm.] Many well-meaning per- 
 s0ns, whiose intentions were highly laudable, fell into great 
 elrors in) consequence of these ill-grounded notions. Just- 
 ly incensed at the conduct of the superstitious multitude, 
 who placed the whole of religion in external services, and 
 
 *For an account of Theophylact, see Rich. Simon’s Hist. Critique 
 idles princi}aux Commentateurs du N. T. ch. xxviii. p, 390. Critique de 
 la Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, par Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 310, 
 where he also speaks largely of Nicetas and Gicumenius. 
 
 Z> » Otherwise called Berengarius, and famous for ‘the noble opposi- 
 
 No. XXL. 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 249 
 
 hoped to secure their salvation by the performance of a 
 laborious round of unmeaning rites and ceremonies, they 
 rashly maintained, that true piety was to be strictly con- 
 fined to the inward motions and affections of the soul, 
 and to the contemplation of spiritual and divine things. 
 In consequence of this specious, yet erroneous principle, 
 they treated with the utmost contempt all the external 
 parts of religious worship, and even aimed at the total 
 suppression of sacraments, churches, religious assem- 
 blies of every kind, and Christian ministers of every 
 order. 
 
 IV. Of the Greek and Latin writers of this age, many 
 employed their learned and pious labours in the eXposi- 
 tion and illustration of the Scriptures. Among the Latins, 
 Bruno wrote a commentary on the Book of Psalms, Lan- 
 franc upon the Epistles of St. Paul, Berenger upon the 
 Revelations of St. John, Gregory VII. upon the Gospel 
 of St. Matthew, and others upon other parts of the sacred 
 writings. But all these expositors, in compliance with 
 the prevailing custom of the times, either copied the ex- 
 planations of the ancient commentators, or made such 
 whimsical applications of certain passages of Scripture, 
 both in explaining the doctrines, and inculcating the du- 
 ties of religion, that it is often difficult to peruse their 
 writings without indignation or disgust. he most em 
 nent Grecian expositor was 'Theophylact, a native of 
 Bulgaria ; though he also is indebted to the ancients, and 
 in a particular manner to St. Chrysostom, for the greatest 
 part of his most judicious observations.« Nor must we 
 pass in silence either the commentary upon the Book of 
 Psalms and the Song of Solomon, that was composed by 
 the learned Michael Psellus, or the chain of commentaries 
 upon the Book of Job, which we owe to the industry of 
 Nicetas. 
 
 V. All the Latin doctors, if we except a few Hiberni- 
 an divines, who blended, with the beautiful simplicity of 
 the Gospel, the perplexing subtleties of an obscure philo- 
 soplhiy, had hitherto derived their system of religion, and 
 their explications of divine truth, either from the Scrip- 
 tures alone, or from these sacred oracles explained by the 
 illustrations, and compared with the theology, of the an- 
 cient doctors. But in this century certain writers, and, 
 among others, the famous Berenger,” went much farther, 
 and employed the rules of logic and the subtleties of meta- 
 physical discussion, both in explaining the doctrines of 
 Scripture, and in proving the truth of their own particu- 
 lar opinions. Hence Lanfranc, the antagonist of Beren- 
 ger, and afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, introduced 
 into the field of religious controversy the same philoso- 
 phical arms, and seemed, in general, desirous of employ- 
 ing the dictates of reason to illustrate and confirm the 
 truths cf religion. His example, in this respect, was fol- 
 lowed by Anselm, his disciple and successor in the see of 
 Canterbury, a man of a truly metaphysical genius, and 
 capable of giving the greatest air of dignity and impor- 
 tance to the first philosopher. Such were the begin- 
 nings of that philosophical theology, which grew after- 
 wards, by degrees, into a cloudy and enormous system, 
 and, from the public schools in which it was cultivated, 
 
 tion he made to the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which Lanfrane so 
 absurdly pretended to support upon philosophical principles. The at- 
 tempt of the latter to introduce the rules of logic into religious contro- 
 versy would have been highly laudable, had not he perverted this re- 
 spectable science to the defence of the most monstrous absurdities, 
 
250 
 
 acquired the name of scholastic divinity. It is, how- 
 ever, necessary to observe, that the eminent divines, who 
 first set on foot this new species of theology, and thus 
 iaudably maintained that most noble and natural connex- 
 ion of faith with reason, and of religion with philosophy, 
 were much more prudent and moderate than their follow- 
 ers, in the use and application of this conciliatory scheme. 
 They kept, for the most part, within bounds, and wisely 
 reflected upon the limits of reason; their language was 
 clear; the questions they proposed were instructive and 
 interesting ; they avoided all discussions that were only 
 proper to satisfy a vain and idle curiosity ; and, in their 
 disputes and demonstrations, they made, generally speak- 
 ing, a wise and sober use of the rules of logic, and of the 
 dictates of philosophy.® [{r3>"Their followers, on the con- 
 trary, ran with a metaphysical phrensy into the greatest 
 abuses, and, by the most unjustifiable perversion of a 
 wise and excellent method of searching after, and confirm- 
 ing truth, they banished evidence from religion, common 
 sense from philosophy, and erected a dark.and enormous 
 mass of pretended science, in which words passed for ideas, 
 and sounds for sense. | 
 
 VI. No sooner was this new method introduced, than 
 the Latin doctors began to reduce all the doctrines of re- 
 ligion into one permanent and connected system, and to 
 treat theology as a science; an enterprise which had 
 hitherto been attempted by none but ‘Taio of Saragossa, 
 a writer of the seventh century, and the learned Damas- 
 cenus, who flourished among the Greeks in the following 
 age. ‘he Latin doctors had hitherto confined their theo- 
 ,ogical labours to certain branches of the Christian reli- 
 gion, which they illustrated only on certain occasions. 
 ‘The first production which looked like a general system 
 of theology, was that of the celebrated Anselm ; this, how- 
 ever, Was surpassed by the complete and universal body 
 of divinity, which was composed, toward the conclusion 
 of this century, by Hildebert, archbishop of: Tours, who 
 seems to have been regarded both as the first and the best. 
 model in this kind of writing, by the innumerable legions 
 of system-makers, who arose in succeeding times.© This 
 earned prelate demonstrated first the doctrines of his sys- 
 ‘em by proofs drawn from the Scriptures, and also from 
 the writings of the ancient fathers of the church; and in 
 
 *See Chr. August. Heumanni Prefat. ad Tribbechovii Librum de 
 Doctoribus Scholasticis, p. 14. The sentiments of the learned, concern- 
 ing the first author or inventor of the scholastic divinity, are collected by 
 Jo. Franc. Buddeus, in his Isagoge ad Theolog. tom. i. p. 38. 
 
 b We shall here transcribe a passage from the works of Lanfrane, who 
 is considered by many as the father of the scholastic system, that the 
 reader may see how far the first schoolmen surpassed their disciples and 
 followers in wisdom, modesty, and candour. We take this passage from 
 that prelate’s book concerning the Body and Blood of Christ,* and it is 
 as follows: “Testis mihi Deus est et conscientia mea, quia in tractatu 
 divinarum literarum nec proponere nec ad propositas respondere cupe- 
 rem dialecticas queestiones, vel earum solutiones. Et si quando materia 
 disputandi talis est, ut hujus artis regulis valeat enucleatius explicari, in 
 quantum possum, per equipollentias propositionum tego artem, ne videar 
 magis arte, quam veritate sanctorumyue patrum auctoritate, confidere.” 
 Lanfranc here declares, in the most solemn manner, even by an appeal 
 to God and his conscience, that he was so far from having the least in- 
 clination to propose or to answer logical questions in the course of. his 
 theological labours, that, on the contrary, when he was forced to have re- 
 course to the dialectic science, in order the better to illustrate his subject, 
 he concealed the succours he thence derived with all possible care, lest 
 ne should seem to place more confidence in the resources of art than in 
 the simplicity of truth, and the authority of the holy fathers. ‘These last 
 words show piainly the two sources from which the Christian doctors 
 had hitherto derived all their tenets, and the arguments by which they 
 maintained them, viz. from the Scriptures, which Lanfranc here calls the 
 truth, and from the writings of the ancient fathers of the church. ‘To 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 this he followed the custom that had prevailed in the pre- 
 ceding ages; but he went yet farther, and answered thé 
 objections which might be brought against his doctrine, 
 by arguments drawn from reason and philosophy: this 
 part of his method was entirely new, and peculiar to the 
 age in which he lived.4 
 
 VII. The moral writers of this century, who undertook 
 to unfold the obligations of Christians, and to delineate the 
 nature, the extent, and the various branches of true virtue 
 and evangelical obedience, treated this most excellent of 
 all sciences in a manner quite unsuitable to its dignity and 
 importance. We find sufficient proofs of this in the moral 
 writings of Peter Damian,* and even of the learned Hilde- 
 bert.!. The moralists of this age generally confined them 
 
 selves to a jejune explication of, what are commonly called, 
 
 the four cardinal virtues, to which they added the ten Com 
 mandments, to complete their system. Anselm, the famous 
 prelate of Canterbury, surpassed, indeed, all the moral wri- 
 ters of his time; the books which he composed with a de- 
 sign to promote practical religion, and more especially his 
 Book of Meditations and Prayers, contain many excellent 
 remaiks, and some happy thoughts expressed with much 
 energy and unction. {{[4 Nor did the mystic divines sa- 
 tisfy themselves with penetrating, by ecstatic thought and 
 feeling, into the sublime regions of beauty and love; they 
 conceived and brought forth several productions that were 
 destined to diffuse the pure delights of union and commu- 
 nion through enamoured souls.| Johannes Johannellus, 
 
 a Latin mystic, wrote a treatise concerning Divine Con- 
 
 templation ;: and Simeon the younger, who was a Gre- 
 cian sage of the same visionary class, composed several 
 discourses upon subjects of a like nature. 
 
 VIII. In the controversial writings of this century, we 
 observe the effects of the scholastic method that Berenger 
 and Lanfrane had introduced into the study of theology. 
 We see divines entering the lists armed with syllogisms 
 
 which they manage awkwardly, and aiming rather to con- 
 ‘found their adversaries by the subtleties of logic, than to 
 
 convince them by the power of evidence ; while those who 
 were unprovided with this philosophical armour, made a 
 still more wretched and despicable figure, fell into the 
 
 'grossest and most perverse blunders, and seem to have 
 written without either thinking of their subject, or of the 
 
 | . . . 
 
 these two sources of theology and argumentation, a third was added in 
 |this century, even the science of logic, which, however,. was only 
 ,employed by the managers of controversy to repulse their adversaries, 
 
 | who came armed with syllogisms, or to remove difficulties which were 
 
 drawn from reason and from the nature of things. But, in succeeding 
 times, the two former sources were either entirely neglected or sparingly 
 employed, and philosophical demonstration (or, at least, something that 
 bore that name, )was regarded asa sufficient support to the truths ofreligion. 
 
 ° This body of divinity, which was the first complete theological sys- 
 tem that had been composed among the Latins, is inserted in the works 
 of Hildebert, published by Beaugendre, who shows evidently, in his pre- 
 face, that Peter Lombard, Pullus, and the other writers of theological 
 systems, did no more than servilely follow the traces of Hildebert. 
 
 4 It may not be improper to place here a passage whith is taken from 
 a treatise written by Anselm, entitled, Cur Deus homo? since this pas- 
 sage was respected, by the first scholastic divines, as an 1r-mutable law 
 in theology; ‘Sicut rectus ordo exigit,” says the learned prelate, “ut 
 profunda fidei Christiane credamus, priusquam ea presumamue ratione 
 discutere, ita negligentia mihi videtur, si, postquam confirmati sun:"s in 
 fide, non studemus quod credimus intelligere :” which amounts to this, 
 That we must first believe without examination, but must afterwards 
 
 / endeavour to understand what we believe. 
 
 € See Petrus Damianus, de Virtutibus. 
 fSee Hildeberti Philosophia Moralis, et Libellus de IV. Virtutibus 
 honest Vite. 
 8 See the Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. viii. p. 48. 
 * Cap. vil. p. 236. Op. ed. Luc. Dacherii. 
 
Crap IIL. DOCTRINE OF 
 
 manner of treating it with success. Damianus, already 
 
 mentioned, defended the truth of C hristianity against the | 
 
 Jews ; but his success was not equal either to the warmth 
 of his zeal, or to the uprightness of his intentions. Sa- 
 muel, a convert from Judaism to Christianity, wrote an 
 elaborate treatise against those of his nation, which is still 
 extant. 
 period in the cause of religion, was the famous Anselm, 
 who attacked the enemies of Christianity, and the auda- 
 cious contemners of all religion, in an ingenious work, 
 
 But the noblest c! hampion that appeared at this | 
 
 which was perhaps, by its depth and acuteness, above the | 
 
 comprehension of those whom it was designed to convince 
 of their errors. [x For it happened, no doubt, in these 
 earlier times, as it frequently does in our days, that many 
 gave themselves out for unbelievers, who knew not the 
 first principles of reasoning, and whose incredulity was the 
 fruit of ignorance and presumption, nourished by licen- 
 tiousness and corruption of heart.] 
 
 LX. The famous contest between the Greek and Latin 
 churches, which, though not decided, had however been 
 suspended for a considerable time, was imprudently re- 
 vived, in 1053, by Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, a man of a restless and turbulent spirit, who 
 blew the flame of religious discord, and widened the fatal 
 breach by new invectives and new accusations. "he pre- 
 texts that were employed to justify this new rupture, were, 
 zeal for the truth, and an anxious concern about the in- 
 terests of religion ; but its true causes were the arrogance 
 and ambition of the Grecian patriarch and the Roman 
 pontiff. The latter was constantly forming the most art- 
 ful stratagems to reduce the former under his imperious 
 yoke ; and for this purpose, he left no means unemployed 
 to gain over to his side the bishops of Alexandria and An- 
 tioch, by withdrawing them from the jurisdiction of the see 
 of Constantinople. The tumultuous and unhappy state 
 of the Grecian empire, was apparently favourable to his 
 aspiring views, as the friendship of the Roman pontiff was 
 highly useful to the Greeks in their struggles with the Sa- 
 racens and the Normans, who were settled in Italy. On 
 the other hand, the Grecian pontiff was not only deter- 
 mined to refuse obstinately the least mark of submission 
 ‘o his haughty rival, but was also laying schemes for ex- 
 tending his dominion, and for reducing all the Oriental 
 patriarchs under his supreme jurisdiction. ‘Thus the con- 
 vending parties were preparing for the field of controversy, 
 when Cerularius began the charge by a warm letter writ- 
 ten in his own name, and in the name of Leo, bishop of 
 Acrida, who was his chief counsellor, to John, Bishop of 
 ‘Trani, in Apulia; in which he publicly accused the La- 
 tins of various errors.» Leo LX., who was then in the 
 papal chair, answered this letter in a most imperious man- 
 ner; and, not satisfied with showing his high indignation 
 by niere words, he assembled a council at Rome, in which 
 the Greek churches were solemnly excommunicated.° 
 
 X. Constantine, surnamed Moiiomachus, who was now 
 at the head of the Grecian empire, endeavoured to stifle 
 
 * This work was entitled, Liber adv. insipientem, i. e.'The fool refuted. 
 
 » See an account of those errors, sect. Xi. 
 
 ¢ These letters of Cerularius and Leo are published in the Annals of 
 Baronius, ad annum 1053.—The former is also inserted by Canisius in 
 his Lection. Antiq. tom. iii. p. 281, ed. nov—Leonis Concilia, &c. 
 
 x‘ ¢ He stood greatly in need of the assistance of the Germans and 
 Italians against the Normans, and hoped to obtain it by the good offices 
 
 of the pope, who was in high credit with the emperor Tenry | IIL. 
 ¢ Beside Baronius and other writers, whose accounts of this period of 
 
 THE CHURCH. 51 
 this controversy in its birth, and, for that purpose, desired 
 the Roman pontiff to send lepates to Constantinople, to 
 concert measures for restoring and confirming the tran- 
 quillity of the church. Three legates were accordingly 
 sent from Rome to that imperial city, who took with them 
 letters from Leo LX. not only to the emperor, but also to 
 the Grecian pontiff, ‘These legates were cardinal Hum- 
 bert, a man of a high and impetuous spirit, Peter, arch- 
 bishop of Amalfi, and Frederi ic, archdeacon and ¢ hance ‘lor 
 of the church of Rome. The issue of this congress was 
 unhappy in the highest degree, notw ithstanding the pro- 
 pensity which the emperor, for political reasons, disco- 
 vered to the cause of the bishop of Rome. he arrogance 
 of Leo IX., and his insolent letters, excited the highest 
 indignation in the breast of Cerularius, and produced a 
 personal aversion to this audacious pontiff, which inflamed, 
 instead of healing, the wounds of the church ; while, on 
 the other hand, the Roman legates gave many and evi- 
 dent proofs, that the design of their embassy was not to 
 restore peace and concord, but to establish among the 
 Greeks the supreme authority and the ghostly dominion 
 of the Roman pontiff. Thus all hopes of a happy con- 
 clusion of these miserable divisions entirely vanished ; and 
 the Roman legates, finding their efforts ineflectual to over- 
 come the vigorous resistance of Cerularius, very impru- 
 dently and insolently excommunicated, in the church of 
 St. Sophia, i in 1054, the Grecian patriarch, with Leo of 
 Acrida, and all their adherents; and leaving a written act 
 of their inhuman imprecations and anathemas upon the 
 grand altar of that temple, they shook the dust off their 
 feet, and thus departed. ‘This violent step rendered the 
 evil incurable, which it was before not only possible, but 
 perhaps easy, to remedy. The Grecian patriarch imitated 
 the vehemence of the Roman legates, and did from re- 
 sentment what they had perpeirated from a principle of 
 ambition and arrogance. He excommunicated these le- 
 gates with all their adherents and followers in a public 
 council, and procured an order of the emperor for burning 
 the act of excommunication which they had pronounced 
 against the Greeks.e These vehement measures were 
 followed on both sides by a multitude of controversial 
 writings, that were filled with the most bitter and irrita- 
 ting invectives, and served no other purpose than to add 
 fuel to the flame. 
 
 XI. Cerularius added new accusations to the ancient 
 charges adduced by Photius against the Latin churches; 
 of which the principal was, that they used unleavened 
 bread in the celebration of the Lord’s supper. This ac- 
 cusation (such were the times !) was looked upon as a mat- 
 ter of the most serious nature, and of the highest conse- 
 quence ; it was, therefore, debated between the Greeks and 
 Latins with the utmost vehemence, nor did the Grecian and 
 Roman pontiffs contend with more fury and bitterness 
 about the extent of their power, and the limits of their ju- 
 risdiction, than the Greek and Latin churches disputed 
 about the use of unleavened bread. ‘The other heads of 
 time are generally known, and not always exact, see Mabillon, Annal, 
 Bened. tom. v. lib. lx..ad. an. 1053, et Pref. ad Sec. VI. Actor. SS. Be- 
 nedicti, part ii. p. 1—Leo Allatius, de libris Greeor. Ecclesiast. Diss. ii, 
 p. 160, "ed. Fabricii, et de perpetua Eccles. Orient. et Occident. Consen- 
 sione, lib. ii. cap. ix. p. 614.—Mich. le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom, i 
 p. 260, et Diss. Damascena prima, sect. xxxi. p. 16.—Hermanni Historia 
 Conce rtationum de pane azymo et fermentato, p. 59, published at Leipsie 
 
 in the year 1739.—Jo. Bapt. Cotelerius, Monum. Ecclesia Greece, tom, 
 ii. p. 108, 
 
252 
 
 accusation that were brought against the Latins by the 
 Grecian pontiff, discovered rather a malignant and con- 
 tentious spirit, and a profound ignorance of genuine Chris- 
 tianity, than a generous zeal for the cause of truth. He 
 complains, for instance, in the heaviest manner, that the 
 Latins did not abstain from the use of blood, and of things 
 strangled ; that their monks used to eat lard, and permit- 
 ted the use of flesh to such of the brethren as were sick or 
 infirm ; that their bishops adorned their fingers with rings, 
 as if they were bridegrooms ; that their priests were beard- 
 less; and that in the ceremony of baptism they confined 
 themselves to one immersion.» Such were the miserable 
 and trifling objects that excited a fatal schism, and kin- 
 dled a furious war between the Greeks and Latins, who 
 carried their animosities to the greatest lengths, and load- 
 ed each other with reciprocal invectives and imprecations. 
 The attentive reader will hence form a just idea of the de- 
 plorable state of religion both in the eastern and western 
 world at this period, ‘and will see, in this dreadful schism, 
 the true origin of the various sects that multiplied the dif. 
 ferent forms of superstition and error in these unhappy 
 times. 
 XII. This vehement dispute, which the Greeks had to 
 carry on against the Latin church, was nearly followed by 
 a fatal division among themselves. Amidst the straits 
 and difficulties to which the empire was now reduced by 
 the expenses of war, and the calamities of the times, 
 Alexias not only employed the treasures of the church, 
 in order to answer the exigencies of the state, but ordered 
 also the plates of silver, and the figures of that metal 
 that adorned the portals of the churches, to be taken down 
 and converted into money. ‘This measure excited the 
 indignation of Leo, bishop of Chalcedon, a man of austere 
 morals, and of an obstinate spirit, who maintained that 
 the emperor, in this step, was guilty of sacrilege ; and, to 
 prove this charge, he published a treatise, in which he 
 affirmed, that in the images of Jesus Christ, and of the 
 saints, there resided a certain kind of inherent sanctity, 
 that was a proper object of religious worship; and that, 
 therefore, the adoration of Christians ought not to be 
 confined to the persons represented by these images, but 
 extended also to the images themselves. ‘his new con- 
 troversy excited various tumults and seditions among the 
 people; to suppress which, the emperor assembled a 
 council at Constantinople, in which the onestion was 
 terminated by the following decisions: “That the images 
 of Christ, and of the saints, were to be honoured only with 
 a relative worship,” which was to be offered, not to the 
 substance or matter of which these images were composed, 
 but to the form and features of which they bore the 
 impression ; that the representations of Christ, and of the 
 saints, whether in painting or sculpture, did in no sense 
 partake of the nature of the divine Saviour, or of those 
 holy men, though they were enriched with a certain 
 
 * See Cerularii Epistola ad Johannem Tranensem in Canisii Lection. 
 Antiq. tom. ii. p. 231, where the reader will also find the refutation of 
 this letter by cardinal ‘Humbert—Scee likewise Cerularii Epistola ad Pe- 
 trum Antiochens. in Cotelerii Monumentis Ecclesiz Grave. tom. ii. p: 
 a add to these Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. v. p. 847. 
 
 Lyerexds TovoKvVspEV, 3 Neraseects OS, TS elxdvas. 
 
 ¢ An ample account of this whole matter is given by Anna Comnena, 
 in her Alexias, lib. v. p. 104, lib. vil. p. 158, edit. Venet. The acts of this 
 council, the very mention of which is omitted by several historians of 
 considerable note, are published by Montfaucon, in his Bibliotheca 
 Coisliniana, p. 103. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 communication of divine grace ; and, lastly, that invoca- 
 tion and worship were to be addressed to the saints, only 
 as the servants of Christ, and on account of their relation 
 to him, as their master.” These decisions, absurd and 
 superstitious as they were, were not sufficiently so for Leo, 
 the idolatrous bishop of Chalcedon, who maintained his 
 monstrous system with obstinacy, and was, for that reason, 
 sent into banishment.¢ 
 
 XIII. The famous dispute concerning the presence of 
 Christ’s body and blood in the eucharist was revived about 
 the middle of this century in the Latin church. Hitherto 
 the disputants on both sides had proposed their jarring 
 opinions with the utmost freedom, unrestrained by the 
 despotic voice of authority, since no council had given a 
 definitive sentence upon this matter, or prescribed a rule 
 of faith to terminate all inquiry and debate.4 Hence it 
 was, that, in the beginning of this century, Leutheric, 
 archbishop of Sens, affirmed, in opposition to the general 
 opinion of the times, that none but the sincere and upright 
 Christian, none but saints and real believers, received the 
 body of Christ in the holy sacrament. ‘This opinion, 
 which was broached in 1004, seemed likely to excite com- 
 motions among the people ; but these its natural effects 
 were happily prevented by the influence of Robert, king 
 of France, and the wise counsels of some prudent friends, 
 who hindered the fanatical prelate from disseminating this 
 whimsical invention.e It was not so easy to extinguish 
 the zeal, or to stop the mouth of the famous Berenger, 
 principal of the public school at Tours, and afterwards 
 archbishop of Angers, a man of a most acute and subtle 
 genius, and highly renowned both on account of his 
 extensive learning, and the exemplary sanctity of his life 
 and manners.‘ ‘his eminent ecclesiastic maintained 
 publicly, in 1045, the doctrine of Johannes Scotus; 
 opposed warmly the monstrous opinions of Paschasius 
 Radbert, which were adapted to captivate a superstitious 
 multitude by exciting their astonishment, and persevered 
 with a noble obstinacy in teaching, that the bread and 
 wine were not changed into the body and blood of Christ 
 in the eucharist, but preserved their natural and essential 
 qualities, and were no more than figures and external 
 symbols of the body and blood of the divine Saviour. 
 This wise and rational doctrine was no sooner published, 
 than it was opposed by certain doctors in France and 
 Germany. ‘The pontiff Leo IX. attacked it with peculiar 
 vehemence and fury, in 1050; and, in two councils, one 
 assembled at Rome, and the other at Vercelli, had the 
 doctrine of Berenger solemnly condemned, and the book 
 of Scotus, from which it was drawn, committed to the 
 flames. ‘This example was followed by the council of 
 Paris, which was summoned in the same year by Henry I, 
 and in which Berenger, and his numerous adherentés 
 were menaced with all sorts of evils, both spiritual and 
 temporal. ‘These threats were executed, in part, against 
 
 4 The various opinions concerning the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, 
 that were embraced during this century, are collected by Martenne from 
 an ancient manuscript, and published in his me Literaire de deux 
 Benedictins de la Congregation de.S. Maur, ae i. p. 126. 
 
 ¢ See Du Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. i. ab. 
 
 f See the Life of Berenger in the Works of Hildebert, archdeacon of 
 Mans, p. 1324.—See also Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. viii. p. 
 197.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 304, and the authors men- 
 tioned by Fabricius, Biblioth. Lat. medii AZvi, tom. i. p. 570. It is pro- 
 bably by an error of the press, that Hildebert is styled archbishop in- 
 stead of archdeacon, by Paris, Hist. lib, i. p. 10, edit. Watts. 
 
 as 
 
Crap. LI. 
 
 this unhappy prelate, whom Henry deprived of all his 
 revenues ; but neither threats, nor fines, nor synodical 
 decrees, could shake the firmness of his mind, or engage 
 him to renounce the doctrine he had embraced. 
 
 XIV. After these proceedings, the controversy was for | 
 
 some years happily suspended, and Berenger, whose pa- 
 trons were as numerous as his enemies were formidable,* 
 enjoyed, for a while, the sweets of liberty and peace. His 
 eneinies, however, after the death of Leo LX. rekindled 
 the flame of religious discord, and persuaded his successor 
 Victor IL. to examine anew the doctrine of Berenger. he 
 pontiff complied, and sent his legates to two different 
 councils, that were assembled at 'Tours, in 1054,» for that 
 purpose. In one of these councils the famous Hildebrand, 
 who was afterwards pontiff under the title of Gregory VIL, 
 appeared in the character of legate, and opposed the new 
 doctrine with the utmost vehemence. Berenger was also 
 present at this assembly, and, overpowered with threats, 
 rather than convinced by reason and argument, he not 
 
 5 
 only abandoned his opinions, but (if we may believe his 
 
 . = s ‘i 
 adversaries, to whose testimony we are confined in this | 
 matter) abjured them solemnly, and, in consequence of this | 
 This 
 
 humiliating step, made his peace with the church. 
 abjuration, however, was far from being sincere, and the 
 docility of Berenger was no more than an act of dissimu- 
 lation; for, soon after this period, he again taught, though 
 with more circumspection and prudence, the opinions he 
 had formerly professed. That this conduct appears mean 
 and dishonest, is indeed evident ; but we are not sufficiently 
 acquainted with the transactions of these councils to fix 
 precisely the degree of his guilt. 
 
 XV. The account of Berenger’s perfidy being brought 
 to Nicolas IL., the exasperated pontiff summoned him to 
 Rome, in 1058, and in the council which he held there 
 the following year, so terrified the archdeacon, that he de- 
 clared his readiness to embrace and adhere to the doctrines 
 which that venerable assembly should think proper to im- 
 pose upon his faith. Humbert was accordingly appointed 
 unanimously by Nicolas and the council to draw up a con- 
 fession of faith for Berenger, who signed it publicly, and 
 confirmed his adherence to it by a solemn oath. In this 
 confession there was, among other tenets equally absurd, 
 the following declaration, that “the bread and wine, after 
 consecration, were not only a sacrament, but also the real 
 body and blood of Jesus Christ; and that this body and 
 blood were handled by the priests and consumed by the 
 faithful, not merely in a sacramental sense, but in reality 
 and truth, as other sensible objects are.” This doctrine 
 Was s© monstrously nonsensical, and was such an impu- 
 dewt insult upon the very first principles of reason, that it 
 could have nothing alluring to a man of Berengey’s acute 
 and philosophical turn ; nor could it become the object of 
 his serious belief, as appeared soon after this odious act of 
 dissimulation ; for no sooner had he returned into France, 
 than, taking refuge in the countenance and protection of 
 lis ancient patrons, he expressed the utmost detestation and 
 abhorrence of the doctrines he had been obliged to profess 
 at Rome, abjured them solemnly both in his discourse and 
 in his writings, and returned zealously to the profession 
 
 * Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, was his most formidable rival 
 and enemy. 
 3+> > Other historians mention but one council, and place it in 1055. 
 ¢ It is worthy of observation, that Gregory, whose zeal in extending 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 opinion. 
 
 253 
 
 and defence of his former, which had always been his real 
 Alexander II. employed the seducing influence 
 of soft and friendly expostulation to engage Berenger to 
 dissemble anew, or, in other words, to return from his pre- 
 tended apostacy ; but his remonstrances were ineflectual, 
 chiefly because this rebellious son of a superstitious church 
 was powerfully supported in the maintenance of his opl- 
 nions. Hence the controversy was prolonged, during many 
 years, by a multitude of writings on both sides of the ques- 
 tion, and the number of Berenger’s followers daily in- 
 creased, 
 
 XVI. Gregory VIL, whose enterprising spirit no dif- 
 ficulties or opposition could discourage, was no sooner rais- 
 ed to the pontificate than he undertook to terminate this 
 important controversy, and, for that purpose, sent an order 
 to Berenger, in 1078, to repair to Rome. If we consider 
 the natural character of this pontiff, we shall be inclined 
 to admit that bis conduct in this affair was highly lauda- 
 ble, and discovered a degree of impartiality and candour, 
 which his proceedings on other occasions gave little reason 
 to expect. He seems to have had a high esteem for 
 Berenger ; and, in the particular points in which he was 
 obliged to oppose him, he did it with all possible mildness, 
 and with a tenderness which showed that he acted rather 
 from a forced compliance with the clamours of his adversa- 
 ries, than from inclination or principle. In the council 
 which he held at Rome toward the conclusion of the year 
 1078, he permitted Berenger to draw up a new confession 
 of his faith, and to renounce that which had been com- 
 posed by Humbert, though it had been solemnly approved 
 and confirmed by Nicolas IT. and a Roman council. Vhe 
 sagacious pontiff perceived clearly the absurdity of Hum- 
 bert’s confession, and therefore revoked it, though it had 
 been rendered sacred by papal authority.© In consequence 
 of this, the persecuted archdeacon made a second declara- 
 tion, confirmed by an oath, that he would adhere for the 
 future to the following propositions: That “the bread 
 deposited upon the altar became, after consecration, the 
 true body of Christ, which born of the Virgin, suffered 
 on the cross, and now sits at the right hand of the Father : 
 and that the wine placed upon the altar became, after 
 consecration, the true bleod, which flowed from the side of 
 Christ.” The pontiff was satisfied with this declaration, 
 which was far from producing the same effect upon the 
 enemies of Berenger; they showed that it was ambigu- 
 ous, and so it was in reality; and they insisted that 
 Berenger should be obliged not only to sign a declaration 
 less vague and equivocal, but should also be required to 
 prove his sincerity by the fiery trial. Gregory absolutely 
 refused the latter demand, and would have equally refused 
 the other, had not his favourable intentions towards Beren- 
 ger yielded to the importunate clamours of his enemies 
 and persecutors. 
 
 XVII. The pontiff, therefore, granted that part of their 
 demand which related to a new declaration; and in a 
 council convoked at Rome, in 1079, procured from the 
 members a third confession of faith, less absurd than the 
 first, though more harsh than the second; and to this 
 creed Berenger, after reading and subscribing it in the 
 
 wag 
 
 Wes 
 
 passed that of all his predecessors, acknowledged, at least tacitly, by this 
 step, that a pope and council might err, and had erred.in effect. How 
 otherwise could he allow Berenger to renounce a confession of faith that 
 had been solemnly approved and confirmed by Nicolas I. in a Roman 
 
 the jurisdiction, and exalting the authority of the Roman pontiffs, sur- |} council? 
 
 No. XXII. 
 
254 
 
 midst of the assembly, was obliged to declare his assent | 
 
 by a solemn oath. By this assent, he professed to believe, 
 “That the bread and wine, by the mysterious influence 
 of the holy prayer, and the words of our Redeemer, were 
 substantially changed into the true, proper, and vivifying 
 body and blood of Jesus Christ :” and to remove all 
 grounds of suspicion, to dispel all doubt about the reality 
 of his attachment to this ridiculous system, he added to 
 his second confession* a solemn declaration, that “the 
 bread and wine, after consecration, were converted into 
 the real body and blood of, Christ, not only in quality of 
 external signs and sacramental representations, but in 
 their essential properties, and in substantial reality.” No 
 sooner had Berenger made this strange declaration, than 
 the pontiff redoubled the marks of esteem which he had 
 formerly shown him, and sent him back to his country 
 loaded with the most honourable testimonies of liberality 
 and friendship. The double-minded doctor did not, 
 however, think himself bound by this declaration, solemn 
 as it was; and therefore retracted publicly, upon his re- 
 turn to his residence, what he had subscribed as his real 
 sentiments in the council of Rome, and went even so far 
 as to compose an elaborate refutation of the doctrine to 
 which he had been engaged to profess his assent. ‘This 
 new change excited a warm and vehement controversy, 
 in which Lanfranc and Guitmund endeavoured to perplex 
 Berenger with their sophistry, and to overwhelm him 
 with their invectives. Gregory, to whose papal thunder 
 the aflronted council looked with impatience, seemed 
 neither surprised nor offended at the inconstancy of 
 Berenger ; nor did he take any step which could testify 
 the smallest mark of resentment against this pretended 
 apostate. Hence it appears more than probable, that the 
 
 « Mentioned in the preceding section. 
 
 b A remarkable treatise of Berenger’s composition, which has been 
 published by Martenne in his Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. iv. p. 99, 109, will 
 contribute to throw a satisfactory light upon this whole affair, and will 
 fully unfold the real sentiments of Gregory concerning the eucharist. For 
 from this piece it is undoubtedly evident; Istly, That Berenger was es- 
 tecmed and favoured in a singular manner by Gregory; 2dly, That this 
 pontiff was of the same opinion with Berenger respecting the eucharist ; 
 it is certain, at least, that he was for adhering to the words of Scripture 
 -n this matter, and was eager in suppressing all curious researches and 
 all positive decisions concerning the manner of Christ’s presence in the 
 aoly sacrament. ‘This appears from the following words which he ad- 
 dressed to Berenger before the meeting of the last council of Rome, and 
 in which he speaks of his design to consult the Virgin Mary upon the 
 conduct which it was proper for him to observe in the course of this con- 
 wroversy: ‘“Ego plane te” (says the pontiff in the 108th page of the 
 work, cited in the beginning of this note) “de Christi sacrificio secun- 
 dum Scripturas bene sentire non dubito: tamen quia consuetudinis mihi 
 est, ad B. Mariam de his que movent recurrere—imposui religioso cuidam 
 amico—a B. Maria obtinere, ut per eum mihi non taceret, sed verbis 
 commendaret, quorsum me de negotio quod in manibus habebam de 
 Christi sacrificio reciperem, in quo immotus persisterem.” We see here 
 plainly, that Gregory expresses a strong propensity to the sentiments 
 of Berenger, not, however, without some hesitation concernine the 
 manner in which he was to conduct himself, and also concerning 
 the precise doctrines, which it was necessary to embrace in relation to 
 the presence of Christ in the eucharist. It was this hesitation which led 
 hinfto consult the Virgin Mary, whose answer the pontiff gives in the 
 following words: “B, Maria audivit et ad me retulit, nihil de sacrificio 
 Christi cogitandum, nihil esse tenendum, nisi quod tenerent authenticz 
 Scripture, contra quas Berengarius nihil habebat. Hoc tibi manifestare 
 volui, ut securiorem ad nos fiduciam et alacriorem spem habeas.” Here 
 we see an answer of the Virgin pronouncing, that it was necessary to 
 adhere to the express declarations of Scripture concerning the presence 
 of Christ in the sacrament; and whether Gregory was fanatic enough to 
 confide in this answer as real, or rogue enough to forge it, it is still cer- 
 tain, that he confined his belief respecting the point in debate to the lan- 
 guage of Scripture, and held that the true body and blood of Christ were 
 exhibited in the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, though it was neither 
 necessary nor expedient to inquire into the nature or manner of this mys- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 second confession had entirely satisfied the pontiff, and 
 that the violent imposition of the third was by no means 
 agreeable to one.who seems to have adopted, in a great 
 measure, (if not wholly,) the sentiments of Berenger.» 
 XVIII. Amidst the clamours of his incensed adversa- 
 ries, Berenger observed a profound silence, and was so pru- 
 dent as to return no answer to their bitter and repeated 
 invectives. Fatigued with a controversy, in which the 
 first principles of reason were so impudently insulted, and 
 exhausted by an opposition which he was unable to over- 
 come, he abandoned all his worldly concerns, and retired 
 
 | . 4 . . 
 to the isle of St. Cosme, in the neighbourhood of Tours 
 
 where he spent the remainder of his days in fasting, 
 prayer, and pious exercises. In the year 1088, death put 
 an end to the affliction he suffered in his retirement, from 
 a hitter reflection upon the dissimulation he had been 
 cuilty of at Rome, and to the penitential acts of mortifi- 
 cation and austerity, to which he seems to have submitted 
 with a view of expiating the enormity of his criminal 
 compliance, and the guilt of his perjury.c He left in the 
 minds of the people a deep impression of his extraordina- 
 ry sanctity, and his followers were as numerous as |x 
 fame was illustrious.¢| There have been disputes among 
 the learned about the real sentiments of this eminent man. 
 yet, notwithstanding the art which he sometimes used u& 
 conceal his opinions, and the ambiguity that is often re 
 markable in his expressions, whoever examines with im 
 partiality and attention such of his writings as are yet ex- 
 tant, will immediately perceive that he looked upon the 
 bread and wine in the sacrament as no more than the 
 signs or symbols of the body and blood of the divine Sa- 
 viour.® In this opinion Berenger persevered to the last ; 
 nor have we any authentic proof of his having departed 
 
 terious presence. 3dly, Itappears manifest, from the treatise already men- 
 tioned, that the assembling of the second council, and the imposition of 
 another confession of faith upon the conscience of Berenger, were mea- 
 sures into which Gregory was forced by the enemies of that ecclesiastic. 
 “ Dejectus est,” says Berenger, speaking of that pontiff, “ importunitate 
 Paduani scurre, non episcopi, et Pisani non episcopi, sed antichristi.. . 
 ut permitteret calumniatoribus veritatis in posterior] quadragesimali con- 
 eilio scriptum a se firmatum in priori mutarl.” 4thly, We see here the 
 true reason why Gregory showed not the smallest mark of resentment 
 against Berenger, when, upon his return to his own country, he violated 
 the promise by which he had so solemnly bound himself at the last coun- 
 cil, and refuted the confession to which he had sworn his assent. For the 
 pontiff was very far from adopting the sentiments of those who had 
 drawn up or suggested that monstrous confession, and deemed it sufli- 
 cient to believe with Berenger, that the body and blood of Jesus Christ 
 were exhibited to Christians in the eucharist. Hence he suffered the vio- 
 lent adversaries of his persecuted friend to murmur, scribble, bawl, and 
 refute, while he himself observed a profound silence, and persisted in his 
 resolution to put that unhappy man to no farther trouble. Itis, however, 
 proper to observe, that, in the same book from which these particulars 
 are taken, we find Berenger addressing himself, with the utmost hu- 
 mility, to the divine mercy, for the pardon of the crime of dissimulation 
 and perjury he had committed at R-~ae, and confessing that the fear of 
 death had extorted from him oaths aud declarations diametrically oppo- 
 site to his real sentiments, and engaged him to subscribe to a set of tenets 
 which he abhoried. ‘* Deus omnipotens,” says he, ‘ miserere, fons mi- 
 sericordiarum, tantwm sacrilegium agnoscenti.” 
 
 ¢ This will appear evident to such as peruse the treatise of his compo- 
 sition, which we have mentioned in the preceding note, as published in 
 Martenne’s ‘Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. iv. 
 
 4'The canons of the cathedral of Tours continue to honour the me- 
 mory of Berenger by an annual procession, in which they perform a 
 solemn service at his tomb in the isle of St. Cosme. See Moleon, Voya- 
 ges Liturgiques, p. 130. 
 
 ¢ Mabillon and other Roman catholic writers, as also a few Lutheran 
 divines, are of opinion that Berenger denied only the doctrine of Tran- 
 substantiation, while he maintained, at the same time, the real presence 
 of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist; and this opinion will, 
 indeed, appear plausible to such as consider only the declaration he signed 
 in the first council at Rome, to which he was summoned by Gregory 
 
Caar. OI. DOCTRINE OF 
 from it before his death, as some of the Romish writers 
 vainly pretend. 
 
 XIX. It is not rare to find, in the history of the church, | 
 the most trifling objects exciting the warmest and most | 
 vehement controversies. Such was the dispute that arose 
 in France, in 1023, between the priests and monks of 
 Limoges, concerning the place that was to be assigned 
 in the public liturgy to Martial, the first bishop of that 
 diocese. One party, headed by Jordan, bishop of Limo- 
 ges, were for placing him among the confessors, while 
 Hugo, abbot of the monastery of St. Martial, maintained, 
 that the prelate in question was to be ranked among the 
 apostles, and branded, with the opprobrious and heretical 
 title of Ebionites, all such as adhered to the proposal of 
 Jordan. This momentous affair was debated, first, in a 
 couricil holden at Poictiers, in 1023, and in another assem- 
 bled at Paris the year following; in which latter it was 
 determined that Martial was to be honoured with the title 
 of an apostle, and that all who refused him this eminent 
 rank were to be considered as Ebionites, who, as is well 
 known, confined the number of the apostles to twelve, 
 that they might exclude St. Paul from that sacred order. 
 
 VII. and which he never retracted, without comparing this declaration 
 vith the rest of his writings. On the other hand, Usher, Basnage, and 
 almost all the writers of the reformed church, maintain, that the doctrine 
 of Berenger was exactly the same with that which Calvin afterwards 
 adopted; and I cannot help joining with them in this opinion, when [ 
 pee attentively the following words of his Letter to Almannus, pub- 
 ished in Martenne’s Thesaur. tom. iv. ‘‘Constat,” says Berenger in ex- 
 press terms, ‘‘ verum Christi corpus in ipsdé mensa proponi, sed spiri- 
 twaliter interiori homint verum in ea Christi corpus ab his duntaxat, 
 qui Christi membra sunt, incorruptum, intaminatum, inattritumque sp?- 
 ak ae manducari.” ‘These words demonstrate so clearly, that, by 
 1e presence of Christ’s body in the eucharist, Berenger meant no more 
 than a spiritwal presencé as to dispel all doubt about his real sentiments, 
 though, upon other occasions, he concealed these sentiments under du- 
 bious expressions, to deceive his adversaries. 
 ® It is well known what laborious efforts the Roman catholic writers 
 have employed to persuade us, that Berenger, before his death, abandon- 
 ed the opinion he had so long and so warmly defended, and returned to 
 the doctrine of the church of Rome concerning the corporal presence of 
 Christ in the eucharist. But when we inquire into the reasons on which 
 
 this assertion is founded, we shall immediately perceive their weakness 
 and insufficiency. They allege, in the first place, that Berenger gave 
 an account of his doctrme and belief in the council of Bourdeaux, in 
 1087; and add to this, that the ancient writers applaud his penitential 
 sentiments, and affirm that he died in the catholic faith. In all this, 
 ‘nowever, we see no proof of Berenger’s retraction. He adhered, indeed, 
 to the confession of faith, which he had subscribed and adopted in the 
 first of the two Roman councils, to which he had heen summoned by 
 Gregory, and which that pontiff judged sufficient to clear him from the 
 imputation of heresy; and they who confined their attention to the l7zfe- 
 ral sense of the words of that confession, without considering their sp7- 
 rit, and the different meanings of which they were susceptible, might 
 easily imagine that Berenger’s confession was agretable to the doctrine 
 of the church. Gregory, in order to pacify matters, confirmed them in 
 this notion; and though he was well informed of Berenger’s having re- 
 tracted the confession which he had signed in the last Roman council be- 
 yore which he appeared, and of his opposing, with the utmost warmth, 
 the opinion he had there so solemnly professed, yet he suffered the in- 
 constant doctor to remain unmolested, and thereby tacitly acquitted him 
 of the crime and the error that were laid to his charge. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance to observe here, that the Roman church 
 had not come in this century, to a fixed determination concerning the na- 
 ture and manner of Christ’s presence in the eucharist. This appears 
 most evidently from the three confessions which Berenger signed by the 
 order of three councils; which confessions differed from each other, not 
 only in the terms and the turn of expression, but also in the opinions and 
 doctrines they contained. Pope Nicolas II. and the council he assembled 
 at Rome, in 1059, obliged him to subscribe, as the true and orthodox doc- 
 trine of the church, the first of these confessions, or that which cardinal 
 Humbert had composed. This confession was, however, rejected, not 
 only as harsh in point of expression, but also as erroneous and unsound, 
 by Gregory and the two Roman councils, which he had expressly sum- 
 moned to inquire into that matter; for, had Humbert’s declaration ap- 
 peared to the pontiff to be a just expression of the doctrine and sense of 
 the church concerning the eucharist, neither he nor the succeeding coun- | 
 
 THE CHURCH. 255 
 The decree, however, of this council did not produce the 
 effects that were expected from it; for it exasperated, in- 
 stead of calming, the zeal and animosity of the contend- 
 ing parties, so that this miserable dispute became daily 
 more general, and spread like a contagion through all the 
 provinces of I’rance. ‘lhe matter was at length brought 
 before the tribunal of the Roman pontiff, John XIX., 
 who decided it in favour of the monks, and, in a letter ad- 
 dressed to Jordan and the other bishops of the nation, pro- 
 nounced Martial worthy of the title and honours of an 
 apostle. ‘This decision produced the most substantial and 
 permanent effects : for m a council assembled at Limoges, 
 in 1029, Jordan declared his acquiescence in the papal 
 sentence; in a provincial council at Bourges, two years af- 
 ter, Martial was associated to the company of the apostles 
 with great solemnity, in consequence of the decision of 
 the Roman see; and about the same time this controver- 
 sy was completely and finally terminated in a numerous 
 council convoked at Limoges, in which the prayers that 
 had been consecrated to the memory of the apostle Mar- 
 tial, by the zealous pontiff, were publicly recited.» The 
 warm contenders for the apostleship of Martial asserted, 
 
 cils would have permitted other forms of doctrine to be substituted in its 
 place. Gregory, as we have already seen, was of opinion, that it was 
 highly improper to pry with too much curiosity into the mysteries of the 
 eucharist, and that, laying aside all disputes concerning the manner of 
 Christ’s presence in that holy institution, it was safest to adhere to the 
 plain words of Scripture ; and as this was also the opinion of Berenger, 
 and was plainly expressed in his confession of faith, the judicious pontiff 
 pronounced him innocent. But a following council departed from this 
 equitable sentence of Gregory, who, though with much reluctance, was 
 induced to confirm their rigorous decision ; and hence arose a third con- 
 fession, which was extremely different from the two preceding ones. 
 We may remark, by the bye, that in this controversy the councils seem 
 plainly to have swayed the pontiffs, since we see the obstinate, the invin- 
 cible Gregory, yielding, against his will, to one of these clamorous as- 
 semblies. Berenger had no sooner gotten out of the hands of his ene- 
 mies, than he returned to the second confession, which the pontiff had 
 approved, and publicly declaimed against that which had been imposed 
 upon him in the last Roman council before which he had appeared, with- 
 out receiving the least mark of disapprobation from Gregory. From this 
 it was natural to conclude, that although he opposed the decree of that 
 council, he adopted the opinion of the pope and of the church. 
 
 In the account which I have here given of this memorable controver- 
 sy, [have not only consulted the ancient records relating to that matter, 
 which have been made public, (for several of them lie yet in manuscript 
 in the cabinets of the curious,) but have also been assisted by the labours 
 of those among the learned, who have treated that important branch of 
 ecclesiastical history in the most accurate and ample manner: such as, 
 first, Frane. de Roye’s book, published at Angers, in 1656; ‘ Ad. Can. 
 Ego Berengarius 41. de consecrat. distinct. 2. Ubi vita, heresis, et peeni- 
 tentia Berengarii Andegavensis Archidiaconi, et ad Josephi locum de 
 Christo,” (a book which is extremely curious, and very little known.) 
 Mabillon’s Pref. ad tom. ix. Act. SS. ord. Bened. seu See. VI. part ii. p. 
 4. et Dissert. de multiplici damnatione, fidei professione et lapsu, which 
 is published in his Analecta veteris A. vi, tom. il. p. 456. De Boulay, His- 
 tor. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 404. tom. il. p. 452. The authors of the re- 
 formed church, whom I have followed in this controversy, are, arch- 
 bishop Usher, de Successione Ecclesiar. Christianar. in oecidente, cap. 
 vil. sect. 24. p. 195. Basnage, Hist. des Eglises Reformées, tom. i. p. 
 105, and Hist. de l’Eglise, tom. ii. p. 1891.—Cas. Oudin, Dissert. de 
 Doctrina et Scriptis Berengarii in Comment. de Scriptor. Ecclesiast. tom. 
 ii. p. 624. There appears; more or less, a certain spirit of partiality in 
 all these writers ; but this spirit is particularly notorious among those of 
 the church of Rome. 
 
 b See Boulay, tom. i. p. 372, 101.—J. Longueval, Histoire de l’Eglise 
 Gallicane, tom. vii. p. 188, 189, 231—The Benedictine monks, in their 
 Gallia Christiana, tom. ii. Append. Documentor. p. 162, have published 
 the letter of Jordan to Pope Benedict VIII. against the Apostleship of 
 Martial. The decrees of the councils of Bourges and Limoges con- 
 cerning this matter are published by Labbe, in his Biblioth. Nova Ma- 
 nuscriptor. tom. ii. p. 766. Mabillon has given an ample account of Ade- 
 mar, a monk of St. Cybar, the first promoter of this ridiculous controver- 
 sy, in his Annal. Ord. S. Benedict. tom. iv. p. 318, and, among the ori- 
 ginal papers subjoined to that volume, bas published a letter written by 
 that monk in favour of the apostleship of Martial. See also the Histoire 
 Literaire de la I’rance, tom. vii. p. 301. 
 
256 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il 
 
 that he was one of the seventy disciples of Christ; whence || or at least, was unknown only to a very small number 
 
 they concluded, that he had an equal title with Paul and 
 Barnabas to the honour of an apostle. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tse form of public worship, which was established 
 at Rome, had not yet been received in all the western 
 provinces. ‘This was looked upon by the imperious pon- 
 tiffs as an insult upon their authority, and therefore they 
 used their utmost efforts to introduce universally the Ro- 
 man ceremonies, and to promote a perfect uniformity of 
 worship in every part of the Latin world. Gregory VII. 
 employed all his diligence, activity, and zeal, in this en- 
 terprise, as appears from several passages in his letters; 
 and he alone, perhaps, was equal to the execution of such 
 an arduous attempt. "he Spaniards had long distin- 
 guished themselves above all other nations, by their noble 
 and resolute resistance to the despotic attempts of the 
 popes upon this occasion ; for they adhered to their ancient 
 Gothic liturgy: with great obstinacy, and could not be 
 brought to change it for the method of worship established 
 at Rome. Alexander H. had indeed proceeded so far, in 
 1068, as to persuade the inhabitants of Arragon into his 
 measures,’ and to conquer the aversion which the Catalo- 
 nians had discovered for the Roman worship. But the 
 honour of finishing this difficult work, and bringing it to 
 perfection, was reserved for Gregory, who, without inter- 
 ruption, exhorted, threatened, admonished, and entreated 
 Sanchez and Alphonso, the kings of Arragon and Cas- 
 tile, until, fatigued with the importunity of this restless 
 pontiff, they consented to abolish the Gothic service in 
 their churches, and to introduce the Roman in its place. 
 Sanchez was the first who complied with the request of 
 the pontiff; and, in 1080, his example was followed by 
 Alphonso. The methods which the nobles of Castile 
 employed to decide the matter were very extraordinary. 
 Iirst, they. chose two champions, who were to determine 
 the controversy by single combat, the one fighting for the 
 Roman liturgy, the other for the Gothic. 'This first trial 
 ended in favour of the latter; for the Gothic hero proved 
 victorious. Recourse was next had to the fiery trial for 
 the decision of the dispute: the Roman and Gothic litur- 
 gies were committed to the flames, which, as the story 
 goes, consumed the former, while the latter remained un- 
 blemished and entire. Thus were the Gothic rites crown- 
 ed with a double victory, which, however, was not suffi- 
 cient to maintain them against, the authority of the pope, 
 and the influence of the queen Constantia, who determin- 
 ed Alphonso in favour of the Roman service.¢ 
 
 If. The zeal of the Roman pontiff for introducing 
 uniformity of worship into the western churches may be, 
 in some measure, justified ; but their not permitting every 
 nation to celebrate divine worship in their mother tongue 
 was absolutely inexcusable. While, indeed, the Latin 
 language was in general use amongst the western nations, 
 
 * See Mabillon, de Liturgia Gallicana, lib. i. cap. ii. p. 10—Jo. Bona 
 Res Liturg. lib. i. cap. xi. p. 220, op.—Pet. Le Brun, Explication des Ce- 
 remonies de la Messe, tom. il. Diss. v. p. 272. 
 
 b Pet. de Marca, Histoire de Bearn, liv. ii. cap. ix. 
 
 * Bona, Res Liturg. lib. i. cap. xi. p. 216.—Le Brun, tom. ii. p. 292,— 
 Jo. de Ferreras, Historia de Espana, tom. iii. 
 
 there was no reason why it should not be employed in 
 the public service of the church. But when the decline 
 of the Roman empire drew on by degrees the extinction 
 of its language in several places, and its decay in all the 
 western provinces, it became just and reasonable that each 
 people should serve the Deity in the language they under- 
 stood, and which was peculiar to them. ‘This reasoning, 
 however evident and striking, had no sort of influence 
 upon the Roman pontiffs, who, neither in this nor in the 
 following centuries, could be persuaded to change the es- 
 tablished custom, but persisted, on the contrary, with the 
 most senseless obstinacy, in retaining the use of the Latin 
 language in the celebration of divine worship, even when 
 it was no longer understood by the people.¢ ‘This strange 
 conduct has been variously accounted for by different 
 writers, who have tortured their inventions to find out its 
 secret reasons, and have imagined many that seem ex- 
 tremely improbable and far-fetched. A superstitious and 
 extravagant veneration for whatever carried the hoary as- 
 pect of a remote antiquity, was undoubtedly the principal 
 reason that rendered the pontiffs unwilling to abolish 
 the use of the Latin language in the celebration of divine 
 worship. ‘The same absurd principle produced a similar 
 effect in the eastern churches; thus the Egyptian Chris- 
 tians perform their religious service in the language of the 
 ancient Copts, the Jacobites and the Nestorians in the Sy- 
 riac, and the Abyssinians in the old Ethiopic, though all 
 these languages have been long since obsolete, and are 
 consequently unintelligible to the multitude.: 
 
 II. It would be tedious to enumerate, in a circumstan- 
 tial manner, the new inventions that were imposed upon 
 Christians, in this century, under the specious titles of 
 piety and zeal, by the superstitious despotism of an impe- 
 rious clergy. Itis also unnecessary to mention the addi- 
 tions that were made to former inventions, the multiplica- 
 tion, for example, of the rites and ceremonies that were 
 used in the worship of saints, relics, and images, and the 
 new directions that were administered to such as under- 
 took pilgrimages, or other superstitious services of that na- 
 ture. We shall only observe, that during the whole of 
 this century, all the European nations were most diligent- 
 ly employed in rebuilding, repairing, and adorning their 
 churches.‘ Nor will this appear surprising, when we 
 consider, that, in the preceding century, all Europe was 
 alarmed with a dismal apprehension that the day of judg- 
 ment was at hand, and that the world was approaching to 
 its final dissolution ; for, among the other effects of this 
 panic terror, the churches and monasteries were sufiered 
 to fall into ruin, or at least to remain without repair, from 
 an idea that they would soon be involved in the general 
 fate of all sublunary things. But, when these apprehen- 
 sions were removed, affairs immediately assumed a new 
 aspect ; the tottering temples were rebuilt ; and the great- 
 est zeal, attended with the richest and most liberal dona- 
 tions, was employed in restoring the sacred edifices to their 
 former lustre, or rather in giving them new degrees o 
 magnificence and beauty. 
 
 4 Usserii Historia Dogmatica de Scripturis et Sacris Vernaculis, ak 
 Hen. Whartono edita et aucta, Londini, 1690, in 4to. 
 
 ¢ See Euseb. Renaudot, Dissertat. de Liturgiarum Orientalium origine 
 et antiquitate, cap. vi. p. 40, 
 
 f Glab. Rodolph. Hist. lib. iii. cap. iv. in Duchesne’s Scriptor. Franc. 
 tom. iv. p. 217. “ Infra millesimum tertio jam fere imminente anno con- 
 
Cnap. VY. 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 tonserning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue state of the ancient sects, and particularly of 
 the Nestorians and Monophysites, who resided in Asia 
 and Egypt, under the Mohammedan government, was 
 now much the same as it had been in the preceding cen- 
 tury, neither extremely prosperous, nor absolutely misera- 
 ble. The case of the Manicheans, or Paulicians, whom 
 the Grecian emperors had banished from the eastern pro- 
 vinces into Bulgaria and Thrace, was much more unhap- 
 py on account of the perpetual conflicts they had to sus- 
 tain with the Greeks, who persecuted and oppressed them 
 with much keenness and animosity. The Greeks, as 
 usually happens on the like occasions, laid the blame of 
 their violent measures upon the Manichzans, whom they 
 represented as a turbulent, perfidious, and sanguinary 
 faction, and as the declared and inveterate enemies of 
 the Grecian empire.* This, however, is by no means to 
 be received as an impartial state of the case; at least, it 
 appears from many circumstances, that, if the Maniche- 
 ans were exasperated against the Greeks, their resent- 
 ment was in some measure justified by the violent and 
 injurious treatment which they had received from them. 
 The Grecian pontiffs and clergy were far from being des- 
 titute of the odious spirit of persecution ; and it is certain 
 that the emperors, instigated by them, had exhausted the 
 patience of the Paulicians by repeated vexations and cru- 
 elties, and alienated their affections by inflicting upon them, 
 
 without interruption, a variety of punishments, such as | 
 
 banishment, confiscation of goods, and other marks of se- 
 verity and violence. 
 
 Alexias Comnenus, who, by his learning, was an orna- 
 ment to the imperial sceptre, perceiving that the Mani- 
 cheans were not to be vanquished, without the greatest 
 difficulty, by the force of arms, and observing also that 
 their numbers increased from day to day both in Thrace 
 and in the adjacent provinces, had recourse to the power 
 of reason and argument to conquer their obstinacy, and 
 spent whole days at Philippopolis, in disputing with the 
 
 tigit in universo pene terrarum orbe, precipue tamen in Italia et in 
 Galliis, innovari ecclesiarum basilicas.” 
 
 *See the Alexias of Anna Comnena, lib. v. p. 105; lib. vi. p. 124, 
 145. 
 
 b There is an ample and circumstantial account of this controversy be- 
 tween the emperor and the Manichzans in the work mentioned in the 
 preceding note, lib. xiv. p. 357. 
 
 * See Muratori, Antiquitat. Ital. medii Zvi, tom. v. p. 83.—Limborch, 
 Historia Inquisitionis, p.31.—Riccinii Dissertatio de Catharis, prefixed 
 to the Summa B. Monet contra Catharos. We might also refer, up- 
 on this occasion, to Glab. Rodulph. Histor. lib. iii. cap. viii. to Matth. 
 Paris, and other ancient writers. Certain Italian. authors, and among 
 others Ritcini, seem unwilling to acknowledge that the Paulicians ar- 
 rived first in Italy, and proceeded thence into the other provinces of Eu- 
 rope; and maintain, on the contrary, that their first settlement was in 
 France, whence they repaired to Italy. ‘These writers look upon it as 
 ignominious to their country, to be considered as the first European na- 
 tion which fostered such a pernicious and impious sect in its bosom. Be 
 that as it may, their hypothesis is favoured by Peter de Marca himself, 
 a Frenchmas:, who, in his Histoire de Bearn, livr. viii. cap. xiv. declares 
 it as his opinion, that the Paulicians joined themselves to the Gallic ar- 
 mies that returned from the holy war by the province of Bulgaria, and 
 were thus conducted into France. But that learned author alleges no 
 proof to support this opinion: it appears, on the contrary, from the re- 
 cords of the Inquisition of Toulouse, published by Limborch, and from 
 other authentic pieces, that the Paulicians settled first in Sicily, Lom- 
 hardy, Liguria, and the Milanese, and thence sent many doctors and mis- 
 sionaries into I’rance. See the Codex Tolosanus, passim. We learn 
 also from the Code of Toulouse, that the French Paulicians, who were 
 
 No. XXII. 65 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 257 
 
 principal doctors of that pernicious sect. Many of them 
 yielded to the victorious arguments of this royal disputant, 
 and his learned associates ; nor is this to be wondered at, 
 since their demonstrations were accompanied and enforced 
 by rewards and punishments. Such of the Manichaans 
 as retracted their errors, and returned to the bosom of the 
 Greek church, were loaded with gifts, honours, and privi- 
 leges, according to their respective stations, while such as 
 stood firm against the reasoning of the emperor, were 
 inhumanly condemned to perpetual imprisonment.® 
 
 II. Many of the Paulicians, either from a principle of 
 zeal for the propagation of their opinions, or from a desire 
 of relieving themselves from the persecution and oppres- 
 sion they suffered under the Grecian yoke, retired from 
 Bulgaria and 'Thrace, and formed settlements in other 
 countries. ‘Their first migration was into Italy ; whence, 
 in process of time, they sent colonies into almost all the 
 other provinces of Europe, and formed gradually a con- 
 siderable number of religious assemblies, who adhered to 
 their doctrine, and were afterwards persecuted with the 
 utmost vehemence by the Roman pontiffs.< It is difficult 
 to fix the precise period when the Paulicians began to 
 take refuge in Europe; it is, however, certain, from the 
 most authentic testimonies, that a considerable number 
 of that sect were, about the middle of this century, settled 
 in Lombardy, Insubria, and principally at Milan, and 
 that many of them led a wandering life in France, 
 Germany, and other countries, where they captivated the 
 esteem and admiration of the multitude, by their sancti- 
 monious looks, and the uncommon air of piety, which 
 they put on with much affectation. In Italy they were 
 called Paterini and Cathari, or rather Gazari, which latter 
 appellation the Germans have preserved, with a small 
 alteration only, which was proper to adapt it to the genius 
 of their language.t| In France they were called Albi- 
 genses® from the town of Albi, and Bulgarians because 
 they came from Bulgaria, and because the head of their 
 sect resided in that country; as also Publicans, which 
 was probably a corrupt pronunciation of Pawlicians, and 
 bonit homines, or ‘good men, with several other titles 
 and epithets.‘ 
 
 called Albigenses, had no bishop to consecrate their Anciant, (such was 
 the title they gave to their presbyters,) so that such of them as were de- 
 sirous of being placed in the order of presbyters, were obliged to repair to 
 Italy, in order to their being regularly installed. 
 
 4 The title of Paterini, which was given to this sect in Italy, has been 
 already explained in the second .chapter of the second part of this cen- 
 tury, sect. 13, note [c.} As to the term Catharus, it was undoubtedly, 
 when applied to the Paulicians, the same with Gazarus, as I have clse- 
 where demonstrated. See Histor. Ord. Apostol. p. 367. The country 
 which bore, in this century, the name of Gazaria, was what we now call 
 the Minor 'Tartary. 
 
 ¢ That the Paulicians were called Albigenses in France, and were a 
 sect entirely distinct from the Waldenses and other heretics, appears evi- 
 dently from the Codex Inquisitionis Tolosane. They received this name 
 from a town in Aquitaine, called Albigia, or Albi, where their errors 
 were condemned in a council which met in 1176. See Chatel’s Memoires 
 de l’Histoire de Languedoc, p. 305. It is, therefore, a mistake to con- 
 sider the Albigenses as a sect so called from Albi’s being the place of 
 their birth, their residence, or the seat of their principal assembly, since 
 that name was given them for no other reason than their having been 
 condemned in a council holden in that town. There were, indeed, seve- 
 ral Paulicians among the various sects of dissenters from the church of 
 Rome, that inhabited the country about Albi; and it is also true, that the 
 title of Albigenses is usually extended to all the heretics, of whatever 
 sect or denomination they were, who dwelt in those parts. 
 
 f The learned Du Fresne, in his Glossarium Latin. medii ZEvi, tom. i. 
 p- 1338, has proved, in an ample manner, that the Paulicians were called 
 in I’rance Bulgares, and (by a corrupt pronunciation of tha; word,) Bou- 
 gres. The same author, ii his Observationes ad Villeharduini Histe- 
 
258 
 
 Iff. The first religious assembly which the Pauticians 
 formed in Europe, is said to have been discovered at 
 Orleans, in 1017, under the reign of Robert. A certain 
 Italian lady is said to have been at the head of this sect ; 
 its principal members were twelve canons of the cathedral 
 of Orleans. men eminently distinguished by their piety 
 and learmnog, among whom Lisoius and Stephen held tle 
 first rank; and it was composed, in general, of a con- 
 siderable number of citizens, who were far from being of 
 the meanest condition. The impious doctrines, professed 
 by these canons, were discovered by a certain priest named 
 Heribert, and by Arifastus,a Norman nobleman ; upon 
 which Robert assembled a council at Orleans, and employ- 
 ed the most effectual methods that he could devise to bring 
 these heretics to a better mind. But all his endeavours 
 were to no purpose ; this pernicious sect adhered obstinate- 
 ly to its principles; and its members were at length 
 condemned to be burned alive. 
 
 It is difficult to come to a fixed determination with respect 
 to the character and doctrine of these sectaries ; for, when 
 we examine matters attentively, we find that even their 
 enemies acknowledge the sincerity of their piety, that 
 they were blackened by accusations which were evidently 
 false, and that the opinions for which they were punished 
 differ widely from the Manicheean system.* As far as we 
 can see into the case, it appears to us, that these pretended 
 Manicheans of Orleans were a set of Mystics, who looked 
 with contempt upon all external worship, rejected all rites 
 and ceremonies, and even the Christian sacraments, as 
 destitute of any, even the least spiritual efficacy or virtue ; 
 placed the whole of religion in the internal contemplation 
 of God, and the elevation of the soul to divine and 
 celestial things ; and, in their philosophical speculations 
 concerning God, the Trinity, and the human soul, soared 
 above the comprehension of the age in which they lived. 
 A like set of men proceeded in vast numbers out of Italy 
 in the following ages, spread like an inundation through 
 all the European provinces, and were known in Germany 
 under the name of the Brethren of the free Spirit, while 
 they were distinguished in other countries by the appella- 
 tion of Beghards.« 
 
 {V. We find in history another branch of this nume- 
 rous sect, whose errors were not accompanied with the 
 crimes that were laid to the charge of their brethren, an@ 
 who were converted by a pathetic discourse that was 
 addressed to them by Gerard, bishop of Cambray and 
 Arras, in an assembly of the clergy, holden in the latter 
 city, in 1030. ‘These honest Mystics, who were equally 
 remarkable for their docility and their ignorance, had 
 received the doctrine they professed from the Italians, and 
 particularly from a certain eccentric doctor, whose name 
 
 riam Constantinopolit., has fully demonstrated that the names Popoli- 
 eani and Publicani, that were imposed upon these Manichzans, were no 
 more than a corruption of the term Pauliciani, ill pronounced. The ap- 
 pellation of Bont Homines, or Eos bos Homos, as the southern French 
 spoke at that time, was a title which the Paulicians attributed to them- 
 selves. See the Codex Inquisit. ‘Tolosane. 
 
 * The accounts that the ancient writers have given of these heretics 
 are collected by Boulay, in his Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. i. p. 364.—D’Ar- 
 gentre, Collectio Judicior. de novis Erroribus, tom. i. p. 5—Jo. Launoy, 
 de Scholis celebratioribus Caroli Magni, cap. xxiv. p. 90.—The history 
 of the synod of*Orleans, in which this sect was condemned, is given by 
 D’Acheri, in his Spicileg. Veter. Scriptor. tom. i. p. 604. 
 
 » Basnage, in his Histoire des Eglises Reformées, tom. i. periode iv. p. 
 97, and in his Hist. de Eglise, tom. ii. p. 1388, pleads the cause of the 
 canons of Orleans; but this learned and worthy man seems to have been 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ee 
 
 Parr Il. 
 
 was Gundulf. They maintained, in general, according 
 to their own confession, that the whole of religion consisted 
 in the study of practical piety, and in a course of action 
 conformable to the divine laws; and they treated all 
 external modes of worship with the utmost contempt. 
 Their particular tenets may be reduced to the following 
 heads: 1. They rejected baptism, and, in a more especial 
 manner, the baptism of infants, as a ceremony that was 
 in no respect essential to salvation: 2. They rejected, for 
 the same reason, the sacrament of the Lord’s supper: 
 3. They denied, that the churches were endowed with a 
 greater degree of sanctity than private houses, or that 
 they were more adapted to the worship of God than any 
 other place: 4. They affirmed, that the altars were to be 
 considered in no other light than as heaps of stones, and 
 were therefore unworthy of any marks of veneration o1 
 regard: 5. They disapproved the use of incense and 
 consecrated oil in services of a religious nature: 6. They 
 looked upon the use of bells in the churches, as an 
 intolerable superstition : 7. They denied, that the establish- 
 ment of bishops, presbyters, deacons, and other ecclesias- 
 tical dignities, was of divine institution, and went so far 
 as to maintain that the appointment of stated ministers in 
 the church was entirely unnecessary : 8. hey affirmed, 
 that the institution of funeral rites was an effect of sacer- 
 dotal avarice, and that it was a matter of indifference 
 whether the dead were buried in the churches, or in the 
 fields: 9. 'They looked upon the voluntary punishment, 
 called penance, so generally practised in this century, as 
 unprofitable and absurd: 10. They denied that the sins 
 of departed spirits could be, in any measure, atoned for 
 by the celebration of masses, the distribution of alms to 
 the poor, or a vicarious penance ;* and they consequently 
 treated the doctrine of purgatory as a ridiculous fable: 
 11. They considered marriage as a pernicious institution, 
 and absurdly condemned, without distinction, all connubial 
 bonds :* 12. They looked upon a certain sort of venera- 
 tion and worship as due to the apostles and martyrs, from 
 which, however, they excluded such as were only con- 
 fessors, in which class they comprehended the saints, who 
 had not suffered death for the cause of Christ, and whose 
 bodies, in their esteem, bad nothing more sacred than 
 any other human carcass: 13. They declared the use of 
 instrumental music in the churches, and other religious 
 assemblies, superstitious and unlawful: 14. They denied 
 that the cross on which Christ suffered was in any respect 
 more sacred than other kinds of wood, and, in consequence, 
 refused to pay toit the smallest degree of religious worship: 
 15. They not only refused all acts of adoration to the 
 images of Christ, and of the saints, but were also for 
 having them removed out of the churches: 16. 'They 
 
 earried too far by his zeal for augmenting the number of those who have 
 been martyrs to the truth. 
 
 ¢ We shall have occasion to give a more copious account of these fa- 
 natics in the history of the thirteenth century, in which they were first 
 drawn from their obscurity, and condemned by many councils, especially 
 in Germany. It is, however, certain, that they had a clandestine exist- 
 ence Jonge before that period, and that they propagated their tenets se- 
 cretly in several places. Their doctrine resembles, in some particulars, 
 that of the Manicheans; and hence it was natural for the ignorant di- 
 vines of the age in which they lived, to consider them as a branch ot 
 that pernicious sect. 
 
 ' 4rd By a vicarious penance is understood the course of mortification 
 and voluntary suffering, that one person andergoes in order to procure 
 absolution for another. 
 
 ¢ This eleventh article is scarcely credible, at least as it is here ex- 
 
Cuap. V. 
 
 were shocked at the subordination and distinctions that 
 were established among the clergy, and at the different 
 degrees of authority conferred upon the different mem- 
 bers of that sacred body.* 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 | 
 
 When we consider the corrupt state of religion in this’ 
 
 century, and particularly the superstitious notions that were 
 generally adopted in relation to outward ceremonies, the 
 eflicacy of penance, and the sanctity of churches, re- 
 
 lics, and images, it will not appear surprising, that many | 
 persons of good sense and solid piety, running from one ex- 
 
 treme to another, fell into the opinions of these Mystics, 
 in which, among several absurdities, there were many 
 things plausible and specious, and some highly rational. 
 
 V. A controversy, of a much more subtle and difficult 
 nature, arose in France, about the year 1089. It had for 
 its principal author Roscellinus, a canon of Compeigne, a 
 profound dialectician, and the most eminent doctor of the 
 sect called Nominalists. He deemed it inconceivable and 
 impossible that the Son of God should assume the human 
 nature alone, i. e. without the Father and the Holy Ghost 
 becoming incarnate also, unless by the three persons in 
 thé godhead, were meant three distinct objects, or natures 
 
 existing separately, (such as three angels, or three distinct 
 
 spirits,) though endowed with one will, and acting by one) 
 
 power. When it was insinuated to Roscellinus, that this 
 
 pressed. 
 
 a mark of superior sanctity and virtue. 
 
 * See an account of the synod of Arras in the Spicilegium Scriptor. 
 Veter. tom. i. p. 607—624; also Car. Plessis D’Argentre, Collectio Ju- 
 diciorum de Novis Erroribus, tom. 1. 
 
 b Such is the account given by John, the accuser of this metaphysical 
 ecclesiastic, in a letter to Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, published 
 by Baluzius, in his Miscellanea, tom. iv. The same account is confirm- 
 
 ed by Anselm himself, in the book de fide Trinitatis, which he wrote | 
 
 against Roscellinus : see Oper. tom. i. p. 41, 43, and lib. i. Epistolar. ep. 
 xxxv. p. 335, tom. ii. op.—and also by Fulco, bishop of Beauvais, as 
 may be seen in the second book of the Epistles of Anselm, ep. xli. lib. 
 ii. tom. ii. op. p. 357.—It must, however, be considered, that the learned 
 men now mentioned were the inveterate enemies of, Roscellinus, and that 
 
 they perhaps comprehended his meaning imperfectly, or perverted it} 
 
 wilfully. Several circumstances prove, that some of his adversaries 
 were in one or the other of these two cases. Anselm himself furnishes 
 sufficient grounds for this suspicion, since, notwithstanding his aversion 
 tothe Nominalists, of whom Roscellinus was the chief, he grants, in his 
 book de Fide Trinitatis, cap. iii. that the opinion of his antagonist may 
 be admitted, or at least tolerated, in a certain sense; and even frequently 
 intimates, that he is not perfectly assured of his understanding fully the 
 meaning of Roscellinus, and that he believes the sentiments of that ec- 
 clesiastic less pernicious than his accusers have represented them. “ Sed 
 forsitan (says Anselm) ipse (Roscellinus) non dicit, sicut sunt tres ani- 
 me aut,tres Angeli: sed ille,' qui mihi ejus mandavit questionem, hance 
 ex suo posuit similitudinem: sed solum modo tres personas aflirmat esse 
 
 It is more reasonable to suppose, that these Mystics did not ab- 
 solutely condemn marriage, but only held celibacy in higher esteem, as | 
 
 259 
 
 manner of reasoning led directly to Tritheism, or the doc- 
 trine of three gods, he answered boldly, that the existence 
 of three gods might be asserted with truth,” were not the 
 expression harsh and contrary to the phraseology generally 
 received. He was, however, obliged to retract this error 
 in a council assembled at Soissons, in 1092; but he re- 
 sumed it when the council was dismissed, and the dange, 
 over. Persecuted anew on account of his doctrine, he took 
 refuge in England, and excited there divisions and con- 
 
 tests of another kind, by maintaining, among other things, 
 
 that persons born out of lawful wedlock ought to be deemed 
 incapable of admission to holy orders. 'lhis doctrine, 
 which was by no means suited to the times, procured Ros- 
 cellinus many enemies, and was in a great measure the 
 occasion of his involuntary removal from England. Ba- 
 nished thence, he returned to France, and, taking up his 
 residence at Paris, fomented again the old dispute con- 
 cerning the Trinity. ‘This, however, succeeded not ac- 
 cording to his hopes, but exposed him to much trouble and 
 vexation from the redoubled attacks of his adversaries, 
 who fiercely assailed him from all quarters. Fatigued 
 with their persecutions, he retired at last into Aquitaine, 
 where he acquired universal esteem by his eminent piety, 
 and passed the rest of his days in tranquillity and re- 
 pose.° 
 
 tres Res, sine additamento alicujus similitudinis.” The same Ansclm 
 (Epistolar. lib. ii. ep. xli. p. 357.) declares, that the account which he 
 had received of the opinions of Roscellinus appears to him extremely 
 dubious, “ Quod tamen (says he) absque dubietate credere non possum.” 
 From all this it is evident, that Anselm was far from having an entire 
 confidence in the equity and impartiality of the accusers of Roscellinus, 
 or from looking upon that ecclesiastic as so black, as his enemies had 
 endeavoured to make him. 
 
 As to the merits of the cause, it appears manifest to me, that this sub- 
 tle dispute was a consequence of the warm controversy that subsisted 
 in this century, between the Realists and the Nominalists. The former 
 attacked the latter by the dangerous conclusions that seemed deducible 
 from their principles, and reasoned thus: “If, as your doctrine suppo- 
 ses, universal substances are no more than mere sounds or denomina- 
 tions, and the whole science of logic is only conversant about words, it 
 must of necessity follow, that the three persons in the Godhead are only 
 three names, and not three realities or things.” —‘* We deny the conclu- 
 sion,” replied Roscellinus; “the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are not 
 placed by us in the rank of denominations, but in the class of realities, 
 or things.” The subtle doctor here, as all must more or less do afier him, 
 by avoiding Scylla fell into Charybdis, and was charged by his adver- 
 saries with the introduction of tritheism, by holding an opinion that sup- 
 posed the existence of three divine substances. Were any of the wri- 
 tings of Roscellinus now extant, they would help us to form a more just 
 notion of this controversy than we can have at present. 
 
 ° Boulay, t. i. p.485.—Mabil. An. t. v. p. 262.—Hist. Lit. de la France, 
 t. ix. p. 358—Anton. Pagi, Critica in Baronium ad Annum 1094, t 
 iv. p. 317.—Longueval, Hist. de ’Eglise Gallicane tom. vi p. 5Y. 
 
 a 
 
THE TWELFTH CENTURY 
 
 PAR Tis I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened to 
 the Church, during this Century. 
 
 I. A consIDERABLE part of Europe lay yet involved in 
 pagan darkness, which reigned more especially in the 
 northern provinces. It was, therefore, in these regions of 
 gloomy superstition, that the zeal of the missionaries was 
 principally exerted in this century; though their efforts 
 were not all equally successful, nor the methods they em- 
 ployed for the propagation of the Gospel equally pru- 
 dent. Boleslaus, duke of Poland, having conquered the 
 Pomeranians, offered them peace, upon condition that 
 they would receive the Christian teachers, and permit 
 them to exercise their ministry in that vanquished pro- 
 vince. ‘This condition was accepted ; and Otho, bishop 
 of Bamberg, a man of eminent piety and zeal, was sent, 
 in the year 1124, to inculcate and explain the doctrines 
 of Christianity, among that superstitious and barbarous 
 people. Many were converted to the faith by his minis- 
 try, while great numbers stood firm against his most vi- 
 gorous efforts, and persisted, with an invincible obstina- 
 cy, 1n the religion of their idolatrous ancestors. Nor was 
 this the only mortification which that illustrious prelate 
 received, in the execution of his pious enterprise ; for, 
 
 upon his return into Germany, many of those whom he | 
 
 had engaged in the profession of Christianity, apostatized 
 in his absence, and relapsed into their ancient prejudices : 
 this obliged Otho to undertake a second voyage into Po- 
 merania, A. D. 1126, in which, after much opposition and 
 difficulty, his labours were crowned with a happier issue, 
 and contributed much to enlarge the bounds of the rising 
 church, and to establish it upon solid foundations.*_ From 
 this period, the Christian religion seemed daily to acquire 
 new degrees of stability among the Pomeranians, who 
 had hitherto refused to permit the settlement of a bishop 
 amoung them. ‘They now received Adalbert, or Albert, in 
 that character, who was accordingly the first bishop of 
 Pomerania. v 
 
 If. Of all the northern princes of this century, none 
 appeared with a more distinguished lustre than Walde- 
 mar L, king of Denmark, who acquired an immortal name 
 
 *See Henr. Canisii Lectiones Antique, tom. iii. part ii. p. 34, where 
 we find the life of Otho, who, A. D. 1189, was canonized by Clement 
 Ill. See the Acta Sanctor. Mensis Julii, tom. i. p. 349. Dan. Crameri 
 Chronicon Eccles. Pomerania, lib. i. as also a learned Dissertation con- 
 
 written in the German language, by Christopher Schotgen, and publish- 
 ed at Stargard, in the year 1724. Add to these Mabillon, Annal. Bene- 
 dict. tom. vi. p. 123, 146, 323. 
 
 * Saxo-Grammaticus, Histor. Danic. lib. xiv. p. 239.—-Helmoldus 
 Chron. Sclavorum, lib. il. cap. xii. p. 234, and Henr. Bangertus, ad h. 1. 
 —Pontoppidani Annales Ecclesiz Danicz, tom. i. p. 404. 
 
 3% Beside the historians here mentioned by Dr. Mosheim, we refer | 
 
 the curious reader to an excellent history of Denmark, written in French, | 
 
 In the first volume of this 
 
 by M. Mallet, professor at Copenhagen. 
 
 by the glorious battles he f ught against the pagan na- 
 tions, such as the Sclavonians, Venedi, Vandals, and 
 others, who either by their incursions or by revolt, drew 
 upon them the weight of his victorious arm. He un- 
 sheathed his sword, not only for the defence and happi- 
 ness of his people, but also for the propagation and ad- 
 vancement of Christianity ; and wherever his arms were 
 successful, he pulled down the temples and images of the 
 gods, destroyed their altars, laid waste their sacred groves, 
 and substituted in their place the Christian worship, 
 which deserved to be propagated by better means than 
 the sword, by the authority of reason, rather than by the 
 despotic voice of power. The island of Rugen, which 
 lies in the neighbourhood of Pomerania, submitted to the 
 victorious arms of Waldemar, A. D. 1168; and its fierce 
 and savage inhabitants, who were, in reality, no more 
 than a band of robbers and pirates, were obliged, by that 
 prince, to hear the instructions of the pious and learned 
 doctors that followed his army, and to receive the Chris- 
 tian worship. This salutary work was brought to per- 
 fection by Absalom, archbishop of Lunden, a man of @ 
 superior genius, and of a most excellent character in eve- 
 ry respect, whose eminent merit raised him to the summit 
 of power, and engaged Waldemar to place him at the 
 head of affairs. 
 
 Il]. he Finlanders received the Gospel in the same 
 manner in which it had been propagated among the in- 
 habitants of the isle of Rugen. 'They were also a fierce and 
 savage people, who lived by plunder, and infested Swe- 
 den in a terrible manner by their perpetual incursions, 
 until, after many bloody battles, they were totally defeat- 
 ed by Eric IX., styled after his death the Saint, and re- 
 duced under the Swedish yoke. Historians differ about 
 the precise time when this conquest was completed ;° but 
 they are all unanimous in their accounts of its effects. 
 The Finlanders were commanded to embrace the religion 
 
 of the conqueror, which the greatest part of them did, 
 though with the utmost reluctance.4 
 
 The founder (and 
 ruler) of this new church was Henry, archbishop of Up- 
 sal, who accompanied the victorious monarch in that 
 bloody campaign. ‘This prelate, whose zeal was not suf- 
 ficiently tempered with the mild and gentle spirit of the 
 
 history, the ingenious and learned author has given a very interesting 
 account of the progress of Christianity in the northern parts of Europe, 
 and a particular relation of the exploits of Absalom, who was, at the 
 
 F : A - | same time, archbishop, general, admiral, and prime minister, and who 
 cerning the conversion of the Pomeranians by the ministry of Otho, | 
 
 led the victorious Danes to battle, by sea and land, without neglecting 
 the cure of souls, or in the least diminishing his pious labours in the 
 propagation of the Gospel abroad, and its maintenance and support at 
 home. 
 
 ¢ Most writers, with Baronius, place this event in the year 1151. 
 
 | Different, however, from this is the chronology of Vastovius and Oern- 
 
 hielmius, the former placing it in 1150, and the latter in 1157. 
 4 Oernhielmii Histor. Eccles. Gentis Suecorum, lib. iv. cap. lv. sect 
 13.—Jo. Loccenii Histor. Suecica, lib. iii. p. 76, ed. Francof—Erland 
 
 | Vita Erici Sancti, cap. vii—Vastovii Vitis Aquilonia, p. 65. 
 
Onav. I. 
 
 religion he taught, treated the new converts with great 
 severity, and was assassinated at last, in a cruel manner, 
 on account of the heavy penance he imposed upon a per- 
 son of great authority, who had been guilty of homicide. 
 This melancholy event procured Henry the honours of 
 saintship and martyrdom, which were solemnly conferred 
 upon him by pope “Adrian IV 
 
 IV. 'The propagation of the Gospel among the Livonians 
 was attended with much difficulty, and also with horti- 
 ble scenes of cruelty and bloodshed. The first missiona- 
 ry, who attempted the conversion of that savage people, 
 was Mainhard, a regular canon of St. Augustin, in the 
 monastery of Segeherg, who, toward the conclusion of 
 wiis century,” travelled to Livonia, with a company of 
 merchants of Bremen, and improved this opportunity of 
 spreading the light of the Gospel in that barbarous re- 
 gion of superstition and darkness. ‘The instructions and 
 exhortations of this zealous apostle were little attended to, 
 and produced little or no effect upon that uncivilized na- 
 tion; whereupon he addressed himself to the Roman 
 ontiff, Urban UL, who consecrated him bishop of the 
 Bisbee and, at the same time, declared a holy war 
 against that obstinate people. "This war, which was at 
 first carried on against the inhabitants of the province of 
 Esthonia, was continued with still greater vigour, and 
 rendered more general, by Berthold, abbot of Lucca, who 
 left his monastery to share the labours and laurels of 
 
 Mainhard, whom he accordingly succeeded in the see of 
 
 Livonia. The new bishop marched into that province at 
 the head of a powerful army which he had raised in Sax- 
 ony, preached the Gospel sword in hand, and proved its 
 truth by blows instead of arguments. Albert, canon 
 of Bremen, became the third bishop of Livonia, and fol- 
 lowed, with a barbarous enthusiasm, the same military 
 methods of conversion that had been practised by his pre- 
 decessor. He entered Livonia, A. D. 1198, with a fresh 
 body of troops drawn out of Saxony, and, encamping at 
 Riga, instituted there, by the direction of pope Innocent 
 ILL., the military order of the knight’s sword-bearers,* who 
 were commissioned to dragoon the Livonians into the 
 profession of Christianity, and oblige them by force of 
 arms to receive the benefits of baptism.’ New legions 
 were sent from Germany to second the efforts, and add 
 efficacy to the mission of these booted apostles ; and they, 
 in concert with the knights sword-bearers, so cruelly op- 
 pressed, slaughtered, and tormented this wretched people, 
 that, exhausted at length, and unable longer to stand firm 
 against the arm of persecution, strengthened still by new 
 accessions of power, they abandoned the statues of their 
 pagan deities, and substituted in their places the images of 
 
 *Vastovii Vitis Aquilon. seu Vite Sanctorum Regni Sueogothici, p. 
 62. Eric. Benzelii Monumenta Ecclesiz Sueogothicze, part 1. p. 33. 
 
 b In the year 1186. 
 
 * Equestris Ordo Militum Ensiferorum. 
 
 4See Henr. Leonardi Schurtzfleischii Historia Ordinis Ensiferorum 
 Equitum, Wittenberg. 1701, 8vo. 
 
 * See the Origines Livonia, seu Chronicon vetus Livonicum, published 
 in folio, at Francfort, in the year 1740, by Jo. Daniel Gruberus, and en- 
 ciched with ample and learned observations and notes, in which the la- 
 borious author enumerates all the writers of the Livonian history, and 
 corrects their mistakes. 
 
 #*p ¢ Dr. Mosheim’s account of this matter is very different from that 
 hick h is given by Fleury, who asserts, that it was Hartwick, archbishop 
 of Bremen, who restored the three ruined sees, and consecrated Viceli- 
 nus bishop of Oldenburg ; and that, as he had done this without address- 
 ing himself to Henry, the duke seized the tithes of Vicelinus, until a 
 reconciliation was afterwards brought about between the offended prince 
 
 No. XXII. “66 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 261 
 
 the saints. But, wnile they received the blessings of the 
 Gospel, they were deprived of all earthly comforts ; for 
 their lands and possessions were taken from them, with 
 the most odious circumstances of cruelty and viol@ace, und 
 the knights and bishops divided the spoil.* 
 
 V. None of the northern nations had a more rocted 
 aversion to the Christians, or a more obstinate antipathy to 
 their religion, than the Sclavonians, a rough and batba- 
 rous people, who inhabited the coast of the Baltic sea. 
 This excited the zeal of several neighbouring princes, and 
 of a multitude of pious missionaries, who united their ef. 
 forts, in order to conquer the prejudices of this people. 
 and to open their eyes upon the light of the Gospel. 
 Henry, duke of Saxeny, surnamed the Lion, distinguish 
 ed himself in a particular manner, by the ardour w hick 
 he discovered in the execution of this pious design, as wel. 
 as by the wise methods he employed to render it success- 
 ful. Among other measures that were proper for this 
 purpose, he restored from their ruins, and endowed rickly, 
 three bishopricks' that had been ravaged and destroyec 
 by these barbarians, namely, the bishopricks of Ratzburg 
 and Schwerin, and that of Oldenburg, which was after- 
 wards transplanted to Lubeck. The most eminent of the 
 Christian doctors, who attempted the conversion of the 
 Sclavonians, was Vicelinus, a native of Hamelen, a man 
 of extraordinary merit, who surpassed almost all his ccn- 
 temporaries in. genuine piety and solid learning, and who. 
 after having presided many years in the society of the 
 regular canons of St. Augustin at Falderen, was at length 
 consecrated bishop of Oldenburg. This excellent man 
 employed the last thirty years of his lifes amidst num- 
 berless vexations, dangers, and difficulties, in instructing 
 the Sclavonians, and exhorting them to comply with the 
 invitations of the Gospel of Christ ; and, as his pious ia- 
 bours were directed by true wisdom, and carried on with 
 the most indefatigable industry and zeal, so were they at- 
 tended with much fruit, even among that fierce and in- 
 tractable people. Nor was his ministry among the Scla- 
 vonians the only circumstance that redounds to the 
 honour of his memory; the history of his life ‘and ac- 
 tions in general furnishes proofs of his piety and zeal, 
 sufficient to transmit his name to the latest generations." 
 
 VI. It is needless to repeat here the observation we 
 have so often had occasion to make upon such conversions 
 as these, or to intimate to the reader that the savage na- 
 tions, who were thus dragooned into the church, became 
 the disciples of Christ, not so much in reality, as in out- 
 ward appearance. [['They professed, with an inward 
 reluctance, a religion which was inculcated by violence 
 and bloodshed, which recalled to their remembrance no- 
 
 and the worthy bishop. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. Fite p. 665, 668. 
 edit. Bruxelles. Fleury, in this and other parts of his history, shox, "Ss, 
 that he is but indifferently acquainted with the history of Germany, end 
 has not drawn from the best sourees. The authorities which Dr. Mo- 
 sheim produces for his account of the affair, are the Origines Guelphies, 
 tom. iil. p. 16, 19, 34, 55, 61, 63, 72, 82, with the celebrated preface ot 
 Scheidius, sect. Xiv. p. 41. ‘Ludewi io’s Reliquiz Manuscriptorum, tom. 
 vi. p. 230. Jo. Ern. de Westphalen, Monumenta inedita Rerua Cimbri- 
 carum et Megapolens. tom. ii. p. 1998. 
 
 ¢ That is, from the year 1124 to the year 1154, in which he died. 
 
 h There is a particular and ample account of Vicelinus in the Cimbria 
 Literata of Mollerus, tom. ii. p. 910, and in the Res Hamburg. of Lam- 
 becius, lib. ii. p. 12. See also upon this subject the Origines Neomo- 
 
 naster. et Bordesholmens. of the most learned and industrious Joh. Ern. 
 de Westphalen, which are published in the second tome of the Monu- 
 menta inedita Cimbrica, p. 2344. and the Preface to this tome, p. 33, 
 There is in this work a print of Vicelinus well engraven. 
 
262 
 
 thing but scenes of desolation and misery; and which, 
 indeed, when considered in the representations that were 
 giveu of it by the greatest part of the missionaries, was 
 but a few degrees removed from the absurdities of pagan- 
 ism.] "Che pure and rational religion of the Gospel was 
 never presented to these unhappy nations in its native 
 simplicity ; they were only taught to appease the Deity, 
 and to render him propitious, by a senseless round of tri- 
 fling ceremonies and bodily exercises, which, in many cir- 
 cumstances, resembled the superstitions they were obliged 
 to renounce, and might have been easily reconciled with 
 them, had it not been that the name and history of 
 Christ, the sign of the cross, and some diversity between 
 certain rites and ceremonies of the two religions, opposed 
 this coalition. Besides, the missionaries, whose zeal for 
 imposing the name of Christians upon this people was so 
 vehemeat and even furious, were extremely indulgent in 
 all othe: respects, and opposed their prejudices and vices 
 with much gentleness and forbearance. ‘They permitted 
 them to retain several rites and observances that were in 
 direct opposition to the spirit of Christianity, and to the 
 nature of true piety. ‘The truth of the matter seems to 
 have been this, that the leading views of these Christian 
 heralds, and propagators of the faith, a. smaller number 
 excepted, were rather turned toward the advancement of 
 their own interests, and the confirming and extending 
 the dominion of the Roman pontiff, than toward the true 
 conversion of these savage Pagans ; that conversion which 
 consists in the removal of ignorance, the correction of er- 
 ror, and the reformation of vice. 
 
 VU. A great revolution in Asiatic Tartary, which bor- 
 ders upon Cathay, changed the face of things in that dis- 
 fant region about the commencement of this century, 
 and proved, by its effects, extremely beneficial to the 
 Christian cause. ‘Toward the conclusion of the preced- 
 ing century, died Koiremkhan, otherwise called Kenkhan, 
 the most powerful monarch that was known in the east- 
 ern regions of Asia; and, while that mighty kingdom 
 was deprived of its chief, it was invaded with such un- 
 common valour and success, by a Nestorian priest, whose 
 name was John, that it fell before his victorious arms, and 
 acknowledged this warlike and enterprising presbyter as 
 its monarch, This was the famous Prester John, (as he 
 was called,) whose territory was, for a long time, consi- 
 dered by the Ewopeans as a second paradise, as the seat 
 of opulence and complete felicity. As he was a presby- 
 
 * The account I heve here given of this famous Presbyter, commonly 
 galled Prester John, who was, for a long time, considered as the great- 
 est and nappiest of all earthly monarchs, is what appeared to me the 
 most probable among the various relations that have been given of the 
 life and adventures of that extraordinary man. This account is more- 
 over confirmed by the testimonies of contemporary writers, whose know- 
 ledge and impartiality render them worthy of credit; such as William 
 of ‘Tripoli, (see Dutresne’s Adnot. ad Vitam Ludovici Sti. a Joinvillio 
 seriptam, p. 89.) as also a certain bishop of Gabala mentioned by Otto 
 Frising. Chronic. lib. vil. cap. xxxii. See also Guillaume Rubruquis, 
 Voyage, cap. xviii. p, 36, in the Antiqua in Asiam Itinera, collected by 
 father Bergeron, and Alberic in Chronico, ad A. 1165, and 1170, in 
 Leibnitzii Accessionibus Historicis, tom. ii. p. 345, 355. It is indeed 
 surprising, that such authentic records as these should have escaped the 
 observation of the learned, and that so many different opinions should 
 nave been advanced concerning Prester John, and the place of his resi- 
 dence, But it is too generally the fate of learned men, to overlook those 
 accounts that carry the plainest marks of evidence, and, from a passion 
 for the marvellous, to plunge into the regions of uncertainty and doubt. 
 
 In the fifteenth century, John IL, king of Portugal, employed Pedro Co- | 
 
 villiano ina laborious inquiry into the real situation of the kingdom of 
 Prester John. The curious voyager undertook this task, and, for infor- 
 niation in the matter, travelled with a few companions into Abyssinia ; 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 ter before his elevation to the royal dignity, many con- 
 tinued to call him Presbyter John, even when he was 
 seated on the throne ;* but his kingly name was Unkhan. 
 The high notions which the Greeks and Latins general- 
 ly entertained of the grandeur and magnificence of this 
 royal presbyter, were principally produced by the letters 
 he wrote to the Roman emperor, Frederick I., and to 
 Emanuel, emperor of the Greeks, in which, puffed up 
 with prosperity, and flushed with success, he vaunted his 
 victories over the neighbouring nations that disputed his 
 passage to the throne; described, in the most pompous 
 and extravagant terms, the splendour of his riches, the 
 grandeur of his state, and the extent of his dominions ; 
 and exalted himself far above all other earthly monarchs 
 All this was easily believed; and the Nestorians were 
 extremely zealous in confirming the boasts of their vain 
 glorious prince. He was succeeded by his son, or, as 
 others think, his brother, whose name was David, though, 
 in common discourse, he was also called Prester John, as 
 his predecessor had been. 'The reign of David was far 
 from being happy, nor did he end his days in peace; 
 Genghiz Khan, the great and warlike emperor of the 
 Tartars, invaded his territories toward the conclusion of 
 this century, and deprived him both of his life and his do- 
 minions. 
 
 VILL The new kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been 
 erected by the holy warriors of France, near the close of 
 the preceding century, seemed to flourish considerably at 
 the beginning of this, and to rest upon firm and ‘solid 
 foundations. This prosperous scene was, however, but 
 transitory, and was soon succeeded by the most terrible 
 calamities and desolation. For, when the Mohammedans 
 saw vast numbers of those who had engaged in this holy 
 war returning into Europe, and the Christian chiefs that 
 remained in Palestine divided into factions, and every one 
 advancing his private interest, without any regard to the 
 public good, they resumed their courage, recovered from 
 the terror and consternation mto which they had been 
 thrown hy the amazing valour and rapid success of the 
 European legions, and, gathering troops and soliciting suc- 
 cours from all quarters, they harassed and exhausted the 
 Christians by invasions and wars without interruption. 
 The Christians, on the other hand, sustained these efforts 
 with their usual fortitude, and maintained their ground 
 during many years; but when Atabeck Zenghi,® after 
 
 o 
 a long siege, made himself master of the city of Edessa, 
 
 and observing in the emperor of the Abyssinians, or Ethiopians, many 
 circumstances that resembled the accounts which, at that time, prevailed 
 in Europe concerning Prester John, he persuaded himself that he had 
 fulfilled his commission, and found out the residence of that extraordi- 
 nary monarch, who was the object of his researches. His opinion 
 easily gained credit in Europe, which had not yet emerged out of its 1gno- 
 rance and barbarism. See Morinus, de Sacris Eccles. Ordinationibus, 
 part ii. p. 367. But a new light was cast upon this matter in the seven- 
 teenth ¢entury, by the publication of several pieces, which the industry 
 of the curious drew forth from their obscurity, and by which a great 
 number of learned men were engaged to abandon the Portuguese opinion, 
 and were convinced that Prester John reigned in Asia, though they still 
 continued to dispute about the situation of his kingdom, and other parti- 
 cular circumstances. There are, notwithstanding all this, some men of 
 the most eminent learning in our times, who maintain, that John was 
 emperor of the Abyssinians, and thus prefer the Portuguese opinion, 
 though destitute of authentic proofs and testimonies, to the other above 
 mentioned, though supported by the strongest evidence, and the most un- 
 questionable authorities. See Euseb. Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex- 
 andr, p. 223, 337. Jos. Franc. Lafitau, Hist. des Decouvertes des Portu- 
 gais, tom. i. p. 58, and tom. iil. p. 57. Henr. le Grand, Dis. de Johanne 
 Presbytero in Lobo’s Voyage d’Abyssinie, tome i. p. 295. 
 
 b Atabeek was a title of honour given by the sultans to the viceroys or 
 
 <05, 
 
Cuap. I. 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 263 
 
 and threatened Antioch with the same fate, their courage | miserable handful of troops, which had survived the dis- 
 
 began to fail, and a diffidence in their own strength obliged 
 them to turn their eyes once more toward Europe. ‘They 
 accordingly implored, in the most lamentable strain, the 
 assistance of the European princes ; and requested that a 
 new army of cross-bearing champions might be sent to 
 support their tottering empire in the Holy Land. ‘Their 
 entreaties were favourably received by the Roman pontifis, 
 who left no method of persuasion unemployed, that might 
 engage the emperor and other Christian princes to under- 
 take a new expedition into Palestine. 
 
 IX. This new expedition was not, however, resolved 
 upon with such unanimity and precipitation as the former 
 
 had been; it was the subject of long deliberation, and its, 
 
 expetiency was keenly debated both in the cabinets of 
 princes, and in the assemblies of the clergy and the peo- 
 ple. 
 the boldest resolution and of the greatest authority, put an 
 end to those disputes under the pontificate of Eugenius IL, 
 who had been his disciple, and who was wholly governed 
 by his counsels. ‘I'his eloquent and zealous ecclesiastic 
 preached the cross, i. e. the crusade, in France and Ger- 
 many, with great ardour and success; and in the grand 
 
 arliament assembled at Vezelai, A. D. 1146, at which 
 cia VIL, king of France, his queen, and a prodigious 
 concourse of the principal nobility, were present, Bernard 
 recommended this holy expedition with such a persuasive 
 power, and declared with such assurance that he had a 
 divine commission to foretell its glorious success, that the 
 king, the queen, and all the nobles, immediately put on 
 the military cross, and prepared themselves for the journey 
 into Palestine. Conrad IL. emperor of Germany, was, 
 for some time, unmoved by the exhortations of Bernard ; 
 but he was at length gained over by the urgent solicita- 
 tions of the fervent abbot, and followed the example of the 
 French monarch. 'The two princes, each at the head of 
 a numerous army, set out for Palestine, to which they 
 were to march by different roads. But, before their arri- 
 val in the Holy Land, the greatest part of their forces pe- 
 rished miserably, some by famine, some by the sword of 
 the Mohammedans, some by shipwreck, and a considera- 
 ble number by the perfidious cruelty of the Greeks, who 
 looked upon the western nations as more to be feared than 
 the infidels themselves. Louis VIL. left his kingdom A. D. 
 
 1147, and, in the month of March of the following year, , 
 he arrived at Antioch, with the wretched remains of his | 
 Grecian provinces, where he had innumerable difficulties 
 
 army, dejected and exhausted by a series of hardships. 
 Conrad set out also in the year 1147, in the month of May; 
 and, in November following, he arrived at Nice, where he 
 joined the French army, after having lost the greatest part 
 of his own by calamities of various kinds. Irom Nice, 
 the two princes proceeded to Jerusalem, A. D. 1148; 
 whence they led back into Europe, the year following, the 
 
 jieutenants, whom they intrusted with the government of their pro- 
 vinces. The Latin authors, who have written the history of this holy 
 war, and of whom Bongarsius has given us a complete list, call this Ata- 
 beck Zenghi, Sanguinas. See Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. at the word 
 Atabeck, p. 142. 
 
 « Beside the historians enumerated by Bongarsius, see Mabillon, An- 
 nal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 399, 404, 407,417,451. Jac. Gervasii, Histoire 
 de Abbé Suger, tom. iii. p. 104, 128, 173, 190, 239. This was the fa- 
 mous Suger, abbot of St. Denys, who had seconded the exhortations of 
 Bernard in favour of the crusade, and whom Louis appointed regent of 
 France during his absence. Vertot, Histoire des Chevaliers de Malte, 
 tom. i. p. 86. Joh. Jac. Mascovius, de Rebus Imperii su» Conrado III. 
 
 Zt > Saladin, so called by the western writers, Salaha’ddin by the 
 
 Bernard, the famous abbot of Clairval, a man of. 
 
 —— 
 
 5 
 
 asters of the expedition. Such was the unhappy issue of 
 this second crusade, which was rendered ineffectual by a 
 variety of causes, but more particularly by the jealousies 
 and divisions that reigned among the Christian chiefs in 
 Palestine. Nor was it more ineffectual in Palestine than 
 it was detrimental to Europe, by draining the wealth of 
 its fairest provinces, and destroying a prodigious num der 
 of its inhabitants.* 
 
 X. 'The unhappy issue of this second expedition was 
 not, however, sufficient, when considered alone, to render 
 the affairs of the Christians in Palestine entirely desperate. 
 Had their chiefs and princes relinquished their animosities 
 and contentions, and attacked the common enemy with 
 their united force, they would have soon repaired their 
 losses, and recovered their glory. But thiswas far from being 
 the case. A fatal corruption of sentiments and manners 
 reigned among all ranks and orders. Both the people 
 and their leaders, and more especially the latter, abandoned 
 themselves without reluctance, to all the excesses of am- 
 bition, avarice, and injustice; they indulged themselves 
 in the practice of all sorts of vices ; and by their intestine 
 quarrels, jealousies, and discords, they weakened their ef- 
 forts against the enemies that surrounded them, and con- 
 sumed their strength by thus unhappily dividingit. Saladin 
 viceroy or rather sultan of Egypt and Syria,” and the most 
 valiant chief of whom the Mohammedan annals boast, 
 took advantage of these lamentable divisions. He waged 
 war against the Christians with the utmost valour and suc- 
 cess; took prisoner Guy of Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, 
 in a fatal battle fought near "Tiberias, A. D. 1187; and, 
 in the course of the same year, reduced Jerusalem itself 
 under his dominion.s 'The carnage and desolation that 
 accompanied this dreadful campaign, threw the affairs of 
 the Christians in the east into a deplorable condition, and 
 left them no glimpse of hope, but what arose from the unex- 
 pected succours of the European princes. Succours were 
 obtained for them by the Roman pontiffs with much diffi- 
 culty, in consequence of repeated solicitations and entrea- 
 ties. But the event, as we shall soon see, was by no means 
 answerable to the deep schemes that were concerted, or to 
 the pains that were employed, for the support of the tot- 
 tering kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 
 XI. The third expedition was undertaken, A. D. 1189, 
 by Frederic I. surnamed Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, 
 who, with a prodigious army, marched through several 
 
 and obstacles to overcome, into Asia Minor, whence, after 
 having defeated the sultan of Iconium, he penetrated into 
 Syria. His valour and conduct promised successful and glo- 
 rious campaigns to the army he commanded, when, by an 
 unhappy accident, he lost his life in the river Saleph,? which 
 runs through Seleucia. ‘The manner of his death is not 
 
 Orientals, was no longer vizir or viceroy of Egypt, when he undertook 
 the siege of Jerusalem, but had usurped the sovereign power in that 
 country, and had also added to his dominions, by right of conquest, se- 
 veral provinces of Syria. 
 
 * See the Life of Saladin by Bohao’ddin Ebn Sheddad, an Arabian 
 writer, whose history of that warlike sultan was published at Leyden in 
 the year 1732, by the late celebrated professor Albert Schultens, and ac- 
 companied with an excellent Latin translation. See also Herbelot, Bib- 
 lioth. Orient. at the article Salah-a’ddin, p. 742, and Marigny’s Histoire 
 des Arabes, tome iv. p. 289. 37> But, above all, see the learned History 
 of the Arabians in the modern part of the Universal History. 
 
 x77 4 Maimbourg, in his Histoire des Croisades, and Marigny, in his 
 Hist. du xii™*, Siecle, say, that Frederic perished in the Cydnus, a river 
 
64 
 
 known with certainty; the loss, however, of such an able 
 chief dejected the spirits of his troops, so that considerable 
 numbers of them returned into Europe. Those who re- 
 mained continued the war under the command of F'rede- 
 ric, son of the deceased emperor ; but the greatest part of 
 them perished miserably by a pestilential disorder, which 
 raged with extraordinary violence in the camp, and swept 
 off vast numbers every day. The new general died of 
 this terrible disease, A. D. 1191; those who escaped its 
 fury were dispersed, and few returned to theirown country.* 
 
 XIf. The example of Frederic Barbarossa was follow- 
 ed, in the year 1190, by Philip Augustus, king of France, 
 and the lion-hearted Richard, king of England. 'These 
 two monarchs set out from their respective dominions 
 with a considerable number of ships of war and trans- 
 ports ;® arrived in Palestine in the year 1191, each at the 
 head of a separate army; and were pretty successful in 
 their first encounters with the infidels. After the reduc- 
 tion of the strong city of Acre, or Ptolemais, which had 
 been defended by the Moslems with the most obstinate 
 valour, the French monarch returned into Europe, in the 
 month of July, 1191, leaving, however, a considerable 
 part of the army which he had conducted into Palestine. 
 After his departure the king of England pushed the war 
 with the greatest vigour, gave daily marks of his heroic 
 intrepidity and military skill, and not’ only defeated Sala- 
 din in several engagements, but also made himself mas- 
 ter of Jaffav and Cesarea. Deserted, however, by the 
 French and Italians, and influenced by other motives and 
 considerations of the greatest weight, he concluded, A. 
 D. 1192, with Saladin, a truce of three years, three 
 months, and as many days, and evacuated Palestine with 
 his whole army.* Such was the issue of the third expe- 
 dition against the infidels, which nearly exhausted Eng- 
 land, France, and Germany, both of men and money, 
 without bringing any solid advantage, or giving even a fa- 
 vourable turn, to the affairs of the Christians in the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 XI. These bloody wars between the Christians and 
 the Mohammedans gave rise to three famous military 
 orders, whose office it was to destroy the robbers that in- 
 fested the public roads, to harass the Moslems by perpetu- 
 al inroads and warlike achievements, to assist the poor 
 and sick pilgrims, whom the devotion of the times con- 
 ducted to the holy sepulchre, and to perform other ser- 
 vices that tended to the general good.: The first order 
 was that of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who 
 derived their name, and particularly that of Hospitalers, 
 from an hospital in that city, dedicated to St. John the 
 Baptist, in which certain pious and charitable brethren 
 were constantly employed in relieving and refreshing with 
 necessary supplies the indigent and diseased pilgrims, who 
 were daily arriving at Jerusalem. When this city be- 
 came the metropolis of a new kingdom, the revenues of 
 
 of Cilicia. But they are easily to be reconciled with our author, since, ac- 
 cording to the descriptions given of the Saleph by several learned geo- 
 graphers, and among others by Roger the Annalist, it appears that the 
 Saleph and the Cydnus were the same river under different names. 
 
 * See an ample and satisfactory account of this unhappy campaign in 
 the Life of Frederic I. written in German by Henry count Bunau p- 
 278, 293, 309. 
 
 37> The learned authors of the Modern Universal History affirm 
 that Philip arrived in Palestine, with a supply of men, money, &c. on 
 board of six ships, whereas Renaudot mentions 100 sail as employed in 
 this expedition. The fleet of Richard consisted of 150 large ships, be- 
 side galleys, &c. 
 
 | 
 
 KXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I, 
 
 the hospital were so highly augmented by the liberality 
 of several princes, and the pious donations of such opu- 
 lent persons as frequented the holy places, that they far 
 surpassed the wants of those whom they were designed 
 to cherish and relieve. Hence it was that Raymond du 
 Puy, who was the ruler of this charitable house, offered 
 to the king of Jerusalem to make war upon the Moharn- 
 medans at his own expense, seconded by his brethren, 
 who served under him in this famous hospital. Baldwin 
 IL, to whom this proposal was made, readily accepted it. 
 and the enterprise was solemnly approved and confirm- 
 ed by the authority of the Roman pontiff. Thus was 
 the world surprised with the strange transformation of a 
 devout fraternity, who had lived remote from the noise 
 and tumult of arms, in the performance of works of 
 charity and mercy, into a valiant and hardy band of war- 
 riors. ‘The whole order was upon this occasion divided 
 into three classes: the first contained the knights, or sol- 
 diers of illustrious birth, who were to unsheath their 
 swords in the Christian cause; in the second were com- 
 prehended the priests, who were to officiate in the church- 
 es that belonged to the order; and in the third were the 
 serving brethren, or the soldiers of low condition. "This 
 celebrated order gave, upon many occasions, eminent 
 proofs of resolution and valour, and acquired immense 
 opulence by heroic exploits. When Palestine was irreco- 
 verably lost, the knights passed into the isle of Cyprus ; 
 they afterwards made themselves masters of the isle of 
 Rhodes, where they maintained themselves for a long 
 time; but, being finally driven thence by the Turks, they 
 received from the emperor Charles Y. a grant of the island 
 of Malta.‘ 
 
 XIV. Another order, which was entirely of a military 
 nature, was that of the knights templars, so called from 
 a palace, adjoining to the temple of Jerusalem, which 
 was appropriated to their use for a certain time by Bald- 
 win Hl. ‘The foundations of this order were laid at Je- 
 rusalem, in the year 1118, by Hugues des Payens, Geof- 
 frey of St. Aldemar, or of St. Amour, as some will have 
 it, and seven other persons, whose names are unknown ; 
 but it was not before the year 1228 that it acquired a 
 proper degree of stability, by being solemnly confirmed 
 in the council of Troyes, and subjected to a rule of dis- 
 cipline drawn up by St. Bernard.¢ These warlike tem- 
 plars were to defend and support the cause of Christianity 
 by force of arms, to have inspection over the public roads, 
 and to protect the pilgrims, who came to visit Jerusalem, 
 against the insults and barbarity of the Moslems. ‘The 
 order flourished for some time, and acquired, by the va- 
 lour of its knights, immense riches, and an eminent de- 
 gree of military renown; but, as their prosperity in- 
 creased, their vices were multiplied, and their arrogance, 
 luxury, and inhuman cruelty, rose at last to such a mon- 
 strous height, that their privileges were revoked, and their 
 
 ¢ More commonly known by the name of Joppa. 
 
 4 Daniel, Histoire de France, tome iii. p. 426.—Rapin Thoyras, His- 
 toire d’Angleterre, tome ii. Regne de Richard Cew-de-Lion.—Marig- 
 ny, Histoire des Arabes, tome iv. p. 285. 
 
 ¢ The writers, who have given the history of these three orders, are 
 enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Bibliograph. Antiquar. p. 465; but 
 his enumeration is not complete. 
 
 f The best and most recent history of this order is that which was 
 composed by Vertot at the request of the knights of Malta; it was first 
 
 ublished at Paris, and afterwards at Amsterdam, in five volumes 87 }- 
 in the year 1732, See also Helyot’s Hist. des Ordres, tome il. p. 72. 
 €See Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 159. 
 
Crap. IL 
 
 order suppressed with the most terrible circumstances of | 
 
 infamy and severity, by a decree of the pope and of 
 the council of Vienne in Dauphiné, as we shall see in the 
 history of the fourteenth century.* 
 
 XV. The third order resembled the first in this re- 
 spect, that, though it was a military institution, the care 
 of the poor and relief of the sick were not excluded from 
 the services it prescribed. Its members were distinguish- 
 ed by the title of Teutonic Knights of St. Mary of Je- 
 rusalem ; and as to its rise, we cannot, with any degree 
 of certainty, trace it farther back than the year 1195, 
 during the siege of Acre, or Ptolemais, though there are 
 historians adventurous enough to seek its origin (which 
 they place at Jerusalem) in a more remote period. Du- 
 ring the long and tedious siege of Acre, several pious 
 and charitable merchants of Bremen and Lubeck, moved 
 with compassion at the sight of the miseries which the 
 besiegers suffered in the midst of their success, devoted 
 themselves entirely to the service of the sick and wound- 
 ed soldiers, and erected a kind of hospital, or tent, where 
 they gave constant attendance to all such unhappy ob- 
 jects as had recourse to their charity. This pious under- 
 taking was so agreeable to the German princes, who 
 were present at this terrible siege, that they thought pro- | 
 per to form a fraternity of German knights to bring it to 
 perfection. ‘Their resolution was highly approved by 
 pope Celestine ILL, who confirmed the new order by a 
 bull issued on the twenty-third of February, A. D. 1192. 
 This order was entirely appropriated to the Germans ; 
 and even of them none were admitted as members of it, 
 but such as were of an illustrious birth. The support of 
 Christianity, the defence of the Holy Land, and the re- 
 lief of the poor and needy, were the important duties and 
 services to which the Teutonic knights devoted them- 
 selves by a solemn vow. Austerity and frugality were 
 the first characteristics of this rising order, and the eques- 
 trian garment,® bread, and water, were the only rewards 
 which the knights derived from their generous labours. 
 But as, according to the fate of human things, prosperity 
 generates corruption, so it happened that this austerity 
 was of a short duration, and diminished in proportion as 
 the revenues and possessions of the order were augment- 
 ed. ‘The Teutonic knights, after their retreat from Pa- | 
 lestine, made themselves masters of Prussia, Livonia, 
 Courland, and Semigallia; but, in process of time, their 
 victorious arms received several checks; and when the 
 light of the reformation arose upon Germany, they 
 were deprived of the richest provinces which they possess- 
 ed in that country ; though they still retain there a cer- 
 tain portion of their ancient territories. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened 
 to the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue progress, of Christianity in the west had dis- 
 armed its most inveterate enemies, and deprived them of 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 265 
 
 the power of doing much mischief, though they still en- 
 tertained the same aversion to the disciples of Jesus. 
 ‘The Jews and Pagans were no longer‘able to oppose the 
 propagation of the Gospel, or to oppress its ministers. 
 Their malignity remained ; but their credit and authority 
 were gone. ‘The Jews were accused by the Christians 
 of various crimes, whether real or fictitious we shall not 
 determine ; but, instead of attacking their accusers, they 
 were content to defend their own lives, and secure their 
 persons, without daring to give vent to their resentment. 
 Affairs were in a somewhat different state in the northern 
 provinces. ‘lhe Pagans were yet numerous there in se- 
 veral districts ; and wherever they composed the majori- 
 ty, they persecuted the Christians with the utmost bar- 
 barity, the most unrelenting and merciless fury. It is 
 true, the Christian kings and princes, who lived in the 
 neighbourhood of these persecuting barbarians, checked 
 by degrees their impetuous rage, and never ceased to ha- 
 rass and weaken them by hostilities and incursions, until 
 at length theysubdued them entirely, and deprived them, by 
 force, both of their independence and their superstitions. 
 II. "The writers of this century complain grievously of 
 the inhuman rage with which the Saracens persecuted 
 the Christians in the east; nor can we question the truth 
 of what they relate on the subject of this severe perse- 
 cution. But they pass over in silence the principal rea- 
 sons that inflamed the resentment of this fierce people, 
 and voluntarily forget that the Christians were the ag- 
 gressors in this dreadful war. If we consider the matter 
 with impartiality and candour, the conduct of the Sara- 
 cens, however barbarous it may have been, will not ap- 
 pear so surprising, particularly when we reflect on the 
 provocations they received. In the first place, they hada 
 right, by the laws of war, to repel by force the violent in- 
 vasion of their country; and the Christians could not 
 expect, without being chargeable with the most audacious 
 impudence, that a people whom they attacked with a for- 
 midable army, and whom, in the fury of their misguided 
 zeal, they massacred without mercy, should receive in- 
 sults with a tame submission, and give up their lives and. 
 possessions without resistance. It must also be confessed, 
 though with sorrow, that the Christians did not content 
 themselves with making war upon the Mohammedans 
 
 |e 
 in order to rescue Jerusalem and the holy sepulchre out 
 
 of their hands, but carried their brutal fury to the great- 
 est length, disgraced their cause by the most detestable 
 crimes, filled the eastern provinces through which they 
 passed with scenes of horror, and made the Saracens 
 feel the terrible effects of their violence and barbarity 
 wherever their arms were successful. Is it then so sur- 
 prising to see the infidel Saracens committing, by way of 
 reprisal, the same barbarities that the holy warriors had 
 perpetrated without the least provocation? Is there any 
 thing so new and so extraordinary in this, that a people 
 naturally fierce, and exasperated, moreover, by the cala- 
 -mities of a religious war, carried on against them in con- 
 _tradiction to all the dictates of justice and humanity, should 
 
 * See Matthew Paris, Histor. Major. p. 56, for an account of the com- 
 mehcement of this order. See also Putean, Histoire de Ordre Mili- 
 taire des 'Templiers, which was republished with considerable additions, 
 at Brussels, in 4to. in the year 1751: and Nic. Gurtleri Historia Tem- 
 plaiorum Militum, Amstelodam. 1691, in 8vo. 
 
 > This garment was a white mantle with a black cross. 
 
 ¢ See Raymondi Duellii Histor. Ord, Teutonici, published in folio at 
 Vienna, in’ 1727.—Chronicon Prussixe, by Peter Dufburg, published in | 
 
 No. XXIIE. 7 
 
 67 
 
 Ato. at Jena, in the year 1679, by Christoph. Hartknoch—Helyot, Hist. 
 des Ordres, tome ii. p. 140.—Chronicon Ordinis Teutonici, in Anton. 
 
 | Matthei Analectis veteris evi, tom. v. p. 621, 658, ed. nov-—Privilegia 
 
 | oe Teutonici in Petr. A Ludewig Reliquiis Manuscriptor. tom. vi. 
 
 | p. 43. 
 
 | 4 Helmold, Chronic. Sclavor. lib. i. cap. xxxiv. p. 88, cap. xxxv. p. 89, 
 
 | cap. xl. p. 99.—Lindenbrogii Scriptor, Fe peiaooen p. 195, 196, 201.— 
 Petri Lambecii Res Hamburg. lib. i. p. 23, 
 
 . 
 
266 
 
 avenge themselves upon the Christians who resided in Pa- 
 lestine, as professing the religion which gave occasion to 
 the war, and attached, of consequence, to the cause of 
 their enemies and invaders ? 
 
 Ill. The rapid and amazing victories of the great 
 Genghiz-Khan, emperor. of the 'Tartars, gave an unhap- 
 py turn to the affairs of the Christians in the northern 
 parts of Asia, near the close of this century. ‘This war- 
 like prince, who was by birth a Mogul, and whose mili- 
 tary exploits raise him in the list of fame above almost 
 all the commanders either of ancient or modern times, 
 rendered his name formidable throughout all Asia, whose 
 most flourishing dynasties fell successively before his vic- 
 torious arms. David, or Unkhan, who, according to 
 some, was the son, or as others will have it, the brother, 
 but who was certainly the successor, of the famous Pres- 
 ter John, and was himself so called in common discourse, 
 was the first victim that Genghiz sacrificed to his bound- 
 less ambition. He invaded his territory, and put to 
 flight his troops in a bloody battle, where David lost, at 
 
 * The Greek, Latin, and Oriental writers, are far from being agreed 
 concerning the year in which the emperor of the ‘l'artars attacked and 
 defeated Prester John. The greater part of the Latin writers place this 
 event in the year 1202, and consequently in the thirteenth century. But 
 Mareus Paulus Venetus (in his book de Regionibus Orientalibus, lib. 1. 
 cap. li. lii. lili.) and other historians whose accounts I have followed as 
 the most probable, place the defeat of this second Prester John in the 
 
 ear 1187. The learned and illustrious Demetrius Cantemir (in his 
 ref. ad Histor. Imperii Ottomanici, p. 45, tom. i. of the French edition) 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. . 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the same time, his kingdom and his lifes The princes, 
 who governed the Turks, Indians, and the province of 
 Cathay, fell, in their turn, before the victorious Tartar, 
 and were all either put to death, or rendered tributary ; 
 nor did Genghiz stop here, but proceeding into Persia, 
 India, and Arabia, he overturned the Saracen’ dominion 
 in those regions, and substituted that of the 'Tartars in 
 its place.» From this period the Christian cause lost much 
 of its authority and credit in. the provinces that had been 
 ruled by Prester John and his successor David, and con- 
 tinued to decline and lose ground until it sunk entirely 
 under the weight of oppression, and was succeeded in 
 some places by the errors of the Mohammedan faith, and 
 in others by the superstitions of paganism. We must 
 except, however, in this general account, the kingdom of 
 Tangut, the chief residence of Prester John, in which his 
 posterity, who persevered in the profession of Christianity, 
 maintained, for a long time, a certain sort of tributary 
 dominion, which exhibited, indeed, but a faint shadow of 
 their former grandeur. 
 
 gives an account of this matter different from the two now mentioned, 
 and affirms, upon the authority of the Arabian writers, that Genghiz did 
 not invade the territories of his neighbours before the year 1214. 
 
 bSee Petit de la Croix, Histoire de Genghiz-Can, p. 120, 121, pub- 
 lished in 12mo. at Paris, inthe year 1711.—Herbelot, Biblioth. Oriental. 
 at the article Genghiz-Khan, p. 378.—Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Va- 
 tican. tom. ill. parti. p. 101, and 295.—Jean du Plan Carpin, Voyage er, 
 Tartarie, ch. v. in the Recueil des Voyages au Nord, tome vii. p. 350. 
 
 ¢ Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican, tom. iii. part ii. p. 500. 
 
 e 
 
 cet, 
 
eter 1. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 Doncerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Norwrrnstanpine the decline of the Grecian 
 empire, the calamities in which it was repeatedly involved, 
 and the frequent revolutions and civil wars that consumed 
 its strength, and were precipitating its ruin, the arts and 
 sciences still flourished in Greece, and covered with glory 
 such as cultivated them with assiduity and success. 
 This may be ascribed, not only to the liberality of the 
 emperors, and to the extraordinary zeal which the family 
 of the Comneni discovered for the advancement of learn- 
 ing, but also to the provident vigilance of the patriarchs 
 of Constantinople, who took all possible measures to pre- 
 vent the clergy from falling into ignorance and sloth, 
 lest the Greek church should thus be deprived of able 
 champions to defend its cause against the Latins. ‘The 
 learned and ingenious commentaries of Eustathius, bish- 
 op of Thessalonica, upon Homer and Dionysius the 
 Geographer, are sufficient to show the diligence and la- 
 bour that were employed by men of the first genius in 
 the improvement of classical erudition, and in the study 
 of antiquity. And if we turn our view toward the vari- 
 ous writers who composed in this century the history of 
 their own times, such as Cinnamus, Glycas, Zonaras, 
 Nicephorus, Briennius, and others, we shall find in their 
 productions undoubted marks of learning and genius, as 
 well as of alaudable ambition to obtain the esteem and 
 approbation of future ages. 
 
 Il. Nothing could equal the zeal and enthusiasm with 
 which Michael Anchialus, patriarch of Constantinople, 
 encouraged the study of philosophy by his munificence, 
 and still more by the extraordinary influence of his illus- 
 trious example. It seems, however, to have been the 
 Aristotelian philosophy that was favoured in such a dis- 
 tinguished manner by this eminent prelate ; and it was in 
 the illustration and improvement of this profound and 
 intricate system that those Greeks who had a philosophical 
 turn were principally employed, as appears from several 
 remains of ancient erudition, and particularly from the 
 commentaries of Eustratius upon the ethics and other 
 treatises of the Grecian sage. We are not, however, to 
 imagine that the sublime wisdom of Plato was neglected 
 in this century, or that his doctrines had fallen into disre- 
 pute. It appears, on the contrary, that they were adopted 
 by many. Such, more especially, as had imbibed the 
 precepts and spirit of the Mystics, preferred them infinitely 
 to the Peripatetic philosophy, which they considered as 
 
 * Theodorus Balsamon, Pref. ad Photii Nomocanonem in Henr. Jus- 
 telli Bibliotheca Juris canonici veteris, tom. il. p. 814. 
 
 t Beulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p. 463.—Pasquier, Recherches 
 de a France, liv. iii. ch. xxix.—Petri Lambecii Histor. Biblioth. Vin- 
 ae lib. ii. cap. v. p. 260.—Histoire Liter. de la France, tome ix. p. 
 
 0—80. 
 
 ¢Boulay, Hist Acad. Paris, tom. ii. p.215. Pocquet dela Livoniere. 
 Dissert. sur l’Antiquite de Université d’Angers, p. 21. published in 
 4to. at Angers, 1736. 
 
 4 Histoire Gen. de Languedoc, par les Benedictins, tome ii. p. 517. 
 
 The inhabitants of Bologna pretend that their academy was founded 
 
 an endless source of sophistry and presumption, while 
 they looked upon the Platonic system as the philosophy 
 of reason and piety, of candour and virtue. his diver- 
 sity of sentiment produced the famous controversy, watch 
 was managed with such vehemence and erudition among 
 the Greeks, concerning the respective merit and excellence 
 of the Peripatetic and Platonic doctrines. 
 
 Il. In the western world the pursuit of knowledge was 
 now carried on with incredible emulation and ardour ; and 
 all branches of science were studied with the greatest 
 application and industry. ‘This literary enthusiasm was 
 encouraged and supported by the influence and liberality 
 of some of the European monarchs, and Roman pontifls, 
 who perceived the happy tendency of the sciences to 
 soften the savage manners of uncivilized nations, and 
 thereby to administer an additional support to civil govern- 
 ment, as well as an ornament to human society. Hence 
 learned societies were formed, and colleges established, in 
 which the liberal arts and sciences were publicly taught. 
 The prodigious concourse of students, who resorted thither 
 for instruction, occasioned, in process of time, the enlarge- 
 ment of these schools, which had arisen from small 
 beginnings, and their erection into universities, as they 
 were called, in the succeeding age. ‘The principal cities 
 of Europe were adorned with establishments of this kind; 
 but Paris surpassed them all in the number and variety 
 of its schools, the merit and reputation of its public 
 teachers, and the immense multitude of the studious 
 youth that frequented its colleges. And thus was exhi- 
 bited in that famous city the model of our present schools 
 of learning ; a model indeed defective in several respects, 
 but which, in after-times, was corrected and improved, 
 and brought gradually to higher degrees of perfection.® 
 About the same time the famous school of Angers, in 
 which the youth were instructed in various sciences, and 
 particularly and principally in the civil law, was founded 
 by the zeal and industry of Ulgerius, bishop of that city ;¢ 
 and the college of Montpelier, where law and physic were 
 taught with great success, had already acquired a consi- 
 derable reputation.4 The same literary spirit reigned also 
 in Italy. The academy of Bologna, whose origin may 
 be traced higher than this century, was now in the highest 
 renown, and was frequented by great numbers of students, 
 and more especially by such as were desirous of being 
 instructed in the civil and canon laws. "The fame of this 
 academy was, in a great measure, established by the 
 munificence of the emperor Lotharius IL. who took it 
 under his protection, and enriched it with new privileges 
 and immunities. In the same province flourished also 
 
 in the fifth century by Theodosius IT. and they pretend to show the di- 
 ploma by which that emperor enriched their city with this valuable es- 
 tablishment. But the greatest part of those writers, who have studied 
 with attention and impartiality the records of ancient times, maintain, 
 that this diploma is a spurious production, and allege weighty arguraents 
 to prove, that the academy of Bologna is of no older date than the e.ev- 
 enth century, and that in the succeeding age, particularly from the time 
 of Lotharius Il. it received those improvements that rendercd it so fa- 
 mous throughout all Europe. See Sigonii Historia Bononiensis, as \t is 
 published, with learned observations, in the works of that excellent an- 
 thor—Muratori Antiq. Italic. medii AZ vi, tom, ii. p. 23, 884, 893,.—S ust, 
 
268 
 
 the celebrated school of Salernum, where great numbers 
 resorted, and which was wholly set apart for the study 
 of physic. While this zealous emulation, in advancing 
 the cause of learning and philosophy, animated so 
 many princes and prelates, and discovered itself in the 
 erection of so many academies and schools of learning, the 
 Roman pontiff, Alexander III. was seized also with noble 
 enthusiasm. In a council holden at Rome, A. D. 1179, 
 he caused a solemn law to be published, for erecting new 
 schools in the monasteries and cathedrals, and restoring 
 to their primitive lustre those which, through the sloth 
 and ignorance of the monks and bishops, had fallen into 
 ruins But the effect which this law was intended to 
 produce was prevented by the growing fame of the newly 
 erected academies, to which the youth resorted from all 
 parts, and left the episcopal and monastic schools entirely 
 empty ; so that they gradually declined, and sunk, at 
 last, into a total oblivion. 
 
 IV. Many. were the signal advantages that attended 
 these literary establishments ; and what is particularly 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 worthy of notice, they not only rendered knowledge more 
 general by facilitating the means of instruction, but were 
 also the occasion of forming a new circle of sciences, 
 better digested, and much more comprehensive than that 
 which had been hitherto studied by the greatest adepts in 
 learning. he whole extent of learning and philosophy, 
 before this period, was confined to the seven liberal arts, 
 as they were commonly called, of which three were known 
 by the name of the trivium, which comprehended gram- 
 mar, rhetoric, and logic; and the other four by the title 
 of quadrivium, which included arithmetic, music, geome- 
 try, and astronomy. ‘The greatest part of the learned, as 
 we have formerly observed, were satisfied with their 
 literary acquisitions, when they had made themselves 
 masters of the trivium, while such as with an adventu- 
 rous flight aspired to the quadrivium, were considered as 
 stars of the first magnitude, as the great luminaries of the 
 learned world. But in this century the aspect of letters 
 underwent a considerable and an advantageous change. 
 The liberal arts and sciences were multiplied ; and new 
 and unfrequented paths of knowledge were opened to the 
 emulation of the studious youth. ‘Theology was placed 
 in the number of the sciences ; not that ancient theology 
 
 which had no merit but its simplicity, and which was 
 drawn, without the least order or connexion, from divers 
 passages of the holy scriptures, and from the opinions and 
 inventions of the primitive doctors, but that philosophical 
 or scholastic theology which, with the deepest abstraction, 
 traced divine truth to its first principles, and thence follow- 
 ed it into its various connexions and branches. Nor was 
 theology alone added to the ancient circle of sciences ; the 
 studies of the learned languages, of the civil and canon 
 law, and of physic,” were now brought into high repute. 
 Partisular academies were consecrated to the culture of 
 each of these sciences, in various places ; and thus it was 
 
 Parr 75, 
 
 natural to consider them as important branches of erudi- 
 tion, and an acquaintance with them as a qualification 
 necessary to such as aimed at universal learning. Al} 
 this required a considerable change in the division of the 
 sciences hitherto received ; and this change was accord 
 ingly brought about. ‘The seven liberal arts were, by 
 degrees, reduced to one general title, and were compre 
 hended under the name of philosophy, to which theology 
 jurisprudence, and physic, were added. And hence origi 
 nated the four classes of science, or, to*use the academic 
 phrase, the four faculties which prevailed in the universi- 
 ties, in the following century. 
 
 V. A happy and unexpected event restored in Italy the 
 lustre and authority of the ancient Roman law, and, at 
 the same time, lessened the credit of those systems of 
 legislation which had been received for several ages 
 past. This event was the discovery of the original 
 manuscript of the famous Pandect of Justinian, which 
 was found in the ruins of Amalphi, or Melfi, when that 
 city was taken by Lotharius IL. in 1137, and of which 
 that emperor made a present to the inhabitants of Pisa, 
 whose fleet had contributed, in a particular manner, to the 
 success of the siege. This admirable collection, which 
 had been almost buried in oblivion, was no sooner re- 
 covered, than the Roman law became the grand object of 
 the studies and labours of the learned. In the academy 
 of Bologna, colleges were erected expressly for the study 
 of the Roman jurisprudence ; and these excellent institu- 
 tions were multiplied in several parts of Italy, in process 
 of time, and animated other European nations to imitate 
 so wise an example. Hence arose a great revolution in 
 the public tribunals, and an entire change in their judicial 
 proceedings. Hitherto different systems of law had been 
 followed in different courts; and every person of distinc- 
 tion, particularly among the Franks, had the liberty of 
 choosing that code of law which was to be the rule of his 
 conduct. But the Roman law acquired such credit and 
 authority, that it superseded, by degrees, all other laws in 
 the greatest part of Europe, and was substituted in the 
 place of the Salic, Lombard, and Burgundian codes, which 
 before this period were in the highest reputation. It is an 
 ancient opinion, that Lotharius I. pursuant to the counsels 
 and solicitations of Irnerius,* principal professor of the 
 Roman law in the academy of Bologna, published an 
 edict enjoining the abrogation of all the statutes then in 
 force, and substituting in their place the Roman law, by 
 which, for the future, all without exception were to modify 
 their contracts, terminate their differences, and regulate 
 their actions. But this opinion, as many learned men 
 have abundantly proved,‘ is far from being supported by. 
 sufficient evidence. 
 
 VI. No sooner was the civil law placed in the number 
 of the sciences, and considered as an important branch of 
 academical learning, than the Roman pontiffs, and their 
 zealous adherents, judged it not only expedient, but also 
 
 Hen. Bohmeri Prefat. ad Corpus Juris Canon. p. 9, as also the elesant 
 History of the Academy of Bologna written in the German lancuace 
 he learned Keufelius, and published at Helmstadt in 8vo. in the year 
 750. 
 * See B. Bohmeri Jus Eccles. Protestant. tom. iv. p. ‘705. 
 3° The word physica, though, according to its etymology, it denotes 
 the study of natural philosophy in general, was, in the twelfth century, 
 applied particularly to medicinal studies; and it has also preserved that 
 limited sense in the English language. 
 © Otherwise called Werner. 
 
 4 See Herm. Conringius de Origine Juris Germanici, cap. xxii.—Gui 
 do Grandus, Epist. de Pandectis, p. 21, 69, published at Florence, in 4to 
 in 1737.—Henry Brenemann, Historia Pandectar. p. 41—Lud. Ant 
 Muratori, Pref. ad Leges Langobardicas, apud scriptor. rerum Ital 
 tom. 1. part il. p. 4, &e. Antiq. Ital. medii AXvi, tom. il. p. 285. There 
 was a warm controversy carried on concerning this matter between 
 George Calixtus and Barthol. Nihusius, the latter of whom embraceg 
 the vulgar opinion concerning the edict of Lotharius, obtained by the 
 solicitations of Imerius ; of this controversy there is a circumstantial ac 
 count in the Cimbria Literata of Mollerus, tom. iii. p. 142. 
 
Cuapv. I. = 
 
 highly necessary, that the canon law should have the 
 aame privilege. ‘There existed, before this time, certain 
 collections of the canons or laws of the church ; but these 
 collections were so destitute of order and method, and 
 were so defective, both in respect to matter and form, that 
 they could not be conveniently explained in the schools, 
 or be brought into use as systems of ecclesiastical polity. 
 Hence it was, that Gratian, a Benedictine monk, belong- 
 ing to the convent of St. felix and Nabor at Bologna, 
 and by birth a ‘Tuscan, composed about the year 1130, 
 for the use of the schools, an abridgment, or Epitome of 
 Canon Law, drawn from the letters of the pontiffs, the 
 decrees of councils, and the writings of the ancient 
 doctors. Pope Eugenius ILI. was extremely pleased with 
 this work, which was also received with the highest 
 applause by the doctors and professors of Bologna, and 
 was unanimously adopted, as the text they were to follow 
 in their public lectures. ‘The professors at Paris were the 
 first that followed the example of those of Bologna, 
 which, in process of time, was imitated by the greatest 
 part of the European colleges. But, notwithstanding the 
 encomiums bestowed upon this performance, which was 
 commonly called the decretal of Gratian,s and was en- 
 titled, by the author himself, the re-union or coalition of 
 the jarring canons,» several most learned and eminent 
 writers of the Romish communion acknowledge, that it is 
 full of errors and defects. As, however, the main design 
 of this abridgment was to support the despotism, and to 
 extend the authority of the Roman pontiffs, its innumera- 
 bie defects were overlooked, its merits were exaggerated ; 
 and, what is still more surprising, it enjoys, at this day, in 
 an age of light and liberty, that high degree of veneration 
 and authority, which was inconsiderately, though more 
 excusably, lavished upon it in an age of tyranny, super- 
 stition, and darkness.¢ 
 Vil. Such among the Latins as were ambitious of 
 making a figure in the republic of letters, applied them- 
 selves to philosophy with the utmost zeal and diligence. 
 Taken in its most extensive and general meaning, that 
 atudy comprehended, according to the method which was 
 the most generally received toward the middle of this 
 century, four classes: it was divided into theoretical, 
 practical, mechanical, and logical. The first class com- 
 prised natural theology, mathematics, and natural phi- 
 losophy. In the second class were ranked ethics, cecono- 
 mics, and politics. 'The third contained the seven arts 
 that are more immediately subservient to the purposes 
 of life, such as navigation, agriculture, hunting, &c. 
 The fourth was divided into grammar and composition, 
 * Decretum Gratiana. » Concordia Discordantium Canonum. — 
 * See, among others, Anton. Augustinus, de Emendatione Gratiani, 
 published in 8vo. at Arnheim, A. D 1678, with the learned observations 
 of Steph. Baluze and Ger. a Maestricht. Pay 
 4 See Gerhard. a Maestricht, Historia Juris Ecclesiastici, sect. 293, p. 
 325.—B. Just. Hen. Bohmer’s Jus Eccles. Protestant. tom. i. p. 100, and 
 more particularly the learned Preface, with which he enriched the new 
 edition of the Canon Law, published at Halle in 4to. in the year 1747. 
 See also Alex. Machiavelli Observationes ad Sigonii Histor. Bononien- 
 sem, tom. iii. Oper. Sigonii, p. 128. This writer has drawn, from the 
 Kalendarium Archi-Gymnasii Bononiensis, several particularities con- 
 cerning Gratian and his work, which were generally unknown, but 
 whose truth is also much disputed. What increases the suspicion of 
 their being fabulous is, that this famous Kalendar, of which the Bologn- 
 ese boast so much, and which they have so often promised to publish in 
 erder to dispel the doubts of the learned, has never yet seen the light. 
 Besides, in the fragments that have appeared, there are manifest marks 
 
 of unfair dealing. : 
 © These literary anecdotes I have taken from several writers, particu- 
 
 No. XXIII. 68 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 269 
 
 the latter of which was subdivided into rhetoric, dialec- 
 tics, and sophistry; and under the term dialectic was 
 comprehended that part of the metaphysic science which 
 treats of general notions. This division was almost uni- 
 versally adopted. Some, indeed, were inclined to separate 
 grammar and mechanics from philosophy ; a separation 
 highly condemned by others, who, under the general 
 term philosophy, comprehended the whole circle of the 
 sciences.* 
 
 VILL. The learned, who taught or who cultivated these 
 different branches of study, were divided into various 
 factions, which attacked each other with the utmost 
 animosity and bitterness.‘ At this time, three methods of 
 teaching philosophy were practised by different doctors. 
 The first was the ancient and plain method, which con- 
 fined its researches to the philosophical notions of Porphyry, 
 and the dialectic system, commonly attributed to St Au- 
 gustine, and in which was laid down this general rule, 
 that philosophical inquiries were to be limited to a small 
 number of subjects, lest, by their becoming too extensive, 
 religion might suffer by a profane mixture of human 
 subtlety with its divine wisdom. 'The second method was 
 called the Aristotelian, because it consisted in explications 
 of the works of that philosopher, several of whose pro- 
 ductions, being translated into Latin, were now almost 
 every where in the hands of the learned. These transla- 
 tions were, indeed, extremely obscure and incorrect, and 
 led those who made use of them in their academical 
 lectures, into various blunders, and often into such notions 
 as were not more absurd than whimsical and singular. 
 The third was termed the free method, employed by such 
 as were bold enough to search after truth, in the manner 
 they thought the most adapted to render their inquiries 
 successful, and who followed the bent of their own genius, 
 without rejecting, however, the aid of Aristotle and Plato. 
 Laudable as this method was, it became an abundant 
 source of sophistry and chicane, by the imprudent 
 management of those who employed it; for these subtle 
 doctors, through a wanton indulgence of their metaphy- 
 sical fancies, did bttle more than puzzle their disciples 
 with vain questions, and fatigue them with endless dis- 
 tinctions and divisions.» ‘These different systems, and 
 vehement contests, that divided the philosophers, gave to 
 many a disgust against philosophy in general, and 
 prompted them to desire, with impatience, its banishment 
 from the public schools. 
 
 IX. Of all the controversies that divided the philoso- 
 phers in this century, there were none carried on with 
 greater animosity, and treated with greater subtlety and 
 
 larly from Hugo a St. Victore, Didascali Libro ii. cap. ii. p. 7. tom. i. 
 op. and from the Metalogicum of John of Salisbury. 
 
 f See Godof. de St. Victore, Carmen de Sectis Philosoph. published by 
 Le Beeuf, in his Diss. sur |’Histoire Ecclesiast. et Civile de Paris, tome 
 ii. p. 254.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p. 562.—Ant. Wood, 
 Antiq. Oxoniens. t.1.p. 51. Jo. Sarisburiensis Metalog. et Policrat. passim. 
 
 ¢ Rob. de Monte, Append. ad Sigebertum Gemblacens. published by 
 d’Acheri, among the works of Guibert, abbot of Nogent, ad annwn 
 1128, p. 753. “Jacobus Clericus de Venetia transtulit de Greco in La- 
 tinum quosdam libros Aristotelis et commentatus est, scilicet Topica, An- 
 nal priores et posteriores et elenchos ; quamvis antiquior translatio super 
 eosdem libros haberetur.”. Thom. Becket, Epistolar. lib. ii. ep. xeiii. p. 
 454. edit. Bruxell. 1682, in 4to. ‘Itero preces, quatenus libros Aristo- 
 telis, quos habetis, mihi faciatis exseribii—Precor etiam itcraté supplica- 
 tione quatenus in operibus Aristotelis, ubi difficiliora fuerint, notulas fa- 
 ciatis, eo quod interpretem aliquatenus suspectum habeo, quia, licet elo- 
 quens fuerit alias, ut sepe audivi, minus tamen fwit iv grammiaticaé in- 
 stitutus.” 
 
 h Sce Jo. Sarisburiensis Policrat. p. 434, et Metalog. p. 814, &e. 
 
270 
 
 refinement, than the contest of the Dialecticians concern- 
 ing universals. ‘Che sophistical doctors were wholly 
 occupied about the intricate questions relating to genus 
 and species, to the solution of which they directed all 
 their philosophical efforts, and the whole course of their 
 metaphysical studies ; but not all in the same method, nor 
 upon the same principles.» he two leading sects into 
 which they had been divided long before this period, and 
 which were distinguished by the titles of Realists and 
 Nominalists, not only still subsisted, but. were subdivided, 
 each into smaller parties and factions, according as the 
 two opposite and leading schemes were modified by new 
 fancies and inventions. 'The Nomiualists, though they 
 had their followers, were nevertheless much inferior to the 
 Realists, both with respect to the number of their disciples, 
 and to the credit and reputation of their doctrine. A 
 third sect arose under the name of Formalists, who pre- 
 tended to terminate the controversy, by steermg a middie 
 course between the jarring systems now mentioned ; but, 
 as the hypotheses of these new doctors were most obscure 
 and unintelligible, they only perplexed matters more than 
 they had hitherto been, and furnished new subjects of 
 contention and dispute.” 
 
 ‘Those among the learned, who turned their pursuits to 
 more interesting and beneficial branches of science, than 
 the intricate and puzzling doctrine of universals, travelled 
 into the different countries, where the kinds of knowledge, 
 which they wished to cultivate, chiefly flourished. The 
 students of physic, astronomy, and mathematics, continu- 
 ed to frequent the schools of the Saracens in Spain. 
 Many of the learned productions of the Arabians were 
 also translated into Latin ;° for the high fame which that 
 people had acquired for erudition, together with a desire of 
 converting the Spanish Saracens to Christianity, had 
 excited many to study their language, and to acquire a 
 considerable knowledge of their doctrine. 
 
 — 
 
 « John of Salisbury, a very elegant and ingenious writer of this age, 
 censures, with no small degree of wit, the crude and unintelligible spe- 
 culations of these sophists, in his bookentitled Policraticon; seu de Nugis 
 Curialium, lib. vil. p. 451. He observes, that more time had been con- 
 sumed in resolving the question relating to genus and species, than the 
 Cesars had employed in making themselves masters of the whole world; 
 that the riches of Croesus were inferior to the treasures which had been 
 exhausted in this controversy ; and that the contending parties, after 
 having spent their whole lives upon this single point, had neither been 
 
 so happy as to determine it to their satisfaction, nor to make, in the la- ; 
 || eminent skill in astronomy and physic, undertook a voyage to Toledo, 
 
 byrinths of science where they had been groping, any discovery that 
 
 was worth the pains they had taken. His words are: “veterem paratus | 
 
 est solvere qustionem de generibus et speciebus (he speaks here of a 
 certain philosopher) in qua laborans mundus jam senuit, in qua plus 
 temporis constunptum est, quam in acquirendo et regendo orbis imperio 
 consumpserit Casarea domus: plus eflusum pecunia, quam in omnibus 
 divitiis suis possederit Croesus. Hc enim tam diu multos tenuit, ut 
 cum hoc unum tota vita quererent, tamdem nec istud nec aliud inveni- 
 rigeyahg 
 
 » See the above cited author’s Policrat. lib. vii. p.451, where he gives 
 a succinct account of the [ormalists, Realists, and Nominalists, m the 
 following words: ‘Sunt qui more mathematicorum formas abstrahunt, 
 et ad ulas quicquid de universalibus dicitur referunt.” Such were the 
 Formalists, wo applied the doctrine of universal ideas to what the ma- 
 thematicians call abstract forms. “ Alii discutiunt Intellectus, et eos 
 universalium nominibus censeri confirmant.” Here we find the Realists 
 peru out, who, under the name of universals, comprehended all intel- 
 dicerent et species: sed eorum jam explosa sententia est, et facile cum 
 auctore suo evanuit. Sunt tamen adhuc, qui deprehenduntur in vestigiis 
 eorum, licet erubescant vel auctorem vel scientiam profiteri, solis nomi- 
 nibus inherentes, quod rebus et intellectibus subtrahunt, sermonibus 
 aseribunt.” This was a sect of the Nominalists, who, ashamed (as this 
 author alleges) to profess the exploded doctrine of Roscellinus, which 
 placed genus and species in a class of mere words, or simple denomi- 
 nations, modified that system by a slight change of expression only, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ectual powers, qualities, and ideas. “ Fuerunt et quivoces ipsas genera | 
 
 Part II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government during this Century. 
 
 I. WHEREVER we tur our eyes among the varicus 
 ranks and orders of the clergy, we perceive, in this cen- 
 tury, the most flagrant marks of licentiousness and fraud, 
 ignorance and luxury, and other vices, whose pernicious 
 eflects were deeply felt both in church and state. If 
 we except a very small number, who retained a sense of 
 the sanctity of their vocation, and lamented the corrup- 
 tion and degeneracy of their order, it may be said, with 
 respect to the rest, that their whole business was to 
 satisfy their lusts, to multiply their privileges by grasping 
 perpetually at new honours and distinctions, to increase 
 their opulence, to diminish the authority and encroach 
 upon the privileges of princes and magistrates, and, neg- 
 lecting entirely the interests of religion and the cure of 
 souls, to live in ease and pleasure, and draw out their days 
 in an unmanly and luxurious indolence. ‘This appears 
 manifestly from two remarkable treatises of St. Bernard, 
 in one of which he exposes the corruption of the pontifls 
 and bishops,? while he describes in the other the enormous 
 crimes of the monastic orders, whose licentiousness he 
 chastises with a just severity.¢ 
 
 Il. 'The pontiffs, who successively ruled the Latin 
 church, governed that spiritual and mystical body by the 
 maxims of worldly ambition, and thereby fomented the 
 warm contest that had arisen between the imperial and 
 sacerdotal powers. On the one hand, the popes not only 
 maintained the opulence and authority which they had 
 already acquired, but extended their views, and laboured 
 strenuously to enlarge both, though they had not all equal 
 success in this ambitious attempt. ‘he European em- 
 perors and princes, on the other hand, alarmed at the 
 strides which the pontiffs were making to universal do- 
 
 which did not essentially distinguish their doctrine from that of the ordi 
 nary Nominalists. It appears from all this, that the sect of the Forma- 
 lists is of more ancient date than John Duns Scotus, whom many 
 learned men consider as its founder. See Jo. Sarisbur. Metalogic. lib. 
 ii. cap. xvii. p. 814, where that eminent author describes at Jarge the va- 
 rious contests of these three sects, and sums up their differences in the 
 following words: ‘“ Alius consistit in vocibus, licet hae opimio cum Ros- 
 cellino suo fere jam evanuerit; alius sermones intuetur : alius versatur 
 in intellectibus,” &c, 
 
 ¢ Gerard of Cremona, who was so famous among the Italians for his 
 
 where he translated into Latin several Arabian treatises; see Muratori’s 
 Antiq. Ital. medii /Evi, tom. ili. p. 936, 937.—Mirmet, a French monk, 
 travelled into Spain and Africa, to learn geography among the Saracens. 
 See Luc. D’Acherii Spicilegium Seriptor. tom. ix. p. 443, ed. Antiq.— 
 Daniel Morlach, an Englishman, who was extremely fond of mathema- 
 tical learning, undertook a journey to Toledo, whence he brought. into 
 his own country a considerable number of Arabian books: Ant. Wood, 
 Antiquit. Oxon. tom. i. p. 55.—Peter, abbot of Clugni, surnamed the 
 Venerable, after having sojourned for some time among the Spaniards, 
 in order to make himself master of the Arabian language, translated 
 into Latin the Koran, and the life of Mohammed: see Mabillon, Annal. 
 Bened. tom. vi. lib. xxvii. 345. This eminent ecclesiastic, as appears 
 from the Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, p. 1169, found, upon his arrival in 
 Spain, persons of learning from England and other countries, who ap- 
 plied themselves with extraordinary assiduity and ardour to the study o1 
 astrolory. We might multiply the examples of those who travelled in 
 quest of science during this century; but those now alleged are sufli- 
 cient for our purpose. 4 
 
 4 In the work entitled, Considerationum Libri V. ad Eugerium Pon- 
 tificem. _ 
 
 e See his defence of the crusades, under the title of Apologia ad Gu- 
 lielmum Abbatem ; as also Gerhohus, de corrupto Ecclesiz Statu, in 
 Baluzii Miscell. tom. v. p. 63.—Gallia Christiana, tom. 1. p. 6. App. 
 ele ii. p 265, 273, &c. Boulay’s Histor. Academ. Paris. tom ii. p. 490, 
 
 90. 
 
(crap. IL. 
 
 minion, used their utmost efforts to disconcert their mea- 
 sures, and to check their growing opulence and power. 
 These violent dissensions between the empire and the 
 priesthood (for so the contending parties were styled in 
 this century,) were most unhappy in their effects, which 
 were felt throughout all the European provinces. Pascal 
 IL., who had been raised to the pontificate about the con- 
 clusion of the preceding age, seemed now to sit firm and 
 secure in the apostolic chair, without the least apprehen- 
 sion from the imperial faction, whose affairs had taken an 
 unfavourable turn, and who had not the courage to elect 
 a new pope of their party in the place of Guibert, who 
 died in the year 1100. 
 
 Unwilling to let pass unimproved the present success 
 of the papal faction, Pascal renewed, in a council assem- 
 bled at Rome, A. D. 1102, the decrees of his predecessors 
 against investitures, and the excommunications they had 
 thundered out against Henry LV., and used his most vi- 
 gorous endeavours to raise up on all sides new enemies to 
 . that unfortunate emperor. Henry opposed, with great 
 constancy and resolution, the efforts of this violent pon- 
 tiff, and eluded, with much dexterity and vigilance, his 
 perfidious stratagems. But his heart, wounded in the 
 tenderest part, lost all its firmness and courage, when, in 
 the year 1106, an unnatural son, under the impious pre- 
 text of religion, took up arms against his person and his 
 cause. Henry V. (so was this monster afterwards named) 
 seized his father in a most treacherous manner, and 
 obliged him to abdicate the empire; after which the un- 
 happy prince retired to Liege, where, deserted by all his 
 
 adherents, he shook off, in 1106, the burthen of life and | 
 
 of misery. It has been a matter of dispute, whether it 
 was the instigation of the pontiff, or the ambitious and 
 impatient thirst of dominion, that engaged Henry V. 
 to declare war against his father ; nor is it, perhaps, easy 
 to decide this question with a perfect degree of evidence. 
 One thing, however, is unquestionably certain, that Pas- 
 cal II. not only dissolved, or rather impiously pretended 
 to dissolve, the oath of fidelity and obedience that Henry 
 had taken to his father, but adopted the cause, and sup- 
 ported the interests of this unnatural rebel with the utmost 
 zeal, assiduity, and fervour.” 
 
 Ill. The revolution that this odious rebellion caused in 
 the empire, was, however much less favourable to the 
 views of Pascal, than that lordly pontiff expected. Henry 
 Y. could by no means be persuaded to renounce his right 
 of investing the bishops and abbots, though he was wil- 
 Img to grant the right of election to the canons and 
 monks, as was usual before his time. Upon this the ex- 
 asperated pontiff renewed, in the councils of Guastalla and 
 ‘Troyes, the decrees that had so often been promulgated 
 against investitures ; and the flame broke out with new 
 force. It was, indeed, suspended during a few years, by 
 the wars in which Henry was engaged, and which pre- 
 vented his bringing the affair toa decision. But no soon- 
 
 37 * Dr. Mosheim’s affirmation here must be somewhat modified 
 in order to be true; it is certain that, after the death of Guibert, the im- 
 perial party chose in his place a person named Albert, who, indeed, 
 was seized and imprisoned on the day of his election. 'Theodoric and 
 Magnulf were successively chosen after Albert, but could not long sup- 
 port their claims to the pontificate. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. lxv. 
 vol. xiv. p. 10. Brussels edition in 8vo. 
 
 » These accounts are drawn from the most authentic sources, and also 
 from the eminent writers, whose authority I made use of, and whose 
 names I mentioned, in that part of the preceding century which corre- 
 sponds with the subject here treated. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC 
 
 271 
 
 er had he made peace with his enemies, and composed the 
 tumults that troubled the tranquillity of the empire, than 
 he set out for Italy with a formidable army, A. D. 1110, 
 in order to put an end to this long and unhappy contest. 
 He advanced towards Rome by slow marches, while the 
 trembling pontiff, seeing himself destitute of all succour, 
 and reduced to the lowest and most defenceless condition, 
 proposed the following conditions of peace: That the em- 
 peror, on one hand, should renounce the right of investing 
 with the ring and crosier; and that the bishops and abbots 
 should, on the other hand, resign and give over, to him 
 and his successors, all the grants, received from Charle- 
 magne, of the rights and privileges that belong to royalty, 
 such as the power of raising tribute, coining money, and 
 possessing independent lands and territories, with other im- 
 munities of a like nature. ‘These conditions were agree- 
 able to Henry, who accordingly gave a formal consent to 
 them in the year 1111; but they were extremely dis- 
 pleasing to the Italian and German bishops, who expressed 
 their dissent in the strongest terms. Hence a terrible tu- 
 mult arose in the church of St. Peter, where the contend- 
 ing parties were assembled with their respective followers; 
 upon which Henry ordered the pope te be seized, and to be 
 confined in the castle of Viterbo. After having remained 
 there for some time, the captive pontiff was engaged, by 
 the unhappy circumstances of his present condition, to en- 
 ter into a new convention, by which he solemnly receded 
 from the article of the former treaty that regarded investi- 
 tures, and confirmed to the emperor the privilege of inaugu- 
 rating the bishops and abbots with the ring and crosier. 
 Peace being thus concluded, the vanquished pontiff array- 
 ed Henry with the imperial diadem.« 
 
 IV. ‘This transitory peace, which was the fruit of vio- 
 lence and necessity, was followed by greater tumults and 
 more dreadful wars, than had yet afflicted the church. 
 Immediately after the conclusion of this treaty, Rome was 
 filled with the most vehement commotions; and a loud 
 clamour was raised against the pontiff, who was accused 
 of having violated, in a scandalous manner, the duties and 
 dignity’ of his station, and of having prostituted the ma- 
 jesty of the church by his ignominious compliance with the 
 demands of the emperor. 'l’o appease these commotions, 
 Pascal assembled, in the year 1112, a council in the La- 
 teran church, and not only confessed, with centrition and 
 humilhty, the fault he had committed in concluding such 
 a convention with Henry, but submitted the question to 
 the determination of the council, who accordingly took 
 that treaty into consideration, and solemnly annulled it.4 
 ‘This step was followed by many events, that gave, for a 
 long time, an unfavourable turn to the affairs of the em- 
 peror. He was excommunicated in many synods and 
 councils, both in France and Germany; he was even 
 placed in the black list of heretics, a denomination which 
 exposed him to the greatest dangers in those superstitious 
 and barbarous times ;* and, to complete his anxiety, he saw 
 
 * Beside the writers already mentioned, see Mabillon, Annal. Bene- 
 dict. tom. v. p. 681, and tom. vi. p. 1, at the particular years to which the 
 events here noticed belong. 
 
 4 Pascal, upon this occasion, as Gregory VII. had formerly done in 
 the case of Berenger, submitted his proceedings and his authority to the 
 judgment of a council, to which, of consequence, he acknowledged his 
 subordination. ‘That council even condemned his measures, and decla- 
 red them scandalous. 
 
 * See Gervaise, Diss. sur l|’Heresie des Investitures, which is the 
 fourth of the dissertations prefixed to his History of the Abbot Su- 
 ger, 
 
272 
 
 the German princes revolting from his authority in several 
 places, and taking up arms in the cause of the church. 'T’o | 
 put an end to calamities that thus afflicted the empire on 
 all sides, Henry set out a second time for Italy, with a nu- 
 
 merous army, in the year 1116, and arrived, in the fol- | 
 
 lowing year, at Rome, where he assembled the consuls, 
 senators, and nobles, while the fugitive pontiff retired to 
 Benevento. Pascal, however, during this forced absence, 
 engaged the Normans to come to his assistance ; and, en- 
 couraged by the prospect of immediate succour, prepared 
 every “thing for a vigorous war against the emperor, and 
 attempted to make himself master of Rome. But, in the 
 midst of these warlike preparations, which drew the at- 
 tention of Europe, and portended great and remarkable 
 events, the military pontiff yielded to fate, A. D. 1118. 
 V. A few days after the death of Pascal, John of Gaieta, 
 a Benedictine monk of Mont Cassin, and chancellor of the 
 Roman church, was raised to the pontificate under the ti- 
 tle of Gelasius IL. In opposition to this choice, Henry 
 elected to the same dignity Maurice Burdin, archbishop of 
 Braga, in Spain,s who assumed the denomination of Gre- 
 gory VILL» Upon this, Gelasius, not thinking himself safe 
 at Rome, or indeed in Italy, set out for France, and soon af- 
 ter died at Clugni. The cardinals, who accompanied him in 
 his journey, elected to the papacy, immediately after his 
 departure, Guy, archbishop of Vienne, count of Burgundy, 
 who was nearly related to the emperor, and is distinguish- 
 ed in the list of the Roman pontiffs by the name of Calix- 
 tus I. The elevation of this eminent ecclesiastic was, in the 
 issue, extremely fortunate both for the church and state. 
 Rem: arkably distinguished by his illustrious birth, and still 
 more by his noble and heroic qualities, this magnanimous 
 pontiff continued to oppose the emperor with courage and 
 success, and to carry on the war both with the sword of 
 the spirit, and with the arm of flesh. He made himself 
 master of Rome, threw into prison the pontiff who had been 
 chosen by the emperor, and fomented the civil commotions 
 in Germany. But his fortitude and resolution were tem- 
 pered with moderation, and accompanied with a spirit. of 
 generosity and compliance which differed much from the 
 obstinate arrogance of his lordly predecessors. Accordingly, 
 he lent an ear to prudent councils, and was willing to re- 
 linquish a part of the demands upon which the former pon- 
 tiffs had so vehemently insisted, that he might restore the 
 public tranquillity, and satisfy the ardent desires of so many 
 nations, who groaned under the dismal effects of these de- 
 plorable divisions.° 
 It will appear unquestionably evident to every attentive 
 and impartial observer of things, that the illiberal and bru- 
 tal manners of those who ruled the church were the only 
 reason that rendered the dispute concerning investitures 
 so violent and cruel, so tedious in its duration, and so un- 
 happy in its effects. During the space of fifty-five ye years, 
 the church was governed by monks, who, to the obscu- 
 rity of their birth, the asperity of their nat ural tempers, and 
 
 3p _* Braga was the metropolis of ancient Galicia, but at present is 
 one of the three archbishoprics of Portugal, in the province of Entre 
 Duero é Minho. | The archbishop of that see claims the title of primate 
 of Spain, which is annexed in Spain to the see of Toledo. 
 
 > See Stephani Baluzii Vita Mauritii Burdini, in Miscellaneis, tom. 
 iii. p. 471. 
 
 a*> ¢ The paragraph following is the note (*) of the original placed in 
 the text. 
 
 3% ¢ The expression is ambiguous; but it signifies that the elections 
 of ‘bishops and abbots were to be made by monks and canons as in for- 
 mer times, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il. 
 
 the unbounded rapacity of their ambition and avarice, 
 joined that inflexible obstinacy which is one of the essen- 
 tial characteristics of the monastic order. Hence arose 
 those bitter feuds, those furious efforts of ambition and 
 vengeance, that dishonoured the church and afflicted the 
 state during the course of this controversy. But as soon 
 as the papal chair was filled by a man of a more dignified 
 nature, and of a liberal education, the face of things chang- 
 ed entirely, and a prospect of peace arose to the desires and 
 hopes of ruined and desolate countries. 
 
 VI. These hopes were not disappointed ; for, after much 
 contestation, peace was, at length, concluded between the 
 emperor and the pope’s legates, at a general diet, holden 
 at Worms, A. D. 1122. The conditions were as follow 
 
 “That for the future the bishops and abbots should be 
 chosen by those to whom the right of election belonged ;4 
 but that this election should be made in the presence of 
 the emperor, or of an ambassador appointed by him for 
 that purpose :* 
 
 “That, in case of.a dispute among the electors, the de-. 
 cision of it should be left to the emperor, who was to con- 
 sult with the bishops upon that occasion : 
 
 “That the bishop or abbot elect should take an oath of 
 allegiance to the emperor, receive from his hand the regalia, 
 and do homage for them: 
 
 “'That the emperor should no more confer the rega- 
 lia by the ceremony of the ring and crosier, which were 
 the ensigns of a ghostly dignity, but that of the sceptre, 
 which was more proper to invest the person elected in the 
 possession of rights and privileges merely temporal.”* 
 
 ‘This convention was solemnly confirmed in the follow- 
 ing year in the Lateran council, and remains still in force 
 in our times, though the true sense of some of its articles has 
 occasioned disputes between the emperors and pontifis.s 
 
 VII. Calixtus did not long enjoy the fruits of this peace, 
 to which he had so much contributed by his prudence and 
 moderation. He died in the year 1124, and was succeed- 
 ed by Lambert, bishop of Ostia, who assumed the title of 
 Honorius II. and under whose pontificate nothing worthy 
 of mention was transacted. His death, which happened 
 A. D. 1130, gave rise to a considerable schism in the church 
 of Rome, or rather in the college of cardinals, of whom one 
 party elected, to the papal chair, Gregory, a cardinal dea- 
 con of St. Angelo, who was distinguished by the name of 
 Innocent E., while the other chose, for successor to Hono- 
 rius, Peter, the son of Leo, a Roman prince, under the title 
 of Anacletus If. 'The friends of Innocent were far from: 
 being numerous in Rome, or throughout Italy in general, 
 for which reason he judged it expedient to retire into France, 
 where he had many adherents, and where he sojourned 
 during the space of two years. His credit was very great 
 out of Italy ; for, beside the hie te Lotharius, the kings 
 of England, France, and Spain, with other princes, es- 
 poused warmly the cause of Innocent, principally by the 
 influence of St. Bernard, who was his intimate friend, and 
 
 ¢ From this period the people in Germany were excluded from the 
 right of voting in the election of bishops. See Petr. de Marca, de con- 
 cordia sacerdotii et imperil, lib. vi. cap. ii. sect. 9, p. 788, edit. Boh- 
 preg Muratori, Antiq. Ital. medii AX vi, tom. vi. p. 76—Schilterus, de 
 Libertate Eecl. Germanice, lib. iv. cap. iv. p. 545.—Cesar Rasponus, 
 de Basilica Latéranensi, lib. iv. p. 295. 
 
 = Jt was disputed among other things, whether the consecration of 
 the bishop clect was to precede or follow the collation of the regalia. 
 
 See Jo. Wilh. Hoffman, ad concordatum Henrici V. et Calisti I Vi- 
 temberge, 1739, in 4to. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 whose counsels had the force and authority of laws in al- 
 most all the countries of Europe. The patrons of Anacletus 
 were fewer in number, and were confined to the kings of 
 Sicily and Scotland. His death, in the year 1138, termina- 
 ted the contest, and left Innocent in the entire and undis- 
 puted possession of the apostolic chair. The surviving pon- 
 tiff presided, in the year 1139, at the second Lateran coun- 
 cil, and, about four years after, ended his days in peace.* 
 
 Vill. After the death of Innocent the Roman see was 
 filled by Guy, cardinal of St. Mark, who ruled the church 
 about five months, under the title of Celestine Il. If 
 
 his reign was short, it was, however, peaceable, and not | 
 
 like that of his successor, Lucius II., whose pontificate 
 was disturbed by various tumults and seditions, and who, 
 about eleven months after his elevation to the papacy, 
 was killed in a riot which he was endeavouring to sup- 
 press by his presence and authority. He was succeeded by 
 Bernard, a Cistertian monk, and an eminent disciple of the 
 famous St. Bernard, abbot of Clairval. his worthy eccle- 
 siastic, who is distinguished among the popes by the title of 
 Eugenius IIL, was raised to that high dignity in the year 
 1145, and, during a period of eight years, he was involved 
 in the same perils and perplexities that had embittered the 
 government of his predecessor. He was often obliged 
 to leave Rome, and to save himself by flight from the 
 fury of the people; and the same reason engaged him 
 to retire into France, where he resided for a considerable 
 time. At length, exhausted by the opposition he met 
 with in supporting what he deemed the prerogatives of 
 the papacy, he died in the year 1153. The pontificate 
 of his successor, Conrad, bishop of Sabino, who, after his 
 elevation to the see of Rome, assumed the title of Anasta- 
 sius IV., was less disturbed by civil commotions; but it 
 was not of long duration; for Anastasius died about-a 
 year and four months after his election. 
 
 IX. The warm contest between the emperors and the 
 popes, which was considered as at an end ever since the 
 time of Calixtus [L., was unhappily renewed under the 
 pontificate of Adrian IV. who was a native of England, 
 and whose original name was Nicolas Breakspear.  F're- 
 derick I. surnamed Barbarossa, being placed, in 1152, on 
 the imperial throne, publicly declared his resolution to 
 maintain the dignity and privileges of the Roman empire 
 in general, and more particularly to render it respectable 
 in Italy ; nor was he at all studious to conceal the design 
 he had formed of reducing the overgrown power and 
 opulence of the pontiff’ and clergy within narrower Ii- 
 mits. Adrian perceived the danger that threatened the 
 majesty of the church and the authority of the clergy, 
 and prepared himself for defending both with vigour and 
 constancy. ‘The first occasion of trying their strength 
 was offered af the coronation of the emperor at Rome, in 
 the year 1155, when the pontiff insisted upon Frederick’s 
 performing the office of equerry, and holding the stirrup 
 to his holiness. This humiliating proposal was at first 
 rejected with disdain by the emperor, and was followed by 
 
 * Beside the ordinary writers of the papal history, see Jean de Lannes, 
 Histoire du Pontificat du Pape Innocent II. Paris, 1741, in 8vo. ' 
 =‘ > There was a party formed in Rome at this time, whose design 
 was to restore the Roman senate to its former privileges, and to its an- 
 cient splendour and glory ; and, for this purpose, to reduce the papal re- 
 venues and prerogatives to a narrower compass, even to the tithes and 
 oblations that were offered to the primitive bishops, and to the spiritual 
 overnment of the church, attended with an utter exclusion from all civil 
 Jurisdiction over the city of Rome. It was this party that produced the 
 
 No. XXIII. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 273 
 
 contests of a more momentous nature, relating to the po- 
 | litical interests of the empire. 
 
 ‘These differences were no sooner reconciled, than new 
 disputes, equally important, arose in the year 1158, when 
 the emperor, in order to put a stop to the enormous opu- 
 lence of the pontiffs, bishops, and monks, which increased 
 from day to day, enacted a law to prevent the trans- 
 ferring of fiefs without the knowledge or consent of the 
 superior, or lord, in whose name they were holden,’ and 
 turned the whole force of his arms to reduce the little re- 
 publics of Italy under his dominion. An open rupture 
 between the emperor and the pontiff, was expected as the 
 inevitable consequence of such vigorous measures, when 
 the death of Adrian, which happened on the first of Sep- 
 tember, 1159, suspended the storm.¢ 
 
 X. In the election of a new pontiff, the cardinals were 
 divided into two factions. ‘The more numerous and 
 powerful of the two parties raised to the pontificate, Row- 
 land, bishop of Sienna, who assumed the name of Alex- 
 ander IJI., while the rest of the conclave elected to that 
 high dignity Octavian, cardinal of St. Cecilia, known by 
 the title of Victor IV. ‘The latter was patronised by the 
 emperor, to whom Alexander was extremely disagreeable 
 on several accounts. "The council of Pavia, which was 
 assembled by the emperor in the year 1160, adopted his 
 sentiments, and pronounced in favour of Victor, who 
 thus became triumphant in Germany and Italy ; so that 
 France alone was left open to Alexander, who accord- 
 ingly fled thither from Rome for safety and protection. 
 Arnidst the tumults and commotions which this schism 
 occasioned, Victor died at Lucca, in the year 1164; but 
 his place was immediately filled by the emperor, at whose 
 desire Guy, cardinal of St. Calixtus, was elected pontiff 
 under the title of Pascal III. and acknowledged in that 
 character by the German princes assembled in the year 
 1167, at the diet of Wurtzbure. In the mean time 
 Alexander recovered his spirits, and, returning into Italy, 
 maintained his cause with uncommon resolution and vi- 
 gour, and not without some promising hopes of success. 
 He held at Rome, in the year 1167, the Lateran council, 
 in which he solemnly deposed the emperor, (whom he 
 had, upon several occasions before this period, publicly 
 loaded with anathemas and execrations,) dissolved the 
 oath of allegiance which his subjects had taken to him as 
 their lawful sovereign, and encouraged and exhorted them 
 to rebel against his authority, and to shake off his yoke. 
 But, soon after this audacious proceeding, Frederick made 
 himself master of Rome; upon which the insolent pon- 
 tiff fled to Benevento, and left the apostolic chair to Pas- 
 cal, his competitor. 
 
 XI. The affairs of Alexander seemed, soon after, to 
 take a more prosperous turn, when (the greatest part of 
 the imperial army being consumed by a pestilential dis- 
 order) the emperor was forced to abandon Italy, and when 
 the death of Pascal, which happened in the year 1168, 
 delivered him from a powerful and formidable rival. 
 
 ' feuds and seditions to which Dr. Mosheim has an eye in this eighth 
 sgction. ; ; , 
 | © This prohibition of transferring the possession of fiefs from one to 
 another, without the consent of the sovereign, or supreme lord, under 
 whom they were holden, together with other laws of a like nature, 
 formed the first effectual barrier that was opposed to the enormous and 
 growing opulence and authority of the clergy. See Muratori, Antiq. 
 Ital. medii AX vi, tom. vi. p. 239. 
 
 ¢ See the accurate and circumstantial account of this whole affair that 
 
274 
 
 But this fair prospect soon vanished ; for the imperial fac- 
 tion elected to the pontificate John, abbot of Strum, un- 
 der the title of Calixtus [1L., whom Frederick, notwith- 
 standing his absence in Germany, and the various wars 
 and disputes in which he was involved, supported to the 
 utmost of his power. When peace was in some mea- 
 sure restored to the empire, Frederick marched into Italy, 
 A. D. 1174, to chastise the perfidy of the states and cities 
 that had revolted duzing his absence, and seized the first 
 opportunity of throwing off his yoke. Had this expe- 
 dition been crowned with the expected success, Alexander 
 would, undoubtedly, have been obliged to desist from his 
 pretensions, and to yield the papal chair to Calixtus. But 
 the event came far short of the hopes which this grand 
 expedition had excited; and the emperor, after having, 
 during the space of three years, been alternately defeated 
 and victorious, was at length so fatigued with the hard- 
 ships he had suffered, and so dejected at a view of the 
 difficulties he had yet to overcome, that, in the year 1177, 
 he concluded a treaty of peace at Venice with Alexander, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL, 
 
 and a truce with the rest of his enemies. Some writers 
 affirm, that, upon this occasion, the haughty pontiff 
 trod upon the neck of the suppliant emperor, while he 
 xissed his foot, repeating at the same time those words of 
 the royal Psalmist: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion 
 and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou 
 trample under feet.”” The greatest part, however, of 
 modern authors have called this event in question, and 
 consider it as utterly destitute of authority and unworthy 
 of credit. . 
 
 XII. Alexander III., who was rendered so famous by 
 his long and successful contest with Frederick I., was alsu 
 engaged in a warm dispute with Henry II., king of Eng- 
 land, which was occasioned by the arrogance of Thomas 
 Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. In the council of 
 Clarendon, which that prince held in the year 1164, seve- 
 ral laws were enacted, by which the king’s power and ju- 
 risdiction over the clergy were accurately explained, and 
 the rights and privileges of the bishops and priests re- 
 duced within narrower bounds.‘ Becket refused obedi- 
 
 is given by the illustrious and learned count Bunau, in his history. of 
 Trederick I. written in German, p. 45, 49, 73, 99, 105, &e. 
 
 ® All the circumstances of these conventions are accurately related 
 by count Bunau, in this History of Frederick I. p. 115—242—See also 
 Fortunati Olmi Istoria della Venuta a Venitia occultamente nel A. 1177, 
 di Papa Alessandro III. Venet. 1629, in 4to—Muratori, Antiq. Italicz 
 medii Avi, tom. iv. p. 2, 9.—Origines Guelphice, tom. i. p. 379.—Acta 
 Sanctorum, tom. i. April. p. 46, in Vita Hugonis abbatis Bone- Vallis, 
 et tom. ii, April. in Vita Galdini Mediolanensis, p. 596, two famous 
 ecclesiastics, who were employed as ambassadors and arbiters in the 
 treaty of peace here mentioned. 
 
 b Psalm xci. 13. 
 
 ¢ See Bunau’s Life of Frederick I. p. 242—Heumanni Peciles. tom. 
 ili. lib. i. p. 145.—Bibliotheque Italique, tom. vi. p. 5, as also the authors 
 mentioned by Caspar Sagittarius, in his Introduct. in Histor. Eccles. 
 tom. i. p. 630, tom. il. 
 
 4 See Matth. Paris, Histor. Major, p. 82, 83, 101, 114.—Dayv. Wilkins, 
 Concilia Magne Britanniz, tom. 1. p. 434. 
 
 a¢p Henry II. had formed the wise project of bringing the clergy un- 
 der the jurisdiction of the civil courts, on account of the scandalous abuse 
 they had made of their immunities, and the crimes which the ecclesias- 
 tical tribunals let pass with impunity. The Constitutions of Clarendon, 
 which consisted of sixteen articles, were drawn up for this purpose : 
 and, as they are proper to give the reader a just idea of the prerogatives 
 and privileges that were claimed equally by the king and the clergy, 
 and which occasioned of consequence such warm debates between state 
 and church, it will not be altogether uscless to transcribe them at length. 
 
 I. When any difference relating to the right of patronage arises be- 
 tween the laity, or between the, clergy and laity, the controversy is to be 
 tried and ended in the King’s Court. 
 
 II. Those churches which are fees of the crown, cannot be granted 
 away in perpetuity without the king’s consent. 
 
 If. When the clergy are charged with any misdemeanour, and sum- 
 moned by the justiciary, they shall be obliged to make their appearance 
 in his court, and plead to such parts of the indictment as shall be put to 
 them; and likewise to answer such articles in the ecclesiastical courts 
 as they shall be prosecuted for by that jurisdiction; always provided, 
 that the king’s justiciary shall send an officer to inspect the proceedings 
 of the Court Christian. And in case any clerk is convicted, or pleads 
 guilty, he is to forfeit the privilege of his character, and to be protected 
 by the church no longer, 
 
 IV. No archbishops, bishops, or parsons, are allowed to depart from 
 the kingdom, without a license from the crown; and provided they 
 have leave to travel, they shall give security, not to act or solicit any 
 thing during their passage, stay, or return, to the prejudice of the king 
 or kingdom. 
 
 V. When any of the laity are prosecuted in the ecclesiastical courts, 
 the charge ought to be proved before the hishap by legal and reputable 
 Witnesses; and the course of the process is to be so managed, that the 
 archdeacon may not lose any part of his right, or the profits accruing 
 to his office: and if any offenders seem to have been screened from pro- 
 secution upon the score either of favour or quality, the sheriff, at the 
 bishop’s instance, shall order twelve sufficient men of the neighbourhoad 
 to make oath before the bishop, that they will discover the truth accord- 
 ing to the best of their knowledge. 
 
 VI. Excommunicated persens shall not be obliged to make oath, or 
 give security to continue upon the place where they live, but only to 
 abide by the judgment of the church in order to their absolution, 
 
 VII. No person that holds in chief of the king, or any of his barons, 
 shall be excommunicated, nor any of their estates put under an interdict, 
 before application be made to the king, provided he be in the kingdom ; 
 and if his highness be out of Ergland, the justiciary must be acquainted 
 with the dispute, in order to make satisfaction: and thus what belongs 
 to the cognisance of the king’s court, must be tried there; and that which 
 belongs to the Court Christian, must be remitted to that jurisdiction. 
 
 VIII. In case of appeals in ecclesiastical causes, the first step is to 
 be made from the archdeacon to the bishop, and from the bishop to the 
 archbishop ; and, if the archbishop fails to do justice, recourse may be 
 had to the king, by whose order the controversy is to be finally decided in 
 the archbishop’s court. Neither shall it be lawful for either of the par- 
 ties to move for any farther remedy without leave from the crown. 
 
 IX. When a difference happens to arise between any clergyman and 
 layman concerning a tenement, and the clerk pretends that it is holden 
 by frank Almoine*, and the layman pleads it a lay-fee, the tenure:shall 
 be tried by the inquiry and verdict of twelve sufficient men of the neigh- 
 bourhood, summoned according to the custom of the realm. And, if 
 the tenement or thing in controversy shall be found frank Almoine, the 
 dispute concerning it shall be tried in the ecclesiastical court. But if it 
 is brought in a lay-fee, the suit shall be followed in the king’s courts, 
 unless both the plaintiff and defendant hold the tenement in question of 
 the same bishop; in which case the cause shall be tried in the court ot 
 such bishop or baron, with this farther proviso, that he who is seised of 
 the thing in controversy, shall not be disseised during the suit, (pendente 
 lite,) upon the ground of the verdict above mentioned. 
 
 X. With regard to one who holds of the king in any city, castle, or 
 borough, or resides upon any of the demesne lands of the crown, in case 
 he is cited by the archdeacon or bishop to answer for any misbehaviour 
 belonging to their cognisance; if he refuses to obey their summons, and 
 to stand to the sentence of the court, it shall be lawful for the ordinary 
 to put him under an interdict, but not to excommunicate him, till the 
 king’s principal officer of the town shall be pre-acquainted with the case, 
 in order to enjoin him to make satisfaction to the church. And if such 
 officer or magistrate shall fail in his duty, he shall be fined by the king’s 
 judges. And then the bishop may exert his discipline on the refractory 
 person as he thinks fit. . 
 
 XI. All archbishops, bishops, and ecclesiastical persons, who hold 
 of the king in chief, and by the tenure of a barony, are for that reason 
 obliged to appear before the king’s justices and ministers, to answer the 
 duties of their tenure, and to observe all the usages and customs of the 
 realm; and, like other barons, are bound to be present at trials in the 
 king’s court, till sentence is to be pronounced for the losing of life or 
 limbs. 
 
 XII. When any archbishopric, bishopric, abbey, or priory, of royal 
 foundation, become vacant, the king is to make seisure; from which time 
 all the profits and issues are to be paid into the exchequer, as if they were 
 the demesne lands of the crown. And when it is determined that the va- 
 cancy shall be filled up, the king is to summon the most considerable 
 persons of the chapter to court, and the election is to be made in the 
 chapel royal, with the consent of our sovereign lord the king, and by 
 the advice of such persons of the government, as his highness shall 
 think fit to consult ; at which time, the person elected shall, before his 
 consecration, be obliged to do homage and fealty to the king, as his liege 
 lord; which homage shall be performed in the usual form, with a clause 
 saving the privilege of his order. 
 
 XIII. If any of the temporal barons, or great men, shall encroach 
 
 * i.e. A tenure by divine service, as Britton explains it. 
 
Ouap IL. 
 
 ence to these laws, which he deemed prejudicial to the 
 divine rights of the church in general, and to the prero- 
 gatives of the Roman pentiffs in particular. Upon this 
 there arose a violent debate between the resolute monarch 
 and the rebellious prelate, which obliged the latter to retire 
 into France, where Alexander was at that time in a kind 
 
 of exile. ‘Vhis pontiff and the king of France interposed 
 
 their good offices in order to compose these differences, in } 
 
 which they succeeded so far, after much trouble and dif 
 ficulty, as to encourage Becket to return to England, 
 where he was re-instated in his forfeited dignity. But) 
 the generous and indulgent procéedings of his sovereign 
 towards him, were not sufficient to subdue his arrogant 
 and rebellious obstinacy in maintaining what he called 
 the privileges of the church; nor could he be induced by 
 iwny means to comply with the views and measures of 
 Henry. ‘The consequences of this inflexible resistance 
 were fatal to the haughty prelate ; for he was, soon after 
 his return into England, assassinated before the altar, 
 while he was at vespers in his cathedral, by four persons, 
 who certainly did not commit this act of violence without 
 the king’s knowledge and connivance. This event 
 produced warm debates between the king of England 
 and the Roman pontiff, who gained his point so far as to 
 
 make the suppliant monarch undergo a severe course of 
 
 penance, in order to expiate a crime of which he was 
 considered as the principal promoter, while the murdered 
 prelate, in 1173, was solemnly enrolled in the highest rank 
 of saints and martyrs.” 
 
 XII. It was not only by force of arms, but also by 
 uninterrupted efforts of dexterity and artifice, by wise 
 counsels and prudent laws, that Alexander III. maintain- 
 
 upon the rights or property of any archbishop, bishop, or archdeacon, 
 and refuse to make satisfaction for wrong done by themselves, or their 
 tenants, the king shall do justice to the party aggrieved. And if any 
 pen shall disseise the king of any part of his lands, or trespass upon 
 
 is prerogative, the archbishops, bishops, and deacons, shall call him to 
 -an account, and oblige him to make the crown restitution; 1. e. ‘They 
 were to excommunicate such disseisers and injurious persons, in case 
 they proved refractory and incorrigible.” 
 
 XIV. The goods and chattels of those who lie under forfeitures of 
 felony or treason are not to be detained in any church or church-yard, 
 to secure them against seisure and justice, because such goods are the 
 king’s property, whether they are lodged within the precincts of a church 
 or without it. 
 
 XY. All actions, and pleas of debts, though particularly solemn in 
 the circumstances of the contract, shall be tried in the king’s courts. 
 
 XVI. The sons of copy-holders are not to be ordained without the 
 consent of the lord of the manor where they were born. 
 
 Such were the articles of the constitutions of Clarendon, against the 
 apres part of which the pope protested. ‘They were signed by the 
 
 nglish clergy, and also by Becket. The latter, however, repented of 
 what he had done, and retiring from court, suspended himself from 
 his office in the church for about forty days, till he received absolution 
 from Aiexander, who was then at Sens. His aversion to these articles 
 manifested itself by an open rebellion against his sovereign, in which 
 he discovered his true character, as a most daring, turbulent, vindictive, 
 and arrogant priest, whose ministry was solely employed in extending 
 the despotic dominion of Rome, and whose fixed purpose was to aggran- 
 dize the church upon the ruins of the state. See Collier’s Ecclesiastical 
 History, vol. i. xiith century. Rapin de Thoyras, in the reign of 
 Henry II. 
 
 Z*> * This assertion is in our opinion by much too strong. It can 
 only be founded upon certain indiscreet and passionate expressions, 
 which the intolerable insolence and phrenetic obstinacy of Becket drew 
 from Henry in an unguarded moment, when, after having received new 
 affronts, notwithstanding the reconciliation he had effected with so much 
 trouble and condescension, he expressed himself to this purpose : ‘Am 
 I not unhappy, that, among the numbers who are attached to my inte- 
 rests, and employed in my service, there is no one possessed of spirit 
 enough to resent the affronts which I am constantly receiving from a 
 miserable priest ? ‘Th se words, indeed, were not pronounced in vain. 
 Four gentlemen of the court, whose names were Fitz-Urse, Tracy, Brito, 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 . Bea 
 
 ed the pretended rights of the church, and extended the 
 authority of the Roman pontiffs. For, in the third Late- 
 ran Council, holden at Rome, in 1179, the following de- 
 crees, among many others upon different subjects, were 
 passed by his advice and authority. 1st, In order to put 
 an end to the confusion and dissensions which so often 
 accompanied the election of the Roman pontifis, it was 
 determined that the right of election should be vested 
 in the cardinals alone, and that the person, in whose 
 favour two thirds of the college of cardinals voted, should 
 be considered as the lawful pontiff. "This law is still in 
 force; it was therefore from the time of Alexander that 
 the election of the pope acquired that form which it still 
 retains, and by which, not only the people, but also the 
 Roman clergy, are excluded from all share in the honour 
 of conferring that important dignity. 2dly, A spiritual 
 war was declared against the heretics, whose numbers, 
 increasing considerably about this time, created much dis- 
 turbance in the church in general, and infested, in a more 
 particular manner, several provinces in France, which 
 groaned under the fatal dissensions that accompanied the 
 propagation of their errors.s 3dly, The right of recom- 
 mending and nominating to the saintly order was also 
 taken away from councils and bishops, and canonization 
 was ranked among the greater and more important 
 causes, the cognisance of which belonged to the pontiff 
 alone.t We must not forget to add, that the power of 
 erecting new kingdoms, which had been claimed by the 
 pontiffs from the time of Gregory VIL, was not only as- 
 sumed, but also exercised by Alexander in a remarkable 
 instance ; for, in the year 1179, he conferred the title of 
 king, with the ensigns of royalty, upon Alphonso L, 
 
 and Morville, murdered Becket in his chapel, and thus performed, in a 
 licentious and criminal manner, an action which the laws might have 
 commanded with justice. But it is extremely remarkable, that, after the 
 murder, the assassins were afraid they had gone too far, and durst not 
 return to the king’s court, which was then in Normandy ; but retired 
 at first to Knaresborough in Yorkshire, which belonged to Morville, 
 whence they repaired to Rome for absolution, and being admitted to 
 penance by Alexander, were sent by that pontiff to Jerusalem, and 
 passed the remainder of their lives upon the Black Mountain in the se- 
 verest acts of austerity and mortification. All this does not look as if 
 the king had been deliberately concerned in this murder, or had expressly 
 consented to it. On the contrary, various circumstances concur to prove 
 that Henry was entirely innocent of this murder. Mr. Hume mentions 
 particularly one, which is worthy of our notice. The king, suspecting 
 the design of the four gentlemen above mentioned, by some menacing 
 expressions they had dropped, “despatched (says Mr. Hume) a mes- 
 “ senger after them, ordering them to attempt nothing against the person 
 “ of the primate. But these orders came too late.” See his History of 
 England, vol. i. p. 294; Rapin Thoyras, Histoire d’ Angleterre; Collier’s 
 Ecclesiastical History of England. ‘The works to which Dr. Mosheim 
 refers for an account of this matter, are as follow : Guliel. Stephanide 
 Historia Thome Cantuariensis apud Scriptores rerum Anglicarum, pub- 
 lished in folio at London by Sparke, in the year 1723.—Christ. Lupi 
 Fpistole et Vita Thome Cantuar.—Epistole Alexandri III. Ludovici 
 VII. Henrici II. in hac causa, ex M.S. Vaticano, Bruxelles, 1682, 2 
 vols. 4to.—Natalis Alexandri Select. Histor. Eccles. Capita, Sec. XII. 
 Diss. x. p. 8833.—Thome Stapletoni Tres Thoma, seu res gestae Thome 
 Apostoli, S. Thome Cantuariensis, et Thom Mori. Coloniz, 1612, in 
 8vo. 
 
 > Boulay, Histor. Academ. Paris. tom. ii. p. 328, et de Die Festo ejus, 
 p. 397.—Dom. Colonia, Hist. Lit. de la Ville de Lyon, tom. ii. p. 249. 
 
 ¢ See Natalis Alexander, Select. Histor. Eccles. Capit. Sec. XII. Diss. 
 ix. p. 819, where he treats particularly of this council—See also tom, 
 vi. part ii. Conciliorum Harduini, p. 1671. 
 
 a+ Dr. Mosheim, as also Spanheim and Fleury, call this the 3d 
 Lateran council, whereas other historians mention weight preceding 
 councils holden in the Lateran church, viz. those of the years 649, 864, 
 1105, 1112, 1116, 1123, 1139, 1167. Our author has also attributed, to 
 this council of 1179, decrees that probably belonged to a later period. 
 
 4 See what has been observed already, under the xth century, concern- 
 ing the election of the popes, and the canonization of saints. 
 
276 . 
 
 duke of Portugal, who, under the pontificate of Lucius 
 II., had rendered his province tributary to the Roman 
 see.* 
 
 XIV. Upon the death of Alexander, Ubald, bishop of | 
 Ostia, otherwise known by the name of Lucius HI., was. 
 raised to the pontificate, A. D. 1181, by the suffrages of 
 the cardinals alone, in consequence of the law mentioned 
 in the preceding section. he administration of this 
 new pontiff was embittered by violent tumults and sedi-, 
 tions ; for he was twice driven out of the city by the Ro-| 
 mans, who could not bear a pope that was elected in op- 
 position to the ancient custom, without the knowledge 
 and consent of the clergy and the people. In the midst 
 of these troubles he died at Verona in the year 1185, and 
 was succeeded by Hubert Crivelli, bishop of Milan, who 
 assumed the title of Urban IIL, and who, without having 
 transacted any thing worthy of mention during his short 
 pontificate, died of grief in the year 1187, upon hearing 
 that Saladin had made himself master ‘of Jerusalem. 
 The pontificate of his successor Albert,’ whose papal de- 
 nomination was Gregory VUE, exhibited a still more 
 striking instance of the fragility of human grandeur ; for 
 this pontiff yielded to fate about two months after his ele- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 vation. He was succeeded by Paul, bishop of Preneste, 
 who filled the papal chair above three years under the. 
 uitle of Clement UL, and died in 1191, without having | 
 distinguished his ecclesiastical reign by any memorable | 
 achiev vement, if we except his zeal “for draining Europe of 
 its treasures and inhabitants by the publication of new) 
 crusades. Celestine ILL.* makes a more shining figure in| 
 history than the pontiffs we have been now mentioning 3. 
 for he thundered his excommunications against the em- 
 peror Henry VI., and Leopold, duke of Austria, on ac-| 
 count of their having seized and imprisoned Richard L, 
 king of England, as he was returning from the Holy 
 Land: he also subjected to the same malediction A] phon- 
 so X., king of Gallicia and Leon, on account of an in- 
 cestuous marriage into which that prince had entered ; 
 and commanded Philip Augustus, king of France, to re- 
 admit to the conjugal state and honours Ingelburga his 
 queen, whom he had divorced for reasons unknown ; 
 though this order, indeed, produced little effect.¢ But the 
 most illustrious and resolute pontiff that filled the papal 
 chair during this century, and whose exploits madg the 
 greatest noise in Europe, was Lotharius, count of Segni, 
 cardinal deacon, otherwise known by the name of Inno- 
 cent Ill. ‘The arduous undertakings and bold achieve- 
 ments of this emment pontiff, who was placed at the head 
 of the church in the year 1198, belong to the history of 
 the following century. 
 XY. If, from the series of pontiffs that ruled the church’ 
 in this century, we descend to the other ecclesiastical 
 orders, such as the bishops, priests, and deacons, very | 
 
 Pany JE 
 unpleasing objects will be exhibited to our view. ‘I'he 
 unanimous voice of the historians of this age, the laws 
 and decrees of synods and councils, loudly declare the 
 cross ignorance, 0 odious frauds, and flagitious crimes, that 
 reigned among the different ranks and orders of the cler oy 
 now mentioned. It is not therefore at all surprising, that 
 the monks, whose rules of discipline obliged them to a 
 regular method of living, and placed them out of the way 
 of. many temptations to licentiousness, and occasions of 
 sinning, to which the episcopal and sacerdotal orders were 
 | e*posed, were in higher estimation than these were. The 
 x.0 of corruption became, however, so general, that it 
 reached at last even the convents ; and the monks, who 
 were gaining with the most ardent efforts the summit of 
 ecclesiastical power and authority, and who beheld both 
 the secular clerks and the regular canons with aversion 
 and contempt,’ began, in many places, to degenerate from 
 that sanctity of manners, and that exact obedience to 
 their rules of discipline, by which they had been formerly 
 peels and to exhibit to the people scandalous 
 xamples of immorality and vice.! The Benedictines of 
 GHGeAL who undoubtedly surpassed, in regularity of con- 
 duct and purity of manners, all the monastic orders who 
 lived under their rule, maintained their integrity for a long 
 
 time, amidst the general decay of piety and virtue: but 
 they were at length carried away with the torrent. Se- 
 
 duced by the examples of their abbot Pontius, and 
 corrupted by the treasures that were poured daily into 
 their convent by the liberality of the opulent and pious, 
 they fell from their primitive austerity, and following the 
 dissolute examples of the other Benedictines, they ‘gave 
 themselves up to pleasure, and dwelt carelessly. Several 
 of the succeeding abbots endeavoured to remedy this dis- 
 order, and to recover the declining reputation of their 
 convent ; but their efforts were much less successful than 
 they expected, nor could the monks of Clugni ever be 
 brought back to their primitive sanctity and virtue,” 
 XVI. The Cistertian Order, which was much inferior 
 to the monks of Clugni, both with respect to the antiquity 
 of its institution, and the possessions and revenues of its 
 convent, far surpassed them in external regularity of life 
 and manners, and in a striking air of innocence and 
 sanctity. Hence its members acquired that high degree 
 of reputation and authority which the order of Clugni 
 had formerly enjoyed ; and the fraternity increased daily 
 in number, credit, and o_alence. The famous St. Ber- 
 nard, abbot of Clair” whose influence throughout 
 Europe was incredible, winose word was a law, and whose 
 counsels were regarded by kings and princes as so many 
 orders to which the most respectful obedience was due, 
 was the person who contributed most to enrich and 
 agegrandize the Cistertian order. Hence he is justly con- 
 sidered as its second parent and founder; and hence the 
 
 * Baronius, Annal. ad. A. 1179.—Innocentii HI. Epistole Lib. ep. 
 xlix. p. 54, tom. i. ed. Baluz. 
 
 i> Alphonso had been declared, by his victorious army, king of | 
 Portugal, in the year 1136, in the midst of the glorious exploits he had | 
 perfor ‘med in the war against the Moors; so that Alexander did no more 
 than confirm this title by an arrogant bull, in which he treats that excel- 
 lent prince as his vassal. 
 
 » This prelate} before his elevation to the papacy, was bishop of Be- 
 nevento, and chancellor of the Roman church. 
 
 ¢ Whose name was Hyacinth, a native of Rome, and a cardinal 
 deacon. 
 
 a> 4 It was in consequence of the vigorous and terrible proceedings | 
 of Innocent JIL. that the re-union between Philip and Ingelburga was | 
 
 accomplished. See L’Histoire de France, par Abbé Velly, tom. iii, 
 
 367. 
 ba See Ruperti Epistola in Martenne’s Thesaur. Anecd. tom. i. p. 285. 
 This writer prefers the monks to the apostles. 
 
 f See Bernardi Considerationes ad Eugenium, lib. iii. cap. iv—-See 
 also the Speculum Stultorum, or Brunellus, a poem, composed by Nigel 
 Wireker, an English bard of no mean reputation, who lived about the 
 middle of the xiith century. In this poem, of which several editions 
 have been published, the different orders of monks are sever ely censured ; 
 the Carthusians alone have escaped the keen and virulent satire of this 
 witty writer. § Isaiah, xlvii. 8. 
 
 ie Martenne’s Amplissima Collectio Monuraentor. Veter. tom. ix, 
 p- 9 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 Cistertians, not only in France, but also in Germany and 
 other countries, were distinguished by the title of Bernar- 
 dine monks. A hundred and sixty religious communi- 
 ties derived their origin, or their rules of discipline, from 
 this illustrious abbot; and he left, at his death, seven 
 hundred monks in the monastery of Clairval. The 
 church abounded with bishops and archbishops who had 
 been formed and prepared for the ministry by his instruc- 
 tions ; and he also reckoned, among the number of his 
 disciples, Eugenius ILI. one of the best and wisest of the 
 Roman pontiffs. 
 
 XVII. The growing prosperity of the Cistertian Order 
 excited the envy and jealousy of the monks of Clugni, 
 and, after several dissensions of less consequence, produced 
 at length an open rupture, a declared war, between these 
 opulent and powerful monasteries. "They both followed 
 the rule of St. Benedict, though they differed in their habit, 
 and in certain laws, which the Cistertians more especially 
 had added to that rule. ‘The monks of Clugni accused 
 the Cistertians of affecting an extravagant austerity in 
 their manners and discipline ; while the Cistertians, on 
 the other hand, charged them, upon very good grounds, 
 with having degenerated from their former sanctity and 
 regularity of conduct. St. Bernard, who was the oracle 
 and protector of the Cistertians, wrote, in the year 1127, 
 an apology for his own conduct with respect to the divi- 
 sion that subsisted between the two convents, and inveigh- 
 ed, with a just but not intemperate severity, against the 
 vices that corrupted the monks of Clugni.» "This charge 
 was answered, though with uncommon moderation and 
 candour, by Peter Mauricius, abbot of Clugni; and hence 
 arose a controversy in form, which spread from day to 
 day its baneful influence, and excited disturbances in 
 several provinces of Europe. It was, however, followed 
 by a much more vehement and bitter contest concerning 
 an exemption from the payment of tithes, granted among 
 other privileges and immunities to the Cistertians, A. D. 
 1132, by Innocent Il. A considerable part of the lands 
 which the Cistertians possessed, and to which the pontiff 
 granted this exemption, were subject to the monks of 
 Clugni, who consequently suffered by this act of liberality, 
 and disputed the matter, not only with the Cistertians, 
 but with the pope himself. This keen dispute was, in 
 some measure, terminated in the year 1155; but in what 
 manner, or upon what conditions, we do not precisely 
 know.? 
 
 XVII. The regular canons, who had been formed into 
 a fixed and permanent order in the preceding century, 
 employed their time in a much more useful and exemplary 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 277 
 
 manner than the monastic drones, who passed their days 
 in luxury and sloth. “They kept public schools for the 
 instruction of youth, and exercised a variety of ecclesias- 
 tical functions, which rendered them extremely useful to 
 the church.e Hence they rose daily in credit and reputa- 
 tion, received many rich and noble donations from several 
 persons, whose opulence and piety rendered them able 
 and willing to distinguish merit, and were also often put. 
 in possession of the revenues of the monks, whose disso- 
 lute lives occasioned, from time to time, the suppression of 
 their convents. ‘This, as might well be expected, infla- 
 med the rage of the monastic orders against the regular 
 canons, whom they attacked with the greatest fury, and 
 loaded with the bitterest invectives. The canons, in their 
 turn, were far from being backward in making reprisals ; 
 they exclaimed, on the contrary, against the monks with 
 the utmost vehemence ; enumerated their vices both in 
 discourses and in writings, and insisted upon their being 
 confined to their monasteries, sequestered from human 
 society, and excluded from all ecclesiastical honours and 
 functions. Hence arose, between the monks and canons, 
 a long and warm contest for pre-eminence ; in which both 
 parties carried their pretensions too high, and exceeded the 
 bounds of decency and moderation.£ The champions, 
 who espoused the interest of the monks, were the famous 
 Peter Abelard, Hugh of Amiens, Rupert of Duytz ; while 
 the cause of the canons was defended by Philip Har- 
 vengius, a learned abbot, and several other men of genius 
 and abilities.s The effects and remains of this ancient 
 controversy are yet visible in our times. 
 
 XIX. A new society of religious Benedictines arose 
 about the commencement of this century, whose principal 
 monastery was erected in a barren and solitary place, called 
 Fontevraud, between Angers and Tours; whence the 
 order derived its name. Robert of Arbrisselles, its founder, 
 who had been first a hermit, and afterwards a monk, 
 prescribed to his religious of both sexes the rule of St. 
 Benedict, amplified, however, by the addition of several 
 new laws, which were extremely singular and excessively 
 severe. Among other singularities that distinguished this 
 institution, one was, that the several monasteries which 
 Robert had built, within one and the same inclosure, for 
 his monks and nuns, were all subjected to the authority 
 and government of one abbess ; in justification of which 
 measure, the example of Christ was alleged, who recom- 
 mended St. John to the Virgin Mary, and imposed it as 
 an order upon that beloved disciple, to be obedient to her 
 as to his own mother.» This new order, like all other 
 novelties of that kind, gained immediately a high degree 
 
 @ See Jo. Mabillon, Annal. Ord. Benedict. tom. vi. passim, in Vita Sti. 
 Bernardi, which he has prefixed to his edition of the works of that saint.— 
 See also the Annales Cistercienses, by Manriquez, tom. ii. and iil. 
 Z*> > This apology, as itis called, of St. Bernard, is well worth the 
 attention of the curious reader, as it exhibits a true and lively picture 
 of monastic opulence and luxury, and shows how the religious orders 
 in general livedin this century. The famous abbot, in this performance, 
 accuses the monks of Clugni of luxury and intemperance at their table, 
 of superfluity and magnificence in their dress, their bed-chambers, their 
 furniture, equipage, and buildings. He points out the pride and vanity 
 of the abbots, who looked much more like the governors of provinces, 
 than the spiritual fathers of humble and holy communities, whose ori- 
 ginal profession it was, to be crucified and dead to the interests and plea- 
 sures, the pomps and vanities of the present world. He declares, with 
 a pious concern, that he knew several abbots, each of whom had more 
 than sixty horses in his stable, and such a prodigious variety of wines 
 in his cellar, that it was scarcely possible to taste the half of them at a 
 single entertainment. See Fleury, Hist. Ecclesiastique, liv. xxvii. tom. 
 xiv. p. 351, edit. Bruxelles. 
 Noy XXIY. 70 
 
 ¢ See S. Bernardi Apologia in Oper. tom. i. p. 523—533. The apo- 
 logy of Peter, abbot of Ciugni, surnamed the venerable, which is pub- 
 lished amorg his Epistles, lib. i. ep. 28, in the Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, 
 tom. i. p. 657—695. See also the Dialogus inter Cluniacensem, et Cister- 
 ciensem published by Martenne, in his Thesaur. Anecd. tom. v. p, 1573— 
 1613. Compare with all these Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 80, 
 and Manriquez, Annal. Cistere. tom. i. p. 28. 
 
 4 See Manriquez, Annal. Cistercienses, tom. i. p. 232.—Mabillon, 
 Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 212, 479, and prefat. ad Opera S. Bernardi 
 —Jo. de Lannes, Histoire du Pontificat d’Innocent II. p. 68—79.—Jo. 
 Nic. Hertii Diss. de exemptione Cisterc. & decimis. 
 
 ¢ See the Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. ix. p. 112. 
 
 f See Lamberti Epistola in Martenne’s Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. 1. p. 329. 
 
 ® Abelardi Opera, p. 228. Paris, 1616, in 4to—Martenne’s Thesaur. 
 Anecdot. tom. v. p.970—975, 1614, et Amplissima ejusdem Collectio, tom. 
 ix. p. 971—972.—Phil. Harvengii Opera, p. 385. Duaci 1621, in folio. 
 
 h See the Works of Abelard, p. 48, whose testimony in this matter 
 is confirmed by the present state and constitution of this famous order ; 
 though Mabillon, from an excessive partiality in favour of the Bene- 
 
278 
 
 of credit: the singularity of its discipline, its form, and its 
 laws, engaged multitudes to embrace it; and thus the 
 labours of its founder were crowned with remarkable 
 success. [!1G> But the association of vigorous monks and 
 tender virgins, in the same community, was an imprudent 
 measure, and could not but be attended with many 
 inconveniences. However that may be, Robert continued | 
 his pious labours, and the odour of his sanctity perfumed | 
 all the places where he exercised his ministry.| He was, | 
 indeed, suspected by some, of too great an intimacy with } 
 his female disciples ; and it was rumored, that in order to_ 
 try his virtue, by opposing it to the strongest temptations, 
 he exposed it to an inevitable defeat by the manner in 
 which he conversed with these holy virgins. It was | 
 affirmed, that their commerce was softened by something 
 more tender than divine love; against which charge his 
 disciples have used their most zealous endeavours to de- 
 fend their master.* 
 
 XX. Norbert, a German nobleman, who took holy 
 orders, and was afterwards archbishop of Magdeburg, 
 employed his most strenuous eflorts to restore to its primi- 
 tive severity the discipline of the regular canons, which 
 was extremely relaxed in some places, and almost totally 
 abolished in others. 'This eminent reformer founded, in 
 the year 1121, the Order of Premontré in Picardy, whose 
 ~ fame spread throughout Europe with an amazing rapidity, 
 and whose opulence, in a short space of time, became 
 excessive and enormous,” in consequence of the high 
 esteem which the monks of this community had acquired 
 by the gravity of their manners, and their assiduous 
 application to the liberal arts and sciences. But their 
 overgrown prosperity was the source of their ruin ; it soon 
 diminished their zeal for the exercises of devotion, ex- 
 tinguished their thirst after useful knowledge, and thus 
 gradually plunged them into all kinds of vice. ‘The rule 
 which they followed was that of St. Augustin, with some 
 slight alterations, and an addition of certain severe laws, 
 
 dictines, has endeavoured to diminish its credit in his Annal. Benedict. | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 tom. v. p. 423. For an account of Robert and his order, see the Acta 
 Sanctor. tom. i. Februar. p. 593.—Dion. Sammarthani Gallia Christi- 
 ana, tom. ii. p. 1811—Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Fontevraud.— 
 Helyot, Hist. des Ordres, tom. vi. p. 88.—The present state of this mo- 
 nastery is described by Moleon, in his Voyages Liturgiques, p. 108, 
 and by Martenne, in the second part of his Voyage Literaire de deux 
 Benedictins. 
 
 a See the letters of Geoffry, abbot of Vendéme, and of Marbod, 
 bishop of Rennes; in which Robert is accused of lying in the same bed 
 with the nuns. How the grave abbot was defended against this accusa- 
 tion by the members of his order, may be seen in Mainferme’s Clypeus 
 Nascentis Ordinis Fontebraldensis, published in 8vo. at Paris in the 
 vear 1684; and also by another production of the same author, entitled, 
 Dissertationes in Epistolam contra Robertum de Arbrissello, Salmurii, 
 1682, in 8vo. Bayle’s account of this famous abbot, in which there is 
 such an admirable mixture of wit, sense, and malice, has been also at- 
 tacked by several writers; see, among other works, the vth and vith 
 tomes of Mabillon’s. Annals, and the Dissertation Apologetique pour le 
 bienheureux Robert d’Arbrisselles sur ce qu’en a dit M. Bayle, Anvers 
 1701, in 8vo. 
 
 Z*7 In the year 1177, some nuns of this order were brought into 
 England at the desire of Henry II. who gave them the monastery of 
 Ambresbury, in Wiltshire. They had two other houses here; one at Eton, 
 the other at Westwood, in Worcestershire. 
 
 3X‘ > The religious of this order were at first so poor, that they had 
 nothing they could call their own, but a single ass, which served to carry 
 the wood they cut down every morning, and sent to Laon in order to 
 purchase bread. But in a short time they received so many donations, 
 and built so many monasteries, that thirty years after the foundation of 
 this order, they had above a hundred abbeys in France and Germany. 
 in process of time, the order increased so prodigiously, that it had mo- 
 nasteries in all parts of Christendom, amounting to 1000 abbeys, 300 
 provostships, a vast number of priories, and 500 nunneries. But this 
 
 = ed = 
 
 Parr Il. 
 
 whose authority, however, did not long survive their 
 austere founder.¢ 
 
 XXI. About the middle of this century, a Calabrian, 
 whose name was Berthold, set out with a few companions 
 for mount Carmel, and, upon the very spot where the 
 prophet Elias is said to have disappeared, built an humble 
 cottage, with an adjoining chapel, in which he led a life 
 of solitude, austerity, and labour. This little colony 
 subsisted, and the places of. those that died were more 
 than filled by new-comers; so that it was, at length, 
 erected into a monastic community by Albert, patriarch 
 of Jerusalem. ‘This austere prelate drew up, for the new 
 monks, a rule of discipline, which was afterwards con- 
 firmed by the authority of the Roman _ pontifls, who 
 modified and altered it in several respects, and, among 
 other corrections, mitigated its excessive rigour.¢ Such 
 was the origin of the famous Order of Carmelites, or, ag they 
 are commonly called, the Order of our Lady of Mount Car- 
 mel, which was afterwards transplanted from Syria ints 
 HKurope, and obtained the principal rank among the mend'- 
 cant or begging orders. It is true, the Carmelites reject, with 
 the highest indignation, an origin so recent and obscure, ané 
 affirm to this very day, that the prophet Elias was the pa- 
 rent and founder of their ancient community. Very few. 
 however, have been engaged to adopt this fabulous ané 
 chimerical account of the establishment, except the mem- 
 bers of the order; and many Roman Catholic writers 
 have treated their pretensions to such a remote antiquity 
 with the utmost contempt.s [> And scarcely, indeed, 
 can any thing be more ridiculous than the circumstantial 
 narrations of the occasion, origin, founder, and revolutions 
 of this famous order, which we find in several ecclesiastical 
 authors, whose zeal for this fraternity has rendered them 
 capable of adopting without reluctance, or, at least, of 
 reciting without shame, the most puerile and glaring 
 absurdities. ‘They tell us that Elias was introduced into 
 the state of monachism by the ministry of angels; that 
 
 ~ 
 
 number is now greatly diminished. Besides what they lost in Protes- 
 tant countries, of 65 abbeys, that they had in Italy, there is not one now 
 remaining. 
 
 © See Helyot, Hist. des Ordres, tom, il. p. 156.—Chrysost. Vander 
 Sterre, Vita S. Norberti Premonstratensium Patriarche, published in 
 8vo, at Antwerp, in 1656.—Louis Hughes, Vie de 8. Norbert, Luxemb., 
 1704, in 4to—Add to these, notwithstanding his partiality, Jo. Launoy, 
 Inquisit. in Privilegia Ordin. Premonstrat. cap. i. 1. Oper. tom. 111. part 
 i. p. 448. For an account of the present state of the Order of Premontré, 
 see Martenne’s Voyage Literaire de deux Benedictins, tom. il. p. 59. 
 
 a> The Premonstratenses, or monks of Premontré, vulgarly called 
 White Canons, came first into England in the year 1046. Their first 
 monastery, called New House, was built in Lincolnshire, by Peter de 
 Saulia, and dedicated to St. Martial. In the reign of Edward I. the 
 order in question had 27 monasteries in England. 
 
 4 In the year 1205. 
 
 e J have here principally followed Dan. Papebroch, an accurate writer, 
 and one who is always careful to produce sufficient testimonies of the 
 truth of his narrations. See the Acta Sanctor. Antwerp. Mense April. 
 tom. ili, p. 774—802. It is well known, that an accusation was brought 
 against this learned Jesuit, before the tribunal of the pope, by the Car- 
 melites, on account of his having called in question the dignity and 
 high antiquity of their order. We have in Helyot’s Hist. des Ordres 
 (tom. 1. p. 282) an account of this long and tedious contest, which was 
 so far determined, or at least suspended, in the year 1698, by Innocent 
 XII. that silence was imposed upon the contending parties. 
 
 f The most concise and accurate of all the Carmelite writers, who 
 have treated this matter, is Thomas Aquinas, a French monk, in his 
 Dissertatio Histor. Theol. in qua Patriarchatus Ordinis Carmelitarum 
 Prophete Eliz vindicatur, published in 8vo. at Paris in the year 1632. 
 The modern writers who have maintained the cause of the Carmelites 
 against Papebroch, are extremely prolix and tiresome. 
 
 ® See Harduini Opera Posthum. p. 652.—Labat, Voyage en Espagne 
 et Italie, t. ii. p. 87.—Courayer, Examen des Defauts Theol. t. i. p. 455. 
 
 o 
 
Cuap. IL. P 
 
 his first disciples were Jonah, Micah, and also Obadiah, 
 whose wife, in order to shake off an importunate crowd 
 of lovers, who fluttered about her at the court of Ahab 
 after the departure of her husband, bound herself by a 
 vow of chastity, received the veil from the hands of father 
 Elias, and thus became the first abbess of the Carmelite 
 order, ‘hey enter into a minute detail of the circum- 
 stances that relate to the rules of discipline which were 
 drawn up for this community, the habit which distinguish- 
 ed its members, and the various alterations which were 
 successively introduced into their rule of discipline. ‘They 
 observe, that among other marks which were used to 
 distinguish the Carmelites from the seculars, the tonsure 
 was one; that this mark of distinction exposed them, 
 indeed, to the mockeries of a profane multitude ; and that 
 this furnishes the true explication of the term bald-head, 
 which the children addressed, by way of reproach, to 
 Elisha as he was on his way to Carmel.* They also 
 affirm, that Pythagoras was a member of this ancient 
 order; that he drew all his wisdom from Mount Carmel, 
 and had several conversations with the prophet Daniel at 
 Babylon, upon the subject of the Trinity. They even go 
 farther into the-region of fable, and assert, that the Virgin 
 Mary, and Jesus himself, assumed the habit and profession 
 of Carmelites ; and they load this fiction with a heap of 
 absurd circumstances, which it is impossible to read with- 
 out the highest astonishment.® 
 
 XXII. 'To this brief account of the religious orders, it will 
 not be amiss to add a list of the principal Greek and Latin 
 writers who flourished in this century. 'The most emi- 
 nent among the Greeks were those that follow: 
 
 Philippus Solitarius, whose Dioptra, or controversy be- 
 tween the soul and the body, is sufficiently known ; 
 
 Kustratius, who maintained the cause of the Greek 
 church against the Latins with great learning and spirit, 
 and who wrote commentaries on certain books of Aristotle; 
 
 Euthymius Zigabenus, who by his anti-heretical Panop- 
 ly, together with his commentaries upon several parts of 
 the sacred writings, acquired a place among the principal 
 authors of this century ;° 
 
 Johannes Zonaras, whose Annals, with several other pro- 
 ductions of his learned pen, are still extant ; 
 
 Michael Glycas, who also applied himself to historical 
 composition, as well as to other branches of learning ;4 
 
 * See 2 Kings ii. 23. 
 
 $> > For an ample account of all the absurd inventions here hinted at, 
 see a very remarkable work, entitled, “ Ordres Monastiques, Histoire 
 extraite de tous les Auteurs qui ont conserve a ia Posterité ce qu'il ya de 
 plus curieux dans chaque Ordre, enrichie d’un trés grand nombre de 
 passages des memes Auteurs, pour servir de demonstration que ce qwon 
 y avance est egalement veritable et curieux.” This work, which was first 
 printed at Paris in 1751, under the title of Berlin, and which was suppress- 
 ed almost as soon as it appeared, is written with great wit, eloquence, and 
 learning: and all the narrations it contains are confirmed by citations 
 from the most eminent authors, who have given accounts of the religious 
 orders. The author’s view seems to have been to expose the monks of 
 every denomination to the laughter of his readers; and it is very re- 
 markable, that, in the execution of his purpose, he has drawn his mate- 
 rials from the gravest writers, and from the most zealous defenders of 
 monachism. If he has embellished his subject, it is by the vivacity of 
 his manner, and the witty elegance of his style, and not by imputing to 
 the monastic communities any practices which their most serious histo- 
 rians omit or disavow. The authors of the Bibliotheque des Sciences et 
 des Beaux Arts, at the Hague, have given several interesting extracts 
 from this work in the 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th volumes of that literary 
 journal. 
 
 Z¢p The Carmelites came into England in the year 1240, and erected 
 a vast number of monasteries in that kingdom. See Broughton’s His- 
 
 torical Library, vol. i. p. 208. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 279 
 
 Constantius Harmenopulus, whose commentaries on the 
 civil and canon laws are deservedly esteemed ; 
 
 Andronicus Camaterus, who wrote with great warmth 
 and vehemence against the Latins and Armenians ; 
 
 Kustathius, bishop of Thessalonica, the most learned of 
 the Greeks in this century, and the celebrated commenta- 
 tor upon the Iliad ; 
 
 ‘Theodorus Balsamon, who employed great diligence, 
 erudition, and labour, in explaining and digesting the civil 
 and ecclesiastical laws of the Greeks.¢ 
 
 XXIII. The most eminent among the Latin writers 
 were, 
 
 Bernard, abbot of Clairval, from whom the Cistertian 
 monks (as has been already observed) derived the title of 
 Bernardins ; a man who was not destitute of genius and 
 taste, and whose judgment, in many respects, was just and 
 penetrating ; but who, on the other hand, discovered in 
 his conduct many marks of superstition and weakness, 
 and what is still worse, concealed the lust of dominion 
 under the mask of piety, and: made no scruple of loading 
 with false accusations, such as had the misfortune to in- 
 cur his displeasure ;f 
 
 Innocent III. bishop of Rome, whose epistles and other 
 productions contribute to illustrate the religious sentiments, 
 as also the discipline and morals, that prevailed in this 
 century ;& 
 
 Anselm of Laon, a man ofa subtle genius, and deeply 
 versed in logical disquisition ; 
 
 Abelard, the disciple of Anselm, and most famous in 
 this century, on account of the elegance of his wit, the ex- 
 tent of his erudition, the power of his rhetoric, and the 
 severity of his fate; 
 
 Geoflry of Vendome, whose Epistles and Dissertations 
 are yet extant ; 
 
 Rupert of Duytz, the most eminent, perhaps, of all the 
 scriptural expositors who flourished among the Latins 
 during this century, a man of a sound judgment and an 
 elegant taste 5: 
 
 Hugh of St. Victor, a man distinguished by the fecundi- 
 ty of his genius, who treated of all the branches of sacred 
 and profane erudition that were known in his time, and 
 composed several dissertations that are not destitute of 
 merit ;« 
 
 Richard of St. Victor, who was at the head of the Mys- 
 
 ¢ See Rich. Simon, Critique de la- Bibliotheque des Auteurs Eccles. 
 par M. Du-Pin, tom. 1. p. 318, 324. 
 
 4 Other historians place Glycas in the fifteenth century. See Lami 
 Dissertatio de Glyea, which is prefixed to the first volume of his Deliciz 
 Virorum eruditorum. 
 
 © See the Bibliotheca Graca of Fabricius. 
 
 f The learned Mabillon has given a splendid edition of the works of 
 St. Bernard, and has not only, in his preface, made many excellent obser- 
 vations upon the life and history of this famous abbot, but has also sub- 
 joined to his works the accounts that liave been given, by the ancient wri- 
 ters, of his life and actions. 
 
 ¢ The Epistles of Innocent III. were published at Paris, in two large 
 volumes in folio, by Baluze, in the year 1682. 
 
 h See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the articles Abelard and Paraclet.—Ger- 
 vais, Vie de Pierre Abeillard, Abbé de Ruys, et d’Heloise, published at 
 Paris in two volumes 8vo., in the year 1728. The works of this famous 
 and unfortunate monk were published at Paris in 1616, in one volume 
 4to., by France. Amboise. Another edition, much more ample, might be 
 given, since there are a great number of the productions of Abelard that 
 fave never yet seen the light. 
 
 i See Mabillon, Annal. Bened. tom. vi. p. 19, 42, 144, 168, 261, 282, 
 296. He gives an ample account of Rupert, and of the disputes in 
 which he was involved. 
 
 k See Gallia Christiana, tom. vii. p. 661. The works of this learned 
 | man were published at Rouen, in three folio volumes, in the year 1648, 
 
280 
 
 tics in this century, and whose treatise, entitled, The Mys- 
 tical Ark, which contains, as it were, the marrow of that 
 kind of theology, was received with the greatest avidity, 
 and applauded by the fanatics of the times ;* 
 
 Honorius of Autun,® no mean philosopher, and tolerably 
 versed in theological learning ; 
 
 Gratian, a learned monk, who reduced the canon law 
 into a new and regular form, in his vast compilation of the 
 decisions of the ancient and modern: councils, the decre- 
 tals of the pontifls, the capitularies of the kings of France, 
 &e.; 
 
 William of Rheims, the author of several productions, 
 calculated to excite pious sentiments, and contribute to the 
 progress of practical religion ; 
 
 Peter Lombard, who was commonly called, in France, 
 Master of the Sentences, because he had composed a work 
 so entitled, which was collection of opinions andsen- 
 tences relative to the various branches of theology, extract- 
 ed from the Latin doctors, and reduced into a sort of sys- 
 tem ;° 
 
 Gilbert de la Porrée,’ a subtle dialectician, and a learn- 
 ed divine, who is, however, said to have adopted several 
 erroneous sentiments concerning the Divine Essence, the 
 Incarnation, and the 'T'rinity ;° 
 
 William of Auxerre, who acquired a considerable re- 
 putation by his Theological System ;* 
 
 Peter of Blois,s whose epistles and other productions 
 may yet be read with profit ; 
 
 John of Salisbury, a man of great learning and true 
 genius, whose philosophical and theological knowledge 
 was adorned with a lively wit anda flowing eloquence, as 
 appears in his Metalogicus, and his book de Nugis Curia- 
 lium ; 
 
 Petrus Comestor, author of an Abridgment of the Old 
 and New Testament, which was used in the schools for 
 the instruction of the youth, and called (probably from that 
 circumstance) Historia Scholastica. 
 
 A more ample account of the names and characters of 
 the Latin writers may be found in those authors who have 
 professedly treated of that branch of literature. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. WueEn we consider the multitude of causes which 
 united their influence in obscuring the lustre of genuine 
 Christianity, and corrupting it by a profane mixture of the 
 inventions of superstitious and designing men with its 
 pure and sublime doctrines, it will appear surprising, that 
 the religion of Jesus was not totally extinguished. All 
 orders contributed, though in different ways, to corrupt the 
 native purity of true religion. he popes led the way; they 
 would not suffer any doctrines to prevail that had the small- 
 
 See, for a farther account of him, Derlangii Dissert. de Hugone a S. 
 Victore, Helmstadt, 1746, in 4to., and Martenne’s Voyage Literaire, tom. 
 11. p. 91, 92. : 
 
 * Gallia Christiana, tom. vil. p. 669. 
 
 » Such is the place to which Honorius is said to have belonged. But 
 Le Beuf proves him to have been a German, in his Dissert. sur Hist. 
 Francoise, tom, i. p. 254. 
 
 ¢ Gallia Christiana, tom. vii. p. 68. 
 
 4 Called, in Latin, Gilbertus Porretanus. 
 
 ¢ He held, among other things, this trifling and sophistical propo- 
 sition, that the divine essence and attributes are not God; a proposition 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 est tendency to diminish their despotic authority; but obli- 
 ged the public teachers to interpret the precepts of Christi- 
 anity in such a manner, as to render them subservient to the 
 support of papal dominion and tyranny. ‘This order was so 
 much the more terrible, as those who refused to comply 
 with it, and to force the words of scripture into significa- 
 tions totally opposite to the intentions of its divine author 
 (such, in a word, as had the courage to place the authori- 
 ty of the Gospel above that of the Roman pontifis, and to 
 consider it as the supreme rule of their conduct,) were 
 answered with the formidable arguments of fire and sword, 
 and received death in the most cruel forms, as the fruit of 
 their sincerity and resolution. 'The priests and monks 
 contributed, in their way, to disfigure the beautiful sim- 
 plicity of religion ; and, finding it their interest to keep 
 the people in the grossest ignorance and darkness, dazzled 
 their feeble eyes with the ludicrous pomp of a gaudy 
 worship, and led them to place the whole of religion in 
 vain ceremonies, bodily austerities and exercises, and par- 
 ticularly in a blind and stupid veneration for the clergy. 
 The scholastic doctors, who considered the decisions of 
 the ancients, and the precepts of the Dialecticians, as the 
 great rule and criterion of truth, instead of explaining the 
 doctrines of the Gospel, undermined them by degrees, and 
 sunk divine truth in the ruins of a captious philosophy , 
 while the Mystics, running into the opposite extreme, 
 maintaimed that the souls of the truly pious were incapable 
 of any spontaneous motions, and could only be moved by 
 a divine impulse; and thus not only set limits to the pre- 
 tensions of reason, but excluded it entirely from religion 
 and morality, if they did not in some measure deny its 
 very existence. 
 
 If. 'The consequences of all this were superstition and 
 ignorance, which were substituted for true religion, and 
 reigned over the multitude with an universal sway. 
 Relics, which were for the most part fictitious, or at least 
 uncertain, attracted more powerfully the confidence of the 
 people, than the merits of Christ, and were supposed by 
 many to be more effectual, than the prayers offered to 
 heaven, through the mediation and intercession of that 
 divine Redeemer.» The opulent, whose circumstances 
 enabled them either to erect new temples, or to repair and 
 embellish the old, were considered as the happiest of all 
 mortals, and as the most intimate friends of the Most High ; 
 whilst they, whom poverty rendered incapable of such 
 pompous acts of liberality, contributed to the multiplication 
 of religious edifices by their bodily labours, cheerfully 
 performed the services in which beasts of burthen are 
 usually employed, (such as carrying stones and drawing 
 wagons,) and expected to obtain eternal salvation by 
 these voluntary and painful efforts of misguided zeal. 
 The saints had a greater number of worshippers than 
 the Supreme Being and the Saviour of mankind; nor 
 did these superstitious worshippers trouble their heads 
 
 that was every way proper to exercise the quibbling spirit of the scho- 
 lastic writers. 
 
 f Le Beuf, Dissert. sur la Somme Theologique de Guillaume d’Aux- 
 erre, in Molat’s Continuation des Memoires d’Histoire et de Literature, 
 tom. ii. part i. p. 317. ) & Petrus Blesensis. 
 
 h See Guibert de Novigento, de Pignoribus (so were relics called) 
 Sanctorum, in his Works published by d’Acheri, p. 327, where he attacks, 
 with judgment and dexterity, the superstition of these miserable times. 
 
 i See Haymon’s Treatise concerning this custom, published by Ma- 
 billon, at the end of the sixth tome of his Annal. Benedict. See also 
 those Annales, p. 392. ; 
 
Cirar. IIL. DOCTRINE OF 
 about that knotty question, which occasioned much debate 
 and many laborious disquisitions in succeeding times, viz. 
 How the inhabitants of heaven came to the knowledge of 
 the prayers and supplications that were addressed to them 
 fiom the earth? ‘This question was prevented in this 
 century by an opinion, which the Christians had received 
 from their pagan ancestors, that the inhabitants of heaven 
 descended often from above, and frequented the places in 
 which they had formerly taken pleasure during their 
 residence upon earth.s | ‘lo finish the horrid portrait of 
 superstition, we shall only observe, that the stupid creduli- 
 ty of the people in this century went so far, that when any 
 
 persons, either through the phrensy of a disordered imagi- 
 nation, or with an intention of deceiving, published the 
 dreams or visions, which they fancied or pretended they 
 had from above, the multitude resorted to the new oracle, 
 and respected its decisions as the commands of God, who 
 in this way was pleased, as they imagined, to communi- 
 cate counsel, instruction, and the knowledge of his will to 
 men. ‘This appears (to mention no other examples) from 
 the extraordinary reputation which the two famous pro- 
 
 phetesses Hildegard, abbess of Bingen, and Elizabeth of 
 Schonauge, obtained in Germany.» 
 
 {If. The general prevalence of ignorance and super- 
 stition was dexterously, yet basely improved, by the rulers 
 of the church, to fill their coffers, and to drain the purses 
 of the deluded multitude : indeed, each rank and order of 
 the clergy had a peculiar method of fleecing the people. 
 The bishops, when they wanted money for their private 
 pleasures, or for the exigencies of the church, granted to 
 their flock the power of purchasing the remission of the 
 penalties imposed upon transgressors, by a sum of money, 
 which was to be applied to certain religious purposes ; or, 
 in other words, they published indulgences, which became 
 an inexhaustible source of opulence to the episcopal orders, 
 and enabled them, as is well known, to form and execute 
 the most difficult schemes for the enlargement of their 
 authority, and to erect a multitude of sacred edifices, which 
 augmented considerably the external pomp and splendour 
 of the church.c The abbots and monks, who were not 
 qualified to grant indulgences, had recourse to other 
 methods of enriching their convents. ‘They carried about 
 the country the carcases and relics of the saints in solemn 
 procession, and permitted the multitude to behold, touch, 
 and embrace, at fixed prices, these sacred and lucrative 
 remains. ‘The monastic orders often gained as much by 
 this raree-show, as the bishops did by their indulgences.* 
 
 IV. When the Roman pontiffs cast an eye upon the 
 immense treasures that the inferior rulers of the church 
 were accumulating by the sale of indulgences, they 
 thought proper to limit the power of the bishops in 
 
 * As a proof that this assertion is not without foundation, we shall 
 transcribe the following remarkable passage of the life of St. Altman, 
 bishop of Padua, as it stands in Seb. Tengnagel’s Collect. Vet. Mo- 
 numentor. p. 41. “ Vos licet, sancti Domini, somno vestro requiescatis 
 ... haud tamen crediderim, spiritus vestros deesse locis que viventes 
 tanta devotione construxistis et dilexistis. Credo vos adesse cunctis il- 
 lic degentibus, astare videlicet orantibus, succurrere laborantibus, et vota 
 singulorum in conspectu divine majestatis promovere.” 
 
 b See Mabillon, Seagate Benedict. tom. vi. p. 431, 529, 554. 
 
 ¢ Stephanus Obazinensis in Baluzii Biscallare tom. iv. p. 130.—Ma- 
 billon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 535, &c. 
 
 4 We find in the records of this century innumerable examples of this 
 method of extorting contributions from the multitude. See the Chroni- 
 con Centulense in d’Acherii Spicilegio Veter. Seriptor. tom. ii. p. 354.— 
 Vita Ste. Romaniz, ibid. p. 137.—Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. 
 
 p. 332, 644.—Acta Sanctor. Mensis Maii, tom. vii. p. 533, where we | 
 
 No. XXIV. 71 
 
 THE CHURCH. 281 
 remitting the penalties imposed upon transgressors, and 
 assumed, almost entirely, this profitable traflick to them- 
 selves. In consequence of this new measure, the court of 
 Rome became the general magazine of indulgences ; and 
 the pontifls, when either the wants of the church, the 
 emptiness of their coffers, or the demon of avarice, 
 prompted them to look out for new subsidies, published 
 not only a general, but also a complete, or what they called 
 a plenary remission of the temporal pains and penalties, 
 annexed by the church to certain transgressions. They 
 went still farther ; and not only remitted the penalties 
 which the civil and ecclesiastical laws had enacted against 
 transgressors, but audaciously usurped the authority which 
 belongs to God alone, and impiously pretended to abolish 
 even the punishments which are reserved in a future state 
 for the workers of iniquity ; a step which the bishops, with 
 all their avarice and presumption, had never once ven- 
 tured to take.e 
 
 The pontifls first employed this pretended prerogative 
 in promoting the holy war, and shed abroad their in- 
 dulgences, though with a certain degree of moderation, in 
 order to encourage the European princes to form new 
 expeditions for the conquest of Palestine ; but, in process 
 of time, the charm of indulgence was practised upon 
 various occasions of much less consequence, and merely 
 with a view to base lucre.£. Their introduction, among 
 other things, destroyed the credit and authority of the 
 ancient canonical and ecclesiastical discipline of penance, 
 and occasioned the removal and suppression of the peni- 
 tentials,s by which the reins were let loose to every kind 
 of vice. Such proceedings stood much in need of a 
 plausible defence ; but this was impossible. To vindicate 
 in an authoritative manner these scandalous measures of 
 the pontifls, an absurd and even monstrous doctrine was 
 now invented, which was modified and embellished by 
 St. Thomas in the succeeding century, and which con- 
 tained, among others, the following enormities : “That 
 there actually existed an immense treasure of merit, com- 
 posed of the pious deeds, and virtuous actions, which the 
 saints had performed beyond what was necessary for their 
 own salvation," and which were therefore applicable to the 
 benefit of others ; that the guardian and dispenser of this 
 precious treasure was the Roman pontiff; and that con- 
 sequently he was empowered to assign, to such as he 
 deemed proper objects, a portion of this inexhaustible 
 source of merit, suitable to their respective guilt, and 
 sufficient to deliver them from the punishment due to their 
 crimes.” It is a most deplorable mark of the power of 
 superstition, that a doctrine, so absurd in its nature, and 
 so pernicious in its effects, should yet be retained and 
 defended in the church of Rome.: 
 
 have an account of a long journey made by the relics of St. Marculus. 
 Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Benedictini, tom. vi. p. 519, 520; 
 tom. 1. p. 732. 
 
 ¢ Morinus, de administratione Sacramenti Peenitentie, lib. x.cap. xx. 
 xxi. xxil. p. 768.—Rich. Simon, Biblioth. Critique, tom. iii. cap. xxxiii. 
 p. 371.—Mabillon, Preefatio ad Acta Sanctorum Sec. V. Acta Sancto- 
 rum Benedictini, p. 54, not to speak of the protestant writers, whom I 
 designedly pass over. 
 
 f Muratori, Antiq. Italic. medii Avi, tom. v. p. 761.—Frane. Pagi, Bre- 
 viar. Rom. Pontif. tom. ii. p. 60—Theod. Ruinarti Vita Urbani II. p. 
 231, tom. iii. Op. Posthum. 
 
 zy © The Penitential was a book, in which the degrees and kinds of 
 penance, that were annexed to different crimes, were registered. 
 
 x*> 4 These works are known by the name of Works of Superero- 
 gation. 
 
 4*7iFor a satisfactory and ample account of the enormous doctrine 
 
282 
 
 V. Nothing was more common in this century than ex- | 
 positors and interpreters of the sacred writings ; but nothing 
 was so rare, as to find, in that class ofauthors, the qualifi- 
 cations that are essentially required in a good commenta- 
 tor. Few of these expositors were attentive to search after 
 the true signification of the words employed by the sacred 
 writers, or to investigate the precise sense in which they 
 were used; and these few were destitute of the succours 
 which such researches demand. The Greek and Latin 
 commentators, blinded by their enthusiastic love of anti- 
 quity, and their implicit veneration for the doctors of the 
 early ages of the church, drew from their writings, without 
 discernment or choice, a heap of passages, which they 
 were pleased to consider as illustrations of the holy scrip- 
 tures. Such were the commentaries of Euthymius Ziga- 
 benus, an eminent expositor among the Greeks, upon the 
 Psalms, the Gospels, and Epistles; though it must, at the 
 same time, be acknowledged, that this writer follows, in 
 some places, the dictates of his own judgment, and gives, 
 upon certain occasions, proofs of penetration and genius. 
 Among the Latins, we might give several examples of the 
 injudicious manner of expounding the divine word that 
 prevailed in this century, such as the Lucubrations of Peter 
 Lombard, Gilbert de la Porrée, and the famous Abelard, 
 upon the Psalms of David, and the Epistles of St. Paul. 
 Nor do those Latin commentators who expounded the 
 whole of the sacred writings, and who are placed at the 
 head of the expositors of this age, (such as Gilbert, bishop 
 of London, surnamed the Universal, on account of the 
 vast extent of his erudition,* and Hervey,’ a most studious 
 Benedictine monk,) deserve a higher place in our esteem, 
 than the authors before mentioned. he writers that merit 
 the preference among the Latins are Rupert of Duytz, and 
 Anselm of Laon; the former of whom expounded several 
 books of scripture, and the latter composed, or rather com- 
 piled, a glossary upon the sacred writings. As to those 
 doctors who were not carried away by an enthusiastical 
 veneration for the ancients, who had courage enough to 
 try their own talents, and to follow the dictates of their 
 ewnsagacity, they were chargeable with defects of another 
 kind; for, disregarding and overlooking the beautiful sim- 
 plicity of divine truth, they were perpetually bent on the 
 search of all sorts of mysteries in the sacred writings, and 
 were constantly on the scent after some hidden meaning 
 in the plainest expressions of scripture. he Mystics ex- 
 celled peculiarly in this mannet of expounding ; and, by 
 their violent explications, forced the word of God into a 
 conformity with their visionary doctrines, their enthusias- 
 tic feclings, and the system of discipline which they had 
 drawn from the excursions of their irregular fancies. Nor 
 were the commentators, who pretended to logic and philo- 
 sophy, and who, in effect, had applied themselves to these 
 profound sciences, free from the contagion of mysticism in 
 their explications of scripture. ‘That they followed the 
 
 ey 
 
 of indulvences, see a very learned and judicious work, entitled, Lettres 
 sur les Jubilés, published in the year 1751, in three volumes, 8vo. by the 
 Rev. Mr. Chais, minister of the French church at the Hague, on occa- 
 sion of the universal Jubilee celebrated at Rome in the preceding year, 
 by the order of Benedict XIV. In the second volume of this excellent 
 work, which we shall have frequent occasion to consult in the course of 
 this history, a clear account and.a satisfactory refutation of the doctrine 
 may be found, with the history of that monstrous practice from its origin 
 to the present times. 
 
 “For an account of this prelate, see Le Beuf, Memoires concernant 
 Histoire d’ Auxerre, tom. ii. p. 486. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 b An ample account of this learned Benedictine is to be found in Gabr. || 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 example of those fanatics may be seen by the Allegorical 
 Exposition which Hugh of St. Victor gave of the Old and 
 New Testament, by the Mystical Ark of Richard of St. 
 Victor, and by the Mystical Commentaries of Guibert, ab- 
 bot of Nogent, on Obadiah, Hosea, and Amos ;° not to 
 mention several other writers, who seem to have been 
 animated by the same spirit. 
 
 VI. The most eminent teachers of theology resided at 
 Paris, which city was, from this time forward, frequented 
 by students of divinity from all parts of Europe, who re- 
 sorted thither in crowds, to receive instruction from these 
 celebrated masters. The French divines were divided into 
 different sects. 'The first of these sects, who were distin- 
 cuished by the title of the Ancient 'Theologists, explained 
 the doctrines of religion, in a plain and simple manner, by 
 passages drawn from the holy scriptures, from the decrees 
 of councils, and the writings of the ancient doctors, and 
 very rarely made use of the succours of reason or philoso- 
 phy in their theological lectures. In this class we place 
 St. Bernard, Peter surnamed the Chanter, Walter of St. 
 Victor, and other theologians, who declared an open and 
 bitter war against the philosophical divines. The doctors, 
 who were afterwards known by the name of positive and 
 sententiary teachers of religion, were not, in all respects, 
 different from these now mentioned. Imitating the ex- 
 amples of Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, 
 Hildebert, and other doctors of the preceding century, they 
 taught and confirmed their system of theology, principally 
 by collecting the decisions of the inspired writers, and the 
 opinions of the ancients. At the sanie time ‘they were far 
 from rejecting the succours of reason, and the discussions 
 of philosophy, to which they more especially had recourse, 
 when difficulties were to be solved, and adversaries to be 
 refuted, but, in the application of which, all did not dis- 
 cover the same degree of moderation and prudence. Hugh 
 of St. Victor is supposed to have been the first writer of 
 this century, who taught in this manner the doctrines of 
 Christianity, digested into a regular system. His exam- 
 ple was followed by many ; but no one acquired such a 
 shining reputation by his labours, in this branch of sacred 
 erudition, as Peter, bishop of Paris, surnamed Lombard, 
 from the country which gave him birth. The four books 
 of Sentences of this eminent prelate, which appeared in 
 the year 1162,* were not only received with general ap 
 plause, but acquired also such a high degree of authority, 
 as induced the most Jearned doctors in all places to en 
 ploy their labours in illustrating and expounding them. 
 Scarcely was there any divine of note that did not under- 
 take this popular task, except Henry of Ghent, and a few 
 others ;* so that Lombard, who was commonly called Mas- 
 ter of the Sentences, on account of the famous work now 
 mentioned, became truly a classic author in divinity. 
 
 VIL 'The followers of Lombard, who were called Sen- 
 tentiarl, though their manner of teaching was defective 
 
 Liron’s Singularités Historiques et Literaires, tom. iii. p. 29.—See also 
 Mabillon, Annales Benedict. tom. vi. p. 477, 719. 
 
 ° The Prologus in Abdiam was published by Mabillon, in his Annales 
 Benedict. tom. vi. p. 637. 
 
 4 Erpoldi Lindenbrogii Scriptores Rerum Septentrionalium, p. 250. 
 
 * A list of the commentators who laboured in explaining the Sentences 
 
 _of Lombard, is given by Anton. Possevinus, in his Biblioth. Selecta, 
 
 tom. 1. lib. ili. cap. xiv. p. 242. 
 xr f The Book of Sentences, which rendered the name of Peter Lom- 
 bard so illustrious, was a compilation of sentences and passages drawn 
 
 | fron the fathers, whose manifold contradictions this eminent prelate en- 
 
 deavoured to reconcile. His work may be considered as a complete 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 in some respects, and not altogether exempt from vain 
 and trivial questions, were always attentive to avoid en- 
 tering too far into the subtleties of the Dialecticians, nor 
 did they presumptuously attempt to submit the divine 
 truths of the Gospel to the uncertain and obscure principles 
 of a refined and intricate logic, which was rather founded 
 on the excursions of fancy than on the true nature of things. 
 They had for contemporaries anotherset of theologians, who 
 were far from imitating their moderation and prudence 
 in this respect; a set of subtle doctors, who taught the 
 plain and simple truths of Christianity, in the obscure 
 terms, and with the perplexing distinctions used by the 
 Dialecticians, and explained, or rather darkened with their 
 unintelligible jargon, the sublime precepts of that wisdom 
 which emanates from above. This method of teaching 
 theology, which was afterwards called the scholastic sys- 
 tem, because it was in general use in the schools, had for 
 its author Peter Abelard, a man of the most subtle genius, 
 whose public lectures in philosophy and divinity bad raised 
 him to the highest summit of literary renown, and who 
 was successively canon of Paris, and monk and abbot of 
 Ruys. ‘The fame he acquired by this new method en- 
 gazed many ambitious divines to adopt it ; and, in a short 
 space of time, the followers of Abelard multiplied prodi- 
 giously, not only in France, but also in England and Italy. 
 ‘Thus was the pure and peaceable wisdom of the Gospel 
 perverted into a science of mere sophistry and chicane ; 
 for these subtle doctors never explained or illustrated any 
 subject, but, on the contrary, darkened and disfigured the 
 plainest expressions, and the most evident truths, by their 
 laboured and useless distinctions, fatigued both themselves 
 and others with unintelligible solutions of abstruse and 
 frivolous questions, and, through a rage for disputing, 
 miintained with equal vehemence and ardour the opposite 
 sil +s of the most serious and momentous questions.° 
 
 YI. From this period, therefore, an important distinc- 
 tion was made between the Christian doctors, who were 
 divided into two classes. 
 those, who were called by the various names of biblici, i. e. 
 bible-doctors, dogmatici, and positivi, i. e. didactic divines, 
 and also veteres, or ancients; and in the second were 
 ranged the scholastics, who were also distinguished by the 
 titles of Sententiarii, after the Master of the Sentences, and 
 Novi, to express their recent origin. The former expound- 
 ed, though in a wretched manner, the sacred writings in 
 their public schools, illustrated the doctrines of Christianity, 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 In the first class were placed | 
 
 283 
 
 without deriving any succours from reason or philosophy, 
 and confirmed their opinions by the united testimonies of 
 Scripture and ‘Tradition. "The latter expounded, instead 
 of the Bible, the famous Book of Sentences; reduced, un- 
 der the province of their subtle philosophy, whatever the 
 Gospet proposed as an object of faith, or a rule of practice ; 
 and perplexed and obscured its divine doctrines and pre- 
 cepts by a multitude of vain questions and idle specula- 
 tions. ‘he method of the scholastics exhibited a pom- 
 pous aspect of learning, and these disputants seemed to 
 surpass their adversaries in sagacity and genius; hence 
 they excited the adimiration of the studious youth, who 
 flocked to their schools in multitudes, while the biblici or 
 doctors of the sacred page, as they were also called, had 
 the mortification to see their auditories unfrequented, and 
 almost deserted. The scholastic theology continued in 
 high repute in all the European colleges until the time of 
 Luther. 
 
 IX. It must, however, be observed, that these metaphy- 
 sical divines had many difficulties to encounter, and 
 much opposition to overcome, before they could obtain 
 that boundless authority in the European schools, which 
 they so long enjoyed. ‘They were attacked from different 
 quarters ; on the one hand, by the ancient divines, or bi- 
 ble doctors; on the other by the mystics, who considered 
 true wisdom and knowledge as unattainable by study or 
 reasoning, and as the fruit of mere contemplation, inward 
 feeling, and a passive acquiescence in divine influences. 
 Thus that ancient conflict between faith and reason, 
 that had formerly divided the Latin doctors, and had been 
 for many years hushed im silence, was now unhappily 
 revived, and produced various tumults, and bitter dissen- 
 sions. ‘The patrons of the ancient theology, who at- 
 tacked the schoolmen, were Guibert, abbot of Nogent,* 
 Peter, abbot of Moustier-la-Cella,* Peter the Chanter,¢ and 
 principally Walter of St. Victor.» The mystics also sent 
 forth into the field of controversy, upon this occasion, 
 their abiest and most violent champions, such as Joachim, 
 abbot of Fiori, Richard of St. Victor, who loaded with 
 invectives the scholastic divines, and more especially 
 Lombard, though he was, undoubtedly, the most candid 
 and modest doctor of that subtle tribe. These dissensions 
 and contests, whose deplorable effects augmented from 
 day to day, engaged pope Alexander III. to interpose his 
 authority, in erder to restore tranquillity and concord in 
 the church. For this purpose he convoked a solemn 
 
 body of divinity. Itconsists of four books, each of which is subdivided 
 into various chapters and sections. In the first he treats of the Trinity, 
 and the Divine Attributes; in the second, of the Creation in general, of 
 the Origin of Angels, the Formation and Fall of Man, of Grace and Free 
 Will, of Original Sin and Actual Transgression; in the third, of the In- 
 carnation and Perfections of Jesus Christ, of Faith, Hope, and Charity, 
 of the Gifts of the Spirit, and the Commandments of God. ‘The Sacra- 
 ments, the Resurrection, the Last Judgment, and the State of the Right- 
 cous in Heaven, are the subjects treated in the fourth and last book of 
 this celebrated work, which was the wonder of the twelfth century, but 
 is little more than an object of contempt in ours. 
 
 @ Abelard acknowledges this himself, Epist. i. cap. ix. p. 20. Oper.— 
 See also Launoy, de Scholis Caroli M. p. 67, cap. lix. tom. lv. op. 
 
 art. 
 < » Ces. Egasse de Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris, tom. ii. p. 201, 583.— 
 Anton. Wood, Antiquit. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 58—Launoy, de varia 
 Aristotelis Fortuna in Acad. Paris. cap. iii. p. 187, edit. Elswichil, Vi- 
 tem. 1720, in 8vo. 
 
 * See Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 657. 
 
 « The Book of Sentences seemed to be at this time in much greater re- 
 pute than the Holy Scriptures; and the compilations of Peter Lombard 
 were preferred to the doctrines and precepts of Jesus Christ. This ap- 
 
 pears «evident from the following remarkable passage in Roger Bacon's | 
 
 Op. Maj. ad Clementem IV. Pontif: Rom. published in 1733 at London 
 by Sam. Jebb, from the original MS. “ Baccalaureus qui legit textum 
 (scripture) succumbit lectori sententiarum, et ubique in omnibus hono- 
 ratur et prefertur: nam ille, qui legit sententias, habet principalem ho- 
 ram legendi secundum suam voluntatem, habet et socium et cameram 
 apud religiosos : sed qui legit Bibliam, caret his, et mendicat horam le- 
 gendi secundum quod placet lectori sententiarum: et qui legit summas, 
 disputat ubique et pro magistro habetur ; reliquus qui textum legit, non 
 potest disputare, sicut fuit hoc anno Bononiz, et in multis aliis locis, quod 
 est absurdum: manifestum est igitur, quod textus illius facultatis (se. 
 Theologice) subjicitur uni samme magistrall.” Such was now the au- 
 thority of the scholastic theology, as appears from the words of Bacon, 
 who lived in the following century, and in whose writings there are 
 many things highly worthy of the attention of the curious. 
 
 * In his Tropologia in Oseam, p. 203, op. 
 
 f Opuscul. p. 277, 396, edit. Benedict. , 
 
 €Inhis Verbum Abbreviat. cap. iii. p. 6, '7, published at Mons in the 
 year 1639, in 4to. by George Galopin. 
 
 bIn his Libri IV. contra Quatuor Francie Labyrinthos et novos He- 
 reticos. He called Abelard, Gilbert de la Porrée, Lombard, and Peter 
 of Poictiers, who were the principal scholastic divines of this century, 
 the four Labyrinths of France. Pe an account of this work, which 1s 
 yet in manuscript, see Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris, tom. ii. p. 619, 659, 
 
284 
 
 and numerous assembly of the clergy in the year 1164," 
 in which the licentious rage of religious disputation was 
 condemned ; and another in 1179, in which some parti- 
 eular errors of Peter Lombard were pointed out and cen- 
 sured.” 
 
 X. But of all the adversaries that assailed the scholas- 
 tic divines in this century, no one was so formidable as 
 the famous St. Bernard, whose zeal was ardent beyond 
 all expression, and whose influence and authority were 
 equal to his zeal. And, accordingly, we find this illus- 
 trious abbot combating the Dialecticians, not only in his 
 writings and his conversation, but also by his deeds ; arm- 
 ing against them synods and councils, the decrees of 
 the church, and the laws of the state. The renowned 
 Abelard, who was as much superior to St. Bernard in sa- 
 gacity and erudition, as he was his inferior in credit and 
 authority, was one of the first who felt, by a bitter expe- 
 rience, the aversion of the lordly abbot to the scholastic 
 doctors: for, in the year 1121, he was called before ns 
 council of Soissons, and before that of Sens in 1140; 
 both of which assemblies he was accused by St. Batted 
 of the most pernicious errors, and was finally condemned 
 as an egregious heretic.s The charge brought against 
 this subtle and learned monk was, that he had_notori- 
 ously corrupted the doctrine of the Trinity, blasphemed 
 against the majesty of the Holy Ghost, entertained un- 
 worthy and false conceptions of the person and offices of 
 Christ, and the union of the two natures in him; denied 
 the necessity of the- divine grace to render us virtuous ; 
 and, ina word, that his doctrines struck at the faundamen- 
 tal principles of all religion. It must be confessed, by 
 those who are acquainted with the writings of Abelard, 
 that he expressed himself in a very singular and incon- 
 gruous manner upon several points of- theology ;? and 
 this, indeed, is one of the inconveniences to which sub- 
 tle refinements upon mysterious doctrines frequently 
 lead. But it is certain, on the other hand, that St. Ber- 
 
 nard, who had much more genius than logic, misunder- 
 stood some of the opinions of Abelard, and wilfully per- 
 verted others: for the zeal of this good abbot too rarely 
 permitted him to consult in his decisions the dictates of 
 impartial equity; and hence it was, that he almost al- 
 ways applauded beyond measure, and censured without 
 merey.° 
 
 XL. Abelard was not the only scholastic divine who 
 paid dearly for his metaphysical refinement upon the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel, and whose logic exposed him to the 
 unrelenting fury of persecution ; ‘Gilbert de la Porrée, 
 bishop of Poictiers, who had taught theolory and philo- 
 sophy at Paris, and in other places, with the highest ap- 
 plause, met with the same fate. Unfortunately for him, 
 Arnold and Calo, two of his archdeacons, who had been 
 
 Ant. Pasi, Critic. in Baronium, tom. iv. ad A. 1164, p. 614, 615. 
 
 bMatth. Paris. Histor. Major, p. 115.—Boulay; Histor. Acad. Paris. 
 oe li. p. 402. 
 
 e Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Abelard.—Gervais, Vie d’ Abe- 
 ieee et d’Heloise-—Mabil lon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 63, 84, 395.— 
 Marienne, Thesaur. Ancedotor. tom. v. p. 1139. 
 
 Za He affirmed, for example, among other things equally unintelli- 
 gible and extravagant, that the names, ‘Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 were Improper terms, and were only used to express the fulness of the 
 sovereign good; that ‘the Father was the plenitude of power, the Son a 
 certain power, and the Holy Ghost no power at all; that the Holy Ghost 
 was the soul of the world; with other crude fancies of a like nature, min- 
 gled, however, with bold truths. 
 
 °See Gervais, Vie d’Abelard, tom. ii. p. 162.—Le Clerc, Biblioth. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 educated in the principles of the ancient theology, heard 
 him one day disputing, with more subtlety than was meet, 
 of the divine nature. Alarmed at the novelty of his doc- 
 trine, they brought a charge of blasphemy against him 
 before pope Eugenius IIL, who was at that time in 
 France; and, to give weight to their accusation, they 
 engaged St. Bernard in their cause. 'The zealous abbot 
 treated the matter with his usual vehemence, and op- 
 posed Gilbert with the utmost severity and bitterness, first 
 in the council of Paris, A. D. 1147, and afterwards in 
 that which was assembled at Rheims in the following 
 year. In the latter council the accused bishop, in order 
 to put an end to the dispute, offered to submit his opinions 
 to the judgment of the assembly, and of the Roman 
 pontiff, by whom they were condemned. ‘The errors 
 attributed to Gilbert were the fruits of an excessive sub- 
 tlety, and of an extravagant passion for reducing the doc- 
 trines of Christianity under the empire of metaphysics 
 and dialectics. He distinguished the divine essence from 
 the Deity, the properties of the three divine persons from 
 the persons themselves, not in reality, but by abstrac- 
 tion, in statu rationis, as the metaphysicians speak ; and, 
 in consequence of these distinctions, he denied the incar- 
 nation of the divine nature. ‘To these he added other 
 opinions, derived from the same source, which were rather 
 vain, fanciful, and adapted to excite surprise by their 
 novelty, than lar ingly false, or really pernicious. ‘These 
 refined notions were far above the comprehension of good 
 St. Bernard, who was by no means accustomed to such 
 profound disquisitions, to such intricate researches.‘ 
 
 XIU. The important science of morality was not now 
 in a very flourishing state, as may be easily imagined 
 when we consider the genius and spirit of that philoso- 
 phy, which, in this century, reduced all the other sciences 
 under its dominion, and of which we have given some 
 account in the preceding sections. ‘The only moral wri- 
 ter among the Greeks, worthy of mention, is Philip, sur- 
 
 named the Solitary, whose book, entitled Dioptra, which 
 consists of a dialogue between the body and the soul, 
 is composed with judgment and elegance, and contains 
 many remarks proper to nourish pious and virtuous senti- 
 ments. 
 
 The Latin moralists of this age may be divided into 
 two classes, the scholastics and mystics. The former 
 discoursed about virtue, as they did about truth, in the 
 most unfeeling jargon, and generally subjoined their arid 
 system of morals to what they called their didactic the- 
 ology. ‘The latter treated the duties of morality in a 
 quite diflerent manner; their language was tender, per- 
 suasive, and affecting, and their sentiments were often 
 beautiful and sublime; but they taught in a confused 
 and irregular manner, without method or precision, and 
 
 Ancienne et Moderne, tom. ix. p. 352.—Dionys. Petav. Dogmata Theo- 
 log. tom. i. lib. v. cap. vi. p. 217, as also the works of Bernard, passim. 
 Abelard, who, notwithstanding all his crude notions, was a man of true 
 genius, was undoubtedly wor thy of a better fate than that which fell to 
 his lot, and of a more enlightened age than that in which he lived. Af- 
 ter passing through the furnace of persecution, and having suffered af- 
 flictions of various kinds, of which he has transmitted the history to pos- 
 terity, he retired to the monastery of Clugni, where he ended his days in 
 the year 1142. 
 
 f See Du Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p. 223, 232.—Mabillon, 
 Annal. Benedictin. tom. vi. p. 343, 415, 433.—Gallia Christiana Bene- 
 dictin. tom. 11. p. 1175.—Matth. Paris, Histor. Major, p. 56.—Petavii 
 Dogmata Theologica, tom. i. hb. i. cap. viil—Longueval Histoire de 
 PE glise Gallicane, tom. ix. p. 147, 
 
Cuap. IIL. DOCTRINE OF 
 frequently mixed the dross of Platonism with the pure 
 treasures of celestial truth. 
 
 We might also place in the class of moral writers the 
 greatest part of the commentators and expositors of this 
 century, who, laying aside all attention to the significa- 
 tion of the words used by the sacred writers, and scarcely 
 ever attempting to illustrate the truths which they reveal, 
 or the events which they relate, turned, by forced and 
 allegorical explications, every passage of scripture to prac- 
 tical uses, and drew lessons of morality from every quar- 
 ter. We could produce many instances of this way of 
 commenting, beside Guibert’s Moral Observations on the 
 Book of Job, the Prophecy of Amos, and the Lamenta- 
 tions of Jeremiah. 
 
 XIII. Both Greeks and Latins were seized with that 
 enthusiastic passion for dialectical researches, which raged 
 in this century, and were thus rendered extremely fond 
 of captious questions and theological contests; and, at 
 the same time, the love of controversy seduced them 
 from the paths that lead to truth, and involved them in 
 labyrinths of uncertainty and error. ‘The discovery of 
 truth was not, indeed, the great object they had in view ; 
 their principal aim was to perplex and embarrass their ad- 
 versaries, and overwhelm them with an enormous heap 
 of fine-spun distinctions, an impetuous torrent of words 
 without meaning, a long list of formidable authorities, 
 and a specious train of fallacious consequences, embellish- 
 ed with railings and invectives. ‘lhe principal polemic 
 writers among the Greeks were Constantinus Harmeno- 
 pulus, and Euthymius Zigabenus. ‘The former pub- 
 lished a short treatise de Sectis Hereticorum, t. e. con- 
 cerning the Sects of Heretics. ‘The latter, in a long and 
 laboured work, entitled Panoplia, attacked all the here- 
 sies and errors that troubled the church ; but, not to men- 
 tion the extreme levity and credulity of this writer, his 
 mode of disputation was highly defective, and all his ar- 
 guments, according to the wretched method that now 
 prevailed, were drawn from the writings of the ancient 
 doctors, whose authority supplied the place of evidence. 
 Both these authors were sharply censured in a satirical 
 poem composed by: Zonaras. ‘The Latin writers were 
 also employed in various branches of religious controver- 
 sy. Honorius of Autun wrote against certain heresies ; 
 and Abelard combated them all. The Jews, whose cre- 
 dit was now extremely low, and whose circumstances 
 were miserable in every respect, were refuted by Gilbert 
 de Castilione, Odo, Peter Alfonsus, Rupert of Duytz, Pe- 
 ter Mauritius, Richard of St. Victor, and Peter of Blois, 
 according to the logic of the times, while Euthymius and 
 several other divines directed their polemic force against 
 the Saracens. 
 
 XIV. That contest between the Greeks and Latins, 
 the subject of which has been already mentioned, was 
 etill carried on by both parties with the greatest obstinacy 
 and vehemence. The Grecian champions were Futhy- 
 mius, Nicetas, and others of less renown; while the 
 cause of the Latins was vigorously maintained by An- 
 selm, bishop of Havelberg, and Hugo Etherianus, who 
 eminestly distinguished themselves by their erudition in 
 this famous controversy.» Many attempts were made, 
 both at Rome and Constantinople, to reconcile these dif- 
 ferences, and heal these divisions; and this union was 
 
 ie See Leo Allat. de perpet. Consen. Ec, Ori. et Occid. lib. ii. e. xi. p. 644. 
 No. XXIV. 72 
 
 THE CHURCH. 285 
 solicited, in a particular manner, by the emperors of the 
 Comnene family, who expected to draw great advantage 
 from the friendship and alliance of the Latins, toward 
 the support of the Grecian empire, which was at this time 
 in a declining, and almost in a desperate condition. But 
 as the Latins aimed at nothing less than a despotic su- 
 premacy over the Greek church, and as, on the other 
 hand, the Grecian bishops could by no means be induced 
 to yield an implicit obedience to the Roman pontiff, or to 
 condemn the measures and proceedings of their ancestors, 
 the negotiations, undertaken for the restoration of peace, 
 widened the breach instead of healing it; and the terms 
 proposed on both sides, but especially by the Latins, exas- 
 perated, instead of calming, the resentments and animosi- 
 ties of the contending parties. 
 
 XY. Many controversies of inferior moment were car- 
 ried on among the Greeks, who were extremely fond of 
 disputing, and were scarcely ever without debates upon 
 religious matters. We shall not enter into a circumstan- 
 tial narration of these theological contests, which would 
 fatigue rather than amuse or instruct; but shall con- 
 fine ourselves to a brief mention of those which made 
 the greatest noise in the empire. Under the reign of 
 Emanuel Comnenus, whose extensive learning was ac- 
 companied with an excessive curiosity, several theological 
 controversies were carried on, in which he himself bore a 
 principal part, and which fomented such discords and 
 animosities among a people already exhausted and de- 
 jected by intestine tumults, as threatened their destruc- 
 tion. ‘I'he first question that exercised the metaphysical 
 talent of this over-curious emperor and his subtle doctors, 
 was this :—in what sense was it, or might it be, affirmed, 
 that an incarnate God was at the same time the offerer 
 and the oblation 2 When this knotty question had been 
 long debated, and the emperor had maintained, for a 
 considerable time, that solution of it which was contrary 
 to the opinion generally received, he yielded at length, 
 and embraced the popular notion of that unintelligible 
 subject. 'The consequence of this step was, that many 
 men of eminent abilities and great credit, who had dif- 
 fered from the doctrine of the church upon this article, 
 were deprived of their honours and employments.» 
 What the emperor’s opinion of this matter was we are 
 not satisfactorily informed ; and we are equally ignorant 
 of the sentiments adopted by the church in this question. 
 It is highly probable that Emanuel, followed by certain 
 learned doctors, differed from the opinions generally re- 
 ceived among the Greeks concerning the Lord’s sup- 
 per, and the oblation or sacrifice of Christ in that holy 
 ordinance. 
 
 XVI. Some years after this, a still more warm contest 
 arose concerning the sense of these words of Christ, John 
 xiv. 28. ‘For my Father is greater than I,’ and divided 
 the Greeks into the most bitter and deplorable factions. 
 To the ancient explications of that important passage new 
 illustrations were now added; and the emperor himself, 
 who, from an indifferent prince, had become a wretched 
 divine, published an exposition of that remarkable text, 
 which he obtruded as the only true sense of the words, 
 upon a council assembled for that purpose, and was 
 desirous of having received as a rule of faith by all the 
 Grecian clergy. He maintained that the words in question 
 
 » Nicetas Cioniates, Annal. lib. vii. sect. 5. 
 
286 
 
 related tothe flesh that was hidden in Christ, and that 
 was passible, 7. e. subject to suffering,» and not only 
 ordered this decision to be-engraven on tables of stone in 
 the principal church of Constantinople, but also published 
 an edict, in which capital punishments were denounced 
 against all such as should presume to oppose this explica- 
 tion, or teach any doctrine repugnant to it. This edict, 
 however, expired with the emperor by whom it was 
 issued ; and Andronicus, upon his accession to the imperial 
 throne, prohibited all those contests concerning speculative 
 points of theology, that arose from an irregular and wanton 
 curiosity, and suppressed, in a more particular manner, all 
 inquiry into the subject now mentioned, by enacting the 
 severest penalties against such as should in any way 
 contribute to revive this dispute.° 
 
 XVIL The same theological emperor troubled the 
 church with another controversy concerning the God of 
 Mohammed. 'The Greek catechisms pronounced an ana- 
 thema against the Deity worshipped by that false prophet, 
 whom they represented as a solid and spherical Being ;4 
 for so they translated the Arabian word elsemed, which 
 is applied in the Koran to the Supreme Being ¢, and which 
 indeed is susceptible of that sense, though it also signifies 
 eternal... ‘The emperor ordered this anathema to be 
 effaced in the catechism of the Greek church, on account 
 of the high offence it gave to those Mohammedans, who 
 had either been already converted to Christianity, or were 
 disposed to embrace that divine religion, and who- were 
 extremely shocked at such an insult offered to the name 
 of God, with whatever restrictions and conditions it might 
 be attended. ‘lhe Christian doctors, on the other hand, 
 opposed with resolution and vehemence this imperial | 
 order. They observed, thatthe anathema, pronounced in 
 the catechism, had no relation to the nature of God in 
 general, or to the true God in particular; and that, on the 
 contrary, it was solely directed against the error of Moham- 
 med, against that phantom of a divinity which he had 
 imagined; for that impostor pretended that the Deity | 
 could neither be engendered nor engender, whereas the 
 Christians adore God the Father. After the bitterest 
 disputes concerning this abstruse subject, and various 
 efforts to reconcile the contending parties, the bishops 
 assembled in council consented, though with the utmost 
 difficulty, to transfer the imprecation of the catechism from 
 the God of Mohammed to the pseudo-prophet himself, his 
 doctrine, and his sect.‘ 
 
 XVII. "The spirit of controversy raged among the 
 Latins, as well as among the Greeks ; and various 
 sentiments concerning the sacrament of the Lord’s supper 
 were propagated, not ‘only i in the schools, but also in the. 
 writings of the learned ; for, though all thie doctors of the 
 church were now exceedingly desirous of being looked 
 upon as enemies to the pyeier of Berenger, yet many of 
 them, and among others’ Rupert of Duytz, differed very 
 little from the s sentiments of that great man; at least it is 
 certain, that the famous controversy, which had arisen in 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IT. 
 
 the church concerning the opinions of Berenger, had still 
 left the manner of Christ’s presence in the eucharist 
 undetermined. 
 
 Rupert had also religious contests of another nature 
 with Anselm, bishop of Laon, William of Champeaux, 
 and their disciples, who maintained their doctrine when 
 they, were no more. ‘The divine will and the divine 
 omnipotence were the subjects of this controversy; and 
 the question debated was, “ Whether God really willed, 
 and actually produced, ‘all things that exist, or whether 
 ‘there are certain things whose existence he merely 
 permits, and whose production, instead of being the 
 effect of his will, was contrary to it?’ 'The affirmative 
 of the latter part of this question was maintained by Rupert, 
 while his adversaries affirmed that all things were the 
 effects, not only of the divine power, but aiso of the divine 
 will. This learned abbot was also accused of having 
 
 taught that the angels were formed out of darkness ; that 
 Christ did not administer his body to Judas, in the last 
 supper; and several other doctrines,» contrary to the 
 received opinions of the church. 
 
 XIX. These and other controversies of a more private 
 kind, which made little noise in the world, were succeeded, 
 about the year 1140, by one of a more public nature, con- 
 cerning what was c called the Immaculate Conception of 
 the Virgin Mary.: Certain churches in France began, 
 about that time, to celebrate the festival consecrated to this 
 pretended conception, which the English had observed 
 before this period in consequence of the exhortations of 
 | Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, as some authors report. 
 ie he church of Lyons was one of the first that adopted 
 this new festival, which no sooner came to the knowledge 
 ‘of St. Bernard, than he severely censured the canons on 
 account of this innovation, and opposed the Immaculate 
 
 Conception of the Virgin with the greatest vigour, as it 
 supposed her being honoured with a privilege which 
 belonged to Christ alone. Upon this a warm contest arose; 
 some ‘siding with the canons of Lyons, and adopting the 
 new festival, while others adhered to the sentiments of St. 
 ‘Bernard The controversy, however, notwithstanding 
 ‘the zeal of the contending parties, was carried on, during 
 ‘this century, with a certain degree of decency and 
 moderation. But, in subsequent times, when the Domini- 
 cans were established in the academy of Paris, the contest 
 was renewed with the greatest vehemence, and the same 
 subject was debated, on both sides, with the utmost 
 animosity and contention of mind. ‘The Dominicans 
 declared for St. Bernard, while the academy patronised 
 the canons of Lyons, and adopted the new festival. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tk rites and ceremonies used in divine worshi 
 3 
 
 both public and private, were now greatly augmented 
 
 | 
 
 ® Kari ri ev abroy kristi Kat malnriy odoxa. 
 » Nicetas Choniates, Annal. lib. vii. sect. 6, p. 113. 
 * Nicetas in Andronico, lib. il. seet. 5, p. 175. 
 4 ’O)bopaipos. 
 Reland, de Religione Mohammedica, lib. ii. sect. 3, p..142. 
 ‘ Nicet, Chron. Annales, lib. vii. p. 113—116. 
 ‘ Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p. 30. 
 « See the Epistle of Mengoz, published by Martenne, in his Thesaur. 
 
 _Anecdotor. tom. i. p. 290.—Jo. Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. teer vi. p. 19, 
 | 42, 168, 261. 
 | cea The defenders of the Immaculate Conception maintained, that 
 the Virgin Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother with the 
 | same purily that is attributed to Christ’s conception in her womb. 
 
 k Sti. Bernardi Epistola 174.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p, 
 135.—Mabillon, Annal. Bened. tom. vi. p. 327.—Dom. Colonia, Hist. 
 Lit. de la Ville de Lyon, tom. i. p. 233, 
 
 | 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 among the Greeks ; and the same superstitious passion for 
 the introduction of new observances, discovered itself in 
 all the eastern churches. ‘The Grecian, Nestorian, and 
 Jacobite pontiffs, who were in any degree remarkable for 
 their credit or ambition, were desirous of transmitting their 
 names to posterity by the invention of some new rite, or 
 by the introduction of some striking change into the 
 method of worship that had hitherto prevailed. This was, 
 indeed, almost the only way left to distinguish themselves 
 in an age when, a due sense of the excellence of genuine 
 religion and substantial piety being almost totally lost, the 
 whole care and attention of an ostentatious clergy, and 
 a superstitious multitude, were employed upon the round 
 of external ceremonies and observances substituted in their 
 place. ‘Thus some attempted, though in vain, to render 
 their names immortal, by introducing a new method of 
 reading or reciting the prayers of the church; others 
 changed the church music ; some tortured their inventions 
 to find out some new mark of veneration, that might be 
 offered to the relics and images of the saints ; while several 
 ecclesiastics did not disdain to employ their time, with the 
 most serious assiduity, in embellishing the garments of thé 
 clergy, and in forming the motions and postures they 
 were to observe, and the looks they were to assume, in 
 the celebration of divine worship. 
 
 Il. We may learn from the book de Divinis Offciis, 
 composed by the famous Rupert, or Robert, of Duytz, 
 what were the rites in use among the Latins during 
 this century, as also the reasons on which they were 
 founded. According to the plan we follow, we cannot 
 here enlarge upon the additions that were made to the 
 doctrinal part of religion. We shall therefore only 
 opserve, that the enthusiastic veneration for the Virgin 
 Mary, which had been hitherto carried to such an excessive 
 height, increased now instead of diminishing, since her 
 dignity was at this time considerably augmented by the 
 new fiction or invention relating to her immaculate 
 conception ; for, though St. Bernard and others opposed 
 with vigour this chimerical notion, yet their efforts were 
 counteracted by the superstitious fury of the deluded 
 multitude, whose judgment prevailed over the counsels 
 of the wise; so that, about the year 1138, there was a 
 solemn festival instituted in honour of this pretended 
 conception, though we heither know by whose authority 
 
 . . S . . 
 it was established, nor in what place it was first celebrated.* 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Greek and eastern churches were infested 
 with fanatics of different kinds, who gave them much 
 trouble, and engaged them in the most warm and violent 
 contests. Some of these fanatics professed to believe in 
 a double trinity, rejected wedlock, abstained from flesh, 
 treated with the utmost contempt the sacraments of 
 baptism and the Lord’s supper, as also all the various 
 
 FERRE EEE ELS TT 
 
 * Mabil. An. Benedict. t. vi. p. 327, 412.— Gallia Christ. t. i. p. L198. 
 
 t Euthymii Triumph. de Secta Massalianorum, in Jac. Tollii Insigni- 
 ous Itineris Italici, p. 1O6—125. 
 
 x¢p ° Massalians and Euchiles are denominations that signify the 
 same thing, and denote, one in the Hebrew, and the other in the Greek 
 ianguage, persons who pray. A sect, under this denomination, arose du- 
 ring the reign of the emperor Constantius, about the year 361, founded 
 by certain monks of Mesopotamia, who dedicated themselves wholly to 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 287 
 
 branches of external worship; placed the essence of 
 religion in internal prayer alone, and maintained, as it 
 is said, that an evil being, or genius, dwelt in the breast 
 of every mortal, and could be thence expelled by no other 
 method than by perpetual supplications to the Supreme 
 Being. ‘The founder of this enthusiastical sect is said 
 to have been a person called Lucopetrus. His chief 
 disciple was named 'T'ychicus, who corrupted, by false 
 and fanatical interpretations, several books of the sacred 
 writings, and particularly the Gospel according to St. 
 Matthew.” It is well known, that enthusiasts of this 
 kind, who were rather wrong headed than vicious, lived 
 among the Greeks and Syrians, especially among the 
 monks, for many ages before this period, and also in this 
 century. ‘I‘he accounts, indeed, that have been given 
 of them, are not in all respects to be depended upon; 
 and there are sevéral circumstances, which render it 
 extremely probable, that many persons of eminent piety, 
 and zeal for genuine Christianity, were confounded by 
 the Greeks with these enthusiasts, and ranked in the 
 list of heretics, merely ou account of their opposing the 
 vicious practices and the insolent tyranny of the priest- 
 hood, and their treating with derision that motley spectacle 
 of superstition which was supported by public authority. 
 In Greece, and in all the eastern provinces, these fanatics 
 were distinguished by the general and invidious appella- 
 tion of Massalians or Huchites,: as the Latins com- 
 prehended all the adversayies of the Roman Pontiff under 
 the general terms of Waldenses and Albigenses. It is, 
 however, necessary to observe, that the names above 
 mentioned were very vague, and ambiguous in the way 
 they were applied by the Greeks and the Orientals, who 
 made use of them to characterise, without distinction, all 
 such as complained of the multitude of useless ceremonies, 
 and of the vices of the clergy, without any regard to the 
 difference that existed between such persons in point of 
 principles and morals. In short, the righteous and the 
 profligate, the wise and the foolish, were equally com- 
 prehended under the name of Massalians, whenever they 
 opposed the raging superstition of the times, or considered 
 true and genuine piety as the essence of the Christian 
 character. 
 
 II. From the sect now mentioned, that of the Bogo- 
 miles is said to have proceeded, whose founder Basilius, a 
 monk by profession, was committed to the flames at Con- 
 stantinople, under the reign of Alexius Comnenus, after 
 all attempts to make him renounce his errors had proved 
 ineffectual. By the accounts we have of this unhappy 
 man, and of the errors he taught, it appears sufficiently 
 evident, that his doctrine resembled, in a striking manner, 
 the religious system of the ancient Gnostics and Mani- 
 cheans ; though, at the same time, the Greeks may have 
 falsified his tenets in some respects. Basilius maintained, 
 that the world and all animal bodies were formed, not by 
 the Deity, but by an evil demon, who had been cast down 
 from heaven by the Supreme Being; whence he conclu- 
 ded, that the body was no more than the prison of the im- 
 
 prayer, and held many of the doctrines attributed by Mosheim to the 
 Massalians of the twelfth century. See August. de Heres. cap. lvii. and 
 Theod. Heeret. Fab. lib. iv. Epiphanius speaks of another sort of Mas- 
 salians still more ancient, who were mere Gentiles, acknowledged several 
 gods, yet adored only one whom they called Almighty, and had orato- 
 ries in which they assembled to pray and sing hymns. ‘This resem- 
 blance between the Massalians and the Essenes, induced: Scaliger te 
 think that Epiphanius confounded the former with the latter, 
 
288 
 
 mortal spirit, and that it was, therefore, to be enervated by 
 fasting, contemplation, and other exercises, that so the soul 
 might be gradually restored to its primitive liberty ; 
 this purpose also wedlock was to be avoided, with many 
 other circumstances which we have often had occasion to 
 explain and repeat in the course of this history. 
 in consequence of the same principles, that this unfortu- 
 nate enthusiast denied the reality of Christ’s body, (which, 
 like the Gnostics and Manicheans, he considered only as 
 a phantom,) rejected the law of Moses, and maintained 
 that the body, upon its separation by death, returned to 
 the malignant mass of matter, without either the prospect 
 or possibility of a future resurrection to life and felicity. 
 We have so many examples of fanatics of this kind in the 
 records of ancient times, and also in the history of this cen- 
 tury, that it is by no means to be wondered, that some one 
 of them, more enterprising than the rest, should found a 
 sect among the Greeks. he name of this sect was taken 
 from the divine mercy, which its members are said to have 
 incessantly implored; for the word bogomilus, in the 
 Meesian language, signifies calling out for mercy from 
 above.* 
 
 Ill. "The Latin sects were yet more numerous than 
 those of the Greeks ; and this will not appear at all sur- 
 prising to such as consider the state of religion in the great- 
 est part of the European provinces. As the prevalence of 
 superstition, the vices of the clergy, the luxury and indo- 
 lence of the pontiffs and bishops, the encouragement of 
 impiety by the traffic of indulgences, increased from day 
 to day, several pious, thongh weak men, who had the true 
 religion of Christ at heart, easily perceived that it was in 
 a most declining and miserable state, and therefore at- 
 tempted a reformation in the church, in order to restore 
 Christianity to its primitive purity and lustre. But the 
 knowledge of these good men did not equal their zeal ; 
 nor were their abilities in any proportion to the grandeur 
 of their undertakings. The greater part of them were 
 destitute both of learning and judgment, and, being invol- 
 ved in the general ignorance of the times, very imperfectly 
 understood “the holy scriptures, whence Christianity was 
 derived, and by which alone the abuses that had been 
 mingled with it could be reformed. In a word, few of 
 these well- meaning Christians were equal to an attempt 
 so difficult and arduous as an universal refor mation; and 
 the consequence of this was, that while they avoided the 
 reigning abuses, they fell into others that were as little 
 consistent with the genius of true religion, and carried the spi- 
 rit of censure and reformation to such an excessive length, 
 that it degenerated often into the various extravagances of 
 enthusiasm, and engendered a number of new sects, that 
 became a new dishonour to the Christian cause. 
 
 IV. Among the sects that troubled the Latin church 
 during this century, the principal place is due to the Ca- 
 thart or Catharists, whom we have already had occasion 
 to mention.» ‘bis numerous faction, leaving their first 
 residence, which was in Bulgaria, spread themselves 
 throughout almost all the European provinces, where they 
 
 It was | 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 occasioned much tumult and disorder ; but their fate was 
 unhappy; for, wherever they were found, they were put 
 to death with the most unrelenting cruelty... Their reli- 
 gion resembled the doctrine of the Manichzans and Gnos- 
 tics, on which account they commonly received the de- 
 nomination of the former, though they differed in many 
 respects from the genuine and primitive Manicheans. 
 They all indeed agreed i in the following points of doctrine, 
 viz. That matter was the source of all evil ; that the crea- 
 tor of this world was a being distinct fr om the Supreme 
 Deity ; that Christ was neither clothed with a real body, 
 nor could be properly said to have been born, or to have 
 seen death ; that human bodies were the production of the 
 evil principle, and were extinguished without the prospect of 
 a new life; and that baptism and the Lord’s Supper were 
 useless institutions, destitute of all efficacy and power. 
 They exhorted all who embraced their doctrine to a ri- 
 gorous abstinence from animal food, wine, and wedlock, 
 and recommended to them in the most pathetic terms the 
 most severe acts of austerity and mortification. ‘They 
 moreover treated with the utmost contempt all the books 
 of the Old Testament, but expressed a high degree of ve- 
 neration for the New, particularly for the four Gospels ; 
 and, to pass over many other peculiarities in their doctrine, 
 they maintained, that human souls, endued with reason, were 
 shut up by an unhappy fate in the dungeons of mortal 
 bodies, from which they could only be delivered by fasting, 
 mortification, and continence of every kind.4 
 
 V. These principles and tenets, though they were 
 adopted and professed by the whole sect, were variously 
 interpreted and modified by different doctors. Hence the 
 Catharists were divided into various sects, which, however, 
 on account of the general persecution in which they were 
 involved, treated each other with candour and forbearance, 
 disputed with moderation, and were thus careful not to 
 augment their common calamity by intestine feuds and 
 animosities. Out of these factions arose two leading and 
 principal sects of the Catharists, which were distinguished 
 from the rest by the number of their respective followers, 
 and the importance of their differences. ‘The one, bor- 
 rowing hints from the Manichzan system, maintained the 
 doctrine of two eternal Beings, from whom all things 
 are derived, the God of light, who was also the father of 
 Jesus Christ, and the principle of darkness, whom they 
 considered as the author of the material world. The other 
 believed in one eternal principle, the father of Christ, and 
 the Supreme God, by whom also they held that the first 
 matter was created; but they added to this, that the evil 
 being, after his rebellion against God and his fall from 
 heaven, arranged this original matter according to his fan- 
 cy, and divided it into four elements, for the production of 
 this visible world. 'The former maintained, that Chnist, 
 clothed with a celestial body, descended into the womb of 
 the Virgin, and derived no part of his substance from her ; 
 while the latter taught, that he first assumed a reai body 
 in the womb of Mary, though not from her.e ‘The sect 
 which held the doctrine of two principles, derived the name 
 
 *See the Alexias of Anna Comnena, lib. xv. p. 384, edit. Venet.— 
 Zonare Annales, lib. xviii. p. 336. Jo. Christ. Wolf. Historia Bogomi- 
 lorum, published at Wittenberg, in 1712.—Sam. Andree Diss. de Bogo- 
 milis in Jo. Voigtii Bibliotheca Historie Heresiologice, tom. i. part ii. 
 p Lobe Chr: Aug. Heumanni Dissertat. de Bogomilis. 
 
 bSee Cent. II. Part II. Ch. V. sect. xviii; but principally, for the 
 Zatharists here mentioned, see Cent. XI. Part II. Ch. V. sect. ii. 
 
 * See the account given of this unhappy and persecuted sect by Charles 
 
 Plessis d’Argentre, in his Collectio Judiciorum de novis Erroribus, tom. 
 i. in which, however, several circumstances are omitted. 
 
 a Beside the works which will be soon mentioned, see the Disputatio 
 inter Catholicum et Paterinum, published by Martenne, in his Thesaur. 
 Anecdotor. tom. v. p. 1703, as also Bonacursi Manifestatiy Heresis Ca- 
 tharorum, in d’Acheri’s Spicileg. tom. i. p. 208. 
 
 © See Bern. Moneta, Summa adversus Catharos et Valdenses, publish- 
 ed at Rome in the year 1743, by Thom. August. Riccini, who prefixed 
 
Cnap. V. 
 
 Albanenses from the place where their spiritual ruler 
 resided ; and this sect was subdivided into two, of which 
 one took the name of Balazinansa, bishop of Verona, and 
 the other that of John de Lugio, bishop of Bergamo. The 
 sect which adhered to the doctrine of one eternal principte 
 was also subdivided into the congregation of Baioli, the 
 capital town of the province, and that of Concoregio, or 
 Concorezzo. The Albigenses, who were settled in F'rance, 
 belonged to the church or congregation of Baioli.* 
 
 VI. In the internal constitution of the church that was 
 founded by this sect, there were many rules and principles 
 of a singular nature, which we pass over in silence, as 
 they would oblige us to enter into a detail inconsistent 
 with our intended brevity. The government of this 
 church was administered by bishops; and each of these 
 had two vicars, of whom one was called the elder son, 
 and the other the younger, while the rest of the clergy 
 and doctors were comprehended under the general deno- 
 mination of deacons." 'The veneration, which the people 
 had for the clergy in general, and more especially for the 
 bishops and their spiritual sons, was carried to a height 
 that almost exceeds credibility. The discipline observed 
 by this sect was so excessively rigid and austere, that it 
 was practicable only by a certain number of robust and 
 determined fanatics. But that such as were not able 
 to undergo this discipline might not, on that account, be 
 lost to the cause, it was thought necessary, in imitation of 
 the ancient Manicheans, to divide this sect into two 
 classes, one of which was distinguished by the title of the 
 consolati, (comforted,) while the other received only the 
 denomination of confederates. 'The former gave them- 
 selves out for persons of consummate wisdom and extra- 
 ordinary piety, lived in perpetual celibacy, and led a life 
 of the severest mortification and abstinence, without 
 allowing themselves the enjoyment of any worldly com- 
 fort. The latter, if we except a few particular rules which 
 they observed, lived like the rest of mankind, but at the 
 same time were obliged by a solemn agreement they had 
 made with the church, and which, in Italian, they called 
 la convenenza, to enter before their death, in their last 
 moments, if not sooner, into the class of the comforted, 
 and to receive the consolamentum, or form of inaugura- 
 
 tion, by which they were introduced into that fanatical order.¢ 
 
 “Vil. A much more rational sect was that which was 
 founded about the year 1110, in Languedoc and Provence, 
 by Peter de Bruys, who made the most laudable attempts 
 to reform the abuses and to remove the superstitions that 
 disfigured the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel; but, 
 after having engaged in his cause a great number of 
 followers, during a laborious ministry of twenty years, he 
 was burned at St. Giles’, in the year 1130, by an enraged 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 239 
 
 | populace, instigated by the clergy, whose traffic was in 
 danger from the enterprising spirit of this reformer. 'The 
 whole system of doctrine, which this unhappy martyr 
 whose zeal was not without a considerable mixture of 
 | fanaticism, taught to the Petrobrussians, his disciples, is 
 not known ; it is however certain, that the five following 
 tenets made a part of his system: 1. That no persons 
 were to be baptized before they had the full use of thei. 
 reason; 2. that it was an idle superstition to build 
 churches for the service of God, who will accept a sincere 
 worship wherever it is offered; and that therefore such 
 churches as had already been erected were to be destroy- 
 ed; 3. that the crucifixes, as instruments of superstition, 
 deserved the same fate ; 4. that the real body and blood 
 of Christ were not exhibited in the eucharist, but were 
 merely represented in that holy ordinance by figures and 
 symbols; 5. and lastly, that the oblations, prayers, and 
 good works of the living, could in no respect be advanta- 
 geous to the dead.4 
 
 VIII. This innovator was succeeded by another, who 
 was an Italian by birth, and whose name was Henry, the 
 founder and parent of the sect called Henricians. It 
 was, no doubt, a rare thing to see a person, who was at 
 the same time monk and hermit, undertaking to reform 
 the superstitions of the times; yet such was the case of 
 Henry, who, leaving Lausanne, a city in Switzerland, 
 travelled to Mans, and being banished thence, removed 
 successively to Poictiers, Bourdeaux, and the neighbouring 
 places, and at length to Toulcuse in the year 1147, 
 exercising his ministerial function with the utmost 
 applause from the people, and declaiming with vehemence 
 and fervour against the vices of the clergy, and the super- 
 stitions they had introduced into the Christian church. 
 At Toulouse he was warmly opposed by St. Bernard, by 
 whose influence he was overpowered, notwithstanding his 
 popularity, and obliged to save himself by flight. But 
 being seized by a prelate in his retreat, he was carried be- 
 fore pope EKugenius III., who presided in person at a 
 council then assembled at Rheims, and who, in conse- 
 quence of the accusations brought against Henry, commit- 
 ted him, in the year 1148, to a close prison, where he soon 
 ended his days. We have no satisfactory account of the 
 doctrines of this reformer. We merely know that he 
 rejected the baptism of infants, censured with severity 
 the corrupt and licentious manners of the clergy, treated 
 the festivals and ceremonies of the church with the utmost 
 contempt, and held clandestine assemblies, in which he 
 explained and inculcated the novelties he taught. Several 
 writers affirm, that he was the disciple of Peter de Bruys ; 
 but I cannot see upon what evidence or authority this 
 assertion is grounded.‘ . 
 
 to it a dissertation concerning the Cathari, that is by no means worthy 
 of the highest encomiums. Moneta was no mean writer for the time in 
 which he lived. See lib. i. p. 2. et 5. lib. ii. p. 247, &c. 
 
 * Raineri Sachoni Summa de Catharis et Leonistis, in Martenne’s 
 Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. v. p. 1761, 1768.—-Peregrinus Priscianus in 
 Muratorii Antiq. Ital. medii Xvi, tom. v. p. 93, who exhibits, in a sort 
 of table, these different sects, but erroneously places the Albigenses, 
 who were a branch of the Baiolenses, in the place of the Albanenses: 
 this, perhaps, may be anerror of the press. The opinions of these Baio- 
 Jenses or Bagnolenses, may be seen in the Codex Inquisitionis Tolosa- 
 nz, which Limborch published with his History of the Inquisition. The 
 account, however, which we have in this history (Book i. ch. viii.) of the 
 opinions of the Albigenses, is by no means accurate. <A great variety 
 of causes have contributed to involve in darkness and perplexity the dis- 
 linctive characters of these different sects, whose respective systems we 
 cannot enlarge upon at present. 3 
 
 7 
 
 it. AAV: 
 
 b See Sachoni Summa de Catharis, p. 1766. 
 
 ¢ Mor a farther account of this sect, sce the writers mentioned before, 
 and particularly the Codex Inquisitionis Tolosane. 
 
 4 See Petri err Lib. contra Petrobrussianos in Bibliotheca Cluni- 
 ensi, p. 1117—Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. iv. p. 346.—Basnage, 
 Histoire des Eglises Reformées, period IV. p. 140. 
 
 * Gesta Episcoporum Cenomanens. in Mabillon, Analect. veter. Evi, 
 p. 315.—Gaufridi Epistola in lib. vi. Vita Sti. Bernardi, tom. 11. Op. 
 Bernard. p. 1207.—Matth. Paris. Histor. Maj. p. 71—Mabillon, Pref 
 ad Opera Bernardi, sect. vi. et Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 346, 420, 434, 
 
 f That Henry was the disciple of Peter de Bruys is not at all proba- 
 ble; since, not to insist upon other reasons, the latter could not bear the 
 sight of a cross, and in all likelikood owed his death to the multitude of 
 crucifixes which he had committed to the flames; whereas the former, 
 when he entered into any city, appeared with a cross in his hand, which 
 
 he bore as a standard, to attract the veneration of the people. See Ma- 
 billon, Analecta, p. 316. 
 
290 
 
 IX. While the Henricians were propagating their 
 doctrines in France, an illiterate man, called T'anquelin, 
 or ‘lanquelm, arose in Brabant about the year 1115, 
 excited the most deplorable commotions at Antwerp, and 
 drew after him a most numerous sect. If the accounts 
 given of this heresiarch by his adversaries may be at all 
 ‘depended upon, he must either have been a monstrous 
 impostor, or an outrageous madman. For he walked in 
 public with the greatest solemnity, pretended to be God, 
 or, at least, the Son of God, ordered daughters to be 
 tavished in presence of their mothers, and committed 
 himself the greatest disorders. Such are the enormities 
 that are attributed to 'T'anquelm ; but they are absolutely 
 incredible, and cannot be true.* © What seems most 
 worthy of credit in this matter is, that this new teacher 
 had imbibed the opinions and spirit of the Mystics; that 
 he treated with contempt the external worship of God, 
 the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and the rite ef 
 baptism ; and held clandestine assemblies to propagate 
 more effectually his visionary notions. But as, beside all 
 this, he inveighed against the clergy, like the other here- 
 tics already mentioned, and declaimed against their vices 
 with vehemence and intrepidity, it is probable that these 
 blasphemies were falsely charged upon him by a vindic- 
 tive priesthood. Be that as it may, the fate of Tanquelm 
 was unhappy; for he was assassinated by an ecclesiastic 
 in a cruel manner. His sect, however, did not perish 
 with him, but acquired strength and vigour under the 
 ministry of his disciples, until it was at length extinguish- 
 ed by the famous St. Norbert, the founder of the order of 
 Preemonstratenses, or Premontres.> 
 
 X. In Italy, Arnold of Brescia, a disciple of Abelard, 
 and a man of extensive erudition and remarkable austerity, 
 but of a turbulent and impetuous spirit, excited new 
 troubles and commotions both in church and state. He 
 was, indeed, condemned in the Lateran council, A. D. 
 1139, by Innocent II., and obliged to retire into Switzer- 
 land; but, upon the death of that pontiff, he returned 
 into Italy, and raised at Rome, during the pontificate of 
 Eugenius III., several tumults and sediiions among the 
 people, who changed, by his instigation, the government 
 of the city, and insulted the persons of the clergy in the 
 most disorderly manner. He fell however at last a victim 
 to the vengeance of his enemies; for, after various turns 
 of fortune, he was seized, in the year 1155, by a prefect of 
 the city, by whom he was crucified, and afterwards 
 burned to ashes. ‘This unhappy man seems not to have 
 adopted any doctrines inconsistent with the spirit of true 
 religion ; and the principles upon which he acted were 
 chiefly reprehensible from their being carried too far, 
 applied without discernment or discretion, and executed 
 with a degree of vehemence which was both imprudent 
 and criminal. Having perceived -the discords and ani- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IJ 
 
 mosities, the calamities and disorders, that sprang from 
 the overgrown opulence of the pontifis and bishops, he 
 was persuaded that the interests of the church and the 
 happiness of nations in general required, that the clergy 
 should be divested of all their worldly possessions, of all 
 their temporal rights and prerogatives. He, therefore, 
 publicly maintained, that the treasures and revenues of 
 popes, bishops, and monasteries, ought to be resigned and 
 transferred to the supreme rulers of each state, and that 
 nothing was to be left to the ministers of the gospel but a 
 spiritual authority and a subsistence drawn from tithes, 
 and from the voluntary oblations and contributions of the 
 people. This violent reformer, in whose character and 
 manners there were several points worthy of estezin, 
 drew after him a great number of disciples, who derived , 
 from him the denomination of Arnoldists, and, in suc- 
 ceeding times, evinced the spirit and intrepidity of their 
 leader, as. often as any opportunities of reforming the 
 church seemed to be offered to their zeal. 
 
 XI. Of all the sects that arose in this century, not one 
 was more distinguished by the reputation it acquired, by 
 the multitude of its votaries, and the testimony which its 
 bitterest enemies bore to the probity and imnocence of its 
 members, than that of the Waldenses, so called from their 
 parent and founder Peter Waldus. "This sect was known 
 by different denominations. From the place where it 
 first appeared, its members were called The poor men of 
 Lyons,* or Lyonists, and, from the wooden shoes which 
 its doctors wore, and a certain mark that was imprinted 
 upon these shoes, they were called Insabbatati, or Sab- 
 batati.c 'The origin of this famous sect was as follows : 
 Peter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, surnamed Val. 
 densis, or Validisius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a town 
 in the marquisate of Lyons, being extremely zealous for 
 the advancement of true piety and Christian knowledge, 
 employed a certain priest,’ about the year 1160, in trans-’ 
 lating from Latin into French the Eour Gospels, with 
 other books of Holy Scripture, and the most remarkable 
 sentences of the ancient doctors, which were so highly 
 esteemed in this century. But no sooner had he perused 
 these sacred books with a proper degree of attention, than 
 he perceived that the religion, which was now taught in 
 the Roman church, differed totally from that which was 
 originally inculcated by Christ and his apostles. Shocked 
 at this glaring contradiction between the doctrines of the 
 pontifls and the truths of the Gospel, and animated with 
 a pious zeal for promoting his own salvation, and that of 
 others, he abandoned his mercantile vocation, distributed 
 his riches among the poor,s and forming an association 
 with other pious men, who had adopted his sentiments 
 and his turn of devotion, he began, in the year 1180, to 
 assume the quality of a public teacher, and to instruct the 
 multitude in the doctrmes and precepts of Christianity. 
 
 *Epist. Trajectens. Eccles. ad Fred. Epis. de Tanchelmo, in Seb. 
 Tengnagelit Col. Vet. Mon. p. 368. Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. 
 p. 98.—Argentre, Collec. Judicior. de novis Error. t. i. p. 10. 
 
 » Louis Hugo, Vie de 8. Norbert, liv. ii. p. 126—Chrys. Vander- 
 Sterre, Vita S. Norberti, cap. xxxvi. p. 164, et Polyc. de Hertogh, ad il- 
 lam Annotationes, p. 387. 
 
 * See Otto Frising. de Gestis Frederici J. lib. ii. cap. xx.—S. Bernard- 
 us, Epist. 195, 196, tom. i. p. 187.—Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. 
 p. 157.—Muratori, Droits de Empire sur |’Etat Ecclesiastique, p. 137. 
 —-Henr. de Bunau, Vita Frederici f. p. 41.—Chauffepied, Nouveau Dic- 
 tion. Hist. Crit. tom. i. p. 482. 
 
 4 They werecalled Leowists from Leona, the ancient name of Lyons, 
 where their sect took its rise. The more eminent persons of that sect 
 manifested their progress toward perfection by the simplicity and mean- 
 
 ness of their external appearance. [lence, among other things, they 
 wore wooden shoes, which in the French language are termed sabots, and 
 had imprinted on these shoes the sign of the cross, to distinguish them- 
 selves from otner Christians; and it was on these accounts that they ac- 
 quired the denomination of sabbatati and insabbatali. See Du Fresne, 
 Glossarium Latin. medii A£vi, vi. voce ‘Sabbatati. Nicol. Eumerici Di- 
 rectorium Inquisitorum, Part II. N. 112, é:«. 
 
 ¢ See Steph. de Borbone, de septem donis Spiritus Sancti, in Echard 
 and Quetif, Bibliotheca Seriptor. Dorainicanor. tom. i. p. 192-—Anonym. 
 Tractatio de Heresi Pauperum de Lugduno, in Martenne’s Thesaur. 
 Anecdotor. tom. v. p. 1777. 
 
 f This priest was called Stephanus de Evisa. 
 
 « [t was on this account that the Waldenses were called Pauvres 4 
 Lyons, or Poor Men of Lyons. 
 
Cua. Y. 
 
 The archbishop of Lyons, and the other rulers of the 
 church in that province, opposed, with vigour, this new 
 doctor in the exercise of his ministry. But their opposi- 
 tion was unsuccessful; for the purity and simplicity of 
 that religion which these good men taught, the spotless 
 innocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and 
 the noble conteinpt of riches and honours manifested in 
 the whole of their conduct and conversation, appeared so 
 engaging to all such as had any sense of true piety, that 
 the number of their disciples and followers increased from 
 day to day.s\ They accordingly formed religious assem- 
 blies, first in France, and afterwards in Lombardy, whence 
 they propagated their sect through the other provinces of 
 Europe with incredible rapidity, and with such invincible 
 fortitude, that neither fire nor sword, nor the most cruel 
 inventions of merciless persecution, could damp their zeal, 
 or entirely ruin their cause.* 
 
 XII. The attempts of Peter Waldus and his followers 
 were neither employed nor intended to introduce new 
 doctrines into the church, nor to propose new articles of 
 faith to Christians. All they aimed at was, to reduce the 
 form of ecclesiastical government, and the lives and 
 manners both of the clergy and people, to that amiable 
 simplicity, and that primitive sanctity, which had charac- 
 erised the apostolic ages, and which appear so strongly 
 recommended in the precepts and injunctions of the di- 
 vine author of our holy religion. In consequence of this 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 design, they complained that the Roman church had 
 degenerated, under Constantine the Great, from its pri- 
 mitive purity and sanctity. ‘They denied the supremacy 
 of the Roman pontiff, and maintained that the rulers and 
 ministers of the church were obliged, by their vocation, 
 to imitate the poverty of the apostles, and to procure - for 
 themselves a subsistence by the work of their hands. 
 They considered every Christian, as in a certain measure 
 qualified and authorised to instruct, exhort, and confirm 
 the brethren in their Christian course, and demanded 
 the restoration of the ancient penitential discipline of the 
 
 * Certain writers give different accounts of the origin of the Walden- 
 ses, and suppose they were so called from the vaileys in which they had 
 resided for many ages before the birth of Peter Waldus. But these wri- 
 ters have no authority to support this assertion; and, beside this, they 
 are amply refuted by the best historians. I do not mean to deny, that 
 there were in the valleys of Piedmont, long before this period, a set of 
 men who differed widely from the opinions adopted and inculeated by the 
 church of Rome, and whose doctrine resembled, in many respects, that 
 of the Waldenses; all that I maintain is, that these inhabitants of the 
 valleys ubove mentioned are to be carefully distinguished from the Wal- 
 denses, who, according to the unanimous voice of history, were origin- 
 ally inhabitants of Lyons, and derived their name from Peter Waldus, 
 their founder and chief. 3% We may venture to affirm the contrary, 
 with the learned Beza and other writers of note; for it seems evident 
 from the best records, that Waldus derived his name from the true Val- 
 denses of Piedmont, whose doctrine he adopted, and who were known 
 by the names of Vawdois and Valdenses, before he or his immediate fol- 
 lowers existed. If the Valdenses had derived their name from any emi- 
 nent teacher, it would probably have been from Valdo, who was remark- 
 able for the ages of his doctrine in the LXth century, and was the con- 
 temporary and chief counsellor of Berengarius. But the truth is, that 
 they derived their name from their valleys in Piedmont, which in their 
 language are called Vaux ; hence Vawdois, their true name; hence Pe- 
 ter, or leothass call him) John of Lyons, was called in Latin, Valdus, 
 because he had adopted their doctrine; and hence the term Valdenses 
 and Waldenses used by those who write in English or Latin, in the 
 place of Vaudois. ‘The bloody inquisitor Reinerus Sacco, who exerted 
 such a furious zeal for the destruction of the Waldenses, lived but about 
 80 years after Valdus of Lyons, and must therefore be supposed to have 
 known whether he was the real founder of the Valdenses or Leonists; 
 and yet it is remarkable that he speaks of the Leonists (mentioned by 
 Dr. Mosheim, in this section, as synonymous with Waldenses) as a sect 
 
 that had flourished above 500 years, and even mentions authors of note, 
 who make their antiquity remount to the apostolic age, See the account | 
 
 29% 
 
 church, 7. e. the expiation of transgressions by prayer, 
 fasting, and alms, which the new-invented doctrine of in- 
 dulgences had nearly abolished. They at the same 
 time affirmed, that every pious Christian was qualified 
 and entitled to prescribe to penitents the kind and degree 
 of satisfaction or expiation that their transgressions re- 
 quired ; that confession made to a priest was by no means 
 necessary, since the humble offender right acknowledge 
 his sins and testify his repentance to any true believer 
 and might expect from such the counsels and admonitions 
 that his case and circumstances demanded. They main- 
 tained, that the power of delivering sinners from the 
 guilt and punishment of their offences belonged to God 
 alone ; and that indulgences, in consequence, were the 
 criminal inventions of sordid avarice. ‘They looked upon 
 the prayers, and other ceremonies that were instituted 
 in behalf of the dead, as vain, useless, and absurd, and 
 denied the existence of departed souls in an intermedi- 
 ate state of purification, affirming, that they were imme- 
 diately, upon their separation from the body, received into 
 heaven, or sent down to hell. These and other tenets 
 of a like nature composed the system of doctrine propa- 
 gated by the Waldenses. Their rules of practice were 
 extremely austere ; for they adopted, as the model of their 
 moral discipline, the sermon of Christ on the mount, 
 which théy interpreted and explained in the most rigorous 
 and literal manner, and consequently prohibited and con- 
 demned in their society all wars, and suits of law, all at- 
 tempts toward the acquisition of wealth, the infliction of 
 capital punishments, self-defence against unjust violence, 
 and oaths of all kinds.¢ 
 
 XIU. The government of the church was committed, 
 by the Waldenses, to bishops,‘ presbyters, and deacons ; 
 for they acknowledged that these three orders were insti- 
 tuted by Christ himself. But they deemed it absolutely 
 necessary, that all these orders should resemble exactly 
 the apostles of the divine Saviour, and be, like them, 
 illiterate, poor, destitute of all worldly possessions, and 
 given of Sacco’s book by the Jesuit Gretser, in the Bibliotheca Patrum. 
 I know not upon what principle Dr. Mosheim maintains, that the inha- 
 bitants of the valleys of Piedmont are to be carefully distinguished from 
 the Waldenses ; and I am persuaded, that whoever will be at the pains 
 to read attentively the 2d, 25th, 26th, and 27th chapters of the first book 
 of Leger’s Histoire Generale des Eglises Vaudoises, will find this dis- 
 tinction entirely groundless.—W hen the Papists ask us, where our reli- 
 gion was before Luther, we genera'ly answer, in lhe Bible ; and we an- 
 swer well. But to gratify their taste for tradition and human autbority, 
 we may add to this answer, and in the valleys of Piedinont. 
 
 > See the following ancient writers, who have given accounts of the 
 sect in question; namely, Sachoni Summa contra Valcenses.—Monete 
 Summa contra Catharos et Valdenses, published by Riccini—Tr. de 
 Heresi Pauperum de Lugduno, published by Martenne, in his Thesaur. 
 Anecdot. tom. v. p. 1777.—Pilichdorfins contra Valdenses, t. xxv. B. 
 Max. Patr.—Ad4q to these authors, Jo. Paul Perrin, Histoire des Vau- 
 dois, published at Geneva, in 1619. Jo. Leger, Histoire Generale des 
 Eglises Vaudoises, liv. i. ch. xiv. p. 156.—Usher, de successione Eccle- 
 siarum Occidentis, cap. vill. p. 209—Jac, Basnage, Histoire des Eglises 
 Reformées, tom. 1. period IV. p. 329.—Thom. Avguit. Riccini, Dissertat. 
 de Meg aie ars to his edition of the Summa Monete, p. 36.— 
 Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris, tom. ii. p. 292. 
 
 * See the Codex Inquisitionis Tolosane, published by Limborch, as 
 also the Summa Monetz contra Valdenses, and the other writers of the 
 Waldensian history. ‘Though these writers are not all equally accurate, 
 nor perfectly agreed about the number of doctrines that entered into the 
 system of this sect, yet they are nearly unanimous in acknowledging the 
 sincere piety and exemplary conduct of the Waldenses, and show plainly 
 enough that their intention was not to oppose the doctrines which were 
 universally received among Christians, but only to revive the se and 
 manners of the primitive times, end to combat the vices of the clergy, 
 
 and the abuses that had been introduced into the worship and discipline 
 of the church. 
 
 4 The bishops were also called majorales or elders, 
 
292 
 
 furnished with some laborious trade or vocation, in order 
 to gain by constant industry their daily subsistence. 
 The laity were divided into two classes; one of which 
 contained the perfect, and the other the imperfect Chris- 
 tians. ‘I'he former spontaneously divested themselves of 
 all worldly possessions, manifested their extreme poverty 
 
 in the wretchedness of their apparel, and emaciated their | 
 
 bodies by frequent fasting. 'T'he latter were less austere, 
 and approached the method of living generally received, 
 though they abstained, like the graver sort of anabap- 
 tists In later times, from all appearance of pomp and lux- 
 ury. It is, however, to be observed, that the Walden- 
 ses were not without their intestine divisions. Such as 
 resided in Italy differed considerably in their opinions from 
 those who dwelt in France and the other Kuropean coun- 
 tries. The former considered the church of Rome as 
 the church of Christ, though much corrupted and sadly 
 disfigured ; they also acknowledged the validity of its se- 
 ven sacraments, and solemnly declared that they would 
 ever continue in communion with it, provided that they 
 might be allowed to live as they thought proper, without 
 molestation or restraint. The latter affirmed, on the con- 
 trary, that the church of Rome had apostatised from 
 Christ, was deprived of the Holy Spirit, and was, in rea- 
 lity, the whore of Babylon mentioned in the Revelations 
 of St. John.» 
 
 XIV. Besi:is these famous sects, which made a great 
 noise in the world, and drew after them multitudes from 
 the bosom of a corrupt and superstitious church, there 
 were religious factions of less importance, which arose 
 in Italy, and more especially in France, though they seem 
 to have expired soon after their birth.: In Lombardy, 
 which was the principal residence of the Italian heretics, 
 there sprang up a singular sect, known (for what reason 
 I cannot tell) by the denomination of Pasaginians, and 
 also by that of the circumcised. Like the other sects 
 already mentioned, they had the utmost aversion to 
 the dominion and discipline of the church of Rome; 
 but they were, at the same time, distinguished by two 
 religious tenets, which were peculiar to themselves. he 
 first was a notion, that the observance of the law of Mo- 
 ses, in every thing except the offermg of sacrifices, was 
 obligatory upon Christians ; in consequence of which they 
 circumcised their followers, abstained from those meats, 
 the use of which was prohibited under the Mosaic eco- 
 nomy, and celebrated the Jewish Sabbath. The second 
 tenet that distinguished this sect was advanced in oppo- 
 sition to the doctrine of three persons in the divine na- 
 ture; for the Pasaginians maintained that Christ was no 
 more than the first and purest creature of God; nor will 
 their adoption of this pier seem very surprising, if we 
 consider the prodigious number of Arians that were scat- 
 tered throughout Italy long before this period.4 
 
 XV. A sect of fanatics, called Caputiati, from a sin- 
 gular kind of cap that was the badge of their faction, in- 
 fested the province of Burgundy, the diocese of oe 
 
 «'The greatest part of the Waldenses ; gained their livelihood by weaving 
 hence the whole sect, in some places, were called the sect of weavers. 
 
 > Monete Surama contra Catharos et Valdenses, p. 406, &c. They 
 seem to have been also divided in their sentiments concerning the pos- 
 session of worldly goods, as appears from the accounts of” Stephanus de 
 Borbone, apud Echardi Script. Dominican. tom. i. _This writer divides 
 the Waldenses into two classes, the poor men of Lyons, and the poor 
 men of Lombardy. The former rejected and prohibited all sorts of 
 possessions; the latter looked upon worldly possessions as Jawful. 
 This distinction is confirmed by several passages of other ancient authors, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 and several other parts of France, in all which places they 
 excited much disturbance among the people. They wore 
 upon their caps a leaden image of the Virgin Mary; and 
 they declared publicly, that their purpose was to level all 
 distinctions, to abrogate magistracy, to remove all subor- 
 dination among mankind, and to restore that primitive li- 
 berty, that natural equality, which were the inestimable 
 privileges of the first mortals. Hugo, bishop of Auxerre, 
 attacked these disturbers of human society in the proper 
 manner, employing against them the force of arms, instead 
 of arguments.* 
 
 The sect of the apostolics, whom St. Bernard opposed 
 with such bitterness and fury, and who were so called, as 
 that zealous abbot himself acknowledged, because they 
 professed to exhibit, in their lives and manners, the piety 
 and virtues of the holy apostles, were very different from 
 the audacious heretics now mentioned. They were a 
 clownish set of men, of the lowest birth, who gained their 
 subsistence by bodily labour ; yet, as soon as they formed 
 themselves into a sect, they drew after them a multitude 
 of adherents of all ranks and orders. 'Vheir religious doc- 
 trine, as St. Bernard confesses, was free from error, and 
 their lives and manners were irreproachable and exem- 
 plary : but they were reprehensible on account of the follow- 
 ing peculiarities : 1. They held it unlawful to take an oath ; 
 2. “They suffered their hair and their beards to grow to 
 an enormous length, so that their aspect was inexpressibly 
 extravagant and savage; 3. They preferred celibacy to 
 wedlock, and called themselves the chaste brethren and 
 sisters ; notwithstanding which, 4. Each man had a spi- 
 ritual sister with him, after the manner of the apostles, 
 with whom he lived in a domestic relation, lying in the 
 same chamber with her, though not in the same bed.‘ 
 
 XVI. In the council assembled at Rheims, in the year 
 1148, in which pope Eugenius III presided, a gentleman 
 of the province of Bretagne, whose name was Eon, and 
 whose brain was undoubtedly disordered, was condemned 
 for pretending to be the Son of God. Having heard, in 
 the form that was used for exorcising malignant spirits, 
 these words-pronounced, per Lum, qui venturus est ju- 
 dicare vivos et mortuos, he concluded, from the resem- 
 blance between the word Awm and his name, that he was 
 the person who was to come and judge both the quick 
 and the dead. ‘This poor man should rather have been 
 delivered over to the physicians than placed in the list of 
 heretics. He ended bis days in a miserable prison, and 
 left a considerable number of followers and adherents, 
 whom persecution and death in the most dreadful forms 
 could not persuade to abandon his cause, or to renounce 
 an absurdity, which one would think could never have 
 gained credit, but in a receptacle of lunatics.s ‘This 
 
 | remarkable example is sufficient to show, not only the 
 
 astonishing credulity of the stupid multitude, but also 
 how far even the rulers of the church were destitute of 
 judgment, and unacquainted with true and genuine reli- 
 gion. 
 
 ° for an account of these obscure sects, see Stephanus de Borbone 
 apud Echardi Script. Dominican. tom. i. 
 
 4 See F. Bonacursi Manifestatio neresis Catharorum, in d’Acheri’s 
 Spicileg. Veter. Scriptor. tom. i. p. 211. Gerard. Bergamensis contra 
 Catharos et Pasagios, in Lud. Anton. Muratorii Antiq. Italic. medi 
 fyi, tom. v. p. 151. 
 
 € Jacques Le Beuf, Memoires sur l’Histoire d’Auxerre, t. i. p. 317. 
 
 fSti. Bern. Serm. lxv. in Canticum, t. iv. op. p. 1495, ed. Mabill. 
 
 & Matth. Paris, Hist. Maj. p. 68. —Guil. Neubrigensis, Hist. Rerum 
 Angli. lib. 1. p. 50, —Boulay, ist Acad. Paris, tom. ll. P. 241. 
 
THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 PAY I: 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened to | 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Hoven the successors of Genghiz-Khan, the power- 
 ful emperor of the Tartars, or rather of the Mogols, had 
 carried their victorious arms through a great part of Asia, 
 and, having reduced China, India, and Persia, under their 
 yoke, had involved in many calamities and suflerings the 
 Christian assemblies which were established in those van- 
 quished lands," yet we learn from the best accounts, and 
 the most respectable authorities, that in China, and in the 
 northern parts of Asia, the Nestorians continued to have a 
 flourishing church, and a great number of adherents. The 
 emperors of the Tartars and Mogols had no great aversion 
 to the Christian religion. It even appears from authentic 
 records, that several kings and grandees of those nations 
 had either been instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel 
 by their ancestors, or were converted to Christianity by the 
 ministry and exhortations of the Nestorians.’ But the reli- 
 gion of Mohammed, which was so calculated to flatter the 
 passions of men, gradually infected these noble converts, 
 opposed with success the progress of the Gospel, and at 
 length so effectually triumphed over it, that not the least 
 remains of Christianity were to be perceived in the courts 
 of those eastern princes. 
 
 Il. The Tartars having made an incursion into Europe, 
 in the year 1241, and having laid waste, with the most 
 unrelenting and savage barbarity, Hungary, Poland, Sile- 
 sia, and the adjacent countries, the Roman pontifis thought 
 it incumbent upon them to endeavour to calm the fury, 
 and soften the ferocity, of these new and formidable ene- 
 mies. For this purpose, in 1245, Innocent IV. sent an 
 
 embassy to the Tartars, which consisted of Dominican 
 and Franciscan friars... In 1274, Abaca, the emperor of 
 that fierce nation, sent ambassadors to the council of Ly- 
 ons, which was holden under the pontificate of Gregory 
 X.4 About four vears after this, pope Nicolas III. paid 
 the same compliment to Coblai, emperor of the whole 
 Tartar nation, to whom he sent a solemn embassy of 
 Franciscan monks, with a view to render that prince pro- 
 pitious to the Christian cause. The last expedition of this 
 kind that we shall mention at present, was that of Johan- 
 nes 4 Monte Corvino, who, in 1289, was sent with other 
 ecclesiastics to the same emperor, by Nicolas IV., and who 
 
 @ Gregor. Abulfaraj. Historia Dynastiar. p. 281, edit. Pocock. 
 
 t See Marc. Paul. Venet. de Regionibus Oriental. lib. i. c. iv. lib. ii. ¢. 
 vi.—Iaytho the Armenian’s Histor. Oriental. cap. xix. p. 35, cap. xxiiL. 
 p. 39, cap. xxiv.—Jos. Sim. Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. il. 
 part ii. See particularly the Ecclesiastical History of the ‘Tartars, pub- 
 lished in Latin at Helmstadt, in 1741, under my auspices and inspec- 
 
 won. 
 * See Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom, iii. p. 116, 149, 179, 256. 
 
 4 Wadding, tom. iv. p. 35. tom. v. p. 128. See particularly ‘an accu- 
 
 carried letters to the Nestorians from that zealous pontiff. 
 This mission was far from being useless, since those spi- 
 ritual ambassadors converted many of the Tartars to 
 Christianity, engaged considerable numbers of the Nesto- 
 rians to adopt the doctrine and discipline of the church of 
 Rome, and erected churches in various parts of 'Tartary 
 and China. In order to accelerate the propagation of the 
 
 Gospel among these darkened nations, Johannes a Monte 
 
 Corvino translated the New Testament and the Psalms 
 of David into the language of the 'Vartars.¢ 
 
 Ill. The Roman pontiffs employed their most zealous 
 and assiduous efforts in the support of the Christian cause 
 in Palestine, which was now in a most declining, or rather 
 in a desperate state. They had learned, by a delightful 
 experience, how much these Asiatic wars, undertaken from 
 a principle, or at least carried on under a pretext of reli- 
 gion, had contributed to fill their coffers, augment their 
 authority, and cover them with glory; and therefore they 
 had nothing more at heart than the renewal and prolon- 
 gation of these sacred expeditions.‘ Innocent ILI. there- 
 fore, sounded the charge, but the greatest part of the Eu- 
 ropean princes and nations were deaf to the voice of the 
 holy trumpet. At length, however, after many unsuc- 
 cessful attempts in different countries, a body of French 
 nobles entered into an alliance with the republic of Venice, 
 and set sail for the east with an army that was far from 
 being formidable. The event ofthis new expedition was 
 by no means answerable to the expectations of the pontiff. 
 The French.and Venetians, instead of steering their course 
 toward Palestine, sailed directly for Constantinople, and, 
 in 1208, took that imperial city by storm, with a design 
 of restoring to the throne Isaac Angelus, who implored 
 
 | their succour against the violence of his brother Alexius, 
 
 the usurper of the empire. In the following year a dread- 
 ful sedition was raised at Constantinople, in which the 
 emperor Isaac was put to death, and his son, the young 
 Alexius, was strangled by Alexius Ducas, the ringleader 
 of this furious faction. The account of this_atrocity no 
 sooner came to the ears of the chiefs of the crusade, than 
 they made themselves masters of Constantinople for the 
 second time, dethroned and drove from the city the tyrant 
 Ducas, and elected Baldwin, count of Flanders, emperor 
 of the Greeks. This proceeding was a source of new 
 divisions ; for, about two years after this, the Greeks re- 
 solved to set up, in opposition to this Latin emperor, one 
 
 Tartars, in the Historia Ecclesiastica Tartarorum, already mentioned. 
 
 * Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. Ecclesiastic. tont. xiv. ad annum 1278, 
 sect. 17, and ad annum 1259, sect. 59.—Pierre Bergeron, Traité des Tar- 
 tares, chap. xi. See also the writers mentioned in the Historia Ecclesi 
 astica 'T'artarorum. 
 
 fThis is remarked by the writers of the twelfth century, who soon 
 perceived the avaricious and despotic views of the pontiffs, in the en- 
 couragement they gave tothecrusades. See Matth. Paris, Hist. Major 
 
 3p * The learned authors of the Universal History call this ringlead- 
 
 rute and ample account of the negotiations between the pontiffs and the || er, by mistake, John Ducas. 
 
 No. XXV. 
 
294 
 
 of their own nation, and elected, for that purpose, Theo- 
 dore Lascaris, who chose Nice in Bithynia for the place 
 of his imperial residence. From this period until the year 
 1261, two emperors reigned over the Greeks; one of their 
 own nation, who resided at Nice; and the other of Latin 
 or French extraction, who lived at Constantinople, the an- 
 cient metropolis of the empire. But, in the year 1261, the 
 face of things was changed by the Grecian emperor, Mi- 
 chael Palzologus, who, by the valour and stratagems of his 
 general, Caesar Alexius, became master of Constantinople, 
 und forced the Latin emperor to abandon that city, and 
 save himself by flight into Italy. Thus fell the empire of 
 the F’ranks at Constantinople, after a duration of fifty-seven 
 years.* 
 
 IV. Another sacred expedition was undertaken in 1217, 
 under the pontificate of Honorius HI., by the confederate 
 arms of Italy and Germany. ‘The allied army was com- 
 manded in chief by Andrew, king of Hungary, who was 
 joined by Leopold, duke of Austria, Louis of Bavaria, and 
 several other princes. After the lapse of a few montlis, 
 Andrew returned into Europe. ‘The remaining chiefs 
 carried on the war with vigour, and, in 1220, made them- 
 selves masters of Damietta, the strongest city in Egypt; 
 but their prosperity was of a short duration; for, in the 
 following year, their fleet was totally ruined by that of the 
 Saracens, their provisions were cut off, and their army re- 
 duced to the greatest difficulties. This irreparable loss, 
 being followed by that of Damietta, blasted all their hopes, 
 and removed the flattering prospects which their success- 
 ful beginnings had presented to their expectations.° 
 
 V. The legates and missionaries of the court of Rome 
 
 still continued to animate the languishing zeal of the. 
 
 European princes in behalf of the Christian cause in 
 Palestine, and to revive the spirit of crusading, which so 
 many calamities and disasters had almost totally ex- 
 tinguished. At length, in consequence of their lively 
 remonstrances, @ new army was raised, and a new 
 expedition undertaken, which excited great expectations, 
 and drew the attention of Europe so much the more, as 
 it was generally believed that this army was to be com- 
 manded by the emperor Frederic II. 'That prince had, 
 indeed, obliged himself by a solemn promise, made to the 
 Roman pontiff, to undertake the direction of this enterprise; 
 and what added a new degree of force to this engagement, 
 and seemed to render the violation of it impossible, was 
 
 the marriage that he had contracted, in 1223, with Jolanda, , 
 
 daughter of Jolin, count of Brienne, and king of Jerusa- 
 lem; by which alliance that kingdom was to be added to 
 his European dominions. Notwithstanding these induce- 
 
 *See, for a full account of this empire, Du Fresne, Histoire de ’Em- 
 pire de Constantinople sous les Empereurs Francois; in the former part 
 of which we find the Histoire de la Conquéte de la Ville de Constantino- 
 
 le par les Francois, written by Godfrey de Ville-Harduin, one of the 
 Neecests chiefs concerned in the expedition. This work makes a part of 
 the Byzantine history. See also Claude Fontenay, Histoire de |’Eglise 
 Guallicane, tom.x. Guntheri Monachi Histor. capte a Latinis Constan- 
 tinopoleos, in Henr. Canisii Lect. Antiq. tom. iv—Innocentii III. Epis- 
 tol. a Baluzio edit. 
 
 > See Jac. de Vitriaco, Hist. Orient. et Marinus Sanutus, Secret. fidel. 
 Crucis inter Bongar. de sacris bellis Script. seu Gesta Dei per Francos.: 
 
 xX¢> ¢ This papal excommunication, which was drawn up in the most 
 outrageous and indecent language, was so far from exciting Frederic to 
 accelerate his departure for Palestine, that it produced no effect upon him 
 atall, and was, on the contrary, received with the utmost contempt. He 
 defended himself by his ambassador at Rome, and showed that the ree- 
 sons of his delay were solid and just, and not mere pretexts, as the pope 
 had pretended. At the same time, he wrote a remarkable letter co Hen- 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 ments, he postponed his voyage under various pretences, 
 and did not set out until the year 1228, when, after having 
 been excommunicated on account of his delay, by the 
 incensed pontiff Gregory IX,° he followed with a small 
 train of attendants the troops, who expected, with the 
 most anxious impatience, his arrival in Palestine. No 
 sooner did he land in that disputed kingdom, than, instead 
 of carrying on the war with vigour, he turned all his 
 thoughts toward peace, and, without consulting the other 
 princes and chiefs of the crusade, concluded, in 1229, a 
 treaty of peace, or rather a truce of ten years, with Malec- 
 al-Camel, sultan of Egypt. The principal article of this 
 treaty was, that Frederic should be put in possession of 
 the city and kingdom of Jerusalem. ‘This condition was 
 immediately executed ; and the emperor, entering the city 
 with great pomp, accompanied by a numerous train, 
 placed the crown upon his head with his own hands; 
 and, having thus settled affairs in Palestine, he returned 
 without delay into Italy, to appease the discords and com- 
 motions which the vindictive and ambitious pontiff had ex- 
 cited in his absence. Notwithstanding all the reproaches 
 that were cast upon the emperor by the pope and his 
 creatures, this expedition was, in reality, the most success- 
 ful of any that had been undertaken against the infidels.4 
 VI. he expeditions that followed this were less impor- 
 tant, and also less successful. In i2'39, Theobald VI.,¢ 
 count of Champagne and king of Nevarre, set out from 
 Marseilles for the Holy Land, accompanied by several 
 French and German princes, as did also, in the following 
 year, Richard, earl of Cornwall, brother to Henry IL, 
 king of England. ‘The issue of these two expeditions by 
 no means corresponded with the preparations which were 
 made to render them successful. The former failed 
 through the influence of the emperoi’s‘ ambassadors in 
 Palestine, who renewed the truce with the Moslems; 
 while on the other hand, a considerable body of Christians 
 were defeated at Gaza, and such as escaped the carnage 
 returned into Europe. ‘This fatal event was principally 
 occasioned by the discord that reigned between the 
 templars and the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 
 Hence it came to pass, that the arrival of Richard, which 
 
 | had been industriously retarded by Gregory, and which 
 had revived, in some degree, the hopes of the vanquished, 
 was ineffectual to repair their losses; and all that this 
 | 
 
 prince could do, was to enter, with the consent of the 
 allies, into a truce, upon as good conditions as the declining 
 state of their affairs would admit. This truce was accord: 
 ingly concluded with the sultan of Egypt in 1241; after 
 which Richard immediately set sail for Europe.¢ 
 
 ry IL. king of England, in which he complained of the insatiable ava- 
 rice, the boundless ambition, the perfidious and hypocritical proceedings 
 of the Roman pontiffs. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. lxxix. tom. xvi. 
 
 4 See the writers who have composed the history of the holy wars, ané 
 of the life and exploits of Frederic IJ. See also Muratori’s Annales Ital 
 and the various authors of the Germanic History. 
 
 xp ° Dr. Mosheim calls him, by a mistake, Theobald Y., unless we 
 attribute this fault to an error of the press. 
 
 3¢p This was Frederic II. who had a great party in Palestine, ané 
 did not act in concert with the clergy and the creatures of his bittes 
 enemy, Gregory IX.; from which division the Christian cause suf 
 fered much. 
 
 ¢ All these circumstances are accurately related and illustrated by the 
 learned George Christ. Gebaureus, in his Historia Ricardi Imperatoris 
 lib. i. p. 34.—It appears, however, by the Eyistole Petri de Vineis, that 
 | Richard was created, by Frederic, his lord lieutenant of the kingdom of 
 | Jerusalem; and this furnishes a probable reason why Gregory used all 
 || possible means to retard Richard’s voyage. 
 
~Ouap LL 
 
 VII. The affairs of the Christians in the east daily 
 declined. Intestine discords and ill-conducted expeditions 
 had reduced them almost to extremities, when Louis [X., 
 king of France, who was canonised after his death, and 
 is stil worshipped with the utmost devotion, attempted 
 their restoration. It was in consequence of a vow, which 
 this prince had made in the year 1248, when he was 
 seized with a dangerous illness, that he undertook this 
 arduous task; and, in the execution of it, he set sail for 
 Egypt with a formidable army and a numerous fleet, from 
 a notion that the conquest of this province would enable 
 him to carry on the war in Syria and Palestine with 
 greater facility and success. "The first attempts of the 
 zealous monarch were crowned with victory; for Damietta, 
 that famous Egyptian city, yielded to his arms; but the 
 smiling prospect was soon changed, and the progress of 
 the war presented one uniform scene of calamity and 
 desolation. The united horrors of famine and pestilence 
 overwhelmed the royal army, whose provisions were cut off 
 by the Mohammedans, in 1250; Robert, earl of Artois, 
 the king’s brother, having surprised the Saracen army, 
 and, through an excess of valour, pursued them too far, 
 was slain in the engagement; and,a few days after, 
 Louis, two of his brothers,s and the greatest part of his 
 army, were made prisoners in a bloody action, after a bold 
 and obstinate resistance. ‘This valiant monarch, who was 
 endowed with true greatness of mind, and who was 
 extremely pious, though after the manner that prevailed 
 
 in this age of superstition and darkness, was ransomed at | 
 
 ah immense price ;® and, after having spent about four 
 years in Palestine, returned into France, in 1254, with a 
 handful of men,° the miserable remains of his formidable 
 army. 
 
 VU. No calamities could deject the courage or damp 
 the invincible spirit of Louis; nor did he look upon his 
 vow as fulfilled by what he had already done in Palestine. 
 He therefore resolved upon a new expedition, fitted out a 
 formidable fleet, with which he set sail for Africa, ac- 
 companied by a splendid train of princes and nobles, and 
 proposed to begin in that part of the world his operations 
 against the infidels, that he might either convert them to 
 the Christian faith, or draw from their treasures the means 
 of carrying on more effectually the war in Asia. Imme- 
 diately after his arrival upon the African coast, he made 
 himself master of the fort of Carthage; but this success 
 was soon followed by a fatal change in his affairs. A 
 pestilential disease broke out in the fleet, in the harbour of 
 Tunis, carried off the greatest part of the army, and seized, 
 at length, the monarch himself, who fell a victim to its 
 rage, on the 25th of August, 1270.4 Louis was the last 
 of the European princes that embarked in the holy war ; 
 the dangers and difficulties, the calamities and disorders, 
 
 3x¢p * Alphonsus, earl of Poictiers, and Charles, earl of Anjou. — 
 
 377 >The ransom, which, together with the restoration of Damietta, 
 the king was obliged to pay for his liberty, was 800,000 gold bezants, 
 and not 80,000, as Collier erroneously reckons. 'This sum, which was 
 equal then to 500,000 livres of French money, would, in our days, amount 
 to the value of 4,000,000 of livres, that is, to about 170,000/. sterling. 
 
 ¢ Of 2.800 illustrious knights, who set out with Louis from France, | 
 See Join- | 
 
 there remained about 100 when he sailed from Palestine. 
 ville’s Hist. de S. Louis. 
 
 4 Among the various histories that deserve to be consulted for a more 
 ample account of this last crusade, the principal place is due to the Hist. 
 de S. Louis 1X. du nom, Roy de France, écrite par Jean Sr. de Joinville, 
 enrichie de nouvelles Dissertations et Observations Historiques, par 
 Charles du Fresne, Paris, 1688, See also Filleau dela Chaise, Histoire 
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 295 
 
 and the enormous expenses that accompanied each crusade, 
 disgusted the most zealous, and discouraged the most in- 
 trepid promoters of these fanatical expeditions. In conse- 
 quence of this, the Latin empire in the east declined apace, 
 notwithstanding the efforts of the Roman pontifls to main- 
 tain and support it; and in the year 1291, after the 
 taking of Ptolemais by the Mohammedans, it was entirely 
 overthrown.® It is natural to inquire into the true causes 
 that contributed to this unhappy revolution in Palestine ; 
 and these causes are evident. We must not seek for them 
 either in the counsels or in the valour of the infidels, but 
 in the dissensions that reigned in the Christian armies, in 
 the profligate lives of those who called themselves the 
 champions of the cross, and in the ignorance, obstinacy, 
 avarice, and insolence, of the pope’s legates. 
 
 IX. Christianity had not yet tamed the ferocity, or 
 conquered the pagan superstitions and prejudices, that 
 still prevailed in some of the western provinces. Among 
 others, the Prussians, a fierce and savage nation, retained 
 the idolatrous worship of their ancestors with the most 
 obstinate perseverance; nor did the arguments and 
 exhortations employed by the ecclesiastics, who were sent 
 from time to time to convert them, produce the least effect 
 upon their stubborn and intractable spirits. The brutish 
 firmness of these pagans induced Conrad, duke of Masovia, 
 to have recourse to more forcible methods than reason and 
 argument, in order to eflect their conversion. For this 
 purpose, he addressed himself, in the year 1230, to the 
 knights of the Teutonic order of St. Mary, (who, after 
 their expulsion from Palestine, had settled at Venice,) and 
 engaged them, by pompous promises, to undertake the 
 conquest and conversion of the Prussians. 'The knights 
 accordingly arrived in Prussia, under the command of 
 Herman de Saltza, and, after a most cruel and obstinate 
 war of fifty years with that resolute people, obliged them 
 to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Teutonic order, and 
 to embrace the Christian faith.‘ After having established 
 Christianity, and fixed their own dominion in Prussia, 
 these booted apostles made several incursions into the 
 neighbouring countries, and particularly into Lithuania, 
 where they pillaged, burned, massacred, and ruined all 
 before them, until they forced the inhabitants of that 
 miserable province to profess a feigned submission to the 
 Gospel, or rather to the furious and unrelenting mission- 
 aries, by whom it was propagated in a manner so contrary 
 to its divine maxims, and to the benevolent spirit of its 
 celestial author. 
 
 X. In Spain the cause of the Gospel gained ground. 
 The kings of Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Arragon, waged 
 perpetual war with the Saracen princes, who held till 
 under their dominion the kingdoms of Valencia, Grana- 
 da, and Murcia, together with the province of Andalu 
 
 de S. Louis, Paris, 1688, 2 vols. 8vo—Menconis Chronicon, in Ant. Mat- 
 thei Analect. veteris A.vi, tom. tiii—Lue. Wadding, Annales Minorum, 
 tom. iv.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ili—Pierre Claude Fontenay, 
 Histoire de l’Eglise Gallicane, tom. xi. 
 
 ¢ Ant. Matthei Analecta veteris A. vi, tom. v.—Jac. Echardi Seriptoyr. 
 Dominican. tom. i—Imola in Dantem, in Muratorii Antiq. Italic me- 
 dii A2vi, tom. i. 
 
 fSee Matthei Analecta vet. A®vi, tom. iii.p. 18. tom. v. p. 684—689.-- 
 Chronicon Prussiz by Peter of Duisburg.-—Hartknock’s Fristary of the 
 Prussian Church, written in the German language, book i. chap. j., ana 
 Antiq. Prussie, Diss. xiv—Baluzii Misceil. tom. .vii—Wadding’s An- 
 nales Minor. tom. iv— Hist. de Pologne par Soiignac, tom. 11. 
 
 Beside the authors mentioned in the preceding note, see Ludwig’s Re 
 liquie Manuscriptorum omnis Avi, tom. i, 
 
296 
 
 sia; and this war was carried on with such success, that 
 the Saracen dominion declined apace, and was daily re- 
 duced within narrower bounds, while the limits of the 
 church were extended on every side. The princes who 
 chiefly contributed to this happy revolution were Ferdi- 
 nand, king of Leon and Castile, who, after his death, ob- 
 tained a place in the kalendar, his father Alphonso IX., 
 king of Leon, and James I., of Arragon.s| The last, 
 more especially, distinguished himself eminently by his 
 fervent zeal for the advancement of Christianity ; for no 
 sooner had he made himself master of Valencia, in the 
 year 1236, than he employed, with the greatest pains and 
 assiduity, every possible method of converting to the 
 faith his Arabian subjects, whose expulsion would have 
 been an irreparable loss to his kingdom. For this pur- 
 pose he ordered the Dominicans, of whose ministry he 
 principally made use in this salutary work, to learn the 
 Arabic tongue; and he founded public schools at Major- 
 ca and Barcelona, in which a considerable number of 
 youths were educated in a manner that might enable them 
 to preach the Gospel in that language. When these pi- 
 ous efforts were found to be ineffectual, pope Clement IV. 
 exhorted the king to drive the Mohammedans out of Spain. 
 The obsequious prince attempted to follow the counsel of 
 the inconsiderate pontiff; in the execution of which, how- 
 ever, he met with great difficulty, from the opposition of 
 the Spanish nobles on one hand, and from the cbstinacy 
 of the Moors on the cther.® 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tae accounts we have already given of the 'Tar- 
 tarian conquests, and of the unhappy issue of the cru- 
 sades, will be sufficient to suggest a lively idea of the me- 
 lancholy condition to which the Christians were reduced 
 in Asia; and, if the Saracens had been infected with the 
 same odious spirit of persecution that possessed the cru- 
 
 sards, there would not perhaps have remained a single 
 
 Christian in that part of the world. But, though these 
 
 infidels were chargeable with various crimes, and had fre- 
 
 quently treated the Christians in a rigorous and injuri- 
 ous manner, they looked with horror upon those scenes 
 of persecution, which the Latins exhibited as the exploits 
 of heroic piety, and considered it as the highest and most 
 atrocious mark of injustice and cruelty, to force unhappy 
 men, by fire and sword, to abandon their religious princi- 
 
 * See Joh. Ferreras, History of Spain, vol. iv. 
 
 bSee Geddes’ History of the Expulsion of the Morescoes, in his Mis- 
 cellaneous Tracts, vol. 1. 
 
 ¢ A certain tribe called Derusi, or Drusi, who inhabit the recesses of 
 the mounts Liban and Anti-Liban, pretend toa descent from the ancient 
 Franks, who were once masters of Palestine. This derivation is, in- 
 deed, doubtful. It is however certain, that there still remain in these 
 countries descendants of those whom the holy war led from Europe into 
 Palestine, though they do very little honour to their ancestors, and have 
 nothing of Christians but the name. 
 
 4 See Sti. Thomze Summa contra Gentes, and Bernardi Monete Sum- 
 ma contra Catharos et Waldenses. ‘The latter writer, in the work now 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 mentioned, combats, with great spirit, those enemies of Christianity 
 who appeared in his time. In the fourth chapter of the fifth book, p. 
 416, he disputes, im an ample and copious manner, against those who 
 affirmed, that the soul perished with the body; refutes, in the eleventh 
 chapter, 0. 477, those Aristotelian philosophers, who held, that the world 
 had existed from all eternity, and would never have an end: and, in the 
 fifteenth chapver, p. 454, he attacks those, who, despising the authority 
 of ihe sacred writings, Jeny the existence of hun.an liberty, and maine | 
 
 Part l 
 
 ples, or to put them to death merely because they refused 
 to change their opinions. After the destruction of the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem, many of the Latins remained 
 still in Syria, and, retiring into the dark and solitary re- 
 cesses of mount Libanus, lived there in a savage man- 
 ner, and lost, by degrees, all sense of religion and hu- 
 manity, as appears from the conduct and characters of 
 their descendants, who still inhabit the same uncultivated 
 wilds, and who seem almost entirely destitute of all know 
 ledge of God and religion.¢ 
 
 Il. The Latin writers of this age complain in many 
 places of the growth of infidelity, of daring and _licen- 
 tious writers, some of whom publicly attacked the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, while others went so far as atheis- 
 tically to call in question the perfections and government 
 of the Supreme Being. These complaints, however they 
 might have been exaggerated in some respects, were yet 
 far from being entirely destitute of foundation ; and the 
 superstition of the age was too naturally adapted to 
 create a number of infidels and libertines, among men 
 who had more capacity than judgment, more wit than so- 
 lidity. Persons of this character, when they fixed their 
 attention only upon that absurd system of religion, which 
 the Roman pontiffs and their dependants exhibited as the 
 true religion of Christ, and maintained by the odious in- 
 fluence of bloody persecution, were, for want of the 
 means of being better instructed, unhappily induced to 
 consider the Christian religion as a fable, invented and 
 propagated by greedy and ambitious priests, in order to 
 fill their coffers, and to render their authority respectable. 
 The philosophy of Aristotle, which flourished in all the 
 European schools, and was looked upon as the very es- 
 sence of right reason, contributed much to support this 
 delusion, and to nourish a proud and presumptuous spirit 
 of infidelity. This quibbling and intricate philosophy 
 led many to reject some of the most evident and impor- 
 tant doctrines both of natural and revealed religion, such 
 as the doctrine of a divine providence governing the uni- 
 verse, the immortality of the soul, the scriptural account 
 of the origin of the world, and various points of less mo- 
 ment. Not only were these doctrines rejected, but the 
 most pernicious errors were industriously propagated 
 in opposition to them, by a set of Aristotelians, who 
 were extremely active in gaining proselytes to their impi- 
 ous jargon.4 
 
 lil. If the accusations brought against Frederic II. by 
 pope Gregory IX. deserve any credit, that prince may be 
 ranked among the most inveterate and malignant ene- 
 
 tain, that all things, and even the crimes of the wicked, are the effects of 
 an absolute and irresistible necessity. Add to these authors, Tempier’s 
 Indiculus Errorum, qui a nonnullis Magistris Lutetiz publice privatim- 
 que docebantur, Anno 1277, in Bibliotheca Patrum Maxima, tom. xxv. 
 p. 233; as also Boulay’s Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ili. p. 433, and Gerard 
 du Bois’ Hist. Eccles. Paris, tom. il. p- 501. The tencts of these doctors 
 will, no doubt, appear of a surprising nature; for they taught, “that 
 there was only one intellect among all the human race; that all things 
 were subject to absolute fate or necessity ; that the universe was not go- 
 verned by a divine providence; that the world was eternal and the soul 
 mortal:” and they maintained these and the like monstrous crrors, by 
 arguments drawn from the philosophy of Aristotle. But, at the same 
 time, to avoid the just resentment of the people, they held up, as a buck- 
 ler against their adversaries, that most dangerous and pernicious distinc- 
 tion between theological and philosephical truth, which has been since 
 used, with the most cunning and bad faith, by the more recent Aristote- 
 lians of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. ‘These things,” say they, 
 (as we learn from Tempier, who was bishop of Paris,) ‘are true in philo. 
 soplry, but not according to the catholic faith.” Vera sunt hec secundum 
 philosophiam, non secundum fidem catholicam. 
 
Cuap. IL. 
 
 mies of the Christian religion, since he was charged by 
 the pontiff with having said, that the world had been de- 
 ceived by three impostors, Moses, Christ, and Moham- 
 med. ‘This charge was answered by a solemn and pub- 
 lic profession of his faith, which the emperor addressed 
 to all the kings and princes of Europe, to whom also had 
 been addressed the accusation brought against him. "The 
 charge, however, was founded upon the testimony of 
 Henry Raspon, landgrave of Thuringia, who declared 
 that he had heard the emperor pronounce the abominable | 
 blasphemy above mentioned. It is, after all, difficult to 
 decide with sufficient evidence upon this point. F'rede- 
 ric, Who was extremely passionate and imprudent, may, 
 
 “Matthew Paris, Historia Major, pag. 408, 459.—Petr. de Vineis 
 Epistolarum, lib. i. 
 
 > Herm. Gigantis Flores Temporum, p. 126.—Chr. Fred. Ayrmann, 
 Sylloge Anecdotor. tom. i. p. 639. 
 
 ¢ See Casim. Oudini Comment. de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, tom. i11. 
 p. 66.—Alb. Henr. de Sallengre, Memoires d’Histoire et de Literature, 
 tom. i. part i. p. 386. 
 
 =¢> 4 The book entitled Liber de iii. Impostoribus, sive Tractatus de 
 Vanitate Religionum, is really a book which had no existence at the time 
 that the most noise was made about it, and was spoken of by multitudes 
 before it had been seen by any one person. Its supposed existence’ was 
 probably owing to an impious saying of Simon ‘Tournay, doctor of di- 
 vinity in the university of Paris in the thirteenth century, which amounts 
 to this: ‘That the Jews were seduced out of their senses by Moses, 
 the Christians by Jesus, and the Gentiles by Mohammed.” This, or 
 some expressions ofa similar kind, were imputed to the emperor F'rede- 
 ric, and other persons, perhaps without any real foundation; and the 
 imaginary book to which they have given rise, has been attributed by 
 different authors to Frederic, to his chancellor Peter de Vineis, to Al- 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 phonso, king of Castile, to Boccace, Poggio, the Arctins, Pomponace, | 
 
 No. XXV. 75 
 
 297 
 
 perhaps, in a fit of rage, have suffered some such expres- 
 sion as this to escape his reflection ; and this is rendered 
 probable by the company he frequented, and the number 
 of learned Aristotelians who were always about his per- 
 son, and might suggest matter enough for such impious 
 expressions, as that now under consideration. It was this 
 affair that gave occasion, in after-times, to the invention 
 of that fabulous account,’ which supposes the detestable 
 book concerning the three impostors to have been com- 
 posed by the emperor himself, or by Peter de Vineis, a 
 native of Capua, a man of great credit and authority, 
 whom that prince? had chosen for his prime minister, and 
 in whom he placed the highest confidence. 
 
 Machiavel, Erasmus, Ochinus, Servetus, Rabelais, Giordano Bruno, 
 Campanella, and many others. Ina word, the book was long spoken of 
 before any such work existed; but the rumour that was spread abroad en- 
 couraged some profligate traders in licentiousness to compose, or rather 
 compile, a bundle of miserable rhapsodies, under the famous title of the 
 Three Impostors, in order to impose upon such as are fond of these pre- 
 tended rarities. Accordingly, the Spaccio della Bestia Triomphante of 
 Giordano Bruno, and a wretched piece of Impiety called the Spirit of 
 Spinoza, were the ground-work of materials from which these hireling 
 compilers, by modifying some passages, and adding others, drew the 
 
 ‘book which now passes under the name of the Three Impostors, of 
 
 which I have seen two copies in manuscript, but no printed edition. See 
 La Monnoye’s Dissertation sur le Livre des Trois Imposteurs, publish- 
 ed at Amsterdam in 1715, at the end of the fourth volume of the Mena- 
 giana. See also an answer to this Dissertation, which was impudently 
 exposed to the public eye, in 1716, from the press of Scheurleer at the 
 Hague, and which contains a fabulous story of the origin of the book in 
 question. Whoever is desirous of a more ample and a very curious ac- 
 count of this matter, will find it in the late Prosper Marchand’s Dictio- 
 naire Historique, vol. ii. at the article Imposteurs, 
 
PART II. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the state of Learning and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Greeks, amidst the dreadful calamities, dis- 
 cords, and revolutions, that distracted and perplexed their 
 unhappy country, had neither that spirit, nor that leisure, 
 which are necessary for the culture of the arts and sci- 
 ences. Yet, under all these disadvantages, they retained 
 a certain portion of their former spirit, and did not entire- 
 ly abandon the cause of Jearning and philosophy, as ap- 
 pears from the writers that arose among them during this 
 century. ‘Their best historians were Nicetas Choniates, 
 Georgius Acropolita, Gregorius Pachymeres, and Joel, 
 whose Chronology is yet extant. We learn from the 
 writings of Gregory Pachymeres, and Nicephorus Blem- 
 mida, that the Peripatetic philosophy was not without 
 its admirers among the Greeks, though the Platonic was 
 most in vogue. ‘The greatest part of the Grecian plilo- 
 sophers, following the example of the later Platonists, 
 whose works were the subject of their constant meditation, 
 were inclined to reduce the wisdom of Plato and the sub- 
 tleties of the Stagirite into one system, and to reconcile, 
 as well as they could, their jarring principles. It is not 
 necessary to exhibit a list of those authors. who wrote the 
 lives and discourses of the saints, or distinguished them- 
 selves in the controversy with the Latin church, or of 
 those who employed their learned labours in illustrating 
 tne canon law of the Greeks. ‘The principal Syrian 
 writer, which this century produced, was Gregory Abul- 
 Faraj, primate of the Jacobites,a man of true genius and 
 universal learning, who was a judicious divine, an eminent 
 historian, and a good philosopher.» George Elmacin, 
 who composed the history of the Saracens, was also a wri- 
 ter of no mean reputation. 
 
 II. The sciences carried a fairer aspect in western. 
 world, where every branch of erudition was cultivated 
 with assiduity and zeal, and, in consequence, flourished 
 with increasing vigour. ‘The European princes had 
 learned, by a happy experience, how much learning and 
 the arts contribute to the grandeur and happiness of a 
 nation; and therefore they invited into their dominions 
 learned men from all parts of the world, nourished the 
 arts in their bosoms, excited the youth to the love of let- 
 ters, by crowning their progress with the most noble re- 
 wards, and encouraged every effort of genius, by confer- 
 ring, upon such as excelled, the most honourable distinc- 
 
 the 
 
 tions. Among these patrons and protectors of learning, 
 the emperor, Frederic H., and Alphonso X., king of 
 Leon and Castile (two princes as much distinguished by 
 their own learning, as by the encouragement they grant- 
 ed to men of genius,) acquired the highest renown, and 
 rendered their names immortal. ‘The former founded 
 the academy of Naples, had the works of Aristotle trans- 
 lated into Latin, assembled about his person all the 
 learned men whom he could engage by his munificence 
 to repair to his court, and gave other undoubted proofs of 
 his zeal for the advancement of the arts and sciences.® 
 The latter obtained an illustrious and permanent renown 
 by several learned productions, but more especially by his 
 famous Astronomical tables.:- In consequence then of 
 the protection that was given to the sciences in this cen- 
 tury, academies were erected almost in every city ; pecu- 
 liar privileges of various kinds were granted to the youth 
 that frequented them; and these learned societies ac- 
 quired, at length, the form of political bodies ; that is to 
 say, they were invested with a certain jurisdiction, an 
 were governed by their own laws and statutes. 
 
 IIt. In the public schools or academies that were found- 
 ed at Padua, Modena, Naples, Capua, Toulouse, Sala- 
 manca, Lyons, and Cologne, the whole circle of science 
 was not taught, as in our times. The application of the 
 youth, and the labours of their instructors, were limited ta 
 certain branches of learning; and thus the course of 
 academical education remained imperfect. ‘The academy 
 of Paris, which surpassed all the rest, both with respect to 
 the number and abilities of its professors, and the multi- 
 tude of students by whom it was frequented, was the first 
 learned society which extended the sphere of education, 
 received all the sciences into its bosom, and appointed 
 masters for every branch of erudition. Hence it was 
 distinguished, before any other academy, with the title of 
 an university, to denote its embracing the whole body of 
 science ; and, in process of time, other schools of learning 
 were ambitious of forming themselves upon the same 
 model, and of being honoured with the same title. In 
 this famous university, the doctors were divided into four 
 colleges or classes, according to the branches of learning 
 they professed ; and these classes were called, in after- 
 times, faculties. In each of these faculties, a doctor wag 
 chosen by the suffrages of his colleagues, to preside during 
 a fixed period in the society ; and the title of dean was 
 given to those who successively filled that eminent office.4 
 The head of the university, whose inspection and juris- 
 
 *See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Abulpharage; as also Jos. 
 Simon. Assemani Bibliotheca Orientalis, Vatican. tom. ii. caput xii. 
 vo. 244. 
 
 2¢p Abulpharagius, or Abul-Faraj, was a native of Malatia, a city in 
 Armenia, near the source of the river Euphrates, and acquired a vast 
 reputation in the east, on account of his extensive erudition. He com- 
 posed an Abridgment of Universal History, from the beginning of the 
 world to his own times, which he divided into ten parts, or dynasties. 
 The first comprehends the history of the ancient patriarchs from Adam 
 to Moses. The second, that of Joshua and the cther judges of Israel. 
 The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, contain the history of the kings of Is- 
 rael, of the Chaldean princes, of the Persian Magi, and of the Grecian 
 monarchs. The seventh relates to the Roman history; the eighth to that 
 of the Greek emperors of Constantinople. In the ninth he treats of the 
 Arabian princes; and in the tenth of the Moguls, He is more to be de- 
 
 pended upon in his history of the Saracens and Tartars, than in his ac- 
 counts of other nations. The learned Dr. Edward Pocock translated 
 this work into Latin, and published his translation in 1663-4, with a sup- 
 plement, which carries on the history of the oriental princes, where 
 Abul-Faraj left it. The same learned translator had obliged the public, 
 in 1650, with an abridgment of the ninth dynasty, under the following 
 title: “Specimen Historiz Arabum, sive Gregorii Abulfaragii Mala- 
 tiensis de Origine et Moribus Arabum succincta Narratio.” 
 
 » Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 115. Giannone, Historia di 
 Napoli, tom. ii. p. 497. Add to these the observations of Jo. Alb. Fab- 
 ricius, Biblioth. Latin. medii A®vi, tom. ii. p. 618. 
 
 ¢ Nic. Antonii Bibliotheca vetus Hispan. lib. viii. c. v. p. 217. Jo. de 
 Ferreras, Histoire d’Espagne, tom. iv. p. 347. A 
 
 a This arrangement was executed about the year 1260. See Du Bou- 
 
 | lay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. v, 557, 564. 
 
Cuar I. 
 
 diction extended to all branches of that learned body, was 
 dignified with the name of chancellor; and that high 
 and honourable place was filled by the bishop of Paris, to 
 whom an assistant was afterwards joined, who shared the 
 adininistration with him, and was invested with an 
 extensive authority.s| The college set apart for the study 
 of divinity was first erected and endowed, in the year 
 1250, by an opulent and pious man, whose name was 
 Robert de Sorbonne, (a particular friend and favourite of 
 St. Louis,) whose name was adopted, and is still retained 
 by that theological society.» . 
 
 IV. Such as were desirous of being chosen professors in 
 any of the faculties or colleges of this university were 
 obliged to submit to a long and tedious course of probation, 
 and to suffer the strictest examinations, and to give, during 
 several years, undoubted proofs of their learning and 
 capacity, before they were received in the character of 
 public teachers. ‘This severe discipline was called the 
 academical course ; and it was wisely designed to prevent 
 the number of professors from multiplying beyond mea- 
 sure, and also to prevent such as were destitute of erudi- 
 tion and abilities from assuming an office, which was 
 justly looked upon as of high importance. They who 
 had satisfied all the demands of this academical law, and 
 had gone through the formidable trial with applause, 
 were solemnly invested with the dignity of professors, and 
 were saluted masters with a certain round of ceremonies, 
 that were used in the societies of illiterate tradesmen, 
 when their company was augmented by a new candidate. 
 This vulgar custom had been introduced, in the preceding 
 century, by the professors of law in the academy of 
 Bologna ; and, in this century, it was transmitted to that 
 of Paris, where it was first practised by the divinity- 
 colleges, and afterwards by the professors of physic and 
 of the liberal arts. In this account of the trial and 
 installation of the professors of Paris, we may perceive 
 the origin of what we now call academical degrees, which, 
 like all other human institutions, have miserably degene- 
 rated from the wise ends for which they were at first 
 appointed, and grow more insignificant from day to day. 
 
 V. hese public institutions, consecrated to the ad- 
 vancement of learning, were attended with remarkable 
 success; but that branch of erudition, which we’ call 
 humanity or polite literature, derived less advantage from 
 them than the other sciences. The industrious youth 
 either applied themselves entirely to the study of the civil 
 
 *See Herm. Conringii Antiquitates Academicz, a work, however, sus- 
 ceptible of considerable improvements. The important work mentioned 
 in the preceding note, and which is divided into six volumes, deserves 
 to be principally consulted in this point, as well as in all others that re- 
 late to the history and government of the university of Paris; add to 
 this, Claud. Hemerei Liber de Academia Parisiensi, qualis primo fuit in 
 insula et episcoporum scholis, Lutet. 1657, in 4to. 
 
 bSee Du Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iil. p. 223. -Du Fresne’s 
 
 Annotations upon the Life of St. Louis, written by Joinville, p. 36. 
 . © Beside the writers above mentioned, see Jo. Chr. Itterus, de Gradi- 
 bus Academicis.--Just. Hen. Bohmer, Pref. ad Jus Canonicum, p. 14.— 
 Ant. Wood, Antiquit. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 24.—Boulay, Histor. Acad. 
 Paris, tom. ii. p. 256, 682, &e. : 
 
 4 Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 265, where there is an epistle 
 of Innocent III., who seems to take this matter seriously to heart—Ant. 
 Wood, Antq. Oxon. tom. isp. 124.—Imola in Dantem, in Muratori’s 
 Antiquit. Ital. medii Avi, tom. i. p. 1262. : 
 
 * See Hist. de l’A.cad. des Inseript. et des Belles Lettres, t. xvi. p. 255, 
 
 ‘Jo. Wolff, Lectiones Memorabil. tom. i. p 430. 
 
 € Called in Latin, Alanus ab Insulis. 
 
 *Sce the Histwire de Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Let- 
 
 tres, tom. xvi. p. 243, which also gives an ample account of William of 
 Nangis, page 292 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 299 
 
 and canon laws, which was a sure path to preferment, or 
 employed their labours in philosophical researches, in 
 order to the attainment of a shining reputation, and of 
 the applause that was lavished upon such as were endow- 
 ed with a subtle and metaphysical genius. Hence arose 
 the bitter complaints of the pontifls and other bishops, of 
 the neglect and decline of the liberal arts and sciences ; 
 and hence also the zealous, but unsuccessful efforts the 
 used to turn the youth from jurisprudence and philosophy, 
 to the study of humanity and philology. Notwithstand- 
 ing all this, the thirteenth century produced several 
 writers, who were very far from being contemptible, such 
 as William Brito, Walter Mapes,! Matthew of Vendosme, 
 Alain de VIsle,s Guntherus, James of Vitri, and several 
 others, who wrote with ease, and were not altogether des- 
 titute of elegance. Among the historians, the first place 
 is due to Matthew Paris, a writer of the highest merit, 
 both in point of knowledge and prudence, to whom we 
 may add Roderic Ximenes, Rigord," Vincent of Beauvais, 
 Robert of St. Marino,i Martinus, a native of Poland, 
 Gervase of Tilbury,* Conrad of Lichtenau, and William 
 Nangius, whose names are worthy of being preserved 
 from oblivion. The writers who have laboured to trans- 
 mit to posterity the lives and exploits of the saints, have 
 rather related the superstitions and miseries of the times, 
 than the actions of those holy men. Among these 
 biographers, James of Vitri, mentioned above, makes the 
 greatest figure; he also composed a History of the Lom- 
 bards, that is full of insipid and trifling stories.! 
 
 VI. Roger Bacon," John Balbi, and Robert Capito, 
 with other learned men, whose number, however, was 
 inconsiderable, applied themselves to the study of Greek 
 literature. The Hebrew language and theology were 
 much less cultivated; though it appears that Bacon and 
 Capito, already mentioned, and Raymond Martin, author 
 of an excellent treatise, entitled, Pugio Fidei Christiane. 
 or, The Dagger of the Christian Faith, were. extremely 
 well versed in that species of erudition. Many of the 
 Spaniards, and more particularly the Dominican friars, 
 made themselves masters of the Arabian learning and 
 language, as the kings of Spain had charged the latter 
 with the instruction and conversion of the Jews and 
 Saracens who resided in their dominions.” As to the 
 Latin grammarians, the best of them were extremely 
 barbarous and insipid, and equally destitute of taste and 
 knowledge. 'To be convinced of this, we have only to 
 
 iSee Le Beeus, Memoires pour |’Histoire d’ Auxerre, tom. ii. p. 490, 
 where there is also a learned account of Vincent of Beauvais, p. 494. 
 
 34>* Gervase of Tilbury was nephew to Henry II., king of England, 
 and was in high credit with the emperor Otho TV., to whom he dedica- 
 ted a description of the world and a Chronicle, both of which he had him- 
 self composed. He wrote also a History of England, and one of the 
 Holy Land, with several treatises upon different subjects. 
 
 1 See Schelhornii Ameenitates Literariz, tom. xi. p. 324. 
 
 z’*p™ This illustrious Franciscan, in point of genius and universal 
 learning, was one of the greatest ornaments of the British nation, and, 
 in general, of the republic of Jetters. ‘The astonishing discoveries he 
 made in astronomy, chemistry, optics, and mathematics, made him pass 
 for a magician in the ignorant and superstitious times in which he lived, 
 while his profound knowledge in philosophy, theology, and the Greek 
 and Oriental languages, procured him, with more justice, the title of the 
 admirable or wonderful doctor. Among other discoveries, he is said to 
 have made that of the composition and force of gunpowder, which he 
 describes clearly in one of his letters; and he proposed much the same 
 correction of the calendar, wnicn was executed about 300 years after hy 
 Gregory III. He composed an extraordinary number of books, of which 
 a list may be seen in the General Dictionary. 
 
 » See Rich. Simon’s Lettres Choisies, tom. iii. p. 112, and Nic. Anton 
 Bibliotheca vetus Hispanica, 
 
300 
 
 cast an eye upon the productions of Alexander de Villa 
 Dei, who was looked upon as the most eminent of them 
 all, and whose works were read in almost all the schools 
 from this period until the sixteenth century. ‘This pe- 
 dantic Franciscan composed, in the year 1240, what he 
 called a Doctrinale, in Leonine verse, full of the most 
 wretched quibbles, and in which the rules of grammar 
 and criticism are delivered with the greatest confusion 
 and obscurity, or, rather, are covered with impenetrable 
 darkness. 
 
 VIi. The various systems of philosophy that were in 
 vogue before this century, lost their credit by degrees, and 
 submitted to the triumphant doctrine of Aristotle, which 
 erected a new and despotic empire in the republic of 
 letters, and reduced the whole ideal world under its lordly 
 dominion. Several of the works of this philosopher, and 
 more especially his metaphysical productions, had been, so 
 early as the beginning of this century, translated into 
 Latin at Paris, and were from that tire explained to the 
 youth in the public schools.« But when it appeared, that 
 Almeric® had drawn from these books his erroneous 
 sentiments concerning the divine nature, they were pro- 
 hibited and condemned as pernicious and pestilential, by 
 a public decree of ‘the council of Sens, in the year 1209.« 
 The logic of Aristotle, however, recovered its credit some 
 years after this, and was publicly taught in the university 
 of Paris in the year 1215; but the natural philosophy 
 and metaphysics of that great man were still under the 
 sentence of condemnation.¢ It was reserved for the 
 emperor Frederic II. to restore the Stagirite to his former 
 glory, which this prince effected by employing a number 
 of learned men, whom he had chosen with the greatest 
 attention and care,¢ and who were profoundly versed in 
 the knowledge of the languages, to translate into Latin, 
 from the Greek and Arabic, certain books of Aristotle, 
 and of other ancient sages. ‘This translation, which was 
 recommended, in a particular manner, to the academy of 
 Bologna by the learned emperor, raised the credit of Aris- 
 totle to the greatest height, and gave him an irresistible 
 and despotic authority in all the European schools. ‘This 
 
 * Franc. Patricii Discussiones Peripatetice, tom. 1. lib. xi. p. 145. Jo. 
 Launoius de varia Aristot. fortuna in Acad. Parisiensi, cap. i. p. 127, ed. 
 Elswich. It is commonly reported, that the books of Aristotle here men- 
 tioned, were translated from Arabic into Latin. But we are told posi- 
 tively, that these books were brought from Constantinople, and transla- 
 ted from Greek into Latin. See Rigord’s work de gestis Philippi regis 
 France. ad aniwm 1209, in Andr. Chesnii Serip. Hist. France. p. 119. 
 
 i¢7 > Almeric, or Amauri, does not seem to have entertained any 
 enormous errors. He held, that every Christian was obliged to believe 
 himself a member of Jesus Christ, and attached, perhaps, some extrava- 
 gant and fanatical ideas to that opinion; but his followers fell into more 
 pernicious notions, and adopted the most odious tenets, maintaining, that 
 the power of the Father continued no longer than the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion; that the empire of the Son extended only to the thirteenth century ; 
 and that then the reign of the Holy Ghost commenced, when all sacra- 
 ments and external worship were to be abolished, and the salvation of 
 Christians was to be accomplished merely by internal acts of illumi- 
 nating grace. ‘Their morals also were as infamous as their doctrine was 
 absurd; and, under the name of charity, they comprehended and com- 
 mitted the most criminal acts of impurity and licentiousness. 
 
 34> ¢ Dr. Mosheim has fallen here into two slight mistakes. It was 
 at Paris, and not at Sens, and in the year 1210, and not 1209, that the 
 metaphysical books of Aristotle were condemned to the flames. The 
 works quoted here by our author, are those of Launoy, de varia Aristo- 
 zlis fortuna in Acad. Paris. cap. iv. p. 195, and Syllabus rationum qui- 
 wus Durandi causa defenditur, tom. 1. op. 
 
 é Nat. Alexander, Select. Histor. Ecclesiast. Capita, tom. viii. cap. iii. 
 sect. 7, page 76. 
 
 ° Petr. de Vineis, Epist. lib. iii. ep. Lxvii. p. 503. This epistle is ad- 
 dressed “ad magistros et scholares Bononienses ;” 7. e. “to the masters 
 and scholars of the academy of Bologna:” but it is more than probable, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 authority was still farther augmented by the translations 
 which were made of some of the books of the Grecian 
 sage by several Latin interpreters, such as Michael Scot, 
 Philip of Tripoli, William Fleming, and others; though 
 these men were quite unequal to the task they undertook, 
 and had neither such knowledge of the languages, nor 
 such an acquaintance with philosophy, as were necessary 
 to the successful execution of such a difficult enterprise.‘ 
 
 Vill. The Aristotelian philosophy received the very 
 last addition that could be made to its authority and lustre, 
 when the Dominican and Franciscan friars adopted its 
 tenets, taught it in their schools, and illustrated it in their 
 writings. "These two mendicant orders were looked upon 
 as the chief depositories of all learning, both human and 
 divine ; and were followed, with the utmost, eagerness 
 and assiduity, by all such as were ambitious of being dis- 
 tinguished from the multitude by superior knowledge. 
 Alexander Hales, an English Franciscan, who taught 
 philosophy at Paris, and acquired, by the strength of his 
 metaphysical genius, the title of the Irrefragable Doctor,s 
 and Albert the Great, a German of the Dominican order, 
 and bishop of Ratisbon, a man of great abilities, and an 
 universal dictator at this time," were the first eminent 
 writers who illustrated, in their learned productions, the 
 Aristotelian system. But it was the disciple of Albert, 
 Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, and the great ~ 
 luminary of the scholastic world, that contributed most to 
 the glory of the Stagirite,t by inculcating, illustrating, and 
 enforcing his doctrines, both in his lectures and in his 
 writings ; and principally by engaging one of his learned 
 colleagues to give, under his inspection, a new translation 
 of the works of the Grecian sage, which far surpassed 
 the former version in exactness, perspicuity, and elegance.* 
 By these means the philosophy of Aristotle, notwithstand- 
 ing the hostile efforts of several divines, and even of the 
 Roman pontifls themselves, who beheld its progress with 
 an unfriendly eye, triumphed in all the Latin schools, and 
 absorbed all the other systems that had flourished before 
 this literary revolution. 
 
 IX. There were, however, at this time m Europe se- 
 
 that the emperor sent letters upon this occasion to the other European 
 schools. It is a common_opinion, that this learned prince had all the 
 works of Aristotle, that were then extant, translated into Latin about 
 the year 1220; but this cannot be deduced from the letter above mention- 
 ed, or from any other sutticient testimony that we know of. 
 
 f See Wood’s account of the interpreters of Aristotle. in his Antiqui- 
 tat. Oxon. tom. i. p. 119; as also Jebb’s preface to the Opus Majus of the 
 famous Roger Bacon, published at London in folio, in the year 1733. 
 We shall give here the opinion which Bacon had of the translators o1 
 Aristotle, in the words of that great man, who expresses his cn.1tempt of 
 these wretched interpreters in the following manner: ‘Si hab+rem po- 
 testatem supra libros Aristotelis, (Latine conversos,) ego faceres\ omnes 
 cremari, quia non est nisi temporis amissio studere in illis, ef causi erroris 
 et multiplicatio ignorantiz, ultra id quod valet explicari.” 
 
 See Wadding’s Annales Minorum, tom. iii. p. 233. Du #ulay, - 
 Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. ili. p. 200, 673. 
 
 h Jo. Alb. Fabricii Biblioth. Latina medii Evi, tom. i. p. 113. 
 
 i The Dominicans maintain, that this Angelic Doctor was the J sole 
 of Albert the Great, and their opinion seems to be founded in truth. Sve 
 Antoine Touron, Vie de St. Thomas, p. 99.. The Franciscans, 1.0we- 
 ver, maintain as obstinately, that Alexander Hales was the masver of 
 Thomas. See Wadding’s Annales Minorum, tom. iii. p. 133. 
 
 k It has been believed by many, that William de Moerbeka, a native 
 of Flanders, of the Dominican order, and archbishop of Corinth, was 
 the author of the new Latin translation of the works of Aristotle, which 
 was carried on and finished under the auspicious inspection of Thomas 
 Aquinas. See J. Echard, ‘Scriptores Dominican. tom. i. p. 388, 469. Ca- 
 sim. Oudinus, Comm. de Scriptor. Eccles. tom. iii. p. 468. Jo. Franc 
 Foppens, Bibliotheca Belgica, tom. i. p. 416. Others, however, suppose, 
 though indeed with less evidence, that this translation was composed by 
 Henry Kosbein, who was also a Dominican, 
 
. 
 
 Crap. IL. 
 
 veral persons of superior genius and penetration, who, 
 notwithstanding their respect for Aristotle, considered the 
 method of treating philosophy, which his writings had in- 
 troduced, as dry, inelegant, and fit only to confine and 
 damp the efforts of the mind in the pursuit of truth; and 
 who, consequently, were desirous of enlarging the sphere 
 of science by new researches and discoveries. At the head 
 of these noble adventurers we may justly place Roger Ba- 
 con, a Franciscan friar of the English nation, known by 
 the appellation of the admirable doctor, who was re- 
 nowned on account of his most important discoveries, and 
 who, in natural philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, the 
 mechanic arts, and the learned languages, soared far be- 
 yond the genius of the times.” With him we may asso- 
 ciate Arnold of Villa Nova, whose place of nativity is fixed 
 by some in France, by others in Spain, and who acquired 
 a shining reputation by his knowledge in chemistry, poetry, 
 philosophy, languages, and physic;* as also Peter d’Abano, 
 a physician of Padua, who was surnamed the Reconciler, 
 from a book which he wrote in the hope of terminating 
 the dissensions and contests that reigned among the phi- 
 losophers and physicians,‘ and who was profoundly versed 
 in the sciences of philosophy, astronomy, physic, and ma- 
 thematics.e It must, however, be observed, to the eternal 
 dishonour of the age, that the only fruits which these great 
 men derived from their learned labours, and their noble, 
 as well as successful efforts for the advancement of the 
 arts and sciences, were the furious clamours of an enraged 
 and superstitious multitude, who looked upon them as he- 
 retics and magicians, and thirsted so eagerly after their 
 blood, that they escaped with difficulty the hands of the 
 public executioner. Bacon was confined many years in 
 a comfortless prison; and the other two were, after their 
 death, brought before the tribunal of the inquisition, and 
 declared worthy of being committed to the flames for the 
 novelties they had introduced into the republic of" letters. 
 
 X. The state of theology, and the method of teaching 
 and representing the doctrines of Christianity that now 
 prevailed, shall be mentioned in their place. The civil 
 aud canon laws held the first rank in the circle of the scien- 
 ces, and were studied with peculiar zeal and application 
 by almost all who were ambitious of literary glory. But 
 these sciences, notwithstanding the assiduity with which 
 they were cultivated, were far from being then brought to 
 any tolerable degree of perfection. ‘They were disfigured 
 
 @ Bacon’s contempt of the learning that was in vogue in his time may 
 be seen in the following passage, quoted by Jebb, in his preface to the 
 Opus Majus of that great man: ‘Nunquam fuit tanta apparentia sapi- 
 entiz, nec tantum exercitium studii in tot facultatibus, in tot regionibus, 
 sicut jam a quadraginta annis: ubique enim doctores sunt dispersi.... 
 in omni civitate, et in omni castro, et in omni burgo, precipue per duos 
 
 ordines studentes (he means the Franciscans and Dominicans, who were 
 almost the only religious orders that distinguished themselves by an ap- 
 
 plication to study) quod non accidit, nisi a quadraginta annis aut circi- | 
 ter, cum tamen nunquam fuit tanta ignorantia, tantus error... Vulgus || 
 
 studentium languet et asininat circa mala translata (by these wretched 
 versions he understands the works of Aristotle, which were most misera- 
 
 bly translated by ignorant bunglers) et tempus et studium amittit in om- | : ) 1 iche int é it 
 | etro d’Abano, in Angeli Calogere Opus. Scientifici e Philologici, t. xiii. 
 
 nibus etexpensas. Apparentia quidem sola tenet eos, et non curant quid 
 sciant, sed quid videantur scire coram multitudine insensata.” Thus, 
 according to Bacon, in the midst of the most specious appearance of 
 science, the greatest ignorance and the grossest errors reigned almost 
 universally. 
 
 > That Bacon deserves this high rank in the learned world appears | 
 
 evidently from his book entitled Opus Majus, which was dedicated to 
 pope Clement I1V., and which Jebb published at London in 1733, from a 
 manuscript that still exists in the university of Dublin, enriching it with 
 a learned preface and a considerable number of judicious observations. 
 The other works of Bacon, which are very numerous, lie for the most 
 
 No. XX VI. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ET. 
 
 301 
 | by the jargon that reigned in the schools, and were cor- 
 rupted and rendered intricate by a multitude of trivial com- 
 mentaries that were intended to illustrate and explain 
 them. Some employed their labours in collecting the let- 
 ters of the Roman pontifls, which’ are commonly known 
 under the title of Decretals,! and which were deemed a 
 | very important branch of ecclesiastical law. Raimond of 
 Pennafort, a native of Barcelona, was the most famous of 
 all these compilers, and acquired a considerable reputation 
 by his collection of the Decretals in five books, which he 
 undertook at the desire of Gregory 1X., and which has 
 been since honoured with the name of that pontiff, who 
 ordered it to be added to the Decretals of Gratian, and to 
 | be read in all the European colleges.s "Voward the con- 
 clusion of this century, Boniface VIII. caused a new col- 
 lection to be made, which was entitled, The Sixth Book 
 of Decretals, because it was added to the five already 
 mentioned. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Form of Government, during this Century. 
 
 I. Bors the Greek and Latin writers, provoked beyond 
 measure by the flagitious lives of their spiritual rulers and 
 instructors, complain loudly of their licentious manners, 
 and load them with the severest reproaches ; nor will these 
 complaints and repreaches appear excessive to such as are 
 acquainted with the history of this corrupt and supersti- 
 tious age." Several eminent men attempted to stem this 
 
 torrent of licentiousness, which frora the heads of the 
 church had carried its pernicious streams through all the 
 members ; but their power and influence were unequal to 
 such a difficult and arduous enterprise. ‘The Grecian em- 
 perors were prevented from executing any project of this 
 kind by the infelicity of the times, and the various cala- 
 mities and tumults, which not only reigned in their do- 
 minions, but even shook their thrones, while the power 
 and epulence of the Roman pontiffs, and the superstition 
 of the age, prevented the Latins from accomplishing, or 
 even attempting, a reformation in the church. 
 
 II. In the history of the popes, we meet with a lively 
 and horrible picture of the complicated crimes that disho- 
 noured the ministers of the church, who were peculiarly 
 required, by their sacred office, to exhibit to the world dis- 
 
 part concealed in the libraries of the curious. For a farther account ot 
 this eminent man, see Wood’s Antiq. Oxon. tom. i. p. 186—Wadding, 
 | Annal. Minor. t. iv. p. 161, t. v. p. 51—Thom. Gale, ad Jamblichum de 
 | Mysteriis ASgyptior. p. 255.—General Hist. and Crit. Dictionary. 
 
 € See Nic. Antonii Biblioth. vetus Hispan. tom. ii. lib. ix. e. i—Pierre 
 Joseph, Vie d’Arnaud de Ville-neuve, Aix, 1719.—Niceron, Memoires 
 des Hommes illustres, tom. xxxiv.—Nicol. Eymerici Directorium In- 
 | quisitorum, pag. 282, where, among other things, we have an account 
 of his errors. 
 
 4 This book was entitled, Conciliator Differentiarum Philosophorum 
 et Medicorum. 
 
 e There is a very accurate account of this philosopher given by Joh. 
 Maria Mazzuchelli, Notizie Storiche e Critiche intorno alla Vita di Pi- 
 
 f See Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iil. 
 
 8 Ger. & Maestricht, Historia juris Ecclesiastici, sect. 353.—Jo. Chif- 
 | flet, de Juris utriusque Architectis, cap. vii—Echard et Quetif, Scriptor. 
 Dominican. t. i—Acta Sanctor. Antwerp. t. i. Januarii ad d.-vil. 
 
 h See the remarkable letter of pope Gregory IX. to the archbishop ot 
 Bourges, which was written in 1227, with a design to reprove and re- 
 form the vices which had infected all the various orders of the clergy, 
 / and which is published by Dion. Sammarthanus, in his Gallia Chris- 
 tiana, tom. ii. in Append.—See also Du Fresne, Annotat. in Vitam 
 Ludovici Sti. 
 
302 
 
 tinguished models of piety and virtue. Such members of 
 the sacerdotal order as were advanced to places of autho- 
 rity in the church, behaved rather like tyrants than rulers, 
 and showed manifestly, in all their conduct, that they 
 aimed at an absolute and unlimited dominion. ‘The 
 popes, more especially, inculcated this pernicious maxim, 
 “Phat the bishop of Rome is the supreme lord of the uni- 
 verse, and that neither princes nor bishops, civil governors 
 nor ecclesiastical rulers, have any lawful power in church 
 or state, but what they derive from him.” ‘This extrava- 
 gant maxim, which was considered as the sum and sub- 
 stance of papal j jurisprudence, the pontiffs obstinately main- 
 tained, and left no means unemployed, that per fidy or vio- 
 lence could suggest, to give it the force of an universal 
 Jaw. It was in consequence of this arrogant pretension, 
 that they not only claimed the right of disposing of eccle- 
 slastical benefices, as they are commonly called, but also 
 of conferring civil dominion, and of dethroning kings and 
 emperors, according to their good pleasure. It is true, this 
 maxim was far from being “universally adopted; many 
 placed the authority of councils above that of the pontiff, 
 and such of the uropean kings and princes as were not 
 ingloriously blinded and enslaved by the superstition of 
 the times, asserted their rights with dignity and success, 
 
 excluded the pontiffs from ‘all concern in their civil trans- 
 actions, and even reserved to themselves the supremacy 
 over the churches that were established in their dominions.* 
 
 [: tiuus opposing the haughty pretensions of the lordly pon- 
 tiffs, it was, indeed, necessary to proceed with mildness, 
 caution, and prudence, on account of the influence which 
 those siritual tyrants had usurped over the minds of the 
 people, and the power they had of alarming princes, by 
 exciting their subjects to rebellion. 
 
 IIL. In order to establish their authority, both in civil 
 and ecclesiastical matters, upon the firmest foundations, 
 the Roman pontiffs assumed to themselves the power of 
 disposing of the various offices of the church, whether of a 
 higher or more subordinate nature, and of creating bishops, 
 abbots, a and canons, according to ‘their fancy. ‘Thus we 
 see the heads of the church, who formerly disputed with 
 such ardour against the emperors in favour of the free 
 election of bishops and abbots, overturning now all the 
 laws that related to the ‘election of these spiritual rulers, 
 reserving for themselves the revenues of the richest bene- 
 fices, conferring vacant places upon their clients and their 
 
 creatures, and often deposing bishops who had been duly 
 and lawfully elected, and substituting others for them with. 
 a high hand.» 'The hypocritical pretexts for all these ar- 
 bitrary proceedings were an ardent zeal for the welfare of 
 the church, and an anxious concern, lest devouring here- 
 tics should get a footing among the flock of Christ.« The 
 first pontiff who usurped such an extravagant extent of 
 authority, was Innocent HI., whose example was followed 
 by Honorius IIL, Gregory EX., and several of their succes- 
 sors. But it was keenly opposed by the bishops, who had 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Il. 
 
 hitherto enjoyed the privilege of nominating to the smal- 
 ler benefices, and still more effectually by the kings of Eng: 
 land and France, who employed the force of warm remon- 
 strances and vigorous edicts to stop the progress of this new 
 jurisprudence.* Louis IX. king of France, now the tute- 
 lar saint of that nation, distinguished himself by his noble 
 opposition to these papal encroachments. In 1268, before 
 he set out for the Holy Land, he secured the rights of the 
 Gallican church against the insidious attempts of the popes, 
 by that famous edict, known in France by the name of 
 the pragmatic sanction. "This resolute and prudent 
 measure rendered the pontiffs more cautious and slow in 
 their proceedings, but did not deter them from the prose- 
 cution of their purpose. For Boniface VIII. maintained, 
 in the most express and impudent terms, that the univer- 
 sal church was under the dominion of the pontiffs, and 
 that princes and lay patrons, councils and chapters, had 
 no more power in spiritual things, than what they derived 
 from Christ’s vicar upon earth. 
 
 IV. The legates, whom the pontiffs sent into the pro- 
 vinces, to represent their persons, and execute their orders, 
 imitated perfectly the avarice and insolence of their 
 ters. ‘They violated the privileges of the chapters ; dis- 
 posed of the smaller, and sometimes of the more impor- 
 tant ecclesiastical benefices, in favour of such as had 
 gained them by bribes, or the like considerations ;* extort- 
 ed money from the people, by the vilest and most iniqui- 
 tous means; seduced the unwary by forged letters and 
 other stratagems of that nature; excited tumults among 
 the multitude, and were, themselves, the ringleaders of 
 the most furious and rebellious factions; carried on, m 
 the most scandalous manner, the impious traffic of relics 
 and indulgences, and distinguished themselves by seve- 
 ral acts of profligacy still more heinous than the practices 
 now mentioned. Hence we find the writers of this age 
 complaining unanimously of the flagitious conduct and 
 the enormous crimes of the pope’s legates.s We even 
 see pope Alexander IV. enacting, in 1256, a severe law 
 against the avarice and frauds of these corrupt ministers,® 
 which, however, they easily evaded, by their friends and 
 their credit at the court of Rome. » 
 
 VY. From the ninth century to this period, the wealth 
 and revenues of the pontiffs had not received any consi- 
 derable augmentation; but at this time they were vastly 
 increased under Innocent III., and Nicolas UI., partly by 
 the events of war, and partly by the munificence of kings 
 and emperors. Innocent, as soon as he was seated in 
 the papal chair, reduced under his jurisdiction the pree- 
 fect of Rome, who had hitherto been considered as sub- 
 ject to the emperor, to whom he had taken an oath of 
 allegiance in enterig upon his office. He also seized 
 the territories of Ancona, Spoleto, and Assisi, the town of 
 Montebello, and various cities and fortresses which had, 
 according to him, been unjustly alienated from the patri- 
 mony of St. Peter... On the other hand, Frederic IL, 
 
 <\Aa 
 mas- 
 
 * As a specimen of this, the reader may peruse the letters of Innocent 
 IT]. and the emperor Otho Tye which have been collected by the learned 
 George Christ. Gebauer, in his history of the Sass Richard, written 
 in German. Other princes, and more especially the kings of England 
 and France, displayed, in the defence of their rights and pr ivileges, the 
 sume zeal that animated Otho. 
 
 b Many examples of this may be taken from the history of this cen- 
 tury. See Steph. Baluzii Miscellan. tom. vii—Gallia Christiana tom, 
 i. Aypend.—Wadding, Annal. Minor. in Diplomat.—Wood, Antiguit. 
 Oxon, tom. 1. 
 
 * See the Epistle of Innocent IV. in Baluz. Miscellan. tom. vii 
 
 ¢ Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. iv. 
 
 f See Baluzii Miscellanea, tom. vii. 
 
 & See that judicious and excellent writer Matth. Paris, in his Historia 
 Major, p. 313, 316, 549, and particularly p. 637, where we find the fol- 
 lowing remarkable words: ** Semper solent legati, et omnes nuncil pa- 
 pales, regna que ingr ediuntur depauperare, vel aliquo modo perturbare.” 
 See also Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ili. p. 659. 
 
 h This edict is published by Lami, in his Delicie Eruditorum, tom. 
 ii. page 300. 
 
 i See Franc. Pagi, Breviar. Romanor. Pontif. tom. ii. p. 161.—Mura- 
 tori, Antiq. Ital. tom. 1. p. 328. 
 
 * Boulay, tom. iil. 
 
Cuap. IL. 
 
 who was extremely desirous that the pope should espouse 
 his quarrel with Otho LV., loaded the Roman see with 
 the richest marks of his munificence and liberality, and 
 not only made a noble present in valuable lands to the 
 pope’s brother,* but also permitted Richard, count of F'un- 
 di, to bequeath all his possessions to the Roman see,” and 
 confirmed the immense donation that had formerly been 
 made to it by the opulent Matilda. Such was the pro- 
 gress that Innocent III. made, during his pontificate, in 
 augmenting the splendour and wealth of the church. 
 Nicolas ILL. followed his example with the warmest emu- 
 lation, and, in 1278, gave a remarkable proof of his ar- 
 rogance and obstinacy, in refusing to crown the emperor 
 Rodolphus I. before he had acknowledged and confirm- 
 ed, by a solemn treaty, all the pretensions of the Roman 
 see, of which, if some were plausible, many were alto- 
 gether groundless, or, at least, extremely dubious. ‘This 
 agreement, to which all the Italian princes subject to the 
 emperor were obliged to accede, was no sooner concluded, 
 than Nicolas reduced under his temporal dominion seve- 
 ral territories in Italy, that had formerly been annexed 
 to the imperial crown, particularly Romania and Bologna. 
 It was therefore under these two pontiffs that the see of 
 Rome arrived, partly by force, and partly by artifice, at 
 that high degree of grandeur and opulence, which it yet 
 maintains 1n our times.° 
 
 VI. Innocent II., who remained at the head of the 
 church until the year 1216, followed the steps of Gregory 
 VIL, and not only usurped the despotic government of 
 the church, but also claimed the empire of the world, and 
 entertained the extravagant idea of subjecting all the 
 kings and princes of the earth to his lordly sceptre. He 
 was a man of learning and application; but his cruelty, 
 avarice, and arrogance,‘ clouded the lustre of any good 
 qualities which his panegyrists have thought proper to 
 attribute to him. In Asia and Europe, he disposed of 
 crowns and sceptres with the most wanton ambition. In 
 Asia, he gave a king to the Armenians: in Europe, he 
 usurped the same exorbitant privilege in 1204, and con- 
 ferred the regal dignity upon Primislaus, duke of Bohe- 
 mia. The same year, he sent to Johannicius, duke of 
 Bulgaria and Wallachia an extraordinary legate, who, 
 in the name of the pontiff, invested that prince with the 
 ensigns and honours of royalty, while, with his own 
 hand, he crowned Peter Il., of Arragon, who had ren- 
 dered his dominions subject and tributary to the church, 
 and saluted him publicly at Rome, with the title of 
 king.£ We omit many other examples of this phrenetic 
 pretension to universal empire, which might be produced 
 from the letters of this arrogant pontiff, and many other 
 acts of despotism, which Europe beheld with astonishment, 
 but also, to its eternal reproach, with the ignominious si- 
 lence of a passive obedience. 
 
 VIL. The ambition of this pope was not satisfied wiih 
 
 * This brother of the pontiff was called Richard. 
 of this transaction, Muratori’s fifth volume, p. 652. 
 
 b Odor. Raynaldus, Continuat. Annal. Baroni, ad annum 1212. 
 
 ¢Raynaldus ad annum 1278. The papal grandeur and opulence, 
 however, were seriously impaired by the fury of the French revolution, 
 and, although the success of the allied powers replaced the pontiff on his 
 throne, his power is now at a low ebb.—Epir. 
 
 4Sce Matth. Paris. Hist. Maj. 
 
 3°> ¢ Other historians affirm, that the emperor Philip was the poten- 
 tate who conferred the royal dignity upon Primislaus, in order to 
 strengthen his party against Otho. 
 
 f Murat. Ant. Ital. medii Avi, t. vi. J.de Ferreras, Hist. d’Espagne,t. iv. 
 
 See, for an account 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 ee ee 
 
 303 
 
 the distribution and government of these petty kingdorns. 
 He extended his views farther, and resolved to render the 
 power and majesty of the Roman see formidable to the 
 greatest Kuropean kings, and even to the haughty em- 
 perors themselves. When the empire of Germany was 
 disputed, about the commencement of this century, be- 
 tween Philip, duke of Suabia, and Otho IV. third son of 
 Henry the Lion, he espoused at first the cause of Otho, 
 thundered out his excommunications against Philip, and 
 on the death of the latter (which happened in 1209,) 
 placed the imperial diadem upon the head of his adver- 
 sary. But, as Otho was by no means disposed to submit 
 to this pontiff’s nod, or to satisfy to the full his ambitious 
 desires, he incurred his lordly indignation ; and Inno- 
 cent, declaring him, by a solemn excommunication, un- 
 worthy of the empire, raised in his place Frederic I. his 
 pupil, the son of Henry VI. and king of the two Sicilies, 
 to the imperial throne, in 1212.¢ ‘The same pontiff ex- 
 communicated Philip Augustus, king of France, for hav- 
 ing dissolved his marriage with Ingelburga a princess of 
 Denmark, and espoused another in her place; nor did he 
 cease to pursue this monarch with his anathemas, until 
 he engaged him to receive the divorced queen, and to re- 
 store her to her lost dignity.* 
 
 VIII. But of all the European princes, none felt, in so 
 dishonourable and severe a manner, the despotic fury of 
 this insolent pontiff, as John, surnamed Sans- Terre, or 
 Lackland, king of England. ‘This prince vigorously 
 opposed the measures of Innocent, who had ordered the 
 monks of Canterbury to choose Stephen Langton (a Ro- 
 man cardinal of English descent) archbishop of that see, 
 notwithstanding the election of John de Grey to that 
 high dignity, which had been regularly made by the con- 
 vent, and had been confirmed by royal authority.: he 
 pope after having consecrated Langton at Viterbo, wrote 
 a soothing letter in his favour to the king, accompanied 
 with four rings, and a mystical comment upon the pre- 
 cious stones with which they were enriched. But this 
 present was not sufficient to avert the just indignation of 
 the offended monarch, and he sent troops to drive out of 
 the kingdom the monks of Canterbury, who had been 
 engaged by the pope’s menaces to receive Langton as 
 their archbishop. He also declared to the pontiff, that, 
 if he persisted in imposing a prelate upon the see of Can- 
 terbury, in opposition toaregular election already made, 
 the consequences of such presumptuous obstinacy would, 
 in the issue, prove fatal to the papal authority in Eng- 
 land. Innocent was so far from being terrified by this 
 menacing remonstrance, that, in 1208, he sent orders to 
 the bishops of London, Worcester, and Ely, to lay the 
 kingdom under an interdict, in case of the monarch’s re- 
 fusal to yield, and to receive Langton. John, alarmed 
 at this terrible menace, and unwilling to break entirely 
 with the pope, declared his readiness to confirm the elec- 
 
 ©All this is amply illustrated in the Orig. Guelphice, tom. iti. 
 lib. vil. 
 
 » Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii—Daniel, Histoire de la France, 
 tom. ilii—Gerard du Bois, Histor. Eccles. Paris. tom. ii. 
 
 xi Dr. Mosheim passes lightly over this rupture between king John 
 and Innocent III. mentioning in a few lines the interdict under which 
 England was laid by that pontiff, the excommunication of the king’s 
 person, and the impious act by which the English were declared to be 
 absolved from their allegiance. The translator, however, thought this 
 event of too great importance to be treated with such brevity, and has 
 therefore, taken the liberty to enlarge considerably this eighth section 
 which contains only twelve lines in the original. 
 
304 
 
 tion made at Rome; but in the act that was drawn up 
 for this purpose, he wisely inserted a clause to prevent 
 any interpretation of this compliance, that might be pre- 
 judicial tc his rights, dignity, and prerogative. ‘This ex- 
 ception was rejected, and the interdict was proclaimed. A 
 stop was immediately put to divine service ; the churches 
 were shut in every parish; all the sacraments were sus- 
 pended except that of baptism; the dead were buried in 
 the hzhways without the usual rites or any funeral so- 
 lemnity. But, notwithstanding this interdict, the Cister- 
 tian order continued to perform divine service ; and seve- 
 ral learned and respectable divines, among whom were the 
 bishops of Winchester and Norwich, protested against the 
 injustice of the pope’s proceedings. 
 
 The interdict not producing the effects that were ex- 
 pected from it, the pontiff proceeded to a still farther de- 
 gree of severity and presumption, and denounced a sen- 
 tence of excommunication against the person of the 
 English monarch. ‘This sentence, which was issued in 
 1209, was followed about two years after by a bull, ab- 
 solving all his subjects from their oath of allegiance, and 
 ordering all persons to avoid him, on pain of excommu- 
 nication. But it was in 1212, that Innocent carried his 
 impious tyranny to the most enormous length, when, 
 assembling a council of cardinals, and prelates, he de- 
 posed John, declared the throne of England vacant, and 
 authorized Philip Augustus, king of France, to execute 
 this sentence, undertake the conquest of England, and 
 unite that kingdom to his dominions for ever. He, 
 at the same time, published another bull, exhorting all 
 Christian princes to contribute whatever was in their pow- 
 er to the success of this expedition, and promising, to such 
 as would assist Philip in this grand enterprise, the same 
 indulgences that were gr anted to those who carried arms 
 against the infidels in Palestine. The French monarch 
 entered into the views of the pontiff, and made im- 
 mense preparations for the invasion of England. John, 
 on the other hand, assembled his forces, and was putting 
 himself in a posture of defence, when Pandulf, the pope’s 
 legate, arrived at Dover, and proposed a conference in 
 order to prevent the approaching rupture, and to avert 
 the storm. ‘This artful legate terrified the king, who met 
 him at that town, with an exaggerated account of the 
 armament of Philip on the one “hand, and of the disaf- 
 fection of the English on the other; and persuaded him 
 that there was no possible way left of saving his domi- 
 nions from the formidable arms of the French king, but 
 that of putting them under the protection of the Roman 
 see. - John, finding himself in such a perplexing situa- 
 tion, and full of diffidence both in the nobles of his 
 court and in the officers of his army, complied with this 
 dishonourable proposal, did homage to Innocent, resigned 
 his crown to the legate, and then received it as a present 
 from the see of Rome, to which he rendered his king- 
 doms tributary, and swore fealty as a vassal and feudato- 
 ry.«. In the act by which he iesigned, thus scandalous- 
 ly, his kingdoms to the papal jutisdiction, he declared 
 that he had neither been compelled to this measure by 
 fear nor by force; but that it was his own voluntary deed, 
 performed by “the advice, and with the consent, of the 
 
 2 For a full account of this shameful ceremony, see Matthew Paris, 
 Historia Major; Boulay’s Hist. Acad. Paris, tom. ili, and Rapin’s His- 
 toire d’ Angleterre, tom. i. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 barons of his kingdom. He obliged himself and his heirs 
 to pay an annual sum of seven hundred marks for Eng- 
 land, and three hundred for Ireland, in acknowledgment 
 of the pope’s supremacy and jurisdiction ; and consented 
 that he or such of his successors as should refuse to 
 pay the submission now stipulated, to the see of Rome, 
 should forfeit all right to the British crown.’ “ This 
 shameful ceremony was performed (says a modern histo- 
 rian°) on Ascension-day, in the house of the Templars - 
 at Dover, in the midst of a great concourse of people, 
 who beheld it with confusion and indignation. John, in 
 doing homage to the pope, presented a sum of money to 
 his representative, which. the proud legate trampled un- 
 der his feet, as a mark of the king’s dependance. Eve- 
 ry spectator glowed with resentment, and the arch- 
 bishop of Dublin exclaimed aloud against such intolera- 
 ble insolence. Pandulf, not satisfied with this mortifying 
 act of superiority, kept the crown and sceptre five whole 
 days, and then restored them as a special favour of the 
 Roman see. John was despised before this extraordina- 
 ry resignation; but now he was looked upon as a con- 
 temptible wretch, unworthy to sit upon a throne, while he 
 himself seemed altogether insensible of his disgrace.” 
 
 IX. Innocent III. was succeeded in the pontificate by 
 Cencio Savelli, who, assuming the title of Honorius UL, 
 ruled the church above ten years, and whose govern- 
 meni, though not signalized by such audacious exploits 
 as those of his predecessor, disclosed an ardent zeal for 
 maintaining the pretensions, and supporting the despot- 
 ism, of the Roman see. It was in consequence of this 
 zeal that the new pontiff opposed the measures, and 
 drew upon himself the indignation of Frederic II. that 
 magnanimous prince, on whose head he himself bad 
 placed, in 1220, the imperial crown. This spirited prince, 
 following the steps of his illustrious grandfather, had 
 formed the resolution of confirming the authority, and 
 extending the jurisdiction of the emperors in Italy, of 
 depressing the small states of Lombardy, and reducing to 
 narrower limits the immense credit and opulence of ‘the 
 pontiffs and bishops; and it was with a view to the exe- 
 cution of these grand projects, that he deferred the exe- 
 cution of the solemn vow, by which he had engaged him- 
 self to lead a formidable army against the infidels of 
 Palestine. 'The pontiff, on the other hand, urged with 
 importunity the emperor’s departure ; encouraged, anima- 
 ted, and strengthened, by secret succours, the Italian states 
 that opposed his pretensions ; and-resisted the progress of 
 his power by all the obstacles which the most fertile in- 
 verition could suggest. These contests, however, had 
 not yet brought on an open rupture. 
 
 X. In 1227, Hugolin, bishop of Ostia, whose advanced 
 age had not extinguished the fire of his ambition, or di- 
 minished the firmness and obstinacy of his spirit, was 
 raised to the pontificate, assumed the title of Gregory IX., 
 and kindled the feuds and dissensions, that had already 
 secretly subsisted between the church and the empire, into 
 an open and violent flame. No sooner was he placed 
 in the papal chair, than, in defiance of justice and order 
 he excommunicated the emperor for delaying his expe- 
 dition against the Saracens to another year, though the 
 
 3p » Cadet a jure regni, is the expression used in the charter of re- 
 signation, which’ may be seen at length in the Historia Major of Mat- 
 thew Paris. ¢ Dr. Smollet. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 postponement manifestly arose from a fit of sickness, 
 which seized that prince when he was ready to embark 
 for Palestine. In 1228, Frederic at last set out, and ar- 
 rived in the Holy Land; but, instead of carrying on the 
 war with vigour, as we have already had occasion to ob- 
 serve, he entered into a truce with Saladin, and contented 
 himself with the recovery of Jerusalem. 'The pretend- 
 ed vicar of Christ, forgetting (or rather unwilling to per- 
 suade himself) that his master’s “ kingdom was not of 
 this world,” made war upon the emperor in Apulia du- 
 ring his absence,* and used his utmost efforts to arm 
 against him all the European powers. Frederic, having 
 eceived information of these perfidious and violent pro- 
 ceedings, returned into Europe, in 1229, defeated the pa- 
 pal army, retook the places he had lost in Sicily and in 
 Italy, and, in the succeeding year, made his peace with 
 the pontiff, from whom he received a public and so- 
 lemn absolution. 'This peace, however, was not of long 
 duration ; for the emperor could not tamely bear the in- 
 solent proceedings and the imperious temper of Gregory. 
 He therefore broke all measures with that headstrong 
 pontiff, distressed the states of Lombardy that were in 
 alliance with the see of Rome, seized the island of Sar- 
 dinia, (which Gregory regarded as a part of his spiritual 
 patrimony,) and erected it into a kingdom for his son Ein- 
 tius. These, with other steps that were equally provo- 
 king to the pope’s avarice and ambition, drew the thun- 
 der of the Vatican anew upon the emperor’s head. F're- 
 deric was publicly excommunicated in 1239, with all the 
 circumstances of severity that vindictive rage could in- 
 vent, and was charged with the most flagitious crimes, 
 and the most impious blasphemies, by the exasperated 
 pontiff, who sent a copy of this terrible accusation to all 
 the courts of Europe. 'The emperor, on the other hand, 
 defended his injured reputation by solemn declarations in 
 writing, while, by his victorious arms, he avenged him- 
 self of his adversaries, maintained his ground, and re- 
 duced the pontiff to the greatest difficulties. To extri- 
 cate himself from these perplexities, the latter convened, 
 in 1240, a general council at Rome, with a view of depo- 
 sing Frederic by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals 
 and prelates whe were to compose that assembly. But 
 the emperor disconcerted that audacious project by de- 
 feating, in 1241, a Genoese fleet, on board of which the 
 greatest part of these prelates were embarked, and by 
 seizing, with all their treasures, the reverend fathers, who 
 were all committed to close confinement. "his disap- 
 pointment, attended with others which gave an unhappy 
 turn to his affairs, and blasted his most promising expec- 
 tations, dejected and consumed the despairing pontiff, and 
 apparently contributed to the conclusion of his days, which 
 happened soon after this remarkable event.» 
 XI. Geofiry, bishop of Milan, who succeeded Gregory 
 IX., under the title of Celestine IV., died before his con- 
 
 3‘>* Under the feeble reign of Henry III. the pope drew immense 
 sums o1t of England for the support of this impious war, and carried 
 his audacious avarice so far, as to demand a fifth part of the ecclesiasti- 
 eal revenues of the whole kingdom. 
 
 » Beside the original and authentic writers collected by Muratori, in 
 his Scriptores rerum Italicarum, and the German and Italian historians, 
 few or none of whom are absolutely free from partiality in their accounts 
 of these unhappy contests between the empire and the papacy, see Pe- 
 trus de Vineis, Epistol. lib. i. and Matthew Paris, in his Historia Major. 
 Add to these Raynaldi Annal.—Muratori, Annal. Italiz, tom. vil. et 
 Antiquit. Italic. medii A£vi, tom. iv. p. 325, 517. It must, however, be ob- 
 
 No. XX VI. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 305 
 
 secration, and after a vacancy of twenty months, the 
 apostolic chair was filled by Sinibald, one of the counts 
 of Fieschi, who was raised to the pontificate in 1243, 
 assumed the denomination of Innocent IV., and yielded 
 to none of his predecessors in arrogance and fury.’ His 
 elevation, however, offered at first a prospect of peace, as 
 he had formerly been attached to the interests of the 
 emperor ; and accordingly the conferences were opened, 
 and a reconciliation was proposed; but the terms offered 
 by the new pope were too imperious and extravagant, not 
 to be rejected with indignation.t Hence it was that 
 Innocent, not thinking himself safe in any part of Italy, 
 set out from Genoa, the place of his birth, for Lyons, in 
 1244, and assembling there a council in the following 
 year, deposed Frederic, in presence of its members, though 
 not with their approbation, and declared the imperial 
 throne vacant. his unjust and insolent decree was 
 regarded with such veneration, and looked upon as so 
 weighty by the German princes, seduced and blinded by 
 the superstition of the times, that they proceeded instantly 
 to a new election, and raised first, Henry, landgrave of 
 Thuringia, and, after his death, William, count of Holland, 
 to the head of the empire. Frederic, whose firm and 
 heroic spirit supported without dejection these cruel 
 vicissitudes, contmued to carry on the war in Italy, until a 
 violent dysentery put an end to his life, on the 13th of 
 December, 1250. On the death of his formidable and 
 magnanimous adversary, Innocent returned into Italy,‘ 
 hoping now to enjoy with security the fruits of his 
 ambition. It was principally from this period, that the 
 two famous factions, called Gelphs and G'uibellines, of 
 which the latter espoused the cause of the emperors, and 
 the former that of the pontiffs, involved all the Italian 
 states in the most calamitous dissensions, though their 
 origin is much earlier than this century.¢ 
 
 XII. Raynald, count of Segni and bishop of Ostia, was 
 raised to the pontificate after the death of Innocent, in the 
 year 1254, and is distinguished in the list of the popes by 
 the name of Alexander IV. During the six years and 
 five months that he governed the see of Rome, his time 
 was less employed in civil affairs, than in regulating the 
 internal state of the church, if we except the measures he 
 took for the destruction of Conradin, grandson of Frederic 
 IJ. and for composing the tumults that had so long pre- 
 vailed in Italy. The mendicant friars, in particular, 
 and among them the Dominicans and Franciscans, were 
 much favoured by this pontiff, and received several marks 
 of his peculiar bounty. 
 
 He was succeeded in the Roman see, A. D. 1261, by 
 Urban IV. a native of ‘Troyes, of obscure birth, who, 
 before his elevation to the pontificate, was patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, and after that period was more distinguished 
 by his institution of the Festival of the Body of Christ, 
 than by any other circumstance in the course of his reign. 
 
 served, that this branch of history stands yet in need of farther illustration. 
 
 ¢ See the Hist. Maj. of Matthew Paris, ad annum 1254. 
 
 4p 4 These preliminary conditions were, Ist, ‘That the emperor should 
 give up entirely to the church the inheritance which was left to it by Ma- 
 tilda; and, 2d/y, That he would oblige himself to submit to whatever 
 terms the pope should think fit to propose, as conditions of peace. 
 
 e This assembly is placed in the list of @cwmenical or general coun- 
 cils; but it is not acknowledged as such by the Gallican church. 
 
 f Beside the writers already mentioned, see Nicol. de Curbio, Vit. In- 
 nocentii IV. in Baluzii Miscellan. tom. vii. 
 
 € See Murat. Diss. de Guelph. et Guibel.in his Ant. Ital. med. AZy. tiv, 
 
306 
 
 He had, indeed, formed several important projects ; but 
 their execution was prevented by his death, which hap- 
 pened in 1264, after a short reign of three years. His 
 successor, Guy I*ulcodi, or Clement LY. a native of France, 
 and bishop of Sabino, who was raised to the see of Rome 
 in 1265, did not enjoy much longer that high dignity. 
 His name, however, makes a greater figure in history, 
 and was rendered famous in many respects, and more 
 especially by his conferring of the kingdom of Naples 
 upon Charles of Anjou, brother to Louis IX. king of 
 I‘rance. 'The consequences of this donation, and the 
 melancholy fate of Conradin, the last descendant of 
 Frederic IL, (who, after an unfortunate battle fought 
 against Charles, was publicly beheaded by the barbarous 
 victor, if not by the counsel, yet certainly with the consent, 
 of the Roman pontiff,) are well known to such as have 
 the smallest acquaintance with the history of these 
 unhappy times. 
 
 XIU. Upon the death of Clement IV.,* there arose 
 warm and vehement contests among the cardinals con- 
 cerning the election of a new pontiff. ‘These debates, 
 which kept the Roman see vacant during the space of 
 almost three years, were at length terminated in favour of 
 Theobald, a native of Placentia, and archbishop of Liege, 
 who was raised to the pontificate in 1271, and assumed 
 the title of Gregory X.» ‘This devout ecclesiastic was in 
 the Holy Land when he received the news of his election ; 
 and, as he had been an eye-witness of the miserable con- 
 dition of the Christians in that country, he had nothing 
 so much at heart, as the desire of contributing to their 
 reief. Hence it was, that, immediately after his consecra- 
 tion, he summoned a council at Lyons, in 1274, in which 
 the relief and maintenance of the Christians in Palestine, 
 and the re-union of the Greek and Latin churches, were 
 the two points that were to come principally under 
 deliberation. This assembly is acknowledged as _ the 
 fourteenth general council, and is rendered particularly 
 remarkable by the new regulations that were introduced 
 into the manner of electing the Roman pontiff, and more 
 especially by the famous law, which is still in force, and 
 by which it was enacted, that the cardinal electors should 
 be shut up in the conclave during the vacancy of the 
 pontificate. With respect to the character and sentiments 
 of the new pope we shall only observe, that, though he 
 seemed to be actuated by a milder spirit than many of his 
 predecessors, he inculcated, without the least hesitation, 
 the odious maxim of Gregory VIL, which declared the 
 bishop of Rome lord of the world, and, in a more particular 
 manner, of the Roman empire. It was in consequence 
 of this presumptuous system, that, in 1271, he wrote an 
 imperious and threatening letter to the German princes ; 
 in which, deaf to the pretensions and remonstrances of 
 Alphonso, king of Castile,; he ordered them to elect an 
 emperor without delay, assuring them, that, if they did 
 not do it immediately, he would do it for them. This 
 Jetter produced the intended effect ; an electoral diet was as- 
 
 » Which happened in November, 1268. 
 
 > For records of this election, see Wadding, Annal. Minor. t. iv. p. 330. 
 
 3° Alphonso, king of Castile, had been elected emperor in 1256, by 
 the archbishop of Treves, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Bran- 
 denburg, and the king of Bohemia, in opposition to Richard, earl of 
 Cornwali, who was at the same time raised to the same dignity by the 
 archbishops of Mentz and Cologne, the count Palatine of the Rhir« 
 and the duke of Bavaria. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 ‘sembled at Franckfort, and Rodolphus, count of Hapsburg, 
 was raised to the imperial throne. 
 
 XIV. Gregory X. was succeeded, in 1276, by Peter of 
 Tarentaise, of the Dominican order, and bishop of Ostia, 
 who assumed the name of Innocent V., and died about 
 four montis after his election. Ottoboni, a native of 
 Genoa, and cardinal of St. Adrian, was chosen in his 
 place, took the title of Adrian V.,¢ and, after having ruled 
 the church during five weeks, was succeeded by Peter 
 Julian, bishop of T'usculum, who enjoyed that high 
 ‘dignity about eight months, and is distinguished in the 
 papal list by the name of John XXI.*_ The see of Rome 
 continued vacant for about six months after the death of 
 the last-mentioned pontiff, but was at length filled, in 
 November, 1277, by John Caietan, of the family of Ursini, 
 cardinal of St. Nicolas, whose name he adopted for his 
 ‘papal title. "This famous pontiff (as has been already 
 observed) augmented greatly both the opulence and 
 authority of the bishops of Rome, and had formed vast 
 projects, which his undaunted courage and his remarkable 
 activity would have enabled him, in all prebsbility, to 
 execute with success, had not death blasted his hopes, and 
 disconcerted his ambitious schemes. 
 
 XV. He was succeeded, in 1281, about six months 
 after his departure from this life, by Simon de Brie, who 
 adopted the name of Martin IV., and was not inferior to 
 Nicolas HI. in ambition, arrogance, and constancy of 
 mind, of which he gave several proofs during his pontifi- 
 cate. Michael Palaologus, the Grecian emperor, was one 
 of the first princes whom this audacious priest solemnly 
 excommunicated; and the pretext was, that he had 
 broken the peace concluded between the Greek and Latin 
 Churches, at the council of Lyons. ‘The same insult was 
 committed against Peter, king of Arragon, whom Martin 
 not only excluded from the bosom of the church, but also 
 deposed from his throne, on account of his attempt upon 
 | Sicily, and made a grant of his kingdom, fiefs, and posses- 
 sions, to Charles, son of Philip the Bold,s king of 
 France. It was during the execution of such daring 
 enterprises as these, and while he was meditating still 
 ‘greater things for the glory of the Roman hierarchy, 
 ‘that a sudden death, in 1285, obliged him to leave 
 his schemes unfinished. 'They were, however, prosecu- 
 ted with great spirit by his successor, James Savelli, who 
 chose the denomination of Honorius [V., but was also 
 stopped short in the midst of his career, in 1287, 
 having ruled the church only two years. Jerome d’Ascoli, 
 bishop of Palestrina, who was raised to the pontificate in 
 1288, and is known by the denomination of Nicolas IV., 
 distinguished himself, during the four years that he re- 
 mained at the head of the church, by his assiduous 
 application both to ecclesiastical and political affairs. 
 Sometimes we see the disputes of sovereign powers left to 
 his arbitration, and terminated by his decision; at other 
 times, we find him maintaining the pretensions and 
 privileges of the church with the most resolute zeal and 
 
 X4p4 We read, in the Latin, Adrian VL, which is more probably an 
 | error of the press, than a fault of the author. 
 3¢p ¢ In the original, Dr. Mosheim observes, that these three succes- 
 sors of Gregory were elected and carried off by death in 1276; but here 
 he has falien into a slight mistake; for John XXIJ. died on the 16th 
 of May, 1277. 
 
 f This council had been holden under the pontificate of Gregory X. 
 
 © Philippe le Hardi, as he is called ky the French. 
 
nap. I, 
 
 the most obstinate perseverance ; and occasionally we see 
 hin employing, with the utmost assiduity, every probable 
 method of propagating the Gospel among the 'Tartars and 
 other eastern nations. But the object, which, of all others, 
 occupied most the thoughts of this vigilant and zealous 
 pontiff, was the desperate state of the Christians in Pales- 
 tine, who were now reduced to an extremity of misery 
 and weakness. His laborious efforts were therefore 
 employed for the restoration of their former grandeur ; 
 they were however employed in vain; and his death, 
 which happened in 1292, disconcerted all the projects he 
 had formed for that purpose. 
 
 XVI. The death of this pontiff was followed by a va- 
 cancy of two years in the see of Rome, in consequence 
 of the disputes which arose among the cardinals about 
 the election of a new pope. These disputes were at length 
 terminated, and the contending parties united their sufira- 
 ges in favour of Peter, surnamed De Murrone, from a 
 mountain where he had hitherto lived in the deepest so- 
 litude, and with the utmost austerity. This venerable old 
 man, who was in high renown on account of the remark- 
 aLle sanctity of his life and conversation, was raised to the 
 pontificate, in 1294, and assumed the name of Celestine V. 
 But the austerity of his manners, being a tacit reproach 
 upon the corruption of the Roman court, and more espe- 
 cially upon the luxury of the cardinals, rendered him ex- 
 tremely disagreeable to a degenerate and licentious clergy ; 
 and this dislike was so heightened by the whole course of 
 his administration, (which showed that he had more at 
 heart the reformation and purity of tae church, than the 
 increase of its opulence and the propagation of its autho- 
 rity,) that he was almost universally considered as un- 
 worthy of the pontificate. Hence it was, that several of 
 the cardinals, and particularly Benedict Caietan, advised 
 him to abdicate the papacy, which he had accepted with 
 such reluctance; and they had the pleasure of seeing their 
 advice followed with the utmost docility.. The good man 
 resigned his dignity in the fourth month after his election, 
 and died in 1296, in the castle of Fumone, where his ty- 
 rannic and suspicious successor kept him in captivity, that 
 he might not be engaged, by the solicitations of his friends, 
 to attempt the recovery of his abdicated honours. His me- 
 mory was precious to the virtuous part of the church, 
 and he was elevated to the rank of a saint by Clement V. 
 It was from him that the branch of the Benedictine order, 
 called Celestines, yet subsisting in France and Italy, deri- 
 ved its origin." 
 
 XVII. Benedict Caietan, who had persuaded the good 
 pontiff now mentioned to resign his place, succeeded him 
 in it, in 1294, with the name of Boniface VIII. We may 
 say, with truth, of this unworthy prelate, that he was born 
 to be a plague both to church and state, a disturber of the 
 repose of nations, and that his attempts to extend and 
 confirm the despotism of the Roman pontiffs, were carried 
 to a length that approached to phrensy. As soon as he 
 entered upon his new dignity, he claimed a supreme and 
 irresistible dominion over all the powers of the earth, both 
 spiritual and temporal, terrified kingdoms and empires 
 
 ® Helyot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. vi. p. 180. 
 
 3 > The reasons which they allege for disputing the title of Boni- 
 face to the pontificate were, that the resignation of Celestine was not ca- 
 nonical, and that it was brought about by fraudulent means. 
 
 ¢ There is a history of this pontiff written by Jo. Rubeus, a Benedic- 
 tine monk, whose work, which is entitled Bonifacius VII. e Familia 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 307 
 
 with the thunder of his bulls, called princes and sove- 
 reign states before his tribunal to decide their quarrels, aug- 
 mented the papal jurisprudence with a new body of laws, 
 entitled the Sixth Book of the Decretals, declared war 
 against the illustrious family of Colonna, who disputed 
 his title to the pontificate ;» in a word, exhibited to the 
 church, and to Europe, a lively image of the tyrannical ad- 
 ministration of Gregory VII., whom he perhaps surpassed 
 in arrogance.e This was the pontiff who, in 1300, insti- 
 tuted the famous jubilee, which, since that time, has been 
 regularly celebrated in the Roman church at fixed periods. 
 
 But the consideration of this institution, which was so fa- 
 
 vourable to the progress of licentiousness and corruption, 
 as also the other exploits of Boniface, and his deplorable 
 end, belong to the history of the following century.¢ 
 
 XVII. In the Lateran council that was holden in 1215, 
 a decree had passed, by the advice of Innocent IIL. to 
 prevent the introduction of new religions, by which were 
 meant new monastic institutions. ‘his decree, however, 
 seemed to be very little respected, either by that pontiff or 
 his successors, since several religious orders, hitherto un- 
 known in the Christian world, were not only tolerated, 
 but were distinguished by peculiar marks of approbation 
 and favour, and enriched with various privileges and pre- 
 rogatives. Nor will this tacit abrogation of the decree of 
 Innocent appear at all surprising to such as consider the 
 state of the church in this century; for, not to mention 
 many enormities that contributed to the suspension of this 
 decree, we shall only observe, that the enemies of Chris- 
 tianity, and the heretical sects, increased daily every where ; 
 and, on the other hand, the secular clergy were more at- 
 tentive to their worldly advantages than to the interests of 
 the church, and spent in mirth and jollity the opulence 
 with which the piety of their ancestors had enriched that 
 sacred body. The monastic orders also had almost all 
 degenerated from their primitive sanctity, and, exhibiting 
 the most offensive examples of licentiousness and vice to 
 public view, rendered by their flagitious lives the cause of 
 heresy triumphant, instead of retarding its progress. All 
 these things being considered, it was thought necessary 
 to encourage the establishment of new monastic societies, 
 who, by the sanctity of their manners, might attract the 
 esteem and veneration of the people, and diminish the in- 
 dignation which the tyranny and ambition of the pontifls 
 had so generally excited ; and who, by their diligence and 
 address, their discourses and their arguments, their power 
 and arms, when these violent means were required, might 
 discover, persecute, convert and vanquish, the growing 
 tribe of heretics. 
 
 XIX. Of the religious societies that arose in this cen- 
 tury, some are now entirely suppressed, while others con- 
 tinue to flourish, and are in high repute. Among the 
 former we may reckon the Humiliati, (a title expressive 
 of great humility and self-abasement,) whose origin may 
 be traced to a much earlier period than the present cen- 
 tury, though their order was confirmed and new-modelled 
 by Innocent IIT., who subjected it to the rule of St. Bene- 
 dict. ‘These humble monks became so shocking!y licen- 
 
 ~ 
 
 Caietanorum principum Romanus pontifex, was published at Rome in 
 the year 1651. i 
 
 din this account of the popes, I have chiefly followed Daniel Pape- 
 broch, Francis Pagi, and Muratori, mm his Annales Italie, consulting at 
 the same time the original sources collected by the last mentioned author 
 in his Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. 
 
308 
 
 tious in process of time, that, in 1571, pope Pius V. was 
 obliged to dissolve their society.» We may also place, in 
 the list of suppressed fraternities, the Jacobins, who were 
 erected into a religious order by Innocent ILT., and who, 
 in this very century, not long after the council of Lyons, 
 were deprived of their charter; and also the Valli-Scho- 
 lares, or Scholars of the Valley, so cailed from their being 
 instituted by the scholares, i. e. the four professors of divi- 
 nity in the university of Paris, and from a deep vale in 
 the province of Champagne, in which they assembled 
 and fixed their residence in 1234. This society, whose 
 foundation was laid about the commencement of this cen- 
 tury, was formerly governed by the rule of St. Augus- 
 tin, but is now incorporated into the order of the Regular 
 Canons of St. Genevieve. "To the same class we may 
 refer the order of the blessed Virgin Mary the mother of 
 Christ, which had its commencement in 1266, and was 
 suppressed in 1274;" the Knights of Faith and Charity, 
 who undertook to disperse the bands of robbers that in- 
 fested the public roads in France, and who were favoured 
 with the peculiar protection and approbation of Gregory 
 IX ;* the Hermits of St. William, duke of Aquitaine ;' not 
 to mention the Brethren of the Sack, the Bethlehemites, 
 and some orders of inferior note, that started up in this 
 century, which, of ali ctiiers, was the most remarkable for 
 the number and variety sf monastic establishments, that 
 date their origin from it.¢ 
 
 XX. Among the 
 
 of the Servites, i. ¢. the Servants of the blessed Virgin, 
 whose order was first instituted, A. D. 1233, in 'Tuscany, 
 by seven Florentine merchants, and afterwards made a 
 great progress under the government of Philip Benizi, its 
 chief. "This order, though subjected to the rule of St. Au- 
 gustin, was erected in commemoration of the most holy 
 widowhood of the blessed Virgin ; for which reason its 
 monks wear a black habit," and observe several rules un- 
 known to other monasteries. The prodigious number of 
 Christians, that were made prisoners by the Mohamme- 
 dans in Palestine, gave rise, toward the conclusion of the 
 12th century, to the institution of the order named the 
 Fraternity of the Trinity, which, in the following age, re- 
 ceived a still greater degree of stability, under the ponti- 
 ficate of Honorius ILI. and also of Clement IV. "The 
 founders of this institution were John de Matha and Felix 
 de Valois, two pious men who led an austere. and solitary 
 life at Cerfroy, in the diocese of Meaux. ‘The monks of 
 this society are called the Brethren of the Holy ‘Trinity, 
 because all their churches are solemnly dedicated to that 
 profound mystery ; they are also styled Mathurins, from 
 
 * Helyot His. des Ord. t. vi. p. 152. > Mat. Paris. His. Maj. p. 161. 
 
 *Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iil. p. 15—Acta Sanct. Mens, Feb- 
 ruar. tom. 11. p. 482. 
 
 4 Dion. Sammarthani Gallia Christiana, tom. i. p. 653. 
 
 °* Gallia Christ. tom. i. Append. p. 165.—Martenne, Voyage Liter. de 
 deux Benedictins, tom. i. 
 
 f Jo. Bolandi de ordine Eremitar. S. Gulielmi Com. in actis SS. Feb- 
 ruar. tom, ii. p. 472. 
 
 ®Matth. Paris, Hist. Major, p. 815, edit. Watts, where, speaking of 
 the prodigious number of convents, founded in England during this cen- 
 tury, he expresseth himself thus: “Tot jam apparuerunt ordines in An- 
 glia, ut ordinum confusio videretur inordinata.” 
 
 h Beside the ordinary writers of monastic history, see Pauli Floren- 
 tini Dialog. de Origine Ordinis Servorum, in Lamii Delic. Eruditorum, 
 tom. i. pag. 1—48. 
 
 ‘yi Broughton and some other writers make a distinction between 
 the Order of the Redemption of Captives, and the Fraternity of the Holy 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 convents that were founded in this | 
 century, and still subsist, the principal place is due to that | 
 y y] ? 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 having a monastery at Paris, erected in a piace where is 
 a chapel consecrated to St. Mathurin, and Brethren of the 
 Redemption of Captives, because the grand design of their 
 institution was to find out means for restoring hberty to 
 the Christian captives in the Holy Land, in which cha- 
 ritable work they were obliged to employ a third part of 
 their revenue. Their manner of life was, at first, extremely 
 abstemious and austere ; but its austerity has been from 
 time to time considerably mitigated by the indulgence and 
 lenity of the pontiffs. 
 
 XXI. The religious society that surpassed all the rest 
 in purity of manners, extent of fame, number of privileges, 
 and multitude of members, was that of the Mendicant or 
 begging friars, whose order was first established in this 
 century, and who, by the tenour of their institution, were 
 to remain entirely destitute of all fixed revenues and 
 possessions. ‘I'he present state and circumstances of the 
 church rendered the establishment of such an order 
 absolutely necessary. The monastic orders, who wallow- 
 ed in opulence, were, by the corrupting influence of their 
 ample possessions, lulled in a luxurious indolence. ‘They 
 lost sight of all their religious obligations, trampled upon 
 the authority of their superiors, suffered heresy to triumph 
 unrestrained, and the sectaries to form various assemblies ; 
 in short, they were incapable of promoting the true 
 interests of the church, and abandoned themselves, without 
 either shame or remorse, to all sorts of crimes. On the 
 other hand, the enemies of the church, the sects which 
 had left its communion, followed certain austere rules of 
 life and conduct, which formed a strong contrast between 
 them and the religious orders, and contributed to render 
 the licentiousness of the latter still more offensive and 
 shocking to the people. These sects maintained, that 
 voluntary poverty was the leading and essential quality 
 in a servant of Christ ; obliged their doctors to imitate the 
 simplicity of the apostles ; reproached the church with its 
 overgrown opulence, and the vices and corruptions of the 
 clergy, that flowed thence as from their natural source ; 
 and, by their commendation of poverty and contempt of 
 riches, acquired a high degree of respect, and gained a 
 prodigious ascendency over the minds of the multitude. 
 All this rendered it absolutely necessary to introduce into 
 the church a set cf men, who, by the austerity of their 
 manners, their contempt of riches, and the external 
 gravity and sanctity of their conduct and maxims, might 
 resemble those doctors who had gained such reputation to 
 the heretical sects, and who might rise so far above the 
 allurements of worldly profit and pleasure, as not to be 
 seduced, by the promises or threats of kings and princes, 
 from the performance of the duties which they owed to 
 
 Trinity. They allege, that the latter order was instituted at Rome by 
 St. Philip Neri, in 1548, about 350 years after the first establishment of 
 the former; and that the monks who composed it, were obliged by their 
 vow to take care of the pilgrims who resorted from all parts of the world 
 to Rome, to visit the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. 
 
 k Beside Helyot and the other writers of monastic history, see Touis- 
 saint de Plessis, Hist de l’Eglise de Meaux, tom. i. p. 172, and 566. Bou- 
 lay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. 11. p.523. Ant. Wood, Antiq. Oxon. tom. i. 
 p. 133. In the ancient records, this society is frequently styled the Or- 
 der of Asses, on account of the prohibition of the use of horses, which 
 made a part of their rule, and which obliged the mendicant monks to ride 
 upon asses. See Car. du Fresne’s Notes upon Joinville’s Life of St 
 Louis, p.81. But at present, through the indulgence of the Roman pon- 
 tiffs, said are permitted to make use of horses when they find them neces- 
 sary. An order of the same kind was instituted in Spain, in 1226, by 
 Paul Nolasco, under the title of the Order of St. Mary, for the Redemp.- 
 tion of Captives. See the Acta Sanctorum, Januar. tom. ii. p. 980. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 the church, or from persevering in their subordination to 
 the Roman pontiffs. Innocent III. was the first of the 
 popes who perceived the necessity of instituting such an 
 order ; and accordingly he treated such monastic societies 
 as made a profession of poverty, with the most distinguish- 
 ing marks of his protection and favour. These associa- 
 tions were also encouraged and patronised by the succeed- 
 ing pontiffs, when experience had demonstrated their 
 public and extensive utility. 
 rally known, that they had such a peculiar place in the 
 esteem and protection of the rulers of the church, their 
 number grew to such an enormous and unwieldy multi- 
 tude, and swarmed so prodigiously in all the European 
 provinces, that they became a burthen, not only to the 
 people, but to the church itself. 
 
 XXII. The great inconvenience that arose from the 
 excessive multiplication of the mendicant orders, was 
 remedied by Gregory X., in 1272, in a general council 
 which he assembled at Lyons ; for here all the religious 
 orders, that had sprung up after the council holden at 
 Rome in 1215, under the pontificate of Innocent III., were 
 suppressed, and the “extravagant multitude of mendi- 
 cants,” as Gregory called them, were reduced to a smaller 
 number, and confined to the four following societies, or 
 denominations, viz. the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the 
 Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustin.» The 
 Carmelite order, which had been instituted in Palestine 
 during the preceding century, was, in this, transplanted 
 into Europe, and, in 1226, was favoured by pope Hono- 
 rius Lf. with a place among the monastic societies, which 
 enjoyed the protection and approbation of the church. 
 The Hermits of St. Augustin had for their founder 
 Alexander IV.,® who, observing that the hermits were 
 divided into several societies, some of which followed the 
 maxims of the famous William, others the rule of St. 
 Augustin, while others again were distinguished by diffe- 
 rent denominations, formed the judicious project of uniting 
 them all into one religious order, and subjecting them to 
 the same rule of discipline, even that which bears the 
 name of St. Augustin. ‘This project was put in execution 
 in the year 1256. 
 
 XXIII. As the pontiffs allowed to these four Mendicant 
 orders the liberty of travelling wherever they thought 
 proper, of conversing with persons of all ranks, of instruct- 
 ing the youth and the multitude wherever they went ;— 
 and as these monks exhibited, in their outward appearance 
 and manner of life, more striking marks of gravity and 
 holiness, than were observable in the other monastic 
 societies,—they arose as it were at once to the very summit 
 of fame, and were regarded with the utmost esteem and 
 veneration in all the countries of Europe. The enthusi- 
 astic attachment to these sanctimonious beggars went so 
 far, that, as we learn from the most authentic records, 
 several cities were divided, or cantoned out, into four parts, 
 with a view to these four orders ; the first part was assigned 
 to the Dominicans, the second to the Franciscans, the 
 third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to the Augustinians. 
 The people were unwilling to receive the sacraments from 
 any other hands than those of the Mendicants, to whose 
 
 * Concil. Lugd. II. A. 1274. Can. xxiii. in Jo. Harduini Conciliis, tom. 
 vii. p. 715. “ Importuna peientium inhiatio Religionum (so were the re- 
 ligious orders entitled) multiplicationem extorsit, verum etiam aliquorum 
 presumptuosa temeritas diversorum ordinum, precipue mendicantium 
 
 .. effrenatam multitudinem adinvenit... Hine ordines Mendicantes 
 
 No, XX VI. 78 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 But when it became gene- } 
 
 309 
 
 churches they crowded to perform their devotions, while 
 living, and were extremely desirous to deposit there also 
 their remains after death ; all which occasioned grievous 
 complaints among the ordinary priests, who, being entrust- 
 ed with the cure of souls, considered themselves as the 
 spiritual guides of the multitude. Nor did the influence 
 and credit of the Mendicants end here ; for we find in the 
 history of this and of the succeeding ages, that they were 
 employed, not only in spiritual concerns, but also in 
 temporal and political affairs of the greatest consequence, 
 in composing the differences of princes, concludg trea- 
 ties of peace, concerting alliances, presiding in cabinet- 
 councils, governing courts, levying taxes, and in other 
 occupations, not merely remote from, but absolutely in- 
 consistent with, the monastic character and profession. 
 XXIV. We must not however imagine, that all the 
 Mendicant friars attained the same degree of reputation 
 and authority ; for the power of the Dominicans and 
 Franciscans surpassed greatly that of the other two orders, 
 and rendered them remarkably conspicuous in the eyes of 
 the world. During three centuries, these two fraternities 
 governed, with an almost universal and absolute sway, 
 both state and church, filled the highest posts ecclesiastical 
 and civil, taught in the universities and churches with an 
 authority before which all opposition was silent, and 
 maintained the pretended majesty and prerogatives of the 
 Roman pontiffs against kings, princes, bishops, and here- 
 tics, with incredible ardour and equal success. The Domi- 
 nicans and Franciscans were, before the Reformation, 
 what the Jesuits became after that happy and glorious 
 event,—the very soul of the hierarchy, the engines of the 
 state, the secret springs of all the motions of both, and 
 the authors or directors of every great and important 
 event both in the religious and political world. Dominic, 
 a Spaniard by birth, a native of Calaroga, descendant of 
 the illustrious house of Guzman, and regular canon of 
 Osma, a man of a fiery and impetuous temper, and 
 vehemently exasperated by the commotions and contests 
 which the heretics of different denominations had excited 
 in the chureh, set out for France with a few companions, 
 in order to combat the sectaries who had multiplied in 
 that kingdom. 'This enterprise he executed with the 
 greatest vigour, and, we may add, fury, attacking the 
 Albigenses and the other enemies of the church with the 
 power of eloquence, the force of arms, the subtlety of 
 controversial writings, and the terrors of the inquisition, 
 which owed its form to this violent and sanguinary priest. 
 Passing thence into Italy, he was honoured by the Roman 
 pontiffs Innocent III. and Honorius UI. with the most 
 distinguished marks of their protection and favour ; and, 
 after many labours in the cause of the church, obtained 
 from them the privilege of erecting a new fraternity, 
 whose principal objects were the extirpation of error and 
 the destruction of heretics. The first rule which he 
 adopted for this society was that of the Canons of St. 
 Augustin, to which he added several austere precepts and 
 observances. ut he afterwards changed the discipline of 
 the canons for that of the monks; and, holding a chapter 
 of the order at Bologna in 1220, he obliged the brethren 
 
 post dictum concilium (7. e. the Lateran council of 1215) adinventos ... 
 perpetue prohibitioni subjicimus.” : ; 
 
 > This edict of pope Alexander IV. is to be found in the Bullarium 
 aaa, tom. i. p. 110,—See also Acta Sanctor Mens. Feb. tom. in 
 
 p. 47% 
 
310 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 to take a vow of absolute poverty, and to abandon all 
 their revenues and possessions. He did not live long 
 enough see the consequences of this reformation ; for 
 he died in the following year at Bologna. His monks 
 were, at first, distinguished by the denomination of preach- 
 ing friars, because public instruction was the main end 
 of their institution; but, in honour of him, they were 
 afterwards called Dominicans.» [{(3 Just before his death, 
 Dominic sent Gilbert de Fresnoy with twelve of the 
 brethren into England, where they founded their first 
 monastery at Oxford, in 1221, and, soon after, another at 
 London. In 1276, the mayor and aidermen of London 
 gave them two whole streets near the river 'hames, 
 where they erected a very commodious convent, whence 
 that place still bears the name of Black-Friars ; for so the 
 Dominicans were called in England. | 
 
 XXY. Francis, the founder of the celebrated order that 
 bears his name, was the son of a merchant of Assisi, in 
 the province of Umbria, and led, in his youth, a most 
 debauched and dissolute life. Upon his recovery from a 
 severe fit of sickness, which was the consequence and 
 punishment of his licentious conduct, he changed his 
 method of living, and, as extremes are natural to men of 
 warm imaginations, fell into an extravagant kind of de- 
 votion, that looked less like religion than alienation of 
 mind. Some time after this,; he happened to be ina 
 church, where he heard that passage of the Scripture 
 repeated, in which Christ addresses his apostles in the 
 following manner: “ Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor 
 brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither 
 two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves ; for the workman 
 is worthy of his meat.”4 'This produced a powerful effect 
 upon his mind, made him consider a voluntary and abso- 
 lute poverty as the essence of the Gospel and the soul of 
 ~eligion, and prescribe this poverty as a sacred rule both 
 
 himself and to the few who followed him. Such was 
 the commencement of the famous Franciscan order, 
 whose chief was undoubtedly a pious and well-meaning 
 man, though grossly ignorant, and manifestly weakened 
 m his intellect by the disorder from which he had recently 
 recovered. Nevertheless the new society, which appeared 
 to Innocent III. extremely adapted to the present state of 
 the church, and proper to restore its declining credit, was 
 solemnly approved and confirmed by Honorius IIf., in 
 
 aSee Jac. Echard and Quetif in Seriptoribus Ord. Dominic. torn. i. p. 
 84.— Acta Sanctor. April. tom. ili. p. 872.—Nicol. Jansenii Vita 8. Do- 
 minici. Add to these the long list of writers mentioned by Fabricius, in 
 his Bibliotheca Lat. med. A‘vi, tom. i. p. 137. and also Antonii Bre- 
 mondi Bullarium Ordinis Dominicani. 
 
 b The Dominicans are called Fratres Majores in several of the an- 
 cient records: see Ant. Matthei Analecta vet. Avi, t. il. p. 172. This 
 appellation, however, by which the Dominicans were sect in opposition 
 to the Franciscans, who called themselves Fyatres Minores, was rather 
 a term of derision than a real name.—In France the Dominicans were 
 called Jacodbins, from the Rue de St. Jaques, where their first convent 
 was erected at Paris. ¢ In 1208. 4 Matthew x. 9, 10. 
 
 * They were called Firatricelli by the Italians, Freres Mineurs by 
 the French, and Fyatres Minores by the Latin writers. 
 
 f Bonaventura wrote a life of St. Francis, which has passed through 
 several editions. But the most ample and circumstantial accounts of this 
 extraordinary man are given by Luke Wadding, qm the first volume of 
 his Annal. Ord. Min. a work which contains a complete history of the 
 Franciscan order, confirmed by a great number of authentic records, and 
 the best edition of which is that published at Rome in 1731, and the fol- 
 lowing years, in eighteen volumes in folio, by Joseph Maria Fonseca ab 
 Ebora. It is to the same Wadding that we are obliged for the Opuscula 
 Sti. Francisci, and the Bibliotheca Ordinis Minorum, the former of 
 which appeared at Antwerp in 1623, and the latter at Rome in 1650. 
 whe other writers, who have given accounts of the Franciscan order, 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part Il 
 1223, and had already made a considerable progress when 
 its devout founder, in 1226, was called from this life. 
 Francis, through an excessive humility, would not suffer 
 the monks of his order to be called #ratres, i. e. brethren 
 or friars, but Fraterculi, i. e. little brethren or friars 
 minors,* by which denomination they continue to be dis- 
 tinguished. [%- The Franciscans came into England 
 in the reign of Henry UL, and their first establishment 
 was at, Canterbury. | o 
 
 X XVI. These two orders restored the church from that 
 declining condition in which it had been languishing for 
 many years, by the zeal and activity with which they 
 set themselves to discover and extirpate heretics, to under- 
 take various negotiations and embassies for the interest of 
 the hierarchy, and to confirm the wavering multitude in 
 an implicit obedience to the Roman pontifis. These 
 spiritual rulers, on the other hand, sensible of their obliga- 
 tions to the new monks, which, no doubt, were very great, 
 not only engaged them in the most important affairs, and 
 raised them to the most eminent stations in the church, 
 but also accumulated upon them employments and 
 privileges, which, if they enriched them on the one hand, 
 could not fail to render them odious on the other,s and to 
 excite the envy and complaints of other ecclesiastics. 
 Such (among many other extraordinary prerogatives) was 
 the permission they received from the pontiffs, of preach- 
 ing to the multitude, hearing confessions, and pronouncing 
 absolution, without any license from the bishops, and 
 even without consulting them; to which we may add the 
 treasure of ample and extensive indulgences, whose dis- 
 tribution was committed by the popes to the Franciscans, 
 as a means of subsistence, and a rich indemnification for 
 their voluntary poverty.». These acts of liberality and 
 marks of protection, lavished upon the Dominican and 
 Franciscan friars with such an ill-judged profusion, as 
 they overturned the ancient discipline of the church, and 
 were a manifest encroachment upon the rights of the first 
 and second orders of the ecclesiastical rulers, produced the 
 most unhappy and bitter dissensions between the Mendi- 
 cant orders and the bishops. And these dissensions, 
 extending their contagious influence beyond the limits of 
 the church, excited in all the European provinces, and 
 even ia the city of Rome,i under the very eyes of the 
 pontiffs, the most dreadful disturbances and tumults. 
 
 | are mentioned by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Bibliotheca Lat. medii Avi, 
 tom. il. p. 573. 
 
 * The popes were so infatuated with the Franciscans, that those 
 whom they could not employ more honourably in their civil negotiations 
 or domestic affairs, they made their publicans, beadles, &c. See, for a 
 confirmation of this, the following passages in the Histor. Major of Mat- 
 thew Paris: ‘Fratres Minores et Predicatores (says he) invitos, ut cre- 
 dimus, jam suos fecit dominus papa, non sine ordinis eorum lesione et 
 scandalo, teloniarios et bedellos,’ p. 634.—‘ Non cessavit papa pecuniam 
 aggregare, faciens de I"ratribus Predicatoribus, et Minoribus, etiam in- 
 vitis, non jam piscatdribus hominum, sed nummorum,’ p. 639.—‘ Erant 
 Minores et Predicatores magnatum consiliatores et nuntii, etiam domini 
 pape seeretarii; nimis in hoc gratiam sibi secularem comparantes ;’ ad 
 an. 1236, p. 354.—‘ Facti sunt eo tempore Predicatores et Minores regum 
 consiliarii et nuntii speciales, ut sicut quondam mollibus induti in domi- 
 bus regum erant, ita tune qui vilibus vestiebantur in domibus, cameris, 
 et palatiis essent principum;’ ad an. 1239, p. 465. 
 
 hSee Baluzii Miscellan. tom. iv. p. 490, tom. vil. p. 392.—It is well 
 known, that no religious order had the distribution of so many and such 
 ample indulgences as the Franciscans. Nor could these good friars 
 live and multiply as they did, without some source of profit, since, by 
 their institution, they were to be destitute of revenues and possessions of 
 /every kind. It was therefore in the place of fixed revenues, that such 
 lucrative indulgences were put into their hands. 
 
 i Baluzii Miscellan. tom, vii. p. 441. 
 
Cuap. IL. 
 
 The measures taken by the popes to appease these tumults 
 were various, but ineffectual, because their principal view 
 was to support the cause of their faithful servants and 
 creatures, the Mendicant friars, and to maintain them in 
 the possession of their honours and advantages.* 
 
 X XVII. Among all the controversies which were main- 
 tained by the Mendicants, whether against the bishops, 
 abbots, schools, or other religious orders, that was the most 
 famous which arose in 1228, between the Dominicans and 
 the university of Paris, and was prolonged, with various 
 success, until the year 1259. The Dominicans claimed, 
 as their unquestionable right, two theological classes in 
 that celebrated university: one of these had been taken 
 from them, and an academical law had_ passed, importing 
 that no religious order should have what the Dominicans 
 demanded. The latter, however, persisted obstinately in 
 reclaiming the professorship they had lost; while the 
 doctors of the university, perceiving the restless and con- 
 tentious spirit that animated their efforts, excluded them 
 from their society, and formed themselves into a‘separate 
 body. ‘This measure was considered as a declaration of 
 war; and, accordingly, the most vehement commotions 
 arose between the contending parties. The debate was 
 brought before the tribunal of the Roman pontiff, in 1255; 
 and the decision, as might have been expected, was in 
 favour of the monks. Alexander IV. ordered the university 
 of Paris not only to restore the Dominicans to their 
 former place in that learned society, but moreover to make 
 a grant to them of as many classes or professorships as 
 they should think proper to demand. ‘This unjust and 
 despotic sentence was opposed by the university with the 
 utmost vigour; and thus the contest was renewed with 
 double fury. But the magistrates of Paris were, at length, 
 so terrified and overwhelmed with the thundering edicts 
 and formidable mandates of the exasperated pontiff, that, 
 in 1259, they yielded to superior force, and satisfied the 
 demands not only of the Dominican, but also of the Fran- 
 ciscan order, in obedience to the pope, and to the extent of 
 his commands.’ Hence arose that secret enmity and 
 silent ill-will, which prevailed so long between the uni- 
 versity and the Mendicant orders, especially the Domini- 
 cans. 
 
 XXVIII. In this famous debate none pleaded the 
 cause of the university with greater spirit, or asserted its 
 rights with greater zeal and activity, than Guillaume de 
 St. Amour, doctor of the Sorbonne, a man of true genius, 
 worthy to have lived in better times, and capable of adorn- 
 ing a more enlightened age. This vigorous and able 
 champion attacked the whole Mendicant tribe in various 
 treatises with the greatest vehemence, and more especially 
 in a book “concerning the perils of the latter times.” 
 
 * See Jo. Launoii Explicata Ecclesie Traditio cirea Canonem, Omnis 
 utriusque Sexus, tom. 1. part i. op. p. 247.—Rich. Simon, Critique de la 
 Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, par M. Du-Pin, tom. 1. p. 326. 
 —L’Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Pise, tom. i. p. 310, tom. ii. p. 8— 
 Echardi Scriptores Dominicani, tom. i. p. 404. The circumstances of 
 tiese flaming contests are mentioned by all the writers, both of this and 
 the following centuries. 
 
 b See Cas. Egass. du Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. 138, 240, 
 &c.—Jo. Cordesii, or (to mention him by the name he assumed) Jo. Ali- 
 tophili Pref. Histor. et Apologetica ad Opera Gulielmi de S. Amore.— 
 Antoine Touron, Vie de 8. Thomas, p. 134.—Wadding, Annal. Minor. 
 tom. ii). p. 247, 366. tom. iv. p. 14, 52, 106, 263.—Matth. Paris, Histor. 
 Major, ad an. 1223.—Nangis Chronicon, apud d’Acherii Spicilegium, 
 tom. ili. p. 38. ©2 Timothy, iii. 1. 
 
 4 The doctors of the university of Paris profess still a high respect for 
 the memory of St. Amour, esteem his book, and deny obstinately that he 
 
 : 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 3il 
 
 He boldly maintained, that their discipline was in direct 
 opposition to the precepts of the Gospel; and that, in 
 confirming and approving it, the popes had been guilty 
 of temerity, and the church was become chargeable with 
 error. What gave occasion to the remarkable title of this 
 celebrated work, was the author’s being entirely persuaded 
 that the prophecy of St. Paul, relating to the “ perilous 
 times that were to come in the last days,”* was fulfilled 
 in the establishment of the Mendicant friars. This 
 notion St. Amour maintained in the warmest manner, 
 and proved it, principally from the book called the Ever- 
 lasting Gospel, which was publicly explained by the Do- 
 minicans and Franciscans, and of which we shall have 
 occasion to speak more fully hereafter. "Mhe fury and 
 resentment of the Mendicants were therefore kindled in a 
 peculiar manner against this formidable adversary, whom 
 they persecuted without interruption, until, in 1256, the 
 pope ordered his book to be publicly burned, and banished 
 its author out of France, lest he should excite the Sorbonne 
 to renew their opposition to these spiritual beggars. St. 
 Amour submitted to the papal edict, and retired into his 
 native province of Franche-Comté ; but, under the ponti- 
 ficate of Clement IV., he returned to Paris, where he illus- 
 trated the tenets of his famous book in a more extensive 
 work, and died esteemed and regretted by all, except the 
 Mendicants.4 
 
 XXIX. While the pontiff’ accumulated upon the 
 Mendicants the most honourable distinctions, and the most 
 valuable privileges which they had to bestow, they ex- 
 posed them still more and more to the envy and hatred of 
 the rest of the clergy ; and this hatred was considerably 
 increased by the audacious arrogance that discovered it- 
 self every where in the conduct of these supercilious 
 orders. ‘They had the presumption to declare publicly, 
 that they had a divine impulse and commission to illus- 
 trate and maintain the religion of Jesus; they treated 
 with the utmost insolence and contempt all ranks and 
 orders of the priesthood; they affirmed, without a blush, 
 that the true method of obtaining salvation was revealed 
 to them alone, proclaimed with ostentation the superior 
 efficacy and virtue of their indulgences, and vaunted, 
 beyond measure, their interests at the court of Heaven, 
 and their familiar connexions with the Supreme Being, 
 the Virgin Mary, and the saints in glory. By these 
 impious wiles, they so deluded and captivated the miscra- 
 ble and blinded multitude, that they would not entrust 
 any others but the Mendicants with the care of their souls, 
 their spiritual and eternal concerns.* We may give, asa 
 specimen of these notorious frauds, the ridiculous fable, 
 which the Carmelites impose upon the credulous, relating 
 to Simon Stockius, the general of their order, who died 
 
 was ever placed in the list of heretics. The Dominicans, on the con- 
 trary, consider him as a heretic of the first magnitude, if we may use 
 that expression. Such of his works as could be found were publishea 
 in 1632, at Paris, (though the title bears Constantie,) by Cordesius, 
 who has introduced them by a long and learned preface, in which he de- 
 fends the reputation and orthodoxy of St. Amour in a triumphant man- 
 ner. This learned editor, to avoid the resentment and fury of the Men- 
 dicants, concealed his real name, and assumed that of Jo. Alitophilus. 
 This did not, however, save his book from the vengeance of these friars, 
 who obtained from Louis XIII. in 1633, an edict for its suppression, 
 which Touron, a Dominican friar, has published in his Vie de S/.. Tho- 
 mas.—For a farther account of the life of this famous doctor, see Wad- 
 ding, Annal. Minor. tom. iii. p. 366.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. 
 ili. p. 266.—Nat. Alex. Hist. Eccles. sec. XIII. cap. iii. art. vii. p. 95.— 
 Rich. Simon, Critique de la Biblioth. Eccles. de M. Du-Pin, t. i. p. 345, 
 *See Matth. Paris, ad an. 1246, Histor. Maj, 
 
312 
 
 about the beginning of this century. TT'o this ecclesiastic, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 sess funds, revenues, or any worldly goods.¢ This in- 
 
 they tell us that the Virgin Mary appeared, and gave him || junction appeared so severe to several of the friars-minors, 
 
 a, solemn promise, that the souls of such as left the world 
 with the Carmelite cloak or scapulary upon their shoul- 
 ders, should be infallibly preserved from eternal damna- 
 tion.» And here let it be observed to the astonishment 
 of all, in whom the power of superstition has not extin- 
 guished the plainest dictates of common sense, that this 
 ridiculous and impious fiction found patrons and defen- 
 ders even among the pontiffs.® 
 
 XXX. It is however certain, that the Mendicant or- 
 ders, though they were considered as the main pillars of 
 the hierarchy, and the principal supports of the papal au- 
 thority, involved the pontiffs, after the death of Dominic 
 and Francis, in many perplexities and troubles, which 
 were no sooner dispelled, than they were unhappily re- 
 newed; and thus the church was often reduced to a state 
 of imminent danger. 'These tumults and_perplexities 
 began with the contests between the Dominicans and 
 Franciscans about pre-eminence, in which these humble 
 monks mutually indulged themselves in the bitterest 
 invectives and the severest accusations both in their wri- 
 tings and their discourses, and opposed each other’s inte- 
 rests with all the fury of disappoizited ambition. Many 
 schemes were formed, and various measures were em- 
 ployed, for terminating these scandaious dissensions ; but 
 the root of the evil still remained, and the flame was 
 rather covered than extinguished. Beside this, the Fran- 
 ciscans were early divided among themselves, and split 
 into several factions, which gathered strength and consis- 
 tence from day to day, and not only disturbed the tran- 
 quillity of the church, but struck at the supreme jurisdiction 
 and prerogatives of the Roman pontiffs. And whoever 
 considers with attention the series of events that happened 
 ‘a the Latin church from this remarkable period, will be 
 
 ully convinced that the Mendicant orders (whether 
 through imprudence or design we shall not determine) 
 gave some very severe blows to the authority of the church 
 of Rome, and excited in the minds of the people those 
 ardent desires of a reformation, which produced, in after- 
 times, such substantial and such glorious effects. 
 
 XXXI. The occasion of these intestine divisions among 
 the Franciscans, was a dispute about the precise mean- 
 ing of their rule. Their founder and chief had made 
 absolute poverty one of their indispensable obligations. 
 The religious orders before his time were so constituted, 
 that, though no single monk had any personal property, 
 the whole community, considered as one collective body, 
 had possessions and revenues, from which every member 
 drew the means of his subsistence. But the austere chief 
 of the Franciscans absolutely prohibited both separate 
 and collective property to the monks of his order, not 
 permitting either the individual or the community to pos- 
 
 * See Jo. Launoii Lib. de Viso Stockii, oper. tom. ii. part ii. p. 379.— 
 Acta Sanctor. tom. iii. Mensis Maii ad diem xvi—Theoph. Rainaudi 
 Scapulare Marianum, tom. vii. op. p. 614. 
 
 > Benedict XIV., notwithstanding his pretended freedom from super- 
 stition and priestly fraud, deigned to appear among the supporters of this 
 gross fiction, though he defended it with his usual air of prudence and 
 timidity, in his book de Festis B. Marie Virg. lib. ii. cap, vi. p. 472, t. 
 x. op. edit. Rom. : 
 
 © See the Alcoran des Cordeliers, tom. i. p. 256, 266, &c. Luc. Wad- 
 ding, Annales Minor. tom. iil. p. 380. 
 
 4The words of the rule itself relating to this point are as follow: 
 ‘Fratres sibi nihil approprient, nec domum, nec locum, nec aliquam rem 
 
 _ obliged to resign his post. 
 
 that they took the liberty to dispense with it as soon as 
 their founder was dead ; and in this they were seconded 
 by pope Gregory [X., who, in 123], published an inter- 
 pretation of this rule, which considerably mitigated its 
 excessive rigour.® But this mitigation was far from being 
 agreeable to all the Franciscans; it shocked the austere 
 monks of that order, those particularly who were called 
 the Spiritawals,{ whose melancholy temper rendered them 
 fond of every thing harsh and gloomy, and whose 
 fanatical spirit hurried them always into extremes. 
 Hence arose a warm debate, which Innocent IV. decided, 
 in 1245, in favour of those who were inclined to mitigate 
 the severity of the rule in question. By his decree it was 
 enacted, that the Franciscan friars should be permitted to 
 possess certain places, habitations, chattels, books, &c. 
 and to make use of them, but that the property of all 
 these things should reside in St. Peter or the Roman 
 church; so that without the pope’s consent they might 
 neither be sold, bartered, nor transferred, under any pre- 
 text whatever. ‘This edict, was considered by the gloomy 
 part of the order as a most. pernicious depravation of their 
 holy rule, and was, consequently, opposed and rejected by 
 them with indignation. Hence many of these spiritual 
 malcontents retired into the woods and deserts, while others 
 were apprehended by Crescentius, the general of the so- 
 ciety, and sent into exile.¢ 
 
 XXXII. A change, however, arose in their favour, in 
 1247, when John of Parma was chosen general of the 
 order. ‘This famous ecclesiastic, who was zealously at- 
 tached to the sentiments of the spiritual members, recalled 
 them from their exile, and inculcated upon all his monks 
 a strict and unlimited obedience to the very letter of the 
 rule that had been drawn up by St. Francis.» By this 
 reform, he brought back the order to its primitive state ; 
 and the only reward he obtained for his zealous labours, 
 was to be accused as a rebellious heretic at the tribunal of 
 pope Alexander IV., in consequence of which he was 
 He had also the mortification 
 to see the monks who adhered to his sentiments thrown 
 into prison, which unhappy lot he himself escaped with 
 great difficulty.: His successor, the famous Bonaventura, 
 who was one of the most eminent scholastic divines of 
 this century, proposed steering a middle course between 
 the contending factions, having nothing so much at heart 
 as to preventan open schism. Nevertheless, the measures 
 he took to reconcile the jarring parties, and to maintain a 
 
 -spiritof union in the order, were not attended with the 
 degree of success which he expected from them; nor 
 
 were they sufficient to hinder the less austere part of the 
 Franciscans from soliciting and obtaining, in 1257, from 
 Alexander IV. a solemn renewal of the mild interpretation 
 
 sed, sicut peregrini et advene in hoc seculo, in paupertate et humilitate 
 famulantes Domino, vaaant pro eleemosyna confidenter .... (7. €. let 
 them be sturdy beggars) Hee est illa celsitudo altissime pau- 
 pertatis quae vog ¢azissimos meos fratres heredes et reges regni coeorum 
 nstituit.” 
 
 e The bull was puoAsned by Emmanuel Roderic in his Collectio Pri- 
 vilegiorum reguiarium Mendicantium, et non Mendicantium, tom. i. 
 
 f Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iii. p. 99: they were also called 
 Zelatores, and Cesarians from their chief Cesarius. 
 
 £ Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iii. iv. 
 
 h Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iii. 
 
 i Wadding, tom. iv, 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 wuich Innocent IV. had given of the rule of their founder.* 
 On the other hand, those who adhered to the sentiments 
 of John of Parma maintained their cause with such 
 success, that, in an assembly of the order holden in 1260, 
 the explication of Innocent was abrogated and annulled, 
 especially in those points wherein it differed from that 
 which had been formerly given by Gregory LX.» 
 XXXII. This dispute concerning the true sense of 
 the rule of St. Francis was followed by another of equal 
 moment, which produced new and unhappy divisions 
 among the monks of that order. About the commence- 
 ment of this century, there were handed about in Italy 
 several pretended prophecies of the famous Joachim, abbot 
 of Sora in Calabria,s whom the multitude revered as a 
 person divinely inspired, and equal to the most illustrious 
 prophets of ancient times. The greatest part of these 
 predictions were contained in a work entitled the Ever- 
 lasting Gospel, which was also usually called the Book of 
 Joachim.¢ This Joachim, (whether a real or fictitious 
 person we shall not pretend to determine,) among many 
 other future events, foretold the destruction of the church 
 of Rome, whose corruptions he censured with the great- 
 est severity, and the promulgation of a new and more 
 perfect Gospel in the age of the Holy Ghost, by a set 
 of poor and austere ministers, whom God was to raise 
 
 * This edict of Alexander LY. is published by Wadding, Annal. Min. 
 t. iv. among the Records. 
 
 > The interpretation of Gregory mitigated the rule of St. Francis; but 
 that of Innocent went much farther, and seemed to destroy its funda- 
 mental principles. See Wadding, Annales Minor. tom. iv. ‘The lament- 
 able divisions that reigned among the monks of this famous order, are 
 described, in an accurate and lively manner, by Bonaventura himself, in 
 a letter, which is extant in the work now cited. 
 
 3° The resemblance between the words Sora and Flora, has pro- 
 bably led Dr. Mosheim here into a slight mistake. Sora is not in Cala- 
 bria, but in the province of Capua. It must therefore have been Fvora, 
 that our author intended to write, as Spanheim, Fleury, and other eccle- 
 siastical historians, have done. 
 
 4 The Merlin of the English, the Malichi of the Irish, and Nostrada- 
 mus of the French, those pretended soothsayers, who, under the illusory 
 or feigned persuasion of a divine impulse, sang in uncouth verse the fu- 
 ture revolutions of church and state, are just what we may suppose the 
 Joachim of the Italians to have been. Many predictions of this latter 
 were formerly handed about, and are still to be seen: they have passed 
 through various editions, and have been illustrated by the lucubrations 
 of several commentators. It is not to be doubted that Joachim was the 
 author of some predictions, and that he, in a particular manner, foretold 
 the reformation of the church, of which he might easily see the absolute 
 necessity. It is however certain that the greatest part of the predictions 
 and writings, which were formerly attributed to him, were composed by 
 others; and this we may affirm even of the Everlasting Gospel, the 
 work undoubtedly of some obscure, silly, and visionary author, who 
 thought proper to adorn his reveries with the celebrated name of Joa- 
 chim, in order to gain them eredit, and to render them more agreeable to 
 the multitude. The title of this senseless production is taken from Re- 
 velations, xiv. 6, and it contained three books ; the first was entitled, L7- 
 ber Concordié Veritatis, i. e. the Book of the Harmony of Truth; the 
 second, Apocalypsis Nova, or the New Revelation; and the third, Psal- 
 terium decem Chordarum, i. e. the Ten-stringed Harp. This account 
 was taken from a manuscript of that work in the library of the Sor- 
 bonne, by Jac. Echard, who has published it in his Scriptores Domi- 
 nican. tom. 1. 
 
 * This is acknowledged even by Wadding, notwithstanding his par- 
 uality in favour of the spiritual or austere Franciscans. See his An- 
 nal. Minor. tom. iv. p. 3—6. 
 
 f Revel. xiv. 6. ‘And Isaw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 
 having the Everlasting Gospel to preach wnto them that dwell on the 
 earth.’ See on this subject Baluzii Miscellan. tom. i. p. 221, 235.— 
 Echardi Seriptor. Dominic. tom. 1. p. 202.—Codex Inquisit. Tolosane a 
 Limborchio edit. p. 301. 
 
 © As the accounts given of this book, by ancient and modern writers, 
 are not sufficiently accurate, it may not be improper to offer here some 
 observations that may correct their mistakes. 1. They almost all con- 
 found the Everlasting Gospel, or the Gospel of the Holy Ghost, (for so it 
 is also called, as we are told by Guil. de St. Amour, in his book de Pe- 
 riculis noviss. Temporum,) with the Introduction to the Everlasting 
 
 No. XX VII. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 Pe 
 
 313 
 
 up and employ for that purpose. For he divided the 
 world into three ages, with reference to the three dis 
 pensations of religion. "The two imperfect ages,—namely, 
 the age of the Old Testament, which was that of the 
 Father, and the age of the New, which was under the 
 administration of the Son,—had according to the pre 
 dictions of this fanatic, already expired, and the third 
 age, that of the Holy Ghost, had commenced. The 
 Spiritual, i. e. the austere Franciscans, who were, for 
 the most part, well-meaning but wrong-headed enthusiasts, 
 not only swallowed down, with the most voracious and 
 implicit credulity, the prophecies and doctrines which 
 were attributed to Joachim, but applied those predictions, 
 to themselves, and to the rule of discipline established by 
 their holy founder St. Francis;* for they maintained, 
 that he delivered to mankind the d¢rwe Gospel, and that 
 he was the angel whom 8t. John saw flying in the midst 
 of heaven.‘ 
 
 XXXIV. When the intestine divisions among the 
 Franciscans were at the greatest height, one of the Spari- 
 tual friars, whose name was Gerard, undertook the expli- 
 cation of the Everlasting Gospel ascribed to Joachim, in 
 a book which appeared, in 1250, under the title of Introduc- 
 tion to the Everlasting Gospel.¢ In this book, the fanati- 
 cal monk, among other enormities, as insipid as impious, 
 
 Gospel. But these two productions must be carefully distinguished from 
 each other. The Everlasting Gospel was attributed to the abbot Joa- 
 chim, and it consisted of three books, as has been already observed. But 
 the Introduction to this Gospel was the work of a Franciscan monk, 
 
 || who explained the obscure predictions of the pretended Gospel, and ap- 
 
 plied them to his order. The Everlasting Gospel was neither complain- 
 ed of by the university of Paris, nor condemned by the Roman pontiff, 
 Alexander IV.; but the Introduction was complained of, condemned, 
 and burned, as appears evidently from the letters of the above mentioned 
 pontiff, which are to be seen in Boulay’s Histor. Academ. Paris. tom. 
 i. p. 292. The former consisted, as productions of that nature gene- 
 rally do, of ambiguous predictions and intricate riddles, and was conse- 
 quently despised or neglected; but the latter was dangerous in many re- 
 spects. 2. It is farther to be observed, that the ancient writers are not 
 agreed concerning the author of this Introduction. They are wnani- 
 mous in attributing it to one of the mendicant friars; but the votaries of 
 St. Francis maintain, that the author was a Dominican, while the Do- 
 minican party affirm as obstinately, that he was a Franciscan. The 
 greatest part of the learned, however, are of opinion, thai the author of 
 the infamous work in question was John of Parma, general of the Fran- 
 ciscans, who is known to have been most warmly attached to the sp7- 
 ritwal faction of that order, and to have maintained the sentiments of 
 the abbot Joachim with an excessive zeal. See Wadding, (Annal. Mi- 
 nor. tom. iv.) who endeavours to defend him against this accusation, 
 though without success. (See also the Acta Sanctorum, tom. iii. Mar- 
 tii, p. 157; for John of Parma, though he preferred the Gospel of St. 
 Francis to that of Christ, has, nevertheless, obtained a place among the 
 saints.) The learned Echard is of a different opinion, and has proved, 
 (in his Scriptor. Dominican. tom. 1. p. 202,) from the curious manu- 
 scripts yet preserved in the Sorbonne, relating to the Everlasting Gospel, 
 that Gerard, a Franciscan friar, was the author of the infamous Intro- 
 duction to that book. This Gerard, indeed, was the intimate friend and 
 companion to John of Parma, and not only maintained, with the great- 
 est obstinacy, the cause of the spzritwals, but also embraced all the sen 
 
 timents that were attributed to the abbot Joachim, with such an ardent 
 zeal, that he chose to remain 18 years in prison, rather than to abandon 
 them. See Wadding, tom. 4. Those Franciscans who were called ob- 
 servantes, i. e. vigilant, from their professing a more rigid observance of 
 the rule of their founder than was practised by the rest of their order, 
 place Gerard among the saints of the first rank, and impudently affirm, 
 that he was not only endowed with the gift of prophecy, but also with 
 the power of working miracles. See Wadding, tom. iii. p.213. It is to 
 be observed, 3dly, That whoever may have been the writer of this de- 
 testable book, the whole mendicant order, in the judgment of the greatest 
 part of the historians of this age, shared the guilt of its composition and 
 publication, more especially the Dominicans and Franciscans, who are 
 supposed to have fallen upon this impious method of deluding the multi- 
 
 tude into a high notion of their sanctity, in order to establish their do- 
 
 minion, and to extend their authority beyond all bounds. This opinon, 
 
 however, is ill-founded, notwithstanding the numbers by which it has 
 
 been adopted. The Franciscans alone are chargeable with the guilt of 
 
314 
 
 inculeated the following detestable doctrine: “'That St. 
 Francis, who was the angel mentioned in the Revelations 
 xiv. 6, had promulgated to the world the true and ever- 
 lasting gospel of God; that the gospel of Christ was to be 
 abrogated in the year "1260, and to give place to this new 
 and everlasting gospel, which was to be substituted in its 
 room; and that the ministers of this great reformation 
 were to be humble and bare-footed friars, destitute of all 
 worldly etnoluments.”* When this strange book was 
 published at Paris in 1254, it excited in the “doctors of the 
 church, and indeed in all good men, the most. lively 
 feelings of horror and indigestion against the mendicant 
 friars, who had already, by other parts of their conduct, 
 incurred the displeasure of the public. ‘This general 
 ferment engaged pope Alexander IV., though much 
 against his will, to order the suppression of this absurd 
 book in 125: 55; he, however, took care to have this order 
 executed with the greatest possible mildness, lest it should 
 hurt the reputation of the mendicants, and open the eyes 
 of the superstitious multitude. But the doctors of the 
 university of Paris, not being satisfied with these gentle 
 and timorous proceedings, repeated without interruption 
 their accusation and complaints, until the extravagant 
 and obnoxious production was publicly committed to the 
 flames.» 
 
 XXXY. The intestine flame of discord, which had 
 raged among the Franciscans, and was smothered, though 
 not extinguished, by the prudent management of Bona- 
 ventura, brolze cut anew with redoubled fury after the 
 death of that pacific doctor. Those Franciscan monks 
 who were fond of opulence and ease, renewed their com- 
 plaints against the rule of their founder as unreasona- 
 ble and unjust, demanding what it was absolutely be- 
 yond the power of man to perform. ‘Their complaints, 
 however, were without effect; and their schemes were 
 disconcerted by pope Nicolas III., who leaned to the side 
 of the austere Franciscans, and who, in 1279, published 
 that famous constitution which confirmed the rule of 
 St. Francis, and contained an accurate and elaborate 
 explication of the maxims it recommended, and the du- 
 ties it prescribed. By this edict he renewed that part of 
 the rule, which prohibited all kinds of property among 
 the Franciscans, every thing that bore the least resem- 
 blance to a legal possession, or a fixed domain; but he 
 granted to them, at the same time, the use of things ne- 
 cessary, such as houses, books, and other conveniences 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 of that nature, the property of which, in conformity with 
 the appointment of Innocent IV., was to reside in the 
 church of Rome. Nor did the provident pontiff stop 
 here; but prohibited, under the severest penalties, all pri- 
 vate explications of this new law, lest they should excite 
 disputes, and furnish new matter of contention ; and re- 
 served the power of interpreting it to himself and his suc- 
 cessors alone.* 
 
 XXXVI. However disposed Nicolas was to satisfy the 
 spiritual and austere part of the Franciscan order, which 
 
 'had now become numerous both in SJtaly and France, 
 
 and particularly in the province of Narbonne, the con- 
 stitution above mentioned was far from producing that 
 effect. The monks of that gloomy faction, who resided 
 in Italy, received the papal edict with a sullen and dis- 
 contented silence. ‘Their brethren in France, and more 
 especially in the southern parts of that kingdom, where 
 the inhabitants are of a warm and sanguine complexion, 
 testified, in an open and tumultuous manner, the disap- 
 probation of this new constitution ; and having at their 
 head a famous Franciscan, whose name was Pierre Jean 
 
 'd’Olive, they excited new dissensions and troubles in the 
 _order.¢ 
 
 Pierre was a native of Serignan in Langue- 
 doc, who had acquired a shining reputation, by his wri- 
 tings, and whose eminent sanctity and learning drew af- 
 ter him a great number of followers; nor is it to be de- 
 nied, that there were many important truths and wise 
 maxims in the instructions he delivered. One of the 
 great objects of which he never lost sight in his writings, 
 was the corruption of the church of Rome, which he 
 censured with extraordinary freedom and severity, in a 
 work entitled Postilla, or a Commentary on the Revela- 
 tions, affirming boldly, that this church was represented 
 by the ‘whore of Babylon, the mother of harlots,’ whom 
 St. John beheld sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full 
 of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten 
 horns. It is however to be observed, that this severe 
 censor of a corrupt church, was himself a most supersti- 
 tious fanatic in several respects, having imbibed the 
 greatest part of those monstrous opinions, which the Spiri- 
 tuals pretended to have received from the abbote Joachim ; 
 to which he added an impious and extravagant veneration 
 for St. Francis, whom he considered as entirely trans- 
 formed into the person of Christ.s In the debate con- 
 cerning the sense of the rule of this famous chief, he 
 seemed to adhere to neither of the contending parties ; 
 
 this horrid production, as appears most evidently ‘rom the fragments of 
 the book itself, which ‘vet renfain ; but we are obl.ged in justice to ob- 
 serve farther, that this euilt does not lie upon all the Franciscans, but 
 only on the spirii ual faction. Perhaps we might go still farther, and 
 allege, that the charge ought not to be extended even to all the mem- 
 bers of this factio: v but to such alone as placed an idle and enthusiastic 
 confidence in Joachim, and gave credit to all his pretended prophecies. 
 These observations are necessary to the true understanding of what has 
 peen said concerning the Everlasting Gospel by the followi ing learned 
 men: Jo. Andr. Schmidius, Dissertat. Helmst. 1700. —Usserius, de Suc- 
 cessone Ecclesiar, Occident. c. ix. sect. 20. —Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. 
 com. ili. p. 292.—Nauatal. Alexander, Histor. Eccles. sec. XIII. artic. iv.— 
 Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iv.—Upon the whole it may be affirmed, 
 shat, the book under consideration is not, asthe greatest part of the learn- 
 ed have imagined, a monument of the arrogance of the mendicant orders 
 in general, but rather a proof of the impious fanaticism and extravagance 
 of a small number of Franciscans. 
 
 *See Guil. de St. Amour de Periculis noviss. Tempor. who onserves 
 that the book under consideration was not indeed publishea before the 
 year 1254, but that the opinions contained in it had an earlier origin, 
 and were ‘propagated even in the year 1200. Several of the ancient 
 writers have given large extracts from this infamous book. See Herm. 
 Comeri Chronicon, in Eccardi Corpore Histor. medii Zvi, tom. ii. p. 
 
 850, sy onicon Egmondanum, in Ant. Matthei Analectis veteris AX vi, 
 tom. ii. p. 517.—Ricobaldus apud Eccardi Corp. tom. 1. p. 1215.—But 
 between Tee extracts there is a great difference, which seems to have 
 arisen from ‘this, that some drew their citations from the Everlasting. 
 Gospel of Joachim, while others drew theirs from the Intreduction of 
 Gerard, not sufficiently distinguishing one work from the other. 
 
 bSee Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. ii. p. 299.—Jordani Chronicon 
 in Muratorii Antiq. Ita}. tom. iv. p. 998. 
 
 *Some affirm, that this constitution was issued by Txicolas TV.; but 
 their opinion is refuted by Wadding, in his Annal. Min. tom. v. 
 
 4 This constitution is yet extant in the Jus. Canon. lib. vi. Decretal. 
 Tit. xii. c. iii. p. 1028. edit. Bohm. and is vulgarly called the Coustitu 
 tion Hxiit, from its beginning with that word. 
 
 ® In some ancient records, this ring-leader is called Petrus Biterrensis, 
 i. e. Peter of Beziers, because he resided “for a long time in the convent 
 of Beziers, where he performed the functions of a public teacher. By 
 
 ' others, he 1s named Petrus de Serignano, from the place of his nativity 
 
 This remark is so much the more necessary, as some authors have taken 
 these three denominations for three distinct persons. 
 
 f Revelations, xvi. 3, 5. 
 
 £-Totum Christo configur atum. See the Litera Magistrorum, de Pos- 
 tilla Fratris P. Joh. Olivi, in Baluzii Miscellan. tom. 1. p. 213 _—Wad- 
 ding, Annales Minor. tom. v. p. 51. 
 
Cuap. IL. 
 
 for he allowed to his followers the bare use of the, neces- 
 saries of life; and being called upon, at different times, 
 by the authority of his superiors, to declare his senti- 
 ments upon this head, he professed his assent to the in- 
 terpretation that had been given df the rule in question 
 by Nicolas III. He leaned, nevertheless, to the side of 
 those austere and spiritual Franciscans, who not only op- 
 posed the introduction of property among the individuals 
 of the order, but also maintained, that the whole com- 
 munity, considered collectively, was likewise to be ex- 
 cluded from possessions of every kind. Great was his 
 zeal for these gloomy Franciscans, and he defended their 
 cause with warmth ;* hence he is looked upon as the chief 
 of that faction, which disputed so often, and so vehement- 
 ly, with the Roman pontiffs, in favour of the renuncia- 
 tion of property, in consequence of the institution of St. 
 Francis.» 
 
 XXXVI. The credit and authority of Pierre d’Olive, 
 whom the multitude considered, not only as a man of 
 unblemished sanctity, but also as a prophet sent from 
 above, added new force and vigour to the Spirituals, and 
 encouraged them to renew the combat with redoubled 
 fury. But the prudence of the heads of the order pre- 
 vented, for some time, the pernicious effects of these vio- 
 lent efforts, and so over-ruled the impetuous motions of 
 this enthusiastic faction, that a sort of equality was pre- 
 served between the contending parties. But the promo- 
 tion of Matthew of Aqua Sparta, who was elected gene- 
 ral of the order in 1287, put an end to these prudential 
 measures, and changed entirely the face of affairs. ‘This 
 new chief suffered the ancient discipline of the Francis- 
 cans to dwindle away to nothing, indulged his monks 
 in abandoning even the very appearance of poverty, and 
 thus drew upon himself not only the indignation and 
 raze of the austere part of the spiritual Franciscans, but 
 also the disapprobation of the more moderate members of 
 that party. Hence arose various tumults and seditions, 
 first In tne marquisate of Ancona, and afterwards in 
 France, which the new general endeavoured to suppress 
 by imprisonment, exile, and corporal punishments ; but, 
 finding all these means ineffectual, he resigned his place 
 in 1239.° His successor, Raymond Goffredi, employed 
 his utmost efforts to appease these troubles. For this 
 purpose he recalied the banished friars, set at liberty those 
 who had been thrown into prison, and put out of the 
 way several of the austere Franciscans, who had been 
 the principal encouragers of these unhappy divisions, by 
 
 sending them into Armenia in the character of missiona- | 
 
 ties. But the disorder was too far gone to be easily re- 
 medied. ‘he more moderate Franciscans, who had a 
 
 relish for the sweets of property and opulence, accused 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNME.T, ETC. 
 
 a 'The real sentiments of Pierre d’Olive will be best discovered in the | 
 last discourse he pronounced, which is yet extant in Boulay’s Histor. | 
 
 Acad. Paris. tom. lil. p. 535, and in Wadding’s Annal. Min. t. v.p.378. | 
 
 > For an account of this famous friar, see not only the common mo- 
 nastic historians, such as Raynaldus, Alexander, and Oudinus, but also 
 the following: Baluzii Miscel. tom. i. p. 213. and his Vit. Pontif. Ave- 
 nion. tom. ii. p. 752. Car. Plessis d’Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum de 
 novis Ecclesie Erroribus, tom. i. p. 226.—Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. 
 vy. p. 52, 108, 121, 140, 236, and inore especially, p. 378, where he makes 
 an unsuccessful attempt to justify this enthusiast.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. 
 Paris. tom. iii. p. 535.—Schelhornii Amenitates Literariz, tom. ix. p. 
 678. Histoire Generale de Languedoc, par les Moines Benedictins, tom. 
 iv. p. 91, 179, 182. The bones of Pierre d’Olive were taken up by 
 the order of pope John XXII. and burned publicly with his writings, 
 in the year 1325. 
 
 Sl5 
 
 the new general of a partial attachment to the Spirituals, 
 
 | whom he treated with peculiar affection and respect, ard 
 
 therefore employed their whole credit to procure his 
 dismission from office, which, with much difficulty, they 
 at length effected, under the pontificate of Boniface VIEL. 
 On the other hand, the more rigid part of the spiritua 
 faction renounced all fellowship, even with such of their 
 own party as discovered a pacific and reconciling spirit ; 
 and, forming themselves into a separate body, protested 
 publicly against the interpretation which Nicolas IL. 
 had given of the rule of St. Francis. hus, from the 
 year 1290, the affairs of the Franciscans carried a dismal 
 aspect, and portended nothing but seditions and schisms 
 in an order which had been so famous for its pretended 
 disinterestedness and humility. 
 
 XXXVIII. In the year 1294, a certain number of 
 Italian Franciscans, of the spiritual party, addressed them- 
 selves to Celestin V. for permission to form a separate 
 order, in which they might not only profess, but also ob- 
 serve, in the strictest manner, that austere rule of absolute 
 poverty, which St. Francis had prescribed to his followers. 
 The good pontiff, who, before his elevation to the supre- 
 macy of the church, had led a solitary and austere life,¢ 
 and was fond of every thing that looked like mortification 
 and self-denial, granted with the utmost facility the request 
 of these friars, and placed, at the head of the new order, 
 a monk, whose name was Liberatus, and who was one of 
 the ‘greatest selftormentors of all the monastic tribe.‘ 
 Soon after this, Celestin, finding himself unfit for the 
 duties of his high and important office, resigned the pon- 
 tificate, in which he was succeeded by Boniface VIII. 
 who annulled all the acts of his predecessor, and sup- 
 pressed, among other institutions, the new order, which 
 had assumed the title of the Celestin Hermits of St. 
 Francis. This disgrace was, as it were, the signal 
 which drew upon them the most furious attacks of their 
 enemies. The worldly-minded Franciscans persecuted 
 them with the most unrelenting bitterness, accused them 
 of various crimes, and even cast upon them the odious 
 reproach of Manicheism. Hence many of these unhappy 
 fanatics retired into Achaia, whence they passed into a 
 small island, where they imagined themselves secure from 
 the rage of their adversaries, and at liberty to indulge 
 themselves in all the austerities of that miserable life, 
 which they looked upon as the perfection of holiness 
 here below. But no retreat was sufficient to screen them 
 from the vigilance and fury of their cruel persecutors, 
 who left no means unemployed to perpetuate their mise- 
 ries. In the mean time, the branch of the spiritual Fran- 
 ciscans that remained in Italy, continued to observe the 
 rigorous laws of their primitive institution in spite of 
 
 ¢ Wadding, Annales Min. tom. v. p. 210, 235. 
 
 aIdem opus, t. v. p. 108, 121, 140, and more especially p. 235, 236 
 
 z>° This pope, whose name was Peter Mueron, had retired very 
 young toa solitary mountain, in order to devote himself entirely to pray- 
 er and mortification. The fame of his piety brought many to see him 
 from a principle of curiosity, several of whom renounced tke world, and 
 became the companions of his solitude. With these he formed a kind 
 of community, in 1254, which was approved by Urban IV. in 1264, and 
 erected into a distinct order, called the Hermits of St. Damien. On his 
 assumption of the pontifical name of Celestin V., his order, which must 
 not be confounded with the new Franciscan Celestin Hermits, took the 
 title of Celestins. 
 
 f Wadding, Annales, tom. v. p. 324, 338. . 
 
 * Wadding, Annales, tom. vi—Bullarium Magnum, Contin. II. IV. 
 
 p. 108 
 
316 
 
 Boniface VIII., who used his utmost efforts to conquer 
 their obstinacy. ‘hey erected societies of their order, 
 first in the kingdom of Naples, afterwards in the Milanese, 
 and in the marquisate of Ancona; and, at length spread- 
 ing themselves through the greatest part of Europe, they 
 continued in the most violent state of war-with the church 
 of Rome, until the Reformation changed the face of 
 
 things. In these conflicts they underwent trials and 
 sullerings of every kind, and multitudes of them perished | 
 in the flames, as miserable victims to the infernal fury of 
 the Inquisition.* 
 
 XX XIX. Toward the conclusion of this century arose 
 in Italy tie enthusiastic sect of the Fratricelli and Bizochi, 
 which, in Germany and France, received the denomina- 
 tion of Beghards. They were condemned by Boniface 
 VILI,° and by several of his successors; and the inquisi- 
 tors were ordered by these despotic pontiffs to persecute 
 them until they were extirpated, which commission they 
 executed with their usual barbarity. The Mratricell2, or 
 Litile Brethren, were Franciscan monks, who separated 
 themselves from the grand community of St. Francis, 
 with an intention of obeying the laws of their parent 
 and founder in a more strict and rigorous manner than 
 
 ® The writers that serve generally as guides in this part of the histo- 
 ry of the church, and whom I have been obliged to consult upon the di- 
 visions of the Franciscans, (whose history, as will soon appear, is pecu- 
 liarly interesting and important,) are far from meriting the encomiums 
 which are due to perspicuity and exactness. This part of the ecclesias- 
 tical history of what is called the Middle Age, has not hitherto been ac- 
 curately illustrated by any writer, though it be, every way, worthy of 
 the labours of the learned, and of the attention of Christians. Its prin- 
 cipal merit consists herein, that it exhibits striking examples of piety 
 and learning struggling against the power of superstition and ignorance, 
 and against that spiritual tyranny of which they were the principal sup- 
 ports. And it may be observed, that these rebellious Franciscans, 
 though fanatical and superstitious in several respects, deserve an emi- 
 nent rank among those who prepared the way for the reformation in 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Europe, and who excited, in the minds of the people, a just aversion to 
 the church of Rome. Raynaldus, Bzovius, Spondanus, in their Annals, 
 Eymericus,in his Directorium Inquisitorum, and Natalis Alexander, in his 
 Ecclesiastical History, relate the revolutions that happened in the Fran- 
 ciscan order, and in the church in general, during this period; but their 
 accounts are neither so accurate, nor soample, as the importance of the 
 events deserved. And as itis from these authors that the protestant histo- 
 rians have drawn their materials, we need not be surprised at the defects 
 with which the latterabound. Wadding, who merits high encomiums asa 
 laborious and learned writer, is yet an uncertain guide, when he treats of 
 the matters now underconsideration. His attachment to one party, and his 
 fear of the others, subject him to restraints, that prevent his declaring the 
 truth with anoble freedom. He shades his picture with dexterity. He con- 
 ceals, dissembles, excuses, acknowledges, and denies, with such a timo- 
 rous prudence and caution, that the truth could not but suffer consider- 
 ably under his pen. He appears to have been attached to the rigid 
 Franciscans, and yet had not the courage to declare openly, that they 
 had been injured by the pontiffs. He saw, on the other hand, the tu- 
 mults and perplexities in which these rigid Franciscans had involved 
 the church of Rome, and the strokes which they had aimed, with no 
 small success, at the majesty of the pontiffs: but he has taken all ima- 
 ginable pains to throw such a shade upon this part of their conduct, as 
 conceals its violence from the view of his readers. Such then being the 
 characters of the writers who have handed down to us the history of the 
 church in this important period, I could not follow any one of them asa 
 sure or constant guide in all the events they relate, the judgments the 
 fora, or the characters they describe. I have not, however, been desti- 
 tute of a clue to conduct me through the various windings of this intri- 
 cate labyrinth. The testimonies of ancient authors, with several manu- 
 scripts that have never yet been published, such as the Diplomas of the 
 pontiffs and emperors, the Acts of the Inquisition, and other records of 
 that kind, are the authentic sources from which I have drawn my ac- 
 counts of many things that have been very imperfectly represented by 
 other historians. 
 
 b See Trithemius, An. Hirsaug. t. ii. p. 74, though this author is defec- 
 tive in severai respects, and more especially in his accounts of the origin 
 and sentiments of the Fratricelli. Itis also to be observed, that he confounds, 
 through the whole of his history, the sects and orders of this century one 
 with another, in the most ignorant and unskilful manner. See rather Du 
 
 Boulay, His. Acad, Paris. t. iii. p. 541, where the edict published in 1297, 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 they were observed by the other Franciscans, and who, 
 accordingly, renounced every kind of possession and 
 property both common and personal, and begged from 
 door to door their daily subsistence.c They alleged that 
 neither Christ nor his apostles had any possessions, either 
 personal or in common ; and that they were the models, 
 whom St. Francis commanded his followers to imitate. 
 After the example also of their austere founder, they went 
 about clothed with sordid garments, or rather with loath- 
 some rags, declaimed against the corruption of the church 
 of Rome, and the vices of the pontiffs and bishops, 
 foretold the reformation of the church and the restoration 
 of the true Gospel, by the genuine followers of St. Francis, 
 and declared their assent to almost all the doctrines, 
 which were published under the name of the abbot 
 Joachim. 'They esteemed and respected Celestin V., 
 because, as has been already observed, he was, in some 
 measure, the founder of their society, by permitting them 
 to erect themselves into a separate order. But they 
 refused to acknowledge, as true and lawful heads of the 
 church, his successor Boniface and the subsequent pontiffs, 
 who opposed the F'ratricelli, and persecuted their order.¢ 
 XL. As the Franciscan order acknowledged, for its 
 
 by Boniface VIII. against the Bizochi or Beghards, is inserted; as also 
 Jordani Chronicon, in Muratorii Antiq. Italic, tom. iv. p. 1020. 
 
 ¢ The Fratricelli resembled the Spirituais in many of their maxims 
 and observances: they, however, were a distinct body, and differed from 
 them in various respects. The Spirituals, for instance, continued to hold 
 communion with the rest of the Franciscans, from whom they differed 
 in points of considerable moment, nor did they ever pretend to erect 
 themselves into a particular and distinct order; the Fratricelli, on the 
 contrary, renounced all communion with the Franciscans, and, withdraw- 
 ing their obedience from the superiors of that society, chose for them- 
 selves a new chief, under whom they formed a new and separate order. 
 The Spirituals did not absolutely oppose their order’s possessing certain 
 goods jointly and in common, provided they renounced all property in 
 these goods, and confined their pretensions to the mere use of them; 
 whereas the Fratricelli rejected every kind of possession, whether per- 
 sonal or in common, and embraced that absolute poverty and want which 
 St. Francis had prescribed in his Rule and in his last Testament. We 
 omit the mention of less important differences. 
 
 ¢ The accounts of the Fratricelli, that are given by ancient and mo- 
 dern writers, even by those who pretend to the greatest exactness, are 
 extremely confused and uncertain. ‘Trithemius, in his Annai. Hirsaug. 
 tom. il. p. 74, affirms, that they derived their origin from Tanchelinus, 
 and thus ignorantly confounds them with the Catharists and other sects 
 that arose in those times. The Franciscans leave no means unemploy- 
 ed to clear themselves from all relation to this society, and to demon- 
 strate that such a pestilential and impious sect, as that of the F'ratricelli, 
 did not derive their origin from the order of St. Francis. In consequence 
 of this, they deny that the Fratricelli professed the Franciscan rule; and 
 maintain, on the contrary, that the society which was distinguished by 
 this title was a heap of rabble, composed of persons of all kinds and all 
 religions, whom Herman Pongilup, toward the conclusion of this cen- 
 tury, assembled at Ferrara, and erected into a distinct order. See Wad- 
 ding’s Annal. Minor. tom. vi. p. 279. This author employs all his elo- 
 quence to defend his order from the infamous reproach of having given 
 rise to that of the Fratricelli; but his efforts are vain; for he acknow- 
 ledges, and even proves by unquestionable authorities, that this hated sect 
 professed and observed, in the most rigorous manner, the rule of St. 
 Francis ; and nevertheless, he denies that they were Franciscans; b 
 which he means, and indeed can only mean, that they were not such 
 Franciscans as those who lived in subjection to the general of the order, 
 and adopted the interpretation which the popes had given of the rule of 
 their founder. All Wadding’s boasted demonstration, therefore, comes 
 to no more than this, that the Fratricelli were Franciscans who separated 
 themselves from the grand order of St. Francis, and rejected the au- 
 thority of the general of that order, and the laws and interpretatious, 
 together with the jurisdiction of the pontiffs; and this no mortal ever 
 took into his head to deny. Hermannus, or (as he is called by many) 
 Armannus Pongilup, whom Wadding and others consider as the parent 
 of the Fratricelli, lived in this century at Ferrara, in the highest reputa- 
 tion for his extraordinary piety; and when he died, in 1269, he was in- 
 terred with the greatest pomp and magnificence in the principal church 
 of that city. His memory was, for a long time, honoured with a degree 
 of veneration equal to that which is paid to the most illustrious saints , 
 and it was supposed that the Supreme Being bore testimony to his emi- 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 companions and associates, a set of men, who observed 
 the third rule that was prescribed by St. Francis, and 
 were therefore commonly called 'Tertiaries ;* so likewise 
 the order of the Fratricelli, who were desirous of being 
 considered as the only genuine followers of St. Francis, 
 had a great number of 'Tertiaries attached to their cause. 
 
 nent sanctity by various miracles. But, as Pongilup had been suspect- 
 ed of heresy by the Inquisitors of Heretical Depravity, on account of 
 the peculiar austerity of his life, which resembled that of the Catharists, 
 they made, even after his death, such an exact and scrupulous inquiry 
 into his maxims and morals, that, many years after he was laid low in 
 the grave, his impiety was detected and published to the world. Hence 
 it was, that, in 1300, his tomb was destroyed; his bones were dug up, 
 and burned by the order of Boniface VILI., and the multitude effectually 
 cured of the enthusiastic veneration they had for his memory. The ju- 
 dicial acts of this remarkable event are recorded by Muratori, in his 
 Antiquit. Italic. medii Avi, tom. v. p. 93—147, and it appears evidently 
 from them, that those learned men, who consider Pongilnp as the foun- 
 der of the order of the Fratricelli, have fallen into a gross error. So 
 far was he from being the founder of this sect, that he was dead before 
 it was in existence. The truth is, that this famous enthusiast was a 
 Catharist, infected with Paulician or Manichean principles, and amem- 
 ber of the sect entitled bagnolists, from a town of that name in Provence, 
 where they resided. Some modern writers, indeed, have seen so far into 
 the truth, as to perceive that the Fratricellt were a separate branch of 
 the rigid and austere Franciscans; but they err in this, that they consi- 
 der them as the same sect with the Beghards or Beguins, under a dif- 
 ferent denomination. Such is the opinion adopted by Limborch, (in his 
 Hist. Inquisit. lib. i. cap. xix.) who seems to have been very little ac- 
 quainted with the matters now under consideration; by Baluze, in his 
 Miscellan. tom. i. p. 195, and Vit. Pontif. Avenionens. tom. i. p. 509; 
 by Beausobre, in his Dissertation concerning the Adamites, subjoined 
 to the History of the Wars of the Hussites, p. 380; and by Wadding, 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 317 
 
 These half-monks were called, in Italy, Bizochi and 
 Bocasoti ; in France, Beguins ; and in Germany 
 Begwards, or Beghards, which last was the denomina 
 tion by which they were commonly known in almost all 
 places.» ‘They differed from the Fratricelli, not in their 
 opinions and doctrines, but only in their manner of living. 
 
 In this_act (which is to be seen in the Extravagantia Joh. X XII, Corp. 
 Juris Canon. tom. ii. p. 1112, edit. Bohmer) the pontiff expresses him- 
 self thus: ‘* Nonnulli profane multitudinis viri, qui vulgariter Fratri- 
 celli seu Fratres de paupere vita, Bizochi, sive Beguini, nuncupantur in 
 partibus Italie, in insula Siciliz - - -- publicé mendicare solent.” He 
 afterwards divides the Fratricelli into monks and tertiaries, or (which 
 amounts to the same thing, as we shall show in its place) into Fratri- 
 eelli and Beguins. With respect to the Fratricelli, properly so called, 
 he expresses himself thus: “ Plurimi regulam seu ordinem Fratrum 
 Minorum ---- se profiteri ad literam conservare confingunt, pretendentes 
 se a sancte memorize Celestino Papa Quinto, predecessore nostro, hujus 
 status seu vite privilegium habuisse. Quod tamen etsi ostenderent, 
 non valeret, cum Bonifacius papa octavus ex certis causis rationabilibus 
 omnia ab ipso Celestino concessa - - - - viribus penitus evacuaverit.” 
 Here he describes clearly those Fratricelli, who, separating themselves 
 from the Franciscans with a view to observe more strictly the rule of St. 
 Francis, were erected into a distinct order by Celestin V. And in the 
 following passage he characterises, with the same perspicuity, the Bizo- 
 chi and Beguins, who entitled themselves of the third order of the peni- 
 tents of St. Francis: “ Nonnulli ex ipsis asserentes se esse de tertio or- 
 dine beati Francisci penitentium vocato, predictum statum et ritum 
 eorum sub veiamine talis nominis satagunt palliare.” 
 
 * Beside two very austere rules drawn up by St. Francis, the one for 
 the Friars-Minors, and the other for the Poor Sisters, called Clarisses, 
 from St. Clara their founder, this famous chief drew up a third, whose 
 demands were less rigorous, for such as, without abandoning their world- 
 ly affairs or resigning their posseSsions, were disposed to enter with 
 
 in his Annal. Minor. tom. v. p. 376. But, notwithstanding the autho- 
 rities of these learned men, it 1s certain, as we shall show in its place, 
 that there was a real difference between the Fratricelli and the Beghards, 
 not indeed with respect to their opinions, but in their rule of discipline 
 and their manner of life. 
 
 The principal cause of the errors that have obscured the history of 
 the Fratricelli, is the ambiguity in the denomination of their order. F'ra- 
 tricellus or Fraterculus (Little Brother) was an Italian nick-name, or 
 term of derision, that was applied in this century to all those who, with- 
 out belonging to any of the religious orders, effected a monkish air in 
 their clothing, their carriage, and their manner of living, and assumed 
 a sanctimonious aspect of piety and devotion. See Villani, Istorie Flo- 
 rentine, lib. vill. c. 84.—Imola in Dantem, p. 1121, in Muratori’s Antiq. 
 Ital. tom. i. And as there were many vagabonds of this kind during 
 this century, it happened that the general term of Fvatricelli was ap- 
 plied to them all, though they differed considerably from one another in 
 their opinions and in their methods of living. Thus the Catharists, the 
 W aldenses, the Apostles, and many other sects who had invented new 
 opinions in religion, were marked with this denomination by the multi- 
 tude; while the writers of foreign nations, unacquainted with this ludi- 
 crous application of the word, were puzzled in their inquiries after the 
 sect of the Fratricelli, (who had given so much trouble to the Roman 
 pontiffs,) were even led into the grossest mistakes, and imagined, at one 
 time, that this order was that of the Catharists; at another, that it was 
 the sect of the Waldenses, &c. But, in order to have distinct ideas of 
 this matter, it must be considered that the word Fvaterculus, or Little 
 Brother, bore a quite different sense from the ludicrous one now men- 
 tioned, when it was applied to the austere part of the Franciscans, who 
 maintained the necessity of observing, in the strictest manner, the rule 
 of their founder. Instead of being a nick-name, or a term of derision 
 when applied to them, it was an honourable denomination in which they 
 delighted, and which they preferred infinitely to all other titles. The 
 import of Fratricelli corresponds with Friars-Minors; and every one 
 koows, that the latter appellation was adopted by the Franciscans, as an 
 expression of their extraordinary humility and modesty. In assuming 
 this title, therefore, these monks did not, properly speaking, assume a 
 new name, but only translated the ancient name of their order into the 
 Italian language; for those whom the Latins called Fratres Minores, 
 the Italians called Pratricelli. Of the many proofs we might draw 
 from the best authors in favour of this account of the matter, we 
 shall only allege one, from the Life of Thom. Aquinas, by Gulielmus 
 de Thoco in Actis Sanctor. Martii, tom. i. cap. ii. sect. xxi. ‘ Destruxit 
 (says that biographer) er tertium pestiferum pravitatis errorem 8. Tho- 
 mas - - - cajus sectatores simul et inventores se nominant fraterculos de 
 vild pawpere, ut etiam sub hoc humilitatis sophistico nomine simplicium 
 corda seducant --- contra quem errorem pestiferum Johannes papa XXII. } 
 mirandam edidit decretalem.” 
 
 Now this very Decretal of John XXII. against the Fratricelli, which 
 Thoco calls admirable, is, to mention no other testimonies, a sufficient 
 and satisfactory proof of what I have affirmed in relation to that sect. 
 
 No. XX VII. 80 
 
 certain restrictions into the Franciscan order, and desirous of enjoying 
 the privileges annexed to it. This rule prescribed fasting, continence, 
 hours of devotion and prayer, mean and dirty apparel, gravity of man- 
 ners, and things of that nature; but neither prohibited contracting mar- 
 riage, accumulating wealth, filling civil employments, nor attending to 
 worldly affairs, All the Franciscan historians have given accounts of 
 this third rule, more especially Wadding, Annal. Min. tom. 11.—Helyot 
 Hist. des Ordres, tom. vii. They who professed this third rule, were 
 called Friars of the Penance of Christ, and sometimes also, on account 
 of the meanness of their garments, Brethren of the Sack; but they 
 were more generally known by the denomination of Tertiaries. The 
 greatest part of the religious orders of the church of Rome imitated this 
 institution of St. Francis, as soon as they perceived the various advan- 
 tages that were deducible from it. And hence, at this day, these orders 
 continue to have their Tertiaries. 
 
 > The Tertiaries that were connected with the order of the Fratricelli, 
 arose about the year 1296, in the marquisate of Ancona and the neigh- 
 bouring countries, and were called Bizochi, as we learn from the edict 
 issued against them, in 1297, by Boniface VIII., and published by Du 
 Boulay, in his Historia, Acad. Paris, tom. iii. p. 541. They are men- 
 tioned under the same title by John XXII. in the bull already cited. 
 Add to all these authorities, that of the learned Du-Fresne, who, in his 
 Glossar. Latinit. mediz, observes, that this denomination is derived from 
 Bizochus, which signifies in French wne Besace, i. e. a sack or wallet, 
 such as beggars in general, and these holy beggars in particular, were 
 accustomed to carry about with them. The term Bocasolus, (or Voca- 
 sotus, as Du-Boulay writes it,) has without doubt the same origin, and 
 bears the same signification, It is used by Jordan, in his Chronicle, from 
 which we shall cite a remarkable passage in the following note.. The 
 denominations of Beghards and Beguins,civen to the Tertiaries in France 
 and Italy, are very frequently met with in the ecclesiastical history of 
 the middle ages. The accounts, however, which both ancient and mo- 
 dern writers generally give of these famous names, are so uncertain, 
 and so different from each other, that we need not be surprised to find 
 the history of the Beghards and Beguins involved in greater perplexity 
 and darkness, than any other part of the ecclesiastical annals of the 
 period now mentioned. It is therefore my present object to remove this 
 perplexity, and dispel this darkness as far as that can be done in the 
 short space to which lam confined, and to disclose the true origin of 
 these denominations. 
 
 The words Beghard or Beggehard, Begutta, Bezhinus,and Beghind, 
 which only differ in their terminations, have all one and the same sense. 
 The German and Belgic nations wrote Beghard and Begulle, which 
 terminations are extremely common in the language of the ancient Ger- 
 mans. But the French substituted the Latin termination for the German, 
 and changed Beghard into Beghinus and Beghine ; so that those who 
 in Holland and Germany were called Beghard and Begutle, were de- 
 nominated, in France, Beghini and Beghing. Even in Germany and 
 Holland, the Latin termination was gradually introduced instead of the 
 | German, particularly in the feminine term Beguitu, of which change 
 
318 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr IL 
 
 The Fratricelli were real monks, subjected to the rule of |! The perfect lived upon alms, abstained from wedlock, and 
 
 St. Francis; while the Bizochi or Beguins, if we except 
 their sordid habit, and certain observances and maxims, 
 which they followed in consequence of the injunctions of 
 the famous saint above mentioned, lived after the man- 
 ner of other men, and were therefore considered in no 
 other light, than as seculars and laymen.* It is, however, 
 to be observed, that the Bizochi were divided into two 
 lasses, which derived their respective denominations of 
 perfect and imperfect, from the different degrees of 
 austerity that they discovered in their manner of living. 
 
 we might allege several probable reasons, if this were the proper place 
 for disquisitions of that nature. There are many different opinions con- 
 cerning the origin and signification of these terms, which it would be 
 too tedious to mention, and still more so to refute. Besides, I have done 
 this in a large work concerning the Beghards, wherein I have traced 
 out, with the utmost pains and labour, (from records, the greatest part 
 of which had never before seen the light,) the history of all the sects to 
 whom these names have been given, and have, at the same time, detect- 
 ed the errors into which many learned men have fallen, in treating this 
 part of the history of the church.* At present, therefore, setting aside 
 many opinions and conjectures, I shall confine myself to a brief inquiry 
 into the true origin and signification of these words. ‘They are undoubt- 
 edly derived from the old German word beggen or beggeren, which sig- 
 nifies to seek any thing with importunity, zeal, and earnestness. In join- 
 ing to this word the syllable Aard, which is the termination of many 
 German words, we have the term Beggehard, which is applicable to a 
 person who asks any thing with ardour and importunity; and, therefore, 
 common mendicants, in the ancient German language, were called 
 Beghard, from which the English word beggar is manifestly derived. 
 Becutta signifies a female beggar.— W hen Christianity was introduced 
 into Germany, the word beggen, or beggeren, was used in a religious 
 sense, and expressed the act of devout and fervent prayer to the Su- 
 preme Being. Accordingly, we find, in the Gothic translation of the 
 Four Gospels attributed to Ulphilas, the word beggen employed to ex- 
 press the duty ci the earnest and fervent prayer. Hence, when any per- 
 son distinguished himself from others by the frequency and fervour of 
 his devotional service, he was called a Beghard, i. e. a devout man ; 
 and the 2enomination of Begutta was given in the same sense, to wo- 
 men of uncommon piety. And as they who distinguished themselves 
 from others by the frequency of their prayers, thus assumed a more 
 striking air of external devotion than the rest of their fellow-Christians, 
 all those who were ambitious of appearing more religious and devout 
 than their neighbours, were called Beghardi or Begutta. 
 
 The observations we have hitherto made with respect to the origin 
 and signification of the words in question, will serve as a clue to res- 
 cue the attentive reader from that labyrinth of difficulties in which the 
 subject has been involved. They will also enable him to account for 
 the prodigious multitudes of Beghards and Beguins that sprang up in 
 Europe in the thirteenth century, and will show him how it happened, 
 that these denominations were given to above 30 sects or orders, which 
 differed widely from each other in their opinions, discipline, and manner 
 of living. The original signification of the word Beghard, (or Beggert, 
 as it was pronouaced by the common people,) was importunate beggar. 
 Therefore, when the people saw certain persons, not only embracing 
 with resignation, but also with the most voluntary choice, and under a 
 pretext of devotion, the horrors of absolute poverty, begging their daily 
 bread from door to door, and renouncing all their worldly possessions 
 and occupations, they called all such persons Beghards, or, if they were 
 women, Begultes, without considering the variety of opinions and 
 maxims by which they were distinguished. ‘The sect called Apostles, 
 the rigid F'ranciscans, the brethren of the free spirit (of whom we shall 
 speak hereafter,) all embraced this sordid state of beggary; and though 
 among these orders there was not only a wide difference, but even the 
 greatest opposition, the.Germans called them indiscriminately Beghards, 
 from the miserable state which they had all embraced. Nor is this to 
 he wondered at; the character which they possessed in common was 
 striking, while the sentiments and maxims that divided them escaped 
 the observation of the multitude. 
 
 But the word Beghard acquired a second, and a new signification, in 
 this century, being employed, as we have already observed, to signify 
 a person who prayed with uncommon frequency, and who distinguished 
 himself from those about him by an extraordinary appearance of piety. 
 The force of this term, in its new signification, is the same with that of 
 the word Methodist, which is at present the denomination of a certain 
 sect of fanatics in Great-Britain. Such, therefore, as departed from the 
 manner of living that was usual among their fellow-citizens, and distin- 
 zuished themselves by the gravity of their aspect and the austerity of 
 their manners, were comprehended under the general denomination of 
 ria: and Beguiies in Germany, and of Beguins and Beguines in 
 
 ance, 
 
 These terms, as we could show by many examples, compre- | 
 
 | 
 
 had no fixed habitations. The imperfect, on the contrary 
 |had their houses, wives, and possessions, and were en- 
 gaged, like the rest of their fellow-citizens, in the various 
 affairs of life.® 
 
 XLI. We must not confound these Beguins and 
 Beguines, who derived their origin from an austere 
 ‘branch of the Franciscan order, with the German and 
 | Belgic Beguines, who crept out of their obscurity in this 
 ‘century, and multiplied prodigiously in a very short 
 ) time. Their origin was of earlier date than this century ; 
 | 
 | 
 
 hended at first even the monks and nuns; but, in process of time, they 
 were confined to those who formed a sort of intermediate order between 
 the monks and citizens, and who resembled the former in the manner of 
 living, without assuming their name or contracting their obligations. 
 The Tertiaries, therefore, or half-monks of the Dominican, Franciscan, 
 and, in general, of all the religious orders, were called Beghards ; for 
 though, as lay-citizens, they belonged to the body*politic, yet they dis- 
 tinguished themselves by their monkish dispositions, and their profession 
 of extraordinary piety and sanctity of manners. The fraternity of 
 weavers, the Brethren of St. Alexius, the followers of Gerard the Great, 
 in a word, all who pretended to an uncommon degree of sanctity and 
 devotion, were called Beghards, although they procured the necessaries 
 of life by honest industry, without having recourse to the sordid trade 
 of begging. ; 
 
 The denominations, therefore, of Beghards, Beguttes, Beguins, and 
 Beguines, are rather honourable than otherwise, when we consider their 
 origin; and they are mentioned as such, in several records and deeds of 
 this century, whose authority is most respectable, particularly in the ‘Tes- 
 tament of St. Louis, king of France. But, in the sequel, these terms 
 ‘lost gradually, as the case often happens, their primitive signification, 
 and became marks of infamy and derision. For, among these religious 
 beggars and these sanctimonious pretenders to extraordinary piety, there 
 / were many, whose piety was nothing more than the most senseless su- 
 perstition ; many, also, whose austere devotion was accompanied with 
 opinions of a corrupt nature, entirely opposite to the doctrine of the 
 church; and (what was still more horrible) many artful hypocrites, who, 
 under the mask of religion, concealed the most abominable principles, 
 _and committed the most enormous crimes. These were the fools and 
 _knaves who brought the denomination of Beghard into disrepute, and 
 rendered it both ridiculous and infamous; so that it was only employed 
 to signify idiots, heretics, or hypocrites. The denomination of Lollards, 
 _of which sect we shall soon have occasion to speak, met with the same 
 ‘fate, and was rendered contemptible by the persons who masked their 
 iniquity under that specious title. 
 
 a See the Acta Inquis. Tolos. published by Limborch, p. 298, 302, &c. 
 Among the various passages of ancient writers, which tend to illustrate 
 ‘the history of the Fratricelli and Beguins, I shall quote only one, which 
 /is to be found in Jordan’s Chronicon, published by Muratori, in his 
 Antiq. Ital. medii AZvi, tom. iv. p. 1020, and confirms almost every thing 
 ‘we have said upon that head; anno 1294. ‘ Petrus de Macerata et 
 | Petrus de Forosempronio apostate fuerunt ordinis Minorum et heretici. 
 | His petentibus eremitige vivere, ut regulam B. Francisci ad literam 
 /servare possent; quibus plures Apostate adhzserunt, qui statum com- 
 | munitatis damnabant et declarationes regule, et vocabant se Fratres 8. 
 Francisci (he ought to have said F'ratricellos) Seculares, (i.e. the Ter- 
 tiaries, who. were the friends and associates of the Fratricelli, without 
 quitting, however, their secular state, or entering into the monastic or- 
 der ;) Seeculares autem vocarunt Bizocios aut Fratricellos vel Bocasotos.” 
 Jordan, however, errs in affirming, that the Seculares were called Fra- 
 tricelli; for the latter name belonged only to the true monks of St. Fran- 
 cis, and not to the Tertiaries. The other circumstances of this account 
 are exact, and show that the more austere professors of the Franciscan 
 rule were divided into two classes, namely, friars and seculars, and that 
 the latter were called Bizocht. “li dogmatizabant, quod nullus sum- 
 mus pontifex regulam B. Francisci declarare potuit. lier, quod ange- 
 lus abstulit a Nicolao tertio papattis auctoritatem ... Et quod ipsi soli 
 sunt in vid Dei et vera ecclesia,” &c. 
 
 bt This division is mentioned, or supposed by several authors, and 
 more especially in the Acta Inquisit. Tolosane, p. 303, &e. 
 
 ¢ {fn the seventeenth century, there was a great debate carried on in 
 the Netherlands on this subject. In the course of this controversy it was 
 proved, by the most authentic and unexceptionable records and diplomas, 
 that, so early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries, there had been 
 several societies of Beguines established in Holland and Flinders. It 
 ‘is true, that no more than three of these authentic acts were produced; 
 
 the first was drawn up in 1065, the second in 1129, the third in 1151; and 
 they were all three drawn up at Vilvorden by the Beguines. See Aub. 
 Mireus, Opera Diplomatico-historica, tom. il. ¢. xxvi. p. 948, and tem. 
 iii. p. 623.—Erycius Puteanus, de Beghinarum apud Belgas Instituto. 
 This treatise of Puteanus is to be found with another of the same aux 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 but it was only now that they acquired a name, and made 
 a noise in the world. ‘Their primitive establishment was, 
 undoubtedly, the effect of virtuous dispositions and upright 
 intentions. A certain number of pious women, both 
 virgins and widows, in order to maintain their integrity, 
 and preserve their principles from the contagion of a 
 Vicious and corrupt age, formed themselves into societies, 
 each of which had a fixed place of residence, and lived 
 under the inspection and government of a female head. 
 Here they divided their time between exercises of devotion, 
 and works of honest industry, reserving to themselves the 
 liberty of entering into the state of matrimony, as also of 
 quitting the convent, whenever they thought proper. «(nd 
 as all those among the female sex, who made extraordina- 
 ry professions of piety and devotion, were distinguished by 
 the title of Begwines, (i. e. persons who were uncommonly 
 assiduous in. prayer,) that title was given to the women of 
 Whom we are now speaking. The first regular society 
 of this kind that we read of, was formed at Nivelle in 
 Brabant, in 1226;> and it was followed by so many 
 institutions of a like nature in France, Germany, Holland, 
 and Flanders, that, toward the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, there was scarcely a city of any note, that had 
 not its beguinage, or vineyard, as it was sometimes 
 called in conformity to the style of the Song of Songs.¢ 
 All these female societies were not governed by the same 
 laws ; but, in the greatest part of them, the hours that 
 were not devoted to prayer, meditation, or other religious 
 exercises, were employed in weaving, embroidering, and 
 other manual labours. The poor, sick, and disabled 
 Beguines, were supported by the pious liberality of such 
 opulent persons as were friends to the order. : 
 XLIL. This female institution was soon imitated ir 
 
 Flanders by the other sex ; and considerable numbers of 
 unmarried men, both bachelors and widowers, formed 
 themselves into communities of the same kind with those 
 of the Beguines, under the inspection and government of 
 a certain chief, and with the same religious views and 
 purposes ; reserving to themselves, however, the liberty of 
 returning to their former mode of life.¢ ‘These pious 
 persons were, in the style of this age, called Beghards, 
 and (by a corruption of that term usual among the 
 Flemish and Dutch) Bogards ; from others they received 
 the denomination of Zollards: in France they were dis- 
 tinguished at first by that of Bons Valets, or Bons 
 Garcons, and afterwards by that of Beguins: they 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 31d 
 
 were also styled the Fraternity of Weavers, from the 
 trade which the greatest part of them exercised. The 
 first Beghard society seems to have been that which was 
 established at Antwerp in 1228; and this establishment 
 was followed by many similar associations in Germany, 
 France, Holland, and Ilanders, though, after all their 
 success, their congregations were less numerous than those 
 of the Beguines.e It is worthy of observation, that the 
 Roman pontiffs never honoured the societies of the 
 Beghards and Beguines with their solemn or explicit 
 approbation, or confirmed their establishments by the seal 
 of their authority. ‘They, however, granted them a full 
 toleration, and even defended them often against the 
 stratagems and violence of their enemies, who were many 
 in number. ‘This appears by the edicts in favour of the 
 Beghards, which the pontifls granted in compliance with 
 the solicitations of many illustrious personages, who 
 wished well to that society. It did not, however, continue 
 always to flourish. "The greatest part of the convents, 
 both of the Beghards and Beguines, are now either 
 demolished, or converted to other uses. In Flanders, 
 indeed, a considerable number of the latter still subsist, 
 but few of the former are to be found in any country. 
 
 XLIT. After the accouuts hitherto given of the rulers 
 of the church, and of the religious orders that were 
 instituted or became famous during this century, it will 
 not be improper to conclude this chapter, by mentioning 
 briefly the Greek and Latin writers, who, during the 
 same period, acquired fame by their learned productions. 
 The most eminent among the Greeks were, 
 
 Nicetas Acominatus, who composed a work, entitled the 
 History and Treasure of the Orthodox Faith ; 
 
 Germanus, the Grecian patriarch, of whom we have yet 
 extant, among other productions of less note,a Book against 
 
 the Latins, and an Exposition of the Greek Liturgy ; 
 
 Theodorus Lascaris, who left behind him several 
 treatises upon various subjects of a religious nature, and 
 who also entered the lists against the Latins, which was 
 the reigning passion among such of the Greeks as were 
 endowed with tolerable parts, and were desirous of show- 
 ing their zeal for the honour of their nation ; 
 
 Nicephorus Blemmida, who employed his talents in the 
 salutary work of healing the divisions between the Greeks 
 and Latins ; 
 
 Arsenius, whose Synopsis of the Canon Law of the 
 Greeks is far from being contemptible ; 
 
 thor, and upon the same subject, in a work entitled Josephi Geldolphi a 
 Ryckel Vita S. Beggw, cum Adnotationibus, p. 65—227. Duaci, 1631. 
 Now, though we grant that those writers have not fallen into an error 
 who place the rise of the Beguines in the twelfth or thirteenth century, 
 yet the small number of authentic records, which they have to produce 
 in favour of their antiquity, is an incontestable proof of the obscurity in 
 which they lay concealed before the time in which these authors placed 
 their origin, and may render it almost probable, that the only convent of 
 Beguines, that existed before the thirteenthcentury, was that of Vilvorden. 
 * All the Beghards and Beguines that yet remain in the Netherlands, 
 where their convents have almost entirely changed their ancient and primi- 
 tive form, affirm unanimously, that both their name and institution de- 
 rive their origin from St. Begghe, duchess of Brabant, and daughter of 
 Pepin, mayor of the palace of the king of Austrasia, who lived in the 
 seventheentury. This lady, therefore, they consider as their patroness, 
 and honour her as a kind of tutelar divinity with the deepest sentiments 
 of veneration and respect. See Jos. Geld. 4 Ryckel, Vit. S. Begge, a 
 work of great bulk and little merit, and full of the most silly and in- 
 sipid fables—Those who are not well-wishers to the cause of the Be- 
 uines, adopt a quite different account of their origin, which they de- 
 uce from Lambert le Begue, a priest and native of Liege, who lived in 
 the twelfth century, and was much esteemed for his eminent piety. The 
 learned Peter Coens, canon of Antwerp, has defended this opinion with 
 
 more erudition than any other writer, in his Disquisitio Historica de 
 Origine Beghirorum et Beghinagiorum in Belgio, Leod. 1672. 
 
 34> > Other historians say, in 1207. 
 
 ¢ See Matth. Paris, Histor. Major, ad An. 1243 and 1250, p. 540, 696. 
 —Thomas Cantipratensis in Bono Universali de Apibus, lib. ii. cap. li. 
 —Pet. de Herenthal, in his Annals, from which we have a very remark- 
 able passage cited by Jos. Geld. & Ryckel, in his Observationes ad Vi- 
 tam S. Begga@, sect. excvi. ‘The origin and charters of the convents 
 of Beguines, that were founded during this and the following century 
 in Holland and Flanders, are treated in an ample manner by Aub. Mi- 
 reus, in his Opera Historico-diplomatica, John Bapt. Grammays, in 
 his Antiquitates Belgice, Anton. Sanders, in his Brabantia et Flandria 
 illustrata, and by other writers of the Belgic history. 
 
 4 Matth. Paris, Hist. Major, ad An. 1253. ‘ 
 
 *See Ryckelii Vita S. Begge, p. 635.— Ant. Sanderi Flandria_II- 
 lustrata, lib. iii. ec. xvi. Jo. Bapt. Grammaye’s Antiquit. Fland. p. 22.— 
 Aub. Mirei Opera Diplom. Hist. tom. iii. e. elxviii—Helyot, Hist. des 
 Ordres, tom. vil. p. 248, who is nevertheless chargeable with many errors. 
 —Gerardus Antoninus, Pater Minister (so the head of the order Is called 
 in our times) Beghardorum Antwerpiensiu, in Epistola ad Ryckium 
 de Beghardorum origine et fatis, in Ryckelii Vita 5. Begge, p. 489. 
 This author, indeed, from a spirit of partiality to his order, conceals the 
 truth designedly in various places. 
 
320 
 
 Georgius Acropolita, who acquired a high degree of | 
 renown, not only by his historical writings, but also by | 
 the transactions and negotiations in which he was em- | 
 ployed by the emperor Michael ; 
 
 Johannas Beccus or Veccus, who involved himself in 
 much trouble, and excited the odium of many, by defend- 
 ing the cause of the Latins against his own nation with 
 too much zeal ; 
 
 George Metochita, and Constantine Meliteniota, who em- 
 
 “oyed, without success, their most earnest efforts to bring | 
 about a reconciliation between the Greeks and Latins ; 
 
 George Pachymeres, who acquired reputation by his 
 commentary upon Dionysius, the pretended chief of the 
 mystics, and by a history which he composed of his own 
 time ; and, 
 
 George the Cyprian, whose hatred of the Latins, and | 
 warm opposition to Veccus above-mentioned, rendered 
 him more famous than all his other productions. 
 
 XLIV. The prodigious number of Latin writers that 
 appeared in this century, renders it impossible for us to 
 mention them all; we shail therefore confine our account 
 to those among them, who were the most eminent, and 
 whose theological writings demand most frequently our 
 notice in the course of this history. Such were, 
 
 Joachim, abbot of Flora in Calabria, who was a man 
 of mean parts and of a weak judgment, full of enthusias- 
 tic and visionary notions, but was esteemed for his piety 
 and supposed knowledge, and was even considered, during 
 his life and after his death, by the miserable and blinded 
 multitude, as a prophet sent fron above. ‘The pretended 
 prophecies of this silly fanatic are abundantly known, and 
 have been frequently published ;» 
 
 Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, who wrote 
 commentaries upon the greatest part of the books of 
 Scripture 5° 
 
 Francis, the founder of the famous society of Friars- 
 minors, or Franciscans, whose writings were designed to 
 touch the heart, and excite pious and devout sentiments, 
 but discover little genius, and less judgment. 
 
 Alan de l’'Isle, a logician, who made no mean figure 
 among the disputatious tribe; who applied himself also 
 to the study of chemistry, and published several moral 
 discourses, in which are many wise and useful exhorta- 
 tions and precepts 34 
 
 Jacobus de Vitriaco, who acquired a name by his 
 Oriental History; and Jacobus de Voragine, whose 
 History of the Lombards* was received with applause. 
 
 ‘The writers of this century, who obtained the greatest 
 
 * For a more ample account of all these writers, the reader may con- 
 sult the Bibliotheca Greeca of Fabricius. 
 
 & The life of Joachim was written in Italian by Gregory di Lauro, and 
 published at Naples in 1660. The first edition of his prophecies appear- 
 ed at Venice, in 1517; and it was followed by several new editions, to 
 satisfy the curiosity of the populace, great and small. 
 
 3 ° Langton was a learned and polite author for the age in which 
 he lived. ‘To him we are indebted for the division of the Bible into 
 chapters. He wrote commentaries upon all the books of the Old Tes- 
 tament, and upon St. Paul’s Epistles. 
 
 4 Several of the name of Alan lived in this century, who have been 
 xtrangely confounded, both by ancient and modern writers. See Jaq. le 
 Beuf, Memoires sur |’ Hist. d’Auxerre, tom. i. and Dissert. sur l’Hist. 
 Civil. et Eecles. de Paris, tom. ii. 
 
 ¢Jac. Echardi Scriptor. Domin. t. i—Bollandi Pref. ad Acta Sanctor. 
 
 f For an account of Albert, see Echard. Script. Dom. tom. i—For an 
 account of Thomas Aquinas, who was called the Angel of the Scholas- 
 tics among other splendid titles, see the Acta Sanctorum, tom. i. and 
 Ant. Touron, Vie de St. Thomas, Paris, 1737.—We have also a cir- 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 
 
 cwnstantial relation of whatever concerns the life, writings, and ex- | 
 
 i 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 renown on account of their laborious researches in what 
 was called philosophical or dialectical theology, were 
 Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventura, 
 who respectively possessed an inquisitive turn of mind, 
 and a sublime and penetrating genius, accompanied with 
 an uncommon talent of exploring the most hidden truths, 
 and treating with facility the most abstruse subjects, 
 though they are all chargeable with errors and reveries 
 that do little honour to their memories.‘ The other 
 writers, who trod the same intricate paths of metaphysical 
 divinity, were many in number, and several of them were 
 justly admired, though much inferior in renown to the 
 
 celebrated triumvirate now mentioned ; such were Alex- 
 
 ander Hales, the interpreter of Aristotle, William of Paris,¢ 
 Robert Capito," ‘Thomas Cantipratensis, John of Peckham, 
 William Durand, Roger Bacon,: Richard Middleton, Giles 
 de Columna, Armand de Bello-Visu, and several others. 
 
 Hugo de St. Caro gained much applause by his Con- 
 cordance of the Holy Bible.* 
 
 Guillaume de St. Amour carried on with great spirit 
 and resolution, but with little success, a literary and 
 theological war against those friars who looked upon 
 begging as a mark of sanctity. 
 
 Humbert de Romanis drew up a system of rules and 
 precepts, with a view of subjecting to a better regulation 
 the lives and manners of the monastic orders. 
 
 William Perald arose in this century to a high degree 
 of literary renown, in consequence of a system of morals he 
 published under the ttle of Summa Virtutum et Vitiorum.! 
 
 Raymond Martin yet survives the oblivion that has 
 covered many of his contemporaries ; and his Pugio Fvdet, 
 or Sword of Faith, which he drew against the Jews and 
 Saracens, has escaped the ruins of time. 
 
 John of Paris deserves an eminent rank among the glo- 
 rious defenders of truth, liberty, and justice, since he main- 
 tained the authority of the civil powers, and the majesty 
 of kings and princes, against the ambitious stratagems 
 and usurpations of the Roman pontiffs, and declared openly 
 his opposition to the opinion that was commonly adopted 
 with respéct to the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, and 
 the presence of Christ in that holy ordinance.™ 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church, 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. However numerous and deplorable were the cor- 
 ruptions and superstitious abuses which had hitherto 
 reigned in the church, and deformed the beautiful simpli- 
 
 ploits of Bonaventura, the tutelar saint of the Lyonnois, in France, in 
 the two following books, viz. Colonia’s Histoire Literaire de la Ville de 
 Lyon, tom. ii. and the Histoire de la Vie et du Culte de S. Bonaven- 
 ture, par un Religieux Cordelier. 
 
 * See the Gallia Christiana, published by the Benedictines, tom. vii. 
 
 -h Anthony Wood has given an ample account of Robert Capito, in 
 his Antiquitat. Oxoniens. tom. i. 
 
 3¢pi We are surprised to find Roger Bacon thrust here into a crowd 
 of vulgar literati, since that great man, whose astonishing genius and 
 universal learning have already been noticed, was in every respect su- 
 perior to Albert and Bonaventura, two of the heroes of Dr. Mosheim’s 
 triumvirate. 
 
 a4>k Hugo de St. Caro, or St. Cher, composed also a very learned 
 collection of the various readings of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin 
 manuscripts of the Bible. This work, which he entitled Correctorium 
 Bibliz, is preserved in manuscript in the Sorbonne Library. We must 
 not forget to observe also, that his Concordance is the first that ever was 
 compiled. 
 
 1 See Colonia, Histoire Literaire de la Ville de Lyon, tom. ii. p. 322. 
 
 ™ ‘We may learn his opinion conceraing the eucharist from his trea- 
 
Cuap. III. 
 
 city of the Gospel, they were nevertheless increased in 
 ihis century, instead of being reformed; and the religion 
 of Christ continued to suffer under the growing tyranny 
 of fanaticism and superstition. 'The progress of reason 
 znd of truth was retarded among the Greeks and Orien- 
 als, by their immoderate aversion to the Latins, their 
 blind admiration of whatever bore the stamp of antiquity, 
 the indolence of their bishops, the stupidity of their clergy, 
 and the calamities of the times. Among the Latins, many 
 concurring causes united to augment the darkness ‘of that 
 cloud which had already been cast over the divine lustre 
 of genuine Christianity. 
 pontifls could not bear the thought of any thing that might 
 have even the remotest tendency to diminish their autho- 
 rity, or to encroach upon their prerogatives ; and there- 
 fore they laboured assiduously to keep the multitude in the 
 dark, and to blast-every attempt that was made toward a 
 reformation in the doctrine or discipline of the church. 
 On the other hand, the school divines, among whom the 
 Dominican and Franciscan monks made the greatest 
 figure on account of their unintelligible jargon and subtlety, 
 shed perplexity and darkness over the plain truths of re- 
 ligion by their intricate distinctions and endless divisions, 
 and by that cavilling, quibbling, disputatious spirit, which 
 is the mortal enemy both of tr uth and virtue. It is true 
 that these scholastic doctors were not all equally charge- 
 able with corrupting the truth; the most enormous and 
 criminal corruptors of Christianity were those who led the 
 multitude into the two following abominable errors: that 
 it was in the power of man to perform, if he wished, a 
 more perfect obedience than God required ; and,that the 
 
 whole of religion consisted in an external air 0 grav ity, 
 
 and in certain composed bodily gestures. 
 
 II. It will be easy to confirm this general account of 
 the state of religion by particular facts. In the fourth La- 
 teran council, convoked by Innocent HI., in 1215, and at 
 which an extraordinary number of ecclesiastics were as- 
 sembled,* that imperious pontiff, without deigning to con- 
 sult any body, published no less than seventy “laws ot 
 decrees, by which not only the authority of the popes and 
 the power of the clergy were confirmed and extended, but 
 
 also new doctrines, or articles of faith, were imposed | 
 
 upon Christians. Hitherto the opinions of the Christian 
 doctors, concerning the manner in which the body and 
 blood of Christ were present in the eucharist, were ex- 
 tremely different ; nor had the church determined, by any 
 clear and positive decree, the sentiment that was to be 
 embraced in relation to that important matter. It was re- 
 served for Innocent to put an end to the liberty, which 
 every Christian had hitherto enjoyed, of interpreting this 
 presence in the manner he thought most agreeable to the 
 declarations of Scripture, and to decide in favour of the 
 most absurd and monstrous doctrine that the phrensy of 
 superstition was capable of inventing. This audacious 
 pontiff pronounced the opinion, which is embraced at this 
 day in the church of Rome with regard to that point, to 
 be the only true and orthodox account of the matter ; and 
 he had the honour of introducing and establishing the 
 
 tise entitled Determinatio de S. Cena, published at London, by the 
 learned Dr. Allix, in 1686.—See also Echardi Seri iptor. Dominican. 
 tom. i. p. 501 —Baluzii Vite Pontif. Avenionens. tom. i. 
 3% * At this council there were present 412 bishops, 800 abbots and | 
 priors, beside the ambassadors of almost all the European princes. 
 @ See Edm. Albertinus, de Eucharistia, lib. iii. p. 972. 
 $1 
 
 No. XX VIL. 
 
 On the one hand, the Roman | 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 i 
 
 321 
 
 use of the term Transubstantiation, which was hitherto 
 absolutely unknown.® 'The same contill placed, by his 
 own authority, among the duties prescribed by the divine 
 laws, that of auricular confession to a priest; a confes- 
 sion that implied not only a general acknowle dgment, but 
 also a particular enumeration of the sins and follies of the 
 penitent. Before this period several doctors, indeed, looked 
 
 | upon this kind of confession as a duty inculcated by di- 
 
 vine authority; but this opinion was not publicly received 
 as the doctrine of the church ; for, though the confession 
 of sin was justly deemed an essential duty, yet it was lett 
 to every Christian’s choice, to make the confession men- 
 tally to the Supreme Being, or to express it in words to a 
 spiritual confidant and director.© | ‘These two laws, which, 
 by the authority of Innocent, were received as laws of 
 God, and consequently adopted as laws of the church, oc- 
 casioned a multitude of new injunctions and rites, of w hich 
 not even the smallest traces are to be found in the sacred 
 writings, or In the apostolic and primitive ages ; and which 
 weremuch more adapted to establish and extend the reign of 
 superstition, than to open the eyes of the blinded multitude 
 upon the enormous abuses of which it had been the source 
 
 IIT. There is nothing that will contribute more to con 
 vince us of the miserable state of religion in this century, 
 and of the phrensy that prevailed in the devotion of these 
 unhappy times, than the rise of the sect called #Vagellan- 
 tes, or Whippers, which sprang up in Italy, in 1260, and 
 thence diffused itself through almost all the countries of 
 Europe. ‘The societies that embraced this new discipline, 
 presented the most hideous and shocking spectacle that 
 can well be conceived ; multitudes, composed of persons 
 of both sexes, and of all ranks and ages, ran through the 
 public places of the most populous cities, and also through 
 the fields and deserts, with whips in their hands, lashing 
 their naked bodies with astonishing severity, filling the 
 air with their wild shrieks, and beholding the firmament 
 with an air of distraction, ferocity, and horror ; ; and all this 
 with a view to obtain the divine mercy for themselves and 
 others, by their voluntary mortification and penance.‘ 
 This method of appeasing the Deity was perfectly con- 
 formable to the notions of religion that generally prevailed 
 in this century; nor did these fanatical F lagellators do 
 any thing more, in this extravagant discipline, than prac- 
 tise the lessons which they had received from the monks, 
 especially from the mendicant fanatics. Hence they at- 
 tracted the esteem and veneration, not only of the popu- 
 lace, but also of their rulers, and were honoured and revered 
 by all ranks and orders, on account of their extraordinary 
 sanctity and virtue. T ‘heir sect, however, did not always 
 continue in the same high degree of credit and reputation ; 
 for, though the primitive whippers were exemplary in point 
 of morals, yet their societies were augmented, as might na- 
 turally be expected, by a turbulent and furious rabble, 
 many of whom were infected with the most ridiculous and 
 even impious opinions. Hence both the emperors and 
 pontiffs thought proper to put an end to this religious 
 phrensy, by declaring all devout flagellation contrary to 
 the divine law, and prejudicial to the soul's eternal interests. 
 
 ° See the book of the learned Daille, concerning Auricular Confession. 
 
 a Christ. Schotgenii Historia Flagellantium. tf iques Boileau, His- 
 toire des Flagellans, chap. ix. We have also a lively picture of this 
 fanatical discipline of the Whippers, exhibited in Martenne’s Voyage 
 Literaire de deux Benedictins, tom. ii. with which the reader may 
 compare Muratori’s Antiq. Ital. "medi ZEvi, tom. vi. 
 
322 
 
 1V. The Christian interpreters and commentators of this 
 century differ very little from those of the preceding times. 
 The greatest part of them pretended to draw from the 
 depths of trath, (or rather of their imaginations,) what they 
 called the internal juice and marrow of the Scriptures, 
 i. e. their hidden and mysterious sense ; and this they did 
 with so little dexterity, so little plausibility and invention, 
 that the greater part of their explications must appear in- 
 sipid and nauseous to such as are not entirely destitute of 
 judgment and taste. If our readers be desirous of a proof 
 of the justice of this censure, or curious to try the extent 
 of their patience, they have only to peruse the explications 
 that have been given by Archbishop Langton, Hugh de 
 St. Cher, and Antony of Padua, of the various books of 
 the Old and New Testament. The mystic doctors carried 
 this visionary method of interpreting Scripture to the great- 
 est height, and displayed the most laborious industry, or 
 rather the most egregious folly, in searching for mysteries, 
 where reason and cofmon sense could find nothing but 
 plain and evident truths. ‘They were too penetrating 
 and quick-sighted not to perceive clearly in the holy 
 scriptures all those doctrines that were agreeable to their 
 idle and fantastic system. Nor were their adversaries, the 
 schoolmen, entirely averse to this arbitrary and fanciful 
 manner of interpretation, though their principal industry 
 was employed rather in collecting the explications given 
 by the ancient doctors, than in inventing new ones, as ap- 
 pears from the writings of Alexander Hales, William Alver- 
 nus, and Chomas Aquinas himself. We must not, however, 
 omit observing, that the scholastic doctors in general, and 
 more especially these now mentioned, had recourse often 
 to the subtleties of logic and metaphysics, to assist them in 
 their explications of the sacred writings. 'T'o facilitate the 
 study and interpretation of these divine books, Hugh de 
 St. Cher composed his Concordance,* and the Dominicans, 
 under the eye of their supreme chief, the learned Jordan, 
 gave a new edition of the Latin translation of the Bible, 
 carefully revised and corrected from the ancient copies.” 
 
 The Greeks contributed nothing that deserves attention | 
 
 toward the illustration of the Scriptures ; t the greatest part 
 of which were expounded with great learning by Gregory 
 Abulpharaj, that celebrated Syrian, whose erudition was 
 famous throughout the east, and whom we have already 
 had occasion to mention.° 
 
 V. Systems of theology and ethics were multiplied ex- 
 ceedingly in this century ; and of those writers, who treated 
 of the divine perfections and worship and of the practical 
 rules of virtue and obedience, the numbe? is too great to 
 permit specification. All such as were endowed with any 
 considerable degree of genius and eloquence, employed 
 their labours upon these noble branches of sacred science, 
 more especially the academical and public teachers, among 
 whom the Dominicans and Franciscans held the most 
 eminent rank. It is, indeed, unnecessary to mention the 
 names, or enumerate the pr oductions of these doctors, since 
 whoever is acquainted with the characters and writings of 
 Albert the Great, and ‘Thomas Aquinas, will know every 
 thing that is wor thy of note in the rest, who were no more 
 
 * Kchardi Seriptor. Ord. Praedicator. tom. i. p. 194. 
 b Rich. Simon, Crit. de la Bib. des Aut. Ecc. par M. Du-Pin,t. i.p. 341. 
 Jos. Sim. Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican, tom. ii. p. 177. 
 ¢ See Jo. Launoii Traditio Ecclese circa Simoniam, P. 290. 
 See Natalis Alexander, Histor. Eccles. il 
 and Quetif, Scriptor. Ordin. Preedicator, Sec. xiii. tom. i. p. 293. 
 Teron, Vie de St. Thomas, p. 604. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 AR ° 
 
 than their echoes. The latter of these truly great men, 
 commonly called the Angel of the Schools, or the Angelic 
 Doctor, sat unrivalled at the head of the divines of tlns 
 century, and deservedly obtained the principal place among 
 those who digested the doctrines of Christianity into a re- 
 cular system, and illustrated and explained them in a scien- 
 tific manner. For no sooner had his system, or swam of 
 theology and morals, seen the light, than it was received 
 almost universally with the highest applause, placed in 
 the same rank with Lombard’s famous Book of Senten- 
 ces, and admitted as the standard of truth, and the great 
 rule according to which the public teachers formed their 
 plans of instruction, and the youth their methods of study, 
 Some writers, indeed, have denied that Thomas was the 
 author of the eclouiaten system that bears his name ;¢ but 
 the reasons which they allege in support of this notion are 
 destitute of evidence and solidity. ‘ 
 
 VI. The greatest part of these doctors followed Aristotle 
 as their model, and made use of the logical and metaphy- 
 sical principles of that subtle philosop her, in ilustrating 
 the doctrines of Christianity, and removing the difficulties 
 with which some of them were attended. In their 
 philosophical explications of the more sublime truths of 
 that divine religion, they followed the hypothesis of the 
 Realists,! which sect, in this century, was much more 
 numerous and flourishing than that of the Nominalists, 
 on account of the lustre and credit it derived from the 
 authority of 'Thomas Aquinas and Albert, its learned and 
 venerable patrons. Yet, notwithstanding all the subtlety 
 and penetration of these irrefragable, seraphic, and angelic 
 doctors,ggs they were usually styled, they often appeared 
 wiser in their own conceit, than they were in reality, and 
 frequently did little more than involve in greater obscurity 
 the doctrines which they pretended to place in the clearest 
 light. I*or, not to mention the ridiculous oddity of many 
 of their expressions, the hideous barbarity of their style, 
 and their extravagant and presumptuous desire of prying 
 into matters that infinitely surpass the comprehension of 
 short-sighted mortals, they were chargeable with defects 
 in their manner of reasoning, which every true philosopher 
 will, of all others, be most careful to avoid. For they 
 neither defined their terms accurately, (and hence arose 
 innumerable disputes merely about words,) nor did they 
 divide their subjects with perspicuity and precision ; and 
 hence they generally treated it in a confused and un- 
 satisfactory manner. ‘The great Angelic Doctor himself, 
 notwithstanding bis boasted method, was defective in these 
 respects ; his definitions are often vague, or obscure, and 
 his plans or divisions, though full of art, are frequently 
 destitute of clearness and proportion. 
 
 VIL. The method of investigating divine truth by 
 reason and philosophy remarkably prevailed, and was 
 followed with such ardour, that the number of those wha, 
 in conformity with the example of the ancient doctors, 
 drew their systems of theology from the holy scriptures 
 and the writings of the fathers, and who acquired on that 
 account the name of Biblicists,s diminished from day to 
 day. It is true, indeed, that several persons of eminent 
 
 {In the original we find Positivi in the margin, which is manifestly a 
 fault; since the Positivi were quite opposite, in their method of teach- 
 ing, to the schoolmen, and were the same Ww ith the Biblici mentioned i in 
 the following section. See above, Cent. xii. Part ii. Ch. ili. sect. viii. 
 
 gs *In the margin of the original, instead of Biblicists, which we | 
 find in the text, Dr. Mosheim has written Sententiarit, which is un- 
 
 | doubtedly an oversight. The Sententiarii, or followers of Peter Lom- 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 piety,* and even some of the Roman pontifls,» exhorted 
 with great seriousness and warmth the scholastic divines, 
 and more especially those of the university of Paris, to 
 change their method of teaching theology, and (relinquish- 
 ing their philosophical abstraction and subtlety) to deduce 
 the sublime science of salvation from the holy scriptures 
 with that purity and simplicity with which it was deliver- 
 ed by the inspired writers. But these admonitions and 
 exhortations were without effect; the evil was too in- 
 veterate to admit a speedy remedy, and the passion for 
 logic and metaphysics had become so general and so 
 violent, that neither remonstrances nor arguments could 
 check its presumption or allay its ardour. In justice how- 
 ever to the scholastic doctors, it is necessary to observe, 
 that they did not neglect the dictates of the Gospel or the 
 authority of tradition, though it is sufficiently proved, by 
 what they drew from these two sources, that they had 
 studied neither with much attention or application of 
 mind. And it is moreover certain, that, in process of 
 time, they committed to others the care of consulting the 
 sources now mentioned, and reserved to themselves the 
 much-respected province of ‘philosophy, and the intricate 
 mazes of dialectical chicane. And, indeed, independent 
 of their philosophical vanity, we may assign another 
 reason for this method of proceeding, drawn from the 
 nature of their profession, and the circumstances in which 
 they were placed. For the greatest part of, these subtle 
 doctors were Dominican or Franciscan friars; and, as the 
 monks of these orders had no possessions, not even libra- 
 ries, and led, besides, wandering and itinerant lives, such 
 of them as were ambitious of literary fame, aod of the 
 honours of authorship, were, for the most part, obliged to 
 draw their materials from their own genius and memory, 
 being destitute of all other succours. 
 
 VIII. The opinions which these philosophical divines 
 instilled into the minds of the youth, appeared to the 
 votaries of the ancient fathers highly dangerous and even 
 pernicious ; and hence they used their utmost efforts to 
 stop the progress of these opinions, and to diminish the 
 credit and influence of their authors. Nor was_ their 
 opposition at all ill-grounded; for the subtle doctors of 
 the school not only explained the mysteries of religion in 
 a manner conformable to the principles of their pre- 
 sumptuous logic, and modified them according to the 
 dictates of their imperfect reason, but also promoted the 
 most impious sentiments and tenets concerning the Su- 
 preme Being, the material world, the origin of the 
 universe, and the nature of the soul. And when it was 
 objected to these sentiments and tenets, that they were in 
 direct contradiction to the genius of Christianity, and to 
 the express doctrines of Scripture, these scholastic quib- 
 blers had recourse, for a reply; or rather for a- method of 
 escape, to that perfidious distinction which has been fre- 
 quently employed by modern deists,—that these tenets 
 
 bard, who is considered as the father of the scholastic philosophy, are 
 io be placed in the same class with the philosophical divines, mentioned 
 mn the preceding section, and were very different from the Biblici, both 
 in their manner of thinking and teaching. 
 
 “See Du Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. p. 9, 129, 180.— Ant. 
 Wood, Antiq. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 91. 
 
 » See the famous epistle of Gregory IX. to the professors in the uni- 
 ¢ersity of Paris, published in Du Boulay’s Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iii. 
 {‘he pontiff concludes that remarkable epistle with the following words: 
 " Mandamus et stricté precipimus, quatenus sine fermento mundane 
 wcienti# doceatis theologicam puritatem, non adulterantes verbum Dei 
 philusophorum figmentis ... sed, contenti terminis a patribus institutis, 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF ’THE CHURCH. 
 
 323 
 
 were philosophically true, and conformable to right reason, 
 but that they were, indeed, theologically false, and con- 
 trary to the orthodox faith. This produced an open war 
 between the Biblicists and the scholastic doctors; which 
 was carried on with great warmth throughout the whole 
 course of this century, particularly in the universities ot 
 Oxford and Paris, where we find the former loading the 
 latter with the heaviest reproaches in their public acts 
 and in their polemic writings, and accusing them of cur- 
 rupting the doctrines of the Gospel, both in their public 
 lessons, and in their private discourse.t. Even St. Thomas 
 himself was accused of holding opinions contrary to the 
 truth; his orthodoxy, at least, was looked upon as 
 extremely dubious by many of the Parisian doctors. He 
 accordingly saw a formidable scene of opposition arising 
 against him, but had the good fortune to ward off the 
 storm, and to escape untouched. Others, whose authority 
 was less extensive, and whose names were less respect- 
 able, were treated with greater severity. ‘The living were 
 obliged to confess publicly their errors; and the memories 
 of the dead, who had persevered in them to the last, were 
 branded with infamy. 
 
 IX. But the most formidable adversaries the scholastic 
 doctors had to encounter were the Mystics, who, rejecting 
 every thing that bore the least resemblance to argumen- 
 tation or dispute about matters of doctrine and opinion, 
 confined their endeavours to the advancement of inward 
 piety, and the propagation of devout and tender feelings, 
 and thus acquired the highest degree of popularity. The 
 people, who are much more affected with what touches 
 their passions, than with what is only addressed to their 
 reason, were attached to the Mystics in the warmest 
 manner; and this gave such weight to the reproaches 
 and invectives which they threw out against the school- 
 men, that the latter thought it more prudent to disarm 
 these favourites of the multitude by mild and submissive 
 measures, than to return their reproaches with indigna- 
 tion and bitterness. ‘They accordingly set themselves to 
 flatter the Mystics, and not only extolled their sentimental 
 system, but employed their pens in illustrating and 
 defending it; they even associated it with the scholastic 
 philosophy, though they were as different from each other 
 as any two things could be. It is well known that Bona- 
 ventura, Albert the Great, Robert Capito, and Thomas 
 Aquinas, contributed to this reconciliation between mysti- 
 cism and dialectics by their learned labours, and even 
 went so far as to write commentaries upon Dionysius, the 
 chief of the Mystics, whom these subtle doctors probably 
 looked upon with a secret contempt. 
 
 X Both the schoolmen and Mystics of this century 
 treated, in their writings, of the obligations of morality, 
 the duties of the Christian life, and of the means that 
 were most adapted to preserve or deliver the soul from the 
 servitude and contagion of vice; but their methods of 
 
 mentes auditorum vestrorum fructu celestis eloquii saginetis, ut hauri- 
 ant de fontibus Salvatoris.” 
 
 ¢ Faydit, Alteration du Dogme Theologique par la Philosophie 
 d’Aristote, p. 289.—Richard Simon, Critique de la Bibliotheque des 
 Auteurs Eccles. par M. Du-Pin. tom. i. p. 170. : 
 
 «See Matth. Paris, Histor. Major, p. 541—Boulay, Hist. Acad. 
 Paris. tom. iii. p. 397, 430, &c. uk yr, 
 
 *See J. Launoy, Histor. Gymnas. Navarreni, part iii. lib. iii. chap. 
 exvi. tom. iv. op. part i. p. 485.—Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. 
 p. 204.—Petri Zorni Opuscula Sacra, tom. i. p. 445.—R. Simon, Let 
 tres Choisies, tom. ii. p.266.—Echardi Scriptor. Ordin. Preedicator. tom, 
 i. p. 435, 
 
324 
 
 handling these important subjects were, as may be easily | 
 _ tained concerning justice, at all conformaole to the na- 
 ture of that virtue, as it is described in the holy scrip- 
 
 conceived, entirely different. We may form an idea of 
 mystical morality from the observations of George Pachy- 
 meres, upon the Writings of Dionysius, and from the 
 Spiritual Institutes, or Abridgment of Mystic Theology, 
 composed by Humbert de Romanis, of which productions 
 the former was written in Greek, and the second in Latin. 
 As to the scholastic moralists, they were principally 
 employed in defining the nature of virtue and vice in 
 general, and the characters of the various virtues and 
 vices in particular; and hence a prodigious number 
 of sums, or systematic collections of virtues and vices, 
 appeared in this century. The schoolmen divided 
 the virtues into two classes. ‘The first comprehended 
 the moral virtues, which differ, in no respect, from 
 those which Aristotle recommended to his disciples. The 
 second contained the theological virtues, which, in con- 
 sequence of what St. Paul says, (1 Corinth. xii. 13,) 
 they made to consist in faith, hope, and charity. In 
 iimaiiag and illustrating the nature of the virtues 
 comprehended in these two classes, they seemed rather 
 to have in view the pleasures of disputing, than the 
 design of instructing ; and they exhausted all their 
 subtlety in resolving difficulties which were of their 
 own creation. ‘Thomas Aquinas shone forth as a star 
 of the first magnitude, though, like the others, he was 
 often covered with impenetrable fogs. 'The second part 
 of his fainous sv was wholly employed in laymg down 
 the principles of morality, and in deducing and illustrating 
 the various duties that result from them; and this part 
 of his learned labour has had the honour and misfortune 
 
 of passing through the hands of a truly prodigious num- | 
 
 ber of commentators. 
 
 XI. it is absolutely necessary to observe here, that the 
 moral writers of this and the following centuries must be 
 read with the utmost caution, and with a perpetual at- 
 tention to this circumstance, that, though they employ 
 the same terms that we find in the sacred writings, yet 
 they use them in a quite different sense from that “which 
 they really bear in these divine books. They speak of 
 justice, charity, faith, and holiness ; but, from the man- 
 ner in which these virtues are illustrated by those quib- 
 bling sophists, they differ much from the amiable and 
 sublime duti es, Which Christ and his disciples inculcated 
 under the same denominations. A single example will 
 be sufficient to render this evident beyond contradiction. 
 A pious and holy man, according to the sense annexed 
 by our Saviour to these terms, is one who consecrates 
 his affections and actions to the service of the Supreme 
 Being, and accounts it his highest honour and felicity, as 
 well as his indispensable duty, to obey his laws. But, 
 in the style of the moral writers of this age, that person 
 was pious and holy, who deprived himself of his pos- 
 sessions to enrich the pyiesticod, to build churches, and 
 found monasteries, and whose faith and obedience were 
 sv implicitly enslaved to the imperious dictates of the Ro- 
 man pontifls, that he believed and acted without exami- 
 nation, as these lordly directors thought proper to pre- 
 
 * Echard and Quetif apud Scriptores Ordinis Predicator. tom. i. 
 sect. Xiil. 
 
 » Bavle’s Dictionary, at the article Martini—Pauli Colomesii His- 
 pania Orient. p. 209. 
 * Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Delect. Argumentorum et Scriptor. pro veritate 
 
 Relig. Christian. p. 270. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II, 
 
 scribe. Nor were the ideas which these vriters enter- 
 
 tures, since in their opinion it was lawful to injure, 
 revile, torment, persecute, and even’ put to death, a he- 
 retic, 1. e. any person who refused to obey blindly the 
 decrees of the pontifls, or to believe ati the absurdi- 
 ties which they imposed upon the credulity of the mul- 
 
 ' titude. 
 
 XII. The writers of controversy in this century were 
 more numerous than respectable. Nicetas Acominatus, 
 who made a considerable figure among the Greeks, at- 
 tacked all the different sects in his work entitled The 
 Treasure of the Orthodox Faith; but he combated after 
 the Grecian manner, and defended the cause which he 
 had espoused, rather by the decrees of councils and the 
 decisions of the fathers, than by the dictates of reason 
 and the authority of Scripture. Raymond of Pennafort 
 was one of the first among the Latins, who abandoned 
 the unchristian method of converting infidels by the force 
 of arms and the terrors of capital punishments, and whe 
 undertook to vanquish the Jews and Saracens by reasor 
 and argument.* "This engaged in the same controversy 
 a considerable number of able dis sputants, who were ac 
 quainted with the Hebrew and Arabic languages ; among 
 whom Raymond Martini, the celebrated author of the 
 Sword of Kaith,> is unquestionably entitled to the first 
 
 crank. Thomas Aquinas also appeared with dignity among 
 the Christian champions ; and his book against the Gen- 
 'tiless is far from being contemptible: nor ought we te 
 | . . . * - . is 
 omit mentioning a learned book of Alan de VIsle, which 
 
 was designed to refute the objections both of Jews ana 
 Pagans.¢ The writers, who handled other (more parti: 
 cular) branches of theological controversy, were far infe- 
 rior to those now mentioned in genius and abilities; and 
 their works seemed less calculated to promote the truth, 
 than to render their adversaries odious. 
 
 XIU. The grand controversy between the Greek and 
 Latin church, was still carried on; and all the efforts 
 that were made, during this century, to bring it to a con- 
 clusion, proved ineffectual. Gregory IX. employed the 
 ministry of the Franciscan monks to bring about an ac- 
 commodation with the Greeks, and pursued with zeal 
 this laudable purpose from the year 1232, to the end of 
 his pontificate, but without the least appearance of suc- 
 cess. Innocent IV. embarked in the same undertaking, 
 in 1247, and with that view sent John of Parma, with 
 other Franciscan friars, to Nice; while the Grecian pon- 
 tiff came in person to Rome, and was declared legate 
 of the apostolic see.f. But these previous acts of mutual 
 civility and respect, which excited the hopes of such as 
 longed for the conclusion of these violent discords, did 
 not terminate in the reconciliation that was expected. 
 New incidents arose to blast the influence of these salu- 
 tary measures, and the flame of dissension gained new 
 vigour. Under the pontificate of Urban IV., however, the 
 aspect of things changed for the better, and the negotia- 
 tions for peace were renewed with such success, as pro- 
 
 4 Liber contra Tudzos et Paganos. 
 
 ¢ See Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. ii. p. 279, 296; and Echard, 
 Scriptor. Ordin. Praedicator. tom. i. p- 103, 911. —Add to these Matth 
 Paris, Histor. Major, p. 386. F 
 
 f See Baluzii Miscellan. tom. vii. p. 370, 388, 393, 497.--W adding 
 Annal. Minor. tom. iii. and iv, 
 
Cuap. IY. 
 
 mised a speedy conclusion of these unhappy divisions ; 
 for Michael Paleologus had no sooner driven the Latins 
 out of Constantinople, than he sent ambassadors to Rome 
 to declare his pacific intentions, that thus he might es- 
 tablish his disputed dominion, and gain over the Roman 
 pontiff to his side. But during the course of these ne- 
 gotiations, Urban’s death left matters unfinished, and 
 suspended once more the hopes and expectations of the 
 public. Under the pontificate of Gregory X., proposals 
 of peace were again made by the same emperor, who, 
 after much opposition from his own clergy, sent ambas- 
 sadors to the council of Lyons in the year 1274; and 
 these deputies, with the solemn consent of John Veccus, 
 patriarch of Constantinople, and several Greek bishops, 
 publicly agreed to the terms of accommodation proposed 
 by the pontiffc This re-union, however, wus not dura- 
 ble; for the situation of affairs in Greece and Italy be- 
 ) 
 
 ing changed some years after this convention, in such a 
 manner as to deliver the former from all apprehensions 
 of a Latin invasion, Andronicus, the son of Michael, as- 
 sembled a council at Constantinople, in the palace of Bla- 
 cherne, A. D. 1284, in which, by a solemn decree, this 
 ignominious treaty was annulled, and the famous Veccus, 
 by whose persuasion and authority it had been concluded, 
 was sent into exile.t| This resolute measure, as may well 
 be imagined, rendered the divisions more violent than they 
 had-been before the treaty was signed ; and it was also 
 followed by an open schism, and by the most unhappy 
 discords among the Grecian clergy. 
 
 XIV. We pass over several controversies of a more 
 private kind, and of inferior moment, which have nothing 
 in their nature or circumstances to claim the attention of 
 the curious; but we must not forget to observe that the 
 grand dispute concerning the eucharist was still conti- 
 nued in this century, not only in France, but also in some 
 other countries; for, though Innocent ILI. had, in the 
 Lateran council of the year 1215, presumptuouly placed 
 transubstantiation among the avowed and regular doc- 
 trines of the Latin church, yet the authority of this de- 
 cree was called in question by many, and several divines 
 maintained the probability of the opinions that were op- 
 posed to that monstrous doctrine. ‘Those indeed who, 
 adopting the sentiments of Berenger, considered the bread 
 and wine in no other light than as signs or symbols of 
 the body and blood of Christ, did not venture either to 
 defend or profess this opinion in a public manner; while 
 many thought it sufficient to acknowledge what was 
 termed a real presence, though they explained the man- 
 ner of this presence quite otherwise than the doctrine of 
 
 * Wadding, tom. iv. p. 181, 201, 223, 269, 303. 
 
 b‘See Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iv. p. 343, 371. tom. v. p. 9, 29, 
 62.—Colonia, Hist. Liter. de la Ville de Lyon, tom. ii. p. 284. 
 
 * Joseph (not Veccus) was patriarch of Constantinople, when this 
 treaty was concluded. The former had bound himself by a solemn 
 oath never to consent to a reconciliation between the Greek and Latin 
 churches; for which reason the emperor, when he sent his ambassadors 
 to Lyons, proposed to Joseph the following alternative: that, if they 
 succeeded in bringing about an accommodation, he should renounce his 
 patriarchal dignity ; but if they failed in their attempt, he was to remain 
 patriarch, being advised, at the same time, to retire to a convent, until 
 the matter was decided. The ambassadors were successful: Joseph 
 was deposed, and Veccus elected in his place; when, and not before, 
 the latter ratified the treaty in question by his solemn consent to the ig- 
 nominious article of supremacy and pre-eminence, which it confirmed to 
 the Roman pontiff. 
 
 4 Leo Allatius, de perpetud Consensione Eccles. Orient. et Occident. 
 lib. Lc. Xv. xvi. p. 727.— Fred. Spanheim de Perpet. Dissensione 
 Grecor. et Latin. tom. ii. op. p. 188, &e. 
 
 No. XXVIII. 82 
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 | tanocent had defined it. Among these, John, surnamed 
 | Pungens Asinus, a subtle doctor of the university of Pa- 
 
 ris, acquired an eminent and distinguished name, and 
 | without incurring the censure of his superiors, substituted 
 consubstantiation for transubstantiation toward the con- 
 clusion of this century. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Christian Church during this Century. 
 
 I. It would be endless to enumerate the additions that 
 were made in this century to the external part of divine 
 worship, in order to increase its pomp and render it more 
 striking. ‘These additions were produced in part by the 
 public edicts of the Roman pontiffs, and partly by the 
 private injunctions of the sacerdotal and monastic orders, 
 who shared the veneration which was excited in the 
 multitude by the splendour and magnificence of this re- 
 ligious spectacle. Instead of mentioning these additions, 
 we shall only observe in general, that religion had now 
 become a sort of a raree-show in the hands of the rulers 
 of the church, who, to render its impressions more deep 
 and lasting, thought proper to exhibit it in a striking 
 manner to the external senses. For this purpose, at sta- 
 ted times, and especially upon the principal festivals, the 
 miraculous dispensations of the divine wisdom in favour 
 of the church, and the more remarkable events in the 
 Christian history, were represented under allegorical figures 
 and images, or rather in a kind of mimic show.e But 
 these scenic representations, in which there was a mot- 
 ley mixture of mirth and gravity, these tragi-comical 
 spectacles, though they amused and affected in a certain 
 manner the gazing populace, were highly detrimental, 
 instead of being useful to the cause of religion; they de- 
 graded its dignity, and furnished abundant matter of 
 laughter to its enemies. 
 
 I. It will not appear surprising that the bread, conse- 
 crated in the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, became 
 the object of religious worship ; for this was the natural 
 consequence of the monstrous doctrine of transubstan- 
 tiation. But the effects of that impious and ridiculous 
 doctrine did not end here ; it produced a series of ceremo- 
 nies and institutions, still used in the church of Rome, 
 in honour of that deified bread, as they blasphemously 
 call it. Hence arose those rich and splendid receptacles 
 which were formed for the residence of God under this 
 new shape, and the lamps and other precious orpa- 
 ments that were designed to beautify this habitation of 
 
 © Pet. Allix. Pref. ad I’. Johannis Determinat. de Sacramento Aitaris, 
 published at London in 1686. 
 
 f' The book of this celebrated doctor was published by the learned 
 Allix above mentioned. See Baluzii Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 
 576.—D’ Acherii Spicileg. Veter. Scriptor. tom, ili. p. 58.—Echardi Serip- 
 tores Dominic. tom. 1. p. 561. 
 
 £ It is probable that this licentious custom of exhibiting mimic repre- 
 sentations of religious objects derived its origin from the Mendicant 
 friars. 
 
 > 4 This blasphemous language, which Dr. Mosheim is obliged to 
 use in representing the absurdities of the doctrine of transubstantiation, 
 is nothing in coraparison with the impious figures that were used by the 
 abettors of that monstrous tenet, to accommodate it, in some measure, to 
 the capacities of the multitude. We need not wonder, that the Pagans 
 metamorphosed their Jupiter into a bull, a swan, and other such figures, 
 when we sce the rulers of the Christian church transforming the Son of 
 God into a piece of bread; a transformation so vile, and (even were It 
 not vile) so useless, that it is inconceivable how it could enter into the 
 head of any mortal, and equally so, how the bishops of Rome could con- 
 
326 
 
 the Deity; and hence the custom that still prevails of car- 
 rying about this divine bread in solemn pomp through 
 
 the public streets, when it is to be administered to sick | 
 
 or dying persons, with many other ceremonies of a like 
 nature, a ay are dishonourable to religion, and oppro- 
 brious to humanity. But that which gave the finishing 
 touch to this heap of absurdities, and displayed supersti- 
 tion in its highest extravagance, was the institution of 
 the celebrated annual Festival of the Holy Sacrament, 
 or, as it is sometimes called, of the Body of Christ; the 
 origin of which was as follows: a certain devout woman, 
 whose name was Juliana, and who lived at Liege, de- 
 clared that she had received a revelation from heaven, 
 intimating to her, that it was the will of God, that a pe- 
 culiar festival should be annually observed in honour of 
 the holy sacrament, or rather of the real presence of 
 Christ’s body in that sacred institution. Few gave at- 
 tention or credit to this pretended vision, the circumstan- 
 ces of which were extremely equivocal and absurd,* and 
 which would have come to nothing, had it not been sup- 
 ported by Robert, bishop of Liege, who, in 1246, pub- 
 lished an order for the celebration of this festival through- 
 out the province, notwithstanding the opposition which 
 lie knew would be made to a proposal founded only 
 on an idle dream. After the death of Juliana, one of 
 her friends and companions, whose name was Eve, adopt- 
 ed her cause with uncommon zeal, and had sufficient 
 credit with Urban IV. to engage him to publish, in 1264, 
 a solemn edict, by which the festival in question was 
 imposed upon all the Christian churches. ‘This edict, 
 however, did not produce its full effect, on account of the 
 death of the pontiff, which happened soon after its publi- 
 cation; so that the festival in question was not univer- 
 sally celebrated in the Latin churches before the pontifi- 
 cate of Clement V., who, in the council which he held 
 at Vienne in Dauphiné, in 1311, confirmed the edict of 
 Urban, and thus, in spite of all opposition, established a 
 festival, which contributed more to render the doctrine of 
 transubstantiation agreeable to the people, than the decree 
 of the Lateran council under Innocent IIL, or than all the 
 exhortations of his lordly successors. 
 
 tide so far in the credulity of the people as to risk their authority by 
 propagating such a doctrine. 
 
 3x4> ® This fanatical woman declared, that as often as she addressed 
 herself to God, or to the saints in prayer, she saw the full moon with a 
 small defect or breach in it; and that, having long studied to find out 
 the signification of this strange appearance, she was zwardly informed 
 by the Spirit, that the moon signified the church, and that the defect or 
 breach was the want of an annual festival in honour of the holy sacra- 
 ment. 
 
 bSee Barthol. Fisen, Origo prima Festi Corporis Christi ex Viso 
 Sancte Virgini Juliane oblato, published at Liege in 1619.—-Dalleus, 
 de Cultus religiosi objecto, p. 287.—Acta Sanctor. April. tom. i. p. 437, 
 903.—And above all Benedict XIV. Pont. Max. de Festis Christi et 
 Marie, lib. i. c. xill. p. 360, tom. x. op. 
 
 3% ¢ These testimonies worthy of credit have never been produced by 
 ‘he Romish writers, unless we rank, in that class, that of an old man, 
 who had completed his 107th year, and who, being brought before Boni- 
 face, declared (if we may believe the abbé Fleury) that his father, who 
 Was acommon labourer, had assisted at the celebration of a jubilee, a 
 hundred years before that time. See Fleury’s Hist. Eccles. toward the 
 end of the twelfth century. Itis, however, a very unaccountable thing, 
 if the institution of the jubilee year was not the invention of Boniface, 
 that there should be neither in the acts of councils, nor in the records of 
 history or writings of the learned, any trace or the least mention of its 
 celebration before the year 1300. This, and other reasons of an irresist- 
 ible evidence, have persuaded some Roman catholic writers to consider 
 the institution of the jubilee year, as the invention of this pontiff, who, 
 to render it more respectable, pretended that it was of a much earlier 
 date. See Ghilen. et Victorell. apud Philippi Bonanni Numism. Pontif. 
 Rom. tom. i. p, 22, 23. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 Iff. About the conclusion of this century, Boniface 
 VIII. added, to the public rites and ceremonies of the 
 church, the famous jubilee, which is still celebrated at 
 Rome, at a stated period, with the utmost profusion of 
 pomp and magnificence. In 1299, a rumour was propa- 
 gated among the inhabitants of that city, importing that 
 all such as should visit, within the limits of the following 
 year, the church of St. Peter, should obtain the remission 
 of all their sins, and that this privilege was to be annexed 
 to the performance of the same service once in every 
 period of one hundred years. Boniface no sooner heard 
 of this, tht he ordered strict inquiry to be made concern- 
 ing the author and the foundation of this report; and 
 the result of the inquiry was answergble to his views ; for 
 he was assured, by many testimonies worthy of credit, 
 (say the Roman-catholic historians) that, from the remotest 
 antiquity, this important privilege of remission and indul- 
 gence was to be obtained by the service above mentioned. 
 No sooner had the pontiff received this information, than 
 
 'he addressed to all Christians an epistolary mandate, in 
 
 which he enacted it as a solemn law of the church, that 
 those who, in every hundredth or jubilee year, should 
 confess their sins, and visit, with sentiments of contrition 
 and repentance, the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at 
 Rome, should obtain thereby the entire remission of their 
 various offences.1. he successors of Boniface were not 
 satisfied with adding a multitude of new rites and inven- 
 tions, by way of ornaments, to this superstitious institu- 
 tion; but, finding by experience that it added to the lustre, 
 and augmented the revenues of the Roman church, they 
 rendered its return more frequent, and fixed its celebration 
 to every five-and-twentieth year.* 
 
 CHAPTER YV. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. We have no account of any new sects that arose 
 among the Greeks during this century. Those of the 
 Nestorians and Jacobites, established in the remoter regions 
 of the east, who equalled the Greeks in their aversion to 
 
 4 So the matter is related by James Caietan, cardinal of St. George, 
 
 and nephew to Boniface, in his Relatio de Centesimo seu Jubilzo anno, 
 which is published in his Magna Bibliotheca Vet. Patrum, tom. vi. p. 
 
 | 426, and in the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum, tom. xxv. p. 267. Nor is 
 
 there any reason to believe that this account is erroneous and false, or 
 that Boniface acted the part of an impostor from a principle of avarice 
 upon this occasion. 
 
 ap N. B. It is not without astonishment, that we hear Dr. Mosheim 
 deciding in this manner with respect to the good faith of Boniface, and 
 the relation of hisnephew. ‘The character of that wicked and ambi- 
 tious pontiff is well known, and the relation of the cardinal of St. 
 George has been proved to be the most ridiculous, fabulous, motley piece 
 of stuff, that ever usurped the title of an historical record. See the excel- 
 lent Lettres de M. Chais sur les Jubilés, tom. i. p. 53. 
 
 ° The various writers who have treated of the institution of the Ro- 
 man Jubilee, are enumerated by Jo. Albert Fabricius in his Bibliogr. An- 
 tiquar. p. 316. Among the authors that may be added to this list, there 
 is one whom we think it necessary to mention particularly, viz. the Re- 
 verend Charles Chais, whose Lettres Historiques et Dogmatiques sur 
 les Jubilés et les Indulgences, were published in 1751. 
 
 3¢> These letters of Mr. Chais (Minister of the French church at the 
 Hague, and well known in the republic of letters) contain the most full 
 and accurate account that has been ever given cf the institution of the 
 Jubilee, and of the rise, progress, abuses, and enormities, of the 
 infamous traffic of indulgences. This account is judiciously collected 
 from the best authors of antiquity, and frorn several curious re- 
 cords that have escaped the researches of other writers; it is also in- 
 terspersed with curious, and sometimes ludicrous anecdotes, that render 
 the work equally productive of entertainment and instruction. In the first 
 volume of these letters, the learned author lays open the nature and origin 
 
Cnap. V. 
 
 the rites and jurisdiction of the Latin church, were fre- 
 quently solicited, by the Franciscan and Dominican papal 
 missionaries, to receive the Roman yoke. In 1246, Inno- 
 cent LV. used his utmost efforts to bring both these sects | 
 under his dominion ; and, in 1278, terms of accommoda- 
 tion were proposed by Nicolas LV. to the Nestorians, and 
 particularly to that branch of the sect which resided in 
 the northern parts of Asia. ‘lhe leading men, both 
 among the Nestorians and Jacobites, seemed to give ear 
 to the proposals that were made to them, and to wish for 
 a reconciliation with the church of Rome; but the pros- 
 pect of peace soon vanished, and a variety .of causes 
 concurred to prolong the rupture. 
 
 Li. During the whole course of this century, the Roman 
 pontiffs carried on the most barbarous and inhuman per- 
 secution against those whom they branded with the 
 denomination of heretics ; 1.e. against all those who 
 called their pretended authority and jurisdiction in ques- 
 tion, or taught doctrines different from those which were 
 adopted and propagated by the church of Rome. For 
 the sects of the Cathari, Waldenses, Petrobrussians, &c. 
 gathered strength from day to day, spread imperceptibly 
 throughout all Europe, assembled numerous congregations 
 in Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, dnd formed by 
 degrees such a powerful party as rendered them formida- 
 ble to the pontiffs, and menaced the papal jurisdiction with 
 a fatal revolution. ‘To the ancient sects new factions 
 were added, which, though they differed from each other 
 in various respects, unanimously agreed in this point: 
 “That the public and established religion was a motley 
 system of errors and superstition, and that the dominion 
 which the popes had usurped over Christians, as also the 
 authority they exercised in religious matters, were unlaw- 
 ful and tyrannical.” Such were the notions propagated 
 by the sectaries, who refuted the superstitions and impos- 
 tures of the times by arguments drawn from the holy 
 scriptures, and whose declamations against the power, the 
 opulence, and the vices of the pontiffs and clergy, were 
 extremely agreeable to many princes and civil magistrates, 
 who groaned under the usurpations of the sacred order. 
 The pontiffs, therefore, considered themselves as obliged 
 to have recourse to new and extraordinary methods of 
 defeating and subduing enemies, who, both by their 
 number and their rank, were every way proper to fill 
 them with terror. 
 
 of the institution of the jubilee; he proves it to have been a human in- 
 vention, which owed its rise to the avarice and ambition of the popes, 
 and its credit to the ignorance and superstition of the people, and whose 
 celebration was absolutely unknown before the thirteenth century, which 
 is the true date of its origin. He takes notice of the various changes 
 it underwent with respect to the time of its celebration, the various co- 
 lours with which the ambitious pontiffs covered it in order to render it re- 
 spectable and alluring in the eyes of the multitude ; and exposés these 
 delusions by many convincing arguments, whose gravity is seasoned 
 with an agreeable and temperate mixture of decent raillery. He proves, 
 with the utmost evidence, that the papal jubilee is an imitation of the 
 Secular Games, which were celebrated with such pomp in pagan Rome. 
 He points out the gross contradictions that reign in the bulls of the dif- 
 ferent popes, with respect to the nature of this institution, and the time 
 of itseelebration. Nor does he pass over in silence the infamous traftic 
 of indulgences, the worldly pomp and splendour, the crimes, debauch- 
 eries, and disorders of every kind, that were observable at the re- 
 turn of each jubilee year. He lays also before the reader an historical 
 view of all the jubilees that were celebrated from the pontificate of Bo- 
 niface VIII. in the year 1300, to that of Benedict XIV. in 1750, with an 
 entertaining account of the most remarkable adventures that happened 
 among the pilgrims who repaired to Rome on these occasions. The se- 
 
 cond and third volumes of these interesting letters treat of the indulgen- 
 
 ces that are administered in the church of Rome. The reader will find |, 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 327 
 
 Ill. Of these dissenters from the church of Rome, the 
 number was no where greater than in Narbonne Gaul,® 
 and the countries adjacent, where they were received and 
 protected, in a singular manner, by Raymond VI. earl of 
 ‘Toulouse, and other persons of the highest distinction : 
 and where the bishops, either through humanity or indo- 
 lence, were so negligent and remiss in the prosecution of 
 neretics, that the latter, laying aside all their fears, formed 
 settlements, and multiplied greatly from day to day. 
 Innocent HI. was soon informed of all these proceedings ; 
 and, about the commencement of this century, he sent 
 legates extraordinary into the southern provinces of France 
 to do what the bishops had left undone, and to extirpate 
 heresy, in all its various forms and modifications, without 
 being at all scrupulous in the adoption of such methods 
 as might seem necessary to effect this salutary purpose. 
 The persons charged with this commission were Rainier, 
 a Cistertian monk, and Pierre de Castelnau,’ archdeacon 
 of Maguelone, who became also afterwards a Cistertian 
 friar. These eminent missionaries were followed by 
 several others, among whom was the famous Spaniard, 
 Dominic, founder of the order of preachers, who, returning 
 from Rome in 1206, met with these delegates, embarked 
 in their cause, and laboured both by his exhortations and 
 actions in the extirpation of heresy. ‘These spirited cham- 
 pions, who engaged in this expedition upon the sole autho- 
 rity of the pope, without either asking the advice or de- 
 manding the succours of the bishops, and who inflicted 
 capital punishment upon such of the heretics as they 
 could not convert by reason and argument, were distin- 
 guished in common discourse by the title of Jnquisitors ; 
 and from them the formidable and odious tribunal, called 
 the Inquisition, derived its origin. 
 
 IV. When this new set of heresy-hunters* had execu- 
 ted their commission, and purged the provinces to which 
 they were sent of the greatest part of the enemies of the 
 Roman faith, the pontiffs were so sensible of their excel- 
 lent services, that they established missionaries of a like 
 nature, or, in other words, placed Jnguisifors in almost 
 every city, whose inhabitants had the misfortune to be 
 suspected of heresy, notwithstanding the reluctance which 
 the people showed to this new institution, and the violence 
 with which they frequently expelled, and sometimes nias- 
 sacred, these bloody officers of the popish hierarchy. 'The 
 council convoked at Toulouse, in 1229, by Romanus, 
 
 here their nature and origin explained, the doctrine of the Roman 
 catholic divines relating to them stated and refuted, the history of this 
 impious traffick accurately laid down, and its enormities and pernicious 
 effects circumstantially exposed, with learning, perspicuity, and can- 
 dour. 
 
 * Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. Eccles. tom. xiii. ad Annum 1247, sect. 
 Xxxil. et tom. xv. ad A. 1308, sect. xxii. et ad A. 1304, sect. xxiil— 
 Matth. Paris, Hist. Major, p. 372. 
 
 > That part of France, which, in ancient times, was termed Nar- 
 bonne Gaul, comprehended the provinces of Savoy, Dauphiné, Provence, 
 and Languedoc. 
 
 z*>° Instead of Rainier, other historians mention one Raoul, or 
 Ralph, as the associate of Pierre de Castelnau. See Fleury’s Histoire 
 Eccles. liv. lxxvi. sect. xii. 
 
 4 The greatest part of the Roman writers consider Pierre de Castel- 
 nau as the first inquisitor. It will appear hereafter in what sense this 
 
 || assertion may be admitted. For an account of this legate, see the Acta 
 
 Sanctor. tom. i. Martii, p. 411. : 
 
 xy * The term of heresy-hunters, for which the translator 1s respon- 
 sible, will not seem absurd, when it is known, that the missionaries who 
 were sent into the provinces of Franze to extirpate heresy, and the in- 
 quisitors who succeeded them, were bound by an oath, not only to seek 
 for the heretics in towns, houses, cellars, and other lurking-places, but 
 also.in woods, caves, Selds, &c. 
 
328 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 cardinal of St. Angelo, and pope’s legate, went still farther, | 
 and erected in every city a set or society of inquisitors, 
 consisiing of one priest and three laymen 'Vhis 
 institution was, however, superseded in 1233 by Gregory 
 1X., who intrusted the Dominicans, or preaching friars, 
 with the important commission of discovering and bring- 
 ing to judgment the heretics who were lurking i in France, 
 and in a formal epistle discharged the bishops from the | 
 burthen of that painful office.» Immediately after this, 
 the bishop of Tournay, who was the pope’s legate in 
 France, began to execute this new resolution, by appoint: 
 ing Pierre Cellan, and Guillaume Arnaud, inquisitors of 
 heretical pravity at ‘Toulouse, and afterwards proceeded 
 in every city, where the Dominicans had a monastery, to 
 constitute officers of the same nature, selected from the 
 monks of that celebrated order.c Fiom tis period we 
 are to date the commencement of the dreadful tribunal 
 of the inquisition, which in this and the follewing ages 
 subdued such a prodigious multitude of heretics, part of 
 whom were converted to the church by terror, and the rest 
 committed to the flames without mercy. For the Domi- 
 nicans erected, first at Toulouse and afterwards at Carca- 
 sone and other places, a tremendous court, before which 
 were summoned not only heretics, and persons suspected 
 of heresy, but likewise all who were, accused of magic, 
 sorcery, Judaism, witchcraft, and other crimes of a spiri- 
 tual kind. This tril bunal, in process of time, was erected 
 in other countries of Europe, though not every where | 
 with the same success.* 
 
 V. The method of proceeding in this court of inquisi- 
 tion was at first simple, and almost in every respect simi- 
 Jar to that which was observed in the ordinary courts of 
 justice.e But this simplicity was gradually changed by 
 the Dominicans, to whom experience suggested ‘several 
 new methods of augmenting the pomp and majesty of | 
 their spiritual tribunal, and who made such alterations in 
 
 * See Harduini Concilia, tom. vii. p. 175. 
 
 > Bern. Guido in Chronico Pontif. apud Jac. Echardum, Scriptor. 
 Preedicator. tom. 1. p.88.—Percini Historia Inquisit. Tolosane, subjoined 
 to his Historia Conventus Frat. Predicat. Tolose, 1693.—Histoire Ge- 
 nerale de Languedoc, tom. 11. p. 394. 
 
 ¢ Echard and Pe srcinus, loc. citat. 
 
 4 The accounts which we have here given of the rise of the Inqui- 
 sition, though founded upon the most unexceptionable testimonies and 
 the most authentic records, are yet very different from those that are to 
 be found in most authors. Some learned men tell us, that the Tribunal 
 of the Inquisition was the invention of St. Dominic, and was first 
 erected by him in the city of Toulouse; that he, of consequence, was 
 the first inquisitor; that the year of its institution is indeed uncertain ; 
 but that it was undoubtedly confirmed in a solemn manner by Innocent 
 {IL. in the Lateran council of 1215. See Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Lux 
 Ievangelii tott Orbi exariens, p. 569.—Phil. Limborchi Historia Inquisit. 
 lib. i. c. x. and the other writers mentioned by Fabricius. I will not 
 affirm, that the writers, who give this account of the matter, have ad- 
 
 vanced all this without authority ; but this I will venture to say, that 
 the authors, whom they have taken for their guides, are not of the first 
 “ih | in point of merit and credibility. Limborch, whose History of 
 the Inquisition is looked upon as a most important and capital work, is 
 
 generally followed by modern writers in their accounts of that odious 
 sciunal! But, however laudable that historian may have been in point 
 of fidelity and diligence, it is certain that he was little acquainted with 
 the ecclesiastical history of the middle ages ; that he drew his materials, 
 not from the truerand original sources, but from writers of a second class, 
 and thus has fallen, in the course of his history, into various mistakes. 
 His account of the origin of the inquisition is undoubtedly false; nor 
 does that which is given by many other writers approach nearer to the 
 truth. The circumstances of this account, which I have mentioned in 
 the beginning of this note, are more especially destitute of all founda- 
 tion. Many of the Dominicans, who, in our times, have presided in 
 the court of inquisition, and have extolled the sanctity of that piows 
 institution, deny, at the same time, that Dominic was its founder, as 
 also that he was the first inquisitor, or that he was an inquisitor at all. 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part II. 
 
 the process, that the manner of taking cognisance of 
 heretical causes became totally different from that which 
 was usual in civil affairs. These friars were, to say the 
 truth, entirely ignorant of judicial matters ; nor were they 
 acquainted with the proceedings of any other tribunal, 
 than that which was called, in the Roman church, the 
 Tribunal of penance. It was therefore from this, that 
 they modelled the new court of Inquisition, as far asa 
 resemblance was possible ; and hence arose that strange 
 system of inquisitorial law, which, in many respects, is so 
 contrary to the common feelings of humanity, and the 
 plainest dictates of equity and justice. This is the impor- 
 tant circumstance by which we are enabled to account for 
 the absurd and iniquitous proceedings of the inquisitors, 
 against persons who are accused of holding, what they 
 call, heretical opinions. 
 
 VI. That nothing might be wanting to render this spi- 
 ritual court formidable and tremendous, the Roman pon- 
 tiffs persuaded the European princes, and more especially 
 the emperor Frederic II., and Louis IX. king of France, 
 not only to enact the most barbarous laws against heretics, 
 and to commit to the flames, on pretence of public justice, 
 those who were pronounced such by the inquisitors, but 
 also to maintain the latter in their office, and grant them 
 their protection in the most open and solemn manner. 
 The edicts to this purpose issued by Frederic IT. are well 
 known; edicts fit only to excite horror, and which ren- 
 dered the most illustrious piety and virtue incapable of 
 saving from the most cruel death such as had the misfor- 
 tune to be disagreeable to the inquisitors.’ "These execra- 
 ble laws were ‘not, however, sufficient to restrain the just 
 indignation of the people against these inhuman judges, 
 whose barbarity was accompanied with superstition and 
 arrogance, with a spirit of suspicion and perfidy, and even 
 with temerity and imprudence. Accordingly they were 
 insulted by the multitude in many places, were driven in 
 
 They go still farther, and affirm, that the court of inquisition was no{ 
 erected during the life of St. Dominic. Nor is all this advanced incon. 
 siderately, as every impartial inquirer into the proofs they allege will 
 easily perceive. Nevertheless, the question, whether or not St. Dominic 
 was an inquisitor, seems to be merely a dispute about words, and 
 depends entirely upon the different significations of which the term 
 inguisitor is susceptible. That word, according to its original mean- 
 ing, signified a person invested with the commission and authority of 
 the pope to extirpate heresy and oppose its abettors, but not clothed with 
 any judicial power. But it soon acquired a different meaning, and 
 
 signified a person appointed by the pontiff to proceed judicially against 
 heretics and such as were suspected of heresy, to pronounce sentence 
 according to their respective cases, and to deliver over to the secular arm 
 such as persisted obstinately in their errors. In the latter sense Dominic 
 Was not an inquisitor, since it is well known that there were no papal 
 judges of this nature before the pontificate of Gregory IX.; but he 
 was undoubtedly an inquisitor in the sense originally attnedved to that 
 term. 
 
 * The records, published by the Benedictines in their Histoire Gener. 
 de Languedoc, tom. iii. p. 371, show the simplicity that reigned in the 
 proceedings of the inquisition ‘at its first institution. 
 
 f The laws of the emperor Frederic, in relation to the inquisitors, 
 may be seen in Limborch’s History of the Inquisition, as also in the 
 Epistles of Pierre de Vignes, and in Bzovius, Raynaldus, &c. ‘The 
 edict of St. Louis, in favour of these spiritual judges, is generally 
 known under the title of Cupientes; for so it is called by the French 
 lawyers, on account of its beginning with that word. It was issued in 
 1229, as the Benedictine monks have proved sufiiciently in their Hist. 
 Generale de Languedoc, tom. iii. It is also published py Catelius, in 
 his Histor. Comit. Tolosanor. and by many other authors. This edict 
 is as severe and inhuman, to the full, as the laws of Frederic IL.; fora 
 great part of the sanctity of good king Louis consisted in his furious 
 and implacable aversion to heretics, against whom he judged it more ex- 
 pedient to employ the influence of racks and gibbets, than the power of 
 reason and argument. See Du Fresne, Vita Ludovici a Joinv.llic 
 scripta. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 an ignominious manner out of some cities, and were put 
 to death in others ; and Conrad of Marpurg, the first Ger- 
 man inquisitor, who derived his commission from Gregory 
 1X., was one of the many victims that were sacrificed upon 
 this occasion to the vengeance of the public,* which his 
 incredible barbarities had raised to a dreadful degree of ve- 
 hemence and fury.° 
 
 VII. When Innocent IIL, perceived that the labours of 
 the inquisitors were not immediately attended with such 
 abundant fruits as he had fondly expected, he addressed 
 himself, in 1207, to Philip Augustus, king of France, and 
 to the leading men of that nation, urging them, by the al- 
 luring promise of the most ample indulgences, to extirpate 
 all, whom he thought proper to call heretics, by fire and 
 sword.© "This exhortation was repeated, with new acces- 
 sions of fervour and earnestness, in the following year,when 
 Pierre de Castelnau, the legate of this pontiff} and his in- 
 quisitor in France, was put to death by the patrons of the 
 heretics. Not long after this, the Cisteruan monks, in the 
 name of this pope, proclaimed a crusade against the here- 
 tics throughout France; anda storm seemed to be gather- 
 ing against them on all sides. Raymond VLI., earl of 
 ‘l'oulouse, in whose territories Castelnau had been mas- 
 sacred, was solemnly excommunicated, and, to deliver 
 himself from this ecclesiastical malediction, changed sides, 
 and embarked in the crusade now mentioned. In 1209, 
 a formidable army of cross-bearers commenced against the 
 heretics (who were comprehended under the general de- 
 nomination of Albigenses*) an open war, which they car- 
 ried on with the utmost exertions of cruelty, though with 
 various success, for several years. ‘The chief director of 
 this war was Arnald, abbot of the Cistertians, and legate 
 of the Roman pontiff; and the commander in chief of the 
 troops employed in this noble expedition was Simon, earl 
 of Montfort. Raymond, who, consulting his safety rather 
 than his conscience, lad engaged in the crusade against 
 the heretics, was now obliged to attack their persecutors. 
 For Simon, who had embarked in this war, not so much 
 from a principle of zeal for religion, or of aversion to the 
 heretics, as from a desire of augmenting his fortune, cast 
 a greedy eye upon the territories of Raymond, and his 
 selfish views were seconded and accomplished by the court 
 of Rome. After many battles, sieges, and a multitude of 
 other exploits, conducted with the most intrepid courage 
 and the most abominable barbarity, he received from the 
 
 * The life of this furious and celebrated inquisitor was composed 
 from the most authentic records, and also from several valuable manu- 
 seripts, by the learned John Herman Schminckius. See also Wadding, 
 An. Minor. t. ii. p. 151, 355, and Echard, Scrip* Dominican. t. i. p. 487. 
 
 ZH > The abbé Fleury acknowledges the brutal barbarity of this 
 unrelenting lnquisitor, who, under the pretext of heresy, not only com- 
 mitted to the flames a prodigious number of nobles, clerks, monks, 
 hermits, and lay-persons of aJl ranks, but moreover caused them to be 
 sie to death on the very day when they were accused, without appeal. 
 see Fleury’s Hist. Eccles. liv. lxxx. 
 
 © Innocentii Tertii Epistole, lib. x. epist. 49. 
 
 4 Tnnoc. Epist. lib. xi. p. 26.—Acta Sanctor. Mart. tom. i. p. 411. 
 
 * Tius term is used in two senses, of which one is general, and the 
 other more confined. In its more general and extensive sense it com- 
 ae all the various kinds of heretics who resided at that 
 Narbonne Gaul, i. e. in the southern parts of France. This appears 
 from the following passage of Petrus Sarneisis, who, in the dedication 
 of his History of the Albigenses to Innocent III. expresses himself 
 thus: ‘ Tolosani et aliarum civitatum et castrorum heretici, et defensores 
 eorum, generaliter Albigenses vocantur.” The same author divides after- 
 wards the Albigenses into various sects, (cap. ii. p. 3, and 8.) of which he 
 considers that of the Waldenses as the least pernicious. ‘Malierant Wal- 
 denses, sed comparatione aliorum hereticorum longe minus perversi.’ It 
 was not, however, from the city of Albigia, or Albi, that the French here- 
 
 No. XXVIII. 
 
 tive 4 
 tiase N 
 
 . DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 ae en a a EE ——————————————E——EE—————— ee ee 
 
 329 
 
 | hands of Innocent, at the Lateran council, A. D. 1215, 
 
 the county of Toulouse, and the other lands belonging 
 to the obnoxious earl, as a reward for his zeal in support- 
 ing the cause of God and of the church. About three 
 years after this, he lost his life at the siege of Toulouse. 
 Raymond, his valiant adversary, died in 1222. 
 
 VIII. 'Thus were the two chiefs of this deplorable war 
 taken off the scene; but this removal was far from extin- 
 guishing the infernal flame of persecution on the side of 
 the pontifls, or calming the restless spirit of faction on that 
 of the pretended heretics. Raymond VIL, earl of Toulouse, 
 and Amalric, earl of Montfort, succeeded their fathers at 
 the head of the contending parties, and carried on the war 
 with the utmost vehemence, and with such various suc- 
 cess as rendered the issue for some time doubtful. The 
 former seemed at first more powerful than his adversary ; 
 and pope Honorius HL, alarmed at the vigorous opposi- 
 tion he made to the orthodox legions,engaged Louis VIII, 
 king of France, by the most pompous promises, to march 
 in person with a formidable army against the enemies of 
 the church. The obsequious monarch listened to the so- 
 licitations of the lordly pontiff, and embarked with a con- 
 siderable military force in the cause of the church, but did 
 not live to reap the fruits of his zeal. His engagemeuts, 
 however, with the court of Rome, and his furious designs 
 against the heretics, were executed with the greatest ala- 
 crity and vigour by his son and successor Louis the Saint ; 
 so that Raymond, pressed on all sides, was obliged, in 1229, 
 to make peace upon the most disadvantageous terms, even 
 by making a cession of the greatest part of his territories 
 to the French monarch, after having sacrificed a consider- 
 able portion of them, as a peace-offering to the church of 
 Rome.! This treaty gave a mortal blow to the cause of 
 heresy, and dispersed the champions that had appeared 
 in its defence : the inquisition was established at Toulouse, 
 and the heretics were not only exposed to the pious cruel- 
 ties of Louis, but, what was still more shocking, Raymond 
 himself, who had formerly been their patron, became their 
 persecutor, and treated them upon all occasions with the 
 most inhuman severity. It is true, this prince broke the 
 engagements into which he had entered by the treaty 
 above-mentioned, and renewed the war against Louis and 
 the inquisitors, who abused, in the most cdious manner, 
 their victory and the power they had acquired. But this 
 new effort, in favour of the heretics, was attended with 
 
 tics were comprehended under the general title of Albigenses, but from 
 another circumstance, namely, that the greatest part of Narbonne Gaul 
 was, in this century, called Albigesium, as the Benedictine monks have 
 clearly demonstrated in their Histoire Generale de Languedoc, tom. 111. 
 The term Albigenses, in its more confined sense, was used to denote 
 those heretics who inclined toward the Manichean system, and who 
 were otherwise known by the denominations of Catharists, Publicans 
 or Paulicians, and Bulgarians. This appears evidently from many in 
 contestable authorities, and more especially from the Codex Inquisitionis 
 Tolosane, (published by Limborch, in his History of the Inquisition, 
 in which the Albigenses are carefully distinguished from the other sects 
 that made a noise in this century. 
 
 xf It was in consequence of this treaty (of which the articles 
 were drawn up at Maux, and afterwards confirmed at Paris, in presence 
 of Louis) that the university of Toulouse was founded, Raymond hav- 
 ing bound himself therehy to pay the sum of 4000 silver mares, toward 
 the support of two professors of divinity, two of canon law, two of 
 grammar, and six of the liberal arts, during the space of ten years. 
 We niust also observe, that what Dr. Mosheim says of the cession that 
 Raymond made of his lands is not sufficiently clear and accurate. 
 These lands were not to be transferred till after his @eath, and they 
 were to be transferred to the brother of Louis IX. who, according to 
 the treaty, was to espouse the daughter of Raymond. See Fleury’s 
 
 | Hist, Eccles, iiv. xxix. sect, 50. 
 
330 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 little or no effect, and the unfortunate earl of Toulouse, 
 the last representative of that noble and powerful family, 
 dejected and exhausted by the losses he had sustained, 
 and the perplexities in which he was involved, died, in 
 1249, without male issue. And thus ended a civil war, 
 of which religion had been partly the cause, and partly 
 the pretext, and which, in its consequences, was highly 
 profitable both to the kings of France and to the Roman 
 pontifls.* 
 
 IX. The severity which the court of Rome employed 
 in the extirpation of heresy, and the formidable arguments 
 of fire and sword, racks and gibbets, with which the popes 
 and their creatures reasoned against the enemies of the 
 church, were not sufficient to prevent the rise of new and 
 pernicious sects in different countries. Many of these sects 
 were inconsiderable in themselves, and transitory in their 
 duration, while some of them made a noise in the world, 
 and were suppressed with difficulty. Among the latter we 
 may reckon that of the Brethren and Sisters of the free 
 spirit, which about this time gained ground secretly and al- 
 most imperceptibly in Italy, France, and Germany, and 
 
 seduced into its bosom multitudes of persons of both sexes, 
 by the striking appearance of piety that was observed in 
 the conduct of the members who composed it. How far 
 the councils of this century proceeded against the new scct, 
 Wwe cannot say with certainty, because we have upon re- 
 cord only a few of the decrees that were issued upon that 
 occasion. Perhaps the obscurity of the rising faction screen- 
 ed it, in a great measure, from pubie view. But this was 
 not the case in the following age; the Brethren and Sis- 
 ders above-mentioned issued from their retreats in propor- 
 tion as their numbers increased: they drew upon them 
 the eyes of the world, and particularly those of the inqui- 
 sitors, who committed to the flames such of these unhappy 
 enthusiasts as fell into their hands; while the councils, 
 holden in Germany and other countries, loaded them w ith 
 excommunications and damnatory edicts. 
 
 This sect took its denomination from the words of St. 
 Paul, and maintained that the true children of God were 
 invested with the privilege of a a and perfect freedom 
 from the jurisdiction of the Jaw.: They were called, by 
 the Germans and Flemish, ee ds and Beg utles, 
 names which, as we have seen already, were usually 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part IL. 
 given to those who made an extraordinary profession of 
 piety and devotion. They received from others the 
 reproachful denomination of Bicorni, i. e. Idiots. In 
 France, they were known by the appellation of Beguins 
 and Beguines, while the multitude distinguished them by 
 that of Turlupins, the origin and reason of which title I 
 have not been able to learn.t Nothing carried a more 
 shocking air of lunacy and distraction than their external 
 aspect and manners. ‘They ran from place to place 
 clothed in the most singular and fantastic apparel, and 
 begged their bread with wild shouts and clamours, reject- 
 ing ‘with horror every kind of industry and labour, as an 
 obstacle to divine contemplation, and to the ascent of the 
 soul toward the Father of spirits. In all their excursions 
 they were followed by women, called Sisters, with whom 
 they lived in the most intimate familiarity. They dis 
 tributed, among the people, books which contained the 
 substance of their doctrines ; held nocturnal assemblies 1 
 places remote from public view ; ; and seduced many from 
 frequenting the ordinary institutions of divine worship. 
 X. These brethren, who gloried in the freedom which 
 they pretended to have obtained, through the spirit, 
 from the dominion and obligation of the law, adopted a 
 certain rigid and fantastic system of mystic theology, built 
 upon pretended philosophical principles, which bore a 
 striking resemblance to the impious doctrines of the 
 Pantheists. They held, “That all things flowed by 
 emanation from God, and: were finally to return to their 
 divine source; that rational souls were so many portions 
 of the Supreme Deity, and that the universe, considered 
 as one great whole, was God: that every man, by the 
 power of contemplation, and by calling off his mind from 
 sensible and terrestrial objects, might be united to the 
 Deity in an inexplicable manner, and become one with 
 the Source and Parent of all things; and that they, who, 
 by long and assiduous meditation, had plunged them- 
 selves, as it were, into the abyss of the Divinity, acquired 
 a most glorious and sublime hberty, and were not only 
 delivered from the violence of sinful lusts, but even from 
 the common instincts of nature.” From these and the 
 like doctrines, the brethren drew this impious and horrid 
 conclusion, “ That the person who had ascended to God 
 in this manner, and was absorbed by contemplation in 
 
 ® Many writers, both ancient and modern, have related the cireum- 
 stances of this religious war, carried on against the earls of Toulouse 
 and their confederates, and also against the heretics, whose cause they 
 maintained. But the historians, whom I have consulted on this sub- 
 ject, have not treated it with that impartiality which is so essential to 
 the merit of historic writing. The protestant writers, among whom 
 Basnage deserves an eminent rank, are too favourable to Raymond and 
 the Ailbigenses ; the Roman catholic historians lean with still more 
 partiality to the other side. Of the l utter, the most recent are Benedict, 
 a Dominican monk, author of the Histoire des Albigeois, des Vaudois, 
 et des Barbets, published at Paris in 1691, and J. Bapt. L’Anglois, a 
 Jesuit, who composed the Histoire des Croisades contre les Albigeois, 
 publishe d at Rouen in 1703, to which we must add Jo. Jac. Percini 
 Monumenta Conventus Tolosani Ordinis Fratram Preedicator. in quibus 
 Historia hujus Conventus distribuitur, et refertur totius Albigensium 
 facti narratio, Tolose, 1693. These writers are chargeable with the 
 greatest parti uli ty and injustice for the reproaches and ‘calumnies they 
 faust cut so liberal} ly against tue Raymonds and the Albigenses, w hile 
 they disguise, with a perfidious dexterity, the barbarity ‘of Simon of 
 Montfort, and the ambitious views of extending their dominions that 
 engaged the kings of France to enter into this war. The most ample 
 and accurate account of this ex xpedition against the heretics is that 
 which is given by the learned Benedictines “Claude le Vie and Joseph 
 Vaissette, in their Histoire Generale de Languedoc, tom. iu. in which, 
 however, there are several omissions, which render that valuable work 
 defective. 
 
 b Romans, viii. 2, 14. 
 
 ¢ The accounts here given of these wretched fanaties are, for the 
 most part, taken from authentic records, which have not been yet pub- 
 lished, from the decrees of synods and councils holden in France and 
 Germany, from the diplomas of the Roman pontiffs, the sentences 
 pronounced by the inquisitors, and other sources of information to 
 which | have had access. I have also a collection of extracts from 
 certain books of thesesenthusiasts, and more especially from that which 
 treated of the Nine Spiritual Rocks, and which was in the highest 
 esteem among the free ybrethren, who considered it as a treasure of 
 divine wisdom and doctrine. As I cannot here expose these records to 
 the examination of the curious reader, I beg leave to refer him toalong 
 and ample edict issued out against these brethren by Henry L. arch 
 bishop of Cologne, and published in the Statuta Coloniensia, anno 1554. 
 This edict is, in every respect, conto:mable to those published on the 
 same occasion at Mentz, Aschziteaburg, Paderborn, Beziers, 'Treves, 
 and other places. 
 
 4 Many have written of ihe ‘Turlupins, but none with accuracy and 
 precision. See Beausobre’s Dissertation sur les Adaraites, part ii. p. 
 384, where that learned author has fallen into several errors, as usually 
 happens to him when he treats ‘subjects of this kind. I know not the 
 origin of the word Turlupin; but | am able to demonstrate, by the most 
 anthentic records, that the persons so called, who were burned at Paris 
 and in other parts of France, were no other than the Brethren of the 
 free spirit, who were condemned by the Roman pontiffs, and also by 
 various councils. 
 
 ¢ Hence they were styled, in Germany, Schwestriones, as appears by 
 the decrees of several councils. 
 
. 
 
 Crap. V. 
 
 the abyss of Deity, became thus a part of the Godhead, 
 commenced God, was the Son of God in the same sense | 
 and manner in which Christ was, and was thereby raised to 
 a glorious independence, and freed from the obligation of 
 all laws human and divine.” It was in consequence of 
 all this, that they treated with contempt the ordinances of 
 the Gospel, and every external act of religious worship, 
 looking upon prayer, fasting, baptism, and the sacrament 
 of the Lord’s supper, as the first elements of piety adapted | 
 to the state and capacity of children, and as of no sort of 
 use to the perfect man, whom long meditation had raised 
 above all external things, and carried into the bosom and 
 essence of the Deity.* 
 
 XI. Among these fanatics there were several persons 
 of eminent probity, who had entered into this sect with 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 the most upright intentions, and who extended that liberty 
 of the spirit, which they looked upon as the privilege of 
 true believers, no farther than to an exemption from the 
 
 duties of external worship, and an immunity from the 
 positive laws of the church. ‘The whole of religion was 
 placed by this class of men in internal devotion, and they 
 treated with the utmost contempt the rules of monastic 
 discipline, and all other external rites and institutions, as 
 infinitely beneath the attention of the perfect. Nor 
 were their exhortations and examples without effect ; for, 
 about the middle of this century, they persuaded a con- 
 siderable number of monks and devout persons, in Suabia, 
 “to live without any rule, and to serve God in the liberty 
 of the spirit, which was the most acceptable service that 
 
 could be presented to the Deity.”’ The inquisitors, how- 
 ever, stopped these poor enthusiasts in the midst of their 
 career, and committed several of them to the flames, in 
 which they expired, not only with the most unclouded 
 serenity, but even with the most triumphant feelings of 
 cheerfulness and joy. 
 
 But we find among these Brethren of the free spirit 
 another class of fanatics very different from these now 
 mentioned, and much more extravagant, whose system of 
 religion was as dangerous as it was ridiculous and absurd, 
 since it opened a door to the most licentious manners. 
 
 * It may not be improper to introduce a certain number of sentences, 
 translated faithfully from several of the more secret books of these 
 heretics. ‘The following will be sufficient to give the curious reader a 
 full idea of their impiety. 
 
 “ Every pious and good man is the only begotten Son of God, whom 
 God engendered from all eternity: (for these heretics maintained, that 
 whiat the Scriptures taught concerning the distinction of three persons 
 in the divine nature, is by no means to be understood literally, and 
 -herefore explained it according to the principles of their mystical and 
 fantastic system.) 
 
 “ All created things are non-entities, or nothing: I do not say that 
 they are small or minute, but that they are absolutely nothing. 
 
 “There is in the soul of man something that is neither created 
 nor susceptible of creation, and that is, rationality, or the power of 
 reasoning, 
 
 “God is neither good, nor better, nor best: whosoever therefore calls 
 the Deity good, speaks as foolishly as he who calls an object black 
 which he knows to be white. 
 
 “ God still engenders his only begotten son, and begets still the same 
 son, Whom he had begotten from eternity: for every operation of the 
 Deity is uniform and one; and therefore he engenders his son without 
 any division. 
 
 “ What the Scriptures say concerning Christ is true of every good, 
 ef every divine man: and every quality of the divine nature belongs 
 
 ‘equally o every person whose piety is genuine and sincere.” 
 
 To these herrid passages we may add the following sentences, in 
 which John bishop of Strasbourg (in an edict he published against the 
 Brethren of the free spirit, in 1317) discovers farther the blasphemous 
 doctrine of this impious sect. ‘Deus (say these heretics) est formaliter 
 orane quodest. Quilibet homo perfectus est Christus per naturam. Homo 
 perfectus est liber in totum, nec tenetur ad servandum precepta ecclesiz |) 
 
 331 
 
 These wretched enthusiasts maintained, that, by continual 
 contemplation, it was possible to eradicate all the instincts 
 of nature out of the heaven-born mind, and to introduce 
 into the soul a certain divine stupor, and holy apathy, 
 which they looked upon as the great characteristics of 
 Christian perfection. ‘The persons who adopted these 
 sentiments took strange liberties in consequence of thei 
 pretended sanctity, and showed, indeed, by their conduct, 
 that they had little regard to external appearances ; for 
 they held their secret assemblies in a state of nudity, and 
 lay in the same beds with their spiritual sisters, or, in- 
 discriminately, with other women, without the smallest 
 scruple or hesitation. ‘his shocking violation of decency 
 was a consequence of their pernicious system. ‘They 
 looked upon decency and modesty as marks of inward 
 corruption, as the characters of a soul that was still under 
 the dominion of the sensual, animal, and lascivious spirit, 
 and that was not, as yet, re-united to the divine nature, 
 its centre and source. And they considered, as at a fatal 
 distance from the Diety, all such as either felt the carnal 
 suggestions of nature, or were penetrated with warm 
 emotions at the view or approach of persons of a different 
 sex, or were incapable of vanquishing and suppressing the 
 rising fervour of lust and intemperance.° 
 
 There were, moreover, in this fanatical troop, certain 
 enthusiasts, who far surpassed in impiety the two classes 
 we have been now mentioning, who abused the system 
 and doctrines of the sect, so as to draw from them an 
 apology for all kinds of wickedness, and who audaciously 
 maintained, that the divine man, or the believer, who 
 was intimately united to God, could not sin, let his con- 
 duct be ever so horrible and atrocious. 'This execrable 
 doctrine was not, indeed, explained in the same manner 
 by all the Brethren of the free spirit who were so out- 
 rageous to adopt it. Some held that the motions and 
 actions of the body had no relation at all to the soul, 
 which, by its union with God, was blended with the 
 divine nature: others fell into a notion infinitely injurious 
 to the Supreme Being, and maintained that the propensi- 
 ties and passions that arose in the soul of the divine man 
 
 data a Deo. Multa sunt poetica in Evangelio, que non sunt vera; et 
 homines credere magis debent conceptibus ex anima sua Deo juncta 
 profectis, qaam Evangelio,’ &e. 
 
 b See Mart. Crusius, Annal. Suevicorum, part iii. lib. ii. cap. xiv. ad 
 annum 1261.—This author has taken his materials from Felix Faber, 
 an impartial writer. 
 
 ¢ Certain writers, whose principal zeal is employed in the defence 
 of these heretics, and who have accustomed themselves to entertain a 
 high idea of the sanctity of all those who, in the middle ages, separated 
 themselves from the communion of the church of Rome, suspect the in- 
 quisitors of having attributed falsely these impious doctrines to the Bre- 
 thren of the free spirit, with a view to blacken these pious men, and to 
 render them odious. But this suspicion is entirely groundless ; and the 
 account of this matter, which we have given in the text, is conformable 
 to the strictest truth. The inquisitors have been less fabulous in their 
 accusations of these hereties, than many are apt to imagine. They ac- 
 knowledge that the Beghards, though destitute of shame, were not in 
 general chargeable with a breach of the duties of chastity and absti- 
 nence. They were indeed of opinion, that the firmness of mind, and 
 insensibility of heart, which rendered them proof against female 
 charms, and deaf to the voice of nature, were privileges granted to them 
 by the devil; for they adopted the opinion of honest Nieder, (Iormicar. 
 lib. iti. cap. v.) and affirmed that it was in the power of that evil spirit 
 to render men cold, anc te extinguish the warm and lascivious solicita- 
 tions of nature; and that Satan wrought this miracle upon his friends 
 and adherents, in order to procure them a high reputation for sanctity, 
 and make them appear superior in virtue to the rest of mankind. “ Cre- 
 do (saith Nieder, who was both a Dominican and an inquisitor) quos- 
 dam ex eis demonis opera affectos fuisse, ne moverentur ad naturales 
 actus incontinentiz. ..... Facillamum enim est demonibus infrigi- 
 dare.” 
 
332 
 
 after his union with the Deity, were the propensities and 
 affections of God himself, and were therefore, notwith- 
 standing their apparent deformity and opposition to the 
 law, holy and good, since the Supreme Being is infinitely 
 exalted above all law and all obligation.s It is necessary 
 to observe, before we leave this subject, that flagitious and 
 impious impostors mingled themselves sometimes with 
 this sect, and took the name of Beghards, that by a feigned 
 piety they might impose upon the multitude, and deceive 
 the simple into their snares.» 
 
 XH. The famous Amalric, professor of logic and theo- 
 logy at Paris, whose bones were dug up ‘and publicly 
 burned in 1209, (although he had aby’ ‘ured his errors 
 before his death,) and a considerable number of whose 
 disciples and followers were committed to the flames on 
 account of their absurd and pernicious doctrine, was 
 undoubtedly of the same way of thinking with the sect 
 whose opinions we have been now considering ;° for, 
 though the writers of this barbarous age have given very 
 different and confused accounts of his ¢ opinions, and even 
 attributed some doctrines to him which he never main- 
 tained, it is nevertheless certain, that he taught, that all 
 things were the parts of one substance, or, in other words, 
 that the universe was God, and that not only the forms 
 of all things, but also their matter or'substance, proceed 
 from the Deity, and must return to the source from which 
 they were derived. From these absurd and blasphemous 
 
 * This account will be confirmed by the following passage, which is 
 faithfully translated from the famous book of the Nine Rocks, written 
 originally in German: “ Moreover the divine man operates and engen- 
 ders whatever the Deity operates and engenders: for in God _ he pro- 
 duced and formed the heavens and the ear th. He is also the father of 
 the eternal word. Neither could God produce any thing without this 
 divine man, who is therefore obliged to render his will conformable to 
 the will of God, that whatever may be agreeable to the Deity, may be 
 agreeable to him also. If therefore it be the will of God that I should 
 commit sin, my will must be the same, and I must not even desire to 
 abstain from sin. ‘This is true contr ition. And although a man, who 
 is well and truly united to God, may have committed a thousand mortal 
 sins, he ought not to wish that he had not committed them: he should 
 even be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than omit one of these 
 mortal sins.” Hence arose the accusation brought by the inquisitors 
 against this impious sect, whom they reproach ‘with maintaining that 
 the “sin of a man united to God, is not sin, see God works in him 
 and with him whatever he does.” Henry Suso, a Dominican monk, 
 and one of the most celebrated Mystic writers, composed, in the follow- 
 ing century, another book concerning the Nine Rocks, which is to be 
 found in the edition of his works published by Laurence Surius. But 
 this book is entirely different from that which was in such high esteem 
 among the Beghards, though it bears the same title. The latter is of 
 much older d: ate, and was in vogue in Germany, among the Brethren 
 of the free spirit, long before Suso was born. There fell some time ago 
 into my hands an ancient manuscript, composed in Alsace during the 
 fifteenth century, containing an account of various revelations and vi- 
 sions of that age. In this “manuscript I found a piece entitled, Decla- 
 ratio Religiosi cujusdam super Revelatione Carthusiano cuidam de Ec- 
 clesiz per gladium reformatione, Leodii in anno 1453 facta ; and, al- 
 most in the be ginning of this declar ation, I met with the following pas- 
 sage relating to the book of the Nine Rocks: “ Homo quidam devotis- 
 simus, licet ‘Jaicus, librum de novem Rupibus conscripsit a Deo compul- 
 ‘sus, ubi multa ad presens pertinentia continentur de Ecclesize renova- 
 tione et previa gravi persecutione.” ‘These Nine Rocks signified, ac- 
 cording to the fanatical doctrine of this wr ong-headed sect, the different 
 steps by which the divine man ascended to the Deity. 
 = The found.r of this famous sect, the place of its origin, and the 
 time of its first appearance, are not known with certainty. I have in 
 my possession eighty-nine Sentences of the Beghards, vulgarly called 
 Schwestriones, but who style themselves Brethren of the sect of the 
 free spirit and of volunta wy poverty, with a refutation of the said sen- 
 tences, written at Worms toward the conclusion of this century by one 
 of the inquisitors. The 79th sentence runs thus: “To say that the 
 truth is in Rhetia, is to fall into the heresy of Donatus, who said that 
 God was in Africa, and not elsewhere.” From these words it appears 
 evident, that Rhetia was the country where the church of the Brethren 
 of the free spirit was fixed and established, and that from this province 
 they passed into Germany. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I am not, how ever, of opinion, that this ! 
 
 Pakr I 
 
 principles he deduced that chimerical system of fanatical 
 devotion, which we have already exposed to the view of 
 the reader, pretended to demonstrate the possibility of 
 incorporating or translating the human nature into the 
 divine, and rejected all kinds of external worship, as 
 insignificant and useless. The disciples of this enthusiast 
 were men of exemplary piety, were distinguished by the 
 gravity and austerity of their lives and manners, and 
 suffered death in the most dreadful forms with the utmost 
 resolution and constancy. David of Dinant, a Parisian 
 doctor, was one of the most eminent among these ; and 
 he usually expressed the fundamental principle of his 
 master in the following proposition ; ; “God is the primary 
 matter or substance of all things.” He composed a work 
 entitled Quaternarii, with several other productions, 
 which were chiefly designed to affect and gain the multi- 
 tude; but he was at length obliged to save himself by 
 flight.c The bishops, assembled in council at Paris, in 
 1209, considered the philosophy of Aristotle as the source 
 of these impious doctrines, and, on that account, prohibit- 
 ed all persons from reading or explaining, either in public 
 or private, the metaphysical and other productions of the 
 Grecian sage.‘ 
 
 XIU. If we may depend upon the accounts given by 
 certain writers, Amalric and his followers received with 
 the utmost docility and faith the predictions, attributed to 
 Joachim, abbot of Flora, concerning the reformation that 
 
 sect had its origin in that province; but am rather inclined to think, 
 that Italy was its country, and that, being driven thence, it took refuse 
 in Rhetia. Nor is it at all improbable, that Italy, which saw so many 
 religious factions arise in its bosom, was also the nursing mother of this 
 blasphemous sect. We shall be almost fully confirmed in this opinion, 
 when we consider that, in a long letter from Clement V. to Rainier bi- 
 shop of Cremona, (published by Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. tom. xv. an. 
 1311,) the zealous pontiff exhorts that prelate to suppress and extirpate, 
 with all his power, the sect of the Brethren of the free spirit, who were 
 settled in several parts of Italy, and particularly in the province of Spo- 
 leto and the countries adjacent. Such are the terms of the pontift’s let- 
 ter: “In nonnullis Ttalice partibus, tam Spoletane provinciz, quam cir- 
 cumjacentium regionum,’ 
 
 © This did not escape the notice of the enemies of the Beghards or 
 Brethren of the free spirit in Germany, much less that of the inquisitors, 
 who, in their Refutation of the 89 sentences of the Beghards, mentioned 
 in the preceding note, express themselves thus; (sent. 68.) * Dicere 
 quod omnis creatura est Deus, heresis Alexandri* est, qui dixit, mate- 
 riam primam et Deum et hominem, hoc est mentes, esse in substantia, 
 quod postea guidam David de Dinanto sequutus est, qui temporibus 
 nostris de hac hzresi de Francia fugatus est, et punitus fuisset, si de- 
 prehensus fuisset.” 
 
 3> 4 The account given by Fleury, in his Ecclesiastical History, of 
 the opinions of Amalrie, is very different from that which is here given 
 by Dr. Mosheim. The former observ es, that Amalric, or Amauri, 
 taught that ‘every Christian*was obliged to believe himself a member of 
 Jesus Christ, and that without this belief none could be saved ;’ and he 
 observes also, that his disciples introduced errors still more pernicious, 
 such as the following : “That the power of the Father had continued 
 only during the Mosaic dispensation, that of the Son 1200 years after 
 his entrance upon earth, and that, in the thirteenth century, the age of 
 the Holy Spirit commenced, in which the sacraments and all externel 
 worship were to be abolished ; that there would be no resurrection; that 
 heaven and hell were mere fictions ;’ and many more sentiments of that 
 nature, which, as the learned Spanheim imagines, were falsely imputed 
 to Amalric, in order to render his memory odious, because he had op- 
 posed the worship of saints and images. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. li- 
 vre Ixxvi. sect. lix.--Dr. Mosheim considered Amalric as a Pantheist ; and 
 
 many men of eminent learning are of this opinion. See, among others, 
 Joh. Gerson apud Jac, Thomasium, and also Brucker’s Hist. Philo- 
 soph. tom. ili. p. 688. 
 
 ® See Martenne’s Thesaur. Anecd. tom. iv. p. 163, where there is an 
 
 account of the heresies for which several priests were burned at Paris 
 in 1209.—Natal. Alexander, Hist. Eccl. See. xiii. cap. iii. art. 11 p. 76 
 —Du Bois, Hist. Eccl. Paris. t. ii. p. 244.—Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris, 
 t. 1. p. 24, "48, 53.—Jac. Thomasius, de Exustione Mundi Stoica, p. 199, 
 
 f Launoy, de varia Aristot. fortuna in Acad. Paris. p. 127. 
 
 * The person here mentioned is Alexander, the Epicurean, of whun 
 Plutarch speaks in his Symposium. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 was soon to ba brought about in the church by the 
 power of the sword,—the approaching Age of the Holy 
 Ghost, that was to succeed those of the Father and the 
 Son,—and other things of that nature, which raised the 
 qopes and occupied the thoughts of the Spiritual Fran- 
 tiscans. Whether these accounts may be depended 
 ipon or not, we shall not determine. ‘To us they ap- 
 sear extremely doubtful. It is, however, true, that cer- 
 ain persons were so far deluded by these pretended pro- 
 hecies, as to form new sects with a view to their ac- 
 somplishment, and to declare war against the established 
 church, its system of doctrine, and its forms of worship. 
 Among other fanatical sectaries, there arose one of a 
 most extraordinary kind, a Bohemian woman, named 
 Wilhelmina, who resided in the territory of Milan. 'This 
 delirious and wrong-headed woman, having studied with 
 attention the predictions concerning the age of the Holy 
 Ghost, was so extravagant as to persuade herself, and 
 (what is still more amazing) had sufficient influence 
 to persuade others, that the Holy Ghost had become in- 
 carnate in her person, for the salvation of a great part of 
 mankind. According to her doctrine, “ None could be 
 saved by the blood of Jesus, but true and pious Chris- 
 tians; while the Jews, Saracens, and unworthy Chris- 
 tians, were to obtain salvation through the Holy Spirit 
 which dwelt in her; and, in consequence thereof, all that 
 had happened to Christ,.during his appearance upon 
 earth in the human nature, was to be exactly renewed in 
 her person, or rather in that of the Holy Ghost which 
 was united to her.” This mad woman died at Milan, 
 in 1281, in the most fragrant odour of sanctity ; and her 
 memory was not only holden in the highest veneration 
 by her numerous followers and the ignorant multitude, 
 but was also honoured with religious worship both in 
 public and in private. Her sect was at length discovered 
 by the curious eye of persecution, in 1300, and fell under 
 the cognisance of the inquisitors, who destroyed the mag- 
 nificent monument that had been erected to her honour, 
 ordered her bones to be committed to the flames, and in 
 the same fire consumed the leaders of this wretched fac- 
 tion, among whom were persons of both sexes.* 
 
 XIV. It was upon predictions similar to those men- 
 tioned in the preceding section, that the sect of the Apos- 
 tles founded its discipline. 'The members of this sect 
 made little or no alteration in the doctrinal part of the 
 public religion; what they principally aimed at, was, to 
 introduce among Christians the simplicity of the primi- 
 tive times, and more especially the manner of life that 
 was observed by the apostles. Gerard Sagarelli, the 
 founder of this sect, obliged his followers to go from place 
 to place as the apostles did, to wander about clothed in 
 white, with long beards, dishevelled hair, and bare heads, 
 accompanied with awomen whom they called their Sis- 
 ters. "They were also obliged to renounce all kinds of 
 
 * The Milanese historians, such as Bernardinus Corius, and others, 
 have related the adventures of this odd woman; but their accounts 
 are very different from those given by the learned Muratori, in his 
 Antiq. Italicee medii AZ vi, tom. v., and which he has drawn from the 
 judicial proceedings of the court, where the extraordinary case of this 
 temale fanatic was examined. We are infornsed by the same excellent 
 author, that a learned writer, name Puricelli, composed a history of 
 Wilhelmina, and of her sect 
 
 > This unhappy man was burned alive at Parma, in 1300. 
 
 * | composed in the German language an accurate history of this 
 famous sect, which is very little known in our times; and I have in 
 
 No. XX VII. 84 
 
 _ DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 333 
 
 - 
 property and possessions, and to preach in public the ne- 
 cessity of repentance, while in their more private assem- 
 blies they declared the approaching destruction of the 
 corrupt church of Rome, and the establishment of a purer 
 service, and a more glorious church, which, according to 
 the prophecies of the abbot Joachim, would certainly 
 arise from its ruins. No sooner was the ill-fated leader 
 of this faction committed to the flames,” than he was suc- 
 ceeded in that character by a bold and enterprising fa 
 natic, named Dulcinus, a native of Novara, who pub 
 lished his predictions with more courage, and maintained 
 them with more zeal, than his predecessor had done, and 
 who did not hesitate to declare that, in a short time 
 pope Boniface VIIL., the corrupt priests, and the licentiou 
 monks, were to perish by the hand of the emperor Fre- 
 deric III., son of Peter, king of Arragon, and that a new 
 and most holy pontiff was to be raised to the head of 
 the church. These visionary predictions were, no doubt, 
 drawn from the dreams of Joachim, who is said to have 
 declared, among other things, that an emperor called 
 Frederic UI., was to bring to perfection what Frederic I. 
 had left unfinished. Be that as it may, Dulcinus ap- 
 peared with intrepid assurance at the head of the apos- 
 tles ; and acting, not only in the character of a prophet, 
 but also in that of a general, he assembled an army to 
 maintain his cause, and perhaps to accomplish, at least 
 in part, his predictions. He was opposed by Rayne- 
 rius, bishop of Vercelli, who defended the interests of the 
 Roman pontiff, and carried on, above two years, a most 
 sanguinary and dreadful war against this chief of the 
 apostles. "lhe issue of this contest was fatal to the lat- 
 ter, who, after several battles fought with obstinate cou- 
 rage, was at length taken prisoner, and put to death at 
 Vercelli in a most barbarous manner, in 1307, together 
 with Margaret, whom he had chosen for his spiritual sis 
 ter, according to the custom of his sect. ‘The terrible 
 end of Dulcinus was not immediately followed by the 
 extinction of his sect, which still subsisted in France, Ger 
 many, and other countries, and stood firm against the most 
 vehement efforts of its enemies, until the beginning of the 
 15th century, when, under the pontificate of Boniface 
 IX., it was totally extirpated.: 
 
 XV. This famous Joachim, abbot of Flora, whose fa- 
 natical predictions turned the heads of so many well- 
 meaning people, and excited them to attempt reforming 
 the church by the sword, and to declare open war against 
 the Roman pontiffs, did not fall under the suspicion of 
 heresy on account of these predictions, but in consequence 
 of a new explication he had given of the doctrine of a 
 Trinity of persons in the Godhead. He had in an ela- 
 borate work attacked very warmly Peter Lomba.d, the 
 master of the sentences, on account of the distinction 
 which this writer had made between the divine essence 
 and the three persons in the Godhead; for Joachim 
 
 my hands materials, that will furnish an interesting addition to that 
 history. That this sect subsisted in Germany, and in some other coun- 
 tries, until the pontificate of Boniface IX., is evident from the Chro- 
 nicle of Herman Cornerus, published by Jo. George Echard, in his 
 Corpus Historicum medii AX vi, tom. ii, and may be sufficiently de 
 monstrated by other authentic testimonies. In 1402, a certain member 
 of this apostolic sect, whose name was William, or Wilhelmus, was 
 burned alive at Lubec. The Germans, who were accustomed to distin- 
 guish by the name of Beghards all those who pretended to extraordinary 
 piety, and sought, by poverty and begging, an eminent reputation for 
 sanctity and virtue, gave this title algo to the sect of the Apostles. 
 
334 
 
 looked upon this doctrine as introducing a fourth object, 
 even an essence, into the ‘Trinity. But the good man 
 was too little versed in metaphysical matters, to carry on 
 a controversy of such a subtle nature; and he was _ be- 
 trayed by his ignorance so far as to advance inconside- 
 rately the most rash and most exceptionable tenets. For 
 he denied that there was any thing, or any essence, that 
 belonged in common to the three persons in the ‘Trinity, 
 or was jointly possessed by them; by which doctrine 
 the substantial union, among the three persons, was ta- 
 ken away, and the union of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, was reduced from a natural, simple, and nume- 
 rical unity, to a moral one only; that is, to such an 
 unity as reigns in the counsels and opinions of different 
 
 * See Dan. Papebrochius, Disquis. Histor. de Florensi Ordine, Pro- 
 phetiis, Doctrina, B. Joachimi, in Actis Sanctorum, Maii, tom. vi. p. 
 $86, which contains the life of Joachim, written by Syllanwus, and 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr I. 
 
 persons, who embrace the same notions, and think and 
 act with one accord. ‘T'his explication of the ‘Trinity 
 was looked upon by many as very little different from the 
 Arian system; and therefore pope Innocent III. pro- 
 nounced, in 1215, in the Lateran council, a damnatory 
 sentence against the doctrine of Joachim; not extending, 
 however, to the person or fame of the abbot himself. Not- 
 withstanding this papal sentence, Joachim has at this 
 day a considerable number of adherents and defenders, 
 more especially among those Franciscans who are called 
 Observants. Some of these maintain that the book of 
 this abbot was corrupted and interpolated by his enemies, 
 while the rest are of opinion that his doctrine was not tho- 
 roughly understood by those who opposed it.* 
 
 several other pieces of consequence. See also Natal. Alexander, Hist. 
 Eccles. sec. xi, dis. 2, p. 331.—Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor 
 tom, iv. 
 
THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 a 
 
 PART I. 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened to the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. SeEvERAL attempts were made by the princes of the 
 west, at the instigation of the Roman pontifis, to renew 
 the war in Palestine against the Turks and Saracens, 
 and to deliver the whole province of Syria from the op- 
 pressive yoke of those despotic infidels. ‘The succession 
 of pontifis that resided in Avignon, evinced the greatest 
 zeal for the renovation of this religious war, and left no 
 artifice, no methods of persuasion unemployed, that could 
 have the least tendency to engage the kings of England 
 and France m an expedition to the Holy Land. But 
 their success was not answerable to their zeal; and, not- 
 withstanding the powerful influence of their exhortations 
 and remonstrances, something still happened to prevent 
 their producing the desired effect. Clement V. urged the 
 renewal of this holy war with the greatest ardour in the 
 
 money for prosecuting it with alacrity and vigour. John 
 XXII. ordered ten ships to be fitted out in 1319, to trans- 
 port an army of pious adventurers into Palestine,» and 
 had recourse to the power of superstition, that is, to the 
 influence of indulgences, for raising the funds necessary 
 to the support of this great enterprise. ‘These indulgences 
 he offered to such as contributed generously to the war, 
 and appointed legates to administer them in all the Euro- 
 pean countries that were subject to his spiritual jurisdic- 
 tion. But, under this fair show of piety and zeal, John 
 is supposed to have covered the most selfish and grovelling 
 views ; and we find Louis of Bavaria, who was at that 
 
 time emperor, and several other princes, complaining loud- - 
 
 ly that this pontiff made use of the holy war as a pretext 
 to disguise his avarice and ambition ;> and indeed the 
 character of this pope was of such a stamp as tended to 
 accredit such complaints. Under the pontificate of Bene- 
 dict XIL., a formidable army was raised, in 1330, by Philip 
 de Valois, king of France, with a view, as was said, to 
 
 attempt the deliverance of the Christians in Palestine ;¢ | 
 
 but, when he was ready to embark his troops, the appre- 
 hension of an invasion from England obliged him to lay 
 
 5 . 
 aside this weighty enterprise. In 1345, Clement VL, at 
 
 the request of the Venetians, engaged, by the persuasive | 
 
 power of indulgences, a prodigious number of adventurers 
 to embark for Smyrna, where they composed a numerous 
 army under the command of Guido, or Guy, dauphin of 
 
 * Baluzii Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 15, 594; tom. ii. p. 55, 
 374, &c. Ant. Matthei Analecta veteris Avi, tom. ii. p. 577. 
 
 > Baluzii Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 125; tom. 1i. p. 515. 
 
 ¢ Baluzius, tom. i. p. 175, 786. Matthai Analecta vet. A®vi, tom. ii p.595. 
 
 4 Baluzius, tom. i. p. 200. 
 
 * Fragmenta Histor, Romane. in Murator. Antiq. Ital. medii A®vi, 
 torn. ill. p. 368. 
 
 } 
 
 Vienne; but the want of provisions soon obliged this 
 army to return with the general into Europe. his dis- 
 appointment did not, however, damp the spirits of the 
 restless pontiffs ; for another formidable army was assem- 
 bled in 1363, in consequence of the zealous exhortations 
 of Urban V., and was to be employed in a new expedition 
 against the infidels, with John, king of France, at its 
 head ; but the unexpected death of that prince blasted the 
 hopes that many had entertained from this grand project, 
 and occasioned the dispersion of that numerous body 
 which had repaired to his standard.‘ 
 
 II. "The missionaries who had been sent by the Roman 
 pontiffs into China, 'Tartary, and the adjacent countries, 
 in the preceding century, found their labours crowned 
 with the desired success, and established a great number 
 of Christian churches among those unenlightened nations. 
 In 1307, Clement V. erected Cambalu (which at that 
 time was the celebrated metropolis of Cathay, and is, 
 
 | undoubtedly, the same with Pekin, the capital city at 
 years 1307 and 1308, and set apart a very large sum of | 
 
 present of the Chinese empire,) into an archbishopric, 
 which he conferred upon John de Monte Corvino, an 
 Italian friar who had been employed in propagating the 
 Gospel in that country for many years. ‘The same pontiff 
 sent soon after, to assist this prelate in his pious labours, 
 seven other prelates of the Franciscan order.¢ John 
 XXII. exerted in this good cause the same zeal which 
 had distinguished the pontificate of his predecessors. On 
 the death of John de Monte Corvino, in 1333, he sent 
 Nicolas of Bentra to fill the vacant archbishopric of Cam- 
 balu, and charged him with letters to the emperor of the 
 Tartars, who, at that time, was in possession of the 
 Chinese dominions. In 1338, Benedict XII. sent new 
 legates and missionaries into 'l'artary and China, in con- 
 
 sequence of a solemn embassy" with which he was 
 
 honoured at Avignon from the khan of the 'Tartars. 
 During the time that the princes of the latter nation main- 
 tained themselves in the empire of China, the Christian 
 religion flourished in those vast regions; and both Latins 
 and Nestorians not only made a public profession of their 
 faith, but also propagated it, without any apprehension of 
 danger, through the northern provinces of Asia. 
 
 IIL. There remained in this century scarcely any Euro- 
 pean prince unconverted to Christianity, if we except 
 Jagellon, duke of Lithuania, who continued in the dark- 
 ness of paganism, and worshipped the gods of his idola- 
 trous ancestors, until 1386, when he embraced the Chiis- 
 
 tian faith, received in baptism the name of Ladislaus, and 
 
 f Baluzii Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 366, 368,371,401. 
 
 ®€ Wadding, Annal. Ordin. Minor. tom. vi. ad an. 1305, sect. xu. p 
 69. ad an. 1307, p. 91, 368; tom. vii. p. 53, 221; tom. vill. p. 2385.—J. 
 S. Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. iil. séct. ii, p. 521. -J, 
 Echard, Scriptor. Preedicator. tom. i. p. 537.—Acta Sanctor. tom. } Ja- 
 nuarii, p. 984.—Mosheim, Historia Eccles. Tartar. 
 
 h Baluzii Vite Pontificum Avenionensium, tom. i p. 242. 
 
336 
 
 persuaded his subjects to open their eyes upon the divine | 
 
 light of the Gospel. We shall not pretend to justify the 
 purity of the motives that first engaged this prince to re- 
 nounce the religion of his fathers, as they were accom- 
 panied, at least, with views of policy, interest, and ambi- 
 tion. On the death of Louis, king of Poland, which 
 
 fo) 
 happened in 1382, Jagellon was named among the com- 
 
 petitors who aspired to the vacant throne ; and, as he was 
 
 rich and powerful prince, the Poles beheld his pretensions 
 
 nd efforts with a favourable eye. His religion was the 
 only obstacle to the accomplishment of his views. Hed- 
 wige, the youngest daughter of the deceased monarch, 
 who, by a decree of the senate, was declared heiress of 
 the kingdom, was as little disposed to espouse, as the Poles 
 were to obey, a Pagan; and hence Jagellon was obliged 
 to make superstition yield to royalty. On the other hand, 
 the Teutonic knights and crusaders extirpated by fire and 
 sword all the remains of paganism that were to be found 
 in Prussia and Livonia, and effected, by force, what persua- 
 sion alone ought to have produced. 
 
 We find also in the annals of this century many instan- 
 ces of Jews converted to the Christian faith. The cruel 
 persecutions they suffered in several parts of Europe, par- 
 ticularly in France and Germany, vanquished their obsti- 
 nacy, and bent their intractable spirits under the yoke of 
 the Gospel. ‘The reports” (whether false or true, we shall 
 not determine) that had been industriously spread abroad, 
 of their poisoning the public fountains, of their killing 
 infants and drinking their blood, of their profaning, in 
 the most impious and blasphemous manner, the conse- 
 crated wafers that were used in the celebration of the 
 eucharist, with other accusations equally enormous, ex- 
 cited every where the resentment of the magistrates and 
 the fury of the people, and brought the most terrible 
 sufferings, that unrelenting vengeance could invent, upon 
 that wretched and devoted nation. 
 
 IV. ‘I'he Saracens still maintained a considerable foot- 
 ing in Spain. The kingdoms of Granada and Murcia, 
 with the province of Andalusia, were subject to their 
 dominion ; and they carried on a perpetual war with the 
 kings of Castile, Arragon, and Navarre, in which, how- 
 ever, they were not always victorious. The African 
 princes, and particularly the emperors of Morocco, became 
 their auxiliaries against the Christians. On the other 
 hand, the Roman pontiffs left no means unemployed to 
 excite the Christians to unite their forces against the 
 Moslems, and to drive them out of the Spanish territories ; 
 presents, exhortations, promises,—in short, all allurements 
 that religion, superstition, or avarice, could render power- 
 ful,—were made subservient to the execution of this 
 
 * Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. Eccles. ad an. 1386, sect. iv. Wadding, 
 Annal. Minor. tom. ix. p. 71.—Solignac, Histoire de Pologne, tom. iil. 
 p. 24l. 
 34p> It seems more than probable that these reports were insidious- 
 ly forged out of animosity against the Jews, who had long been the 
 peculiar objects of general odium. This will appear still more evi- 
 dently to have been the case, when we consider that the popes Gregory 
 {X. and lmocent IV., published, in the thirteenth century, declara- 
 tions caleulated to destroy the effect of several calumnies which had 
 been invented and dispersed to the disadvantage of the Jews; and in the 
 
 fourteenth century, we find Benedict XI. and Clement VL. giving | 
 
 : ) l le. We find, | 
 in history, circular letters of the dukes of Milan and Venice, and impe- | 
 
 similar proofs of their equity toward an injured people. 
 
 rial edicts of Frederic III. and Charles V., to the same purpose; and 
 all these circumstances materially detract from the credibility of the re- 
 ports mertioned by Dr. Mosheim. 
 
 * See J de Ferreras, Histoire d’Espagne, tom. iv. v. vii—Fragmenta 
 
 | 
 1 
 
 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part L 
 
 arduous project. The Christians, accordingly, united 
 their counsels and efforts for this end; ard though for 
 some time the difficulty of the enterprise rendered their 
 progress inconsiderable, yet even in this century their 
 affairs wore a promising aspect, and gave them reason to 
 hope that they might one day triumph over their enemies, 
 and become sole possessors of the Spanish dominions.¢ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Turks and Tartars, who extended their domi- 
 nions in Asia with an amazing rapidity, and directed their 
 arms against the Greeks, as well as against the Saracens, 
 destroyed wherever they went the fruits that had sprung 
 up in such a rich abundance from the labours of the 
 Christian missionaries, extirpated the religion of Jesus in 
 several provinces and cities where it had flourished, and 
 substituted the impostures of Mohammed in its place. 
 Many of the Tartars had formerly professed the Gospel, 
 and still more had tolerated the exercise of that divine 
 religion ; but, from the beginning of this century, things 
 put on a new face; and that fierce nation renounced 
 every other religious doctrine, except that of the Koran. 
 Even 'Timur-Bec, commonly called Tamerlane, their 
 mighty emperor, embraced the doctrine of Mohammed, 
 though under a form different from that which was adopted 
 by the 'Tartars in general.t| This formidable warrior, 
 after having subdued the greatest part of Asia, having 
 triumphed over Bajazet (or Bayezid) emperor of the Turks, 
 and even filled Europe with terror at the approach of his 
 victorious arms, made use of his authority to force multi- 
 tudes of Christians to apostatise from their holy faith. 
 To the dictates of authority he added the compulsive 
 power of violence and persecution, and treated the disciples 
 of Christ with the utmost barbarity. Persuaded, as we 
 learn from the most credible writers of his life and actions. 
 that it was incumbent upon the true followers of Moham- 
 med to persecute the Christians, and that the most ample 
 and glorious rewards were reserved for such as were most 
 
 instrumental in converting them to the religion of that 
 
 supposed prophet,e he employed the most inhuman acts 
 of severity to vanquish the magnanimous constancy of 
 such as persevered in their attachment to the Christian 
 religion, of whom some suffered death in the most barba- 
 rous forms, while others were condemned to perpetual 
 slavery.‘ 
 
 II. In those parts of Asia, which are inhabited by the 
 Chinese, T'artars, Moguls, and other nations still less 
 
 Histor. Romane, in Muratorii Antiq. Ital. medii A£vi, tom. ili. p. 319, 
 in which, however, there is a considerable mixture of falsehood with 
 truth.—Baluzii Miscellan. tom. 11. p. 267. 
 
 4 This great Tamerlane, whose name seemed to strike terror even 
 when he was no more, adhered to the sect of the Sonnites, and pro- 
 fessed the greatest enmity against their adversaries, the Shiites. See 
 Petit Croix, Histoire de Timur-Bec, tom. ii. p. 151; tom. iii. p. 228. 
 It is, however, extremely doubtful, what was, in reality, the religion 
 of Tamerlane, though he professed the Mohammedan faith. See Mo- 
 sheim, Hist. Eccles. Tartaror. p. 124. 
 
 ® Petit de la Croix, Histoire de Timur-Bec, tom. 11. p. 329; tom. ii 
 p. 137, 243, &c. 
 
 f Many instances of this we find in the History of Timur-Bec, writ- 
 
 | ten by a Persian named Sherefeddin; published at Delft, in 1723.— 
 
 See also Herbelot, Biblioth. Oriental. at the article Timur, p. 877.-- 
 [The work of Sherefeddin is the same with that of M. de la Croix 
 who only professed himself, in this instance, a translator. Ep1t.]} 
 
Cuap. Il. 
 
 known, the Christian religion not only lost ground, but 
 seemed to be totally extirpated. It is, at least, certain, 
 that we have no account of any members of the Latin 
 church residing in those countries, later than the year 
 1370; nor could we ever learn the fate of the Franciscan 
 missionaries sent thither from Rome. We have, indeed, 
 some records, from which it would appear that there were 
 Nestorians residing in China so far down as the sixteenth 
 century ;* but these records are not so clear as to remove 
 
 * Nicol. Trigautius, de Christ. Exped. apud Sinas, lib. i.c.xi.—Jos. Sim. 
 
 No. X XIX. 85 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVEN'TS. 
 
 337 
 
 all doubt. However that may be, the abolition of Christi- 
 anity in those remote parts of the world may, without 
 hesitation, be imputed to the wars that were carried on by 
 the Tartars against the Chinese and other Asiatic na- 
 tions; for, in 1369, the last emperor of the race of 
 Genghiz-Khan was driven out of China, and his throne 
 filled by the Mim family, who, by a solemn law, re- 
 fused to all foreigners the privilege of entering that 
 country. 
 
 Assemani Bib. Orien. Vatic. t. iii—Du Halde, Descrip. de la Chine, t. i 
 
PART II. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Greeks, though dejécted by the foreign and in- 
 testine calamities in which they were involved, were far 
 from withdrawing their attention and zeal from the cause 
 of literature, as is evident from the great number of learned 
 men who flourished among them during this period. In 
 this honourable class we may reckon Nicephorus Gregoras, 
 Manuel Chrysoloras, Maximus Planudes, and many others, 
 who, by their indefatigable application to ‘the study of histo- 
 
 ry, antiquities, and the belles lettr es, acquired considerable 
 reputation. Omitting the mention of writers of inferior 
 note, we may observe, that ‘Theodorus Metochita, John 
 Cantacuzenus, and Nicephorus Gregoras, applied them- 
 selves to the composition of history, though with different 
 success. Nor ought we to pass over in silence Nicephorus 
 Callistus, who compiled an ecclesiastical history, which, 
 notwithstanding its being debased with idle stories and 
 evident marks of superstition, is highly useful on account 
 of its illustration of many important facts. 
 
 IL. As no sage of this century had the presumption to 
 set up for a leader in philosophy, such of the Greeks as 
 had a taste for philosophical researches adhered to Aristotle, 
 as their conductor and guide; but we may learn from the 
 tracts of Theodorus Metochita in what manner they ex- 
 plained the principles and tenets of the Stagirite. Plato 
 also had his followers, especially among those who were 
 fond of mysticism, which had for many ages been holden 
 in the highest veneration by the Greeks. In the sublime 
 sciences of mathematics and astronomy, Nicolas Cabasilas 
 surpassed all his contemporaries. Balaam adopted the sen- 
 timents and precepts of the Stoics with respect to the obli- 
 gations of, morality and the duties of life, and digested 
 them into a work which is known by the title of Ethica 
 ex Nloicis.* 
 
 If. In all the’ Latin provinces, schemes were carried 
 into execution with considerable success, for promoting the 
 study of letters, improving taste, and dispelling the pedantic 
 spirit of the times. This laudable disposition gave rise to 
 the erection of many schools and academies, at Cologne, 
 Orleans, Cahors, Perusia, Florence, and Pisa, in which all 
 the liberal arts and sciences, distributed into the same 
 classes that still subsist in those places, were taught with 
 assiduity and zeal. Opulent persons founded and amply 
 endowed particular colleges, in the public universities, in 
 which, beside the monks, young men of narrow circum- 
 stances were educated in all the branches of literature. 
 Libraries were also collected, and men of learning anima- 
 ted to aspire to fame and glory, by the prospect of honoura- 
 ble rewards. It must be acknowledged, indeed, that the 
 advantages arising to the church and state, from so many 
 
 professors and learned men, did not wholly answer the 
 expense and care bestowed on this undertaking by men 
 of rank and fortune ; yet we are by no means to conclude, 
 as many have rashly done, that all the doctors of this age, 
 who rose gradually from the lower to the higher and more 
 honourable stations, were only distinguished by their 
 stupidity and ignorance. 
 
 1V. Clement V., who was now raised to the pontificate, 
 
 ordered the Hebrew and other Oriental languages to be 
 taught in the public schools, that the church might never 
 want a sufficient number of missionaries properly qualified 
 to dispute with the Jews and Mohammedans, and to 
 diffuse the divine light of the Gospel throughout the east ;» 
 in consequence of which appointment, some eminent pro- 
 ficients in these tongues, and especially in the Hebrew, 
 flourished during this age. ‘The Greek language, which 
 hitherto had beer much neglected, was now revived, and 
 taught with general applause, first by Leontius Pilatus, a 
 Calabrian, who wrote a commentary upon Homer, and a 
 few others, but afterwards, with far greater success and 
 reputation, by Manuel Chrysoloras,? a native of Constanti- 
 nople. Nor were there wanting some extraordinary geni- 
 uses, who, by their zeal and application, contributed to the 
 restoration of the ancient and genuine eloquence of the 
 Latins, among whom the excellent and justly renownec 
 Petrarch held the first place,e and Dante Alighieri the 
 second. Full of this worthy design, they both acted eo 
 if they had received an extraordinary commission te pro- 
 mote the reign of true taste and the progress of polite 
 learning ; and their success was answerable to the gene- 
 rous ambition that animated their efforts; for they had 
 many followers and admirers, not only among their coun- 
 trymen, but also among the French and Germans. 
 
 YV. The writings of this age furnish us with a long list 
 of grammarians, “historians, ‘lawyers, and physicians, 0. 
 whom it would be easy to speak more particularly ; but, 
 as such a detail is unnecessary, it will be sufficient to 
 inform our readers, that there were few of this multitude. 
 whose labours were strikingly useful to society. Great 
 numbers applied themselves to the study of the civil and 
 canon laws, because it was the readiest way to preferment 
 both in church and state. Such as have any tolerable 
 acquaintance with history, cannot be entirely strangers to 
 the fame of Bartolus, Baldus, Andreas, and other doctors 
 of laws in this century, who reflected honour on the uni- 
 versities of Italy. But, after all, it is certain that the 
 jurisprudence of this age was a most intricate, disagreeable 
 
 study, unenlivened either by history or style, and destitute 
 
 of every allurement that could recommend it toa man of 
 genius. As for the mathematics, they were cultivated by 
 many; yet, if we except 'Vhomas Bradwardine, the acute 
 and learned archbishop of Canterbury, there were few who 
 acquired any degree of reputation by this kind of study. 
 
 ® Henrici Canisii Lectiones Antique, tom. iv. p. 405. 
 
 >See Ant. Wood, Antiq. Oxoniens. tom. 1. p..156, 159. 
 
 * See Humph. Hody, de Grecis illustribus, Lineue Greece Litera- 
 rumgie humaniorum Instauratoribus, lib. i—Calogera, Opusculi Scien- 
 tific, tom. xxv. p. 258. 
 
 . Hody, lib i. p. 10.—Calogera, p. 348.—and more especially Christ, 
 
 Fred. Borner’s Lib. de Grecis Literarum Grecarum in Italia Instaurat. 
 * See Jac. Phil ‘Thomasini Vita Petrarche in Jo. Ger. Meuschen Vit. 
 claror. Viror. tom. iv. who, in his preface, enumerates all the other 
 writers of his life. Of the celebrated poet Dante, several have treated, 
 particularly his translator Benvenuto of Imoia, from whom Muratori 
 nas borrowed large extracts in his Antiquit. Ital. medii fyi, tom. i. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 VI. The vast number of philosophers, who rather disgra- | 
 
 ced than adorned this century, looked upon Aristotle as 
 their infallible oracle and guide, though they stripped him 
 of all those excellences that really belonged to him, and 
 were incapable of entering into the true spiritof his writings. 
 So great was the authority of the peripatetic philosophy, 
 that, in order to diffuse the knowledge of it as widely as 
 possible, even kings and emperors ordered the works of 
 Aristotle to be translated into the native language of their 
 respective dominions. Among the most eminent of this 
 class was Charles V. king of France, who ordered all the 
 writings of the ancients, ‘and especially those of Aristotle, 
 to be translated into French by Nicolas Oresme.* 'Those, 
 however, who professed themselves philosophers, instead 
 
 of being animated by the love of truth, were inflamed by 
 a rage of disputation, which led them to perplex and 
 deform the pure, simple doctrines of reason and religion, 
 by a multitude of idle subtleties, trifling questions, and ri- 
 diculous distinctions. It is needless to enlarge either on the 
 barbarity of their phraseology, in which they supposed the 
 chief strength of their art consisted, or on that utter aversion 
 to every branch of polite learning, in which they foolishly 
 gloried. 'Those who wish to be acquainted with their 
 methods of argumentation, and whatever else relates to 
 this wrangling tribe, need only consult John Scotus, or 
 Walter Burleus. But, though they all followed one com- 
 mon track, there were sev eral | points on which they differed 
 among themselves. 
 
 VIL The old disputes between the Realists and Nomi- 
 nalists, which had lain dormant a long time, were now 
 revived, with an ardour seemingly inextinguishable, by an 
 English Franciscan of the severe order, named William 
 Occam, who was a follower of the great Scotus, and a 
 doctor of divinity at Paris. The Greeks and Persians 
 never fought against each other with more hatred and 
 fury, than these two discordant sects, whose angry dispu- 
 tations subsisted without any abatement, till the appearance 
 of Luther, who soon obliged the scholastic divines to 
 terminate their mutual wr ranglings, and to listen to terms 
 of accommodation. The Realists despised their antago- 
 nists as philosophers of a recent date, branding them with 
 the name of Moderns, while, through a great mistake, 
 they ascribed a very high antiquity to the tenets of their 
 own party. The Nominalists, on the other hand, inveigh- 
 ed against them as a set of doting visionaries, who, despi- 
 sing substantial matters, were pursuing mere shadows. 
 "The Nominalists had the most eloquent, acute, and subtle 
 doctors of Paris for their leaders, among whom, beside 
 Occam, the famous John Buridan® was very eminent ; 
 the Realists, nevertheless, through the countenance given 
 them by successive popes, prevailed; for, when Occam 
 had joined the party of the Franciscan monks, who stre- 
 nuously opposed John XXIL, that pope himself, and his 
 
 successors, left no means untried to extirpate the philoso- 
 phy of the Nominalists, which was deemed highly preju- 
 dicial to the interests of the church :* and hence it was, 
 
 « Launoy, Hist. Gymnas. Navarr. tom. iv. op. part i. p.504.—Boulay, 
 Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 379.—Le Beuf, Dissert. sur lHist. 
 Eccles. et Civile de Par. tom. ii. p. 456. 
 
 b Rob. Gaguin wrote a particular account of this famous man, as we 
 learn frora Le aunoy, in his Historia Gymnasii Navarreni, tom. iv. op. 
 part i. p. 722. Sée also Boul: ay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 282, 
 307, 341, &c. © St ph. Baluzii Miscel. tom. iv. p. 532. 
 
 4 Boul: iy, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 257; tom. v. p. 708.—Car. 
 Pless. d’Ar gentre, Collectio judiciorum de novis erroribus, &c. 
 
 LEARNING AND PITLOSOPHY. 
 
 339 
 
 that, in 1339, the university of- Paris, by a public edict, 
 solemnly conde mned and_ prohibited the philosophy of 
 Occam, which was that of the Nominalists.¢ But, as it 
 is natural for men to love and pursue what is forbidden, 
 the consequence was, that the party of the Nominalists 
 flourished more than ever. 
 
 Vill. Among the philosophers of these times, there 
 were many who with their philosophy mingled astr -olozy, 
 i. e. the art of telling fortunes by the aspect of the heavens 
 and the influence of the stars ; ; and, notwithstanding the 
 obvious folly and absurdity of this pr retended sc ience, “both 
 the higher and lower ranks were fond of it even to dis- 
 traction. Yet, in spite of all this popular prejudice in 
 favour of their art, these astrological philosophers, to avoid 
 being impeached of witchcraft, and to keep themselves out 
 of the hands of the inquisitors, were obliged to behave 
 with great circumspection. 'The neglect of this caution 
 was remarkably fatal to Ceccus Asculanus, a famous perl- 
 patetic philosopher, astrologer, and mathematician, who 
 first acted as physician to pope John X_XIU. and afterwards 
 to Charles Sineterra, duke of Calabria. This unfortunate 
 man, having performed some experiments in mechanics, 
 that seemed miraculous to the vulgar, and having also 
 offended many, and among the rest. “his master, by giving 
 out some predictions, which were said to have been fulfilled, 
 was universally supposed to deal with infernal spirits, and 
 was committed to the flames, in 1327, by the inquisitors 
 of Florence. There is yet extant his commentary upon 
 the Sphere of John de Sacrobosco, otherwise named Ho- 
 lywood, which shows him to have been deeply tainted 
 with superstition. 
 
 LX. Raymond Lully was the author of a new and singu- 
 lar kind of philosophy, which he endeavoured to illustrate 
 and defend by his voluminous writings. He was a native 
 of Majorca, and admirable for the extent and fecundity of 
 his genius; but was, at the same time, a strange com 
 pound of reason and folly. Being full of zeal for the 
 propagation of the Gospel, and having performed many 
 voyages, and undergone various hardships to promote it, 
 he was slain et Bugia, in Africa, in 1315, by the Moham- 
 edans whom he was attempting to convert. The Fran 
 ciscans, to whose third order it is said he belonged, exto 
 him to the skies, and have taken great pains to persuade 
 several popes to canonise him; while many, on the con 
 trary, and especially the Dominicans, inveigh bitterly 
 against him, calling him a wild and visionary chemist, a 
 hot-headed fanatic and heretic, a magician, and a mere 
 compiler from the works of the more learned Moslems. 
 ‘The popes entertained different opinions of him; some 
 regarding him as a harmless pious man, while cthers pro- 
 nounced him a vile heretic. But whoever peruses the 
 writings of Lully without prejudice, will not be biassed by 
 either of these parties. It is at least certain, that he would 
 have been a great man, had the warmth and fertility of 
 his imagination been tempered with a sourd  judg- 
 ment. 
 
 * Paul Ant. Appianus wrote a defence of this unhappy man, whirh is 
 inserted i in Domen. Bernini Storia di tuite |’ Heresie, tom. iii. sect. xiv. 
 cap. ill. p.210. We have also a farther account of him by Giov. Maria 
 Crescimbeni, Commentari della volgar Poesia, vol. ii. part il. lib. ili, 
 cap. xiv. 
 
 f Gabr. Naudeus, Apologie pour les grands hommes qui ont été 
 soupconnez de Magie, P. 270. 
 
 ®£ See John Salzinger’ s Preface to Raymond Lully’s works, which 
 ‘| John William, elector Palatine, caused to be collected at a great expense, 
 
340 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Government of the 
 Church during this Century. 
 
 lL. ‘Tue governors of the church in this period, from 
 the highest to the lowest orders, were addicted to vices 
 peculiarly dishonourable to their sacred character. We 
 shall say nothing of the Grecian and Oriental clergy, 
 who lived, for the most part, under a rigid, severe, and 
 oppressive government, though they deserve theit part In 
 this heavy and ignominious charge. But, with regard to 
 the Latins, our silence would be inexcusable, since the 
 flagrant abuses that prevailed among them were attended 
 with consequences equally pernicious to the interests of 
 religion and the well-being of civil society. It is, however, 
 necessary to observe, that there were, even in these degene- 
 rate times, some pious and worthy men, who ardently 
 longed for a reformation of the church, both i in its head 
 and members, as they used to express themselves.*  'T'o 
 prevent the accomplishment of these laudable desires, 
 many circumstances concurred ; such as the exhorbitant 
 power of the popes, so confirmed by length of time that it 
 seemed immoveable, and the excessive superstition that 
 enslaved the minds of the generality, together with the 
 wretched ignorance and barbarity of ‘the age, by which 
 every spark of truth was stifled, as it were, in its very 
 birth. Yet, firm and lasting as the dominion of the 
 Roman pontiffs seemed to be, it was gradually under- 
 mined and weakened, partly by the pride and rashness 
 of the popes themselves, and partly by unexpected events. 
 
 Il. This important change may be dated from the 
 quarrel which arose between Boniface V1 {I., who filled the 
 papal throne about the beginning of this century, and 
 Philip the Fair, king of France. This prince, who was 
 endowed with a bold and enterprising spirit, soon con- 
 vinced Europe, that it was possible to set bounds to the 
 overgrown arrogance of the bishop of Rome, although 
 many crowned heads had attempted it without success. 
 Boniface sent Philip the haughtiest letters imaginable, in 
 which he asserted, that the king of France, and all other 
 kings and princes, were obliged, by a divine command, to 
 submit tothe authority of the popes, as well in all political 
 and civil matters, as in those of a religious nature. "The 
 king answered him with great spirit, and in terms 
 expressive of the utmost contempt. ‘The pope rejoined 
 with more arrogance than ever ; and, in that famous bull 
 (unam sanctum) which he published about this time, 
 asserted that Jesus Christ had granted a twofold power to 
 his church, or, in other words, the spiritual and temporal 
 swords ; that he had subjected the whole human race to 
 the authority of the Roman pontiff, and that all who 
 dared to dispute it, were to be deemed heretics, and ex- 
 cluded from all possibility of salvation.» The king, on the 
 other hand, in an assembly of the peers of his kingdom, 
 holden in 1303, ordered William de Nogaret, a celebrated 
 
 and to be published in 1720. Luc. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. iv. 
 p- 421; tom. v. p. 157, 316; tom. vi. p. 229. Concerning the famous 
 Invention of Lully, see the ’Polyhistor of Dan. George Morhof, lib. ii. 
 cap. v. p. 352. 
 
 Matt Flacius, Catalog. testium Veritatis, lib. xiii. p. 1697. Jo. 
 Laur oius, de varia Fortuna Aristotelis p: 217. Jo. Henr. Hottinger, 
 Historia Kecles. sec, xiv. p. 754. 
 
 > This buld is yet extant in the Corpus Juris Canon. Extravagant. 
 Commun. lib. i. tit. de majoritate et obedientia. 
 
 * Of this distinguished man, who was the most intrepid and inveterate 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 lawyer,’ to draw up an accusation against the pope, in 
 which he publicly charged him with her resy, simony, and 
 other vices and crimes, ‘demanding, at the same time, the 
 convocation of an ecumenical council, for the speedy 
 deposition 0f such an execrable pontiff. 'The pope, in his 
 turn, passed a sentence of excommunication, in that very 
 year, against the king and all his adherents. 
 
 IIf. Philip, shortly after he received his sentence, held 
 an assembly of the states of the kingdom, where he again 
 employed some persons of the highest rank and reputa- 
 tion to sit in judgment upon the pope, and appeal to a 
 general council. After this, he sent William de Nogaret 
 with some others into Italy, to excite a sedition, to seize the 
 pope’s person, and then to convey him to Lyons, where 
 the king was determined to hold the above-mentioned 
 council. Nogaret, being a resolute active man, soon drew 
 over to his assistance the powerful Colonna family, (then 
 at variance with the pope,) levied a small army, seized 
 Boniface, who lived in apparent security at Anagni, and 
 treated him in the most shocking manner, carrying his 
 resentment so far as to wound him on the head by a blow 
 with his iron gauntlet. The inhabitants of Anagni 
 rescued him out of the hands of this fierce and implacable 
 enemy, and conducted him to Rome, where he died scon 
 after of an illness occasioned by the rage and anguish 
 into which these insults had thrown him.‘ 
 
 IV. Benedict XL, who succeeded him, and whose name, 
 before his access ion to the papal chair, was Nicolas 
 Boccacini, learned prudence by this fatal example, and 
 pursued more moderate and gentle measures. He repeal- 
 ed, of his own accord, the sentence of excommunication 
 which his predecessor had thundered out against the king 
 of France and his dominions ; but never could be prevail- 
 ed upon to absolve Nogaret of his treason against the 
 spiritual majesty of the pontificate. Nogaret, on the othe1 
 hand, set a small value upon the papal absolution, and 
 prosecuted, with his usual vigour and intrepidity, in the 
 Roman court, the accusation that he had formerly adduced 
 against Boniface; and, in the name of his royal master, 
 insisted, that the memory of that pontiff should be brand- 
 ed with a notorious mark of infamy. During these 
 transactions, Benedict died, A. D. 1304; upon which 
 Philip, by his artful intrigues in the conclave, obtained 
 the see of Rome for Bertrand de Got, archbishop of Bour 
 deaux, who was accordingly elected to that high dignity, 
 on the 5th of June, 1305. This step was so much the 
 more necessary, as the breach between the king and the 
 court of Rome was not yet entirely healed, and (Negaret 
 not being absolved) might easily be renewed. Besides, 
 the French monarch, inflamed with the desire of revenge, 
 insisted upon the formal condemnation of Boniface by the 
 court of Rome, the abolition of the order of Templars, 
 and other concessions of great importance, which he could 
 not reasonably expect from an Italian pontiff. Hence he 
 looked upon a French pope, in whose zeal and compliance 
 
 enemy the popes ever had before Luther, no writers have giver: us a 
 more copious account than the Benedictine monks, Hist. Generale de 
 Languedoc, tom. iii. p. 114, 117. Philip made him chancellor of France 
 for his resolute opposition to the pope. 
 
 4 See the Acta inter Bonifacium VIII. Bened. XI. Clement. V. et 
 Philippum Puichrum, published in 1614 by Peter Puteanus.—Adr. 
 Baillet, Hist. des Demelez du Pape Boniface VIII. avec Philippe le Bel. 
 —Jo. Rubeus, in Bonifacio, cap. xvi. p. 137. The other writers on this 
 subject are mentioned by Baillet, in his ‘Preface, Dios —See also Boulay 
 Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. 
 
Crap. IL. 
 
 he could confide, as necessary to the execution of his 
 designs. Bertrand assumed the name of Clement V., and, 
 at the king’s request, remained in France, and removed 
 the papal residence to Avignon, where it continued during 
 the space of seventy years. This period, the Italians call, 
 by way of dension, the Babylqnish captivity.* 
 
 V. There is no doubt, that the continued residence of 
 the popes in France greatly impaired the authority of 
 the Roman see. For, during the absence of the pontiffs 
 from Rome, the faction of the Ghibellines, their inveterate 
 enemies, rose to a greater height than ever; and they not 
 only invaded and ravaged St. Peter’s patrimony, but even 
 attacked the papal authority by their writings. ‘This 
 caused many cities to revolt from the popes: even Rome 
 itself was the grand source and fomenter of cabals, tumults, 
 and civil wars; insomuch, that the laws and decrees sent 
 thither from France were publicly treated with contempt 
 by the populace, as well as by the nobles.» The in- 
 fluence of this example was propagated from Italy through 
 most parts of Europe ; it being evident, from a vast num- 
 ber of instances, that the Europeans in general were far 
 from paying so much regard to the decrees and thunders 
 of the Gallic popes, as they did to those of Rome. ‘This 
 gave rise to various seditions against the pontiffs, which 
 they could not entirely crush, even with the aid of the 
 inquisitors, who exerted themselves with the most barbar- 
 ous fury. 
 
 VI. The French pontiffs, finding that they could draw 
 only small revenues from their Italian dominions, which 
 were now torn in pieces by faction and ravaged by sedi- 
 tion, were obliged to contrive new methods of accumulating 
 wealth. For this purpose, they not only sold indulgences 
 to the people, more frequently than they had formerly 
 done, whereby they made themselves extremely odious to 
 several potentates, but also disposed publicly of scandalous 
 licences, of all sorts, at an excessive price. John XXII. 
 was remarkably shrewd and zealous in promoting this 
 abominable traffick ; for, though he was not the first in- 
 ventor of the taxes and rules of the apostolical chancery, 
 the Romish writers acknowledge that he enlarged and 
 rendered them more extensively profitable to the holy 
 treasury.© It is certain, that the origin of the tribute paid 
 to the popes under the name of Annates, a tax which is 
 generally affirmed to have been first imposed by hin, is 
 of a much earlier date. Beside the abuses now mention- 
 ed, these Gallic popes, having abolished the right of 
 election, arrogated to themselves a power of conferring all 
 the offices of the church, whether great or small, accord- 
 ing to their fancy, by which they soon amassed prodigious 
 wealth. It was also under their government that reserves, 
 provisions, expectatives, and other impositions of the like 
 odious nature, which had seldom (if ever) been heard of 
 
 « For an account of the French popes, consult chiefly Vite Pontif. 
 Avenionensium, published by Baluze in 1693. The reader may also 
 peruse, but it must be with the utmost caution, Longueval’s History of 
 the Gallican Church, and the continuation of that work.—See more 
 especially tom. xii. ‘This Jesuit, and his successors, have shown great 
 industry and eloquence in the composition of this history; but they, for 
 the most part, artfully conceal the vices and enormities of the Roman 
 pontiffs. 
 
 t See Baluze, Pontif. Avenion. tom. ii. p. 290, 301, 309.—Muratori, 
 
 Antiq. Ital. tom. iil. p. 397, 401, &e—Giannone, Historia di Napoli, t. iii. - 
 
 ¢ Jo, Ciampinus, de Vice-Cancellario Ecclesia Rom. p. 39.—Chais, 
 Lettres sur les Jubilés, tom. ii. p. 673. 
 
 4 Bern. van Espen, Jus Eccles. wniversale, tom. ii. 
 Fistor. 
 
 No. 
 
 } p- 876.—Boulay, 
 cad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 911.—Ant. Wood, Anuquit. Oxon. tom. 
 
 XIX. 86 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 341 
 
 before, became familiar to the public ear, and filled all 
 Europe with bitter complaints.e. These complaints ex 
 ceeded all bounds, when some of these pontiff, particular- 
 ly John XXII, Clement VI, and Gregory XI., openly 
 declared that they had reserved to themselves all churches 
 and parishes within their jurisdiction, and were deter- 
 mined, in consequence of that sovereign authority and 
 plenitude of power which Christ had conferred upon 
 them, his vicars, to provide for them, and dispose of them 
 without exception.£ It was by these and other mean and 
 ‘selfish contrivances, which had no other end than the 
 acquisition of riches, that these inconsiderate and rapacious 
 -pontiffs excited a general hatred against the Roman see, 
 and thereby greatly weakened the papal empire, whith 
 had been visibly upon the decline from the time of 
 Boniface. 
 
 VII. Clement V. was a mere creature of Philip the 
 Fair, and was absolutely directed and governed by that 
 prince as long as he lived. William de Nogaret, the 
 implacable enemy of the late pontiff, although he was 
 under a sentence of excommunication, had the boldness 
 to prosecute his master’s cause, and his own, against 
 Boniface, even in the pope’s court; an instance of as- 
 surance not easy to be paralleled. Philip insisted, that 
 the dead body of Boniface should be dug up and publicly 
 burned ; but Clement averted this infamy by his advice 
 and intreaties, promising implicit obedience to the king in 
 every thing else. In order therefore to keep his word, he 
 was obliged to abrogate the laws enacted by Boniface, to 
 grant the king a bounty of five years’ tithes, fully to 
 absolve Nogaret of all his crimes, on condition of his 
 ‘submitting to a light penance, (which, however, he never 
 ‘performed,) to restore the citizens of Anagni to their 
 reputation and honour, and to call a general council at 
 Vienne, in 1311, in order to condemn the ‘Templars, on 
 whose destruction Philip was most ardently bent. In 
 this council every thing was determined as the king 
 thought proper ; for Clement, terrified by the melancholy 
 fate of Boniface, durst not venture to oppose this intrepid 
 and obstinate monarch. 
 
 VU. Upon Clement’s death, which happened in 1314, 
 fierce contentions arose in the conclave about choosing a 
 successor, the French cardinals insisting upon a French, 
 and those of Italy demanding an Italian pope. After a 
 contest, which continued two years, the French party 
 'prevailed, and, in 1316, elected James d’Euse, (a native 
 of Cahors, and cardinal bishop of Porto,) who assumed 
 the name of John XXII. He had a tolerable share of 
 learning, but was crafty, proud, weak, imprudent, and 
 covetous, which is allowed even by those writers who, in 
 other respects, speak well of him. He is deservedly cen 
 sured on account of his temerity, and the ill success 
 
 i. p. 213.—Guil. France. Berthier, Diss. surdes Annates, tom. xii. Hist. 
 de l Eglise Gallic. 
 * Steph. Baluzii Miscellan. tom. ili. p. 479, 518—Ejus Vit. Pontif 
 'Avenion. tom. ii. p. 60, 74, 154.—Gallia Christiana Benedictinor. tom. 
 i. Append. p. 13—Wood, Antiquit. Oxon. tom. i. p. 148, 201—Boulay, 
 Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 411. 
 | f Baluzii Pontif. Avenion. tom. ii. p. 873. tom. i. p. 285, 311, 681.— 
 Ant. Matthei Analecta vet. Avi, tom. v. p. 249.—Gallia Christiana, 
 ae i. p. 69, 1208.—Histoire du Droit Eccles. Frangois, tom. ii, 
 pe hey: 
 | © Beside the common writers already cited, see Guil. Fran. Berthier, 
 Discours sur le Pontificat de Clement V. tom. xiii. Hist. Eccles. Gal- 
 lie—Colonia, Hist. Liter. de Lyon, tom. i. p. 340—Gallia Christiana, 
 tom. i: ii. 
 
342 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 that attended him, through his own imprudence, in many 
 of his enterprises; but he is more especially blamed for 
 that calamitous and unhappy war inte which he entered 
 against Louis of Bavaria. ‘This powerful prince dispu- 
 ted the imperial throne of Germany with Frederic, duke 
 of Austria; and they had been both chosen to that 
 high dignity, in 1314, by their respective partisans among 
 the electors and princes of the empire. John cook it for 
 granted, that the decision of this contest came under his 
 spiritual jurisdiction. But, in 1322, the duke of Bava- 
 ria, having vanquished his competitor by force of arms, 
 assumed the administration of the empire without asking 
 the pope’s approbation, and would by no means allow, 
 that the dispute, already determined by the sword, should 
 be again decided by the pontiff’s judgment. John in- 
 terpreted this refusal as a heinous insult upon his autho- 
 rity, and, by an edict issued in 1324, pretended to de- 
 prive the emperor of his crown. But this impotent re- 
 sentment was very little regarded; and he was even ac- 
 cused of heresy by Louis, who, at the same time, appealed 
 to a general council. Highly exasperated by these and 
 other deserved affronts, the pontiff presumed, in 1327, 
 to declare the imperial throne vacant a second time, and 
 even to publish a sentence of excommunication against 
 the chief of the empire. ‘This new mark of papal ar- 
 rogance was severely resented by Louis, who, in 1328, 
 published an edict at Rome, by which John was declared 
 unworthy of the pontificate, deposed from that dignity, 
 and succeeded in it by one of his bitterest enemies, Peter 
 de Corbieri, a Franciscan monk, who assumed the name 
 of Nicolas V., and crowned the emperor at Rome, in a 
 solemn and public manner. But, in 1330, this imperial 
 pope voluntarily abdicated the chair of St. Peter, and 
 surrendered himself to John, who kept him in close con- 
 finement at Avignon for the rest of his life. Thus ended 
 the contest between the duke of Bavaria and John X_XIL, 
 both of whom, notwithstanding their efforts to dethrone 
 each other, continued in the possession of their respective 
 dignities.* 
 
 IX. 'The numerous tribes of the Fratricelli, Beghards, 
 and Spiritual Franciscans, adhered to the party of Louis. 
 Supported by his patronage, and dispersed through the 
 greatest part of Europe, they boldly attacked the reigning 
 pontiff as an enemy to the true religion, and loaded 
 him with the heaviest accusations, and the bitterest invec- 
 tives, both in their writings and in their ordinary conver- 
 sation. ‘These attacks did not greatly affect the pontiff, 
 as they were made only by private persons, by a set of 
 obscure monks 
 of his notice ; but, toward the conclusion of his life, he 
 
 an Tite partic ulars of this violent quarrel may be learned from the 
 ec published by Steph. Baluze in his Vit. Pontif. ears tom. 
 ii. p. 512.—Edm. Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. il. p. 641.— 
 7 Georg. Herwart, in Ludovico Imperatore defenso cane Bzovium, 
 et Christ. Gewold. in Apologia pro Ludovico Bavaro, against the 
 same Bzovius, who, in the Annals he had published, basely aspersed 
 the mA of the emperor See also Wadding, in Annalib. Minor. 
 tom. vil. p. 77, 106, &e. 
 this war, will perceive that Louis of Bavaria foilowed the example 
 of Philip the Fair, king of France. 
 of heresy against "Boniface, so did Louis with respect to John XXII. 
 The French monarch made use of Nogaret and other accusers 
 _ against one pontiff: Louis employed Occam and the Fr anciscans, in 
 that quality against the other. Each insisted upon the conv ocation of 
 a general council, and the deposition of an obnoxious pontiff. I omit 
 
 other circumstances that might be alleged to render the parallel more | 
 
 striking. 
 
 who, in many respects, were unworthy | 
 
 Whoever attentively peruses the history of | 
 
 As Philip brought an accusation | 
 | twenty millions of florins, of which there were eighteen in specie, and 
 
 - 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part Il. 
 incurred the disapprobation and censures of almost the 
 whole Catholic church: for, in 1831, and the succeeding 
 year, he asserted, in some public discourses, that the souls 
 of the faithful, in their intermediate state, were permit- 
 ted to behold Christ as man, but not the face of God, or 
 the divine nature, before their re-union with the body at 
 the last day. 'Phis doctrine highly offended Philip VL, 
 king of France, was opposed by the pope’s friends as 
 well as by his enemies, and condemned in 1333 by the 
 divines of Paris. This favourite tenet of the pope was 
 thus severely treated, because it seemed highly prejudi- 
 cial to the felicity of happy spirits in their unembodied 
 state; otherwise the point might have been yielded toa 
 man of his positive temper, without any material conse- 
 quence. Alarmed by these vigorous proceedings, he im- 
 mediately offered something by way of excuse for having 
 espoused this opinion ; and afterwards, in 1334, when 
 he was at the point of death, though he did not entirely 
 renounce, he in some measure softened it, by saying he 
 believed that the unembodied souls of the righteous ‘ be- 
 held the divine essence as far as their separate state and 
 condition would permit.’’ "This declaration did not sa- 
 tisfy his adversaries: hence his successor, Benedict XIL., 
 after many disputes about it, put an end to this contro- 
 versy by an unanimous resolution of the Parisian doc- 
 tors, ordering it to be received as an article of faith, that 
 the souls of the blessed, during their intermediate state, 
 were capable of contemplating, fully and perfectly, the 
 divine nature.° Benedict’s publishing of this resolution 
 could be in no way injurious to the memory of John; 
 for, when the latter Jay upon his death-bed, he submitted 
 his opinion to the judgment of the church, that he might 
 not be deemed a heretic after his decease.¢ 
 
 X. John dying in 1334, new contentions arose in the 
 conclave between the French and Italian cardinals, about 
 the election of a pope; but toward the end of the year 
 they chose James F’ournier, a Frenchman, and cardinal 
 of St. Prisca, who took the name of Benedict XII. The 
 writers of these times represent him as a man of great 
 probity, who was not chargeable with that avarice, or 
 that ambition, which had dishonoured so many of his 
 predecessors. He put an end to the papal quarrel with 
 the emperor Louis; and though he did not restore ean 
 to the communion of the church, because prevented, a 
 it is said, by the king of France, yet he did not meas 
 any thing against him. He carefully attended to the 
 grievances of the church, redressed them as far as was 
 in his power, endeavoured to reform the fundamental 
 laws of the monastic societies, whether of the mendicant, 
 or more opulent orders; and died in Bene while he was 
 
 b See Steph. Baluzii Vit. Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 175, 182, 197, 
 221, 786, &c.—Lue. D’Acherii Spicil. Scriptor. tae tom. 1. p. 760, 
 ed. vet.—Jo. Launoii Historia Gymnas. Navarreni, part i. cap. vii. p. 
 319. tom. iv. vart i. op.—Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. p. 235, 
 250. —Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. vi. p. 371; tom. vii. p. 145. Hhoad, 
 Seriptor. Preedicator. tom. 1. p. 599, 608. 
 
 ¢ Baluzii Vit. Pontif. Avenion. tom. 1. p. 197, 216, 221. 
 
 3 “> 4 All the heretical fancies of this pope about the Beatific Vision 
 were nothing in comparison with a vile and most enormous practica 
 heresy, that was found in his coffers after his death, viz. five and 
 
 the rest in plate, jewels, crowns, mitres, and other precious baubles, 
 which he had squeezed out of the people and the inferior clergy during 
 his pontificate. See Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. xciv. sect. xxxix. 
 
 © Sce the Fragmenta Histor. Roman. in Muratorii Antiquit. Ital. 
 tom. iii. p. 275.—Baluzii Vit. Pont. Avenion. tom, i. p. 205, 218, &c.- 
 Boulay, Hist. Acad. Par. tom. iv. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 devising the most noble schemes for promoting a yet 
 more extensive reformation. In short, if we overlook 
 his superstition, the prevailing blemish of this barbarous 
 age, it must. be allowed that he was a man of integrity 
 and merit. 
 
 XI. He was succeeded by a man of a very different 
 disposition, Clement VL, a native of France, whose name 
 was Peter Roger, and who was cardinal of St. Nereus 
 and St. Ackilles, before his elevation to the pontificate. 
 Not to insist upon the most unexceptionable parts of this 
 pontiff’s conduct, we shall only observe, that he trod 
 faithfully in the steps of John XXII. in providing: for 
 vacant churches and bishopricks, by reserving to him- 
 self the disposal of them, which showed his sordid and 
 insatiable avarice; that he conferred ecclesiastical digni- 
 ties and benefices of the highest consequence upon stran- 
 gers and Italians, which drew upon him the warm dis- 
 pleasure of the kings of England and France ; and last- 
 ly, that by renewing the dissensions that had formerly 
 subsisted between Louis of Bavaria and the Roman see, 
 he exposed his excessive vanity and ambition in the most 
 odious colours. In 1343, he assailed the emperor with 
 his thundering edicts; and when he heard that they were 
 
 treated by that prince with the utmost contempt, his 
 rage was augmented, and he not only threw out new 
 maledictions, and published new sentences of excommu- | 
 nication against him, in 1346, but also excited the Ger- 
 man princes to elect Henry VIL. son of Charles 1V., em- 
 peror in his place. ‘This violent measure would infallibly 
 have occasioned a civil war in Germany, had it not been 
 prevented by the death of Louis, in 1347. Clement sur- 
 vived him above five years, and died near the close of the 
 year 1352, famous for nothing but his excessive zeal for 
 sxtending the papal authority, and for his having added 
 Avignon, which he purchased of Joan, queen of Naples, 
 to the patrimony of St. Peter. . 
 
 X11. His successor, Innocent VI., whose name was Ste- jj 
 phen ‘Albert, was much more remarkable for integrity and | 
 moderation Hewasa Frenchman, and before bis election 
 
 had been bishop of Ostia. He died in 1362, after hav- 
 ing governed the church for almost ten years. His 
 greatest blemish was, that he promoted his relatives with 
 an excessive partiality ; but, in other respects, he was a 
 man of merit, and a great encourager of pious and learned 
 men. He kept the monks closely to their duty, carefully 
 abstained from reserving churches, and, by many good 
 actions, acquired a great and deserved reputation. He was 
 succeeded by William Grimoard, abbot of St. Victor at 
 Marseilles, who took the name of Urban V., and was en- 
 tirely free from all the grosser vices, if we except those 
 which cannot easily be separated from the papal dignity. 
 This pope, being prevailed on by the entreaties of the Ro- 
 mans, returned to Rome in 1367; but, in 1370, he re- 
 visited Avignon, to reconcile the differences that had arisen 
 between the kings of England and France, and died : 
 in the same year. 
 
 * See Colucii Salutati Epistole, written in the name of the Floren- 
 tines, part i. See also the preface to the second part. 
 
 » See Longueval, Hist. de IEglise Gallicane, tom. xiv. p. 159, 192. 
 
 * See the acts and documents in Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. 
 
 . 463.—Lue. Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. ix. p. 12.—Steph. Baluze, 
 Vit Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 442, 998.—Acta. Sanctor. tom. i. April. 
 » 728. 
 : 4 Ai account of this dissension may be seer: in Pierre du Puy, His- 
 toire Generale du Schisme qui a été en I’Eglise depuis l’an. 1378 jusqu’ 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 this step.” 
 
 | 
 
 343 
 
 XIII. He was succeeded by Peter Roger, a French ec- 
 clesiastic of illustrious descent, who assumed the name of 
 Gregory XL, a man who, though inferior to his predeces- 
 sors in virtue, far exceeded them in courage and audacity. 
 In his time, Italy in general, and the city of Rome in par- 
 ticular, were distressed with most outrageous and formida- 
 ble tamults. The Florentines carried on with success a 
 terrible war-against the ecclesiastical state 3s upon which, 
 Gregory, in hopes of quieting the disorders of Italy, and 
 also of recovering the cities and territories which had been 
 taken from St. Peter’s patrimony, transferred the papal 
 seat, in 1376, from Avignon to Rome. To this he was in 
 a great measure determined by the advice of Catharine, 
 a virgin of Sens, who, in this credulous age, was thought 
 to be inspired with the spirit of prophecy, and made a 
 journey to Avignon on purpose to persuade him to take 
 It was not, however, long before Gregory re- 
 pented that he had followed her advice; for, by the long 
 absence of the popes from Italy, their authority was redu- 
 ced to so low an ebb, that. the Romans and Florentines 
 made no scruple to insult him with the grossest abuse, 
 which made him resolve to retuirn to Avignon ; but, before 
 he could execute his determination, he was taken off by 
 death, in 1378. 
 
 XIV. After the death of Gregory XL, the cardinals were 
 assembled to consult about choosing a successor, when the 
 people of Rome, unwilling that the vacant dignity should 
 be conferred on a Frenchman, approached the conclave in 
 a tumultuous manner, and with great clamours, accom- 
 panied with outrageous menaces, insisted that an Italian 
 should be advanced to the popedom. ‘The cardinals, ter- 
 rified by this uproar, immediately proclaimed Bartholo- 
 mew Pregnano, who was a Neapolitan, and archbishop o. 
 Bari, and assumed the name of Urban VI. 'This new pon- 
 tiff, by his impolite behaviour, injudicious severity, and in- 
 tolerable arrogance, had entailed upon himself the odium o- 
 people of all ranks, and especially of the leading cardinals. 
 These latter, therefore, tired of his insolence, withdrew from 
 Rome to Anagni, and thence to Fondi, where they elected 
 to the pontificate Robert, count of Geneva, (who took the 
 name of Clement VII.,) and declared at the same time, 
 that the election of Urban was nothing more than a mere 
 ceremony, which they had found themselves obliged to 
 perform, in order to calm the turbulent rage of the popu- 
 lace. Which of these two we ought to consider as having 
 been the true and lawful pope, is to this day, a doubtful 
 point ; nor will the records and writings, alleged by the 
 contending parties, enable us to adjust that point with cer- 
 tainty... Urban remained at Rome: Clement went to 
 Avignon. His cause was espoused by France, Spain, 
 Scotland, Sicily, and Cyprus, while all the-rest of Europe 
 acknowledged Urban as the true vicar of Christ. 
 
 XV. ‘Thus the union of the Latin church under one 
 head, was destroyed at the death of Gregory XI., and was 
 succeeded by that deplorable dissension, commonly known 
 by the name of the great western schism.* This dis: 
 
 en l’an. 1428, which, as we are informed in the preface, was compiled 
 from the royal records of France, and is entirely worthy of credit 
 Nor should we wholly reject Louis Maimbourg’s Histoire du grana 
 Schisme d’Occident, though in general it be deeply tainted with the 
 leaven of party spirit. Many documents are to be met with in Boulay’s 
 Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. iv. and v.; and also in Martenne’s Thesaur, 
 Anecdotor. tom. ii. I always pass over the common writers upon 
 this subject, such as Alexander, Raynald, Bzovius, Spondanus, and 
 u-Pin. 
 
344 
 
 sension was fomented with such dreadful success, and 
 arose tu such a shameful height, that, for fifty years, the 
 -hurch had two or three different heads at the same time ; 
 each of the contending popes forming plots, and thunder- 
 ing out anathemas against their competitors. The dis- 
 tress and calamity of these times are beyond all power of 
 description ; for, not to insist upon the perpetual conten- 
 tions and wars between the factions of the several popes, 
 by which multitudes lost their fortunes and lives, all sense 
 of religion was extinguished in most places, and profligacy 
 rose to a most scandalous excess. The clergy, while they 
 vehemently contended which of the reigning popes ought 
 to be deemed the true successor of Christ, were sO exces- 
 sively corrupt, as to be no Idnger studious to keep up even 
 an appearance of religion or decency : and, in consequence 
 of all this, many plain well-meaning people, who conclud- 
 ed that no one could partake of eternal life, unless united 
 with the vicar of Christ, were overwhelmed with doubt, 
 and plunged into the deepest mental distress... Neverthe- 
 less, these abuses were, by their consequences, greatly con- 
 ducive both to the civil and religious interests of mankind ; 
 for, by these dissensions, the papal power received an in- 
 curable wound; and kings and princes, who had formerly 
 been the slaves of the lordly pontifls, now became their 
 judges and masters; and many of the least stupid among 
 the people had the courage to disregard and despise the 
 popes, on account of their odious disputes about dominion, 
 to commit their salvation to God alone, and to admit it as 
 a maxim, that the prosperity of the church might be main- 
 tained, and the interests of religion secured and promoted, 
 without a visible head, crowned witha spiritual supremacy. 
 XVI. The Italian ‘cardinals, attached to the interests 
 of Urban VI., on the death of that pope, in 1389, set up 
 for his successor Peter Thomacelli, a Neapolitan, who took 
 the name of Boniface [X.; and Clement VIL, dying in 
 1394, the French cardinals raised to the pontificate Peter 
 de Luna, a Spaniard, who assumed the name of Benedict 
 XU. During these transactions, various methods were 
 proposed and attempted for healing this melancholy breach 
 in the church. Kings and princes, bishops and divines, 
 appeared with zeal in this salutary project. It was gene- 
 rally thought that the best course to be taken was, what 
 they then ‘styled, the Method of Cession: but neither of 
 the popes could be prevailed on, either by entreaties or 
 threats, to give up the pontificate. ‘The Gallican church, 
 highly incensed at this obs stinacy, renounced solemnly, in 
 a council holden at Paris, in 1397, all subjection and obe- 
 dience to both pontiffs ; and, on the publication of this re- 
 solution, in 1398, Benedict was, by the express orders of 
 Charles VL, detained prisoner in his palace at Avignon.” 
 XVII. Some of the popes, particularly Benedict XIL, 
 were perfectly acquainted with the prevailing vices and 
 scandalous conduct of the greatest part of the monks, 
 which they zealously endeavoured to rectify and remove; 
 but the disorder was too inveterate to be easily cured, or 
 effectually remedied. ‘The Mendicants, and more espe- 
 cially the Dominicans and Franciscans, were at the head 
 
 * Of the mischievous consequences of this schism, we have a full 
 account in the Histoire du Droit public Eccles. Frangois, tom. ii. p. 166, 
 193, 202. 
 
 > Beside the common historians, and Longueval’s Histoire de 
 P Eglise Gallicane, t. xiv. see the acts of this council in Boulay’s Hist. t. iv. 
 
 © See Wo0d’s Antiquit. Oxon. tom. 1. p. 150, 196, &c. 
 @ See Wood, tom. i. p. 181; tom. il p. 61.—Baluzii Vite Pontif 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part JU. 
 
 | of the monastic orders, and had, indeed, become the heads 
 
 of the church: so extensive was the influence they had ac- 
 quired, that all matters of importance, both in the court of 
 Rome, and in the cabinets of princes, were carried on under 
 their supreme and absolute direction. The multitude had 
 such a high notion of the sanctity of these sturdy beggars, 
 and of their credit with the Supreme Being, that great 
 numbers of both sexes, some in health, others in a state 
 of infirmity, others at the point of death, earnestly desired 
 to be admitted into the Mendicant order, which they looked 
 upon as a sure and infallible method of rendering Heaven 
 propitious. Many made it an essential part of their last 
 wills, that their carcasses, after death, should be wrapped 
 in ragged Dominican or Franciscan habits, and interred 
 among the Mendicants ; for, amidst the barbarous super- 
 stition and wretched ignorance of this age, the generality 
 of people believed that they might readily obtain mercy 
 from Christ at the day of judgment, if they should appear 
 before his tribunal associated with the Mendicant friars. 
 XVIII. The high esteem attached to the Mendicant 
 orders, and the great authority which they had acquired, 
 only served to render them still more odious to such as 
 had hitherto been their enemies, and to draw upon them 
 new marks of jealousy and hatred from the higher and 
 lower clergy, the monastic societies, and the public uni- 
 versities. So general was this odium, that in almost every 
 province and university of Europe, bishops, clergy, and 
 doctors, were warmly engaged in opposition to the Domi- 
 nicans and Franciscans, who employed the power and 
 authority they had received from the popes, in undermin 
 ing the ancient discipline of the church, and assuming te 
 themselves a certain superintendence in religious matters. 
 In England, the university of Oxford made a resolute 
 stand against the encroachments of the Dominicans,* while 
 Richard, archbishop of Armagh, Henry Cromp, Norris, 
 and others, attacked all the Mendicant orders with great 
 vehemence and severity. But Richard, whose animosity 
 was much keener against them than that of their other 
 antagonists, went to the court of Innocent VL, in 1356, 
 and vindicated the cause of the church against them witl 
 the greatest fervour, both in his writings and discourse, until 
 the year 1360, in which he died.c They had also many 
 opponents in France, who, together with the university 0. 
 Paris, were secretly engaged in contriving means to over 
 turn their exorbitant power: but John de Pobliac set him. 
 self openly against them, publicly denying the validity ct 
 the absolution granted by the Dominicans and F'rancis- 
 cans to those who confessed to them, maintaining that the 
 popes were disabled from granting them a power of abso- 
 lution by the authority of the canon entitled Omnis utri- 
 usque sexus, and proving from these premises, that all 
 those who would be sure of their salvation, ought tw con- 
 fess their sins to the priests of their respective parishes, 
 even though they had been absolved by the monks. They 
 suffered little or nothing, however, from the efforts of these 
 numerous adversaries, being resolutely protected against 
 all opposition, whether open or secret, by the popes, who 
 
 Avenion. tom. i. p. 338, 950.—Boulay, tom. iv. p. 336.—W adding, tom. 
 vill. g: 126. 
 
 ¢ See Simon’s Lettres Choisies, tom. i. p. 164. I have in my pos- 
 session a manuscript treatise of. Bartholomew de Brisac, entitled, 
 “ Solutiones opposite Ricardi, Armachani episcopi, propositionibus 
 contra Mendicantes in curia Romana coram Pontifice et cardinalibus 
 
 « factis, anno 1360,” “ 
 
Cuaap. II. 
 
 regarded them as their best friends and most effectual sup- 
 ports. Accordingly, John XXIL, by an extraordinary 
 decree, in 1321, condemned the opinions of John de 
 Polliac.* 
 
 XIX. But, among all the enemies of the Mendicant 
 orders, no one has been transmitted to posterity with more 
 exalted encomiums on the one hand, or black calumnies 
 on the other, than John Wickliff, an English doctor, pro- 
 essor of divinity at Oxford, and afterwards rector of Lut- 
 terworth ; who, according to the testimony of the writers 
 of these times, was a man of an enterprising genius, and 
 extraordinary learning. In 1360, animated by the ex- 
 ample of Richard, archbishop of Armagh, he defended 
 the statutes and privileges of the university of Oxford, 
 against all the orders of the Mendicants, and had the cou- 
 rage to throw out some slight reproofs against the popes, 
 their principal patrons, which no true Briton ever imputed 
 to him asacrime. After this, in 1367, he was deprived 
 of the wardenship of Canterbury Hall, in the university of 
 Oxford, by Simon Langham, archbishop of Cauterbury, 
 who substituted a monk in his place ; upon which he ap- 
 pealed to pope Urban V., who confirmed the sentence of 
 the primate against him, on account of the freedom with 
 which he had inveighed against the monastic orders. 
 Highly exasperated at this treatment, he threw off all re- 
 straint, and not only attacked all the monks, and their 
 scandalous irregularities, but even the pontifical power it- 
 self and other ecclesiastical abuses, both in his sermons 
 and writings. He proceeded to yet greater lengths, and, 
 detesting the wretched superstition of the times, refuted, 
 with great acuteness and spirit, the absurd notions that 
 were generally received in religious matters, and not only 
 exhorted the laity to study the Scriptures, but also trans- 
 lated into English these divine books, in order to render 
 the perusal of them more general. ‘Though neither the 
 doctrine of Wickliff was void of error, nor his life without 
 reproach, yet it must be allowed, that the changes he at- 
 tempted to introduce, both in tl faith and discipline of 
 the church, were, in many respects, wise, useful, aid sa- 
 lutary.® 
 
 XX. The monks, whom Wickliff had principally ex- 
 asperated, commenced a violent prosecution against him 
 at the court of Gregory XI., who, in 1377, ordered Simon 
 Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, to take cognisance of 
 the affair in a council convoked at London. Imminent 
 as this danger evidently was, Wickliff escaped it, by the 
 mterest of the duke of Lancaster, and some other peers, 
 who had a high regard for him; and soon after the death 
 
 « See Jo. Launoius, de Canone Omnis utriusque Sexus, tom. 1. part i. 
 yp. p. 271, 287, &c.—Baluzii Vit. Pontif. Avenion. tom. 1. et il. Ejus. 
 Miscellanea, tom. 1—D’Acherii Spicil. Scriptor. Veter. tom. i—Mar- 
 enne, Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. i. 
 
 b’ A work of his was published at Leipsie and Frankfort, in 1753, 
 entitled, Dialogorum Libri quatuor, which, though it does not contain all 
 ile branches of his doctrine, yet shows sufficiently the spirit of the man, 
 and his way of thinking in general. 
 
 a> * In the original, Dr. Mosheim says, that, of eighteen articles 
 imputed to Wickliff, nine were condemned as heresies, and fifteen as 
 srrors. ‘This contradiction, which we have taken the liberty to correct 
 in the text, 1s an oversight of the learned author, who appears to have 
 confounded the eighteen heresies and errors that were enumerated and 
 refuted by William Woodford, in a letter to Arundel, archbishop of 
 Canterbury, with the twenty-three propositions that had been condemned 
 oy his predecessor Courtenay at London, of which ten were pronounced 
 heretical, and thirteen erroneous. See the very curious collection of 
 pieces, entitled, Fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum Orthuini 
 Gratii, published first at Cologne by the compiler, in 1555, and after- 
 wards at London in 1690, with an additional volume of ancient pieces 
 
 No. XXIX. 87 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, E'fc. 345 
 
 of Gregory, the fatal schism of the Romish church com- 
 menced, during which there was one pope at Rome, and 
 another at Avignon ; so that of course the controversy lay 
 dormant a long time. The process against Wickliff was 
 afterwards revived, however, by William de Courtenay, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, in 1385, and was carried on 
 with great vehemence in two councils holden at London 
 and Oxford. ‘The event was, that of the twenty-three 
 opinions, for which Wickliff had been prosecuted by the 
 monks, ten were condemned as heresies, and thirteen as 
 errors.© He himself, however, returned in safety to Lutter- 
 worth, where he died peaceably in 1387. The latter 
 attack was much more dangerous than the former; but 
 by what means he got safely through it, whether by the 
 interest of the court, or by denying or abjuring his opinions, 
 is to this day a secret. Heleft many followers in England, 
 and other countries, who were styled Wickliffites and 
 Lollards, which last was a term of popular reproach 
 translated from the Flemish tongue into English. Where- 
 ever they could be found, they were terribly persecuted by 
 the inquisitors, and other instruments of papal vengeance. 
 In the council of Constance, in 1415, the memory and 
 opinions of Wickliff were condemned by a solemn decree ; 
 and, about thirteen years after, his bones were dug up, 
 and publicly burned. 
 
 XXI. Although the Mendicants were thus vigorously 
 attacked on all sides, by sutch a considerable number of 
 ingenious and learned adversaries, they could not be per- 
 suaded to abate any thing of their excessive pride, to set 
 bounds to their superstition, or to desist from imposing 
 upon the multitude, but were as diligent as ever in propa- 
 gating opinions highly detrimental to religion in general, 
 and particularly injurious to the majesty of the Supreme 
 Being. 'The Franciscans, forgetting, in their enthusiastic 
 phrensy, the veneration which they owed to the Son of 
 God, and animated with a mad zeal for advancing the 
 glory of their order and its founder, impiously maintained, 
 that the latter was a second Christ, in all respects similar 
 to the first, and that their institution, doctrine, and disci- 
 pline, were the true Gospel of Jesus. Yet, shocking as 
 these foolish and impious pretensions were, the popes were 
 not ashamed to patronise and encourage them by their 
 letters and mandates, in which they made no scruple to 
 assert, that the absurd fable of the stigmas, or five wounds 
 impressed upon Francis by Christ himself, on mount 
 Alvernus, was worthy of credit, because matter of un- 
 doubted fact.e Nor was this all; for they not only per- 
 mitted to be published, without any mark of their disappro- 
 
 and fragments, by the learned Mr. Edward Brown. The letter of 
 Woodford is at full length in the first volume of this collection. 
 
 4 We have a full and complete History of the Life and Sufferings 
 of John Wickliff, published at London, in 1720, by Mr. John Lewis 
 who also published, in 1731, Wickliff’s English translation of the New 
 Testament from the Latin version calledthe Vulgate. This translation 
 is enriched with a learned preface by the editor, in which he enlarges 
 upon the life, actions, and sufferings, of that eminent reformer. The 
 pieces, relative to the controversies which were occasioned by the doc- 
 trines of Wickliff, are to be found in the learned work of Wilkins, 
 entitled, Concilia Magne Britanniw et Hibern. tom. sii. p. 116, 156.— 
 See also Boulay’s Hist. tom. iv. and Wood’s Antiq. tom. 1. 
 
 * The story of the marks, or stigmas, impressed on Francis, is well 
 known, as are also the letters of the Roman pontiffs, which enjoip.the 
 belief of it, and which Wadding has collected with great care, and 
 published in his Annales Minorum, tom. vili. and ix. The Domini- 
 cans formerly made a public jest of this riduculous fable; but, being 
 awed into silence by the papal bulls, they are now obliged to deride it 
 in secret, while the Franciscans, on the other hand, conuunue to propa- 
 gate it with the most fervent zeal. That St. Francis had upon his body 
 
346 
 
 bation, but approved, and even recommended, an impious 
 piece, stuffed with tales yet more improbable and ridiculous 
 than either of the above-mentioned fictions, and entitled, 
 The Book of the Conformities of St. Francis with Jesus 
 Christ, which was composed, in 1385, by Bartholomew 
 Albizi, a Franciscan of Pisa, with the applause of his 
 order. ‘This infamous tract, im which the Son of God is 
 put upon a level with a wretched mortal, is an eternal 
 monument of the outrageous enthusiasm and abominable 
 arrogance of the Franciscan order, and also of the exces- 
 sive imprudence of the pontiffs who extolled and recom- 
 mended it. 
 
 XXIL The Franciscans, who adhered to the genuine 
 and austere rule of their founder, and opposed the popes 
 who attempted to mitigate the severity of its injunctions, 
 were not in the least wiser than those of the order, who 
 acknowledged the jurisdiction and respected the decisions 
 of the Roman pontiffs. By those antipapal Franciscans 
 I mean the F'ratricelli, or Minorites, and the 'Tertiaries of 
 that order, otherwise called Beghards, together with the 
 Spirituals, who resided principally in France, and em- 
 braced the opinions of Pierre d’Olive. ‘These monastic 
 factions were turbulent and seditious beyond expression ; 
 they gave incredible vexation to the popes, and for a long 
 time disturbed, wherever they appeared, the tranquillity 
 both of church and state. About the beginning of this 
 century,” the less austere Franciscans were outrageous 1n 
 their resentment against the Fratricelli, who had deserted 
 their communion ;* upon which such of the latter as had 
 the good fortune to escape the fury of their persecutors, 
 retired into France, in 1307, and associated themselves 
 with the Spirituals, or followers of Pierre d’Olive, in Pro- 
 vence, who had also abandoned the society. Soon after 
 this, the whole Franciscan order in France, Italy, and 
 other countries, formed two parties. ‘Those who embraced 
 . the severe discipline and absolute poverty of St. Francis, 
 were called Spirituals ; such as insisted upon mitigating 
 the austere injunctions of their founder, were styled the 
 Brethren of the Community. The latter, being far more 
 numerous and powerful, exerted themselves to the utmost, 
 to oppress the former, whose faction was still weak, and, 
 as it were, in its infancy ; yet they cheerfully submitted 
 to these hardships, rather than return to the society of 
 those who had deserted the rules of their master. Pope 
 Clement V., having drawn the leaders of these two par- 
 ties to his court, took great pains to compose these dissen- 
 
 the marks or impressions of the five great wounds of Christ, is not to be 
 doubted, since this 1s a fact proved by a great number of unexceptiona- 
 ble witnesses. But, as he was a most superstitious and fanatical mortal, 
 it is undoubtedly evident that he imprinted on himself these holy wounds, 
 that he might resemble Christ, and bear about on his body a perpetual 
 memorial of the Redeemer’s sufferings. It was customary in these 
 times, for such as were willing to be thought more pious than others, to 
 imprint upon their bodies marks of this kind, that, having thus continu- 
 ally before them a lively representation of the death of Christ, they 
 might preserve a becoming sense of it in their minds. The words of 
 St. Paul (Galat. vi. 17,) were sufficient to confirm in this wretched de- 
 Jusion an ignorant and superstitious age, in which the Scriptures were 
 neither studied nor understood. A long list of these stigmatised 
 fanatics might be extracted from the Acta Sanctorum, and other re- 
 cords of this and the following century: nor is this ancient piece of 
 superstition entirely abolished, even in our times. Be that as it may, 
 the er 
 their founder, took this occasion of making him appear to the world as 
 honoured by. Heaven above the rest of mortals, and invented, for this 
 purpose, the story of Christ’s having mir aculously transferred his 
 wounds to him. 
 
 * For an account of Albizi and his book, see Wadding, tom. ix. p. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 Part I 
 
 sions; nevertheless, his pacific scheme advanced but 
 slowly, on account of the inflexible obstinacy of each sect, 
 and the great number of their mutual accusations. In 
 the mean while, the Spirituals of Tuscany, instead of 
 waiting for the decision of his holiness, chose a president 
 
 -and inferior officers ; ; while those of France, being in the 
 
 neighbourhood of Avignon, patiently expected the papal 
 determination.@ 
 
 XXII. After many deliberations, Clement, in a general 
 council at Vienne in Dauphine, (where he issued the 
 famous bull; Lzivi de paradiso,) proposed an expedient 
 for healing the breach between the j jarring parties, by wise 
 concessions on both sides. He gave up many points to 
 the Spirituals, or rigid Franciscans, enjoining upon the 
 whole order the profes sion of absolute poverty, according 
 to their primitive rule, and the solemn renunciation of all 
 property, whether common or personal, confining them to 
 what was necessary for their immediate subsistence, and 
 allowing them, even for that, a very scanty pittance. He, 
 however, on the other hand, permitted the Franciscans, 
 who lived in places where it was extremely difficult to 
 procure by begging the necessaries of life, to erect grana- 
 ries and store-houses, where they might deposit a part of 
 their alms as a stock, in case of want; and ordered that 
 
 all such repositories should be under the inspection and 
 
 management of overseers and store-keepers, who were te 
 determine what quantity of provisions should be laid up 
 in them. And, finally, in order to satisfy the Brethren oJ 
 the Community, he condemned some opinions of Pierre 
 Olive. These proceedings silenced the monastic com- 
 motions in France ; but the Tuscan and Italian Spirituals 
 were so exceedingly perverse and obstinate, that they 
 could not be brought to consent to any method of re- 
 conciliation. At length, in 1313, many of them, not 
 thinking themselves safe in Italy, went into Sicily, where 
 they met with a friendly reception from Frederic, the 
 nobility, and bishops.¢ 
 
 XXIV. Upon the death of Clement V. the tumult, which 
 had been appeased by his authority, revived in France 
 with as much fury as ever. For, in 1314, a hundred and 
 twenty of the Spirituals made a violent attack upon the 
 Brethren of the Community, drove them out of the con- 
 vents of Narbonne and Beziers by force of arms, and 
 inflamed the quarrel in a yet higher degree, by relinquish- 
 ing their ancient habits, and assuming such as were short, 
 close, and mean. ‘They were soon joined by a considera- 
 
 158.—Fabricii Biblioth. Lat. medii A&vi, tom. i. p. 181—Schelhornii 
 Amen. Liter. tom. ii. p. 160.—Bayle’s Dictionary, at the articlé 
 Francois, and the Nouveau Dictionnaire Hist. Crit. at the article Albizi. 
 
 Erasmus Albert made several extracts from this book, and published 
 
 them under the title of the Koran of the Franciscans, which was fre- 
 quently printed in Latin, German, and French. 
 
 x The conformities between Christ and St. Francis, are only car, 
 ried to forty, in the book of Albizi: but they are multiplied to 4000, by 
 a Spanish monk of the order of Observants, in a work published, ip 
 1651, under the following title, Prodigiosum Nature et Gratia Porten- 
 tum. The conformities mentioned by Pedro de Alva Astorga, the 
 
 | austere author of this most ridiculous book, are whimsical beyond ex- 
 
 pression. See the Bibl. des Sciences et des Beaux Arts, t. iv. p. 318. 
 b In 1306 and 1307. ¢ Wadding, t. vi. ad an. 1307. 
 a Wadding, tom. iv. ad an. 1310, p. 217.—Eccardi Corpus Histor. 
 
 | medii A&vi, tom. 1.p. 1480. —Boulay, tom. iv. p. 129.—Eccardi Serip- 
 
 ranciscan monks, having found these marks upon the dead body of || 
 
 tor. Predicator. tom. i. 
 
 © This bull is inserted in the Jus Canonicwm inter Clementinas, tit. 
 xi. de verbor. signif. tom. ii. p. 1095, edit. Bohmeri. 
 
 f Wadding, tom. vi. p. 194, 197, 199. 
 
 & Wadding, tom. vi. p. 213, 214.—Boulay, tom. iv. p, 152, 165.—Ar- 
 gentre, Collectio judicior. de novis error. tom. 1. p. 392. 
 
Cnap. II. 
 
 ble number from other provinces; and the citizens of | 
 Narbonne, where Olive was interred, enlisted themselves | 
 John XXII, who was raised to the ponti-| 
 
 in the party. 
 ficate in the year 1317, took great pains to heal this new 
 disorder. ‘The first thing he did for this purpose, was to 
 publish a special bull, by which he ordered the abolition 
 of the Fratricelli or Minorites, and their Tertiaries, whether 
 Beguines or Beghards, who formed a body distinct from 
 the Spirituals.s In the next place, he admonished the 
 king of Sicily to expel all the Spirituals who had taken 
 refuge in his dominions,® and then ordered the French 
 Spirituals to appear at Avignon, where he exhorted them 
 to return to their duty, and as the first step to it, to lay aside 
 the short, close habits, with the small hoods. ‘The great- 
 est part of them obeyed; but Fr. Bernard Delitiosi, who 
 was the head of the faction, and twenty-four of the 
 brethren, boldly refused to submit to the injunction. In 
 vindication of their conduct, they alleged that the rules 
 prescribed by St. Francis, were the same with the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ ; that the popes therefore had no authority 
 to alter them; that the ponuffs had acted sinfully in per- 
 mitting the Franciscans to have granaries and storehouses ; 
 and that they added to their guilt in not allowing those 
 habits to be worn that were enjoined by St. Francis. 
 John, highly exaspefated by this opposition, gave orders 
 that these obstinate brethren should be proceeded against 
 as heretics. And surely nothing could make them appear 
 viler heretics in the papal eye, than their venturing thus 
 audaciously to oppose the authority and majesty of the 
 Roman see. As for Delitiosi; who is sometimes called 
 Delli Consi, he was imprisoned, and died in his confine- 
 ment. Four of his adherents were condemned to the 
 flames, in 1318, at Marseilles ;* and this horrible sentence 
 was accordingly executed without mercy. 
 
 XXYV. Thus these unhappy friars, and many more of 
 their fraternity, who were afterwards cut off by this cruel 
 persecution, suffered merely for their contempt of the de- 
 cisions of the pontiffs, and for maintaining that the insti- 
 tute of St. Francis, their founder, which they imagined 
 lie had established under the direction of an immediate 
 inspiration, was the very Gospel of Christ, and therefore 
 ought not to be altered by the pope’s authority. The 
 controversy, considered in itself, was rather ridiculous than 
 important, since it did not affect religion in the least, but. 
 turned wholly on these two points, the form of the habits 
 to be worn by the Franciscan order, and their granaries 
 and store-houses. ‘The Brethren of the Community, or 
 the less rigid Franciscans, wore long, loose, and good 
 habits, with ample hoods; but the Spirituals went in short, 
 scanty, and very coarse ones, which they asserted to be 
 precisely the dress enjoined by the institute of St. Francis, 
 and what therefore no power upon earth had a right to 
 alter. And whereas the former, immediately after the 
 harvest and vintage, were accustomed to lay up a stock of 
 corn and wine in their granaries and cellars, the latter 
 
 * This law is called Sancta Romana, &c. and is to be found among 
 the Extravagantes Johannis XXII. tit. vii. de religiosis domibus, tom. 
 ii. Jur. Canon. p. 1112. b Wadding, tom. vi. p. 265. 
 
 ¢ Baluze, Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 116; tom. ii. p. 341, et 
 Misceilan. tom. i. p. 195, 272. Wadding, tom. vi. p. 267. Martenne, 
 Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. v. p. 175. Martinus Fuldensis, in Eccardi 
 Corporé Histor. medii Avi, tom. i. p. 1725, et Herm. Cornerus, jbid. 
 tom. ii. p. 981. Histoire generale de Languedoc, tom. iv. p. 179. Ar- 
 gentre, Collectio Judicior. de novis errorib. tom, i. p. 294. 
 
 4 It may be seen in the Jus Canon. among the Extravag. communes 
 de verbor. signif. See also Wadding, tom. vi. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 347 
 
 'resolutely opposed this practice, as entirely repugnant to 
 
 that profession of absolute poverty which had been embra- 
 ced by the Fratricelli or Minorites. In order to put an 
 end to these broils, the pope, in this very year, published 
 a long mandatory letter, in which he ordered the contend- 
 ing parties to submit their disputes, upon the two points 
 above-mentioned, to the decision of their superiors.‘ 
 XXVI. The effects of this letter, and of other de 
 crees, were prevented by the unseasonable and impious 
 
 severity of John, whose cruelty was condemned and de- 
 
 tested even by his adherents. For the Spiritual Francis- 
 cans and their votaries, being highly exasperated at the 
 cruel death of their brethren, maintained, that John, by 
 procuring the destruction of these holy men, had rendered 
 himself utterly unworthy of the papal dignity and was 
 the true Antichrist. They moreover revered their four 
 brethren, who were burned at Marseilles, as so many mar- 
 tyrs, paying religious veneration to their bones and ashes ; 
 and inveighed yet more vehemently than ever against 
 long habits, large hoods, granaries, and store-houses. "The 
 inquisitors, on the other hand, having, by the pope’s order 
 apprehended as many of these people as they could find 
 condemned them to the flames, and sacrificed them with- 
 out mercy to papal resentment and fury: so that from 
 this time a vast number of those zealous defenders of the 
 institute of St. Francis, viz. the Minorites, Beghards, and 
 Spirituals, were most barbarously put to death, not only 
 in France, but also in Italy, Spain, and Germany.*+ 
 
 XXVII. This dreadful flame continued to spread till it 
 invaded the whole Franciscan order, which, in 1321, had 
 revived the old contentions concerning the poverty of 
 Christ and his apostles. A certain Beguin, or monk of 
 the third order of St. Francis, who was apprehended this 
 year at Narbonne, taught, among other things, “’'That 
 neither Christ nor his apostles ever possessed any thing, 
 whether in common or personally, by right of property or 
 dominion.” John de Belna, an inquisitor of the Domini- 
 can order, pronounced this opinion erroneous ; but Beren- 
 garius Taloni, a Franciscan, maintained it to be orthodox, 
 and perfectly consonant to the bull, Eziit qui seminat, 
 of Nicolas III. 'The judgment of the former was appro- 
 ved by the Dominicans; the determination of the latter 
 was adhered to by the Franciscans. At length the matter 
 was brought before the pope, who prudently endeavoured 
 to put an end to the dispute. With this view he called 
 into his council Ubertinus de Casalis, the patron of the 
 Spirituals, and a person of great weight and reputation. 
 This eminent monk gave captious, subtle and equivocal 
 answers to the questions that were proposed to him. The 
 pontiff, however, and the cardinals, persuaded that his 
 decisions, however ambiguous, might contribute to termi- 
 nate the quarrel, acquiesced in them, seconded them with 
 their authority, and, at the same time, enjoined silence and 
 moderation on the contending parties.‘ 
 
 XXVIII. But the Dominicans and Franciscans were 
 
 * Beside many other pieces that serve to illustrate the intricate history 
 of this persecution, I have in my possession a treatise, entitled, Mar- 
 tyrologium Spiritualium et Fratricellorum, which was delivered to the 
 tribunal of the inquisition at Carcassone, A. D. 1454. It contains the 
 names of 113 persons of bothsexes, who, from the year 1318 to the time of 
 Innocent V1., were committed to the flames in France and Italy, for their 
 inflexible attachment to the poverty of St. Francis. I reckon that from 
 these and other records, published and unpublished, we may make outa 
 list of two thousand martyrs of this kind. Sce Codex Inquis. ‘Tolosane. 
 
 f Wadding, tom. vi. p. 361. Baluzii Miscellan. tom. 1. p. 307. Ger. 
 du Bois, Histor. Eccles. Paris. p. 611. 
 
348 
 
 so exceedingly exasperated against each other, that they 
 could by no means be brought to conform ihenmeclves to 
 this order. The pope, perceiving this, permitted them to 
 renew the controversy in 1322; and he himself proposed 
 to some of the most celebrated divines of the age, and es- 
 pecially to those of Paris, the determination of this point, 
 namely, “ Whether those were to be deemed heretics, who 
 maintained that Jesus Christ, and his apostles, had no 
 common or personal property in any thing they possessed ?” 
 
 The Franciscans, who held an assembly in that year at 
 Perugia, having gained intelligence of this proceeding, de- 
 creed that those who held this tenet were not heretics, but 
 maintained an opinion that was holy and orthodox, ‘and 
 perfectly agreeable to the decisions and mandates of the 
 popes. They also sent a deputy to Avignon, to defend 
 this unanimous determination of their w hole order against 
 all opponents whatever. 'The person whom they com- 
 missioned for this purpose was FE’. Bonagratia, of Bergamo, 
 who also went by the name of Boncortese,* one of their 
 fraternity, and a man famous for his extensive learning. 
 John, being highly incensed at this step, issued a decree, 
 wherein he espoused an opinion diametrically opposite to 
 that of the Franciscans, and declared them to be heregges, 
 for obstinately maintaining “ that Christ and his apostles 
 had no common or personal property in what they pos- 
 sessed, nor a power of selling or alienating any part of it.” 
 Soon after, he proceeded yet farther, and, in another con- 
 stitution, exposed the weakness and inefficacy of those ar- 
 
 guments, commonly reduced from a bull of Nicolas IIL, 
 
 concerning the property of the Franciscan possessions be- 
 ing transferred to the church of Rome, whereby the monks 
 were supposed to be deprived of what we call right, and 
 were only allowed the staple use of what was necessary 
 for their immediate support. In order to confute this 
 plea, he showed that it was absolutely impossible to sepa- 
 rate right and property from the lawful use of such 
 things as were immediately consumed by that use. He 
 also solemnly renounced all property in the Franciscan 
 effects, which had been reserved to the church of Rome by 
 former popes, their churches and some other things ex- 
 cepted. And whereas the revenues of the order had been 
 hitherto received and administered by procurators, on ihe 
 part of the Roman church, he dismissed these officers, and 
 abolished all the decrees and constitutions of his predeces- 
 sors relating to this affair.» 
 
 X XIX. By this method of proceeding, the dexterous 
 pontiff entirely destroyed that boasted expropriation,which 
 was the main bulwark of the Franciscan order, and which 
 its founder had esteemed the distinguishing glory of the 
 society. It was therefore natural, that these measures 
 should determine the Franciscans to an obstinate resist- 
 ance. And such indeed was the effect they produced: 
 for, in 1323, they sent their brother Bonagratia in the 
 quality of legate to the papal court, where he vigorously 
 
 * IT insert this caution, because I have observed that some eminent 
 writers, by not attending to this circumstance, have taken these two 
 names for two different persons. 
 
 h These constitutions are recorded in the Corpus Juris Canonici, and 
 also among the Extravagantes, tit. xiv. de verbor. signific. cap. il. iii. 
 p- 1121. “For an account of the transaction itself, the reader should 
 chiefly consult that impartial writer, Alvarus Pelagius, de Planctu Ec- 
 clesie, lib. ii. cap. 60. as also Wadding g, tom. vi. p. 394. Both these 
 authors blame pope John. 
 
 ° Wadding, tom. vii. p. 2, 22.—Alvar. Pelagius, de Planctu Eccle- 
 b2@, lib. ii. p. 167.—Trithemius, Annal. Hirsaug. tom. il. p. 157,— 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 and openly opposed the recent constitution of Jehn, boldly 
 affirming, that it was contrary to human as well as divine 
 law.© The pope, on the other hand, highly exasperated 
 against this audacious defender of the Franciscan poverty, 
 threw him into prison, and ordained, by a new edict, that 
 all who maintained that Christ, and his apostles, had no 
 common or special property in any of their possessions, 
 should be deemed heretics, and corrupters of the true re- 
 
 ’ | ligion.4 Finding, however, that the Franciscans were not 
 
 terrified in the least by this decree, he published another 
 yet more flaming constitution, about the end of the year 
 1324, in which he confirmed his former edicts, and pro- 
 nounced that tenet concerning the expropriation of Christ 
 and his apostles, ‘a pestilential, erroneous, damnable, and 
 blasphemous doctrine, hostile to the catholic faith, and de- 
 clared all such as adhered to it, obstinate heretics, and re- 
 bels against the church.e In consequence of this merci- 
 less decree, great numbers of those who persisted in as- 
 serting that Christ and his apostles were exactly such 
 mendicants as Francis would have his brethren to be, 
 were apprehended by the Dominican inquisitors, who were 
 implacable enemies of the Franciscans, and committed to 
 the flames. The histories of France and Spain, Italy and 
 Germany, during this and the following century, abound 
 with instances of this atrocious cruefty. 
 
 XXX. The zealous pontiff pursued this affair with 
 great warmth for several years; and, as this contest 
 seemed to have taken its rise from the books of Pierre 
 d’Olive, he branded with infamy, in 1325, the Postilla 
 and other writings of that author, as pernicious and 
 heretical... The next step he took, was to summon to 
 Avignon, some of the more learned and eminent brethren 
 of the Franciscan order, of whose writings and eloquence 
 he was particularly apprehensive, and to detain them at 
 his court: and then, to arm himself against the resent- 
 ment and indignation of this exasperated society, and to 
 prevent their attempting any thing to his prejudice, he 
 kept a strict guard -over them in all places, by means of 
 his friends the Dominicans. Michael of Cesena, who re- 
 sided in Italy, and was the head of the order, could not 
 evsily dissemble the hatred he had conceived against the 
 pope, who therefore ordered him to repair to Avignon, in 
 1327, and there deprived him of his office.e But, prudent 
 as this rigorous measure might appeareat first sight, it 
 served Only to inflame the enraged Franciscans more 
 than ever, and to confirm them in their attachment to the 
 scheme of absolute poverty. For no sooner did the bitter 
 and well-known contest, between John XXII. and Louis 
 of Bavaria, break out, than the principal champions of the 
 Franciscan cause, such as Marsilius of Padua, and John 
 of Genoa, fled to the emperor, and under his protection 
 published the most virulent pieces imaginable, in which 
 they not only attacked John personally, but also levelled 
 their satire at the power and authority of the popes in 
 
 Theod. de Niem, in Eccardi Corpore Histor. med. A&vi, t. vil. p. 1491 
 
 4 Wadding, tom. vii. p. 36.—Contin. de Nangis, in D’Acherii Spici- 
 legio, tom. il. p. 83.—Boulay, tom. iv. p. 205.—Benedictinor. Gallie 
 Christiana, tom. i. p. 1515, 
 
 ° This constitution, and the two former already mentioned, are pub- 
 lished among the Extravagantes, tit. xiv. de verbor. signif. Wadding, 
 (t. vil. p. 36 % vigorously opposed ‘this last; which is rather extraordinary 
 in a man so immoderately attached to the cause of the popes as he was. 
 
 f Wadding, tom. vii. p. 47.—Eccardi Corpus Histor. medii Avi, 
 tom. 1. p. 592, and 1491. 
 
 g Wadding, tom. vii. p. 69, 74. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 general. This example was soon followed by others, 
 particularly by Michael of Cesena, and William Occam, 
 who excelled most men of his time in subtlety and acute- 
 ness of genius, and also by F. Bonagratia of Bergamo. 
 They made their escape by sea from Avignon, in 1328, 
 went first to the emperor, who was at that time in Italy, 
 and thence proceeded to Munich. ‘They were soon 
 joined by many others, such as Berengarius, Francis de 
 Esculo, and Henry de Halem, who were highly and 
 deservedly esteemed, on account of their eminent parts 
 and extensive learning.» All these learned fugitives 
 defended the institute of their founder in long and labour- 
 ed treatises, in which they reduced the papal dignity and 
 authority within a very narrow compass, and loaded the 
 ponti.ls with reproaches and invectives. Occam surpassed 
 them all in the keenness and spirit of his satire; and 
 hence his Dialogues, together with his other productions, 
 which were perused with avidity, and transmitted to 
 succeeding generations, gave a very severe blow to the 
 ambition and majesty of the Roman pontiffs. 
 
 XXXI. On the other hand, Louis, to express his 
 gratitude to these his defenders, not only made the cause 
 of the Franciscans his own, but also adopted their favour- 
 ite sentiment concerning the poverty of Christ and his 
 apostles ; for, among the heresies and errors of which he 
 publicly accused John, and for which he deprived him of 
 the pontificate, the principal and most pernicious one, in 
 the opinion of the emperor, was his maintaining that the 
 poverty of Christ did not exclude all right and property 
 in what he used as a subsistence.s The F'ratricelli, 
 Beghards, Becuines, and Spirituals, then at variance with 
 the pope, were effectually protected by the emperor, in 
 Germany, against the attempts of the inquisitors ; so that, 
 during his reign, that country was over-run with shoals 
 of Mendicant friars. There was scarcely a province or 
 city in the empire that did not abound with Beghards 
 and Beguines ; that is, monks and nuns who professed 
 the third rule of St. Francis, and placed the chief excel- 
 lence of the Christian life in a voluntary and absolute 
 poverty. The Dominicans, on the other hand, as ene- 
 mies to the Franciscans, and friends to the pope, were 
 treated with great severity by his imperial majesty, who 
 banished them with ignominy out of several cities.° 
 
 XXXII. The rage of the contending parties subsided 
 greatly from the year 1329. 'The pope ordered a diet of 
 the Franciscans to be holden in that year at Paris, where, 
 by means of Cardinal Bertrand, who was president of the 
 assembly, and by the efforts of the Parisian doctors, who 
 were attached to his interests, he so far softened the 
 resentment of the greatest part of the brethren, that they 
 ceased to defend the conduct of Michael of Cesena and 
 his associates, and permitted another president, Gerard 
 Odo, to be substituted in his room. 'They also ac- 
 knowledged John to be a true and lawful pope; and 
 then terminated the dispute concerning the. poverty of 
 
 @ Luc. D’Acherii Spicilegium, tom. iil. p. 85. Bullar. Roman. tom. vi. 
 p. 167. Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. ii. p. 695, 704. Boulay, 
 tom. iv. p. 216. ‘There is a very noted piece on this subject written by 
 Marsilius of Padua, who was professor at Vienna, and entitled, De- 
 fensor Pacis pro Ludovico Bavaro adversus usurpatam Romani Pontifi- 
 cis jurisdictionem. 
 
 b Wadding, tom. vil. p. 81—Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. 
 iii. p. 749, 757.—Trithemii Annal. Hirsaug. tom. ii. p. 167—Boulay, 
 tom iv. p. 217—Eceardi Corpus Histor. tom. ii. p. 1034.—Baluzii Mis- 
 cellun. tom. i. p. 293, 315—The reader may also consult those writers 
 who have compiled indexes and collections of Ecclesiastical historians. 
 
 No, XXX. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 34¢ 
 
 | Christ in such an ambiguous manner, that the constitu- 
 
 tions and edicts of Nicolas I. and John X XIL, however 
 contradictory, maintained their authority.£ But, not- 
 withstanding these pacific and mutual concessions, there 
 were great numbers of the Franciscans in Germany. 
 Spain, and Italy, who would by no means consent to this” 
 reconciliation. After the death of John,. Benedict XII. 
 and Clement VI. took great pains to close the breach, and 
 showed some clemency and tenderness toward such of the 
 order as thought the institute of their founder more sacred 
 than the papal bulls. This lenity had some good effects. 
 Many who had withdrawn themselves from the society, 
 were hereby induced to return to it, in which number 
 were Francis de Esculo and others, who had been some 
 of John’s most inveterate enemies. Even those who 
 could not be prevailed on to return to their order, ceased 
 to insult the popes, observed the rules of their founder in a 
 quiet and inoffensive manner, and would have no sort of 
 connexion with those F'ratricelli and 'Tertiaries in Italy, 
 Spain, and Germany, who condemned the papal au- 
 thority.® 
 
 XXXII. The German Franciscans, who were pro- 
 tected by the emperor Louis, held out. their opposition 
 much longer than any of the rest. But, in 1547, their 
 imperial patron being dead, the halcyon days of the 
 Spirituals, as also of their associates the Beghards or 
 ‘Tertiaries, were atan endin Germany. For Charles IV., 
 who. by the interest of the pope, had been declared king 
 of the Romans in 1345, was ready, in his turn, to gratify 
 the desires of the court of Rome, and accordingly supporied, 
 both by his edicts and by his arms, the inquisitors who 
 were, sent by the Roman pontiff against his enemies, and 
 suffired them to apprehend and put to death all obnoxi- 
 ous individuals who came within their reach. ‘These 
 ministers of papal vengeance acted chiefly in the districts 
 of Ifagdeburg-and Bremen, Thuringia, Saxony, and 
 Hesse, where they extirpated all the Beghards and 
 Beg uines, or 'Tertiaries, the associates of those Franciscans, 
 wh» held that Christ and his apostles had no property in 
 any thing. ‘These severe measures were approved by 
 Ch ules IV., who then resided at Lucca, whence, in 1369, 
 he issued several edicts, commanding all the German 
 priz:ces to extirpate out of their dominions the Beghards 
 and Beguines, or, as he himself interpreted the names, 
 the voluntary beggars,' as enemies of the church, and 
 of the Roman empire, and to assist the inquisitors in their 
 proceedings against them. By another edict, published 
 not long after, he gave the houses of the Beghards to the 
 tribunal of the inquisition, ordering them to be converted 
 into prisons for heretics; and, at the same time, ordered 
 all the effects of the Beguines to be publicly sold, and the 
 profits thence arising, to be equally divided among the 
 inquisitors, the magistrates, and the poor of those towns 
 and cities where such sale should take place. he 
 Beghards, being reduced to great distress, by this and 
 
 ¢ See Processus Ludovici contra Johannem, an. 1328, d. 12. Dee. da- 
 tus, in Baluzii Miscellaneis, t. ii. p. 522, and also his Appellatio, p. 494. 
 
 4 I have many pieces upon this subject that were never published. 
 
 ¢ Mart. Diefenbach, de mortis genere, quo Henricus VII. obiit, p. 145, 
 and others.—Eccardi Corpus Hist. t. i. p. 2103.—Boulay, t. iv. p. 220. 
 
 f Wadding, tom. vii. p. 94.—D’Acherii Spicilegium, tom. iii. p. 91. 
 
 © Argentre, Collectio Judicior. de novis erroribus, tom. i. p. 343 — 
 Boulay, tom, iv. p. 281.—W adding, tom. vii. p. 313. | 
 
 h Wadding, tom. vii. p. 116, 126.—Argentre, tom. i. p. 343, &e. 
 
 i Called, in the German language, die wilgen Armen. 
 
 « I have in my possession this edict, with other laws of Charles IV, 
 
350 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 other mandates of the emperor, and by the constitutions 
 of the popes, sought a refuge in those provinces of Switz- 
 erland that border upon the Rhine, and also in Holland, 
 Brabant, and various parts of Germany.* But the edicts 
 and mandates of the emperor, together with the papal 
 bulls and inquisitors, harassed them in their most distant 
 retreats; and, during the reign of Charles IV., all 
 Germany (except the provinces bordering upon Switzer- 
 land) was thoroughly purged of the Beghards, or rebellious 
 Franciscans, both perfect and imperfect. 
 
 XXXIV. But no edicts, bulls, or inquisitors, could en- 
 tirely pluck up the roots of this inveterate discord ; for so 
 ardently were many of the brethren bent upon observing, 
 in the most perfect and rigorous manner, the institute of 
 St. Francis, that numbers were to be found in all places, 
 who either withstood the president of the society, or at 
 least obeyed him with reluctance. At once, therefore, to 
 satisfy both the lax and the rigid party, after various 
 methods had been tried to no purpose, a division of the 
 order was agreed to. Accordingly, in 1368, the president 
 consented that Paulutius Fulginas, the chief of the more 
 rigid Franciscans in Italy, together with his associates, 
 who were numerous, should live separately from the rest 
 of the brethren, according to the rules and customs they 
 had adopted, and follow the institutes of their founder, in 
 the strictest and most rigorous manner. ‘The Spirituals 
 and the followers of Pierre d’Olive, whose scattered re- 
 mains were yet observable in several places, joined them- 
 selves gradually and imperceptibly to this party. And, 
 as the number of those who were fond of the severe 
 discipline continually increased in many provinces, the 
 popes thought proper to approve that institute, and to give 
 it the solemn sanction of their authority. In consequence 
 of this, the Franciscan order was divided inio two large 
 bodies, namely, the Conventual Brethren, and the Brethren 
 of the regular observance. ‘Those who neglected the 
 strict sense of the expressions in which the institute of 
 their founder was conceived, and adopted the modifications 
 given of them by the pontiffs, were called by the former 
 name; and the council of Constance conferred the latter 
 enacted on this occasion, as also many of the papal constitutions, and 
 other records which illustrate this affair, and which undoubtedly deserve 
 to see the light. It is certain that Charles himself, in his edicts and 
 mandates, clearly characterizes those people, whom he there styles 
 Beghards and Beguines, as Franciscan Tertiaries, belonging to that 
 party of the order then at variance with the pope. ‘ They are (to use 
 the emperor’s own words, in his edict of the 18th of June, 1369) a perni- 
 cious sect, who pretend to a sacrilegious and heretical poverty, and who 
 are under a vow, that they neither ought to have, nor will have, any 
 property, whether special or common, in the goods they use ;” (this is 
 the poverty of the Franciscan institute, which John XXIL. so strenu- 
 ously opposed) “ which they extend even to their wretched habits.”— 
 For so the spirituals and their associates used to do. 
 
 *See Odor. Raynaldus, Annal. Eccles. ad an. 13872, sect. xxxiv. 
 See also the books of Felix Malleolus, written in the following century 
 against the Beghards of Switzerland. 
 
 b See Wadding, tom. vill. Lx. 
 
 © In the year 1668. re : 
 
 « Helyot, Hist. des Ordres, tom. ii. p. 411.—Pagi Breriav. Pontif. tom. 
 iv. p. 189.—Bonanni, and others, who have compiled histories of the 
 religious orders. ‘ / 
 
 e Many writers have given us copious accounts concerning the sect 
 and name of the Lollards; yet none of them can be commended for 
 their fidelity, diligence, or accuracy, on this head. This I can confident- 
 \y assert, because I have carefully and expressly inquired into whatever 
 relates to the Lollards, and from the most authentic records concerning 
 them, both published and unpublished, have collected copious materials 
 from which their true history may be compiled. Most of the German 
 writers, as well as those of other countries, affirm, that the Lollards 
 
 were a particular sect, who differed from the church of Rome in many 
 religious points; and that Walter, Lolhard, who was burned in this 
 
 'sus, were afterwards called Jeswates. 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part I] 
 upon those who chose to be determined by the words of 
 the imstitute itself, rather than by any explications of it.» 
 But the Fratricelli and the Beghards absolutely rejected 
 this reconciliation, and persisted in disturbing the peace of 
 the church during this and the following century, in the 
 marquisate of Ancona, and in other districts. 
 
 XXXYV. This century gave rise to other religious so- 
 cieties, some of which did not long subsist, and the rest 
 never became famous. John Colombini, a nobleman of 
 Sienna, founded in 1367, the order of the Apostolic clerks, 
 who, because they frequently pronounced the name of Je- 
 This institution 
 was confirmed by Urban V., in the following year, and 
 subsisted till the seventeenth century, when it was abo- 
 lished by Clement [X.° The brethren belonging to it 
 professed poverty, and adhered to the institute of St. Au- 
 gustin. hey were not, however, admitted to holy orders, 
 but assisted the poor by their prayers and other pious of- 
 fices, and prepared medicines for them, which they dis-: 
 tributed gratis. But these statutes were ina manne 
 abrogated when Clement dissolved the order. 
 
 XXXVI. Soon after the commencement of this cen- 
 tury, the famous sect of the Cellite Brethren and Sisters 
 arose at Antwerp; they were also styled the Alexian Bre- 
 thren and Sisters, because St. Alexius was their patron; 
 and they were named Cellites, from the cells in which 
 they were accustomed to live. As the clergy of this age 
 took little care of the sick and dying, and deserted such 
 as were infected with those pestilential disorders which were 
 then very frequent, some compassionate and pious persons 
 at Antwerp formed themselves into a society for the per- 
 formance of these religious offices, which the sacerdotal 
 orders so shamefully neglected. In the prosecution of this 
 agreement, they visited and comforted the sick, assisted 
 the dying with their prayers and exhortations, took care 
 of the interment of those who were cut off by the plague, 
 and on that account forsaken by the terrified clergy, and 
 committed them to the grave with a solemn funeral dirge. 
 It was with reference to this last office, that the com- 
 mon people gave them the name of Lollards.e "The ex- 
 century at Cologne, was their founder. How so many learned men 
 came to adopt this opinion, is beyond my comprehension. They indeed 
 refer to Jo. '‘Trithemius as the author of this opinion: yet it is certain, 
 that no such account of these people is to be found in his writings. I 
 shall therefore endeavour, with all possible brevity, to throw all the 
 light I can upon this matter, that they who are fond of ecclesiastical 
 history may have a just notion of it. 
 
 The term Lollhard, or Luiihard, (or, as the ancient Germans wrote 
 it, Lollert, Lullert,) is compounded of the old German word lullen, 
 lollen, lallen, and the well-known termination hard. Laellen, or lullen, 
 signifies to sing with a low voice. It is yet used in the same sense 
 among the English, who say, lwdi a-sleep, which signifies to sing any 
 one into a slumber with a sweet indistinct voice. See Franc. Junii 
 Etymologicon Anglicanum, The word is also used in the same sense 
 among the Flemings, Swedes, and other nations, as appears by their 
 respective dictionaries. Among the Germans, both the sense and 
 pronunciation of it have undergone some alteration; for they say, allen, 
 which signifies to pronounce indistinctly, or stammer. Lolhard, there- 
 fore, is a singer, or one who frequently sings. For, as the word beggen, 
 which universally signifies to request any thing fervently, is applied to 
 devotional requests or prayers, and, in the stricter sense in which it is 
 used by the Germans, denotes praying fervently to God; in the same 
 manner the word lollen, or Jullien, is transferred from a common to a 
 sacred song, and signifies, in its most limited sense, to sing a hymn. 
 Lolthard, therefore, in the vulgar tongue of the ancient Germans, de- 
 notes a person who is continuaily praising God with a song, or singing 
 hymns to his honour. Hocsemius, a canon of Liege, has well appre- 
 hended and expressed the force of this word in his Gesta Pontificum 
 Leodiensium, lib. i, cap. xxxi. in Jo. Chapeauvilli Gestis Pontificum 
 
 Tumerensium et Leodiensium, tom. il. p. 350. “In the same year,” 
 (1309,) says he, “certain strolling hypocrites, who were called Lodlards, 
 
 ¢ 
 
Crap. IL. 
 
 ample of these good people had such an extensive influ- 
 ence, that in a little time societies of the same kind, con- 
 sisting both of men and women, were formed in most parts 
 of Germany and Flanders, and were supported, partly by 
 their manual labours, and partly by the charitable dona- 
 tions of pious persons. ‘The magistrates and inhabitants 
 of the towns,ewhere these brethren and sisters resided, 
 gave them peculiar marks of favour and protection on ac- 
 count of their great usefulness to the sick and needy. But 
 the clergy, whose reputation was not a little hurt by them, 
 and the Mendicant friars, who found their profits dimi- 
 nished by the growing credit of these strangers, persecuted 
 them vehemently, and accused them to the popes of many 
 vices and intolerable errors. Hence it was, that the word 
 Lollard, which originally carried a good meaning, became 
 a terin of reproach, to denote a person who, under the 
 mask of extraordinary piety, concealed either pernicious 
 sentiments or enormous vices. But the magistrates, by 
 their recommendations and testimonials, supported the 
 Lollards against their malignant rivals, and obtained se- 
 veral papal constitutions, by which their institute was con- 
 firmed, and their persons, exempted from the cognisance 
 of the inquisitors, were subjected entirely to the jurisdic- 
 tion of the bishops. But, as these measures were insuf- 
 ficient to secure them from molestation, Charles, duke of 
 Burgundy, in 1472, obtained a solemn bull from pope Six- 
 tus IV., ordering that the Cellites, or Lollards, should be 
 ranked among the religious orders, and delivered from the 
 jurisdiction of the bishops ; and, in 1506, Julius H. granted 
 them yet greater privileges. Many societies of this kind 
 are yet subsisting at Cologne, and in the cities of Flan- 
 
 or praisers of God, deceived some women of quality in Hainault and 
 Brabant.” Because those who praised God generally did it in verse, to 
 praise God, in the Latin style of the middle ages, meant to sing to him; 
 and such as were frequently employed in acts of adoration, were ‘called 
 religious singers ; and, as prayers and hymns are regarded as a certain 
 external sign of piety toward God, those who aspired to a more than 
 ordinary degree of piety and religion, and for that purpose were more 
 frequently occupied in singing hymns than others, were, in the popular 
 language, called Lol/hards. Hereupon this word acquired the same 
 meaning with the term Beghard, which denoted a person remarkable for 
 piety ; forin all the old records, from the eleventhcentury, these two words 
 are synonymous: so that all who were styled Beghards are also called 
 Lollards, which may be proved to a demonstration from many @tuors. 
 The Brethren of the free spirit, of whom we havs aiready given a 
 large account, are by some styled Beghards, py others Lollards. The 
 followers of Gerard Groote, or Piiests of the community, are frequently 
 ealled Lollard Brethren. The good man Walter, who was burmed et 
 Cologne, and whom so many learned men have unadvisedly represent- 
 ed as the founder of the sect of the Lollards, is by some called a Beg- 
 hard, by others a Lollard, and by some a Minorite. The Franciscan 
 Tertiaries, who were remarkable for their prayers and other pious ex- 
 ercises, were frequently called Lollards; and the Cellite Brethren, or 
 Alexians, whose piety was very exemplary, no sooner appeared in 
 Flanders, about the beginning of this century, than the people gave 
 them the title of Lollards. A particular reason indeed ‘or their being 
 distinguished by this name was, that they were public singers, who 
 made it their business to inter the bodies of those who diedo the plague, 
 and sang a dirge over them in a mournful and indistinct wr’ as they 
 carried them to the grave. Among the many testimonies tha. might be 
 allezed to prove this, we shall confine ourselves to the words of Jo. 
 Bapt. Gramaye, a man eminently skilled in the history of his country, 
 in his work entitled Antwerpia, lib. ii. “The Alexians,” says he, 
 “who constantly employed themselves about funerals, had their rise at 
 Antwerp; at which place, about the year 1300, some honest pious lay- 
 men formed a society. On account of their extraordinary temperance 
 and modesty, they were styled Matemanni, (or Moderatists,) and also 
 Lollards, from their attendance on funeral obsequies. From their cells, 
 they were named Cellite brethren.” ‘To the same purpose is the follow- 
 ing passage in his work entitled Lovanium: “The Alexians, who 
 were wholly engaged in taking care of funerals, now began to eppear. 
 They were laymen, who, having wholly devoted themselves to works 
 of mercy, were named Lollards and Materaanni. They made it their 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 351 
 
 ders, though they have evidently departed from their an- 
 cient rules. 
 
 XXXVII. Among the Greek writers of this century, 
 the following were the most eminent : 
 
 Nicephorus Callistus, whose E’cclesiastical History we 
 have already mentioned ; 
 
 Matthew Blastares, who illustrated and explained the 
 canon law of the Greeks ; 
 
 Balaam, who was a very zealous champion in behalf 
 of the Grecian cause against the Latins; 
 
 Gregory Acindynus, an inveterate enemy of the Pala- 
 mites ; 
 
 Jobn Cantacuzenus, famous for his history of his own 
 time, and his confutation of the Mohammedan law ; 
 
 ‘Nicephorus Gregoras, who compiled the Byzantine his- 
 tory, and left some other monuments of his genius to pos- 
 terity ; 
 
 Theophanes, bishop of Nice, a laborious defender of the 
 truth of Christianity against the Jews, and the rest of its 
 enemies ; 
 
 Nilus Cabasilas, Nilus Rhodius, and Nilus Damyla, 
 who most warmly maintained the cause of their nation 
 against the Latin writers; 
 
 Philotheus, several of whose tracts are yet extant, and 
 seem well adapted to excite a devotional temper and spirit ; 
 
 Gregory Palamas, of whom more will be said hereafter. 
 
 XXXVI. From the prodigious number of the Latin 
 writers of this century, we shall only select the most fa- 
 mous. Among the scholastic doctors, who blended phi- 
 losophy with divinity, John Duns Scotus, a Franciscan, 
 and the great antagonist of Thomas, held the first rank ; 
 
 sole business to take care of all such as were sick, or out of their senses. 
 These they attended both privately and publicly, and buried the dead.” 
 The same learned author tells thus, that he transcribed some of these 
 particulars from an old diary written in Fiemish rhyme. Hence we 
 find in the Annals of Holland and Utrecht, in Ant. Matthei Analect. 
 vet. AXvi, tom. i. p. 431, the following words: ‘‘Die Lollardtjes die 
 brochten de dooden by een, i. e. the Lollards who collected the dead 
 bodies ;” which passage is thus paraphrased by Mattheus: “The 
 managers of funerals, and carriers of the dead, of whom there was a 
 fixed company, were a’ set of mean, worthless creatures, who usually 
 spoke in a canting mournful tone, as if bewailing the dead; and hence 
 
 | ic came to pass, that a street in Utrecht, in which most of these people 
 | lived, was called the Loller street.” 
 
 The same reason that changed 
 the word Beghard from its primitive meaning, contributed also to give, 
 in process of time, a different signification to that of Lollard, even to 
 its being assumed by persons that dishonoured it; for, among those 
 Lollards who made guch extraordinary pretences to piety and religion, 
 and spent the greatest part of their time in meditation, prayer, and the 
 like acts of piety, there were many abominable hypocrites, who enter- 
 tained the most ridiculous opinions, and concealed the most enormous 
 vices, under the specious mask of this extracrdinary profession. But 
 it was chiefly after the rise of the Alexians, or Cellites, that the name 
 Lollard became infamous. For the priests and monks, being invete- 
 
 j rately exasperated against these good men, propagated injurious suspi- 
 
 cions of them, and endeavoured to persuade the people, that; innocent 
 and beneficent as the Lollards seemed to be, they were in reality the 
 contrary, being tainted with the most pernicious sentiments of a reli- 
 gious kind, and secretly addicted to all sorts of vices. Thus by 
 degrees it came to pass, that any person, who covered heresies or 
 crimes under the appearance of piety, was called a Lollard. Hence it 
 is certain, this was not a name to denote any one particular sect, but 
 was formerly common to all persons and all sects, who were supposed 
 to be guilty of impiety toward God and the church, under an externa 
 profession of extraordinary piety. 
 
 * Beside many others, whom it is unnecessary to mention here, see 
 JEgid. Gelenius, de admiranda sacra et civili magnitudine urbis 
 Colonize, lib. iii. Syntagm. li. p. 534, 598—Jo. Bapt. Gramaye, in 
 Antiquit. Belg —Anton. Sanderus, in Brabantia et Flandria illustrat.— 
 Aub. Mirus, in Operibus Diplomatico-Historicis, and many other 
 writers of this period in various places of their works. I may add, 
 that the Lollards are by many called die Nollbruder, from nolien, an 
 ancient German word, 
 
352 
 
 and, though not entitled to any praise for his candour and 
 ingenuity, was by no means inferior to any of his con- 
 temporaries in acuteness and subtlety of genius. 
 
 After him, the most celebrated writers of this class were 
 Durand of St. Portian, who combated the commonly re- 
 ceived doctrine of the divine co-operation with the human 
 will,’ Antonius Andreas, Herveeus Natalis, Francis May- 
 ronius, Thomas Bradwardine, an acute, ingenious man,‘ 
 Peter Aureolus, John Bacon, William Occam, Walter Bur- 
 leus, Peter de Alliaco, Thomas of Strasburg, and Gregory 
 de Rimini.¢ 
 
 Among the Mystic divines, Jo. Tauler and Jo. Ruys- 
 brock, though not entirely free from errors, were eminent 
 for their wisdom and integrity ; 
 
 Nicolas Lyranus, or de Lyra, acquired great reputation 
 by his Compendious Exposition of the whole Bible ; 
 
 Rayner of Pisa is celebrated for his Summary of 'Theo- 
 logy, and Astesanus for his Summary of Cases of Con- 
 science. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church 
 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Aut those who are well acquainted with the history 
 of these times, must acknowledge, that religion, either as 
 it was taught in the schools, or inculcated upon the peo- 
 ple as the rule of their conduct, was so extremely adui- 
 terated and deformed, that there was not a single branch 
 of the Christian doctrine, which retained its primitive lus- 
 tre and beauty. Hence it may easily be imagined, that 
 the Waldenses and others, who ardently wished for a re- 
 formation of the church, and had separated themselves 
 from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome, though every 
 where exposed to the fury of the inquisitors and monks, 
 yet increased from day to day, and baffled all the attempts 
 that were made for their extirpation. Many of these poor 
 people, having observed, that great numbers of their party 
 perished by the flames and other punishments, fled out of 
 Italy, France, and Germany, into Bohemia, and the ad- 
 jacent countries, where they afterwards associated with 
 the Hussites, and other separatists from the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 IL. Nicolas Lyranus deservedly holds the first rank 
 among the commentators on the Scriptures, having ex- 
 plained them in a manner far superior 5 the prevailing 
 taste and spirit of his age. He was a perfect master of 
 the Hebrew language, but not well versed in the Greek, 
 and was therefore much happier in his exposition of the 
 Old Testament, than in that of the New.e All the other 
 divines, who applied themselves to this kind of writing, 
 were servile imitators of their predecessors. They either 
 culled choice sentences from the writings of the more 
 
 * The very laborious and learned Wadding favoured the public with 
 an accurate edition of the works of Scotus, printed at Lyons, 1639, in 
 twelve volumes folio. See Wood, Antiq. Oxon. tom. 1—Wadding, 
 Annal. Minor. fratr. tom. vii—Boulay, tom. iv. 
 
 > See Launoy’s treatise, entitled, Syllabus rationum, quibus Durandi 
 causa defenditur; also Gallia Christ. tom. ii. 
 
 * Rich. Simon, Lettres Choisies, tom. iv. p. 232; and Critique de la 
 Biblioth. des Auteurs Ecclesiast. par M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 360. Steph. 
 Souciet, in Observationibus ad h. 1. p. 703—Nouv. Dict. Hist. et Crit. 
 tom. ii. p.500. He was archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 4 For a full account of all these persons, see Histoire de |’Eglise 
 Gallicane, tom. xiv. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr II. 
 
 ancient doctors; or, departing from the obvious meaning 
 
 | of the words, they tortured the sacred writers to accommo- 
 
 date them to senses that were mysterious and abstruse. 
 They who are desirous of being acquainted with this art, 
 may have recourse to Vitalis a F'urno, in his Moral Mirror 
 of the Scriptures,‘ or to Ludolphus of Saxony, in his 
 Psalter Spiritualized. The philosophers, who commented 
 upon the sacred writings, sometimes proposed subtle 
 questions, drawn from what was called, in this century, 
 Internal Science, and solved them in a dexterous and 
 artful manner. 
 
 lI. The greatest part of the doctors of this century, 
 both Greek and Latin, followed the rules of the peripatetic 
 philosophy, in expounding and teaching the doctrines of 
 religion ; and the Greeks, from their commerce with the 
 Latins, seemed to have acquired some knowledge of those 
 methods of instruction which were used in the western 
 schools. Even to this day, the Greeks read, in their own 
 tongue, the works of Thomas, and other capital writers 
 of the scholastic class, which in this age were translated 
 and introduced into the Greek church by Demetrius 
 Cydonius and others." Prodigious numbers among the 
 Latins were fond of this subtle method, in which John 
 Scotus, Durand of St. Portian, and William Occam, 
 peculiarly excelled. Some few had recourse to the deci- 
 sions of Scripture and tradition in explaining divine truths, 
 but they were overborne by the immense tribe of logicians, 
 who carried all before them. 
 
 IV. This superiority of the schoolmen did not, how- 
 ever, prevent some wise and pious men among the Mystics, 
 and in other sects, from severely censuring this presump- 
 tuous method of bringing before the tribunal of philosophy 
 matters of pure revelation. Many, as it appears, were 
 bold enough to oppose the reigning passion, and to recall 
 the youth designed for the ministry, to the study of the 
 Scriptures, and the writings of the ancient fathers. ‘This 
 proceeding kindled the flame of discord almost every 
 where ; but this flame raged with peculiar violence in 
 some of the more famous universities, especially in those 
 of Paris and Oxford, where many sharp disputes were 
 continually carried on against the philosophical divines by 
 those of the biblical party, who, though greatly inferior to 
 their antagonists in point of number, were sometimes 
 victorious. For the philosophical legions, chiefly tutored 
 by Dominicans and Franciscans, were often extremely 
 rash in their manner of disputing ; they defined and ex- 
 plained the principal doctrines of revealed religion in such 
 a way, as really tended to overturn them, and fell into 
 opinions that were evidently absurd and impious. Hence 
 it came to pass, that some of them were compelled to 
 abjure their errors, others to seek their safety in flight ; 
 some had their writings publicly burned, and others were 
 thrown into prison.t However, when these commotions 
 
 447, and Critique de la Biblioth. des Auteurs Eccles. par M. Du-Pin, 
 tom. i. p. 352.— Wadding, tom. v. p. 264. 
 
 f Speculum Morale totius Scripture. 
 
 s Psalterium juxta spiritualem Sensum. 
 
 h Rich. Simon, Creance de |’Eglise Orientale sur la Transubstantia- 
 tion, p. 166. 
 
 i Ae Boulay, tom. iv.—In 1340, several opinions of the schoolmen, 
 concerning the Trinity and other doctrines, were condemned, p. 266.-— 
 In 1347, M. Jo. de Mercuria and Nic. de Ultricuria were obliged to 
 adjure their errors, p. 298, 308.—In 1348, one Simon was convicted ot 
 some horrible errors, p. 322—The same fate, in 1354, befell Guido ot 
 the Augustine order, p. 329. In 1362, the like happened to one Louis’ 
 
 * Rich, Simon, Histoire des principaux Commentateurs du N. T. p. || p. 374, to Jo. de Calore, p. 377; in 1365, to Dion. Soullechat, p. 382. 
 
Cuar. II. 
 
 were quelled, most of them returned, though with pru- 
 dence and caution, to their former way of thinking, per- 
 plexed their adversaries by various contrivances, and de- 
 prived them of their reputation, their profits, and many 
 of their followers. 
 
 V. It is remarkable, that the scholastic doctors, or | 
 philosophical theologists, far from agreeing among them-| 
 selves, were furiously engaged in disputations with each | 
 other concerning many points. "The flame of their con-| 
 troversy was, in this century, supplied with copious acces-_ 
 sions of fuel, by John Duns Scotus, a learned friar already 
 mentioned, who, animated against the Dominicans by a 
 warm spirit of jealousy, had attacked and attempted to 
 disprove several doctrines of Thomas Aquinas. Upon 
 this, the Dominicans, taking the alarm, united from all 
 quarters to defend their favourite doctor, whom they justly 
 considered as the leader of the scholastics, while the F'ran- 
 ciscans espoused with ardour the cause of Scotus, whom 
 they looked upon as a divine sage sent down from heaven 
 to enlighten bewildered and erring mortals. ‘Thus these 
 powerful and flourishing orders were again divided ; and 
 hence originated the two famous sects, the Scotists and | 
 Thomists, which, to this day, dispute the field of contro- 
 versy in the Latin schools. 'The chief points about which 
 they disagree are, the nature of the divine co-operation | 
 with the human will, the measure of divine grace that is| 
 necessary to salvation, the unity of form in man, or per-) 
 sonal identity, and other abstruse and minute questions, | 
 the enumeration of which is foreign to our purpose. We 
 shall only observe, that what contributed most to exalt the 
 reputation of Scotus, and to cover him with glory, was, 
 his demonstration and defence of what was called the’ 
 immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary against the 
 Dominicans, who entertained different notions of that 
 point.* 
 
 VI. A prodigious number of the people, denominated | 
 Mystics, resided, and propagated their tenets, in almost 
 every part of Europe. ‘There were, undoubtedly, among. 
 them many persons of eminent piety, who endeavoured 
 to wean men from an excessive attachment to the external 
 part of religion, and to form them to the love of God, and 
 the practice of genuine virtue. Such, among others, 
 were ‘T'aulerus, Ruysbrockius, Suso, and Gerard of 
 Zutphen,® who, it must be allowed, have left many 
 writings that are exceedingly well calculated to excite 
 pious dispositions in the minds of their readers, though 
 want of judgment, and a propensity to indulge enthusiastic 
 visions, are failings common to them all. But there were 
 also some senseless fanatics belonging to this party, who 
 ran from one place to another, recommending a most) 
 unaccountable extinction of all the rational faculties, 
 whereby they idly imagined the human mind would be 
 transfused into the diviné essence, and thus led their pro-| 
 selytes into a foolish kind of piety, that in too many cases | 
 bordered nearly upon licentiousness. The religious phrensy 
 of these enthusiasts rose to such a height, as rendered 
 them detestable to the sober sort of Mystics, who charged 
 their followers to have no connexions with them.° 
 
 VIL. It is needless to say much concerning those who 
 
 Oxford also had its share in transactions of this nature. See Ant. 
 Wood, tom. i. p. 153, 183. 
 
 * See Wadding, tom. vi. p. 52. 
 
 t Concerning these authors, see Petr. Poiret, Biblioth. Mysticorum, 
 
 and Godofr. Arnold, Historia et Descriptio Theol. Mysticw. Of | 
 No. XXX, 89 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 353 
 
 applied themselves to the study of morality, as their spirit 
 is nearly of the same kind with that of the authors whom 
 we have already noticed ; though it may be proper to 
 mention two circumstances, by which the reader may 
 ascertain the true state of this science. ‘The first is, that, 
 about this time, more writers than in any former century 
 made it their business to collect and solve, what they sty- 
 led, Cases of Conscience ; by which Astesanus, an Italian, 
 Monaldus, and Bartholomew of St. Concordia, acquired 
 a reputation superior to that of any of their contemporaries. 
 This kind of writing was of a piece with the education 
 then teceived in the schools, since it taught people to 
 quibble and wrangle, instead of forming them to a sound 
 faith and a suitable practice. A second thing worthy of 
 notice is, that moral duties were explained, and their prac- 
 tice enforced, by allegories and comparisons of a new and 
 whimsical kind, even by examples drawn from the natures, 
 properties, and actions of the brute creation. ‘These 
 writers began, for instance, by explaining the nature and 
 qualities of some particular animal, and then applied their 
 description to human life and manners, to characterize the 
 virtues and vices of moral agents. ‘The most remarkable 
 productions of this sort are Nieder’s Formicarius, a treatise 
 concerning Bees by Thomas Brabantinus, dissertations 
 upon Beasts by Hugh of St. Victor, and a tract by Tho- 
 mas Whalley, entitled, The Nature of Brute Animals 
 moralized. 
 
 Vill. The defenders of Christianity in this age were, 
 in general, unequal to the glorious cause they undertook 
 to support; nor do their writings discover any striking 
 marks of genius, dexterity, perspicuity, orcandour. Some 
 productions, indeed, appeared from time to time, that were 
 not altogether unworthy of notice. 'The learned Brad- 
 wardine, an English divine, advanced many pertinent and 
 ingenious remarks, tending to confirm the truth of Christi- 
 anity, in a Book upon Providence. 'The work, entitled, 
 Collyrium Fidei contra Hereticos, or, the “ Eye-salve of 
 Faith against the Heretics,” shows, that its author, Alvaro 
 Pelagio, was a well-meaning and judicious man, though 
 he has by no means exhausted the subject in this perform- 
 ance. Nicolas de Lyra wrote against the Jews, as did 
 also Porchetus Salvaticus, whose treatise, entitled, “The 
 "Triumph of Faith,” is chiefly borrowed from the writings 
 of Raymond Martin. Both these writers are much inferior 
 to Theophanes, whose “ Book against the Jews, and his 
 Harmony between the Old and New Testament,” contain 
 many observations that are by no means contemptible. 
 
 IX. During this century, there were some promising 
 appearances of a reconciliation between the Greeks and 
 Latins. For the former, apprehending that they might 
 want assistance to set bounds to the power of the Turks, 
 which about this time was continually increasing, often 
 pretended a willingness to submit to the Latin canons. 
 Accordingly, in 1339, Andronicus the Younger sent 
 Balaam as his ambassador into the west, to desire a recon- 
 ciliation in his name. In 1349, another Grecian mbassy 
 was sent to Clement VI. for the same purpose, and, in 
 1356, a third was despatched upon a like errand to Inno- 
 cent VI. Nor was this all; for, in 1367, the Grecian 
 
 Taulerus and Suso, Echard treats expressly in his Scriptor. Predicat 
 tom. i. p. 653, 677. See also Acta Sanctor. Januar. tom. ii. p. 652. 
 
 ¢ Joh. Ruysbrockius inveighed bitterly against them, as appears 
 from his Works, published by Laur. Surius, p. 50, 378, and also fram 
 his treatise de vera Contemplatione, cap. xviil. p. 608, 
 
354 
 
 patriarch arrived at Rome, in order to negotiate this im- 
 portant matter, and was followed, in 1369, by the emperor 
 himself, John Paleologus, who, in order to conciliate the 
 friendship and good-will of the Latins, published.a con- 
 fession of his faith, which was agreeable to the sentiments 
 of the Roman pontiff. But, notwithstanding these pru- 
 dent and pacific measures, the major part of the Greeks 
 could not be persuaded by any means to drop the contro- 
 versy, or to be reconciled to the church of Rome, though 
 several of them, from ‘views of interest or ambition, ex- 
 pressed a readiness to submit to its demands ; so that this 
 whole century was spent partly in furious debates, and 
 partly in fruitless negotiations.* 
 
 X. In 1384, a furious controversy arose at Paris, be- 
 tween the university and the Dominican order. The 
 author of it was John de Montesono, a native of Arragon, 
 a Dominican friar and professor of divinity, who, in pursu- 
 ance of the decisions and doctrine of his order, publicly 
 denied that the blessed Virgin Mary was conceived with- 
 out any stain of original sin ; and moreover asserted, that 
 all who believed the immaculate Conception were enemies 
 of the true faith. 'The quarrel occasioned by this pro- 
 ceeding would certainly have been soon compromised, had 
 not John, in a public discourse delivered in 1387, revived 
 this opinion with more violence than ever. For this rea- 
 son the college of divines, and afterwards the whole 
 
 university, condemned this, and some other tenets of, 
 
 Montesonus. For it may be proper to inform the reader, 
 that the university of Paris, principally induced thereto 
 by the discourses of John Duns Scotus, had, from the 
 beginning almost of this century, publicly adopted the 
 doctrine of the sinless conception of the holy Virgin.® 
 Upon this, the Dominicans, with their champion John de 
 Montesono, appealed from the sentence of the university 
 to pope Clement VIT. at Avignon, and clamorously affirm- 
 ed that St. Thomas himself was condemned by the judg- 
 ment passed upon their brother. But, before the pope 
 could decide the affair, the accused friar fled from the court 
 of Avignon, went over to the party of Urban VI., who 
 resided at Rome, and, during his absence, was excommu- 
 nicated. Whether the pope approved the sentence of the 
 university of Paris, we cannot say. ‘The Dominicans, 
 however, deny that he did, and affirm, that the professor 
 was condemned purely on account of his flight 5: though 
 there are many others who assert, that his opinion was 
 also condemned; and, as the Dominicans would not 
 acknowledge the validity of the academic sentence, they 
 were expelled in 1389, and were not restored to their 
 ancient honours in the university before the year 1404.4 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the 
 Church during this Century. 
 I. We must confine ourselves to a general and super- 
 
 ficial view of the alterations which were introduced into 
 the ritual of the church during this century, since it can- 
 
 ® See Henr. Canisii Lectiones Antique, tom. iv. p. 369.—Leo 
 Allatius, de perpetua consensione eccles. Orient. et Occident. lib. ii. cap. 
 xvi. xvil. p. 782.—Wadding, tom. viii. p. 29, 40, 107, 201, 289. Baluze, 
 Vite Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 348, 380, 403, 772. 
 
 b See Wadding’s Annals, tom. vi. 
 
 + See Jac. Echardi Scriptor. Preedicator. tom. i. p. 691, 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr Il. 
 
 not reasonably be expected that we should insist largely 
 upon this subject within the narrow limits of such a work 
 as this. A principal circumstance that strikes us here, is 
 the change that was made in the time of celebrating the 
 jubilee. In 1350, Clement-VI., in compliance with the 
 request of the people of Rome, enacted that the jubilee, 
 which Boniface VIII. had ordered to be celebrated in every 
 hundredth year, should be celebrated twice in every cen 
 tury.¢ In favour of this alteration he might have assign 
 ed a very plausible pretext, since it is well known that the 
 Jews, whom the Roman pontifls were always ready to 
 imitate in whatever related to pomp and majesty, celebra- 
 ted this sacred solemnity in every fiftieth year. But Urban 
 VL, Sixtus VI, and other popes, who ordered a more fre- 
 quent celebration of this salutary and profitable institution, 
 would have had more difficulty in attempting to satisfy 
 those who might have demanded -sufficient reasons to 
 justify this inconstancy. 
 
 Il. Innocent V. instituted festivals, sacred to the memory 
 of the lance with which our Saviour’s side was pierced, of 
 the nails that fastened him to the cross, and the crown of 
 thorns he wore at his death.£ This, though evidently 
 absurd, may be deemed pardonable upon the whole, if we 
 consider the gross ignorance and stupidity of the times. 
 But nothing can excuse the impious fanaticism and super- 
 stilion of Benedict XII, who, by appointing a festival in 
 honour of the marks of Christ’s wounds, which, the Fran- 
 ciscans tell us, were imprinted upon the body of their 
 chief and founder by a miraculous interposition of the 
 divine power, gave credit to that grossly ridiculous and 
 blasphemous fable. John XXII, beside the sanction he 
 gave to many other superstitions, ordered Christians to 
 add to their prayers those words with which the angel 
 Gabriel saluted the Virgin Mary. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that troubled 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Durine some part of this century, the Hesychasts, 
 or, as the Latins call them, the Quietists, gave great trou- 
 ble to the Greek church. 'To assign the true source of it, 
 we must observe that Barlaam, or Balaam, a native of Ca- 
 labria, who was a monk of St. Basil, and afterwards bishop 
 of Gieracé in Calabria, made a progress through Greece 
 to inspect the behaviour of the monks, among whom he 
 found many things highly reprehensible. He was more 
 especially offended at the Hesychasts of mount Athos, 
 in Thessaly, who were the same with the Mystics, or 
 more perfect monks, and who, by a long course of intense 
 contemplation, endeavoured to arrive at a tranquillity of 
 mind entirely free from tumult and perturbation. These 
 Quietists, in compliance with an ancient opinion of their 
 principal doctors, (who imagined that there was a celestial 
 light concealed in the deepest recesses of the mind,) used 
 to sit in a solitary corner, during a certain portion of every 
 day, with their eyes eagerly and immoveably fixed upon 
 
 EES 2 See 
 
 521; tom. ii. p. 992.—Argentre, Collectio judicior. de novis errorib. 
 tom, i. p. 61.—Jac. de Longueval, Hist. de l’Eglise Gallicane, tom. xiv. 
 p. 347. ee 
 ¢ Baluze, tom. i. p. 247, 287, 312, 887—Muratori, Antiquit. Ital 
 tom. iii. p. 344, 481. i 
 f See Jo. Henr. a Seelen, Diss. de festo Lancee et Clavorum Christi. 
 
 4 Boulay, tom. iv. p. 599, 618 638.—Baluzii Vit. Pont. Av. tom. i. p. |] —Baluzii Miscell. tom. i. et Vit. Pontif. tom. i. 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 the middle region-of the belly, or navel; and boasted, that 
 while they remained in this posture, they found, in effect, 
 a divine light beaming forth from the soul, which diffused 
 through their hearts inexpressible sensations of pleasure 
 and delight.* To such as inquired what kind of light this 
 was, they replied, by way of illustration, that it was the 
 glory of God, the same celestial radiance that surrounded 
 Christ during his transfiguration on the mount. Balaam, 
 entirely unacquainted with the customs and manners of 
 the Mystics, looked upon all this as highly absurd and 
 fanatical, and therefore styled the monks who adhered to 
 this institution, Massalians and Euchites,” arta also gave 
 them the new name of Umbilicani. On the other hand, 
 Gregory Palamas, archbishop of 'Thessalonica, defended 
 the cause of these monks against Balaam.« 
 
 If. In order to put an end to this dissension, a council 
 was convoked at Constantinople, in 1341, in which the 
 emperor himself, Andronicus the younger, and the patri- 
 arch, presided. Here Palamas and the monks triumphed 
 over Balaam, who was condemned by the council ; where- 
 upon he left Greece, and returned to Italy. Not long after 
 this, another monk, named Gregory Acindynus, renewed 
 the controversy, and, in opposition to the opinion main- 
 tained by Palamas, denied that God dwelt in an eternal 
 light distinct from his essence, as also that such a light was 
 beheld by the disciples on mount ‘Tabor. ‘This dispute 
 was now no longer concerning the monks, but turned 
 upon the light seen at mount "Tabor, and also upon the 
 nature and residence of the Deity. Nevertheless, he was 
 condemned as a follower of Balaam, in another council 
 holden at Constantinople. Many assemblies were con- 
 vened about this affair ; but the most remarkable of them 
 ul, was that of the year 1351, in which the Balaamites 
 and their adherents received such a fatal wound, in con- 
 wequence of the severe decrees enacted against them, that 
 vtiey were forced to yield, and leave the victory to Pala- 
 mas. ‘This prelate maintained, that God was encircled, 
 as it were, with an eternal light, which might be styled 
 his energy or operation, and was distinct from his nature 
 and essence ; and that he favoured the three disciples with 
 a view of vhis light upon mount Tabor. Hence he con- 
 cluded that this divine operation was really different from 
 the substance of the Deity; and farther, that no being 
 
 * We have no reason to be surprised at, and much less to disbelieve, 
 this account. For it is a fundamental rule with all those people in the 
 eastern world, whether Christians, Mohammedans, or Pagans, (who 
 maintain the necessity of abstracting the mind from the body, in order 
 to hold communion with God, which is exactly the same thing with the 
 contemplative and mystic life among the Latins,) that the eyes must be 
 steadily fixed every day for some hours upon some particular object; 
 and that he who, complies with this precept will be thrown into an ec- 
 stasy, in which, being united to God, he will see wonderful things, and 
 be entertained with ineffable delights. See what is said of the Siamese 
 monks and Mystics by Engelb. Keempfer, in his History of Japan, tom. 
 i. and also of those of India, in the Voyages of Bernier, tom. ii. Indeed, 
 I can easily admit, that they who continue long in the above-mentioned 
 posture, will imagine they behold many things which no man in his 
 senses ever beheld or thought of; for certainly the combinations they 
 form of the unconnected notions that arise to their fancy while their 
 minds are in this odd and unnatural state, must be most singular and 
 whimsical; so much the more, as the rule itself, which prescribes the 
 contemplation of a certain object as the means of arriving at a vision 
 of the Deity, absolutely forbids all use of the faculty of reason during 
 that ecstatic and sublime interval. This total suspension of reason and 
 retlection, during the period of contemplation, was not, however, peculiar 
 to the eastern Quietists; the Latin Mystics observed the same rule, and 
 inculcated it upon their disciples. On a due examination of the subject, 
 -we may safely conclude, that the many surprising visions, of which 
 these fanatics boast, are fables utterly destitute of reason and proba- 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 4 
 
 | 
 
 355 
 
 could partake of the divine substance or essence, but that 
 finite natures might possess a share of his divine liglit, or 
 operation. ‘he Balaamites, on the contrary, denied these 
 positions, affirming, that the properties and operations of 
 the Deity were not different from his essence, and that 
 there was really no diflerence between the attributes and 
 essence of God, considered in themselves, but only_in our 
 conceptions of them, and reasonings upon them.¢. 
 
 Ill. In the Latin church the inquisitors, those active 
 ministers and executioners of papal justice, extended their 
 vigilance to every quarter, and most industriously hunted 
 out the remains of those sects who opposed the religion of 
 Rome, even the Waldenses, the Catharists, the Apostolists, 
 and others; so that the history of these times abounds 
 with numberless instances of persons who were burned or 
 otherwise barbarously destroyed, by those unrelenting in- 
 struments of superstitious vengeance. But none of these 
 enemies of the church gave the inquisitors and bishops so 
 much employment of this sanguinary kind, as the Bre- 
 thren and Sisters of the free spirit, who went under the 
 common name of Beghards and Beguines in Germany 
 and the Netherlands, and were differently denominated in 
 other provinces. For, as this sort of people professed an 
 uncommon and sublime species of devotion, endeavouring 
 to call off men’s minds from the external and sensible 
 parts of religion, and to win them over to the inward and 
 spiritual worship of God, they were greatly esteemed by 
 many plain, well-meaning persons, whose piety and sim-~ 
 plicity were deceived by a profession so seducing ; and thus 
 they made many converts to their opinions. It was on 
 this account that such numbers of this turn and disposi- 
 tion perished in the flames of persecution during this cen- 
 tury in Italy, France, and Germany. 
 
 IV. This sect was most numerous in the cities of Ger- 
 many that lay upon the Rhine, especially at Cologne; 
 which circumstance induced Henry L., archbishop of that 
 diocese, to publish a severe edict against them, A. D. 1306 ;f 
 an example that was soon followed by the bishops of 
 Mentz, Treves, Worms, and Strasburg. And as there 
 were some subtle acute men belonging to this party, that 
 eminently keen logician, John Duns Scotus," was sent 
 to Cologne, in 1308, to dispute against them, and to van- 
 quish them by dint of syllogism. In 1310, the famous 
 
 bility. But this is not the proper place for enlarging upon prodigies of 
 this nature. 
 
 a¢p > The Massalians (so called from a Hebrew word which signi- 
 fies prayer, and Huchites from a Greek word of the same signification) 
 formed themselves into a sect, during the fourth century, in the reign 
 of Constantius. Their tenets resembled those of the Quietists in seve- 
 ral respects. 
 
 © Ongadrdrpoyor. 
 
 4 For an account of these two famous men, Balaam and Gregory 
 Palamas, see, in preference to all other writers, Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Bib- 
 lioth. Greeca, tom. x. p. 427, and 454. 
 
 * See Jo. Cantacuzenus, Hist. lib. ii. cap. xxxix. p. 263, and the ob- 
 servations of Gregor. Pontanus; also Nicephorus Gregoras, Hist. 
 Byzant. lib. xi. cap. x. p. 277, and in many other places. But these two 
 writers disagree in several circumstances. Many materials relative to 
 this controversy are yet unpublished (see Montfaucon, Biblioth. Cois- 
 liniana, p. 150, 174, 404.) Nor have we ever been favoured with an ac- 
 curate and well-digested history of it. In the mean time, the reader 
 may consult Leo Allatius, de perpetud consensione Orient. et Occid. 
 Eccles. lib. ii. cap. xxii. p. 824—Henr. Canisii Lectiones Antique, 
 tom. iv. p. 361—Dion Petavius, Dogmat. Theol. tom. i. lib. 1. cap. 
 xii—Steph. de Altimura, Panoplia contra Schisma Grecor. p. 381, &c. 
 
 f See Statuta Coloniensia, published in 1554. we 
 
 € Johannes, apud Scriptores rerum Moguntinar. tom. 11 Pp. 298. — 
 Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdotor. tom. iv. p. 250. 
 
 h Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. vi. p. 108. 
 
356 
 
 Margaret Poretta, who made such a shining figure in this 
 sect, Was committed to the flames at Paris with one of the 
 brethren. She had undertaken to demonstrate in an elabo- 
 rate treatise, “That the soul, when absorbed in the love 
 of God, is free from the restraint of every law, and may 
 freely gratify all its natural appetites, without contracting 
 any guilt.”* Pope Clement V., exasperated by this and 
 other instances of the pernicious fanaticism that prevailed 
 among this sect, published in a general council at Vienne, 
 A. D. 1311, a special constitution against the Beghards 
 and Beguines of Germany; and though the edict only 
 mentions imperfectly the opinions of this sect, yet, by the 
 numeration of them, we may easily perceive that the Mys- 
 tic brethren and sisters of the free spirit are the persons 
 principally intended.» Clement, in the same council, issued 
 another constitution, by which he suppressed another and 
 a very different sort of Beguines,* who had hitherto been 
 considered as a lawful and regular society, and lived in 
 fixed habitations appropriated to their order, but were now 
 corrupted by the fanatics above mentioned ; for the Bre- 
 thren and Sisters of the free spirit had insinuated them- 
 selves into the greatest part of the convents of the Be- 
 guines, where they inculcated with great success their 
 mysterious and sublime system of religion to these simple 
 women ; and these credulous females were no sooner initia- 
 ted into this brilliant and chimerical system, than they were 
 captivated with its delusive charms, and babbled, in the 
 most absurd and impious manner, concerning the true 
 worship of the Deity.¢ 
 
 V. The Brethren of the free spirit, oppressed by so 
 many severe edicts and constitutions, formed the intention 
 of removing from Upper Germany into the lower parts of 
 the empire ; and this scheme was so far put in execution, 
 that Westphalia was the only province which refused ad- 
 mission to these dispersed fanatics, and was free from their 
 disturbances. This tranquillity was produced by the pro- 
 videut measures of Henry, archbishop of Cologne, who, 
 having called a council, in 1322, seriously admonished 
 the bishops of his province of the approaching danger, and 
 thus excited them to exert their utmost vigilance to pre- 
 vent any of these people from coming into Westphalia. 
 About the same time the Beghards* upon the Rhine lost 
 their chief leader and champion, Walter, a Dutchman of 
 remarkable eloquence, and famous for his writings, who 
 came from Mentz to Cologne, where he was apprehended 
 and burned.£ "The death of this person was highly de- 
 
 * Luc. d’Acherii Spicil. veter. Scriptor. tom. iii. p. 63—J. Bale, de 
 Scriptor. Britan. Centur. iv. n. 88. p. 367. 
 
 b It is extant in the Corpus Juris Canon. inter Clementinas, lib. v. tit. 
 iil. de Heereticis, cap. ili. p. 1088. 
 
 ¢ In Jure Canonico inter Clementinas, lib. iii. tit. xi. de religiosis 
 domibus, cap. i. p. 1075, edit. Bohmer. 
 
 4 For this reason, in the German records of this century, we often 
 find a distinction of the Beguines into those of the right and approved 
 class, and those of the sublime and free spirit; the former of whom 
 adhered to the public religion, while the latter were corrupted by the 
 opiaions of the Mystics, 
 
 2*p* By Beghards, here, Dr. Mosheim means particularly the 
 Brethren of the Free Spirit, who frequently passed under this denomi- 
 nation. 
 
 f Jo. Trithemii Annal. Hirsaug tom. ii: p. 155.—Schaten, Annal. 
 Paderborn, tom. ii. p. 250.—T his is that famous Walter, whom so many 
 ecclesiastical historians have represented as the founder of the sect of 
 the Lollards, and as an eminent martyr to their cause. Learned men 
 ouclude all this, and more, from the following words of Trithemius; 
 ‘That same Walter Lohareus, (so it stands in my copy, though I fancy 
 it ought to have been Lolhardus, especiaily as Trithemius, according to 
 the custom of his time, frequently uses this word when treating of the 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part Ih 
 
 trimental to the affairs of the Brethren of the free spirit: 
 it did not, however, ruin their cause, or extirpate their sect. 
 For it not only appears from innumerable testimonies, that, 
 for a long time afterwards, they held their private assem- 
 blies at Cologne, and in many other parts of Germany, 
 but also that they had several men among them of high 
 rank and great learning, of which number Henry Aycai- 
 dus, or Eccard, a Saxon, was the most famous. He was 
 a Dominican, and also the superior of that order in Saxo- 
 ny; a man of a subtle genius, and one who had acquitted 
 himself with reputation as professor of divinity at Paris.s 
 In 1330, pope John XXII., endeavoured to suppress this 
 obstinate sect by a new and severe constitution, in which 
 the errors of the sect of the free spirit are marked out in 
 a more distinct and accurate manner than in the Clemen- 
 tina. But this attempt was fruitless; the disorder con 
 tinued, and was combated both by the inquisitors and 
 bishops in most parts of Europe to the end of this century. 
 VI. The Clementina, or constitution of the council 
 of Vienne against the Beguines, or the female societies 
 that lived together in fixed habitations, under a common 
 rule of pious discipline and virtuous industry, gave rise to 
 a persecution of these people, which lasted till the refor- 
 mation by Luther, and ruined the cause both of the Be- 
 guines and Beghards in many places. For though the 
 pope, in his last constitution, had permitted pious women 
 to live as nuns in a state of celibacy, with or without 
 taking the vow, and refused a toleration only to such 
 of them as were corrupted with the opinions of the 
 Brethren of the free spirit, yet the vast number of ene- 
 mies which the Beguines and Beghards had, partly 
 among the mechanics, especially the weavers, and partly 
 among the priests and monks, took a handle from the 
 Clementina to molest them in their houses, to seize and 
 destroy their goods, and offer them many other insults. 
 John XXII. afforded some relief under these oppressions, 
 in 1324, by means of a special constitution, in which he 
 gave a favourable explication of the Clementina, and 
 ordered that the persons, goods, and habitations, of the 
 innocent Beguimes, should be preserved from every kind 
 of violence and insult ;—an example of clemency and 
 moderation which was afterwards followed by other 
 popes. On the other hand, the Beguines, in hopes of 
 disappointing more effectually the malicious attempts of 
 their enemies, and avoiding their snares, embraced in 
 many places the third rule of St. Francis, and of the 
 
 sects that dissented from the church,) a native of Holland, was not well 
 versed in the Latin tongue.’ I say, from this short passage, learned 
 men haye concluded that Walter’s surname was Lolhard; whence, as 
 from its founder and master, they supposed his sect derived the name of 
 Lollards. But it is very evident, not only from this, but from other 
 passages of ‘T'rithemius, that Lolhard was no surname, but merely a 
 term of reproach applied to all heretics who concealed the poison of 
 error under the appearance of piety. Trithemius, speaking of the ve 
 same man, in apreceding passage, calls him, ‘the head of the Fratricelil, 
 or Minorites;’ but these terms were very extensive, including people of 
 various sects. This Walter embraced the opinions of the Mystics, and 
 was the principal doctor among those Brethren of the free spirit, who 
 lived on the banks of the Rhine. 
 
 € See Echardi Scriptor. Przedicator. tom. i. p. 507—Odor. Raynal- 
 dus, Annal. tom. xv. ad an. 1329. sect. Ixx p. 389. 
 
 h This new constitution was never published entire. It began with 
 the words, ‘in agro Dominico;’ and was inscribed thus, contra singu- 
 laria, dubia, suspecta, et temeraria, que Beghardi et Beghine pradi- 
 cant et observant.’ We are favoured with a summary of it by Herm. 
 Cornerus in Eccardi Corp. Histor. medii A‘vi, tom. il. p. 1035. It is 
 also mentioned by Paul Langius, in Chronico Citizensi, ay:ad Jo. Pis- 
 torii Scriptores rerum German. tom. i. p. 1200, 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 Augustines. Yet all these measures in their favour 
 sould not prevent the loss both of their reputation and 
 aibttance; for from this time they were oppressed in 
 several provinces by the magistrates, the clergy, and the 
 monks, who had cast a greedy eye upon their treasures, 
 and were extremely eager to divide the spoil.* 
 
 VII. Some years before the middle of this century, 
 while Germany and many other parts of Europe were 
 distressed with various calamities, the Flagellants, a sect 
 forgotten almost every where, and especially in Ger- 
 many, made their appearance anew, and, rambling 
 through many provinces, occasioned great disturbances. 
 ‘hese new Flagellants, whose enthusiasm infected every 
 rank, sect, and age, were much worse than the old ones. 
 They not only supposed that God might be prevailed 
 upon to show mercy to those who underwent voluntary 
 punishments, but propagated other tenets highly inju- 
 rious to religion. ‘They held, among other things, 
 “That flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism, and 
 the other sacraments: that it would procure from God 
 the forgiveness of all sins, without the merits of Jesus 
 Christ: that the old law of Christ was soon to be abolish- 
 ed, and that a new law, enjoining the baptism of blood, 
 to be administered by whipping, was to be substituted in | 
 its place,” with other tenets more or less enormous than 
 these ; whereupon Clement VII. thundered out anathe- 
 mas against these sectaries, many of whom were com- 
 mitted to the flames by the inhuman inquisitors. It was, 
 however, found as difficult to extirpate them, as it had 
 been to suppress the other sects of wandering fanatics.» 
 
 VIII. Directly the reverse of this melancholy sect 
 was the merry one of the Dancers, which, in 1873, 
 arose at Aix-la-Chapelle, whence it spread through the 
 district of Liege, Hainault, and other parts of the Nether- 
 lands. It was customary among these fanatics, for per- 
 sons of both sexes, publicly as well as in private, sudden- 
 ly to begin dancing, and, holding each other’s hands, to 
 continue their motions with extraordinary violence, till, | 
 being almost suffocated, they fell down breathless to- 
 gether; and they affirmed, that, during these intervals of 
 vehement agitation, they were favoured with wonderful 
 visions. Like the Flagellants, they wandered about 
 from place to place, had recourse to begging for their 
 subsistence, treated with the utmost contempt both the 
 priesthood and the public rites and worship of the church, 
 and held secret assemblies. Such was the nature of this 
 new phrensy, which the ignorant clergy of this age look- 
 2d upon as the work of evil demons, who possessed, as 
 they thought, this dancing tribe. Accordingly, the 
 atiests of Liege endeavoured to cast out the devils which 
 ‘rendered these fanatics so merry, by singing hymns and 
 ipplying fumigations of incense ; and they gravely tell 
 as, that the evil spirit was entirely vanquished by these 
 powerful charms.« 
 
 IX. "lhe most heinous and abominable tribe of here- 
 
 * I have collected a great number of particulars relating to this long | 
 sersecution of the Beguines. But the most copious of all the writers 
 who yave published any thing upon this subject (especially if we con- | 
 sider his account of the persecution at Basil, and of Mulbergius, the 
 most inveterate enemy of the Beguines,) is Christian Wurstisen, or 
 Urstisius, in his Chronicon Basiliense, written in German, lib. iv. cap. | 
 ix p. 201, published at Basil, 1580. ‘There are now in my hands, and 
 also in many libraries, manuscript tracts of this celebrated Mulbergius, | 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 written against the Beguines in the following century. 
 » See Baluzii Vit. Pontif. Avenion. tom. i. p. 160,316, and Miscellan. | 
 No. XXX. 90 
 
 357 
 
 tics that infected this century, (if the enormities with 
 which they stand charged be true,) were the Knights 
 Templars, who had been established in Palestine about 
 two hundred years before this period, and who were re- 
 presented as enemies and deriders of all religion. Their 
 principal accuser indeed was a person whose testimony 
 ought not to be admitted without caution. This was 
 Philip the Fair, an avaricious, vindictive, and turbulent 
 prince, who loudly complained to Clement V. of their 
 opinions and conduct. ‘The pope, though at first unwil- 
 ling to proceed against them, was under a necessity of 
 complying with the king’s desire; so that, in 1307, on 
 an appointed day, and for some time afterwards, all the 
 knights, who were dispersed throughout Europe, and not 
 in the least apprehensive of any impending evil, were 
 seized and imprisoned. Such as refused to confess the 
 enormities of which they were accused, were put to death ; 
 and those who, by tortures and promises, were induced to 
 acknowledge the truth of what was laid to their charge, 
 obtained their liberty. In 1311,the whole order was 
 extinguished by the council of Vienne. Of the rich 
 revenues they possessed, a part was bestowed upon other 
 orders, especially on the knights of St. John, and the 
 rest cor fiscated to the respective treasuries of the sovereign 
 prine+s in whose dominions their possessions lay. 
 
 X. The Knights Templars, if their judges be worthy 
 of credit, were a set of men who insulted the majesty of 
 God, turned into derision the Gospel of Christ, and 
 trampled upon the obligation of all laws, human and 
 divine. For it is affirmed, that candidates, upon their 
 admission to this order, were commanded to spit, as a 
 mark of contempt, upon an image of Christ; and that, 
 after admission, they were bound to worship either a cat, 
 or a wooden head covered with gold. It is farther affirm- 
 ed, that, among them, the odious and unnatural act of 
 sodomy was a matter of obligation; that they committed 
 to the flames the unhappy fruit of their lawless amours ; 
 and added, tc these, other crimes too horrible to be men- 
 tioned, or even imagined. It will, indeed, be readily 
 allowed, that in this order, as im all the other religious 
 societies of this age, there were shocking examples of 
 impiety and wickedness; but that the ‘Templars in 
 general were thus enormously corrupt, is so far from 
 being proved, that the contrary may be concluded even 
 from the acts and records, yet extant, of the tribunals 
 before which they were tried and examined. If to this 
 we add, that some of the accusations advanced against 
 them, flatly contradict each other, and that many mem- 
 bers of this unfortunate crder soleninly avowed their inno- 
 cence, while languishing under the severest tortures, and 
 even with their dying breath, it would seem probable, that 
 Philip set on foot this bloody tragedy, with a view of 
 gratifying his avarice, and glutting his resentment against 
 the ‘Templars,’ and especially against their grand master, 
 who had highly offended him. 
 
 tom. i. p. 50.—Matthei Analecta vet. AEvi, tom. i. iii. iv—Herm. 
 Gygis Flores Tempor. p. 139. 
 
 ¢ Baluz. tom. i. p. 485.—Matth. Analecta, tom. i. p. 51, where we 
 find the following passage in the Belgic Chronicle, which gives but an 
 obscure account of the sect in question: A. 1374. Gingen de Dancers, 
 and then in Latin, Gens, impacata cadit, cruciala salvat. The French 
 convulsionists, (or prophets,) who, in our age, were remarkable for the 
 vehemence and variety of their agitations, greatly resembled these bre- 
 thren and sister dancers. : 
 
 4 See the Acts annexed to Putean’s Histoire de la Condemnation des 
 
De Er EN TE Ge tak as 
 
 PART 5k 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the prosperous Events that happened to 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Te new subjects, that were added to the kingdom 
 of Christ in this century, were altogether unworthy of that 
 sublime title, unless we prostitute it by applying it to those 
 who made an external and insincere profession of Christi- 
 anity. Ferdinand, surnamed the Catholic, by the conquest 
 of Granada, in the year 1492, entirely overturned the 
 dominion of the Moors or Saracens in Spain. Some time 
 after this happy revolution, he issued a sentence of banish- 
 ment against a prodigious multitude of Jews, who, to 
 avoid the execution of this severe decree, dissembled their 
 sentiments, and feigned an assent to the Gospel ;* and it 
 is well known that, to this very day, there are both in 
 Spain and Portugal a great number of that dispersed and 
 wretched people, who wear the outward mask of Christi- 
 anity, to secure them against the rage of persecution, and 
 to advance their worldly interests. ‘The myriads of 
 Saracens, that remained in Spain after the dissolution of 
 their government, were at first solicited by exhortations 
 and entreaties to embrace the Gospel. When these 
 gentle methods proved ineffectual to bring about their 
 -onversion, the famous Ximenes, archhishop of ‘Toledo, 
 
 ud prime minister of the kingdom, judged it expedient to 
 try the force of the secular arm, in order to accomplish that 
 salutary purpose. But even this rigorous measure was 
 without the desired effect: the greatest part of the Mo- 
 hammedans persisted, with astonishing obstinacy, in their 
 fervent attachment to their voluptuous prophet.® 
 
 Il. The light of the Gospel was also carried in this 
 century among the Samogete [in Poland] and the 
 neighbouring nations, but with less fruit than was ex- 
 pected.© ‘Toward the conclusion of this age, the Portu- 
 guese, who cultivated with ardour and success the art of 
 navigation, had penetrated as far as Ethiopia and the 
 Indies. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, by discovering 
 the islands of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica, opened a 
 passage into America ;? and, after him, Americus Vesputius, 
 a citizen of Florence, landed on the continent of that vast 
 region.¢ The new Argonauts, who thus discovered na- 
 
 Templiers, and other writings of his relating to the history of France, 
 published at Paris, in 1654. The most valuable edition of the history 
 appeared at Brussels in 1751, enlarged by the addition of a great number 
 of documents, by which every diligent and impartial reader will be 
 convinced that the Templars were greatly injured. See also Nicolai 
 Gurtleri Historia Templariorum. If the reader has an opportunity, he 
 would do well to consult Steph. Baluzius, Vit. Portif. Avenion. tom. i. 
 p- 8, 11, &c. Ger. du Bois, Hist. Eccles. Paris. tom. ii. p. 540. The 
 principal cause of Philip’s indelible hatred against the Templars, was, 
 that in his quarrel with Boniface VIII. the knights espoused the cause 
 of the pope, and furnished him with money to carry on the war; an 
 offence which the king could never pardon. 
 
 « J. de Ferreras, Hist. Generale d’Espagne, tom. vill. p. 123, 132, &c. 
 , »Esprit Flechier, Histoire du Cardinal Ximenes, p. 89.—Geddes’ 
 
 tions hitherto unknown to the inhabitants of Europe, 
 deemed it their duty to enlighten them with the knowledge 
 of the truth. 'The first attempt of this s plous nature was 
 made by the Portuguese among those “Africans who in- 
 habited the kingdom of Congo, and who, with their 
 monarch, were suddenly converted to the Romish faith, in 
 1491.. But what must we think of a conversion effected 
 with such astonishing rapidity, and of a people who at 
 once, without hesitation, abandoned their inveterate preju- 
 dices? Has not such a conversion, a ridiculous or rather 
 an afflictive aspect? After this religious revolution in 
 Africa, Alexander VI. gave a rare specimen of papal pre- 
 sumption, in dividing America between the Portuguese 
 and Spaniards, but showed at the same time his zeal for 
 the propagation of the Gospel, by the ardour with which 
 he recommended, to these two nations, the instruction 
 and conversion of the Americans, both in the isles and on 
 the continent of that immense region. In consequence of 
 this exhortation of the pontiff, a great number of Fran- 
 ciscans and Dominicans were sent into those countries, te 
 enlighten the darkness of their inhabitants ; and ths 
 success of the mission is abundantly known.* 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Concerning the calamitous Events that happened to 
 
 the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. In the vast regions of the eastern world Christianity 
 daily lost ground; and the Moslems, whether 'Turks or 
 Tartars, united their barbarous efforts to extinguish its 
 bright and salutary lustre. Asiatic 'Tartary, Mogolestan, 
 Tangut, and the adjacent provinces, where the religion of 
 Jesus had long flourished, were now become the dismal 
 seats of superstition, which reigned among the people 
 under the vilest forms. Nor in these immense tracts of 
 land were there at this time any traces of Christianity 
 visible, except in China, where the Nestorians still pre- 
 served some scattered remains of their former glory, and 
 appeared like a faint and dying caper in the midst of a 
 dark and gloomy firmament. ‘That some Nestorian 
 churches were still subsisting in these regions of darkness, 
 
 History of the Expulsion of the Morescoes, in his Miscellaneous 
 Tracts, tom. i. 
 
 ¢ Jo. Henry Hottinger, Hist. Ecclesiast. sec. XV. p. 856. 
 
 4 See Charlevoix, Histoire de l’Isle de St. Domingue, tom. i. p. 64. 
 
 ® See the Life of Americus Vesputius, written in Italian by the learn- 
 ed Angelo Maria Bandini. 
 
 f Labat, Relation de l’Europe Occidentale, tom. ii. p. 366—Jos. 
 Franc. Lafitau, Histoire des Decouvertes des Portugais dans le neu- 
 
 || veau Monde, tom. i. p. 72. 
 
 & See the Bull itself, in the Bullarium Romanum, tom. i. p. 466. 
 
 h See Thom. Maria Mamachius, Orig. et Antiquitat. Christian. tom. 
 ii. p. 326, where we have an account of the gradual introduction of the 
 Christian religion into America—See also adding Annal. Minor, 
 tom. xv. p. 10. 
 
Crap. IL 
 
 is undoubtedly certain ; for in this century the Nestorian 
 pontiff, in Chaldea, sent missionaries into Cathay and 
 China, who were empowered to exercise the authority of 
 bishops over the Christian assemblies, which lay concealed 
 in the remoter provinces of those great empires.* It is, 
 at the same time, almost equally certain, that even these 
 assemblies did not survive this century. 
 
 If. The ruin of the Grecian empire was a new source 
 of calamities to the Christian church in a considerable 
 part of Europe and Asia. When the Turks, conducted 
 by Mohammed II., an able prince and a formidable war- 
 rior, had made themselves masters of Constantinople, in 
 1453, the cause of Christianity received a blow, from 
 which it has not yet recovered. Its adherents in these 
 parts had no resources left, which could’ enable them to 
 maintain it against the perpetual insults of their fierce and 
 incensed victors; nor could they stem that torrent of 
 barbarism and ignorance which rushed in with the 
 triumphant arms of the Moslem prince, and overspread 
 
 * This circumstance was communicated to the author in a letter from 
 the learned Mr. Theophilus Sigefred Bayer, one of the greatest adepts 
 in eastern history and antiquities, that this or any other age has pro- 
 duced. 
 
 3%> >In this account Dr. Mosheim has followed the Turkish writers. 
 And indeed their account, is much more probable than that of the Latin 
 
 CALAMITOUS EVENTS. 
 
 359 
 
 Greece with a fatal rapidity. The Turks took one part 
 of Constantinople by force of arms ; the other surrendered 
 upon terms.” Hence, in the former division, the public 
 profession of the Gospel was prohibited, and every vestige 
 of Christianity effaced ; while the inhabitants of the latter 
 were permitted to retain their churches and monasteries 
 during the whole course of this century, and to worship 
 God according to the precepts of the Gospel, and the 
 dictates of their consciences. This valuable liberty was, 
 indeed, considerably diminished in the reign of Selim I., 
 and the Christian worship was loaded with severe and 
 despotic restrictions. ‘The outward form of the Christian 
 church was not, indeed, either changed or destroyed by 
 the ‘Turks; but its lustre was eclipsed, its strength was 
 undermined, and it was gradually attenuated to a mere 
 shadow under their tyrannic empire. Pope Pius II. wrote 
 a warm and urgent letter to Mohammed UH. to persuade 
 that prince to profess the Gospel ; but this letter is equally 
 destitute of piety and prudence.‘ 
 
 and Greek historians, who suppose that the whole city was taken by 
 force, and not by capitulation. ‘The Turkish relation diminishes the 
 glory of the conquest, and therefore probably would not have been 
 adopted, had it not been true. 
 
 ¢ Demet. Cantemir, Histoire de Empire Ottoman t. i. 11, 46, 54. 
 
 4 Dictionnaire Hist. et Critique de Bayle. 
 
PART I. 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Yoneerning the state of Letters and Philosophy 
 during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue Grecian and Oriental Muses languished under 
 th despotic yoke of the Mohammedans ; their voices 
 were mute, and their harps unstrung. The republic of 
 letters had a quite different aspect in the Latin world, 
 where the liberal arts and sciences were cultivated with 
 zeal and spirit, under the most auspicious encouragement, 
 and recovered their ancient lustre and glory. Several of 
 the popes became their zealous patrons and_ protectors, 
 among whom Nicolas V. deserves an eminent and dis- 
 tinguished rank ; the munificence and authority of kings 
 and princes were also nobly exerted in this excellent 
 ciuse, and animated men of learning and genius to dis- 
 pay their talents. The illustrious family of the Medici in 
 Italys Alphonso VI. king of Naples, and the other 
 Neapolitan monarchs of the house of Arragon,’ acquired 
 immortal renown by their love of letters, their liberality to 
 the learned, and their ardent zeal for the advancement of 
 science. Under their auspices, or in consequence of their 
 example, many academies were founded in Germany, 
 France, and Italy, libraries were collected at a pro- 
 digious expense, and honours and rewards were lavished 
 on the studious youth, to animate their industry by the 
 views of interest and the desire of glory. ‘To all these 
 happy circumstances, in favour of the &ciences, was 
 now added an admirable discovery, which contributed, 
 as much as any thing else, to their propagation, I mean 
 the art of Printing, (first with wooden, and afterwards 
 with metal types,) which was invented about the year 
 1440, at Mentz, by John Guttemberg. By the aid of 
 this incomparable art, the productions of the most emi- 
 nent Greek and Latin writers, which had lain concealed, 
 before this interesting period, in the libraries of the 
 monks, were now spread abroad with facility, and 
 perused by many, who could never have had access to 
 them under their primitive form.s "The perusal of these 
 noble compositions purified the taste, excited the emulation 
 
 * We have a full account of the obligations of the republic of letters 
 to the family of Medici, in a-valuable work of Joseph Bianchini de 
 Prato, dei gran Duchi di Toscana della reale Casa de’ Medici, Protet- 
 tori delle Lettere e delle Belle Arti, Ragionamenti Historici, published 
 at Venice, in 1741. Liew 
 
 ’ See Giannone, Historia di Napoli, tom iii—Anton. Panormitani 
 Dicta et Facta memorabilia Alphonsi I. denuo edita a Jo. Ger. Meus- 
 chenio, in Vit. Erud. Viror. tom. ii. 
 
 34° ° Dr. Mosheim decides here, that Guttemberg of Mentz was the 
 inventor of the art of printing; but this notion is opposed with zeal by 
 several men of learning. Of the many treatises that have been pub- 
 lished on this subject, not one is composed with greater erudition and 
 judgment than that of professor Schoepflin, of Strasbourg, in which the 
 learned author undertakes to prove that the art of printing, by the means 
 of letters engraven on plates of wood, was invented at Haerlem, by 
 Coster; that the method of printing, by moveable types, was the dis- 
 covery of John Guttemberg, a discovery made during his residence at 
 Strasbourg; and that the still more perfect manner of printing with 
 types of metal cast ima mould, was the contrivance of John Schoeffer, 
 and was first practised at Mentz. ‘This learned work, in which the 
 author examines the opinions of Marchand, Fournier, and other wri- 
 ters, was published in 1760, under the following title: Jo. Danielis 
 Sehoepflini Consil. Reg. ac Francie His. Vindicie Typographicz,* &e, 
 
 4 Mich. Maittaire, Annales Typographici—Prosp. Marchand, His- 
 toire de l’ Imprimerie. 
 
 of men of genius, and animated them with a noble am 
 bition of excelling in the same way.? 
 
 II. 'The ruin of the Grecian empire contributed greatly 
 to the propagation and advancement of learning in the 
 west. For, after the reduction of Constantinople, the 
 most eminent of the Greek literati passed imto Italy, and 
 were thence dispersed into the other countries of Europe, 
 where, to gain subsistence, these venerable exiles instruct- 
 ed the youth in Grecian erudition, and propagated 
 throughout the western world the love of learning, and a 
 true and elegant taste for the sciences. Hence it was, 
 that every distinguished city and university possessed one 
 or more of these learned Greeks, who formed the studious 
 youth to literary pursuits.¢ But they received no where 
 such encouraging marks of protection and esteem as in 
 Italy, where they were honoured in a singular manner in 
 various cities, and were more especially distinguished bv 
 the family of Medici, whose liberality to the learned 
 seemed to have no bounds. It was consequently in Italv 
 that these ingenious fugitives were most numerous; and 
 hence that country became, in some measure, the centra 
 of the arts and sciences, and the general rendezvous of 
 all who were ambitious of literary glory.‘ 
 
 III. he learned men who adorned at this time the 
 various provinces of Italy, were principally employed in 
 publishing accurate and elegant editions of the Greek and 
 Latin classics, in illustrating these authors with useful 
 commentaries, in studying them as their models, both in 
 poetry and prose, and in throwing light upon the precious 
 remains of antiquity, that were discovered from day to 
 day. In all these branches of literature, many arrived at 
 such degrees of excellence, as it is almost impossible to 
 surpass, and extremely difficult to equal. Nor were the 
 other languages and sciences neglected. In the universi- 
 ty of Paris there was now a public professor, not only of 
 the Greek, but also of the Hebrew tongue ;£ and in Spain 
 and Italy the study of that language, and of Oriental 
 learning and antiquities in general, was pursued with the 
 greatest success." John Reuchilin, otherwise called Cap- 
 nion, and ‘T'rithemius, who had made an extraordinary 
 
 ° Jo. Henr. Maii Vita Reuchlini, p. 11, 19, 28, 152, 165—Casp. 
 Barthius ad Statium, tom. i. p. 1008—Boulay, tom. v. p. 692. 
 
 f For a farther account of this interesting period of the history of 
 learning, the reader may consult the learned work of Humphry Hody, 
 de Grecis illustribus Literarum Grecarum in Italia Instauratoribus, to 
 which may be added, Battier’s Oration on the same subject, published 
 in the Museum Helveticum, tom. iv. 
 ¢ R. Simon, Critique de la Bibl. Eccles. par M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 
 502. Boulay, Histor. Paris. tom. v. p. 852. 
 
 h Pauli Colomesii Italia Orientalis, et Hispania Orientalis. 
 
 34> * So this note stands in the first edition of this History, in 4to. 
 Since that time, the learned and ingenious Mr. Gerard Meerman, pen- 
 sionary of Rotterdam, has published _his laborious and interesting ac- 
 count of the origin and invention of the art of printing, under the fol- 
 lowing title, ‘ Origines ‘Typographice,”—a work which sets this mat- 
 ter in its true light, by making certain distinctions unknown to the wri- 
 ters who treated this subject before him. According to the hypothesis 
 of this writer, (an hypothesis supported by irresistible proofs, ) Laurence 
 Coster, of Haerlem, invented the moveable wooden types ;—Genfleisch 
 and Guttemberg carved metallic types at Mentz, which, though superior 
 to the former, were still imperfect, because often unequal; -Schoefier 
 perfected the invention at Strasbourg, by casting the types in an iron 
 mould, or matrix, engraven with a puncheon. Thus the question is de 
 
 cided. Coster was evidently the inventor of printing; the others im 
 proved the art, or rendered it more perfect. 
 
Crap. I. 
 
 progress, both in the study of the languages and of the 
 sciences, were the restorers of solid learning among the 
 Germans. Latin poetry was revived by Antony of 
 Palermo, who excited a spirit of emulation among the 
 favourites of the Muses, and had many followers in that 
 sublime art; while Cyriac of Ancona, by his own example, 
 introduced a taste for coins, medals, inscriptions, gems, 
 and other precious monuments of antiquity, of which he 
 himself made a large collection in Italy. 
 
 IV. It is not necessary to give here a peculiar and 
 minute account ofthe other branches of literature that 
 flourished in this century; nevertheless, the state of philoso- 
 phy deserves a moment’s attention. Before the arrival of 
 the Greeks in Italy, Aristotle reigned there without a rival, 
 and captivated, as it were by a sort of enchantment, all 
 without exception, whose genius led them to philosophical 
 inquiries. ‘lhe veneration that was shown him, de- 
 generated into a foolish and extravagant enthusiasm ; 
 the encomiums with which he was loaded, surpassed the 
 bounds of decency; and many carried matters so far as to 
 compare him with the respectable precursor of the Messiah.¢ 
 This violent passion for the Stagirite was however abated, 
 or rather was rendered less general, by the influence 
 which the Grecian sages, and particularly Gemistius 
 Plétho, acquired among the Latins, many of whom they 
 persuaded to abandon the contentious and subtle doctrine 
 of the Peripatetics, and to substitute in its place the mild 
 and divine wisdom of Plato. It was in the year 1439, 
 about the time of the famous council of Florence, that 
 this revolution happened in the empire of philosophy. 
 Several illustrious personages among the Latins, charmed 
 with the sublime sentiments and doctrines of Plato, 
 propagated them among the studious youth, and particu- 
 larly among those of a certain rank and figure. ‘The 
 most eminent patron of this divine philosophy,as it was 
 termed by its votaries, was Cosmo de’ Medici, who had no 
 sooner heard the lectures of Pletho, than he formed the 
 design of founding a Platonic academy at Florence. For 
 this parpose, he ordered Marsilius Ficinus, the son of his 
 first physician, to be carefully instructed in the doctrines 
 of the Athenian sage, and, in general, in the language 
 and philology of the Greeks, that he might translate into 
 Latin the productions of the most renowned Platonists. 
 Ficinus answered well the expectations, and executed the 
 intentions of his illustrious patron, by translating succes- 
 sively into the Latin language, the celebrated works of 
 Hermes Trismegistus, Plotinus, and Plato. The same 
 excellent prince encouraged by his munificence, and 
 animated by his protection, many learned men, such as 
 Amlirose of Camaldoli, Leonardo Bruno, Poggio, and 
 others, to undertake works of a like nature, that the Latin 
 literature might be enriched with translations of the best 
 Greek writers. The consequence of all this was, that two 
 
 * R. Simon, Lettres Choisies, tom. i. p. 262; tom. iv. p. 131, 140. 
 
 t Dictionnaire Hist. et Critique de Bayle. 
 
 * See the Itinerarium of Cvvriac, published at Florence in 1742, by 
 Mehus, from the origins! manuscript, together with a preface, annota- 
 tions, and several letters of that learned man, who may be considered 
 as the first antiquary that appeared in Europe.—See also the Epistles of 
 Leonardo Aretino, tom. ii. lib. ix. p. 149. 
 
 4 See Christ. August. Heumanni Acta Philosophorum, tom. iii. 
 
 . 345. 
 se Boivin, dans Histctre de Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles 
 Lettres, tom. iv. p. 381—Launoy, de varia Fortuna Aristotelis, p. 225. 
 
 Leo Allatius, de Georgiis, p. 391.—La Croze, Entretiens sur divers 
 
 No. XX XI. 91 
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 ples. 
 
 361 
 
 philosophical sects arose in Italy, who debated for a long 
 time (with the warmest animosity in a multitude of learn- 
 ed and contentious productions) this important question, 
 which was the greatest philosopher, Aristotle or Plato.¢ 
 
 V. Between these opposite factions, some eminent men, 
 among both Greeks and Latins, thought proper to steer a 
 middle course. ‘T’o this class belonged Johannes Picus 
 de Mirandola, Bessarion, Hermolaus Barbarus, and others 
 of less renown, who, indeed, considered Plato as the su- 
 preme oracle of philosophy, but would by no means suffer 
 Aristotle to be treated with indifference or contempt, and 
 who proposed to reconcile the jarring doctrines of these 
 two famous Grecian sages, and to combine them into one 
 system. ‘These moderate philosophers, both in their 
 manner of teaching, and in the opinions they adopted, 
 followed the modern Platonic school, of which Ammonius 
 was the original founder.! This sect was, for a long 
 time, regarded with the utmost veneration, particularly 
 among the Mystics; while the scholastic doctors, and all 
 such as were infected with the itch of disputing, favoured 
 the Peripatetics. But, after all, these reconciling Platonists 
 were chargeable with many errors and follies; they fell 
 into the most childish superstitions, and followed, without 
 either reflection or restraint, the extravagant dictates of 
 their wanton imaginations. 
 
 VI. Their system of philosophy was, however, much 
 less pernicious than that of the Aristotelians, their adversa- 
 ries, who still maintained their superiority in Italy, and 
 instructed the youth in all the public schools of learning. 
 For these subtle doctors, and more especially the follow 
 ers of Averroes, (who maintained that all the human race 
 were animated by one common soul,) imperceptibly sapped 
 the foundations both of natural and revealed religion, and 
 entertained sentiments very little, if at all, different from 
 that impious pantheistical system, which confounds the 
 Deity with the universe, and merely acknowledges one 
 self-existent being, composed of infinite matter and infinite 
 intelligence. Among this class of sophists, the most 
 eminent was Peter Pomponace, a native of Mantua, a 
 man of a crafty turn, and an arrogant, enterprising spirit, 
 who, notwithstanding the pernicious tendency of his 
 writings (many of which are yet extant) to undermine 
 the principles, and corrupt the doctrines of religion,s was 
 almost universally followed by the professors of philosophy 
 in the Italian academies. "hese intricate doctors did not, 
 however, escape the notice of the inquisitors, who, alarm- 
 ed both by the rapid progress and dangerous tendency of 
 their metaphysical notions, took cognisance of them, and 
 called the Aristotelians to give an account of their princi- 
 The latter, tempering their courage with crafi, had 
 recourse to a mean and perfidious stratagem to extricate 
 themselves from this embarrassing trial. ‘They pretended 
 to establish a wide distinction between philosophical and 
 
 ‘Sujets, p. 384.—Joseph Bianchini, dei Gran Duchi di Toscana.—Bruck- 
 
 eri Historia Critica Philosophie, tom. rv. . 
 => It was not only the respective merit of these twc philosophers, 
 
 | considered in that point of light, that was debated in this controversy ; 
 
 the principal question was, which system was most conformable to the 
 
 doctrines of Christianity ? And here the Platonic certainly deserved the 
 y iy 
 
 preference, as was abundantly proved by Pletho and others. It is 
 well known, that many of the opinions of Aristotle lead directly to atheism. 
 f See Bessarion’s Letter in the Histoire de |’Academie des Inscrip- 
 tions, tom. v. p. 456.—Thomasius, de Syncretismo Peripatetico, in ejus 
 Orationibus, p. 340. ’ ; 
 © See the very learned Brucker’s Hist. Crit. Philosophie, % rv. p. 158. 
 
362 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 theological truth; and maintaining that their sentiments 
 were philosophically true, and conformable to right 
 reason, they allowed them to be deemed theologically 
 false, and contrary to the declarations of the Gospel. 
 This miserable and impudent subterfuge was condemned 
 and prohibited in the following century, by Leo X. in a 
 council which he held at the Lateran. 
 
 VII. The Realists and Nominalists continued their dis- 
 putes in France and Germany with more vigour and ani- 
 mosity than ever; and, finding that reason and argument 
 were feeble weapons, they had recourse to mutual invec- 
 tives and accusations, penal:laws, and even to the force of 
 arms; a strange method, surely, of deciding a metaphy- 
 sical question! 'The contest was not only warm, but was 
 very general in its extent ; for it infected, almost without 
 exception, the French and German colleges. In most 
 places, however, the Realists maintained a manifest supe- 
 riority over the Nominalists, to whom they also gave the 
 appellation of Terminists.« | While the famous Gerson 
 and the most eminent of his disciples were living, the No- 
 minalists were in high esteem and credit in the university 
 of Paris. But, on the death of these powerful and respect- 
 able patrons, the scene was changed to their disadvantage. 
 In 1473, Louis XL, by the instigation of his confessor the 
 bishop of Avranches, issued a severe edict against the doc- 
 trines of the Nominalists, and ordered all their writings to 
 be seized, and secured in a sort of imprisonment, that they 
 might not be perused by the people.’ But the same mo- 
 narch mitigated this edict in the following year, and per- 
 mitted some of the books of that sect to be delivered from 
 their confinement... In 1481, he went much farther ; 
 for he not only granted a full liberty to the Nomi- 
 nalists and their writings, but also restored that philosophi- 
 cal sect to its former authority and lustre in the univer- 
 sity.4 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, 
 and its Forms of Government, during this Century. 
 
 I. THe most eminent writers of this century unani- 
 mously lament the miserable condition to which the Chris- 
 vian church was reduced by the corruption of its ministers, 
 and which seemed to portend nothing less than its total 
 ruin, if Providence should not interpose, by extraordinary 
 means, for its deliverance and preservation. 'The vices 
 that reigned among the Roman pontiffs, and, indeed, 
 among all the ecclesiastical orders, were so flagrant, that 
 the complaints of these good men did not appear at all 
 exaggerated, or their apprehensions ill-founded ; nor had 
 any of the corrupt advocates of the clergy the courage to 
 call them to an account for the sharpness of their cénsures 
 and of their complaints. ‘The rulers of the church, who 
 lived in luxurious indolence, and in the infamous practice 
 of all kinds of vice, were even obliged to hear with a placid 
 countenance, and even to commend, these bold censors, 
 who declaimed against the degeneracy of the church, declar- 
 
 * See Brucker’s Historia Critica Philosophie, tom tii. p. 904.—Jo, 
 Salaberti Philosophia Nominalium Vindicata, cap. i-—Baluzii Miscel- 
 lan. t. iv. p.531.—-Argentre, Coll. Docum. de nov, Errct. t. i. p. 220. 
 
 > Naude’s Additions 4 1’Histoire de Louis XL. p. 203.—Du Boulay, 
 Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. v. p. 678, 705.—Launoy’s Histor. Gymnas. 
 Navar. t. iv. op. part i. p. 201, 378. * Boulay, t. v. p. 710. 
 
 « The proofs of this we find in Salabert’s Philosophia Nominal. vin- 
 dicata, cap. i—See also Boulay, tom. v. 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part IL 
 ed that there was scarcely any thing sound either in its visi- 
 ble head or in its members, and demanded the aid of the se- 
 cular arm, and the destroying sword, to lop off the parts that 
 were infected with this grievous and deplorable contagion. 
 Affairs, in short, were brought to such a pass, that those 
 were deemed the best Christians, and the most useful mem- 
 bers of society, who, braving the terrors of persecution, 
 and triumphing over the fear of man, inveighed with the 
 greatest freedom and fervour against the court of Rome, its 
 lordly pontiff, and the whole tribe of his followers and 
 votaries, 
 
 II. At the commencement of this century, the Latin 
 church was divided into two great factions, and was go- 
 verned by two contending pontiffs, Boniface 1X. who re- 
 mained at Rome, and Benedict XIU. who resided at Avi- 
 gnon. Upon the death of the former, the cardinals of his 
 party raised to the pontificate, in 1404, Cosmc de Meliorati, 
 who assumed the name of Innocent VIL.*, and held that 
 high dignity during the short space of two years only. After 
 his decease, Angelo Corrario, a Venetian cardinal, was 
 chosen in his room, and ruled the Reman faction under 
 the title of Gregory XII. <A plan of reconciliation was 
 however formed, and the contending pontiffs bound them- 
 selves, each by an oath, to make a voluntary renunciation 
 of the papal chair, if that step should be deemed necessary 
 to promote the peace and welfare of the church; but both 
 of them scandalously violated this solemn obligation. 
 Benedict, besieged in Avignon by the king of France, in 
 1408, saved himself by flight, retiring first into Catalonia, 
 his native country, and afterwards to Perpignan. Hence 
 eight or nine of the cardinals, who adhered to his cause, 
 seeing themselves deserted by their pope, went over to the 
 other side, and, joining publicly with the cardinals who 
 supported Gregory, they agreed to assemble a council at 
 Pisa on the 25th of March, 1409, in order to heal the divi- 
 sions and factions that had so long rent the papal empire. 
 This council, however, which was designed to close the 
 wounds of the church, had an effect quite contrary to that 
 which was generally expected, and only served to open a 
 new breach, and to excite new divisions. Its proceedings, 
 indeed, were vigorous, and its measures were accompanied 
 with a just severity. A heavy sentence of condemnation 
 was pronounced, on the 5th day of June, against the con- 
 tending pontifis, who were declared guilty of heresy, per- 
 jury, and contumacy, unworthy of the smallest tokens of 
 honour or respect, and separated ipso facto from the com- 
 mupion of the church. _This step was followed by the 
 election of one pontiff in their place. 'The election took 
 place cn the 25th of June, and fell upon Peter of Candia, 
 known in the papal list by the name of Alexander V.,‘ 
 but all the decrees and proceedings of this famous council 
 were treated with contempt by the condemned pontifls, 
 who continued to enjoy the privileges and to perform the 
 functions of the papacy, as if no attempts had been made 
 to remove them from that dignity. Benedict held a coun- 
 cil at Perpignan ; and Gregory assembled one near Aqui- 
 leia. ‘The latter, however, apprehending the resentment 
 
 ° Beside the ordinary wr.ers, Wix Ixwve given us an account of the 
 transactions that happered under the pontificate of Innocent VII., see 
 Leon. Aretin. Epistol. lib. i. ep. iv. v. et Colluc. Salutat. Epistol. lib. ii. 
 —We have also an account of the pontificate of Gregory, in the Epis- 
 tles of the same Aretin, and in Jo. Lami, Delic. Eruditorum, tom. i. 
 
 f See L’Enfant Histoire, du Concile de Pise—F. Pagi, Breviar. Pon- 
 tif. Romanorum, tom. iv.—and Bossuet, Defensio Decreti Gallicani de 
 Potestate Ecclesiastica, tom. ii. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 of the Venetians, made his escape in a clandestine man- 
 ner from the territory of Aquileia, arrived at Caieta, where 
 he threw himself upon the protection of Ladislaus, king 
 of Naples, and, in 1412, fled thence to Rimini. 
 
 Ili. Thus was the Christian church divided into three 
 great factions, and its government violently carried on by 
 three contending chiefs, who loaded each other with reci- 
 procal maledictions, calumnies, and excommunications. 
 Alexander V., who had been elected pontiff at the council 
 of Pisa, died at Bologna in 1410; and the sixteen cardi- 
 nals, who attended him in that city, immediately filled up 
 the vacancy, by choosing, as his successor, Balthasar Cossa, 
 a Neapolitan, destitute of all principles both of religion 
 and probity, who assumed the title of John XXUI. ‘The 
 duration of this schism in the papacy was a source of many 
 calamities, and became daily more detrimental both to the 
 civil and religious interests of those nations among whom 
 the flame raged. Hence it was that the emperor Sigismund, 
 the king of France, and several other princes, employed 
 all their zeal and activity, and spared neither labour nor 
 expense, in restoring the tranquillity of the church, and 
 uniting it again under one spiritual head. On the other 
 hand, the pontiffs could not be persuaded by any means 
 to prefer the peace of the church to the gratification of 
 their ambition; so that no other method of accommodating 
 this weighty matter remained, than the assembling of a 
 general council, in which the controversy might be exa- 
 mined, and terminated by the judgment and decision of 
 the universal church. This council was accordingly con- 
 voked at Constance, in 1414, by John XXIII. who was 
 engaged in this measure by the entreaties of Sigismund, 
 and also from an expectation, that the decrees of this grand 
 assembly would be favourable to his interests. He appeared 
 with a great number of cardinals and bishops, at this 
 famous council, which was also honoured with the presence 
 of the emperor, of many German princes, and of the am- 
 bassadors of all the European states, whose monarchs or 
 regents could not be personally present at the decision of 
 this important controversy.” 
 
 IV. The great object of this assembly was the healing 
 of the schism that had so long rent the papacy : and this 
 purpose was happily accomplished. It was solemnly de- 
 clared, in the fourth and fifth sessions of this council, by 
 two decrees, that the Roman pontiff was inferior and sub- 
 ject to a general assembly of the universal church ; and 
 the same decrees vindicated and maintained, in the most 
 effectual manner, the authority of councils.« This vi- 
 gorous proceeding prepared the way for the degradation 
 of John, who, during the twelfth session, was unani- 
 mously deposed from the pontificate,4 on account of seve- 
 ral flagitious crimes that were laid to his charge, and more 
 especially for the scandalous violation of a solemn engage- 
 Antony Panciarini, and putting Antony du Pont, the bishop of Con- 
 cordia, in his place. 
 
 » The acts of this famous council were published in six volumes in 
 folio, at Frankfort, in 1700, by Herman von der Hardt. This collec- 
 tion, however, is imperfert, notwithstanding the pains that it cost the 
 laborious editor. Many of the acts are omitted, and a great number of 
 pieces are introduced which by no means deserve a place. The history 
 of the same council by L’Enfant, is composed with great accuracy and 
 elegance; but the supplement that was given to it by Bourgeois de 
 Chastenet, a French lawyer, is a performance of little merit ; it is en- 
 titled, ‘ Nouvelle Histoire du Concile de Constance, ou l’on fait voir 
 combien la France a contribué a extinction du Schisme.’ 
 
 ¢ For an account of these two famous decrees, which set such wise 
 limits to the supremacy of the pontiffs, see Natalis Alexand. Hist. Eccl. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 263 
 
 ment which he had taken about the beginning of the 
 council, to resign the papal chair, if that measure should ap- 
 pear necessary to the peace of the church; which engage- 
 ment he broke some weeks after by a clandestire flight. 
 In the same year (1415,) Gregory sent Charles de Mala- 
 testa to the council to make, in his name, a solemn and 
 voluntary resignation of the pontificate. About two years 
 after this, Benedict was deposed by a solemn resolution of 
 the council,* and Otto de Colonna raised, by the unani- 
 mous suffrages of the cardinals, to the high dignity of 
 head of the church, which he ruled under the title of Mar- 
 tin V. Benedict, who still résided at Perpignan, was far 
 from being disposed to submit either to the decree of the 
 council which deposed him, or to the determination of the 
 cardinals with respect to his successor. On the contrary. 
 he persisted until the day of his death, which happened 
 in the year 1423, in assuming the title, the prerogatives, 
 and the authority of the papacy. And when this obsti- 
 nate man was dead, a certain Spaniard, named Giles 
 Munoz, was chosen pope in his place by two cardinals, 
 under the patronage of Alphonso, king of Sicily, and 
 adopted the title of Clement VIIT.; but this sorry pontiff, 
 in 1429, was persuaded to resign his pretensions, and to 
 leave the government of the church to Martin V. 
 
 V. If, from the measures that were taken in this 
 council to check the lordly arrogance of the Roman _pon- 
 tiffs, we turn our eyes to the proceedings against those 
 who were called heretics, we shall observe in this new 
 scene nothing worthy of applause, but several things, on 
 the contrary, that can only excite our indignation, and 
 which no pretext, no consideration, can render excusable. 
 Before the meeting of this council, great commotions had 
 been excited in several parts of Europe, and more espe- 
 cially in Bohemia, by contests on religious subjects. One 
 of the persons that gave occasion to these disputes was 
 John Huss, who lived at Prague in the highest reputa- 
 tion, both on account of the sanctity of his manners, and 
 the purity of his doctrine, who was distinguished by his 
 uncommon erudition and eloquence, and performed, at 
 the same time, the functions of professor of divinity in 
 the university, and of ordinary pastor in the church of 
 that famous city. This eminent ecclesiastic declaimed 
 with vehemence against the vices that had corrupted the 
 clergy of all denominations ; nor was he singular in this 
 respect ; for such remonstrances had become very com- 
 mon, and were generally approved by the wise and the 
 good. Huss, however, went still farther; and, from the year 
 1408, used his most zealous endeavours to withdraw the 
 university of Prague from the jurisdiction of Gregory 
 XII, whom the kingdom of Bohemia had hitherto ac- 
 knowledged as the true and lawful head of the church. 
 The archbishop of Prague, and the clergy in general, 
 
 sec. XV. Diss. iv.—Bossuet, Defens. Sententia Cleri Gallican. de Po- 
 test. Ecclesiast. tom. ii—L’Enfant, Dissert. Historique et Apologetique 
 pour Jean Gerson et le Concile de Constance, which is subjoined to his 
 history of that council. 
 
 4 On the 29th of May, i415. 
 
 ° On the 26th of July, 1417. 
 
 xf A Bohemian Jesuit, who was far from being favourable to John 
 Huss, and who had the best opportunity of being acquainted with his 
 real character, describes him thus: ‘He was more subtle than elo- 
 quent; but the gravity and austerity of his manners, his frugal and ex- 
 emplary life, his pale and meagre countenance, his sweetness of tem- 
 per, and his uncommon affability toward persons of all ranks and con- 
 ditions, from the highest to the lowest, were much more persuasive 
 than any eloquence could be.” See Bohuslaus Balbinus, Epitom. Hist 
 Rer. Bohem. lib. iv. cap. v. p. 431. 
 
364 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 who were warmly attached to the interests of Gregory, 
 were greatly exasperated at these proceedings. Hence 
 arose a violent quarrel between the incensed prelate and 
 the zealous reformer, which the latter inflamed and aug- 
 mented, from day to day, by his warm exclamations 
 against the conduct of the court of Rome, and the cor- 
 ruptions that prevailed among the sacerdotal order. 
 
 VI. Such were the circumstances that first excited the 
 resentment of the clergy against John Huss. This re- 
 sentment, however, might have been easily calmed, and 
 perhaps totally extinguished, if new incidents of a more 
 important kind had not arisen to keep up the flame and 
 increase its fury. In the, first place, he adopted the 
 philosophical opinions of the Realists, and showed his 
 warm attachment to their cause, in the manner that was 
 usual in this barbarous age, even by persecuting, to the 
 
 utmost of his power, their adversaries, the Nominalists, | 
 
 whose number was great, and whose influence was con- 
 siderable in the university of Prague. He also multi- 
 plied the number of his enemies, in 1408, by procuring, 
 
 through his great credit, a sentence in favour of the Bo- 
 hemians, who disputed -vith the Germans concerning the 
 number of suffrages to which their respective nations 
 were entitled in all points that were carried by election in 
 the university. ‘That the nature of this contest may be 
 better understood, it will be proper to observe, that this 
 famous university was divided, by its founder Charles 
 IV., into four nations, namely, the Bohemians, Bava- 
 rians, Poles, and Saxons; of which, according to the 
 original laws of the institution, the first had three suf. 
 frases, and the other three, who were comprehended 
 under the title of the German nation, only one. ‘This 
 arrangement, however, had not only been altered by 
 custom, but was entirely inverted in favour of the Germans, 
 who were vastly superior to the Bohemians in number, 
 and assumed to themselves the three suffrages which 
 originally belonged to the latter. Huss, therefore, whether 
 animated by a principle of patriotism, or by an aversion 
 to the Nominalists, who were peculiarly favoured by the 
 Germans, raised his voice against this abuse, and employ- 
 ed, with success, the extraordinary credit he had obtained 
 at court, by his flowing and masculine eloquence, in 
 depriving the Germans of the privilege they had usurped, 
 and in reducing their three suffrages to one. The issue 
 of this long and tedious contest? was so offensive to the 
 Germans, that a prodigious number of them, with John 
 Hoffman, the rector of the university, at their head,° re- 
 tired from Prague, and repaired to Leipsic, where Frede- 
 ric the Wise, elector of Saxony, erected for them, in 1409, 
 that academic institution which still subsists in a flourish- 
 ing state. ‘This event contributed greatly to render Huss 
 odious to many, and, by the consequences that followed 
 
 * See the Litera Nominalium ad Regem Franciwe Ludovicum VI., in 
 Baluzii Miscellan. tom. iv. p. 534, where we read the following pas- 
 sage: ‘‘ Legimus Nominales expulsos de Bohemia eo tempore, quo hee- 
 retici voluerunt Bohemicum regnumsuis heresibus inficere.—Quum dicti 
 heeretici non possent disputando superare, iImpetraverunt ab Abbisseslao 
 (Wenceslao) principe Bohemiz, ut gubernarentur studia Pragensia ritu 
 batistensitete quo edicto coacti sunt supradicti Nominales Pragam ci- 
 vitatem relinquere, et se transtulerunt ad Lipzicam civitatem, et “Tbidem 
 erexerunt universitatem solemnissimam.” 
 32> » Weneeslaus, king of Bohemia, who was bribed by both of the 
 contending parties, protracted instead of abr idging this dispute, and 
 used to say with a smile, that he had found a ood goose, which laid 
 every day a considerable number of gold and silver eggs. This was play- 
 ing upon the word Huss, which, in the German language, signifies a goose, 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. Part IL. 
 it, was certainly instrumental in bringing on his ruin; 
 for no sooner had the Germans retired from Prague, than 
 he began not only to inveigh with greater freedom than 
 he had formerly done against the vices and corruptions 
 of the clergy, but even went so far as to recommend, in 
 an open and public manner, the writings and opinions 
 of the famous Wickliffe, whose new doctrines had already 
 made such a noise in England. Hence an accusation 
 was brought against him, in 1410, before the tribunal 
 of John XXIL , by whom he was solemnly expelled from 
 the communion of the church. He treated, indeed, this 
 excommunication with the utmost contempt, and, both 
 in his conversation and his writings, exposed the disor- 
 ders that preyed upon the vitals of the church, and the 
 vices that dishonoured the conduct of its ministers ;4 and 
 the fortitude and zeal which he discovered on this occa- 
 sion were almost universally applauded. 
 
 VII. This eminent man, whose piety was truly fervent 
 and sincere, though his zeal, perhaps, was rather too vio- 
 lent, and his prudence not always equally circumspect, 
 was summoned to appear before the council of Constance. 
 Obedient to this order, and thinking himself secured from 
 the rage of his enemies, by the.safe conduct which had 
 been granted to him by the emperor Sigismund, both for 
 his journey to Constance, his residence in that city, and 
 his return to his own country, John Huss appeared before 
 the assembled churchmen, to demonstrate his innocence, 
 and to prove that the charge of his having deserted the 
 church of Rome was entirely groundless. And it may be 
 affirmed with truth, that his religious opinions, at least in 
 matters of inrportance, were conformable to the established 
 doctrine of the church in this age.e He declaimed, indeed, 
 with extraordinary vehemence against the Roman pontifls, 
 the bishops and monks: but this freedom was deemed 
 lawful in these times, and it was used every day in the 
 council of Constance, where the tyranny of the court of 
 Rome, and the corruption of the sacerdotal and monastic 
 orders, were censured with the utmost severity. The 
 enemies, however, of this good man, who were very 
 numerous, coloured the accusation that was brought 
 against him with such artifice and success, that, by the 
 most scandalous breach of public faith, he was thrown 
 into prison, declared a heretic, because he refused to obey 
 the order of the council, which commanded him to plead 
 guilty against the dictates of his conscience, and was 
 burned alive on the 6th of July, 1415; which dreadful 
 punishment he endured with unparalleled magnanimity 
 and resignation, expressing in his last moments the noblest 
 feelings of love to God, and the mest triumphant hope of 
 the accomplishment of those transporting promises with 
 which the Gospel fortifies the true Christian at the ap- 
 proach of eternity. ‘The same unhappy fate was borne 
 
 %¢> ¢ Historians differ much in their accounts of the number of Ger- 
 mans that retired from the university of Prague upon this occasion. 
 /Eneas Sylvius reckons 5000; Trithemius and others 2000. Dubra- 
 vius 24,000; Lupatius 44,000; ’ Lauda (a contemporary writer) 36,000. 
 
 a See Laur. Byzini Diarium Belli Hussitici, in Ludewig’s Reliquia 
 Manuscriptorum, tom. vi. p. 127. 
 
 3 ¢ It was observed in the preceding section, that Joht Huss adopt- 
 ed with zeal, and openly recommended the writings and opinions of 
 Wickliffe ; but this must be understood of the writings ana oninions of 
 that great man in relation to the papal hierarchy, the despotism or the 
 court of Rome, and the corruption of the clergy ; for, in other respects, 
 it is certain that he adhered to the most superstitious doctrines of the 
 church, as appears from various passages In two sermons which he had 
 prepared for the council of Constance. 
 
Cuap. Il. 
 
 with the same pious fortitude and constancy of mind by 
 Jerome of Prague, the intimate companion of John Huss, 
 who appeared at this council with the generous design of 
 supporting and seconding his persecuted friend. ‘Terrified 
 by the prospect of a cruel death, Jerome at first appeared 
 willing to submit to the orders of the council, and to 
 abandon the tenets and opinions which it had condemned 
 in his writings. ‘This submission, however, was not 
 attended with the advantages he expected from it; nor 
 did it deliver hin: from the close and severe confinement 
 in which he was kept. He therefore resumed his fortitude ; 
 professed anew, with an heroic constancy, the opinions 
 which he had deserted for a while from a principle of 
 fear; and maintained them in the flames, in which he 
 expired on the 30th of May, 1416.+ 
 
 Many learned men have endeavoured to investigate the 
 reasons that occasioned the pronouncing of such a cruel 
 sentence against Huss and his associate ; and, as no ade- 
 quate reasons for such a severe proceeding can be found, 
 either in the life or opinions of that good man, they con- 
 clude that he fell a victim to the rage and injustice of his 
 unrelenting enemies. And irideed this conclusion is both 
 natural and well-grounded ; nor will it be difficult to show 
 how it came to pass, that the reverend fathers of the coun- 
 cil were so eagerly bent upon burning, as a heretic, a man 
 who neither deserved such an injurious title, nor such a 
 dreadful fate. In the first place, John Huss had excited, 
 both by his discourses and by his writings, great commo- 
 tions in Bohemia, and had rendered the clergy of all 
 ranks and orders extremely odious in the eyes of the 
 people. The bishops, therefore, together with the sacer- 
 dotal and monastic orders, were very sensible that their 
 honours and advantages, their credit and authority, were 
 inthe greatest danger of being annihilated, if this reformer 
 should return to country, and continue to write and 
 Jeclaim against the clergy with the same freedom which 
 he had formerly exercised. Hence they left no means un- 
 employed to accomplish his ruin; they laboured night 
 and day, formed plots, bribed men in power; they used, 
 in short, every method that could have any tendency to 
 tid them of such a formidable adversary.” It may be ob- 
 served, secondly, that in the council there were many men 
 of great influence and weight, who looked upon them- 
 selves as personally offended by him, and demanded his 
 life as the only sacrifice that could satisfy their vengeance. 
 Huss, as has been already mentioned, was not only at- 
 
 his 
 
 pS Sow) 
 
 Z¢> * The translator has here inserted into the text the long note * of 
 the original, which relates to the circumstances that precipitated the ruin 
 of these two eminent reformers ; and he has thrown the citations therein 
 contained into several notes. 
 
 b The bribery and corruption that were employed in bringing about 
 the ruin of John Huss, are manifest from the following remarkable pas- 
 sages of the Diarium Hussiticum ef Laur. Byzinius: ‘Clerus per- 
 versus, precipue in regno Bohemiz et marchionatu Moravie, con- 
 demnationem ipsius (Hussi) contributione pecuniarum et modis aliis 
 diversis procuravit, et ad ipsius consensit interitum.” “ Clerus perver- 
 sus regni Bohemie et marchionatus Moravia, et precipue episcopi, 
 abbates, canonici, plebani, et religiosi, ipsius fideles ac salutiferas ad- 
 monitiones, adhortationes, ipsorum pompam, simoniam, avaritiam, 
 fornicationem, viteeque detestande abominationem detegentes, ferre non 
 valendo, pecuniarum contributiones ad ipsius extinctionem faciendo 
 procurarunt.” 
 
 * See Baluzii Miscell. tom. iv. p. 534, in which we find the following 
 oassage: “Suscitavit Deus doctores catholicos, Petrum de Alliaco, 
 
 ohannem de Gersono, et alios quam plures doctissimos homines 
 Nominales, qui, convocati ad concilium Constantiense, ad quod citati 
 fuerunt heretici, et nominatim Hieronymus et Johannes—dictos here- 
 ticos per quadraginta dies disputando superaverunt.” 
 
 No. XX XI. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 365 
 
 tached to the party of the Realists, but was peculiarly se- 
 vere in his opposition to their adversaries. And now he 
 was so unhappy, as to be brought before a tribunal which 
 was principally composed of the Nominalists, with the 
 famous John Gerson at their head, who was the zealous 
 patron of that faction, and the mortal enemy of Huss. 
 Nothing could equal the vindictive pleasure the Nominal 
 ists felt from an event that put this unfortunate prisoner 
 in their power, and gave them an opportunity of satisfying 
 their vengeance to the full; and accordingly, in their letter 
 to Louis, king of France,° they do not pretend to deny 
 that Huss fell a victim to the resentment of their sect, which 
 is also confirmed by the history of the council. he ani- 
 mosities that always reigned between the Realists and 
 Nominalists, were at this time carried to the greatest ex- 
 cess imaginable. Upon every occasion that offered, they 
 accused each other of heresy and impiety, and constantly 
 had recourse to corporal punishments to decide the dispute. 
 The Nominalists procured the death of Huss, who was a 
 Realist ; and the Realists, on the other hand, obtained, in 
 1479, the condemnation of John of Wesel, who was at- 
 tached to the opposite party.2. These contending sects 
 carried their blind fury so far as to charge each other with 
 the sin against the Holy Ghost,e and exhibited the most 
 miserable spectacle of inhuman bigotry to the Christian 
 world. "The aversion which John Huss, and Jerome, 
 his companion, had against the Germans, was a third 
 circumstance that contributed to determine their unhappy 
 fate. ‘This aversion they declared publicly at Prague, on 
 all occasions, both by their words and actions; nor were 
 they at any pains to conceal it even in the council of Con- 
 stance, where they accused them of presumption and des- 
 potism in the strongest terms.‘ ‘The Germans, on the other 
 hand, remembering the affront they had received in the 
 university of Prague, by the means of John Huss, burned 
 with resentment and rage both against him and his un- 
 fortunate friend; and, as their influence and authority 
 were very great in the council, there is no doubt that they 
 employed them, with the utmost zeal, against these two 
 formidable adversaries. Besides, John Hofliman, the fa- 
 mous rector of the university, whom Huss had been the 
 , occasion of expelling from that city, together with the 
 Germans, and who in consequence thereof became his 
 most virulent enemy, was consecrated bishop of Misnia, in 
 1413, and held in this council the most illustrious rank 
 among the delegates of the German church. This cir- 
 
 4 See the Examen Magistrale et Theologicale Mag. Joh. de Wesalia, 
 in Ortuini Gratii Fasciculo rerum expetend. et fugiendar. Colon. 1535. 
 
 * In the Hxamen mentioned in the preceding note, we find the fol- 
 lowing striking passage, which may show us the extravagant length to 
 which the disputes between the Nominalists and Realists were now car- 
 ried: “ Quis nisi ipse diabolus seminavit illam zizaniam inter philoso- 
 phos et inter theologos, ut tanta sit dissensio, etiam animorwm, inter 
 diversa opinantes? Adeo ut si universalia quisquam realia negaverit, 
 existimetur in Spiritum Sanctum peccavisse; imo summo et maximo 
 peecato plenus creditur contra Deum, contra Christianam religionem, 
 contra justitiam, contra omnem politiam, graviter deliquisse. Unde 
 hec cecitas mentis nisi a diabolo, qui phantasias nostras illudit?’ We 
 see by this passage, that the Realists charged their adversaries (whose 
 only crime was the absurdity of calling wniversal ideas mere denomi- 
 nations) with sin against the Holy Ghost, with transgression against 
 God, and against the Christian religion, and with a violation of all the 
 laws of justice and civil polity. 
 
 f See Theod. de Niem, Invectiva in Joh. XXIII., in Hardtii Actis 
 Concilii Constant. tom. ii. p. 450. ‘Improperabat etiam in publico Ala- 
 mannis, dicendo, quod essent*presumptuosi, et vellent ubique per orbem 
 dominari Sicque factum fuisset sepe in Bohemia, ubi volentes etiam 
 | dominari Alamanni violenter exinde repulsi et male tractati fuissent.” 
 
366 
 
 cumstance was also most unfavourable to Huss, and was, 
 without doubt, ultimately detrimental to his cause. 
 
 "U'he circumstances now mentioned, as contributing to 
 
 the unhappy fate of this good man, are, as we see, all 
 drawn from’the resentment and prejudices of his enemies, 
 and have not the least colour of equity. It must, however, 
 be confessed, that there appeared one mark of her esy in 
 the conduct of this reformer, which, according to the no- 
 jons that prevailed in this century, might expose him to 
 sondemnation with some shadow of reason and justice ; 
 I mean, his inflexible obstinacy, which the church of 
 Rome always considered as a grievous heresy, even in 
 those whose errors were of little moment. We must con- 
 sider this man, as called before a council, which was sup- 
 posed to represent the universal church, to confess his 
 faults and to abjure his errors. ‘This he obstinately refused 
 to do, unless he was previously convicted of error; here, 
 therefore, he resisted the authority of the catholic church, 
 demanded a rational proof of the justice of the sentence it 
 had pronounced against him, and intimated, with sufficient 
 plainness, that he looked upon the church as fallible. All 
 this certainly was most enormously criminal and intole- 
 rably heretical, according to the general opinion of the 
 times; for it became a dutiful son of the church to re- 
 nounce his eye-sight, and to submit his own judgment and 
 will, without any exception or reservation, to the judgment 
 and will of that holy mother, under a firm belief and en- 
 tire persuasion of the infallibility of all her decisions. This 
 ghostly mother had, for many ages past, followed, when- 
 ever her unerring perfection and authority were called i 
 question, the rule which Pliny observed in his cond 
 toward the Christians: “ When they persevered, (says he, 
 in his letter to Trajan,) I put my threats into execution, 
 from a persuasion that, whatever their confessions might 
 be, their audacious and invincible obstinacy deserved an 
 exemplary punishment.”* 
 
 VILI. Before sentence had been pronounced against 
 John Huss and Jerome of Prague, the famous Wickliffe, 
 whose opinions they were supposed to adopt, and who 
 was long since dead, was called from his rest before this 
 spiritual tribunal ; and his memory was solemnly branded 
 with infamy by a decree of the council. On the 4th day of 
 May, in 1415, many propositions, invidiously culled out 
 of his writings, were examined and condemned, and an 
 order was issued to commit all his works, together with 
 his bones, to the flames. On the 14th of June following, 
 the assembled fathers passed the famous decree, which 
 took the cup from the laity in the celebration of the 
 eucharist ; ordered “ that the Lord’s supper should be re- 
 ceived by them only in one kind, i. e. the bread,” and 
 rigorously prohibited the communion in both kinds. 
 This decree was occasioned by complaints that had been 
 made of the conduct of Jacobellus de Misa, curate of the 
 parish of St. Michael at Prague, who, about a year before, 
 had been persuaded by Peter of Dresden, to administer 
 the Lord’s supper in both kinds, and was followed in this 
 by several churches.” The council, being informed of 
 
 24 
 
 dia 
 
 yrat 
 (aur 
 
 * Plin. Epist. lib. x. ep. 97. “ Perseverantes duci jussi. Neque enim 
 dubitabam, qualecumque esset quod. faterentur , pervicaciam certe et in- 
 flexibilem obstinationem debere puniri.” b Byzinii Diar. Huss. p. 124. 
 
 a> ° Some historians have erroneously represented Petit as a law- 
 yer. See Dr. Smollet’s History of England. 
 
 4 This appears manifestly from the very discourse of Petit, which 
 the reader may see in L’Eafant’s History of the Council of Pisa, tom. 
 
 iNTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 i. p. 303.* 
 
 Part Il 
 
 this matter by a Bohemian bishop, thought proper to 
 oppose with vigour the progress of this heresy ; and 
 therefore they enacted the statute, which ordered “ the 
 communion to be administered to the laity only in one 
 kind,” and which obtained the force and authority of a 
 law in the church of Rome. 
 
 IX. In the same year, the opinion of John Petit, a 
 doctor of divinity at Parise who maintained, that every 
 individual had an undoubied right to take away the life 
 of a tyrant, was brought before the council, and was con- 
 demned as an odious and detestable heresy ; but both the 
 name and person of the author were spared, on account 
 of the powerful patrons, under whose. protection he had 
 defended that pernicious doctrine. John, duke of Burgun- 
 dy, had, in 1407, employed a band of ruffians to assassi- 
 nate Louis duke of Orleans, only brother of Charles VI. 
 king of France. While the whole city was in an uproar 
 in consequence of this horrible deed, Petit vindicated it in 
 a public oration, in presence of the dauphin and the other 
 princes of the blood, aflirming, that the duke had done a 
 Jaudable action, and that it was lawful to put a tyrant to 
 death, “in any way, either by violence or fraud, without 
 any form of law or justice, and even in opposition to the 
 most solemn contracts and oaths of fidelity and allegiance.” 
 It is, however, to be observed, that by tyrants, this doctor 
 did not mean the supreme rulers of nations, but those 
 powerful and insolent subjects, who abused their opulence 
 and credit to bring about measures that tended to the dis- 
 honour of their sovereign and the ruin of their country.‘ 
 The university of Paris pronounced a severe and rigor- 
 ous sentence against the author of this pernicious opinion ; 
 and the council of Constance, after much deliberation and 
 debate, condemned the opinion without mentioning the 
 author. ‘This determination, though modified with the 
 utmost clemency and mildness, was not ratified by the 
 new pontiff Martin V., who dreaded too much the formida- 
 ble power of the duke of Burgundy, to confirm a sentence 
 which he knew would be displeasing to that ambitious 
 prince.¢ 
 
 X. After these and other transactions of a like nature, 
 it was now time to take into consideration a point of great- 
 er importance than had yet been proposed, even the refor- 
 mation of the church in its head and in its members, by 
 setting bound to the despotism and corruption of the 
 Roman pontiffs, and to the luxury and immorality of 
 licentious ecclesiastics. It was particularly with a view te 
 this important object, that the eyes of all Europe were 
 fixed upon the council, from a general persuasion of the 
 necessity of this reformation, and an ardent desire of see- 
 ing it happily brought into execution. Nor did the assem- 
 bled fathers deny, that this reformation was the principal 
 end of their meeting. Yet this selutary work had so 
 many obstacles in the passions and interests of those very 
 persons by whom it was to be effected, that little could be 
 expected, and still less was done. ‘The cardinals and 
 dignified clergy, whose interest it was that the church 
 should remain in its corrupt and disordered state, employ- 
 
 See also August. Leyseri Diss. qua Memoriam Joh. Bur- 
 gundi et Doctrinam Joh. Parvi de Cede per Duellium vindicat. 
 
 ° Feige tom. v.—Argentre, Colléctio Judicior. de novis Erroribus, 
 tom. i. part li. —Gersonis Opera, edited by M. Du-Pin, tom. v.— 
 Bayle s Diction. tom. 11. 
 
 #2r* See also the same author’s History of the Council of Con. 
 stance, book iil. sect. xix. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 ed all their eloquence and art to prevent its reformation ; 
 and observed, among other artful pretexts, that a work of 
 ~ such high moment and importance could not be undertaken 
 with any prospect of success, until a new pontiff should be 
 elected. And, what was still more shocking, Martin V. 
 Was no sooner raised to that high dignity, than he employed | 
 his authority to elude and frustrate every effort that was: 
 made to set this salutary work on foot, and made it appear | 
 most evidently, by the laws he enacted, that nothing was_ 
 more foreign from his intention than the reformation of 
 the clergy, and the restoration of the church to its primitive 
 purity. ‘Thus this famous council, after sitting three years 
 and six months, was dissolved, on the 22d day of April, 
 1418, without having effected its chief ostensible object ; 
 and the members postponed to a future assembly of the 
 same kind, which was to be summoned five years after 
 this period, that pious design of purifying a corrupt church, 
 which had been so long the object of the expectations and 
 desires of all good Christians. 
 
 XI. Not merely five years, but almost thirteen, elapsed 
 without the promised meeting. The remonstrances, how- 
 ever, of those whose zeal for the reformation of the church 
 interested them in this event, prevailed at length over the 
 pretexts and stratagems which were employed to put it | 
 otf from time to time; and Martin summoned a council | 
 to meet at Pavia, whence it was removed to Sienna, and 
 thence to Basil. The pontiff did not live to be a witness 
 of the proceedings of this assembly, being carried off by a 
 sudden death on the 21st day of February, 1431, just 
 about the time when the council was to meet. He was 
 immediately succeeded by Gabriel Condolmerio, a native of | 
 Venice, and bishop of Sienna, who is known in the papal ' 
 list by the title of Eugenius IV. This pontiff approved 
 all the measures of his predecessor, in relation to the, 
 assembling of the council of Basil, which was accordingly 
 opened on the 23d of July, 1431, under the superin- 
 tendence of Cardinal Julian Cesarini, who performed the , 
 functions of president in the place of Eugenius. | 
 
 The two grand points, proposed to the deliberation of 
 this famous council, were, the union of the Grerk and 
 Latin churches, and the reformation of the church univer- 
 sal, both in its head and in its members, according to the 
 resolution that had been taken in the late council; for 
 that the Roman pontiff, or the head of the church, and 
 the bishops, priests, and monks, who were looked upon as 
 its members, had become excessively corrupt, and that, to 
 use the expression of the prophet in a similar case, the 
 ‘whole head was sick and the whole heart faint, 
 were matters of fact too striking to escape the knowledge 
 of the obscurest individual. On the other hand, as it 
 appeared by the very form of the council,* by its method 
 
 3° By the form of the council, Dr. Mosheim undoubtedly means 
 the division of the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots, &c. into four | 
 equal classes, without any regard to the nation or province by which 
 they were sent. This prudent arrangement prevented the cabals and | 
 intrigues of the Italians, whose bishops were much more numerous 
 than those of other nations, and who, by their number, might have had 
 it in their power to retard or defeat the laudable purpose which the coun- 
 cil had in view, had things been otherwise ordered. 
 
 ’ The history of this grand and memorable council is yet a desidera- 
 tum. The learned Stephen Baluze, (as we find in the Histoire de 
 Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, tom. vi. p.544,) and 
 after him M. L’Enfant, promised the world a history of this council; but 
 neither of these valuable writers performed that promise.* The acts 
 of this famous assembly were collected with incredible industry, in a 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 great number of volumes, from various archives and libraries, at the 
 
 367 
 
 of proceeding, and by the first decrees that were enacted 
 by its authority, that the assembled fathers were in 
 earnest, and firmly resolved to answer the end and 
 purpose of their meeting, Eugenius was much alarmed at 
 the prospect of a reformation, which he feared above all 
 things ; and beholding with terror the zeal and designs 
 of these spiritual physicians, he twice attempted the dis- 
 solution of the council. ‘These repeated attempts were 
 vigorously opposed by the members, who proved by 
 the decrees of the late assembly, and by other argu- 
 ments equally conclusive, that the council was superior in 
 point of authority to the Roman pontiff. This controver- 
 sy was terminated in November, 1433, by the silence and 
 concessions of the pope, who, in the following month, 
 wrote a letter from Rome, expressing his approbation of 
 the council, and his acknowledgment of its authority.» 
 XII. These preliminary measures being finished, the 
 council proceeded with zeal and activity to the accomplish- 
 ment of the important purposes for which it was assembled 
 The pope’s legates were admitted as members, but not 
 before they had declared, upon oath, that they would 
 submit to the decrees that should be enacted in it, and 
 more particularly that they would adhere to the laws of 
 the council of Constance, in relation to the supremacy of 
 general councils, and the subordination of the pontiffs tc 
 their authority and jurisdiction. These very laws, which 
 the popes beheld with such aversion and horror, were 
 solemnly renewed by the assembly in 1434; and in the 
 following year, the Annates (as they were called) were 
 publicly abolished, notwithstanding the opposition. that 
 was made to this measure by the legates of the Roman 
 see. On the 25th of March, 1486, a confession of faith 
 was read, which every pontiff was to subscribe on the 
 day of his élection; it was voted that the number of 
 cardinals should be reduced to twenty-four ; and the papal 
 impositions, called F'zpectatives, Reservations, and Pro- 
 visions, were annulled. ‘These measures, with others of 
 a like nature, provoked Eugenius in the highest degree, 
 and induced him to form the intention, either of removing 
 this troublesome and enterprising council into Italy, or of 
 setting up a new assembly in opposition to it, which 
 might fix bounds to its zeal for the reformation of the 
 church. Accordingly, on the 7th of May, 1437, the 
 asserabled fathers having, on account of the Greeks, come 
 to a resetution of holding the new council at Basil, Avig- 
 non, or some city in the duchy of Savoy, the intractable 
 pontiff opposed this motion, and maintained that it should 
 be transferred into Italy. Each of the contending parties 
 
 persevered, with the utmost obstinacy, in the resolution 
 
 they had taken ; and this occasioned a warm and violent 
 contest between the pope and the council. The latter 
 
 expense of Rodolphus Augustus, duke of Brunswick, by the very 
 learned. and laborious Herman von der Hardt. They are preserved, as 
 we are informed, in the library at Hanover; and they certainly deserve 
 to be drawn from their retreat, and published to the world. In the mean 
 time, the curious may consult the abridgment of the acts of this coun- 
 cil, published at Paris, in 1512, of which I. have made use in this 
 history, as also the following authors: AEnce Sylvii Lib. duo de Con- 
 cilio Basiliensi—Edm. Richerius, Histor. Concilior. General. lib. iii. cap. 
 1—Henr. Canisii Lectiones Antique, tom. iv. p. 447. re. 
 
 3%“ * Dr. Mosheim has here fallen into an error; for L’Enfant did in 
 reality perform his promise, and composed the History of the Council 
 of Basil, which he blended with his history of the war of the Hussites, 
 on account of the connexion between these subjects, and also because 
 his advanced age prevented his indulging himself in the hope of being 
 able tb give, separately, a complete history of the council of Basil. 
 
368 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 summoned Eugenius to appear at Basil, in order to give 
 an account of his conduct; but the pontiff, instead of 
 complying with the requisition, issued a decree, by which 
 he pretended to dissolve the council, and to assemble 
 another at Ferrara. This decree, indeed, was treated with 
 the utmost contempt by the council, which, with the con- 
 sent of the emperor, the king of France, and several other 
 princes, continued its deliberations, and pronounced a 
 sentence of contumacy against the rebellious pontiff, for 
 having refused to obey its order. ‘ 
 
 XIIL In the year 1438, Eugenius in person opened the 
 council, which he had summoned to meet at Ferrara, and 
 at the second session thundered out an excommunication 
 against the fathers assembled at Basil. The principal 
 business that was now to be transacted, was the proposed 
 reconciliation between the Greek and Latin churches ; 
 and, in order to bring this salutary and important design 
 to a happy issue, the emperor John Paleologus, the 
 Grecian patriarch Josephus, with the most eminent bishops 
 and doctors among the Greeks, arrived in Italy, and 
 appeared at Ferrara. 'The extremify to which the Greeks 
 were reduced by the Turks, and the pleasing hope, that 
 their reconciliation with the Roman pontiff would con- 
 tribute to engage the Latins in their cause, seem to have 
 animated, in a particular manner, their zeal in this 
 negociation. Be that as it may, there was little done at 
 Ferrara, where matters were carried on too slowly, to 
 afford any prospect of an end of their dissensions: but the 
 negociations were more successful at Florence, whither 
 Eugenius removed the council about the beginning of the 
 year 1439, on account of the plague that broke out at 
 Ferrara. On the other hand, the council of Basil, exas- 
 perated by the imperious proceedings of Kugenius, deposed 
 him from the papacy on the 25th of June, 1489; which 
 vigorous measure was not approved by the European 
 kings and princes. It may be easily conceived what an 
 impression this step made upon the affronted pontiff; he 
 Jost all patience ; and devoted, for the second time, to hell 
 and damnation, the members of the obnoxious council by 
 a solemn and most severe edict, in which also he declared 
 all their acts null, and all their proceedings unlawful. 
 ‘This new peal of papal thunder was held in derision by 
 the council of Basil, whose members, persisting in their 
 purpose, elected another pontiff, and raised to that high 
 dignity Amadeus, duke of Savoy, who then lived in the 
 most profound solitude at a charming retreat, called 
 Ripaille, upon the borders of the Leman Lake, and who is 
 known in the papal list by the name of Felix V. 
 
 XIV. This election was the occasion of the revival of 
 that deplorable schism, which had formerly rent the 
 church, and which had been terminated with so much 
 difficulty, and after so many vain and fruitless efforts, at 
 the council of Constance. The new breach was even 
 more lamentable than the former one, as the flame was 
 kindled not only between rivai pontiffs, but also between 
 the contending councils of Basil and Florence. The 
 greatest part of the church submitted to the jurisdiction, 
 and adopted the cause of Eugenius; while Felix was 
 
 2 The history of this council, and of the frauds and stratagems that 
 Were practised in it, was composed by that learned Grecian, Sylvester 
 Seyropulus, whose work was published at the Hague, in 1660, with a 
 Latin translation, a preliminary Discourse, and ample notes, by the 
 learned Robert Creighton, a native of Great Britain. ‘This history was 
 refuted by Leo Allatius, in a work entitled, Exercitationes in Creightoni 
 
 & 
 
 Parr IL. 
 
 acknowledged, as lawful pontiff, by a great number of 
 universities, and, among others, by that of Paris, as also 
 in several kingdoms and provinces. ‘The council of Basil 
 continued to deliberate, to enact laws, and publish edicts, 
 until the year 1443, notwithstanding the efforts of Huge- 
 nius and his adherents to put a stop to their proceedings. 
 And, though in that year the members of the council 
 retired to their respective places of abode, yet they declared 
 publicly that the council was not dissolved. 
 
 In the mean time, the council of Florence, with Kuge- 
 nius at its head, was chiefly employed in reconciling the 
 differences between the Greeks and Latins; which 
 weighty business was committed to the prudence, zeal, 
 and piety, of a select number of eminent men on both 
 sides. he most distinguished among those whom the 
 Greeks chose for this purpose was the learned Bessarion, 
 who was afterwards raised to the dignity of cardinal in the 
 Romish church. This great man, engaged and seduced by 
 the splendid presents and promises of the Latin pontiff, 
 employed the whole extent of his authority, and the power 
 of his eloquence, and even had recourse to promises and 
 threats, to persuade the Greeks to accept the conditions of 
 peace that were proposed by Eugenius. ‘These conditions 
 required their consent to the following points:—* "That the 
 Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son, as well as from the 
 Father; that departed souls were purified in the infernal 
 regions, by a certain kind of fire, before their admission to 
 the presence and vision of the Deity ;—that unleavened 
 bread might be used in the administration of the Lord’s 
 supper ;”—and lastly, which was the principal thing insisted 
 upon by the Latins, that ‘the Roman pontiff was the su- 
 preme judge, the true head of the universal church.’ Such 
 were the terms of peace to which all the Greeks were obliged 
 to accede, except Mark of Ephesus, whom neither entreaties 
 nor rewards could move from his purpose, or engage to sub- 
 mit to a reconciliation founded upon such conditions. And 
 indeed this reconciliation, which had been brought about 
 by various stratagems, was much more specious than solid, 
 and had by no means stability sufficient to insure its 
 duration. We find, accordingly, that the Grecian deputies 
 had no sooner returned to Constantinople, than they 
 declared publicly, that all things had been carried on at 
 Florence by artifice and fraud, and renewed the schism, 
 which had been so imperfectly healed. ‘The council put 
 an end to its deliberations on the 26th of April, 1442, 
 without having executed any of the designs that were 
 proposed by it, in a satisfactory manner; for, beside the 
 aflair of the Greeks, they proposed bringing the Arme- 
 nians, Jacobites, and more particularly the Abyssinians, 
 into the bosom of the Romish church ; but this project 
 was attended with as little success as the other. 
 
 XV. Eugenius IV., who had been the occasion of the 
 new schism in the see of Rome, died in February, 1447, 
 and was succeeded, in a few weeks, by Thomas de Sar- 
 zano, bishop of Bologna, who filled the pontificate under 
 the denomination of Nicolas V. This eminent prelate had, 
 in point of merit, the best pretensions possible to the papal 
 throne. He was distinguished by his erudition and ge- 
 
 Apparatum, Versionem, et Notas ad Historiam Concilii Florentini 
 scriptam a Sgyropulo, Rome, 1674. See the same author’s Perpetua 
 Consensio Eeclesiz Oriental. et Occident. p. 875, as also Mabillon, 
 Museum Italicum, tom. i. p. 243.—Spanheim, de perpetua Dissensione 
 Eccles. Orient. et Occident. tom. ii. op. p. 491.—Hermann, Historia 
 concertat. de Pane azymo, part ii. ¢. v. 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 nius; he was a zealous patron and protector of learned 
 men ; and, what was still more laudable, he was remarka- 
 ble for his moderation, and for the meek and pacific spirit 
 that discovered itself in all his conduct and actions. Un- 
 der this pontificate, the European princes, and more es- 
 pecially the king of France, exerted their warmest en- 
 
 deavours to restore tranquillity and union to the Latin | 
 
 church ; and their efforts were crowned with the desired 
 success. For, in 1449, Felix V., resigned the papal chair, 
 and returned to his delightful hermitage at Ripaille, while 
 the fathers of the Council of Basil, assembled at Lausanne," 
 ratified his voluntary abdication, and, by a solemn decree, 
 ordered the universal church to submit to the jurisdiction 
 of Nicolas as their lawful pontiff. On the other hand, 
 Nicolas proclaimed this treaty of peace with great pomp 
 on the 18th of June, in the same year, and set the seal of 
 his approbation and authority to the acts and decrees of 
 the council. "This pontiff distinguished himself in a very 
 extraordinary manner, by his love of learning, and by his 
 ardent zeal for the propagation of the liberal arts and sci- 
 ences, which he promoted, with great success, by the en- 
 couragement he granted to the learned Greeks, who emi- 
 grated from Constantinople into Italy.» The principal 
 occasion of his death was the fatal revolution that threw 
 this capital of the Grecian empire into the hands of the 
 Turks; this melancholy event preyed upon his spirits, 
 and hastened his death, which happened on the 24th of 
 March, 1455. 
 
 XVI. His successor Alphonso Borgia, who was a native 
 of Spain, and is known in the papal list by the denomina- 
 tion of Calixtus III., was remarkable for nothing but his 
 zeal in animating the Christian princes to make war upon 
 the ‘Turks; his reign also was short, for he died in 1458. 
 fEneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who succeeded him in the 
 pontificate in that same year, under the title of Pius IL, 
 rendered his name much more illustrious, not only by his 
 extensive genius, and the important transactions that were 
 carried on during his administration, but also by the va- 
 
 * This abdication was made on the 9th of April, 1449, and was 
 ratified on the 16th. 
 
 bSee Dom. Georgii Vita Nicolai V. ad fidem veterum Monumen- 
 torum; to which is added a treatise, entitled, Disquisitio de Nicolai V. 
 erga Literas et Literatos Viros Patrocinio, published at Rome, in 1742. 
 
 xp * There was a famous edict, entitled, The Pragmatic Sanction, 
 issued by Louis IX., who, though he is honoured with a place in the 
 Kalendar, was yet a zealous assertor of the liberty and privileges of 
 the Gallican church, against the despotic encroachments and pretensions 
 of the Roman pontiffs. It was against their tyrannical proceedings, 
 and intolerable extortions, that this edict was chiefly levelled; and 
 though some creatures of the court of Rome have thrown out insinua- 
 tions of its being a spurious production, yet the contrary is evident 
 from its having been registered, as the authentic edict df that pious 
 monarch, by the parliamentof Paris, in 1461, by the states of the king- 
 dom assembled at Tours in 1483, and by the university of Paris, in 
 1491.--See, for a farther account of this edict, the excellent History of 
 France, (begun by the abbé-Velly, and continued by M. Villaret,) vol. 
 vi. p. 57. 
 
 The edict which Dr. Mosheim has in view here, is the Pragmatic 
 Sanction that was drawn up at Bourges, in 1438, by Charles VII. king 
 of France, with the consent of the most eminent prelates and grandees 
 of the nation, who were assembled at that place. This edict (which 
 was absolutely necessary in order to deliver the French clergy from the 
 vexations they suffered from the encroachments of the popes, ever since 
 the latter had fixed their residence at Avignon) consisted of twenty- 
 three articles, in which, among other salutary regulations, the elections 
 to vacant benefices were restored to their ancient purity and freedom,* 
 the annates and other pecuniary pretensions and encroachments of the 
 pontiffs abolished, and the authority of a general council declared supe- 
 rior to that of the pope. This edict was drawn up in concert with the 
 fathers of the council of Basil, and the articles were taken from the 
 decrees of that council, though they were admitted by the Gallican 
 
 No. XXXI. 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 369 
 
 rious and useful productions with which he enriched the 
 republic of letters. 'The lustre of his fame was, indeed, 
 tarnished by a scandalous proof which he gave of his fickle- 
 ness and inconstancy, or rather perhaps of his bad faith ; 
 for, after having vigorously defended, against the pontiffs, 
 the dignity and prerogatives of general councils, and main- 
 tained, with peculiar boldness and obstinacy, the cause of 
 the council of Basil against Eugenius LV., he ignomini- 
 ously renounced these principles upon his accession to the 
 pontificate, and acted in direct opposition to them during 
 the whole course of his administration. hus, in 1460, he 
 denied publicly that the pope was subordinate to a general 
 council, and even prohibited all appeals to such a council 
 under the severest penalties. In the following year he 
 obtained from Louis XL, king of France, the abrogation 
 of the Pragmatic Sanction, which favoured, in a parti- 
 cular manner, the pretensions of the general councils to 
 supremacy in the church... But the most egregious in- 
 stance of impudence and perfidy that he exhibited to the 
 world was in 1463, when he publicly retracted all that he 
 had written in favour of the council of Basil, and declared 
 without either shame or hesitation, that, as Alneas Syl- 
 vius, he was a damnable heretic, but that, as Pius IL, he 
 was an orthodox pontiff. his indecorous declaration was 
 the last circumstance, worthy of notice, that happened 
 during his pontificate ; for he died in July, 1464.4 
 
 XVII. Paul IL, a Venetian by birth, whose name was 
 Peter Barbo, was raised to the head of the church in 1464, 
 and died in 1471. His administration was distinguished 
 by some measures, which, if we consider the genius of the 
 times, were worthy of praise; though it must at the same 
 time be confessed, that he did many things which were 
 evidently inexcusable, (not to mention his reducing the 
 jubilee circle to twenty-five years, and thus accelerating 
 the return of that most absurd and superstitious ceremony ;) 
 so that his reputation became at least dubious in after- 
 times, and was viewed in different lights by different per- 
 sons. ‘The following popes, Sixtus 1V., and Innocent 
 
 church with certain modifications, which the nature of the times and 
 the manners of the nation rendered expedient. Such then was the 
 Pragmatic Sanction, which Pius II. engaged Louis XI. (who received 
 upon that occasion, for himself and his successors, the title of Mosé 
 Christian) to abolish by a solemn declaration; the full execution of 
 which was, however, prevented by the noble stand made by the univer- 
 sity of Paris in favour of the edict. ‘The king also, perceiving that he 
 had been deluded into this declaration by the treacherous insinuations of 
 Geoffry, bishop of Arras, (whom the pope had bribed with a cardinal’s 
 cap, and large promises of a more lucrative kind,) took no sort of pains 
 to have it executed, but published, on the contrary, new edicts against 
 the pecuniary pretensions and extortions of the court of Rome; so that 
 in reality the Pragmatic Sanction was not abolished before the adjust- 
 ment of the Concordat or agreement, which was transacted between 
 Francis I. and Leo X. in 1517, and was forced upon the French na- 
 tion in opposition to the united efforts of the clergy, the university, the 
 
 arliament, and the people. See, for a farther account of this matter, 
 
 u Clos, Histoire de Louis XI. vol. i. p. 115—132. 
 
 4 Beside the writers of ecclesiastical history, see Nouveau Diction. 
 Histor. et Critique, tom. ii. at the article Enée Sylvius. 
 
 ¢ Paul II. has had the good fortune to find, in one of the most erm- 
 nent and learned men of this age, (the famous cardinal Quifini,) a zeal- 
 ous apologist. See, among the productions of that illustrious prelate, 
 the piece entitled, ‘Pauli II. Vita, ex Codice Anglice Bibliothecee 
 desumpta, premissis ipsius Vindiciis adversus Platinam aliosque ob- 
 trectatores, Rome, 1740.” 
 
 %>* That is to say, these elections were wrested out of the hands 
 of the popes, who had usurped them; and, by the new edict, every 
 church had the privilege of choosing its bishop, and every 5 enon | 
 its abbot or prior. By the Concordat, or agreement, between Francis I. 
 and Leo X., (which was substituted in the place of the Pragmatic 
 Sanction, the nomination of the bishoprics in F'rance, and the collation 
 of certain benefices of the higher class, were vested in the kings of, 
 
370 
 
 VIII. whose names were Francis Albescola and John 
 Baptist Cibo, were neither remarkable for their virtues 
 nor their vices. ‘The former died in 1484, and the latter 
 in 1492, Filled with the most terrible apprehensions of 
 the danger that threatened Europe in general, and Italy 
 in particular, from the growing power of the ‘Turks, both 
 these pontiffs attempted to put themselves in a posture of 
 defence, and warmly exhorted the European princes to 
 check the progress of that warlike people ; but many ob- 
 stacles arose, which rendered their exhortations ineffectual. 
 The other undertakings that were projected or earried on, 
 during their continuance at the head of the church, are 
 not of sufficient importance to require particular notice. 
 
 XVUI. In the series of pontiffs that ruled the church 
 during this century, the last, in order of time, was Alex- 
 ander VI., a Spaniard by birth, whose name was Roderic 
 Borgia. The life and actions of this man show, that there 
 was a Nero among the popes, as well as among the em- 
 perors. ‘lhe crimes and enormities, that history has im- 
 puted to this papal Nero, evidently prove him to have been 
 not only destitute of all religious and virtuous principles, 
 but even regardless of decency, and hardened against the 
 very feeling of shame; and, though the malignity of his 
 enemies may have forged false accusations against him, 
 and, in some instances, exaggerated the horror of his real 
 crimes, yet we have upon record an authentic list of 
 undoubted facts, which, both by their number and their 
 atrocity, are sufficient to render the name and memory 
 of Alexander VI. odious and detestable, in the opinion 
 even of such as have the smallest tincture of virtuons 
 principles and feelings. An inordinate affection for his 
 children was the principal source from which proceeded 
 a great part of the crimes he committed. He had four 
 sons by a concubine with whom he had lived many 
 years; among whom was the infamous Ceesar Borgia. A 
 daughter, named Lucretia, was likewise among the fruits 
 of this unlawful commerce. ‘The tenderness of the pon- 
 tiff for his spurious offspring was excessive beyond all ex- 
 pression ; his only aim was to load them with riches and 
 honours ; and, in the execution of this purpose, he tram 
 pled with contempt upon every obstacle,which the demands 
 of justice, the dictates of reason, and the remonstrances of 
 religion, threw in his way. Thus he persisted in his pro- 
 flizate career until the year 1503, when the poison, which 
 he and his son Cesar had mingled for others who stood 
 in the way of their avarice and ambition, cut short, by a 
 happy mistake, his own days.” 
 
 XIX. The monastic societies, as we learn from a 
 multitude of authentic records, and from the testimoniés 
 of the best writers, were, at this time, so many herds of 
 lazy, illiterate, profligate, and licentious Epicureans, whose 
 views in life were confined to opulence, idleness, and 
 pleasure. "The rich monks, particularly those of the Be- 
 nedictine and Augustine orders, perverted their revenues 
 to the gratification of their lusts ; and renouncing, in their 
 
 France. An ample and satisfactory account of this convention may 
 be seen in bishop Burnet’s excellent History of the Reformation, vol. iil. 
 and in a book entitled, Histoire da Droit public Ecclesiastique Fran- 
 ¢ois, published in 1737. F 
 
 ® The life of this execrable tyrant was written in English by Mr. 
 Alexander Gordon; but the same subject has been treated with greater 
 moderation by the ingenious and learned author of the Histoire du 
 Droit Publ. Eccles. Francois, to which work are subjoined the lives of 
 Alexander VI. and Leo X. 
 
 » Such is the account which the best historians have given of the 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part JL 
 
 ‘conduct, all regard to their respective rules of discipline, 
 _drew upon themselves great popular odium by their sensu- 
 ality and licentiousness.© "This was matter of affliction 
 to many wise and good men, especially in France and 
 Germany, who formed the pious design of stemming the 
 torrent of monkish luxury, and excited a spirit of refor- 
 mation among that degenerate order.1. Among the Ger- 
 man reformers, who undertook the restoration of virtue 
 and temperance in the monasteries, Nicolas de Mazen, an 
 Austrian abbot, and Nicolas Dunkelspuhl, professor at 
 Vienna, held the first rank. They attempted, with un- 
 paralleled zeal and assiduity, the reformation of the Be- 
 nedictines throughout Germany, and succeeded so far as 
 to restore, at least, a certain air of decency and virtue in 
 the conventual establishments of Suabia, Franconia, and 
 Bavaria.c The reformation of the same order was at- 
 tempted in France by many, and particularly by Guy 
 Juvenal, a learned man, whose writings, upon that and 
 on other subjects, were received with applause.‘ It is, 
 however, certain, that the majority of the monks, both in 
 France and elsewhere, resisted, with obstinacy, the salu- 
 tary attempts of these spiritual physicians, and returned 
 their zeal with the worst treatment that it was possible to 
 show them. 
 
 XX. While the opulent monks exhibited to the world 
 scandalous examples of luxury, ignorance, indolence, and 
 licentiousness, accompanied with a barbarous aversion to 
 ‘every thing that carried the remotest aspect of science, the 
 Mendicants, and more especially the Dominicans and 
 Franciscans, were chargeable with irregularities of ano- 
 ther kind. Beside their arrogance, which was excessive, 
 a quarrelsome and litigious spirit, an ambitious desire of 
 encroaching upon the rights and privileges of others, an 
 insatiable zeal for the propagation of superstition, and the 
 itch of disputing and of starting absurd and intricate ques- 
 tions of a religious kind, prevailed among them, and drew 
 upon them justly the displeasure and indignation of many. 
 It was this wrangling spirit that seriously protracted the 
 controversies which had subsisted so long between them 
 and the bishops, and, indeed, the whole sacerdotal order ; 
 and it was their vain curiosity, and their inordinate passion 
 for novelty, that made the divines, in the greatest part of 
 the European colleges, complain of the dangerous and 
 destructive errors which they had introduced into religion. 
 These complaints were repeated, without interruption, in 
 all the provinces where the Mendicants had any credit ; 
 .and the same complaints were often presented to the 
 court of Rome, where they exercised sufficiently both the 
 patience and subtlety of the pope and his ministers. The 
 different pontifis who ruled the church during this century, - 
 were differently affected toward the Mendicants; some 
 patronised them, others opposed them: and this circum- 
 stance frequently changed the aspect of affairs, and. for a 
 long time, rendered the decision of the contest dubious®. 
 The persecution that was carried on against the Beguins 
 
 death of Alexander VI. Notwithstanding these authorities, Voltaire 
 has pretended to prove that this pontiff died a natural death. 
 
 ¢ See Martin Senging, 'Tuitiones Ordinis 8. Benedicti, seu Oratie in 
 Concilio Basiliensi, an. 1433, contra vitia Benedict. recitata, in Bern. 
 Pezii Bib. Ascetica, t. vili. 4 See Leibnitii Pref.ad t. ii. Script. Bruns. 
 
 * Tor an account of these reformers, see Martin Kropf. Bibliotheca 
 Mellicensis, seu de Vitis et Scrip. Benedict. Meilicens. p. 143, 163, 203. 
 
 f See Liron’s Singularités Historiques et Literaires, tom. iii. p. 49. 
 
 8 See Launoy, Lib. de Canone Utriusque Sexus, op. tom, i, part 1.— 
 | Boulay, tom. v— Ant. Wood, tom. 1. 
 
Cuav. II. 
 
 hecame also an occasion of increasing the odium that had 
 been cast upon the begging monks, and was extremely 
 
 rejudicial to their interests. For the Beguins and Lol- 
 bards, to escape the fury of their inveterate enemies, the 
 bishops and others, frequently took refuge in the third 
 order of the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, 
 hoping that, in the patronage and protection of these nu- 
 merous and powerful societies, they might find a secure 
 retreat from the calamities that oppressed them. Nor 
 were their hopes entirely disappointed ; but the storm that 
 hitherto pursued them, fell upon their new patrons and 
 protectors, the Mendicants; who, by affording a refuge 
 to a sect so odious to the clergy, drew upon themselves 
 the indignation of that sacred order, and were thereby 
 involved in various difficulties and perplexities.* 
 
 XXI. The more austere and rebellious Franciscans, 
 who, separating themselves from the church, renounced 
 their allegiance to the Roman pontiffs, and were distin- 
 guished by the appellation of F'ratricelli or Minorites, 
 continued, with their Tertiaries, the Beghards, to carry on 
 an open war against the court of Rome. ‘Their head- 
 quarters ‘were in Italy, in the marquisate of Ancona and 
 the neighbouring countries; for it was there that their 
 leadet and chief ruler resided. They were persecuted, 
 about the middle of this century, with the greatest severi- 
 ty, by pope Nicolas V., who employed every method he 
 could devise to vanquish their obstinacy, sending for that 
 purpose successively against them the Franciscan monks, 
 armed hosts, and civil magistrates, and committing to the 
 flames many of those who remained unmoved by all these 
 means of conversion.» ‘This heavy persecution was car- 
 tied on by the succeeding pontiffs, and by none with 
 greater bitterness and vehemence than by Paul IL., though 
 it is said, that this pope chose rather to conquer the head- 
 strong and stubborn perseverance of this sect by imprison- 
 ment and exile, than by fire and sword.« The Fratri- 
 celli, on the other hand, animated by the protection of 
 several persons of great influence, who became their pa- 
 trons on account of the striking appearance of sanctity 
 which they exhibited, had recourse to violence, and went 
 so far as to put to death some of the inquisitors, among 
 whom Angelo of Camaldoli fell a victim to their ven- 
 geance.* Nor were the commotions raised by this trou- 
 blesome sect confined to Italy; other countries felt the 
 effects of their petulant zeal; and Bohemia and Silesia 
 (where they preached with warmth their favourite doctrine, 
 “that the true imitation of Christ consisted in beggary 
 and extreme poverty”) became the theatres of the spiritual 
 war. ‘The king of Bohemia was well affected to these 
 fanatics, granted them his protection, and was on that 
 account excommunicated by Paul I.6 In France, their 
 affairs were far from being prosperous ; such of them as 
 
 @ See the history of rig eae g. century. 
 
 > Mauritius Sartius, de Antiqua Picentum civitate Cupromontana, in 
 Angeli Calogere Raccolta di Opusculi Scientifici, tom. xxxix. where 
 we have several extracts from the manuscript dialogue of Jacobus de 
 Marchia against the Fratricelli. 
 
 * Ang. Mar. Quirini Vita Pauli IL. p. 78—Jo. Targionius, Pref. ad 
 claror. Venetor. Epistclas ad Magliabechium, tom. i. p. 43, where we 
 have an account of the books that were written against the Fratricelli 
 by Nicholas Palmerius and others under the pontificate of Paul II. and 
 Which are yet in manuscript. - 
 
 4 See the Acta Sanctor. tom. ii. Maii, p. 356. 
 
 ¢ Jo. Georgii Schelhornii Acta Historica Eccles. part i. 
 
 f Quirini Vita Pauli II. p. 73. 
 
 * | have in manuscript the acts or decrees of the inquisition against 
 
 DOCTORS, CHURCH-GOVERNMENT, ETC. 
 
 371 
 
 fell into the hands of the inquisitors, were committed to 
 the flames,’ and they were eagerly searched after in the 
 province of 'Toulouse and the adjacent countries, where 
 great numbers of them lay concealed, and endeavoured 
 to escape the vigilance of their enemies ; while several 
 of their scattered parties removed to England and Ireland." 
 Even the dreadful series of calamities and persecutions 
 that harassed this miserable sect did not entirety extin- 
 guish it; for it subsisted to the time of the reformation in 
 Germany, when its remaining votaries adopted the cause, 
 and embraced the doctrines and discipline of Luther. 
 XXII. Of the religious fraternities that were founded 
 in this century, not one deserves a more honourable 
 mention than the Brethren and Clerks of the common 
 life, (as they called themselves,) who lived under the rule 
 of St. Augustine, and were eminently useful ig promoting 
 the cause of religion, learning, and virtue. ‘This society 
 had been formed in the preceding age by Gerard Groote, 
 a native of Deventer,i remarkable for his fervent piety 
 and extensive erudition ; it was not, however, before the 
 present century, that it received a proper degree of con- 
 sistence, and, having obtained the apprgbation of the 
 council of Constance, flourished in Holland, the Lower 
 Germany, and the adjacent provinces. It was divided 
 into two classes, the Lettered Brethren or Clerks, and 
 the Illiterate, who, though they occupied separate habita- 
 tions, lived in the firmest bonds of fraternal union. "The 
 Clerks applied themselves with exemplary zeal and 
 assiduity to the study of polite literature, and to the 
 education of youth. "They composed learned works for 
 the instruction of their contemporaries, and erected schools 
 and seminaries of learnmg wherever they went. The 
 Illiterate Brethren, on the other hand, were employed in 
 manual labour, and exercised with success the mechanic 
 arts. No religious vows restrained the members of either 
 class; yet they had all things in common, and this 
 community was the great bond of their union. The 
 Sisters of this virtuous society lived much in the same 
 manner, and employed the hours, that were not conse- 
 crated to prayer and reading, in the education of young 
 
 females, and in branches of industry suitable to their 
 
 sex. ‘lhe schools, that were erected by the clerks of 
 this fraternity, acquired a great and _ illustrious reputa- 
 tion in this century. From them issued those immortal 
 restorers of learning and taste which gave a new face 
 to the republic of letters in Germany and Holland, such 
 as Krasmus of Rotterdam, Alexander Hegius, John 
 Murmelius, and several others. But the institution of 
 the order of Jesuits seemed to diminish the credit of these 
 excellent schools, which, from that period, began to de- 
 cline. It ought to be added, that the Brethren of the 
 common life, however encouraged by the public, were 
 
 John Gudulchi de Castellione and Francis d’Archata, both of them F'ra- 
 tricelli, who were burned in France, in 1454. 
 
 4 Wood’s Antiq. Oxoniens. tom. i. p. 232. 
 
 i The life of this famous Dutchman, Gerard Groote, was written by 
 Thomas a Kempis, and is to be found in his works. It stands at the 
 head of the lives of eleven of his contemporaries, composed by this eri- 
 nent writer, ; 
 
 k Accounts of this order have been given by Aub. Mireus, in his 
 Chronicon, ad an. 1384, and by Helyot, in his Histoire des Ordres, tom. 
 iii. But, in that which I have here given, there are some circumstances 
 taken from ancient records not yet published. I have in my possession 
 several manuscripts, which furnish materials for a much more clear and 
 circumstantial account of the institution and progress of this order, than 
 can be derived from the books that have hitherto appeared on that subject. 
 
372 
 
 exposed to the insults and opposition of the clergy and 
 monks, who had a strong aversion to every thing that bore 
 the remotest aspect of learning or taste.* 
 
 XXIII. Of the Greeks, who acquired fame by their 
 learned productions, the most eminent were, 
 
 Simeon of Thessalonica, the author of several treatises, 
 and, among others, of a book against the heresies that 
 had troubled the church ; to which we may add his wri- 
 tings against the Latins, which are yet extant ;> 
 
 Josephus Bryennius, who wrote a book concerning the 
 
 ‘Trinity, and another against the Latins ; 
 
 Macarius Macres, whose animosity against the Latins 
 was carried to the greatest height ; 
 
 George Phranza, whose historical talent makes a figure 
 in the compilation of the Byzantine historians ; 
 
 Marcus Ephesius, who was an obstinate enemy to the 
 council of Florence ;° 
 
 Cardinal Bessarion, the illustrious protector and sup- 
 porter of the Platonic school, a man of unparalleled genius 
 and erudition ; but much hated by the Greeks, because 
 he seemed to lean to the party of the Latins, and proposed 
 an union of the two nations to the prejudice of the former ;4 
 
 George Scholarius, otherwise called Gennadius, who 
 wrote against the Latins, especially against the council of 
 Florence, with greater Jearning, candour, and perspicuity, 
 than the rest of his countrymen displayed ;¢ 
 
 George Gemistius Pletho, a man of eminent learning, 
 who excited many of the Italians to the study, not only 
 of the Platonic philosophy in particular, but of Grecian 
 literature in general ; 
 
 George of ‘lrapesond, who translated several of the 
 most eminent Grecian authors into Latin, and supported 
 
 the cause of the Latins against the Greeks by his dexterous | 
 
 and eloquent pen ; 
 
 George Codinus, of whom we have yet reinaining 
 several productions relating to the Byzantine history. 
 
 XXIV. The tribe of Latin writers that adorned or dis- 
 honoured this century, cannot easily be numbered. We 
 shall therefore confine ourselves to the enumeration of 
 those who wrote upon theological points; and even of 
 these we shall only mention the most eminent. At their 
 head we may justly place John Gerson, chancellor of the 
 university of Paris, the most illustrious ornament that this 
 age could boast of, a man of the greatest influence and 
 authority, whom the council of Constance looked upon as 
 its oracle, the lovers of liberty as their patron, and whose 
 memory is yet precious to such among the French, as are 
 zealous for the maintenance of their privileges against 
 papal despotism. "This excellent man published a con- 
 siderable number of treatises that were admirably adapted 
 
 « We read frequently, in the records of this century, of schools erected 
 by the Lollards, and sometimes by the Beghards, at Deventer, Bruns- 
 wick, Koningsberg, and Munster, and many other places. Now these 
 Lollards were the clerks of the common life, who, on account of their 
 virtue, industry, and learning, which rendered them very useful in the 
 education of youth, were invited by the magistrates of several cities to 
 reside among them. 
 
 » Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Bibl. Greece. vol. xiv. p. 49.—Rich. Simon, Cri- 
 tique de la Bibliotheque Eccles. par M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 400. 
 
 * Rich. Simon, tom. i. p. 431. 
 
 4 For an account of Bessarion and the other learned men here men- 
 tioned, see Bornerus and Hody, in their histories of the restoration of 
 letters in Italy, by the Greeks who took refuge there, after the taking of 
 Constantinople; add to these the Bibliotheca Greca of Fabricius. 
 
 * Rich. Simon, Croyance de |’Eglise Orientale sur la Transubstanti- 
 ation, p. 87. 
 
 t See Du-Pin’s Gersoniana, prefixed to the edition of the works of 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Part IE. 
 
 to reform the corruptions of a superstitious worship, to 
 excite a spirit of genuine piety, and to heal the wounds of 
 a divided church; though, in some respects, he does not 
 seem to have thoroughly understodd the demands and 
 injunctions of the Gospel. ‘The most eminent among the 
 other theological writers were, 
 
 Nicolas de Clemangis, a man of uncommon candour 
 and integrity, who, in the most eloquent and affecting 
 strains, lamented the calamities of the times and the un. 
 happy state of the Christian church ;¢ 
 
 Alphonsus 'Tostatus, bishop of Avila, who loaded the 
 Scriptures with unwieldy and voluminous commentaries, 
 and also composed other works, in which there is a great 
 mixture of good and bad ; 
 
 Ambrose of Camaldoli, who acquired a high degree of 
 reputation by his profound knowledge of the Greek lan- 
 guage, and his uncommon acquaintance with Grecian 
 literature, as also by the zeal and industry he discovered 
 in his attempts to effectuate a reconciliation between the 
 Greeks and Latins; 
 
 Nicolas de Cusa, a man of vast erudition, and no mean 
 genius, though not famed for the solidity of his judgment, 
 as may appear from a work of his, entitled, “ Conjectures 
 concerning the last Day ;”* 
 
 John Nieder, whose writings are very proper to give us 
 an accurate notion of the manners and spirit of the age 
 in which he lived, and whose journeys and transactions 
 have rendered him famous; 
 
 John Capistran, who was in high esteem at the court 
 of Rome on account of the ardour and vehemence with 
 which he defended the jurisdiction and majesty of the pon- 
 tifls against all their enemies and opposers 3: 
 
 John Wesselus and Jerome Savanarola, who may 
 justly be placed among the wisest and worthiest men of 
 this age. ‘The former, who was a native of Groningen, 
 and on account of his extraordinary penetration and 
 sagacity was called the Light of the World, propagated 
 several of those doctrines, which Luther afterwards incul- 
 cated with greater evidence and energy, and animadverted 
 with freedom and candour upon the corruptions of the 
 Romish church. 'The latter was a Dominican and a 
 native of Ferrara, remarkable for piety, eloquence, and 
 learning; who touched the sores of the church with a 
 heavier hand, and inveighed against the pontiffs with 
 greater severity. For this freedom he severely suffered. 
 He was committed to the flames at Florence in 1498, and 
 bore his fate with the most triumphant fortitude and 
 serenity of mind ;} 
 
 Alphonsus Spina, who wrote a book against the Jews 
 and Saracens, which he called Fortalitium Fidei. 
 
 Gerson, which we owe to that laborious author, and which appeared at 
 Antwerp in five volumes folio, in 1706. See also Jo. Launoii Historia 
 Gymnasii Regii Navarreni, part ili. lib. ii. cap. i. p. 514, tom. iv. p. i. 
 op.—Herm. von der Hardt, Acta Concil. Constant. tom. i. part iv. 
 
 See Launoii Hist. part ili. lib. ii. cap. iii—Longueval, Hist. de 
 VEglise Gallicane, tom. xiv. p. 436.—The works of Clemangis were 
 published by Lydius at Leyden, with a glossary, in 1631. 
 
 h Bayle, Reponse aux Questions d’un Provincial, tom. ii. cap. exvii. 
 
 i L’Enfant’s Histoire de la Guerre des Hussites, tom. ii. Wadding, 
 Annales Minorum, tom. ix. 
 
 & Jo. Henr. Maii Vita Reuchlini, p. 156. 
 
 1Jo. France. Buddei Parerga Historico-Theologica. The life of 
 Savanarola was written by J. Francis Picus, and published at Paris, 
 with various annotations, letters, and original pieces, by Quetif, in 1674, 
 The same editor published also the Spiritual and Ascetic Epistles of 
 Savanarola, translated from the Italian into Latin, See Echard, Scrip. 
 tor. Preedicator. tom. 1. p. 884. 
 
Ouar. III, 
 
 To all these we must join the whole tribe of the 
 scholastic writers, whose chief ornaments were, John 
 Capreolus, John de Turrecremata, Antoninus of Florence, 
 Dionysius & Ryckel, Henry Gorcomius, Gabriel Biel, 
 Stephen Brulifer, and others. The most remarkable 
 among the Mystics were, Vincent Ferrerius, Henry 
 Harphius, Laurence Justinianus, Bernardine of Sienna, 
 and Thomas a Kempis, who shone among these with a 
 superior lustre, and to whom the famous book, concerning 
 the imitation of Christ, is commonly attributed.* 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Loncerning the State of Religion, and the Doctrine 
 of the Church, during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue state of religion had become so corrupt among 
 the Latins, that it was utterly destitute of any thing that 
 could attract the esteem of the truly virtuous and judicious 
 part of mankind. 'This is a fact, which even those in- 
 dividuals whose prejudices render them unwilling to ac- 
 knowledge it, will never presume to deny. Among the 
 Greeks and Orientals, religion had scarcely a better as- 
 pect than among the Latins; at least, if the difference 
 was in their favour, it was far from being considerable. 
 The worship of the Deity consisted in a round of frivolous 
 and insipid ceremonies. ‘The discourses of those who in- 
 structed the people in public, were not only destitute of 
 sense, judgment, and spirit, but even of piety and devo- 
 tion, and were in reality nothing more than a motley 
 mixture of the grossest fictions and the most extravagant 
 inventions. ‘The reputation of Christian knowledge and 
 piety was easily acquired ; it was lavished upon those who 
 professed a profound veneration for the sacred order, and 
 their spiritual head the Roman pontiff, who studied to 
 render the saints (%. e. the clergy, their ministers) propi- 
 tious by frequent and rich donations, who were exact and 
 regular in the observance of the stated ceremonies of the 
 church, and who had wealth enough to pay the fines 
 which the papal questors had annexed to the commission 
 of all the different degrees of transgression ; or, in other 
 words, to purchase indulgences. Such were the ingre- 
 dients of ordinary piety ; but persons who added to these 
 a certain degree of austerity and bodily mortification were 
 placed in the highest order of worthies, and considered as 
 -he peculiar favourites of Heaven. On the other hand, the 
 number of those who were studious to acquire a just no- 
 tion of religion, to investigate the true sense of the sacred 
 writings, and to model their lives and manners after the 
 precepts and example of the divine Saviour, was extreme- 
 ly small; and such had much difficulty in escaping the 
 flames, at a time when virtue and sense were deemed 
 heretical. 
 
 II. This miserable state of affairs, this enormous per- 
 version of religion and morality, throughout almost all 
 the western provinces, were observed and deplored by 
 many wise and good men, who all endeavoured, though 
 in different ways, to stem the torrent of superstition, and 
 
 ® The late abbé Lenglet du Fresnoy promised the world a demonstra- 
 tion that this work, whose true author has been so much disputed among 
 the learned, was originally written in French by a person named Gersen, 
 or Gerson, and only translated into Latin by Titan a Kempis. See 
 Granetus in Launoianis, part ii. tom. iv. partii. op. p.414. The history 
 of this celebrated pens is given by Vincentius Thuillierius, in the 
 Spera Posthuma Mabilloni et Ruinarti, tom. iii. p. 54. 
 
 No. XXXII. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 373 
 
 to reform a corrupt church. In England and Scotland, 
 the disciples of Wickliffe, whom the multitude had stig- 
 matized with the odious title of Lollards, continued to in- 
 veigh against the despotic laws of the pontifls, and the 
 licentious manners of the clergy.» "he Waldenses, 
 though persecuted and oppressed on all sides, raised their 
 voices even in the remote valleys and lurking-places 
 whither they were driven by the violence of their ene- 
 mies, and called aloud for succour to the expiring cause 
 of religion and virtue. Even in Italy, many, and among 
 others the famous Savanarola, had the courage to declare, 
 that Rome was become the image of Babylon; and this 
 notion was soon adopted by multitudes of all ranks and 
 conditions. But the greatest part of the clergy and monks, 
 persuaded that their honours, influence, and riches, would 
 diminish in proportion to the increase of knowledge among 
 the people, and would receive inexpressible detriment from 
 the downfall of superstition, vigorously opposed every thing 
 that had the remotest aspect of a reformation, and impo- 
 sed silence upon these importunate censors by the formi 
 dable authority of fire and sword. 
 
 IL. The religious dissensions that had been excited in 
 Bohemia by the ministry of John Huss and _ his disciple 
 Jacobellus de Misa, were doubly inflamed by the deplo- 
 rable fate of Huss and Jerome of Prague, and broke out 
 into an open war, which was carried on with unparalleled 
 barbarity. The followers of Huss, who pleaded for the 
 administration of the cup to the laity in the holy sacra- 
 ment, being persecuted and oppressed in various ways 
 by the emissaries and ministers of the court of Rome, re- 
 tired to a steep and high mountain in the district of Be- 
 chin, in which they held their religious meetings, and 
 administered the sacrament of the Lord’s supper under 
 both kinds. ‘This mountain they called 'Tabor, from the 
 tents which they at first erected there for theit habitation ; 
 and in process of time they raised a considerable fortifica- 
 tion for its defence, and adorned it with a well-built and 
 regular city. Forming more grand and important pro- 
 jects, they chose for their chiefs Nicolas of Hussinetz, and 
 the famous John Ziska, a Bohemian knight, a man ot 
 the most undaunted courage and resolution ; and propo- 
 sed, under the standards of these violent leaders, to re- 
 venge the death of Huss and Jerome upon the creatures 
 of the Roman pontiff, and obtain a liberty of worshipping 
 God in a more rational manner than that which was pre- 
 scribed by the church of Rome. After the death of Ni- 
 colas, which happened in 1420, Ziska commanded alone 
 this warlike body, and had the satisfaction to see his army 
 daily increase. During the first tumults of this war, 
 which were no more than a prelude to calamities of a 
 much more dreadful kind, Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, 
 resigned his breath in the year 1419.« 
 
 IVY. The emperor Sigismund, who succeeded him on 
 the throne of Bohemia, employed not only edicts and re- 
 monstrances, but also the terror of penal laws and the 
 force of arms, to put an end to these lamentable divisions ; 
 and great numbers of the Hussites perished, by his orders, 
 
 » See Wilkins, Concilia Magne Britann. et Hibern. tom. iv— Wood, 
 Antiq. Oxon. tom. i. 
 
 37 * This prince had no sooner begun to execute the decrees of the 
 council of Constance against the Hussites, than the inhabitants of Prague 
 took fire at the proceeding, raised a tumuit, murdered the magistrates who 
 published the order, and committed other outrages, which filled the court 
 of Wenceslaus with consternation, and so aflected that pusillanimous 
 
374 INTERNAL HISTORY 
 in the most barbarous manner. "The Bohemians, irrita- 
 ted by these inhuman proceedings, threw off his despotic 
 yoke in 1420, and, with Ziska at their head, made war 
 against their sovereign. ‘T'his famous leader, though de- 
 prived of his sight, discovered, in every step he took, such 
 an admirable mixture of prudence and intrepidity, that 
 his name became a terror to his enemies. Upon his 
 death, which happened in 1424, the majority of the Hus- 
 sites chose for their general Procopius Rasa, a man also 
 of undaunted courage and resolution, who maintained 
 their cause, and carried on the war with spirit and suc- 
 cess. The acts of barbarity, committed on both sides, 
 were shocking and terrible beyond expression ; for, not- 
 withstanding the irreconcilable opposition that existed 
 between the religious sentiments of the contending patr- 
 ties, both agreed in this one horrible point, that it was in- 
 nocent and lawful to persecute and extirpate with fire and 
 sword the enemies of the true religion; and such they 
 appeared to be in each other’s eyes. The Bohemians 
 maintained, that Huss had been unjustly put to death at 
 Constance, and consequently revenged, with the utmost 
 fury, the injury which he had suffered. ‘They acknow- 
 ledged it, nevertheless, as an incontestable principle, that 
 heretics deserved capital punishment; but they denied 
 obstinately that Huss was a heretic. ‘This pernicious 
 maxim, then, was the source of that cruelty which dis- 
 graced both parties in this dreadful war; and it is, per- 
 haps, difficult to determine, which of the two carried this 
 cruelty to the greatest height. 
 
 V. All those who undertook to avenge the death of the 
 Bohemian martyr, set out upon the same principles ; and, 
 at the commencement of the war, they seemed to agree 
 both in their religious sentiments, and in their demands 
 upon the church and government from which they had 
 withdrawn themselves. But, as their numbers increased, 
 their union diminished; and their army being prodi- 
 giously augmented by a confluence of strangers from all 
 quarters, a great dissension arose among them, which, in 
 1420, came to an open rupture, and divided this multi- 
 tude into. two great factions, which were distinguished by 
 the titles of Calixtines and 'Taborites. 'The former, who 
 were so called from their insisting upon the use of the 
 chalice, or cup, in the celebration of the eucharist, were 
 mild in their proceedings, and modest in their demands, 
 and showed no disposition to overturn the ancient system 
 of church-government, or to make any considerable 
 changes in the religion which was publicly received. 
 All that they required, may be comprehended under the 
 four articles which follow. ‘They demanded, first, that 
 the word of God should be explained to the people in a 
 plain and perspicuous manner, without the mixture of 
 superstitious comments or inventions; secondly, that the 
 sacrament of the Lord’s supper should be administered in 
 
 monarch, that he was seized with an apoplexy, of which he died in a 
 few days. 
 
 * Byzinii Diarium Hussiticum, p. 130. 
 
 > From the following opinions and maxims of the Taborites, which 
 may be seen in the Diarium Hussiticum of Byzinius, we may form a 
 just idea of their detestable barbarity: ‘‘Omnes legis Christi adversarii 
 debent puniri septem plagis novissimis, ad quarum executionem fideles 
 sunt provocandi.—In isto tempore ultionis Christus in sua humilitate et 
 miseratione non est imitandus ad ipsos peccatores, sed in zelo et furore 
 et justa retributione—In hoe tempore ultionis, quilibet fidelis, etiam 
 presbyter, quantumcunque spirutwalis, est maledictus, qui gladium suum 
 corporalem prohibet a sanguine adversariorum legis Christi, sed debet 
 manus suas lavare in ecorum sanguine et sanctificare.” From men, who 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. if Part i 
 both kinds ; thirdly, that the clergy, instead of employing 
 all their attention and zeal in the acquisition of riches 
 and power, should turn their thoughts to objects more 
 suitable to their profession, and be ambitious of living and 
 acting as became the successors of the holy apostles ; and, 
 fourthly, that transgressions of a more heinous kind, or 
 mortal sins, should be punished in a manner suitable to 
 their enormity. In this great faction, however, there were 
 some subordinate sects, who were divided upon several 
 points. ‘The administration of the Lord’s supper was 
 one occasion of dispute; Jacobellus de Misa, who had 
 first proposed the celebration of that ordinance under both 
 kinds, was of opinion, that infants had a right to partake 
 of it, and this opinion was adopted by many; while 
 others maintained the contrary doctrine, and confined the 
 privilege in question to persons of riper years.* 
 
 VI. The demands of the T'aborites, who derived their 
 name from a mountain well known in sacred history, 
 were much more ample. ‘They not only insisted upon 
 reducing the religion of Jesus to its primitive simplicity, 
 but required also, that the system of ecclesiastical govern 
 ment should be reformed in the same manner, the au 
 thority of the pope destroyed, the form of divine worship 
 changed: they demanded, in a word, the erection of a 
 new church, a new hierarchy, in which Christ alone 
 should reign, and all things should be carried on by a 
 divine impulse. In maintaining these extravagant de- 
 mands, the principal doctors of this sect (such as Martin 
 Loquis, a Moravian, and his followers) went so far as to 
 flatter themselves with the chimerical notion, that Christ 
 would descend upon earth, armed with fire and sword, to 
 extirpate heresy, and purify the church from its multipli- 
 ed corruptions. ‘hese fantastical dreams they propaga- 
 ted in different countries, and taught them even in a pub- 
 lic manner with unparalleled confidence and presumption. 
 It is this enthusiastic class of the Hussites alone, that we 
 are to look upon as accountable for all those abominable 
 acts of violence, rapine, desolation, and murder, which 
 are too indiscriminately laid to the charge of the Hussites 
 in general, and of their two leaders Ziska and Procopius 
 in particular.” It must indeed be acknowledged, that a 
 great number of the Hussites had imbibed the most bar- 
 barous sentiments with respect to the obligation of execu- 
 ting vengeance upon their enemies, against whom they 
 breathed nothing but bloodshed and fury, without any 
 mixture of humanity or compassion. 
 
 VII. In the year 1433, the council of Basil endeavour- 
 ed to put an end to this dreadful war, and for that purpose 
 invited the Bohemians to the assembly. he Bohemians, 
 accepting this invitation, sent ambassadors, and among 
 others Procopius their leader, to represent them in that 
 council. But, after many warm debates, these messengers 
 of peace returned without having effected any thing that 
 
 adopted such horrid and detestable maxims, what could be expected but 
 the most abominable acts of injustice and cruelty ? For an account of 
 this dreadful and calamitous war, the reader may consult (beside the an- 
 cient writers, such as Sylvius, Theobaldus, Cochlzus, and others) L’En- 
 fant’s Elistoire de la Guerre des Hussites, published at Amsterdam in 
 1731. ‘To this history it will, however, be advisable to add the Diarium 
 Belli Hussitici of Byzinius, a book worthy of the highest esteem, on 
 account of the candour and impartiality with which it is composed, and 
 which Mr. L’Enfant does not seem to have consulted. ‘This valuable 
 production was published, though incomplete, in the sixth volume of 
 the Reliquie Manuscriptorum of the very learned John Peter Ludwig. 
 See also Beausobre’s Supplement to the Histoire de la Guerre des 
 Hussites, Lausanne, 1745, 
 
Crap. Ul. 
 
 might even prepare the way for a reconciliation so long 
 and so ardently desired. "he Calixtines were not averse 
 0 peace ; but no methods of persuasion could engage the 
 Taborites to yield. ‘Chis matter, however, was transacted 
 with more success by Adneas Sylvius and others, whom 
 the council sent into Bohemia to renew the conferences ; 
 for these new legates, by allowing to the Calixtines the 
 use of the cup in the holy sacrament, satisfied them in 
 the point which they had chiefly at heart, and thus recon- 
 ciled them with the Roman pontiff. But the 'T'aborites 
 adhered inflexibly to their first principles; and neither 
 the artifice nor the eloquence of Sylvius, nor the threats, 
 sufferings, and persecutions to which their cause exposed 
 them, could vanquish their obstinate perseverance. From 
 this period, indeed, they began to review their religices 
 tenets, and their ecclesiastical discipline, with a view of 
 rendering them more perfect. ‘This review, as it was 
 executed with great prudence and impartiality, produced 
 a very good effect, and gave a rational aspect to the religion 
 of these sectaries, who withdrew themselves from the war, 
 abandoned the doctrines, which, upon serious examina- 
 tion, they found to be inconsistent with the spirit and 
 genius of the Gospel, and banished from their communion 
 all persons whose disordered brains, or licentious man- 
 ners, might expose them to reproach.« he 'Taborites, 
 thus new-modelled, were the same with those Bohemian 
 Brethren (or Picards, 1. e. Beghards, as their adversaries 
 alled them) who joined Luther and his successors at 
 the reformation, and of whom there are at this day many 
 of the descendants and followers in Poland and other 
 countries. 
 
 VIL. Among the greatest part of the interpreters of 
 Scripture that lived in this century, we find nothing wor- 
 thy of epplause, if we except their zeal and their good 
 ‘ntentions. Such of them as aimed at something higher 
 than the character of mere compilers, and ventured to 
 draw their explications from their own sense of things, did 
 little more than amuse, or rather delude, their readers, 
 with mystical and allegorical fancies. At the head of this 
 class we may place Alphonsus Tostatus, bishop of Avila, 
 whose voluminous commentaries upon the sacred writings 
 exhibit nothing remarkable but their enormous bulk. 
 Laurentius Valla is entitled toa more favourable judgment; 
 and his small collection of Critical and Grammatical 
 Annotations upon the New ‘Testament is far from being 
 destitute of merit, since it pointed out to succeeding authors 
 the true method of removing the difficulties that some- 
 times present themselves to such as study with attention 
 the divine oracles. It is proper to observe here, that these 
 sacred books were, in almost all the kingdoms and states 
 of Europe, translated into the language of each nation, 
 particularly in Germany, Italy, France, and Britain. 
 This circumstance naturally excited the expectations of a 
 considerable change in the state of religion, and made the 
 thinking few hope, that the doctrine of the church would 
 be soon reformed by the light that could not but arise from 
 consulting the genuine sources of divine truth. 
 
 5 . . . . . 
 IX. The schools of divinity made a miserable figure in 
 
 * See Adriani Regenvolscii Historia Eccles. provinciar. Sclavonicar. 
 Jib. ii. cap. viii. p. 165.—Joach. Camerarii Historica Narratio de Fratrum 
 Ecclesiis in Bohemia, Moravia, et Polonia—Jo. Lasitii Historia 
 Fratrum Bohemicorum, which I possess in manuscript, andof which the 
 eighth book was published at Amsterdam, in 1649. 
 
 e Rich. Simon. Lettres Choisies, tom. 1i. p. 269, and Critique de la 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 375 
 
 this century. They were filled with teachers, who loaded 
 their memory, and that of their disciples, with unintelligi- 
 ble distinctions and unmeaning sounds, that they might 
 thus dispute and discourse, with an appearance of method, 
 upon matters which they did not understand. There 
 were now few remaining, of those who proved and illus- 
 trated the doctrines of religion by the positive declarations 
 of the holy scriptures, and the sentiments of the ancient 
 fathers, and who, with all their defects, were much supe- 
 rior to the vain and obscure pedants of whom we have 
 been speaking. ‘The senseless jargon of the latter did not 
 escape the just and heavy censure of some learned and 
 judicious persons, who considered their methods of teach- 
 ing as highly detrimental to the interests of true religion, 
 and to the advancement of genuine and solid piety. Ac- 
 cordingly, various plans were formed by different indivi- 
 duals, some of which had for their object the abolition of 
 this method, others its reformation, while, in the mean 
 time, the enemies of the schoolmen increased from day to 
 day. The Mystics, of whom we shall have occasion to 
 speak more largely hereafter, were ardently bent upon 
 banishing entirely this scholastic theology out of the 
 Christian church. Others, who seemed disposed to act 
 with greater moderation, did not insist upon its total sup- 
 pression, but were of opinion, that it was necessary to 
 reform it, by abolishing all vain and useless subjects of 
 debate, by restraining the rage of disputing that had 
 infected the seminaries of theology, and by seasoning the 
 subtlety of the schoolmen with a happy temperature of 
 mystic sensibility and simplicity. This opinion was 
 adopted by the famous Gerson, who laboured with the 
 utmost zeal and assiduity in correcting and reforming the 
 disorders and abuses which the scholastic divines had in- 
 troduced into the seminaries,’ as also by Savanarola, Petrus 
 de Alliaco, and Nicolas Cusanus, whose treatise concern- 
 ing Learned Ignorance is still extant. 
 
 X. The litigious herd of schoolmen found a new class 
 of enemies equally keen, in the restorers of eloquence and 
 letters, who were not all, however, of the same opinion 
 with respect to the manner of treating these solemn quib- 
 blers. Some of them covered the scholastic doctrine with 
 ridicule, loaded it with invectives, and demanded its sup- 
 pression, as a most trifling and absurd system, that was 
 highly detrimental to the culture and improvement of the 
 mind, and could only prevent the growth of genius and 
 true science. Others looked upon this system as support- 
 able, and only proposed illustrating and polishing it by 
 the powers of eloquence, thus to render it more intelligible 
 and elegant. Of this class was Paulus Cortegius, who 
 wrote, with this view, a commentary on theBook of 
 Proverbs, in which, as we learn from himself, he forms a 
 happy union between eloquence and theology, and clothes 
 the principal intricacies of scholastic divinity with the 
 graces of an agreeable and perspicuous style.: After all, 
 the scholastic theology, supported by the extraordinary 
 credit and authority of the Dominicans and Franciscans, 
 maintained its groun@against its various opposers ; nor 
 could these two religious orders, who excelled in that 
 
 Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique de M. Du-Pin, tom i. p. 491—Themasu 
 Origines Histor. Philos. p.56, and principally Gersonis Methodus The- 
 
 ologiam studendi, in Launoii Historia Gymnas. Navarreni, tom. Ly. op. 
 part i. p. 330, or 
 ; * This work was published at Rome in 1512, and at Basil in 
 513. 
 
376 
 
 itigious xmd of learning, bear the thought of losing the 
 glory they had acquired by quibbling and disputing in 
 the pompous jargon of the schools. 
 
 XJ, This vain philosophy, however, grew daily more 
 contenyptible in the esteem of the judicious and the wise ; 
 while the Mystics gathered strength, and saw their friends 
 and advocates multiply on all sides. Among these there 
 were some men of distinguished merit, who are chargeable 
 with few of the errors and extravagances that were 
 mingled with the discipline and doctrine of that famous 
 sect, such as Thomas a Kempis, (the author of the 
 Germanic theology, so highly commended by Luther,) 
 Laurentius Justinianus, Savanarola, and others. ‘There 
 are, on the other hand, some writers of this sect, such as 
 Vincentius Ferrerius, Henricus Harphius, and Bernard of 
 
 Sienna, in whose productions we must carefully separate | 
 
 certain notions which were the effects of a warm and 
 irregular fancy, as also the visions of Dionysius, whom 
 the Mystics consider as their chief, from the noble precepts 
 of divine wisdom with which they are mingled. ‘The 
 Mystics were defended against their adversaries, the 
 
 Dialecticians, partly by the Platonists, who were in general | 
 
 highly esteemed, and partly by some, even of the most 
 eminent scholastic doctors. 'The former considered Diony- 
 sius as a person whose sentiments: had been formed and 
 nourished by the study of Platonism, and wrote commen- 
 taries upon his writings; of which we have an eminent 
 example in Marcilius Ficinus, whose name adds a lustre 
 to the Platonic school. 'The latter attempted a certain 
 sort of association between the scholastic theology and 
 that of the Mystics; and in this class were John Ger- 
 son, Nicolas Cusanus, Dionysius the Carthusian, and 
 others. 
 
 XU. The controversy with the enemies of Christianity 
 was carried on with much more vigour in this than in the 
 preceding «ges; and several learned and eminent men 
 seemed now to exert themselves with peculiar industry and 
 zeal in demonstrating the truth of that divine religion, and 
 defending it against the various objections of its adversa- 
 ries. ‘This appears from the learned book of Marcilius 
 Ficinus concerning the Truth of Christianity, Savanarola’s 
 ‘Triumph of the Cross, the Natural Theology of Raymond 
 de Sabunde, and other productions of a like nature. The 
 Jews were refuted by Perezius and Jerome de St. Foi, 
 the Saracens by Johannes de Turrecremata; and both 
 these classes of unbelievers were opposed by Alphonso de 
 Spina, in the Fortress of Faith. Nor were these pious 
 iabours in the defence of the Gospel at all unseasonable 
 or superfluous : on the contrary, the state of things at this 
 time reffdered them necessary. For, on the one hand, the 
 Aristotelian philosophers in Italy seemed, in their public 
 instructions, to strike at the foundations of all religion ; 
 and, on the other hand, the senseless subtleties and quar- 
 rels of the schoolmen, who modelled religion according to 
 their extravagant fancies, tended to bring it into contempt. 
 Add to all this, that the Jews and Saracens lived in many 
 places promiscuously with the Christians, who were there- 
 fore obliged, by the proximity of the enemy, to defend 
 themselves with the utmost assiduity and zeal. 
 
 XIII. We have already taken notice of the fruitless at- 
 
 * Lue, Wadding, Annal. Minor. tom. viii. p. 58—Jac. Echardi 
 Scriptor. Predicator, tom, i. p. 650. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 Rart IL 
 
 tempts which were made to heal the unhappy divisions 
 of the Greek and Latin churches. After the council of 
 Florence, and the violation of the treaty of pacification by 
 the Greeks, Nicolas V. exhorted and entreated them again 
 to turn their thoughts towards the restoration of peace and 
 concord. But his exhortations were without effect; and 
 
 in about the space of three years after the writing of this 
 
 last letter, Constantinople was besieged and taken by the 
 Turks. And from that fatal period to the present time, the 
 Roman pontifis, in all their attempts to bring about a re- 
 conciliation, have always found the Grecian patriarchs 
 more obstinate and intractable than they were when their 
 empire was in a flourishing state. Nor is this circumstance 
 so difficult to be accounted for, when all things are pro- 
 perly considered. This obstinacy was the effect of a rooted 
 aversion to the Latins and their pontiffs, that acquired, from 
 day to day, new degrees of strength and bitterness in the 
 hearts of the Greeks ; an aversion, produced and nourished 
 by a persuasion, that the calamities which they suffered 
 under the Turkish yoke might have been easily removed, 
 if the western princes and the Roman pontiffs had not re- 
 fused to succour them against their haughty tyrants. And 
 accordingly, when the Greek writers deplore the calami- 
 ties that fell upon their devoted country, their complaints 
 are always mingled with heavy accusations against the 
 Latins, whose cruel insensibility to their unhappy situa- 
 tion they paint in the strongest and most odious colours. 
 
 XIV. We pass over in silence many trifling controver- 
 sies among the Latins, which have no claim to the atten- 
 tion of our readers. But we must not omit mentioning the 
 revival of that famous dispute concerning the kind of wor- 
 ship that was to be paid to the blood of Christ, which was 
 first kindled at Barcelona,in 1351, between the Franciscans 
 and Dominicans, and had been left undecided by Clement 
 VI: 'This controversy was renewed at Brixen, in 1462, by 
 James a Marchia, a celebrated Franciscan, who main- 
 tained publicly, in one of his sermons, that the blood 
 which Christ shed upon the cross, did not belong to the 
 divine nature, and of consequence was not to be consi- 
 dered as an object of divine and immediate worship. The 
 Dominicans rejected this doctrine, and adopted with such 
 zeal the opposite side of the question, that James of Brixen, 
 who performed the office of inquisitor, called the Francis- 
 can before his tribunal, and accused him of heresy. Pope 
 Pius IL, having made several ineffectual attempts to sup- 
 press this controversy, was at last persuaded to submit the 
 affair to the examination and judgment of a select num- 
 ber of able divines. But many obstacles arose to prevent 
 a final decision, among which we may reckon, as the 
 principal, the influence and authority of the contending 
 orders, each of which had embarked with zeal in the cause 
 of their respective champions. Hence, after much alterca- 
 tion and chicane, the pontiff thought proper to impose si- 
 lence on both the parties in this miserable dispute, in 1464 ; 
 declaring, at the same time, that “both sides of the ques- 
 tion might be lawfully maintained until Christ’s vicar upon 
 earth should find leisure and opportunity for examining 
 the matter, and determining on which side the truth lay.” 
 This letswre and opportunity have not yet been offered 
 to the pontiff.» 
 
 b Wadding, Anal. Minor. tom. xiii. p. 206.—Nat. Alexander, Hist 
 
 Eccles. Sec. XY. : 
 
Oar. iv. 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies that were used 
 in the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Tue state of religious ceremonies among the Greeks 
 may be learned from the book of Simeon of 'l'hessalonica, 
 concerning Rites and Heresies,s from which it appears, 
 that the substance of religion was lost among that people ; 
 that a splendid shadow of pomp and vanity was substi- 
 tuled in its place by the rulers of the church; and that 
 all the branches of divine worship were ordered in such a 
 manner as to strike the imaginations, and captivate the 
 senses of the multitude. They pretended, indeed, to allege 
 several reasons for multiplying, as they did, the external 
 rites and institutions of religion, and throwing over-the 
 whole of divine worship such a pompous garb of worldly 
 splendour. But in these reasons, and in all their explica- 
 tions of this gaudy ritual, subtlety and invention are more 
 apparent than truth or good sense. ‘The origin of these 
 multiplied rites, that cast a cloud over the native beauty 
 and lustre of religion, is often obscure, and frequently dis- 
 honourable; and such as, by force of ill-applied genius 
 and invention, have endeavoured to derive honour to these 
 ceremonies from the circumstances that gave occasion to 
 them, have failed egregiously in this desperate attempt. 
 The deceit is too palpable to seduce any mind that is void 
 of prejudice, and capable of attention. 
 
 If. Though the more rational and judicious of the Ro- 
 man pontiffs complained of the multiplicity of ceremonies, 
 festivals, temples, and the like, and did not seem unwilling 
 to have this enormous mass diminished, they nevertheless 
 distinguished, every one his own pontificate, by some new 
 institution, and thought it their duty to perpetuate their 
 fame by some new edict of this nature. Thus Calixtus 
 ILI., to immortalize the remembrance of the deliverance of 
 Belgrade from the powerful arms of Mohammed IL., who 
 had been obliged to raise the siege of that city, ordered, 
 in 1456, the festival in honour of the transfiguration of 
 Christ (which had been celebrated in some places by pri- 
 vate authority before this period) to be religiously observed 
 throughout the western world. And Sixtus IV., in 1476, 
 granted indulgences, by a particular edict, to all those who 
 should devoutly celebrate an annual festival in honour of 
 the immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin, with 
 respect to which none of the Roman pontiffs before him 
 had thought proper to make any express declaration, or 
 any positive appointment.’ ‘The other additions that 
 were made to the Roman ritual, relating to the worship 
 of the Virgin Mary, public and private prayers, the traffic 
 of indulgences, and other things of that nature, are of 
 too little importance to deserve an exact and circumstantial 
 enumeration. We need not such a particular detail to 
 convince us, that in this century religion was reduced to 
 mere show, to a show composed of pompous absurdities 
 and splendid trifles. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Concerning the Heresies, Sects, and Divisions, that 
 troubled the Church during this Century. 
 
 I. Nerruer the severe edicts of pontiffs and emperors, 
 nor the barbarity and vigilance of unrelenting inquisitors, 
 * J. A. Fabricius has given an account of the contents of this book in 
 
 his Biblioth. Greca, vol. xiv. 
 » See Volaterrani Comment. Urbani, lib. viii. p. 289.— Eneas Sylvius 
 
 No. XXXII. 
 
 ~ 
 
 95 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 | 
 
 377 
 
 could extirpate the remains of the ancient heresies, or 
 prevent the rise of new sects. We have already seen the 
 Franciscan order at open war with the church of Rome. 
 In Bosnia, and the adjacent countries, the Manicheans 
 or Paulicians, who were the same with the sect named 
 Catharists in Italy, propagated their doctrines with confi- 
 dence, and held their religious assemblies with impunity. 
 It is true, indeed, that the great protector of the Mani- 
 cheans, Stephen Thomascus, king of Bosnia, abjured 
 their errors, received baptism by the ministry of John Car- 
 vaial, a Roman cardinal, and, in consequence thereof, ex- 
 pelled those heretics from his dominions. But it is also 
 certain, that he afterwards changed his mind; and it is 
 well known, that, toward the conclusion of this century, 
 the Manicheans inhabited Bosnia, Servia, and the neigh- 
 bouring provinces. ‘The Waldenses also still subsisted in 
 several European provinces, more especially in Pomerania, 
 Brandenburg, the district of Magdeburgh, and Thuringia, 
 where they had a considerable number of friends and fol- 
 lowers. It appears, however, from authentic records not 
 yet published, that a great part of the adherents of this 
 unfortunate sect, in the countries now mentioned, were dis- 
 covered by the inquisitors, and delivered over by them to 
 the civil magistrates, who committed them to the flames. 
 Il. The Brethren and Sisters of the free spirit (who 
 were called in Germany Beghards or Schwestriones, and 
 in France Turlupins, and whose distinctive character was 
 a species of mysticism that bordered upon phrensy) wan- 
 dered about in a secret and disguised manner in various 
 parts of France, Germany, and Flanders, and particularly 
 in Suabia and Switzerland, where they spread the conta- 
 gion of their enthusiasm, and caught the unwary in their 
 snares. ‘he search, however, that was made after them, 
 was so strict and well conducted, that few of the teachers 
 and chiefs of this fanatical sect escaped the hands of the 
 inquisitors.© When the war between the Hussites and 
 the votaries of Rome broke out in Bohemia, in 1418, a 
 troop of these fanatics, headed by a person whose name 
 was John, repaired thither and held secret assemblies, first 
 at Prague, and afterwards in different places, whence they 
 at length retired to a certain island, where they were less 
 exposed to the notice of their enemies. It was, as we have 
 already had occasion to observe, oneof the leading principles 
 of this sect, that the tender instincts of nature, with that 
 bashfulness and modesty which generally accompany them, 
 were evident marks of inherent corruption, and showed, 
 that the mind was not sufficiently purified or rendered con- 
 formable to the divine nature, whence it derived its origin. 
 And they alone were deemed perfect by these fanatics, and 
 supposed to be united to the Supreme Being, who could 
 behold without any emotion, the naked bodies of the sex 
 to which they did not belong, and who, in imitation of 
 what was practised before the fall by our first parents, went 
 entirely naked, and conversed familiarly in this manner 
 with males and females, without feeling any of the tender 
 propensities of nature. Hence it was that the Beghards 
 (whom the Bohemians, by a change in the pronunciation 
 of that word, called Picards,) when they came into their 
 religious assemblies, and were present at the celebration of 
 divine worship, appeared without any veil or covering what- 
 ever. They had also constantly in their mouths a maxim, 
 de | Statu Europe sub Frederico III. cap. x. in Freheri Scriptor. Rerum 
 Germanicar. tom. ii. p. 104. j Sherk 
 © Felix Malleolus (whose German name is Hammerlein) in his 
 
378 
 
 which, indeed, was very suitable to the genius of the reli- 
 gion they professed; namely, ‘that they were not free 
 (i. e. sufficiently extricated from the shackles of the body) 
 who made use of garments, particularly such garments as 
 covered the thighs and the parts adjacent.’ ‘These tenets 
 could not but cast a deserved reproach upon this absurd sect ; 
 and though in their religious assemblies nothing passed 
 that was contrary to the rules of virtue, yet they were uni- 
 versally suspected of the most scandalous incontinence, 
 and of the most lascivious practices. Ziska, the austere 
 general of the Hussites, gave credit to these suspicions, 
 and to the rumours they occasioned; and, falling upon this 
 miserable sect in 1421, he put some to the sword, and con- 
 demned the rest to the flames, which dreadful punishment 
 they sustained with the most cheerful fortitude, and also 
 with a contempt of death that was peculiar to their sect, 
 and which they possessed in a degree that seems to sur- 
 pass credibility. Among the various titles by which these 
 extravagant enthusiasts were distinguished, that of Adam- 
 ite was one; and it was given them on account of their 
 being so studious to imitate the state of innocence in which 
 the first man was created. 'The ignominious term of Beg- 
 hards, or Picards, at first peculiar to the small sect of 
 which we now treat, was afterwards applied tothe Hussites, 
 and to all the Bohemians who opposed, the tyranny of the 
 Romish church. All these were called by their enemies, 
 and indeed by the multitude in general, Picard friars. 
 Ill. A new sect, which made a great noise, and infected 
 the multitude with the contagion of its enthusiasm, arose 
 about the beginning of thiscentury. A priest whose name 
 is not known, descended from the Alps, arrayed in a white 
 garment, and accompanied with a prodigious number of 
 persons of both sexes, who after the example of their chief, 
 were also clothed in white linen, whence they were distin- 
 guished by the name of Fratres Albati, i. e. White Bre- 
 thren. "Chis enthusiastic multitude went in a kind of 
 procession through several provinces, following a cross, 
 which their leader held erected like a standard, and, by the 
 striking appearance of their sanctity and devotion, capti- 
 vated to such a degree the minds of the people wherever 
 they went, that persons of all ranks and orders flocked in 
 crowds to augment their number. ‘The new chief exhort- 
 ed his followers to appease the anger of an incensed Deity, 
 
 account of the Lollards, subjoined to his book contra validos Mendi- 
 cantes, i. e. against tre sturdy Beggars, has given us a list, though a 
 very imperfect one, of the Beghards who were committed to the flames 
 in Switzerland and the adjacent countries, during this century. This 
 author, in his books against the Beghards and Lollards, has (either 
 through design, or by a mistake founded on the ambiguity of the terms) 
 confounded three different classes of persons, who were usually known 
 by the appellations of Beghards and Lollards; as, Ist, the Tertiaries, or 
 third order of the more austere Franciscans; 2dly, the Brethren of the 
 free spirit; and, 3dly, the Cellite or Alexian friars. Many writers 
 have fallen into the same error. 
 
 * See the Historia Fratrum Bohemorwm. MS. lib. ii. sect. Ixxvi. by 
 Lasitius, who proves, in a satisfactory and circumstantial manner, that 
 the Hussites and the Bohemian Brethren were entirely distinct from these 
 Picards, and had nothing in common with them. The other authors who 
 have written upon this subject are honourably mentioned by Isaac je 
 Beausobre in his Dissertation sur les Adamites de Boheme, subjoined to 
 L’Enfant’s Histoire de la Guerre des Hussiles. This learned author 
 has taken great pains to justify the Picards, or Bohemian Adamites, 
 whom he supposes to have been the same with the Waldenses, and a 
 set of men eminent for their piety, whom their enemies loaded with the 
 most groundless accusations. But this is manifestly endeavouring to wash 
 the ASthiopian white; for it may be demonstrated, by the most unexcep- 
 tionable and authentic records, that the account I have given of the mat- 
 ter is true. The researches I have made, and the knowledge they have 
 procured me of the civil. and religious history of these times, entitle me 
 
 INTERNAL HISTORY OF 'THE CHURCH. 
 
 Parr If. 
 
 emaciated his body by voluntary acts of mortification and 
 penance, endeavoured to persuade the Christian nations to 
 renew the war against the infidels in Palestine, and _pre- 
 tended, that he was favoured with divine visions, which in- 
 structed him in the will and in the secrets of Heaven. 
 Boniface [X. apprehending that this enthusiast or impostor 
 concealed insidious and ambitious views, * ordered him to 
 be seized and committed to the flames; upon which his 
 followers were dispersed, and his sect entirely extinguished. 
 Whether a punishment so severe was inflicted with reason 
 and justice, is a point that has been debated, and yet re- 
 mains uncertain ; for several writers of great credit and 
 authority maintain the innocence of the sectary, while 
 others assert that he was convicted of the most enormous 
 crimes. 
 
 IV. In the year 1411, a sect was discovered in the Ne- 
 therlands, and more especially at Brussels, which owed its 
 origin toanilliterate man, whose name was Adgidius Cantor, 
 and to William of Hildenissen, a Carmelite monk; and 
 whose members were distinguished by the title of Men of 
 Understanding. 'There were many things reprehensible 
 in the doctrine of this sect, which seemed to be chiefly de- 
 rived from the theology of the Mystics. For they pretended 
 to be honoured with celestial visions; denied that any could 
 arrive ata perfect knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, with- 
 out the extraordinary succours of a divine illumination ; 
 declared the approach of a new revelation from heaven, 
 
 more complete and perfect than the Gospel of Christ ; 
 maintained, that the resurrection was already accomplished 
 in the person of Jesus, and that no other resurrection was 
 to be expected ; affirmed, that the inward man was not 
 defiled by the outward actions, whatever they were; that 
 the pains of hell were to have an end, and that not only 
 all mankind, but even the devils themselves, were to re- 
 turn to God, and be made partakers of eternal felicity. 
 This sect seems to have been a branch of that of the Bre. 
 thren and Sisters of the free spirit ; since they declared, 
 that a new dispensation of grace and of spiritual liberty 
 was to be promulgated to mortals by the Hely Ghost. 
 must however be acknowledged, on the other hand, that 
 their absurdities were mingled with several opinions, which 
 showed, that they were not totally void of understanding ; 
 for they maintaied, among other things, “ Ist, That 
 
 perhaps to more credit in such a point as this, than the laborious author 
 from whom I differ, who was not profoundly acquainted with the history of 
 the middle ages, and was by nomeans exempt from prejudice and partiality. 
 =¢p » Theodoric de Niem tells us, that the sect came from Scotland, 
 and that its leader gave himself out for the prophet Elias. Sigonius and 
 Platina inform us, that this enthusiast came from France; that he hod 
 white apparel, carried in his aspect the greatest modesty, and seduced 
 prodigious numbers of people of both sexes, and of all ages; that his 
 followers, (called penitents,) among whom were several cardinals and 
 priests, were clothed in white linen down to their heels, with caps, which 
 covered their whole faces, except their eyes; that they went in troops 
 of ten, twenty, and forty thousand persons, from one city to another, 
 calling out for mercy, and singing hymns; that wherever they came they 
 were received with great hospitality, and made innumerable proselytes ; 
 that they fasted, or lived upon bread and water, during the time of their 
 pilgrimage, which continued generally nine or ten days. See Annal. 
 Mediol. ap. Muratori.—Niem, lib. ii. cap. xvi. 
 ¢ What Dr. Mosheim hints but obscurely here, is explained by 
 Sigonius and Platina, who tell us, that the pilgrims, mentioned in the 
 preceding note, stopped at Viterbo, and that Boniface, fearing that the 
 priest who headed them might endeavour by their assistance to seize the 
 pontificate, sent a body of troops thither, who apprehended the false 
 prophet, and carried him to Rome, where he was burned. : 
 4 See L’Enfant, Hist. du Concile de Pise, tom. i. p. 102.— Poggi, 
 His. Florentina, lib. iii. p. 122.—Mare. Anton. Sabellicus in Enneadibus 
 | Rhapsodiz His. Ennead. ix. lib, ix. t. i. op. p.839, pub. at Basil in 1560. , 
 
Crap. V. 
 
 Christ alone had merited eternal life and felicity for the 
 human race, and that therefore men could not acquire 
 this inestimable privilege by their own actions alone ; 
 2dly, That the priests, to whom the people confessed 
 their transgressions, had not the power of absolving them, 
 but that it was Christ alone in whom this authority was 
 vested; and 3dly, That voluntary penance and mortifica- 
 tion were not necessary to salvation.” "These propositions, 
 however, and some others, were declared heretical by Peter 
 dAilly, bishop of Cambray, who obliged William of Hil- 
 denissen to abjure them,* and opposed with the greatest 
 vehemence and success the progress of this sect. 
 
 VY. 'The sect of the Flagellantes, or Whippers, continued 
 to excite commotions in Germany, more especially in 
 ‘Thuringia and the Lower Saxony; but these fanatics 
 were very different from the ancient heretics of the same 
 name, who ran wildly in troops through various provinces. 
 es See the records of this transaction in Steph. Baluz. Miscellan. tom. 
 SF Eatom Monachi Pernensis, in Jo. Burch. Menkenii Scriptor. 
 Rerum Germanicar. tom. ii. p. 1521.—Chron. Monaster. in Anton. Mat- 
 thei Analect. vet. AZvi, tom. v. p. 71.—Chron. Magdeb. in Meibomii 
 Scriptor. Rerum German. tom. i. p. 362.—From sixteen articles of faith 
 adopted by this sect, which were committed to writing by a certain in- 
 quisitor of Brandenburg in the year 1411, and which Conrad Schmidt 
 
 is said to have taken from the papers of Walkenried, we may derive a 
 tolerable idea of their doctrine, of which the substance is as follows :— 
 
 DIVISIONS AND HERESIES. 
 
 379 
 
 The new Whippers rejected not only the sacraments, but 
 also every branch of external worship, and placed their 
 only hopes of salvation in faith and flagellation ; to which 
 they added some strange doctrines concerning the evil 
 spirit, and other matters, which are not explained in his- 
 tory with sufficient perspicuity. The person that appeared 
 at the head of this sect in Thuringia was Conrad Schmidt; 
 and he was committed to the flames, with many of his 
 followers,” in 1414, by Schonefeld, who was, at that time, 
 inquisitor in Germany, and rendered his name famous by 
 his industry and zeal in the extirpation of heresy. Nicolas 
 Schaden suffered at Quedlinburgh for his attachment to 
 this sect; and, though Berthold Schade, who was seized at 
 Halberstadt in 1481, escaped death, as appears most proba- 
 ble, by abjuring their doctrine,* we find in the records of 
 these unhappy times a numerous list of the Flagellantes, 
 whom the German inquisitors devoted to the flames. 
 
 “That the opinions adopted by the Roman church, with respect to the 
 efficacy of the sacraments, the flames of purgatory, praying for the 
 dead, and several other points, are entirely false and groundless; and 
 that the person who believes what is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, 
 repedts frequently the Lord’s prayer and the Ave Maria, and at certain 
 times lashes his body severely, as a voluntary punishment for the trans- 
 gressions he has committed, shall obtain eternal salvation.” 
 
 © See the account of this matter, which is given by the learned Jo, 
 Ernest Kappius, in his Relat. de rebus Theologicis Antiquis et Novis, 
 an. 1747, p. 475. 
 
AN 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: 
 
 BOOK THE FOURTH, 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 
 FROM 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION BY LUTHER 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PRESENT TIMES. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I. Te order and method, that have been followed in 
 the former part of this work, cannot be continued, without 
 the greatest inconvenience, in this fourth book, which re- 
 lates to the modern history of the church. From the 
 commencement of the sixteenth century, the face of reli- 
 gion was remarkably changed ; the divisions, that had 
 formerly perplexed the church, increased considerably ; 
 and the Christian societies, that relinquished the establish- 
 ed forms of divine worship, and erected themselves into 
 separate assemblies, upon principles different from those 
 This ci- 
 
 cumstance renders it impossible to present in one connect- 
 
 of the Roman hierarchy, rapidly multiplied. 
 
 ed series, or, as it were, in one continued tablature, the 
 events, Vicissitudes, and revolutions, which happened in 
 the church, divided its members, and enfeebled the domi- 
 nion of its tyrants. From the period on which we now 
 enter, the bond of union among Christians, that had been 
 formed by a blind obedience to the Roman pontiff, was in 
 almost every country, either dissolved, or at least re- 
 laxed ; and consequently this period of our history must 
 be divided into a multitude of branches, into as many 
 parts, as there were famous sects that arose in this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 II. It is however proper to observe here, that many of 
 the events, which distinguished this century, had a mani- 
 fest relation to the church in general, and not to any 
 Christian society in particular ; and, as these events de- 
 serve to be mentioned separately, on account of their 
 remarkable tendency to throw a light upon the state of 
 Christianity in general, as well as wpon the history of each 
 Christian society, we shall divide this fourth book into 
 wo main and principal parts, of which the one will con- 
 tain the General and the other the Particular History 
 of the Christian Religion. 
 
 Ill. To the General History belong all those events 
 which relate to the state of Christianity, considered in 
 itself and in its utmost extent, to the Christian church 
 viewed in the general, and abstracted from the miserable 
 and multiplied divisions into which it was rent by the pas- 
 sions of men. Under this head we shall take notice of 
 the advancement and progress of Christianity in general, 
 without any regard to the particular sects that were thus 
 instrumental in promoting its interests: nor shall we 
 omit the consideration of certain doctrines, rites, and 
 institutions, which appeared worthy of admission to all, or 
 at least to the greatest part of the Christian sects, and 
 which consequently produced, in various countries, im- 
 provements or changes of greater or less importance. 
 
 IV. In the Particular History of this century, we 
 propose reviewing, in their proper order, the various sects 
 into which the church was divided. This part of our 
 work, for the sake of method and precision, we shall sub- 
 divide into two. In the first we shall comprehend what 
 relates to the more ancient Christian sects, both in the 
 eastern and western hemispheres ; while the second will 
 be confined to the history of those more modern societies, 
 the date of whose origin is posterior to the Reformation 
 in Germany. In the accounts that are here to be given 
 of the circumstances, fate, and doctrines of each sect, the 
 method laid down in the introduction to this work shall 
 be rigorously observed, as far as is possible, since it seems 
 best calculated to lead us to an accurate knowledge of 
 the nature, progress, and tenets of every Christian society, 
 that arose in those times of discord. 
 
 V. The most momentous event that distinguished the 
 church after the fifteenth century, and we may add, the 
 most glorious of all the revolutions that happened in the 
 
 state of Christianity since the time of its divine and im- 
 
384 
 
 mortal Founder, was that happy change introduced into 
 religion, which is known by the title of the Blessed 
 Reformation. 'This grand revolution, which arose in 
 Saxony from small beginnings, not only spread itself 
 with the utmost rapidity through all the European pro- 
 vinces, but also extended its efficacy to the most distant 
 parts of the globe, and may be justly considered as the 
 main spring which has moved the nations from that 
 illustrious period, and occasioned the greatest part both of 
 those civil and religious revolutions that fill the annals of 
 history down to our times. 'The face of Europe was, in 
 
 a more especial manner, changed by this great event. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The present age feels yet, in a sensible manner, and ages 
 to come will continue to perceive, the inestimable advan- 
 tages produced by it, and the inconveniences of which it 
 has been the innocent occasion. The history, therefore, 
 of such an important revolution, from which so many 
 others have derived their origin, and whose relations and 
 connexions are so extensive and so general, demands a 
 ‘peculiar degree of attention, and has an unquestionable 
 ‘right to a distinguished place in such a work as this. 
 We now proceed to give a compendious view of the mo- 
 
 dern history of the Christian church, according to the 
 
 intimated plan and method. 
 
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 SECTION LI. 
 THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 I. Tue History of the Reformation is too ample and 
 extensive to be comprehended, without some degree of 
 confusion, in the uninterrupted narrative of one Section : 
 we shall therefore divide it into Four Parts. 
 
 The first will contain an account of the state of 
 Chrisuanity before the commencement of the Reforma- 
 tion ; 
 
 The second will give the history of the Reformation 
 
 from its beginning until the date of the Confession of | 
 
 Augsburg ; 
 
 The third will exhibit a view of the same history, 
 from this latter period to the commencement of the war 
 of Smalcald ; and 
 
 The fourth will carry it down to the peace that was 
 concluded with the advocates of the Reformation in the 
 year 1555.» ‘This division is natural; it arises sponta- 
 neously from the events themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Concerning the State of the Christian Church before 
 the Reformation. 
 
 I. Asovr the commencement of this century, the 
 Roman pontiffs lived in the utmost tranquillity ; nor had 
 vhey, as things seemed to be situated, the least reason to 
 epprehend any opposition to their pretensions, or rebellion 
 against their authority ; since those dreadful, commotions, 
 wnich had been excited in the preceding ages by the 
 Waldenses, Albigenses, and Beghards, and more recently 
 by the Bohemians, were entirely suppressed, and had 
 yielded to the united powers of counsel and the sword. 
 Such of the Waldenses as yet remained, lived contented 
 under the difficulties of extreme poverty in the valleys of 
 Piedmont, and proposed to themselves no higher earthly 
 felicity, than that of leaving to their descendants that 
 wretched and obscure corner of Europe, which separates 
 the Alps from the Pyrenean mountains ; while the hand- 
 ful of Bohemians, that survived the ruin of their faction, 
 and still persevered in their opposition to the Roman yoke, 
 had neither strength nor knowledge adequate to any 
 new attempt, and therefore, instead of inspiring terror, 
 became objects of contempt. 
 
 Il. We must not, however, conclude from this apparent 
 tranquillity and security of the pontiffs and their adhe- 
 rents, that their measures were applauded, or that their 
 
 * The writers of the history of the Reformation, of every rank and 
 order, are enumerated by the very learned Philip Fred. Hane (who 
 himself deserves a most eminent rank in this class,).in his Historia 
 Sacrorum a Luthero emendatorum, part i. and by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in 
 his Centifolium Lutheranum, part il. cap. elxxxvii. The greatest part, 
 or at least the most eminent, of this list of authors must be consulted 
 by such as desire a farther confirmation or illustration of thee matters 
 which 1 propose to relate briefly in the course of this history. The 
 illustrious names of Sleidan and Seckendorff, and others, who have 
 distinguished themselves in this kind of erudition, are too well known 
 
 No. XX XIII. OF 
 
 | 
 
 chains were worn without reluctance ; for not only pri- 
 vate persons, but also the most powerful princes and 
 sovereign states, exclaimed loudly against the despotic 
 dominion of the pontiffs, the fraud, violence, avarice, and 
 injustice that prevailed in their counsels, the arrogance, 
 tyranny, a@@ extortion of their legates, the unbridled 
 
 licentiousness and enormous crimes of the clergy and 
 
 monks of all denominations, the inordinate severity and 
 partiality of the Roman laws; and demanded publicly, 
 as their ancestors had done before them, a reformation 
 of the church, in its head and in its members, and a gene- 
 ral council to accomplish that necessary and happy pur 
 pose.» But these complaints and demands were not 
 carried so far as to produce any good effect, since they 
 came from persons who did not entertain the least doubt 
 about the supreme authority of the pope in religious mat- 
 ters, and who, of consequence, instead of attempting, 
 themselves, to bring about that reformation which was 
 so ardently desired, remained entirely inactive, and look- 
 ed for redress to the court of Rome, or to a general coun- 
 cil. As long as the authority of the pontiff was deemed 
 sacred, and his jurisdiction supreme, there could be no 
 reason to expect any considerable reformation either of 
 the corruptions of the church or of the manners of the 
 clergy. 
 
 Ill. If any thing seemed proper to destroy the gloomy 
 empire of superstition, and to alarm the security of the 
 lordly pontifls, it was the restoration of learning in 
 Europe, and the number of men of genius that suddenly 
 arose, under the benign influence of that auspicious 
 revolution. But even this new scene was insufficient to 
 terrify the lords of the church, or to make them appre- 
 hend the decline of their power. It is true, that this 
 happy revolution in the republic of letters dispelled the 
 gloom of ignorance, and kindled in the minds of many 
 the love of truth and of sacred liberty. It is also certain 
 that many of these great men, such as Erasmus and 
 others, pointed the delicacy of their wit, or levelled the 
 fury of their indignation, at the superstitions of the times, 
 the corruptions of the priesthood, the abuses that reigned 
 in the court of Rome, and the brutish manners of the 
 monastic orders. But this was not sufficient. since none 
 had the courage to strike at the root of the evil, to attack 
 the papal jurisdiction and statutes, which were absurdly, 
 yet artfully, sanctified by the title of canon-law, or to 
 
 to render it necessary to recommend their works to the perusal of the 
 curious reader. 
 
 » These complaints and accusations have been largely enumerated 
 by several writers. See, among many others, Val. Ern. Loescherus, in 
 Actis et Documentis Reformationis, tom. i. cap. v. 4x. et Ern. Salom. 
 Cyprian. Preefat. ad Wilk. Ern. Tenzelii Historiam Reformat. pub- 
 lished at Leipsic in 1717,—The grievances complained of by the Ger- 
 mans in particular, are amply mentioned by J. F. Georgius in his 
 Gravamina Imperator. et Nationis German. adversus Sedem Romanam, 
 cap. vii.. Nor do the wiser and more learned among the modern Ro- 
 
386 
 
 call in question the ancient and most pernicious opinion, 
 
 that Christ had established a vicegerent at Rome, clothed | 
 ‘vith his supreme and unlimited authority. Entrenched | 
 within these strong holds, the pontiffs looked upon their 
 
 own authority and the peace of the church as beyond 
 
 the reach of danger, and treated with indifference the | 
 threats and invectives of their enemies. Armed with 
 nower to punish, and abundantly furnished with the, 
 means of rewarding in the most alluring manner, they 
 were ready, on every commotion, to crush the obstinate, 
 and to gain over the mercenary to their cause ; and this 
 indeed could not but contribute considerably to the sta- 
 bility of their dominion. 
 
 IV. Hence it was, that the bishops of Rome lived in 
 the utmost security and ease, and, being free from appre- 
 hensions and cares of every kind, followed® without re- 
 luctance, and gratified without any limitation or restraint, 
 the various demands of their lusts and passions. Alex- 
 ander VI., whom humanity disowns, and who is rather 
 to be considered as a monster than as a man, whose 
 deeds excite horror, and whose enormities place him on 
 a level with the most execrable tyrants of ancient times, 
 stained the commencement of this century by the most 
 atrocious crimes. The world was delivered from this 
 papal fiend in the year 1503, by the poisonous draught 
 which he had prepared for others, as is generally believed, 
 though there are historians who attribute his death to 
 sickness and old age.s He was succeeded in the ponti- 
 ficate by Pius IUIL., who, in less than a month, was 
 deprived by death of that high dignity. ‘The vacant 
 chair was obtained, by fraud and bribery, by Julian de la 
 Rovere, who assumed the denomination of Julius I. 
 
 V. To the odious list of vices with which Julius IT. 
 dishonoured the pontificate, we may add the most savage 
 ferocity, the most audacious arrogance, the most despotic 
 vehemence of temper, and the most extravagant and 
 phrenetic passion for war and bloodshed. He began his 
 military enterprises by entering into a war with the 
 Venetians, after having strengthened his cause by an 
 alliance with the emperor and the king of France.» He 
 afterwards laid siege to Ferrara, and at length turned 
 his arms against his former ally, the French monarch, 
 in conjunction with the Venetians, Spaniards, and Swiss, 
 whom he had drawn into this war, and engaged in his 
 cause by an offensive league. His whole pontificate, in 
 short, was one continued scene of military tumult ; nor 
 did he suffer Euzope to enjoy a moment’s tranquillity as 
 long as he lived. We may easily imagine the miserable 
 condition of the church under a vicar of Christ, who 
 lived in camps, amidst the din of arms, and who was 
 ambitious of no other fame than that which arose from 
 battles won and cities desolated. Under such a pontiff 
 all things must have gone to ruin; the laws must have 
 been subverted, the discipline of the church destroyed, 
 and the genuine lustre of true religion entirely effaced. 
 
 manists pretend to deny that the church and clergy, before the time 
 of Luther, were corrupt in a very high degree. 
 
 * See Cent. XV. part 1. chap. ii. sect. xviii. note *. 
 
 b See Du Bos, Histoire de la Ligue de Cambray. 
 
 ¢ See B. Christ. Sigismund. Liebii Commentatio de Nummis Ludo- 
 vic: XIL., Epigraphe, ‘Perdam Babylonis nomen,’ insignibus, Leipsic, 
 1717.—See also Thes. Epis. Crozianuas, tom. i.—Colonia, His. Liter. de 
 ,a Ville de Lyon, tom. ii—The authenticity and occasion of this medal 
 have been much disputed, and, as is well known, have afforc.ed matter 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of keen debate. 4 Harduini Concil. t. ix. p.1559, 
 
 a 
 
 Secr. L. 
 
 VI. Nevertheless, from this dreadful cloud that hung 
 over Europe, some rays of light seemed to break forth, 
 that promised a better state of things, and gave some 
 reason to expect that reformation in the church which 
 was so generally and so ardently desired. Louis XIL., 
 king of France, provoked by the insults he had received 
 from this arrogant pontiff, meditated revenge, and even 
 caused a medal to be stricken with a menacing inscrip- 
 tion, expressing his resolution to overturn the power of 
 Rome, which was represented on this coin by the title of 
 Babylon.c Several cardinals also, encouraged by the 
 protection of this monarch and the emperor Maximilian 
 I., assembled, in 1511, a council at Pisa, with an intention 
 to set bounds to the tyranny of this furious pontiff, and 
 to correct and reform the errors and corruptions of a 
 superstitious church. Julius, on the other hand, relying 
 on his own strength, and on the power of his allies, be- 
 held these threatening appearances without the least 
 concern, and even treated them with mockery and laugh- 
 ter. He did not, however, neglect the methods of render- 
 ing ineffectual the efforts of his enemies, that prudence 
 dictated, and therefore gave orders for a council to meet 
 in the Lateran palace in 1512,4 in which the decrees of 
 the council of Pisa were condemned and annulled in the 
 most injurious and insulting terms. ‘This condemnouon 
 would, undoubtedly, have been followed by the most dire 
 and formidable anathemas against Louis and other prin- 
 ces, had not death carried off this audacious pontiff in 
 1512, in the iidst of his ambitious and vindictive 
 projects. 
 
 VII. He was succeeded, in 1513, by Leo X., of the 
 family of Medicis, who, though of a milder disposition 
 than his predecessor, was equally indifferent about the 
 interests of religion and the advancement of true piety. 
 He was a protector of men of learning, and was himself 
 learned, as far as the darkness of the age would admit. 
 His time was divided between conversation with men of 
 letters and pleasure, though it must be observed, that the 
 greatest part of it was consecrated to the latter. He had 
 an invincible aversion to whatever was accompanied 
 with solicitude and care, and discovered the greatest 
 impatience under events of that nature. He was re- 
 markable for his prodigality, luxury, and imprudence, 
 and has even been charged with impiety, if not atheism 
 He did not, however, lose sight of the grand object which 
 the generality of his predecessors had so much at heart,— 
 that of promoting and advancing the opulence and gran- 
 deur of the Reman see ; for he took the utmost care that 
 nothing should be transacted in the Lateran council, 
 (which Julius had assembled and left sitting,) that had 
 the least tendency to favour the reformation of the church ; 
 and, in a conference which he had with Francis I., king 
 of Irance, at Bologna, he engaged that monarch to 
 abrogate the Pragmatic Sanction,e which had been so 
 long odious to the popes, and to substitute in its place 
 
 * We have mentioned this Pragmatic Sanction, Cent. XV. jert 
 chap. ii. sect. xvi. note °, and given there some account of its nature 
 and design. This important edict is published at large in the eighth 
 volume of the Concilia Harduini, as is the Concordat in the z.inth 
 volume, and in Leibnitz’ Mantissa Covicis Diplomat. parti. 1. The 
 history of these two pieces is given in an ample and accurate r-anner 
 by Bish8p Burnet, in his History of the Reformation, vol. iii—-See aisc, 
 on the same subject, Boulay’s Hist. Acad. Paris, tom. vi—Du Clos 
 Histoire de Louis X1.—Histoire du Droit Ecclesiastique I*rangois, tom 
 i. Diss ix.—Menagiana, tom. ili. 
 
Cnap. I. 
 
 ~ 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 387 
 
 another body of laws, more advantageous to the papacy; || him, whenever he was convicted of gross errors or enor- 
 
 which he accordingly imposed upon his subjects under 
 the title of the Concordat, but not without their utmost 
 indignation and reluctance. * 
 
 Vill. The raging thirst of dominion that inflamed 
 these, pontiffs, and their arrogant endeavours to crush and 
 oppress all who came within the reach of their power, 
 were accompanied with the most insatiable avarice. All 
 the provinces of Europe were, in a manner, drained to 
 enrich these spiritual tyrants, who were perpetually gap- 
 ing after new accessions of wealth, in order to augment 
 the number of their friends and the stability of their do- 
 minion. And, indeed, according to the notions common- 
 ly entertained, the rulers of the church seemed, from the 
 nature of their character, to have a fair pretence for de- 
 manding a sort of tribute from their flock ; for none can 
 deny to the supreme governors of any state (and such 
 was the character assumed by the popes) the privilege of 
 levying tribute from those over whom they bear rule. 
 But, as the name of tribute obviously tended to alarm the 
 jealousy and excite the indignation of the civil magistrate, 
 the pontiffs were too cunning to employ it, and had re- 
 course to various stratagems and contrivances to rob the 
 subject without shocking the sovereign, and to levy taxes 
 under the specious mask of religion. Among these con- 
 trivances, the distribution of indulgences, which enabled 
 the wealthy to purchase impunity for their crimes by cer- 
 tain sums applied to religious uses, held an eminent rank. 
 This traffic was renewed whenever the coffers of the 
 church were exhausted. On these occasions, indulgences 
 were warmly recommended to the ignorant multitude un- 
 der some new and specious, yet fallacious pretext, and 
 were greedily sought, to the great detriment both of indi- 
 viduals and of the community. 
 
 IX. Notwithstanding the veneration and homage that 
 were paid tothe Roman pontifls, they were far from being 
 universally reputed infallible in their decisions, or unlimit- 
 ed in their authority. The wiser part of the German, 
 French, Flemish, and British nations, considered them as 
 liable to error, and bounded by law. ‘The councils of 
 Constance and Basil had contributed extremely to rectify 
 the notions of the people in that respect ; and from that 
 period all Christians, except the superstitious monks and 
 parasites of Rome, were persuaded that the pope was 
 subordinate to a general council, that his decrees were 
 not infallible, and that the council had a right to depose 
 
 z’p* The king went in person to the parliament to offer the Concordat 
 to be registered; and letters patent were made out, requiring all the 
 judges and courts of justice to observe this act, and see it executed. 
 The parliament, after deliberating a month upon this important matter, 
 concluded not to register the Concordat, but to observe still the Pragma- 
 tic Sanction, unless the new edict should be received and established in 
 as great an assembly as that was, which published the other in the 
 reign of Charles VII; and when by violence and force they were 
 obliged to publish the Concordat, they joined to this publication a 
 solemn protest, and an appeal from the pope to the next general coun- 
 cil; into both which measures the university and the clergy entered 
 with the greatest alacrity and zeal. But royal and papal despotism at 
 length prevailed. nS 
 
 The chancellor Du-Prat, who was principally concerned in promo- 
 ting the Concordat, has been generally regarded as an enemy to the 
 liberties of the Galliean church. The illustrious and learned president 
 Henault has not, however, hesitated to defend his memory against this 
 accusation, and to justify the Concordat as an equitable contract and as a 
 measure attended with less inconvenience than the Pragmatic Sanction. 
 He observes, that by the king’s being invested, by the Concordat, with the 
 privilege of nominating to the bishoprics and vacant benefices of the 
 first class, many corruptions and abuses were prevented, which arose 
 
 _ complained of as an intolerable grievance. 
 
 mous crimes. ‘Thus were the people, in some measure, 
 prepared for the reformation of the church; and hence 
 arose that ardent desire, that earnest expectation of a gene- 
 ral council, which filled the minds of the wisest and best 
 Christians in this century. Hence also the frequent appeals 
 which were made to this approaching council, when the 
 court of Rome issued any new edict, or made any new 
 attempt repugnant to the dictates of piety and justice. 
 
 X. The licentious examples of the pontifls were zeal- 
 ously imitated in the lives and manners of the subordi- 
 nate rulers and ministers of the church. 'The greatest 
 part of the bishops and canons passed their days in disso- 
 lute mirth and luxury, and squandered away, in the gra- 
 tification of their lusts and passions, the wealth that had 
 been set apart for religious and charitable purposes. Nor 
 were they less tyrannical than voluptuous ; for the most 
 despotic princes never treated their vassals with more ri- 
 gour and severity, than these spiritual rulers employed to- 
 ward all who were under their jurisdiction. The decline 
 of virtue among the clergy was attended with the loss of 
 the public esteem; and the most considerable part of that 
 once respected body became, by their sloth and avarice, 
 their voluptuousness and impurity, their ignorance and le- 
 vity, contemptible and infamous, not only in the eyes of 
 the wise and good, but also in the general judgment of the 
 multitude.* Nor could the case be otherwise as matters 
 were now constituted ; for, as all the offices and dignities 
 of the church had become venal, the way of preferment 
 was inaccessible to merit, and the wicked and licentious 
 were rendered capable of rising to the highest ecclesiasti- 
 cal honours. 
 
 XI. 'The prodigious swarms of monks that overspread 
 Europe were justly considered as burthens to society, and 
 occasioned frequent murmurs and complaints. Neverthe- 
 less, such was the genius of the age, of an age that was 
 emerging from the thickest gloom of ignorance, and was 
 suspended, as it were, in a dubious situation between dark- 
 ness and light, that these monastic drones would have re- 
 mained undisturbed, had they taken the least pains to 
 preserve any remains even of the external air of decency 
 and religion, that used to distinguish them in former times. 
 But the Benedictine and other monkish fraternities, who 
 were invested with the privilege of possessing certain lands 
 and revenues, broke through all restraint, made the worst 
 possible use of their opulence, and, forgetful of the gravity 
 
 according tothe Pragmatic Sanction, every church chose its bishop, and 
 every monastery its abbot. He observes, moreover, that this nomination 
 was the natural right of the crown, as the most considerable part of the 
 great benefices had been created by the kings of France; and he insists 
 particularly on this consideration, that the right which Christian commu- 
 nities have to choose their leaders, cannot be exercised by such large bodies 
 without much confusion and many inconveniences; and that the subjects, 
 by entrusting their sovereign with the government of the state, invest him, 
 ipso facto, with an authority over the church, which is a part of the 
 state, and its noblest branch. See Henault’s Abregé Chronologique de 
 VHistoire de France, in the particular remarks that are placed at the 
 end of the reign of Louis XIV. 
 
 The most specious objection that was made to the Concordat was 
 
 | this: that, in return for the nomination to the vacant benefices, the kirg 
 
 granted to the popes the annates, or first-fruits, which had so long been 
 There is, however, no men- 
 
 tion of this equivalent in the Concordat; and it was by a papal bull 
 
 that succeeded this compact, that the pontiffs claimed the payment of the 
 first-fruits, of which they had put themselves in possession 1n 1316, and 
 which had been suspended by the Pragmatic Sanction. ee oe 
 b See Cornelii Aurelii Gaudani Apocalypsis, seu Visio Mirabilis 
 super miserabili Statu Matris Ecclesi, in Casp. Burmanni Analect. 
 
 from the simoniacal practices that prevailed almost every where, while, |; Hist. de Hadriano VI. p. 245, printed at Utrecht in 1727. 
 
388 
 
 of their character and of the laws of their order, rushed || 
 headlong into tle shameless practice of vice in all its va- 
 rious kinds and degrees. On the other hand, the Mendi- 
 cant orders, and especially those who followed the rules of 
 St. Dominic and St. Francis, though they were not car- 
 tied away with the torrent of licentiousness that was over- 
 whelming the church, lost their credit in a different way ; 
 for their rustic impudence, their ridiculous superstitions, 
 their ignorance, cruelty, and brutish manners, tended to 
 alienate from them the minds of the people, and gradu- 
 ally diminished their reputation. ‘hey had the most bar- 
 barous aversion to the arts and sciences, and expressed a 
 like abhorrence of certain eminent and learned men, who, 
 being eagerly desirous of opening the paths of science to 
 the pursuit of the studious youth, recommended the cul- 
 ture of the mind, and attacked the barbarism of the age 
 in their writings and in their discourse. ‘This is suffi- 
 ciently evident from what happened to Reuchlinus, Eras- 
 mus, and other learned men. 
 
 34> °* This most impious fraud is recorded at length by Ruchat, at the 
 end of the sixth volume of his Histoire de la Reformation en Suisse ; 
 and also by Hottinger, in his Histor. Eccles. Helvet. tom. i. There is 
 also a compendious, but distinct, narration of this infernal stratagem, in 
 bishop Burnet’s Travels through France, Italy, Germany, and Swit- 
 zerland. ‘The stratagem in question was the consequence of a rivalry 
 between the Franciscans and Dominicans, and more especially of their 
 controversy concerning the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. 
 ‘The former maintained that she was born without the blemish of ori- 
 ginal sin; the latter asserted the contrary. ‘The doctrine of the Fran- 
 ciscans, in an age of darkness and superstition, could not but be popu- 
 lar; and henée the Dominicans lost ground from day to day. ‘To sup- 
 ort the eredit of their order, they resolved, at a chapter holden at 
 Wimpfen in 1504, to have recourse to fictitious visions and dreams, in 
 which the people at that time had an easy faith; and they determined 
 to make Bern the scene of their operations. A person named Jetzer, 
 who was extremely simple, and much inclined to austerities, and who 
 had taken their habit as a lay-brother, was chosen as the instrument of 
 the delusions they were contriving. One of the four Dominicans, who 
 had undertaken the management of this plot, conveyed himself secretly 
 into Jetzer’s cell, and about midnight appeared to him in a horrid figure, 
 surrounded with howling dogs, and seeming to blow fire from his 
 nostrils, by the means of a box of combustibles which he held near his 
 mouth. In this frightful form he approached Jetzer’s bed, told him that 
 he was the ghost ofa Dominican, who had been killed at Paris, as a judg- 
 ment of Heaven for laying aside his monastic habit; that he was con- 
 demned to purgatory for this crime; adding, at the same time, that, by 
 nis means, he might be rescued from his misery, which was beyond ex- 
 pression. This story, accompanied with horrible cries and howlings, 
 terribly alarmed poor Jetzer, and engaged him to promise to do all that 
 was in his power to deliver the Dominican from his torment. Upon this 
 the impostor told him, that nothing but the most extraordinary mortifi- 
 cations, such as the discipline of the whip, perfurmed during eight days 
 by the whole monastery, and Jetzer’s lying prostrate in the form of one 
 crucified in the chapel during mass, could contribute to his deliverance. 
 He added, that the performance of these mortifications would draw down 
 upon Jetzer the peculiar protection of the Blessed Virgin; and con- 
 cluded by saying, that he would appear to him again, accompanied with || 
 two other spirits. Morning was no sooner come, than Jetzer gave an 
 account of this apparition to the rest of the convent, who unanimously 
 advised him to undergo the discipline that was enjoined him; and every 
 one consented to bear his share of the task imposed. The deluded 
 simpleton obeyed, and was admired as a saint by the multitudes that 
 crowded about the convent, while the four friars who managed the im- 
 posture, magnified, in the most pompous manner, the miracle of this ap- 
 parition, in their sermons and in their conversation. The -night after, 
 the apparition was renewed with the addition of two friars, dressed 
 like devils; and Jetzer’s faith was augmented by hearing from the 
 spectre all the secrets of his life and thoughts, which the impostors had 
 learned from his confessor. In this and some subsequent scenes, the |) 
 impostor talked much of the Dominican order, which he said was pe- | 
 culiarly dear to the blessed Virgin; he added, that the Virgin knew 
 herself to be conceived in original sin; that the doctors who taught the 
 contrary Were in purgatory ; that the blessed Virgin abhorred the Fran- 
 eiscans for making her equal with her son; and that the town of Bern 
 would be destroyed for harbouring such plagues within its walls. In 
 one of these apparitions, Jetzer imagined that the voice of the spectre 
 resembled that of the prior of the convent, and this was not a mistake; but, 
 not suspecting a fraud, he gave little attention to this. The prior ap- 
 peared in various forms, sometimes in that of St. Barbara, at others in 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 | the delusion. 
 
 ' to poison him. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 XII. Among all the monastic orders, none enjoyed a 
 higher degree of power and authority than the Dominican 
 friars, whose credit was great, and whose influence was 
 
 -very widely extended. This will not appear surprising, 
 
 when we consider that they filled very eminent stations in 
 the church, presided every where over the terrible trihunal 
 of the inquisition, and had the care of souls, with the func- 
 tion of confessors, in all the courts of Europe; a circum- 
 stance which, in those times of ignorance and superstition, 
 manifestly tended to put most of the European princes in 
 their power. But, notwithstanding all this credit and au- 
 thority, the Dominicans had their enemies; and about 
 this time their influence began to decline. Several marks 
 of perfidy, that appeared in the measures they employed 
 to extend their authority, justly exposed them to the pub- 
 lic indignation. Nothing could be more infamous than 
 the frauds they practised to accomplish their purposes, as 
 may be seen, among other examples, by the tragedy which 
 they acted at Bern in 1509." "They were perpetually em- 
 that of St. Bernard; at length he assumed that of the Virgin Mary, and, 
 for that purpose, clothed himself in the habits that were employed to 
 adorn her statue on the great festivals; the little images, that on these 
 days are set on the altars, were used for angels, which, being tied to a 
 cord that passed through a pulley over Jetzer’s head, rose up and down, 
 
 and danced about the pretended virgin to increase the delusion. ‘The 
 Virgin, thus equipped, addressed a long discourse to Jetzer, in which, 
 
 | among other things, she told him that she was conceived in original sin, 
 though she had remained but a short time under that blemish. She gave 
 
 him, as a miraculous proof of her presence, a Host, or consecrated wafer, 
 which turned from white to red in a moment; and after various visits, 
 in which the greatest enormities were transacted, the Virgin-prior told 
 Jetzer, that she would give him the most affecting and undoubted marks 
 of her Son’s love, by imprinting on him the five wounds that pierced 
 
 | Jesus on the cross, as she had done before to St. Lucia and St. Catharine. 
 
 Accordingly, she took his hand by force, and struck a large nail through 
 it, Which threw the poor dupe into the greatest torment. The next night 
 this masculine virgin brought, as she pretended, some of the linen, in 
 which Christ had been buried, to soften the wound, and gave Jetzer a 
 soporifie draught, which had in it the blood of an unbaptized child, some 
 grains of incense and of consecrated salt, some quicksilver, the hairs ot 
 the eye-brows of a child, all which, with some stupifying and poisonous 
 ingredients, were mingled by the prior with magic ceremonies, and a 
 solemn dedication of himself to the devil in hope of his succour. This 
 draught threw the poor wretch into a sort of lethargy, during which the 
 monks imprinted on his body the other four wounds of Christ in sucha 
 manner that he felt no pain. When he awoke, he found, to his unspeak- 
 able joy, these impressions on his body, and came at last to fancy him- 
 self a representative of Christ in the various parts of his passion. He 
 was, in this state, exposed to the admiring multitude on the principal 
 altar of the convent, to the great mortification of the Franciscans. ‘lhe 
 Dominicans gave him some other draughts, that threw him into convul- 
 sions, which were followed by a voice conveyed through a pipe into the 
 mouths of two images, one of Mary, the other of the child Jesus; the 
 former of which had tears painted upon its cheeks in a lively manner. 
 The little Jesus asked his mother, by means of this voice, (which was 
 that of the prior,) why she wept; and she answered, that her tears were 
 occasioned by the impious manner in which the Franciscans attributea 
 
 _ to her the honour that was due to Aim, in saying that she was conceived 
 
 and born without sin. 
 The apparitions, false prodigies, and abominable stratagems of these 
 
 - Dominicans, were repeated every night; andthe matter was at length so 
 grossly over-acted, that, simple as Jetzer was, he at last discovered it, 
 
 and had almost killed the prior, who appeared to him one night in the 
 
 form of the Virgin with a crown on her head. ‘The Dominicans, fear- 
 
 ing, by this discovery, to lose the fruits of their imposture, thought the 
 
 | best method would be to own the whole matter to Jetzer, and to engage 
 
 him, by the most seducing promises of opulence and glory, to carry on 
 He was persuaded, or at least appeared to be so. But the 
 Dominicans, suspecting that he was not entirely gained over, resolved 
 His constitution was so vigorous, that though they gave 
 him poison five times, he was not destroyed by it. One day they sent 
 him a loaf prepared with some spices, which growing green in a day 
 or two, he threw a piece of it to a wolf’s whelps that were in the 
 monastery, and it killed them immediately. At another time they poi- 
 soned the host; but as he vomited it soon after he had taken it, he escaped 
 once more. In short, there were no means of securing him, which the 
 most detestable impiety and barbarity could invent, that they did not 
 put in practice, till, finding at last an opportunity of getting out of the 
 convent, he threw himself into the hands of the magistrates, to whom 
 7 
 
Crap. [. 
 
 ployed in stigmatizing, with the opprobious mark of he- 
 resy, numbers of learned and pious men, in encroaching 
 upon the rights and property of others to augment their 
 possessions, and in contriving the most iniquitous snares 
 and stratagems for the destruction of their adversaries ;* 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 and they were the principal counsellors by whose instiga- | 
 
 tion and advice Leo X. was determined to that most rash 
 and imprudent measure, even the public condemnation of 
 Luther. 
 
 XIII. The principal places in the public schools of 
 learning were filled very frequently by monks of the men- 
 dicant orders. ‘l'his unhappy circumstance prevented 
 their emerging from that ignorance and darkness which 
 had so long enveloped them; and it also rendered them 
 inaccessible to that auspicious light of improved science, 
 whose salutary beams had already been felt in several of 
 the European countries. ‘The instructors of youth, dig- 
 nified with the venerable titles of artists, grammarians, 
 philosophers, and dialecticians, loaded the memories of 
 their laborious pupils with a certain quantity of barbarous 
 terms, arid and senseless distinctions, and scholastic pre- 
 
 cepts, delivered in the most inelegant style ; and all such | 
 
 as conld repeat this jargon with readiness and rapidity, 
 were considered as men of uncommon eloquence and eru- 
 dition. ‘The whole body of the philosophers extolled Aris- 
 
 totle beyond measure, while scarcely any studied him, and | 
 
 none understood him; for what was now exhibited, as the 
 philosophy of that celebrated sage, was really nothing 
 more than a confused and motley heap of obscure notions, 
 sentences, and divisions, which even the public doctors and 
 heads of schools were unable to comprehend; and if, 
 among these thorns of scholastic wisdom, there was any 
 thing that had the appearance of fruit, it was crushed and 
 blasted by the furious wranglings and disputes of the 
 Scotists and yThomists, the Realists and Nominalists, 
 whose clamours and contentions were unhappily heard in 
 all the European colleges. 
 
 XIV. The wretched and senseless manner of teaching 
 theology in this century, may be learned from many books 
 yet extant, which were written by the divines of that pe- 
 riod, and which, in reality, have no other merit than their 
 
 enormous bulk. 'There were very few expositors of the | 
 
 Scriptures during this century; and scarcely any of the 
 Christian doctors had a critical acquaintance with the sa- 
 cred oracles. ‘This kind of knowledge was so rare, that, 
 when Luther arose, there could not be found, even in the 
 university of Paris, which was regarded as the first and 
 most famous of all the public schools of learning, a single 
 person qualified to dispute with him, or oppose his doctrine 
 upon a scriptural foundation. Any commentators, that 
 were at this time to be found, were such as, laying aside 
 all attention to the true meaning and force of the words 
 of Scripture, which their profound ignorance of the origi- 
 nal languages and of the rules of criticism rendered them 
 incapable of investigating, gave a loose to their vain and 
 irregular fancies, in the pursuit of mysterious significations. 
 The greatest part of the public teachers belonged to the 
 
 he made a full discovery of this infernal plot. This intelligence being 
 sent to Rome, commissaries were ordered to examine the affair; and the 
 whole imposture being fully proved, the four friars were solemnly de- 
 graded from their priesthood, and were burned alive on the last day of 
 May, 1509. Jetzer died some time after at Constance, having poisoned 
 himself, as was believed by some. Had his life been taken away be- 
 fore he had found an opportunity of making the discovery already 
 mentioned, this execrable and horrid plot, which, in many of its circum- 
 
 No. XX XIII. 98 
 
 389 
 
 classes of divines, already mentioned under the titles of 
 Positivi and Sententiarii, who were extremely fond, the 
 former of loading their accounts, both of the truths and 
 precepts of religion, with multiplied quotations and autho- 
 rities from the writings of the ancient doctors ; the latter 
 of explaining the doctrines of the Gospel by the rules of a 
 subtile and intricate philosophy. 
 
 XY. It must at the same time be observed, that the 
 divines of this century disputed with great freedom upon 
 religious subjects, even upon those which were looked up- 
 on as most essential to salvation. There were several 
 points of doctrine, which had not yet been determined by 
 the authority of the church; nor did the pontiffs, without 
 some very urgent reason, restrain the right of private 
 judgment, or force the consciences of men, except in those 
 cases where doctrines were adopted that seemed detriment- 
 al to the supremacy of the apostolic see, or to the tempo- 
 ral interests of the sacerdotal and monastic orders. Hence 
 it is, that we could mention many Christian doctors before 
 Luther, who inculcated not only with impunity, but even 
 with applause, the very same tenets that afterwards drew 
 upon him such heavy accusations and such bitter re- 
 proaches ; and it is beyond all doubt, that this great re- 
 former might have propagated these opinions without any 
 danger of molestation, had he not pointed his warm re- 
 monstrances against the opulence of Rome, the overgrown 
 fortunes of the bishops, the majesty of the pontifis, and 
 the towering ambition of the Dominicans. 
 
 XVI. ‘The public worship of the Deity was now no 
 more than a pompous round of external ceremonies, the 
 greatest part of which were insignificant and senseless, 
 and much more adapted to dazzle the eyes than to touch 
 the heart. Of those who were at all qualified to administer 
 public instruction to the people, the number was not very 
 considerable ; and their discourses, which contained little 
 beside fictitious reports of miracles and prodigies, insipid 
 fables, wretched quibbles, and illiterate jargon, deceived 
 instead of instructing the multitude. Several of these 
 sermons are yet extant, which it is impossible to read 
 without the highest indignation and contempt. Those 
 who, on account of their gravity of manners, or their 
 supposed superiority in point of wisdom and knowledge, 
 held the most distinguished rank among these vain de- 
 claimers, had a common-place set of subjects allotted tc 
 them, on which they were constantly exercising the force 
 of their lungs and the power of their eloquence. These 
 subjects were, the authority of the holy mother church, 
 and the obligation of obedience to her decisions ; the vir- 
 tues and merits of the saints, and their credit in the court 
 of heaven; the dignity, glory, and love of the blessed Vir- 
 gin; the efficacy of relics ; the duty of adorning churches, 
 and endowing monasteries; the necessity of good works 
 (as that phrase was then understood) to salvation ; the in- 
 tolerable burnings of purgatory, and the utility of indul- 
 gences. Such were the topics that employed the zeal and 
 labours of the most eminent doctors of this century ; and 
 they were, indeed, the only subjects that could tend to fill 
 stances, was conducted with art, would have been handed down to pos- 
 terity as a stupendous miracle. This is a very brief account of the 
 matter; such as are desirous of a more circumstantial relation of this 
 famous imposture, may consult the authors-mentioned in the beginning 
 of this note. ; 
 
 * See Bilib. Pirkheimeri Epistola ad Hadrianum Pontif. Maxim. de 
 
 Dominicanorum flagitiis, in operibus ejus, p. 372. This letter is also to 
 be found in Gerdesil Intr. ad Hist. Renov. Evangel. t. i. p. 170. Append. 
 
390 
 
 the coffers of the good old mother church, and advance 
 her temporal interests. Ministers who would have taken 
 it into their heads to inculcate the doctrines and precepts 
 of the Gospel, to exhibit the example of its divine author, 
 and the eflicacy of his mediation, as the most powerful 
 motives to righteousness and virtue, and to represent the 
 
 love of God and mankind as the great duties of the Chris- | 
 
 tian life, would have been very unprofitable servants to 
 the church and to the papacy, however they might have 
 promoted the cause of virtue and the salvation of souls. 
 
 XVIL. From this state of affairs we may draw conclu- 
 sions respecting the true causes of that incredible ignorance 
 in religious matters, which reigned in all countries, and 
 among all ranks and orders of men ; ; an ignorance accom- 
 panied with the vilest forms of superstition, and the great- 
 est corruption of manners. ‘The clergy were far from show- 
 ing the least disposition to enlighten the ignorance, or to 
 check the superstition of the times ; which, indeed, they 
 even nourished and promoted, as conducive to their safety, 
 and favourable to their interests. Nor was there more zeal 
 shown in stemming the torrent of immorality and licenti- 
 ousness, than in dispelling the clouds of superstition and 
 ignorance ; for the prudence of the church had easily fore- 
 seen, that the traffic of indulgences could not but sufler 
 from a diminution of the crimes and vices of mankind, 
 and that, in proportion as virtue gained an ascendency 
 upon the manners of the multitude, the profits arising 
 from expiations, satisfactions, and the like ecclesiastical 
 contrivances, would necessarily decrease. 
 
 XVIII. Such was the dismal condition of the church. 
 Its corruption was complete, and the abuses which its 
 rulers permitted had reached the greatest height of enor- 
 mity. Proportioned to the greatness of this corruption was 
 the impatient ardour with which all, who were endowed 
 with any tolerable portion of solid learning, genuine piety, 
 or even good sense, desired to see the church reformed and 
 purged from these shocking abuses; and the number of 
 those who were affected in this manner was very consi- 
 derable ‘in all parts of the western world. 'The greatest 
 part of them, indeed, were perhaps over-moderate in their 
 demands. They did not extend their views to a change 
 in the form of ecclesiastical government, a suppression of 
 those doctrines, which, however absurd, had acquired a 
 high degree of credit by their antiquity, or even to an 
 abrogation of those rites and ceremonies, which had been 
 multiplied in such an extravagant manner, to the great 
 detriment of true religion and rational piety. All they 
 aimed at was, to set limits to the overgrown power of the 
 pontiffs, reform the corrupt manners of the clergy, and 
 prevent the frauds that were too commonly practised by 
 that order of men ; to dispel the ignorance and correct the 
 errors of the blinded multitude, and to deliver them from 
 the heavy and insupportable burthens which were im- 
 posed upon them under religious pretexts. But as it was 
 impossible to obtain any of these salutary purposes with- 
 out the suppression of various absurd and impious opinions, 
 from which the grievances complained of sprang, or, in- 
 deed, without a‘general reformation of the religion that 
 was publicly professed, this was supposed to be ardently, 
 though silently wished for, by all those who openly de- 
 manded the ‘reformation of the church in its head and 
 in its members.’ 
 
 XIX. If any sparks of real piety subsisted under this 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 despotic empire of superstition, they were only to be found 
 among the Mystics; for this sect, renouncing the subtlety 
 of the schools, the vain contentions of the learned, and all 
 the acts and ceremonies of external worship, exhorted their 
 followers to aim at nothing but internal sanctity of heart, 
 and communion with God, the centre and source of holi- 
 ness and perfection. Hence they were loved and respect- 
 ed by many persons, who had a serious sense of religion 
 and a devotional frame of mind. Yet, as they were not 
 entirely free from the reigning superstitions, but associ- 
 ated many vulgar errors with their practical precepts and 
 directions ;—and as their excessive passion for contempla- 
 tion led them into chimerical notions, and sometimes mto 
 a degree of fanaticism that approached to madness—more 
 effectual succours than theirs were necessary to combat 
 the inveterate errors of the times, and to bring about the 
 reformation that was expected with such impatience. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The History of the Reformation, from its Commence- 
 ment to the Confession of Augsburg. 
 
 I. Wuire the Roman pontiff slumbered in security at 
 the head of the church, and saw nothing throughout the 
 vast extent of his dominion but. tranquillity and submis- 
 sion; and while the worthy and pious professors of ge- 
 nuine Christianity almost despaired of seeing that refor- 
 mation on which their most ardent desires and expecta- 
 tions were bent; an obscure and inconsiderable person 
 suddenly offered himself to public view in the year 1517, 
 and laid the foundation of this long-expected change, by 
 opposing, with undaunted resolution, his single force te 
 the torrent of papal ambition and despotism. ‘This extra- 
 ordinary man was Martin Luther, a native of Hisleben 
 in Saxony, a monk of the Augustinian H’remites, (one of 
 the Mendicant orders,) and, at the same time, professor ot 
 divinity in the university which had been ezected at Wit- 
 tenberg, a few years before this period, by Frederic the 
 Wise. ‘The papal chair was, ai that time, filied by Leo X.; 
 Maximilian I., a prince of the house of Austria, was king 
 of the Romans and emperor of Germany; and Frederic, 
 already mentioned, was etector of Saxony. 'The bold ef- 
 forts of this new adversary of the pontifls were honoured 
 with the applaase of many; but few or none entertained 
 confident hupes of his success. It seemed scarcely possi- 
 ble that ttus puny David could hurt a Goliah, whom so 
 many herves had opposed in vain. 
 
 IL The qualities or talents that distinguished Luther 
 were not of a common or ordinary kind. His genius was 
 truly great and unparalleled ; his memory vast and tena- 
 cious; his patience in supporting tnals, difficulties, and 
 labour, incredible; his magnamimity invincible, and un 
 shaken by the vicissitudes of human affairs; and his 
 learning most extensive, considering the age in which he 
 lived. All this will be acknowledged, even by his ene- 
 mies, at least by such of them as are not totally blinded 
 by a ‘spirit of partiality and faction. He was deeply versed 
 in the theology and philosophy that were in vogue in the 
 schoois during this century, and he taught them both with 
 great reputation and success in the university of Witten- 
 bers. As a philosopher, he embraced the doctrine of the 
 Nominalists, which was the system adopted by his order ; 
 while, in divinity, he followed chiefly the sentiments of 
 
Cuap. II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 391 
 
 Augustin ; but in both he preferred the decisions of Scrip- || ever enormous their nature, to those who were rich enough 
 
 ture, and the dictates of right reason, to the authority and |) to purchase them. 
 It would be equally rash and | 
 
 opinions of fallible men. 
 absurd to represent this great man as exempt from error, 
 and free from infirmities and defects; yet, if we except 
 the contagious effects of the age in which he lived, and 
 of the religion in which he had been brought up, we shall 
 ones find few points of his character that render him 
 iable to reproach. * 
 
 Ill. 'The first opportunity that this great man had of 
 unfolding, to the view of a blinded and deluded age, the 
 truth which struck his astonished sight, was offered by a 
 Dominican, whose name was John 'Tetzel.» This bold 
 and enterprising monk had been chosen on account of his 
 
 uncommon impudence, by Albert, archbishop of Mentz 
 and Magdeburg, to preach and proclaim, in Germany, 
 those famous indulgences of Leo X., which administered 
 the remission of all sins, past, present, and to come, how- 
 
 * The writers who have given a circumstantial account of Luther and 
 his transactions, are accurately enumerated by Jo. Alb, Fabricius, in his 
 Centifolium Lutheranum. 
 
 > The historians who have particularly mentioned Tetzel, and his 
 odious methods of deluding the multitude, are enumerated in the work 
 quoted in the preceding note, part i. p. 47; part i. p. 530.—What is 
 said of this vile deceiver by Echard and Quetif, (Scriptores Ordin. 
 
 Predicator. tom. ii.) discovers the blindest zeal and the meanest par- 
 tiality. 
 
 => * In describing the efficacy of these indulgences, Tetzel said, 
 among other enormities, that ‘‘even had any one ravished the mother of 
 God, he (Tetzel) had wherewithal to efface his guilt.” He also boasted 
 that “he had saved more souls from hell by these indulgences, than St. 
 Peter had converted to Christianity by his preaching.” 
 
 #7374 Dr. Mosheim has taken no notice of the calumnies invented 
 and propagated by some late authors, in order to make Luther’s zealous 
 opposition to the publication of indulgences appear to be the effect of 
 selfish and ignoble motives. It may not, therefore, be improper to set 
 that point in a true light; not that the cause of the reformation (which 
 must stand by its own intrinsic dignity, and is in no way affected by the 
 views or characters of its instruments) can derive any strength from this 
 Inquiry; but as it may tend to vindicate the personal character of a man, 
 who has done eminent service to the cause of religion. 
 
 Mr. Hume, in his history of the reign of Henry VIII., has thought 
 proper to repeat what the enemies of the reformation, and some of its 
 dubious or ill-informed friends, have advanced, with respect to the motives 
 that engaged Luther to oppose the doctrine of indulgences. This ele- 
 gant historian affirms, that the “‘ Augustin friars had wswally been em- 
 
 loyed in Saxony to preach indulgences, and from this trust had derived 
 Both profit and consideration; that Arcemboldi gave this occupation to 
 the Dominicans; that Martin Luther, an Augustin friar, professor in 
 the university of Wittenberg, resenting the affront put upon his order, 
 began to preach against the abuses that were committed in the sale of 
 indulgences, and being provoked by opposition, proceeded even to decry 
 indulgences themselves.” It is to be wished, that Mr. Hume’s candour 
 had engaged him to examine this accusation better, before he had ven- 
 tured to repeat it. In the first place, it is not true, that the Augustin 
 friars had been usually employed in Saxony to preach indulgences. It 
 is well known, that the commission had been offered alternately, and 
 sometimes jointly, to all the Mendicants, whether Augustin friars, Do- 
 minicans, I'ranciscans, or Carmelites. From the year 1229, that lucra- 
 tive commission was principally entrusted to the Dominicans ;* and in 
 the records which relate to indulgences, we rarely meet with the name 
 of an Augustin friar, and not a single act by which it appears, that the 
 Roman pontiff ever named the friars of that order to the office under 
 consideration. More particularly it is remarkable, that for half a century 
 before Luther, (i. e. from 1450 to 1517,) during which period indulgen- 
 ces were sold with the most scandalous marks of avaricious extortion 
 and impudence, we scarcely find an Augustin friar mentioned as being 
 employed in that service ; if we except a monk named Baluzius, who was 
 no more than an underling of the papal questor Raymond Peraldus ; so 
 far is it from being true, that the Augustin monks were exclusively, or 
 even usually, engaged in that service.t Mr. Hume has built his 
 assertion upon the sole authority of a single expression of Paul Sarpi, 
 which has been abundantly refuted by De Priero, Pallavicini, and 
 Graweson, the mortal enemies of Luther.—But it may be alleged, that, 
 even supposing it was not usual to employ the Augustin friars alone in 
 the propagation of indulgences, yet Luther might be offended at seeing 
 
 such an important commission given to the Dominicans exclusively, and 
 that, consequently, this was his motive in opposing the propagation of |}; 
 
 The frontless monk executed this ini- 
 quitous commission not only with matchless insolence, in- 
 decency,° and fraud, but even carried his impiety so far as 
 to derogate from the all-sufficient power and influence of 
 the merits of Christ. At this, Luther, unable to repress 
 his just indignation, raised his warning voice, and in 
 ninety-five propositions, (maintained publicly at Witten- 
 berg, on the 30th of September, 1517,) censured the ex- 
 travagant extortion of these queestors, and plainly pointed 
 out the pontiff as a partaker of their guilt, since he suf- 
 fered the people to be seduced, by such delusions, from 
 placing their principal confidence in Christ, the only proper 
 object of their trust. This was the commencement and 
 foundation of that memorable rupture and revolution in 
 the church, which humbled the grandeur of the lordly 
 pontiffs, and eclipsed so great a part of their glory. ¢ 
 
 IV. This debate between Luther and 'Tetzel was, at 
 
 indulgences. ‘To show the injustice of this allegation, I observe, second- 
 ly, that, in the time of Luther, the preaching of indulgences had become 
 very odious and unpopular; and it is therefore far from being probable, 
 that Luther would have been solicitous about obtaining such a commis- 
 sion, either for himself or for his order. The princes of Europe, with 
 many bishops, and multitudes of learned and pious men, had opened 
 their eyes upon the turpitude of this infamous traffick; and even the 
 Franciscans and Dominicans, toward the conclusion of the fifteenth 
 century, opposed it publicly, both in their discourses and in their wri- 
 tings.t ‘The very commission, which is supposed to have excited the 
 envy of Luther, was offered by Leo to the general of the Franciscans, 
 and was refused both by him and his order,§ who gave it over entirely 
 to Albert, bishop of Mentz and Magdeburg. Js it then to be imagined, 
 that either Luther, or the other Augustin friars, aspired after a commis- 
 sion of which the Franciscans were ashamed? Besides, it is amistake 
 to affirm, that this office was given to the Dominicans in general ; for it 
 was given to Tetzel alone, an individual member of that order, who had 
 been notorious for his extortion, profligacy, and barbarity. 
 
 But that neither resentment nor envy were the motives that led Luther 
 to oppose the doctrine and publication of indulgences, will appear with 
 the utmost evidence, if we consider, in the third place, that he was never 
 accused of any such motives, either in'the edicts of the pontiffs of his 
 time, or amidst the other reproaches of the contemporary writers, who 
 defended the cause of Rome, and who were generally very prodigal of 
 their invectives and calumnies. All. the contemporary adversaries of 
 Luther are absolutely silent on this head. From the year 1517 to 1546, 
 when the dispute about indulgences was carried on with the greatest 
 warmth and animosity, not one writer ever ventured to reproach Luther 
 with these ignoble motives of opposition now under consideration. I 
 speak not of Erasmus, Sleidan, De Thou, Guicciardini, and others, 
 whose testimony might be perhaps suspected of partiality in his favour; 
 but I speak of Caietan, Hoogstrat, De Priero, Emser, and even the in- 
 famous John Tetzel, whom Luther opposed with such vehemence and 
 bitterness. Even Cochleus was silent on this head during the life of 
 Luther, though, after the death of that great reformer, he broached the 
 calumny I am here refuting. But such was the scandalous character of 
 this man, who was notorious for fraud, calumny, lying, and their sister 
 vices,ll that Pallavicini, Bossuet, and other enemies of Luther, were 
 ashamed to make use either of his name ortestimony. Now may it not 
 be fairly presumed, that the contemporaries of Luther were better judges 
 of his character, and of the principles from which he acted, than those 
 who lived in after-times ? Can it be imagined, that motives to action, 
 which escaped their prying eyes, should have discovered themselves to 
 us who live at such a distance of time from the scene of action, to M. 
 Bossuet, to Mr. Hume, and to other abettors of this ill-contrived and 
 foolish story. Either there are no rules of moral evidence, or Mr. 
 Hume’s assertion is entirely groundless. 
 
 I might add many other considerations to show the unreasonableness 
 of supposing that tue exposed himself to the rage of the pontiff, to 
 the persecutions of an exasperated clergy, to the severity of such a po- 
 tent and despotic prince as Charles V., and to the risk of death itself, 
 from a principle of avarice and ambition. But I have said enough to 
 satisfy every candid mind. 
 
 * See Weismanni Memorabilia Historie Sacre N. T. p. 1051, 1115. 
 
 t+ See Harpii Dissertat. de Nonnullis Indulgentiarum (Sec. XIV. et 
 XV.) Questoribus, p. 384, 387. 
 
 t See Walch. op. Lutheri, tom. xv. p. 114, 283, 312, 349.—Seckendorf. 
 Hist. Lutheranismi, lib. i. sect. vi. p. 13. 
 
 § See Walch. loc. cit. p. 371. 
 
 il Sleidan de Statu Rel. et Reip. in Dedic. Epist. ad August. Electorem. 
 
392 HISTORY OF 
 first, a matter of no great moment, and might have been 
 determined with the utmost facility, had Leo been disposed 
 to follow the healing method which common prudence 
 must have naturally pointed out on such an occasion ; for, 
 after all, this was no more than the private dispute of two 
 monks, concerning the extent of the pope’s power with 
 respect to the remission of sin. Luther confessed that the 
 Roman pontiff was invested with the power of gakuen 
 the hwman punishments denounced against transgressors 
 j. e. the punishments ordained by the church, and its visi- 
 ble head, the bishop of Rome ; but he strenuously denied 
 that his power extended to the remission of the divine 
 punishments allotted to offenders, either in the present or 
 in a future state; affirming, on the contrary, that these 
 punishments could only be removed by the merits of Christ, 
 or by voluntarygacts of mortification and penance, under- 
 taken and performed by the transgressor. 'Mhe doctrine of 
 ‘Tetzel was directly opposite to the sentiments of Luther ; 
 for that senseless and designing monk asserted, that all 
 punishments, present and future, human and divine, were 
 submitted to the authority of the pope, and came within 
 the reach of his absolving power. ‘I‘his matter had often 
 been debated before the present period ; but the popes had 
 always been prudent enough to leave it undecided. ‘These 
 debates, however, being sumetimes treated with neglect, 
 
 and at others carried on without wisdom, the seeds of dis- | 
 
 cord imperceptibly gained new accessions of strength and 
 vigour, and from small beginnings produced, at length, 
 events of the most momentous nature. 
 
 V. The sentiments of Luther were received with ap- 
 plause by the greatest part of Germany, which had long 
 groaned under the avarice of the pontiffs, and the extor- 
 tions of their tax-gatherers, and had murmured grievously 
 against the various stratagems that were daily put in prac- 
 tice, with the most shameless impudence, to fleece the rich, 
 and to grind the faces of the poor. But the votaries of 
 Rome were filled with horror, when they were informed 
 of the opinions propagated by the Saxon reformer; more 
 especially the Dominicans, who looked upon their order as 
 insulted and attacked in the person of 'Tetzel. he alarm 
 of controversy was therefore sounded, and 'Tetzel himself 
 appeared immediately in the field against Luther, whose 
 sentiments he pretended to refute in two academical dis- 
 courses, which he pronounced on occasion of his promotion 
 to the degree of doctor in divinity. In the year following 
 (1511) two famous Dominicans, Sylvester de Priero and 
 Hoogstrat, the former a native of Italy, and the latter a 
 German, rose up also against the adventurous reformer, 
 and attacked him at Cologne with the utmost vehemence 
 and ardour. "Their example was soon followed by another 
 formidable champion, named Eckius, a celebrated profes- 
 sor of divinity at Ingolstadt, and one of the most zealous 
 supporters of the Dominican order. Luther stood firm 
 against these united adversaries, and was neither van- 
 quished by their arguments, nor daunted by their talents 
 and reputation ; but answered their objections, and refu- 
 ted their reasonings with the greatest strength of evidence, 
 
 ® There is an ample account of this cardinal given by Quetif and 
 Echard, Scriptor. Ordin. Predicator. tom. ii. 
 
 » The i imperious and imprudent manner in which Caietan behaved 
 toward Luther was highly disapproved, even at the court of Rome, as 
 appears, among other testimonies, from Paolo Sarpi’s History of the 
 Council of Trent, book i. p. 22. The conduct of Caietan is defended 
 by Echard, but with little prudence and less argument. The truth is, 
 
 THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Secr. ] 
 
 At 
 
 in the most submissive 
 
 and a becoming spirit of resolution and perseverance. 
 the same time, he addressed letters, 
 and respectful terms, to the pope, and to several of the 
 bishops, showing them the uprightness of his intentions, 
 as well as the justice of his cause, and declaring his rea- 
 diness to change his sentiments, as soon as he should see 
 them fairly proved to be erroneous. 
 
 VI. At first, Leo beheld this controversy with indiffer- 
 ence and contempt ; but, being informed by the emperor 
 Maximilian not only of its importance, but also of the 
 fatal divisions it was likely to produce in Germany, he 
 summoned Luther to appear before him at Rome, and 
 there to plead the cause which he had undertaken to 
 maintain. ‘his papal citation was superseded by Fre- 
 deric the Wise, elector of Saxony, who pretended, that 
 the cause of Luther belonged to the junisdiction of a 
 German tribunal, and that it was to be decided by the 
 ecclesiastical laws of the empire. ‘The pontiff yielded 
 to the remonstrances of this prudent and magnani- 
 mous prince, and ordered Luther to justify his imten- 
 tions and doctrines before cardinal Caietan, who was at 
 this time legate at the diet of Augsburg. In this first 
 step the court of Rome gave a specimen of that temerity 
 and imprudence with which all its negotiations, in this 
 weighty affair, were afterwards conducted ; for, instead of 
 reconciling, nothing could tend more to inflame the dis- 
 pute than the choice of Caietan, a Dominican, and, con 
 sequently, the declared enemy of Luther and friend of 
 Tetzel, as judge and arbitrator in this nice and perilous 
 controversy. 
 
 Vil. Luther, however, repaired to Augsburg in Octo- 
 ber, 1518, and conferred, at three meetings, with Caietan 
 himself," concerning the points in debate. But had he 
 even been disposed to yield to the court of Rome, this im- 
 perious legate was, of all others, the most unfit person to 
 be employed in procuring from him any act or mark of 
 submission. ‘he high spirit of Luther was not to be 
 tamed by the arrogant dictates of mere authority ; such, 
 however, were the only methods of persuasion adopted by 
 the haughty cardinal. He, in an overbearing tone, de- 
 sired Luther to renounce his opinions, without even at 
 tempting to prove them erroneous, and insisted, with im- 
 portunity, on his confessing humbly his fault, and sub- 
 mitting respectfully to the judgment of the Roman pon- 
 tiff’ The Saxon reformer could not think of yielding 
 to terms so unreasonable in themselves, and so despotic- 
 ally proposed; so that the conferences were absolutely 
 without effect. Luther, finding his adversary and judge 
 inaccessible to reason and argument, suddenly left Augs- 
 burg, after having appealed from the pope’s present deci- 
 sion to that which he should pronounce when better in- 
 formed; and, in this step, he seemed yet to respect the 
 dignity and authority of the bishop of Rome.* Leo, on 
 the other hand, let loose the reins to ambition and des- 
 potism, and carried things to extremities; for he published 
 an edict, commanding his spiritual subjects to acknow- 
 ledge his power of delivering from all the punishments 
 
 that the court of Rome, and its unthinking sovereign, were not less cul- 
 pable than Caietan in ‘the whole of this transaction, since they might 
 easily foresee, that a Dominican legate was of all others the most unlike- 
 ly to treat Luther with moderation and impartiality, and consequently 
 the most improper to reconcile matters. 
 
 ¢ See B. Ch. Fy. Borner. Diss.de Coll. Luth. cum Caietano, Leips. 1722. 
 Val. Ern. Losch, Act, et Doc. Ref. t. ii.c. xi.p. 435, op. Luth, t. xxiv. p,409 
 
 &, 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 due to sin and transgression. As soon as Luther received 
 information of this inconsiderate and violent measure, he 
 perceived, plainly, that it would be impossible for him to 
 bring the court of Rome to any reasonable terms; he 
 therefore repaired to Wittenberg, and appealed from the 
 pontiff to a general council. 
 
 Vill. In the mean time the pope became sensible of his 
 imprudence in entrusting Caietan with such a commission, 
 and therefore resolved to employ a man of more candour 
 and impartiality, and better acquainted with business, in 
 order to suppress the rebellion of Luther, and to engage 
 that reformer to submission and obedience. ‘This new 
 legate was Charles Miltitz, a Saxon knight, who belong- 
 ed to the court of Leo, and whose laic character exposed 
 him less to the prejudices which arise froma spirit of party, 
 than if he had been clothed with the splendid purple, or 
 the monastic frock. He was also a person of great pru- 
 dence, penetration, and dexterity, and every way qualified 
 for the execution of such a nice and critical commission 
 as this was. Leo sent him into Saxony to present to 
 Frederic the golden consecrated rose, (which the pontiffs 
 are accustomed to bestow, as a peculiar mark of distinc- 
 tion, on those princes for whom they have, or think pro- 
 per to profess, an uncommon friendship and esteem,) and 
 to treat with Luther, not only about finishing his contro- 
 versy with Tetzel, but also with regard to the methods of 
 bringing about a reconciliation between him and the court 
 of Rome. Nor, indeed, were the negotiations of this pru- 
 dent minister entirely unsuccessful; for, in his first con- 
 ference with Luther, at Altenburg, in 1519, he carried 
 matters so far as to persuade him to write a submissive 
 letter to Leo, promising to observe a profound silence upon 
 the points in debate, provided that the same obligation 
 should be imposed upon his adversaries. This same year, 
 in the month of October, Miltitz had a second conference 
 with Luther in the castle of Liebenwerd, and a third, the 
 year following, at Lichtenberg. These meetings, which 
 were reciprocally conducted with moderation and decency, 
 gave great hopes of an approaching reconciliation; nor 
 were these hopes altogether ill-founded.’ But the violent 
 proceedings of the enemies of Luther, and the arrogant 
 spirit, as well as unaccountable imprudence, of the court 
 of Rome, blasted these fair expectations, and rekindled the 
 flames of discord. 
 
 1X.< It issufficient barely to mention the measures taken 
 by Caietan to draw Luther anew under the papal yoke, 
 _ because these were, indeed, nothing more than the wild 
 suggestions of superstition and tyranny, maintained and 
 avowed with the most shameless impudence. A man 
 who began by commanding the reformer to renounce his 
 errors, and to believe, upon the dictates of mere authority, 
 that “one drop of Christ’s blood being sufficient to redeem 
 the whole human race, the remaining quantity, which 
 was shed in the garden and on the cross, was left as a 
 
 * See Borneri Dissert. The records relating to the embassy of Miltitz, 
 were first published by Cyprianus, in Addit. ad Tenzelii Histor. Refor- 
 mat. tom. i. ii..—as also by Léscherus, in his Acta Reformat. tom. ii. c. 
 xvi. and tom. iii. cap. ii. 
 
 » In 1519, Leo wrote to Luther in the softest and most pacific terms. 
 From this remarkable letter, (which was published in 1742, by Lésche- 
 rus, in a German work entitled Unschuld Nachricht,) it appears that at 
 the court of Rome, they looked upon a reconciliation between Luther 
 and the pontiff as certain and near at hand. 
 
 37 * This whole ninth section is added to Dr. Mosheim’s work by 
 the translator, who thought that this part of Luther’s history deserved to 
 
 No. XXXII. 99 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 398 
 
 legacy to the church, to be a treasure whence indulgences 
 were to be drawn and administered by the Roman pon- 
 (tiffs ;”" such a man was not tobe reasoned with. But Mil- 
 | titz proceeded in quite another manner, and his conferen- 
 ces with the Saxon reformer are worthy of attention. He 
 was ordered, indeed, to demand of the elector, that he 
 would either oblige Luther to renounce the doctrines he 
 had hitherto maintained, or that he would withdraw from 
 him his protection and favour. But, perceiving that he 
 was received by the elector with a degree of coldness that 
 bordered upon contempt, and that Luther’s credit and 
 cause were too far advanced to be destroyed by the efforts 
 of mere authority, he had recourse to gentler methods. He 
 loaded 'l'etzel with the bitterest reproaches, on account of 
 the irregular and superstitious means he had employed for 
 ‘promoting the sale of indulgences, and attributed to this 
 miserable wretch all the abuses that Luther had com- 
 plained of. 'Tetzel, on the other hand, burthened with the 
 iniquities of Rome, tormented with a consciousness of his 
 own injustice and extortions, stung with the opprobrious 
 censures of the new legate, and seeing himself equally 
 despised and abhorred by both parties, died of grief and 
 despair.< "This incendiary being sacrificed as a victim to 
 cover the Roman pontiff from reproach, Miltitz entered into 
 a particular conversation with Luther at Altenburg, and, 
 without pretending to justify the scandalous traflick in ques- 
 tion, required only, that he would acknowledge the four 
 following points: ‘“ Ist, That the people had been seduced 
 by false notions of indulgences: 2dly, That he (Lu- 
 ther) had been the cause of that seduction, by representing 
 indulgences as much more heinous than they really were : 
 3dly, That the odious conduct of Tetzel alone had given 
 occasion to these representations : and, 4thly, That, though 
 the avarice of Albert, archbishop of Mentz, had set on 
 'Tetzel, this rapacious tax-gatherer had far exceeded the 
 bounds of his commission.” ‘These proposals were ac- 
 companied with many soothing words, with pompous en- 
 -comiums on Luther’s character, capacity, and talents, and 
 with the softest and most pathetic expostulations in favour 
 of union and concord in an afflicted and divided church ; 
 call which Miltitz combined with the greatest dexterity and 
 address, in order to touch and disarm the reformer. Nor 
 “were his mild and insinuating methods of negotiating 
 ‘without effect ; and it was upon this occasion that Luther 
 ‘made submissions which showed that his views were not, 
 _as yet, very extensive, his former prejudices entirely ex- 
 pelled, or his reforming principles steadily fixed; for he 
 “not only offered to observe a profound silence for the future 
 with respect to indulgences, provided that the same condi- 
 tion should be imposed on his adversaries ; he went much 
 farther; he proposed writing an humble and submis¢fve 
 letter to the pope, acknowledging that he had carried his 
 zeal and animosity too far; and such a letter he wrote 
 soon after the conference at Altenburg.’ He even consent- 
 
 be related in a more circumstantial manner, than it is in the original. 
 3*> ¢ Such, among others still more absurd, were the expressions of 
 'Caietan, which he borrowed from one of the Decretals of Clement VI. 
 called (and that justly for more than one reason) Extravagants. | 
 | 3 4p° Luther was so affected by the agonies of despair under which 
 Tetzel laboured, that he wrote to him a pathetic letter of consolation, 
 which, however, produced no effect. His infamy was perpetuated by a 
 | picture placed in the church of Pirna, in which he is represented sitting 
 on an ass and selling indulgences. 
 3*p This letter was dated the 13th of March, 1519, about two 
 months after that conference. 
 
394 
 
 ed to publish a circular letter, exhorting all his disciples | 
 and followers to reverence and obey the dictates of the holy | 
 Roman church. He declared that his only intention, in 
 the writings he had composed, was to brand with infamy 
 those emissaries who abused his authority, and employ- 
 ed its protection as a mask to cover their abominable and 
 impious frauds. It is true, indeed, that amidst those weak 
 submissions which the impartial demands of historical 
 truth oblige us to relate, there was, properly speaking, no 
 retraction of his former tenets, nor the smallest degree of | 
 respect shown to the infamous traffick of indulgences. | 
 Nevertheless, the pretended majesty of the Roman 
 church, and the authority of the Roman pontiff, were 
 treated by Luther in this transaction, and in his letter to 
 Leo, in a manner that could not naturally have been ex- 
 pected from a man who had already appealed from the 
 pope to a general council. 
 
 Had the pope becn so prudent as to accept the sub- | 
 mission of Luther, he would have almost nipped in the- 
 bud the cause of the reformation, or would, at least, | 
 have considerably retarded its growth and progress. When | 
 he had gained over the head, the members would, with 
 greater facility, have been reduced to obedience. But 
 the flaming and excessive zeal of some inconsiderate 
 bigots renewed (happily for the truth) the divisions, 
 which were so near being healed, and, by animating 
 both Luther and his followers to inspect more closely the 
 enormities that prevailed in the papal hierarchy, pro- 
 moted the principles, and augmented the spirit, which 
 ultimately produced the blessed* reformation. 
 
 X. One of the circumstances that contributed princi- 
 pally, at least- by its consequences, to render the embassy 
 of Miltitz ineffectual for the restoration of peace, was a 
 famous controversy of an incidental nature that was car- 
 ried on at Leipsic, for some weeks successively, in 1519.” 
 Kickius, the celebrated theologian, happened to differ 
 widely from Carlostadt, the colleague and companion of 
 Luther, in his sentiments concerning free will. The re- 
 sult of this variety in opinion was easy to be foreseen. 
 ‘The military genius of our ancestors had so far infected 
 the schools of learning, that differences in points of reli- 
 gion and literature, when they grew to a certain degree 
 of warmth and animosity, were decided, like the quar- 
 
 37 * See, for an ample account of Luther’s conferences with Miltitz, | 
 the incomparable work of Seckendorff, entitled Commentar. Histor. 
 Apologet. de Lutheranismo, sive de Reformatione Religionis, &c. in 
 which the facts relating to Luther and the Reformation are deduced from 
 the most valuable and authentic manuscripts and records, contained in 
 the library of Saxe-Gotha, and in other learned and princely collections: 
 and in which the frauds and falsehoods of Maimbourg’s History of 
 Lutheranism are fully detected and refuted—As to Miltitz, his fate was 
 unhappy. His moderation (which nothing but the blind zeal of some 
 furious monks could have prevented from being eminently serviceable to 
 the cause of Rome) was represented by Eckius, as something worse 
 than indifference about the success of his commission; and, after several 
 marks of neglect received from the pontiff, he had the misfortune to lose 
 his life in passing the Rhine, at Mentz. 
 
 » These disputes commenced on the 27th of June, and ended on the 
 15th of July. 
 
 ay ° This controversy turned upon liberty, considered not in a phi- 
 losophical, but in a theological sense. It was rather a dispute concerning 
 power than concerning liberty. Carlostadt maintained, that, since the 
 fall of man, our natural liberty is not strong enough to conduct us to 
 what is good, without the intervention of divine grace. Eckius asserted, 
 on the contrary, that our natural liberty co-operates with divine grace, and 
 that itis in the power of man to consent to the divine impulse, or to resist 
 it. T'he former attributed all to God; the latter divided the merit of virtue 
 betweer God and the creature. ‘The modern Lutherans have almost uni- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 | universities of Paris and Erfurt.¢ 
 
 versally abandoned the sentiments of Carlostadt. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 rels of valiant knights, by a single combat. Some fa- 
 mous university was pitched upon as the field of battle, 
 while the rector and professors beheld the contest, and 
 
 | proclaimed the victory. Eckius, therefore, in compliance 
 _with the spirit of this fighting age, challenged Carlostadt, 
 
 and even Luther himself, against whom he had already 
 drawn his pen, to try the force of his theological arms. 
 The challenge was accepted, the day appointed, and the 
 three champions, appeared in the field. The first con- 
 flict was between Carlostadt and Eckius, respecting the 
 powers and freedom of the human will;° it was carried 
 on in the castle of Pleissenburg, before a numerous and 
 splendid auditory, and was followed by a dispute between 
 Luther and Eckius concerning the authority and supre- 
 macy of the Roman pontiff. This latter controversy, 
 which the present situation of affairs rendered singular- 
 ly nice and critical, was left undecided. Hoffman, at 
 that time rector of the university of Leipsic, and who had 
 been also appointed judge of the arguments alleged on 
 both sides, refused to declare to whom the victory belong- 
 ed, so that the decision of the case was referred to the 
 In the mean time, 
 one of the immediate effects of this dispute was a visible 
 increase of the bitterness and enmity which Eckius had 
 conceived against Luther; for from this very period he 
 breathed nothing but fury against the reformer,e whom 
 he marked out as a victim to his vengeance, without con- 
 sidering, that the measures he took for the destruction of 
 Luther, must have a most pernicious influence upon the 
 cause of the pontiff, by fomenting the present divisions, 
 and thus contributing to the progress of the reformation, 
 as was really the case.‘ 
 
 XI. Among the spectators of this ecclesiastical combat, 
 was Philip Melancthon, at that time professor of Greek 
 at Wittenberg, who had not yet been involved in these 
 divisions, (for the mildness of his temper, and his elegant 
 taste for polite literature, rendered him averse from dis- 
 putes of this nature,) though he was the intimate friend 
 of Luther, and approved his design of delivering the pure 
 and primitive science of theology from the darkness and 
 subtlety of scholastic jargon.s Asthis eminent man was 
 one of those whom the dispute with Eckius convinced of 
 the excellence of Luther’s cause; as he was, moreover, 
 
 a There is an ample account of this dispute at Leipsic, given by 
 Léscherus, in his Acta et Documenta Reformationis. 
 
 x ° This was one proof that the issue of the controversy was not 
 in his favour. The victor, in any combat, is generally too full of satis- 
 faction and selfcomplacency, to feel the emotions of fury and vengeance, 
 which seldom arise but from disappointment and defeat. There is even 
 an insolent kind of clemency that arises from an eminent and palpable 
 superiority. This indeed Eckius had no opportunity of exercising. — 
 Luther demonstrated, in this conference, that the church of Rome, in 
 the earlier ages, had never been acknowledged as superior to other 
 churches ; and he combated the pretensions of that church and its bishop, 
 from the testimony of Scripture, the authority of the fathers, and the 
 best ecclesiastical historians, and even from the decrees of the council of 
 Nice; while all the arguments of Eckius were derived from the spu- 
 rious and insipid Decretals, which were scarcely of 400 years’ standing. 
 See Seckendorff’s History of Lutheranism. 
 
 a> f It may be observed here, that, before Luther’s attack upon the 
 store-house of indulgences, Eckius was his intimate friend. The latter 
 must certainly have been uncommonly unworthy, since even the mild 
 and gentle Melancthon represents him as an inhuman persecutor, a so- 
 phist, anda knave, who maintained doctrines contrary to his belief, and 
 against his conscience. See the learned Dr. Jortin’s Life of Erasmus, vol. 
 ii. p. 713; also Vitus’ account of the death of Eckius in Seckendorff, lib. 
 iu. p. 468. te é: 
 
 ® See Melancthon’s letter concerning the conference at Leipsic, in 
 Léscherus’ Acta et Documenta Reformationis, tom. ii 
 
Duar. II. 
 
 one of the illustrious and respectable instruments of the | 
 Reformation ; it may not be improper to give some ac- | 
 count of the talents and virtues that rendered his name 
 immortal. His greatest. enemies have borne testimony 
 to his merit. ‘They have been forced to acknowledge, 
 that the annals of antiquity exhibit very few worthies 
 that may be compared with him, whether we consider the | 
 extent of his knowledge in things human and divine, | 
 the fertility and elegance of his genius, the facility and 
 quickness of his comprehension, or the uninterrupted in- 
 dustry that attended his learned and theological labours. 
 He rendered to philosophy and the liberal arts the same 
 eminent service that Luther had done to religion, by 
 purging them from the dross with which they had been 
 corrupted, and by recommending them, in a powerful 
 and persuasive manner, to the study of the Germans. He 
 had the rare talent of discerning truth in its most intri- 
 cate connexions and combinations, of comprehending at 
 once the most abstract notions, and expressing them with 
 the utmost ease and perspicuity. And he applied this 
 happy talent in religious disquisitions with such unparal- 
 leled success, that it may safely be affirmed, that the 
 cause of true Christianity derived from the learning and 
 genius of Melancthon more signal advantages, and a 
 more effectual support, than it received from any of the 
 other doctors of the age. His love of peace and concord, 
 which partly arose from the sweetness of his natural tem- 
 per, made him desire with ardour that a reformation might 
 be effected without producing a schism in the church, and 
 that the external communion of the contending parties 
 might be preserved uninterrupted and entire. This spirit 
 of mildness and charity, carried perhaps too far, led him 
 sometimes to make concessions that were neither con- 
 sistent with prudence, nor advantageous to the cause in 
 which he was engaged. It is however certain, that he 
 gave no quarter to those more dangerous and momentous 
 errors that reigned in the church of Rome, but maintain- 
 ed on the contrary that their extirpation was essentially 
 necessary, in order to the restoration of true religion. In 
 the natural complexion of this great man there was some- 
 thing soft, timid, and yielding. Hence originated a cer- 
 tain diffidence of himself, that not only made him examine 
 things with the greatest attention and care, before he re- 
 solved upon any measure, but also filled him with uneasy 
 apprehensions where there was no danger, and made him 
 fear even things that, in reality, could never happen. And 
 
 37 * By this, no doubt, Dr. Mosheim means the credulity this great 
 man discovered with respect to prodigies and dreams, and his having 
 been somewhat addicted to the pretended science of astrology. See 
 Schelhornii Amenit. Hist. Eccles, et Lit. vol. ii. p. 609. 
 
 b We have a life of Melancthon, written by Joachim Camerarius ; 
 but a more accurate account of this illustrious reformer, composed by a 
 prudent, impartial, and well-informed biographer, as also a complete 
 collection of his works, would be an inestimable present to the republic 
 of letters. f 
 
 3“> * The translator has added, to the portrait of Zuingle, the quality 
 of heroic intrepidity, because it was a predominant and remarkable 
 part of the character of this illustrious reformer, whose learning and 
 fortitude, tempered by the greatest moderation, rendered him, perhaps 
 beyond comparison, the brightest ornament of the protestant cause. 
 
 => 4 Our learned historian does not seem to acknowledge this with 
 pleasure, as the Germans and Swiss contend for the honour of having 
 given the first overtures toward the reformation. If, however, truth has 
 obliged him to make this acknowledgment, he has accompanied it with 
 some modifications which are more artful than accurate. He says, that 
 
 Zuingle “had perecived some rays of the truth before Luther came to 
 
 an open rupture,” &c. to make us imagine that Luther might have seen 
 I > ° D 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the truth long before that rupture happened, and consequently as soon 
 as Zuingle. But it is well known, that the latter, from his early years, 
 
 395 
 
 yet, on the other hand, when the hour of real danger ap- 
 proached, when things bore a formidable + spect, and the 
 cause of religion was in imminent peril, then this timo- 
 rous man was at once converted into an intrepid hero, 
 looked danger in the face with unshaken constancy, and 
 opposed his adversaries with invincible fortitude. All this 
 shows, that the force of truth and the power of principle 
 had diminished the weaknesses and defects of Melancthon’s 
 natural character, without entirely removing them. Had 
 his fortitude been more uniform and steady, his desire of 
 reconciling all interests and pleasing all parties less vehe- 
 ment and excessive, his triumph over the superstitions im- 
 bibed in his infancy more complete,* he must deservedly 
 have been considered as one cf the greatest among men.* 
 
 XII. While the credit and authority of the pontiff were 
 thus upon the decline In Germany, they received a mor- 
 tal wound in Switzerland from Ulric Zuingle, a canon 
 of Zurich, whose extensive learning and uncommon sa- 
 gacity were accompanied with the most heroic intrepidity 
 and resolution. It must even be acknowledged,* that 
 this eminent man had perceived some rays of the truth 
 before Luther came to an open rupture with the church of 
 Rome. He was, however, afterwards still farther ani- 
 mated by the example, and instructed by the writings of 
 the Saxon reformer; and thus his zeal for the good cause 
 acquired new strength and vigour; for he not only ex- 
 plained the sacred writings in his public discourses to the 
 people,* but also gave, in 1519, a signal proof of his 
 courage, by opposing, with the greatest resolution and suc- 
 cess, the ministry of a certain Italian monk, named Ber- 
 nardine Samson, who was carrying on, in Switzerland, 
 the impious traffick of indulgences with the same impu- 
 dence that Tetzel had done in Germany.! ‘This was the 
 first remarkable event that prepared the way for the re- 
 formation among the Helvetic cantons. In process of 
 time, Zuingle pursued with steadiness and resolution the 
 design that he had begun with such courage and success; 
 and some other learned men, educated in Germany, acting 
 with zeal as his colleagues, succeeded so far in removing 
 the credulity of a deluded people, that the pope’s supremacy 
 was rejected and denied in the greatest part of Swit- 
 zerland. It is indeed to be observed, that he did not al- 
 ways use the same methods of conversion that, were em- 
 ployed by Luther; nor, upon particular occasions, did he 
 discountenance the use of violent measures against such 
 
 as adhered with obstinacy to the superstitions of their an- 
 A ERASE SP ERNE) RESET RAE EE TE GE TT 
 had been shocked at several of the superstitious practices of the church 
 of Rome; that, so early as the year 1516,* he had begun to explain the 
 Scriptures to the people, and to censure, though with great prudence and 
 moderation, the errors of a corrupt church; and that he had very noble 
 and extensive ideas of a general reformation, at the very time that Lu- 
 ther retained almost the whole system of popery, indulgences excepted. 
 Luther proceeded very slowly to exempt himself from those prejudices 
 of education, which Zuingle, by the force of an adventurous genius, 
 and an uncommon degree of knowledge and penctration, easily shook off. 
 
 4p ° This again is inaccurate. It appears from the preceding note, 
 and from the most authentic records, that Zuingle had explained the 
 Scriptures to the people, and called in question the authority and supre- 
 macy of the pope, before the name of Luther was known in Switzer- 
 land. Besides, instead of receiving instruction from the German re- 
 former, he was much his superior in learning, capacity, and judgment, 
 and was much fitter to be his master than his disciple, as the four vo- 
 lumes in folio which we have of his works abundantly testify. a 
 
 f See Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Hist. Eccles. Helvet. tom. ii. lib. vi— 
 Ruchart, Histoire de la Reformation en Suisse, tom. i. liv. 1—Gerdes, 
 Histor. Renovati Evangelii, tom. ii. 6 p 
 
 * Ruchart, Hist. de la Reformation en Suisse, Zuinglii op. tom. 1. p. 
 7. Nouveau Diction. vol. iv. p. 866. Durand, Hist. du xvi. Siecle, tom. 
 ii. p. 8, &e. Jurieu, Apologie pour les Reformateurs, &e. partie i. p. 119, 
 
396 
 
 cestors. He is also said to have attributed, to the civil ma- 
 gistrate, such an extensive power in ecclesiastical affairs, 
 as is quite inconsistent with the essence and genius of re- 
 ligion. But, upon the whole, even envy itself must ac- 
 knowledge, that his intentions were upright, and his de- 
 signs worthy of high approbation. 
 
 XIIL In the mean time, the religious dissensions in Ger- 
 many increased, instead of diminishing; for, while Miltitz 
 was treating with Luther in such a mild and prudent man- 
 ner as offered the fairest prospect of an approaching accom- 
 modation, Eckis, inflamed with resentment and fury on 
 account of his defeat, repaired with the utmost precipita- 
 tion to Rome, to accomplish, as he imagined, the ruin of 
 the bold reformer. There, entering into a league with the 
 Dominicans, who were still in high credit at the papal court, 
 and more especially with their two zealous patrons, De 
 Priero and Caietan, he earnestly entreated Leo to level the 
 thunder of his anathemas at the head of the delinquent, 
 and to exclude him from the communion of the church. 
 The Dominicans, desirous of revenging the affront which, 
 in their opinion, their whole order had received by Luther’s 
 treatment of their brother Tetzel and their patron Caietan, 
 seconded the furious efforts of Eckius; and the pontiff, 
 overcome by the importunity of these pernicious counsel- 
 lors, imprudently issued* a bull on the 15th of June, 1520, 
 in which forty-one pretended heresies, extracted from the 
 writings of Luther, were solemnly condemned, his works 
 ordered to be publicly burned, and in which he was 
 again summoned, on pain of excommunication, to con- 
 fess and retract his pretended errors within the space of 
 sixty days, and to throw himself upon the clemency of the 
 pontiff. 
 
 XIV. As soon as the account of this rash sentence was 
 communicated to Luther, he thought it was high time to 
 consult both his present defence and his future security ; 
 and the first step he took for this purpose, was the renewal 
 of his appeal from the sentence of the pontiff, to the more 
 respectable decision of a general council. Butas he fore- 
 saw that this appeal would be treated with contempt, and 
 that, when the time prescribed for his recantation should 
 have elapsed, the thunder of excommunication would be 
 levelled at his devoted head, he judged it prudent to with- 
 draw himself voluntarily from the communion of the 
 church of Rome, before he was obliged to leave it by force ; 
 and thus to render this new bull of ejection a blow in the 
 air, an exercise of authority without any object to act upon. 
 At the same time, he resolved to execute this wise determi- 
 nation in a public manner, that his voluntary retreat from 
 the communion of a corrupt and superstitious church 
 might be universally known, before the lordly pontiff had 
 prepared his ghostly thunder. With this view, on the 10th 
 of December, 1520, he hada pile of wood erected without 
 the walls of the city ;» and there, in presence of a prodi- 
 
 * The wisest and best part of the Roman catholics acknowledge, that 
 Leo was chargeable with the most culpable imprudence in this rash 
 and violent method of proceeding. See a Dissertation of the learned 
 John Frederic Mayer, de Pontificis Leonis X. processum adversus 
 Lutherum improbantibus, which is part of a work published at Ham- 
 burg, in 1698, under this singular title: Ecclesia Romana Reforma- 
 tionis Lutherane patrona et cliens. There were several wise and 
 thinking persons at this time about the pontiff, who declared openly, 
 without the least ceremony, their disapprobation of the violent counsels 
 of Eckius and the Dominicans, and gave it as their opinion, that it was 
 both prudent and just to wait for the issue of the conferences of Miltitz 
 with Luther, before such forcible measures should be employed. 
 
 b Of Wittenberg. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 gious multitude of people of all ranks and orders, he com- 
 mitted to the flames both the bull that had been published 
 against him, and the decretals and canons relating to the 
 pope’s supreme jurisdiction. By this he declared to the 
 world, that he was no longer a subject of the pontiff, and 
 that, consequently, the sentence of excommunication 
 against him, which was daily expected from Rome, was 
 entirely superfluous and insignificant; for the man who 
 publicly commits to the flames the code that contains the 
 laws of his sovereign, shows thereby that he has no longer 
 any respect for his government, nor any intention of submit- 
 ting to his authority; and the man who voluntarily with- 
 draws himselffrom a society, cannot, with any appearance of 
 reason or common sense, be afterwards forcibly and autho- 
 ritatively excluded from it. It is not improbable, that Lu- 
 ther was directed, in this critical measure, by persons well 
 skilled in the law, who are generally dexterous in furnish- 
 ing aperplexed client with nice distinctions and plausible 
 evasions. Be that as it may, he separated himself only 
 from the church of Rome, which considers the pope as in- 
 fallible, and not from the church considered in a more ex- 
 tensive sense; for he submitted to the decision of the 
 universal church, when that decision should be given in a 
 general council lawfully assembled. When this judicious 
 distinction is considered, it will not appear at all surprising, 
 that many, even of the Roman Catholics, who weighed mat- 
 ters with a certain degree of impartiality and wisdom, and 
 were zealous for the maintenance of the liberties of Ger- 
 many, justified this bold resolution of Luther.: In less 
 than a month after he had taken this noble and important 
 step, a second bull was issued against him, on the 6th of 
 January, 1521, by which he was expelled from the com- 
 munion of the church, for having insulted the majesty and 
 disowned the supremacy of the pope.4 
 
 XV. Such iniquitous laws, enacted against the person 
 and doctrine of Luther, produced an effect different from 
 what was expected by the imperious pontiff. Instead of 
 intimidating this bold reformer, they led him to form the 
 project of founding a church upon principles opposite to 
 those of Rome, and toestablish, in it, a system of doctrine 
 and ecclesiastical discipline agreeable tothe spirit and pre- 
 cepts of the Gospel of truth. This, indeed, was the only 
 resource left to him; for, to submit to the orders of a 
 cruel and insolent enemy, would have been the greatest 
 degree of imprudence imaginable; and to embrace, anew, 
 errors which he had rejected witha just indignation, and 
 exposed with the clearest evidence, would have disco- 
 vered a want of integrity and principle, worthy only of 
 the most abandoned profligate. rom this time, therefore, 
 he applied himself to the pursuit of the truth with increased 
 assiduity and fervour ; nor did he only review with atten- 
 tion, and confirm by new arguments, what he had hitherto 
 taught, but went far beyond it, and made vigorous attacks 
 
 x ° This judicious distinction has not been sufficiently attended to: 
 and the Romanists, some through artifice, others through ignorance, 
 have confounded the papacy with the catholic church, though they are, 
 in reality, two different things. The papacy, indeed, by the ambitious 
 dexterity of the Roman pontiffs, incorporated itself by degrees into the 
 church ; but it was a preposterous supplement, and was really as foreign 
 to its genuine constitution, as a new citadel, erected by a successful 
 usurper, would be to an ancient cily. Luther set out and acted upon 
 this distinction; he went out of the citadel, but he intended to remain 
 in the city, and, like a good patriot, hoped to reform its corrupted go- 
 vernment. 
 
 ¢ Both these bulls are to be found in the Bullarium Romanum, and 
 also in the learned Pfaff’s Histor. Theol. Literar. 
 
’ 
 
 Crap. II. 
 
 upon the principal fortress of popery, the power and juris- 
 
 diction of the Roman pontiff, which he overturned from | 
 
 its very foundation. In this noble undertaking he was 
 seconded by many learned and pious men, in various parts 
 of Europe; by those professors of the university of Wit- 
 tenberg, who had adopted his principles; and in a more 
 
 especial manner by the celebrated Melancthon; and, as | 
 
 the fame of Luther’s wisdom and Melancthon’s learning 
 had filled that academy with an incredible number of stu- 
 dents, who flocked to it from all parts, this happy circum- 
 stance propagated the principles of the Reformation with 
 an amazing rapidity through all the countries of Kurope.* 
 
 XVI. Not long after the commencement of these divi- 
 sions, Maximilian I. had resigned his breath; and _ his 
 grandson, Charles I. of Spain and V. of Austria, had suc- 
 ceeded him in the empire in 1519. Leo seized this new 
 occasion of venting and executing his vengeance, by put- 
 ting the new emperor in mind of his character as ‘advo- 
 cate and defender of the church, and demanding the ex- 
 emplary punishment of Luther, who had rebelled against 
 its sacred lawsand institutions. On the other hand, Fre- 
 deric the Wise employed his credit with Charles to prevent 
 the publication of any unjust edict against this reformer, 
 and to have his cause tried by the canons of the Germa- 
 nic church, and the laws of the empire. ‘This request 
 was so much the more likely to be granted, as Charles was 
 under much greater obligations to Frederic than to any 
 other of the German princes; for it was chiefly by his 
 zealous and important services that he had been raised to 
 the empire, in opposition to the pretensions of such a for- 
 midable rival as Francis I. king of France. ‘The empe- 
 ror was sensible of his obligations to the worthy elector, 
 and was disposed to satisfy hisdemands. ‘That, however, 
 he might do this without displeasing the Roman pontiff, 
 he resolved that Luther should be called before the council 
 which was to be assembled at Worms in 1521, and that 
 his cause should be there publicly heard, before any defi- 
 nitive sentence should be pronounced against him. It 
 may perhaps appear strange, and even inconsistent with 
 the laws of the church, that a cause of a religious nature 
 should be examined and decided in the public diet. But 
 it must be considered that these diets, in which the arch- 
 bishops, bishops, and even some abbots, had their places, 
 
 ® There is a particular account of the rapid progress of the reforma- 
 tion in Germany, given by the learned Daniel Gerdes, professor at 
 Groningen, in his Historia renovati Evangelii. 
 
 =%> > This sentence, which was dated the 8th of May, 1521, was 
 excessively severe; and Charles, whether through sincere zeal or poli- 
 tical cunning, showed himself in this affair an ardent abettor of the 
 papal authority; for in this edict the pope is declared the only true 
 va of the controversy, m which he was evidently a party concerned ; 
 
 uther is declared a member cut off from the church, a schismatic, a 
 notorious and obstinate heretic ;’ ‘the severest punishments are de- 
 nounced against those who shall receive, entertain, maintain, or coun- 
 tenance him, either by acts of hospitality, by conversation or writing ; 
 and all his disciples, adherents, and followers, are involved in the same 
 condemmation. This edict was, however, received with the highest 
 disapprobation by all wise and thinking persons, Ist, because Luther 
 had been condemned without being heard, at Rome, by the college of 
 cardinals, and afterwards at Worms, where, without any discussion or 
 refutation of his doctrine, he was only despotically ordered to abandon 
 and renounce it; 2dly, because Charles V., as emperor, had not a right 
 to give an authoritative sentence against the doctrine of Luther, or to 
 take fur granted the infallibility of the Roman pontiff, before these mat- 
 ters were discussed and decided by a general council; and, 3dly, be- 
 cause a considerable number of the German princes, who were imme- 
 diately interested in this affair, such as the electors of Cologne, Saxony, 
 and the Palatinate, and other sovereign princes, had neither been pre- 
 sent at the diet, nor examined and approved the edict; and, thetelore, 
 
 No. XXXIV. 100 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 397 
 7 
 as well as the princes of the empire, were not only political 
 assemblies, but also provincial councils for Germany, to 
 whose jurisdiction, by the ancient canon law, such causes 
 
 as that of Luther properly belonged. 
 
 XVIii. Luther, therefore, appeared at Worms, secured 
 against the violence of his enemies by a safe-conduct from 
 the emperor, and, on the 17th of April, pleaded his cause 
 
 before that grand assembly with the utmost resolution and 
 
 presence of mind. Menaces and entreaties were alter- 
 nately employed to conquer the firmness of his purpose, 
 to engage him torenounce the propositions he had hither- 
 to maintained, and to bend him to a submission to the Ro- 
 man pontiff. But he opposed all these attempts with a 
 noble obstinacy, and peremptorily declared that he would 
 never abandon his opinions, or change his conduct, unless 
 he should be convinced by the word of God, or the dictates 
 of right reason, that his opinions were erroneous, and his 
 conduct unlawful. When therefore neither promises nor 
 threats could shake the constancy of this magnanimous 
 reformer, he obtained, indeed, from the emperor, the liberty 
 of returning unmolested to his home: but, after his de- 
 parture from the diet, he was condemned by the unanimous 
 suflrages both of the emperor and the princes, and was 
 declared an enemy to the holy Roman empire.®  F'rede- 
 ric, who saw the storm rising against Luther, used the best 
 precautions to secure him from its violence. For this pur- 
 pose he sent three or four persons in whom he could con- 
 fide, to meet him on his return from the diet, in order to 
 conduct him to a place of safety. These emissaries, dis- 
 guised by masks, executed their commission with the ut- 
 most secrecy and success. Meeting with Luther near 
 Hisenach, they seized him, and carried him into the castle 
 of Wartenberg; nor, as some have imagined upon proba- 
 ble grounds, was this done without the knowledge of his 
 imperial majesty. In this retreat, which he called his 
 Patmos, the reformer lay concealed for ten months, and 
 employed this involuntary leisure in compositions that were 
 afterwards very useful to the world. 
 
 XVIII. His active spirit could not, however, long bear 
 this confinement ; he therefore left his Patmos in March, 
 1522, without the consent or even the knowledge of his 
 patron and protector Frederic, and repaired to Wittenberg. 
 One of the principal motives that engaged him to take this 
 
 at best, it could only have force in the territories belonging to the house 
 of Austria, and to such of the princes as had given their consent to its 
 publication. But, after all, this edict produced scarcely any effect, not 
 only for the reasons now mentioned, but also because Charles, whose 
 presence, authority, and zeal, were necessary to render it respectable, 
 was involved in other affairs of a civil nature which he had more at 
 heart. Obliged to pass successively into Flanders, England, and Spain, 
 to quell the seditions of his subjects, and to form new alliances against 
 his great enemy and rival Francis, he lost sight of the edict, while it 
 was treated with the highest indignation or the utmost contempt by all 
 who had any regard for the liberties of the empire and the rights of the 
 Germanic church. 
 
 x ° This precaution of the humane and excellent elector being 
 put in execution, on the 3d of May, five days before the solemn publica- 
 tion of the edict of Worms, the pope missed his blow; and the adversa- 
 ries of Luther became doubly odious to the people in Germany, who, 
 unacquainted with the scheme of Frederic, and not knowing what was 
 become of their favourite reformer, imagined that he was imprisoned, or 
 perhaps destroyed, by the emissaries of Rome. In the mean time, 
 Luther lived in peace and quiet in the castle of Wartenberg, where he 
 translated a great part of the New Testament into the German lan- 
 guage, and wrote frequent letters to his trusty friends and intimates to 
 comfort them under Nis absence. Nor was his confinement here in- 
 consistent with amusement and relaxation ; for he frequently enjoyed 
 the pleasure of hunting in company with his keepers, passing for @ 
 country gentleman, under the appellation of Younker George. 
 
398 
 
 bold step, was the information he had received of the in- | 
 
 considerate conduct of Carlostadt, and some other friends 
 of the Reformation, who had already excited tumults in 
 Saxony, and were acting in a manner equally prejudicial 
 to the tranquillity of the state, and the true interests of the 
 church. Carlostadt, professor at Wittenberg, was a man 
 of considerable learning, who had pierced the veil, with 
 which papal artifice and superstition had covered the truth, 
 and, at the instigation of Eckius, had been excluded with 
 Luther from the communion of the church. His zeal, 
 however, was intemperate; his plans were laid with teme- 
 rity, and executed without moderation. During Luther's 
 absence, he threw down and broke the images of the saints 
 that were placed in the churches, and instead of restrain- 
 ing the vehemence of a fanatical multitude, who had al- 
 ready begun in some places to abuse the precious liberty 
 that was dawning upon them, he encouraged their ill 
 timed violence, and led them on to sedition and mutiny. 
 Luther opposed the impetuosity of this imprudent reformer 
 with the utmost fortitude and dignity, and wisely exhort- 
 ed him and his adherents to eradicate error from the minds 
 of the people, before they made war upon its external en- 
 signs in the churches and public places; since, the for- 
 mer being once removed, the latter must fall of course,* 
 and since the destruction of the latter alone could be at- 
 tended with no lasting fruits. To these prudent admoni- 
 tions this excellent reformer added the influence of ex- 
 ample, by applying himself, with redoubled industry and 
 zeal, to his German translation of the Holy Scriptures, 
 which he carried on with expedition and success,” with 
 the assistance of some learned and pious men whom he 
 consulted in this important undertaking. 'The event 
 abundantly showed the wisdom of Luther’s advice ; for 
 the different parts of this translation, being successively 
 and gradually spread abroad among the people, produced 
 sudden and almost incredible effects, and extirpated, root 
 and branch, the erroneous principles and superstitious doc- 
 trines of the church of Rome from the minds of a prodi- 
 gious number of persons. é 
 XIX. During these transactions, Leo died, and was 
 
 3 If we cast an eye upon the conduct of Luther, in this first scene 
 of his trials, we shall find a true spirit of rational zeal, generous probity, 
 and Christian fortitude, animating this reformer. In his behaviour, be- 
 fore and at the diet of Worms, we observe these qualities shining with 
 - peculiar lustre, and tempered, notwithstanding the warmth of his 
 complexion, with an unexpected degree of moderation and decent respect 
 both for his civil and ecclesiastical superiors. When some of his friends, 
 informed of the violent designs of the Roman court, and alarmed by the 
 bull that had been published against him by the rash pontiff, advised 
 him not to expose his person at the diet, notwithstanding the imperial 
 safe-conduct, (which, in a similar case, had not been sufficient to pro- 
 tect John Huss and Jerome of Prague from the perfidy and cruelty of 
 their enemies,) he answered with his usual intrepidity, that “ were he 
 obliged to encounter at Worms as many devils as there were tiles upon 
 the houses of that city, this would not deter him from his fixed purpose 
 of appearing there ; that fear, in his case, could be only a suggestion of 
 Satan, who apprehended the approaching ruin of his kimgdom, and who 
 was willing to avoid a public defeat before such a grand assembly.” 
 The fire and obstinacy that appeared in this answer seemed to prognos- 
 ticate much warmth and vehemence in his conduct at the assembly. 
 But it was quite otherwise. He exposed with decency and dignity the 
 superstitious doctrines and practices of the church of Rome, and the 
 grievances that arose from the over-grown power of its pontiff, and the 
 abuse that was made of it. He acknowledged the writings with which 
 he was charged, and offered, both with moderation and humility, to de- 
 fend their contents. He desired the pope’s legates and their adherents 
 to hear him, to inform him, to reason with him; and solemuly offered, 
 in presence of the assembled princes and bishops, to renounce his 
 doctrines, if they were shown to be erroneous. But to all these 
 expostulations he received no other answer, than the despotic dic- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Fred. Mayer, and published at Hamburg in 1701, 
 
 Sect. 1. 
 
 succeeded in the pontificate by Adrian VI., a native of 
 Utrecht. 'This pope, who had formerly been preceptor to 
 Charles V., and who owed his new dignity to the good offices 
 of that prince, was a man of probity and candour, who 
 acknowledged ingenuously that the church laboured un- 
 der the most fatal disorders, and declared his willingness 
 to apply the remedies that should be judged the most 
 adapted toheal them. He began his pontificate by send- 
 ing a legate to the diet, which was assembled at Nurem- 
 berg in 1522. Francis Cheregato, the person who was 
 intrusted with this commission, had positive orders to de- 
 mand the speedy and vigorous execution of the sentence 
 that had been pronounced against Lutherand his followers 
 at the diet of Worms; but, at the same time, he was au- 
 thorised to declare that the pontiff was ready to remove 
 the abuses and grievances that had armed such a formi- 
 dable enemy against the see of Rome. 'The princes of 
 the empire, encouraged by this declaration, and also by 
 the absence of the emperor, who at this time resided in 
 Spain, seized this opportunity of proposing the convoca- 
 tion of a general council in Germany, in order to deli- 
 berate upon the preper methods of bringing about a uni- 
 versal reformation of the church. They exhibited, at the 
 same time, a hundred articles, containing the heaviest 
 complaints of the injurious treatment which the Germans 
 had hitherto received from the court of Rome, and, by a 
 public law, prohibited all innovation in religious matters, 
 until a general council should decide what ought to be 
 done in an affairof such high importance.4 As long asthe 
 German princes were unacquainted with, or inattentive to, 
 the measures that were taken in Saxony for founding a 
 new church in direct opposition to that of Rome, they were 
 zealously unanimous in their endeavours to set bounds to 
 the papal authority and jurisdiction, which they all looked 
 upon as overgrown and enormous ; nor were they at all 
 offended at Luther’s contest with the pontiff, which they 
 considered as a dispute of a private and personal nature. 
 XX. The good pope Adrian did not long enjoy the 
 pleasure of sitting at the head of the church. He died in 
 1523, and was succeeded by Clement VII., a man of 2 
 
 tates of mere authority, attended with injurious and provoking language 
 
 “34> * Dr. Mosheim’s account of this matter is perhaps more advan- 
 tageous to Luther than the rigorous demands of historical impartiality 
 will admit: at least the defects of the great reformer are here shaded 
 with art. It is evident from several passages in the writings of Luther, 
 that he was by no means averse to the use of images, but that, on the 
 contrary, he looked upon them as adapted to excite and animate the de- 
 votion of the people. But, perhaps, the true reason of his displeasure 
 at the proceedings of Carlostadt, was, that he could not bear to see ano- 
 ther crowned with the glory of executing a plan which he had formed 
 and that he was ambitious of appearing the principal, if not the only, 
 conductor of this great work. This is not a mere conjecture. Luther 
 himself has not taken the least pains to conceal this instance of his 
 ambition: and it appears evidently in several of his letters. On the 
 other hand, it must be owned, that Carlostadt was rash, violent, and 
 prone to-enthusiasm, as appears by the connexions he formed after- 
 wards with the fanatical anabaptists, headed by Munzer. His contest 
 with Luther about the eucharist, in which he manifestly maintained the 
 truth, shall be mentioned in its proper place. 
 
 b Of this German translation of the Bible, which contributed more 
 than all other causes, taken together, to strengthen the foundations of 
 the Lutheran church, we have an interesting history composed by Jo 
 A more ample one 
 was expected from the labours of the learned J. Melchior Kraft; but hit 
 death disappointed the hopes of the learned. See Jo. Alb. Fabricii Cen 
 tifolium Lutheranum, part. 1. p. 147, and part. ii. p. 617. 
 
 ¢ See Caspar. Burmanni Adrianus VI. sive Analecta Historica de 
 Adriano VI. Papa Romano, published at Utrecht in 1727. 
 
 4 See Jac. Fred. Georgii Gravamina Germanorum adversus Sedem 
 Romanam, lib, ii. p. 327. 
 
Crap. Il. 
 
 reserved character, and prone to artifice.» This pontiff 
 sent to the imperial diet at Nuremberg, in 1524, a cardi- 
 nal legate, named Campeggio, whose orders, with respect 
 to the affairs of Luther, breathed nothing but severity and 
 violence, and who inveighed against the lenity of the 
 German princes in delaying the execution of the decree | 
 of Worms, while he carefully avoided the smallest men- , 
 tion of Adrian’s promise of reforming the corruptions of 
 9. superstitious church. 'The emperor seconded the de- 
 mands of Campeggio, by the orders he sent to his minis- 
 - ter to insist upon the execution of the decree. 'The princes 
 of the empire, tired out by these importunities and remon- 
 strances, changed in appearance the law they had passed, 
 but confirmed it in reality; for, while they promised to 
 observe the edict, as far as it was possible, they renewed 
 their demand of a general council, and left all other dis- 
 puted points to be examined and decided at the diet that 
 was soon to be assembled at Spire. ‘The pope’s legate, 
 on the other hand, perceiving by these proceedings, that 
 the German princes in general were no enemies to the 
 Reformation, retired to Ratisbon, with the bishops and) 
 those princes who adhered to the cause of Rome, and there 
 drew from them a new declaration, by which they enga- 
 ged themselves to execute the edict with rigour in their re- 
 spective dominions. 
 
 XXI. While the efforts of Luther toward the reforma- 
 ion of the church were so far successful, and almost all) 
 .he nations seemed disposed to open their eyes upon the 
 sight, two unhappy occurrences, one of a foreign, and the) 
 other of a domestic nature, contributed greatly to retard | 
 vhe progress of this salutary and glorious work. 'The 
 domestic, or internal incident, was a controversy concern- 
 ng the manner in which the body and blood of Christ 
 were present in the eucharist, that arose among those 
 whom the pope had publicly excluded from the commu- 
 nion of the church, and unhappily produced among the 
 friends of the good cause the most deplorable animosities. 
 and divisions. Luther and his followers, though they | 
 had rejected the monstrous doctrine of the church of Rome 
 with respect to transubstantiation, or the change of the 
 bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, were 
 nevertheless of opinion, that the partakers of the Lord’s 
 supper received, with the bread and wine, the real body 
 and blood of Christ. ‘his, in their judgment, was a 
 mystery, which they did not pretend to explain.» Car- 
 lostadt, who was Luther’s colleague, understood the mat- 
 ter otherwise; and his doctrine, which was afterwards 
 more fully illustrated and confirmed by Zuingle, amount- | 
 ed to this: “hat the body and blood of Christ were not | 
 really present in the eucharist ; and that the bread and | 
 wine were no more than external signs, or symbols, de- | 
 signed to excite in the minds of Christians the remem- | 
 
 * See Jac. Zeigleri Historia Clementis VI. in Jo. Georgii Schel- | 
 hornii Ameenit. Histor. Eccles. tom. ii. p. 210. | 
 
 =?¢p > Luther was not so modest as Dr. Mosheim here represents | 
 him. He pretended to explain his doctrine of the real presence, absurd | 
 and contradictory as it was, and uttered much senseless jargon or. this | 
 subject. As in a red-hot iron, said he, two distinct substances, namely, | 
 iron and fire, are united, so is, the body of Christ joined with the bread | 
 in the eucharist. I mention this miserable comparison to show into 
 what absurdities the towering pride of system will often betray men of 
 denp sense and true genius. 
 
 * See Val. Ern. Loscheri Historia Motuum inter Lutheranos et Re- 
 formatos, part i. lib. ii. cap. i—See, on the other side of the question, 
 Scultet’s Annales Evangeli, pnblished by Vonder Hardt in his Elixtorla 
 Liter. Reformat.; also Rud. Hospinianus, and other reformed writers, 
 who have treated of the origin and progress of this dispute. I> 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 It | 
 
 399 
 
 brance of the sufferings and death of the divine Saviour, 
 and of the benefits which arise from it.” "This opinion was 
 embraced by all the friends of the Reformation in Swit- 
 zerland, and by a considerable number of its votaries in 
 Germany. On the other hand, Luther maintained his 
 doctrine, in relation to this point, with the utmost obsti- 
 nacy; and hence arose, in 1524, a tedious and vehement 
 controversy, Which, notwithstanding the zealous endea- 
 vours that were used to reconcile the contending parties, 
 terminated, at length, in a mischievous division between 
 those who had embarked together in the sacred cause of 
 religion and liberty. / 
 
 XXII. To these intestine divisions were added the 
 horrors of a civil war, which was the fatal effect of op- 
 pression on the one hand, and of enthusiasm on the other, 
 and, by its unhappy consequences, proved prejudicial to 
 the cause and progress of the Reformation. In 1525, a 
 prodigious multitude of seditious fanatics suddenly arose, 
 like a whirlwind, in different parts of Germany, took arms, 
 united their forces, waged war against the laws, the ma- 
 gistrates, and the empire in general, ravaged the country 
 with fire and sword, and exhibited daily the most horrid 
 spectacles of unrelenting barbarity. ‘The greatest part of 
 this furious and formidable mob was composed of pea- 
 sants and vassals, who groaned under heavy burthens, 
 and declared they were no longer able to bear the despotic 
 severity of their chiefs ; and hence this sedition was called 
 the Rustic war, or the war of the peasants.‘ But it is also 
 certain, that this motley crowd was intermixed with num- 
 bers, who joined in this sedition from different motives, 
 some being impelled by the suggestions of enthusiasm, 
 and others by the. profligate and odious views of rapine 
 and plunder, of repairing fortunes ruined by extravagant. 
 and dissolute living. At the first breaking out of this war, 
 it seemed to have been kindled only by civil and political 
 views ; and agreeable to this is the general tenour of the 
 Declarations and Manifestoes that were published by 
 these rioters. "The claims they made in these papers re- 
 lated to nothing farther than the diminution of the tasks 
 imposed upon the peasants, and to their obtaining a greater 
 measure of liberty than they had hitherto enjoyed. Re- 
 ligion seemed to be out of the question ; at least, it was 
 not the object of deliberation or debate. But no sooner 
 had the enthusiast Munzere put himself at the head of this 
 outrageous rabble, than the face of things changed entirely ; 
 and, by the instigation of this man, who had deceived 
 numbers before this time by his pretended visions and in- 
 spirations, the civil commotions in Saxony and 'Thuringia 
 were soon directed toward a new object, and were turned 
 into a religious war. The sentiments, however, of this 
 seditious and dissolute multitude were greatly divided, 
 and their demands were very different. One part of their 
 
 appears from this representation (which is a just one) of the sentiments 
 of Zuingle concerning the holy sacrament of the Lord’s supper, that 
 they were the same with those maintained by bishop Hoadly, in his 
 Plain Account of the Nature and Design of the Sacrament of the Lord’s 
 Supper. 
 
 4 These kinds of wars or commotions, arising from the impatience 
 of the peasants, under the heavy burthens that were imposed on them, 
 were very common long before the time of Luther. Hence the author 
 of the Danish Chronicle (published by the learned Ludewig in his Re- 
 liq. MStorum) calls these insurrections a common evil. This will not 
 appear surprising to such as consider, that, in most places, the condition 
 of the peasants was much more intolerable and grievous before the Re- 
 formation, than it is in our times; and that the tyranny and eruelty of 
 the nobility, before that happy period, were excessive and insupport- 
 able, © Or Munster, as some call him, 
 
400 
 number pleaded for an exemption from all laws, a licen- 
 tious immunity from every sort of government; another, 
 less outrageous and extravagant, confined their demands 
 to a diminution of the taxes they were forced to pay, and 
 of burthens under which they groaned ;* another insisted 
 upon a new form of religious doctrine, government, and 
 worship, upon the establishment of a pure and unspotted 
 church, and to add weight to this requisition, pretended, 
 that it was suggested by the Holy Ghost, with which 
 they were div inely and miraculously inspired ; while a 
 very considerable proportion of this furious rabble were 
 without any distinct view or fixed purpose, and, being in- 
 fected with the contagious spirit of sedition, and exaspe- 
 rated by the severity of their magistrates and rulers, went 
 on headlong without reflection or foresight into every act 
 of violence and cruelty which rebellion and enthusiasm 
 could suggest: so that, if it cannot be denied that many 
 of these rioters perversely misunderstood the doctrine of 
 Luther concerning Christian liberty, and thence took oc- 
 casion to commit the disorders that rendered them so justly 
 odious, yet it would be a most absurd instance of partiality 
 and injustice to charge that doctrine with the blame of 
 those extravagant outrages which arose only from the 
 manifest abuse of it. Luther himself, indeed, sufficiently 
 defended both his principles and his cause against any 
 such imputations, by the books he wrote against the riot- 
 ous sect, and the advice he addressed to the princes of the 
 empire to take arms against them. Accordingly, in 1525, 
 the turbulent malcontents were defeated in a pitched bat- 
 tle fought at Mulhausen; and Munzer, their ringleader, 
 was put to death.» 
 
 XXII. While this fanatical insurrection raged in Ger- 
 many, Frederic the Wise, elector of Saxony, departed this 
 life This excellent prince, whose character was distin- 
 guished by an uncommon degree of prudence and mode- 
 
 ration, had, during his life, been a sort of mediator between 
 the Roman pontiff and the reformer of Wittenberg, and 
 had always entertained the pleasing hope of restoring 
 peace in the church, and of so reconciling the contending 
 parties as to prevent a separation either in point of ecclesi- 
 astical jurisdiction or religious communion. Hence it was, 
 that while he made no opposition to Luther's design of 
 reforming a corrupt and superstitious church, but rather 
 encouraged him in the execution of this pious purpose, 
 yet he was at no pains to introduce any change into the 
 churches which were established in his own “dominions, 
 or to subject them to his jurisdiction. ‘The elector John, 
 his brother and successor, acted in a very different man- 
 ner. Convinced of the truth of Lauther’s doctrine, and 
 persuaded, that it must lose ground and be soon suppress- 
 ed if the despotic authority of the Roman pontiff remained 
 undisputed and entire, he, without hesitation or delay, as- 
 sumed to himself that supremacy in ecclesiastical matters 
 which every lawful sovereign may claim as his natural 
 right, and founded and established a church in his domi- 
 nions, very different from the church of Rome, in doctrine, 
 discipline, and government. 'T’o bring this new and hap- 
 py establishment to as great a degree. of perfection as was 
 possible, this resolute and active prince ordered a body of 
 laws, relating to the form of ecclesiastical government, 
 
 * These burthens were the duties of vassalage or feudal services, 
 which, in many respects, were truly grievous. 
 bse Petri Gnodalii Historia de Seditione repentina Vulgi, precipue |, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Secr. I. 
 
 the method of public worship, the rank, offices, and reve- 
 nues of the priesthood, and other matters of that nature, 
 to be drawn up by Luther and Melancthon, and promul- 
 gated by heralds throughout his dominions in 1527. He 
 
 also took care that all the churches should be supplied 
 
 with pious and learned ministers, and that such of the 
 clergy as dishonoured religion by their bad morals, o1 
 were incapable, from their want of talents, of promoting 
 its influence, should be removed from the sacred function. 
 The illustrious example of this elector was followed by 
 all the princes and states of Germany that were unfriend- » 
 ly to the papal supremacy and jurisdiction ; avd similar 
 
 forms of worship, discipline, and government, were thus 
 ‘introduced into all the churches which dissented from 
 that of Rome. 
 
 Thus may the elector John be considered 
 
 as the second parent and founder of the Lutheran church, 
 which he alone rendered a complete and independent body, 
 
 | constitution. 
 
 distinct from the superstitious church of Rome, and fenced 
 about with salutary laws, with a wise and well-balanced 
 But as the best blessings may, through the 
 influence of human corruption, become the innocent occa- 
 sions of great inconveniences, such particularly was the 
 fate of those wise and vigorous measures wich this 
 
 ‘elector took for the reformation of the iteeid) for, from 
 that time the religious differences between the German 
 
 princes, which had been hitherto kept within the bounds 
 of moderation, broke out into a violent and lasting flame. 
 The prudence, or rather timidity, of Frederic the Wise, 
 who avoided every resolute measure that might tend to 
 kindle the fire of discord, had preserved a sort of externai 
 
 union and concord among these princes, notwithstanding 
 their differences in opinion. 
 
 But as soon as his successor 
 by the open and undisguised steps he took, made it gla 
 ringly evident, that he designed to withdraw the churches 
 in his dominions from the jurisdiction of Rome, and te 
 reform the doctrine, discipline, and worship that had been 
 hitherto established, then indeed the scene changed. 'The 
 union, which was more specious than solid, and which 
 was far from being well cemented, was suddenly dissolv- 
 ed: the spirits were heated and divided, and an open rup- 
 ture ensued among the German princes, of whom one 
 party embraced the Reformation, while the other adhered 
 to the superstitions of their forefathers. 
 
 XXIV. Affairs being reduced to this violent and trou- 
 bled state, the patrons of popery gave intimations that 
 were far from being ambiguous, of their intention to make 
 war upon the Lutheran party, ‘and to suppress by force 
 the doctrines which they were incapable of overturning 
 by argument ; and this design would certainly have 
 been put in execution, had not the troubles of Europe dis- 
 concerted their measures. ‘The Lutherans, informed of 
 these hostile intentions, began to deliberate upon the most 
 effectual methods of defending themselves against super- 
 stition armed with violence, and formed the plan ofa confe- 
 deracy that might answer this prudent purpose. In the 
 mean time the diet, assembled at Spire in 1526, at which 
 Ferdinand, the emperor’s brother, presided, ended in a 
 manner more favourable to the friends of the Reformation, 
 than they could naturally expect. ‘The emperor’s ambas- 
 sadors at this diet were ordered to use their most earnest 
 
 Rusticorum, anno 1525, tempore verno per universam fere Germaniam 
 exorta, Basil, 1570.”—Sce also B. Tenzelii Histor. Reform. tom. ii. PR 
 331, and the observations of Ernest Cyprian upon that work. 
 
Crap. II. 
 
 endeavours for the suppression of all farther disputes con- 
 cerning religion, and to insist upon the rigorous execution 
 of the edict of Worms. 'The greatest part of the German 
 princes.strongly opposed this motion, declaring, that they 
 could not execute that sentencé, nor come to any determi- 
 nation with respect to the doctrines by which it had been 
 occasioned, before the whole matter should be submitted to 
 the cognizance of a general council lawfully assembled ; 
 alleging farther, that the decision of controversies of this 
 nature belonged properly to such a council, and to it alone. 
 This opinion, afier long and warm debates, was adopted 
 by a great majority, and, at length, consented to by the 
 whole assembly ; for it was unanimously agreed to pre- 
 sent a solemn address to the emperor, beseeching him to 
 assemble, without delay, a free and general council: and 
 it was also agreed, that, in the mean time, the princes 
 and states of the empire should, in their respective domi- 
 nions, be at liberty to manage ecclesiastical matters in the 
 manner which they might deem the most expedient, yet 
 so as to be able to give to God and to the emperor an ac- 
 count of their administration, when it should be demand- 
 ed of them. 
 
 XXY. Nothing could be more favourable to those who 
 had the cause of pure and genuine Christianity at heart, 
 than a resolution of this nature. For the emperor was, at 
 ehis time, so entirely taken up in regulating the troubled 
 state of his dominions in France, Spain, and Haly, which 
 exhibited, from day to day, new scenes of perplexity, that, 
 for some years, it was not in his power to turn his atten- 
 tion to the affairs of Germany in general, and still less to 
 ‘he state of religion in particular, which was beset with 
 lifficulties that, to a reflecting politician like Charles, must 
 nave appeared peculiarly critical and dangerous. Besides, 
 nad he really possessed leisure to form, or power to execute, 
 a plan that might terminate, in favour of the Roman pon- 
 ff, the religious disputes which prevailed in Germany, it 
 is evident that the inclination was wanting, and that 
 Clement VII., who now sat in the papal chair, had no- 
 thing to expect from the good offices of Charles ; for this 
 pontiff, after the defeat of Francis at the battle of Pavia, 
 filled with uneasy apprehensions of the growing power of 
 the emperor in Italy, entered into a confederacy with the 
 French and the Venetians against that prince. ‘This mea- 
 sure inflamed the resentment and indignation of Charles 
 to such a degree, that he abolished the papal authority in 
 his Spanish dominions, made war upon the pope, laid 
 siege to Rome in 1527, blocked wp Clement in the castle 
 of St. Angelo, and exposed him to the most severe and 
 contumelious treatment. hese critical events, together 
 with the liberty granted by the diet of Spire, were pru- 
 dently and industriously improved, by the friends of the 
 Reformation, to the advantage of their cause, and to the 
 augmentation of their number. Several princes, whom 
 the fear of persecution and punishment had _ hitherto pre- 
 vented from lending a hand to the good work, being deli- 
 vered now from their restraint, publicly renounced the su- 
 perstition of Rome, and introduced among their subjects 
 the same forms of religious worship, and the same system 
 
 =¢ * The resolution of the first dict of Spire, which had been taken 
 unanimously, was revoked in the second, and another substituted in its 
 place by a plurality of voices, which, as several of the princes then 
 preser.t observed, could not give to any decree the force of a law through- 
 out the empire. 
 101 
 
 No. XXXIV, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 40) 
 
 | of doctrine, that had been received in Saxony. Others, 
 though placed in such circumstances as discouraged them 
 from acting in an open manner against the interests of the 
 pope, were far from manifesting any intention of opposing 
 those who withdrew the people from his despotic yoke ; 
 nor did they molest the private assemblies of those who 
 had separated themselves from the church of Rome. And 
 all the Germans who, before the resolutions of the diet of 
 Spire, had rejected the papal discipline and doctrine, were 
 now, in consequence of the liberty they enjoyed by these 
 resolutions, wholly employed in bringing their schemes 
 and plans to a certain degree of consistency, and in adding 
 vigour and firmness to the glorious cause in which they 
 were engaged. In the mean time, Luther and his fellow- 
 labourers, particularly those who were with him at Wit- 
 tenberg, by their writings, their instructions, their admo- 
 nitions and counsels, inspired the timorous with fortitude, 
 dispelled the doubts of the ignorant, fixed the principles 
 and resolution of the floating and inconstant, and an 
 mated all the friends of genuine Christianity with a spirit 
 suitable to the grandeur of their undertaking. 
 
 XXVI. But the tranquillity and liberty they enjoyed, in 
 consequence of the resclutions taken in the first diet of 
 Spire, were not of long duration. 'They were interrupted 
 by a new diet assembled, in 1529, in the same place, by 
 the emperor, after he had appeased the commotions and 
 troubles which had employed his attention in several parts 
 of Europe, and concluded a treaty of peace with Clement. 
 This prince, having now, in a great measure, shaken off 
 the burthen that had for some time overwhelmed him, 
 had leisure to direct the affairs of the church; and this 
 the reformers soon felt by a disagreeable experience. For 
 the power, which had been granted by the former diet to 
 every prince, of managing ecclesiastical matters as he 
 thought proper, until the meeting of a general council, 
 was now revoked by a majority of votes, and not only so, 
 but every change was declared unlawful that should he 
 introduced into the doctrine, discipline, or worship of the 
 established religion, before the determination of the ap- 
 proaching council was known.* ‘This decree was justly 
 considered as iniquitous and intolerable by the elector of 
 Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and such other members 
 of the diet, as were persuaded of the necessity of a refor- 
 mation in the church. Nor was any one so simple, or so 
 little acquainted with the politics of Rome, as to look up- 
 on the promise of assembling speedily a general council, 
 in any other light, than as an artifice to quiet the minds 
 of the people; since it was easy to perceive, that a lawful 
 council, free from the despotic influence of Rome, was the 
 very last thing that a pope would grant in such a critical’ 
 state of affairs. Therefore, when the princes and mem- 
 bers now mentioned found that all their arguments and 
 remonstrances against this unjust decree made no im- 
 pression upon Ferdinand,° or upon the abettors of the 
 ancient superstitions, (whom the pope’s legate animated 
 by his presence and exhortations,) they entered a solemn 
 protest against this decree, on the 19th of April, and ap- 
 pealed to the emperor and to a future council. Hence 
 
 3p > As the emperor was at Barcelona, while this diet was held at 
 Spire, his brother Ferdinand was president in his place. 
 
 a’y ¢ The princes of the empire, who entered this protest, and are 
 consequently to be considered as the first protestant princes, were John, 
 elector of Saxony, George, elector of 3randenburg, for Franconia, 
 
402 
 
 arose the denomination of Protestants, given from this 
 period to those who renounce the superstitious communion 
 of the church of Rome. 
 
 XXVII. The dissenting princes, who were the pro- 
 tectors and heads of the reformed churches, had no sooner 
 entered their protest, than they sent proper persons to the 
 emperor, who was then upon his passage from Spain to 
 Ttaly, to acquaint him with their proceedings in this affair. 
 The ministers employed in this commission, executed 
 the orders they had received with the greatest resolution 
 and presence of mind, and behaved with the spirit and 
 firmness of the princes, whose sentiments and conduct 
 they were sent to justify and explain. ‘The emperor, 
 whose pride was wounded by this fortitude in persons that 
 dared to oppose his designs, ordered the ambassadors to be 
 apprehended, and detained for several days. Intelligence 
 of this violent step was soon brought to the protestant 
 princes, and made them conclude that their personal 
 safety, and the success of their cause, depended entirely 
 upon their courage and concord, the one animated, and 
 the other cemented by a solemn confederacy. hey, 
 therefore, held several meetings at Nuremberg, Smalcald, 
 and other places, in order to deliberate upon the means of 
 forming such a powerful league as might enable them to 
 repel the violence of their enemies.* But so different 
 were their opinions and views of things, that they could 
 come to no satisfactory conclusion. 
 
 XXVUI. Among the incidents that promoted animo- 
 sity and discord between the friends of the Reformation, 
 and prevented that union which was so much to be de- 
 sired among persons embarked in the same good cause, 
 the principal one was the dispute that had arisen between 
 the divines of Saxony and Switzerland, concerning the 
 manner of Christ’s presence in the eucharist. ‘To ter- 
 minate this controversy, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, in- 
 vited, in 1529, to a conference at Marpurg, Luther and 
 Zuingle, with some of the most eminent doctors who ad- 
 hered to the respective parties of these contending chiefs. 
 This expedient, which was designed by that truly mag- 
 nanimous prince, not so much to end the matter by keen 
 debate, as to accommodate differences by the conciliatory 
 spirit of charity and prudence, was not attended with the 
 salutary fruits that were expected from it. he divines 
 that were assembled for this pacific purpose disputed, du- 
 ring four days, in presence of the landgrave. ‘The prin- 
 cipal champions in these debates were Luther, who at- 
 tacked C&colampadius, and Melancthon, who disputed 
 against Zuingle ; and the controversy turned upon seve- 
 ral points of theology, in relation to which the Swiss doc- 
 tors were supposed to entertain erroneous sentiments. For 
 Zuingle was accused of heresy, not only on account of his 
 explication of the nature and design of the Lord’s Supper, 
 but also in consequence of the false notions which he was 
 supposed to have adopted, relating to the divinity of Christ, 
 the efficacy of the divine word, original sin, and some 
 other parts of the Christian doctrine. 'This illustrious re- 
 former cleared himself, however, from the greatest part of 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Sect. 1. 
 
 these accusations, with the most triumphant evidence, and 
 in such a manner as appeared entirely satisfactory, even 
 to Luther himself. The dissension concerning the man- 
 ner of Christ’s presence in the eucharist still remained ; 
 nor could either of the contending parties be persuaded te 
 abandon, or even to modify, their opinion of that matter.» 
 The only advantage, therefore, that resulted from this 
 conference, was, that the jarring doctors formed a sort of 
 truce, by agreeing to a mutual toleration of their respect- 
 ive sentiments, and leaving the cure of their divisions to 
 the disposal of Providence, and the effect of time, which 
 sometimes cools the rage of party. 
 
 XXIX. The ministers of the churches which had em- 
 braced the sentiments of Luther, were preparing a new 
 embassy to the emperor, when an account was received 
 of the intention of that prince to come into Germany, 
 with a view of terminating, in the approaching diet at 
 Augsburg, the religious disputes which had produced such 
 animosities and divisions in the empire. Charles, though 
 long absent from Germany, and engaged in affairs that 
 left him little leisure for theological disquisitions, was ne- 
 vertheless attentive to these disputes, and foresaw their 
 consequences. He had also, to his own deliberate reflec- 
 tions upon these disputes, added the counsels of men of 
 wisdom, sagacity, and experience, and was thus, at cer- 
 tain seasons, rendered more cool in his proceedings, and 
 more moderate and impartial in his opinion both of the 
 contending parties and of the merits of the cause. He 
 therefore, in an interview with the pope at Bologna, in- 
 sisted, in the most serious and urgent manner, upon the 
 necessity of assembling a general council. His remon- 
 strances and expostulations could not, however, move Cle- 
 ment, who maintained with zeal the papal prerogatives, 
 imputed to the emperor an ill-judged clemency, and al- 
 leged that it was the duty of that prince to support the 
 church, und to execute speedy vengeance upon the obsti- 
 nate heretical faction, who dared to call in question the 
 authority of Rome and its pontiff. 'The imperial poten- 
 tate was as little affected by this haughty discourse, as 
 the pope had been by his wise remonstrances, and looked 
 upon it as a most iniquitous thing, a measure also in direct 
 opposition to the laws of the empire, to condemn, unheard, 
 and to destroy, without any evidence of their demerit, a 
 set of men, who had always approved themselves good 
 citizens, and had in various respects deserved well of their 
 country. Hitherto, indeed, it was not easy for Charles to 
 form a clear idea of the matters in debate, since no regu- 
 lar system had yet been composed of the doctrines em- 
 braced by Luther and his followers, by which their real 
 opinions, and the true causes of their opposition to the 
 Roman pontiff, might be known with certainty. As, there- 
 fore, it was impossible, without some declaration of this 
 nature, to examine with accuracy, or decide with equity, 
 a matter of such high importance as that which gave rise 
 to the divisions between the votaries of Rome and the 
 friends of the Reformation, the elector of Saxony ordered 
 Luther, and other eminent divines, to commit to writing, 
 
 Ernest and Francis, dukes of Lunenburg, the landgrave of Hesse, and 
 the prince of Anhalt. These princes were supported by thirteen impe- 
 rial towns, viz. Strasburg, Ulm, Nuremberg, Constance, Rottingen, 
 Windsheim, Memmingen, Nordlingen, Lindaw, Kempten, Heilbron, 
 Weissenburg, and St. Gall. 
 
 * See the history of the confession of Augsburg, written in German 
 by the learned Christ. Aug. Salig, tom. i. book 11. ch. i. p. 128, and 
 more especially an important work by Dr. Joachim Muller, entitled 
 
 Historie von der Evangelischen Stande Protestation gegen den Speyer- 
 schen Reichs-Abscheid von 1529, Appellation, &c. published at Jena 
 in 1705. 
 
 b Val. Ern. Léscher: Historia Motuum inter Lutheranos et Reforma- 
 tos, tom. i. lib. i. cap. vi. p. 143—-Henr. Bullingeri Historia Colloquil 
 Marpurgensis, in Jo. Conr. Fuesslin’s Beytragen zur Schweizer Re- 
 format. Geschichte, tom. iii—Abr. Sculteti Annal. Reformat. ad an- 
 num 1529.—Rudolphi Hospiniani Histor. Sacramentor, part. Ul. 
 
Cyrar. IL. 
 
 the chief articles of their religious system, and the princi- 
 pal points in which they differed from the church of Rome. 
 Luther, in compliance with this order, delivered to the 
 elector, at 'Torgaw, the seventeen articles which had been 
 drawn up and voted in the conference at Sultzbach in 
 1529; and hence they were called the articles of Tor- 
 gaw. ‘hough these articles were deemed by Luther a 
 sufficient declaration of the sentiments of the reformers, 
 yet it was judged proper to enlarge them ; and, by a ju- 
 dicious detail, to give perspicuity to the arguments, and 
 thereby strength to the cause. It was this consideration 
 that engaged the protestant princes, assembled at Coburg 
 and Augsburg, to employ Melancthon in extending these 
 articles, in which important work he showed a due regard 
 to the counsels of Luther, and expressed his sentiments 
 and doctrine with the greatest elegance and perspicuity. 
 And thus came forth to public view the famous confession 
 of Augsburg, which did such honour to the acute judg- 
 ment and the eloquent pen of Melancthon. 
 
 XXX. During these transactions in Germany, the 
 dawn of truth arose upon other nations. The light of 
 the reformation spread itself far and wide; and almost 
 all the European states welcomed its salutary beams, and 
 exulted in the prospect of an approaching deliverance 
 from the yoke of superstition and spiritual despotism. 
 Some of the most considerable provinces of Europe had 
 already broken their chains, and openly withdrawn them- 
 selves from the discipline of Rome and the jurisdiction of 
 itspontiff. Andthus it appears that Clement was not im- 
 pelled by a false alarm to demand of the emperor the speedy 
 extirpation of the reformers, since he had the strongest rea- 
 sons to apprehend the destruction of his spiritual empire. 
 The reformed religion was propagated in Sweden, soon 
 after Luther’s rupture with Rome, by one of his disciples, 
 whose name was Olaus Petri, and who was the first he- 
 rald of religious liberty in that kingdom. ‘The zealous 
 efforts of this missionary were powerfully seconded by 
 that valiant and public-spirited prince, Gustavus Vasa 
 Ericson, whom the Swedes had raised to the throne in the 
 place of Christiern, king of Denmark, whose horrid bar- 
 barity lost him the sceptre that he had perfidiously usurp- 
 ed. ‘t'his generous and patriotic hero had been in exile 
 and in prison, while the brutal usurper, now mentioned, 
 was involving his country in desolation and misery; but, 
 having escaped from his confinement, and taken refuge 
 
 *See Chr. Aug. Heumanni Diss. de Lenitate Augustane Confess. in 
 Sylloge Dissert. Theologicar. tom. i. p. 14.—Jo. Joach. Muller’s Histo- 
 ria Protestationis ; and the other writers who have treated, either of 
 the Reformation in general, or of the confession of Augsburg in parti- 
 cular. 
 
 xp > This incomparable model of princes gave many proofs of his 
 wisdom and moderation. Once, while he was absent from Stockholm, 
 a great number of German anabaptists, probably the riotous disciples 
 of Munzer, arrived in that city, carried their fanaticism to extremities, 
 and pulled down with fury the images and other ornaments of the 
 churches, while the Lutherans dissembled their sentiments of this riot 
 in expectation that the storm would turn to their advantage. But Gus- 
 tavus no sooner returned to Stockholm, than he ordered the leaders of 
 these fanatics to be seized and punished, and assailed the Lutherans 
 with bitter reproaches for not having opposed them in time. 
 
 x* °° It is very remarkable, and shows the equity and candour of 
 Gustavus in the most striking point of light, that while he ordered Olaus 
 Petri to publish his literal translation of the sacred writings, he gave 
 permission at the same time to the archbishop of Upsal, to prepare ano- 
 ther version suited to the doctrine of the church of Rome; that, by a 
 careful comparison of both translations with the original, an easier ac- 
 cess might be opened to the truth. ‘The bishops at first opposed this 
 order, but were at length obliged to submit. 
 
 z*p 4 It was no wonder, indeed, that the bishops opposed warmly 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 403 
 
 at Lubeck, he was there instructed in the principles of 
 the Reformation, and looked upon the doctrine of Luther, 
 not only as agreeable to the genius and spirit of the Gos- 
 pel, but also as favourable to the temporal state and poli- 
 tical constitution of the Swedish dominions. he pru- 
 dence, however, of this excellent prince was equal to his 
 zeal, and always accompanied it: and, as the religious 
 opinions of the Swedes were in a fluctuating state, and 
 their minds divided between their ancient superstitions, 
 recommended by custom, and the doctrine of Luther, 
 which attracted their assent by the power of convic- 
 tion and truth, Gustavus wisely avoided all vehemence 
 and precipitation in spreading the new doctrine, and pro- 
 ceeded in this important undertaking with circumspec- 
 tion, and by degrees, in a manner suitable to the princi- 
 ples of the reformation, which are diametrically opposite 
 to compulsion and-wiolence.’ Accordingly, the first ob- 
 ject of his attention was the instruction of bis people in 
 the sacred doctrines of the Scriptures, for which purpose 
 he invited into his dominions several learned Germans, 
 and spread abroad through the kingdom Petri’s Swedish 
 translation of the Bible.« | Some time after this, in 1526, 
 he appointed a conference, at Upsal, between this emi- 
 nent reformer and Peter Gallius, a zealous defender of the 
 ancient superstition, in which these two champions were 
 to plead publicly in behalf of their respective opinions, 
 that it might thus be seen on which side the truth lay. 
 The dispute, in which Olaus obtained a signal victory, 
 contributed much to confirm Gustavus in his persuasion 
 of the truth of Luther’s doctrine, and to promote its pro- 
 gressin Sweden. In the following year, another event 
 gave the finishing stroke to its propagation and success ; 
 and this was the assembly of the states at Westeraas, where 
 the king recommended the doctrine of the reformers with 
 such zeal, wisdom, and piety, that, after warm debates 
 fomented by the clergy in general, and much opposition 
 on the part of the bishops in particular, it was voted that 
 the plan of reformation proposed by Luther should have 
 free admittance among the Swedes.¢ This resolutién 
 was principally owing to the firmness and magnanimity 
 of Gustavus, who declared publicly, that he would lay 
 down his sceptre, and retire from his kingdom, rather than 
 rule a people enslaved to the orders and authority of the 
 pope; and more controlled by the tyranny of their bishops, 
 than by the laws of their monarch.* 'T'hus the papal em- 
 
 the proposal of Gustavus, since there was no country in Europe where 
 that order and the clergy in general drew greater temporal advantages 
 from the superstition of the times than in Swedenand Denmark. Most 
 of the bishops had revenues superior to those of the sovereign; they 
 possessed castles and fortresses that rendered them independent of the 
 crown, enabled them to excite commotions in the kingdom, and gave 
 them a degree of power that was dangerous to the state. ‘They lived 
 in the most dissolute luxury and overgrown opulence, while many of 
 the nobles were in misery and want. The resolution formed by the 
 states assembled at Westeraas, did not so much tend: to regulate points 
 of doctrine, as to reform the discipline of the church, to reduce the opu- 
 lence and authority of the bishops within proper bounds, to restore to 
 the impoverished nobility the lands and possessions which their super- 
 stitious ancestors had given to an all-devouring clergy, to exclude the 
 prelates from the senate, to take from them their castles, and things of 
 that nature. It was however resolved, at the same time, that the church 
 should be provided with able pastors, who should explain the pure word 
 of God to the people in their native tongue; and tat no ecclesiastical 
 preferments should be granted without the king’s permission. This 
 was a tacit and gentle method of promoting the Reformation. _ ' 
 
 * Bazii Inventarium Eccles. Sueco-Gothor. published at Lincoping 
 in 1642. Seulteti Annales Evangelii Renovati, in Von-der-Hardt’s 
 Histor, Liter. Reformat. part v. p. 83, and 110. Raynal, Anecdotes Hist, 
 Politiques et Militaires, tom. i. part 11. 
 
404 
 
 pire in Sweden was overturned, and the king acted thence- 
 forward as head of the church. 
 
 XXXI. The light of the reformation was also received 
 in Denmark, in consequence of the ardent desire disco- 
 vered by Christian or Christiern I. of having his subjects 
 
 instructed in the principles and doctrines of Luther. "his , 
 
 monarch, whose savage and infernal cruelty (either the 
 effect of natural temper, or of bad counsels) rendered his 
 name odious and his memory execrable, was nevertheless 
 desirous of delivering his dominions from the superstition 
 and tyranny of Rome. For this purpose, in 1520, he 
 sent for Martin Reinard, one of the disciples of Carlostadt, 
 out of Saxony, and appointed him professor of divinity at 
 Copenhagen; and after his death, which happened in the 
 following year, he invited Carlostadt himself to fill that 
 
 important place, which he accepted indeed, but, after a | 
 
 short residence in Denmark, returned into Germany. 
 
 'These disappointments did not abate the reforming spirit | 
 
 of the Danish monarch, who used his utmost endeavours, 
 though in vain, to engage Luther to visit his dominions, 
 and took several steps that tended to the diminution, and, 
 indeed, to the suppression of the jurisdiction, exercised 
 over his subjects by the Roman pontiff. 
 
 It is, however, proper to observe, that in all these pro- 
 ceedings, Christiern was animated by no other motive 
 than that of ambition. It was the prospect of extending 
 his authority, and not a zeal for the advancement of true 
 religion, that gave life and vigour to his reformative pro- 
 jects. 
 
 His very actions, independently of what may be con- 
 cluded from his known character, evidently show, that 
 he protected the religion of Luther with no other view 
 shan to rise by it to supremacy, both in church and state, 
 and to find a pretext for depriving the bishops of that 
 overgrown authority, and those ample possessions which 
 they had gradually usurped,* and which he wished to 
 appropriate to himself. A revolution produced by his 
 avarice, tyranny, and cruelty, prevented the execution of 
 this bold enterprise. The states of the kingdom, being 
 exasperated, some by his schemes for destroying the li- 
 berty of Denmark, others by his attempts to abolish the 
 superstition of their ancestors,’ and all by his savage and 
 barbarous treatment of those who dared to oppose his ava- 
 rice or ambition, formed a conspiracy against him in 1523, 
 by which he was deposed and banished from his domi- 
 nions, and his uncle Frederic, duke of Holstein, placed 
 on the Danish throne. 
 
 XXXII. This prince conducted matters with much 
 more equity, prudence, and moderation, than his prede- 
 
 _ * See Jo. Gramii Dise. de Reformatione Daniz 4 Christierno tentata, 
 4 or third volume of the Seriptor. Societ. Scientiarum Hafniens, p. 
 
 _> See, for a confirmation of this part of the accusation, a curious 
 piece, containing the reasons that induced the states of Denmark to re- 
 nounce their allegiance to Christiern. This piece is to be found in the 
 fifth volume of Ludewig’s compilatior entitled, Reliquiz Manuscripto- 
 rum, in which the states of Denmark :xpress their displeasure at the 
 royal favour shown to the Lutherans, im the following terms: “ Luthe- 
 rane heresis pullulatores, contra jus pietatemque, in regnum nostrum 
 catholicum introduxit; doctorem Carolostadium, fortissimum Lutheri 
 athletam, enutrivit.” 
 
 © See Jo. Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 886.—Christ. Olivarii 
 Vita Pauli Elie, p. 108.—Erici Pontoppidani Annales Ecclesie Danice 
 tom. iii. p. 139. 
 
 > 4 It was farther provided by this edict, that no person should be 
 molested on account of his religion; that a royal protection should be 
 granted to the Lutherans to defend them from the insults and malignity 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Secr. I. 
 
 | cessor had done. He permitted the protestant doctors to 
 preach publicly the opinions of Luther, but did not ven- 
 ture so far as to change the established government and 
 discipline of the church. He contributed, however, great- 
 ly to the progress of the reformation, by his successful 
 attempts in favour of religious liberty, in the assembly 
 of the states holden at Odensee in 1527; for it was here 
 that he procured the publication of that famous edict, which 
 declared every subject of Denmark free, either to adhere 
 to the tenets of the church of Rome, or to embrace the 
 doctrine of Luther. Encouraged by this resolution, the 
 protestant divines exercised the functions of their minis- 
 try with such zeal and success, that the greatest part of 
 the Danes opened their eyes upon the auspicious beams 
 of sacred liberty, and abandoned gradually both the doc- 
 trines and jurisdiction of the church of Rome. But the ho- 
 nour of finishing this glorious work, of destroying entirely 
 the reign of superstition, and breaking asunder the bonds 
 of papal tyranny, was reserved for Christiern IIL., a prince 
 equally distinguished by his piety and prudence. He be- 
 gan by suppressing the despotic authority of the bishops, 
 and by restoring to their lawful owners a great part of the 
 wealth and possessions which the church had acquired by 
 the artful stratagems of the crafty and designing clergy 
 This step was followed by a wise and well-judged settle- 
 ment of religious doctrine, discipline, and worship, through- 
 out the kingdom, according to a plan laid down by Bu- 
 genhagius, whom the king had invited from Wittenberg 
 to perform that arduous task, for which his eminent piety, 
 learning, and moderation, rendered him peculiarly proper. 
 The assembly of the states at Odensee, in 1539, gave a 
 solemn sanction to all these transactions ; and thus the 
 work of the reformation was brought to perfection in 
 Denmark.° 
 
 XXXII. It is however to be observed, that, in the 
 history of the reformation of Sweden and Denmark, we 
 must carefully distinguish between the reformation of re- 
 ligious opinions, and that of the episcopal order; for, 
 though these two things may appear to be closely con- 
 nected, yet, in reality, they are so far distinct, that one 
 might have been completely transacted without the other. 
 A reform of doctrine might have been effected, without 
 diminishing the authority of the bishops, or suppressing 
 their order; and, on the other hand, the opulence and 
 power of the bishops might have been reduced within 
 proper bounds, without introducing any change into the 
 system of doctrine that had been so long established, and 
 which was generally received. In the measures taken 
 in these northern kingdoms, for the reformation of a cor- 
 
 See also the work of Henry Muhl, de Reformat. Religionis in vicinis 
 Daniz Regionibus et potissimum in Cimbria, in ejus Dissertationibus 
 Historico-T heologicis. 
 
 +p ¢ This cbservation is not worthy of Dr. Mosheim’s sagacity 
 The strong connexion between superstitious ignorance among the pco- 
 ple, and influence and power in their spiritual rulers, is too evident tc 
 stand in need of any proof. A good clergy will, or ought to have an 
 influence, in consequence of a respectable office, adorned with learning, 
 piety, and morals; but the power of a licentious and despotic clergy 
 a be only supported by the blind and superstitious credulity of their 
 
 ock, 
 
Cur. Il. 
 
 rupt doctrine and a superstitious discipline, there was no- 
 thing that deserved the smallest censure: neither fraud 
 nor violence were employed for this purpose; on the con- 
 trary,all things were conducted with wisdom and mode- 
 ration, iv a manner suitable to the dictates of equity and 
 the spirit of Christianity. The same judgment cannot 
 easily be pronounced with respect to the methods of pro- 
 ceeding in the reformation of the clergy, and more espe- 
 cially of the episcopal order. For here, certainly, violence 
 was used, and the bishops were deprived of their honours, 
 privileges, and possessions, without their consent; indeed, 
 notwithstanding the greatest struggles and the warmest 
 opposition. ‘The truth is, that so far as the reformation 
 in Sweden and Denmark regarded the privileges and 
 possessions of the bishops, it was rather a matter of poli- 
 tical expediency than of religious obligation; fora change 
 here had become so necessary, that, had Luther and his 
 doctrine never appeared in the world, it must have been 
 nevertheless attempted by a wise legislator ; for the bi- 
 shops, by a variety of perfidious stratagems, had gotten 
 into their hands such enormous treasures, such ample pos- 
 sessions, so many castles and fortified towns, and had as- 
 sumed such an unlimited and despotic authority, that 
 they were in a condition to give law to the sovereign him- 
 self, to rule the nation as they thought proper, and, in 
 effect, they already abused their power so far as to appro- 
 priate to themselves a considerable part of the royal pa- 
 trimony, and of the public revenues of the kingdom. 
 Such, therefore, was the critical state of these northern 
 kingdoms, in the time of Luther, that it became abso- 
 lutely necessary, either to degrade the bishops from that 
 rank which they dishonoured, and to deprive them of 
 the greatest part of those possessions and prerogatives 
 which they had so unjustly acquired and so licentiously 
 abused, or to see, tamely, royalty rendered contemptible 
 by its weakness, the sovereign deprived of the means of 
 protecting and succouring his people, and the state ex- 
 posed to rebellion, misery, and ruin. 
 
 XXXIV. The kingdom of France was not inacces- 
 sible to the light of the Reformation. Margaret queen of 
 Navarre, sister to Francis IL, the implacable enemy and 
 perpetual rival of Charles V., was inclined to favour the 
 new doctrine, which delivered pure and genuine Christi- 
 anity from a great part of the superstitions under which 
 it had so long lain disguised. 'The auspicious patronage 
 of this illustrious princess encouraged several pious and 
 
 Z * What does Dr. Mosheim mean here? Did ever an usurper 
 give up his unjust possessions without reluctance? Does rapine con- 
 stitute a right, when it is maintained by force? Is it unlawful to use 
 violence against extortioners? The question here is, whether the 
 bishops deserved the severe treatment they received from Christiern 
 JII.; and our author seems to answer this question in the affirmative, 
 and to declare this treatment both just and necessary, in the follow- 
 ing partof this section. Certain it is, that the bishops were treated 
 with great severity, deposed from their sees, imprisoned on account of 
 their resistance; all the church lands, towns, and fortresses, were an- 
 nexed to the crown, and the temporal power of the clergy abolished. 
 It is also certain, that Luther himself looked upon these measures as 
 vic ent and excessive, and even wrote a letter to Christiern, exhorting 
 him to use the clergy with more lenity. It is therefore proper to de- 
 cide with moderation on this subject, and to grant, that, if the insolence 
 and licentiousness of the clergy were enormous, the resentment of the 
 Danish monarch may have been excessive. Nor indeed was his poli- 
 tical prudence here so great as Dr. Mosheim seems to represent it; for 
 the equipoist of government was hurt, by a total suppression of the 
 power of the bishops. The nobility acquired by this a prodigious de- 
 gree of influence, and the crown lost an order, which, under proper re- 
 
 lations, might have been rendered one of the strongest supports of its 
 
 No. XXXIV. 102 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 405 
 
 learned men, whose religious sentiments were the same 
 with her’s, to propagate the principles of the Reformation 
 in France, and even to erect several protestant churches 
 in that kingdom. It is manifest from the most authentic 
 records, that, so early as the year 1523, there were, in se- 
 veral of the provinces of that country, multitudes of per- 
 sons, who had conceived the utmost disgust to the doc- 
 trine and tyranny of Rome ; and among these were ma- 
 ny persons of rank and dignity, and even some of the 
 episcopal order. As their numbers increased from day to 
 
 ‘day, and troubles and commotions were excited in seve- 
 
 ral places on account of religious differences, the authority 
 of the monarch and the cruelty of his officers intervened, 
 to support the doctrine of Rome, by the edge of the sword 
 and the terrors of the gibbet; and on this occasion many 
 persons, eminent for their piety and virtue, were put to 
 death with the most unrelenting barbarity.’ Although 
 this cruelty, instead of retarding, accelerated the progress 
 of the Reformation, yet, in the reign of Francis, the re- 
 storers of genuine Christianity were not always equally 
 successful and happy. Their situation was extremely 
 uncertain, and it was perpetually changing. Sometimes 
 they seemed to enjoy the auspicious shade of royal pro- 
 tection ; at others they groaned under the weight of per- 
 secution, and at certain seasons they were forgotten, 
 which oblivion rendered their condition tolerable. Fran- 
 cis, who had either no religion at all, or, at best, no fixed 
 and consistent system of religious principles, conducted 
 himself toward the protestants in such a manner as an- 
 swered his private and personal views, or as reasons of 
 policy and the public interest seemed to require. When 
 it became necessary to engage in his cause the German 
 protestants, in order to foment sedition and rebellion 
 against his mortal enemy Charles V., he treated the pro- 
 testants in France with the utmost equity, humanity, and 
 gentleness; but, so soon as he had gained his point, and 
 had no more occasion for their services, he threw off the 
 mask, and appeared to them in the aspect of an implaca- 
 ble and persecuting tyrant.¢ 
 
 About this time the famous Calvin, upon whose cha- 
 racter, talents, and religious exploits, we shall have occa- 
 sion to dwell more amply in the course of this history, 
 began to draw the attention of the public, but more espe- 
 cially of the queen of Navarre. He was born at Noyon in 
 Picardy, on the LOth of July, 1509, and was bred to the 
 law,¢ in which, as well as in all the other branches of lite- 
 
 prerogative. But disquisitions of this nature are foreign to our purpose. 
 It is only proper to observe, that, in the room of the bishops, Christiern 
 created an order of men, with the denomination of Suwperintendants, 
 who performed the spiritual part of the episcopal office without the least 
 shadow of temporal authority. 
 
 b See Beza, Histoire des Eglises Reformeés de France, tom. i— 
 Benoit, Histoire de l’Edit de Nantes, liv. ii—Christ. Aug. Salig. Histor. 
 August. Confessionis, vol. ii. 
 
 x ° The inconsistency and contradiction that were visible in the 
 conduct of Francis I. may be attributed to various causes. At one time, 
 we see him resolved to invite Melancthon into France, probably with 
 a view to please his sister the queen of Navarre, whom he loved terder- 
 ly, and who had strongly imbibed the principles of the protestants. At 
 another time, we behold him exercising the most infernal cruelty to- 
 ward the friends of the Reformation, and hear him making that mad 
 declaration, that, “if he thought the blood in his arm was tainted with 
 the Lutheran heresy, he would order it to be cut off; and that he would 
 not spare even his own children, if they entertained sentiments coatrary 
 to those of the catholic church.” See Flor. de Remond, Hist. de la 
 Naissance et du Progrés de l’Heresie. 
 
 Z¢r.4 He was originally designed for the church, and had actually 
 obtained a benefice; but the light that broke in upon his religious sete 
 
4206 
 
 rature, then known, his studies were attended with the 
 
 ,most rapid and amazing success. Having acquired the 
 knowledge of religion, by a diligent perusal of the holy 
 scriptures, he began early to perceive the necessity of re- 
 forming the established system of doctrine and worship. 
 His zeal exposed him to various perils; and the connex- 
 ions he had formed with the friends of the Reformation, 
 whom Francis was frequently committing to the flames, 
 placed him more than once in imminent danger, from 
 which he was delivered by the good offices of the ex- 
 cellent queen of Navarre. 'T'o escape the impending 
 storm, he retired to Basil, where he published his Chris- 
 tian Institutions; and prefixed to them that famous 
 dedication to Francis, which has attracted the admi- 
 ration of succeeding ages, and which was designed to sof- 
 ten the unrelenting fury of that prince against the pro- 
 testants.. 
 
 XXXY. The instances of an opposition to the doctrine 
 and discipline of Rome, in the other European states, were 
 few in number, before the diet of Augsburg, and were too 
 faint, imperfect, and ambiguous, to make much noise in the 
 world. It, however, appears from the most authentic testi- 
 monies, that, even before that period, the doctrine of Luther 
 had made a considerable, though perhaps a secret, progress 
 in Spain, Hungary, Bohemia, Britain, Poland, and the 
 Netherlands, and liad, inall these countries, many friends, 
 of whom several repaired to Wittenberg, to improve their 
 knowledge and enlarge their views under such an emi- 
 nent master. Some of these countries openly broke asun- 
 der the chains of superstition, and withdrew themselves, 
 in a public and constitutional manner, from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Roman pontiff. In others, a prodigious num- 
 ber of families received the light of the blessed Reforma- 
 tion ; rejected the doctrines and authority of Rome; and 
 
 notwithstanding the calamities and persecutions they | 
 
 have suffered on account of their sentiments, under the 
 sceptre of bigotry and superstition, continue still in the 
 profession of the pure doctrines of Christianity ; while in 
 other, still more unhappy, lands, the most barbarous tor- 
 tures, the most infernal spirit of cruelty, together with 
 penal laws adapted to strike terror into the firmest minds, 
 have extinguished, almost totally, the light of religious 
 truth. {It is, indeed, certain, and the Roman catholics 
 themselves acknowledge it without hesitation, that the 
 papal doctrines, jurisdiction, and authority, would have 
 fallen into ruin in all parts of the world, had not the 
 force of the secular arm been employed to support this 
 tottering edifice, and fire and sword been let loose upon 
 those who were assailing it only with reason and argu- 
 ment. 
 
 timents, as well as the preference given by his father to the profession 
 of the law, induced him to give up his ecclesiastic vocation, which he 
 afterwards resumed in a purer church. 
 3¢>* This paragraph relating to Calvin, is added to Dr. Mosheim’s 
 text by the translator, who was surprised to find, in a History of the 
 Reformation, such late mention made of one of its most distinguished 
 and remarkable instruments; a man whose extensive genius, flowing 
 eloquence, immense learning, extraordinary penetration, indefatigable 
 industry, and fervent piety, placed him at the head of the Reformers ; 
 all of whom he surpassed, at Jeast, in learning and parts, as he also did 
 the greater part of them in obstinacy, asperity, and turbulence. 
 » There is a very voluminous history of the diet, which was publish- 
 ed in 1577, at Frankfort on the Oder, by the laborious George Celestine. 
 “he history of the Confession of Augsburg was composed in Latin by 
 David Chytreus, and more recently in German, by Ern. Sotom. Cy- 
 prian and Christopher Aug. Salig. The performance of the latter is 
 rather, indeed, a history of the Reformation in general, than of the Con- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Srct. kl 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The History of the Reformation, from the Time when 
 the Confession of Augsburg was presented to Charles 
 V., until the Commencement of the War which sue- 
 ceeded the League of Smalcald. 
 
 I. Tue diet was opened at Augsburg on the 20th day of 
 June, 1530; and, as it was unanimously agreed, that the 
 affairs of religion should be discussed before the delibera- 
 tions relating to the intended war with the Turks, the 
 protestant members of this great assembly received from 
 the emperor a formal permission to present to the diet an 
 account of their religious principles an@ tenets. In con- 
 sequence of this, Christian Bayer, chancellor of Saxony, 
 read, in the German language, in presence of the emperor 
 and the assembled princes, the famous confession which 
 has been since distinguished by the denomination of the 
 Confession of Augsburg. The princes heard it with the 
 deepest attention and recollection of mind; it confirmed 
 some in the principles they had embraced, surprised others ; 
 and many, who, before this time, had little or no idea of 
 the religious sentiments of Luther, were now not only con- 
 vinced of their innocence, but were, moreover, delighted 
 with their purity and simplicity. ‘The copies of this con- 
 fession, which, after being read, were delivered to the em- 
 peror, were signed and subscribed by John, elector of 
 Saxony, by four princes of the empire, namely, George, 
 marquis of Brandenburg; Ernest, duke of Lunenburg ; 
 Philip, landgrave of Hesse; Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt ; 
 and by the imperial cities of Nuremberg and Reutlingen ; 
 who all thereby solemnly declared their assent to the doc- 
 trines contained in it.® 
 
 il. The tenor and contents of the confession of Augs: 
 burg are well known ; at least, by all who have the smail- 
 est acquaintance with ecclesiastical history; since that con- 
 fession was adopted by the whole body of the protestants 
 as the rule of their faith. The style that reigns in it is 
 plain, elegant, grave, and perspicuous, such as becomes 
 the nature of the subject, and such as might be expected 
 from the admirable pen of Melancthon. 'The matter was, 
 undoubtedly, supplied by Luther, who, during the diet, 
 resided at Coburg, a town in the neighbourhood of Augs- 
 burg; and even the form it received from the eloquent 
 pen of his colleague, was authorized by his approbation 
 and advice. ‘I'his confession contains twenty-eight chap- 
 ters, of which the greatest part’ are employed in repre- 
 senting, with perspicuity and truth, the religious opinions 
 of the protestants, and the rest in pointing out the errors 
 and abuses that occasioned their separation from the 
 church of Rome.4 
 
 fession of Augsburg in particular. ‘That of Cyprian is more concise 
 and elegant, and is confirmed by original pieces which are equally au- 
 thentic and curious. 
 
 ¢ Twenty-one chapters were so employed: the other seven contained 
 a detail of the errors and superstitions of the Romish church. 
 
 3 ¢ It is proper to observe here, that, while the Lutherans present- 
 ed their confession to the diet, another excellent remonstrance of the 
 same nature was addressed to this august assembly by the cities of 
 Strasburg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lindaw, which had rejected 
 the errors and jurisdiction of Rome, but did not enter into the Lutheran 
 league, because they had adopted the opinions of Zuingie in relation to 
 the eucharist. The declaration of these four towns (called for that rea- 
 son the Tetrapelitan Confession) was drawn up by the excellent Mar- 
 tin Bucer, and was considered as a master-piece of reasoning and elo- 
 ! queace, not only by the protestants, but even by several of the Roman 
 catholics ; and among others by M. Du-Pin. Zuingle also sent to this 
 diet a private confession of his religious opinions. It is, however, re- 
 
Crap. III. 
 
 III. The creatures of the Roman pontiff, who were pre- 
 sent at this diet, employed John Faber, afterwards bishop 
 of Vienne in Dauphiné, together with Eckius, and another 
 doctor named Cochleus, to draw up a refutation of this 
 famous confession. ‘This pretended refutation having 
 been read publicly in the assembly, the emperor required 
 of the protestant members that they would acquiesce in 
 it, and put an end to their religious debates by an unli- 
 mited submission to the doctrines and opinions contained 
 in this answer. But this demand was far from being 
 complied with. "lhe protestants declared, on the con- 
 trary, that they were by no means satisfied with the re- 
 ply of their adversaries, and earnestly desired a copy of 
 it, that they might demonstrate more fully its extreme in- | 
 sufficiency and weakness. ‘his reasonable request was 
 refused by the emperor, who, on this occasion, as well as 
 on several others, showed more regard to the importunity 
 of the pope’s legate and his party, than to the demands of 
 equity, candour, and justice. He even interposed his su- 
 preme authority to suspend any farther proceeding in this 
 matter, and solemnly prohibited the publication of any 
 new writings or declarations that might contribute to 
 lengthen out these religious debates. This, however, did 
 not reduce the protestants to silence. ‘The divines of that 
 community, who had been present at the diet, endeavour- 
 ed to recollect the arguments and objections employed by 
 Faber, and again had recourse to the pen of Melancthon, 
 
 who refuted them in an ample and satisfactory manner, | 
 
 in a learned piece that was presented to the emperor, but 
 which that prince refused to receive. ‘This answer was 
 afterwards enlarged by Melancthon, when he had ob- 
 tained a copy of Faber’s reply, and was published in 1531, 
 with the other pieces that related to the doctrine and dis- 
 cipline of the Lutheran church, under the title of ‘A De- 
 fence of the Confession of Augsburg.’ 
 
 IV. There were only three ways left of bringing to a 
 conclusion these religious differences, which it was, in 
 reality, most difficult to reconcile. ‘The first and the most 
 rational method was to grant, to those who refused to 
 submit to the doctrine and jurisdiction of Rome, the liber- 
 ty of following their private judgment in matters of a re- 
 ligious nature, and the privilege of serving God accord- 
 ing to the dictates of their consciences, with a proviso 
 that the public tranquillity should not be disturbed. ‘The 
 second, aud, at the same time, the shortest and most ini- 
 quitous expedient, was to end these dissensions by mili- 
 tary apostles, who, sword in hand, should force the pro- 
 testants to return to the bosom of the church, and to 
 court the papal yoke, which they had so magnanimously 
 thrown off. Some thought of a middle way, which was 
 equally remote from the difficulties that attended the two 
 methods now mentioned, and proposed that a reconcilia- 
 tion should be made upon fair, candid, and equitable 
 terms, by engaging each of the contending parties to tem- 
 per their zeal with moderation, to abate reciprocally the 
 rigour of their pretensions, and remit some of their re- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 407 
 
 spective claims. The first method, which seemed agree 
 
 able to the dictates of reason, charity, and justice, was 
 highly approved by several wise and good men, on both 
 sides ; but it was ill-suited to the arrogant ambition of the 
 pontiff, and the superstitious ignorance of the times, which 
 beheld with horror whatever tended to introduce the 
 sweets of religious liberty, or the exercise of private judg- 
 ment. ‘The second method, being violent and inhuman, 
 was more agreeable to the spirit and sentiments of the 
 age, and was peculiarly suited to the despotic genius and 
 sanguinary zeal of the court of Rome: but the emperor 
 had sufficient prudence and equity to induce him to reject 
 it; and it appeared shocking to those who were not lost 
 to all sentiments of justice or moderation. The third ex- 
 pedient was therefore most generally approved : it was pe- 
 culiarly agreeable to all who were zealous for the inter- 
 ests and tranquillity of the empire ; nor did the pope seem 
 to loolk upon it either with aversion or contempt. Hence 
 various conferences ensued between persons of eminence, 
 piety, and learning, who were chosen for that purpose 
 from both sides; and nothing was omitted that might 
 have the least tendency to calm the animosity, heal the 
 divisions, and unite the hearts of the contending parties ; * 
 but all endeavours proved fruitless, since the difference or 
 opinion was too considerable and too important to admit 
 areconciliation. It was in these conferences that the spirit 
 and character of Melancthon appeared in their true and 
 genuine colours; and it was here that the votaries of 
 
 , Rome exhausted their efforts to gain over to their party 
 
 this pillar of the Reformation, whose abilities and virtues 
 added such a lustre to the protestant cause. This humane 
 and gentle spirit was apt to sink into a kind of yielding 
 softness under the influence of mild and generous treat- 
 ment. And, accordingly, while his adversaries soothed 
 him with fair words and flattering promises, he seemed to 
 melt as they spoke, and, in some measure, to comply with 
 their demands ; but, when they so far forgot themselves 
 as to make use of imperious language and menacing 
 terms, then did he appear in a very different point of light; 
 then a spirit of intrepidity, ardour, and independence, ani- 
 mated all his words and actions, and he looked down with 
 contempt on the threats of power, the frowns of fortune, 
 and the fear of death. 'The truth is, that, in this great 
 and good man, a soft and yielding temper was joined with 
 the most inviolable fidelity, and the most invincible at- 
 tachment to the truth. 
 
 VY. As this method of terminating the religious debates 
 between the friends of liberty and the votaries of Rome, 
 proved ineffectual, the latter had recourse to other mea- 
 sures, which were suited to the iniquity of the times, 
 though they were disavowed by the dictates of reason and 
 the precepts of the Gospel. ‘These measures were, the 
 force of the secular arm, and the authority of imperial 
 edicts. On the 19th day of November, a severe decree 
 was issued, by the express order of the emperor, during 
 the absence of the Hessian and Saxon princes, who were 
 
 diet a private confession of his religious opinions. It is, however, re- 
 markable, that though Bucer composed a separate remonstrance, his 
 name appears among the subscribers at Smalcald, in 1537, to the con- 
 fession of Augsburg, and to Melancthon’s defence of it. 
 
 x¢> * As in the confession of Augsburg there were three sorts of ar- 
 ticles; one sort orthodox, and adopted by both sides; another that con- 
 sisted of certain propositions, which the papal party considered as am- 
 biguous and obscure; and a third, in which the doctrine of Luther was 
 entirely opposite to that of Rome; this gave some reason to hope, that | 
 
 by the means of certain concessions and modifications, conducted mu- 
 tually by a spirit of candour and charity, matters might at last be ac- 
 commodated. For this purpose, select persons were apppointed to carry 
 on this salutary work, at first seven from each party, consisting of prin- 
 ecs, Jawyers, and divines; which number was afterwards reduced to 
 three. As Luther’s obstinate, stubborn, and violent temper, rendered 
 him unfit for healing divisions, he was not employed in these conferen- 
 ces; but he was constantly consulted by the Protestant party, and it 
 was With a view to this that he resided at Coburg. 
 
408 
 
 the chief supporters of the protestant cause ; and, in this 
 
 decree, every thing was manifestly calculated to deject the | 
 friends of religious liberty, if we except a faint and dubi- | 
 reconciliation were proposed ; and, after various negoti- 
 
 ous promise of engaging the pope to assemble (in about six 
 months after the separation of the diet) a general council. 
 The dignity and excellence of the papal religion are ex- 
 tolled, beyond measure, in this partial decree ; new de- 
 grees of severity and force were added to the edi:t of 
 Worms ; the changes that had been introduced into the 
 doctrine and discipline of the protestant churches, were se- 
 verely censured; and a solemn order was addressed to the 
 princes, states, and cities, that had thrown off the papal 
 yoke, to return to their duty and their allegiance to Rome, 
 on pain of incurring the indignation and vengeance of the 
 emperor, as the patron and protector of the church.* 
 
 VI. No sooner were the elector of Saxony and the con- 
 federate princes informed of this deplorable issue of the 
 diet, than they assembled in order to deliberate upon the 
 measures that were proper to be taken on this critical oc- 
 casion. In 1530, and the following year, they met, first 
 at Smalcald, afterwards at Frankfort, and formed a so- 
 lemn alliance, with the intention of defending vigorously 
 their religion and liberties against the dangers and en- 
 croachments with which they were menaced by the edict 
 of Augsburg, without attempting, however, any thing 
 positively offensive against the votaries of Rome. Into 
 this confederacy they invited the kings of England, 
 France, and Denmark, with several other republics and 
 states, and left no means unemployed that might tend 
 to corroborate and cement this important alliance.» 
 Amidst these intrigues and preparations, which portend- 
 ed an approaching rupture, the electors of Mentz and of 
 the Palatinate offered their mediation, and endeavoured 
 to reconcile the contending princes. With respect to the 
 smperor, Various reasons united to turn his views towards 
 
 eace. For, on the one hand, he stood in need of suc- 
 cours against the Turks, which the protestant princes re- 
 fused to grant while the edicts of Worms and Augsburg 
 remained in force ; and, on the other, the election of his 
 brother F’erdinand to the dignity of king of the Romans, 
 which had been concluded by a majority of votes, at the 
 diet of Cologne in 1531, was contested by the same 
 
 a °* To give the greater degree of weight to this edict, it was re- 
 solved, that no judge who refused to approve and subscribe its contents, 
 should be admitted into the imperial chamber of Spire, which was the 
 supreme court inGermany. The emperor also, and the popish princes, 
 engaged themselves to employ their united forces in order to maintain 
 its authority, and to promote its execution. 
 
 24> > Luther, who at first seemed averse to this confederacy, from 
 an apprehension of the calamities and troubles it might produce, at 
 length perceived its necessity, and consented to it; but, uncharitably, 
 as well as imprudently, refused to comprehend in it the followers of 
 Zuingle among the Swiss, together with the German states or cities, 
 which had adopted the sentiments and confession of Bucer. And yet 
 we find that the cities of Ulm and Augsburg had embraced the Refor- 
 mation on the principles of Zuingle. In the invitation addressed to 
 Henry VUI., whom the associated princes were willing to declare the 
 head and protector of their league, the following points were expressly 
 stipulated among several others: viz. That the king should encourage, 
 
 romote, and maintain the true doctrine of Christ, as it was contained 
 in the confession of Augsburg, and defend the same at the next general 
 council ;—that he should not agree to any council summoned by the 
 bishop of Rome, but protest against it, and neither submit to its decrees, 
 nor sufter them to be respected in his dominions ;—that he should never 
 allow the pontiff to have any pre-eminence or jurisdiction in his domi- 
 nions ;—that he should advance 100,000 crowns for the use of the con- 
 federacy, and double that sum if it should appear to be necessary; all 
 which articles the confederate princes were obliged equally to observe 
 on their parts. To these demands the king (nswered, immediately, in 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Sect. I]. 
 
 princes as contrary to the fundamental laws of the em- 
 pire. ; 
 Vil. In this troubled state of affairs, many projects of 
 
 ations, a treaty of peace was concluded at Nuremberg, in 
 1532, between the emperor and the protestant princes, 
 on the following condgtions: that the latter should fur- 
 nish a subsidy for carrying on the war against the’Turks, 
 
 ‘and acknowledge Ferdinand as lawful king of the Ro 
 
 | perseverance to the bold. 
 
 | 
 
 mans; and that the emperor should annul the edicts of 
 Worms and Augsburg, and allow the Lutherans the free 
 and unmolested exercise of their religious doctrine and 
 discipline, until a rule of faith should he fixed, either in 
 the free general council that was to be assembled in the 
 space of six months, or in a diet of the empire. The ap 
 prehension of an approaching rupture was scarcely re 
 
 | moved by this agreement, when John, elector of Saxony 
 
 died, and was succeeded by his son John Frederic, a prince 
 of invincible fortitude and magnanimity, whose reign, 
 
 however, was little better than a continued scene of dis- 
 
 appointments and calamities. 
 
 VIll. The religious truce, concluded at Nuremberg, 
 inspired with new vigour and resolution all the friends 
 of the reformation. It gave strength to the feeble, and 
 Encouraged by it, those whc 
 had been hitherto only secret enemies to the Reman pon 
 tiff, now spurned his yoke publicly, and refused to sub 
 mit to his imperious jurisdiction. "This appears from the 
 various cities and provinces in Germany, which, about 
 this time, boldly enlisted themselves under the religious 
 standard of Luther. On the other hand, as all hopes 
 of terminating the religious debates that divided Europe 
 were founded in the meeting of a general and indepen- 
 dent council, so solemnly promised, Charles renewed his 
 earnest request to Clement, that he would hasten an event 
 that was expected and desired with so much impatience. 
 The pontiff, whom the history of past councils filled with 
 the most uneasy and discouraging apprehensions, endea- 
 voured to retard what he could not, with any decency, 
 absolutely refuse... He formed innumerable pretexts to 
 put off the evil day; and his whole conduct evidently 
 showed, that he was more desirous of having these reli 
 
 a manner that was not satisfactory. He declared, that he would mair 
 
 tain and promote the true doctrine of Christ; but, at the same time, a 
 
 the true ground of that doctrine lay only in the Holy Scriptures, h 
 
 would not accept, at any one’s hand, what should be his faith, or tha\ 
 of his kingdoms, and therefore desired they would send over learnec 
 men to confer with him, in order to promote a religious union betweer 
 him and the confederates. He moreover declared himself of their opi. 
 nion with respect to the mecting of a free general council, and pronnsec 
 to join with them, in all such councils, for the defence of the true doc- 
 trine; but thought the regulation of the ceremonial part of religion, be 
 ing a matter of indifference, ought to be left to the choice of each sove- 
 reign for his own dominions. After this, he gave them a second an- 
 swer more full and satisfactory; but, upon the fall of Anne Boleyn, 
 this negotiation proved abortive. On the one hand, the king grew cold, 
 
 | when he perceived that the confederates could no longer be of service to 
 
 him in supporting the validity of his marriage; and, on the other, the 
 German princes were sensible that they could never succeed with Henry, 
 unless they would allow him an absolute dictatorship in matters of re- 
 ligion. 
 
 “Ete © Beside the fear of seeing his authority diminished by a gene- 
 ral council, another reason engaged Clement to avoid an assembly of 
 that nature; for, being conscious of the illegitimacy of his birth, as 
 Father Paul observes, he had ground to fear that the Colonnas, or his 
 other enemies, might plead this circumstance before the council, as a 
 reason for his exclusion from the pontificate, since it might be well 
 questioned whether a bastard could be a pope, though it is known, from 
 many instances, that a profligate may. 
 
\ 
 
 Crap. III. 
 
 gious Jiffererees decided by the force of arms, than by the 
 power of argusnent. He indeed, in 1533, made a proposal 
 vy hus legate, to assemble a council at Mantua, Placentia, 
 or Bologna; but the protestants refused their consent to 
 the nomination of an Italian council, and insisted, that 
 a controversy, which had its rise in the heart of Germany, 
 should be decided within the limits of the empire. ‘The 
 pope, by his usual artifices, eluded his own promise, dis- 
 appointed their expectations, and was cut off by death, in 
 1534, in the midst of his stratagems.* 
 
 IX. His successor Paul ILI. seemed to show less reluc- 
 tance to the convocation of a general council, and even 
 appeared disposed to comply with the desire of the em- 
 peror in that respect. Accordingly, in 1535, he expressed 
 his inclination to convoke one at Mantua; and, in the fol- 
 lowing year, heactually sent circular letters for that purpose 
 through allthe kingdoms and states under his jurisdiction.» 
 The protestants, on the other hand, fully persuaded, that, 
 in such a council, all things would be carried by the vo- 
 taries of Rome, and nothing concluded but what might 
 be agreeable to the sentiments and ambition of the pon- 
 tiff, assembled at Smalcald in 1537; and there they pro- 
 tested solemnly against such a partial and corrupt coun- 
 cil as that which was convoked by Paul, but, at the same 
 time, had a new summary of their doctrine drawn up by 
 Luther, in order to present it to the assembled bishops, if 
 it should be required of them. ‘This summary, which 
 was distinguished by the title of the Articles of Smal- 
 cald, is generally joined with the creeds and confessions 
 of the Lutheran church. 
 
 X. During these transactions, two remarkable events 
 aappened, of which the one was most detrimental to the 
 cause of religion in general, to that of the Reformation 
 M particular, and produced, in Germany, civil tumults 
 ind commotions of the most horrid kind; while the 
 sther was more salutary in its consequences and effects, 
 and struck at the very root of the papal authority and domi- 
 nion. The former event was a new sedition, excited by 
 w fanatical and outrageous mob of the Anabaptists; and 
 whe latter, the rupture between Henry VIII. and the Ro- 
 man pontiff, whose jurisdiction and spiritual supremacy 
 were publicly reacunced by that rough and resolute mo- 
 narch. 
 
 in 1533, there came to Munster, a city in Westphalia, 
 a certain number cf Anabaptists, who surpassed the rest 
 of thet fanatical tribe in the extravagance of their pro- 
 
 ® Sra an ample account of every thing relative to this council in F'a- 
 ther Pwi's History of the Council of Trent, book i. 
 
 3X4 * Vhis couacil was summoned by Paul III. to assemble at Mar- 
 tua, on We LY3d of May, 1537, but several obstacles prevented its meet- 
 ing. F\ederic, duke of Mantua, was not much inclined to receive at 
 once so many guests, some cf whom might be very turbulent, into the 
 place of his residence. 
 
 =*> ¢ That is, in a council! assembled by the authority of the pope 
 alone, and that also in Italy; two circumstances that must have greatly 
 contributed to give Faul an unde influence in that assembly. The 
 protestants maintained, that the en'peror aud the cther Christian _prin- 
 ces of Europe had a right to he aut‘aoritatinely concerned in calling a 
 general council ; so much the more, as the pentut was evidently one of 
 the parties in the present delate. 
 
 4 This fanatical establishmont ‘hey disting isl ed by the title of the 
 New Jerwsaiem. 
 
 * Hermanni Hamelmanni Hieteria Eeeles. renati Fvangeiii per in- 
 feriorem Saxoniam et Westphal. pat i.—De Printz, Sperinien Histo- 
 rize Anabapt. c. x. xi. xii. 
 
 =p This sect was, in process of time, considerably re‘omned by the 
 niunistry of two Friselanders, Ubbo and Mennon, wiro pivified it from 
 the enthusiastic, seditious, and atrocious principles of its sirst founders, 
 as willj be seen 1n the progress of this history. 
 
 No. XXXY. 103 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 409, 
 
 ceedings, the phrensy of their disordered brains, and the 
 madness of their pretensions and projects. They gave 
 themselves out for the messengers of Heaven, invested 
 with a divine commission to lay the foundations of a new” 
 government, a holy and spiritual empire, and to destroy 
 and overturn all temporal rule and authority, all human 
 and political institutions. Having tuned all things into 
 confusion and uproar at Munster by this seditious and 
 extravagant declaration, they began to erect a new re- 
 public, conformable to their absurd and chimerical notions 
 of religion, and committed the administration of it to John 
 Bockholt, a tailor by profession, and a native of Leyden. 
 Their reign, however, was of a short duration ; for, in 
 1535, the city was besieged, and taken by the bishop of 
 Munster, assisted by other German princes ; this fanatical 
 king and his wrong-headed associates were put to death 
 in the most terrible and ignominious manner, and the 
 new hierarchy destroyed with its furious and extravagant 
 founders. ‘This outrageous conduct of a handful of Ana- 
 baptists drew upon the whole body heavy marks of dis- 
 pleasure from the greatest part of the European princes. 
 ‘The severest laws were enacted against them for the se- 
 cond time, in consequence of which the innocent and the 
 guilty were involved in the same terrible fate, and prodi- 
 gious numbers were devoted to death in the most dreadful 
 forms.* 
 
 XI. The piliars of papal despotism were at this time 
 shaken in England, by an event, which, at first, did not 
 seem to promise such important consequences. Henry 
 VIIL., a prince who, in vices and in abilities, was surpass- 
 ed by none who swayed the sceptre in this age, and who, 
 in the beginning of these religious troubles, had opposed 
 the dovtrine and views of Luther with the utmost vehe- 
 mence, was the principal agent in this great revolution.! 
 Bound in the chains of matrimony to Catharine of Arra- 
 gon, aunt to Charles V., but at the same time captivated 
 by the charms of an illustrious virgin, whose name was 
 Anne Boleyn, he ardently desired to be divorced from the. 
 former, that The might render lawful his passion for the 
 latter. or this purpose, he addressed himself to Clement 
 VI. in order to obtain a dissolution of his marriage with 
 Catharine, alleging, that a principle of religion restrained 
 him from enjoying any longer the sweets of connubial 
 love with that princess, as she had been previously mar- 
 ried to his elder brother Arthur, and as it was repugnant 
 to the divine law to contract wedlock with a brother’s 
 
 74> { Among the various portraits that have been given by histori- 
 ans of Henry VIII., there is not one that equals the masterly one draw 
 by Mr. Hume. This great painter, whose colouring, in other subjects, 
 is sometimes more artful than accurate, has caught from nature the 
 striking lines of Henry’s motley character, and thrown them into a 
 composition, in which they appear with the greatest truth, set out with 
 all the powers of expression. 
 
 = & From Dr. Moakolr's manner of expressing himself, an unin- 
 formed reader might be led to conclude, that the charms of Anne Boleyn 
 were the only motive that engaged Henry to dissolve his marriage wits 
 Catharine. But this representation of the matter is not accurate. The 
 king had entertained scruples concerning the legitimacy of that marriage, 
 
 before his acquaintance with the beautiful and unfortunate Anne. Con- 
 versant in the writings of Thomas Aquinas and other schcolmen, wks 
 looked upon the Levitical law as of moral and perraanent obligation, 
 ' and attentive to the remonstrances of the bishops, who declared his mar- 
 riage unlawful, he was filled with anxious doubts, which had made him 
 break off all conjugal commerce with the queen, before his affections nad 
 been engaged by any other. This appears by cardinal W olsey’s pro- 
 posing a marriage between his majesty and the sister of Francis I., 
 which that pliant courtier would never have done, had he known that 
 the king’s affections were otherwise engaged. After all, it is very pos- 
 | sible, that the age and infirmities of Catharu e, together with the bloom. 
 
410 
 
 widow. The pope was greatly perplexed upon this occa- 
 sion, by the apprehension of incurring the indignation of 
 
 tne esuperor, if his decision shoutd be favourable to Henry ; 
 * and therefore he contrived various pretexts to evade a po- 
 sitive answer, and exhausted all his policy and artifice to 
 cajole and deceive the English monarch. 'Tired with the 
 pretexts, apologies, vain promises, and tardy proceedings 
 of the pontiff, Henry had recourse, for the accomplishment 
 of his purposes, to an expedient which was suggested by 
 the famous ‘Thomas Cranmer, who was a secret friend 
 fo Luther and his cause, and who was afterwards raised 
 to the see of Canterbury. ‘This expedient was, to demand 
 the opinions of the most learned European universities 
 concerning the subject of his scruples. ‘The result of 
 this measure was favourable to his views. 'The greatest 
 part of the universities declared the marriage with a bro- 
 ther’s widow unlawful. Catharine was consequently di- 
 vorced; Anne was conducted by a formal marriage into 
 she royal bed, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Cle- 
 ment; and the English nation delivered from the tyranny 
 of Rome, by Henry’s renouncing the jurisdiction and su- 
 premacy of its imperious pontiff. Soon after this, the king 
 was declared by the parliament and people supreme head, 
 on earth, of the church of England; the monasteries were 
 suppressed, and their revenues applied to other purposes ; 
 aud the power and authority of the pope were abrogated 
 and entireiy overturned. 
 
 XI. It is however carefully to be observed here, that 
 Henry’s subversion of the papal authority in England 
 was not productive of much benefit, either to the friends 
 or to the cause of the reformation; for the same monarch, 
 who had su resolutely withdrawn himself from the do- 
 minion of Rome, yet superstitiously retained the greatest 
 patt of its errors, with its imperious and persecuting spi- 
 rit. He still adhered to several of the most monstrous 
 doctrines of popery, and frequently presented the terrors 
 of death to those who differed from him in their religious 
 sentiments. Besides, he considered the title of Head of 
 the English Church, as if it transferred to him the enor- 
 mous power which had been claimed, and indeed usurped, 
 by the Roman pontiffs ; and, in consequence of this inter- 
 pretation of his title, he looked upon himself as master 
 of the religious sentiments of his subjects, and as autho- 
 rized to prescribe modes of faith according to his fancy. 
 Hence it came to pass, that, during the life and reign of 
 this prince, the face of religion was constantly changing, 
 and thus resembled the capricious and unsteady charac- 
 ter of its new chief. The prudence, learning, and acti- 
 vity of archbishop Cranmer, who was the favourite of the 
 ‘king, and the friend of the Reformation, counteracted, 
 nowever, in many instances, the humour and vehemence 
 of this inconstant and turbulent monarch. 'The pious 
 .ng charms of Anne Boleyn, tended much to animate Henry’s remorse, 
 and to render his conscience more scrupulous. See Burnet’s History 
 of the Reformation, and Hume’s History of Great Britain. 
 
 ® Beside the full and accurate account of this and other important 
 events, that may be found in bishop Burnet’s exceli.t History of the 
 Reformation of the Church of England, the curious reader will do well 
 to consult the records of this memorable revolution in Wilkins’ Concil. 
 Magne Britannie et Hiberniz, tom. ii1—Raynal’s Anecdotes Histo- 
 riques, Politiques, et Militaires, tom. i—Gen. Dictionary at the article 
 Boleyn. 
 
 > Beside Burnet’s History of the Reformation, see Neal’s History of 
 dhe Puritans, vol. i. 
 
 * See Jo. And. Roederi Libellus de Colloquio Wormatiensi, Norimb. 
 B44. 4 See Jo. Erdmanni Bieckii Triplex Interim, cap. i. 
 Z¢> * Itis »roper to observe here, that having summoned successive- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Sect. I, 
 
 productions and wise counsels of that venerable prelate 
 diminished daily the influence of the ancient supersti- 
 tions, dispelled by degrees the mists of ignorance that 
 blinded the people in favour of popery, and considerably 
 increased the number of those who wished well to the 
 Reformation. 
 
 XIU. After the meeting of the council of Mantua 
 was prevented, various measures were taken, and many 
 schemes proposed, by the emperor on the one hand, and 
 the protestant princes on the other, for the restoration of 
 concord and union, both civil and religious. But these 
 measures and projects were unattended with any solid 
 or salutary fruit, and were generally disconcerted by the 
 intrigues and artifice of the court of Rome, whose legates 
 and creatures were always lying in wait to blow the flame 
 of discord in all those councils which seemed unfavoura- 
 ble to the ambition of its pontiffs. In 1541, the emperor, 
 regardless of the pope’s authority, appointed a conference 
 at Worms, on the subject of religion, between persons 0. 
 piety and learning chosen from each party. It was here 
 that Melancthon and Eckius disputed for three days.¢ 
 This conference was, for certain reasons, removed to the 
 diet holden at Ratisbon in the same year, in which the 
 principal subject of deliberation was a memorial, presented 
 by a person unknown, containing a project of peace, with 
 the terms of accommodation that were proper to termi- 
 nate these religious differences.‘ 'This conference, how- 
 ever, produced no other effect, than a mutual agreement 
 of the contending parties to refer the decision of their pre- 
 tensions and debates to a general council ; or, if the meet 
 
 ing of such a council should be prevented by any un 
 
 foreseen obstacles, to the next German diet. 
 
 XI¥. This resolution was rendered ineffectual by the 
 period of perplexity and trouble that succeeded the diet 
 of Ratisbon, and by various incidents that widened the 
 breach, and delayed the deliberations which were de- 
 signed to heal it. It is true, the pontiff ordered his legate 
 to declare in the diet, which was assembled at Spire in 
 1542, that he would, according to the promise he had al- 
 ready made, assemble a general council, and that Trent 
 should be the place of its meeting, if the diet had no ob- 
 jection to that city. Ferdinand, king of the Romans, and 
 the princes who adhered to the papal cause, gave their 
 consent to this proposal; while the protestant members 
 of the diet objected both to a council summoned by the 
 papal authority alone, and also to the place appointed for 
 its meeting, and demanded a free and lawful council, 
 which should not be influenced by the dictates, or awed 
 by the proximity of the pontiff. This protestation pro- 
 duced no effect ; Paul persisted in his purpose, and issued 
 his circular letters for the convocation of the council,* 
 with the approbation of the emperor; while this prince 
 ly a council at Mantua, Vicenza, and Venice, without any effect, (for 
 the council did not meet,) this pontiff thought it necessary to show the 
 protestants that he was not averse to every kind of-reformation ; and 
 therefore appointed four cardinals and five other persons eminent for 
 their learning, to draw up a plan for the reformation of the church in 
 general, and of the church of Rome in particular, well knowirg, by the 
 spirit which reigned in the conclave, that the project would come to 
 nothing. A plan, however, was drawn up by the persons appointed 
 for that purpose. ‘The reformation proposed in this plan was indeed 
 extremely superficial and partial; yet it contained some particulars, 
 which scarcely could have been expected from the pens of those whe 
 compos-d it. They complained, for irstance, of the pride and igno- 
 rance of <he bishops, and proposed that none should receive orders but 
 
 learned and pious men; and that, therefore, care should be taken to 
 have proper masters to instruct the youth. They condemned transla- 
 
Crar. IV 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 All 
 
 endeavoured, at the diet of Worms, in 1545, to persuade | thority, and were, in consequence of this conduct, pro- 
 the protestants to consent to the meeting of this council || scribed by the emperor, who raised an army to reduce 
 
 at I'rent. But they were fixed in their resolution, and 
 the efforts of Charles were vain; upon which the em- 
 peror, who had hitherto disapproved the violent measures 
 which were incessantly suggested by the court of Rome, 
 departed from his usuai prudence and moderation, and, 
 listening to the sanguinary counsels of Paul, formed, in 
 conjunction with that artful pontiff, the design of termi- 
 nating religious debates by the force of arms. "The land- 
 grave of Hesse, and the elector of Saxony, the chief pro- 
 tectors of the protestant cause, were no sooner informed 
 of this, than they took the proper measures to prevent 
 themselves from being surprised and overwhelmed by a 
 superior force, and, acvordingly, raised an army for their 
 defence. While this terrible storm was rising, Luther, 
 whose aversion to all violence in matters of religion was 
 well known, and who recommended prayer and patience 
 as the only arms worthy of those who had the cause of ge- 
 nuine Christianity at heart, was removed by Providence 
 from this scene of tumult, and from the calamities that 
 threatened his country. He died in peace, on the 18th 
 of February, 1546, at Eisleben, the place of his birth. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The History of the Reformation from the Commence- 
 ment of the War of Smalcald, to the famous Paci- 
 fication, commonly called the Peace of Religion, con- 
 cluded at Augsburg. 
 
 I. Cuartes and the pontiff had determined upon the 
 ruin of all who should dare to oppose the council of ‘Trent. 
 The meeting of that assembly was to serve as a signal 
 for their taking arms; and accordingly, its deliberations 
 were scarcely begun, in 1546, when the protestants per- 
 ceived undoubted marks of the approaching storm, and 
 of a formidable union of their chief adversaries to over- 
 whelm and crush them by a sudden blow. ‘There had 
 been, it is true, a new conference in this very year, at the 
 diet of Ratisbon, between some eminent doctors of both 
 parties, with a view to the accommodation of their reli- 
 gious differences ; but it appeared sufficiently, both from 
 the nature of this dispute, the manner in which it was 
 carried on, and its issue and result, that the matters in 
 debate would sooner or later be decided in the field of bat- 
 tle. In the mean time, the fathers, assembled in the 
 council of Trent, promulgated their decrees ; while the 
 protestant princes in the diet protested against their au- 
 
 85 
 
 tions from one benefice to another, grants of reservation, non-residence, 
 and pluralities. They proposed that some convents should be abolish- 
 ed; that the liberty of the press should be restrained and limited; that 
 the colloquies of Erasmus should be suppressed; that no ecclesiastic 
 should enjoy a benefice out of his own country ; that no cardinat should 
 have a bishopric; that the questors of St. eae and several other 
 saints, should be abolished; and (which was the best of all they pro- 
 posals) that the effects and personal estate of ecclesiastics should be 
 given tothe poor. They concluded with complaining of the prodigious 
 number of indigent and ragged priests that frequented St. Peter’s church ; 
 and declared, that it was a great scandal to see the prostitutes lodged so 
 miugnificently at Rome, and riding through the streets on fine mules, 
 while the cardinals and other ecclesiastics accompanied them in a most 
 courteous and familiar manner. The several articles of this plan of re- 
 formation (which Luther and Sturmius of Strasburg turned into ridicule, 
 and which indeed left unredressed the most intolerable grievances of 
 which the protestants complained) were published at Antwerp in or 
 about the year 1539, with the answer of Cochlzus to the objections of | 
 Sturmias. They are likewise prefixed to the History of the Council of 
 Trent, by Crabre, and were afterwards published at Paris in 1612. 
 
 them to obedience. 
 
 II. 'The elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse 
 led their forces into Bavaria against the emperor, and can. 
 nonaded his camp at Ingolstadt with great spirit. Itwas 
 supposed that this would bring the two armies to a ge- 
 neral action ; but several circumstances prevented a bat- 
 tle, which was expected by most of the confederates, and, 
 probably, would have been advantageous to their cause. 
 Among these we may reckon, principally, the perfidy of 
 Maurice, duke of Saxony, who, seduced by the promises 
 'of the emperor, and by his own ambition and avarice, 
 invaded the electoral dominions of his uncle John Fre- 
 deric, while that worthy prince was maintaining against 
 the emperor the sacred cause of religion and liberty. Add 
 to this the divisions that were fomented by the dissimula- 
 tion of the emperor among the confederate princes, the 
 failure of France in furnishing the subsidy that had been 
 promised by its monarch, and some incidents of less mo- 
 ment. All these things so discouraged the heads of the 
 protestant party, that their troops were soon dispersed, 
 | and the elector of Saxony directed his march homewards. 
 
 But he was pursued by the emperor, who made several 
 forced marches, with a view of subduing his enemy, be- 
 fore he should have time to recover his vigour; in which 
 design he was assisted by the ill-grounded security of the 
 elector, and, as there is too much reason to think, by the 
 treachery of his officers. The two armies drew up in or- 
 der of battle near Muhlberg on the Elbe, on the 24th of 
 April, 1547, and, after a fierce conflict, that of the elector, 
 being inferior in number, was entirely defeated, and him- 
 self made prisoner. Philip, landgrave of Hesse, the other 
 chief of the protestants, was persuaded by the entreaties 
 of his son-in-law, Maurice, now declared elector of Sax- 
 ony,* t) throw himself upon the mercy of the emperor, 
 and to implore his pardon. ‘'T’o this he consented, rely- 
 ing on the promise of Charles for ebtaining forgiveness, 
 and being restored to liberty ; but, notwithstanding these 
 expectations, he was unjustly detained prisoner by a scan- 
 dalous violation of the most solemn convention. It is said, 
 that the emperor retracted his promise, and deluded this 
 unhappy prince by the ambiguity of two German words, 
 which resemble each other; but this point of history 
 has not been hitherto so far cleared up, as to enable us to 
 judge with certainty of the confinement of this prince, 
 and the real causes to which it may be ascribed.« 
 
 IIf. This revolution seemed to threaten ruin to the pro- 
 
 => + In the room of John Frederic, whom he had so basely be- 
 trayed. 
 
 x’> > There is scarcely in history an instance of such mean, perfi- 
 dious, and despotic behaviour, as that of the emperor to the landgrave 
 in the case now before us. After having received in public the humble 
 submissions of that unhappy prince, made upon his knees, in the most 
 respectful and affecting terms, and after having set him at liberty by a 
 solemn treaty, he ordered him to be again arrested, without alleging 
 any reason, or even any pretext, and kept him for several years in a 
 close and severe confinement. When Maurice remonstrated to the em- 
 peror against this new imprisonment, Charles answered, that he had 
 never promised that the landgrave should not be imprisoned anew, but 
 only that he should be exempted from perpetual imprisonment ;_ and, to 
 support this assertion, he produced the treaty, in which his ministers, 
 in order to elude the true meaning of the accommodation, had perfidi- 
 ously foisted in ewiger gefangnis, which signifies a perpetual prison, 
 instead of einiger gefangnis, which means any prison. This point, 
 however, is contested by some historians. I 
 
 © See a German work entitled, Benj. Grosch Vertheidigung der 
 Evangelischen Kirche gegen Gottfr. Arnold. 
 
 ~ 
 
412 
 
 testant cause, and to crown the efforts of the pontiff with 
 the most triumphant success. In the diet of Augsburg, 
 which was assembled soon after, with an imperial army 
 at hand to promote union and despatch, the emperor re- 
 quired of tne protestants, that they would leave the deci- 
 sion of these religious contests to the wisdom of the conn- 
 cil that was to meet at 'T'rent. The greatest part of the 
 members consented to this proposal ; and, among others, 
 Maurice, the new elector of Saxony, who owed both his 
 electorate and his dominions to the emperor, and who 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was ardently desirous of obtaining the liberty of his fa- 
 ther-in-law the landgrave of Hesse. This general sub- 
 mission to the will of Charles, did not, however, produce 
 the fruits that were expected from sucha solemn and al- 
 most universal approbation of the council of Trent. A 
 plague, which manifested itself (or was said to do so) in 
 that city, induced the greatest part of the assembled fa- 
 thers to retire to Bologna, and thereby the council was, 
 in effect, dissolved ; nor could all the entreaties and re- 
 monstrances of the emperor prevail upon the pope to re- 
 assemble it without delay. While affairs were in this si- 
 tuation, and the prospect of seeing a council assembled 
 was obscured, the emperor judged it necessary, during 
 this interval, to devise some method of maintaining 
 peace in religious matters, until the decision, so long ex- 
 pected, should be finally obtained. It was with this view 
 that he ordered Julius Pflugius, bishop of Naumburg, 
 Michael Sidonius, a creature of the pontiff, and John 
 Agricola, a native of Hisleben, to draw up a formadary, 
 which might serve as a rule of faith and worship to both 
 parties, until a council should begin to act. As this was 
 only a temporary appointment, and had not the force of a 
 permanent or perpetual institution, the rule in question 
 was called the Interim. 
 
 IV. This temporary rule of faith and discipline, though 
 it was extremely favourable to the interests and preten- 
 sions of the court of Rome, had yet the fate to which 
 schemes of reconciliation are often exposed; it pleased 
 neither party, but was equally offensive to the followers 
 of Luther and to the Roman pontiff. It was, however, 
 promulgated with solemnity, by the emperor, at the diet 
 of Augsburg; and the elector of Mentz, without even 
 deigning to ask the opinions of the assembled princes and 
 states, rose with an air of authority, and, as if he had been 
 commissioned to represent the whole diet, gave a formal 
 and public approbation to this famous Interim.» Thus 
 were many princes of the empire, whose silence, though 
 it proceeded from want of courage, was interpreted as the 
 
 3-3 * This project of Charles was formed, partly to vent his resent- 
 
 ment against the pope, and partly to answer other purposes of a more 
 political kind. Be that as it may, the Formula ad Interim, or tempo- 
 rary rule of faith and worship here mentioned, contained all the essen- 
 tial doctrines of the church of Rome, though considerably softened and 
 mitigated by the moderate, prudent, and artful terms in which they 
 were expressed; terms quite different from those that were employed, 
 before and after this period, by the council of Trent. There was even 
 an affected ambiguity in many expressions, which rendered them sus- 
 ceptible of different senses, applicable to the sentiments of both commu- 
 nions, and therefore disagreeable to both. The Interim was composed 
 with that fraudulent, specious, and seducing dexterity, which in after- 
 times appeared in the deceitful exposition of the Catholic faith, by M. 
 Bossuet, bishop of Meaux; and it was almost equally rejected by the 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics. The cup was allowed, by this im- 
 yerial creed, to the protestants in the administration of the Lord’s sup- 
 Jer, and priests and clerks were permitted by it to enter into the married 
 state. These grants were, however, accompanied with the two follow- 
 ing conditions: “1, That every one should be at liberty to use the cup, | 
 or to abstain from it, and to choose a state of marriage, or a state of , 
 
 Sect. L 
 
 'mark of a tacit consent, engaged against their will to re- 
 ceive this book as a body of ecclesiastical law. The majcr 
 part of those, who had the resolution to dispute the autho- 
 rity of this imperial creed, were obliged to submit to it 
 by the force of arms; and hence arose deplorable scenes 
 of violence and bloodshed, which involved the empire in 
 the greatest calamities. Maurice, elector of Saxony, who, 
 for some time, had affected to be neutral, and neither de 
 clared himself for those who rejected, nor for those who 
 had adopted the formulary, assembled, in 1548, the Saxon 
 nobility and clergy, with Melancthon at the head of the 
 latter, and, in several conferences at Leipsic and other 
 | places, took counsel concerning what was to be done in 
 | this critical affair. The deliberations, on this occasion, 
 were long and tedious, and their result was ambiguous ; 
 for Melancthon, whose opinion was respected as a law by 
 the reformed doctors, fearing the emperor on the one hand, 
 and attentive to the sentiments of his sovereign on the 
 other, pronounced a sort of conciliatory sentence, which, 
 he hoped, would be offensive to no party. He gave 
 it as his opinion, that the whole of the book called Interim 
 could not, by any means, be adopted by the friends of the 
 ‘Reformation ; but he declared, at the same time, that he 
 | saw no reason, why this book might not be approved, 
 adopted, and received, as an authoritative rule, in things 
 that did not relate to the essential parts of religion, or in 
 points which might be considered as accessory or indif- 
 ferent... This decision, instead of pacifying matters, pro- 
 duced, on the contrary, new divisions, and formed, among 
 the followers of Luther, a schism which placed the cause 
 of the Reformation in the most perilous and critical cir- 
 cumstances, and might have contributed either to ruin it 
 entirely, or to retard considerably its progress, had the 
 pope and the emperor been dexterous enough to make 
 the proper use of these divisions. and to seize the favour- 
 able occasion that was presented to them, of turning the 
 force of the protestants against themselves. 
 
 V. Amidst these contests Paul ITI. was obliged to quit 
 this life in the year 1549, and was succeeded, in the fol- 
 lowing year, by Julius I1., who, yielding to the repeated 
 | and importunate solicitations of the emperor, consented to 
 | convoke a council at Trent. Accordingly, in the det of 
 
 Augsburg, which was again holden under the formidable 
 | artillery of an imperial army, Charles laid this matter be- 
 fore the states and princes of the empire. ‘The majority 
 of the princes gave their consent to the convocation of this 
 | council, to which also the elector Maurice submitted upon 
 | certain conditions. The emperor then concluded the diet 
 
 celibacy, as he should judge most fit or convenient: 2. That these grants 
 should remain in force no longer than the happy period when a general 
 council should terminate all religious differences.” ‘This second condi- 
 tion tended to produce the greatest disorder and confusion in case the 
 future council should think proper to enjoin celibacy on the clergy, and 
 declare, as it did in effect, their marriage unchristian and unlawful. 
 
 > See Jo. Erdm. Bieck, Triplex Interim.—Luc. Osianders Cent. XVI. 
 Histor. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. Ixviii. p.425.—F or an account of the authors 
 and editions of the book called Jn/erim, see Die Danische Biblioth. part 
 v. and vi. 
 
 x * By things indifferent, Melancthon understood particularly 
 the ceremonies of the popish worship, which, superstitious as they were, 
 that reformer, yielding to the softness and flexibility of his natural tem- 
 per, treated with a singular and excessive indulgence upon this oc- 
 casion. 
 
 3¢p ¢ Maurice (who was desirous of regaining the esteem of the pro- 
 testants of Saxony, which he had lost by his perfidious behaviour to the 
 late elector John F'rederic, his benefactor and friend) gave his consent 
 to the renewal of the council of Trent on the following conditions :— 
 Ist. That the points of doctrine, which had been already decided there, 
 
Crap. IV. 
 
 in 1551, desiring the assembled princes and states to pre- 
 pare all things for the approaching council, and promising 
 that he would use his most zealous endeavours to promote 
 moderation and harmony, impartiality and charity, in the 
 deliberations and transactions of that assembly. When 
 the diet broke up, the protestants took the steps they 
 judged most prudent to prepare themselves for what was 
 to happen. ‘The Saxons employed the pen of Melanc- 
 thon, and the Wirtembergers that of Brentius, to draw 
 up confessions of their faith, which were to be laid before 
 the new council. Beside the ambassadors of the duke 
 of Wirtemberg, several doctors of that city repaired to 
 Trent. ‘The Saxon divines, with Melancthon at their 
 head, set out also for that place, but proceeded in their 
 journey no farther than Nuremberg. ‘They had received 
 secret orders to stop there ; for Maurice had no intention 
 of submitting to the emperor’s views: on the contrary, 
 he hoped to reduce that prince to a compliance with his 
 own projects. He therefore yielded in appearance, that he 
 might carry his point, and thus command in reality. 
 
 VI. The real views of Charles, amidst the divisions and 
 troubles in Germany, (which he fomented by negotiations 
 that carried the outward aspect of a reconciling spirit,) will 
 appear evidently to such as consider attentively the nature 
 of the times, and compare the transactions of this prince, 
 one with another. Relying on the extent of his power, 
 and the success that frequently accompanied his enterprises, 
 with a degree of confidence that was highly imprudent, 
 he proposed to turn these religious commotions and dis- 
 sensions to the confirmation and increase of his dominion 
 in Germany, and, by sowing the seeds of discord among 
 the princes of the empire, to weaken their power, and 
 thereby the more easily to encroach upon their rights and 
 privileges. On the other hand, ardently desirous of re- 
 ducing within narrower limitsthe jurisdiction and dominion 
 of the Roman pontiffs, that they might not set bounds to 
 his ambition, or prevent the execution of his aspiring views, 
 he flattered himself that this would be the natural effect 
 of the approaching council. He was confirmed in this 
 pleasing hope, by reflecting on what had happened in 
 the assemblies of Constance and of Basil, in which the 
 lust of papal ambition had been opposed with spirit, 
 and restrained within certain limits. He also persuaded 
 himself, that, by the dexterity of his agents, and the num- 
 ber of the Spanish and German bishops devoted to his 
 
 interests, he should be able to influence and direct the | 
 
 deliberations of the council in such a manner, as_ to 
 make its decisicns answer his expectations, and contribute 
 effectually to the accomplishment of his views. Such 
 were the specious dreams of ambition that filled the ima- 
 gination of this restless prince ; but his views and_pro- 
 
 should be examined and discussed anew; 2dly, That this examination 
 should be made in presence of the protestant divines, or their deputies ; 
 3dly, That the Saxon protestants should have a liberty of voting, as 
 well as of deliberating, in the council; and, 4thly, That the pope should 
 not pretend to preside in that assembly, either in person or by his le- 
 ates. This declaration was read in the diet, and the elector’s deputies 
 insisted upon its being registered, which the archbishop of Mentz, how- 
 ever, obstinately refused. 
 zp * As this treaty is deemed by the German protestants the basis 
 of their religious liberty, it will not be amiss to insert here some of its 
 »rincipal articles. By the three first articles it was stipulated, that 
 Maurice and the confederates should lay down their arms, and should 
 lend their troops to Ferdinand to defend Germany against the Turks, 
 and that the landgrave of Hesse should be set at liberty. By the fourth 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 it was agreed that the rule of faith, called Interim, should be considered 
 as nul! and void; that the contending parties should enjoy the free and | 
 
 No. XX XV. 104 
 
 A13 
 
 jects were disconcerted by that very individual, that sup- 
 posed friend, who had been one of the principal instru- 
 ments of the violence and oppression which he had exer- 
 cised against the protestant princes, and of the injury he 
 had done to the protestant cause. 
 
 VII. The most considerable princes, not only of Ger- 
 many, but even of all Europe, had, for a long time, ad- 
 dressed to the emperor their united entreaties for the deli- 
 verance of Philip, landgrave of Hesse, and John Frederic, 
 elector of Saxony, from their confinement ; and Maurice 
 had solicited, with peculiar warmth and assiduity, the li- 
 berty of the former, who was his father-in-law. But all 
 these solicitations procuced no effect. Perceiving at length 
 that he was duped by the emperor, and also convinced 
 that this ambitious monarch was forming insidious designs 
 upon the liberties of Germany, and the jurisdiction of its 
 princes, the elector entered, with the utmost secrecy and 
 expedition, into an alliance with the king of France and 
 several of the German princes, for the maintenance of the 
 rights and liberties of the empire. Encouraged by this 
 respectable confederacy, the active Saxon led a powerful 
 army against the emperor in 1552, with such astonishing 
 valour and rapidity, that he surprised Charles at Inspruck. 
 where he lay with a small force in the utmost security, 
 and witbout the least apprehension of danger. This un- 
 foreseen event alarmed and dejected the emperor to such 
 a degree, that he was willing to make peace on almost 
 any conditions ; and, consequently, he not only conclud- 
 ed, at Passau, the famous treaty of pacification with the 
 protestants,* but also promised to assemble, within the 
 space of six months, a diet, in which all the tumults and 
 dissensions that had been occasioned by a diversity of sen- 
 timent in religious matters should be entirely removed. 
 Thus did the same prince, who stands foremost in the 
 list of those that oppressed the protestants, and reduced 
 their affairs to extremities, restore their expiring hopes, 
 support and render triumphant their desperate cause, and 
 procure for them that bulwark of peace and of liberty 
 which still remains. Maurice, however, did not live to 
 see this happy issue of his glorious expedition ; for he 
 lost his life in the following year, by a wound received at 
 the battle of Siverhausen, while he was fighting against 
 Albert of Brandenburg.® 
 
 VUE. The troubles of Germany, with several other in- 
 cidents, rendered it impossible to assemble the diet, which 
 the emperor had promised at the pacification of Passau, 
 so soon as the period mentioned in the articles of that 
 treaty. ‘This famous diet met, however, at Augsburg, in 
 1555, was opened by Ferdinand in the name of the em- 
 peror, and terminated those deplorable scenes of bloodshed 
 desolation, and discord, that had so long afflicted both 
 
 undisturbed exercise of their religion, until a diet should be assembled 
 to determine amicably the present disputes (which diet was to meet in 
 the space of six months); and that this religious liberty should continue 
 always, if it should be found impossible to come to an uniformity in 
 doctrine and worship. It was also resolved, that all those who had 
 suffered banishment, or any other calamity, on account of their having 
 been concerned in the league or war of Smalcald, should be reinstated 
 in their privileges, possessions, and employments; that the Imperial 
 chamber at Spire shouid be open to the protestants as well as to the 
 catholics; and that there should be always a certain number of the 
 Lutheran persuasion in that high court. ; : 
 
 #%> > Albert, marquis of Brandenburg, after the pacification of Pas- 
 sau, to which he refused to subscribe, continued ‘*e ‘var against the 
 Roman catholics ; and afterwards committed such ner in the em- 
 ee that a confederacy was formed against him, at the ead of which 
 Maurice was placed. 
 
Ald 
 
 church and state, by that religious peace (as it is com- |) 
 
 monly called) which secured to the protestants the free ex- 
 ercise of their religion, and established this inestimable 
 liberty upon the firmest foundations ; for, after various 
 debates, the following memorable acts were passed, on the 
 25th of September; that the protestants who followed the 
 confession of Augsburgh, should be for the future consi- 
 dered as entirely exempt from the jurisdiction of the Ro- 
 nan pontiff, and from the authority and superintendence 
 of the bishops; that they were left at perfect liberty to 
 enact Jaws for themselves, relating to their religious sen- 
 timents, discipline, and worship ; that all the inhabitants 
 of the German empire should be allowed to judge for 
 themselves in religious matters, and to join themselves to 
 that church whose doctrine and worship they thought 
 the purest, and the most consonant to the spirit of true 
 Christianity ; and that all those who should injure or per- 
 secute any person under religious pretexts, and on ac- 
 count of opinions and belief, should be declared and pro- 
 ceeded against as public enemies of the empire, invaders 
 of its liberty, and disturbers of its peace.* ‘The difficul- 
 ties that were to be surmounted before this equitable deci- 
 sion could be procured, the tedious deliberations, the warm 
 debates, the violent animosities, and bloody wars, that were 
 necessary to engage the greatest part of the German states 
 to consent to conditions so agreeable to the dictates of right 
 reason, as well as to the sacred injunctions of the Gospel, 
 show us, in a shocking and glaring point of light, the ig- 
 norance and superstition of these miserable times, and 
 stand upon record, as one of the most evident proofs of 
 the necessity of religious reform. 
 
 IX. During these transactions in Germany, the friends 
 of genuine Christianity in England deplored the gloomy 
 reign of superstition, and the almost total extinction of 
 true religion ; and, seeing before their eyes the cause of 
 popery maintained by the terrors of bloody persecution, 
 and daily victims brought tothe stake, to expiate the pre- 
 tended crime of preferring the dictates of the Gospel to 
 the despotic laws of Rome, they deemed the Germans 
 happy, in having thrown off the yoke of an imperious 
 and superstitious church. Henry VILL, whose personal 
 vices, and whose arbitrary and capricious conduct, had 
 greatly retarded the progress of the Reformation, was 
 now ho more. He died in 1547, and was succeeded by 
 his only son, Edward VI. ‘This amiable prince, whose 
 early youth was crowned with that wisdom, sagacity, and 
 virtue, that would have done honour to advanced years, 
 gave new spirit and vigour to the protestant cause, and 
 was its brightest ornament, as well as its most effectual 
 support. He encouraged learned and pious men of fo- 
 reign countries to settle in England, and addressed a 
 particular invitation to Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, 
 whose moderation added a lustre to their other virtues, 
 
 @ Jo. Schilteri Liber de Pace ReligiosA—Christ. Lehmanni Acta 
 Publica et Originalia de Pace Religiosa. 
 
 * This prelate was the less entitled to compassion, as, when in power, 
 he fcilowed the execrable example of the Romanists, by committing to 
 the flames, against the will of the young king, two supposed heretics, 
 two unfortinate foreigners, whom, one would think, every humane 
 Briton wou.d have spared, and whose destruction nothing could justi- 
 fy —Hvit. 
 
 3> > It will not be improper to insert here the character of this famous 
 Scottish reformer, as it is drawn by the spirited, accurate, and impartial 
 pen of Dr. Robertson, in his History of Scotland, book vi. “ Zeal, in- 
 trepidity, disinterestedness, (says that incomparable writer,) were vir- 
 tves which he possessed in an eminent degree. He was acquainted, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Secr. 1 
 
 that, by the ministry and lavours of these eminent men, 
 in concert with those of the friends of the reformation in 
 England, he might purge his dominions from the vile 
 
 fictions of popery, and establish the pure doctrines of 
 
 Christianity in their place. For this purpose he issued 
 the wisest orders for the restoration of true religion; but 
 his reign was too short to accomplish fully such a glorious 
 purpose. In 1553, he was taken from his loving and 
 afflicted subjects, whose sorrow was inexpressible, and 
 suited to their loss. His sister Mary, (the daughter of 
 Catharine of Arragon, from whom Henry had been sepa- 
 rated by the famous divorce,) a furious bigot to the church 
 of Rome, and a princess whose natural character, like the 
 spirit of her religion, was despotic and cruel, succeeded 
 him on the English throne, and imposed anew the arbi- 
 trary laws and the tyrannical yoke of Rome upon her 
 reluctant subjects. Nor were the methods she employed, 
 in the cause of superstition, better than the cause itself, 
 or tempered by any sentiments of equity or compassion. 
 Barbarous tortures, and death in the most shocking forms, 
 awaited those who opposed her will, or made the least 
 stand against the restoration of popery. And, among 
 many other victims, the learned and pious Cranmer, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, who had been one of the most 
 illustrious instruments of the Reformation in England, 
 fell a sacrifice to her fury.* ‘This odious scene of perse- 
 cution was happily concluded, in 1558, by the death of the 
 queen, who left no issue; and, as soon as her successor, 
 the lady Elizabeth, ascended the throne, all things as- 
 sumed a new and apleasing aspect. This illustrious prin- 
 cess, Whose sentiments, counsels, and projects, breathed a 
 spirit superior to the natural softness and delicacy of her 
 sex, exerted this vigorous and manly spirit in the defence 
 of oppressed conscience and expiring liberty, broke anew 
 the despotic yoke of papal authority and superstition, and 
 delivering her people from the bondage of Rome, esta- 
 blished that form of religious doctrine and ecclesiastical 
 government which England still enjoys. 'This religious 
 establishment differs, in some respects, from the plan 
 formed by those whom Edward VI. had employed for 
 promoting the cause of the reformation, and approaches 
 nearer to the rites and discipline of former times, though 
 it is widely different from, and in the most important 
 points entirely opposite to, the principles of the Roman 
 hierarchy. 
 
 X. ‘The seeds of the reformation were very early sown 
 in Scotland, by several noblemen of that nation, who had 
 resided in Germany during the religious disputes that 
 divided the empire. But the power of the Roman pontiff, 
 supported and seconded by inhuman laws and barbarous 
 executions, choked, for many years, these tender seeds, 
 and prevented their taking root. The first and most 
 eminent opposer of the papal jurisdiction was John Knox,» 
 
 too, with the learning cultivated in that age, and excelled in that species 
 of eloquence which is calculated to rouse and to inflame. His maxims, 
 however, were often too severe, and the impetuosity of his temper ex- 
 cessive. Rigid and uncomplying himself, he showed no indulgence to 
 the infirmities of others. Regardless of the distinctions of rank and 
 character, he uttered his admonitions with an acrimony and vehemence, 
 more apt to irritate than to reclaim; and this often betrayed him into 
 indecent and undutiful expressions with respect to the queen’s person 
 and conduct. Those very qualities, however, which now render his 
 character less amiable, fitted him to be the instrument of Providence for 
 advancing the reformation among a fierce people, and enabled him to 
 face dangers, and to surmount opposition, from which a person of a 
 more gentle spirit would have been apt to shrink back, By an unweark 
 
OCurap. IV. 
 
 a disciple of Calvin, whose eloquence was persuasive, 
 and whose fortitude was invincible. This resolute 
 reformer set out from Geneva for Scotland, in 1559, 
 and, in avery short time, inspired the people, by his pri- 
 vate exhortations and hi3 public discourses, with such a 
 violent aversion to the superstitions of Rome, that the 
 greatest part of the Scottish nation abandoned them en- 
 tirely, and aimed at nothing less than the total extirpation 
 of popery.’ From this period to the present times, the 
 doctrine, worship, and discipline that had been established 
 at Geneva by the ministry of Calvin, have been main- 
 tained in Scotland with invincible obstinacy and zeal; 
 and every attempt to introduce into that kingdom the 
 rites and government of the church of England, has 
 proved impotent and unsuccessful.¢ 
 
 XI. The cause of the reformation underwent, in 
 Ireland, the same vicissitudes and revolutions that had 
 attended itin England. When Henry VUL., after the abo- 
 lition of the papal authority, was declared ‘supreme head, 
 upon earth, of the church of England, George Brown, a 
 
 ed application to study and to business, as well as by the frequency and 
 fervour of his public discourses, he had worn out a constitution natural- 
 ly strong. During a lingering illness, he discovered the utmost forti- 
 tude, and met the approaches of death with a magnanimity inseparable 
 from his character. He was constantly employed in acts of devotion, 
 and comforted himself with those prospects of immortality, which not 
 only preserve good men from desponding, but fill them with exultation 
 in their last moments.” 
 
 3¢>* The earl of Morton, who was present at his funeral, pronoun- 
 zed his eulogium in a few words, the more honourable for Knox, as 
 they came from one whom he had often censured with peculiar severity : 
 * There lies he who never feared the face of man.” 
 
 b See Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. i—Calderwood’s History 
 of Scotland’s Reformation.—Georg. Buchanani Rerum Scoticar. Hist— 
 Melvil’s Memoirs, vol. i. 
 
 3¢> ¢ The indignation of the people, which had been excited by the 
 vices of the clergy, was soon transferred to their persons, and settled at 
 last, by a transition not unusual, upon the offices they enjoyed; and 
 thus the effects of the reformation extended, not only to the doctrine, but 
 also to the government of the popish church. But in Germany, Eng- 
 land, and the northern kingdoms, its operations were checked by the 
 power and policy of their princes, and episcopal hierarchy (which ap- 
 pears to be the most conformable to the practice of the church, since 
 Christianity became the established religion of the Roman empire) was 
 still continued in these countries, under certain limitations. ‘The eccle- 
 siastical government was in a great measure borrowed from the civil; 
 and the dioceses and jurisdiction of patriarchs, archbishops, and_bish- 
 ops, corresponded with the division and constitution of the empire. In 
 Switzerland and the Low Countries, the nature and spirit of a republi- 
 can policy gave fuller scope to the reformers; and thus all pre-eminence 
 of order in the church was destroyed, and that form of ecclesiastical go- 
 vernment established, which has been since called Presbyterian. The 
 situation of the primitive church (oppressed by continued persecutions, 
 and obliged by its sufferings to be contented with a form of government 
 extremely simple, and with a parity of rank for want of ambition to 
 propose, or power to support, a subordination) suggested, without doubt, 
 the idea of this latter system; though it would be unfair to allege this 
 consideration as a victorious argument in favour of Presbyterianism, 
 because a change of circumstances will sometimes justify a change in 
 the methods and plans of government. Be that as it may, the church 
 
 of Geneva, which received the decisions of Calvin with an amazing || 
 
 docility, restored this presbyterian or republican form of ecclesiastical 
 policy ; Krox studied, admired, and recommended it to his countrymen, 
 and he was seconded by many of the Scottish nobles, of whom some 
 hated the persons, while many others coveted the wealth of the dignified 
 clergy. But, in introducing this system, that reformer did not deem it 
 expedient to depart altogether from the ancient form; for, instead of 
 bishops, he proposed the establishment of ten superintendants, to in- 
 spect the lives and doctrines of the other clergy, and preside in the in- 
 ferior judicatories of the church, without pretending to claim either a 
 seat in parliament, or the revenues and dignity of the former bishops. 
 This proposal was drawn up, and presented to a convention of estates 
 in 1561; and what it contained, in relation to ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 and discipline, would have easily obtained the sanction of that assembly, 
 had not a design to recover the patrimony of the church, in order to 
 
 apply it to the advancement of religion and learning, been insinuated in | 
 
 it. After shis, at certain periods, the name of bishop was revived, but 
 without the prerogatives, jurisdiction, or revenues, that were formerly 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 415 
 
 monk of the Augustine order, whom that monarch had 
 created, in 1535, archbishop of Dublin, began to act with 
 the utmost vigour in consequence of this change in the 
 hierarchy. He purged the churches of his diocese from 
 superstition in all its various forms, pulled down images, 
 destroyed relics, abolished absurd and idolatrous rites, and 
 by the influence as well as authority which he possessed 
 in Ireland, caused the king’s supremacy to be acknow- 
 ledged by that nation.” Henry showed soon after, that 
 this supremacy was not a vain title; for he banished the 
 monks out of that kingdom, confiscated their revenues, 
 and secularized or suppressed their convents. In the 
 reign of Edward VI. farther progress was made in the 
 removal of popish superstitions, by the zealous labours of 
 archbishop Brown, and the auspicious encouragement 
 he granted to all who exerted themselves in the cause of 
 the reformation. But the death of this excellent prince, 
 and the accession of his sister to the throne, changed the 
 face of affairs in Ireland,¢ as it had done in England. 
 Mary pursued with fire and sword, and all the marks 
 
 appropriated to that order. They were made subject to the general as- 
 semblies of the clergy, and their power was gradually diminished, until 
 their name and order were abolished at the revolution in 1688, when 
 presbyterianism was established in Scotland by the laws of the state. 
 See Robertson’s History of Scotland. 
 
 => 4 The learned and pious primate Usher, in his Memoirs of the 
 Ecclesiastical Affairs of Ireland, speaks of archbishop Brown in the 
 following manner: ‘‘ George Brown was a man of a cheerful counte- 
 nance, in his acts and deeds plain down-right; to the poor merciful and 
 compassionate, pityiw the state and condition of the souls of the people, 
 and advising them, when he was provincial of the Augustine order in 
 England, to make their application solely to Christ ; which advice com- 
 ing to the ears of Henry VIIL., he became a favourite, and was made 
 archbishop of Dublin. ‘Within five years after he enjoyed that see, he 
 caused all superstitious relics and images to be removed out of the two 
 cathedrals in Dublin, and out of all the churches in his diocese; and 
 caused the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed, to 
 be placed in gilded frames about the altars. He was the first that turn- 
 ed from the Romish religion of the clergy here in Ireland, to embrace 
 the reformation of the church of England.” See a very curious pam- 
 phlet in the fifth volume of the Harleian Miscellany, entitled Historical 
 Collections of the Church of Ireland. 
 
 a> * Here Dr. Mosheim has fallen into a mistake, by not distin- 
 guishing between the designs of the queen, which were indeed cruel, 
 and their execution, which was happily and providentially prevented. 
 This appears from a very singular and comical adventure, of which 
 the account, as it has been copied from the papers of Richard, earl of 
 Cork, and is to be found among the manuscripts of Sir James Ware, is 
 as follows: 
 
 “Queen Mary, having dealt severely with the protestants in Eng- 
 land, about the latter end of her reign signed a commission to take the 
 same course with them in Ireland; and, to execute the same with great- 
 er force, she nominates Dr. Cole one of the commissioners. This doc- 
 tor coming with the commission to Chester on his journey, the mayor 
 of that city, hearing that her majesty was sending a messenger into 
 Ireland, and he being a churchman, waited on the doctor, who, in dis- 
 
 | course with the mayor, taketh out of a cloak-bag a leather box, saying 
 
 unto him, ‘ Here is a commission that shall lash the heretics of Ireland, 
 (calling the protestants by that title.) The good woman of the house, 
 being well affected to the protestant religion, and also having a brother 
 named John Edmonds, of the same, then a citizen in Dublin, was much 
 troubled at the doctor’s words; but watching her convenient time, while 
 the mayor took his leave, and the doctor complimented him down the 
 stairs, she opens the box, takes the commission out, and places in lieu 
 thereof a sheet of paper, with a pack of cards wrapped up therein, the 
 knave of clubs being placed uppermost. The doctor coming up to 
 his chamber, suspecting nothing of what had been done, put up the box 
 as formerly. The next day, going to the water-side, wind and weather 
 serving him, he sails towards Ireland, and landed on the 7th of October, 
 1558, at Dublin. Then coming to the castle, the lord Fitz-Wajfter, be- 
 ing lord-deputy, sent for him to come before him and the privy¥’council ; 
 
 | who, coming in, after he made a speech relating upon what account he 
 
 came over, presents the box unto the lord-deputy, who causing it tobe open- 
 ed, that the secretary mightread the commission, there was nothing savea 
 pack of cards with the knave of clubs uppermost; which not only start- 
 led the lord-deputy and council, but the doctor, who assured them he had 
 a commission, but knew not how it was gone. Then the lord deputy 
 made answer, ‘ Let us have another commussion, and we will shuffle the 
 
416 
 
 of unrelenting vengeance, the promoters of a pure and 
 rational religion, and deprived Brown and other protestant 
 bishops of their dignities in the church. But the reign of 
 Elizabeth gave a new and a deadly blow to popery, which 
 was recovering its force, and arming itself anew with the 
 authority of the throne; and the Irish were obliged again 
 to submit to the form of worship and discipline established 
 in England.* 
 
 XI. "The reformation had not been long established in 
 Britain, when seven of the Netherland provinces, united 
 by a respectable confederacy, renounced their spiritual 
 allegiance to the Roman pontiff. Philip UH. king of 
 Spain, apprehending the danger to which the religion of 
 Rome was exposed from that spirit of liberty and inde- 
 pendence which reigned among the inhabitants of the 
 Low-Countries, took the most violent measures to dispel 
 it. For this purpose he augmented the number of the 
 bishops, enacted the most severe and barbarous laws 
 against all innovators in matters of religion, and erected 
 that unjust and inhuman tribunal of the inquisition, 
 which would intimidate and tame, as he thought, the 
 manly spirit of an oppressed and persecuted people. But 
 his measures, in this respect, were as unsuccessful as 
 they were absurd; his furious and intemperate zeal for 
 the superstitions of Rome accelerated their destruction ; 
 and the papal authority, which had only been in a criti- 
 cal state, was reduced toa desperate one, by the very steps 
 that were designed to support it. "Phe nobility formed 
 themselves into an association, in 1566, with a view to 
 procure the repeal of these tyrannical edicts ; and, when 
 their solicitations and requests were treated with con- 
 tempt, they resolved to obtain, by force, what they hoped 
 to have gained from clemency and justice. ‘They ad- 
 dressed themselves to a free and an abused people, spurn- 
 ed the authority of a cruel yoke, and, with an impetuosi- 
 ty and vehemence that were perhaps excessive, trampled 
 upon whatever was deemed sacred or respectable by the 
 church of Rome.» ‘To quell these tumults, a powerful 
 army was sent from Spain, under the command of the 
 duke of Alva, whose horrid barbarity and sanguinary 
 proceedings kindled that long and bloody war from 
 which the powerful republic of the United Provinces 
 derived its origin, consistence, and grandeur. It was 
 
 the heroic conduct of William of Nassau, prince of | 
 
 cards in the mean while.’ The doctor, being troubled in his mind, 
 went away, and returned into England; and coming to the court, obtain- 
 ed another commission ; but staying for a wind on the water-side, news 
 caine to him that the queen was dead; and thus God preserved the pro- 
 testants of [reland.” 
 
 Queen Elizabeth was so delighted with this story, which was related 
 to her by Lord Fitz-Walter on his return to England, that she sent for 
 Elizabeth Edmonds, and gave her a pension of forty pounds during her 
 life. See Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, or History of Ireland, vol. ii— 
 Harleian Miscellany, vol. v. 
 
 * See the Life of Dr. George Brown, Archbishop of Dublin, publish- 
 ed at London in 1681, and reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany. 
 
 34> » Dr. Mosheim seems here to distinguish too little between the 
 spirit of the nobility and that of the multitude. Nothing was more tem- 
 perate and decent than the conduct of the former; and nothing could be 
 more tumultuous and irregular than the behaviour of the latter. While 
 the multitude destroyed churches, pulled down monasteries, broke the 
 images used in public worship, abused the officers of the inquisition, and 
 committed a thousand enormities, the effects of furious resentment and 
 brutish rage, the nobility and opulent citizens kept within the bounds of 
 moderation and prudence. ‘Though justly exasperated against a despo- 
 tic and cruel government, they dreaded the consequences of popular tu- 
 mults as the greatest of misfortunes. Many of them even united their 
 counsels and forces with those of the governess, (the duchess of Parma,) 
 to restrain the seditious and turbulent spirit of the people. The prince 
 
 of Orange and count Egmont (whose memories will live for ever in the ! 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 { 
 
 Sect. L 
 
 Orange, seconded by the succours of England and 
 France, that delivered this state from the Spanish yoke; 
 and no sooner was this deliverance obtained, than the 
 reformed religion, as it was professed in Switzerland, 
 was established in the United Provinces ;* and, at the 
 same time, an universal toleration was granted to those 
 whose religious sentiments were of a different nature, 
 whether they retained the faith of Rome, or embraced 
 the reformation in another form,’ provided that they 
 made no attempts against the authority of the govern- 
 ment, or the tranquillity of the public.e 
 
 XIII. The reformation made a considerable progress 
 in Spain and Italy, soon after the rupture between Luther 
 and the Roman pontiff. In all the provinces of Italy, but 
 more especially in the territories of Venice, Tuscany, and 
 
 ' Naples, the religion of Rome lost ground, and great num- 
 
 bers of persons, of all ranks and orders, expressed an 
 aversion to the papal yoke. 'This gave rise to violent 
 and dangerous commotions in the kingdom of Naples in 
 1536, of which the principal authors were Bernardo 
 Ochino and Peter Martyr, who, in their public discourses 
 from the pulpit, exhausted all the force of their irresisti- 
 ble eloquence in exposing the enormity of the reigning 
 superstition. 'These tumults were appeased with much 
 difficulty by the united efforts of Charles V. and his vice- 
 roy don Pedro de 'Toledo.! In several places the popes 
 put a stop to the progress of the reformation, by letting 
 loose, upon the pretended heretics, their bloody inquisi- 
 tors, who spread the marks of their usual barbarity 
 through the greatest part of Italy. These formidable 
 ministers of superstition put such a number of supposed 
 heretics to death, and perpetrated, on the friends of reli- 
 gious liberty, such horrid acts of cruelty and oppression, 
 that most of the reformists consulted their safety by a 
 voluntary exile, while others returned to the religion of 
 Rome, at least in external appearance. But the terrors 
 of the inquisition, which frightened back into the pro- 
 fession of popery many protestants in other parts of Italy, 
 could not penetrate into the kingdom of Naples; nor 
 could either the authority or entreaties of the Roman 
 pontiffs engage the Neapolitans to admit within their 
 territories either a court of inquisition, or even visiting 
 Inquisitors.& 
 
 ‘The eyes of many persons in Spain were opened upon 
 
 - grateful remembrance of the Dutch nation, and be dear to all the lo- 
 
 vers of heroic patriotism and sacred liberty throughout the world) sig- 
 nalized their moderation upon this occasion, and were the chief instru- 
 ments of the repose that ensued. ‘Their opposition to the government 
 proceeded from the dictates of humanity and justice, and not from a 
 spirit of licentiousness and rebellion; and their merit and respectability 
 had secured to them such influence and authority among the people, that, 
 had the imperious court of Spain condescended to make any reasonable, 
 concessions, the public tranquillity might have been restored, and the 
 affections of the people entirely regained. See Le Clerc, Histoire des 
 Prov. Un. 
 
 ° In the year 1573. 
 
 3x ¢ It is necessary to distinguish between the toleration that was 
 granted to the Roman catholics, and that which the Anabaptists, Lu. 
 therans, and other protestant sects, enjoyed. They were all indiseri 
 minately excluded from the civil employments of the state; but though 
 they were equally allowed the exercise of their religion, the latter were 
 permitted to enjoy their religious worship in a more open and public 
 manner than the former, from whom the churches were taken, and whose 
 religious assemblies were confined to private conventicles, which had ne 
 external resemblance to the edifices usually set apart for divine worship. 
 
 ¢ See a farther account of this affair in Gerard Brandt’s History ot 
 the Reformation in the Netherlands. ig 
 
 f See Giannone, Historia di Napoli, tom. iv—Vita Galeacii in Museo 
 Helvetico, tom. 11. ur 13 ? 
 
 3¢> ¢ It was an attempt to introduce a Roman inquisitor into the city 
 
Coarv. IV. 
 * 
 
 the truth, not only by the spirit of inquiry, which the 
 controversies between Luther and Rome had excited in 
 Europe, but even by the efforts of those divines whom 
 Charles VY. had brought with him into Germany, to com- 
 batthe pre ended heresy of the reformers; for these Span- 
 ish doctors imbibed this heresy instead of refuting it, and 
 propagated it more or less, on their return home, as evi- 
 dently appears from several circumstances. But the in- 
 quisition, which could not gain any footing in the king- 
 dom of Naples, reigned triumphant in Spain; and by 
 racks, gibbets, stakes, and other formidable instruments 
 of its method of persuading, soon terrified the people back 
 into popery, and suppressed the vehement desire they had 
 of changing a superstitious worship for a rational religion.” 
 
 XIV. I shall not enter into a contest with those writers, 
 whatever their secret intentions may be, who observe, that 
 many unjustifiable proceedings may be imputed to some 
 of the most eminent promoters of this great change in the 
 state of religion. For every impartial and attentive ob- 
 server of the rise and progress of this reformation will in- 
 genuously acknowledge, that wisdom and prudence did 
 not always attend the transactions of those who were 
 concerned in the glorious cause; that many things were 
 done with violence, temerity, and precipitation ; and, what 
 is still worse, that several of the principal agents in this 
 great revolution were actuated more by the impulse of pas- 
 
 of Naples, that, properly speaking, produced the tumult and sedition 
 which Dr. Mosheim attributes in this section to the pulpit discourses of 
 Ochino and Martyr; for these famous preachers, particularly ite for- 
 mer, taught the doctrines of the reformation with great art, prudence, 
 and caution, and secretly converted many, without giving public offence. 
 The emperor himself, who heard him at Naples, declared that “he 
 preached with such spirit and devotion as might almost make the very 
 stones weep.” After Ochino’s departure from Naples, the disciples he 
 had formed gave private instructions to others, among whom were some 
 eminent ecclesiastics and persons of distinction, who began to form con- 
 
 regations and conventicles. This awakened the jealousy of the viceroy 
 
 oledo, who published a severe edict. against heretical books, ordered 
 some productions of Melancthon and Erasmus to be publicly burned, 
 looked with a suspicious eye on all kinds of literature, suppressed se- 
 veral academies, which had been erected about this time by the nobility 
 for the advancement of learning; and, having received orders from the 
 emperor to introduce the inquisition, desired pope Paul III. to send from 
 Rome to Naples a deputy of that formidable tribunal. It was this that 
 excited the people to take up arms in order to defend themselves against 
 this branch of spiritual tyranny, which the Neapolitans never were 
 patient enough to suffer, and which, on many occasions, they had op- 
 posed with vigour and success. Histilities ensued, which were follow- 
 ed by an accommodation and a general pardon; while the emperor and 
 viceroy, by this resolute opposition, were deterred from their design of 
 introducing this despotic tribunal into the kingdom of Naples. Several 
 vther attempts were afterwards made, during the reigns of Philip IL, 
 UI., [V., and Charles IL. to establish the inquisition in Naples; but, by 
 the jealousy and vigilance of the people, they all proved ineffectual. At 
 
 No. XXXVI. 105 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 417 
 
 sion and views of interest, than by a zeal for the advance- 
 ment of true religion. But, on the other hand, the wise 
 and candid observer of human affairs will own, as a most 
 evident and incontestable truth, that many things which, 
 when stripped of the circumstances and motives that at- 
 tended them, appear to us, at this time, as real crimes, will 
 be deprived of their enormity, and even acquire the aspect 
 of noble deeds, ifthey be considered in one point of view 
 with the times and places in which they were transacted, 
 and with the frauds and crimes of the Roman pontiffs and 
 their creatures, by which they were occasioned. But, after 
 all, in defending the cause of the reformation, we are un- 
 der no obligation to defend, in every respect, the moral 
 characters of its promoters and instruments. "These two 
 objects are entirely distinct. The most just and excellent 
 cause may be promoted with low views, and from sinister 
 motives, without losing its nature, or ceasing to be just 
 and excellent. f 
 
 The true state of the question is, whether the opposition 
 of Luther and ether reformers to the Roman pontiff arose 
 from just and solid reasons; and this question is entirely 
 independent of the virtues or vices of particular persons.* 
 Let many of these individuals be supposed as odious as, 
 or still more detestable than, they are represented by their 
 adversaries, provided that the cause which they supported 
 be allowed to have been just and good. 
 
 length the emperor Charles VI., early in the eighteenth century, pub- 
 lished an edict, expressly prohibiting all causes, relating to the holy 
 faith, from being tried by any persons exceptthe archbishop and bishops as 
 ordinaries. See Giannone, lib. xxxii. and the Modern Univ. History. 
 
 3} * This appears from the unhappy end of all the ecclesiastics who 
 had attended ‘Charles, and followed him into his retirement. No sooner 
 was that monarch dead, than they were seized by order of the court of 
 inquisition, and were afterwards committed to the flames, or sent to death 
 in other forms equally terrible. Such was the fate of Augustin Casal, 
 the emperor’s preacher; of Constantine Pontius, his confessor; of the 
 learned Egidius, whom he had nominated to the bishopric of Tortosa; 
 of Bartholomew de Caranza, a Dominican, who had been confessor to 
 king Philip and queen Mary, with above twenty more of less note. All 
 this gave reason to presume that Charles died a protestant. Certain it 
 is, that he knew well the corruptions and frauds of the church of Rome, 
 and the grounds and reasons of the protestant faith, though business, 
 ambition, interest, and the prejudices of education, may have blinded 
 him for a while, until leisure, retirement, the absence of worldly temp- 
 tations, and the approach of death, removed the veil, and led him to 
 wise and serious reflections. See Burnet’s History of the Reformation. 
 
 bSee Geddes’ Spanish Protestant Martyrology, in his Miscellaneous 
 Tracts, tom. i. 
 
 ¢ The translator has here added some paragraphs, to render more 
 perspicuous the important observation of the learned author; and the 
 continuator takes the opportunity of remarking, as an excuse for the 
 intemperance and vchemence of Luther, that the mildness of a Melanc- 
 thon, and the timidity of an Erasmus, would never have produced the 
 desired reformation. 
 
SECTION II. 
 THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I. Tur Spaniards and Portuguese, if we may give 
 credit to their historians, exerted themselves, with the 
 greatest vigour and success, in the propagation of the Gos- 
 pel among the darkened nations ;* and it must, indeed, be 
 allowed, that they communicated some notions, such as 
 they were, of the Christian religion to the inhabitants of 
 America, to those parts of Africa where they carried their 
 arms, and to the islands and maritime provinces of Asia, 
 which they reduced under their dominion. It is also true, 
 that considerable numbers of these savage people, who 
 had hitherto lived, either under the bondage of the most 
 extravagant superstitions, or in a total ignorance of any 
 object of religious worship, embraced, at least in outward 
 appearance, the doctrines of the Gospel. But when we 
 reflect on the methods of conversion which were employ- 
 ed by the Spanish missionaries among these wretched na- 
 tions, on the barbarous laws and inhuman tortures that 
 were used to force them into the profession of Christianity ; 
 when it is considered, farther, that the denomination of a 
 Christian was conferred upon every poor wretch who dis- 
 covered a blind and excessive veneration for his stupid in- 
 structors, and who could by certain gestures, and the repe- 
 tition of a little jargon, perform a few superstitious rites and 
 ceremonies; then, instead of rejoicing at, we shall be tempt- 
 ed to lament, such a propagation of the Gospel, and to be- 
 hold the labours of such miserable apostles with indignation 
 and contempt. Such isthe judgment passed upon these 
 missionaries, not only by those whom the church of Rome 
 placed in the list of heretics, but also by many of the most 
 pious and eminent of her own doctors, in France, Germany, 
 Spain, and Italy. 
 
 Il. When the pontiffs saw their ambition checked by 
 the progress of the Reformation, which deprived them 
 of a great part of their spiritual dominion in .Kurope, 
 they turned their lordly views toward the other parts of 
 the globe, and became more solicitous than ever about the 
 propagation of the Gospel among the nations that were 
 yet involved in the darkness of paganism. This they 
 considered as the best method of making amends for the 
 loss they had sustained in Europe, and the most specious 
 pretext for assuming to themselves, with some appearance 
 of justice, the title of heads or parents of the universal 
 church. 'The famous society, which, in 1540, took the 
 denomination of Jesuits, or the Company of Jesus, seem- 
 
 * See Lafitau’s Histoire des Decouvertes et Conquétes des Portugais 
 dans le nouveau Monde, tom. iii. p. 420. All the relations given by 
 this eloquent writer (who was afterwards created bishop of Sisteron) 
 are taken from the Portuguese historians.—The other writers who have 
 thrown light upon this part of ecclesiastical history, are enumerated by 
 Fabricius, in his Lux Salutar. Evangelii toti Orbi exoriens. 
 
 => > When the fanatic Ignatius first solicited the confirmation of his 
 order by pope Paul IIL, the learned and worthy cardinal Guidiecioni 
 opposed his request with great vehemence. But this opposition was 
 vanquished by the dexterity of Ignatius, who changing the articles of 
 nis Institution, in which he had promised obedience to the pope with 
 certain restrictions, turned it in such a manner as to bind his order by a 
 solemn vow of implicit, blind, and unlimited submission and obe- 
 dience to the Roman pontiff. This change produced the desired effect, 
 and made the popes look upon the Jesuits as the chief support of their 
 authority. Hence arose the zeal which Rome has ever shown for that 
 order. It is remarkable, that Ignatius and his company, in the very 
 same charter in which they declared their implicit and blind allegiance 
 
 ed every way proper to assist the court of Rome in the exe 
 cution of this extensive design. And aecordingly, from 
 their rise, this peculiar charge was given to them, that 
 they should form a certain number of their order for the 
 propagation of Christianity among the unenlightened na- 
 tions, and that these missionaries should be at the abso- 
 lute disposal of the pope, and always ready, at a moment’s 
 warning, to repair to whatever part of the world he should 
 fix for the exercise of their ministry.” The many histo- 
 ries and relations which mention the labours, perils, and 
 exploits of that prodigious multitude of Jesuits, who were 
 employed in the conversion of the African, American, and 
 Indian infidels, abundantly show, with what fidelity and 
 zeal the members of this society executed the orders of 
 the successive pontiffs.© And their labours would have un- 
 doubtedly crowned them with immortal glory, had it not 
 appeared evident, from the most authentic records, that 
 the greatest part of these new apostles had more in view 
 the promotion of the ambitious views of Rome, and the 
 advancement of the interests of their own society, than 
 the propagation of the Christian religion, or the honour 
 of its divine author.4 It may also be affirmed, from records 
 of the highest credit and authority, that the inquisition 
 erected by the Jesuits at Goa, and the penal laws, whose 
 terrors they employed so freely in the propagation of the 
 Gospel, contributed much more than their arguments and 
 exhortations, which were but sparingly used, to engage 
 the Indians to embrace Christianity.< The converting 
 zeal of the Franciscans and Dominicans, which had, for 
 a long time, been not only cooled, but almost totally ex- 
 tinguished, was animated anew by the example of. the 
 Jesuits; and several other religious orders, that slumbered 
 in their cells, were roused from their lethargy, if not by 
 a principle of envy, at least by a spirit of emulation. 
 
 Tif. Of all the Jesuits who distinguished themselves 
 by their zealous and laborious attempts to extend the limits 
 of the church, none acquired a more shining reputation 
 than Francis Xavier, who is commonly called the Apos- 
 tle of the Indies.£ An undaunted resolution, and no small 
 degree of genius and sagacity, rendered this famous mis- 
 sionary one of the most proper persons that could be em- 
 ployed in such an arduous task. Accordingly, in 1522, 
 he set sail for the Portuguese settlements in India, and, 
 in a short time, spread the knowledge of the Christian re- 
 
 to the court of Rome, promised a like implicit and unlimited allegiance 
 to the general of their society, notwithstanding the impossibility of ser- 
 ving two absolute masters, whose commands might be often contradic- 
 tory. See Histoire des Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus, printed at 
 Utrecht in 1741. 
 ¢ See Jo. Alb. Fabricii Lux Evangelii toti Orbi exoriens, cap. xxxii. 
 OOO: 
 a B. Christ. Eberh. Weismanni Oratio de Virtutibus et Vitiis Mis- 
 sion. Roman. in Orat. ejus Academ. 
 
 © See the Hist. de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. ii. 
 
 f The late king of Portugal, in 1747, obtained for Xavier, or rather 
 for his memory, the title of Protector of the Indies, from Benedict XIV. 
 See the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses des Missions Etrangeres, tom. 
 xliii. The body of this sainted missionary lies interred at Goa, where 
 itis worshipped with the highest marks of devotion. There is also a 
 magnificent church at Cotati dedicated to Xavier, to whom the inhabi- 
 tants of that Portuguese settlement pay the most devout tnbute of vene- 
 ration and worship. 
 
Secr. ll. GENERAL HISTORY 
 
 ligion, or, to speak more properly, of the Romish system, | 
 over a great part of the-continent, and in several of the | 
 
 islands of that remote region. ‘Thence, in 1529, he pass-| 
 ed into Japan, and laid there, with amazing rapidity, the | 
 foundations of the famous church, which flourished during 
 so many years in that vast empire. His indefatigable 
 zeal prompted him to attempt the conversion of the Chi- 
 nese; and with this view he embarked for that extensive 
 
 days, in 1552. After his death, other members of his 
 insinuating order penetrated into China. 
 
 his skill in the mathematics, became so acceptable to the 
 Chinese nobility, and even to their emperor, that he ob- 
 tained, both for himself and his associates, the liberty of 
 explaining to the people the doctrines of the Gospel.» He 
 may, therefore, be considered as the parent and founder 
 of the Christian churches, which, though often dispersed, 
 and tossed to and‘ fro by the storms of persecution, still 
 subsist in China.° 
 
 IV. The jurisdiction and territories of those princes, 
 who first. threw off the papal yoke, being confined within 
 the limits of Europe, the churches that were under 
 their protection could contribute little to the propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel in those distant regions of which we 
 have been speaking. It is, however, recorded in history, 
 that, in 1556, fourteen protestant missionaries were sent 
 
 Of these mis- | 
 sionaries the chief was Matthew Ricci, an Itatian, who, by 
 
 from Geneva to convert the Americans,‘ though it is not 
 well known who was the promoter of this pious design, or 
 with what success it was carried into execution. The En- 
 glish also, who, toward the conclusion of this century, sent 
 colonies into the northern paris of America, transplanted 
 with them the reformed religion, which they themselves 
 professed ; and, as their possessions were extended and mul- 
 tiplied from time to time, their religion also made a con- 
 
 siderable progress among that rough and uncivilized peo- |! 
 
 ple. We learn, moreover, that about this time the Swedes 
 exerted their religious zeal in converting to Christianity 
 many of the inhabitants of Finland and Lapland, of whom 
 a considerable number had hitherto retained the impious 
 and extravagant superstitions of their pagan ancestors. 
 V. It does not appear, from authentic records, that the 
 sword of persecution was drawn against the Gospel, or 
 any public opposition made to the progress of Christianity 
 during this century ; and it would betray a great igno- 
 rance, both of the situation, opinions, and maxims of the 
 Turks, to imagine, that the war they waged against the 
 Christians was carried on upon religious principles, or 
 with a view to maintain and promote the doctrines of 
 Mohammed. On the other hand, it is certain, that there 
 lay concealed, in different parts of Europe, not a few per- 
 sons who entertained a virulent enmity against religion 
 in general, and, in a more especial manner, against the 
 religion of the Gospel ; and who, both in their writings 
 and in private conversation, sowed the seeds of impiety 
 and error, and instilled their odious principles into weak, 
 unsteady, and credulous minds. In this pernicious and 
 
 * See the writers enumerated by Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii, &c. 
 cap. xxxix. p. 677. Add to these Lafitau’s Histoire des Decouvertes des 
 Portugais dans le nouveau Monde, tom. iii. iv.—Histoire de la com- 
 pagnie de Jesus, tom. i. ts 
 
 bJ. B. Du-Halde, Description de l’Empire de la Chine, tom. iii. 
 
 ¢ It appears, however, that before the arrival of Ricci in China, some 
 
 of the Dominicans had already been there, though to litte purpose. See 
 Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. ili, 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. 419 
 unhappy class are generally placed some of the Peripa- 
 tetic philosophers, who adorned Italy by their erudition, 
 and particularly Pomponatius ; several French wits and 
 philosophers, such as Bodin, Rabelais, Montagne, Bona- 
 venture des Perieres, Dolet, Charron ; some Italians, at 
 | whose head appears Leo X., followed by Bembo, Politian, 
 | Jordano Bruno, Ochino; and a few Germans, such as 
 
 ‘Theophrastus Paracelsus, Nicolas Taurellus, and others.¢ 
 and powerful kingdom, in sight of which he ended his | 
 
 It is even reported, that, in certain provinces of France 
 and Italy, schools were erected, whence whole swarms of 
 these impious doctors soon issued to deceive the simple 
 and unwary. ‘This accusation will not be wholly reject- 
 ed by such as are acquainted with the spirit and genius 
 of these times ; nor can it be said with truth, that all the 
 persons charged with this heavy reproach were entirely 
 guiltless. It is nevertheless certain, on the other hand, 
 that, upon an accurate and impartial examination of this 
 matter, the accusation brought against many of them will 
 appear to be entirely groundless; and that, with respect 
 to several who may deserve censure in a certain degree, 
 their errors are less pernicious and criminal, than they are 
 uncharitably or rashly represented to be. 
 
 VI. It is, at the same time, evident, that, in this century, 
 the arts and sciences were carried to a degree of perfection 
 unknown to preceding ages; and, from this happy reno- 
 vation of learning, the European churches derived the 
 most signal and inestimable advantages, which they also 
 transmilted to the most remote nations. The benign in- 
 fluence of true science, and its tendency to improve both 
 the form of religion and the institutions of civil policy, were 
 perceived by many of the states and princes of Europe: 
 hence sums were expended, and great zeal and in- 
 dustry eraployed, in promoting the progress of knowledge, 
 by founding and encouraging literary societies, by protect- 
 ing and exciting a spirit of emulation among men of ge- 
 nius, and by annexing distinguished honours and advanta- 
 ges to the culture of the sciences. And it is particularly 
 worthy of observation, that this was the period, when the 
 wise and salutary law, which excludes ignorant and illi- 
 terate persons from the sacred functions of the ministry, 
 acquired, at length, that force which it still retains in the 
 greatest part of the Christian world. There still remained, 
 however, some seeds of that ancient discord between reli- 
 gion and philosophy, which had been sown and fomented 
 by ignorance and fanaticism; and there were found, both 
 among the friends and enemies of the reformation, several 
 well-meaning, but inconsiderate men, who, in spite of 
 common sense, maintained, with more vehemence and 
 animosity than ever, that vital religion and piety could 
 never flourish without being totally separated from learn- 
 ing and science, and nourished by the holy simplicity that 
 reigned in the primitive ages of the church. 
 
 VII. The first rank in the literary world was now en- 
 joyed by those who consecrated their studious hours, and 
 their critical sagacity, tothe publication, correction, and 
 illustration, of the most famous Greek and Latip authors 
 of ancient times, to the study of antiquity and the langua- 
 
 Tawcy 
 se 
 
 é Picteti Oratio de Trophzis Christi, in Orat. ejus, p. 570. There is 
 no doubt that the divines here menticned were those whom the illus- 
 trious admiral Coligni invited into France, when, in 1555, he had form- 
 ed the project of sending a colony of Protestants into Brazil and other 
 provinces of America. See Charlevoix, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, 
 tom. i. 
 
 ¢ See Reimanni Historia Atheismi et Atheorum.—Jo. Franc. Buddeus, 
 Theses de Atheismo et Superstitione —Dictionnaire de Bayle, 
 
420 
 
 ges, and to the culture of eloquence and poetry. We see 
 by the productions of this age (which yet remain, and con- 
 tinue to excite the admiration of the learned,) that in all 
 the provinces of Europe these branches of literature were 
 cultivated with a kind of enthusiasm, by such as were most 
 distinguished by their taste and genius; and, what is still 
 more extraordinary, (and perhaps not a little extravagant,) 
 the welfare of the church, and the prosperity of the state, 
 were supposed to depend upon the improvement of these 
 branches of erudition, which were considered as the very 
 essence of true and solid knowledge. If such encomiums 
 were swelled beyond the bounds of truth and wisdom by 
 enthusiastical philologists, it is nevertheless certain, that 
 the species of learning here under consideration, was of 
 the highest importance, as it opened the way that led to 
 the treasures of solid wisdom, to the improvement of ge- 
 nius, and thus undoubtedly contributed, ina great measure, 
 to deliver both reason and religion from the prepossessions 
 of ignorance and the servitude of superstition... And, 
 therefore, we ought not to be surprised, when we meet 
 with persons who exaggerate the merit, and dwell beyond 
 measure on the praises of those who were our first guides 
 from the regions of darkness and error, into the luminous 
 paths of evidence and truth. 
 
 VIU. Though the lovers of philology and the belles 
 lettres were much superior in number to those who turn- 
 ed their principal views to the study of philosophy, yet the 
 latter were far from being contemptible either in point of 
 number or capacity. ‘The philosophers were divided into 
 
 two classes: some were wholly absorbed in contemplation, | 
 
 while others were employed in the investigation of truth, 
 and endeavoured by experience, as well as by reasoning, 
 to trace out the laws and operations of nature. "The former 
 were subdivided into two sects, one of which followed cer- 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 Secr. JJ 
 
 tain leaders, while the other, unrestrained by the dictates 
 of authority, struck out a new way for themselves, follow- 
 ing freely their own inventions. Those who submitted 
 to the direction of philosophical guides, enlisted themselves 
 under the standard of Aristotle, or that of Plato, who con- 
 tinued still to have many admirers, espécially in Italy — 
 Nor were the followers of Aristotle agreed among them- 
 selves; they all acknowledged the Stagirite as their chief, 
 but they followed him through very different paths. Some 
 were for retaining the ancient method of proceeding in 
 philosophical pursuits, which their doctors falsely called 
 the Peripatetic system. Others pleaded for the pure and 
 unmixed philosophy of Aristotle, and recommended his 
 writings as the source of wisdom, and as the system which 
 was most adapted, when properly illustrated and explain- 
 ed, to the instruction of youth. A third sort of Aristote- 
 lians, who differed equally from these now mentioned, 
 and of whom the celebrated Melancthon was the chief, 
 pursued another method. ‘They extracted the marrow 
 out of the lucubrations of the Grecian sage, illustrated it 
 by the aids of genuine literature and the rules of good 
 criticism, and corrected it by the dictates of right reason 
 and the doctrines and principles of true religion. 
 
 Of those who struck out a path to themselves in the 
 regions of philosophy, without any regard to that which 
 had been opened by ancient sages, and pursued by their 
 followers, Cardan,» 'Telesius,* and Campanella,* deserv- 
 edly hold the first rank, as they were undoubtedly men 
 of superior genius, though too much addicted to the sug- 
 gestions and visions of an irregular fancy. 'T’o these may 
 be added Peter Ramus, that ingenious French philosopher, 
 who, by attempting to substitute, in the place of Aristotle’s 
 logic, a method of reasoning more adapted to the use of 
 thetoric and the improvement of eloquence, excited such 
 
 =7p « Many vehement debates have been carried on concerning the 
 respective merit of literature and philosophy ; but these debates are al- 
 most as absurd as a comparison that should be made between the means 
 and the end, the instrument and its effect. 
 which we often open the treasures of wisdom, both human and divine. 
 But, as the sordid miser absurdly converts the means into an end, and 
 acquires a passion for the shining metal, considered abstractedly from 
 the purposes which it was calculated to serve, so the pedantic philologist 
 
 erects literature into an independent science, and contemns the divine | 
 
 treasures of philosophy, which it was designed both to discover and to 
 illustrate. Hence arose that wretched tribe of “ word-catchers that live 
 on syllables,” (as Pope, I think, happily expresses theirtasteless pursuits, ) 
 who made the republic of letters groan under their commentaries, anno- 
 tations, Various readings, &c., and who forget that an acquaintance with 
 language was intended to lead us to the improvement of the mind and 
 to the knowledge of things. 
 
 4> » Cardan was a man of a bold, irregular, enterprising genius, who 
 by a wild imagination, was led into the study of astrology and magic, 
 by which he excited the astonishment and attracted the veneration of the 
 multitude, while his real merit as a philosopher was little known. He 
 was accused of atheism, but seems much rather chargeable with super- 
 stition. His life and character seem to have formed an amazing mix- 
 ture of wisdom and folly; and nothing can give a more unfavourable 
 idea of his temper and principles, than the hideous portrait he has drawn 
 af himself in his book De Genituris. His knowledge of physic and of 
 mathematics was considerable, and his notions of natural philosophy 
 may be seen in his famous book De Subtilitate et Veritate Rerum, in 
 which some important truths and discoveries are mixed with the most 
 fanatical visions, and the most extravagant and delirious effusions of 
 mystical folly. See the ample and judicious account that has been 
 given of the character and philosophy of this writer (whose voyage to 
 Britain is well known) by the learned Brucker, in his Historia Critica 
 Philosophie, tom. iv. 
 
 3¢7 ° This philosopher, less known than the former, was born in 1508, 
 at Cosenza, in the kingdom of Naples, and was the restorer of the phi- 
 
 osophy formerly taught by Parmenides, upon whose principles he built | 
 
 a new system, or at least, a system which appeared new, by the elegant 
 connexion which he gave to its various parts, and the arguments used 
 
 Literature is the key by |! 
 
 the vague and uncertain method of reasoning which the Stagirite had 
 introduced into natural philosophy, that engaged Telesius to compose 
 his famous book De Principiis Rerum Naturalium. In this work, after ka- 
 ving refuted the visionary principles of the Aristotelian philosophy, he 
 substitutes in their place such as are immediately derived from the tes- 
 timony of the senses, even heat and cold, from which, like Parmenides, 
 he deduces the nature, origin, qualities, and changes, of all material be- 
 ings. To these two principles he adds a third, namely, matter; and on 
 these three he builds with some dexterity his physical system, for a part 
 of which he seems also to have been indebted to a book of Plutarch, 
 De Primo Frigido. It will be entertaining to the philosophical reader, 
 to compare tius work of Telesius with lord Bacon’s physical account of 
 the story of Cupid and Ceelus, in his book de Principiis et Origini- 
 bus, &e. 
 
 x*> 4 Campanella, a native of Calabria, made a great noise in the 
 seventeenth century, by his innovations in philosophy. Shocked at the 
 atheism and absurdities of the Aristotelian system, he early acquired a 
 contempt of it, and turned his pursuits toward something more. solid, 
 perusing the writings of all the ancient sages, and comparing them with 
 the great volume of nature, to see whether the pretended copies resem- 
 bled the original. The sufferings that this man endured are almost in- 
 credible; but they were said to be inflicted on him in consequence of 
 the treasonable practices which were imputed to him, partly against the 
 court of Spain, and partly against the kingdom of Naples, which (it 
 was supposed) he had formed the design of delivering into the hands of 
 the Turks. He was freed from his prison and tortures by the interpo- 
 sition of pope Urban VIII., who gave him particular marks of his fa- 
 vour and esteem, and, finding that he was not safe at Rome, had him 
 conveyed to Paris, where he was honoured with the protection of Louis 
 XIII. and cardinal Richelieu, and ended his days in peace. As to the 
 writings and philosophy of this great man, they are tinged, indeed, 
 with the colour of the times, and bear, in many places, the marks of a 
 chimerical and undisciplined imagination ; but, among a few visionary 
 notions, they contain a great number of important truths. He under- 
 took an entire reformation of philosophy, but was unequal to the task. 
 For an account of his principles of logic, ethics, and natural philoso- 
 phy, see Brucker’s Hist. Critica Philosophie, tom. iv. He was accused 
 of atheism, but unjustly; he was also accused of suggesting cruel 
 
 to maintain and support it against the philosophy of Aristotle. It was |} measures against the protestants, and not without reason. 
 
Sect. II. 
 
 a terrible uproar in the Gallic schools. Nor must we omit 
 here the mention of ‘Theophrastus Paracelsus, who, by an 
 ass‘duous observation of nature, by a great number of ex- 
 periments indefatigably repeated, and by applying the pe- 
 netrating force of fires to discover the first principles or 
 elements of bodies, endeavoured to throw new light and 
 evidence on the important science of natural philosophy. 
 As the researches of this industrious inquirer into nature 
 excited the admiration of all, his example was conse- 
 quently followed by many; and hence arose a new sect 
 of philosophers, who assumed the denomination of Te- 
 osophists,” and who, placing little confidence in the de- 
 cisions of human reason, or the efforts of speculation, 
 attributed all to divine illumination and repeated ex- 
 perience. 
 
 IX. This revolution in philosophy and literature, toge- 
 ther with the spirit of emulation that animated the differ- 
 ent sects or classes into which the learned men of this age 
 were divided, produced many happy effects of various 
 kinds. It, ina more particular manner, brought into dis- 
 repute, though it could not at once utterly eradicate, that 
 intricate, barbarous, and insipid method of teaching the- 
 elogy, which had hitherto prevailed in all the schools and 
 pulpits of Christendom. 'The sacred writings, which, in 
 the preceding ages, had been either entirely neglected, or 
 very absurdly explained, were now much more consulted 
 and respected in the debates and writings of the Christian 
 doctors than they had formerly been ; the sense and lan- 
 guage of the inspired writers were more carefully studied 
 and more accurately developed ; the doctrines and pre- 
 cepts of religion taught in a more methodical manner, 
 and with greater connexion and perspicuity; and that 
 dry, barren, and vapid language, which the ancient 
 schoolmen affected so much in their theological compo- 
 sitions, was wholiy exploded by the wiser part of the di- 
 vines of this century. It must not, however, be imagined, 
 that this reformation of the schools was so perfect, as to 
 leave no room for improvement in succeeding ages ;_ this, 
 indeed, was far from being the case. Much imperfection 
 yet remained in the method of treating theology ; and 
 many things, which had great need of a correcting hand, 
 were left untouched. It would, nevertheless, be either an 
 instance of ingratitude, or a mark of great ignorance, to 
 deny to this age the honour of having begun what was 
 afterwards more happily finished, and of having laid the 
 
 x¢p* The principal merit of Paracelsus consisted in inventing, or at 
 least restoring from oblivion and darkness, the important science of 
 chemistry, giving it a regular form, reducing it into a connected system, 
 and applying it most successfully to the art of healing, which was the 
 peculiar profession of this philosopher, whose friends and enemies have 
 
 drawn him in the falsest colours. His application to the study of ma- 
 gic, of which he treats in the tenth volume of his works, under the de- 
 
 No. XXXVI. 106 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 | stition. 
 
 A2L 
 
 foundations of that striking superiority, which the divines 
 of succeeding ages obtained over those of ancient times. 
 X. ‘The improvements, which have been now men- 
 tioned, as proceeding from the restoration of letters and 
 philosophy, not only extended to the method of convey- 
 ing theological instruction, but also purified the science of 
 theology itself. Jor the true nature, genius, and design 
 of the Christian religion, which even the most learned and 
 pious doctors of antiquity had but imperfectly compre- 
 hended, were now unfolded with evidence and precision, 
 and drawn, like truth, from an abyss in which they had 
 hitherto lain concealed. It is true, the influence of error 
 was far from being totally suppressed, and many false 
 and absurd doctrines are still maintained and propagated 
 in the Christian world. But it may nevertheless be af- 
 firmed, that the Christian societies, whose errors at this 
 day are the most numerous and extravagant, have much 
 
 less absurd and perverse notions of the nature and design 
 
 of the Gospel, and the duties and obligations of its vota- 
 ries, than were entertained by those doctors of antiquity, 
 who ruled the church with an absolute authority, and 
 were considered as the chief oracles of theology. It may 
 farther be observed, that the reformation contributed much 
 to soften and civilize the manners of many nations, who, 
 
 before that happy period, were sunk in the most savage 
 
 stupidity, and carried the most rude and insocial aspect. 
 
 It must indeed be confessed, that a variety of circum- 
 
 stances, not immediately connected with religion, com- 
 
 _ bined to produce that lenity of character, and that milder 
 
 temperature of manners, maxims, and actions, which gra- 
 dually appeared in the greatest part of the European na- 
 tions, after the period that was signalized by the reforma- 
 tive exertions of Luther. It is nevertheless evident, be- 
 yond all contradiction, that the disputes concerning re- 
 ligion, and the accurate and rational inquiries into the 
 doctrines and duties of Christianity to which those dis- 
 putes gave rise, had a great tendency to eradicate from 
 the minds of men the ferocity that had been so long nou- 
 rished by the barbarous suggestions of unmanly super- 
 It is also certain, that at the very dawn of this 
 happy revolution in the state of Christianity, and even 
 before its salutary effects were manifested in all their ex- 
 tent, pure religion had many sincere and fervent votaries, 
 though they were concealed from public view by the mul- 
 titudes of fanatics with which they were surrounded. 
 
 nomination of the Sagacious Philosophy, is a circumstance dishonour- 
 able to his memory, and nothing can discover a more total absence of 
 common sense and reasoning than his discourses on that subject. As to 
 his philosophical system, it 1s so obscure, and so contradictory, that we 
 shall not pretend to delineate it here, 
 
 > See, for an ample account of the lives, transactions, and systems of 
 these philosophers, Brucker’s Historia Critica Philosophie. 
 
SECTION III. 
 THE PARTICULAR HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Pare ale 
 THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT CHURCHES. | 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 History of the Roman or Latin Church. 
 
 I. Tue Roman or Latin church is a system of govern- 
 ment, whose jurisdiction extends over a'great part of the 
 known world, though its authority has been circum- 
 scribed within narrower limits ‘Since the happy revolution 
 that, in many countries, delivered Christianity from the 
 yoke of superstition and spiritual tyranny. ‘This sys- 
 tem of ecclesiastical policy, extensive as it is, is under the 
 direction of the bishop of Rome alone, who, by virtue of 
 a sort of hereditary succession, claims the authority, pre- 
 rogatives, and rights, of St. Peter, the supposed prince of 
 the apostles, and gives himself out for the supreme head 
 of the universal church, the vicegerent of Christ upon 
 earth. This lordly ruler of the church is, at this time, 
 elected to his high office, by the chosen members of the 
 Roman clergy, who bear the ancient denomination of 
 cardinals. Of these, six are bishops, within the precincts 
 of Rome ; fifty are ministers of the Roman churches, and 
 are called priests or presbyters ; and fourteen are inspec- 
 tors of the hospitals and charitable foundations, and are 
 called deacons. ‘These cardinals (while the papal chair 
 is vacant, and they are employed in the choice of a suc- 
 cessor to the deceased pontiff) are closely confined in a 
 sort of prison, called the Conclave, that they may thus 
 be induced to bring this difficult matter to a speedy con- 
 clusion. No person, except one who is an Italian by 
 descent, and who has already obtained a place in the col- 
 lege of cardinals, is capable of being raised to the supre- 
 
 = See J. F. Mayer’s Comment. de Electione Pontif. Romani, pub- 
 lished at Hamburg in 1691. The ceremonies observed in the election 
 and installation are amply described by Meuschen, in a work published 
 at Frankfort in 1732, under the following title, Ceremoniale Electionis 
 et Coronationis Pontificis Romani. 
 
 Z*p > The great obstacle that prevents several cardinals from aspiring 
 to the pontificate, is what they call at Rome, i/ peccato originale, or origi- 
 nal sin. ‘his mark of exclusion belongs to those who are born sub- 
 jects of some crown or republic which are beyond the bounds of Italy, 
 orareupon a footing of jealousy with the court of Rome. Those also who 
 were made cardinals by the nomination of the kings of France or Spain, 
 or their adherents, are also included in this imputation of original sin, 
 which excludes from the papal chair. The accidental circumstances 
 that excludes certain cardinals from the pontificate, are their being born 
 
 rinces or independent sovereigns, or their declaring themselves openly 
 in favour of certain courts, or their family’s being too numerous, or their 
 morals being irregular. Even youth, and a good complexion and figure, 
 are considered as obstacles. But all these maxims and rules vary and 
 change according to the inconstant and precarious impulse of policy and 
 faction. 
 
 For an account of the different methods of electing the pope, whether 
 py compromise, inspiration, scrutiny, or access, (by which last is meant 
 a second election, employed when the other methods fail,) see Aymon’s 
 Tableau de la Cour de Rome. 
 
 x¢p ° These congregations are as follow: I. The congregation of 
 the pope, instituted first by Sixtus V. to prepare the matters that were to 
 ve brought before the consistory, at which the pontiffis always present. 
 Hence this is called the Consistorial Congregation, and in it are treated 
 all affairs relative to the erection of bishoprics and cathedral churches, 
 
 macy of the church: nor have all the Italian cardinals 
 the privilege of aspiring to this high office.» Some are 
 rendered incapable of filling the papal chair by the place 
 of their birth, others by the manner of their life, and a few 
 by other reasons. It is also to be observed, that the em- 
 peror and the kings of France and Spain have acquired, 
 either expressly by stipulation, or imperceptibly through 
 custom, the privilege of excluding, from the number of 
 the candidates for this high office, such as they dislike or 
 think proper to oppose. Hence it often happens, that, in 
 the numerous college of cardinals, a very small number 
 are permitted, upon a vacancy, to aspire to the papacy ; 
 the greatest part being generally prevented by their birth, 
 their characters, their circumstances, and by the force of 
 political intrigues, from flattering themselves with the 
 pleasing hope of ascending that towering summit of ec- 
 clesiastical power and dominion. 
 
 II. It must not be imagined that the personal power 
 and authority of the Roman pontiff are circumscribed by 
 no limits, since it is well known, that in all his decisions 
 relating to the government of the church, he previously 
 consults the brethren, i. e. the cardinals, who compose 
 his ministry or privy council. In matters of religious 
 controversy and doctrine, he is even obliged to ask the 
 advice and opinion of eminent divines, in order to secure 
 his pretended infallibility from the suggestions of error. 
 Besides this, all affairs that are not of the highest mo- 
 ment and importance, are divided into classes according 
 to their respective nature, and left to the management of 
 certain colleges, called Congregations, in every one 
 
 the re-union or suppression of episcopal fees, the alienation of church 
 goods, and the taxes and annates that are imposed upon all benefices in 
 the pope’s gift. The cardinal dean presides in this assembly. II. The 
 congregation of the Inquisition, or (as it is otherwise called) of the Holy 
 Office, instituted by Paul IIL, which takes cognizance of heresies, 
 apostacy, magic, and profane writings. The office of Grand Inquisitor, 
 which encroached upon the prerogatives of the pontiff, has been long 
 suppressed, or rather distributed among the cardinals who belong to 
 this congregation, and whose decisions come under the supreme cogni- 
 zance of his holiness. III. The congregation for the propagation of the 
 Roman catholic faith, founded under the pontificate of Gregory XV. 
 composed of eighteen cardinals, one of the secretaries of state, a proto- 
 notary, a secretary of the inquisition, and other members of less rank. 
 Here it is that the deliberations are carried on, which relate to the ex- 
 tirpation of heresy, the appointment of missionaries, &c. This congre- 
 gation has built a most beautiful and magnificent palace in one of the 
 most agreeable situations that could be chosen at Rome, where proselytes 
 to popery from foreign countries are lodged and nourished gratis, m a 
 manner suitable to their rank and condition, and instructed in those 
 branches of knowledge to which the bent of their genius points. The 
 prelates, curates, and vicars also, who are obliged, without any fault of 
 theirs, to abandon the places of their residence, are entertained charitably 
 in this noble edifice in a manner proportioned to their station in the 
 church. IV. The congregation designed to explain the decisions of the 
 council of Trent. V. The congregation of the Index, whose principal 
 business is to examine manuscripts and books that are designed for pub- 
 lication, to decide whether thé people may be permitted to read them, to 
 correct those books whose errors are not numerous, and which contain 
 useful and salutary truths, to condemn those whose principles are here- 
 
Part I. 
 
 of which, one or more cardinals preside.» The decisions 
 of these societies are generally approved by the pontiff, 
 who has not a right, without alleging the most weighty 
 and evident reasons, to reverse what they pronounce to 
 be just and expedient. ‘This form of ecclesiastical 
 government is, doubtless, a check to the authority of the 
 pope; and hence it is, that many things are transacted 
 at Rome in a manner that is in direct opposition to the 
 sentiments of its spiritual ruler. This may serve to 
 show us, that those persons are little acquainted with the 
 nature and limits of the papal hierarchy, who pretend, 
 that all the iniquitous proceedings of the court of Rome, 
 the calamities it has occasioned, the contentions, re- 
 bellions, and tumults it has excited, are entirely imputa- 
 ble to the pontiff himself. 
 
 Il. he power of the pope hath excited debates even 
 among those who are under the papal hierarchy; and 
 the spiritual subjects of this pretended head of the 
 church, are very far from agreeing with respect to the 
 extent of his authority and jurisdiction. Hence it hap- 
 pens, that this authority and dominion are not the same 
 in all places, having a larger scope in some provinces, 
 and being reduced within narrower bounds in others. » If, 
 indeed, we consider only the pretensions of the pontiff, 
 we shall find that his power is unlimited and supreme ; 
 for there are no prerogatives that can flatter ambition, 
 which he does not claim for himself and his court. He 
 not only pretends, that the whole power and majesty of 
 the church reside in his person, and are transmitted, in 
 certain portions, from him to the inferior bishops, but 
 moreover asserts the absolute infallibility of all decisions 
 and decrees which he pronounces from his lordly tribu- 
 nal. ‘These arrogant pretensions are, however, opposed 
 by many, and chiefly by the French, who expressly 
 maintain, that every bishop receives immediately from 
 Christ himself a portion of that spiritual power which is 
 imparted to the church; that the collective sum, or whole 
 
 tical and pernicious, and to grant to certain individuals the peculiar pri- 
 vilege of perusing heretical books. This congregation, which is some- 
 times held in the presence of the pope, but generally in the palace of the 
 cardinal-president, has a more extensive jurisdiction than that of the in- 
 quisition, as it not only takes cognizance of books that contain doctrines 
 contrary to the Roman catholic faith, but of those also which concern 
 the duties of morality, the diszipline of the church, and the interests of 
 society. Its name is derived from the alphabetical tables, or indexes of 
 heretical books and authors, which have been composed by its appoint- 
 ment. VI. The congregation for maintaining the rights and immuni- 
 ties of the clergy, and of the knights of Malta. This congregation was 
 formed by Urban VIII, to decide the disputes, and remove the difficul- 
 ties and inconveniences that arose from the trials of ecclesiastics, before 
 rinces, or other lay-judges. VII. The congregations relating to the 
 Sasdos and regular clergy, instituted by Sixtus V. to decide the debates 
 which arise between the bishops and their diocesans, and to compose 
 all differences that occur among the monastic orders. VIII. The con- 
 reration appointed by Gregory XIV. for examining the capacity and 
 Canine of the bishops. IX. Another for inquiring into their lives and 
 morals. X. A third, for obliging them to reside in their dioceses, or to 
 dispense them from that obligation. XI. The congregation for sup- 
 pressing monasteries, 1. e. such whose revenues are exhausted, and who 
 thereby become a charge upon the public. XII. The congregation of 
 the Apostolic Visitation, which names the visitors, who perform the du- 
 ties and visitations of the churches and convents within the district of 
 Rome. XIII. The congregation of relics, authorized to examine the 
 marks, and to augment the number of these instruments of superstition. 
 XIV. The congregation of indulgences, designed to examine the cases 
 of those who have recourse to this method of quieting the conscience. 
 XV. The congregation of rites, which Sixtus V. appointed to regulate 
 and invent the religious ceremonies that are to be observed in the wor- 
 ship of each new saint that is added to the calendar. 
 These are the congregations of cardinals, set apart for administering 
 the spiritual affairs of the church ; and they are undcubtedly, in some 
 
 respects, a check upon the power of the pontiff, enormous as it may be. | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 423 
 
 of this power, is lodged in the aggregate body of its pas- 
 tors, or (which is the same thing) in a general council 
 lawfully assembled; and that the pontiff, considered per- 
 sonally, and as distinct from the church, is liable to error. 
 This complicated and important controversy may be 
 easily brought within narrower bounds, and may be re- 
 duced to the following plain question;—‘Is the Roman 
 pontiff, properly speaking, the Legislator of the church, 
 or, is he no more than the Guardian and Depository of 
 the laws enacted by Christ and the church?” There is 
 no prospect of seeing this question decided, or the debates 
 terminated to which it has given rise, since the contend- 
 ing parties do not even agree about the proper and law- 
 ful judge of this important controversy... Some great 
 revolution alone can effect the decision of this matter. 
 IV. The church of Rome lost much of its ancient 
 splendour and majesty, &s soon as Luther, and the 
 other luminaries of the reformation, had exhibited to the 
 view of the European nations the Christian religion 
 restored, at least to a considerable part of its native purity, 
 and delivered from many of the superstitions under which 
 it had lain so long disfigured. Among the most opulent 
 states of Europe, several withdrew entirely from the ju- 
 risdiction of Rome; in others, certain provinces threw off 
 the yoke of papal tyranny; and, upon the whole, this 
 defection produced a striking diminution both of the 
 wealth and power of the Roman pontiffs. It must also 
 be observed, that even the kings, princes, and sovereign 
 states, who adhered to the religion of Rome, yet changed 
 their sentiments with respect to the claims and preten- 
 sions of its bishop. If they were not persuaded by the 
 writings of the protestants to renounce the superstitions 
 of popery, yet they received most useful instructions 
 from them in other matters of very great moment. They 
 drew from these writings important discoveries of the 
 groundless claims and unlawful usurpations of the Ro- 
 man pontiffs, and came, at length, to perceive, that, if the 
 
 There are six more, which relate to the temporal government of the pa- 
 pal territories. In these congregations, all things are transacted which 
 relate to the execution of public justice in civil or criminal matters, the 
 levying of taxes, the providing of the cities and each of the provinces 
 with good governors, the relieving of those who are unjustly oppressed 
 by subordinate magistrates, the coinage, the care of the rivers, aque- 
 duets, bridges, roads, churches, and public edifices. 
 
 * ‘The court of Rome is very particularly and accurately described by 
 Aymon (who had been, before his conversion to the protestant religion, 
 domestic chaplain to Innocent XI.) in a book entitled Tableau de la 
 Cour de Rome. See also Relation de la Courde Rome, et des Cere- 
 monies qui s’y observent, which Father Labat translated into French 
 from the Italian of Jerome Limadoro, and subjoined to his Voyages en 
 Espagne et Italie, tom. vili—For an account of the Roman congrega- 
 tions, &e. see Doroth. Ascian. de Montibus Pietatis Romanis, p. 510, 
 as also Hunold. Plettenberg, Notitia Tribunalium et Congregationum 
 Curie Romane. 
 
 > Hence arises that important distinction, frequently employed by the 
 French and other nations in their debates with the pope; 1 mean the 
 distinction between his holiness and the court of Rome. The latter is 
 ofien loaded with the bitterest reproaches and the heaviest accusations, 
 while the former is spared, and in some measure excused, Wor is this 
 distinction by any means groundless, since the cardinals and congrega- 
 tions, whose rights and privileges are deemed sacred, undertake and ex- 
 
 , ecute many projects without the knowledge, and sometimes against the 
 
 will and consent, of the pontiff himself. 
 
 * The arguments employed by the pontiff’s creatures in defence of 
 his unlimited authority, may be seen in the words of Bellarmine and 
 other writers, of which a voluminous collection has been made by Roc- 
 eaberti; and what is not a little extraordinary, a French writer, named 
 Petitdier, appeared in defence of the pope’s pretensions, in a book pub- 
 lished at Luxemburg, in 1724, sur l’ Autorité et I’ Infallibilite des Papes. 
 The sentiments of the Gallican church, and the arguments by which it 
 opposes the pretensions of Rome, may be seen in the writings of Richer 
 and Launoy. 
 
424 
 
 jurisdiction and authority of Rome should continue the 
 same as before the rise of Luther, the rights of temporal 
 princes, and the majesty of civil government, would, 
 sooner or later, be absorbed in the gulph of papal avarice 
 and ambition. Hence it was, that most of the sovereign 
 states of Europe, partly by secret and prudent measures, 
 partly by public negociations and remonstrances, set 
 bounds to the daring ambition of Rome, which aimed at 
 nothing less than universal dominion both in ecclesiasti- 
 cal and civil affairs; nor did the pontiff think it either 
 safe or expedient to have recourse to the ancient arms of 
 the church, war and excommunication, in order to repel 
 these attacks upon his authority. Even those very king- 
 doms, which acknowledged the Roman pontiff as the 
 lawegiver of the church, and an infallible guide, confined 
 his power of enacting laws within narrow limits. 
 
 V. In this declining state of*their affairs, it was natural 
 for the humble pontiffs to look about for some method of 
 repairing their losses ; and, for this purpose, they exerted 
 much more zeal and industry, than had been shown by 
 their predecessors, in extending the limits of their spiritual 
 dominion beyond Europe, and left no means unemployed 
 of gaining proselytes and adherents in the Indies and in 
 Africa, both among the pagan nations and the Christian 
 sects. The Jesuits, as we have already had occasion to 
 observe, were the first missionaries who were employed 
 for this purpose in those distant parts of the world; but 
 able men, selected from the other monastic orders, were 
 afterwards entrusted with this arduous undertaking. If, 
 however, we except the exploits of Francis Xavier and 
 his companions in India, China, and Japan, of which 
 notice has been already taken, there were no great mae 
 ters effected in this century ; as, generally speaking, the 
 persons who were appointed to execute this grand project, 
 were not endowed with that experience and dexterity 
 which it necessarily required, and entered upon the work 
 with more zeal than prudence and knowledge. 
 
 The Portuguese had, in the preceding century, opened 
 a passage into the country of the Abyssinians, who pro- 
 fessed the doctrine, and observed the religious rites of the 
 Monophysites; and hence arose a favourable occasion of 
 reducing that people under the papal yoke. Accordingly 
 John Bermudez was sent into Ethiopia for this purpose ; 
 and, that he might appear with a certain degree of digni- 
 ty, he was invested with the title of Patriarch of the Abys- 
 sinians. The same important commission was afterwards 
 given to Ignatius Loyola, and the companions of his la- 
 nours ;* and, at the commencement of their undertaking, 
 several circumstances, and particularly a war with a neigh- 
 bouring prince, which the Abyssinian monarch was desirous 
 of terminating by the powerful succours of the Portuguese, 
 seemed to promise them a successful and happy ministry. 
 
 Z * It is certainly by mistake that Dr. Mosheim mentions Loyola 
 as having made a voyage into Abyssinia. Jesuits were sent at differ- 
 ent periods to that country, and with little success; but their founder was 
 never there in person. 
 
 » See Ludolfi Histor, Ethiopica et Comm.—Geddes, Church History 
 of Ethiopia, p. 120.—Le Grand, Dissertation de la Conversation des 
 Abyssins, which is tobe found in the Voyage Historique d’ Abyssinie duR. 
 P. Jerome Lobo.—La Croze, Hist. du Christianisme en Ethiopie, liv. ii. 
 
 ¢ Franc. Sacchini, Histor. Societat. Jesu. pars ii. lib. v—Euseb. Re- 
 naudot, Historia Patriarchar. Alexandrin. p. 611.—Hist. de la Com- 
 pagnie de Jesus, tom. iii. 
 
 37 4 This patriarch offered to send one of his bishops to the council 
 of Trent, in order to get rid of the importunity of these Jesuits; but he 
 
 positively refused to send any of his young students to be educated 
 among their order, and declared plainly, that he owed no obedience or 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. ITI 
 
 But the event did not answer this fond expectation ; and, in 
 some time, it appeared plainly, that the Abyssinians stood 
 too firm in the faith of their ancestors, to be easily engaged 
 to abandon and forsake it ; so that, toward the conclusion 
 of this century, the Jesuits had almost lost all hopes of 
 succeeding in their attempts.» 
 
 VI. The Egyptians, or Copts, who were closely con- 
 nected with the Abyssinians in their religious sentiments, 
 and also in their external forms of worship, became the 
 next objects of Rome’s ambitious zeal; and, in 1562, 
 Christopher Roderic, a Jesuit of note, was sent, by the 
 express order of pope Pius IV., to propagate the cause of 
 popery among that people. This ecclesiastic, notwith- 
 standing the rich presents and ingenious arguments by 
 which he attempted to change the sentiments and shake 
 the constancy of Gabriel,’ who was at that time patriarch 
 of Alexandria, returned to Rome with no other effect of his 
 embassy, than fair words and a few compliments.‘ _ It is, 
 however, true, that, in 1594, during the pontificate of 
 Clement VIII., an envoy from another patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, whose name was also Gabriel, appeared at Rome 
 and this circumstance was considered as a subject of tri- 
 umph and boasting by the creatures of the pope. But 
 the more candid and sensible, even among the Roman 
 catholics, looked upon this embassy, and not without rea- 
 son, asa stratagem of the Jesuits to persuade the Abys- 
 sinians (who were so prone to follow the example of their 
 brethren of Alexandria) to join themselves to the com- 
 munion of Rome, and submit to the authority and juris- 
 diction of its pontiff! It is at least certain, that we do not 
 subsequently find the smallest token of a propensity in the 
 Copts to embrace the doctrine or discipline of Rome. 
 
 Many years before this period, a considerable sect of the 
 Armenians had been accustomed to treat the pope with 
 particular marks of veneration and respect, without de- 
 parting, however, from the religious doctrine, discipline, or 
 worship of their ancestors. Of this a farther account 
 shall be given in the history of the Eastern Churches: it 
 may, however, be proper to observe here, that the attach- 
 ment of this sect to the pontiff was greatly increased, and 
 his votaries were considerably multiplied, by the zeal of 
 Serapion, an opulent man, who was entirely devoted to 
 the court of Rome, and who, by engaging himself to 
 discharge the debts under which the Armenians groaned, 
 obtained, in 15938, the title and dignity of Patriarch, 
 though there were already two patriarchs at the head of 
 the Armenian church. He did not, however, long enjoy 
 this dignity; for, soon after his promotion, he was sent 
 into exile by the Persian monarch, at the desire of those 
 Armenians who adhered to the ecclesiastical discipline of 
 their ancestors; and thus the boasting and exultation of 
 the Romans suddenly subsided, and their hopes vanished.¢ 
 
 submission to the bishop of Rome, who had no more dignity or authority 
 than any other prelate, except within the bounds of his own diocese. 
 See Histoire des Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. 1i. 
 
 * The transactions of this embassy, adorned with an ample and pom- 
 pous preface, aresubjoined to the sixth vol. of the Ann. Eccl. of Baronius. 
 
 f Renaudot, in his Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin., endeavours to main-« 
 tain the credit and importance of this mission, of which Baronius has 
 given such a pompous account. He is, however, in an error when he 
 asserts, that father Simon, relying upon the fallacious testimony of 
 George Douza, was the only person who ever considered this embassy 
 as a stratagem, since it is evident, that Thomas a Jesu, a Carmelite, in 
 his treatise de Conversione omnium Gentium procuranda, has consider- 
 ed it in the same light, as well as several other writers. See Geddes, 
 Church History of Ethiopia. 
 
 & See Nouv. Mem. des Mis. de la Com. de Jesus dansle Levant, t.1ii 
 
Part I. 
 
 VII. The ambitious views of the Roman pontiffs sow- 
 ed the pestilential seeds of animosity and discord among 
 all the eastern churches; and the Nestorian Christians, 
 who are also known by the denomination of Chaldeans, 
 felt early the effects of their imperious counsels. In 1551, 
 a warm dispute arose among that people about the crea- 
 tion of a new patriarch, Simeon Barmamas being pro- 
 posed by one party, and Sulaka earnestly desired by the 
 other. ‘The latter, to support his pretensions the more 
 effectually, repaired to Rome, and was consecrated patri- 
 arch, in 1553, by pope Julius ILf., whose jurisdiction he 
 had acknowledged, and to whose commands he had pro- 
 mised unlimited submission and obedience. Julius gave 
 the name of John to the new Chaldean patriarch, and, 
 upon his return:to his own country, sent with him several 
 persons, skilled in the Syriac language, to assist him in 
 establishing and extending the papal empire among the 
 Nestorians. From this time that unhappy people were 
 divided into two factions, and were often involved in the 
 greatest dangers and difficulties by the jarring sentiments 
 and perpetual quarrels of their patriarchs.* 
 
 The Nestorians, or as they are more commonly called, 
 the Christians of St. Thomas, who inhabited a part of the 
 coast of India, suffered much from the methods employed 
 by the Portuguese to engage them to embrace the doc- 
 trine and discipline of the church of Rome, and to aban- 
 don the religion of their ancestors, which was much more 
 simple and infinitely less absurd.» The finishing stroke 
 was put to the violence and brutality of these attempts by 
 don Alexis de Menezes, bishop of Goa, who, about the 
 conclusion of this century, calling the Jesuits to his 
 assistance, obliged this unhappy and reluctant people to 
 embrace the religion of Rome, and to acknowledge the 
 pope’s supreme jurisdiction; against both of which acts 
 they had always expressed the utmost abhorrence. 
 These violent counsels and arrogant proceedings of 
 Menezes, and his associates, were condemned by such of 
 the Roman catholics as were most remarkable for their 
 equity and wisdom.¢ 
 
 VIII. The greatest part of the first legates and mis- 
 sionaries of the court of Rome treated with much severity 
 and injustice the Christians whom they were Sibir of 
 gaining over to their communion. For they not only 
 required that these Christians should renounce the par- 
 ticular opinions that separated them from the Greek and 
 Latin churches, and that they should acknowledge the 
 pontiff as Christ’s sole vicegerent upon earth: their de- 
 mands went still farther; they opposed some opinions 
 that were at least worthy of toleration, and others which 
 were highly agreeable to the dictates both of reason and 
 Scripture ; they insisted upon the suppression and aboli- 
 tion of several customs, rites, and institutions, which had 
 been handed down from successive ancestors, and which 
 were perfectly innocent in their nature and tendency ; in 
 a word, they would be satisfied with nothing less than an 
 entire and minute conformity of the religious rites and 
 opinions of the people, with the doctrine and worship of 
 the church of Rome. The papal court, however, rendered 
 wise by experience, perceived, at length, that this man- 
 
 5 
 ner of proceeding was highly imprudent, and very un- 
 
 * Jos. Sim. Assemani, Bib. Orient. Clementino-Vaticana, t. iii. pars ii. 
 {> + For an account of the doctrines and worship of these, and the 
 other eastern. Christians, see the following chapter; as also two learned 
 
 No, XXXVI. 107 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 425 
 
 likely to extend the limits of the papal empire in the 
 East. It was therefore determined to treat with more 
 artifice and moderation a matter of such moment and 
 
 importance, and the missionaries were, consequently, 
 ordered to change the plan of their operations, and con: 
 
 fine their views to the two following points; namely, the 
 subjection of these Christians to the jurisdiction of the 
 pope, and their renouncing, or at least professing to re- 
 
 nounce, the opinions that had been condemned in the 
 general councils of the church. In all other matters, the 
 
 Roman envoys were commanded to allow a perfect tole- 
 ration, and to let the people remain unmolested in follow- 
 ing the sentiments, and observing the institutions, which 
 they had derived from their ancestors. To give the 
 greater credit and plausibility to this new method of con- 
 version, certain learned doctors of the church endeavoured 
 to demonstrate, that the religious tenets of Rome, when* 
 explained according to the simplicity of truth, and not 
 by the subtilties and dejinitions of the schools, differed 
 very little from the opinions received in the Greek and 
 the other eastern churches. But this demonstration was 
 very far from being satisfactory, and it discovered less of 
 an ingenuous spirit, than a disposition to gain proselytes 
 by all sorts of means, and at all events. Be that as it 
 may, the cause of Rome received much more advantage 
 from this plan of moderation, than it had derived from 
 the severity of its former counsels, though much less than 
 the authors of this reconciling plan fondly expected. 
 
 IX. While the pontiffs were using their utmost efforts 
 to extend their dominion abroad, they did not neglect 
 the means that were proper to strengthen and maintain 
 it at home. On the contrary, from the dawn of the 
 reformation, they began to redouble their diligence in 
 defending the internal form and constitution of their 
 church against the dexterity and force of its adversaries. 
 They could no more have recourse to the expedient of 
 crusades, by which they had so often diminished the 
 power and influence of their enemies. ‘The revolutions 
 which had happened in the affairs of Rome, and in the 
 state of Europe, rendered any such method of subduing 
 heretics visionary and impracticable. Other methods 
 were, therefore, to be found out, and all the resources of 
 prudence were to be exhausted in support of a declining 
 church. Hence the laws and proceedings of the inqui- 
 sition were revised and corrected in those countries where 
 that formidable court was permitted to exert its dreadful 
 power. Colleges and schools of learning were erected 
 in various places, in which the studious youth were 
 trained up, by perpetual exercise, in the art of disputing, 
 that thus they might wield, with more dexterity and suc- 
 cess, the arms of controversy against the enemies of 
 Rome. ‘The circulation of such books as were supposed 
 to have a pernicious tendency, was either entirely pre- 
 vented, or at least much obstructed, by certain lists or 
 indexes, composed by men of learning and sagacity, and 
 published by authority, in which these books were 
 marked with a note of infamy, and their perusal prohi- 
 bited, though with certain restrictions. The pursuit of 
 knowledge was earnestly recommended to the clergy, 
 and honourable marks of distinction, as well as ample 
 
 books of La Croze; one entitled, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes, 
 and the other, Histoire du Christianisme en Ethiopie. 
 * La Croze, Hist. du Christ. des Indes, liv. ii. p. 68. 
 
426 
 
 rewards, were bestowed on those who made the most re- | 
 And, to! 
 enlarge no farther on this head, the youth, in general, | 
 
 markable progress in the cultivation of letters. 
 
 were more carefully instructed in the principles and pre- 
 cepts of their religion, than they had formerly been. 
 Thus it happens, that signal advantages are frequently 
 
 derived from what are looked upon as the greatest evils, | 
 
 and much wisdom and improvement are daily acquired 
 in the school of opposition and adversity. It is more 
 than probable, that the church of Rome would never 
 have been enriched with the acquisitions we have now 
 been mentioning, had it continued in that state of un- 
 interrupted ease and undisputed authority, which nourish 
 a spirit of indolence and luxury, and had not the pretend- 
 ed heretics attacked its territories, trampled upon its juris- 
 diction, and eclipsed a great part of its ancient majesty 
 and splendour. 
 
 X. The monastic orders and religious societies have 
 been always considered by the Roman pontifls as the 
 principal support of their authority and dominion. It is 
 chiefly by them that they rule the church, maintain 
 their influence on the minds of the people, and augment 
 the number of their votaries. And, indeed, various 
 causes contribute to render the connexion between the 
 pontiff and these religious communities much more inti- 
 mate, than that which subsists between him and the 
 other clergy, of whatever rank or order we may suppose 
 them to be. It was therefore judged necessary, when 
 the success of Luther and the progress of the reforma- 
 tion had effaced such a considerable part of the majesty 
 of Rome, to found some new religious fraternity, that 
 should, in a particular manner, be devoted to the inter- 
 ests of the Roman pontiff, and the very express end of 
 whose institution should be to renew the vigour of a de- 
 clining hierarchy, to heal the deep wound it had received, 
 to preserve those parts of the papal dominions that 
 remained yet entire, and to augment them by new ac- 
 cessions. ‘This was so much the more necessary, as the 
 two famous Mendicant societies,: by whose ministry the 
 popes had chiefly governed, during many ages, with 
 success and glory, had now lost, on several accounts, a 
 considerable part of their influence and authority, and 
 were thereby less capable of serving the church with 
 efficacy and vigour than they had formerly been. What 
 the pontiff sought in this declining state of his affairs, 
 was found in that famous and most powerful society, 
 
 3 * These two orders were the Franciscans and the Domini- 
 cans. 
 
 3; > The Spanish name of the founder of this order was Don Inigo 
 de Guipuscoa. 
 
 ¢ The writers who have given the most particular and circumstantial 
 accounts of the order of the Jesuits, are enumerated by Christoph. Aug. 
 Salig, in his Historia August. Confessionis, tom. ii. p. 73. 
 
 a Many Jesuits have written the life of this extraordinary man: but 
 the greatest part of these biographers seem more intent upon advancing 
 the glory of their founder, than solicitous about the truth and fidelity of 
 their relations ; and hence the most common events, and the most trivial 
 actions that concern Ignatius, are converted into prodigies and miracles. 
 The history of this enterprising fanatic has been composed with equal 
 truth and ingenuity, though seasoned with a very large portion of wit 
 and pleasantry, by a French writer, who calls himself Hercules Rasiel 
 de Selve.* This work, which is divided into two volumes, is entitled, 
 Histoire de l’admirable Don Inigo de Guipuscoa, Chevalier de la 
 Vierge, et Fondateur de la Monarchie des Inizhistes. 
 
 * Not only the Protestants, but also a great number of the more 
 learned and judicious Roman catholics, have unanimously denied, that 
 Ignatius Loyola had either Jearning sufficient to compose the writings 
 ot which he is said to be the author, or genius enough to form the soci- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IIL 
 
 which, from the name of Jesus, derived the appellation 
 of Jesuits, while its members were styled by their en- 
 emies Loyolites from Loyola, and sometimes Inighists,® 
 from the Spanish name of their founder. "This zealot 
 was Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight, who, from an 
 illiterate soldier, became an unparalleled fanatic; a fan- 
 atic, indeed, of a fertile and enterprising genius,’ who, 
 after having passed through various scenes of life, re 
 paired to Rome, and, being there directed by the prudent 
 counsels of persons much wiser than himself, was ren- 
 dered capable of instituting such an order as the state 
 of the church at that time essentially required.¢ 
 
 XI. The Jesuits hold a middle rank between the monks 
 and the secular clerks, and, with respect to the nature of 
 their institute, approach nearer to the regular canons than 
 to any other order; for, though they resemble the monks 
 in this, that they live separate from the multitude, and are 
 bound by religious vows, yet they are exempt from stated 
 hours of worship, and other numerous and burthensome 
 services, which lie heavy upon the monastic orders, that 
 they may have more time to employ in the education of 
 youth, in directing the consciences of the faithful, in edi- 
 fying the church by their pious and learned productions, 
 and in transacting other matters that relate to the pros- 
 perity of the papal hierarchy. ‘Their whole order is di- 
 vided into three classes. ‘The first comprehends the pro- 
 Sessed members, who live in what are called the profess- 
 ed houses; the second contains the scholars, who in, 
 struct the youth in the colleges ; and to the third belong 
 the novices, who live in the houses of probation.’ The 
 professed members, beside the three ordinary vows of po- 
 verty, chastity, and obedience, common to all the monas- 
 tic tribes, are obliged to take a fourth, by which they so- 
 lemnly bind themselves to go without deliberation or de- 
 lay wherever the pope shall think fit to send them; they 
 are also a kind of Mendicants, being without any fixed 
 subsistence, and living upon the liberality of pious and 
 well-disposed persons. ‘The other Jesuits, and more parti- 
 cularly the scholars, possess large revenues, and are oblig 
 ed; in case of urgent necessity, to contribute to the sup- 
 port of the professed members. ‘The latter, who are few 
 in number, in comparison with the other classes, are, in 
 general, men of prudence and learning, deeply skilled in 
 the affairs of the world, and dexterous in transacting all 
 kinds of business from long experience, added to their 
 natural penetration and sagacity ; in a word, they are 
 
 ety of which he is considered as the founder. They maintain, on the 
 contrary, that he was no more than a flexible instrument in the hands 
 of able and ingenious men, who made use of his fortitude and fanaticism 
 to answer their purposes; and that persons much more learned than he, 
 were employed to compose the writings which bear his name. See 
 Geddes’ Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. 11i—The greatest part of his works 
 are supposed to have proceeded from the pen of his secretary John de 
 Palanco; see La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme en Ethiopie, p. 55, 
 271. The Benedictines affirm, that his book of Spiritual Exercises is 
 copied from the work of a Spanish Benedictine monk, whose name was 
 Cisneros (see La Vie de M. de la Croze par Jordan;) and the consti- 
 tutions of the society were probably the work of Lainez and Salmeron, 
 two learned men who were among its first members. See Histoire des 
 Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. 1. 
 
 xp f Other writers add a fourth class, consisting of the spiritual and 
 temporal co-adjutors, who assist the professed members, and perform the 
 same functions, without being bound by any more than the three s?mpie 
 vows; though, after a long and approved exercise of their employment, 
 the spiritual coadjutors are admitted to the fourth vow, and thus become 
 professed members. 
 
 34> * This is a feigned name; the real author was Le Vier, an inge- 
 nious bookseller, who lived formerly at the Hague. ~ 
 
Part lL. 
 
 the true and perfect Jesuits. The rest have, indeed, the 
 title, but are rather the companions and assistants of the 
 Jesuits, than real members of that mysterious order; and 
 it is only in a very vague and general sense, that the de- 
 nomination of Jesuits can be applied to them. What is 
 still more remarkable, the secrets of the society are not 
 revealed even to all the professed members. It is only a 
 small number of this class, whom old age has enriched 
 with thorough experience, and whom long trial has de- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 clared to be worthy of such an important trust, that are 
 instructed in the mysteries of the order. 
 
 XIL. The church and‘court of Rome, since the remark- 
 able period when so many kingdoms and provinces with- 
 drew from their jurisdiction, have derived more influence 
 and support from the labours of this single order than from 
 all their other emissaries and ministers, and all the various 
 
 exertions of their power and opulence. It was this famous 
 company which, spreading itself with an astonishing rapi- 
 dity over the greatest part of the habitable world, confirmed 
 the wavering nations in the faith of Rome, restrained the 
 progress of the rising sects, gained over a prodigious num- 
 ber of Pagans in the most barbarous and remote parts of 
 the globe to the profession of popery, and attacked the 
 pretended heretics of all denominations ; appearing almost 
 alone in the field of controversy, sustaining with fortitude 
 and resolution the whole burthen of this religious war, 
 and far surpassing the champions of antiquity, both in 
 
 the subtlety of their reasonings, and the eloquence of 
 their discourses. Nor was this all; for, by the affected 
 softness and complying spirit which reigned in their con- 
 versation and manners, by their consummate skill and 
 prudence in civil transactions, by their acquaintance 
 with the arts and sciences, and a variety of other quali- 
 ties and accomplishments, they insinuated themselves 
 into the peculiar favour and protection of statesmen, per- 
 sons of the first distinction, and even of crowned heads. 
 Nor did any thing contribute more to give them a gene- 
 ral ascendancy, than the cunning and dexterity with 
 which they relaxed and modified their system of morali- 
 ty, accommodating it artfully to the propensities of man- 
 kind, and depriving it, on certain occasions, of the 
 severity that rendered it burthensome to the sensual and 
 voluptuous. By this they supplanted, in the palaces of 
 the great, and in the courts of princes, the Dominicans 
 
 * Before this order was instituted, the Dominicans alone directed the 
 consciences of all the European kings and princes; and it was by the 
 Jesuits that the Dominicans were deprived of a privilege so precious 
 to spiritual ambition. See Peyrat’s Antiquités de la Chapelle de 
 France. 
 
 » See the Histoire des Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. iii. 
 p. 48, &c.—Boulay, Hist. Academ. Paris, tom. vi. p. 559—648—as well 
 as almost all the writers (but more particularly the Jansenists,) who 
 have given accounts of the sixteenth century. 
 
 ¢ The character and spirit of the Jesuits were admirably described, 
 and their transactions and fate foretold, with a sagacity almost prophetic, 
 so early as the year 1551, in a sermon preached in Christ Church, Dub- 
 lin, by Dr. George Brown, archbishop of that see; a copy of which 
 
 was given to Sir James Ware, and may be found in the Harleian Mis- | 
 
 cellany, vol. v. p. 566. The remarkable passage relating to that order, 
 is as follows: ‘* There are a new fraternity of late sprung up, who call 
 themselves Jeswits, which will deceive many, who are much after the 
 Scribes’ and Pharisees’ manner. Amongst the Jews they shall strive 
 to abolish the truth, and shall come very near todo it. For these sorts will 
 
 427 
 
 and other rigid doctors, who formerly held there the 
 tribunal of confession and the direction of consciences ; 
 and engrossed to themselves an exclusive and irresistible 
 influence in those retreats of royal grandeur, whence 
 issue the counsels that govern mankind.« An order of 
 this nature could not but be highly adapted to promote 
 the interests of the court of Rome ; and this, indeed, 
 was its great end, and the leading purpose of which it 
 never lost sight, employing every where its utmost vigi- 
 lance and art to support the authority of the pontiffs, 
 and to save them from the contempt, of which they must 
 have been naturally apprehensive, in consequence of a 
 revolution that opened the eyes of a great part of man- 
 kind. 
 
 All these circumstances placed the order of Jesuits in 
 a conspicuous point of light. Their capacity, their influ- 
 ence, and their zeal for the papacy, had a very advanta- 
 geous retrospect upon themselves, as it swelled the sources 
 of their opulence, and procured to their society an uncom- 
 mon, and indeed an excessive degree of respect and ven- 
 eration. Butit is also true, that these signal honours and 
 advantages exposed them, at the same time, to the envy 
 of other religious orders; that their enemies multiplied 
 from day to day; and that they were often involved in 
 the greatest perplexities and perils. Monks, courtiers, 
 civil magistrates, public schools, united their efforts to 
 crush this rising fabric of ambition and policy; anda 
 prodigious number of books were published to prove, that 
 nothing could be more detrimental to the interests of reli- 
 gion, and the well-being of society, than the institution 
 of the Jesuits. In France, Poland, and other countries, 
 they were declared public enemies to their country, traitors, 
 and parricides, and were even banished with ignominy.* 
 But the prudence, or rather the craft and artifice, of the 
 disciples of Loyola, calmed this storm of opposition, and, 
 by gentle and imperceptible methods, restored the credit 
 and authority of their order, delivered it from the perils 
 with which it had been threatened, and even put it ina 
 state of defence against the future attempts of its adversa- 
 ries.° 
 
 XIU. The pontiffs of this century, after Alexander VI, 
 were Pius L., Julius IT.,¢ Leo X., Adrian VI., whose 
 characters and transactions have been already noticed ; 
 Clement VII., of the house of Medici; Paul III.,* of the 
 
 a © 
 
 as 
 
 never the wiser; charming of them, yea, making your princes reveal 
 their hearts and the secrets therein, and yet they not perceive it; 
 which will happen from falling from the law of God, by neglect of ful- 
 filling the law of God, and by winking at their sins; yet, in the end, 
 God, to justify his law, shall suddenly cut off this society, even by the 
 hands of those who have most succoured them, and made use of them; 
 so that, at the end, they shall become odious to all nations. They shall 
 be worse than Jews, having noresting-place upon earth; and then shall 
 a Jew have more favour than a Jesuit.”—This singular passage, I had 
 almost said prediction, seems to be accomplished in part, by the present 
 suppression of the Jesuits in France, (I write this note in the year 1762,) 
 
 turn themselves into several forms; with the heathens a heathenist, | 
 
 with the atheist an atheist, with the Jews a Jew, with the Reformers a 
 
 Reformade, purposely to know your intentions, your minds, your hearts, | 
 
 and your inclinations, and thereby bring you at last to be like the fool 
 that said in his heart, ‘There was no God.’ These shall spread over 
 the wl ole world, shall be admitted into the councils of princes, and they | 
 
 and by the great indignation which the perfidious stratagems, iniquitous 
 avarice, and ambitious views of that society, have excited among all or- 
 ders of the French nation, from the throne to the cottage. 
 
 > ¢ It was from a foolish ambition of resembling Czsar, (a very 
 singular model for a Christian pontiff,) that this pope, whose name was 
 Rovere, assumed the denomination of Julius IJ. It may indeed be said, 
 that Cesar was sovereign pontiff, (pontifex maximus,) and that the 
 bishop of Rome enjoyed the same dignity, though with some change in 
 the title. : 
 
 © The sentiments and character of Paul III. have given rise to much 
 debate, even in our time, especially between the late cardinal Quirini, 
 and Keisling, Schelhorn, and some other writers. The cardinal has used 
 | his utmost efforts to defend the probity and merit of this pontiff, while 
 | the two learned men above mentioned represent him as a perfidious po- 
 
423 
 
 illustrious family of Farnese, Julius IIL,» whose name 
 was John Maria Giocci; Marcellus IL; Paul LV., whose 
 name, before his elevation to the pontificate, was John 
 Peter Caraffa; Pius IV., who was ambitious of being 
 looked upon as a branch of the house of Medici, and who 
 had been known, before his promotion, by the name of 
 
 John Angelo de Medicis; Pius V., a Dominican, called 
 
 Michael Ghisleri, a man of an austere and melancholy 
 turn of mind, by which, and other similar qualities, he 
 obtained a place in the calendar; Gregory XIUI., who 
 was previously known by the name of Hugo Buoncom- 
 pagno;¢ Sixtus V., otherwise named Felix Peretti di 
 Montalto, who, in pride, magnificence, intrepidity, and 
 
 strength of mind, and in other great virtues and vices, far | 
 surpassed all his predecessors ; Urban VII., Gregory XIV., | 
 
 Innocent IX., the shortness of whose reigns prevented 
 them from acquiring reputation, or incurring reproach. 
 
 Among these pontifis there were better and worse ;* but | 
 
 they were all men of decent and even exemplary charac- 
 ters, when compared with the greatest part of those who 
 governed the church before the reformation. lor the 
 number of adversaries, both foreign and domestic, that 
 arose to set limits to the despotism of Rome, and to call 
 in question the authority and jurisdiction of its pontiff, 
 rendered the college of cardinals, and the Roman nobility, 
 more cautious and circumspect in the choice of a spiritual 
 ruler; nor did they dare, in these critical circumstances 
 of opposition and danger, to entrust such an important 
 dignity to any ecclesiastic, whose bare-faced licentiousness, 
 shameless arrogance, or inconsiderate youth, might render 
 him peculiarly obnoxious to reproach, and furnish new 
 matter of censure to their adversaries. It is also worthy 
 of observation, that from this period of opposition, occasion- 
 ed by the ministry of the Reformers, the pontiffs have 
 never pretended to such an exclusive authority, as they 
 had formerly usurped; nor could they, indeed, make good 
 such pretensions, were they so presumptuous as to avow 
 them. They claim, therefore, no longer a power of de- 
 ciding, by their single authority, matters of the highest 
 moment and importance; but, for the most part, pro- 
 nounce according to the sentiments that prevail in the col- 
 lege of cardinals, and in the different congregations, 
 which are entrusted with their respective parts in the 
 government of the church; and they rarely venture to 
 excite serious divisions in foreign states, to arm subjects 
 
 litician, whose predominant qualities were dissimulation and fraud. 
 See Quirini’s work de Gestis Pauli IIf. Farnesii. 3% Among the res 
 geste of Paul III. were two bastards, whose offspring, Farnese and 
 Sforza, were made cardinals in their infancy. See Keislingii Epist. de 
 Gestis Pauli I1]—Schelhorn Amenitates His. Eccles. et Liter. But 
 the licentious exploits of this pope do not end here. He was reproach- 
 ed, in a book published before his death under the name of Ochino, with 
 having poisoned his mother and his nephew, with having ravished a 
 young virgin at Ancona, with an incestuous and adulterous commerce 
 with his daughter Constantia, who died of poison administered by him, 
 to prevent any interruption in his odious amours. It is said, in the same 
 
 book, that, being caught in bed with his niece, Laura Farnese, who was | 
 
 the wife of Nic. Quercei, he received from this incensed husband a stab 
 of adagger, of which he borethe marks to his death. See Sleidan’s Com- 
 ment. de Statu Relig. et Reipublicee, Carolo Quinto Cesare, lib. xxi. 
 
 ® This was the worthy pontiff, who was scarcely seated in the 
 papal chair, when he bestowed the cardinal’s hat on the keeper of his 
 monkeys, a boy chosen from: among the lowest of the populace, and 
 who was also the infamous object of his unnatural pleasures. See 
 Thuan. lib. vi. et xv.— Hoffin. His. Eccl. t. v. p. 572—and more especially 
 Sleidan’s Histor. lib. xxi—When Julius was reproached by the cardinals 
 for introducing such an unworthy member into the sacred college, a per- 
 son who had neither learning, nor virtue, nor merit of any kind, he impu- 
 
 dently replied by asking them, ‘‘ What virtue or merit they had found \ 
 
 - 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Srecr. IL. 
 
 | against their rulers, or to level the thunder of their excom- 
 munications at the heads of princes. Allsuch proceedings, 
 which were formerly so frequent at the court of Rome, 
 have been in a great measure suspended, in consequence’ 
 of the gradual decline of that ignorance and superstition 
 which prescribed a blind obedience to the pontiff, and of 
 the new degrees of power and authority that monarchs 
 and other civil rulers have gained by the revolutions that 
 have shaken the papalthrone. Ina word, imperious neces- 
 sity has produced prudence and moderation even at Rome. 
 
 XIV. That part of the body of the clergy, which was 
 more peculiarly devoted to the pope, seemed to undergo 
 no change during this century. As to the bishops, it ts 
 certain that they made several zealous attempts, and some 
 even in the council of Trent, for the recovery of the an- 
 cient rights and privileges, of which they had been forci- 
 bly deprived by the pontiffs. ‘They were even persuaded 
 that his holiness might be lawfully obliged to acknow- 
 ledge, that the episcopal dignity was of divine original, 
 and that the bishops received their authority immediately 
 from Christ himself.e But all these attempts were suc- 
 cessfully opposed by the artifice and dexterity of the court 
 of Rome, which did not cease to propagate and enforce 
 this despotic maxim: “ ‘That the bishops are no more 
 than the legates or ministers of Christ’s vicar ; and that 
 the authority which they exercise is entirely derived from 
 the munificence and favour of the apostolic see:” a 
 maxim, however, that several bishops, and more especi- 
 ally those of France, treated with little respect. Some 
 advantages, however, and those not inconsiderable, were 
 obtained for the clergy at the expense of the pontiffs ; for 
 those reservations, provisions, exemptions, and expecta- 
 tives, (as they are termed by the Roman lawyers,) which 
 before the Reformation had excited such heavy and bit- 
 ter complaints throughout Europe, and exhibited the 
 clearest proofs of papal avarice and tyranny, were now 
 almost totally suppressed. 
 
 XV. Among the subjects of deliberation in the council 
 of Trent, the reformation of the lives and manners of the 
 clergy, and the suppression of the scandalous vices that 
 had too long reigned in that order, were not forgotten ; 
 and several wise and prudent laws were enacted with a 
 view to that important object. But those who had the 
 cause of virtue at heart, complained (and the reason of 
 such complaint still subsists) that these laws were no more 
 
 in him, that could induce them to place him (Julius) in the papal chair ?” 
 
 x > Nothing could exceed the arrogance and ambition of this vio- 
 lent and impetuous pontiff, as appears from his treatment of Queen Eli- 
 zabeth. See Burnet’s History of the Reformation.—It was he who, by 
 a bull, pretended to raise Ireland to the privilege and quality of an in- 
 dependent kingdom; and it was he also who first instituted the Index- 
 of prohibited books, mentioned above, in the first note, sect. iii. 
 
 © See Jo. Petr. Maffei Annales Gregorii XIII. 
 
 4 Pius V. and Sixtus V. made a much greater figure in the annals of 
 fame, than the other pontiffs here mentioned; the former on account of 
 his excessive severity against heretics, and the famous bull In Cand 
 Domini, which is read publicly at Rome every year on the Festival of 
 the Holy Sacrament; and the latter, in consequence of many services 
 rendered to the church, and numberless attempts, carried on with spirit, 
 fortitude, generosity, and perseverance, to promote its glory, and main- 
 tain its authority.—Several modern writers employed their pens in de- 
 scribing the life and actions of Pius V. as soon as they saw him ca- 
 nonised, in 1712, by Clement XJ. Of the bull to which we have allud- 
 ed, and the tumults it occasioned, there is an ample account in Gian- 
 none’s Historia di Napoli, vol. iv. The life of Sixtus V. was written 
 by Gregorio Leti, and the work has been translated intto several 
 
 languages; it is, however, a very indifferent performance, and the relas 
 Db > ’ ’ ? 
 
 tions which it contains are, in many places, inacurate and unfaithful, 
 ° See Paolo Sarpi’s History of the Council of Trent. 
 
Part I. 
 
 than feeble precepts, without any avenging arm to main- 
 tain their authority; and that they were transgressed, 
 with impunity, by the clergy of all ranks, and particu- 
 larly by those who filled the highest stations and digni- 
 ties of the church. In reality, if we cast our eyes upon 
 the Romish clergy, even in the present time, these com- 
 plaints will appear as well founded now, as they were in 
 the sixteenth century. In Germany, as is notorious to 
 daily observation, the bishops, if we except their habit, 
 their title, and a few ceremonies that distinguish them, 
 have nothing in their manner of living that is, in the least, 
 adapted to point out the nature of their sacred office. In 
 other countries, a great part of the episcopal order, un- 
 molested by the remonstrances or reproofs of the Roman 
 pontiff, pass their days amidst the pleasures and cabals of 
 courts, and appear rather the slaves of temporal princes, 
 than the servants of Him whose kingdom is not of this 
 world. They court glory; they aspire after riches, while 
 very few employ their time and labours in edifying the 
 people, or in promoting among them the vital spirit of 
 practical religion and substantial virtue; and (what is still 
 more deplorable) those bishops, who, sensible of the sanc- 
 tity of their character and the duties of their office, distin- 
 guish themselves by their zeal in the cause of virtue and 
 good morals, are frequently exposed to the malicious ef- 
 orts of envy, often loaded with false accusations, and in- 
 7olved in perplexities of various kinds. It may, indeed, 
 oe partly in consequence of the examples they have re- 
 ceived, and still too often receive, from the heads of the 
 church, that so many of the bishops live dissolved in the 
 arms of luxury, or toiling in the service of ambition. 
 Many of them, perhaps, would have been more attentive 
 to their vocation, and more exemplary in their manners, 
 if they had not been corrupted by the models exhibited 
 to them by the bishops of Rome, and if they had not con- 
 stantly before their eyes a splendid succession of popes 
 and cardinals, remarkable only for their luxury and ava- 
 rice, their arrogance and vindictive spirit, their voluptuous- 
 ness and vanity. 
 
 Those ecclesiastics who go under the denomination of 
 canons, continue, almost every where, their ancient course 
 of life, and consume, in a manner far remote from piety 
 and virtue, the treasures which the religious zeal and li- 
 berality of their ancesfors had consecrated to the uses of 
 the church and the relief of the poor. 
 
 It must not, however, be imagined, that all the other 
 orders of the clergy are at liberty to follow such corrupt 
 models, or, indeed, that their inclinations and reigning 
 habits tend toward such a loose and voluptuous manner 
 of living: for it is certain, that the Reformation had a 
 manifest influence even upon the Roman catholic clergy, 
 by rendering them, at least, more circumspect and cau- 
 
 Zr * The dispute that arose among the Franciscans by Innocent 
 the Fourth’s relaxing so far their institute as to allow property and pos- 
 sessions in their community, produced a division of the order into two 
 classes, of which the more considerable, who adopted the papal 
 relaxation, were denominated Conventuals, and the other, who re- 
 jected it, Brethren of the Observance. The latter professed to observe 
 and follow rigorously the primitive laws and institute of their foun- 
 der. 
 
 =¢> > The Brethren of the Observance, mentioned in the preceding 
 note, had degenerated, in process of time, from tl®ir primitive self-de- 
 nial; and hence arose the reforming spirit that animated Bassi. 
 
 See Luc. Waddingi Annales Ordinis Minorum, tom. xvi—He- 
 lyot, Histoire des Ordres Monastiques, tom. vii. ch. xxiv. and, above 
 all, Zach. Boverii Annales Capucinorum. 
 
 No. XX XVII. 108 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 429 
 
 tious in their external conduct, that they might be thus less 
 obnoxious to the censures of their adversaries; and it is 
 accordingly well known, that since that period the clergy 
 of the inferior orders have been more attentive than they 
 formerly were to the rules of outward decency, and have 
 given less offence by open and scandalous vices and 
 excesses. 
 
 XVI. The same observation holds good with respect 
 to the monastic orders. ‘There are, indeed, several things, 
 worthy of the severest animadversion, chargeable upon 
 many of the heads and rulers of these societies; nor are 
 these societies themselves entirely exempt from that in- 
 dolence, intemperance, ignorance, artifice, discord, and 
 voluptuousness, which were formerly the common and 
 reigning vices in the monastic retreats. It would be, ne- 
 vertheless, an instance of great partiality and injustice to 
 deny, that in many countries the manner of living, among 
 these religious orders, has been considerably reformed, se- 
 vere rules have been employed to restrain licentiousness, 
 and much pains taken to conceal, at least, such vestiges 
 of ancient corruption and irregularity as may yet remain. 
 In some places, the austerity of the ancient rules of dis- 
 cipline, which had been so shamefully relaxed, was re- 
 stored by several zealous patrons of monastic devotion ; 
 while others, animated with the same zeal, instituted new 
 communities, in order to promote, as they piously ima- 
 gined, a spirit of religion, and thus to contribute to the 
 well-being of the church. 
 
 Of this latter number was Matthew de Bassi, a native 
 of Italy, the extent of whose capacity was much inferior 
 to the goodness of his intentions.. He was a Franciscan 
 of the rigid class,* one of those who were zealous in ob- 
 serving rigorously the primitive rules of their institution. 
 This honest enthusiast seriously persuaded himself, that 
 he was divinely inspired with the zeal which impelled 
 him to restore the rules of the Franciscan order to their 
 primitive austerity ; and, looking upon this violent and 
 irresistible impulse as a celestial commission, attended 
 with sufficient authority, he commenced this work of mo- 
 nastic reformation with the most devout assiduity and 
 ardour. His enterprise was honoured, in 1525, with the 
 solemn approbation of Clement VIL; and this was the ori- 
 gin of the order of Capuchins. The vows of this order im- 
 plied the greatest contempt of the world and its enjoy- 
 ments, and the most profound humility, accompanied with 
 the most austere and sullen gravity of external aspect ;° 
 and its reputation and success excited, in the other Francis- 
 cans, the most bitter feelings of indignation andenvy.* The 
 Capuchins were so called from the sharp-pointed capuche, 
 or cowl,’ which they added to the ordinary Franciscan 
 habit, and which is supposed to have been used by St. 
 Francis himself.‘ 
 
 3p 4 One of the circumstances that exasperated most the Francis- 
 cans, was the innovation made in their habit by the Capuchins. What- 
 ever was the cause of their choler, true it is, that their provincial perse- 
 cuted the new monks, and obliged them to fly from place to place, un- 
 til they at last took refuge in the palace of the duke of Camerino, by 
 whose credit they were received under the obedience of the Conven- 
 tuals, in the quality of hermits minors, in 1527. The next year the 
 pope approved this union, and confirmed to them the privilege of 
 eae the square capuche; and thus the order was established 
 in 1528. 
 
 3*p °I know not on what authority the learned Michael Geddes 
 attributes the erection and denomination of this order to one Francis 
 Puchine. fh ; a 
 
 f See Du Fresne, Glossarium Latinitat. medii Evi, tom. 11, 
 
430 
 
 Another branch of the Franciscan order formed a new 
 community, under the denomination of Recollets in France, 
 Reformed Franciscans in Italy, and Barefooted F'rancis- 
 cans in Spain; these were erected into a separate order, 
 with their respective laws and rules of discipline, in 1532, 
 by the authority of Clement VII. They differed from 
 the other Franciscans in this only, that they professed to 
 follow, with greater zeal and exactness, the austere insti- 
 ute of their common founder and chief; whence they 
 were sometimes called Friars Minors of the strict obser- 
 vance." 
 
 St. Theresa, a Spanish lady of an illustrious family, 
 undertook the difficult task of reforming the Carmelite 
 order,” which had departed much from its primitive sanctity, 
 and of restoring its neglected and violated laws to their origi- 
 nal credit and authority. Her associate, in this arduous 
 attempt, was Juan de Santa-Cruz; and her enterprise 
 was not wholly unsuccessful, although the greater part 
 of the Carmelites opposed her aims. Hence the order 
 was, during a period of ten years, divided into two branches, 
 of which one followed a milder rule of discipline, while 
 the other embraced an institute of the most severe and 
 self-denying kind. But, as these different rules of life 
 among the members of the same community were a per- 
 petual source of animosity and discord, the more austere, 
 or bare-footed Carmelites, were separated from the others, 
 and formed into a distinct body, in 1580, by Gregory XIII. 
 at the particular desireof Philip II. king of Spain. This 
 separation was confirmed, in 1587, by Sixtus V. and com- 
 pleted, in 1593, by Clement VIII. who allowed the bare- 
 footed Carmelites to have their own chief, or general. 
 But, after having withdrawn themselves from the others, 
 these austere friars quarrelled among themselves, and in 
 a few years their dissensions grew toan intolerable height: 
 hence they were divided anew, by the last-mentioned pon- 
 tiff, into two communities, each of which had its gover- 
 nor or general.4 
 
 XVII. Of all the new orders instituted in this century, 
 the most eminent, beyond all doubt, was that of the Je- 
 suits, which we have already had occasion to mention, in 
 speaking of the chief pillars of the church of Rome, and 
 the principal supports of the declining authority of its 
 pontiffs. Compared with this aspirmg and formidable 
 society, all the other religious orders appear inconsiderable 
 andobscure. The Reformation, among the other changes 
 which it occasioned, even in the Romish church, by ex- 
 citing the circumspection and emulation of those who 
 still remained addicted to popery, gave rise to various com- 
 munities, which were all comprehended under the gene- 
 ral denomination of Regular Clerks; and as all these 
 communities were, according to their own solemn decla- 
 rations, formed with a design of imitating that sanctity 
 of manners, and reviving that’ spirit of piety and virtue, 
 which had distinguished the sacred order in the primitive 
 times, this was a plain, though tacit confession of the 
 present corruption of the clergy, and consequently of the 
 indispensable necessity of the reformation. 
 
 *See the Annales of Wadding, tom. xvi.—Helyot, Histoire des 
 Ordres Monast. tom. vii. ch. xviul. 
 
 >’ Otherwise called the White-Friars. 
 
 xp ° The former, who were the Carmelites of the ancient obser- 
 vance, were called the moderate or mitigated, while the latter, who were 
 of the strict observance, were distinguished by the denomination of 
 vare-footed Carmelites. 
 
 | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 | Milan. 
 ‘manner of the 'Theatins, renouncing all worldly goods 
 and possessions, and depending upon the spontaneous do- 
 ‘nations of the liberal for their daily subsistence. 
 
 | possessions and stated revenues. 
 
 Secr. IIL 
 
 The first society of these regular clerks arose in 1524, 
 under the denomination of Theatins, which they derived 
 from their principal founder John Peter Caraffa, (then 
 bishop of 'Theate, or Chieti, in the kingdom of Naples, 
 and afterwards pope, under the title of Paul IV.,) who 
 was assisted in this pious undertaking by Caietan, or Gae- 
 tan, and other devout associates. ‘hese monks, being 
 by their vows destitute of all possessions and revenues, 
 and even precluded from the resource of begging, sub- 
 sist entirely upon the voluntary liberality of pious persons. 
 They are called by their profession and institute to revive 
 a spirit of devotion, to purify and reform the eloquence 
 of the pulpit, to assist the sick and the dying by their 
 spiritual instructions and counsels, and to combat heretics 
 of all denominations with zeal and assiduity.« There 
 are also some female convents established under the rule 
 and title of this order. 
 
 This establishment was followed by that of the Regu- 
 lar Clerks of St. Paul, so called from their having cho- 
 
 'sen that apostle for their patron ; though they are more 
 
 commonly known under the denomination of Barna- 
 bites, from the church of St. Barnabas, at Milan, which 
 was bestowed upon them in 1545. 'This order, which 
 was approved in 1532 by Clement VII., and confirm- 
 ed about three years after by Paul III, was originally 
 founded by Antonio Mavia Zacharias of Cremona, and 
 Bartholemew Ferrari, and Ant. Morigia, noblemen of 
 Its members were at first obliged to live after the 
 
 But 
 
 they soon became weary of this precarious method of living 
 
 from hand to mouth, and therefore took the liberty, in 
 
 process of time, of securing to their community certain 
 Their principal func- 
 tion is to go from place to place, like the apostles, in order 
 to convert sinners, and bring back transgressors into the 
 paths of repentance and obedience.‘ 
 
 The Regular Clerks of St. Maieul, who are also called 
 the fathers of Somasquo, from the place where their com- 
 munity was first established, and which was also the resi- 
 dence of their founder, were erected into a distinct society 
 by Jerome A‘miliani, a noble Venetian, and were after- 
 wards successively confirmed, in tle years 1540 and 1542. 
 by the Roman pontiffs Paul HI. and Pius IV.¢ Their 
 chief occupation was to instruct the ignorant, and_parti- 
 cularly young persons, in the principles and precepts of 
 the Christian religion, and to procure assistance for those 
 who were reduced to the unhappy condition of orphans. 
 The same important ministry was committed -to the 
 Fathers of the Christian doctrine in France and Italy. 
 The order that bore this title in France was instituted by 
 Cesar de Bus, and confirmed in 1597 by Clement VIIL., 
 while that which is known in Italy under the same de- 
 nomination, derived its origin from Mark Cusani, a Mila- 
 nese knight, and was established by the approbation and 
 authority of Pius V. and Gregory XII. 
 
 4 Helyot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. i. ch. xlvii. p. 340. 
 
 ¢ Helyot, tom. iv. ch. xii. 
 
 f Helyot, tom. iv. ch. xvi. p. 100.—In the same volume of his in- 
 comparable history, this learned author gives a most accurate, ample, 
 and interesting account of the other religious orders, which are here, for 
 the sake of brevity, barely mentioned. 
 
 © Acta Sanctor. Februar. tom. i. p. 217. 
 
Part I. 
 
 XVIII. It would be an endless, and, indeed, an un- 
 profitable labour to enumerate particularly the. prodigious 
 multitude of less considerable orders and religious associa- 
 tions, that were instituted in Germany and other coun- 
 tries, from an apprehension of the pretended heretics, 
 who disturbed by their innovations the peace, or rather 
 the lethargy, of the church; for certainly no age produced 
 such a swarm of monks, and such a number of convents, 
 as that in which Luther and other reformers opposed the 
 divine light and power of the Gospel to ignorance, super- 
 stition, and papal tyranny. We therefore pass over insi- 
 lence these less important establishments, of which many 
 have been long buried in oblivion, because they were 
 erected on unstable foundations, while numbers were 
 suppressed by the wisdom of certain pontiffs, who con- 
 sidered the multitude of these communities rather as 
 prejudicial than advantageous to the church. Nor can 
 we take particular notice of the female convents, or nun- 
 neries, among which the Ursulines shone forth with a 
 superior lustre both in point of number and dignity.— 
 The Priests of the Oratory, founded in Italy by Philip 
 Neri, a native of Florence, and publicly honoured with the 
 protection of Gregory XIII. in 1577, must, however, be 
 excepted from this general silence, on account of the emi- 
 nent figure they made in the republic of letters. It was 
 this community that produced Baronius, Raynaldus, and 
 Ladurchius, who hold so high a rank among the ecclesi- 
 astical historians of the sixteenth and following centuries ; 
 and there are still to be found in it men of considerable 
 erudition and capacity. ‘The name of this religious soci- 
 ety was derived from an apartment, accommodated in the 
 form of an Oratory, or cabinet for devotion, which St. 
 Philip Neri built at Florence for himself, and in which, 
 for many years, he held spiritual conferences with his 
 more intimate companions. 
 
 XIX. It is too evident to admit the least dispute, that 
 all kinds of erudition, whether sacred or profane, were 
 held in much higher esteem in the western world since 
 the time of Luther, than they had been before that auspi- 
 cious period. ‘The Jesuits, more especially, boast, and 
 perhaps not without reason, that their society contributed 
 more, at least in this century, to the culture of the lan- 
 guages, the improvement of the arts, and the advance- 
 ment of true science, than all the rest of the religious or- 
 ders. It is certain that the directors of schools and acade- 
 mies, either through indolence or design, persisted obsti- 
 nately in their ancient method of teaching, though that 
 method was intricate and disagreeable in many respects ; 
 nor would they suffer themselves to be better informed, or 
 permit the least change in their uncouth and disgusting 
 systems. ‘lhe monks were not more remarkable than 
 the academic teachers for their compliance with the grow- 
 ing taste for polished literature, nor did they seem at all 
 disposed to admit, into the retreats of their gloomy cloisters, 
 a more solid and elegant method of instruction than they 
 had been formerly accustomed to. These facts furnish a 
 
 * Helyot, tom. viil. ch. iv. p. 12. 
 3*p > He was peculiarly assisted in these conferences by Baronius, 
 
 author of the Ecclesiastical Annals, who also succeeded him as general || 
 
 »f the order, and whose annals, on account of his imperfect knowledge 
 
 ef the Greek language, are remarkably full of gross faults, misrepresen- | 
 
 éations, and blunders... 
 
 3¢r ° The learned Isaac Casaubon undertook a refutation of the An- 
 nals of Baronius, in an excellent work, entitled, Exercitationes, &c. and 
 though he carried it no farther down than the 34th year of the Christian 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 431 
 
 rational account of the surprising variety that appears in 
 the style and manner of the writers of this age, of whom 
 several express their sentiments with elegance, perspicuity, 
 and order, while the diction and style of a great number 
 of their contemporaries are barbarous, perplexed, obscure, 
 and insipid. 
 
 Cesar Baronius, already mentioned, undertook to throw 
 light on the history of religion by his annals of the Chris- 
 tian church ; but this pretended light was scarcely any 
 thing better than perplexity and darkness.c. His exam- 
 ple, however, excited many to enterprises of the same na- 
 ture. The attempts of the persons whom the Roman- 
 ists called heretics, rendered indeed such enterprises ne- 
 cessary: for these heretics, with the learned Flacius and 
 Chemnitz at their head,‘ demonstrated with the utmost 
 evidence, that not only the declarations of Scripture, but 
 also the testimony of ancient history and the records of 
 the primitive church, were in direct opposition both to the 
 doctrines and pretensions of the church of Rome. 'This 
 was wounding popery with its own arms, and attacking 
 it In its pretended strong-holds. It was, therefore, incum- 
 bent upon the friends of Rome to employ, while it was 
 time, their most zealous efforts in maintaining the credit 
 of those ancient fables, on which the greatest part of the 
 papal authority reposed, as its only foundation and sup- 
 port. 
 
 XX. Several men of genius in France and Italy, who 
 have been already mentioned with the esteem that is due 
 to their valuable Jabours,® used their most zealous endea- 
 vours to reform the barbarous philosophy of the times. 
 But the excessive attachment of the scholastic doctors to 
 the Aristotelian philosophy on one hand, and, on the 
 other, the timorous prudence of many weak-minded per- 
 sons, who were apprehensive that the liberty of striking 
 out new discoveries and ways of thinking might be pre- 
 judicial to the church, and open a new source of division 
 and discord, crushed all these generous efforts. "The throne 
 of the Stagirite remained therefore unshaken ; and his 
 philosophy, whose very obscurity afforded a certain gloomy 
 kind of pleasure, and flattered the pride of such as were im- 
 plicitly supposed to understand it, reigned unrivalled in the 
 schools and monasteries. It even acquired new credit and 
 authority from the Jesuits, who taught it in their colleges, 
 and made use of it in their writings and disputes. By 
 this, however, these artful ecclesiastics showed evidently, 
 that the captious jargon and subtleties of that intricate 
 philosophy were much more adapted to puzzle heretics, 
 and to give the popish doctors at least the appearance of 
 carrying on the controversy with success, than the plain 
 and obvious method of disputing, which is pointed out by 
 the genuine dictates of right reason. 
 
 X XI. The church of Rome produced in this century, 
 a prodigious number of theological writers. The most 
 eminent of these, in point of reputation and merit, were 
 the following: Thomas de Vio, otherwise named cardi- 
 nal Caietan, Eckius, Cochleus, Emser, Surius, Hosius, 
 
 | wera, yet he pointed out a prodigious number of palpable, and (many of 
 
 them) shameful errors, into which the Romish annalist has fallen during 
 that short space. Even the Roman-catholic literatz acknowledge the in- 
 accuracies and faults of Baronius; hence many learned men, such as 
 Pagi, Noris, and Tillemont, employed themselves in the task of correc- 
 tion; and accordingly a new edition of the work, with their emendations, 
 appeared at Lucca. eet 
 
 4 The former in the Centurie Magdeburgenses ; the latter in his Exa- 
 men Concilii Tridentini. © See above, Sect. IL. 
 
432 
 
 Faber, Sadolet, Pighius, Vatable, Canus, D’Espence, Ca- 
 ranza, Maldonatus, 'Turrianus, Arias Montanus, Catha- 
 rinus, Reginald Pole, Sixtus Senensis, Cassander, Paya 
 d’Andrada, Baius, Pamelius, and others.* 
 
 XXII. The religion of Rome, which the pontiffs are 
 so desirous of imposing upon the faith of all that bear 
 the Christian name, is derived, according to the unani- 
 mous accounts of its doctors, from two sources, the writ- 
 en word of God, and the unwritten; or, in other words, 
 from Scripture and tradition. But, as the most eminent 
 divines of that church are far from being agreed concern- 
 ing the persons who are authorized to interpret the decla- 
 rations of these two oracles, and to determine their sense ; 
 so it may be asserted, with truth, that there is, as yet, no 
 possibility of knowing with certainty what are the real 
 doctrines of the church of Rome, or where, in that com- 
 munion, the judge of religious controversy is to be found. 
 It is true, the court of Rome, and all who favour the 
 despotic pretensions of its pontiff, maintain, that he alone, 
 who governs the church as Christ’s vicegerent, is author- 
 ized to explain and determine the sense of Scripture and 
 tradition in matters pertaining to salvation, and that, in 
 consequence, a devout and unlimited obedience is due to 
 his decisions. ‘To give weight to this opinion, Pius IV. 
 formed the plan of a council, which was afterwards in- 
 stituted and confirmed by Sixtus V., and called the Con- 
 gregation for interpreting the decrees of the Council of 
 Trent. This congregation was authorized to examine 
 and decide, in the name of the pope, all matters of small 
 moment relating to ecclesiastical discipline, while every 
 debate of importance, and particularly all disquisitions 
 concerning points of faith and doctrine, were left to the 
 decision of the pontiff alone, as the great oracle of the 
 church.» Notwithstanding all this, it was impossible to 
 persuade the wiser part of the Roman-catholic body to 
 acknowledge this exclusive authority in their head. And 
 accordingly, the greatest part of the Gallican church, 
 and a considerable number of very learned men of the 
 popish religion in other countries, think very differently 
 from the court of Rome on this subject. They maintain, 
 that all bishops and doctors have a right to consult the 
 sacred fountains of Scripture and tradition, and to draw 
 thence the rules of faith and manners for themselves and 
 their flock; and that all difficult points and debates of 
 consequence are to be referred to the cognizance and de- 
 cision of general councils. Such is the difference of 
 opinion (with respect to the adjustment of doctrine and 
 controversy) that still divides the church of Rome; and, 
 as no judge has been (and perhaps none can be) found 
 to compose it, we may reasonably despair of seeing the 
 religion of Rome acquire a permanent, stable, and deter- 
 minate form. 
 
 XXIII. The council of Trent was assembled, as was 
 pretended, to correct, illustrate, and fix with perspicuity, 
 the doctrine of the church, to restore the vigour of its dis- 
 cipline, and to reform the lives of its ministers. But, in 
 the opinion of those who examine things with impartial- 
 ity, this assembly, instead of reforming ancient abuses, 
 
 * For an ample account of the literary characters, rank, and writines 
 of these learned men, and of several others whose names are here omit- 
 ted, see Louis EI. Du-Pin, Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, 
 tom. xiv. and xvi. 
 
 »’ See Aymon, Tableau de Ia Cour de Rome, part v. chap. iv. 
 £> Hence it was, that the approbation of Innocent XI. was refused 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. ITI. 
 
 rather gaye rise to new enormities ; and many transac- 
 tions of this council have excited the just complaints of 
 the wisest men in both communions. They complain 
 that many of the opinions of the scholastic doctors on 
 intricate points (that had formerly been left undecided, 
 and had been wisely permitted as subjects of free debate) 
 were, by this council, absurdly adopted as articles of faith, 
 were recommended as such, and even imposed with vio- 
 lence upon the consciences of the people, under pain of 
 excommunication. They complain of the ambiguity 
 that prevails in the decrees and declarations of that coun- 
 cil, by which the disputes and dissensions that had _for- 
 merly rent the church, instead of being removed by clear 
 definitions and wise and temperate decisions, were ren- 
 dered, on the contrary, more perplexed and intricate, and 
 were, in reality, propagated and multiplied, instead of 
 being suppressed or diminished. Nor were these the 
 only reasons of complaint ; for it must have been afflict- 
 ing to those who had the cause of true religion and 
 Christian liberty at heart, to see all things decided, in that 
 assembly, according to the despotic will of the pope, with- 
 out any regard to the dictates of truth, or the authority of 
 Scripture, its genuine and authentic source, and to see 
 the assembled fathers reduced to silence by the arrogance 
 of the Roman legates, and deprived of that influence and 
 credit which might have rendered them capable of heal- 
 ing the wounds of the church. It was moreover a griev- 
 ance justly to be complained of, that the few wise and 
 pious regulations that were made in that council, were 
 never supported by the authority of the church, but were 
 suffered to degenerate into a mere lifeless form, or shadow 
 of law, which was treated with indifference, and trans- 
 gressed with impunity. 'T’o sum up all in one short sen- 
 tence, the most candid and impartial observers of things 
 consider the council of Trent as an assembly that was 
 more attentive to what might maintain the despotic au- 
 thority of the pontiff, than solicitous about entering into 
 the measures that were necessary to promote the good of 
 the church. It will not, therefore, appear surprising, 
 that certain doctors of the Romish church, instead of sub- 
 mitting to the decisions of the council of Trent as an 
 ultimate rule of faith, maintain, that these decisions are 
 to be explained by the dictates of Scripture and the lan- 
 guage of tradition; nor, when all these things are duly 
 considered, shall we have reason to wonder, that this 
 council has not throughout the same degree of credit and 
 authority, even in those countries which profess the Ro- 
 man-catholic religion.¢ 
 
 Some countries, indeed, such as Germany, Poland, and 
 Italy, have adopted implicitly and absolutely the decrees 
 of this assembly, without the smallest restriction of any 
 kind. But in other regions it has been received and 
 acknowledged on certain conditions, which modify not a 
 little its pretended authority. Among the latter we may 
 reckon the Spanish dominions, which disputed, during 
 many years, the authority of this council, and acknow- 
 ledged it at length only so far as it could be adopted with- 
 out any prejudice to the rights and prerogatives of the 
 
 to the artful and insidious work of Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, entitled, 
 ‘ An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church,’ until the au- 
 thor had suppressed the first edition of that work, and made corrections 
 and alterations in the second. 
 
 ¥+>° The translator has here inserted in the text the note [4] of the 
 original, and has thrown the citations it contains into different notes. 
 
 som lets a te 
 
Pant I. 
 
 king of Spain.s In other countries, such as France” 
 and Hungary,° it never has been solemnly received, or 
 publicly acknowledged. It is true, indeed, that, in the 
 former of these kingdoms, such decrees of T'rent as re- 
 late to points of religious doctrine, have, tacitly and 
 imperceptibly, through the power of custom, acquired the 
 force and authority of rules of faith; but those which 
 regard external discipline, spiritual power, and ecclesiasti- 
 cal government, have been constantly rejected, both ina 
 public and private manner, as inconsistent with the au- 
 thority and prerogatives of the throne, and prejudicial to 
 the rights and liberties of the Gallican church.¢ 
 
 XXIV. Notwithstanding all this, such as are desirous 
 of forming some notion of the religion of Rome, will do 
 well io consult the decrees of the council of ‘Trent, toge- 
 ther with the compendious confession of faith, which was 
 drawn up by the order of Pius IV. ‘Those, however, 
 who expect to derive, from these sources, a clear, complete, 
 and perfect knowledge of the Romish faith, will be greatly 
 disappointed. ‘To evince the truth of this assertion, it 
 might be observed, as has been aiready hinted, that both 
 in the decrees of Trent, and in this papal confession, 
 many things are expressed, desig nedly, ina vagueand am- 
 biguous manner, on account of the intestine divisions and 
 warm dehates that then reignedin the church. Another 
 singular circumstance might also be added, that several 
 tenets are omitted in both, which no Roman gatholic is 
 allowed to deny, or even to call in question. But, waving 
 both these considerations, let it only be observed, that in 
 these decrees and in this confession several doctrines and 
 rules of worship are inculcated in a much more rational 
 and decent manner, than that in which they appear in 
 the daily service of the church, and in the public practice 
 of its members. Hence we may conclude, that the justest 
 notion of the doctrine of Rome is not to be derived so 
 much from the ¢erms used in the decrees of that council, 
 as from the real signification of these terms, which must 
 be drawn from the customs, institutions, and observances, 
 that prevail in the Romish church. Add, to all this, ano- 
 ther consideration, which is, that, in the bulls issued out 
 from the papal throne in these latter times, certain doc- 
 trines which were obscurely proposed in the council of 
 Trent, have been explained with sufficient perspicuity, and 
 avowed without either hesitation or reserve. Of this Cle- 
 ment XI. gave a notorious example, in the famous bull 
 called Unigenitus, which was an enterprise as audacious 
 as it proved unsuccessful. 
 
 * See Giannone, Historia di Napoli, vol. iv. 
 
 b See Hect. Godofr. Masii Diss. de Contemptu Concilii 'Tridentini 
 in Gallia; and also the excellent discourse which Dr. Courayer has an- 
 nexed to his French translation of Father Paul’s History of the Coun- 
 cil of Trent. 
 
 ¢ See Lorand. Samuelof, Vita Andr. Dudithii. 
 
 4 See Du-Pin, Biblioth. des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, tom. xv. p. 380, 
 
 x*> For what relates to the literary history of the council of ‘Trent, 
 to the historians who have transmitted accounts of it, and other circum- 
 stances of that nature, see Jo. Chr. Kocheri Bibliotheca Theol. Symbo- 
 lice, and Salig’s History of the Council of Trent, in German. 
 
 ‘p © This is true, in a more especial manner, with respect to the ca- 
 nons of the council of Trent, relating to the doctrine of purgatory, the 
 invocation of saints, the worship of images and felics. The terms em- 
 ployed in these canons are artfully chosen, so as to avoid the imputation 
 of idolatry, in the philosophical sense of that word; for, in the scriptu- 
 ral sense, they cannot avoid it, as all use of images in religious wor- 
 shin is expressly forbidden in various parts of the sacred writings. But 
 this circumspection does not appear in the worship of the Roman 
 Catholics, which is notoriously idolatrous in both senses of that 
 word. 
 
 ‘If we consult the canons of the council of Trent we shall find 
 
 No. XX XVII. 109 
 
 - 
 
 l 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 XXY. As soon as the popes perceived the remarkable 
 
 detriment which their authority had suffered from the ac 
 
 curate interpretations of the Scriptures that had been 
 
 given by the learned, and from the perusal of these di 
 
 vine oracles, which were now very frequently consulted by 
 the people, they left no methods unemployed that might. 
 discourage the culture of this most important branch 
 of sacred erudition. While the tide of resentment ran 
 high, they forgot themselyes in the most unaccountable 
 manner. ‘They permitted their champions to indulge 
 themselves openly in reflections injurious to the dignity 
 of the sacred writings, and by an excess of blasphemy 
 almost incredible (if the passions of men did not render 
 them capable of the greatest enormities) to declare pub- 
 licly, that the edicts of the pontiffs, and the records of 
 oral tradition, were superior, in point of authority, to the 
 express language of the Scriptures. As it was im- 
 possible, however, to bring the sacred writings wholly 
 into disrepute, they took the most effectual methods in 
 their power to render them obscure and useless. For 
 this purpose the ancient Latin translation of the Bible, 
 commonly called the Vulgate, though it abounds with in- 
 numerable gross errors, and, in a great number of places, 
 exhibits the most shocking barbarity of style, and the 
 most impenetrable obscurity with respect to the sense of 
 the inspired writers, was declared, by a solemn decree 
 of the council of Trent, an authentic, i. e. a faithful, ac- 
 curate, and perfect ‘ translation, and was consequently re- 
 commended asa production beyond the reach of criticism 
 orcensure. It was easy to foresee that such a declaration 
 was calculated only to keep the people in ignorance, and 
 to veil from their understandings the true meaning of the 
 sacred writings. In the same council, farther steps were 
 taken to execute, with success, the designs of Rome. A 
 severe and intolerable law was enacted, with respect to 
 all interpreters and expositors of the Scriptures, by which 
 they were forbidden to explain the sense of these divine 
 books, in matters relating to faith and practice, in such a 
 manner as to make them speak a different language from 
 that of the church and the ancient doctors.s "The same 
 law farther declared, that the church alone (1. e. its ruler) 
 had the right of determining the true meaning and sig- 
 nification of Scripture. ‘T’o fill up the measure of these 
 tyrannical and iniquitous proceedings, the church persist- 
 ed obstinately in affirming, though not always with the 
 same impudence and plainness of speech, that the Scrip- 
 tures were not composed for the use of the multitude, but 
 that the word authentic is there explained in terms less positive and 
 offensive than those used by Dr. Mosheim. Nor is it strictly true, that 
 the Vulgate was declared by this council to be a production beyond the 
 reach of criticism or censure, since, as we learn from Fra. Paolo, it was 
 determined that this version should be corrected, and a new edition of it 
 published by persons appointed for that purpose.* There was, indeed, 
 something highly ridiculous in the proceedings of the council in rela- 
 tion to this point; for, if the natural order of things had been observed, 
 the revisal and correction of the Vulgate would have preceded the pom- 
 pous approbation with which the council honoured, and, as it were, conse- 
 crated that ancient version, For how, with any shadow of good sense, 
 could the assembled fathers set the seal of their approbation to a work 
 which they acknowledged to stand in need of correction, and that be- 
 fore they knew whether or not the correction would answer their views, 
 and merit their approbation ? E 
 
 3 € It is remarkable, that this prohibition extends even to such inter- 
 
 pretations as were nof designed for public view: “ Etiamsi hujusmodi 
 interpretationes nullo unquam tempore in lucem edend forent.” Ses- 
 
 | slo 4ta. tit. cap. ii. 
 
 * See Father Paul’s History of the Council of Trent, book ii. part lili, 
 and Dr. Courayer’s French translation of this History, vol i. p. 284, 
 note 29. 
 
A3Z4 
 
 only for that of their spiritual teachers; and, in conse- 
 quence, crdered these divine records to be taken from the 
 people in all places where it was allowed to execute its 
 imperious demands.* 
 
 XXVI. 'These circumstances had a visible influence 
 upon the spirit and productions of the commentators and 
 expositors of Scripture, which the example of Luther and 
 his followers had rendered, through emulation, extremely 
 numerous. The popish doctors, who vied with the pro- 
 testants in this branch of sacred erudition, were insipid, 
 timorous, servilely attached. to the glory and interests of 
 the court of Rome, and betrayed, in their explications, 
 all the marks of slavish dependence and constraint. 
 ‘They seem to have been in constant apprehension that 
 some expressions might escape from their pens that sa- 
 voured of opinions different from what were commonly 
 received ; they appeal every moment to the declarations 
 and authority of the holy fathers, as they usually style 
 them ; nor do they appear to have so much consulted 
 the real doctrines taught by the sacred writers, as the lan- 
 guage and sentiments which the church of Rome has 
 taken the liberty to put into their mouths. Several of 
 these commentators rack their imaginations in order to 
 force out of each passage of Scripture the four kinds of 
 significations, called Literal, Allegorical, Topological, 
 and Anagogical, which ignorance and superstition had 
 first invented, and afterwards held so sacred, in the expli- 
 cation of the inspired writings. Nor was their attach- 
 ment to this manner of interpretation unskilfully mana- 
 ged, since it enabled them to make the sacred writers speak 
 the language that was favourable to the views of the 
 church, and to draw out of the Bible, with the help of a 
 little subtlety, whatever doctrine they wished to impose 
 upon the credulity of the multitude. 
 
 It must, however, be acknowledged, that, beside these 
 miserable commentators whose efforts dishonour the 
 church, there were some in its communion, who had wis- 
 dom enough to despise such senseless methods of interpre- 
 tation, and who, avoiding all mysterious significations and 
 fancies, followed the plain, natural, and literal sense of the 
 expressions used in the holy Scriptures. In this class the 
 most eminent were, Erasmus of Rotterdam, who transla- 
 ted into Latin, with an elegant and faithful simplicity, the 
 books of the New 'l'estament, and explained them with 
 judgment in a paraphrase which is deservedly esteemed ; 
 cardinal Caietan, whe disputed with Luther at Augsburg, 
 and who gave a brief, but judicious cxposition of almost 
 all the books of the Old and New Testament; Francis 
 Titelman, Isidorus Clarius, and John Maldonat, beside 
 Benedict Justinian, who acquired no mean reputation by 
 his commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul. 'To these 
 
 * The papal emissaries were not suffered to execute this despotic or- 
 der in all countries that acknowledged the jurisdiction of the church of 
 Rome, The French and some other nations have the Bible in their 
 mother-tongue, in which they peruse it, though much against the will of 
 the pope’s creatures. 
 
 b See Simon’s Hist. Critique du Vieux et du Nouv. Testament. 
 
 ¢ See Baillet’s Vie d’Edmund Richer, p. 9, 10. 
 
 4 See Du-Boulay’s account of the reformation of the theolocical facul- 
 ty at Paris, in his Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. vi. In this reform the bache- 
 lors of divinity, calle: Sententiarii and Biblici, are particularly distin- 
 guished; ana (what is extremely remarkable) the Augustine monks, 
 who were Luther’s fraternity, are ordered to furnish the college of di- 
 vinity once a year with a scriptural bachelor (Baccalaureum Biblicum 
 preesentare a whence we may conclude, that the monks of the Augus- 
 tine order were much more conversant in the study of the Scriptures 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 a 
 
 Sect. IL, 
 
 may be added Gagny, D’Espence, and other expositors.> 
 but these eminent men, whose example was so adapted to 
 excite emulation, had very few followers; and, in a short 
 time, their influence was gone, and their labours were for 
 gotten ; for, toward the conclusion of this century, Edmund 
 Richer, that strenuous opposer of the encroachments made 
 by the pontiffs on the liberties of the Gallican church, 
 was the only doctor in the university of Paris who follow- 
 ed the litera} sense and the plain and natural signification of 
 the words of Scripture, while all the other commentators 
 and interpreters, imitating the pernicious example of se- 
 veral ancient expositors, were always racking their brains 
 for mysterious and sublime significations, where none 
 such eith2; wee, or could be, designed by the sacred wri- 
 ters.° 
 
 XXV°I. ‘he serrunaries of learning were filled, before 
 the Reformation, with that subtle kind of theological doc- 
 tors, conmorly known under the denomination of school- 
 men; sv that even at Paris, which was considered as the 
 principal seat of sacred erudition, no doctors were to be 
 found who were capable ox disputing with the protestant 
 divines in the method they generally pursued, which was 
 that of pioving the doctrines they maintained by argu- 
 ments drawn from the Scriptures and the writings of the 
 fathers. ‘This uncommon scarcity of didactic and scrip- 
 tural divinies produced much confusion and perplexity, on 
 many occasions, even in the council of Trent, where the 
 scholastic” doctors fatigued some, and almost turned the 
 heads of others, by examining and explaining the doc- 
 trines that were there proposed, according to the intricate 
 and ambiguous rules of their captious philosophy. Hence 
 it became absolutely necessary to refo7m the methods of 
 proceeding in theological disquisitions, and to restore to its 
 former credit that practice which drew the truths of reli- 
 gion more fiom the dictates of the sacyed writings, and 
 from the sentiments of the ancient docto:s, than from the 
 uncertain suggestions of human reason, aid the ingenious 
 conjectures of philosophy.* It was, however, impossible 
 to deprive entirely the scholastic divines os the ascendan- 
 cy which they had acquired in the seminaries of learning, 
 and had so long maintained almost without opposition ; 
 for, after having been threatened with a diminution of 
 their authority, they seemed to resume new vigour from 
 the time that the Jesuits adopted their philosopky, and made 
 use of their subtle dialectic, as a more effectual armour 
 against the attacks of the heretics, than either the Janguage 
 of Scripture, or the authority of the fathers. And, indeed, 
 the scholastic jargon was every way proper to answer the 
 purposes of a set of men, who found it necessary to puzzle 
 and perplex, where they could neither refute with perspi- 
 cuity, nor prove with evidence. ‘Thus they artfully con- 
 
 than any of the other monastic societies which then existed. But this 
 academical law deserves to be quoted here at length, so much the more, 
 as Du-Boulay’s History is in few hands. It is as follows: ‘ Augusti- 
 nenses quolibet anno Biblicum presentabunt, secundum statutum fol. 
 21, quod sequitur: Quilibet ordo Mendicantium et Collegium 8. Ber- 
 nardi habeant quolibet anno Biblicum qui legat ordinarie, alioqui pri- 
 ventar pro illo anno Baecalaureo sententiario.” It appears by this law, 
 that each mendicant order was, by a decree of the theological faculty, 
 obliged to furnish, yearly, a scriptural bachelor; (such was Luther ;) and 
 yet we see, that, in the reformation already mentioned, this obligation is 
 imposed upon nonebut the Augustinemonks. We may therefore presume 
 that the Dominicans, Franciscans, and the other mendicants, had en- 
 tirely neglected the study of the Scriptures, and consequently had 
 among them no scriptural bachelors; and that the Augustine monks 
 alone were in a condition to satisfy the demands of the theological faculty. 
 
Part I. 
 
 vealed their defeat, and retreated, in the dazzled eyes of the 
 multitude, with the appearance of victory. 
 
 The Mystics lost almost all their credit in the church 
 of Rome after the Reformation, partly on account of the 
 favourable reception they found among the protestants, 
 and partly in consequence of their pacific system, which, 
 giving them an aversion to controversy in general, ren- 
 dered them little disposed to defend the papal cause 
 against its numetous and formidable adversaries. These 
 enthusiasts, however, were, in some measure, tolerated, 
 and allowed to indulge themselves in their philosophical 
 speculations, on certain conditions, which obliged them 
 to abstain from censuring either the laws or the corrup- 
 tions of the church, and from declaiming, with their usual 
 freedom and vehemence, against the vanity of external 
 worship, and the dissensions of jarring and contentious 
 divines. 
 
 XXVIII. There was no successful attempt made, in 
 this century, to correct or improve the practical or moral 
 system of doctrine that was followed in the church of 
 Rome ; nor, indeed, could any one make such an at- 
 tempt without drawing upon himself the displeasure, and 
 perhaps the fury, of the papal hierarchy ; for, in reality, 
 such a project of reformation seemed in no wise conducive 
 to the interests of the church, as these interests were 
 understood by its ambitious and rapacious rulers ; and it 
 is undoubtedly certain, that many doctrines and regula- 
 tions, on which the power, opulence, and grandeur of that 
 church essentially depended, would have run the risk 
 of falling into discredit and contempt, if the pure and 
 rational system of morality, contained in the Gospel, had 
 
 been exhibited in its native beauty and simplicity, to the | 
 Aso! 
 
 view and perusal.of all Christians without distinction. 
 Little or no zeal was therefore exerted in amending or 
 improving the doctrines that immediately relate to prac- 
 tice. On the contrary, many persons of eminent piety 
 and integrity, in the communion of Rome, have griev- 
 ously complained (with what justice shall be shown in 
 its proper place,”) that, as soon as the Jesuits had gained 
 an ascendancy in the courts of princes, and in the schools 
 of learning, the cause of virtue began visibly to decline. 
 It has been alleged, more particularly, that this artful 
 order employed all the force of subtle distinctions to sap 
 the foundations of morality, and, in process of time, 
 opened a door to all sorts of licentiousness and iniquity, 
 by the loose and dissolute rules of conduct which they 
 propagated as far as their influence extended. This 
 poisonous doctrine spread, indeed, its contagion, in a la- 
 tent manner, during the sixteenth century; but, in the 
 following age, its abettors ventured to expose some speci- 
 mens of its turpitude to public view, and thus gave occa- 
 sion to great commotions in several parts of Europe. 
 
 All the moral writers of the church, in this century, 
 may be distinguished into three classes, the Nchoolmen, 
 the Dogmatisis, and the Mystics. 'The first explained, 
 or rather obscured, the virtues and duties of the Christian 
 life, by knotty distinctions and unintelligible forms of 
 speech, and buried them under an enormous load of argu- 
 ments and demonstrations: the second illustrated them 
 
 from the declarations of Scripture and the opinions of the 
 
 37 * The translator has added the two last sentences of this para- 
 graph, to illustrate more fully the sense of the author. 
 
 xs > See cent. xvii. sect. ii. part i. chap. i. sect xxxiv. 
 
 z-> * The reader will easily perceive, by the short account of these 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 435 
 
 ancient doctors ; while the third placed the whole of mo- 
 rality in the tranquillity of a mind withdrawn from all 
 sensible objects, and habitually employed in the contem- 
 plation of the divine nature. 
 
 XXIX. The number of combatants brought by the 
 pontifis into the field of controversy, during this century, 
 was prodigious, and their glaring defects aré abundantly 
 known. It may be said, with truth, of the greater part 
 of them, that, like many warriors of another class, they 
 generally lost sight of all considerations, except those of 
 victory and plunder. ‘The disputants, whom the order 
 of Jesuits sent forth in great numbers against the adver- 
 saries of the church of Rome, surpassed all the rest in 
 subtlety, impudence, and invective. 'The principal lead- 
 er and champion of the polemic tribe was Robert Bellar- 
 mine, a Jesuit, and a member of the college of cardinals, 
 who treated, in several bulky volumes, of all the contro- 
 versies that subsisted between the protestants and the 
 church of Rome, and whose merit as a writer consisted, 
 principally, in clearness of style, and a certain copious- 
 ness of argument, which showed a rich and fruitful 
 imagination. ‘This eminent defender of the church of 
 Rome arose about the conclusion of this century, and, 
 on his first appearance, all the force and attacks of the 
 most illustrious protestant doctors were turned against 
 him alone. His candour and plain dealing exposed him, 
 however, to the censures of several divines of his own 
 communion ; for he collected, with diligence, the reasons 
 and objections of his adversaries, and proposed them, for 
 the most part, in their full force, with integrity and ex- 
 actness. Had he been less remarkable for his fidelity and 
 industry ; had he taken care to select the weakest argu- 
 ments of his antagonists, and to render them still weak- 
 er, by proposing them in an imperfect and unfaithful 
 light, his fame would have been much greater among the 
 friends of Rome than it actually is.4 
 
 XXX. If we turn our view to the internal state of the 
 church of Rome, and consider the respective sentiments, 
 opinions, and manners of its different members, we shall 
 find that, notwithstanding its boasted unity of faith, and 
 its ostentatious pretensions to harmony and concord, it 
 was, in the sixteenth century, and is, at this day, divided 
 and distracted with dissensions and contests of various 
 kinds. 'The Franciscans and the Dominicans contend 
 with vehemence about several points of doctrine and dis- 
 cipline. ‘The Scotists and 'Thomists are at eternal war. 
 The bishops have never ceased disputing with the pope 
 (and with the congregations that he has instituted to 
 maintain his pretensions) upon the origin and precise 
 limits of his authority and jurisdiction. The French 
 
 and lemings, with the. inhabitants of other countries, 
 openly oppose the pontiff on many occasions, and refuse 
 to acknowledge his supreme and unlimited dominion in 
 the church; while, on the other hand, he still continues 
 to encroach upon their privileges, sometimes with violence 
 and resolution, when he can do so with impunity, at 
 other times with circumspection and prudence, when 
 vigorous measures appear dangerous or unnecessary. 
 The Jesuits, who, on their first appearance, had formed 
 the project of diminishing the credit and influence of al? 
 
 three classes, given by Dr. Mosheim, that the word Dogmatist must not 
 be taken in that magisterial sense which it bears in modern language. 
 
 4 See Mayer’s Ecloga de fide Baronii et Bellarmint ipsis Pontificiis 
 dubia, published at Amsterdam in 1698. 
 
436 
 
 the other religicus orders, used their warmest endeavours 
 to share with the Benedictine and other monasteries, 
 which were richly endowed, a part of their opulence; 
 and their endeavours were crowned with success. ‘Thus 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 they drew upon their society the mdignation and ven- | 
 
 geance of the other religious communities, and armed 
 against it the monks of every other denomination ; and, 
 in a more especial manner, the Benedictines and Domini- 
 cans, who surpassed all its enemies in the keenness and 
 bitterness of their resentment. ‘The rage of the Bene- 
 dictines is animated by reflecting on the possessions of 
 which they have been deprived, while the Dominicans 
 contend for the honour of their order, the privileges an- 
 nexed to it, and the religious tenets by which it is distin- 
 guished. Nor are the theological colleges and seminaries 
 of learning more exempt from the flame of controversy 
 than the clerical and monastic orders: on the contrary, 
 debates concerning almost all the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity are multiplied in them, and conducted with little mo- 
 deration. It is true, indeed, that all these contests are 
 tempered and managed, by the prudence and authority 
 of the pontiffs, in such a manner as to prevent their being 
 carried to an excessive height, toa length that might prove 
 fatal to the church, by destroying that phantom of exter- 
 nal unity which is the source of its consistence as an eccle- 
 siastical body: I say, tempered and managed; for, 
 to heal entirely these divisions, and calm these animosities, 
 however it may be judged an undertaking worthy of one 
 who calls himself the Vicar of Christ, is, nevertheless, a 
 work beyond his power, and contrary to his intention. 
 
 XX XI. Beside these debates of inferior moment, which 
 
 made only a slight breach in the tranquillity and union | 
 
 of the Romish church, there arose, after the period in 
 which the council of Trent was assembled, controversies 
 of much greater importance, which deservedly attracted 
 the attention of Christians of all denominations. These 
 controversies were set on foot by the Jesuits, and from 
 small beginnings have increased gradually, and gathered 
 strength ; so that the flame they produced has been trans- 
 mitted even to our times, and continues, at this very day, 
 to divide the members of the church in a manner that 
 does not a little endanger its stability. While the pon- 
 tiffs foment, perhaps, instead of endeavouring to extin- 
 guish, the less momentous disputes mentioned above, they 
 observe a different conduct with respect to those now un- 
 der consideration. 'The most zealous efforts of artifice 
 and authority are constantly employed to calm the con- 
 tending parties (since it appears impossible to unite and 
 reconcile them,) and to diminish the violence of commo- 
 tion, which they can scarcely ever hope entirely to sup- 
 press. All their exertions, however, have hitherto been 
 ineffectual. ‘They have not been able to calm the agi- 
 tation and vehemence with which these debates are car- 
 ried on, or to inspire any sentiments of moderation and 
 mutual forbearance into minds, which are less animated 
 by the love of truth, than by the spirit of faction. 
 XXXII. Whoever will look with attention and impar- 
 tiality into these controversies may easily perceive that 
 there are two parties in the Romish church, whose no- 
 tions with respect both to doctrine and discipline are ex- 
 tremely different. ‘Tbe Jesuits, considered as a body, 
 
 Secr, LIL. 
 
 maintain with the greatest zeal and obstinacy, the ancient 
 system of doctrine and manners, which pervaded the 
 church before the rise of Luther, and which, though ab- 
 surd and ill-digested, the zealots have constantly consi- 
 dered as highly favourable to the views of Rome, and the 
 grandeur of its pontiffs. ‘These sagacious ecclesiastics, 
 whose peculiar office it is to watch for the security and 
 defence of the papal throne, are fully persuaded that the 
 authority of the pontiffs, the opulence, pomp, and gran- 
 deur of the clergy, depend entirely upon the preservation 
 of the ancient forms of doctrine ; and that every project 
 which tends either to remove these forms, or even to cor- 
 rect them, must be, in the highest degree, detrimental to 
 what they call the interests of the church, and gradually 
 bring on its ruin. On the other hand, there are within 
 the pale of the Romish church, especially since the dawn 
 of the reformation, many pious and well-meaning men, 
 whose eyes have been opened, by the perusal of the in- 
 spired and primitive writers, upon the corruptions and de- 
 fects of the received forms of doctrme and discipline: 
 Coinparing the dictates of primitive Christianity with the 
 vulgar system of popery, they have found the latter full 
 of enormities, and have always been desirous of a reform 
 (though indeed a partial one, according to their particular 
 fancies,) that thus the church may be purified from those 
 unhappy abuses which have given rise tosuch mischiev 
 ous divisions, and still draw upon it the censures and re- 
 proaches of the heretics. 
 
 From these opposite ways of thinking, arose naturally 
 the warmest contentions and debates, between the Jesuits 
 and many doctors of the church. 'These debates may be 
 reduced under the six following heads. 
 
 The first subject of debate concerns the limits and ex- 
 tent of the papal power and jurisdiction. 'The Jesuits, 
 with their numerous tribe of followers and dependents, 
 maintain, that the pontiff is infallible ; that he is the only 
 visible source of that universal and unlimited power which 
 Christ has granted to the church; that all bishops and 
 subordinate rulers derive from him alone the authority 
 and jurisdiction with which they are invested; that he is 
 not bound by any laws of the church, nor by any decrees 
 of the councils that compose it; that he alone is the su- 
 preme legislator of that sacred community, and that it is 
 m the highest degree criminal to oppose or disobey his 
 edicts and commands. Such are the strange sentiments 
 of the Jesuits; but they are very far from being univer- 
 sally adopted ; for other members of the church hold, on 
 the contrary, that the pope is lable to error; that his 
 authority is inferior to that of a general council; that he 
 is bound to obey the commands of the church, and its laws, 
 as they are enacted in the councils that represent it ; that 
 these councils have a right to depose him from the papal 
 chair, when he abuses, in a flagrant manner, the dignity 
 and prerogatives with which he is intrusted; and that, in 
 consequence of these principles, the bishops and inferioi 
 rulers and doctors derive the authority that is annexed to 
 their respective dignities, not from the pontiff, but from 
 Christ himself. 
 
 XX XIII. The extent and prerogatives of the church 
 form the second subject of debate. 'The Jesuits and their 
 adherents stretch out its borders far and wide. ‘They not 
 
 Ht 
 
 3% * The Jesuits are here taken in the general and collective sense 
 of that denomination, because there are several individuals of that order, 
 
 whose sentiments differ from those which generally prevail in their 
 | community. 
 
Part I. 
 
 only comprehend, within its large circuit, many who live 
 separate from the communion of Rome,* but even extend 
 the inheritance of eternal salvation to nations that have 
 not the least knowledge of the Christian religion, or of its 
 divine Author, and consider as true members of the church 
 open transgressors, who outwardly profess its doctrines. 
 But the adversaries of the Jesuits reduce within narrower 
 limits the kingdom of Christ, and not only exclude from 
 all hope of salvation those who are not within the pale of 
 the church of Rome, but also those who, though they live 
 within its external communion, yet dishonour their profes- 
 sion by a vicious and profligate course of life. he Jesuits 
 moreover (not to mention differences of less moment) as- 
 sert, that the church can never pronounce an erroneous or 
 unjust decision, either relating to matters of fact, or points 
 of doctrine; while the adverse party declare, that, in 
 
 judging of matters of fact, it is not secured against all 
 
 possibility of erring. : 
 
 XXXIV. Inthe third class of controversies, that divide 
 the church, are comprehended the debates relating to 
 the nature, efficacy, and necessity of divine grace, together 
 with those which concern original sin, the natural power 
 of man to obey the laws of God, and the nature and foun- 
 dation of those eternal decrees that have for their object 
 the salvation of men. ‘The Dominicans, Augustinians, 
 and Jansenists, with several other doctors of the church, 
 adopt the following propositions: that the impulse of 
 divine grace cannot be opposed or resisted; that there are 
 no remains of purity or goodness in human nature since 
 its fall; that the eternal decrees of God, relating to the 
 salvation of men, are neither founded upon, nor attended 
 with, any condition whatsoever; that God wills the sal- 
 vation of all mankind: and they hold several other tenets 
 connected with these. The Jesuits maintain, on the con- 
 trary, that the natural dominion of sin in the human 
 mind, and the hidden corruption it has produced in our 
 internal frame, are less general and dreadful than they are 
 represented by the doctors now mentioned; that hu- 
 man nature is far from being deprived of all power of 
 doing good; that the succours of grace are administered 
 to all mankind in a measure sufficient to lead them to 
 eternal life and salvation; that the operations of grace of- 
 fer no violence to the faculties and powers of nature, and 
 therefore may be resisted ; and that God from all eternity 
 has appointed everlasting rewards and punishments, as 
 the portion of men in a future world, not by an absolute, 
 arbitrary, and unconditional decree, but in consequence of 
 that divine and unlimited preseience, by which he fore- 
 saw the actions, merit, and character, of every individual. 
 
 x+*> 2 They were accused at Spoleto, in 1653, of having maintained, 
 in thew public instructions, the probability of the salvation of many 
 heretics. See Le Clerc, Biblioth. Univers. et Historique, tom. xiv. 
 
 z* > This distinction, with respect to the objects of infallibility, 
 chiefly arose from the following historical circumstance. Pope Inno- 
 cent X. condemned five propositions, drawn from the famous bool of 
 Jansenius, entitled Augustinus ; and this condemnation occasioned the 
 two following questions: Ist, Whether these propositions were errone- 
 ous? This was the question de jwre, i. e. as the translator has render- 
 ed it, respecting doctrine. 2d, Whether these propositions were really 
 taught by Jansenius? ‘This was the question de Deoia i. e. relating to 
 the raatter of fact. The church was supposed, by some, infallible only 
 in deciding questions of the former kind. 
 
 * No author has given a more accurate, precise, and clear enumera- 
 tion of the objections that have been made tothe moral doctrine of the 
 Jesuits, and the reproaches which have been cast on their rules of Jife ; 
 and noone at the same time has defended their cause with more art and 
 dexterity than the eloquent and ingenious Gabriel Daniel (a famous mem- 
 
 No. XX XVII. 110 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 lates it. 
 doctrines of probability and philosophical sin, which have 
 
 437 
 XXXV. The fourth head, in this division of the con 
 
 troversies that destroy the pretended unity of the church, 
 contains various subjects of debate, relative to doctrines of 
 morality and rules of practice, which it would be both 
 tedious and foreign from our purpose to enumerate in a 
 circumstantial manner, though it may not be improper to 
 touch lightly the first principles of this endless contro- 
 versy.° 
 The Jesuits and their followers have inculcated a ver 
 
 strange doctrine with respect to the motives that deter- 
 mine the moral conduct and actions of men. They re- 
 present itas a matter of perfect indifference from what mo- 
 tives men obey the laws of God, provided that’ these laws 
 be really obeyed; and maintain, that the service of those 
 who obey from the fear of punishment is as agreeable tu 
 the Deity, as are those actions which proceed from a prin- 
 ciple of love to him and to his laws. This decision ex- 
 cites the horror of the greatest part of the doctors of the 
 Roman church, who affirm, that no acts of obedience, 
 when they do not proceed from the love of God, can be 
 
 acceptable to that pure and holy Being. Nor is the doc- 
 
 trine of the Jesuits only chargeable with the corrupt tenets 
 already mentioned. ‘They maintain farther, that a man 
 never sins, properly speaking, but when he transgresses a 
 divine law that is fully known to him, which is present 
 to his mind while he acts, and of which he understands 
 the true meaning and intent. And they hence conclude, 
 that, in strict justice, the conduct of that transgressor can- 
 not be looked upon as criminal, who is either ignorant of 
 the law, or is in doubt about its true signification, or loses 
 sight of it, through forgetfulness, at the time that he vio- 
 I*rom these propositions they deduce the famous 
 
 cast an eternal reproach upon the schools of the Jesuits.4 
 Their adversaries behold these pernicious tenets with he 
 utmost abhorrence, and assert that neither ignorance, nor 
 forgetfulness of the law, nor the doubts that may be en- 
 tertained with respect to its signification, will be admitted 
 as sufficient to justify transgressors before the tribunal of 
 
 God. 'This contest, about the main and fundamental 
 
 points of morality, has given rise to a great variety of de- 
 bates concerning the duties we owe to God, our neigh 
 bour, and ourselves ; and has produced two sects of moral 
 teachers, whose animosities and divisions have miserably 
 rent the Romish church in all parts of the world, and in- 
 volved it in the greatest perplexities. 
 
 XXXVI. The administration of the sacraments, espe- 
 cially those of penance and the eucharist, forms the fifth 
 subject of controversy. "he Jesuits and many other doc- 
 
 ber of their order,) in a piece, entitled, Entretiens de Cleandre et d’Eu- 
 doxe. ‘This dialogue was intended as an answer to the celebrated Pro- 
 vincial Letters of Pascal, which did more real prejudice to the society 
 of the Jesuits than many would imagine, and exposed their loose and 
 perfidious system of morals with the greatest fidelity and perspicuity, 
 embellished by the most exquisite strokes of humour and irony. Father 
 Daniel, in the piece above mentioned, treats with great acuteness the 
 famous doctrine of probability, the method of directing our intentions, 
 equivocation and mental reservation, sins of ignorance and oblivion; 
 and it must be acknowledged, that, if the cause and pretensions of the 
 Jesuits were susceptible of defence or plausibility, they have found 1» 
 this writer an able and dexterous champion. pt 
 xy 4 The doctrine of probability consists in this: ‘That an opinion 
 or precept may be followed with a good conscience, when it is inculea- 
 ted by four, or three, or two, or even by one doctor of considerable re- 
 putation, even though it be contrary to the judgment of the person who 
 follows it, and even of him that recommends it.’ This doctrine render- 
 ed the Jesuits capable of accommodating themselves to all the different 
 
438 
 
 tors are of opinion, that the salutary effects of the sacra- 
 ments are produced by their intrinsic virtue and imme- 
 diate operation* upon the mind at the time when they are 
 administered, and that consequently it requires little pre- 
 paration to receive them to edification and comfort ; nor 
 do they think that God requires a mind adorned with in- 
 ward purity, and a heart animated with divine love, in 
 order to the obtaining of the ends and purposes of these 
 religious institutions. And hence it is, that, according to 
 their doctrine, the priests are empowered to give immedi- 
 ate absolution to all such as confess their transgressions 
 and crimes, and afterwards to admit them to the use of 
 the sacraments. But such sentiments are rejected with 
 indignation by all those of the Romish communion who 
 have the progress of vital and practical religion truly at 
 heart. These look upon it as the duty of the clergy to 
 use the greatest diligence and assiduity in examining the 
 characters, tempers, and actions of those who demand ab- 
 solution and the use of the sacraments, before they grant 
 their requests; since, in their sense of things, the real be- 
 nefits of these institutions can extend to those only whose 
 hearts are carefully purged from the corruptions of ini- 
 quity, and filled with that divine love which ‘casteth out 
 fear” Hence arose that famous dispute concerning 
 a frequent approach to the holy communion, which was 
 carried on with such warmth in the last (¢he seventeenth) 
 century, between the Jesuits and the Jansenists, with 
 Arnauld® at the head of the latter, and has been renewed 
 in our times by the Jesuit Pichon, who thereby incurred 
 the indignation of the greatest part of the French Bi- 
 shops. ‘The frequent celebration of the Lord’s supper is 
 one of the main duties, which the Jesuits recommend with 
 peculiar earnestness to all who are under their spiritual 
 direction, representing it as the most certain and infalli- 
 ble method of appeasing the Deity, and obtaining from 
 him the entire remission of their sins and transgressions. 
 This manner of proceeding the Jansenists censure with 
 their usual severity ; and it is also condemned by many 
 other learned and pious doctors of the Romish commu- 
 nion, who reject the intrinsic virtue and efficient operation 
 which are attributed to the sacraments, and wisely main- 
 tain, that the sacrament of the Lord’s supper can be pro- 
 fitable to those only whose minds are prepared, by faith, 
 repentance, and the love of God, for that solemn service. 
 
 passions of men, and to persons of all tempers and characters, from the 
 most austere tothe most licentious. Philosophical sin (according to the 
 Jesuits’ doctrine) is an action, or course of actions, repugnant to the dic- 
 tates of reason, and yet not offensive to the Deity. See a more particu- 
 lar account of these two odious doctrines in the following part of this 
 work, cent. Xvil. sect. il. part i. chap. i. sect. xxxv. and in the author’s 
 and translator’s notes. 
 
 Zz4> * This is the only expression that occurred to the translator, as 
 proper to render the true sense of that phrase of the scholastic divines, 
 who say, that the sacraments produce their effect opere opcrato. ‘The 
 Jesuits and Dominicans maintain that the sacraments have in them- 
 selves an instrumental and efficient power, by virtue of which they 
 work in the soul (independently of its previous preparation or propen- 
 sities) a disposition to receive the divine grace; and this is what is 
 commonly called the opus operutwm of the sacraments. Thus, accord- 
 ing to their doctrine, neither knowledge, wisdom, humility, faith, nor 
 devotion, are necessary to the efficacy of the sacraments, whose victo- 
 rious energy nothing but a mortal sin can resist. See Dr. Courayer’s 
 Translation of Paul Sarpi’s History of the Council of Trent. 
 
 » Arnauld published, on this occasion, his famous book concerning 
 the practice of communicating frequently. The French title is, ‘ Traité 
 de la frequente Communion.’ 
 
 © See Journal Universel, tom. xiii. xv. Xv1. 
 
 4 The account here given of the more momentous controversies that 
 divide the church of Rome, may be confirmed, illustrated and enlarged, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II 
 
 XXXVII. The sixth (or last) controversy turns upon 
 the proper method of instructing Christians in the truths 
 and precepts of religion. Some of the Romish doctors, 
 who have the progress of religion truly at heart, deem 
 it expedient and even necessary to sow the seeds of di- 
 
 ‘vine truth in the mind, in the tender and flexible state 
 _of infancy, when it is most susceptive of good impressions 
 
 and to give it, by degrees, according to the measure of its 
 capacity, a full and accurate knowledge of the doctrines 
 and duties of religion. Others, who have a greater zeal 
 for the interests of the church than the improvement of its 
 members, recommend a devout ignorance to such as sub- 
 mit to their direction, and think a Christian sufficiently 
 instructed when he has learned to yield a blind and 
 unlimited obedience to the orders of the church. The 
 former are of opinion, that nothing can be so profitable 
 and instructive to Christians as the study of the Scrip- 
 tures, and consequently judge it highly expedient that 
 they should be translated into the vulgar tongue of each 
 country. The latter exclude the people from the satis- 
 faction of consulting the sacred oracles of truth, and look 
 upon all vernacular translations of the Bible as danger- 
 ous, and even of a pernicious tendency. ‘hey accord- 
 ingly maintain, that it ought only to be published in a 
 learned language to prevent its instructions from becom- 
 ing familiar to the multitude. The former compose pi- 
 ous and instructive books to nourish a spirit of devotion 
 in the minds of Christians, to enlighten their ignorance, 
 and dispel their errors ; they illustrate and explain the 
 public prayers and the solemn acts of religion in the lan- 
 guage of the people, and exhort all, who attend to their 
 instructions, to peruse constantly these pious productions, 
 in order to improve their knowledge, purify their affec- 
 tions, and learn the method of worshipping the Deity ina 
 rational and acceptable manner. All this, however, is 
 highly displeasing to the latter kind of doctors, who are 
 always apprehensive, that the blind obedience and impli- 
 cit submission of the people will diminish in proportion as 
 their views are enlarged, and their knowledge increased.¢ 
 
 XXXVIIL All the controversies that have been here 
 mentioned did not break out at the same time. 'The dis- 
 putes concerning divine grace, the natural power of man 
 to perform good actions, original sin, and predestination, 
 which have been ranged under the third class, were pub- 
 
 by consulting a multitude of books published in the last and present 
 centuries, especially in France and Flanders, by Jansenists, Domini- 
 cans, Jesuits, and others. All the productions, in which the doctrine 
 
 | and precepts of the Jesuits, and the other creatures of the pontiff, are 
 
 opposed and refuted, are enumerated by Dominic Colonia, a French 
 Jesuit, in a work published in 1735, under the following title: “ Biblio- 
 theque Janseniste, ou Catalogue Alphabetique des principaux livres 
 
 | Jansenistes, ou suspects de Jansenisme, avec des notes critiques.” This 
 
 writer is led into many absurdities by his extravagant attachment to the 
 pope, and to the cause and tenets of his order. His book, however, 1s 
 of use in pointing out the various controversies that perplex and divide 
 the church. It was condemned by pope Benedict XLV. but was repub- 
 
 | lished in a new form, with some change in the title, and a great en- 
 
 largement of its contents. ‘This new edition appeared at Antwerp in 
 1752, under the following title: ‘‘ Dictionaire des livres Jansenistes, ou 
 qui favorisent le Jansenisme, a Anvers, chez J. B. Verdussen.” And 
 it must be acknowledged, that it is extremely useful, in showing the in- 
 testine divisions of the church, the particular contests that divide its doc- 
 tors, the religious tenets of the Jesuits, and the numerons productions 
 that relate to the six heads of controversy here mentioned. It must be 
 observed, at the same time, that this work abounds with the most ma- 
 lignant invectives against many persons of eminent learning and piety, 
 and with the most notorious instances of partiality and injustice.* 
 Zp * See a particular account of this learned and scandalous work in 
 the “ Bibliotheque des Sciences etdes Beaux Arts,” printed at the Hague. 
 
Part I. 
 
 ticly carried on in the century of which we are now writ- 
 ing. ‘The, others were conducted with more secrecy and 
 reserve, and did not come forth to public view before the 
 following age. Nor will this appear at all surprising to 
 those who consider that the controversies concerning grace 
 and free-will, which had been set in motion by Luther, 
 were neither accurately examined, nor peremptorily de- 
 cided in the church of Rome, but were rather artfully 
 suspended and hushed into silence. ‘The sentiments of 
 Luther were indeed condemned ; but no fixed and _per- 
 spicuous rule of faith, with respect to these disputed points, 
 was substituted in their place. ‘Thedecisions of St. Augus- 
 tin were solemnly approved ; but the points of dissimili- 
 tude, between these decisions and the sentiments of Lu- 
 ther, were never clearly explained. "This fatal contro- 
 versy originated in the zeal of Michael Baius, a doctor in 
 the university of Louvain, equally remarkable on account 
 of the warmth of his piety and the extent of his learning. 
 This eminent divine, like the other followers of Augustin, 
 had an invincible aversion to that contentious, subtle, and 
 intricate manner of teaching theology, which had long pre- 
 vailed in the schools; and under the auspicious name of 
 that famous prelate, who was his admired guide, he had 
 the courage or temerity to condemn and censure, in an open 
 and public manner, the tenets commonly received in the 
 church, in relation to the natural powers of man and the 
 merit of good works. ‘This bold step drew upon Baius 
 the indignation of some of his academical colleagues, and 
 the heavy censures of several Franciscan monks. Whe- 
 ther the Jesuits immediately joined in this opposition, and 
 may be reckoned among the first accusers of Baius, is a 
 point unknown, or uncertain ; but it is unquestionably 
 evident, that, even at the rise of this controversy, they 
 abhorred the principal tenets of Baius, which he had ta- 
 ken from Augustin, and adopted as his own. In 1567, 
 this doctor was accused at the court of Rome; and seventy- 
 six propositions, drawn from his writings, were condemn- 
 ed by Pius V. in a circular letter expressly composed for 
 that purpose. This condemnation, however, was issued 
 in an artful and insidious manner, without any mention 
 of the name of the author; for the fatal consequences 
 that had arisen from the rash and inconsiderate measures 
 employed by the court of Rome against Luther, were too 
 fresh in the remembrance of the prudent pontiff to per- 
 mit his falling into new blunders of the same nature: 
 The thunder of excommunication was therefore sup- 
 pressed by the dictates of prudence, and the person and 
 functions of Baius were spared, while his tenets were cen- 
 sured. About thirteen years after this transaction, Gre- 
 gory XIIL. complied so far with the importunate solicita- 
 tions of a Jesuit, named Francis 'Tolet, as to reinforce the 
 sentence of Pius V. bya new condemnation of the opinions 
 of the Flemish doctor. Baius submitted to this new sen- 
 tence, either from an apprehension that it would be fol- 
 lowed by more severe proceedings in case of resistance, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 434 
 
 or, which is more probable, on account of the ambiguity 
 of the papal edict, and the vague and confused mannet 
 in which the obnoxious propositions were therein express- 
 ed. But his example, in this respect, was not followed 
 by the other doctors who had formed their theological 
 system upon that of Augustin ;* and, even at this day, 
 many divines of the Romish communion, and_particu- 
 larly the Jansenists, declare openly that Baius was un- 
 justly treated, and that the two edicts of Pius and Gre- 
 gory are absolutely destitute of all authority, and have 
 never been received as laws of the church.» 
 
 XXXIX. Be that as it may, it is at least certain, that 
 the doctrine of Augustin, with respect to the nature 
 and operations of divine grace, lost none of its credit in 
 consequence of these edicts, but was embraced and pro- 
 pagated, with the same zeal as formerly, throughout all 
 the Belgic provinces, and more especially in the two flou- 
 rishing universities of Louvain and Douay. ‘This appear- 
 ed very soon after, when two Jesuits, named Lessius and 
 Hamelius, ventured to represent the doctrine of predesti- 
 nation ina manner diflerent from that in which it ap- 
 pears in the writings of Augustin; for the sentiments of 
 these Jesuits were publicly condemned by the doctors of 
 Louvain in 1587, and by those of Douay in the following 
 year. ‘The bishops of the Low Countries were disposed to 
 follow the example of these two universities, and had al- 
 ready deliberated about assembling a provincial council 
 for this purpose, when pope Sixtus V. suspended the pro- 
 ceedings by the interposition of his authority, and declar- 
 ed, that the cognisance and decision of religious controver- 
 sies belonged only to the vicar of Christ, residing at Rome. 
 But this politic vicar, whose sagacity, prudence, and know- 
 lege of men and things, never failed him in transactions 
 of this nature, wisely avoided making use of the privilege 
 he claimed with such confidence, that he might not in- 
 flame the divisions and animosities which already sub- 
 sisted. And, accordingly, in 1588, this contest was fin- 
 ished, and the storm allayed in such a manner, that the 
 
 contending parties were left in the quiet possession of their 
 
 respective opinions, and solemnly prohibited from disput- 
 ing, either in public or in private, upon the intricate points 
 that had excited their divisions. Had the succeeding pon- 
 tiffs, instead of assuming the character of judges in this am- 
 biguous and difficult controversy, imitated the prudence of 
 Sixtus, and imposed silence on the litigious doctors, who 
 renewed afterwards the debates concerning divine grace, 
 the tranquillity and unity of the church would not have 
 been interrupted by such violent divisions as rage at pre- 
 sent in its bosom. ° 
 
 XL. The church had scarcely perceived the fruits of 
 that calm, which the prudence of Sixtus had restored, 
 by suppressing, instead of deciding the late controversies, 
 when new commotions, of the same nature, but of a much 
 more terrible aspect, arose to disturb its tranquillity. 
 ‘These were occasioned by the Jesuit Molina,‘ professor 
 
 * See, for an account of the disputes relating to Baius, the works of 
 that author, published at Cologne in 1696, particularly the second part, 
 or appendix, entitled, “ Baiana, seu scripta, que controversias spectant 
 occasione Sententiarum Baii exortas.” See also Bayle’s Dict., in which 
 there is an ample and circumstantial account of these disputes ;—Du- 
 Pin, Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, tom. xvi—Histoire de 
 la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. iii. 
 
 > This is demonstrated fully by an anonymous writer in a piece en- 
 titled, ‘‘ Dissertation sur Jes Bulles contre Baius, ou l’on montre qu’clles 
 ne sont pas recues par |’Eglise,” published at Utrecht in 1737. 
 
 * See Apologie Historique des deux Censures de Louvain et de Dou- 
 ay, par M. Gery. The famous Pasquier Quesnel was the author of this 
 
 | apology, if we may give credit to the writer of a book entitled, “ Cate- 
 
 chisme Historique et Dogmatique sur les Contestations de l’Eglise,” 
 tom. i. See an account of this controversy in the ““ Memoires pour ser- 
 vir & Histoire des Controversies dans l’Fglise Romaine sur la Predes- 
 tination et sur laGrace.” This curious piece is to be found in the four- 
 teenth tome of Le Clere’s Bibliotheque Universclle Historique. 
 
 4 From the name of this Spanish doctor proceeded the well-known 
 
 ji denomination of Molinists, by which those Roman Catholics are dis- 
 
 s 
 
440 
 
 of divinity in the university of Ebora in Portugal, who, 
 in 1588, published a book to show that the operations of 
 divine grace were entirely consistent with the freedom of 
 human will, and who introduced a new kind of hypo- 
 thesis, to remove the difficulties attending the doctrines of 
 predestination and liberty, and to reconcile the jarring 
 opinions of Augustinians, 'Thomists, Semi-Pelagians, and 
 other contentious divines.” This attempt of the subtle 
 Spanish doctor was so offensive to the Dominicans, who 
 followed St. Thomas as their theological guide, that they 
 sounded throughout Spain and Portugal the alarm of 
 heresy, and accused the Jesuits of endeavouring to renew 
 the errors of Pelagius. ‘This alarm was followed by great 
 commotions, and all things seemed to prognosticate a 
 general flame, when Clement VIIL, in 1594, imposed 
 silence on the contending parties, promising that he him- 
 self would examine with care and diligence every thing 
 relating to this new debate, in order to decide it in sucha 
 manner as might tend to promote the cause of truth, and 
 the peace of the church. 
 
 XLI. The pontiff was persuaded that these gentle re- 
 medies would soon remove the disease, and that, through 
 length of time, these heats and animosities would un- 
 doubtedly subside. Butsthe event was far from being 
 answerable to such pleasing hopes. ‘The Dominicans, 
 who had long fostered a deep-rooted and invincible hatred 
 against the Jesuits, having now an opportunity of vent- 
 ing their indignation, exhausted their furious zeal against 
 the doctrine of Molina, notwithstanding the pacific in- 
 junctions of the papal edict. They incessantly fatigued 
 Philip IL. of Spain, and pope Clement VIU., with their 
 importunate clamours, until at length the latter found 
 himself under a necessity of assembling at Rome a sort of 
 council for the decision of this controversy. And thus 
 commenced, about the beginning of the year 1598, those 
 famous deliberations concerning the contest of the Jesuits 
 and Dominicans, which took place in what was called 
 the congregation de auwziliis, or of aids. This congre- 
 gation was so denominated on account of the principal 
 point in debate, which was the efficacy of the aids and suc- 
 cours of divine grace ; and its consultations were directed 
 by Louis Madrusi, bishop of Trent, and one of the college 
 of cardinals, who sat as president in this assembly, which 
 was composed besides of three bishops and seven divines 
 
 tinguished, who seem to incline to the doctrines of grace and free-will, 
 maintained in opposition to those of Augustine. Many, however, who 
 differ widely from the sentiments of Molina, are unjustly ranked in the 
 class of Molinists. 
 
 * The title of this famous book is as follows: “ Liberi Arbitrii Concor- 
 dia cum Gratiz donis, divina Prescientia, Providentia, Preedestinatione, 
 et Reprobatione, Auctore Lud. Molina.” 'This book was first publish- 
 ed at Lisbon, in 1588; afterwards, with additions, at Antwerp, Lyons, 
 Venice, and other places, in 1595. A third edition, still farther aug- 
 mented, appeared at Antwerp in 1609. 
 
 43> » Molina affirmed, that the decree of predestination to eternal 
 glory was founded upon a previous knowledge and consideration of the 
 merits of the elect; that the grace, from whose operation these merits 
 are derived, is not efficacious by its own intrinsic power only, but also 
 by the consent of our own will, and because it is administered in those 
 circumstances in which the Deity, by that branch of his knowledge 
 which is called Sctentia Media, foresees that it will be efficacious. The 
 kind of prescience denominated in the schools Scientia Media, is that 
 fore-knowledge of future contingencies, that arises from an acquaintance 
 with the nature and faculties of rational beings, the circumstances in 
 which they shall be placed, the objects that shall be presented to them, 
 and the influence that these circumstances and objects must have on 
 their actions. 
 
 ¢ The history and transactions of this Congregation are related and 
 alustrated by several writers of different complexions, by Jesuits, Do- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMAN OR LATIN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. III, 
 
 chosen out of so many different orders. "The remaining 
 part of this century was wholly employed by these spiri- 
 tual judges in hearing and weighing the arguments alleg- 
 ed in favour of their respective opinions by the contending 
 parties. The Dominicans maintained, with the greatest 
 obstinacy, the doctrine of their patron St. Thomas, as 
 alone conformable to truth. The Jesuits, on the other 
 hand, though they did not adopt the religious tenets of 
 Molina, thought the honour of their order concerned in this 
 controversy, on account of the opposition so publicly made 
 to one of its members, and consequently used their ut- 
 most endeavours to have the Spanish doctor acquitted ot 
 the charge of Pelagianism, and declared free from any 
 errors of moment. In this they acted according to the 
 true monastic spirit, which leads each order to resent the 
 affronts that are offered to any of its members, as if they 
 had been cast upon the whole community, and to main 
 tain, at all adventures, the cause of every individual 
 monk, as if the interests of the whole society were involved 
 in it. 
 
 XLIU. Notwithstanding the zealous attempts that were 
 made, by several persons of eminent piety, to restore the 
 institutions of public worship to their primitive simplicity, 
 a multitude of vain and useless ceremonies still remainec 
 in the church; nor did the pontifis judge it proper to di- 
 minish that pomp and show, which gave the ministers of 
 religion a great, though ill-acquired, influence on the 
 minds of the people. Beside these ceremonies, many 
 popular customs and inventions, which were multiplied 
 by the clergy, and were either entirely absurd or grossly 
 superstitious, called loudly for redress ; and, indeed, the 
 council of Trent seemed disposed to correct these abuses, 
 and prevent their further growth. But this good design 
 was never carried into execution; it was abandoned, 
 either through the corrupt prudence of the pope and clergy, 
 who looked upon every check given to superstition as an 
 attempt to diminish their authority, or through their cri- 
 minal negligence about every thing that tended to pro- 
 mote the true interests of religion. Hence it happens. 
 that in those countries where there are few protes- 
 tants, and consequently where the church of Rome is in 
 no danger of losing its credit and influence from the prox- 
 imity and attempts of these pretended heretics, supersti- 
 tion reigns with unlimited extravagance and absurdity, 
 
 minicans, and Jansenists. Hyacinth Serri, a Dominican, published, 
 under the feigned name of Augustin le Blanc, in 1700, at Louvain, a 
 work with this title: Historia Congregationum de auxiliis Gratie divi- 
 ne; which was answered by another history of these debates, compo- 
 sed by Liv. de Meyer, a Jesuit, who assumed the name of Theod. Eleu- 
 therius, in order to remain concealed from public view, and whose book 
 is entitled, Historia Controversarium de Gratie divine Auxiliis. The 
 Dominicans also published the Acta Congregationum et Disputationum, 
 que Coram Clemente VIII. et Paulo V. de Auxillis divine Gratiz 
 sunt celebrate, a work composed by Thomas de Lemos, a subtle monk 
 of their order, who, in this very congregation, had defended with grea} 
 applause the glory of St. Thomas against the Jesuits. Amidst these 
 jarring accounts, a man must be endowed with a supernatural sagacity 
 tocome to the truth; for acts are opposed to acts, testimony to testimony, 
 and narration to narration. Itis therefore a matter of doubt, which the 
 court of Rome favoured most on this occasion, the Jesuits or the Domini- 
 cans, and which of these two parties defended their cause with the 
 greatest dexterity and success. There is also a history of these de- 
 bates written in French, which was published at Louvain in 1702, un- 
 der the following title: Histoire des Congregations de Auwiliis, par un 
 Docteur de la Faculté de Theologie de Paris. This historian, though 
 he be neither destitute of learning nor of elegance, being nevertheless 
 a flaming Jansenist, discovers throughout his enmity against the Jesuits, 
 and relates all things in a manner that favours the cause of the Domini- 
 cans. 
 
Part IT. 
 
 Such is the case in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, where the 
 feeble glimmerings of Christianity, that yet remain, are 
 overwhelmed and obscured by an enormous multitude of 
 ridiculous ceremonies, and absurd, fantastic, and unac- 
 countable rites; so that a person who arrives in any one 
 of these countries, after having passed among other nations 
 even of the Romish communion, is immediately struck 
 with the change, and thinks himself transported into the 
 thickest darkness, into the most gloomy retreats of super- 
 stition.* Nor, indeed, are even those nations whom the 
 neighbourhood of the protestants, and a more free and 
 liberal turn of mind, have rendered somewhat less absurd, 
 entirely exempt from the dominion of superstition, and 
 the solemn fooleries that always attend it; for the religion 
 of Rome, in its best form, and in those places where its 
 external worship is the least shocking, is certainly loaded 
 with rites and observances that are highly offensive to 
 sound reason. If, from this general view of things, we 
 descend to a more circumstantial consideration of the in- 
 numerable abuses that are established in the discipline of 
 that church; if we attend to the pious, or rather impious, 
 frauds which, in many places, are imposed with impuni- 
 ty upon the deluded multitude ; if we pass in review the 
 corruption of the clergy, the ignorance of the people, the 
 devout farces that are acted in the ceremonies of public 
 worship, and the insipid jargon and trifling rhetoric that 
 prevails in the discourses of the Romish preachers; if we 
 weigh all these things maturely, we shall find, that they 
 have little regard to impartiality and truth, who pretend 
 that, since the council of Trent, the religion and worship 
 of the Roman church have been every where corrected 
 and amended. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The History of the Greek and Eastern Churches. 
 
 I. Tur Christian society that goes under the general 
 denomination of the eastern church, is dispersed through- 
 out Europe, Asia, and Africa, and may be divided into 
 three distinct communities. he first is that of the Greek 
 Christians, who agree, in all points of doctrine and wor- 
 ship, with the patriarch residing at Constantinople, and 
 reject the pretended supremacy of the Roman pontiff. 
 The second comprehends those Christians who differ 
 equally from the Roman pontiff and the Grecian patri- 
 arch, in their religious opinions and institutions, and 
 
 ® It is well known that the French, who travel into Italy, employ the 
 whole force of their wit and raillery in rendering ridiculous the mon- 
 strous superstition of the Italians. The Italians, in their turn, look up- 
 on the French that visit their country as totally destitute of all princi- 
 ples of religion: This is evidently the case, as we learn from the testi- 
 mony of many writers, and particularly from that of Father Labat, in 
 his Voyages en Italie eten Espagne. This agreeable Dominican lets 
 no opportunity escape of censuring and exposing the superstition of the 
 Spaniards and Italians; nor does he pretend to deny that his country- 
 men, and even he himself, passed for impious libertines in the opinion 
 of those bigots. , 
 
 b For an account of the patriarchate of Alexandria, and the various 
 prelates who have filled that see, it will be proper to consult Sollerii 
 Commentar. de Patriarchis Alexandrinis, prefixed to the fifth volume of 
 the Acta Sanctorum Mensis Junii; as also the Oriens Christianus of 
 Mich. Le Quien, tom. ii. p. 329. The nature of their office, the extent 
 of their authority, and the manner of their creation, are accurately de- 
 scribed by Eus. Renaudot, in his Dissertatio de Patriarcha Alexandri- 
 no, published in Liturg. Orient. The Grecian patriarch has, atthis day, no 
 bishops under bis jurisdiction; the chorepiscopi or rural bishops alone are 
 subject to his authority. All the bishops acknowledge as their chiefthe pa- 
 
 No. XX XVIII. 111 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURiHES. 
 
 441 
 
 who live under the government of their own pishops and 
 rulers. The third is composed of those who are subject 
 to the see of Rome. 
 
 If. "That society which holds religious communion with 
 the patriarch of Constantinople, is, properly speaking, the 
 Greek (though it assumes likewise the title of the eastern) 
 church. ‘This society is subdivided into two branches, of 
 which one acknowledges the supreme authority and juris- 
 diction of the bishop of Constantinople, while the other, 
 though joined in communion of doctrine and worship with 
 that prelate, obstinately refuses to receive his legates, or to 
 obey his edicts, and is governed by its own laws and in- 
 situtions, under the jurisdiction of spiritual rulers, who are 
 not dependent on any foreign authority. 
 
 Il. That part of the Greek church which acknow- 
 ledges the jurisdiction of the bishop of Constantinople, is 
 divided, as in the early ages of Christianity, into four large 
 districts or provinces, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, 
 and Jerusalem ; and over each of these a bishop presides 
 with the title of Patriarch, whom the inferior bishops and 
 monastic orders unanimously respect as their common 
 Father. But the supreme chief of all these patriarchs, 
 bishops and abbots, and indeed of the whole church, is the 
 patriarch of Constantinople. This prelate has the privi- 
 lege of nominating the other patriarchs, (though that dig- 
 nity still continues apparently elective,) and of approving 
 the election that is made; nor is any thing of moment 
 undertaken or transacted in the church without his ex- 
 press permission, or his especial order. It is true, that, in 
 the present decayed state of the Greek churches, whose 
 former opulence is reduced almost to nothing, their spiri- 
 tual rulers enjoy little more than the splendid title of pa- 
 triarchs, without being in a condition to extend their fame, 
 or promote their cause, by any undertaking of signal im 
 portance. 
 
 IV. The spiritual jurisdiction and dominion of the first 
 of these patriarchs are very extensive, comprehending a 
 considerable part of Greece, the Grecian Isles, Wallachia, 
 Moldavia, and several of the Kuropean and Asiatic pro- 
 vinces subject to the Turks. The patriarch of Alexan- 
 dria resides generally at Cairo, and exercises his spiritual 
 authority in Egypt, Nubia, Libya, and part of Arabia.® 
 Damascus is the principal residence of the patriarch of 
 Antioch, whose jurisdiction extends to Mesopotamia, Syria, 
 Cilicia, and other provinces,° while the patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem comprehends, within the bounds of his pontificate, 
 
 triarch ofthe Monophysites, who is, in effect, the patriarch of Alexandria. 
 
 ¢ The Jesuits have prefixed a particular and learned account of the 
 patriarchs of Antioch to the fifth volume of the Acta SS. Mensis Julii, 
 in which, however, there are some omissions and defects. Add to this 
 the account that is given of the district or diocese of the patriarch ot 
 Antioch, by Le Quien, in his Oriens Christianus, tom. ii. and by Blasi- 
 us Tertius, in his ‘Siria Sacra, 6 Descrittione Historico-Geographica 
 delle due Chiese Patriarchali, Antiochia, e Gierusalemme,” published at 
 Rome, in 1695. There are three bishops in Syria who claim the title 
 and dignity of patriarch of Antioch. The first is the bishop of the 
 Melchites,—a name given to the Christians in Syria, who follow the 
 doctrines, institutions, and worship of the Greek church; the second is 
 the spiritual guide of the Syrian Monophysites ; and the third is the 
 chief of the Maronites, who hold communion with the church of Rome. 
 This last bishop pretends to be the true and lawful patriarch of Anti- 
 och, and is acknowledged as such, or at least receives this denomina- 
 | tion from the Roman pontiff; yet it is certain, that the pope creates at 
 Rome a patriarch of Antioch of his own choice. Thus the see of An- 
 tioch has, at this day, four patriarchs, one from the Greeks, two from 
 the Syrians, and one created at Rome, who is patriarch im partibus, 
 i. e. titular patriarch, according to the usual signification of that phrase, 
 
442 
 
 Palestine, Syria,* Arabia, the country beyond Jordan, Cana 
 in Galillee, and mount Sion. "The episcopal dominions 
 of these three patriarchs are indeed extremely poor and 
 inconsiderable ; for the Monophysites have long since as- 
 sumed the patriarchal seats of Alexandria and Antioch, 
 and have deprived the Greek churches of the greatest 
 part of their members 1n all those places where they have 
 gained an ascendancy; and, as Jerusalem is the resort of 
 Christians of every sect, who have their respective bishops 
 and rulers, the jurisdiction of the Grecian patriarch is con- 
 sequently confined there within narrow limits. 
 
 V. The right of electing the patriarch of Constantino- 
 ple is, at this day, vested in the twelve bishops who re- 
 side nearest to that famous capital ;, but the T’urkish em- 
 peror alone enjoys the right of confirming this election, 
 and of enabling the new “patr iarch to exercise his spiritual 
 functions. This institution, however, if it is not entirely 
 overturned, is nevertheless, on many occasions, prostituted 
 in a shameful manner by the corruption and avarice of 
 the reigning ministers. ‘Thus it happens, that many bi- 
 shops, inflamed with the ambitious lust of power and pre- 
 eminence, purchase by money what they cannot obtain 
 by merit, and, seeing themselves excluded from the pa- 
 triarchal dignity by the suffrages of their brethren, find an 
 open and ready way to it by the mercenary services of 
 men in power. What is yet more deplorable has fre- 
 quently happened : prelates, who have been chosen in the 
 lawful way to this eminent office, have even been deposed, 
 in order to make way for others, whose only pretensions 
 were ambition and bribery. And indeed, generally speak- 
 ing, he is looked upon by the ‘Turkish viziers as the most 
 qualified for the office of patriarch, who surpasses his com- 
 petitors in the number and value of the presents he em- 
 ploys on that occasion. It is true, that some accounts 
 worthy of credit represent the present state of the Greek 
 church as advantageously changed in this respect ; and 
 it is reported, that, as the Turkish manners have gradu- 
 ally assumed a milder and more humane cast, the patri- 
 archs live under their dominion with more security and 
 repose than they did some ages ago.° 
 
 The power of the patr iarch among a people dispirited 
 by oppression, and sunk, through their extreme ignorance, 
 into the greatest superstition, may be supposed to be very 
 considerable and extensive; and such, indeed, it is. Its 
 extent, however, is not entirely derived from the causes 
 now mentioned but from others that give no small weight 
 and lustre tu the patriarchal dignity. For this prelate 
 not only calls councils by his own authority, in order to 
 decide, ly their assistance, the controversies that arise, 
 
 Z¢p * Syria is here erroneously placed in the patriarchate of Jerusa- 
 lem: it evidently belongs to that of Antioch, in which also Dr. Mosheim 
 places itin the preceding part of the sentence. 
 
 > Blas. Tertii Siria Sacra, lib. ii. D. Papebrochii Comment. de Patri- 
 arch. }¥erosolym. tom. iii. Act. Sanct. Mens. Maii—Le Quien, 
 tom. lil. 
 
 ¢ Le Quien, tom. 1. p. 145.—Elsner, Beschreibung der Griechischen in 
 der Turckey. 
 
 4 Cuper, a Jesuit, has given a History of the Patriarchs of Constan- 
 tinople, in the Acta Sanctorum Mensis Augusti, tom. i. p. 1—257. 
 There is also a very ample account both of the see of Constantinople 
 and its patriarchs, in the Oriens Christianus of Le Quien, who likewise 
 treats of the Latin patriarchs of that city. See also a brief account of 
 the power and revenues of the present patriarch, and of the names of 
 the several sees under his spiritual jurisdiction, in Smith, de Eccles. 
 Grecie Hodierno Statu. 
 
 * It was originally composed in the Russian language. 
 
 ¢ This confession was published at Leipsic, with a Latin tr anslation, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 Sect. If. 
 
 and to make use of their prudent advice and wise delibe- 
 rations in directing the affairs of the church ; his prero 
 gatives go yet farther, and, by the especial permission of 
 the sultan, he administers justice and takes cognizance 
 of civil causes among the members of his communion. 
 His influence is maintained, on the one hand, by the 
 authority of the Turkish monarch, and, on the other, by 
 his right of excommunicating the disobedient members 
 of the Greek church. 'This right gives the patriarchs 
 a singular degree of influence and authority, as nothing 
 has a more terrifying aspect to that people than a sen- 
 tence of excommunication, which they reckon among 
 the greatest and most tremendous evils. The revenue 
 of this prelate is drawn particularly from the churches 
 that are subject to his jurisdiction ; and its produce varies 
 according to the state and circumstances of the Greek 
 Christians, whose condition is exposed to many Vicissi- 
 tudes.4 
 VI. The Scriptures and the decrees of the first seven 
 general councils are acknowledged by the Greeks as the 
 rule of their faith. It is received, however, as a maxim 
 established by long custom, that no private person has a 
 right to explain, for himself or others, either the declara- 
 tions of Scripture, or the decisions of these councils ; and 
 that the patriarch and his brethren are alone authorized 
 to consult these oracles, and to declare their meaning; 
 and, accordingly, the declarations of this prelate are looked 
 upon as sacred and infallible directions, whose authority 
 is supreme, and which can neither be transgressed not 
 disregarded without the utmost impiety. "he substance 
 of the doctrine of the Greek church is contained in a trea- 
 tise entitled, ‘The orthodox Confession of the Catholic and 
 Apostolic Eastern Chur ch, which was drawn up by Peter 
 Mogislaus, bishop of Kiow, in a provincial council assem- 
 bled in that city. ‘This confession was translated into 
 Greek,* and publicly approved and adopted, in 1643, by 
 Parthenius of Constantinople, and the other Grecian pa- 
 triarchs. It was afterwards published in Greek and Latin, 
 at the expense of Panagiota, the grand-signor’s interpre 
 ter, a man of great opulence and Tiber rality, who ordered 
 it to be distributed gratis among the Greek Christians ; 
 and it was also enriched with a recommendatory letter 
 composed by Nectarius, patriarch of Jerusalem. It ap- 
 pears evidently from this confession, that the Greeks dif- 
 fer widely from the votaries of the Roman pontiff, whose 
 doctrines they reject and treat with indignation in several 
 places; but it appears, at the same time, that their reli- 
 gious tenets are equally remote from those of other Chris- 
 tian societies ; so that whoever peruses this treatise with 
 
 by Lar. Normannus, in 1695. In_the preface we are informed, that it 
 had keen composed by Nectarius: -but this assertion is refuted by that 
 prelete himself, in a letter which immediately follows the preface. It 
 »5 also affirmed, both in the preface and title-page, that this is the first 
 public edition which has been given of the Greek confession. But this 
 wssertion is also false, since it 1s well known that it was published in 
 }{o’land in 1662, at the expense of Panagiota. The German transla- 
 tor of this confession was published at Frankfort and Leipsic, in 1727. 
 Fhe learned Jo. Christ. Kocher has given, with his usual accuracy and 
 ernuition, an ample account both of this and the other confessions re- 
 cesved among the Greeks, in his Bibliotheca Theologie Symbol., and 
 the laborious Dr. Hoffman, principal professor of divinity at Witten- 
 berg, published, in 1751, a new edition of the Orthodox confession, with 
 an kistorieal account of it. Those who are desirous of a circumstantial 
 acceunt of the famous Panagiota, to whom this confession was indebted 
 for a considerable part of its credit, and who rendered to the Greek 
 church in general the most eminent services, will find it in Cantemu’s 
 Histoire de VEmpire Ottoman, tom. ii. p. 149. 
 
Parr I. 
 
 attention, will be fully convinced, how much certain wri- 
 ters mistake the case, who imagine that the obstacles 
 which prevent the union of the Greeks with this or the 
 other Christian community, are small and inconsiderable.* 
 
 VII. 'The votaries of Rome have found this to be true 
 on many occasions. And the Lutherans made an expe- 
 riment of the same kind, when they presented a fruitless 
 invitation to the Greek churches to embrace their doctrine 
 and discipline, and live with them in religious commu- 
 nion. ‘The first steps in this laudable attempt were taken 
 by Melancthon, who sent to the patriarch of Constanti- 
 nople a copy of the confession of Augsburg, translated 
 into Greek by Paul Dolscius. ‘This present was accom--: 
 panied with.a letter, in which the learned and humane 
 professor represented the protestant doctrine with the ut- 
 most simplicity and faithfulness, hoping that the artless 
 charms of truth might touch the heart of the Grecian pre- 
 late. But his hopes were disappointed ; for the patriarch 
 did not even deign to send him an answer.” After this 
 the divines of Tubingen renewed, with his successor Je- 
 remiah,° the correspondence which had been begun by 
 Melancthon. They wrote frequently, during the course 
 of several years,’ to the new patriarch, and sent him 
 another copy of the Confession of Augsburg, with a Com- 
 pendium of Theology, composed by Heerbrand, and trans- 
 lated into Greek by Martin Crusius ; nor did they leave 
 unemployed any means, which a pious and well-conducted 
 zeal could suggest as proper to gain over this prelate to 
 their communion. The fruits, however, of this corre- 
 spondence were very inconsiderable, and wholly consisted 
 in a few letters from the Greek patriarch, written, indeed, 
 with an amiable spirit of benevolence and cordiality, but 
 at the same time in terms which showed the impossibility 
 of the union so much desired by the protestants. ‘The 
 whole strain of these letters manifested in the Greeks an 
 inviolable attachment to the opinions and institutions of 
 their ancestors, and tended to demonstrate the vanity of 
 attempting to dissolve it in the present situation and cir- 
 cumstances of that people.¢ 
 
 VIII. Nothing, indeed, more deplorable can be conceiv- 
 ed than the state of the greatest part of the Greeks, since 
 their subjection to the oppressive yoke of the Turkish 
 emperors. Since that fatal period, almost all learning 
 and science, human and divine, have been extinguished 
 among them. ‘They have neither schools, colleges, nor 
 any of those literary establishments that ennoble human 
 nature, by sowing in the mind the immortal seeds of 
 knowledge and virtue. ‘Those few who surpass the vul- 
 gar herd in intellectual acquirements have derived this 
 advantage from the schools of learning in Sicily or Italy, 
 where the studious Greeks usually repair in quest of 
 knowledge, or from a perusal of the writings of the ancient 
 doctors, and more especially of the theology of St. Tho- 
 mas Aquinas, which they have translated into their native 
 language.‘ ; 
 
 Such, at least, is the notion of the learning of the mo- 
 
 * The learned Fabricius has given, in the tenth volume of his Biblio- 
 theca Greea, an exact and ample list of the writers, whom it is proper 
 to consult, in order to form a just notion of the state, circumstances, and 
 doctrines of the Greek church. 
 
 » Leo Allatius, de perpetua Consensione Eccles. Orient. et Occident. 
 lib. iii. cap. vill. sect. ii. p. 1005. 
 
 => ¢ The name of the former patriarch was Joseph. In 1559, he 
 had sent his deacon Demetrius to Wittenberg, to inform himself upon 
 the spot of the genius and doctrines of the protestant religion. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 443 
 
 dern Greeks, that is entertained by all the Eurojean Chris- 
 tians, as well Roman Catholics as protestants; and it is 
 built upon the clearest evidence, and supported by testi- 
 monies of every kind. Many of the Greeks deny with 
 obstinacy this inglorious charge, and not only defend their 
 countrymen against the imputation of such gross igno- 
 rance, but even go so far as to maintain, that all the li- 
 beral arts and sciences are in as flourishing a state in 
 modern Greece, as they were in any period of the history 
 of that nation. Among the writers that exalt the learn- 
 ing of the modern Greeks in such an extraordinary man- 
 ner, the first place is due to an eminent historian, who 
 has taken much pains to demonstrate the error of those 
 who are of a different opinion. or this purpose he has 
 not only composed a list of the learned men who adorned 
 that country in the last century, but also makes mention 
 of an academy founded at Constantinople by a certain 
 Greek, whose name was Manolax, in which all the branches 
 of philosophy, all the liberal and useful arts and sci- 
 ences, are taught with the utmost success and applause, 
 after the manner of the ancient sages of Greece. But all 
 this, though matter of fact, does not amount to a satisfac- 
 tory proof of the point in question. It only proves, what was 
 never doubted by any thinking person, that the populous 
 Greek nation, in which are many ancient, noble, and op- 
 ulent families, is not entirely destitute of men of learning 
 and genius. But it does not at all demonstrate, that this 
 nation, considered in general, is at present enriched with 
 science either sacred or profane, or makes any shining 
 figure in the republic of letters. In a nation which, gen- 
 erally speaking, is sunk in the most barbarous ignorance, 
 some men of genius and learning may arise, and shine 
 like meteors ina gloomy firmament. With respect to the 
 academy founded at Constantinople, it may be observed, 
 that a literary establishment, so necessary and yet so re- 
 cent, confirms the judgment that has been almost uni- 
 versally formed concerning the state of erudition among 
 the Greeks. 
 
 ‘This ignorance, which reigns among the Greeks, has 
 the most pernicious influence upon their morals. Licen- 
 tiousness and impiety not only abound among the people, 
 but also dishonour their leaders; and the calamities that 
 arise from this corruption of manners, are deplorably aug- 
 mented by their endless contentions and divissions. Their 
 religion is a motley collection of ceremonies, the greatest 
 part of which are either ridiculously trifling, or shockingly 
 absurd. Yet they are much more zealous in retaining 
 and observing these senseless rites, than in maintaining 
 the doctrine, or obeying tne precepts, of the religion they 
 profess. ‘Their misery would be extreme, were it not for 
 the support they derive from those Greeks who perform 
 the functions of physicians and interpreters at the empe- 
 ror’s court; and who, by their opulence and credit, fre- 
 quently interpose to reconcile the differences, or to ward 
 off the dangers, that so often menace their church with de 
 struction. 
 
 4 This correspondence commenced in 1576, and ended in 1581. 
 
 ¢ All the acts and papers relating to this correspondence were pub- 
 lished in 1584. See Christ. Matth. Pfaffii Liber de Actis et Seriptis 
 publicis Ecclesize Wirtembergice, p. 50.—Jo. Alb. Fabricii Bibhoth. 
 Greeca, vol. x—Emman. a Schelstrate, Acta Ecclesie Orientalis contra 
 Lutheri Heresin.—Lami Delicie Eruiditorum, tom. vill. — ; 
 
 Z¢> f The translator has inserted the note [*] of the original into that 
 paragraph of the English text, which begins thus : Such, at least, &e, 
 
 © See Demetrius Cantemir’s Histoire de l’Eropire Ottoman, tom, i 
 
444 
 
 IX. The Russians, Georgians, and Mingrelians, adopt 
 the doctrines and ceremonies of the Greek church, though 
 they are entirely free from the jurisdiction and authority 
 of the patriarch of Constantinople. — It is true, indeed, that 
 this prelate had formerly enjoyed the privilege of a spiri- 
 tual supremacy over the Russians, to whom he sent a 
 bishop whenever a vacancy happened. But, toward the 
 conclusion of this century, this privilege ceased in conse- 
 quence of the following incident. Jeremiah If., patriarch 
 of Constantinople, undertook a journey into Moscovy, to 
 levy pecuniary succours against his rival Metrophanes, 
 and to drive him, by the force of money, from the patri- 
 archal throne. On this occasion, the Moscovite monks, 
 in compliance, no doubt, with the secret orders of the grand 
 duke Theodore, the son of John Basilowitz, employed all 
 the influence both of threatenings and supplications to en- 
 gave Jeremiah to place at the head of the Moscovite na- 
 tion an independent patriarch. 'The patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople, unable to resist such powerful solicitations, was 
 forced to yield; and accordingly, in a council assembled 
 at Moscow in 1589, he nominated and proclaimed Job, 
 archbishop of Rostow, the first patriarch of the Moscovites. 
 This extraordinary step was, however, taken on condition 
 that every new patriarch of the Russians should demand the 
 consent and suffrage of the patriarch of Constantinople, 
 and pay, at fixed periods, five hundred gold ducats. The 
 transactions of this Moscovite council were afterwards 
 ratiried in oneassembled by Jeremiah at Constantinople in 
 1593, to which ratification the Turkish emperor gave his 
 solemn consent.* But the privileges and immunities of 
 the patriarch of Moscow were extended about the middle 
 of the followmg century, when Dionysius [I., the Con- 
 stantinopolitan primate, and his three patriarchal col- 
 leagues, exempted him, at the renewed solicitation of the 
 grand duke of Moscovy, from the double obligation of 
 paying tribute, and of depending, for the confirmation of 
 his election and installation, on a foreign jurisdiction. » 
 
 X. The Georgians and Mingrelians, or, as they were 
 anciently called, the Iberians and Colchians, have de- 
 clined so remarkably since the Mohammedan dominion 
 has been established in these countries, that they can 
 scarcely be ranked in the number of Christians. Such, 
 in a more especial manner, is the depraved state of the 
 latter, who wander about the woods and mountains, 
 and leada savage and undisciplined life; but, among the 
 Georgians or Iberians, there are yet some remains of re- 
 ligion, morals, and humanity. 'These nations have a 
 pontiff at their head, whom they call the Catholic; they 
 have also their bishops and priests; but these spiritual 
 rulers are a dishonour to Christianity, by their ignorance, 
 avarice, and profligacy; they surpass almost the popu- 
 lace in the corruption of their manners, and, grossly igno- 
 
 * See Anton. Possevini Moscovia.—Le Quien, tom. i1—The Catalo- 
 gus Codicum Manuscriptorum Biblioth. 'Taurinens. (p. 433—469.) con- 
 tains Jeremiah’s account of this transaction. 
 
 > Le Quien, tom. i—Nic. Bergius, de Ecclesia Muscovitica part i. 
 sect. i. c. XVIil. 
 
 ¢ Clementis Galini Conciliatio Ecclesia Armenice cum Romana, 
 tom. i. p. 156—Chardin’s Voyage en Perse, &c. tom. i. p. 67, where 
 the reader will find Jos. Mar. Zampi’s Relation de la Colchide et Min- 
 egrelie—Lamberti’s Relation de la Colchide ou Mingrelie, in the Recueil 
 des Voyages au Nord, tom. vii. p. 160. Le Quien, tom. i. p. 1333.— 
 See also Rich. Simon’s Histoire Critique des Dogmes et Ceremonies des 
 Chretiens Orientaux, ch. v. and vi. in which the learned author endea- 
 vours to remove, at least, a part of the reproach under which the Geor- 
 gians and Mingrelians labour on account of their supposed ignorance 
 aud corruption. ‘The catholics or pontiffs of Georgia and Mingyelia 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 Secr. Ill. 
 
 rant themselves of the truths and principles of religion, 
 they never entertain the least thought of instructing the 
 people. Iftherefore it be arfirmed, that the Georgians and 
 Mingrelians, at this day, are neither attached to the opi- 
 nions of the Monophysites, nor to those of the Nestorians, 
 but embrace the doctrine of the Greek church, this must 
 be confirmed rather in consequence of probable con- 
 jecture, than of certain knowledge, since it is almost im- 
 possible to know, with precision, what are the sentiments 
 of a people who seem to be involved in the thickest dark- 
 ness. Any remainsof religion, observable among them, 
 are entirely comprehended in certain sacred festivals and 
 external ceremonies, of which the former are celebrated, 
 and the latter are performed, without the least appearance 
 of decency; for the priests administer the sacraments of 
 baptism and of the Lord’s supper with as little respect and 
 devotion, as if they were partaking of an ordinary repast.¢ 
 XI. The eastern Christians, who renounce the com- 
 munion of the Greek church, and differ from it both in 
 doctrine and worship, may be comprehended under two 
 distinct classes. 'T'o the former belong the Monophy- 
 sites, or Jacobites, so called from Jacob Albardai,t who 
 declare it as their opinion, that in the Saviour of the 
 world there is only one nature, while the latter compre- 
 hends the followers of Nestorius, frequently called Chal- 
 deans, from the country where they principally reside, 
 and who suppose that there are two distinct persons or 
 natures inthe Son of God. ‘The Monophysites are sub- 
 divided into two sects or parties, one African, the other 
 Asiatic. At the head of the Asiatics is the patriarch of 
 Antioch, who resides, for the most part, in the monastery 
 of St. Ananias, and sometimes at Merdin, his episcopal 
 seat, or at Amida, Aleppo, and other Syrian cities.° 
 The government of this prelate is too extensive, and the 
 churches over which he presides are too numerous, to 
 allow his performing, himself, all the duties of his high 
 office; and therefore a part of the administration of the 
 pontificate is given to a kind of colleague, who is called 
 the maphrian, or primate of the East, and whose doc- 
 trine and discipline are said to be adopted by the eastern 
 churches beyond the Tigris. ‘This primate used former- 
 ly to reside at Tauris, a city on the frontiers of Armenia ; 
 but his present habitation is the monastery of St. Matthew, 
 near Mosul, in Mesopotamia. It is farther observable, that 
 all the patriarchs of the Jacobites assume the denomina 
 tion of Lgnatius.* 
 XII. The African Monophysites are under the juris 
 diction of the patriarch of Alexandria, who generally re- 
 sides at Grand Cairo; and they are subdivided into Copts 
 and Abyssinians. ‘The former denomination compre- 
 hends all those Christians who dwell in Egypt, Nubia, and 
 the countries adjacent, and whose condition is truly deplo- 
 
 are, at this day, exempt from foreign jurisdiction; they are, however, 
 obliged to pay a certain tribute to the patriarch of Constantinople. 
 
 4 ‘This Jacob Albardai, or Baradzeus, as he is called by others, restored, 
 in the sixth century, the sect of the Monophysites, then almost expiring, 
 to its former vigour, and modelled it anew; hence they were called Jacob- 
 ites. This denomination is commonly used in an extensive sense, as 
 comprehending all the Monophysites, except those of Armenia; it, 
 however, more strictly and properly belongs only to those Asiatic Mo- 
 nophysites, of whom Jacob Albardai was the restorer and the chief. 
 See Simon’s Histoire des Chretiens Orientaux—a work, nevertheless, 
 that often wants correction. 4 
 
 * Assemani Dissert. de Monophysitis, tom. ii—Biblioth. Orient. 
 Clem. Vatican. sect. viii—Faust. Nairon’s Euoplia Fidei Catholice ex 
 Syroram Monument. par. i. p. 40—Le Quien’s Oriens Christ. tom. il, 
 p. 1348. f Assemani Dissertat. de Monophysitis, sect. vii. 
 
Parr L HISTORY OF THE GREEK 
 rable. Oppressed by the insatiable avarice and tyranny of 
 the ‘Turks, they draw out their wretched days in misery 
 and want, and are unable to support either their patriarch 
 or their bishops. ‘These are not, however, left entirely 
 destitute ; since they are, in a manner, maintained by 
 the liberality of those Copts, who, on account of their ca- 
 pacity in domestic affairs, and their dexterity in the exer- 
 cise of several manual arts, highly useful, though entirely 
 
 unknown to the Turks, have gained admittance into the |. 
 
 principal Moslem families.s As to the Abyssinians, they 
 surpass considerably the Copts, in number, power, and 
 opulence ; nor will this appear surprising, when it is con- 
 sidered, that they live under the dominion of a Christian 
 emperor; they, nevertheless, consider the Alexandrian 
 pontiff as their spiritual parent and chief; and, consequent- 
 ly, instead of choosing their own bishop, receive from that 
 prelate a primate, whom they call abana, and whom they 
 acknowledge as their spiritual ruler. 
 
 XIII. These Monophysites differ from other Christian so- 
 cieties, whether of the Greek or Latin communion, in many 
 points, both of doctrine and worship, though the principal 
 reason of their separation lies in the opinion they entertain 
 concerning the nature and person of Jesus Christ. Fol- 
 lowing the doctrine of Dioscorus, Barsuma, Xenaias, Fullo, 
 and others, whom they consider as the heads or chief or- 
 naments of their sect, they maintain that in Christ the di- 
 vine and human natures were reduced into one, and con- 
 sequently reject both the decrees of the council of Chalce- 
 don, and the famous letter of Leo the Great. That, how- 
 ever, they may not seem to have the least inclination 
 toward the doctrine of Kutyches, which they profess to 
 reject with the most ardent zeal, they propose their own 
 system with the utmost caution and circumspection, and 
 hold the following obscure principles: That the two 
 natures are united in Christ without either confusion or 
 mixture; so that though the nature of our Saviour be re- 
 ally one, yet it is at the same time twofold and compound. 
 By this declaration it appears, that those learned men, 
 who look upon the difference between the Monophysites, 
 and the Greek and Latin churches, rather as a dispute 
 about words than things, are not so far in an error as 
 
 ® Renaudot published, in 1713, a very learned work, relative to the 
 history of the Eastern patriarchs, under the title of ‘ Historia Alexan- 
 drinorum Patriarcharum Jacobitarum,” &c. He also gave to the world 
 the office used in the ordination of the Jacobite patriarch, with remarks, 
 in the first volume of his Liturg. Orient—The internal state of the 
 Alexandrian or Coptic church, both with respect to doctrine and wor- 
 ship, is described by Wansleb, in his “ Histoire de l’Eglise d’ Alexan- 
 drie, que nous appellons celle des Jacobites Coptes,”* published in 1667. 
 Add to this another work of the same author, entitled, ‘‘ Relation d’un 
 Voyage en Egypte,” in which there is a particular account of the Cop- 
 tic monasteries and religious orders. See also “ Nouveaux Memoires 
 des Missions de la Compagnie de Jesus dans le Levant ;” and Maillet’s 
 Description de Egypte, tom. il. 
 
 » Job. Ludolf, Comment. in Histor. A&thiop. p. 451, 461—Lobo, 
 Voyage d’Abissinie, tom. ii. p. 36—Nouveaux Memoires des Missions 
 dans le Levant, tom. iv—Le Quien, tom. 11. 
 
 ¢ Assemani Biblioth. Orien. Clement. Vatican. tom. il. p. 25, 34, 117, 
 133, 277, 297, &c.—See, in the same work, Abulpharajius’ subtle vindi- 
 cation of the doctrine of his sect, vol. ii. p. 288. ‘There is a complete 
 and circumstantial account of the religion of the Abyssinians, in the 'The- 
 ologia A&thiopica of Gregory the Abygsinian, published by Fabricius, in 
 his Lux Evangelii toti orbi exoriens, p. 716, where may also be found a 
 list of all the writers who have given accounts of the Abyssinians. 
 
 4 See La Croze, Hist. du Christianisme des Indes, p. 23. Asseman. 
 tom. ii. p. 291, 297.—Rich. Simon, Histoire des Chretiens Orientaux, p. 
 119.—Jo. Joach Schroderi ‘Thesaurus Lingue Armenice, p. 276. 
 
 #*p The truth of the matter is, that the terms used by the Monophy- | 
 
 sites are something more than equivocal; they are contradictory. It 
 may also be farther observed, that those who pretend to hold a middle 
 
 No, XXX VIII. 112 
 
 AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 445 
 some have imagined." Be that as it may, both the Asiatic 
 and African Monophysites of the present times are, gen- 
 erally speaking, so deeply sunk in ignorance, that their 
 attachment to the doctrine by which they are distinguish- 
 ed from other Christian societies, is rather founded on their 
 own obstinacy, and on the authority of their ancestors, 
 than on any other circumstance; nor do they even pre- 
 
 tend to appeal, in its behalf, to reason and argument.® 
 
 XIV. The Armenians,‘ though they agree with the 
 other Monophysites in the main doctrine of that sect re 
 lating to the unity of the divine and human nature in 
 Christ, differ from them, nevertheless, in many points of 
 faith, discipline, and worship; and hence it comes to pass, 
 that they hold no communion with that branch of the 
 Monophysites who are Jacobites in the more limited sense 
 of thatterm. ‘The Armenian church is governed by three 
 patriarchs. ‘The chief, whose diocese comprehends the 
 Greater Armenia, beholds forty-two archbishops subjected 
 to his jurisdiction, and resides in a monastery at Echmia- 
 zin. ‘The revenues of this spiritual ruler are such as would 
 enable him to live in the most splendid and magnificent 
 manner ;* but there are no marks of pomp or opulence 
 in his external appearance, or in his regular economy. 
 His table is frugal, his habit plain; nor is he distin- 
 guished from the monks, with whom he lives, by any 
 other circumstance than his superior power and authority. 
 He is, for the most part, elected to his patriarchal dignity 
 by the sufirages of the bishops assembled at Echmiazin, 
 and his election is confirmed by the solemn approbation 
 of the Persian monarch. 'The second patriarch of the 
 Armenians, who is called the Catholic, resides at Cis in 
 Cilicia, rules over the churches established in Cappadocia, 
 Cilicia, Cyprus, and Syria, and has twelve archbishops 
 under his jurisdiction. He at present acknowledges his 
 subordination to the patriarch of Kehmiazin. 'The third 
 patriarch, who has no more than eight or nine bishops 
 under his dominion, resides in the island of Aghtamar 
 (which is in the midst of the great lake of Varaspuracan,) 
 and is looked upon by the other Armenians as the enemy 
 of their church. 
 
 Beside these prelates, who are patriarchs in the true 
 
 path between the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches, were greatly em- 
 barrassed, as it was almost impossible to oppose the one, without adopt- 
 ing, or at least appearing to adopt the other. ’ 
 
 e The liturgies of the Copts, the Syrian Jacobites, and the Abyssi- 
 nians, have been published, with learned observations, by Renaudot, in 
 the first and second volumes of his Liturgiz Orientales. 
 
 * The first writer, who gave a circumstantial account of the religion 
 and history of the Armenians, was Clement Galani, an Italian of the 
 order of the Theatins, whose Conciliatio Ecclesize Armenice cum Ro- 
 mana was published in 1650. The other authors, who have treated of 
 this branch of ecclesiastical history, are enumerated by Fabricius, in his 
 Lux Evangelii toti Orbi exoriens, ch. xxxvill.; to which must be added, 
 Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i—The History of Christianity in 
 Armenia, which the learned La Croze has subjoined to his account of 
 the progress of the Christian religion in Abyssinia, is by no means 
 answerable to the importance and copiousness of the subject; which 
 must be attributed to the age and infirmities of that author. For an 
 account of the partfcular institutions and rites of the Armenians, see 
 Gemelli Carreri, Voyage autour du Monde, tom. 11. : 
 
 xp * Sir Paul Ricaut mentions four; but his authority, were it more 
 respectable than it rez!’ is, cannot be compared with that of the excel- 
 
 | lent sources from which De. Mosheim draws his materials. 
 
 h R. Simon has subjoineu w« his Histoire des Chretiens Orient. an 
 account of all the Armenian chwehes which are subject to the jurisdic- 
 tion of this grand patriarch; bu *his account, though taken from Usea: 
 nus, an Armenian bishop, is defeu. me in many respects. For an ac- 
 count of the resieerse and manner ot .« of the patriarch of Echmia- 
 zin, see Paul Lucas, Voyage au Levant, tux. u, erd Gemelli Cexreri, 
 Voyage autour du Monde, tom. ii, 
 
4AE 
 
 sense of that term, the Armenians havé other spiritual 
 leaders, who are honoured with the same appellation ; but 
 this, indeed, is no more than an empty title, unattended 
 with the authority and prerogatives of the patriarchal 
 dignity. Thus the archbishop of the Rin Mans who 
 lives at Constantinople, and whose authority is respected 
 by the churches established in those provinces which form 
 the connexion between Europe and Asia, enjoys the title 
 of patriarch. 'The same denomination is given to the 
 Armenian bishop who resides at Jerusalem, and also to 
 the prelate of the same nation, who has his episcopal 
 seat at Caminiec in Poland, and governs the Armenian 
 churches that are established in Russia, Poland, and the 
 adjacent countries. ‘These bishops assume the title of pa- 
 triarchs, on account of some peculiar privileges conferred 
 on them by the great patriarch of Echmaizin ; for, by an 
 authority derived from this supreme head of the Armenian 
 church, they are allowed to consecrate bishops, and to 
 make, every third year, and distribute among their con- 
 gregations, the holy chrism, or ointment ; which, accord- 
 ing toaconstant custom among the eastern Christians, is 
 the privilege of the patriarchs alone.* 
 
 XV. The Nestorians, who are also known by the de- 
 nomination of Chaldeans, have fixed their habitation 
 chiefly in Mesopotamia and the neighbouring countries. 
 They have several doctrines, as well as some religious ce- 
 remonies and institutions, that are peculiar to themselves. 
 
 3ut the main points that distinguish them from all other 
 Christian societies, are, their persuasion that Nestorius 
 was unjustly condemned by the council of Ephesus, and 
 their firm attachment to the doctrine of that prelate, who 
 maintained that there were not only two natures, but also 
 two distinct persons in the Son of God. In the earlier 
 ages of the church, this error was looked upon as of the 
 most momentous and pernicious kind ; but in our times 
 it is deemed of less consequence, by persons of the greatest 
 weight and authority in theological matters, even among 
 
 > : ; 5 
 the Roman Catholic doctors. 'They consider this whole 
 
 controversy as a dispute about words, and the opinion of 
 
 Nestorius as a nominal, rather than a real heresy; that 
 is, as an error arising rather from the words he employed, 
 than from his intention in the use of them. It is true, in- 
 deed, that the Chaldeans attribute to Christ two natures, 
 and even two persons; but they correct what may seem 
 rash in this expression, by adding, that these natures and 
 persons are so closely and intimately united, that they 
 have only one aspect. Now the word barsopa, by which 
 they express this aspect, is precisely of the same signifi- 
 cation with the Greek word xgorwrov, which signifies a 
 person ;* and hence it is evident, that they attached to 
 the word aspect the same idea that we attach to the word 
 person, and that they understood by the word person, 
 precisely what we understand by the term nature. 
 However that may be, we must observe here, to the last- 
 
 * See the Nouveaux Memoires des Missions deda Compagnie de Je- 
 sus, tom. ili. where there is an ample and circumstantial account, both 
 of the civil and religious state of the Armenians. This account has 
 been highly applauded by M. de la Croze, for the fidelity, accuracy, and 
 industry with which it is drawn up; and no man was more conversant 
 in subjects of this nature than that learned author. 
 
 b It is in this manner that the sentiments of the Nestorians are ex- 
 plained in the inscriptions which adorn the tombs of their patriarchs at 
 Mosul.—See Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. ti. par. 11.—R., 
 Simon, Histoire de la Creance des Chretiens Orientaux, ch. viii—P. 
 Strozzi, de Dogmatibus Chaldzorum, published in 1617. 
 
 ° See the learned dissertation of Assemanus de Syris Nestorianis, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 Srcr. IL 
 
 ing honour of the Nestorians, that, of all the Christian 
 societies established in the East, they have been the most 
 careful and successful in avoiding a multitude of super- 
 stitious opinions and practices that have infected the Greek 
 and Latin churches.¢ 
 
 XVI. In the earlier ages of Nestorianism, the various 
 branches of that numerous and powerful sect were under 
 the spiritual jurisdiction of the same pontiff, or catholic, 
 who resided first at Bagdad, and afterwards at Mosul ; 
 but in this century the Nestorians were divided into two 
 sects. ‘They had chosen, in 1552, as has been already 
 observed, two bishops at the same time, Simeon Barmama, 
 and John Sulaka, otherwise named Siud. ‘The latter, to 
 strengthen his interest, and to triumph over his competitor, 
 hastened to Rome, and acknowledged the jurisdiction, 
 that he might be supported by the credit, of the Roman 
 pontiff. In 1555, Simeon Denha, archbishop of Gelu, 
 adopted the party of the fugitive patriarch, who bad em- 
 braced the communion of the Latin church ; and, being 
 afterwards chosen patriarch himself, fixed his residence in 
 the city of Ormia, in the mountainous parts of Persia. So 
 far down as the last century, these patriarchs persevered 
 in their communion with the church of Rome; but they 
 seem at present to have withdrawn themselves from it. 
 The great Nestorian pontiffs, who form the opposite party, 
 and look with a hostile eye on this little patriarch, have, 
 since the year 1559, been distinguished by the general 
 denomination of Elias, and reside constantly in the city of 
 Mosul. ‘Their spiritual dominion is very extensive, takes 
 in a considerable part of Asia, and comprehends also with- 
 in its circuitthe Arabian Nestorians ; as also the Christians 
 of St. Thomas, who dwell along the coast of Malabar.‘ 
 
 XVII. Beside the Christian societies now mentioned, 
 who still retain some faint shadow at least of the system 
 of religion delivered by Christ and his apostles, there are 
 other sects dispersed through a great part of Asia, whose 
 principles and doctrines are highly pernicious. These 
 sects derive their origin from the Ebionites, Valentinians, 
 Manicheans, Basilidians, and other separatists, who, in the 
 early ages of Christianity, excited schisms and factions in 
 the church. Equally abhorred by Turks and Christians, 
 and thus suffering oppression from all quarters, they gra- 
 dually declined in successive centuries, and fell at length 
 into such barbarous superstition and ignorance, as ex- 
 tinguished among them every spark of true religion. 
 Thus were they reduced to the wretched and ignomini- 
 ous figure they at present make, having fallen from the 
 privileges, and almost forfeited the very name of Christians. 
 The sectaries, who pass in the East under the denomina- 
 tion of Sabians, who call themselves Mendai Ijahi, or the 
 disciples of John, and whom the Europeans style the 
 Christians of St. John, because they yet retain some 
 knowledge of the Gospel, are probably of Jewish origin, 
 and the remains of the ancient Hemerobaptists, of whom 
 
 which oceupies entirely the fourth volume of his Biblioth. Oriental. Va- 
 tican. and which seems to have been much consulted and partly copied 
 by Mich. Le Quien. 
 
 4 See Jos. Sim. Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. i. p. 538, 
 and tom. 11. p. 456. - 
 
 © A list of the Nestorian pontiffs is given by Assemanus, in his Bi- 
 blioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. part i. p. 711; which is corrected, 
 however, in the same volume, part ii.—See also Le Quien, tom. lii. 
 
 . 1078. 
 . f The reader will find an ample account of the Christians of St 
 Thomas in La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes. See also 
 Assemani Biblioth. tom. iii. part 1i. cap. ix. p. eccexill. 
 
Parr L 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 4A7 
 
 the writers of ecclesiastical history make frequent men- || they treat him at least with the utmost respect, and not 
 
 tion. This, at least, is certain, that John, whom they 
 consider as the founder of their sect, bears no sort of si- 
 militude to John the Baptist, but rather resembles the per- 
 son of that name whom the ancient writers represent as 
 the chief of the Jewish Hemerobaptists. These ambigu- 
 ous Christians, whatever their origin may be, dwell in 
 Persia and Arabia, and principally at Basra, and their re- 
 ligion consists in bodily washings, performed frequently, 
 and with great solemnity,” and attended with certain ce- 
 remonies which the priests mingle with this superstitious 
 service.* 
 
 XVIII. The Jasidians, or Jezdans, of whose religion 
 and manners many reports of a very doubtful nature are 
 
 given by voyage-writers, are an unsettled wandering tribe, | 
 who frequent the Gordian mountains, and the deserts of 
 
 Curdistan, a province of Persia; the character of whose 
 inhabitants has something in it peculiarly fierce and in- 
 tractable. ‘The Jezdeans are divided into black and 
 white members. ‘The former are the priests and rulers of 
 the sect, who go arrayed in sable garments; while the 
 latter, who compose the multitude, are clothed in white. 
 Their system of religion is certainly very singular, and is 
 not hitherto sufficiently known, though it is evidently 
 composed of some Christian doctrines, and a motley mix- 
 ture of fictions drawn from a diflerent source. ‘hey are 
 distinguished from the other corrupt sects, that have dis- 
 honoured Christianity, by the peculiar impiety of their 
 opinion concerning the evil genius. ‘This malignant 
 principle they call Karubin, or Cherub, i. e. one of the 
 great ministers of the Supreme Being; and, if they do 
 not directly address religious worship to this evil minister, 
 
 =+>* The sect of Hemerobaptists among the Jews were so called 
 from their washing themselves every day, and their performing this 
 custom with the greatest solemnity, as a religious rite, necessary to sal- 
 vation. The account of this sect given by Epiphanius, in the introduc- 
 tion to his book of heresies, has been treated as a fiction, in consequence 
 of the suspicions of inaccuracy and want of veracity, under which that 
 author too justly labours. Even the existence of the Hemerobaptists has 
 
 been denied, but without reason, since they are mentioned by Justin | 
 
 Martyr, Eusebius, and many other ancient writers, every way worthy 
 of credit. That the Christians of St. John descended from this sect, is 
 rendered probable by many reasons, of which the principal and the 
 most satisfactory may be seen in a very learned and genious work of 
 Dr. Mosheim, entitled, de Rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum 
 Magnum Commentaril. 
 
 Zp > The Mendeans at present perform these ablutions only once 
 in a year. 
 
 ¢ See the work of a learned Carmelite, named Ignatius a Jesu, pub- 
 lished in 1652, under the following title: “ Narratio Originis Rituum 
 et Errorum Christianorum S. Johannis, cui adjungitur Discursus, per 
 modum Dialogi, in quo confutantur xxxiv. Errores ejusdem Nationis.” 
 Engelb. Kempferi Amenitates Exotice, Fascic. II. Relat. XL p. 35.— 
 Sale’s Preface to his English Translation of the Koran, p. 15.—Assema- 
 ni Biblioth. Oriental. tom. ill. par. 11. p. 609.—Thevenot, Voyages, tom. 
 iv. p. 584.—Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. p. 725.— The very learned Bayer 
 had composed an historical account of these Mendzans, which contain- 
 ed a variety of curious and interesting facts, and of which he intended 
 that I should be the editor; but a sudden déath prevented his executing 
 his intention. He was of opinion (as appears from the Thesaurus 
 Epistolicus Crozianus) that these Mendzans, or disciples of St. John, 
 were a branch of the ancient Manicheans; which opinion La Croze 
 himself seems to have adopted, as may be seen in the work now cited, 
 tom. iii. But there is really nothing, either in the doctrines or manners 
 of this sect, that resembles the opinions and practice of the Manicheans. 
 Hence several learned men conjecture, that they derive their origin from 
 the ancient idolators who worshipped a plurality of gods, and more 
 
 especially from those who payed religious adoration to the stars of | 
 heaven, and who were called, by the Arabians, Sabians or Sabeans. | 
 
 This opinion has been maintained with much erudition by the famous 
 Fourmont, in a dissertation inserted in the eighteenth volume of the 
 Memoires de |’Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres. But it 
 is absolutely groundless, and has not even a shadow of probability, if 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 only abstain, themselves, from offering him any marks 
 | of hatred or contempt, but will not suffer any contumelious 
 _treatment to be given him by others. They carry, it is 
 said, this reverence and circumspection to such an exces- 
 sive height, that no efforts of persecution, no torments, not 
 even death itself, can engage them to conceive or express 
 an abhorrence of this evil genius; and it is even added, 
 that they will make no scruple to put to death such per- 
 sons as express, in their presence, an aversion to him.@ 
 
 XIX. The Duruzians, or Dursians, a fierce and war- 
 like people that inhabit the craggy rocks and inhospitable 
 wilds of mount Libanus, give themselves out for descen- 
 dants of the Franks, who, from the eleventh century, car- 
 ried on the holy war with the Mohammedans in Pales- 
 tine; though this pretended origin is a matter of the 
 greatest uncertainty. What the doctrine and discipline 
 of this nation are at present, it is extremely difficult to 
 know, as they are at the greatest pains imaginable tocon- 
 ceal their religious sentiments and principles. We find, 
 | however, both intheir opinions and practice, the plainest 
 proofs of their acquaintance with Christianity. Several 
 learned men have imagined, that both they and the Curdi 
 of Persia had formerly embraced the sentiments of the 
 Manicheans, and perhaps still persist in their pernicious 
 errors.° 
 
 The Chamsi, or Solares, who reside in a certain district 
 of Mesopotamia, are supposed, by curious inquirers into 
 these matters, to be a branch of the Samszans, mentioned 
 by Epiphanius.! _ 
 
 There are many other Semi-Christian sects of these 
 kinds in the east,s whose principles, tenets, and institu- 
 
 we except the name which the Mohammedans usually give to this sect. 
 The Mendeans, themselves, acknowledge that they are of Jewish ori- 
 gin, and that they were transferred from Palestine into the country 
 which they at present inhabit. They have sacred books of a very 
 remote antiquity; among others, one which they attribute to Adam, 
 and another composed by John, whom they revere as the founder of their 
 sect. As these books were some years ago added to the library of the 
 king of France, it is to be hoped that they may contribute to give us a 
 more authentic account of this people than we have hitherto received. 
 
 4 See Hyde, Historia Relig. Veter. Persarum in Append. p. 549.— 
 Otter, Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, tom. i. p. 121, tom. ii. p. 249. 
 In the seventeeth century, Mich. Nau, a learned Jesuit, undertook to 
 instruct this profane sect, and to give them juster notions of religion, 
 (see D’ Arvieux, Memoires ou Voyages, tom. vi. p. 362, 377,) and after 
 him another Jesuit, whose name was Monier, embarked in the same 
 dangerous enterprise, (see Memoires des Missions des Jesuites, tom. 
 iii. p. 291 ;) but how they were received, and what success attended their 
 ministry, is hitherto unknown. Rhenferdius (as appears from the let- 
 ters of the learned Gisbert Cuper, published by Bayer) considers the Jez- 
 deans as the descendants of the ancient Scythians. But this opinion is no 
 less improbable than that which makes them a branch of the Maniche- 
 ans; and this is sufficiently refuted by their sentiments concerning the 
 Evil Genius. Beausobre, in his Histoire du Manicheisme, conjectures 
 that the denomination of this sect is derived from the name of Jesus; 
 but it seems rather to be borrowed from the word Jazid, or Jezdan, 
 | which, in the Persian language, signifies the good God, and is opposed 
 te Ahrimen, or Arimanius, the Evil Principle, (see Herbelot, Biblioth. 
 Orient. p. 484.—Cherefeddin Ali, Hist. de Timur-bec, tom. iii. p. 81.) 
 so that the appellative term derived from the former points out that sect 
 as the worshippers of the good, or true God. Notwithstanding the 
 plausibility of this account of the matter, it is not impossible that the 
 city Jezd, of which Otter speaks in his Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, 
 may have given rise to the title of Jasidians, or Jezdaans. 
 
 * See Lucas’ Voyage en Grece et Asie Mineure, tom. ii. p. 36.— 
 Hyde’s Hist. Relig. Veter. Persar. p. 491, 554.—Sir Paul Ricaut’s His- 
 tory of the Ottoman Empire, vol. i. p. 313. 
 
 f Hyde, Histor. Relig. Veter. Persar. p. 555. 4 
 
 ® The Jesuit Diusse (in the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses des Mis- 
 sions Etrangeres, tom. i. p. 63,) informs us of the existence of a sect of 
 Christians, in the mountains which separate Persia from India, who 
 imprint the sign of the cross on their bodies with a red-hot iron, | 
 
448 
 
 tions. are far from being unworthy of the curiosity of the 
 learned. And those who would be at the pains to turn 
 their researches this way, and more especially to have 
 the religious books of these sects conveyed into Europe, 
 would undoubtedly render eminent service to the cause 
 of sacred literature, and obtain applause from all who 
 have a taste for the study of Christian antiquities; for 
 the accounts which have hitherto been given of these 
 nations and sects are full of uncertainty and contradic- 
 tion. 
 
 XX. The missionaries of Rome have never ceased to 
 display, in these parts of the world, their dexterity in mak- 
 ing proselytes, and accordingly have founded, though 
 with great difficulty and expense, among the greatest 
 part of the sects now mentioned, congregations that adopt 
 the doctrine, and acknowledge the jurisdiction, of the Ro- 
 man pontiff. It is abundantly known, that among the 
 Greeks, who live under the empire of the ‘Turks, and 
 also among those who are subject to the dominion of the 
 Venetians, the emperor of Germany, and other Christian 
 princes, there are many who have adopted the faith and 
 discipline of the Latin church, and are governed by their 
 own clergy and bishops, who receive their confirmation 
 and authority from Rome. In the latter city is a college, 
 expressly founded with a view to multiply these aposta- 
 tising societies, and to increase and strengthen the credit 
 and authority of the Roman pontiff among the Greeks. 
 In these colleges a certain number of Grecian stu- 
 dents, who have given early marks of genius and 
 capacity, are instructed in the arts and sciences, and 
 are more especially prepossessed with the deepest senti- 
 ments of veneration and zeal for the authority of the pope. 
 Such an institution, accompanied with the efforts and la- 
 bours of the missionaries, could not fail, one would think, 
 to gain an immense number of proselytes to Rome, con- 
 sidering the unhappy state of the Grecian churches. But 
 the case is quite otherwise ; for the most respectable wri- 
 ters, even of the Roman catholic persuasion, acknowledge 
 fairly, that the proselytes they have drawn from the 
 Greek churches make a wretched and despicable figure, 
 in point of number, opulence, and dignity, when compar- 
 ed with those, to whom the religion, government, and the 
 very name of Rome, are disgusting and odious. They 
 observe farther, that the sincerity of a great part of these 
 proselytes is of the Grecian stamp; so that, when a favour- 
 able occasion is offered them of renouncing, with advan- 
 tage, their pretended conversion, they seldom fail, not 
 only to return to the bosom of their own church, but even 
 to recompense the good offices they received from the 
 Romans with the most injurious treatment. The same 
 writers mention another circumstance, much less sur- 
 prising, indeed, than those now mentioned, but much 
 more dishonourable to the church of Rome; and that cir- 
 cumstance is, that even those of the Greek students who 
 are educated at Rome with such care, as might naturally 
 attach them to its religion and government, are, never- 
 
 * See, among other authors who have treated this point of history, 
 Urb. Cerri, Etat present de ’Eglise Romaine, in which, speaking of 
 the Grecks, he expresses himself in the following manner: “Ils devien- 
 nent les plus violens ennemis des catholiques lorsqu’ils ont apris nos 
 sciences, et qu’ils ont connoissance de nos imperfections :” i. e. in plain 
 English, they (the Greeks) become the bitterest enemies of us Roman 
 eatholics, when they have been instructed in our sciences, and have 
 acquired the knowledge of our imperfections.—Other testimonies of a 
 ,ike nature shall be given hereafter—Mich. Le Quien has given vs an 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 Sect. Lil 
 
 theless so disgusted and shocked at the corruptions of 
 its church, clergy, and people, that they forget, more no- 
 toriously than others, the obligations with which they 
 have been loaded, and exert themselves with peculiar ob- 
 stinacy and bitterness in opposing the credit and autho- 
 rity of the Latin church.« 
 
 XXL. In their efforts to extend the papal empire over 
 the Greek churches, the designing pontiffs did not forget 
 the church of Russia, the chief bulwark and ornament of 
 the Grecian faith. On the contrary, frequent delibera- 
 tions were holden at Rome, about the proper methods of 
 uniting, or rather subjecting this church tothe papal hier- 
 archy. Inthis century John Basilides, or Basilowitz, grand 
 duke of the Russians, seemed to discover a propensity to- 
 ward this union, by sending, in 1580, asolemn embassy 
 to Gregory XIII. to exhort that pontiff to resume the ne- 
 gotiations relative to this important matter, that they 
 might be brought to a happy and speedy conclusion. Ac- 
 cordingly, in the year following, Antony Possevin, a 
 learned and artful Jesuit, was charged by the pope with 
 the commission, and sentinto Moscovy, to carry it into ex- 
 ecution. But this dexterous missionary, though he 
 spared no pains to obtain the purposes of his ambitious 
 court, found by experience that all his efforts were une- 
 qual to the task he had undertaken; nor did the Russian 
 ambassadors, who arrived at Rome soon after, bring any 
 thing to the ardent wishes of the pontiff, but empty pro- 
 mises, conceived in dubious and general terms, on which 
 little dependence could be placed.» And, indeed, the 
 event abundantly showed, that Basilowitz had no other 
 view, in all these negotiations, than to flatter the pope, 
 and obtain his assistance, in order to bring to an advan- 
 tageous conclusion the unsuccessful war which he had 
 carried on against Poland. 
 
 The advice and exhortations of Possevin and his asso- 
 ciates were attended with more fruit among the Russian 
 residents in the Polish dominions, many of whom em- 
 braced the doctrine and rites of the Roman church, in 
 consequence of an association agreed on in 1596, ina 
 meeting at Bresty, the capital of the Palatinate of Cujavia. 
 Those who thus submitted to the communion of Rome 
 were called the United, while the adverse party, who ad- 
 hered to the doctrine and jurisdiction of the patriarch of 
 Constantinople, were distinguished by the title of the Non 
 United.: It is likewise worthy of observation here, that 
 there has been established at Kiow, since the fourteenth 
 century, a Russian congregation, subject to the jurisdiction 
 of the Roman pontiff, and ruled by its own metropolitans, 
 who are entirely distinct from the Russian bishops resident 
 in that city.4 
 
 XXII. The Roman missionaries made scarcely any 
 spiritual conquests worthy of mention among either the 
 Asiatic or African Monophysites. About the middle of the 
 preceding century, a little insignificant church, that ac- 
 knowledged the jurisdiction of the pope, was erected among 
 
 5 
 the Nestorians, whose patriarchs, successively named Jo- 
 
 enumeration, although a defective one, of the Greek bishops who follow 
 the rites of the Roman church, in his Oriens Christ. tom. ui. p. 360. ° 
 
 b See the conferences between Possevin and the duke of Moscovy. 
 together with the other writings of this Jesuit, (relative to the negotia- 
 tion in question, ) subjoined to his work, called Moscovia,—See also La 
 Vie du Pére Possevin, par Jean Dorigny, liv. v. p. 351. 
 
 ¢ Adr. Regenvolscii Histor. Eccl. Slavonicar. lib. iv. cap. ii. p. 465. 
 
 4 See Le Quien, tom. i. p. 1274, and tom. iii. p. 1126.—Acta Sancto- 
 rum, tom. iL. Februaz p. 693, 
 
Part I. 
 
 seph,* resided in the city of Diarbek. Some of the Ar- 
 menian provinces embraced the doctrines and discipline 
 of Rome so early as the fourteenth century, under the 
 pontificate of John XXIITL, who, in 1318, sent them a 
 Dominivan monk to govern their church, with the title 
 and authority of an archbishop. 'The episcopal seat of 
 this spiritual ruler was first fixed at Soldania, a city in the 
 province of Aderbijan :> but was afierwards transferred to 
 Naxivan, where it still remains in the hands of the Do- 
 minicans, who alone are admitted to that spiritual digni- 
 ty.<§ ‘The Armenian churches in Poland, which have 
 embraced the faith of Rome, have also their bishop, who 
 resides at Lemberg. The Georgians and Mingrelians, 
 who were visited by some monks of the Theatin and 
 Capuchin orders, disgusted these missionaries by their fe- 
 tocity and ignorance, remained inattentive to their coun- 
 sels, and unmoved by their admonitions; so that their 
 ministry and labours were scarcely attended with any 
 visible fruit.’ 
 
 XXIII. The pompous accounts which the papal mis- 
 sionaries have given of the vast success of their labours 
 among all these Grecian sects, are equally destitute of can- 
 dour and truth. It is evident, from testimonies of the best 
 and most respectable authority, that, in some of those coun- 
 tries, they do nothing more than administer clandestine 
 baptism to sick infants who are committed to their care, as 
 they appear in the fictitious character of physicians; and 
 that, in other places, the whole success of their ministry is 
 confined to the assembling of some wretched tribes of in- 
 digent converts, whose poverty is the only bond of their 
 attachment to the Romish church, and who, when the 
 papal largesses are suspended or withdrawn, fall from their 
 pretended allegiance to Rome, and return to the religion 
 of their ancestors. It happens also, from time to time, 
 that a person of distinction, among the Greeks or Orientals, 
 embraces the doctrine of the Latin church, promises obe- 
 dience to its pontiff, and carries matters so far as to repair 
 to Rome to testify his respectful submission to the apos- 
 tolic see. But in these obsequious steps the noble con- 
 verts are almost always moved by avarice or ambition ; 
 and, accordingly, upon a change of affairs, when they have 
 
 * See Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. iii. par. i. p. 615.— 
 Le Quien, tom. ii. p. 1084. 
 
 » Odor. Raynald. Annal. tom. xv. ad An. 1318. sect. iv. 
 
 © Le Quien, tom. iii. p. 1362, and 1403.—Clemens Galanus, Concilia- 
 tio Ecclesia Armenicze cum Romana, tom. i. p. 527. 
 
 4 Memoires des Missions de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. iii. 
 
 © Urb. Cerri. Etat present de l’Eglise Romaine. 
 
 f Urb. Cerri, p. 164.—Gabr. de Chinon, Relations nouvelles du Le- 
 vant, par. i.c. vi. This Capuchin monk delivers his opinions on many 
 subjects with frankness and candour. 
 
 £ See Chardin’s Voyages en Perse, tom. i. ii. ili. of the last edition 
 published in Holland, m 4to.; for, in the former editions, all the scan- 
 dalous transactions of the Roman missionaries among the Armenians, 
 Colchians, Iberians, and Persians, are entirely wanting.—See also Chi- 
 non’s Relations du Levant, part 11. for the affairs of the Armenians ; 
 and Maillet’s Description d’Egypte, tom. 1ii., for an account of the Copts. 
 
 h Otherwise named Amida and Caramit. 
 
 i Assemanus complains (in several passages of his Biblioth. Orient. 
 Vatican.) that even the very books printed at Rome for the use of the 
 Nestorians, Jacobites, and Armenians, were not corrected or purged 
 from the errors peculiar to these sects; and he looks upon this negli- 
 gence as the reason of the defection of many Roman converts, and of 
 their return to the bosom of the eastern and Greek churches, to which 
 they originally belonged.—See, on the other hand, the Lettres Choisies 
 de R. Simon, tom. ii. let. xxiii., in which the author pretends to defend 
 this conduct of the Romanists, which some attribute to indolence and 
 neglect, others to artifice and prudence. 
 
 k The Maronite doctors, and more especially those who reside at 
 Rome, maintain, with the greatest efforts of zeal and argument, that the 
 
 No. XX XVIII. 113 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 449 
 
 obtained their purposes, and have nothing more to expect, 
 they, in general, either suddenly abandon the church of 
 Rome, or express their attachment to it in such ambigu- 
 ous terms as are only calculatec .o deceive. 'Those who, 
 like the Nestorian bishop of Diarbek," continue in the pro- 
 fession of the Roman faith, and even transmit it with an 
 appearance of zeal to their posterity, are excited to this 
 perseverance by no other motive than the uninterrupted 
 liberality of the Roman pontiff. 
 
 On the other hand, the bishops of Rome are extremely 
 attentive and assiduous in employing all the methods in 
 their power to maintain and extend their dominion 
 among the Christians of the East. For this purpose, they 
 treat, with the greatest lenity and indulgence, the prose- 
 lytes they have made in those parts of the world, that 
 their yoke may not appear intolerable. ‘They even carry 
 this indulgence so far, as to show evidently, that they are 
 actuated more by a love of power, than by an attach- 
 ment to their own doctrines and institutions; for they not 
 only allow the Greek and other eastern proselytes the 
 liberty of retaining the ceremonies of their ancestors 
 (though in direct opposition to the religious service of the 
 
 church of Rome,) and of living in a manner repugnant to 
 
 the customs and practice of the Latin world ; but, what 
 ismuch more surprising, they suffer the peculiar doctrines, 
 that distinguish the Greeks and Orientals from all other 
 Christian secieties, to remain in the public religious books 
 of the proselytes already mentioned, and even to be reprint- 
 ed at Rome in those which are sent abroad for their use.i 
 The truth of the matter seems to be briefly this: at Rome, 
 a Greek, an Armenian, or a Copt, is looked upon as an 
 obedient child, and a worthy member of the church, if he 
 acknowledges the supreme and unlimited power of the 
 Roman pontiff over all the Christian world. 
 
 XXIV. The Maronites who inhabit the mounts Li- 
 banus and Anti-Libanus, date their subjection to the 
 spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff from the time 
 that the Latins carried their hostile arms into Palestine, 
 with a view to make themselves masters of the Holy 
 Land.* ‘This subjection however was agreed to, with an 
 express condition, that neither the popes nor their emis- 
 
 religion of Rome has always been preserved among them in its purity, 
 and exempt from any mixture of heresy or error. The proof of this 
 assertion has been attempted, with great labour and industry, by Faust. 
 Nairon, in his Dissertatio de Origne, Nomine, ac Religione, Maronita- 
 rum, published at Rome in 1679. It was from this treatise, and some 
 other Maronite writers, that De la Roque drew the materials of his 
 discourses concerning the origin of the Maronites, together with the 
 abridgment of their history, which he inserted in the second volume of 
 his Voyage de Syrie et du Mont Liban. But neither this hypothesis, 
 nor the authorities by which it is supported, have any weight with the 
 most learned men of the Roman church, who maintain, that the Maron- 
 ites derived their origin from the Monophysites, and adhered to the 
 doctrine of the Monothelites,* until the twelfth century, when they 
 embraced the communion of Rome. See R. Simon, Histoire Critique 
 des Chretiens Orientaux, ch. xiii—Euseb. Renaudot, Histor. Patriarch. 
 Alexand. in Przefat. ili. 2.in Histor. p. 49. The very learned Assema- 
 nus, who was himself a Maronite, steers a middle way between these 
 opposite accounts, in his Biblioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. i., while the mat- 
 ter in debate is left undecided by Mich. le Quien, in his Oriens Christia- 
 nus, tom. ili., where he gives an account of the Maronite church and 
 its spiritual rulers.— For my own part I am persuaded, that those who 
 consider that all the Maronites have not as yet embraced the faith, or 
 acknowledged the jurisdiction of Rome, will be little disposed to receive 
 with credulity the assertions of certain Maronite priests, who are, after 
 the manner of the Syrians, much addicted to boasting and exaggeration, 
 Certain it is, that there are Maronites in Syria, who still behold the 
 
 * Those who maintained, that, notwithstanding the two natures in 
 Christ, viz. the human and the divine, there was, nevertheless, but one 
 will, which was the divine. 
 
450 
 
 saries should pretend to change or abolish any thing 
 which related to the ancient rites, moral precepts, or re- 
 ligious opinions, of this people; so that in reality, among 
 the Maronites, there is nothing to be found that savours of 
 popery, if we except their attachment to the Roman pon- 
 tiff,s who is obliged to pay dearly for their friendship ; 
 for, as they live in the utmost distress of poverty, under 
 the tyrannical yoke of infidels, the bishop of Rome is un- 
 der a necessity of furnishing them with such subsidies as 
 may gratify the rapacity of their oppressors, procure a sub- 
 sistence for their bishop and clergy, provide all things re- 
 quisite for the support of their churches and the uninter- 
 rupted exercise of public worship, and contribute in gen- 
 
 church of Rome with the greatest aversion and abhorrence; and, what 
 is still more remarkable, great numbers of that nation residing in Italy, 
 even under the eye of the pontiff, opposed his authority during the last 
 century, and threw the court of Rome into great perplexity. One 
 body of these non-conforming Maronites retired into the valleys of Pied- 
 mont, where they joined the Waldenses; another, above six hundred 
 in number, with a bishop and several ecclesiastics at their head, fled 
 into Corsica, and implored the protection of the republic of Genoa 
 against the violence of the inquisitors. See Urb. Cerri’s Etat present 
 de l’Eglise Romaine, p. 121. Now may it not be asked here, What 
 could have excited the Maronites in Italy to this public and vigorous 
 2pposition to the Roman pontiff, if it be true that their opinions were in 
 all respects conformable to the doctrines and decrees of the church of 
 Rome? This opposition could not have arisen from any thing but a 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. 
 
 Secr. III 
 
 eral to lessen their misery. Besides, the college erected 
 at Rome by Gregory XIII. with a view of instructing the 
 young men, frequently sent from Syria, in the various 
 branches of useful science and sacred erudition, and pre- 
 possessing them with an early veneration and attachment 
 for the Roman pontiff, is attended with a very consi- 
 derable expense. ‘I'he Maronite patriarch performs his 
 spiritual functions at Canobin, a convent of the monks of 
 St. Antony, on mount Libanus, which is his constant 
 residence. He claims the title of Patriarch of Antioch, 
 and always assumes the name of Peter, as if he seemed 
 desirous of being considered as the successor of that 
 apostle.> 
 
 difference in point of doctrine and belief, since the church of Rome 
 allowed, and still allows the Maronites, under its jurisdiction, to retain 
 and perform the religious rites and institutions that have been handed 
 down to them from their ancestors, and to follow the precepts and rules 
 of life to which they have always been accustomed. Compare, with 
 the authors above cited, Thesaur. Epistol. Crozian. t. i. 
 
 « The reader will do well to consult principally, on this subject, the 
 observations subjoined by Rich. Simon to his French translation of the 
 Italian Jesuit Dandini’s Voyage to Mount Libanus, published in 1685, 
 See also Euseb. Renaudot’s Historia Patriarch. Alexandr. p. 548. 
 
 b See Petitqueux, Voyage 4 Canobin dans le Mont Liban, in the Nou- 
 veaux Mémoires des Missions de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. iv. p. 252. 
 and tom. viii. p. 355.—La Roque, Voyage de Syrie, tom. ii. p. 10.-~ 
 Laur. D’Arvicux, Memoires ou Voyages, tom. ii. p. 418, 
 
PART II. 
 THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN CHURCHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The History of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 I. Tue rise and progress of the Evangelical or Lu- 
 theran church, have been already related, so far as they 
 belong to the history of the Reformation. 'The former 
 title was assumed by that church in consequence of the 
 original design of its founder, which was to restore to its 
 native lustre the Gospel of Christ, that had so long been 
 covered with the darkness of superstition, or, in other 
 words, to place in its proper and true light that important 
 doctrine, which represents salvation as attainable by the 
 merits of Christ alone: Nor did the church, now under 
 consideration, discover any reluctance to an adoption of 
 the name of the great man, whom Providence employed 
 as the honoured instrument of its foundation and esta- 
 blishment. A natural sentiment of gratitude to him, by 
 whose ministry the clouds of superstition had been chiefly 
 dispelled, who had destroyed the claims of pride and self- 
 sufficiency, exposed the vanity of confidence in the inter- 
 cession of saints and martyrs, and pointed out the Son 
 of God as the only proper object of trust to miserable 
 mortals, excited his followers to assume his name, and to 
 call their community the Lutheran Church. 
 
 The rise of this church must be dated from that re- 
 markable period, when pope Leo X. drove Martin Luther, 
 with his friends and followers, from the bosom of the Ro- 
 man hierarchy, by a solemn and violent sentence of ex- 
 communication. It began to acquire a regular form, and 
 a considerable degree of stability and consistence, from 
 the year 1530, when the system of doctrine and morality 
 which it had adopted was drawn up and presented to the 
 diet of Augsburg; and it was raised to the dignity of a 
 
 bao] 
 
 lawful and complete hierarchy, totally independent of the 
 
 =*p* When the confession of Augsburg had been presented to the 
 diet of that city, the Roman catholic doctors were employed to refute the 
 doctrines it contained ; and this pretended refutation was also read to that 
 august assembly. A reply was immediately drawn up by Melancthon, 
 and presented to the emperor, who, under the pretext of a pacific spirit, 
 refused to receive it. This reply was afterwards published, under the 
 title of Apologia Confessionis Augustance ; and is the defence of that 
 confession, mentioned by Dr. Mosheim as annexed to it. To speak 
 lainly, Melancthon’s love of peace and concord seems to have carried 
 Ra beyond what he owed to the truth, in composing this defence of the 
 confession of Augsburg. In that edition of the Defence which some 
 Lutherans (and Chytreus among others) look upon as the most genuine 
 and authentic, Melancthon makes several strange concessions to the 
 church of Rome; whether through servile fear, excessive charity, or 
 hesitation of mind, I will not pretend to determine. He speaks of the 
 presence of Christ’s body in the eucharist in the very strongest terms 
 that the catholics use to express the monstrous doctrine of transubstan- 
 tiation, and adopts those remarkable words of Theophylact, that ‘ the 
 bread was not a figure only, but was truly changed into flesh.’ He ap- 
 proves that canon of the mass, in which the priest prays that ‘the bread 
 may be changed into the body of Christ.’ Itis true, that, in some sub- 
 sequent editions of the defence or apology now under consideration, 
 these obnoxious passages were omitted, and the phraseology, which had 
 given such just offence, was considerably mitigated. There is an am- 
 ple account of this whole affair, together with a history of the dissen- 
 
 sions of the Lutheran church, in the valuable and learned work of | 
 
 Hospinian, entitled, ‘ Historie Sacramentarie Pars posterior,’ p. 199, 
 et seq. ‘These expressions, in Melancthon’s Apologia, will appear still 
 more surprising, when we recollect that, in the course of the debates 
 concerning the manner of Christ’s presence in the eucharist, he, at 
 ength, seemed to lean visibly toward the opinions of Bucer and Calvin, 
 
 laws and jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, in consequence 
 of the treaty concluded at Passau, in 1552, between 
 Charles V., and Maurice, elector of Saxony, relating to 
 the religious affairs of the empire. 
 
 II. The great and leading principle of the Lutheran 
 church, is, that the Scriptures are the only source from 
 which we are to draw our religious sentiments, whether 
 they relate to faith or practice ; and that these inspired 
 writings are, in all matters that are essential to salvation, 
 so plain, and so easy to be thoroughly understood, that 
 their signification may be learned, without the aid of an 
 expositor, by every person of common sense, who has a 
 competent knowledge of the language in which they are 
 composed. ‘There are, indeed, certain formularies adopt- 
 ed by this church, which contain the principal points of 
 its doctrine, ranged, for the sake of method and perspi- 
 cuity, in their natural order. But these books have no 
 authority but what they derive from the scriptures of truth, 
 whose sense and meaning they are designed to convey ; 
 nor are the Lutheran doctors permitted to interpret or ex- 
 plain these books so as to draw from them any proposi- 
 tions inconsistent with the express declarations of the 
 word of God. The Confession of Augsburg, and the 
 annexed Defence of it against the objections of the Ro- 
 man catholic doctors, may be deemed the chief and the 
 most respectable of these human productions. In the 
 next rank may be placed the Articles of Smalcald,® as 
 they are commonly called, together with the shorter and 
 larger Catechisms of Luther, calculated for the instruc- 
 tion of youth, and the improvement of persons of riper 
 years. ‘T'o these standard-books most churches add the 
 Form of Concord ; which, though not universally re- 
 ceived, has not, on that account, occasioned any animo- 
 sity or disunion, as the few points that prevent its being 
 adopted by some churches are of an indifferent nature,’ 
 
 and that, after his death, his followers were censured and persecuted in 
 Saxony on this account, under the denomination of Philippists. This 
 shows either that the great man now under consideration changed his 
 opinions, or that he had formerly been seeking union and concord at the 
 expense of truth. 
 
 3x*> > The articles here mentioned were drawn up at Smalcald by 
 Luther, on occasion of a meeting of the protestant electors, princes, 
 and states, at that place. ‘They were principally designed to show how 
 far the Lutherans were disposed to go, in order to avoid a final rupture, 
 and in what sense they were willing to adopt the doctrine of Christ’s 
 presence in the eucharist. And though the terms in which these articles 
 are expressed, be somewhat dubious, yet they are much less harsh and 
 disgusting than those used in the Confession, the Apology, andthe Form 
 of Concord. i 
 
 3% ° Dr. Mosheim, like an artful painter, shades those objects in the 
 history of Lutheranism which it is impossible to expose with advan- 
 tage to a full view. Of this nature was the conduct of the Lutheran 
 doctors in the deliberations relating to the famous Form of Concord 
 here mentioned; a conduct that discovers such an imperious and un- 
 charitable spirit, as would have been more consistent with the genius of 
 the court of Rome than with the principles of a protestant church. 
 The reader who is desirous of an ample demonstration of the truth and 
 
 justice of this censure, has only to consult the learned work of Rod. 
 
 Hospinian, entitled, ‘Concordia Discors, seu de Origine et Progressu 
 Formule Concordie Bergensis.’ The history of this remarkable pro- 
 duction is more amply related in the thirty-ninth and following para- 
 graphs of this first chapter, and in the notes, which the translator has 
 taken the liberty to add there, in order to cast a proper light upon some 
 things that are too interesting to be viewed superficially. In the mean 
 time I shall only observe that the pomts in the Form of Concord, that 
 prevented its being universally received, are not of such an indifferent 
 
452 
 
 and do not, in any degree, affect the grand and funda- 
 mental principles of true religion.* 
 
 Ill. The form of public worship, and the rites and ce- 
 remonies that were proper to be admitted as a part of it, 
 gave rise to disputes in several places, during the infancy 
 of the Lutheran church. Some were inclined to retain a 
 greater number of the ceremonies and customs that had 
 been so excessively multiplied in the church of Rome, 
 than seemed either lawful or expedient to others. 'The 
 latter, after the example of the Helvetic reformers had 
 their views entirely turned toward that simplicity and 
 gravity which characterized the Christian worship in the 
 primitive times ; while the former were of opinion, that 
 some indulgence was to be shown to the weakness of the 
 multitude, and some regard paid toinstitutions that had 
 acquired a certain degree of weight through long estab- 
 
 HISTORY -OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 lished custom. But, as these contending parties were 
 both persuaded that the ceremonial part of religion was, 
 generally speaking, a matter of human institution, and 
 that consequently a diversity of external rites might be 
 admitted among different churches professing the same 
 religion, without any prejudice to the bonds of charity 
 and fraternal union, these disputes could not be of any 
 long duration. In the mean time, all those ceremonies 
 and observances of the church of Rome, whether of a 
 public or private nature, that carried palpable marks of 
 error and superstition, were every where rejected without 
 hesitation ; and wise precautions were used to regulate 
 the forms of public worship in such a manner, that the 
 genuine fruits of piety should not be choked by a multi- 
 tude of insignificant rites. Besides, every church was al- 
 lowed to retain so much of the ancient form of worship 
 as might be still observed without giving offence, and as 
 seemed suited to the character of the people, the genius of 
 the government, and the nature and circumstances of the 
 place where it was founded. Hence it has happened, 
 that, even so far down as the present times, the Lutheran 
 churches differ considerably one from another, with re- 
 spect both to the number and nature of their religious ce- 
 remonies ; a circumstance so far from tending to their dis- 
 
 honour, that it is, on the contrary, a very striking proof of | 
 
 their wisdom and moderation.* 
 
 IV. 'The supreme civil rulers of every Lutheran state 
 are clothed also with the dignity, and perform the func- 
 tions of supremacy in the church. ‘The very essence of 
 civil government seems manifestly to point out the neces- 
 sity of investing the sovereign with this spiritual supre- 
 macy,° and the tacit consent of the Lutheran churches 
 has confirmed the dictates of wise policy in this respect. 
 It must not, however, be imagined, that the ancient rights 
 and privileges of the people in ecclesiastical affairs have 
 been totally abolished by this constitution of things, since 
 it is certain, that the vestiges of the authority exercised 
 
 nature as Dr. Mosheim seems to imagine. To maintain the ubiquity or 
 omnipresence of Christ’s body, together with its real and peculiar pre- 
 sence in the eucharist, and to exclude from their communion the protes- 
 tants, who denied these palpable absurdities, was the plan of the Lu- 
 theran doctors in composing and recommending the Form of Concord; 
 and this plan can neither be looked upon as a matter of pure indifference, 
 nor as a mark of Christian charity. 
 
 * See, for an account of the Lutheran confessions of faith, Christ. 
 Locheri Biblioth. Theologiz Symbolice, p. 114. 
 
 bSee Balth. Meisneirus, Lib. de Legibus, lib. iv. art. iv. quest. 
 1v.—Jo. Adam Scherzerus, Breviar. Hulsemann. Enule. p. 1313— 
 
 1321. . 
 %¢> ° Since nothing is more inconsistent with that subordination and , 
 
 Sxcr. ILI. 
 
 by them in the primitive times, though more striking in 
 one place than in another, are yet more or less visible 
 every where. Besides, it must be carefully remembered, 
 that all-civil rulers of the Lutheran persuasion are effec- 
 tually restrained, by the fundamental principles of the doc- 
 trine they profess, from any attempts to change or destroy 
 the established rule of faith and manners, to make any 
 alteration in the essential doctrines of their religion, or in 
 any thing that is intimately connected with them, or to 
 impose their particular opinions upon their subjects in a 
 despotic and arbitrary manner. 
 
 The councils, or societies, appointed by the sovereign 
 to watch over the interests of the church, and to govern 
 and direct its affairs, are composed of persons conversant 
 both in civil and ecclesiastical law, and, according to a 
 very ancient denomination, are called Consistories. ‘The 
 internal government of the Lutheran church seems equally 
 removed from episcopacy on the one hand, and from pres- 
 byterianism on the other, if we except the kingdoms of 
 Sweden and Denmark, which retain the form of ecclesi- 
 astical government that preceded the reformation, purged, 
 indeed, from the superstitions and abuses that rendered it 
 so odious.? ‘This constitution of the hierarchy of the Lu- 
 therans will not seem surprising, when their sentiments 
 with respect to ecclesiastical polity are duly considered. 
 On the one hand, they are persuaded that there is no law, 
 of divine authority, which points out a distinction between 
 the ministers of the Gospel, in rank, dignity, or preroga- 
 tives; and therefore they recede from episcopacy. But, 
 on the other hand, they are of opinion, that a certain sub- 
 ordination, a diversity in point of rank and _ privileges 
 among the clergy, are not only highly useful, but also ne- 
 cessary to the perfection of church communion, by con- 
 necting more closely, in consequence of a mutual depen- 
 dence, the members of the same body; and thus they 
 avoid the uniformity of the presbyterian government. 
 They do not, however, agree with respect to the extent 
 of this subordination, and the degrees of superiority and 
 precedence that ought to distinguish their doctors; for, in 
 some places, this is regulated with much more regard to 
 the ancient rules of church-government, than is discovered 
 in others. As the divine law is silent on this head, dif- 
 ferent opinions may be entertained, and different forms of 
 ecclesiastical polity adopted, without a breach of Christian 
 charity and fraternal union. 
 
 VY. Every country has its own liturgies, which are the 
 rules of proceeding in every thing that relates to external 
 worship and the public exercise of religion. These rules, 
 however, are not of an immutable nature, like those insti- 
 tutions which bear the stamp of a divine authority, but 
 may be augmented, corrected, or illustrated, by the order 
 of the sovereign, when such changes evidently appear to 
 be necessary or expedient. ‘The liturgies used in the dif. 
 
 concord, wnich are among the great ends of civil government, than im- 
 perium in imperio, i.e. two independent sovereignties in the same 
 body politic, the genius of government, equally with the spirit of genu- 
 ine Christianity, proclaims the equity of that constitution, which makes 
 the head of the state the supreme visible ruler of the church. 
 
 a> 4 In these two kingdoms the church is ruled by bishops and super- 
 intendants, under the inspection and authority of the sovereign. The 
 archbishop of Upsal is primate of Sweden, and the only archbishop 
 among the Lutherans. The luxury and licentiousness that too com- 
 monly flow from the opulence of the Roman catholic clergy are unknown 
 in these two northern states, since the revenues of the prelate now men- 
 tioned do not amount to more than 400 pounds yearly, while those of 
 the bishops are proportionally small. 
 
Part II. 
 
 ferent countries that have embraced the system of Luther, 
 agree perfectly in all the essential branches of religion, in 
 all matters that can be looked upon as of real moment and 
 -mportance ; but they differ widely in many things of an 
 indifferent nature, concerning which the Scriptures are 
 silent, and which compose that part of the public religion 
 that derives its authority from the wisdom and appoint- 
 ment of men. Assemblies for the celebration of divine 
 worship meet every where at stated times. Here the 
 Scriptures are read publicly, prayers and hymns are ad- 
 dressed to the Deity, the sacraments are administered, and 
 the people are instructed in the knowledge of religion, 
 and excited to the practice of virtue by the discourses of 
 their ministers. The wisest methods are used for the re- 
 ligious education of youth, who are not only carefully in- 
 structed in the elements of Christianity in the public 
 schools, but are also examined by the pastors of the 
 churches to which they belong, in a public manner, in 
 order to the progressive extension of their knowledge, and 
 the more vigorous exertion of their faculties in the study 
 of divine truth. Hence, in almost every province, cate- 
 chisms, containing the essential truths of religion and the 
 main precepts of morality, are published and recommend- 
 ed by the authority of the sovereign, as rules to be follow- 
 ed by the masters of schools, and by the ministers of the 
 church, both in their private and public instructions. 
 But, as Luther left behind bim an accurate and judicious 
 production of this kind, in which the fundamental princi- 
 ples of religion and morality are explained and confirmed 
 with the greatest perspicuity and force, both of evidence 
 and expression, this compendious catechism of that emi- 
 nen! reformer is universally adopted as the first introduc- 
 tion to religious knowledge, and is one of the standard- 
 books of that church which bears his name ; and, indeed, 
 all the provincial catechisms are no more than illustrations 
 and enlargements of this excellent abridgment of faith 
 and practice. 
 
 VI. Among the days deemed sacred in the Lutheran 
 church, (beside that which is celebrated every week in 
 memory of Christ’s resurrection from the dead,) we may 
 reckon all such as were signalised by those glorious and 
 important events that proclaimed the celestial mission of 
 the Saviour, and the divine authority of his holy religion.* 
 For these sacred festivals, the grateful and well-grounded 
 piety of ancient times had always professed the highest 
 veneration. But the Lutheran church has gone yet far- 
 ther; and, to avoid giving offence to weak brethren, has 
 retained several which seemed to have derived the re- 
 spect that is paid to them, rather from the suggestions of 
 superstition than from the dictates of true religion. There 
 are some churches that carry the desire of multiplying 
 festivals so far, as to observe religiously the days former- 
 ly set apart for celebrating the memory of the twelve 
 apostles. 
 
 It is well known, that the power of excommunication, 
 i. e. of banishing from its bosom obstinate and scandalous 
 transgressors, was a privilege enjoyed and exercised by 
 the church from the remotest antiquity ; and it is no less 
 certain, that this privilege was often perverted to the 
 
 * Such (for example) are the nativity, death, resurrection, and ascen- 
 sion of the Son of God; the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles 
 on the day of Pentecost, &c. 
 
 x‘> » The reason of this will be seen in the following note. 
 
 Z*> * In the diet of Augsburg, which was assembled in 1555, in order 
 
 No. XX XIX. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 453 
 
 most iniquitous and odious purposes. The founders of 
 the Lutheran church, therefore, undertook to remove the 
 abuses and corruptions under which this branch of 
 ecclesiastical discipline laboured, and to restore it to its pri- 
 mitive purity and vigour. At first their attempt seemed to 
 be crowned with success, since it is plain, that, during the 
 sixteenth century, no opposition of any moment was 
 made to the wise and moderate exercise of this spiritual 
 authority. But, in process of time, this privilege fell im 
 perceptibly into contempt; the terror of excommunica- 
 tion lost its force; and ecclesiastical discipline was reduced 
 to such a shadow, that, in most places, there are scarcely 
 any remains or traces ofit at this day. ‘This change may 
 be partly attributed to the corrupt propensities of man- 
 kind, who are naturally desirous of destroying the influ- 
 ence of every institution that is designed to curb their li- 
 centious passions. It must, however, be acknowledged, 
 that the relaxation of ecclesiastical discipline was not owing 
 to this cause alone; other circumstances concurred to di- 
 minish the respect and submission that had been paid to 
 the spiritual tribunal. On one hand, the clergy abused 
 this important privilege in various ways ; some misapply- 
 ing the severity of excommunication through ignorance 
 or imprudence, while others impiously perverted an insti- 
 tution, in itself exceedingly useful, to satisfy their private 
 resentments, and to avenge themselves upon those who 
 had dared to offendthem. On the other hand, the coun- 
 sels of certain persons in power, who considered the privi- 
 lege of excommunicating in the hands of the clergy as 
 derogatory from the majesty of the sovereign, and detri- 
 mental to the interests of civil society, had no small influ- | 
 ence in bringing this branch of spiritual jurisdiction into 
 disrepute. It is however certain, that whatever causes 
 may have contributed to produce this effect, the effect it- 
 self was much to be lamented, as it removed one of the 
 most powerful restraints upon iniquity. Nor will it ap- 
 pear surprising, when this is duly considered, that the 
 manners of the Lutherans are so remarkably depraved, 
 and that, in a church which is almost deprived of all autho- 
 rity and discipline, multitudes affront the public by their 
 | audacious irregularities, and transgress, with a shameless 
 impudence, through the prospect of impunity. 
 
 VI. 'The prosperous and unfavourable events which be- 
 long to the history of the Lutheran church, since the 
 happy establishment of its liberty and independence, are 
 neither numerous nor remarkable, and may consequently 
 be mentioned in a few words. ‘The rise and progress of 
 this church, before its final and permanent establishment, 
 have been already related; but that very religious peace, 
 which was the instrument of its stability and indepen- 
 dence, set bounds, at the same time, to its progress in the 
 empire, and prevented it effectually from extending its 
 limits.» Near the close of this century, Gebhard, archbi- 
 shop of Cologne, evinced a wish to enter into its commu 
 nion, and, having contracted the bonds of matrimony, 
 formed the design of introducing the reformation into his 
 dominions. But this arduous attempt, which was in di- 
 rect contradiction to the famous ecclesiastical reservation‘ 
 stipulated in the articles of the peace of religion concluded 
 
 to execute the treaty of Passau, those states which had already embraced 
 the Lutheran religion, were confirmed in the full enjoyment of their re- 
 ligious liberty. ‘To prevent, however, as far as was possible, the pro- 
 gress of the reformation, Charles V. stipulated for the catholics the 
 famous ecclesiastical reservation, by which it was decreed, that if any 
 
A454 
 
 at Augsburg, proved abortive ; and the prelate was oblig- 
 ed to resign his dignity, and to abandon his country... On 
 the other hand, it is certain, that the adversaries of the 
 Lutheran church were not permitted to disturb its tran- 
 quillity, or to hurt, in any essential point, its liberty, pros- 
 perity, and independence. ‘Their intentions, indeed, were 
 malignant enough ; and it appeared evident, from many 
 striking circumstances, that they were secretly projecting 
 a new attack upon the protestants with a view to annul 
 the treaty of Passau, and to have them declared public 
 enemies to the empire. Such was undoubtedly the un- 
 just and seditious design of Francis Burckhard, in com- 
 posing the famous book de Autonomid, which was pub- 
 lished in 1586; and also of Pistorius, in drawing up the 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 reasons, which the margrave of Baden alleged in vindi- 
 cation of his returning from Lutheranism into the bosom 
 of popery. ‘These writers, and, others of the same stamp, 
 treated the Religious Peace, negociated at Passau, and 
 ratified at Augsburg, as unjust, because it was obtained 
 by force of arms, and as null, because concluded without 
 the knowledge and consent of the Roman_ pontiff. 
 They pretended also to prove, that by the changes and in- 
 terpolations, which they affirmed to have been made by 
 Melancthon, in the confession of Augsburg, after it had 
 been presented to the diet, the protestants forfeited all the 
 privileges and advantages derived from the treaty now 
 mentioned. ‘The latter accusation gave rise to long and 
 warm debates during this and the following century. 
 Many learned and ingenious productions were published 
 on that occasion, in which the Lutheran divines proved, 
 with the utmost perspicuity and force of argument, that 
 the Confession was preserved in their church in its origi- 
 nal state, uncorrupted by any mixture, and that none of 
 their brethren had ever departed in any instance from the 
 doctrines contained in it. They who felt most sensibly 
 the bitter and implacable hatred of the papists against the 
 doctrine and worship of the Lutheran Church (which they 
 disdainfully called the new religion,) were such mem- 
 bers of that church as lived in the territories of Roman 
 Catholic princes. This is more especially true of the pro- 
 testant subjects of the house of Austria,4 who experienced, 
 in the most affecting manner, the dire effect of bigotry 
 and superstition seated on a throne, and who lost the 
 greatest part of their liberty before the conclusion of this 
 century. 
 
 VIII. While the votaries of Rome were thus meditating 
 the ruin of the Lutheran church, and exerting, for this 
 purpose, all the powers of secret artifice and open violence, 
 the followers of Luther were assiduously bent on defeating 
 their efforts, and left no means unemployed, that seemed 
 proper to maintain their own doctrine, and to strengthen 
 their cause. ‘he calamities which they had suffered 
 were fresh in their remembrance ; and hence they were 
 
 archbishop, prelate, bishop, or other ecclesiastic, should, in time to come 
 renounce the faith of Rome, his dignity and benefice should be forfeited, 
 and his place be filled by that chapter or college which possessed the 
 power of election. 
 
 @ See Jo. Dav. Koleri Dissertatio de Gebhardo Truchsessio.—Jo. Pet. 
 a Ludewig Reliquiz Manuscriptorum omnis A®vi, tom. v. p. 383.—See 
 also a German work entitled Unschuldige Nachritchten, An. 1748. p. 484. 
 
 » See Chr. Aug. Salig. Histor. August. Confessionis, tom. i. lib. iv, 
 cap. il. p. 767. 
 
 ° See Salig. Hist. August. Confessionis, tom i—It cannot indeed be 
 denied, that Melancthon corrected and altered some passages of the Con- 
 fession of Augsburg, It is certain, that, in 1555, he made use of the 
 extraor’inary credit and influence he then had, to introduce among the | 
 
 Sect. LIT. 
 
 admonished to use all possible precautions to prevent their 
 falling again into the like unhappy circumstances. Add 
 to this, the zeal of princes and men in power for the ad. 
 vancement of true religion, which, it must be acknowl- 
 edged, was much greater in this century, than it is in the 
 times in which we live. Hence the original confederacy 
 that had been formed among the German princes for the 
 maintenance of Lutheranism, and of which the elector 
 of Saxony was the chief, gradually acquired new strength ; 
 and foreign sovereigns, particularly those of Sweden and 
 Denmark, were invited to enter into this grand alliance ; 
 and, as it was universally agreed, that the stability and 
 lustre of the rising church depended much on the learning 
 of its ministers, and the progress of the sciences, among 
 those in general who professed its doctrines, so the great- 
 est part of the confederate princes promoted, with the ut- 
 most zeal, the culture of letters, and banished, wherever 
 their salutary influence could extend, that baneful igno- 
 rance which is the parent of superstition. The academical 
 institutions founded by the Lutherans, at Jena, Helmstadt, 
 and Altorf, and by the Calvinists at Franeker, Leyden, and 
 other places ; the ancient universities reformed and accom- 
 modated to the constitution and exigencies of a purer 
 church than that under whose influence they had been 
 at first established; the great number of schools that 
 were opened in almost every city ; the ample rewards, to- 
 gether with the distinguished honours and privileges that 
 were bestowed on men of learning and genius; all these 
 circumstances bear honourable testimony to the generous 
 zeal of the German princes for the advancement of useful 
 knowledge. ‘These noble establishments were undoubt- 
 edly expensive, and required large funds for their support. 
 These were principally drawn from the revenues and pos- 
 sessions, which the piety or superstition of ancient times 
 had consecrated to the multiplication of convents, the 
 erection or embellishment of churches, and other religious 
 uses. 
 
 IX. These generous and zealous efforts m the cause of 
 learning were attended with remarkable success. Almost 
 
 i all the liberal arts and sciences were cultivated with em- 
 
 ulation, and brought to greater degrees of perfection. All 
 those, whose views were turned to the service of the church, 
 were obliged to apply themselves, with diligence and as- 
 siduity, to the study of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin litera- 
 ture, in order to qualify them for performing, with digni- 
 ty and success, the duties of the sacred function ; and it 
 is well known that in these branches of erudition several 
 Lutheran doctors excelled in such a manner, as to require 
 a deathless name in the republic of letters. Melancthon, 
 Cario, Chytreeus, Reineccius, and others, were eminent 
 for their knowledge of history. More particularly Matthias 
 Flacius, one of the authors of the Centurie Magdeburg- 
 enses,* (an immortal work that restored to the light of evi- 
 
 Saxon churches an edition of that confession, which was so far correct- 
 ed as to be, upon the whole, very different from the original one. But 
 his conduct in this step, which was extremely audacious, or at least 
 highly imprudent, never received the chet of the Lutheran 
 church, nor was the Augsburg Confession, in this new shape, ever ¢d- 
 mitted as one of the standard-books of its faith and doctrine. 
 
 é See the Austria Evangelica of the learned Raupachius, tom. i. p. 152. 
 tom. ii. p. 287. 7 
 
 #“p> * The joint authors of this famous work (beside Flacius Ilyricus) 
 were Nicolaus Gallus, Johannes Wigandus, and Matthias Judex, all 
 ministers of Magdeburg; and they were assisted by Caspar Nidpruck- 
 ius, an Imperial counsellor, Johannes Baptista Heincelius, an Augus- 
 tinian, Basil Faber, and others. 
 
Parr II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 455 
 
 dence and truth the facts relating to the rise and progress || losophy was necessary to restrain the licentious flights of 
 
 of the Christian church, which had been covered with 
 great darkness, and corrupted by innumerable fables,) may 
 be deservedly considered as the parent of ecclesiastical 
 history. Nor should we omit mentioning the learned 
 Martin Chumnitz, to whose Examination of the Decrees 
 of the Council of Trent, the history of religion is more 
 indebted, than many, at this day, are apt to imagine. 
 While so many branches of learning were cultivated with 
 zeal, some, it must be confessed, were too little pursued. 
 Among these we may place the history of literature and 
 philosophy, the important science of criticism, the study 
 of antiquities, and other objects of erudition connected with 
 them. Itis, however, to be observed, that, notwithstanding 
 the neglect with which these branches of science seemed 
 too generally to be treated, the foundations of their culture 
 and improvement in future ages were really laid in this 
 century. On the other hand, it is remarkable that Latin 
 eloquence and poetry were carried to a very high degree 
 of improvement, and exhibited orators and poets of the 
 first order; from which circumstance alone it may be 
 fairly concluded, that, if all the branches of literature and 
 philosophy were not brought to that pitch of perfection, of 
 which they were susceptible, this was not owing to the 
 want of industry or genius, but rather to the restraints 
 imposed upon genius by the infelicity of the times. All 
 the votaries of science, whom a noble emulation excited 
 to the pursuit of literary fame, were greatly animated by 
 the example, the influence, and the instructions of Me- 
 lancthon, who was deservedly considered as the great 
 and leading doctor of the Lutheran church, and whose 
 zentiments, relating both to sacred and profane erudition, 
 were so generally respected, that scarcely any had the 
 courage to oppose them. In the next rank to this eminent 
 reformer may be mentioned Joachim Camerarius of Leip- 
 sic, a shining ornament to the republic of letters in this 
 century, who, by his zeal and application, contributed 
 much to promote the cause of universal learning, and 
 more especially the study of elegant literature. 
 
 X. The revolutions of philosophy among the Lutheran 
 doctors were many and various. Luther and Melanc- 
 thon seemed to set out with a resolution to banish every 
 species of philosophy from the church ; and, though it is 
 impossible to justify entirely this part of their conduct, 
 they are less to be blamed than those scholastic doctors 
 whose barbarous method of teaching philosophy was ex- 
 tremely disgusting, and who, by a miserable abuse of the 
 subtle precepts of Aristotle, had perverted the dictates of 
 common sense, and introduced the greatest obscurity and 
 confusion both into philosophy and religion. But, though 
 these abuses led the two great men now mentioned too 
 far, and were carrying them into the opposite extreme, 
 their own recollection suspended their precipitation, and 
 they both perceived, before it was too late, that true phi- 
 
 a See Christ. Aug. Heumanni Acta Philosophor. art. ii. part x. p. 
 
 §79.—Jo. Herm. ab Elswich, Dissertat.de Varia Aristotelis Fortuna in 
 Scholis Protestantium, which Launoy has prefixed to his book, de For- 
 tuna Aristotelis in Academia Parisiensi, sect. viii. xiii. 
 
 4p + Some writers, either through malignity, or for want of better in- 
 formation, have pretended that Luther rejected the scholastic philosophy 
 through a total ignorance of its nature and precepts. Those who have 
 ventured upon such an assertion must have been as ignorant of the his- 
 tory of literature in general, as of the industry and erudition of Luther 
 in particular, For a demonstrative proof of this, see Brucker’s Historia 
 Critica Philosophiz, tom. iv. part i. 
 
 ¢ Jo, Herm. ab. Elswich, de Fatis Aristot. in Scholis Protest. sect. 
 
 } 
 
 mere genius and fancy, and to guard the sanctuary of re- 
 ligion against the inroads of superstition and enthusiasm.> 
 It was in consequence of this persuasion that Melancthon 
 composed, in a plain and familiar style, abridgments of 
 almost all the branches of philosophy, which, during many 
 years, were explained publicly to the studious youth in 
 all the Lutheran academies and schools of learning. This 
 celebrated reformer may not improperly be considered as 
 an eclectic; for, though in many points he followed 
 Aristotle, and retained some degree of propensitY to the 
 ancient philosophy of the schools, yet he drew many 
 things from the fecundity of his own genius, and often 
 had recourse also to the doctrines of the Platonists and 
 Stoics. 
 
 XI. This method of teaching philosophy, however re- 
 commendable on account of its simplicity and perspicuity, 
 did not long enjoy, alone and unrivalled, the great credit 
 and authority which it had obtained. Certain acute and 
 subtle doctors, having perceived that Melancthon, in com- 
 posing his Abridgments, had discovered a peculiar and 
 predominant attachment to the philosophy of Aristotle, 
 thought it was better to go to the source, than to drink 
 at the stream, and therefore read and explained to their 
 disciples the words of the Stagirite. On the other hand, 
 it was observed, that the Jesuits, and other votaries of 
 Rome, artfully made use of the ambiguous terms and 
 the intricate sophistry of the ancient schoolmen, in order 
 to puzzle the protestants, and to reduce them to silence, 
 when they particularly wished for such arguments as 
 were calculated to produce conviction ; and, therefore, 
 many protestant doctors thought it might be advantageous 
 to their cause to have the studious youth instructed in 
 the mysteries of the Aristotelian philosophy, as it was 
 taught in the schools, that thus they might be qualified 
 to defend themselves with the same weapons with which 
 they were attacked. Hence there arose, in the latter part 
 of this century, three philosophical sects, the Melanctho- 
 nian, the Aristotelian, and the Scholastiz. The first de- 
 clined gradually, and soon disappeared: but the other 
 two imperceptibly grew into one, acquired new vigour by 
 this coalition, increased daily in reputation and influence, 
 and were adopted in all the schools of learning. It is 
 true, that the followers of Ramus made violent inroads, 
 in several places, upon the territories of these combined 
 sects, and sometimes with a certain appearance of success; 
 but their hopes were transitory; for after various strug- 
 gles they were obliged to yield, and were at length en- 
 tirely banished from the schools.¢ 
 
 XII. Such also was the fate of the disciples of Para- 
 celsus, who, fron the grand principle of their physical 
 system, were called Fire-Philosophers,’ and who aimed 
 at nothing less than the total subversion of the peripa- 
 tetic philosophy, ana the introduction of their own reve- 
 xxi.—Jo. Georg. Walchius, Historia Logices, lib. 11. cap. i—Otto Fred. 
 Schutzius, de Vita Chytrei, lib. iv. sect. iv. 
 
 34> 4 This fanatical sect of philosophers had several deno~inations. 
 They were called Theo-Sophists, from their declaiming against human 
 reason as a dangerous and deceitful guide, and their representing a 
 divine and supernatural illumination as the only means of arriving at 
 truth. They were called Philosophi per ignem, i. e. Fire-Philoso- 
 phers; from their maintaining that the intimate essences of natural 
 things were only to be known by the trying efforts of fire, directed in a 
 
 chemical process. They were, lastly, denominated Paracelsists, from 
 the eminent physician and chemist of that name, who was the chief 
 
 : 
 | ornament and leader of that extraordinary sect. 
 
456 
 
 ties into the public schools. Toward the close of this 
 century, the Paracelsists really made a figure in almost 
 all the countries of Europe, as their sect was patronised 
 and supported by the genius and eloquence of several 
 great men, who exerted themselves, with the utmost zeal 
 and assiduity, in its cause, and endeavoured, both by their 
 writings and their transactions, to augment its credit. In 
 England it found an eminent defender in Robert Flood, 
 or Fludd, a man of a very singular genius,* who illus- 
 trated, or at least attempted to illustrate, the philosophy 
 of Paracelsus, in a great number of treatises, which, even 
 in our times, are not entirely destitute of readers and ad- 
 mirers. ‘The same philosophy found some votaries in 
 France, and was propagated with zeal at Paris by Rivier, 
 in opposition to the sentiments and efforts of the univer- 
 sity of that city.» Its cause was industriously promoted 
 in Denmark, by Severinus ;* in Germany, by Kunrath, 
 an eminent physician at Dresden, who died in 1605 5! 
 and in other countries bya considerable number of warm 
 votaries, who were by no means unsuccessful in aug- 
 menting its reputation, and multiplying its followers. 
 As all these heralds of the new philosophy accompanied 
 their instructions with a striking air of piety and devotion, 
 and seemed, in propagating their strange system, to pro- 
 pose to themselves no other end than the advancement 
 of the divine glory, and the restoration of peace and con- 
 cord to a divided church, a motive which, in appearance, 
 wasso generous and noble, could not fail to procure friends 
 and protectors. Accordingly, we find, that, near the close 
 of this century, several persons, eminent for their piety, 
 and distinguished by their zeal for the advancement of 
 true religion, joined themselves tothis sect. Of this num- 
 ber were the Lutheran doctors Weigelius, Arndius, and 
 others, who were led into the snare by their ill-grounded 
 notions of human reason, and who apprehended that con- 
 troversy and argumentation might lead men to substitute 
 anew the pompous and intricate jargon of the schools in 
 the place of solid and sincere piety. 
 
 XU. Among those who manifested a propensity to- 
 ward the system of the Paracelsists, or heosophists, 
 was the celebrated Daniel Hoffinan, professor of divinity 
 in the university of Helmstadt, who, from the year 1598, 
 had declared open war against philosophy, and who con- 
 tinued to oppose it with the greatest obstinacy and violence. 
 Alleging the weight and authority of some opinions of 
 Luther, and of various passages in the writings of that 
 great man, he extravagantly maintained, that philosophy 
 was the mortal enemy of religion ; that truth was divi- 
 sible into two branches, one philosophical and the other 
 theological; and that what was true in philosophy, was 
 felse in theology. ‘These absurd and pernicious tenets 
 naturally alarmed the judicious doctors of the university, 
 and excited a warm controversy between Hoffman and 
 his colleagues Owen Guntherus, Cornelius Martin, John 
 Caselius, and Duncan Liddle; a controversy also of too 
 much consequence, to be confined within such narrow 
 
 3‘> * The person here mentioned by Dr. Mosheim is not the famous 
 Dominican monk of that name, who, from his ardent pursuit of mathe- 
 matical knowledge, was called the Seeker, and who, from his passion 
 for chemistry, was suspected of magic, but a famous physician born in 
 Kent, in 1574, who was very remarkable for his attachment to the alche- 
 mists. See Wood’s Athen. Oxoniens. vol. i. p. 610, and his Hist. et 
 Antiq. Acad. Oxoniens. lib. il. p. 390; also P. Gassendi, Examen Phi- 
 -osoph, Fluddanz, tom. iil. op. 
 
 » Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. vi. 
 
 ‘ HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. LI. 
 
 bounds, and which accordingly was carried on in other 
 countries with the same fervour. The tumults which it 
 excited in Germany were appeased by the interposition 
 of Henry, duke of Brunswick, who, having made a care- 
 ful inquiry into the nature of this debate, and consulted 
 the professors of the academy of Rostoch on that subject, 
 commanded Hoffman to retract publicly the invectives he 
 had thrown out against philosophy in his writings and 
 in his academical lectures, and to acknowledge, in the 
 most open manner, the harmony and union of sound 
 philosophy with true and genuine theology.° 
 
 XIV. The theological system that now prevails in the 
 Lutheran academies, is not of the same tenor or spirit 
 with that which was adopted in the infancy of the Re- 
 formation. As time and experience are necessary to bring 
 all things to perfection, so the doctrine of the Lutheran 
 church changed, imperceptibly and by degrees, its original 
 form, and was improved and perfected in many respects. 
 This will appear both evident and striking to those who 
 are acquainted with the history of the doctrines relating 
 to free-will, predestination, andother points, and who com- 
 pare the Lutheran systems of divinity of an earlier date, 
 with those which have been composed in modern times, 
 The case could not well be otherwise. 'The glorious de- 
 fenders of religious liberty, to whom we owe the various 
 blessings of the Reformation, as they were conducted 
 only by the suggestions of their natural sagacity, whose 
 advances in the pursuit of knowledge are gradual and pro- 
 gressive, could not at once behold the truth in all its lus- 
 tre, and in all its extent; but, as usually happens to per- 
 sons who have been long accustomed to the darkness of 
 ignorance, their approaches toward knowledge were slow, 
 and their views of things very imperfect. The Luther- 
 ans were greatly assisted both in correcting and illustrat- 
 ing the articles of their faith, partly by the controversies 
 which they were obliged to carry on with the Roman 
 Catholic doctors and the disciples of Zuingle and Calvin, 
 and partly by the intestine divisions that prevailed among 
 themselves, of which an account shall be given in this 
 chapter. 'They have been absurdly reproached, on ac- 
 count of this variation in their doctrine, by Bossuet and 
 other papal writers, who did not consider that the founders 
 of the Lutheran church never pretended to divine inspi- 
 ration, and that it is by discovering first the errors of others, 
 that the wise generally prepare themselves for the inves- 
 tigation of truth. 
 
 XV. The first and principal object that drew the at- 
 tention and employed the industry of the reformers, was 
 the exposition and illustration of the sacred writings, 
 which, according to the doctrine of the Lutheran church, 
 contain all the treasures of celestial wisdom, all things 
 that relate to faith and practice. Hence it happened, that 
 the number of commentators and expositors among the 
 Lutherans equalled that of the eminent and learned doc- 
 tors who adorned that communion. At the head of all, 
 Luther and Melancthon are undoubtedly to be placed ; 
 
 * Jo. Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. i. p. 623. 
 
 4 Cimb. Lit. tom. ii. p. 440. 
 
 ¢ There is an accurate account of this controversy, with an enumera 
 tion of the writings published on both sides of the question, in the life 
 of Owen Guntherus, inserted by Mollerus in his Cimbria Literata, 
 tom. i. p. 225.—See also Jo. Herm. ab Flswich, de Fatis Aristotelis in 
 Scholis Protestant. sect. xxvil., and a German work, by Gottfried Ar- 
 nold, upon the affairs of the church and the progress of heresy, entitled, 
 Kirchen und Ketzer Historie, p. 947. 
 
Part II. 
 
 the former, on account of the sagacity and learning, dis- 
 covered in his explications of several portions of Scripture, 
 and particularly of the books of Moses, and the latter, in 
 consequence of his commentaries on the Epistles of St. 
 Poul, and other learned labours of that kind, which are 
 abundantly known. <A second class of expositors, of the 
 same communion, obtained also great applause in the 
 learned world, by their successful application to the study 
 of the Scriptures. In this class we may rank Matthias 
 Flacius, who composed a Glossary and Key to the sacred 
 Writings, very useful in unfolding the meaning of the 
 inspired penmen ; John Bugenhagius, Justus Jonas, An- 
 drew Osiander, and Martin Chemnitz, whose Harmonies 
 of the Evangelists are not destitute of merit; and to these 
 we may add Victor Strigelius and Joachim Camerarius ; 
 of whom the latter, in his Commentary on the New 'Tes- 
 tament, expounds the Scriptures in a grammatical and 
 critical manner only, and, laying aside all debated points 
 of doctrine and religious controversy, unfolds the sense of 
 each term, and the spirit of each phrase, by the rules of 
 criticism and the genius of the ancient languages, in 
 which he was a very uncommon proficient. 
 
 XVI. All these expositors and commentators abandon- 
 ed the method of the ancient interpreters, who, neglecting 
 the plain and evident purport of the words of Scripiure, 
 were perpetually torturing their imaginations, in order to 
 find out a mysterious sense in each word or sentence, or 
 were hunting after insipid allusions and chimerical appli- 
 cations of particular passages to objects which never en- 
 ‘ered into the views of the inspired writers. On the con- 
 trary, their principal zeal and industry were employed in 
 investigating the natural force and signification of each 
 expression, in consequence of that golden rule of inter- 
 pretation which Luther inculeated, ‘that there is only one 
 sense anneved to the words of Scripture throughout all 
 the books of the Old and New Testament.» It must, 
 Lowever, be acknowledged, that the examples exhibited 
 by these judicious expositors were far from being univer- 
 sally followed. Many, labouring under the inveterate dis- 
 ease of an irregular fancy and a scanty judgment, were 
 still seeking hidden significations and double meanings in 
 the expressions of holy writ. ‘They were perpetually bu- 
 sied in twisting all the prophecies of the Old ‘Testament 
 into an intimate connexion with the life, sufferings, and 
 transactions of Jesus Christ ; and were over-sagacious in 
 pretending to find out, in the history of the patriarchal 
 and Jewish churches, the types and figures of the events 
 that have happened in modern, and which may yet hap- 
 pen in future times. In all this they discovered more 
 imagination than judgment, more wit than wisdom. Be 
 that as it may, all the expositors of this age may, I think, 
 be properly divided into two classes, with Luther at the 
 head of the one, and Melancthon presiding in the other. 
 Some commentators followed the example of the former, 
 who, after a familiar explication of the sense of Scripture, 
 applied its decisions to the settlement of controverted points, 
 and to the illustration of the doctrines and duties of reli- 
 gion. Others discovered a greater propensity to the me- 
 thod of the latter, who first divided the discourses of the 
 sacred writers into several parts, explained them accord- 
 ing to the rules of rhetoric, and afterwards proceeded to 
 
 * The Latin titles are Glossa Scriplureé Sacra, ‘and Clavis Scriptu- 
 re Sacre. 
 
 Zx¢r » This golden rule will be found often defective and false, unless 
 
 No. XX XIX. La 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 A457 
 
 a more strict and almost a literal exposition of each part, 
 taken separately, applying the result, as rarely as was pos 
 sible, to points of doctrine or matters of controversy. 
 XVII. Complete systems of theology were far from be- 
 ing numerous in this century. Melancthon, the most 
 eminent of all the Lutheran doctors, collected and digest- 
 ed the doctrines of the church, which he so eminently 
 adorned, into a body of divinity, under the vague title of 
 Loci Communes, i.e. a Common-Place-Book of Theology. 
 This compilation, which was at diflerent times reviewed, 
 corrected, and enlarged by its author, was in such high 
 repute during this century, and even in succeeding times, 
 that it was considered as a model of doctrine for all those, 
 who either instructed the people by their public discourses, 
 or promoted the knowledge of religion by their writings.« 
 The title prefixed to this performance, indicates sufii- 
 ciently the method, or rather the irregularity that reigns 
 in the arrangement of its material; and shows, that. it 
 was not the design of Melancthon to place the various 
 truths of religion in that systematic concatenation, and 
 that scientific order and connexion, which are observed 
 by the philosophers in their demonstrations and discourses. 
 
 | but to propose them with freedom and simplicity, as they 
 | presented themselves to his view. Accordingly, in the 
 
 earlier editions of the book under consideration, the me: 
 thod observed, both in delineating and illustrating these 
 hmportant truths, is exceedingly plain, and not loaded 
 with the terms, the definitions, or the distinctions that 
 abound in the writings of the philosophers. Thus did 
 the Lutheran doctors, in the first period of the rising 
 church, renounce and avoid, in imitation of the great re 
 former whose name they bore, all the abstruse reasoning, 
 and subtle discussions, of the scholastic disputants and 
 writers. But the sophistry of their adversaries, and their 
 perpetual debates with the artful champions of the church 
 of Rome, engaged them by degrees, as has beenalready ob- 
 served, to change their language and their methods of rea- 
 soning; so that, in process of time, the simplicity that had 
 reigned in their theological systems, and in their manner 
 of explaining the truths of religion, almost totally disap- 
 peared. Even Melancthon himself fell imperceptibly in- 
 to the new method, or rather into the old method revived 
 and enlarged the subsequent editions of his Lect Com 
 munes, by the addition of several philosophical illustra- 
 tions, calculated to expose the fallacious reasonings of the 
 Romish doctors. As yet, however, the discussions of ph: 
 losophy were sparingly used, and the unintelligible jargon 
 of the schoolmen was kept at a certain distance, and sel- 
 dom borrowed. But when the founders of the Lutheran 
 church were removed by death, and the Jesuits attacked 
 the principles of the Reformation with redoubled animo- 
 sity, armed with the intricate and perplexing dialect of 
 the schools, the scene was changed, and theology assumed 
 another aspect. The stratagem employed by the Jesuits 
 corrupted our doctors, induced them to revive that intri- 
 cate and abstruse manner of defending and illustrating 
 religious truth, which Luther and his associates had re- 
 jected, and to introduce, into the plain and artless paths 
 of theology, all the thorns and thistles, all the dark and 
 devious labyrinths of the scholastic philosophy. ‘This un- 
 happy change was deeply lamented by several divines of 
 
 several prophetical, parabolical, and figurative expressions be excepted 
 in its application, 
 * See Jo. Franc. Buddeus, Isagoge ad Theolo, lib. ii. c.1.§ xiii. t.1. p. 381. 
 
458 
 
 eminent piety and learning about the commencement of 
 the seventeenth century, who regretted the loss of that 
 amiable simplicity which is the attendant on divine 
 truth ; but they could not prevail upon the professors, in 
 the different universities, to sacrifice the jargon of the 
 schools to the dictates of common sense, or to return to 
 the plain, serious, and unaffected method of teaching 
 theology, that had been introduced by Luther. ‘These 
 obstinate doctors pleaded necessity in behalf of their scho- 
 lastic divinity, and looked upon this pretended necessity 
 as superior to all authorities, and all examples, however 
 respectable. 
 
 XVII. Those who are sensible of the intimate con- 
 nexion between faith and practice, between the truths and 
 duties of religion, will easily perceive the necessity that 
 existed for a reformation of the corrupt morality, as well 
 as of the superstitious doctrines, of the church of Rome. 
 It is therefore natural, that the same persons, who had 
 spirit enough to do the one, should think themselves oblig- 
 ed toattempt the other. ‘This they accordingly attempted, 
 and not without a certain degree of success ; for it may 
 be affirmed with truth, that more genuine piety and more 
 excellent rules of ‘conduct are observable in the few prac- 
 tical productions of Luther, Melancthon, Weller, and Ri- 
 vius, than are to be found in the innumerable ‘volumes 
 of all the ancient Casuists and Moralisers,* as they are 
 called in the barbarous language of those remote periods. 
 It is not, however, meant even to insinuate, that the no- 
 tionsof these great men concerning the important science 
 of morality were either sufficiently accurate or extensive. 
 It appears, on the contrary, from various debates which 
 were carried on during this century, concerning the duties 
 and obligations of Christians, and from the answers that 
 were given by famous casuists to persons perplexed with 
 religious scruples, that the true principles of morality 
 were not yet fixed with perspicuity and precision, the 
 agreement or difference between the laws of nature and 
 the precepts of Christianity not sufficiently examined and 
 determined, nor the proper distinctions made between those 
 parts of the gospel dispensation, which are agreeable to 
 right reason, and such as are beyond its reach and com- 
 prehension. Had not the number of adversaries, with 
 whom the Lutheran doctors were obliged to contend, given 
 them perpetual employment in the field of controversy, 
 and robbed them of that precious leisure which they might 
 have consecrated to the advancement of real piety and 
 virtue, they would certainly have been free from the de- 
 fects now me ntioned, and would, per haps, have equalled 
 the best moral writers of modern times. This consider- 
 ation will also diminish our wonder at a circumstance, 
 which otherwise might seem surprising, that none of the 
 famous Lutheran doctors attempted to give a regular sys- 
 tem of morality. Melancthon himself, whose exquisite 
 judgment rendered him peculiarly capable of reducing 
 into a compendious system the elements of every science, 
 never seems to have thought of treating morals in this 
 manner ; but has inserted, on the contrary, all his prac- 
 tical puias and instructions under the theological articles 
 that relate to the law, sin, free-will, faith, hope, and cha- 
 rity. 
 
 XIX. All the divines of this century were educated 
 in the school of controversy, and so trained up to spi- 
 
 ~ 
 
 3‘> ® Themoral writers of this century were called Moralisantes, a bar- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 ritual war, that an eminent theologian, and a bold and 
 vehement disputant, “were considered as synonymous 
 terms. It could scarcely, indeed, be otherwise, in an age 
 when foreign quarrels and intestine divisions of a religi- 
 ous nature threw all the countries of Europe into a state 
 of agitation, and obliged the doctors of the contending 
 churches to be perpetually in action, or at least in a pos- 
 ture of defence. ‘These champions of the Refor mation 
 were not, however, all animated with the same spirit, nor 
 did they attack and defend with the same arms. Such of 
 them as were contemporary with Luther, or lived near his 
 time, were remarkable for the simplicity of their reasoning 
 
 and attacked their adversaries with no other arguments 
 
 than those which they drew from the declarations of the in- 
 spired writers, and the decisions of the ancient fathers. 
 In the latter part of the century this method was consi- 
 derably changed ; and we see those doctors, who were 
 its chief ornaments, reinforcing their cause with the suc- 
 cours of the Aristotelian philosophy, and thus losing, in 
 point of perspicuity and evidence, what they eained in 
 point of subtilty and imagined science. It is true, as has 
 been already observed more than once, that they were too 
 naturally, though inconsiderately, led to adopt this method 
 of disputing by the example of their adversaries the Ro- 
 man catholics. ‘The latter, having learned, by a disa- 
 greeable and discouraging experience, that ‘their cause 
 was unable to support that plain and perspicuous method 
 of reasoning, which is the proper test of religious and moral 
 truth, had recourse to stratagem, when evidence failed, and 
 involved both their arguments and their opinions in the 
 dark and intricate mazes of the scholastic philosophy ; and 
 it was this that engaged the protestant doctors to change 
 their weapons, and toemploy methods of defence unworthy 
 of the glorious cause in which they had embarked. 
 
 The spirit of zeal, that animated the Lutheran divines, 
 was, in general, very far from being tempered by a spirit 
 of charity. If we except Melancthon, in whom a pre- 
 dominant mildness and sweetness of natural temper tri- 
 umphed over the contagious ferocity of the times, all the 
 disputants of this century discovered too much bitterness 
 and animosity in their transactions and in their writings. 
 Luther himself appears at the head of this sanguine tribe, 
 whom he far surpassed in invectives and abuse, treating 
 his adversaries with the most brutal asperity, and sparing 
 neither rank nor condition, however elevated or respecta- 
 ble they might be. It must indeed be confessed, that the 
 criminal nature of this vehemence will be much alleviated, 
 when it is considered in one point of view with the ge- 
 nius of those barbarous times, and the odious cruelty and 
 injustice of the virulent enemies, whom the oppressed re- 
 formers were called to encounter. When the impartial 
 inquirer considers the abominable calumnies that were la- 
 vished on the authors and instruments of the Reforma- 
 tion; when he reflects upon the horrors of fire and sword 
 employed, by bigoted and blood-thirsty tyrants, to extir- 
 pate those good men whom they wanted arguments to con- 
 vince ; will not his heart burn with a generous indigna- 
 tion? and will he not think it insome measure just, ‘that 
 such horrid proceedings should be represented in then 
 proper colours, and be stigmatised by such expressions as 
 are suited to their demerit ? 
 
 XX. In order to form a just idea of the internal state 
 
 barous term,to which the English word Moralisers bears some resomb-ance, 
 
Part IT. 
 
 of the Lutheran Church, and of the revolutions and | 
 changes which have happened in it, with their true springs | 
 and real causes, it is necessary to consider the history of 
 that church under three periods. 'The first extends from 
 the commencement of the Reformation to the death of 
 Imther, which happened in 1546: the second takes in 
 the time which elapsed between the death of Luther and 
 that of Melancthon, and consequently terminates in 
 1560; and the remainder of the century is comprehended 
 in the third period. 
 
 THE FIRST PERIOD. 
 
 Dorine this period, all things were transacted in the 
 Lutheran church in a manner conformable to the senti- 
 ments, counsels, and orders of Luther. This eminent re- 
 former, whose undaunted resolution, and amazing credit 
 and authority, rendered him equal to the most arduous 
 attempts, easily suppressed the commotions and dissen- 
 sions which arose from time to time in the church, and 
 did not suffer the sects, that several had attempted to form 
 in its bosom, to gather strength, or to arrive at any con- 
 siderable degree of consistence and maturity. The natu- 
 ral consequence of this was, that, during the life of that 
 great man, the internal state of the Lutheran church was 
 a state of tolerable tranquillity and repose; and ali such 
 as attempted to foment divisions, or to introduce any essen- 
 tial changes, were either speedily reduced to silence, or 
 obliged to retire from the new community. 
 
 XXI. The infancy of this church was troubled by an 
 impetuous rabble of wrong-headed fanatics, who introdu- 
 ced the utmost confusion wherever they endeavoured to 
 diffuse their pestilential errors, and who pretended that they 
 had received a divine inspiration, authorizing them to erect 
 a new kingdom of Christ, in which sin and corruption 
 were to have no place. ‘The leaders of this turbulent 
 and riotous sect were Munzer, Storck, Stubner, and others, 
 either Swiss or Germans, who kindled the flame of dis- 
 cord and rebellion in several parts of Europe, but chiefly 
 in Germany, and excited among the ignorant multitude 
 tumults and commotions, which, though less violent in 
 some places than in others, were, nevertheless, formidable 
 wherever they appeared.* ‘The history of this seditious 
 band is full of obscurity and confusion. <A regular, full, 
 and accurate account of it, neither has been, nor could 
 well be, committed to writing ; since, on one hand, the 
 
 2 John Baptist Ottius, in his Annales Anabaptist. has collected a con- 
 siderable number of facts relating to these fanatical commotions, which 
 are likewise mentioned by all the writers of the history of the Reforma- | 
 tion. 
 
 zp > The tumults of the anabaptists in Germany have already been 
 mentioned in acursory manner, sect. 1. chap. ll. sect. xxl. For an am- 
 ple account of the origin, doctrine, and progress of the Mennonites, see 
 the third chapter of the second part of this third section, cent. xvi. 
 
 %*p ° The danger that threatened the Lutheran church in these tu- 
 mults of the German anahaptists, was so much the greater on account 
 of the inclination which Munzer and Storck discovered at first for the 
 sentiments of Luther, and the favourable disposition which Carlostadt 
 scemed for some time to entertain with respect to these fanatics. 
 
 z“p 4 The reader may perhaps imagine, from Dr. Mosheim’s account 
 of this matter, that Carlostadt introduced these changes merely by his 
 own authority; but this was far from being the case; the suppression 
 of private masses, the removal of images out of the churches, the eboli- 
 tion of the law which imposed celibacy upon the clergy, which are the 
 changes hinted at by our historian as rash and perilous, were effected 
 by Carlostadt, in conjunction with Bugenhagius, Melancthon, Jonas 
 Amsdorff, and others, and were confirmed by the authority of the elector 
 of Saxony; so that there is some reason to apprehend that, one of the 
 principal causes of Luther's displeasure at these changes, was their be- 
 ing introduced in his absence ; unless we suppose that he had not so far 
 
 : . = — — 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 459 
 
 opinions and actions of these fanatics were a motley chaos 
 of inconsistencies and contradictions, and, on the other, 
 the age, in which they lived, produced few writers who 
 had either the leisure or the capacity to observe with dili- 
 gence, or to relate with accuracy, commotions and tumults 
 of this extraordinary kind. It is however certain, that, 
 from the most profligate and abandoned part of this en- 
 thusiastical multitude, those seditious armies were formed. 
 which kindled in Germany the war of the peasants, and 
 afterwards seized the city of Munster, involving the whole 
 province of Westphalia in the most dreadful calamities. 
 It is also well known, that the better part of this motley 
 tribe, terrified by the unhappy and deserved fate of their 
 unworthy associates, whom they saw massacred with the 
 most unrelenting severity, saved themselves from the ruin 
 of their sect, and, at length, embraced the communion of 
 those who are called Mennonites.» The zeal, vigilance, 
 and resolution of Luther, happily prevented the divisions, 
 which the odious disciples of Munzer attempted to excite 
 in the church he had founded, and preserved the giddy 
 and credulous multitude from their seductions; and it 
 may be safely affirmed, that, had it not been for the vigour 
 and fortitude of this active and undaunted reformer, the 
 Lutheran church would, in its infancy, have fallen a 
 miserable prey to the enthusiastic fury of these detestable 
 fanatics.° 
 
 X XU. Fanatics and enthusiasts of the kind now de- 
 scribed, while they met with the warmest opposition from 
 Luther, found, on the contrary, in his colleague Carlo- 
 stadt, such a credulous attention to their seductions, as na- 
 turally flattered them with the hopes of his patronage and 
 favour. ‘This divine, who was a native of /'ranconia, was 
 not destitute of learning or of merit; but imprudence and 
 precipitation were the distinguished lines of his warm and 
 violent character. Of these he gave the most evident 
 marks, in 1523, when, during the absence of Luther, he ex- 
 cited no small tumult at Wittenberg, by ordering the images 
 to be taken out of the churches, and by other enterprises of 
 arash and dangerous nature.¢ This tumult was appeas- 
 ed by the sudden return of Luther, whose presence and 
 exhortations calmed the troubled spirits of the people ; and 
 here we must look for the origin of the rupture between 
 himand Carlostadt; for the latter immediately retired from 
 Wittenberg to Orlamund, where he not only opposed the 
 sentiments of Luther concerning the eucharist,* but also 
 
 shaken off the fetters of superstition,-as to be sensible of the absurdity 
 and the pernicious consequences of the use of images, &c. As to the 
 abolition of the law that imposed celibacy on the clergy, it is well 
 known that it was the object of his warmest approbation. This ap- 
 pears from the following expressions in his letter to Amsdorff: ‘‘ Car- 
 lostadii nuptie mire placent: novi puellam: comfortet eam Dominus in 
 bonum exemplum inhibende et minuende papistice libidinis.” He 
 soon afterwards confirmed this approbation by his own exampie. 
 
 x¢p ¢ This difference of opinion between Carlostadt and Luther con- 
 cerning the eucharist, was the true cause of the violent rupture between 
 those two eminent men, and it tended very little to the honour of the 
 latter; for, however the explication, which the former gave of the 
 words of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, may appear forced, yet 
 the sentiments he entertained of that ordinance as a commemoration of 
 Christ’s death, and not as a celebration of his bodily presence, in conse- 
 quence of a consubstantiation with the bread and wine, are infinitely 
 more rational than the doctrine of Luther, which is loaded with some of 
 the most palpable absurdities of transubstantiation ; and if it be suppo- 
 sed that Carlostadt strained the rule of interpretation too far, when he 
 alleged, that Christ pronounced the pronoun (Ais, (in the words This 18 
 my body) pointing to his body, and not to the bread, what shail we 
 think of Luther’s explaining the nonsensical doctrine of consubstantia- 
 tion by the similitude of a red-hot iron, in which two elements are 
 united, as the body of Christ is with the bread in the eucharist ? 
 
466 
 
 betrayed, in several instances, a fanatical turn of mind.* 
 Hs was therefore commanded to leave the territories of the | 
 elector of Saxony, which he did accordingly, and repaired 
 to Switzerland, where he propagated his doctrines, and 
 taught with success, first at Zurich, and afterwards at 
 Basil, retaining howev er, as long as he lived, a favourable 
 disposition toward the sects of the Anabaptists, and, in 
 general, to all enthusiastic teachers, who pretended to a 
 divine inspiration.» Thus then did Luther, in a short 
 time, allay this new storm which the precipitation of Car- 
 lostadt had raised in the church. 
 
 XXHI. The reforming spirit of Carlostadt, with re- 
 spect to the doctrine of Christ’s s presence in the ‘eucharist, 
 was not extinguished, by his exile, in the Lutheran 
 church. It was revived, om the contrary, by a man 
 nearly of the same turn of mind, a Silesian knight, and 
 counsellor to the duke of Lignitz, whose name was Cas- 
 par Schwenckfeld. ‘This nobleman, seconded by Valen- 
 tine Crautwald, a man of eminent learning, who lived 
 at the court of the prince now mentioned, took notice of 
 many things, which he deemed erroneous and defective, 
 in the opinions and rites established by Luther ; and, had 
 not the latter been extremely vigilant, as well as vigorous- 
 ly supported by his friends and adherents, would have 
 undoubtedly brought about a considerable schism in the 
 church. E:very circumstance, in Schwenckfeld’s conduct 
 and appearance, was adapted to give him credit and influ- 
 ence. His morals were pure, and his life, in all respects, 
 exemplary. His exhortations in favour of true and solid 
 piety were warm and persuasive, and his principal zeal 
 was employed in promoting it among the peopie. He thus 
 acquired the esteem and friendship of many learned and 
 pious men, both in the Lutheran and Helvetic churches, 
 who beraared his sentiments, and undertook to defend 
 him against all his adversaries.:. Notwithstanding all this, 
 he was banished by his sovereign both from the court and 
 from his country, in 1528, only because Zuingle had ap- 
 proved his opinions concerning the eucharist, and declared 
 that they did not differ essentially from his own. From 
 that time the persecuted knight wandered from place to 
 place, under various turns of fortune, until death, in 1561, 
 put an end to his trials. He had founded, in Silesia, a 
 small congregation, the members of which were persecu- 
 ted and ejected by ‘the popish possessors of that country ; 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL. 
 
 but they were restored to their fcrmer habitations and 
 privileges, civil and religious, by that prince whe began, 
 in 1740, to reign over Prussia.* 
 
 XXIV. The upright intentions of Schwenckfeld, and 
 his zeal for the advancement of true piety, deserve, no 
 doubt, the highest commendation ; but the same thing 
 cannot be said of his prudence and judgment. ‘The good 
 man had a natural propensity toward fanaticism, and 
 fondly imagained that he had received a divine commis- 
 sion to propagate his opinions. He differed from Luther, 
 and the other friends of the reformation, in three points, 
 which it is proper to select from others of less conse- 
 quence. The first of these points related to the doctrine 
 concerning the eucharist. Schwenckfeld inverted the 
 words of Christ, ‘This is my body,’ and insisted on their 
 being thus understood: “My body is this, i. e. such as 
 this bread which is broken and consumed ; a true and 
 real food, which nourishes, satisfies, and delights the 
 soul. Mi y blood is this, that is, such in its effects as the 
 wine, which strengthens and refreshes the heart.” The 
 poor man imagined that this wonderful doctrine had been 
 revealed to him from heaven ; which circumstance alone 
 is a sufficient demonstration of his folly. 
 
 The second point in which he differed from Luther, 
 was in his hypothesis relating to the efficacy of the divine 
 word. He denied, for example, that the external word, 
 which is committed to writing in the Scriptures, was en- 
 dowed with the power of healing, illuminating, and re- 
 newing the mind; and he ascribed this power to the 
 internal word, which, according to his notion, was Christ 
 himself. His discourses, however, concerning this inter- 
 nal word, were, as usually happens to persons of his turn, 
 so full of confusion, obscurity, and contradiction, that it 
 was difficult to find out what his doctrine really was, and 
 whether it resembled that of the Mystics and Quakers, or 
 was borrowed from a different source. 
 
 His doctrine concerning the human nature of Christ, 
 formed the third subject of debate between him and the 
 Lutherans. He would not allow Christ’s human nature, 
 in its exalted state, to be called a creature, or a created 
 substance, as such denomination appeared to him infi- 
 nitely below its majestic dignity, united as it is, in that 
 glorious state, with the divine essence. ‘This notion of 
 Schwenekfeld bears a remarkable affinity to the doctrine 
 
 %’r * This censure is with too much truth applicable to Carlostadt. 
 Though he did not adopt the impious and abominable doctrines of Mun- 
 zer and his band, (as Dr. Mosheim permits the uninstructed reader to 
 imagine by mentioning him, as being a friend to these fanatics in gene- 
 ral,) yet he certainly was chargeable with some extrav agances that 
 were observable in the tenets of that wrong-headed tribe. He was for 
 
 abolishing the civil law, with the munic ipal laws and constitutions of | 
 
 the German empire, and proposed substituting the law of Moses in their 
 place. He distinguished himself by railing at the universities, de- 
 claiming against human le arning, and other follies. 
 “ Great wits to madness nearly are allied.” 
 
 Sce Val. Ern. Loscheri Historia Motuum inter Lutheranos et Reformat. 
 par. t. cap. 1.—Dan. Gerdes, Vita Carolostadii, in Miscell. Groningens. 
 novis. 
 
 3a > This affirmation of Dr. Mosheim wants much to be modified. 
 In the original it stands thus: ‘ Dum.vixit vero anabaptistarum homi- 
 numque divina visa jactantium partibus amicum sese ostendit,’”—i. e. 
 
 as long as he lived, he showed himself a friend to the anabaptists, and | 
 
 other enthusiasts who pretended to divine inspiration. But how could 
 Carlostadt, after his banishment from Saxony, composed a treatise against 
 enthusiasm in gener al, and against the extravagant tenets and the Vio- 
 lent proceedings of the anabaptists in particular 2 
 even addressed to Luther, who was so affected by it, that, repenting of 
 bis unworthy treatment of Carlostadt, he pleaded his cause, and obtain- 
 
 This treatise was | 
 
 ed from the elector a permission for him to return into Saxony. See 
 Gerdes, Vita Carolostadii. After this reconciliation with Luther, he 
 composed a treatise on the eucharist, which breathes the most amiable 
 spirit of moderation and humility ; and, having perused the writings of 
 Zuingle, where he saw his own sentiments on that subject maintained 
 with the greatest perspicuity and force of evidence, he repaired a se- 
 cond time to Zurich, and thence to Basil, where he was admitted to the 
 offices of pastor and professor of divinity, and where, after having 
 lived in the exemp'ary and constant practice of every Christian vir tue, 
 he died, amidst the warmest effusions of piety and resignation, on the 
 25th of ‘December, 1541. All this is testified solemnly in a letter of the 
 learned and picus Gryneas of Basil, toPitiscus, chaplain to the Elector 
 
 | Palatine, and shows hew Little credit ought to bé given to the assertions 
 
 of the ignorant Moreri, or to the insinuations of the insidious Bos 
 suet. 
 
 ¢ See Jo. Conr. Fueslini Centuria I. Epistolar. A Reformatoribus He] 
 Veticis scriptar. p. 169, 175, 225. Museum Helvetic. tom. iv. p. 445, 
 
 4 Jo. Wigandi Schwenekfeldianismus.—Conr. Schlusselburgi Catalog 
 
 | Heereticor. ‘lib. x.—The most accurate accounts of this nobleman have 
 our historian assert this without restriction, since it is well known that |! 
 
 veen given by Chr. Aug. Salig, in his Histor. August. Confessionis 
 tom, 11. lib, xi. and by Gottfried Arnold, in his Kirehen und Ketzer 
 Historie, p. 720, both of which authors have pleaded the cause of 
 Schwenckfeld. 
 
 ° See an account of Schwenckfeld’s Confession of Faith, in Kocher’s 
 Bibliotheca Theologie Symbolice, p. 457. 
 
Parr Il 
 
 of Batrches, which, however, he professed to reject ; and, 
 in his turn, he accused those of Nestori ianism, who gave the 
 denomination of a creature to the human nature of Christ. 
 
 XXV. An intemperate zeal, by straining certain truths 
 too far suns them into falsehood, or, at least, often ren- 
 ders tlem the occasion of the most pernicious abuses. 
 A striking instance of this happened during the ministry 
 of Luther. While he was insisting upon the nec essity of 
 imprinting deeply in the minds of the people that doctrine 
 of the Gospel, which represents Christ’s merits as the 
 source of man’s salvation, and while he was eagerly em- 
 ployed in censuring and refuting the popish doctors, who 
 mixed the law and the Gospel together, and re presented 
 eternal happiness as the fruit of legal obedience, a fanatic 
 arose, who abused _ his doctrine, by over-straining it, and 
 thus opened a field for the most dangerous errors. "Uhis 
 new teacher was John Agricola, a native of Kisleben, and 
 an eminent doctor of the Lutheran church, though 
 chargeable with vanity, presumption, and artifice. He 
 
 first began to make a noise in 1538, when, from the doc- | 
 
 trine of Luther now mentioned, he took occasion to de- 
 claim against the law, maintaining, that it was neither 
 fit to be proposed to the people as a rule of manners, nor 
 to be used in the church as a mean of instruction; and 
 that the Gospel alone was to be inculcated and explained, 
 both in the churches and in the schools of learning. he 
 followers of Agricola were called Antinomians, 1. e. ene- 
 
 mies of the law. But the fortitude, vigilance, and credit 
 of Luther, suppressed this sect in its very infancy ; and 
 Agnicola, intimidated by the opposition of such a re- 
 spectable adversary, acknowledged and renounced his 
 pernicious system. But this recantation does not seem 
 to have been sincere, since it is said, that when his fears 
 were dispelled by the death of Luther, he returned to his 
 errors, and gained proselytes to his extrav agant doc- 
 trine.* 
 
 XXVI. 'The tenets of the Antinomians, if their adver- 
 saries are to be believed, were of the most noxious nature 
 and tendency ; for they are supposed to have taught the 
 most dissolute doctrine in point of morals, and to have 
 maintained that it was allowable to follow the impulse of 
 every passion, and to transgress without reluctance the 
 divine law, provided that the transgressor took hold of 
 Christ, and embraced his merits by a lively faith. Such, 
 at least, is the representation that is generally given of 
 their doctrine; but it ought not to be received with im- 
 plicit credulity ; for whoever looks into this matter with 
 attention and impartiality, will soon be persuaded, that 
 such an absurd and impious doctrine is unjustly laid to 
 the charge of Agricola, and that the principal fault of this 
 presumptuous man lay in some harsh and inaccurate ex 
 pressions, which were susceptible of dangerous and per- 
 nicious interpretations. By the term law, he understood 
 the ten Commandments, promulgated under the Mosaic 
 dispensation; and he considered this law as enacted for 
 the Jews, and not for Christians. He, at the same time, 
 explained the term Gospel (which he considered as sub- 
 stituted for the law) in its true and extensive sense, as 
 comprehending not only the doctrine of the merits of 
 
 * See Caspar Sagittarius, Introd. ad Histor. Ecclesiast. tom. i. p. 838. 
 —Bayle’s Dictionarie, tom. ii. at the article Islebius —Conr. Schhuiedt 
 burg, Catalog. Her. lib. iv. —G. Arnold, Kirchen und Ketzer Hist. p. 813. 
 
 xy > It would certainly be very difficult. to point out the many re- 
 spects in which Dr. Mosheim affirms that Luther was superior to Me- 
 
 No. XX XIX, 116 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Abi 
 
 Christ rendered salutary by faith, but also the sublime pre- 
 cepts of holiness and virtue, delivered by the divine Saviour, 
 as rules of obedience. If, there fore, we follow the inten- 
 tion of Agricola, without inte rpreting, in a rigorous man- 
 ner, the uncouth phrases and improper expressions which 
 he so frequently and so injudiciously employed, his doc- 
 trine will plainly amount to this: “That the ten Com- 
 mandments, published during the ministry of Moses, were 
 chiefly designed for the Jews, and on that account might 
 be lawfully “neglected ae laid aside by Christians: and 
 that it was sufficient to explain with perspicuity, and to 
 enforce with zeal, what C ‘hrist and his apostles had taught 
 in the New T estament, both with respect to the means of 
 grace and s salvation, and the obligations of repentance and 
 virtue.” ‘The ereatest part of the doctors of this century 
 are chargeable with a want of precision and consistency 
 in expressing their ideas: hence their real sentiments have 
 been misunderstood, and opinions have been imputed to 
 them which they never entertained. 
 
 THE SECOND PERIOD. 
 
 XXVIT. Arrer the death of Luther, which happen- 
 ed in the year 1546, Philip Melancthon was placed at 
 the head of the Lutheran doctors. "The merit, genius, and 
 talents of this new chief were, undoubtedly, great and il- 
 lustrious, though it must, at the same time, be confess: 
 
 } ed, that he was inferior to Luther in many respects," 
 
 and more especially in courage, firmness, and personal 
 authority. His natural temper was soft and flexible; 
 his love of peace almost excessive, and his apprehensions 
 of the displeasure and resentment of men in power were 
 such as betrayed a pusillanimous spirit. He was ambi- 
 tious of the esteem and friendship of all with whom he 
 had any intercourse, and was absolutely incapable of em- 
 ploying the foree of threatenings, or the restraints of fear, 
 to suppress the efforts of religious faction, to keep withi» 
 due bounds the irregular love of novelty and change, and 
 to secure to the church the obedience of its members. It 
 is also to be observed, that his sentiments, on some points 
 of moment, differed considerably from those of Luther ; 
 and it may not be improper to point out the principal sub- 
 | jects on which they adopted different ways of thinking. 
 
 In the first place, Melancthon was of opinion, that, 
 for the sale of peace and concord, inany things might be 
 connived at and tolerated in the church of Rome, which 
 Luther considered as absolutely iasupportable. The for 
 mer carried so far the spirit of toleration and indulgence, 
 as to discover no reluctance against retaining the ancient 
 form of ecclesiastical government, and submitting to the 
 dominion of the Roman pontiff, on certain conditions, and 
 in such a manner, as might be without prejudice to the 
 obligation and authority ‘of all those truths which are 
 clearly revealed in the holy scriptures. 
 
 A second occasion of a diversity of sentiment, between 
 these great men, was furnished by the tenets which Lu- 
 ther maintained th opposition to the doctrines of the church 
 of Rome. Such were his ideas concerning faith, as the 
 only cause of salvation, concerning the necessity of good 
 works to our final happiness, and man’s natural incapacity 
 
 lancthon; for, if the single article of courage and firmness of mind be 
 excepted, 'T know no other respect in which Melancthon is not superior, 
 or at least equal, to Luther. He was certainly his equal in piety and 
 virtue, and much his superior in learning, judgment, meekness, and 
 | humanity, 
 
A62 
 
 of promoting his own conversion. In avoiding the cor- 
 rupt notions which were embraced by the Roman-catholic 
 doctors on these important points of theology, Luther 
 seemed, in the judgment of Melancthon, to lean too 
 much toward the opposite extreme.» Hence the latter 
 
 was inclined to think, that the sentiments and expressions | 
 
 of his colleague required to be in some degree mitigated, and consequently could not be considered as indifferent 
 
 lest they should give a handle to dangerous abuses, and 
 -e perverted to the propagation of pernicious errors. 
 
 It may be observed, thirdly, that though Melancthon 
 adopted the sentiments of Luther in relation to the eucha- 
 rist,” yet he did not consider the controversy with the di- 
 vines of Switzerland on that subject, as a matter of suffi- 
 cient moment to occasion a breach of church communion 
 and fraternal concord between the contending parties. 
 He thought that this happy concord might be easily pre- 
 served by expressing the doctrine of the eucharist, and 
 Christ’s presence in that ordinance, in general and amli- 
 guous terms, which the two cburches might explain ac- 
 cording to their respective systems. 
 
 Such were the sentiments of Melancthon, which, 
 though they were not entirely concealed during the life 
 of Luther, he delivered, nevertheless, with great circum- 
 spection and modesty, yielding always to the authority of 
 his colleague, for whom he had a sincere friendship, and 
 of whom also he stood in awe. But no sooner were the 
 eyes of Luther closed, than he inculcated, with the great- 
 est plainness and freedom, what he had before only hinted 
 with timidity and caution. ‘The eminent rank which 
 he held among the Lutheran doctors rendered this bold 
 manner of proceeding extremely disagreeable to many. 
 His doctrine accordingly was censured and opposed; and 
 thus the church was deprived of the tranquillity which it 
 had enjoyed under Luther, and exhibited an unhappy 
 scene of animosity, contention, and discord. 
 
 XXVIII. The rise of these unhappy divisions must be 
 dated from the year 1548, when Charles V. attempted to 
 impose upon the Germans the famous edict, called the 
 Interim. Maurice, the new elector of Saxony, desirous 
 of knowing how far such an edict ought to be respected 
 in his dominions, assembled the doctors of Wittenberg 
 and Leipsic in the last-mentioned city, and proposed this 
 nice and critical subject to their serious examination. 
 Upon this occasion Melancthon, complying with the 
 suggestions of that lenity and moderation whicli were the 
 
 3 * It 1s certain, that Luther carried the doctrine of Justification by 
 Faith to such an excessive cength, as seemed, though perhaps contrary 
 to his intention, to derogute not only from the necessity of good works, 
 but even from their obligation and importance. He would not allow 
 them to be considered either as the conditions or means of salvation, 
 or even as a preparation for receiving it. 
 
 3 » It is somewhat surprising to hear Dr. Mosheim affirmine that 
 Melancthon adopted the sentiments of his friend with regard to the 
 eucharist, when the contrary is well known. It is true, that in his wri- 
 tings, published before the year 1529 or 1530, there are passages 
 which show that he haa not yet thoroughly examined the controversy 
 relating to the nature of Christ’s presence in the eucharist. It is also 
 true, that during the disputes carried on between Westphal and Calvin 
 after the death of Luther, concerning the veal presence, he did not de- 
 clare himself in an open manner for either side, (which however is a 
 presumptive argument of his leaning to that of Calvin,) but expressed 
 his sorrow at these divisions, and at the spirit of animosity by which 
 they were inflamed. But whoever will be at the pains to read his let- 
 ters to Calvin upon this subject, or those extracts of them which are 
 collected by Hospinian, in the second volume of his Historia Sacramen- 
 taria, will be persuaded that he looked upon the doctrine of Consubstan- 
 tiation not only as erroneous, but even as idolatrous; and that nothing 
 but the fear of inflaming the present divisions, and of not being second- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II]. 
 
 great and leading principles in the whole course of his 
 conduct and actions, declared it as his opinion, that, in 
 matters of an indifferent nature, compliance was due to 
 the imperial edicts.° But, in the class of matters indiffer- 
 ent, this great man and his associates placed many things 
 which had appeared of the highest importance to Luther, 
 
 by his true disciples ;¢ for he regarded, as such, the doc 
 trine of justification by faith alone, the necessity of good 
 works to eternal salvation, the number of the sacraments 
 the jurisdiction claimed by the pope and the bishops, ex- 
 treme unction, the observance of certain religious festivals, 
 and several superstitious rites and ceremonies. Hence 
 arose that warm contest® which divided the church du 
 ring many years, and proved highly detrimental to the 
 progress of the Reformation. 'T'he defenders of the prim- 
 itive doctrines of Lutheranism, with Flacius at their head, 
 attacked with incredible bitterness and fury the doctors 
 of Wittenberg and Leipsic, (particularly Melancthon, by 
 whose counsel and influence every thing relating to the 
 Interim had been conducted,) and accused them of apos- 
 tacy from the true religion. Melancthon, on the other 
 hand, seconded by the zeal of his friends and disciples, 
 justified bis conduct with the utmost spirit and vigour.‘ 
 In this unfortunate debate the two following questions were 
 principally discussed : first, whether the points that seem- 
 ed indifferent to Melancthon were so in reality ?—this 
 his adversaries obstinately denied :s—secondly, whether 
 in things of an indifferent nature, and in which the inte- 
 rests of religion are not essentially concerned, it be lawful 
 to yield to the enemies of the truth ? 
 
 XXIX. This debate became, as might have been ex- 
 pected, a fruitful source of other controversies, which were 
 equally detrimental to the tranquillity of the church, and 
 to the cause of the Reformation. The first to which it 
 gave rise was the warm dispute concerning the necessity 
 of good works, that was carried on with such spirit against 
 the rigid Lutherans, by George Major, an eminent teach- 
 er of theology at Wittenberg. Melancthon had long 
 been of opinion, that the necessity of good works, in order 
 to the attainment of everlasting salvation, might be as- 
 serted and taught, as conformable to the truths revealed 
 in the Gospel; and both he and his colleagues declared 
 this to be their opinion, when they were assembled at 
 Leipsic, in 1548, to examine the famous edict already 
 
 ed, prevented him from declaring his sentiments openly. See Bayle’s 
 Life of Melancthon, in his Dictionary. 
 
 ° The piece in which Melancthon and his associates delivered their 
 sentiments relating to things indifferent, is commonly called in the Ger- 
 man language Das Leipziger Interim, and was republished at Leipsic 
 in 1721, by Bieckius, in a work entitled, Das Dreyfache Interim. 
 
 3‘ 4 If they only are the true disciples of Luther, who submit to his 
 judgment, and adopt his sentiments in theological matters, many doctors 
 of that communion, and our historian among the rest, must certainly be 
 supposed to have forfeited that title, as will abundantly appear hereaf- 
 ter. Be that as it may, Melancthon can scarcely, if at all, be justified 
 in placing in the class of things indifferent the doctrines relating to faith 
 and good works, which are the fundamental points of the Christian 
 religion, and, if 1 may use such an expression, the very hinges on 
 whichthe Gospel turns. 
 
 z+ ° This controversy was called Adiaphoristic, and Melancthon 
 and his followers Adzaphorists, from the Greek word dd:apopos, which 
 signifies indifferent. 
 
 f Schlusselburg’s Catalog. Heereticor. lib. xiii—Arnold’s Kirchen 
 und Ketzer Historie, lib. xvi. cap. xxvi. p. 816.—Salig’s Histor. Aug. 
 Confess. vol. i. p. 611—The German work, entitled Unschuldige 
 Nachrichten, An, 1702—Luc. Osiandri Epitome Histor. Eccles. Centur. 
 XVI. p. 502. x= © See above, note 4 
 
Part II. 
 
 mentioned.* This declaration was severely censured by 
 the rigid disciples of Luther, as contrary to the doctrine 
 and sentiments of their chief, and as conformable both to 
 the tenets and interests of the church of Rome; but it 
 found an able defender in Major, who, in 1552, main- 
 
 tained the necessity of good works, against the extrava- | 
 
 gant assertions of Amsdorf. Hence arose a new contro- 
 versy between the rigid and moderate Lutherans, which 
 was carried on with the keenness and animosity that were 
 peculiar to all debates of a religious nature during this 
 century. In the course of this warm debate, Amsdorf 
 was so far transported and infatuated by his excessive 
 zeal for the doctrine of Luther, as to maintain, that good 
 works were an impediment to salvation : from which im- 
 
 prudent and odious expression, the Aarne of controversy | 
 b 
 
 received new fuel, and broke forth with redoubled fury. 
 On the other hand, Major complained of the malice or ig- 
 norance of his adversaries, who explained his doctrine in 
 a manner quite different from that in which he intended 
 it should be understood; and, at length; he renounced it 
 entirely, that he might not appear fond of wi rangling, or be 
 looked upon as a disturber of the peace of the church. 
 "This step did not, however, put an end to the debate, which 
 sts still carried on, until it was terminated at last by the 
 
 Form of Concord. 
 
 XXX. From the same source that produced the dis- 
 pute concerning the necessity of good works, arose the 
 synergistical controversy. ‘The Synergists,* whose doc- 
 trine was almost the same with that of the Semi-Pelagi- 
 ans, denied that God was the only agent in the conversion 
 of sinful man; and affirmed, that man co-operated with 
 divine grace in the accomplishment of this salutary pur- 
 
 ose. Here also Melancthon renounced the doctrine of 
 ee at least, the terms he employs in expressing his 
 sentiments concerning this intricate subject, are such as 
 Luther would have rejected with horror; for, in the con- 
 ference at Leipsic, the former of these great men did not 
 scruple to affirm, that “God drew to himself and converted 
 adult persons in such a manner, that the powerful impres- 
 
 sion of his grace was accompanied with a certain corres- | 
 
 pondent action of their will.” The friends and disciples 
 of Melancthon adopted this manner of speaking, and 
 used the expressions of their master to describe the nature 
 of the divine agency in man’s conversion. But this repre- 
 sentation of the matter was far from being agreeable to 
 the rigid Lutherans. 'They looked upon it as subversive 
 of the true and genuine doctrine of Luther, relating to the 
 absolute servitude of the human will,4 and the total ina- 
 bility of man to do any good action, or to bear any part in 
 his own conversion; and hence they oppose the Syner- 
 gists with the utmost animosity and bitterness. ‘lhe 
 principal champions in this theological conflict were Stri- 
 gelius, who defended the sentiments of Melancthon with 
 singular dexterity and perspicuity, and Flacius, who main- 
 tained the ancient doctrine of Luther: of these doctors, 
 
 * The Interim of Charles V. 
 
 > Schlusselburg, lib. vii. Catal. Hereticor—G. Arnold’s Kirchen 
 Hist. lib. xvi. cap. xxvii. p. 822.—Jo. Muszi Pralect. in Form. Con- 
 cord. p. 181.—Arn. Grevii Memoria Jo. Westphali, p. 166. 
 
 aay *As this controversy turned upon the co-operation of the human 
 will with the divine grace, the persons who maintained this joint agen- 
 cy, were called Synergists, from a Greek word (cvvepyera,) which signi- 
 fies co-operation. 
 
 “> * The doctrines of absolute predestination, irresistible grace, and 
 human impotence, were never carried to a mere excessive length, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 463 
 
 as also the subject of their debate, a farther account will 
 soon be given.® 
 
 XXXI. During these dissensions, a new university 
 
 ‘was founded at Jena by the dukes of Saxe-Weimar, the 
 
 sons of the famous John Frederic, whose unsuccessful 
 wars with the emperor Charles V. had involved him in 
 so many calamities, and deprived him of his electoral do- 
 minions. ‘Lhe noble founders of this university, having 
 designed it for the bulwark of the protestant religion, as 
 it was taught and inculcated by Luther, were partic ularly 
 careful in choosing such professors and divines as were 
 remarkable for their attachment to the genuine doctrine 
 of that great reformer, and their aversion to the senti- 
 ments of those moderate Lutherans, who had attempted, 
 by certain modifications and corrections, to render it less 
 harsh and disgusting ; and, as none of the Lutheran doc- 
 tors were so much distinguished by their uncharitable and 
 intemperate zeal for this ancient doctrine, as Matthias 
 Flacius, the virulent enemy of Melancthon and all the 
 Philippists, he was appointed, in 1557, professor of divi- 
 nity at Jena. he consequences of this nomination wer e; 
 indeed, deplorable. This turbulent and impetuous man, 
 whom nature had formed with an uncommon propensity 
 to foment divisions and propagate discord, not only revived 
 all the ancient controversies that had distracted the church, 
 but also excited new debates; and sowed, with such avi- 
 dity and success, the seeds of contention between the di- 
 vines of Weimar and those of the electorate of Saxony, 
 that a fatal schism in the Lutheran church was appre- 
 hended by many of its wisest members.! And indeed 
 this schism would have been inevitable, if the machinations 
 and intrigues of Flacius had produced the desired effect ; 
 for, in 1559, he persuaded the dukes of Saxe-Weimar to 
 order a refutation of the errors that had crept into the Lu- 
 theran church, and particularly of those which were im- 
 puted to the followers of Melancthon, to be drawn up with 
 care, promulgated by authority, and placed among the 
 other religious edicts and articles of faith that were in : force 
 in their dominions. But this pernicious design of divid- 
 ing the church proved abortive; for the other Lutheran 
 princes, who acted from the true and genuine principles 
 of the Reformation, disapproved this seditious book, from 
 a just apprehension of its tendency to increase the present 
 troubles, and to augment, instead of diminishing, the ca- 
 lamities of the church.¢ | 
 XXXII. This theological incendiary kindled the flame 
 of discord and persecution even in the church of Saxe- 
 Weimar, and in the university of Jena, to which he be- 
 longed, by venting his fury against Strigelius," the friend 
 and disciple of Melancthon. ‘This moderate divine adopt- 
 ed, in many things, the sentiments of his master, and 
 maintained, particularly, in his public lectures, that the 
 human will, when under the influence of the divine grace 
 leading it to repentance, was not totally inactive, but bore 
 a certain part in the salutary work of its conversion. 
 
 or maintained with a more virulent obstinacy, by any divine, than they 
 were by Luther. But in these times he has very few followers in this 
 respect, even among those who bear his name. 
 
 ° See Schlusselbure’s Catal. Hereticor. lib. v—G. Arnold, Histor. 
 Eccles. lib. xvi. cap. xxviii. p. 826.—Bayle’s Dict.—Salig’s Histor. Aus 
 gust. Confess. vol. iii—Muszi Prelect. 
 
 f See the remarkable letter of Augustus, elector of Saxony, concerns 
 ing Flacius and his malignant attempts ; published by Arn. Grevius in 
 his Memoria Joh. Westp shali. 
 
 € Salig’s Hist, Aug. Crantsia. vol, iii. p.476. + See Bayle’s Dict. 
 
464 2 
 In consequence of this doctrine, he was accused by Flacius 
 of Synergism at the court of Saxe-Weimar; and, by the 
 duke’s order, was cast into prison, where he was treated 
 with severity and rigour. He was at length delivered 
 from this confinement in 1562, and allowed to resume 
 his former vocation, after he had made a declaration of 
 his real sentiments, which, as he alleged, had been greatly 
 misrepresented. ‘This declaration, however, did not either 
 lecide or terminate the controversy, since Strigelius seem- 
 ‘d rather to conceal his erroneous sentiments* under am- 
 biguous expressions, than to renounce them entirely ; and 
 indeed he was so conscious of this himself, that, to avoid 
 being involved in new calamities and persecutions, he re- 
 tired from Jena to Leipsic, and thence to Heidelberg, 
 where he spent the remainder of his days; and appeared 
 so unsettled in his religious opinions, that it is doubtful 
 whether he ought to be placed among the followers of 
 Luther or Calvin. 
 
 XXXIII. The issue of this warm controversy, which 
 Flacius had kindled with such an intemperate zeal, prov- 
 ed highly detrimental to hisown reputation and influence 
 in particular, as well as to the interests of the Lutheran 
 chucrh in general; for, while this vehement disputant 
 was assailing his adversary with an inconsiderate ardour, 
 he exaggerated so excessively the sentiments, which he 
 looked upon as orthodox, as to maintain an opinion of 
 the most monstrous and detestable kind; an opinion which 
 made him appear, even in the judgment of his warmest 
 friends, an odious heretic, and a corruptor of the true reli- 
 gion. In 1560, a public dispute was holden at Weimar, 
 between him and Strigelius, concerning the natural pow- 
 ers and faculties of the human mind, and their influence 
 in the conversion and conduct of the true Christian. In 
 this conference the latter seemed to attribute to unassisted 
 nature too much, and the former too little. ‘The one look- 
 ed upon the fall of man as an event that extinguished, 
 in the human mind, every virtuous tendency, every noble 
 faculty, and left nothing behind it but universal darkness 
 and corruption. The other maintained, that this degra- 
 dation of the powers of nature was by no means univer- 
 sal or entire; that the will still retained some propensity 
 to worthy pursuits, and a certain degree of activity that 
 rendered it capable of attainments in virtue. Strigelius, 
 who was well acquainted with the wiles of a captious phi- 
 losophy, proposed to defeat his adversary by puzzling him, 
 and, with that view, addressed to him the following ques- 
 tion: “ Whether original sin, or the corrupt habit which 
 the human soul contracted by the fall, ought to be placed 
 in the class of substances or accidents?” Flacius answer- 
 ed, with unparalleled imprudence and temerity, that it 
 belonged to the former; and maintained, to his dying hour, 
 this most extravagant and dangerous proposition, that ori- 
 ginal sin is the very substance of human nature. So in- 
 vincible was the obstinacy with which he persevered in 
 this strange doctrine, that he chose to renounce all worldly 
 honours and advantages rather than depart from it. It 
 
 xp * The sentiments of Strigelius were not, I have reason to be- 
 lieve, very erroneous in the judgment of Dr. Mosheim, nor are they such 
 in the estimation ef the greatest part of the Lutheran doctors at this day. 
 
 b Schlusselburg, Catalog. Heret. lib. ii—The Life of Flacius. writ- 
 ten in German by Ritter.—Salig. Histor. Aug. Confessionis, vol. iii. p- 
 593.—Arnold’s Kirchen Hist. lib. xvi. cap. xxix. p. 829.—Musei Prie- 
 lect. in Formul. Concordiz, p. 29.—Jo. Georgii Leuckfeldii Hist. Span- 
 genbergensis.—F'or a particular account of the dispute, that was holden 
 publicly at Weimar, see the work entitled Unschuldige Nachichten, p. 383. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. LIL. 
 
 was condemned by the greatest and soundest part of the 
 Lutheran church, as a doctrine that bore no small affinity 
 to that of the Manicheans. But, on the other hand, the 
 merit, erudition, and credit of Flacius, procured him many 
 respectable patrons as well as able defenders among the 
 most learned doctors of the church, who embraced his 
 sentiments and maintained his cause with the greatest 
 spirit and zeal; of whom the most eminent were Cyriac 
 Spangenberg, Christopher lreneeus, and Celestine.» 
 
 XXXIV. It is scarcely possible to imagine how much 
 the Lutheran church suffered from this new dispute in 
 all those places where its contagion had reached, and 
 how detrimental it was to the progress of Lutheranism, 
 among those who still adhered to the religion of Rome ; 
 for the flame of discord spread to a great extent; it was 
 communicated even to those churches which were erected 
 in popish countries, and particularly in the Austrian ter- 
 ritories, under the gloomy shade of a dubious toleration ; 
 and it so animated the Lutheran pastors, though surround- 
 ed by their cruel adversaries, that they could neither be 
 restrained by the dictates of prudence, nor by the sense 
 of danger. Many are of opinion, that an ignorance of 
 philosophical distinctions and definitions threw Flacius 
 inconsiderately into the extravagant hypothesis which he 
 maintained with such obstinacy, and that his greatest he- 
 resy was no more then a foolish attachment to an unusual 
 term. But Flacius seems to have fully refuted this plea 
 in his behalf, by declaring boldly, in several parts of his 
 writings, that he knew perfectly well the philosophical 
 signification and the whole energy of the word sabstance, 
 and was by no means ignorant of the consequences that 
 might be drawn from the doctrine he had embraved.4 
 Be that as it may, we cannot but wonder at the senseless 
 and excessive obstinacy of this turbulent man, who chose 
 rather to sacrifice his fortune, and disturb the tranquillity 
 of the church, than to abandon a word, which was en-' 
 tirely foreign to the subject in debate, and renounce an 
 hypothesis, that was composed of the most palpable con- 
 tradictions. 
 
 XXXYV. The last controversy that we shall mention, 
 of those which were occasioned by the excessive lenity 
 of Melancthon, was set on foot by Osiander, in 1549, and 
 produced much animosity in the church. Had its foun- 
 der been yet alive, his influence and authority would have 
 suppressed in their birth these wretched disputes ; nor 
 would Osiander, who despised the moderation of Melanc- 
 thon, have dared either to publish or defend his crude 
 and chimerical opinions within the reach of Luther. 
 Arrogance and singularity were the principal lines in 
 Osiander’s character; he loved to strike out new notions; 
 but his views seemed always involved in an intricate ob- 
 scurity. ‘lhe disputes that arose concerning the Interim, 
 induced him to retire from Nuremberg, where he had ex- 
 ercised the pastoral charge, to Konigsberg, where he was 
 chosen professor of divinity. In this new station he be- 
 gan his academical functions by propagating notions con 
 
 ¢ See Bern. Raupach’s Zwiefache Zugabe zu dem Evangelisch. Oes 
 terrich. ‘The same author speaks of the friends of Flacius in Austria, 
 and particularly of Irenzus, in his Presbyterol. Austriac.—For an ac 
 ecunt of Celestine, see the Unschuldige Nachrichten. : 
 
 3 This will appear evident to such as will be at the pains to consult 
 the letters which Westphal wrote to his friend Flacius, in order to per- 
 suade him to abstain from the use of the word substance, with the an- 
 swers of the latter. These letters and answers were published by 
 Arnold Grevius, in his Mem. J. Westphali. 
 
Part IT. 
 
 cerning the divine Image, and the nature of repentance, 
 very different from the doctrine that Luther had taught 
 on these interesting subjects; and, not content with this 
 deviation from the common course, he thought proper, in 
 the year 1550, to introduce considerable alterations and 
 corrections into the doctrine that had been generally re- 
 ceived in the Lutheran church, with respect to the means 
 of our justification before God. When we examine his 
 discussion of this important point, we shall find it much 
 more easy to perceive the opinions he rejected, than to 
 understand the system he had invented or adopted ; for, 
 as was too usual in this age, he not only expressed his 
 notions in an obscure manner, but seemed very frequently 
 to speak and write in contradiction to himself. His doc- 
 trine, when carefully examined, will appear to amount 
 to the following propositions ; “ Christ, considered in his 
 human nature only, could not, by his obedience to the 
 divine law, obtain justification and pardon for sinners ; 
 nor can we be justified before God by embracing and ap- 
 plying to ourselves, through faith, the righteousness and 
 obedience of the man Christ. It is only through that 
 eternal and essential righteousness, which dwells in Christ 
 considered as Giod, and which resides in his divine na- 
 ture, that is united to the human, that mankind can ob- 
 tain complete justification. Man becomes a partaker of 
 this divine righteousness by faith, since it is in consequence 
 of this uniting principle that Christ dwells in the heart 
 of man, with his divine righteousness ; now, wherever 
 this divine righteousness dwells, there God can behold no 
 sin, and therefore, when it is present with Christ in the 
 hearts of the regenerate, they are, on its account, consi- 
 dered by the Deity as righteous, although they may be 
 sinners. Moreover, this divine and justifying righteous- 
 ness of Christ, excites the faithful to the pursuit of holi- 
 ness and to the practice of virtue.” This doctrine was 
 zealously opposed by the most eminent doctors of the 
 Lutheran church, and, in a more especial manner, by Me- 
 lancthon and his colleagues. On the other hand, Osiander 
 and his sentiments were supported by persons of considera- 
 ble weight. But, upon the death of this rigid and fanciful 
 divine, the flame of controversy was cooled, and dwindled 
 by degrees into nothing. 
 
 XXXVI. The doctrine of Osiander, concerning the 
 method of being justified before God, appeared so absurd 
 to Stancarus, professor of Hebrew at Konigsberg, that 
 he undertook to refute it. But while this turbulent 
 and impetuous doctor was exerting all the vehemence of 
 his zeal against the opinion of his colleague, he was hur- 
 ried by his violence into the opposite extreme, and fell into 
 an hypothesis, that appeared equally groundless, and not 
 less dangerous in its tendency and consequences. Osian- 
 der had maintained that the man Christ, in his character 
 
 * See Schlusselburgii Catalogus Hereticor. lib. vi—Arnoldi Kirchen 
 Hist. lib. xvi. cap. xxiv. p. 804.—Christ. Hartknoch’s Preussische Kir- 
 chen Historie, p. 309.—Salig’s Historia August. Confessionis, tom. ii. 
 p. 922. The judgment that was formed of this controversy by the di- 
 vines of Wittenberg, may be seen in the Unschuldige Nachrichten, 
 and that of the doctors of Copenhagen, in the Danischen Bibliothec. 
 oy vil. p. 150, where may be found an ample list of the writings pub- 
 ished on this subject—To form a just idea of the insolence and arro- 
 gance of Osiander, those who understand the German language will do 
 well to consult Hirschius, Nuremburg Interims- Historie. 
 
 b See Hartknoch’s Preussische Kirchen Hist.—Schlusselburg, liv. 
 ix.—Bayle’s Dict—Before the arrival of Stancarus at Konigsberg, in 
 1548, he had lived tor some time in Switzerland, where also he had 
 
 occasioned réligious disputes; for he adopted several doctrines of Lu- ! 
 
 No. XL. 117 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 465 
 
 of moral agent, was obliged to obey, for himself, the 
 divine law, and therefore could not, by the imputation of 
 this obedience, obtain righteousness or justification for 
 others. Hence he concluded, that the Saviour of the 
 world had been empowered, not by his character as man, 
 but by his nature as God, to make expiation for our 
 sins, and reconcile us to the favour of an offended Deity. 
 Stancarus, on the other hand, excluded entirely Christ’s 
 divine nature from all concern in the satisfaction he made, 
 and in the redemption he procured for offending mortals, 
 and maintained, that the sacred office of a mediator be- 
 tween God and man belonged to Jesus, considered in his 
 human nature alone. Having perceived, however, that 
 this doctrine exposed him to the enmity of many divines, 
 
 ;and even rendered him the object of popular resentment 
 
 and indignation, he retired from Konigsberg into Germa- 
 ny, and at length into Poland, where, after having excited 
 no small commotions,’ he concluded his days in 1574.« 
 XXXVII. All those who had the cause of virtue, and 
 the advancement of the Reformation really at heart, look- 
 ed with an impatient ardour for an end to these bitter and 
 uncharitable contentions; and their desires of peace and 
 concord in the church were still increased, by their per- 
 ceiving the great assiduity with which Rome turned these 
 unhappy divisions to the advancement of her interests. 
 But during the life of Melancthon, who was principally 
 concerned in these warm debates, no effectual method 
 could be found to bring them toa conclusion. ‘The death 
 of this great man, which happened in 1560, changed, in- 
 deed, the face of affairs, and enabled those who were dispos- 
 ed to terminate the present contests, to act with more re- 
 solution, and a surer prospect of success than had accom- 
 panied their former efforts. Hence it was, that after several 
 vain attempts, Augustus, elector of Saxony, and John 
 William, duke of Saxe-Weimar, summoned the most 
 eminent doctors of both the contending parties to meet 
 at Altenburg, in 1568, and there to propose, in an amica- 
 ble manner, and with a charitable spirit, their respective 
 opinions, that thus it might be seen how far a reconcilia- 
 tion was possible, and what was the most probable method 
 of bringing it about. But the intemperate zeal and 
 warmth of the disputants, with other inauspicious cir- 
 cumstances, blasted the fruits that were expected from 
 this conference.t Another method of restoring tranquil- 
 lity and union among the membersof the Lutheran church 
 was therefore proposed ; and this was, that a certain num- 
 ber of wise and moderate divines should be employed in 
 composing a form of doctrine, in which all the contro- 
 versies that divided the church should be terminated and 
 decided ; and that this new compilation, as soon as it 
 should be approved by the Lutheran princes and consis- 
 tories, should be invested with ecclesiastical authority, and 
 
 ther, particularly that concerning the virtue and efficacy of the sacra- 
 ments, which were rejected by the Swiss and Grisons. See the 
 Museum Helveticum, tom. v. page 484, 490. For an account of the dis- 
 turbances he occasioned in Poland, in 1556, see Bullinger, in Jo. Conr. 
 Fueslini Cent.I. Epistolarum 4 Reformatoribus Helveticis scriptarum. 
 
 3¢> ° The main argument alleged by Stancarus, in favour of his hypo- 
 thesis, was this,—that, if Christ was mediator by his divine nature only, 
 it followed evidently, that even considered as God he was inferior to the 
 Father; and thus, according to him, the doctrine of his adversary Osi- 
 ander led directly to the Unitarian system. This difficulty, which was 
 presented with great subtlety, engaged many to strike into a middle 
 road, and to maintain, that both the divine and human natures of Christ 
 were immediately concerned in the work of redemption. nd 
 
 4 Casp. Sagittarii Introductio ad Histor. Ecclesiasticam, p. 1. p. 1542, 
 
466 
 
 added to the symbolical* or standard books of the Luthe- 
 ran church. James Andreas, professor at ‘Tubingen, 
 whose theological abilities had procured him the most 
 eminent and shining reputation, had been employed, so 
 early as in the year 1569, in this critical and difficult un- 
 dertaking, by the special command of the dukes of Wir- 
 temberg and Brunswick. The elector of Saxony,” with 
 several persons of distinction, embarked with these two 
 princes in the project they had formed ; so that Andreas, 
 under the shade of such a powerful protection and patron- 
 age, exerted all his zeal, travelled through different parts of 
 Germany, negotiating alternately with courts and synods, 
 and took all the measures which prudence could suggest, 
 to render the form, that he was composing, universally 
 acceptable. 
 
 XXXVI. The persons embarked in this conciliatory 
 design, were persuaded that no time ought to be lost in 
 catrying it into execution, when they perceived the im- 
 prudence and temerity of the disciples of Melancthon, 
 and the changes they were attempting to introduce into 
 the doctrine of the church; for his son-in-law, Peucer,° 
 who was a physician and professor of natural philosophy 
 at Wittenberg, together with the divines of that city and 
 of Leipsic, encouraged by the approbation, and relying 
 on the credit, of Cracovius, chancellor of Dresden, and 
 of several ecclesiastics and persons of distinction at the 
 Saxon court, aimed at nothing less than abolishing the 
 doctrines of Luther, concerning the eucharist and the per- 
 son of Christ, with a view of substituting the sentiments 
 of Calvin in its place. 'This new reformation was at- 
 
 tempted in Saxony in 1570; and a great variety of clan- | 
 
 destine arts and stratagems were employed, in order to 
 bring it to a happy and successful issue. What the sen- 
 timents of Melancthon concerning the eucharist were to- 
 ward the conclusion of his days, appears to be extremely 
 doubtful. It is however certain, that he had a strong in- 
 clination to form a coalition between the Saxons and Cal- 
 vinists, though he was prevented, by the irresolution and 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 timidity of his natural character, from attempting openly 
 this much desired union. Peucer, and the other disci- 
 ples of Melancthon already mentioned, made a public pro- 
 fession of the doctrine of Calvin; and though they had 
 much more spirit and courage than their soft and yield- 
 ing master, yet they wanted his circumspection and pru- 
 dence, which were not less necessary to the accomplish- 
 ment of their designs. Accordingly in 1571, they pub- 
 lished, in the German language, a work entitled Stere- 
 oma,* and other writings, in which they openly declared 
 their dissent from the doctrine of Luther concerning the 
 eucharist and the person of Christ ;* and, that they might 
 execute their purposes with greater facility, they introdu- 
 ced into the schools a Catechism, compiled by Pezelius, 
 which was favourable to the sentiments of Calvin. As 
 this bold step excited great commotions and debates in 
 the church, Augustus held at Dresden, in the same year, 
 a solemn convocation of the Saxon divines, and of other 
 persons concerned in the administration of ecclesiastical 
 affairs, and commanded them to adopt /zs opinion in re- 
 lation to the eucharist.£ ‘The assembled doctors complied 
 with this order in appearance ; but their compliance was 
 feigned ;s for, on their return to the places of their abode, 
 they resumed their original design, pursued it with assi- 
 duity and zeal, and by their writings, as also by their 
 public and private instructions, endeavoured to abolish the 
 ancient doctrine of the Saxons, relating to the presence 
 of Christ’s body in that holy sacrament. The elector, 
 informed of these proceedings, convened anew the Saxon 
 doctors, and held, in 1574, the famous convocation of 
 'Torgaw," where, after a strict inquiry into the doctrines 
 of those who, from their secret attachment to the senti- 
 ments of the Swiss divines, were called Crypto-Calvinists, 
 he committed some of them to prison, sent others into ba- 
 nishment, and engaged a certain number by the force of 
 the secular arm to change their sentiments. Peucer, who 
 had been principally concerned in moderating the rigour 
 of some of Luther’s doctrines, felt, in a more especial man- 
 
 x * The Lutherans call symbolical (from a Greek word that signi- 
 fies collection or compilation) the books which contain their articles of 
 faith and rules of discipline. 
 
 b Augustus. 
 
 3 ¢ This Peucer, whom Dr. Mosheim mentions without any mark 
 of distinction, was one of the wisest, most amiable, and most learned 
 men that adornedthe annals of German literature during this century, as 
 the well-known history of his life, and the considerable number of his 
 medical, mathematical, moral, and theological writings, abundantly tes- 
 tify. Nor was he more remarkable for his merit than for his sufferings. 
 After his genius and virtues had rendered him the favourite of the elector 
 of Saxony, and placed him at the head of the university of Wittenberg, 
 he felt, in a terrible manner, the effects of the bigotry and barbarity of 
 the rigid Lutherans, who, on account of his denying the corporal pre- 
 sence of Christ in the eucharist, united, with success, their efforts to 
 deprive him of the favour of his sovereign, and procured his imprison- 
 ment. His confinement, which lasted ten years, was accompanied with 
 inhuman severity. See Melchior Adam’s Vit. Medicor. Germanor. 
 
 x 4 A term which signifies fowndation. 
 
 x4 ° The learned historian seems to deviate here from his usual accu- 
 cy. The authors of the Stereoma did not declare their dissent from the 
 doctrine of Luther, but from the extravagant inventions of some of his 
 successors. This great man, in his controversy with Zuingle, had in- 
 deed thrown out some unguarded expressions, that seemed to imply a 
 belief of the omnipresence of the body of Christ; but he became sensi- 
 ble afterwards that this opinion was attended with great difficulties, and 
 particularly, that it ought not to be brought forward as a proof of 
 Christ’s corporal presence in the eucharist.* Yet this absurd hypothesis 
 was renewed after the death of Luther, by Tinman and Westphal, and 
 was dressed up in a still more specious and plausible form, by Brenti- 
 us, Chemnitz, and Andreas, who maintained the communication of the 
 properties of Christ's divinity to his human nature, as it was afterwards 
 adopted by the Lutheran church. ‘his strange system gave occasion 
 0 the Stereoma, in which the doctrine of Luther was respected, and the 
 
 inventions alone of his successors were renounced, and in which the 
 authors declared plainly, that they did not adopt the sentiments of Zuin- 
 gle or Calvin, but that they admitted the real and substantial presence 
 of Christ’s body and blood in the eucharist. 
 
 x= fIn this passage, compared with what follows, Dr. Mosheim 
 seems to maintain, that the opinion of Augustus, which he imposed up- 
 on the assembled divines, was in favour of the adversaries of Melanc- 
 thon, and in direct opposition to the authors of the Stereoma. But here 
 he has committed a palpable oversight. The convocation of Dresden, 
 in 1571, instead of approving or maintaining the doctrine of the rigid 
 Lutherans, drew up, on the contrary, a form of agreement (formula 
 consensus) in which the omnipresence or whiquily of Christ’s body was 
 denied ; and which was, indeed, an abridgment of the Stereoma; so that 
 the transactions at Dresden were entirely favourable to the moderate 
 Lutherans, who embraced openly and sincerely (and not by a feigned 
 consent (subdole) as our historian remarks) the sentiment of the elector 
 Augustus, who at that time patronised the disciples of Melancthon. 
 This prince, it is true, seduced by the crafty and artful insinuations of 
 the Ubiquitarians, or rigid Lutherans, who made him believe that the 
 ancient doctrines of the church were in danger, changed sides soon after, 
 
 -and was pushed on to the most violent and persecuting measures, of 
 
 which the convocation of Torgaw was the first step, and the Form of 
 Concord the unhappy issue. 
 
 3¢p © The compliance was sincere; but the order was very different 
 from that mentioned by our author, as appears from the preceding note. 
 
 3 ’ It is to be observed, that not more than fifteen of the Saxon doc- 
 tors were convened at Torgaw by the elector—a small number this to 
 give law to the Lutheran church. For an account of the declaration 
 drawn up by this assembly on the points relating to the presence of 
 Christ’s body in the eucharist, the omnipresence of that body, and the 
 oral manducation of the flesh and blood of the diyine Saviour, see Hos- 
 piniani Concordia Discors. 
 
 34 ii.e. Hidden, or disguised Calvinists. 
 
 *See Lutheri op. tom, viii. p. 375, Edit. Janiens. 
 
Part Il. 
 
 ner, the severe effects of the elector’s displeasure ; for he 
 was confined to a comfortless prison, where he lay in the 
 most affecting circumstances of distress until the year 
 1585, when, having obtained his liberty through the in- 
 tersession of the prince of Anhalt, who had given his 
 daughter in marriage to Augustus, he retired to Zerbst, 
 where he ended his days in peace.* 
 
 XXXIX. The schemes of the Crypto-Calvinists being 
 thus disconcerted, the elector of Saxony, and those princes 
 who had entered into his views, redoubled their zeal and 
 diligence in promoting the Form of Concord, already men- 
 tioned. Accordingly, various conferences were holden, 
 preparatory to this important undertaking ; and, in 1576, 
 while the Saxon divines were convened at 'Torgaw by 
 the order of Augustus, a treatise was composed by James 
 Andreas, with a view of healing the divisions of the Lu- 
 theran church, and as a preservative against the opinions 
 of the reformed doctors.» When this production, which 
 was styled the Book of 'Torgaw, had been carefully exa- 
 mined, reviewed, and corrected, by the greatest part of 
 the Lutheran doctors in Germany, the affair was again 
 proposed to the deliberation of a select number of divines, 
 who met at Berg, a Benedictine monastery in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Magdeburg.: Here all points relating tothe 
 intended project were accurately weighed, the opinions of 
 the assembled doctors carefully discussed, and the result 
 of all was the famous L’orm of Concord. 'The persons 
 who assisted Andreas in the composition of this celebrated 
 work, or at least in the revision of it at Berg, were Martin 
 Chemnitz, Nicholas Selneccer, Andrew Musculus, Chris- 
 topher Cornerus, and David Chytreus.¢ This new con- 
 fession of the Lutheran faith was adopted first by the 
 Saxons in consequence of the strict order of Augustus; 
 and their example was followed by the greatest part of the 
 Lutheran churches, by some sooner, by others later.e The 
 authority of this confession, as is sufficiently known, was 
 employed for the following purposes: first, to terminate 
 the controversies which divided the Lutheran church, 
 
 o———-. 
 
 °° ease 
 
 tionis Divine, published at Zurich, in 1605, by Pezelius. 
 
 x4 » The term Reformed was used to distinguish the other protes- 
 tants of various denominations from the Lutherans: and it was equally 
 applied to the friends of episcopacy and presbyterianism. See the fol- 
 lowing chapter. 
 
 3%>° The book that was composed by Andreas and his associates at 
 Torgaw, was sent by the elector to almost all the Lutheran princes, 
 with a view of its being examined, approved, and received by them. It 
 was, however, rejected by several princes, and censured and refuted by 
 various doctors. 'These censures engaged the compilers to review and 
 correct it; and it was from this book, thus changed and new-modelled, 
 that the form published at Berg was entirely drawn. 
 
 3*> 4 The Form of Concord, composed at Torgaw, and reviewed at 
 Berg, consists of two parts. In the first is contained a system of doc- 
 trine, drawn up according to the fancy of the six doctors here mentioned. 
 In the second is exhibited one of the strongest instances of that persecu- 
 ting and tyrannical spirit, of which the protestants complained in the 
 church of Rome, even a formal condemnation of all those who differed 
 from these six doctors, particularly in their strange opinions concerning 
 the majesty and omnipresence of Christ’s body, and the real manduca- 
 tion of his flesh and blood in the eucharist. This condemnation branded 
 with the denomination of heretics, and excluded from the communion of 
 the church, all Christians, of all nations, who refused to subscribe 
 these doctrines. More particularly in Germany, the terrors of the 
 sword were solicited against these pretended heretics, as may be seen 
 in the famous testament of Brentius. For a full account of the Confes- 
 sion of Torgaw and Berg, see Hospinian’s Concordia Discors, where 
 the reader will find large extracts from this confession, with an ample 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
 
 A67 
 
 more especially after the death of its founder ; and, second- 
 ly, to preserve that church against the opinions of the Re- 
 formed in relation to the eucharist. 
 
 XL. This very form, however, which was designed to 
 restore peace and concord in the church, and had actually 
 produced this effect in several places, became a source of 
 new tumults, and furnished matter for the most violent 
 dissensions and contests. It immediately met with a 
 warm opposition from the Reformed, and also from all 
 those who were either secretly attached to their doctrine, 
 or who, at least, were desirous of living in concord and 
 communion with them, from a laudable zeal for the com- 
 mon interest of the Protestant cause. Nor was their oppo- 
 sition at all unaccountable, since they plainly perceived 
 that this form removed all the flattering hopes they had 
 entertained, of seeing the divisions that reigned among 
 the friends of religious liberty happily healed, and entirely 
 excluded the Reformed from the communion of the Lu- 
 theran church. Hence they were filled with indignation 
 against the authors of this new confession of faith, and 
 exposed their uncharitable proceedings in writings full of 
 spirit and vehemence. ‘The Swiss doctors, with Hospini- 
 an at their head, the Belgic divines,‘ those of the Palati- 
 nate, together with the principalities of Anhalt and Ba- 
 den, declared war against the form; and accordingly from 
 this period the Lutheran, and more especially the Saxon 
 doctors, were charged with the disagreeable task of de- 
 fending this new creed and its compilers, in many labo- 
 rious productions." 
 
 XLI. Nor were the followers of Zuingle and Calvin 
 the only opposers of this form: it found adversaries, even 
 in the very bosom of Lutheranism, and several of the 
 most eminent churches of that communion rejected it 
 with such firmness and resolution, that no arguments or 
 entreaties could engage them to admit it as a rule of faith, 
 or even asa mean of instruction. It was rejected by the 
 church of Nuremberg, by those of Hesse, Pomerania, Hol- 
 stein, Silesia, Denmark, Brunswick, and others.i But 
 
 account of the censures it underwent, the opposition that was made to it, 
 and the arguments which were used by its learned adversaries. 
 
 © A list of the writers who have treated of this form, may be found in 
 Jo. Georgii Walchii Introduct. in Libros Symbolicos, lib. 1. cap. vil. p. 
 707, and Kocheri Biblioth. Theol. Symbolic, p. 188. There are also 
 several unpublished documents relative to this famous confession, of 
 which there is an account in the German work entitled, Unsch. Nach- 
 richt—The principal writers who have given the history of the form 
 and the transactions relating to it, are Hospinian and Hutter, already 
 mentioned. These two historians have written on opposite sides; and 
 whoever will be at the pains of comparing their accounts with attention 
 and impartiality, will easily perceive where the truth lies, and-receive 
 satisfactory information with respect to the true state of these contro~ 
 versies, and the motives that animated the contending parties. 
 
 f See Petri Villerii Epistola Apologetica Reformatarum in Belgio 
 Ecclesiarum ad et contra Auctores Libri Bergensis, dicti “ Concordiz.” 
 —This work was published a second time, with the annotations of Lud. 
 Gerard a Renesse, by the learned Dr. Gerdes of Groningen, in his Scri- 
 nium Antiquarium, seu Miscellan. Groningens. Nov. tom. i. Add to 
 these the Unschuldige Nachricht. 
 
 ® John Casimir, prince Palatine, convoked an assembly of the reform- 
 ed divines at Francfort, in 1577, in order to reject and annul this form, 
 See Hen. Altingii Histor. Eccles. Palatin. sect. clxxix. 
 
 h See Jo. Georg. Walchii Introd. in Libros Symbolicos Lutheranor. 
 lib. i. cap. vil. 
 
 i For an account of the ill suecess of this form in the dutchy of Hol- 
 stein, see the Danische Bibliothec. vol. iv. p. 212, vol. v. p. 355, vol. 
 vill. p. 333—461, vol. ix. p. 1—Muhlii Dissert. Histor. Theol. Diss. i. 
 de Reformat. Holsat. p. 108—Arn. Grevii Memoria Pauli ab Eitzen. 
 The transactions in Denmark, in relation to this form, and the particus 
 lar reasons for which it was rejected there, may be seen in the Danish 
 Library above quoted, vol. iv. p. 222—282, and also in Pontoppidan’s 
 Annal. Eccles. Cinicn Diplomatici, tom, ili. p. 456. The last author 
 
468 
 
 though they all united in opposing it, their opposition was 
 founded on different reasons, nor did they all act in this 
 affair from the same motives or the same principles. A 
 warm and affectionate veneration for the memory of Me- 
 lancthon was, with some, the only, or at least the predo- 
 minant, motive, that induced them to declare against the 
 form in question ; they could not behold, without the ut- 
 most abhorrence, a production in which the sentiments of 
 this great and excellent man were so rudely treated. In 
 this class we may rank the Lutherans of Holstein. Others 
 were not only animated in their opposition by a regard for 
 Melancthon, but also by a persuasion, that the opinions, 
 condemned in the new creed, were more conformable to 
 truth, than to those which were substituted in their place. 
 A secret attachment to the sentiments of the Helvetic doc- 
 tors prevented some from approving the form under consi- 
 deration ; the hopes of uniting the Reformed and Lutheran 
 churches engaged many to declare against it ; and a con- | 
 siderable number refused their assent to it from an appre- 
 hension, whether real or pretended, that the addition of a 
 new creed to the ancient confessions of faith would be 
 really a source of disturbance and discord in the Lutheran 
 church. It would be endless to enumerate the different 
 reasons alleged by the different individuals or commu- 
 nities, who declared their dissent from the Form of Con- 
 cord. 
 
 XLII. This form was patronised in a more especial 
 manner by Julius, duke of Brunswick, to whom, in a 
 great measure, it owed its existence, who had employed 
 both his authority and munificence in order to encourage 
 those who had undertaken to compose it, and had com- 
 manded all the ecclesiastics, within his dominions, to re- 
 ceive and subscribe it as a rule of faith. But scarcely was 
 it published, when the zealous prince, changing his mind, 
 suffered the form to be publicly opposed by Heshusius, and 
 other divines of his university of Helmstadt, and to be ex- 
 cluded from the number of the creeds and confessions re- 
 ceived by his subjects. 
 therans of Brunswick, in behalf of this step, were, Ist, 
 That the Form of Concord, when printed, differed in se- 
 veral places from the manuscript copy to which they had 
 given their approbation; 2dly, 'That the doctrine relating 
 to the freedom of the human will was expressed in it with- 
 out a sufficient. degree of accuracy and precision, and was 
 also inculcated in the harsh and improper terms that Lu- 
 ther had employed in treating that subject: 3dly, That 
 the ubiquity, or universal and indefinite presence of 
 Christ’s human nature, was therein positively maintain- 
 ed, although the Lutheran church had never adopted any 
 such doctrine. Besides these reasons, which were pub- 
 licly avowed, some perhaps of a secret nature, contributed 
 to the remarkable change, which was visible in the sen- 
 timents and proceedings of the duke of Brunswick. Va- 
 rious methods and negotiations were employed to remove 
 
 evidently proves (p. 476,) a fact which Herman ab Elswich, and other 
 authors, have endeavoured to represent as dubious,—that Frederic II. 
 king of Denmark, as soon as he received a copy of the form, threw it 
 into the fire, and saw it consumed before his eyes. The opposition that } 
 was made to it by the Hessians, may be seen in Tielemanni Vite 
 Theologor. Marpugens. p. 99.—Danischen Bibliothec. vol. vii. p. 273— 
 364. t. ix. p. 1-—S7.—The ill fate of this famous Confession, in the prin- 
 cipalities of Lignitz and Brieg, is amply related in the Unsch. Nachricht. 
 
 * See Leon. Hutteri Concordia Concors, can, xiv.—Phil. Jul. Richt- 
 meyeri Braunschweig Kirchen Hist. part lil. cap. vili.—See also the 
 authors mentioned by Christ. Matth. Pfaffius, in his Acta et Scripta 
 Ecclesie Wirtembergensis, p. 62, et Histor. Literar. Theologie, part ii. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 The reasons alleged by the Lu- } 
 
 Srcr. III. 
 
 the dislike which this prince, and the divines who lived in 
 his territories, had conceived against the Creed of Berg. 
 Particularly, in 1583, a convocation of divines from Sax- 
 ony, Brandenburg, Brunswick, and the Palatinate, was 
 holden at Quedlinburg for this purpose. But Julius per- 
 sisted steadfastly in his opposition, and proposed that the 
 form should be examined, and its authority discussed in 
 a general assembly or synod of the Lutheran church. 
 XLII. This form was not only opposed from abroad, 
 but had likewise adversaries in the very country which 
 gave it birth; foreven in Saxony many, who had been 
 obliged to subscribe it, beheld it with aversion, in conse- 
 quence of their attachment to the doctrine of Melanc- 
 thon. During the life of Augustus, they were forced to 
 suppress their sentiments ; but, as soon as he had paid the 
 last tribute to nature, and was succeeded by Christian [., 
 the moderate Lutherans and the secret Calvinists resumed 
 their courage. The new elector had been accustomed, 
 from his tender years, to the moderate sentiments of Me- 
 lancthon, and is also said to have evinced a propensity 
 to the doctrine of the Helvetic church. Under his gov- 
 ernment, therefore, an opportunity was offered to the per- 
 sons above mentioned of declaring their sentiments and 
 executing their designs; and the ‘attempts to abolish the 
 form now seemed to be renewed, with a view of opening a 
 door for the entrance of Calvinism into Saxony. ‘The 
 persons who had embarked in this design, were greatly 
 encouraged by the protection which they received from 
 several noblemen of the first rank at the Saxon court, and, 
 particularly, from Crellius, the first minister of Christian. 
 Under the auspicious influence of such patrons it was 
 natural to expect success; yet they conducted their affairs 
 with circumspection and prudence. Certain laws were 
 previously enacted, in order to prepare the minds of the 
 people for the intended revolution in the doctrine of the 
 church ; and, some time after,” the form of exorcism was 
 omitted in the administration of baptism. ‘These mea- 
 sures were followed by others still more alarming to the 
 rigid Lutherans; for not only a new German catechism, 
 favourable to the purpose of the secret Calvinists, was in- 
 dustriously distributed among the people, but also a new 
 edition of the Bible, in the same language, enriched with 
 the observations of Henry Salmouth, which were artfully 
 accommodated to this purpose, was, in 1591, published at 
 Dresden. ‘I'he consequences of these vigorous measures 
 were violent tumults and seditions among the people, 
 which the magistrates endeavoured to suppress, by punish- 
 ing with severity such of the clergy as distinguished them- 
 selves by their opposition to the views of the court. But 
 the whole plan of this religious revolution was overturned 
 by the unexpected death of Christian, which happened in 
 the year 1591. Affairs then assumed their former aspect. 
 The doctors, who had been principally concerned in the 
 execution of this unsuccessful project, were committed to 
 
 p. 423.—For an account of the convocation of Quedlinbarg, and the acts 
 that passed in that assembly, see the Danische Bibliothec. part viii. 
 
 b In the year 1591. 
 
 x * The custom of exorcising, or casting out evil spirits, was used 
 in the fourth century at the admission of catechumens, and was after- 
 wards absurdly applied in the baptism of infants. ‘This application ot 
 it was retained by the greatest part of the Lutheran churches. It was 
 indeed abolished by the elector, Christian I., but was restored after his 
 death ; and the opposition that had been made to it by Crellius was the 
 chief reason of his unhappy end. See Justi H. Bohmeri Jus Ecclesiast 
 Protestant. tom. ili.; as also a German work of Melchior Kraft, entitled 
 Geschichte des Exorcismi. 
 
Part IL. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 469 
 
 prison, or sent into banishment, after the death of the | of these misfortunes, and to represent them as totally des- 
 
 elector ; and its chief encourager and patron, Crellius, 
 suffered death in 1601, as the fruit of his temerity. 
 
 XLIY. ‘Towards the conclusion of this century, a new 
 controversy was imprudently set on foot at Wittenberg, 
 by a Swiss named Samuel Huber, professor of divinity in 
 that university. ‘The Calvinistical tenets of absolute pre- 
 destination and unconditional decrees were extremely of- 
 fensive to this adventurous theologian, and even excited 
 his warmest indignation. Accordingly he affirmed, and 
 taught publicly, that all mankind were elected from eter- 
 nity by the Supreme Being to everlasting salvation, and 
 accused his colleagues in particular, and the Lutheran 
 divines in general, of a propensity to the doctrine of Cal- 
 vin, on account of their asserting, that the divine election 
 was confined to those, whose faith, foreseen by an om- 
 niscient God, rendered them the proper objects of his re- 
 deeming mercy. ‘The opinion of Huber, as is now ac- 
 knowledged by many learned men, differed more in words 
 than in reality, from the doctrine of the Lutheran church ; 
 for he did no more than explain in a new method, and 
 with a different turn of phrase, what that church had 
 always taught concerning the unlimited extent of the love 
 of God, as embracing the whole human race, and ex- 
 cluding none by an absolute decree from everlasting sal- 
 vation. However, as a disagreeable experience and re- 
 peated examples had abundantly shown, that new me- 
 thods of explaining or proving even received doctrines were 
 as much adapted to excite divisions and contests, as the 
 introduction of new errors, Huber was exhorted to adhere 
 to the ancient method of proposing the doctrine of election, 
 and, instead of his own peculiar forms of expression, to 
 make use of those which were received and authorized by 
 the church. To this compliance he refused to submit, 
 alleging that it was contrary to the dictates of his con- 
 science, while his patrons and disciples, in many places, 
 gave several indications of a turbulent and seditious zeal 
 for his cause. ‘These considerations engaged the magis- 
 trates of Wittenberg to depose him from his office, and to 
 send him into banishment.» 
 
 XLY. The controversies, of which a succinct account 
 has now been given, and others of inferior moment, which 
 it is needless to mention, were highly detrimental to the 
 true interests of the Lutheran church, as is abundantly 
 known by all who are acquainted with the history of this 
 century. It must also be acknowledged, that the man- 
 ner of conducting and deciding these debates, the spirit of 
 the disputants, and the proceedings of the judges, if we 
 form our estimate of them by the sentiments that prevail 
 among the wiser sort of men in modern times, must be 
 considered as inconsistent with equity, moderation, and 
 charity. It betrays, nevertheless, a want, both of candour 
 and justice, to inveigh indiscriminately against the authors 
 
 ®* See Arnold’s Kirchen und Ketzer Historie, part ii. book xvi. cap. 
 xxxii.; as also the authors mentioned by Herm. Ascan. Engelcken, in 
 his Dissertat. de Nic. Crellio, ejusque Supplicio. 
 
 t For an account of the writers that appeared in this controversy, 
 see Christ. Matth. Pfa ii Introductio in Histor. Liter. Theologiz, par. 
 ii. lib. ill. p. 431. 
 
 ¢ For an ample account of these Lutheran doctors, see Melchior 
 Adam’s Vita Theologorum, and Du-Pin’s Bibliotheque des Auteurs 
 separés de la Communion de Il’Eglise Romaine au XVII. Siecle. The 
 lives of several of these divines have been also composed by different 
 authors of the present times; for example, that of Weller by Lemelius, 
 that of Flacius by Ritter, those of Heshusius and Spangenberg by 
 Leuckfeldt, that of Fagius by Fervelin, that of Chytreus by Schutz, 
 
 No. At 
 
 _titute of rational sentiments and virtuous principles; and 
 itis still more unjust to throw the whole blame upon the 
 triumphant party, while the suffering side are all fondly 
 represented as men of unblemished virtue, and worthy of 
 a better fate. It ought not certainly to be a matter of 
 surprise, that persons long accustomed toa state of dark- 
 ness, and suddenly transported from it into the blaze of 
 day, did not, at first, behold the objects that were presented 
 to their view with that distinctness and precision which 
 are natural to those who have long enjoyed the light ; 
 and such really was the case of the first protestant doctors, 
 who were delivered from the gloom of papal superstition 
 and tyranny. Besides, there was something gross and 
 indélicate in the reigning spirit of this age, which made 
 the people not only tolerate, but even applaud, many 
 things relating both to the conduct of life and the ma- 
 nagement of controversy, which the more polished man- 
 ners of modern times cannot relish, and which, indeed, 
 are by no means worthy of imitation. As to the particu- 
 lar motives or intentions that guided each individual in 
 this troubled scene of controversy, whether they acted from 
 the suggestions of malice and resentment, or from an up- 
 right and sincere attachment to what they considered as 
 truth, or how far these two springs of action were jointly 
 concerned in their conduct, all this must be left to the de- 
 cision of Him alone, whose privilege it is to search the 
 heart, and to discern its most hidden intentions and its 
 most secret motives. 
 
 XLVI. 'The Lutheran church furnished, during this 
 century, a long list of distinguished men, who illustrated, 
 in their writings, the various branches of theological sci- 
 ence. After Luther and Melancthon, who stand foremost 
 in this list, on account of their superior genius and erudi- 
 tion, we may select the following writers as the most emi- 
 nent, and as persons whose names are worthy of being 
 preserved in the annals of literature; viz. Weller, Chemnitz, 
 Brentius, Flacius, Regius, Major, Amsdorf, Sarcerius, 
 Matthesius, Wigandus, Lambertus, Andreas, Chytreus, 
 Selneccer, Bucer, Fagius, Cruciger, Strigelius, Spangen- 
 berg, Judex, Heshusius, Westphal, Aspinus, Osiander, 
 and others.° 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 EXstory of the Reformed* Church. 
 
 1. Tue reformed church, founded by Zuingle and 
 Calvin, differs coisiderably, in its nature and constitution, 
 from all other ecclesiastical communities. Every other 
 Christian church hath some common centre of union, 
 and its members are connected by some common bond of 
 doctrine and discipline. But this is far from being the 
 case of the FReformed church,* whose several branches 
 
 that of Bucer by Verportenius, those of Westphal and AZpinus by Arn. 
 Grevius, &c. 
 
 4 Jt has already been observed, that the denomination of Reformed 
 was given to those protestant churches which did not embrace the doc- 
 trine and discipline of Luther. The title was first assumed by the 
 French protestants, and afterwards became the common denomination 
 of all the Calvinistical churches on the continent;—I say, on the con- 
 tinent; since in England the term Reformed is generally used as stand- 
 ing in opposition to popery alone. Be that as it may, this part of Dr. 
 Mosheim’s work would have been, perhaps, with greater propriety en- 
 titled, ‘The History of the Reformed Churches, than that of the ‘Retorm- 
 
 ed Church. This will appear still more evident from the following note. 
 z¢> ° This, and the following observations, are designed to give the 
 
470 
 
 are neither united by the same system of doctrine, nor by 
 the same mode of worship, nor yet by the same form of 
 government. It is farther to be observed, that this ehurch 
 does not require, from its ministers, either uniformity in 
 their private sentiments, or in their public doctrine, but 
 permits them to explain, in different ways, several doc- 
 trines of no small moment, provided that the great and fun- 
 damental principles of Christianity, and the practical pre- 
 cepts of that divine religion; be maintained in their original 
 purity. ‘This great community, therefore, may be proper- 
 1y considered as an ecclesiastical body composed of many 
 churches, that vary from each other in their form and con- 
 stitution, but which are preserved from anarchy and schism, 
 by a general spirit of equity and toleration, that runs 
 through the whole system, and renders variety of opinion 
 consistent with fraternal union. 
 
 II. This indeed was not the original state and consti- 
 
 tution of the reformed church, but was the result of a} 
 
 certain combination of events and circumstances, that 
 threw it, by a sort of necessity, into this ambiguous form. 
 The divines of Switzerland, from whom it derived its 
 origin, and Calvin, who was one of its principal founders, 
 employed all their credit, and exerted their most vigour- 
 ous efforts, in order to reduce all the churches, which em- 
 braced their sentiments, under one rule of faith, and the 
 same form of ecclesiastical government. And although 
 they considered the Lutherans as their brethren, yet they 
 showed no marks of indulgence to those who openly fa- 
 voured the opinions of Luther, concerning the eucharist, 
 the person of Christ, or predestination ; nor would they 
 permit the other protestant churches that embraced their 
 communion, to deviate from their example in this respect. 
 A new scene, however, which was exhibited in Britain, 
 
 contributed much to enlarge this narrow and contracted | 
 
 system of church communion ; for, when the violent con- 
 est concerning the form of ecclesiastical government, and 
 the nature and number of those ceremonies which were 
 proper to be admitted into the public worship, arose be- 
 tween the abettors of episcopacy and the puritans,* it was 
 judged necessary to extend the borders of the reformed 
 church, and rank, in the class of its true members, even 
 those who departed, in some respects, from the ecclesias- 
 tical polity and doctrines established at Geneva. "This 
 spirit of toleration and indulgence became still more for- 
 bearing and comprehensive after the famous synod of 
 Dordrecht ; for, though the sentiments and doctrines of 
 
 Lutheran church an air of unity, which is not to be found in the reform- 
 ed. But there is a real fatlacy in this specious representation of things. 
 The reformed church, when considered in the true extent of the term, 
 comprehends all those religious communities which separated themselves 
 from the church of Rome; and, in this sense, it includes the Lutheran 
 church, as well as the others. And even when this epithet is used in 
 opposition to the community founded by Luther, it represents not a sin- 
 gle church, as the episcopal, presbyterian, or independent, but rather a 
 collection of churches; which, though they may be invisibly united by 
 a belief and profession of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, 
 maintain separate places of worship, and have each a visible centre of 
 external union peculiar to themselves, which is formed by certain pecu- 
 liarities in their respective rwes of public worship and ecclesiastical 
 government.* An attentive examination of the discipline, polity, and 
 worship of the churches of England, Scotland, Holland, and Switzer- 
 land, will set this matter in the clearest light. The first of these 
 
 churches, being governed by bishops, and not admitting the validity of || 
 
 presbyterian ordination, differs froma the other three more than any of 
 these differ from each other. There are, however, peculiarities of 
 government and worship that distinguish the church of Holland from 
 that of Scotland. ‘The institution of deacons, the use of forms for the 
 celebration of the sacraments, an ordinary form of prayer, the obser- 
 wance of the festivals of Christmas, Easter, Ascension-day, and Whit- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sacr. III. 
 
 the Arminians were rejected and condemned in that nu- 
 merous assembly, yet they gained ground privately, and 
 insinuated themselves into the minds of many. ‘The 
 church of England, in the reign of Charles I., publicly 
 renounced the opinions ef Calvin relating to the divine 
 decrees, and made several attempts to model its doctrine 
 and institutions after the laws, tenets, and customs, that 
 were observed by the primitive Christians.” On the other 
 hand, several Lutheran congregations in Germany enter- 
 tained a strong propensity to the doctrines and discipline 
 of the church of Geneva, though they were restrained 
 from declaring themselves fully and openly on this head, 
 by their apprehensions of forfeiting the privileges which 
 they derived from their adherence to the confession of 
 Augsburg. The French refugees also, who had long 
 been accustomed to a moderate way of thinking in reli- 
 gious matters, and whose national turn led them to a 
 certain freedom of inquiry, being dispersed abroad in all 
 parts of the protestant world, rendered themselves so 
 agreeable, by their wit and eloquence, that their example 
 excited a kind of emulation in favour of religious liberty. 
 All these circumstances, accompanied with others, whose 
 influence was less palpable, though equally real, gradu- 
 ally instilled such a spirit of lenity and forbearance into 
 the minds of protestants, that at this day, all Christians, 
 if we except Roman Catholics, Socinians, Quakers, and 
 Anabaptists, may claim a place among the members of 
 the reformed church. It is true, that great reluctance was 
 discovered by many against this comprehensive scheme of 
 church communion ; and, even in the times in which we 
 live, the ancient and less charitable manner of proceeding 
 hath several patrons, who would be glad to see the doc- 
 trines and institutions of Calvin universally adopted and 
 rigourously observed. ‘These zealots, however, are not 
 very numerous, nor is their influence considerable ; and 
 it may be affirmed with truth, that, both in point of num 
 ber and authority, they are much inferior to the friends of 
 moderation, who reduce within a narrow compass the fun- 
 damental doctrines of Christianity, on the belief of which 
 salvation depends, exercise forbearance and fraternal cha- 
 rity toward those who explain certain doctrines in a man- 
 ner peculiar to themselves, and desire to see the enclosure 
 (if I may use that expression) of the reformed church ren- 
 dered as large and comprehensive as is possible.¢ 
 
 Ill. ‘The founder of the reformed church was Ulric Zu- 
 ingle, a native of Switzerland, and a man of uncommon 
 
 suntide, are established in the Dutch church; and it is well known that 
 the church of Scotland greatly differs from it in these respects——But, 
 after all, to what does the pretended uniformity among the Lutherans 
 amount? Are not some of the Lutheran churches governed by bi- 
 shops, while cthers are ruled by elders? It shall moreover be shown 
 in its proper place, that even in point of doctrine, the Lutheran churches 
 are not so very remarkable for their uniformity. 
 
 =>" The Puritans, who inclined to the presbyterian form ot 
 church government, of which Knox was one of the earliest abettors in 
 Britain, derived this denomination from their pretending to a purer 
 method of worship than that which had been established by Edward VI. 
 and queen Elizabeth. 
 
 3x > This assertion is equivocal. Many members of the church of 
 England, with Archbishop Laud at their head, did, indeed, propagate 
 the doctrines of Arminius, both in their pulpits and in their writings. 
 But it is not accurate to say that the church of England renounced pub- 
 licly, in that reign, the opinions of Calvin. See this matter farther 
 discussed in the note , cent. xvil. sect. il. p. ii. ch. ii. paragraph xx. 
 
 ¢ The annals of theology have not yet been enriched with a full and 
 accurate history of the Reformed Church. 'This task was indeed under- 
 taken by Scultet, and even carried down so far as his own time, in his 
 
 * See the general sketch of the state of the church in the eighteenta 
 century, paragraph xxi. andthe notes annexed. 
 
Part II. 
 
 netration and acuteness, accompanied with an ardent 
 zeal for truth. This great man was for removing out of 
 the churches, and abolishing, in the ceremonies and ap- 
 pendages of public worship, many things which Luther 
 was disposed to treat with toleration and indulgence, such 
 as images, altars, wax-tapers, the form of exorcism, and 
 private confession. He aimed at nothing so much as 
 establishing, in' his country, a form of divine worship re- 
 markable for its simplicity, and as far remote as could be 
 from every thing that might have the smallest tendency 
 to nourish a spirit of superstition. Nor were these the 
 only circumstances in which he differed from the Saxon 
 reformer ; for his sentiments coacerning several points of 
 theology, and more especially hiv opinions relating to the 
 sacrament of the Lord’s supper, varied widely from those 
 of Luther. The greatest part of these sentiments and 
 opinions were adopted in Switzerland, by those who had 
 joined themselves to Zuingle in promoting the cause of 
 the Reformation, and were by them transmitted to all the 
 Helvetic churches that threw off the yoke of Rome. 
 Irom Switzerland these opinions were propagated among 
 the neighbouring nations, by the ministerial labours and 
 the theological writings of the friends and disciples of Zu- 
 ingle: and thus the primitive reformed church, that was 
 founded by this eminent ecclesiastic, and whose extent at 
 first was not very considerable, gathered strength by de- 
 grees, and daily made new acqmisitions. 
 
 IV. The separation, between the Lutheran and Swiss 
 churches, was chiefly occasioned by the doctrine of Zuin- 
 gle, concerning the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. Lu- 
 ther maintained, that the body and blood ef Christ were 
 really, though in a manner far beyond human compre- 
 hension, present in the eucharist, and weie exhibited 
 together with the bread and wine. On the contrary, the 
 Swiss reformer looked upon the bread and wine in no 
 other light than as the signs and symbols of the absent 
 body and blood of Christ; and, from the year 1524, he 
 propagated this doctrine in a public manner by his writings, 
 having entertained and taught it privately before that pe- 
 
 Annales Evangelii Renovatii; but the greatest part of this work is lost. 
 Theod. Haszus, who proposed to give the annals of that church, was 
 prevented by death from fulfilling his purpose. The famous work of 
 James Basnage, published in 1725, under the title of Histoire de la 
 Religione des Eglises Reformées, instead of giving a regular history of 
 the reformed church, is only designed to show that its peculiar and dis- 
 tinguishing doctrines are not new inventions, but were taught and em- 
 braced in the earliest ages of the church. Maimbourg’s Histoire du 
 Calvinisme is remarkable for nothing but the partiality of its author, and 
 the wilful errors with which it abounds. 
 
 Zt * The design of Zuingle was certainly excellent; but in the 
 execution of it perhaps he went too far, and consulted rather the dictates 
 of reason than the real exigencies of human nature in its present state. 
 The existing union between soul and body, which operate together in 
 the actions of moral agents, even in those who appear the most abstract- 
 ed and refined, renders it necessary to consult the external senses, as 
 well as the intellectual edge in the institution of public worship. Be- 
 sides, between a worship purely and philosophically rational, and a 
 service grossly and palpably superstitious, there are many intermediate 
 steps and circumstances, by which a rational service may he ren- 
 dered more affecting and awakening, without becoming  supersti- 
 tious. A noble edifice, solemn music, a well-ordered set of external 
 gestures, though they do not, in themselves, render our prayers more 
 acceptable to the Deity, than if they were offered up without any of 
 these circumstances, produce, nevertheless, a good effect. They elevate 
 the mind, they give it a composed and solemn frame, and thus contri- 
 pute to the fervour of its devotion. 
 
 » Zuingle certainly taught this doctrine in private before the year 1524, 
 as appears from Gerdes’ Historia Renovati Evangelli, tom. i. 
 
 * In the year 1525. 
 
 4Jo. Conr. Fueslini Centuriai. Epistol. Theolog. Reformat.—3—> (co- 
 lampadius was not Icss remarkable for his extraordinary modesty, his 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 471 
 
 riod.” Ina little time after this,e his example was followed 
 by C&colampadius, a divine of Basil, and one of the most 
 learned men of that century. But they were both op- 
 posed with obstinacy and spirit by Luther and his asso- 
 ciates, particularly those of the circle of Suabia. In the 
 mean time, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, apprehending the 
 pernicious effects that these debates might have upon the 
 affairs of the protestants, which were, as yet, in the fluctu- 
 ating and unsettled state that marks the infancy of all 
 great revolutions, was desirous of putting an end to these 
 differences, and, for that purpose, appointed a conference 
 at Marpurg, between Zuingle, Luther, and other doctors of 
 both parties. ‘This meeting, however, only covered the 
 flame instead of extinguishing it; and the pacific prince, 
 seeing it impossible to bring about a definite treaty of peace 
 and concord between these jarring divines, was obliged to 
 rest satisfied with having engaged them to consent to a 
 truce. Luther and Zuingle came to an agreement about 
 several points; but the principal matter in debate,—that 
 which regarded Christ’s presence in the eucharist,—was 
 left undecided; each party appealing to the Fountain of 
 wisdom to terminate this controversy, and expressing a 
 hope that time and impartial reflection might discover and 
 confirm the truth.‘ 
 
 V. 'The reformed Church had scarcely been founded in 
 Switzerland by Zuingle, when the Christian hero fell in 
 a battle that was fought, in 1530, between the protestants 
 of Zurich, and their Roman catholic compatriots, who 
 drew the sword in defence of popery. It was not indeed 
 to perform the sanguinary office ofa soldier that Zuingle 
 was present at this engagement, but with a view to en- 
 courage and animate, by his counsel and exhortations, the 
 valiant defenders of the protestant cause.s After his 
 death, several Lutheran doctors of the more moderate sort, 
 and particularly Martin Bucer, used their utmost endea- 
 vours to bring about some kind of reconciliation between 
 the contending parties. For this purpose they exhorted 
 the jarring theologians to concord, interpreted the points 
 in dispute with a prudent regard to the prejudices of both 
 
 charitable, forbearing, and pacific spirit, and his zeal for the progress of 
 vital and practical religion, than for his profound erudition, which 
 he seemed rather studious to conceal, than to display. 
 
 x¢p ° Zuingle was. accompanied by Gscolampadius, Bucer, and Hi- 
 deon. Luther had. with him Melancthon and Justus Jonas from Saxo- 
 ny, and also Osiander, Brentius, and Agricola. 
 
 f Ruchat, Histoire de la Reformation de la Suisse, vol. i. ii—Hot- 
 
 &® The Lutherans, who consider this unhappy fate of Zuingle as 
 a reproach upon that greatanan in particular, and upon the reformed 
 church in general, discover a gross ignorance of the genius and man- 
 ners of the Swiss nation in this century; for, as all the inhabitants of 
 that country are at present trained to arms, and obliged to take the field 
 when the defence of their country requires it, so in the time of Zuingle 
 this obligation was so general, that neither the ministers of the Gospel, 
 nor the professors of theology, was exempted from this military service. 
 Accordingly, in the same battle in which Zuingle fell, Jerome’ Pontanus, 
 one of the theological doctors of Basil, also lost his life. See Fueslini 
 Centuria i. Epistolar. Tateol. Reformator. #7 Erasmus also spoke in 
 a very unfriendly manner of the death of Zuingle and his friend Gsco- 
 lampadius. See Jortin’s Life of Erasmus, vol. i. It is not therefore 
 surprising to find the bigoted Sir Thomas More insulting (with the bar- 
 barity that superstition seldom fails to produce in a narrow and peevish 
 mind) the memory of these two eminent reformers, in a letter to the 
 furious an? turbulent Cochleus ; of which the following words show the 
 spirit of the writer: “ Postrema ea fuit, quam de Zuinglio et Gecolam- 
 padio, scriptam misisti, quorum nunciata mors mihi letiiam attulit— 
 Sublatos e medio esse tam immanes fidei Christiane hostes, tam intentos 
 ubique in omnem perimende pietatis occasionem, jure gaudere possum.” 
 Jortin, vol. ii. 
 
472 
 
 sides, admonished them of the pernicious consequences 
 that must attend the prolongation of these unhappy con- 
 tests, and even went so far as to express the respective 
 sentiments of the contending doctors in terms of consider- 
 able ambiguity and latitude, that thus the desired union 
 might be the more easily effected. There is no doubt, 
 that the intentions and designs of these zealous inter- 
 cessors were pious and upright ;* but it will be difficult to 
 decide, whether the means they employed were adapted 
 to promote the end they had m view. Be that as it may, 
 these specific counsels of Bucer excited divisions in Swit- 
 zerland ; for some persevered obstinately in the doctrine 
 of Zuingle, while others adopted the explications and 
 modifications of his doctrine, offered by Bucer.’ But 
 these divisions and commotions had not the least effect 
 on that reconciliation with Luther, which was earnestly 
 desired by the pious and moderate doctors of both parties. 
 The efforts of Bucer were more successful out of Switzer- 
 land, and particularly among those divines in the upper 
 parts of Germany, who inclined to the sentiments of the 
 Helvetic church ; for they retired from the communion 
 of that church, and joined themselves to Luther by a 
 public act, which was sent to Wittenberg, in 1536, by a 
 solemn deputation appointed for that purpose.c ‘The 
 Swiss divines could not be brought to so great a length. 
 There was, however, still some prospect of a reconcilia- 
 tion even between them and the Lutherans. But this 
 fair prospect entirely disappeared in 1544, when Luther 
 published his confession of faith m relation to the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord’s supper, which was directly opposite to 
 the doctrine of Zuingle and his followers on that head. 
 ‘Lhe doctors of Zurich pleaded their cause publicly against 
 the Saxon reformer in the following year; anid thus the 
 purposes of the advocates of peace were totally defeated.4 
 VI. 'The death of Luther, which happened in the year 
 546, was an event that seemed adapted to calm these 
 commotions, and to revive, in the breast of the moderate 
 and_ pacific, the hopes of a reconciliation between the con- 
 tending parties. For this union, between the Lutherans 
 and Zuinglians, was so ardently desired by Melancthon 
 and his followers, that this great man left no means un- 
 employed to effect it, and seemed resolved, rather to sub- 
 mit to a dubious and forced peace, than to see those flam- 
 ing discords perpetuated, which reflected such dishonour 
 on the protestant cause. At the same time, this salutary 
 work seemed to be facilitated by the theological system 
 that was adopted by John Calvin, a native of Noyon in 
 France, who was pastor and professor of divinity at Ge- 
 neva, and whose genius, learning, eloquence, and talents, 
 rendered him respectable, even in the eyes of his enemies. 
 his great man, whose particular friendship for Melanc- 
 thon was an incidental circumstance highly favourable 
 to the intended reconciliation, proposed an explication of 
 the point in debate, that modified the crude hypothesis of 
 Zuingle, and made use of all his credit and authority 
 
 * See Alb. Menon. Verpoorten, Comment. de Mart. Bucero, et ejus 
 Sententia de Coena Domini, sect. ix. p. 23, published in 8vo. at Coburg 
 in the year 1709.—Loscheri Hist. Motuum, par. i. lib. ii. and par. i. lib. iii, 
 
 > Fueslini Centur, i. Epistolar. Theolog. 
 
 © Loscheri Hist. cap. ii. p. 205.—Ruchat, Histoire de la Reformat. de 
 Suisse, tom. v. p. 535.—Hottingeri Histor. Eccles. Helvet. tom. ili. lib. 
 vi. p. 702. 
 
 Pe en Hist. par. i. lib. il. cap. iv. p. 341, 
 
 * Salig, Hist. Aug. Confessionis, tom. i1. lib. vii. 
 
 => ‘ Calvin went certainly too far in this matter ; and, in his explica- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. ILL 
 
 among the Swiss, and more particularly at Zurich, where 
 he was held in the highest veneration, in order to obtain 
 their assent to it.© The explication he proposed was not, 
 indeed, favourable to the doctrine of Chrisi’s bodily pre- 
 sence in the eucharist, which he persisted ia denying ; 
 he supposed, however, that a certain divine virtue, or effli- 
 cacy, was communicated by Christ, with the bread and 
 wine, to those who approached this holy sacrament with 
 a lively faith, and with upright hearts; and to render this 
 notion still more satisfactory, he expressed it in almost the 
 same terms which the Lutherans employed in inculcating 
 their doctrine of Christ’s real presence in the eucharist.‘ 
 Indeed the great and common error of all those, who, 
 from a desire of peace, assumed the character of arbitra- 
 tors in this controversy, layin this, that they aimed rather 
 at an uniformity of terms than_of sentiments, and seem- 
 
 _ed satisfied when they had engaged the contending parties 
 
 to use the same words and phrases, though their real dif- 
 
 ference in opinion remained the same, and each explained 
 
 these ambiguous or figurative terms in a manner agree- 
 able to their respective systems. 
 
 The concord, so much desired, did not, however, seem 
 to advance much. Melancthon, although he stood fore- 
 most in the rank of those who longed impatiently for it, 
 
 _had not courage enough to embark openly in the exe- 
 | cution of such a perilous project. 
 
 Besides, after the death 
 of Luther, his enemies attacked him with redoubled fury, 
 and gave him so much disagreeable occupation, that: he 
 
 had neither that leisure, nor that tranquillity of mind, 
 
 which were necessary to prepare his measures properly 
 
 for such an arduous undertaking. A new obstacle to the 
 
 execution of this pacific project was also presented, by the 
 intemperate zeal of Joachim Westphal, pastor at Ham- 
 burg, who, in 1552, renewed, with greater vehemence 
 than ever, this deplorable controversy, which had been for 
 some time suspended; and who, after Flacius, was the 
 most obstinate defender of the opinions of Luther. ‘This 
 violent theologian, witha spirit of acrimonious vehemence, 
 like that which too remarkably appeared in the polemic 
 writings of Luther, attacked the act of uniformity, by 
 
 | which the churches of Geneva and Zurich declared their 
 | agreement concerning the doctrine of the eucharist. 
 
 g In 
 the book which he published with this view,’ he censured, 
 with the utmost severity, the variety of sentiments con- 
 cerning the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, observable in the 
 reformed church, and maintained, with his usual warmth 
 and obstinacy, the opinion of Lutheron that subject. This 
 engaged Calvin to enter the lists with Westphal, whom he 
 treated with as little lenity and forbearance, as the rigid 
 Lutherans had shown toward the Helvetic churches. The 
 consequences of this debate were, that Calvin and West- 
 phal had, respectively, their zealous defenders and pa- 
 trons: thus the breach was widened, the spirits were heat- 
 ed, and the flame of controversy was kindled anew with 
 such violence and fury, that to extinguish it entirely seem- 
 
 tion of the benefits that arise from a worthy commemoration of Christ’s 
 death in the eucharist, he dwelt too grossly upon the allegorical expres- 
 sions of Scripture, which the papists had so egregiously abused, and 
 talked of really eating by faith the body, and drinking the blood ot 
 Christ. 
 
 > ® This book, which abounds with senseless and extravagant tenets 
 that Luther never so much as thought of, and breathes the most virulent 
 spirit of persecution, is entitled, “ Farrago Confusanearum et inter se 
 dissidentium de S. Cena Opinionum ex Sacramentariorum Libris con 
 gesta. 
 
Part II. 
 
 ed to be a task beyond the reach of human wisdom or ! 
 
 ower.* 
 
 VII. These disputes were unhappily augmented by 
 that famous controversy concerning the decrees of God, 
 with respect to the eternal condition of men, which was 
 get on foot by Calvin, and became an inexhaustible source 
 vf intricate researches, and abstruse, subtle, and inexpli- 
 cable questions. ‘The most ancient Helvetic doctors were 
 far from adopting the doctrine of those, who represent 
 the Deity as assigning from all eternity, by an absolute, 
 arbitrary, and unconditional decree, to some everlasting 
 happiness, and to others endless misery, without any pre- 
 vious regard to the moral characters and circumstances 
 of either. ‘Their sentiments seemed to differ very little 
 from those of the Pelagians; nor did they hesitate in de- 
 claring, after the example of Zuingle, that the kingdom 
 of heaven was open to all who lived according to the dic- 
 tates of right reason.» Calvin had adopted a quite dif- 
 ferent system with respect to the divine decrees. He 
 maintained, that the everlasting condition of mankind in 
 a future world was determined from all eternity, by the 
 unchangeable order of the Deity, and that this absolute 
 determination of his will and good pleasure, was the only 
 source of happiness or misery to every individual. ‘This 
 opinion was in a very short time propagaied through all 
 the reformed churches, by the writings of Calvin, and by 
 the ministry of his disciples ; and, in some places, it was 
 inserted in the national creeds and confessions, and thus 
 made a public article of faith. ‘The unhappy controversy, 
 which took its rise from this doctrine, was opened at Stras- 
 burg, in 1560, by Jerome Zanchius, an Italian ecclesias- 
 tic, who was particularly attached to the sentiments of 
 Calvin ; and it was afierwards carried on by others with 
 such zeal and assiduity, that it drew, in an extraordinary 
 manner, the attention of the public, and tended as much 
 to exasperate the passions, and foment the discord of the 
 contending parties, as the dispute about the eucharist had 
 already done.¢ 
 
 Vill. The Helvetic doctors had no prospect left of 
 calming the troubled spirits, and tempering, at least, the 
 vehemence of these deplorable feuds, but the moderation 
 of the Saxon divines, who were the disciples of Melanc- 
 thon, and who, breathing the pacific spirit of their master, 
 seemed, after his death, to have nothing so much at heart 
 as the restoration of concord and union to the protestant 
 church. "Their designs, however, were not carried on 
 with that caution and circumspection, with that prudent 
 
 foresight, or that wise attention to the nature of the times, | 
 
 which always distinguished the transactions of Melanc- 
 thon, and which the critical nature of the cause they were 
 engaged in, indispensably required. And hence they 
 had already taken a step, which threatened to render in- 
 effectual all the remedies they could apply to the healing 
 of the present disorders; for, by dispersing artful and in- 
 sidious writings, with a design to seduce the ministers of 
 the church, and the studious youth, into the sentiments 
 
 * Loscheri Historia Motuum, par. ii. lib. iii. cap. viil. p. 83.—Molleri 
 Saebeia Literata, tom. ill. p. 642,—Arn. Grevii Shamerts Joac. West- 
 jhali. 
 
 : > For the proof of this assertion, see Dall#i Apologia pro duabus 
 Ecclesiarum Gallicar. Synodis adversus Fred. Spanheim, part iv. p. 
 946.—Jo. Alphons. Turretini Epistol. ad Antistitem Cantuariensem, 
 inserted in the Bibliotheque Germanique, "tom. xili—Simon, Biblio- 
 theque Critique, published under the fictitious name of Sanior, tom. iii. ch. 
 Xxvili., and also a book, entitled, Observationes Gallice in Formul. Con- 
 
 No. XL. 119 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 473 
 
 of the Swiss divines, or, at least, to engage them to treat 
 these sentiments with toleration and forbearance, they 
 /drew upon themselves the indignation of their adversa- 
 ries, and ruined the pacific cause in which they had em- 
 barked. It was this conduct that gaye occasion to the 
 composition of that famous Form of Concord, which con- 
 demned the sentiments of the reformed churches in rela- 
 tion to the person of Christ, and the sacrament of the 
 Lord’s supper ; and, as this form is received by the great- 
 est part of the Lutherans, as one of the articles of their 
 religion, hence arises an insuperable obstacle to all schemes 
 of reconciliation and concord. 
 
 IX. So much did it seem necessary to premise con- 
 cerning the causes, rise, and progress of the controversy, 
 which formed the separation that still subsists between 
 the Lutheran and reformed churches. ‘Thence it will be 
 proper to proceed to an account of the internal state of 
 the latter, and to the history of its progress and revolu- 
 tions. ‘he history of the reformed church, during this 
 century, comprehends two distinct periods. The first 
 commences with the year 1519, when Zuingle withdrew 
 from the communion of Rome, and began to form a chris- 
 tian church beyond the bounds of the pope’s jurisdiction ; 
 and it extends to the time of Calvin’s settlement at Ge- 
 neva, where he required the greatest reputation and au- 
 thority. ‘The second period takes in the rest of this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 During the first of these periods, the Helvetic church, 
 which assumed the title of Reformed after the example 
 of the French protestants in its neighbourhood, who had 
 chosen this denomination, in order to distinguish them- 
 selves from the catholics, as very considerable in its extent, 
 and was confined to the cantons of Switzerland. It was 
 indeed augmented by the accession of some small states in 
 Suabia and Alsace; but, in 1526, these states changed 
 sides, through the suggestions and influence of Bucer, re- 
 turned to the communion of the Saxon church, and thus 
 made their peace with Luther. The other religious com- 
 munities, which had abandoned the church of Rome, 
 either openly embraced the doctrine of Luther, or consist- 
 ed of persons who did not agree in their theological opi- 
 nions, and who really seemed to stand in a kind of neutral- 
 ity between the contending parties. All things being 
 duly considered, it appears probable enough that the 
 church founded by Zuingle, would have remained still 
 confined to its original limits, had not Calvin arisen, to 
 augment its extent, authority, and lustre; for the natural 
 and political character of the Swiss, neither bent toward 
 the lust of conquest, nor the grasping views of ambition, 
 discovered itself in their religious transactions; and, as a 
 spirit of contentment with what they had, prevented their 
 aiming atan augmentation of their territory, so did a simi- 
 lar spirit hinder them from being extremely solicitous 
 about enlarging the borders of their church. 
 
 X. In this infant state of the reformed church, the only 
 point that prevented its union with the followers of Lu 
 
 sensus Helveticam. The very learned Dr. Gerdes, instead of being 
 persuaded by these testimonies, maintains, on the contrary, (in his Mis- 
 cellan. Groningens.) that the sentiments of Calvin were the same with 
 those of the ancient Swiss doctors; but this excellent author may be 
 refuted, even from his own account of the tumults which were occasion- 
 ed in Switzerland, by the opinion that Calvin had propagated in relation 
 to the divine decrees. = . : 
 
 ° Loscheri Historia Motuum, part ili. lib. v. cap. ii—Salig. Hist 
 August. Confessionis, tom. i. lib. ii. cap. xiii. 
 
A74 
 
 ther, was the doctrine they taught with respect to the 
 sacrament of the Lord’s supper. ‘This first controversy, 
 indeed, soon produced a second, relating to the person of 
 Jesus Christ which, nevertheless, concerned only a part 
 of the Lutheran Church: The Lutheran divines of 
 Suabia, in the course of their debates with those of Swit- 
 zerland, drew an argument in favour of the real presence 
 of Christ's body and blood in the eucharist, from the fol- 
 lowing proposition : that “all the properties of the divine 
 nature, and consequently its omnipresence were commu- 
 nicated to the human nature of Christ by the hypostatic 
 union.” The Swiss doctors, in order to destroy the force 
 of this argument, denied this communication of the divine 
 attributes to Christ’s human nature; and denied, more 
 especially, the ‘ubiquity or omnipresence of the man 
 Jesus ;? and hence arose that most intricate and abstruse 
 controversy concerning ubiquity, and the communication 
 of properties, which produced so many learned and unin- 
 telligible treatises, somany subtle disputes, and occasioned 
 such a multitude of accusations and invectives. 
 
 It is proper to observe, that, at this time, the Helvetic 
 church universally embraced the doctrine of Zuingle con- 
 cerning the eucharist. ‘This doctrine, which differed con- 
 siderably from that of Calvin, amounted to the following 
 propositions: That the bread and wine were no more 
 than a representation of the body and blood of Christ; or, 
 in other words, the signs appointed to denote the benefits 
 that were conferred upon mankind, in consequence of the 
 death of Christ; that, therefore, Christians derived no other 
 fruit from the participation of the Lord’s supper, than a 
 mere commemoration and remembrance of the merits of 
 Christ, which, according to an expression common in the 
 mouths of the advocates of this doctrme, was the ‘only 
 thing that was properly meant by the Lord’s supper.’ 
 Bucer, whose leading principles was the desire of peace 
 and concord, endeavoured to correct and modify this doc- 
 trine in such a manner, as to give it a certain degree of 
 conformity to the hypothesis of Luther; but the memor y 
 of Zuingle was too fresh in the minds of the Swiss, to 
 permit their acceptance of these corrections and modifica- 
 lions, or to suffer them to depart, in any respect, from the 
 doctrine of that eminent man, who had founded their 
 church, and had been the instrument of their deliverance 
 from the tyranny and superstition of Rome. 
 
 XI. In the year 1541, John Calvin, who surpassed al- 
 most all the doctors of this age in laborious application, 
 constancy of mind, force of eloquence, and extent of ge- 
 nius, returned to Geneva, whence the opposition of his 
 enemies had obliged him to retire. On his settlement 
 in that city, the affairs of the new church were commit- 
 ted to his direction ;° and he acquired also a high de- 
 gree of influence in ‘the political admimistration of that 
 republic. This event changed entirely the face of affairs, 
 and gave a new aspect to the reformed church. T he 
 
 3+ * It was only a certain number of those Lutherans, who were 
 much more rigid in their doctrine than Luther himself, that. believed the 
 ubiquity cr omnipresence of Christ’s person, considered asaman. By 
 this we may see that the Lutherans have their divisions as well as the 
 reformed, of which several instances may be yet given in the course of 
 this History. 
 
 b Nihil esse in Cena quam memoriam Christi. That this was the 
 real opinion of Zuingle, appears evidently from various te stimonies, 
 which may be seen in 1 the Museum Helveticum, tom. i. p. 485, 490. terh: 
 iit. p.631. This is also confirmed by the follow’ ing sentence in his book 
 concerning baptism ; (tom. ii. op. p. 85.) “Cana Dominica non aliud | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Ill 
 
 views and projects of this great man were grand and ex- 
 tensive ; for he not only undertook to give strength and 
 vigour to the rismg church, by framing the wisest laws 
 and the most salutary institutions for the maintenance of 
 order, and the advancement of true piety, but even pro- 
 posed to render Geneva the mother, the seminary of all 
 the reformed churches, as Wittenberg was of all the Lu- 
 theran communities. He formed the scheme of sending 
 forth from this little republic the succours and ministers 
 that were to promote and propag gate the protestant cause 
 through the most distant nations, and aimed at nothing 
 less than rendering the government, discipline, and doc- 
 trine of Geneva, the model and rule of strict imitation to 
 all the reformed churches in the world. The undertak- 
 ing was certainly great, and worthy of the extensive ge- 
 nius and capacity of this eminent man ; and, great and 
 arduous as it was, it was executed in part, and even car- 
 ried on to a very considerable length, by his indefatigable 
 assiduity and inextinguishable zeal. It was with this 
 view, that, by the fame of his learning, as well as by his 
 epistolary ‘solicitations and encouragements of various 
 kinds, he engaged many persons of rank and fortune, in 
 France, Italy, and other countries, to leave the places of 
 their nativity, and to settle at Geneva; while others re- 
 paired thither merely out of curiosity to see a man, whose 
 talents and exploits had rendered him so famous, and to 
 hear the discourses which he delivered in public. Ano- 
 ther circumstance, that contributed much to the success 
 of his designs, was the establishment of an university at 
 Geneva, which the senate of that city founded at his re- 
 quest ; and in which he himself, with his colleague, Theo- 
 dore Beza, and other divines of eminent learning and 
 abilities, taught the sciences with the greatest reputation. 
 In effect, the lustre which these great men reflected upon 
 this infant seminary of learning, spread its fame through 
 the distant nations with such amazing rapidity, that all 
 who were ambitious of a dis tinguished progress either in 
 sacred or profane erudition, repaired to Geneva, and that 
 England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Germany, seemed 
 to vie with each other in the numbers of their studious 
 youth, that were incessantly repairing to the new uni- 
 versity. By these means, and by the ministry of these 
 his disciples, Calvin enlarged considerably the borders of 
 the reformed church, propagated his doctrine, and gained 
 proselytes and patrons to his theological system, in several 
 countries of Europe. In the midst of this glorious career, 
 he ended his days, in the year 1564; but the salutary i in- 
 stitutions and wise regulations, of which he had been 
 
 | the author, were both respected and maintained after his 
 
 death. In a more especial manner, the university of 
 Geneva flourished as much under Beza, as it had done 
 during the life of its founder.¢ 
 
 XIL The plan of doctrine and discipline that had been 
 formed by Zuingle, was altered and corrected by Calvin, 
 
 quam Commemorationis nomen meretur.” 
 Fueslini Cent. I. Epist. Theol. Reform. 
 
 ¢ Calvin, in reality, enjoyed the power and authority of a bishop at 
 Geneva ; for, as long as he lived, he presided in the assembly of the 
 clergy, and in the consistory, or ecclesiastical judicatory. But, when he 
 was at the point of death, he advised the clergy not to appoint a succes- 
 sor, and proved to them evide mntly the dangerous consequences of entrust- 
 
 Compare, with all this, 
 
 ing with any one man, during life, a place of such high authority. Af 
 
 ter him, therefore, the place® of president ceased to be perpetual. See 
 
 | Spon’s Flistoire de Geneve, tom. 1. 
 
 a The various projects and plans that were formed, conducted, and 
 
Part II. 
 ore especially in three points, of which it will not be im- 
 proper to give a particular account. 
 
 Ist, Zuingle, in his form of ecclesiastical government, 
 
 had given an absolute and unbounded power, in religious | 
 matters, to the civil magistrate; to whom he had _ placed | 
 
 the clergy in a degree of subjection that was displeasing 
 to many. At the same time he allowed a certain subor- 
 dination and difference of rank among the ministers of 
 the church, and even thought it expedient to place at their 
 head a perpetual president, or superintendant, with a cer- 
 tain degree of inspection and authority over the whole 
 body. Calvin, on the contrary, reduced the power of the 
 magistrate, in religious matters, within narrow bounds. 
 He declared the church a separate and independent body, 
 endowed with the power of legislation for itself. He main- 
 tained, that it was to be governed, like the primitive 
 church, only by presbyteries and synods, that is, by as- 
 semblies of elders, composed both of the clergy and laity ; 
 and he left to the civil magistrate little more than the pri- 
 vilege of protecting and defending the church, and pro- 
 viding for what related to its external exigencies and con- 
 cerns. ‘Thus this eminent reformer introduced into the 
 republic of Geneva, and endeavoured to introduce into all 
 the reformed churches throughout Europe, that form of 
 ecclesiastical government, which is called Presbyterian, 
 from its neither admitting the institution of bishops, nor 
 any subordination among the clergy; and which is found- 
 ed on this principle, that all ministers of the Gospel are, 
 by the law of God, declared to be equal in rank and au- 
 thority. In consequence of this principle, he established 
 at Geneva a consistory composed of ruling elders, partly 
 pastors, and partly laymen, and invested this ecclesiasti- 
 cal body with a high degree of power and authority. He 
 also convened synods, composed of the ruling elders of dif- 
 ferent churches, and, in these consistories and synods, 
 procured laws to be enacted for the regulation of all mat- 
 ters of a religious nature; and, among other things, re- 
 stored to its former vigour the ancient practice of excom- 
 munication. All these things were done with the con- 
 sent of the greatest part of the senate of Geneva. 
 
 2dly, The system that Zuingle had adopted with re- 
 spect to the eucharist, was by no means agreeable to Cal- 
 vin, who, in order to facilitate the desired union with the 
 Lutheran church, substituted in its place another, which 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 AT5 
 
 appeared more conformable to the doctrine of that church, 
 and, in reality, differed little from it. For while the doc- 
 trine of Zuingle supposed only a symbolical or figurative 
 presence of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, 
 and represented a pious remembrance of Christ’s death, 
 and of the benefits it procured to mankind, as the only 
 fruits that arose from the celebration of the Lord’s supper, 
 Calvin explained this critical point in a quite different 
 manner. He acknowledged a real though spiritual pre- 
 sence of Christ in this sacrament; or, in other words, he 
 maintained, that true Christians, who approached this 
 holy ordinance with a lively faith, were, in a certain man- 
 ner, united to the man Christ ; and that from this union 
 the spiritual life derived new vigour in the soul, and was 
 still carried on, in a progressive motion, to greater degrees 
 of purity and perfection. "This kind of language had been 
 used in the forms of doctrine drawn up by Luther ; and 
 as Calvin observed, among other things, that the divine 
 grace was conferred upon sinners, and sealed to them by 
 the celebration of the Lord’s supper, this induced many 
 to suppose that he adopted the sentiment implied in the 
 barbarous term wpanation, and did not essentially alter 
 the doctrine of the Lutheran church on this important 
 subject.» Be that as it may, his sentiments differed con- 
 siderably from those of Zuingle ; for, while the latter as- 
 serted, that all Christians, whether regenerate or unrege- 
 nerate, might be partakers of the body and blood of Christ, 
 Calvin confined this privilege to the pious and regenerate 
 believer alone. 
 
 odly, "The absolute decree of God, with respect to the 
 future and everlasting condition of the human race, which 
 made no part of the theology of Zuingle, was an essen- 
 tial tenet in the creed of Calvin, who inculcated with zeal 
 the following doctrine: that God, in predestinating, from 
 all eternity, one part of mankind to everlasting happiness, 
 and another to endless misery, was led to make this dis- 
 tinction by no other motive than his own good pleasure 
 and free will. 
 
 XIU. The first point was of such a nature, that, great 
 as the credit and influence of Calvin were, he could not 
 procure an universal reception for it in the reformed 
 churches. "The English and Germans rejected it, and 
 even the Swiss refused to adopt it. It was, however, re- 
 ceived by the reformed churches in France, Holland, and 
 
 executed with equal prudence and resolution by Calvin, in behalf, both 
 of the republic and church of Geneva, are related by the learned person, 
 who, in 1730, gave a new edition (enriched with interesting historical 
 notes, and authentic documents) of Spon’s Histoire de Geneve. The 
 particular accounts of Calvin’s transactions, given by this anonymous 
 editor, in his notes, are drawn from several curious manuscripts of 
 undoubted credit. 
 
 x’ * The term Impanation (which signifies here the presence of 
 Christ’s body in the eucharist, in or with the bread that is there exhi- 
 bited) amounts to what is called Consubstantiation. It was a modifica- 
 tion of the monstrous doctrine of Transubstantiation, first invented by 
 some of the disciples of Berenger, who had not a mind to break all mea- 
 sures with the church of Rome, and was afterwards adopted by Luther 
 and his followers, who, in reality, made sad work of it. For, in order 
 to give it some faint air of possibility, and to maintain it as well as they 
 could, they fell into a wretched scholastic jargon about the nature of sub- 
 stances, subsistences, attributes, properties, and accidents, that did infinite 
 michief to the true and sublime science of gospel theology, whose beauti- 
 fu! simplicity it was adapted to destroy. The very same perplexity and 
 darkness, the same quibbling, sophistical, and unintelligible logic, that 
 reigned in the attempts of the Roman catholics to defend the doctrine of 
 Transubstantiation, were visible in the controversial writings of the 
 Lutaerans in behalf of Consubstantiation, or Impanation. ‘The latter 
 had, indeed, one absurdity less to maintain; but being obliged to assert, 
 in opposition to intuitive evidence and unchangeable truth, that the 
 same body can be in many plazes at the same time, they were conse- 
 
 quently obliged to have recourse to the darkest and most intricate jargon 
 of the schools, to hide the nonsense of this unaccountable doctrine. 
 The modern Lutherans are grown somewhat wiser in this respect; at 
 least, they seem less zealous than their ancestors about the tenet in 
 question. 
 
 b See Fueslini Centur. I. Epistol. Theol. Reform. tom. i. p. 255, 262.— 
 Lettres de Calvin & Mons. de Falaise, p. 84.—We learn from Fueslin 
 that Calvin wrote to Bucer a letter, intimating that he approved his sen- 
 timents. It is possible, that he may have derived from Bucer the opi- 
 nion he entertained with respect to the eucharist—Sce Bossuet’s His- 
 toire, des Variations des Eglises Protestantes, tom. ii.; and Courayer’s 
 Exame s des Defauts de Theolciiens, tom. ii. These two writers pre- 
 tend that the sentiments of Caly.n, with respect to the eucharist, were 
 almost the same with those of the catholics.* The truth of the matter is, 
 that the obscurity and inconsistency with which this great man ex- 
 pressed himself upon that subject, render it extremely difficult to give a 
 clear and accurate account of his doctrine. 
 
 x4p * How it could come into the heads of such men as Bossuet and 
 Dr. Courayer to say, that “the sentiments of Calvin concerning the eu- 
 charist were almost the same with those of the catholics,” is, indeed, 
 strange enough. The doctrine of transubstantiation was to Calvin an 
 invincible obstacle to any sort of conformity between him and Rome on 
 that subject; for, however obscure and figurative his expressions with 
 respect to Christ’s spiritual presence in the eucharist may have been, he 
 never once dreamed of any thing like a corporal presence in that hoiy 
 sacrament. 
 
 v 
 
A76 
 
 Scotland. 'The Swiss remained firm in their opposition ; 
 they would not suffer the form of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment, that had once been established under the inspec- 
 tion of Zuingle, to be changed in any respect, nor the 
 power of the civil magistrate, in religious matters, to receive 
 the smallest prejudice. The other two points were long 
 debated, even in Switzerland, with the greatest warmth. 
 Several churches, more especially those of Zurich and 
 Bern, maintained obstinately the doctrine of Zuingle con- 
 cerning the eucharist ;+ and they could not be easily per- 
 suaded to admit, as an article of faith, the doctrine of 
 predestination, as it had been taught by Calvin.» The 
 prudence, however, of this great man, seconded by his 
 resolute perseverance and his extraordinary credit, tri- 
 umphed at length so far, as to bring about an union be- 
 tween the Swiss churches and that of Geneva, first in 
 relation to the doctrine of the eucharist,: and afterwards 
 also on the subject of predestination. The followers of 
 Calvin extended still farther the triumphs of their chief, 
 and improved with such success the footing he had gained, 
 that, in process of time, almost all the reformed churches 
 adopted his theological system; a result to which, no 
 doubt, his learned writings greatly contributed.e 
 
 XIV. It will not be improper to pass in review the dif- 
 ferent countries in which the doctrine and discipline of 
 the reformed church, as modelled by Calvin, were esta- 
 blished in a fixed and permanent manner. Among its 
 chief patrons in Germany we may reckon Frederic III. 
 elector Palatine, who, in 1560, removed from their pas- 
 toral functions the cutheran doctors, and filled their places 
 with Calvinists ; and, at the same time, obliged his sub- 
 jects to embrace the tenets, rites, and instituticns of the 
 church of Geneva. This order was indeed abrogated, 
 in 1576, by his son and successor Louis, who restor- 
 ed Lutheranism to its former credit and authority. The 
 effects of this revolution were, however, transitory ; for, 
 in 1583, under the government of the elector John Casi- 
 mir, who had followed the example of his brother F'rede- 
 ric in embracing the discipline of the reformed church, 
 Calvinism resumed what it had lost, and became trium- 
 phant.¢ From this period the church of the Palatinate 
 obtained the second place among the reformed churches; 
 and its influence and reputation were so considerable, that 
 the form of instruction, which was composed for its 
 use by Ursinus, and which is known under the title of 
 the Catechism of Heidelberg, was almost universally 
 
 ® See Fueslini Centur. Epistolar. p. 264—Museum Helvet. tom. i. p. 
 490. tom. v. p. 47, 483. tom. ii. p. 79. 
 
 > Beside Ruchat and Hottinger, see Museum Helveticum, tom. ii— 
 Gerdes, Miscellan. Groningens. Nova, tom. ii. 
 
 ° This agreement was concluded in 1549, for one point; and in 1554 
 for the other. 
 
 4 See the Consensus Genev. et Tigurinor. in Calvini Opuscul’s. 
 
 * The learned Dan. Ern. Jablonsky, in his Letters to Leibni z, pub- 
 lished by Kappius, maintains (p. 24, 41,) that the opinion of ‘4uingle 
 has no longer any patrons among the reformed. But this is a palpable 
 mistake: for its patrons and defenders are, on the contrary, extremely 
 numerous ; and at this very time the doctrine of Zuingle is received in 
 England, Switzerland, and other countries, and seems to acquire new 
 degrees of credit from day to day. 
 
 f Hen, Altingii Hist. Mecl. Palat. in Lud. Chr. Micgii Monum. Pa- 
 rat. tom. i, p. 223. Loscheri Historia Motuum, par. il. lib. iv. cap, iv. p. 
 125.—Salig, Hist. Confession. Aug. tom. ili. lib, ix. cap. v. p. 433. 
 
 s Alting. loc. cit—Loscheri Hist. par. iii. lib. vi. p. 324—See also a 
 German work, by Gotth. Struvius, entitled Pfaelzische Kirchen Historie, 
 
 . 110. 
 i h For an account of the catechism of Heidelberg, see Kocheri Biblio- 
 
 theca Theologize Symbolice, p. 593 and 308, 
 &® 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 -embraced, also, the same doctrine and institutions. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 adopted by the Calvinists." The republic of Bremen 
 AJ 
 bert Hardenberg, the intimate triend of Melancthon, was 
 the first who attempted to introduce there the doctrine of 
 Calvin concerning the eucharist. This attempt he made 
 so early as the year 1556; and, though a powerful op- 
 position rendered it at that time unsuccessful, and pro- 
 cured the expulsion of its author from the city of Bremen, 
 yet the latent seeds of Calvinism took root, and, toward 
 the conclusion of this century, acquired such strength, 
 that no measures either of prudence or force were sufli- 
 cient to prevent the church of Bremen from regulating 
 its faith, worship, and government, by that of Geneva. 
 The various motives that engaged other German states 
 to adopt by degrees the same sentiments, and the incidents 
 and circumstances that favoured the progress of Calvin- 
 ism in the empire, must be sought in those writers, who 
 have undertaken to give an ample and complete history 
 of the Christian church. 
 
 XV. Those among the French, who first renounced 
 the jurisdiction and doctrine of the church of Rome, are 
 commonly called Lutherans by the writers of these early 
 times. ‘This denomination, joined to other circumstances, 
 induced some to imagine, that these French converts to 
 the protestant cause were attached to the tenets of the 
 Lutheran church, and averse to those of the Swiss di- 
 vines.« But this is by no means a just representation of 
 the matter. It appears much more probable, that the first 
 I’rench protestants were uniform in nothing but their an- 
 tipathy to the church of Rome, and that, this point being 
 excepted, there was a great variety in their religious sen- 
 timents. It is, however, to be observed, that the vicinity 
 of Geneva, Lausanne, and other cities which had adopted 
 the doctrine of Calvin, together with the incredible zeal 
 of this eminent man, and his two colleagues Farel and 
 
 Beza, in nourishing the opposition to the church of Rome 
 
 _and augmenting both the indignation and number of its 
 
 enemies, produced a very remarkable effect upon the 
 French churches; for, before the middle of this century, 
 they all entered into the bonds of fraternal communion 
 with the church of Geneva. The French protestants 
 were called by their enemies Huguenots, by way of deri- 
 sion and contempt ; the origin, however, of this denomi- 
 nation is extremely uncertain. ‘Their fate was severe ; 
 the storms of persecution assailed them with unparallel- 
 ed fury ; and, though many princes of the royal blood, 
 
 i Salig, loc. cit. par. iil. lib. x. cap. v. p. 715. cap. vi. p. 776.—Losche- 
 rus, loc. cit. par. ii. lib. iv. cap. v. p. 134. par. 111. lib. vi. cap. vil. p. 276. 
 —Gerdes, Historia, Renovati Evangeliil, tom. iii. p. 157. 
 
 k Losch. par. ii. cap. vi.—Salig, tom. ii. lib. v. cap. vi. 
 
 Hp 1 Some etymologists suppose this term derived from Hugwon, a 
 word used in Touraine, to signify “persons who walk at night in the 
 streets ;” and as the first Protestants, like the first Christians, may have 
 chosen that season for their religious assemblies, through the fear of per- 
 secution, the nickname of huguwenot may,. naturally enough, have been 
 applied to them by their enemies. Others are of opinion, that it was 
 derived from a French and faulty pronunciation of the German word 
 eidgenossen, which signifies confederates, and had been originally the 
 name of that valiant part of the city of Geneva which entered into an 
 alliance with the Swiss cantons, in order to maintain their liberties 
 against the tyrannical attempts of Charles II. duke of Savoy. These 
 confederates were called egnotes ; and thence, very probably, was deri- 
 ved the word huguenot, now under consideration. The count de Villars, 
 ina letter written to the king of France from the province of Languedoc, 
 where he was lieutenant-general, and dated the 11th of November, 1560, 
 calls the riotous Calvinists of the Cevennes, Huguenots ; and this is the 
 first time that the term is found inthe registers of that province, applied 
 to the protestants. 
 
Part IL. 
 
 and the flower of the nobility, adopted their sentiments, 
 and stood forth m their cause, no other part of the re- 
 formed church suffered so grievously as they did for the 
 sake of religion. Even the peace, which they obtained 
 fiom Henry IIL. in 1576, was the source of that civil war, 
 in which the powerful and ambitious house of Guise, in- 
 stigated by the sanguinary suggestions of the Roman pon- 
 tis, aimed at nothing less than the extirpation of the 
 royal family, and the utter ruin of the protestant religion ; 
 while the Huguenots, on the other hand, headed by leaders 
 af the most heroic valour and the most illustrious rank, 
 eombated for their religion and for their sovereigns with 
 various success. ‘These dreadful commotions, in which 
 hoth the contending parties committed such deeds as are 
 yet (and always will be) remembered with horror, were 
 at length calmed by the fortitude and prudence of Henry 
 TV. ‘This monarch, indeed, sacrificed the dictates of con- 
 science to the suggestions of policy ; and imagining, that 
 his government could have no stable or solid foundation, 
 as long as he persisted in disowning the authority and 
 jurisdiction of Rome, he renounced the reformed religion, 
 and made a solemn and public profession of popery.  Per- 
 ceiving, however, on the other hand, that it was not pos- 
 sible to extirpate or suppress entirely the protestant reli- 
 gion, he granted to its professors, by the famous edict pro- 
 wulgated at Nantes in 1598, the liberty of serving God 
 according to their consciences,” and a full security for the 
 enjoyment of their civil rights and privileges, without per- 
 secution or molestation from any quarter.° 
 
 XVI. The church of Scotland acknowledges as its 
 founder John Knox, the disciple of Calvin ; and, accord- 
 ingly, from its first reformation, it adopted the doctrine, 
 rites, and form of ecclesiastical government established 
 at Geneva. ‘l’o these it has always adhered with the ut- 
 most uniformity, and has maintained them with the great- 
 est jealousy and zeal; so that even in the last century 
 the designs of those who attempted to introduce certain 
 changes into its discipline and worship, weraypublicly op- 
 posed by the force of arms.4 
 
 A quite different constitution is observable in the church 
 of England, which could never be brought to an entire 
 compliance with the ecclesiastical laws of Geneva, and 
 which retained, but for a short time, even those which it 
 adopted. It is well known, that the greatest part of those 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 A477 
 
 English, who first threw off the yoke of Rome. seemed 
 much more inclined to the sentiments of Luther concern 
 
 ing the eucharist, the form of public worship, and ecclest- 
 astical government, than to those of the Swiss churches. 
 But the scene changed after the death of Henry VIL 
 when, by the industrious zeal of Calvin, and his disciples, 
 more especially Peter Martyr, the cause of Lutheranism lost 
 ground considerably ; and the universities, schools, and 
 churches, became the oracles of Calvinism, which also ac- 
 quired new votaries among the people from day to day.* 
 Hence it happened, that, when it was proposed, in the 
 reign of Edward VL, to give a fixed and stable form to 
 the doctrine and discipline of the church, Geneva was 
 acknowledged asa sister church; and the theological sys- 
 tem, there established by Calvin, was adopted, and ren- 
 dered the public rule of faith in England. ‘This, how- 
 ever, was done without any change of the form of episco- 
 pal government, which had already taken place, and was 
 entirely different from that of Geneva; nor was this step 
 attended with any alteration of several religious ceremo- 
 nies, which were looked upon as superstitious by the great- 
 est part of the reformed. ‘This difference, however, be- 
 tween the churches, though it appeared at first of little con- 
 sequence, and, in the judgment even of Calvin, was deem- 
 ed an object of toleration and indulgence, was nevertheless, 
 in succeeding times, a source of dissensions and calami- 
 ties, which were highly detrimental both to the civil and 
 ecclesiastical constitution of Great Britain. 
 
 XVII. The origin of these unhappy dissensions, which 
 it has not yet been possible entirely to heai, must be sought 
 in the conduct of those persecuted fugitives, who, to save 
 their lives, their families, and their fortunes, from the san- 
 guinary rage and inhuman tyranny of Queen Mary, left 
 their native country in 1554, and took refuge in Germany.‘ 
 Of these fugitive congregations some performed divine 
 worship with the rites that had been authorized by Ed- 
 ward VI., while others preferred the Swiss method of wor- 
 ship as more recommendable on account of its purity and 
 simplicity. The former were called Conformists, on ac- 
 count of their compliance with the ecclesiastical laws en- 
 acted by that prince; and the denominations of Non- 
 conformists and Puritans were given to the latter, from 
 their insisting upon a form of worship, more exempt from 
 superstition, and of a more pure kind, than the liturgy of 
 
 "See the Histoire Eccles. des Eglises Reformées au Royaume de 
 France, published at Antwerp in 1580, and supposed by many to have 
 been written by Beza. The writers that have given the best accounts 
 of the French reformed churches, their confession of faith, and their 
 forms of worship and discipline, are enumerated by Kocher, in his Bi- 
 blioth. Theolog. Symbolice, p. 299. 
 
 2“p > This edict restored and confirmed, in the fullest terms, all the 
 favours that had ever been granted to the protestants by other princes, 
 and particularly by Henry III.. To these privileges some were added, 
 which had never been granted or even demanded before ; such as a free 
 admission to all employments of trust, honour, and profit; the establish- 
 ment of courts and chambers, in which the professors of the two religions 
 were equal in number; and the permitting of the children of protest- 
 ants to be educated, without any molestation or constraint, in the public 
 universities. 
 
 * Benoit, Histoire de ’Edit de Nantes, tom. i. lib. v. p. 200.—Daniel, 
 Hist. de France, tom. ix. page 409. Boulay, Hist. Academ. Paris. 
 tom. V1. 
 
 4 Salig, Hist. Aug. Confessionis, part ii. lib. vi.cap. i. p. 403.— 
 x*p Dr. Mosheim alludes, in this passage, to the attempts made in the 
 reign of Charles IL. to introduce episeopacy into Scotland. 
 
 * Loscher, par. ii, lib. ii. cap. vil. —Saug, tom. ii. lib. vi. cap. ili. 
 
 zy £ I cannot help mentioning the uncharitableness of the Lutherans, 
 upon this occasion, who hated these unhappy exiles because they were 
 Sacramentarians, (for so the Lutherans called those who denied 
 Christ’s bodily presence in the eucharist,) and expelled from their cities 
 
 No. XLL 120 
 
 : 
 
 such of the English protestants as repaired to them, as a refuge from 
 popish superstition and persecution. Such as sought an asylum in 
 France, Geneva, and those parts of Switzerland and Germany where the 
 Reformation had taken place, and where Lutheranism was not professed, 
 were received with great humanity, and allowed to have places of public 
 worship. But it was at Frankfort that the exiles were most numerous ; 
 and there began the contest and division which gave rise to that separa- 
 tion from the church of England, which continues to this day. It is, 
 however, a piece of justice due to the memory of the excellent Me- 
 lancthon, to observe, that he warmly condemned this uncharitable treat- 
 ment, and more especially the indecent reproaches which the Lutherans 
 cast upon the English martyrs who had sealed the Reformation, whom 
 they called the Devil's martyrs. “ Vociferantur quidam, (says this 
 amiable reformer,) Martyres Angelicos esse Martyres Diaboli. Nolim 
 hac contumelia afficere sanctum spiritum in Latimero, qui annum octo- 
 gesimum egressus fuit, et in aliis sanctis viris quos novi.” ‘These are 
 the words of this truly Christian reformer, in one of nis letters to Caiae- 
 rarius, Epist. lib. iv. p. 959; and in another of his letters, speaking of 
 the burning of Burgius at Paris, he thus severely censures Westphal’s 
 intolerant principles: “Tales viros ait Westphalus esse Diaboli Mar- 
 tyres. Hane judicii perversitatem quis non detestetur ?” Ep. lib. il. p. 
 387. Such were the humane and liberal sentiments of Melancthon, 
 which have rendered his name so precious to the lovers of piety, probity, 
 and moderation, while the zealots of his own church have treated his 
 memory with obloquy, and composed dissertations de indifferentismo 
 
 Melancthonis, 
 ad 
 
A78 
 
 Edward seemed to them to be. The controversy concern- 
 ing the ceremonial part of divine worship that had di- 
 vided these protestants when they were in exile, changed 
 scenes, and was removed with them to England, when 
 the auspicious accession of Elizabeth to the throne per- 
 mitted them to return to their native country. The hopes 
 of enjoying liberty, and of promoting their respective sys- 
 tems, increased their contests instead of diminishing them ; 
 
 nd the breach was widened to such a degree, that the 
 most sagacious and provident observers of things seemed 
 to despair of seeing it healed. 'The wise queen, in her 
 design to accomplish the reformation of the church, was 
 fully resolved not to confine herself to the model exhibited 
 _ by the protestants of Geneva, and by their adherents the 
 Puritans; and, therefore, she recommended to the atten- 
 tion and imitation of the doctors, who were employed in 
 this weighty and important matter, the practice and insti- 
 tutions of the primitive ages.» When her plan was put 
 in execution, and the face of the church was changed and 
 reformed by new rules of disciple, and purer forms of 
 public worship, the famous Act of Uniformity was issued 
 forth, by which all her subjects were commanded to ob- 
 serve these rules, and to submit to the reformation of the 
 church on the footing on which it was now placed by the 
 queen, as its supreme visible head upon earth. 
 rilans refused their assent to these proceedings; pleaded 
 the dictates of their consciences in behalf of this refusal; 
 and complained heavily, that the gross superstitions of 
 popery, which they bad looked upon as abrogated and 
 abolished, were now revived, and even imposed by autho- 
 rity. "hey were not indeed allequally exasperated against 
 the new constitution of the church; nor did they in effect 
 carry their opposition to equal degrees of excess. ‘The 
 more violent demanded the total abrogation of all that 
 had been done toward the establishment of a national re- 
 ligion, and required nothing less than that the church of 
 England should be exactly modelled after that of Geneva. 
 ‘The milder and more moderate Puritans were much more 
 equitable in their demands, and only desired liberty of con- 
 science, with the privilege of celebrating divine worship 
 in their own way. ‘The queen did not judge it proper to 
 grant to either the object of their requests ; but, rather in- 
 tent upon the suppression of this troublesome sect, (as she 
 called it,) permitted its enemies to employ for that purpose 
 all the resources of artifice, and all the severity of the laws. 
 Thus was that form of religion established in Britain, 
 which separated the English equally from the church of 
 Rome, on the one hand, and from the other churches that 
 
 2“ * Dr. Mosheim seems disposed, by this ambiguous expression of 
 the primitive ages, to insinuate that queen Elizabeth had formed a pure, 
 rational, and evangelical plan of religious discipline and worship. Itis 
 however certain, that, instead of being willing to strip religion of the 
 ceremonies which remained in it, she was rather inclined to brine the 
 public worship still nearer to the Romish ritual,* and had a great pro- 
 pensicy to several usages in the church of Rome, which were justly 
 looked upon as superstitious. She thanked publicly one of her ‘chap- 
 Jains, who had preached in defence of the “real presence ;” she was 
 fond of images, and retained some in her private chapel; and would 
 undoubtedly have forbidden the marriage of the clergy, if Cecil, her 
 secretary, had not interposed.t Having appointed a committee of di- 
 vines to review king Edward’s liturgy, she gave them an order to strike 
 out all offensive passages against the pope, and to make people easy 
 about the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament.t 
 
 b No writer has treated this part of the ecclesiastical history of Bri- 
 tain ina more ample and elegant manner than Daniel Neal, in his 
 History of the Puritans, or Protestant Nonconformists. The first part 
 
 of this laborious work was published at London, in 1782, and the latter || 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 The Pu- | 
 
 Secr. TI. 
 
 ‘had renounced popery on the other; but which, at the 
 same time, laid a perpetual foundation for dissensions 
 -and feuds, in that otherwise happy and prosperous na- 
 _ tion.” 
 
 XVIII. The incident that gave rise to these unhappy 
 divisions, which were productive of so many and such 
 dreadful calamities, was a matter of very small moment, 
 that did not seem to affect, mm any way, the interests of 
 true religion and virtue. The chief leaders among the 
 Puritans entertained a strong aversion to the vestments 
 worn by the English clergy in the celebration of divine 
 worship. As these habits had been used in the times of 
 popery, and seemed to renew the impressions that had been 
 made upon the people by the Romish priests, they appear- 
 ed to the Puritans in no other light than as the ensigns 
 of Anti-Christ. The spirit of opposition, being once set 
 on foot, proceeded, in its remonstrances, to matters of supe- 
 ‘rior moment. 'The form of ecclesiastical government, 
 established in England, was one of the first and main 
 grievances of which the Puritanscomplained. 'They look- 
 ed upon this form as quite different from that which had 
 _been instituted by Christ, the great lawgiver of the church ; 
 and, in conformity with the sentiments of Calvin, main- 
 tained, that, by the divine law, all the ministers of the 
 Gospel were absolutely equai in point of rank and autho- 
 rity. "Vhey did not indeed think it unlawful, that a per- 
 son distinguished by the title of bishop, or superintendant, 
 should preside in the assembly of the clergy, for the sake 
 of maintaining order and decency in their method cf 
 proceeding; but they deemed it incongruous and absurd, 
 that the persons invested with this character should be 
 ranked, as the bishops had hitherto been, among the no- 
 bility of the kingdom, employed in civil and political af- 
 fairs, and distinguished so eminently by their worldly opu- 
 Jence and power. ‘This controversy was not carried on, 
 however, with excessive animosity and zeal, as long as 
 the English bishops pretended to derive their dignity and 
 authority from no other source than the laws of their 
 country, and pleaded a right, purely human, to the rank 
 they held in church and state. But the flame broke out 
 with redoubled fury in 1588, when Bancroft, afterwards 
 archbishop of Canterbury, ventured to assert, that the 
 episcopal order was superior to the body of presbyters, not 
 in consequence of any human institution, but by the ex- 
 | press appointment of God himself. 'This doctrine was 
 readily adopted by many, and the consequences that seem- 
 ed naturally to flow from it in favour of episcopal ordina- 
 tion, happened in effect, and gave new fuel to the flame 
 
 4 
 
 part in 1738. The author, who was himself a non-conformist, has not 
 indeed been able to impose silence so far on the warm and impetuous 
 spirit of party, as not to discover a certain degree of partiality in favour 
 of his brethren: for, while he relates, in the most circumstantial manner, 
 all the injuries the Puritans received from the bishops, and those of the 
 established religion, he in many places diminishes, excuses, or sup- 
 presses, the faults and failings of these separatists. See elso, for an 
 account of the religious history of these times, Strype’s Lives of the 
 Archbishops Parker, Grindal, and Whitgift. 
 
 © See Strype’s Life and Acts of John Whitgift, archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, p. 121. 34 The first English reformers admitted but two orders 
 of church officers to be of divine appointment, viz. bishops and deacons ; 
 | a presbyter and a bishop, according tc them, beg merely two names 
 | for the same office; but Dr. Bancroft, in a sermon preached at Paul’s 
 | cross, (January 12, 1588,) maintained, that the bishops of England were 
 | a distinct order from priests, and had superiority over taem gure diveno, 
 | * Heylin, p. 124. 
 | + Strype’s Life of Parker, p. 107. 
 
 + Neal’s Hist. of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 188, 
 
PART Il. 
 
 of controversy ; for they who embraced the sentiments 
 vf Bancroft, considered all ministers of the Gospel, who | 
 had not received ordination from a bishop, as not properly 
 invested with the sacred character, and also maintained 
 that the clergy, in those countries where there were no 
 bishops, were destitute of the gifts and qualifications that 
 were necessary to the exercise of the pastoral office, and 
 were to be deemed inferior to the Roman catholic priests. 
 XIX. All these things exasperated the puritans whose 
 complaints, however, were not confined to the objects al- 
 ready mentioned. ‘There were many circumstances that 
 entered into their plan of reformation. They had a sin- 
 gular antipathy against cathedral churches, and demand- 
 ed the abolition of the archdeacons, deans, canons, and 
 other officials, that are supported by their lands and reve- 
 nues. ‘They disapproved the pompous manner of wor- 
 ship that is generally observed in these churches, and look- 
 ed, particularly, upon instrumental music, as improperly 
 employed in the service of God. 'The severity of their 
 zeal was also very great; for they were of opinion, that 
 not only open profligates, but even persons whose piety 
 was dubious, deserved to be excluded from the commu- 
 nion of the church :* and they endeavoured to justify the 
 rigour of this decision, by observing, that, as the church 
 was the congregation of the faithful, nothing was more 
 incumbent on its ministers and rulers, than to guard 
 against its being defiled by the presence of persons desti- 
 tute of true faith and piety. 'They found, moreover, 
 much subject of affliction and complaint in the ceremo- 
 nies that were imposed by the queen’s order, and by the 
 authority of her council.», Among these were the festi- 
 vals or holydays that were celebrated in honour of the 
 saints, the use of the sign of the cross, more especially 
 in the sacrament of baptism, the nomination of godfathers 
 and godmothers as sureties for the education of children, 
 whose parents were still living,: and the doctrine relating 
 to the validity of lay baptism.4 They disliked the reading 
 of the apecryphal books in the church; and, with respect to 
 
 3-> * Thepuritans justified themselves in relation to this point, 1n a let- 
 ter addressed from their prison to queen Elizabeth, in 1592, by observing, 
 that their sentiments concerning the persons subject to excommunication, 
 and also with regard to the effects and extent of that act of church disci- 
 pline, were conformable to those of all the reformed churches, and to the 
 doctrine and practice of the church of England in particular. They de- 
 claved more especially, that, according to their sense of things, the cen- 
 ure of excommunication deprived only of spiritual privileges and com- 
 forts, without taking away either liberty, goods, lands, government pri- 
 vate or public, or any other civil or earthly commodity of this life; and 
 thus they distinguished themselves from those furious and fanatical ana- 
 baptists, who had committed such disorders in Germany, and some of 
 whom were now making a noise in England. 
 24> » By this council our author means, the High-Commission court, 
 of which it is proper to give some account, as its proceedings essentially 
 belong to the ecclesiastical history of England. ‘This court took its rise 
 from a remarkable clause in the act of supremacy, by which the queen 
 and her successors were empowered to choose persons “ to exercise, un- 
 der her, all manner of jurisdiction, privileges, and pre-eminences, touch- 
 ing any spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the realms of Eng- 
 land and Ireland, as also to visit, reform, redress, order, correct, andamend, 
 all errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, contempts, offences and enormities 
 whatsoever; provided that they have no power to determine any thing 
 to be heresy, but what has been adjudged to be so by the authority of 
 the canonical scripture, or by the first four general councils, or any of 
 them; or by any other general council, wherein the same was declared 
 heresy by the express and plain words of canonical scripture, or such as 
 shall hereafter be declared to be heresy by the high court of parliament, 
 with the assent of the clergy in convocation.” Upon the authority of 
 this clause, the queen appointed a certain number of commissioners for 
 ecclesiastical causes, who, in many instances, abused their power. The 
 court they composed, was called the Court of High Commission, be- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 cause it claimed a more extensive jurisdiction, and higher powers, than 
 the ordinary courts of the bishops. Its jurisdiction reached over the 
 
 A79 
 
 set forms of prayer, although they did not go so far as to 
 insist upon their being entirely abolished, yet they pleaded 
 for a right to all ministers, of modifying, correcting, and 
 using them in such a manner, as might tend most to the 
 advancement of true piety, and of addressing the Deity 
 in such terms as were suggested by their inward feelings, 
 instead of those which were dictated by others. In a 
 word, they were of opinion, that the government and dis- 
 cipline of the church of England ought to have been 
 modelled after the ecclesiastical laws and institutions of 
 Geneva, and that no indulgence was to be shown to those 
 ceremonies or practices, which bore the smallest resem- 
 blance to the discipline or worship of the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 XX. These sentiments, considered in themselves, seem- 
 ed neither susceptible of a satisfactory defence, nor of a 
 complete refutation. "Their solidity or falsehood depended 
 upon the principles from which they were derived; and 
 no regular controversy could be carried on upon these 
 matters, until the contending parties adopted some com- 
 mon and evident principles, by which they might corro- 
 borate their respective systems. It is only by an exami- 
 nation of these, that it can be known on which side the 
 truth lies, and what degree of utility or importance can 
 be attributed to a contest of this nature. ‘The principles 
 laid down by the queen’s commissioners on the one 
 hand, and the Puritans on the other, were indeed very 
 different. 
 
 For, in the first place, the former maintained, that the 
 right of reformation, that is, the privilege of removing the 
 corruptions, and of correcting the errors that might have 
 been introduced into the doctrine, discipline, or worship 
 of the church, was lodged in the sovereign, or civil ma- 
 gistrate alone ; while the latter denied, that the power of 
 the magistrate extended so far, and maintained, that it 
 was rather the business of the clergy to restore religion to 
 its native dignity and lustre. This was the opinion of 
 Calvin, as has been already observed. 
 
 whole kingdom, and was much the same with that which had been 
 lodged in the single person of lord Cromwell, vicar-general of Henry 
 VIII. These commissioners were empowered to make inquiry, not 
 only by the legal methods of juries, and witnesses, but by all other ways 
 and means which they could devise, that is, by rack, torture, inquisition, 
 and imprisonment. ‘They were invested with a right to examine such 
 persons as they suspected, by administering to them an oath, (not allowed 
 in their commission, and therefore called ex officio,) by which they were 
 required to answer all questions, and thereby might be obliged to accuse 
 themselves or their most intimate friends. ‘The fines they imposed 
 were merely discretionary ; the imprisonment to which they condemned 
 was limited by no rule but their own pleasure; they imposed, when 
 they thought proper, new articles of faith on the clergy, and practised 
 all the iniquities and cruelties of a real inquisition. See Rapin’s and 
 Hume’s History of England, and Neal’s History of the Puritans. 
 
 34> ° Other rites and customs displeasing to the puritans, and omitted 
 by our author, were, kneeling at the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, 
 bowing at the name of Jesus, giving the ring in marriage, the prohibition 
 of marriage during certain times of the year, and the licensing of it for mo- 
 ney, as also the confirmation of children by episcopal imposition of hands, 
 
 34 The words of the original are “nec sacris Christianis pucros 
 recens natos ab aliis, quam sacerdotibus, initiari patiebantur.” The Ro- 
 man catholics, who look upon the external rite of baptism as absolutely 
 necessary tosalvation, consequently allow it to be performed by alayman, 
 or amidwife, where a clergyman is not at hand, or (if such a ridiculous 
 thing may be mentioned) by a surgeon, where a still birth is apprehend- 
 ed. ‘The church of England, though it teacheth in general, that none 
 ought to baptize but men dedicated to the service of God, yet doth not 
 deem null baptism performed by laics or women, because it makes a dif 
 ference between what is essential to a sacrament, and what Is requisite 
 to the regular way of using it. The puritans, that they might neither 
 prescribe, nor even connive at a practice that seemed to be founded on 
 the absolute necessity of infant baptism, would allow that sacred rite to 
 be peiformed by the clergy alone. 
 
480 
 
 Secondly, the queen’s commissioners maintained, that 
 the rules of proceeding, in reforming the doctrine or dis- 
 cipline of the church, were not to be deriyed from the sa- 
 cred writings alone, but also from the writings and deci- 
 sions of the fathers in the primitive ages. The Puritans, 
 on the contrary, affirmed, that the inspired word of God 
 being the pure and only fountain of wisdom and truth, it 
 was thence alone that the rules and directions were to be 
 drawn, which were to guide the measures of those who 
 undertook to purify the faith, or to rectify the discipline 
 and worship, of the church; and that the ecclesiastical 
 institutions of the early ages, as also the writings of the 
 ancient doctors, were absolutely destitute of all authority. 
 
 Thirdly, the commissioners ventured to assert, that the 
 church of Rome was a true church, though corrupt and 
 erroneous in many points of doctrine and government ; 
 that the pontiff, though chargeable with temerity and ar- 
 rogance in assuming to himself the title and jurisdiction 
 of head of the whole church, was, nevertheless, to be es- 
 teemed a true and lawful bishop ; and, consequently, that 
 the ministers ordained by him were qualified for perform- 
 ing the pastoral duties. This was a point which the En- 
 glish bishops thought it absolutely necessary to maintain, 
 since they could not otherwise claim the honour of deriv- 
 ing their dignities, in an uninterrupted line of succession, 
 from the apostles. But the Puritans entertained very dif- 
 ferent notions of this matter; they considered the Romish 
 hierarchy as a system of political and spiritual tyranny, 
 that had justly forfeited the title and privileges of a true 
 church ; they looked upon its pontiff as Anti-Christ, and 
 its discipline as vain, superstitious, idolatrous, and diame- 
 trically opposite to the injunctions of the Gospel ; and, in 
 consequence of these sentiments, they renounced its com- 
 munion, and regarded all approaches to its discipline 
 and worship as highly dangerous to the cause of true 
 religion. 
 
 Fourthly, the commissioners considered, as the best and 
 most perfect form of ecclesiastical government, that which 
 took place during the first four or five centuries ; they 
 even preferred it to that which had been instituted by the 
 apostles, because, as they alleged, our Saviour and his 
 apostles had accommodated the form, mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture, to the feeble and infant state of the church, and left 
 it to the wisdom and discretion of future ages to modify 
 it in such a manner as might be suitable to the triumph- 
 ant progress of Christianity, the grandeur of a national 
 establishment, and also to the ends of civil policy. The 
 
 Puritans asserted, in opposition to this, that the rules of 
 
 church government were clearly laid down in the Scrip- 
 tures, the only standard of spiritual discipline ;* and that 
 the apostles, in establishing the first Christian church on 
 the aristocratic plan that was then observed in the Jewish 
 Sanhedrim, designed it as an unchangeable model, to be 
 followed in all times, and in all places. 
 
 Lastly, the court reformers were of opinion, that things 
 a 
 
 +> * By this they meant, at least, that nothing should be imposed 
 as necessary, but what was expressly contained in the Scriptures, or 
 deduced from them by necessary consequence. They maintained still 
 farther, that supposing it proved, that all things necessary to the good 
 government of the church could not be deduced from those writings, 
 yet the discretionary power of supplying this defect was not vested in 
 the civil magistrate, but in the spiritual officers of the church. 
 
 x*p >» Dr. Mosheim, in these five articles, has followed the account 
 of this controversy given by Mr. Neal. This writer adds a sixth article, 
 not of debate, but ef union, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 “ Both parties (says he) agreed too well | 
 
 Sect. [ll 
 
 indifferent, which are neither commanded nor forbidden 
 by the authority of Scripture, such as the external rites 03 
 public worship, the kind of vestments that are to be used 
 by the clergy, religious festivals, and the like, might be 
 ordered, determined, and rendered a matter of obligation 
 by the authority of the civil magistrate ; and that, in such 
 a case, the violation of his commands would be no less cri- 
 minal than an act of rebellion against the laws of the state. 
 The Puritans alleged, in answer to this assertion, that it 
 Was an indecent prostitution of power to impose, as neces- 
 sary and indispensable, those things which Christ had left 
 in the class of matters indifferent, since this was a mani- 
 fest encroachment upon that liberty with which the divine 
 Saviour had indulged us. 'To this they added, that such 
 ceremonies as had been abused to idolatrous purposes, and 
 had a manifest tendency to revive the impressions of su- 
 perstition and popery in the minds of men, could by no 
 means be considered as indifferent, but deserved to be re- 
 jected without hesitation as impious and profane. Such, 
 in their estimation, were the religious ceremonies of an- 
 cient times, whose abrogation was refused by the queen 
 and her council." 
 
 XXI. This contest between the commissioners of the 
 court, and those religionists who desired a more complete 
 reformation than had yet taken place, would have been 
 much more dangerous in its consequences, had the party, 
 distinguished by the general denomination of Puritans, 
 been united in their sentiments, views, and measures. 
 But the case was quite otherwise ; for this large body, 
 composed of persons of different ranks, characters, opi- 
 nions, and intentions, and unanimous in nothing but their 
 antipathy to the forms of doctrine and discipline that were 
 established by law, was suddenly divided into a variety 
 of sects; of which some spread abroad the delusions of 
 enthusiasm, which had turned their own brains ; while 
 others displayed their folly in inventing new and whim- 
 sical plans of church government. Of all these sects the 
 most famous was that which was formed, about the year 
 1581, by Robert Brown, an insinuating man, but very 
 unsettled and inconsistent in his views and notions of 
 things. This innovator did not greatly differ, in point 
 of doctrine, either from the church of England, or from 
 the rest of the Puritans; but he had formed singular no- 
 tions concerning the nature of the church, and the rules 
 of ecclesiastical government. He was for dividing the 
 whole body of the faithful into separate societies or con- 
 gregations, not larger than those which were formed by 
 the apostles in the infancy of Christianity ; and maintain- 
 ed, that such a number of persons, as could be contained 
 in an ordinary place of worship, ought to be considered 
 as a church, and enjoy all the rights and _ privileges that 
 are competent to an ecclesiastical community. ‘These 
 small societies he pronounced independent, jure divino, 
 and entirely exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishops, 
 in whose hands the court placed the reins of spiritual yo- 
 
 in asserting the necessity of an uniformity of public worship, and of 
 calling in the sword of the magistrate for the support and defence of 
 their several principles, which they made an ill use of in their turns, as 
 they could grasp the power into their hands. The standard of uniform- 
 ity, according to the bishops, was the queen’s supremacy, and the laws 
 of the land; according to the puritans, the decrees of provincial ana 
 national synods, allowed and enforced by the civil magistrate: but nei- 
 ther party were for admitting that liberty of conscience, and freedom of 
 profession, which is every man’s right, as far as is consistent with the 
 peace of the government under which he lives.” 
 
Part If. 
 
 vernment; and also from that of synods, which the Puri- 
 tans in general regarded as the supreme visible sources 
 of ecclesiastical authority. 
 power of governing each congregation, and providing for 
 its welfare, resided in the people; and that each member 
 had an equal share in this direction, and an equal right to 
 regulate affairs for the good of the whole society... Hence 
 all points both of doctrine and discipline were submitted 
 to the discussion of the whole congregation, and what- 
 ever was supported by a majority of votes passed into a law. 
 It was the congregation also that elected some of the bre- 
 thren to the office of pastors, to perform the duty of pub- 
 lic instruction, and the several branches of divine wor- 
 ship; reserving, however, the power of dismissing these 
 ministers, and reducing them to the condition of private 
 members, whenever such a change should appear to be 
 conducive to the spiritual advantage of the community. 
 
 For these pastors were not esteemed superior, either in | 
 
 sanctity or rank, to the rest of their brethren, nor distin- 
 guished from them by any other circumstance than the 
 liberty of preaching and praying, which they derived 
 from the free will and consent of the congregation. It 
 
 is, besides, to be observed, that their right of preaching | 
 
 was by no means of an exclusive nature, or peculiar to 
 them alone, since any member that thought proper to ex- 
 hort or instruct the brethren, was abundantly indulged 
 in the liberty of prophesying to the whole assembly. 
 Accordingly, when the ordinary teacher or pastor had 
 finished his discourse, all the other brethren were permit- 
 ted to communicate in public their sentiments and illus- 
 traiions upon any useful or edifying subject, on which 
 they supposed they could throw new light. In a word, 
 Brown endeavoured te model the form of the church af- 
 ter the infant community that was founded by the apos- 
 tles, without once considering the important changes 
 which had taken place since that time, both m the reli- 
 gious and civil state of the world, the influence that these 
 
 changes must necessarily have upon all ecclesiastical | 
 
 establishments, or the particular circumstances of the 
 Christian church, in consequence of its former corrup- 
 tions and its late reformation. And, if his notions were 
 crude and chimerical, the zeal, with which he and his 
 associates maintained and propagated them, was intem- 
 perate and extravagant in the highest degree; for he 
 affirmed, that all communion was to be broken off with 
 those religious societies which were founded upon a diffe- 
 rent plan from his, and treated more especially the church 
 of England as a spurious church, whose ministers were 
 unlawfully ordained, whose discipline was popish and 
 antichristian, and whose sacraments and institutions were 
 destitute of all efficacy and virtue. ‘The sect of this hot- 
 headed innovator, not being able to endure the severe 
 
 He also maintained, that the | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 A8t 
 
 treatment which their opposition to the established forms 
 of religious government and worship had drawn upon 
 them, from an administration that was not distinguished 
 by its mildness and indulgence, retired into the Nether- 
 lands, and founded churches at Middleburg, Amsterdam, 
 and Leyden ; but their establishments were neither solid 
 nor durable.” "Their founder returned into England, and, 
 having renounced his principles of separation, took orders 
 in the established church, and obtained a benefice... The 
 Puritan exiles, whom he thus abandoned, disagreed 
 among themselves, and split into parties; and their af- 
 fairs declined from day to day.4 ‘his engaged the wiser 
 part of them to mitigate the severity of their founder's 
 plan, and to soften the rigour of his uncharitable deci- 
 sions; and hence arose the community of the Indepen- 
 dents, or Congregational Brethren ; a sect which still 
 subsists, and of which an account shall be given in the 
 history of the following century. 
 
 XXII. In the Belgic provinces, the friends of the Re- 
 formation seemed for a long time uncertain, whether they 
 should embrace the communion of the Swiss or that of 
 the Lutheran church. Each of these had zealous friends 
 and powerful patrons.© The matter was, nevertheless, 
 decided in 1571, and the religious system of Calvin was 
 publicly adopted ; for the Belgic confession of faith, which 
 then appeared,‘ was drawn up in the spirit, and almost 
 in the terms, of that which was received in the reformed 
 churches of France, and differed considerably, in several 
 respects, from the confession of Augsburg, but more espe- 
 cially in the article relating to Christ’s presence in the 
 eucharist.¢ This will not appear surprising to those who 
 consider the vicinity of the l’rench to the Low-Countries, 
 the number of French protestants constantly passing or 
 sojourning there, the extraordinary reputation of Calvin 
 and of the college of Geneva, and the indefatigable zeal 
 of his disciples in extending the limits of their church, 
 and propagating throughout Europe their system of doc- 
 trine, discipline, and government. Be that as it may 
 from this period, the Dutch, who had before been deno- 
 minated Lutherans, assumed universally the title of 
 Reformed, in which also they imitated the French, by 
 whom this title had been first invented and adopted. It 
 is true, that, as long as they were subject to the Spanish 
 yoke, the fear of exposing themselves to the displeasure 
 of their sovereign induced them to avoid the fitle of Re- 
 Jormed, and to call themselves Associates of the Bre- 
 thren of the Confession of Augsburg ; for the Luther- 
 ans were esteemed, by the Spanish court, much. better 
 subjects than the disciples of Calvin, who, on account of 
 the tumults which had lately prevailed in France, were 
 supposed to have a greater propensity to mutiny and sedi- 
 tion." 
 
 Zr * It is farther to be observed, that, according to this system, one 
 thurch was not entitled to exercise jurisdiction over another; but each 
 might give the other counsel or admonition, if its members walked in a 
 jisorderly manner, or abandoned the capital truths of religion; and, if 
 the offending church did not receive the admonition, the others were 
 allowed to disown it publicly as a church of Christ. On the other hand, 
 the powers of the church-officers were confined within the narrow limits 
 of their own society. ‘The pastor of the church might not administer 
 the sacrament of baptism, or the Lord’s supper, to any but those of his 
 own communion. 
 
 3*> » The British churches at Amsterdam and Middleburg are incor- 
 Norated into the national Dutch church, and their pastors are members 
 of the Dutch synod, which is sufficient to show that there are at this 
 time no traces of Brownism or Independency in these churches. The 
 church at Leyden, where Robinson had fixed the standard of independen- 
 
 No. XLI. 121 
 
 cy, about the year 1595, was dispersed; and it is very remarkable, 
 that some members of this church, transplanting themselves into Ameri- 
 ca, laid the foundation of the colony of New-England. 
 
 47> * Brown, in his new preferment, forgot not only the rigour of his 
 principles, but also the gravity of his former morals; for he led a very 
 idle and dissolute life. See Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. i. 
 
 4 Neal, vol. i. chap. vi—Hoornbeckii Summa Controvers. lib. x. p, 
 738.—Fuller’s Ecclesiastical History of Britain, book x. 
 
 ° Loscher, par. iii. lib. v. cap. iv. 
 
 f Kocheri Biblioth. Theolog. Symbolice, p. 216. 
 
 € See Brandt’s His. of the Netherlands (written in Dutch,) vol.1. book v, 
 
 => » Dr. Mosheim advances this on the authority of a passage in 
 Brandt’s History of the Reformation, which is a most curious and vaiti« 
 able work, notwithstanding the author’s partiality to the cause of Armi- 
 nianism, of which he was one of the mos? respectable patrons. 
 
482 
 
 XXII. The light of the Reformation was first trans- 
 
 mitted from Saxony into Poland by the disciples of Lu- | 
 | Lutherans seemed, indeed, to be revived by the Conver- 
 
 ther. Some time after this happy period, the Bohemian 
 Brethren, whom the Romish clergy had expelled from 
 their country, as also several Helvetic doctors, propagated 
 their sentiments among the Polanders. Some congregra- 
 tions were also founded in that republic by the Anabap- 
 tists, Anti-T'rinitarians, and other sectaries.« Hence it 
 was, that three distinct communities, each of which adopt- 
 ed the main principles of the Reformation, were to be 
 found in Poland,—the Bohemian Brethren, the Luther- 
 ans, and Swiss. ‘These communities, in order to defend 
 themselves with the greater vigour against their common 
 enemies, formed among themselves a kind of confederacy, 
 in a synod held at Sendomir in 1570, on certain condi- 
 tions, which were comprehended in the Confession of 
 Faith that derives its title from the city now mentioned.» 
 But, as this association seemed rather adapted to accele- 
 rate the conclusion of peace, than to promote the cause of 
 truth, the points in debate between the Lutherans and the 
 Reformed being expressed in this reconciling confession 
 in vague and ambiguous terms, it was soon after this 
 warmly opposed by many of the former, and was entirely 
 annulled in the following century. Many attempts have, 
 indeed, been made to revive it; but they have not an- 
 swered the expectations of those who have employed their 
 dexterity and zeal in this matter. In Prussia the Re- 
 formed gained ground after the death of Luther and Me- 
 Jancthon, and founded the flourishing churches which still 
 subsist in that country.° 
 
 XXIV. 'Vhe Bohemian, or (as they are otherwise called) 
 Moravian Brethren, who descended from the better sort of 
 Hussites, and were distinguished by several religious in- 
 stitutions of a singular nature, which were well adapted 
 to guard their community against the reigning vices and 
 corruptions of the times, had no sooner heard of Luther’s 
 design of reforming the church, than they sent deputies, 
 in 1522, to recommend themselves to his friendship and 
 good offices. In succeeding times, they continued to dis- 
 cover the same zealous attachment to the Lutheran 
 churches in Saxony, and also to those which were found. 
 ed in other countries. ‘These offers could not be well ac- 
 cepted without a previous examination of their religious 
 sentiments and principles: and, indeed, this examination 
 turned to their advantage ; for neither Luther nor his dis- 
 ciples found any thing, either in their doctrine or disci- 
 pline, that was, in any great measure, liable to censure ; 
 and though he could not approve every part of their Con- 
 fession of Faith, which they submitted to his judgment, 
 yet he looked upon it as an object of toleration and indul- 
 gence. Nevertheless, the death of Luther, and the ex- 
 pulsion of these Brethren from their country in 1547, gave 
 a new turn to their religious connexions; and great num- 
 
 bers of them, move especially of those who retired into Po- | 
 
 * Loscher, par. ili. lib. v. cap. iii—Salig, tom. ii. lib. vi. cap. ili, iv. v. 
 —Regenvolscii Hist. Eccles. Slavonicar. lib. i. cap. Xvi— Solignac, Hist. 
 de Pologne, tom. v.—Kautz, Precipua Relig. Evangel. in Polonia Fa- 
 ta, published at Hamburg, in 1738. 
 
 b See Dan. Ernest Jablonsky’s Historia Consensus Sendomiriensis 
 published at Berlin, in 1731; as also the Epistola Apologetica of the 
 same author, in defence of the work now mentioned, against the ob- 
 jections of an anonymous author. 
 
 ¢ Loscher, par. 111. lib. vi. cap. i. 
 
 # See a German work of Carpzovius, entitled, Nachricht von den |! 
 
 HISTORY OF THE: REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. lis 
 
 land, embraced the religious sentiments and discipline. of 
 the Reformed. The attachinent of the Bohemians to the 
 
 ‘tion of Sendomir ; but, as the articles of union, drawn up 
 in that assembly, soon lost all their force and authority, 
 all the Bohemians gradually entered into the communion 
 -of the Swiss church.e 'This union was at first formed on 
 the express condition, that the two churches should con- 
 tinue to be governed by their respective laws and institu- 
 tions, and should have separate places of public worship ; 
 but, in the following century, all remains of dissension 
 were removed in the synods holden at Ostrog in 1620 
 and 1627, and the two congregations were formed into 
 one, under the title of The Church of the United Bre- 
 thren. In this coalition the reconciled parties showed to 
 each other reciprocal marks of toleration and indulgence ; 
 for the external form of the church was regulated by the 
 discipline of the Bohemian Brethren, and the articles of 
 faith were taken from the creed of the Calvinists.‘ 
 
 XXYV. The descendants of the Waldenses, who lived 
 shut up in the valleys of Piedmont, were naturally led, 
 by their situation in the neighbourhood of the French, 
 and of the republic of Geneva, to embrace the doctrines 
 and rites of the reformed church. So far down, however, 
 _as the year 1630, they retained a considerable part of their 
 ancient discipline and tenets ; but the plague that broke 
 out in that year having destroyed the greatest part of this 
 unhappy people, and among the rest a considerable num- 
 ber of their pastors and clergy, they addressed themselves 
 to the French churches for spiritual succour ; and the nev7 
 doctors, who were sent in consequence of that invitation, 
 made several changes in the discipline and doctrine of 
 the Waldenses, and rendered them conformable, in every 
 respect, with those of the protestant churches in France.¢ 
 
 The Hungarians and ‘Transylvanians were engaged 
 to renounce the errors and superstitions of the church 
 of Reme by the writings of Luther, and the ministry of 
 his disciples. But, some time after, Matthias Devay, and 
 other doctors, began to introduce, in a secret manner, 
 among these nations, the doctrine of the Swiss churches 
 in relation to the eucharist, as also their principles of ec: 
 clesiastical government. ‘This doctrine and these princi- 
 ples were propagated in a more open and public manner 
 about the year 1550, by Szegedin and other Calvinist 
 teachers, whose ministry was attended with remarkable 
 success. ‘This change was followed by the same dissen- 
 sions that had broken out in other countries on similar 
 occasions ; and these dissensions grew into an open 
 schism among the friends of the Reformation in these 
 provinces, which the lapse of time has rather confirmed 
 than diminished.* 
 
 XXVI. After the solemn publication of the famous 
 Form of Concord, many German churches, of the Ju- 
 theran communion, dissolved their original bonds, and 
 
 * Beside Comenius, Camerarius, and Lasitius, who have written proe 
 fessedly the history of the Bohemian Brethren, see Loscher, par. iii. lib, 
 v. cap. vi—Salig, tom. i. lib. vi. cap. ili—Regenvolse. lib. 1. cap. xiii. 
 xiv. XV. 
 
 f Regenvolscii Hist. lib. i. cap. xiv. p. 120. 
 
 ® Leger, Histoire Generale des Eglises Vaudoises, liv. i. chap. xxxiii. 
 p. 205, 206.—Abr. Sculeti Annales Renovati Evangelii, p. 294.—Dan. 
 Gerdes, Hist. Renovati Evangelii. tom. ii. p. 401. 
 
 h Pauli Debrezeni Historia Eccles. Reform. in Hungar. et Transylvan, 
 
 Bohmischen Brudern, p. 46; as also Jo, Chr. Kocheri Biblioth. p. 76, 
 
 lib. ii. p. 64, 72, 98—Unschuld. Nachricht, An. 1738, p. 1076.—Georg, 
 Haneri Historia Eccles. Transylv. 
 
Parr LI. 
 
 embraced the doctrine and discipline of Calvin. Among 
 these we may place the churches of Nassau, Hanau, and 
 Isenburg, with several others of less note. In 1595, the 
 princes of Anhalt, influenced by the counsels of Wolfgang 
 Amling, renounced also the profession of Lutheranism, and 
 introduced into their dominions the religious tenets and 
 tites of Geneva; this revolution, however, produced a long 
 and warm controversy between the Lutherans and the in- 
 habitants of the principality... he doctrines of the Cal- 
 jinist or reformed church, particularly those which re- 
 ‘ate to the eucharist, were also introduced into Denmark, 
 ‘oward the conclusion of this century; for, in this king- 
 fom, the disciples and votaries of Melancthon, who had 
 always discovered a strong propensity to a union between 
 the protestant churches, were extremely numerous, and 
 they had at their head Nicholas Hemmingius, a man emi- 
 nent for his piety and learning. But the views of this di- 
 vine, and the schemes of his party, being discovered much 
 ~ sooner than they expected, by the vigilant defenders of 
 the Lutheran cause, their plans were disconcerted,® and 
 the progress of Caivinism was successfully opposed by the 
 Lutheran ministers, seconded by the countenance and 
 authority of the sovereign.¢ 
 
 XXVIII. It must not, however, be imagined, that the 
 different nations which embraced the communion of the 
 Calvinist church, adopted, at the same time, without ex- 
 ception, all its tenets, rites, and institutions. ‘This unt 
 versal conformity was, indeed, ardently desired by the Hel- 
 vetic doctors; but their desires, in this respect, were far 
 from being accomplished. ‘lhe English, as is sufficiently 
 known, rejected the forms of ecclesiastical government and 
 teligious worship that were adopted by the other reformed 
 churches, and could not be persuaded to receive, as public 
 and national articles of faith, the doctrines that were pro- 
 pagated in Switzerland, in relation to the sacrament of 
 the Lord’s supper and the divine decrees.* The protestants 
 in Holland, Bremen, Poland, Hungary, and the Palatin- 
 ate, followed, indeed, the French and Helvetic churches 
 in their sentiments concerning the eucharist, in the sim- 
 plicity of their worship, and in their principles of ecclesi- 
 astical polity ; but not in their notions of predestination, 
 
 *See for an account of this matter, the German work of Bechman, 
 which is entitled Historie des Hauses Anhalt, vol. i. p. 133, and that of 
 Kraft, which bears the title of Ausfuhrliche Historie von dem Exorcis- 
 mo, p. 428, 497. 34 Though the princes professed Calvinism, and 
 intreduced Calvinist ministers into all the churches, where they had the 
 tight of patronage, yet the people were left free in their choice; and the 
 noblemen and their vassals, who were attached to Lutheranism, had 
 secured to them the unrestrained exercise of their religion. By virtue 
 of a convention made in 1679, the Lutherans were permitted to erect 
 new churches. The Zerbst line, and the greatest part of its subjects, 
 profess Lutheranism; but the three other lines, with their respective 
 people, are Calvinists. 
 
 b Eriei Pontoppidani Annal. Ecclesie Danice Diplomatici, t. iii p. 57. 
 
 x ¢ That is, (for our author consistently with truth can mean no 
 more) the designs, that were formed to render Calvinism the national 
 and established religion, proved abortive. It is certain, however, that 
 Calvinism made a very considerable progress in Denmark, and has still 
 A great number of votaries in that kingdom. 
 
 %> 4 It is true, that the doctrine of Zuingle, who represented the 
 fread and wine as nothing more than the external signs of the death of 
 christ, wes not adopted by the church of England; but the doctrine of 
 Calvin was embraced by that church, and is plainly taught in the 
 xxvilith article of its faith, As to what relates to the doctrine of the 
 divine decrees, Dr. Mosheim is equally in an error. The xviith article 
 of the church of England, is, as bishop Burnet candidly acknowledges, 
 framed according to St. Augustin’s doctrine, which scarcely differs at 
 all from that of Calvin; and though it be expressed with a certain 
 atitude that renders it susceptible of a mitigated interpretation, yet it is 
 very probable, that those who penned it were patrons of the doctrine of 
 absolute decrees. The very cautions, that are subjoined to this arti- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 489 
 
 which intricate doctrine they left undefined, and submit- 
 ted to the free examination and private judgment of every 
 individual. It may farther be affirmed, that, before the 
 synod of Dordrecht,’ no reformed church had obliged its 
 members, by any special law or article of faith, to adhere 
 to the doctrine of the church of Geneva relating to the 
 primary causes of the salvation of the elect, or the ruin 
 of the reprobate. It is true, that, in the countries now 
 mentioned, the greatest part of the reformed doctors fell 
 by degrees, of their own accord, into the Calvinistical opi- 
 nion concerning these intricate points ; and this was prin- 
 cipally owing, no doubt, to the great reputation of the col- 
 lege of Geneva, which was generally frequented, in this 
 century, by those among the reformed who were candi- 
 dates for the ministry. 
 
 XXXVI. The books of the Old and New Testament 
 are regarded by the reformed churches as the only sources 
 of Divine Truth ; it must however be observed, that, to 
 their authority, the church of England adds that of the 
 writings of the Fathers during the first five centuries.¢ 
 The reformed and the Lutherans agree in maintaining 
 that the Scriptures are infallible in all things; that, in 
 matters of which the knowledge is necessary to salvation, 
 they are clear, and complete ; and also that they are to 
 be explained by themselves, and not by the dictates of 
 human reason, or the decisions of the ancient Fathers. 
 Several of the doctors among the former have indeed em- 
 ptoyed too freely the sagacity of their natural understand- 
 ing, in explaining the divine mysteries that are contained 
 in the Gospel; and this circumstance has induced many 
 to imagine, that the reformed adopted two sources of reli- 
 gion, two criterions of divine truth, viz. the Scripture and 
 human reason. But perhaps it will be found, that, in 
 this respect, doctors of both communions have sometimes 
 gone too far, bemg led on by the spirit of controversy, 
 and animated with the desire of victory ; for, if we ex- 
 cept the singular tenets of some individuals, it may be 
 affirmed with truth, that the Lutherans and the reformed 
 are unanimous in the matter now under consideration. 
 They both maintain, that contradictory propositions can- 
 not be the objects of faith; and consequently that all 
 cle, intimate, that Calvinism was what it was meant to establish. It 
 is certain, that the Calvinistical doctrine of predestination prevailed 
 among the first English reformers, the greatest part of whom were, at — 
 least, Sublapsarians: in the reign of queen Elizabeth this doctrine was 
 predominant, but after that period it lost ground imperceptibly, and was 
 renounced by the church of England in the reign of king Charles 1. 
 Some members of that church still adhered, nevertheless, to the tenets ot 
 Calvin, and maintained, not only that the thirty-nine articles were Cal- 
 vinistical, but also affirmed that they were not susceptible of that lati. 
 tude of interpretation for which the Arminians contended. These epis- 
 copal votaries of Calvinism were called Doctrinal Purilans. See Bur- 
 net’s Exposition of the Seventeenth Article, &c., and Neal’s History of 
 the Puritans, vol. i. p. 579. 
 
 * See Grotii Apologet. eorum, qui Hollandiz ante mutationem, An. 
 1618, prefuerunt, cap. iii. 
 
 2"> f It was in this famous synod, that was assembled in the year 
 1618, and of which we shall have occasion to give a more ample ac- 
 count in the history of the following century, that the doctrine of Cal. 
 vin was fixed as the national and established religion of the “Seven 
 United Provinces. : 
 
 2» * There is nothing in the thirty-nine articles of the church of 
 England, which implies its considering the writings of the athers of 
 the first five centuries, as an authoritative criterion of religious truth. 
 There is, indeed, a clause in the Act of Uniformity, passed in the reign 
 of queen Elizabeth, delaring that her delegates, in ecclesiastical matters, 
 should not determine any thing to be heresy but what was adjudged so 
 by the authority of Scripture, or by the first four general councils; and 
 this has perhaps misled Dr. Mosheim in the passage to which this note 
 
 refers, uch respect, indeed, (perhaps too much,) has been paid to the 
 Fathers ; but that has been always a matter of choice,andnot of obligation, 
 
484 
 
 doctrines which contain such ideas and notions as are 
 repugnant to and destroy each other, must be false and 
 incredible. It is true, indeed, that the reformed some- 
 times use this principle in a contentious manner, to over- 
 turn certain points of the Lutheran system, which they 
 have thought proper to reject. 
 
 XXIX. The reformed, if by this denomination we 
 understand those who embrace the sentiments of Calvin, 
 differ entirely from the Lutherans in the following ¢ points: 
 
 1st, In their notions of the sacrament of the Lord’s 
 Supper. ‘lhe Lutherans affirm that the body and blood 
 of Christ are materially present in this sacrament, though 
 in an incomprehensible manner; and that they are really 
 exhibited, both to the righteous and the wicked, to the 
 worthy and to the unworthy receiver. ‘I'he reformed 
 hold, on the contrary, that the man Christ is only pre- 
 sent in this ordinance by the external signs of bread and 
 wine, though it must, at the same time, be observed, that 
 this matter is differently explained and represented in the 
 writings of their theologians. 
 
 2dly, In their doctrine of the eternal decrees of God, 
 respecting man’s salvation. The Lutherans maintain, 
 that the divine decrees respecting the salvation or misery 
 of men are founded upon a previous knowledge of their 
 sentiments and characters; or, in other words, that God, 
 foreseeing from all eternity the faith or incredulity of dif- 
 ferent persons, had reserved eternal happiness for the faith- 
 ful, and eternal misery for the unbelieving and disobe- 
 dient. "The reformed entertained different sentiments 
 ‘oncerning this intricate point. ‘They consider the divine 
 decrees as free and unconditional, and as founded on the 
 will of God, which is limited by no superior order, and 
 which is above all laws. 
 
 3dly, Concerning some religious rites and institutions, 
 which the Reformed consider as bordering upon supersti- 
 tion, or tending, at least, to promote it, while the Luther- 
 ans view them in another light, and represent all of them 
 as tolerable, and some of them as useful. Such are, the 
 use of images in the churches, the distinguishing vest- 
 ments of the clergy, the private confession of sins, the 
 use of wafers in the administration of the Lord’s supper, 
 the form of exorcism in the celebration of baptism, and 
 other ceremonies of like moment. 'The reformed doctors 
 insist on the abolition of all these rites and institutions, 
 upon this general principle, that the discipline and wor- 
 ship of the Christian church ought to be restored to their 
 primitive simplicity, and freed from the human inventions 
 and additions that were employed by superstition in the 
 times of ignorance, to render them more striking to the 
 deluded multitude. 
 
 XXX. The few heads of difference, between the two 
 communions, which have been now briefly pointed out, 
 have furnished an inexhaustible fund of controversy to 
 the contending parties, and been drawn out into a multi- 
 tude of intricate questions, and subjects of debate, that, 
 by consequences, fairly or injudiciously deduced, hive 
 widened the scene of contention, and extended to almbat 
 all the important truths of religion. Thus the debate 
 concerning the manner in which the body and blood of 
 Christ are present in the eucharist, opened to the dispu- 
 
 =’p * Our author has here undoubtedly in view the Lutheran doc- 
 trine of Consubstantiation, which supposes the sarne extended body to 
 be totally present in different places at one and the same time. To 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 /who maintain, that the power of deciding 
 
 Secr. If 
 
 tants a large field of inquiry ; in which the nature and 
 fruits of the institutions called sacraments. the majesty 
 and glory of Christ’s human nature, together with the 
 communication of the divine perfections to it, and the in- 
 ward frame of spirit that is required in the worship ad- 
 dressed to the Saviour, were carefully examined. In like 
 manner, the controversy, which had for its object the di- 
 vine decrees, led the doctors, by whom it was carried on, 
 into the most subtile and profound researches concerning 
 the nature of the divine attributes, particularly those of 
 justice and goodness, the doctrines of fate and necessity, 
 the connexion between human liberty and divine pre- 
 science; the extent of God’s love to mankind, and of the 
 benefits that arise from the merits of Christ as mediator ; 
 the operations of that divine spirit, or power, which recti- 
 fies the wills and sanctifies the affections of men; the 
 perseverance of the elect in their covenant with God, and 
 ina state of salvation; and other points of great moment. 
 The subject of debate, that was drawn from the use of 
 external ceremonies in religious worship, was also produc- 
 tive of several questions and inquiries ; for, beside the 
 researches into the origin and antiquity of certain institu- 
 
 | tions to which it gave occasion, it naturally led to a dis- 
 
 cussion of the following important questions: viz. “What 
 are the special marks that characterize things indiffer- 
 ent ?—How far is it lawful to comply with the demands 
 of an adversary, whose opposition is only directed against 
 things esteemed indifferent in their own nature ?— What 
 is the extent of Christian liberty ?—Is it lawful to retain, 
 in condescension to the prejudices of the people, or with 
 a view to their benefit, certain ancient rites and institutions, 
 which, although they carry a superstitious aspect, may 
 nevertheless be susceptible of a favourable and rational 
 interpretation ?” 
 
 XXXI. It has always been a question much debated 
 among protestants, and more especially in England and 
 Holland, where it has excited great commotions and tu- 
 mults,—to whom the right of governing the church, and 
 the power of deciding in religious matters, properly belong ? 
 This controversy has been determined in favour of those 
 go, in matters of 
 religious doctrine, discipline, and government, is, by the 
 appointment of Christ himself, vested in the church, and 
 therefore ought by no means to be intrusted with the civil 
 magistrate; while, at the same time, they grant, that it is 
 the business of the latter to assist the church with his pro~ 
 tection and advice, to convoke and preside in its synods 
 and councils, to take care that the clergy do not attempt 
 to carry on any thing that may be prejudicial to the in- 
 terests of the state, and, by his authority, to confirm the 
 validity, and secure the execution of the different laws 
 enacted by the church under his inspection. It is true, 
 that from the time of Henry VIII. the sovereigns of Eng- 
 land consider themselves as supreme heads of the church, 
 in relation to its spiritual, as well as its temporal concerns ; 
 and it is plain enough, that, on the strength of this im- 
 portant title, both Henry and his son Edward assumed 
 an extensive authority and jurisdiction in the church, and 
 looked upon their spiritual power, as equal to that which 
 had been unworthily enjoyed by the Roman pontiff. 
 
 call this a gross and glaring contradiction, seems rather the dictate ot 
 common sense, than the suggestion of a contentious spirit, 
 b See Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 11. 
 
Part IL. 
 
 But queen Elizabeth receded considerably from these high 
 pretensions, and diminished the spiritual power of her suc- 
 cessors, by declaring that the royal jurisdiction extended 
 only to the ministers of religion, and not to religion it- 
 self; to the rulers of the church, and not to the church 
 itself ; or, in other words, that the persons of the clergy 
 were alone subject to their civil authority... Accordingly, 
 we see that the constitution of the church of England per- 
 fectly resembles that of the state, and that a striking ana- 
 logy exists between the civil and ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment established in that country. "The clergy, consisting 
 of the upper and lower houses of convocation, are imme- 
 diately assembled by the archbishop of Canterbury, in 
 consequence of an order from the sovereign, and propose 
 in these meetings, by common consent, such measures as 
 seem necessary to the well-being of the church. 'These 
 measures are laid before the king and parliament, and de- 
 rive from their approbation and authority the force of 
 laws. But it must be acknowledged, that this matter 
 has given occasion to much altercation and debate ; nor 
 has it been found easy to fix the extent of the jurisdiction 
 and prerogatives of these great bodies in a manner con- 
 formable to their respective pretensions, since the king 
 and his council explain them in one way, and the clergy, 
 more especially those who are zealous for the spiritual su- 
 premacy and independency of the church, understand 
 thera in another. ‘The truth of the matter is plainly this, 
 that the ecclesiastical polity in England has never ac- 
 quired a stable and consistent form; nor has it been re- 
 duced to clear and certain principles. It has rather been 
 carried on and administered by ancient custom and pre- 
 cedent, than defined and fixed by any regular system of 
 laws and institutions. 
 
 XXXIL If it was not an easy matter to determine in 
 what hands the power of deciding aflairs of a religious na- 
 ture was to be lodged, it was no less difficult to fix the 
 form of ecclesiastical government in which this power 
 was to be administered. Many vehement disputes were 
 kindled on this subject, which neither the lapse of time, 
 nor the efforts of human wisdom, have been able to bring 
 to an amicable issue. The republic of Geneva, in conse- 
 quence of the counsels of Calvin, judged it proper that 
 the particular affairs of each church should be directed by 
 a body of presbyters, all invested with an equal degree of 
 power and authority ; that matters of a more public and 
 important nature were to be submitted to the judgment 
 of an assembly, or synod, composed of elders chosen as 
 deputies by the churches of a whole province or district ; 
 
 * See Courayer’s Supplement aux deux Ouvrages pour la Defense de 
 la Validité des Ordinations Anglicanes, chap. xv. 
 
 “> This must be understood with many restrictions, if it can be at 
 all admitted. The whole tenor of queen Elizabeth’s reign showed 
 plainly that she did not pretend to less power in religious matters than 
 any of her predecessors. 
 
 => » Jo. Cosinus, de Ecclesie Anglicane Religione et Disciplina, 
 in the learned Thomas Smith’s Vite Eruditiss. Virorum, published in 
 1707.—See also Dav. Wilkins, de Veteri et Moderna Synodi Anglic. 
 Constitutione, tom. i. Concil. Magn. Britann. p. 7.—Neal, vol. i. 
 
 3> * The account which Dr. Mosheim gives here and above (sect. 
 xii. of this chapter) of the form of ecclesiastical government established 
 by Calvin at Geneva, is far from being accurate. There are but two 
 ecclesiastical bodies in that republic, viz. the venerable company of the 
 pastors and professors, and the consistory: for ajust description of 
 which, see the judicious Mr. Keate’s “Short Account of the Ancient 
 History, present Government, and Laws of the Republic of Geneva,” 
 published in 1761.—I would only remark that what this sensible author 
 observes, with respect to the consistory, in p. 124 of his interesting per- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 485 
 
 and that all affairs of such extensive influence and high 
 moment, as concerned the welfare of the sacred commu- 
 nity in general, should be examined and decided, as in 
 early times, by an assembly of the whole church. This 
 form of ecclesiastical government the church of Geneva 
 adopted for itself,: and left no intreaties or methods of per- 
 suasion unemployed, that might recommend it to those 
 reformed churches with which they lived in fraternal com- 
 munion. But it was obstinately rejected by the English 
 clergy, who regarded as sacred and immutable that an- 
 cient form of spiritual government, according to which a 
 certain district or diocese is committed to the care and 
 inspection of one ruler or bishop, to whom the presbyters 
 of each church are subject, as also the deacons are to the 
 presbyters ; while the general interests of the church are 
 treated and discussed in an assembly of bishops, and of 
 such ecclesiastics as are next to them in rank and dig- 
 nity. "Chis form of episcopal polity was, with some small 
 exceptions, adopted by the Bohemian and Moravian bre- 
 thren,* who had become one of the reformed churches; 
 but it was highly displeasing to those among the protest- 
 ants, who had embraced the sentiments and discipline of 
 Calvin. The dissensions, occasioned by these different 
 schemes of ecclesiastical polity, were every way adapted 
 to produce a violent schism in the church; so much the 
 more, as the leaders of the contending parties pretended 
 to derive their respective plans from the injunctions of 
 Christ, and the practice of his disciples. And, in effect, 
 it divided the English nation into two parties, who during 
 a long time treated each other with great animosity and 
 bitterness, and whose feuds, on many occasions, proved 
 detrimental to the civil interests and prosperity of the na- 
 tion. This schism, however, which did such mischief in 
 England, was; by the prudence and piety of a few great 
 and excellent divines, confined to that country, and pre- 
 vented from either becoming universal, or interrupting the 
 fraternal union that prevailed between the church of En- 
 gland and the reformed churches abroad. "The worthy 
 men, who thus set bounds to the influence of these un- 
 happy divisions, found great opposition made, by the sug- 
 gestions of bigotry, to their charitable purpose. ‘To main- 
 tain, however, the bonds of union between the episcopal 
 church of England and the preshyterian churches in 
 foreign countries, they laid down the following maxim, 
 which, though it be not universally adopted, tends never- 
 theless to the preservation of external concord among thie 
 reformed, viz. “ That Jesus Christ has left upon record 
 no express injunctions with respect to the exiernal form 
 
 Dr. Mosheim seems to have been led into this mistake, by imagining 
 that the ecclesiastical form of government established in Scotland, where 
 indeed all church affairs are managed by consistorial, provincial, and 
 national assemblies, or, in other words, by presbyteries, synods, and 
 general synods, was a direct transcript of the hierarchy of Geneva. It is 
 also probable, that he may have been deceived by reading, in Neal’s 
 History of the Puritans, that the Scottish reformers approved the disci- 
 pline of the removed churches of Geneva and Switzerland, and followed 
 their plan of ecclesiastical government. But he ought to have observed, 
 that this approbation and imitation related only to the democratic form 
 of the church of Geneva, and the parity of its ministers. Be that as it 
 may, the plan of government which our historian here supposes to have 
 place at Geneva, Is in reality that which is observed in Scotland, and of 
 which no more than the first and fundamental principles were taken 
 from the discipline of Calvin. The small territory of Geneva would 
 not- admit such a form of ecclesiastical polity as Dr. Mosheim here 
 describes. ‘ p 
 
 4 See Epist. de Ordinat. et Successione Episcopal. in Unitate Fra- 
 trum Bohem, conservata, in Christ. Matth. Pfaffii Institutionibus Juris 
 
 formance, belongs principally, if not wholly, to the venerable company. || Eccles. p. 410. 
 
 No. XLI. 
 
486 
 
 of government tha* is to be observed in his church ; and, 
 consequently, that every nation hath a right to establish 
 such a form, as seemeth conducive to the interests, and 
 suitable to the peculiar state, circumstances, and exigen- 
 cies of the community, provided that such an establish- 
 ment be in no respect prejudicial to truth, or favourable 
 to the revival of superstition.”* 
 
 XXXIII. It was the opinion of Calvin, not only that 
 flagitious and profligate members were to be cut off from 
 the sacred society, and excluded from the communion of 
 the church, but also that men of dissolute and licentious 
 lives were punishable by the laws of the state, and the 
 arm of the civil magistrate. In this he differed from 
 
 Zuingle, who, supposing that all authority, of every kind, | 
 
 was lodged in the hands of the magistrate alone, would 
 not allow to the ministers of the church the power of 
 excluding flagitious offenders from its communion, or 
 withholding from them the participation of its sacra- 
 ments.” But the credit and influence of Calvm were so 
 great at Geneva, that he accomplished his purpose, even 
 in the face of a formidable opposition from various quar- 
 ters. He established the severest rules of discipline to 
 correct the licentious manners of the times, by which he 
 exposed himself to innumerable perils from the malig- 
 nity and resentment of the dissolute, and to perpetual con- 
 tests with the patrons of voluptuousness and immorality. 
 He executed, moreover, these rules of discipline with the 
 utmost rigour, had them strengthened and supported by 
 the authority of the state, excluded obstinate offenders 
 from the communion of the church, by the judicial sen- 
 tence of the consistory, and even went so far as to procure 
 their banishment from the city ; not to mention other 
 kinds of punishment, of no mild nature, which, at his 
 desire, were inflicted upon men of loose principles and ir- 
 regular lives.» The clergy in Switzerland were highly 
 pleased with the form of church-government that had 
 been established at Geneva, and ardently desirous of a 
 greater degree of power to restrain the insolence of obsti- 
 nate sinners, and a larger share of authority in the church, 
 than they were intrusted with by the moderate ecclesias- 
 tical constitution of Zuingle. They devoutly wished that 
 the discipline of Calvin might be followed in their can- 
 tons, and even made some attempts for that purpose. 
 
 * See Spanhemii Opera, tom. ii. lib. viii. ix. p. 1055. This was the 
 general opinion of the British divines who lived in the earliest period 
 ef the Reformation, and was first abandoned by Archbishop Whitgift. 
 See Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. iii. 
 
 » See a remarkable letter of Rodolph Gualter, in Fueslin’s Centuria I. 
 Epistolarum 4 Reformatoribus Helveticis scriptarum, p. 478, where he 
 expresses himself thus: ‘“ Excommunicationem neque Zuinglius... 
 neque Bullingerus, unquam probarunt, et... obstiterunt iis qui eam ali- 
 quando voluerunt introducere . . . Basilee quidem CEcolampadius, mul- 
 tum dissuadente Zuinglio, instituerat ... sed adeo non durabilis fuit ila 
 constitutio, ut GScolampadius tiiam abrogérit, &e, See also p. 90. 
 
 ¢ Of all the undertakings of Calvin, there was not one that. involved 
 him in so much trouble, or exposed hira to such imminent danger, as 
 the plan he had formed, with such resolution and fortitude, of purging 
 the church, by the exclusion of obstinate and scandalous offenders, and 
 inflicting severe punishments on all suc. as violated the laws, enacted 
 by the church, or by the consistory, which was its representative. See 
 the Life of Calvin, composed by Beza, and prefixed to his Letters.— 
 Spon’s Histoire de Geneve, and particularly the notes, tom. ii. p. 45, 65. 
 —Calvin’s Letters, and more especially those addressed to Jaques de 
 Rourgogne. The party at Geneva, which Calvin called the sect of Li- 
 isertines, (because they defended the licentious customs of ancient times, 
 the erection of stews, and other vicious practices, not only by their dis- 
 course and their actions, but even by force of arms,) was both nume- 
 rous and powerful. But the courage and resolution of this great reform- 
 er gained the ascendency, and triumphed over the opposition of his 
 enemies. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 But their desires and their endeavours were equally vain ; 
 for the cantons of Bern, Zurich, and Basil, distinguishea 
 themselves among the others in opposing this change, and 
 would by no means permit the bounds, that Zuingle had 
 set to the jurisdiction of the church, to be removed, nor 
 its power and authority to be augmented in any respect.@ 
 
 XXXIV. All the various branches of learning, whe- 
 ther sacred or profane, flourished among the reformed 
 
 'during this century, as appears evidently by the great 
 
 number of excellent productions which have been trans- 
 mitted to our times. Zuingle, indeed, seemed disposed to 
 exclude philosopby from the pale of the church ;* but in 
 this inconsiderate purpose he bad few followers, and the 
 succeeding doctors of the Helvetic church were soon per- 
 suaded of the necessity of philosophical knowledge, more 
 especially in controversies, and researches of a theologi- 
 cal kind. Hence it was, that, in 1588, an academical 
 body was founded at Geneva by Calvin, whose first care 
 was to place in this new seminary a professor of philoso- 
 phy for the instruction of youth in the principles of rea- 
 soning. It is true, indeed, that this professor had a very 
 limited province assigned to him, being obliged to con- 
 fine his instructions to a mere interpretation of the pie- 
 cepts of Aristotle, who at this same time was the oracle 
 of all the public schools,‘ and whose philosophical prin- 
 ciples and method were exclusively adopted by all the 
 other reformed colleges; though it is certain, that the 
 philosophy of Ramus was, for some time, preferred, by 
 many of the doctors of Basil, to that of the Stagirite.s 
 XXXYV. The reformed church, from its very infancy, 
 produced a great number of expositors of Scripture, whose 
 learned and excellent commentaries deserve a memorable 
 place in the history of theological science. _'The expo- 
 sition that Zuingle has given of the greatest part of the 
 books of the New Testament, is far from being destitute 
 of merit.i He was succeeded by Bullinger, Gicolampa- 
 dius, and Musculus, and also by others, who, though in- 
 ferior to those great men in erudition and genius, deserve 
 a certain degree of approbation and esteem. But the 
 two divines who shone with a superior and unrivalled lus- 
 tre in this learned list of sacred expositors, were John 
 Calvin and Theodore Beza. T'he former composed an 
 excellent commentary on almost all the books of Holy 
 
 4 See the account of the tumults and commotions of Lausanne, in the 
 Museum Helveticum, tom. ii. The disputes that were carried on upon 
 this occasion, in the Palatinate, which adopted the ecclesiastical disci- 
 pline of Geneva, are recorded by Altingius, in his Hist. Eccles. Palat. 
 and by Struvius, in his Hist. Eccles. Palat. German. 
 
 e Zuingle, in the dedication of his book, de Verd et Falsé Religione, 
 to Francis I. king of France, expresses himself in the following terms: 
 ‘Philosophie interdictum est a Christi scholis; at isti (Sorboniste) 
 fecerunt eam ceelestis verbi magistram.” 
 
 f Beza, in his Epist. Theol. (ep. xxxvi. p. 156,) speaks thus: ‘ Cer- 
 tum nobis ac constitutum est, et in ipsis tradendis logicis et in ceteris 
 explicandis disciplinis ab Aristotelis sententid ne tantillum quidem 
 deflectere.” 
 
 8 See Casp. Brandtii Vita Jacobi Arminii, p. 12, 22. 
 
 tp 4 Dr. Mosheim pays a tribute to these great men of the reformed 
 church, that seems to be extorted by justice, with a kind of effort from 
 the spirit of party. He says, that Zuingle’s labours are not contemptible; 
 that Calvin attempted an illustration of the sacred writings; that the 
 New Testament of Beza has not, even at this day, entirely lost the re- 
 putation it formerly enjoyed. This is faint praise; and therefore the 
 translator has, without departing from the tenor of the author’s phraseo- 
 logy, animated a little the coldness of his panegyric. 
 
 =“ i It wasnot only on the books of the New Testament that Zuin- 
 gle employed his very learned and excellent labours. _He expounded the 
 book of Genesis, together with the twenty-four first chapters of Exodus, 
 and gave new versions of the Psalms, of the Prophecies of Isaiah and 
 Jeremiah. 
 
Parr IL. 
 
 Writ ; and the atter published a Latin version of the 
 New Testament, enriched with theological and critical 
 observations, which has passed through many editions, 
 and enjoys, at this day, a considerable part of the repu- 
 tation and applause with which it was crowned at its first 
 appearance. It must be acknowledged, to the honour of 
 the greatest part of these commentators, that, wisely ne- 
 glecting those allegorical significations and mystical mean- 
 ings which the irregular fancies of former expositors had 
 attributed to the terms of Scripture, they employed their 
 whole diligence and industry in investigating the literal 
 sense and the full energy of the words, in order to find out 
 the true intention of the sacred writer.. It must, howe- 
 ver, be observed, on the other hand, that some of these 
 interpreters, and more especially Calvin, have been sharply 
 censured for applying, to the temporal state and circum- 
 atances of the Jews, several prophecies that point to the 
 Messiah and to the Christian dispensation in the most evi- 
 dent and palpable manner, and thus removing some of 
 the most striking arguments in favour of the divinity of 
 the Gospel.* 
 
 XXXVI. The state of theology, and the revolutions 
 it underwent among the Helvetic and the other reformed 
 churches, were nearly the same as among the Lutherans. 
 Zuingle was one of the first reformed doctors who reduc- 
 ed that sacred science into a certain sort of order, in his 
 hook concerning true and false Religion, which contained 
 a brief exposition of the principal doctrmes of Christi- 
 anity. This production was followed by one much more 
 comprehensive in its contents, and perfect in its kind, 
 composed by Calvin, and entitled Institutes of the Chris- 
 tian Religion, which held in the reformed churches the 
 same rank, authority, and credit, that the Loci Communes 
 of Melancthon obtained among us. ‘The example of 
 Calvin animated the doctors of his communion, and pro- 
 duced a great number of writers of Common-Place Divi- 
 nity, some more, others less voluminous, among whom 
 Musculus, Peter Martyr, and Piscator, particularly excel- 
 led. ‘The most ancient of these writers are, generally 
 speaking, the best, on account of their simplicity and 
 clearness, being untainted with that affectation of sub- 
 tlety, and that scholastic spirit, which have eclipsed the 
 
 * See /Xzidii Hunnii Calvinus Judaizans, published in 1595, which 
 was refuted by David Pareus, in a book published the same year, under 
 the title of Calvinus Orthodoxus. 
 
 > The reader must not forget that the learned author of this History 
 was a Lutheran. 
 
 ¢ It must however be acknowledged, that the scholastic method of 
 teaching theology seems to have first infected our (the Lutheran) church, 
 though the contagion spread itself, soon after, among the reformed doc- 
 tors. It was mee very recent in Holland at the time of the farnous 
 synod of Dordrecht. In this assembly Maccovius, professor at Franeker, 
 a man deeply versed in all the mysteries of the scholastic philosophy, was 
 accused of heresy by his colleague Sibrand Lubbert. ‘When the matter 
 was examined, the synod declared that Maccovius was unjustly accused 
 of heresy ; but that, in his divinity lectures, he had not followed that 
 simplicity of method, and clearness of expression, which are commend- 
 able in a public teacher of Christianity ; and that he rather followed the 
 subtle manner of the scholastic doctors, than the plain and unaflected 
 phraseology of the inspired writers. The decision of the synod is ex- 
 
 ressed by Walter Balcanqual (in the acts of that ecclesiastical assem- 
 bly, subjoined to his letters to Sir Dudley Carleton) in the following 
 words: “ Maccovium ... nullius hereseos reum teneri ... peccdsse 
 eum, quod quibusdam ambiguis et obscuris scholasticis phrasibu:s usus 
 sit; quod scholasticum docendi modum conetur in Beigicis acaJemiis 
 introducere ... Monendum esse eum, ut cum spiritu sancto loquatur, 
 non cum Bellarmino aut Suarezio.”* These admonitions produced 
 .ittle effect on Maccovius, as appears by his theological writings, which 
 aré richly seasoned with scholastic wit and intricate speculations. He 
 therefore appears to have been the first who introduced the subtleties of 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 AS7 
 
 merit of many a good genius. Calvin was a model in 
 this respect, more especially in his Institutes; a worl re- 
 markable for the finest elegance of style, and the greatest 
 ease and perspicuity of expression, together with the most 
 perfect simplicity of method, and clearness of argument. 
 But this simplicity was soon effaced by the intricate 
 science of the schools. 'The philosophy of Aristotle, which 
 was taught in almost, all the seminaries of learning, and 
 suffered much from falling into bad hands, insinuated it- 
 self into the regions of theology, and rendered them bar- 
 ren, thorny, intricate, and gloomy, by the enormous mul- 
 titude of barbarous terms, captious questions, minute 
 distinctions, and useless subtleties, that followed in its 
 train.° 
 
 XXXVII. The reformed doctors of this century gene- 
 rally concluded their treatises of didactic theology with a 
 delineation of the moral duties that are incumbent upon 
 Christians, and the rules of practice that are prescribed in 
 the Gospel. ‘This method was observed by Calvin, and 
 was followed, out of respect for his example, by almost all 
 the divines of his communion, who looked upon him as 
 their model and their guide. ‘This eminent man, toward 
 the conclusion of his Institutes, speaks of the power of the 
 magistrate, and the ends of civil government; and, in the 
 last chapter, gives the portraiture of the life and manners 
 of a true Christian, but in a much more concise manner 
 than the copiousness, dignity, and importance of the sub- 
 ject seemed to require. The progress of morality among 
 the reformed, was obstructed by the very same means that 
 retarded its improvement among the Lutherans. It was 
 neglected amidst the tumult of controversy ; and, while 
 every pen was drawn to maintain certain systems of doc- 
 trine, few were employed in cultivating or promoting that 
 noblest of all sciences, which has virtue, life, and manners, 
 for its objects. 
 
 This master-science, which Calvin and his associates 
 had left in a rude and imperfect state, was first reduced 
 into some kind of form, and explained with a certain de- 
 gree of accuracy and precision, by William Perkins,? an 
 English divine, as the reformed doctors universally allow. 
 He was seconded in this laudable undertaking by Telin- 
 gius, a native of Holland; and it was by a worthy and 
 
 philosophy into the theological system of the reformed churches in Hol- 
 land. He was not, however, alone in this attempt, but was seconded 
 by the acute Dr. William Ames, minister of the English church at the 
 Hague, and several others of the same scholastic turn. ‘This method 
 of teaching theology must have been in use among almost all the re- 
 formed doctors before the synod of Dordrecht. if we give credit to Epis- 
 copius, who, in the last discourse which he addressed to his disciples at 
 Leyden, tells them that he had carefully avoided this scholastic divinity; 
 and that this was the principal cause that had drawn on him the vehe- 
 ment hatred and opposition of all the other professors and teachers of 
 theology. His words are as follows: ‘ Videbam veritatem multarum 
 et maximarum rerum in ipsa scriptura sacra, elaboratis humana indus- 
 tria phrasibus, ingeriosis vocularum fictionibus, locoram communium 
 artificiosis texturis. exquisitis terminorum ac formularum inventionibus, 
 adeo involutam, perplexam et intricatam redditam esse, ut GSdipo sexpe 
 opus esset ad Sphingem illam theologicam enodandam. Ita est, et hine 
 prime lacryme—Reducendam itaque terminorum apostolicorum et cui- 
 vis obviorum simplicitatem semper sequendam putavi, et sequestrandas, 
 quas academiz et schole tanquam proprias sibi vendicant, logicas phi- 
 losophicasque speculationes et dictiones.” See Philippi Limborchis 
 Vita Episcopii, p. 123. 
 
 3% ¢ Mr. William Perkins was born at Marston in Warwickshire, 
 in the first year of queen Elizabeth, and educated in Christ's College, 
 Cambridge, of which he became fellow. He was one of the most fa- 
 mous practical writers and preachers of his age. His puritanical and 
 non-conforming principles exposed him to the cognizance of the High- 
 
 * See the Acta Synodi Dord. in Hale’s Golden Remains, p. 16L,— 
 and Philippi Limborchii Epistolar. Ecclesiasticar. Collect. p. 574. 
 
488 
 
 pious spirit of emulation, excited by the example of these 
 two doctors, that William Ames, a native of Scotland, and 
 professor of divinity at F’raneker,* was engaged to com- 
 pose a complete body of Christian morality.» These writers 
 were succeeded by others, who threw farther light on this 
 important science. 
 
 XXXVIII. The reformed church was less disturbed, 
 during this century, by sects, divisions, and theological 
 disputes, than the Lutheran, which was often a prey to 
 the most unhappy dissensions. 'This circumstance is 
 looked upon by the former as a matter of triumph, though 
 it may be very easily accounted for by all such as are 
 acquainted with the history of that church.. We have 
 however, in the writings of Calvin, an account, and also 
 a refutation, of a most pernicious sect that sprang up in 
 that establishment, and produced troubles of a more de- 
 plorable kind than any that happened in our community.‘ 
 This odious sect, which assumed the denominations of 
 Libertines and Spiritual Brethren and Sisters, arose in 
 Flanders, under the auspices of Pockesius, Ruffus, and 
 Quintin; gained a certain footing in France through 
 the favour and protection of Margaret, queen of Navarre, 
 and sister to Francis I.; and found patrons in several of 
 the reformed churches. Their doctrine, as far as it can be 
 known by the writings of Calvin and its other antagonists, 
 (for I do not find that these fanatics published any account 
 of their tenets,) amounted to the following propositions : 
 “'That the Deity was the sole operating cause in the 
 mind of man, and the immediate author of all human 
 
 actions ; that, consequently, the distinctions of good and | 
 
 evil, which had been established with respect to these ac- 
 tions, were false and groundless, and that men could not, 
 properly speaking, commit sin; that religion consisted in 
 the union of the spirit, or rational soul, with the Supreme 
 Being ; that all those who had attained this happy union, 
 by sublime contemplation and elevation of mind, were al- 
 lowed to indulge, without exception or restraint, their ap- 
 petites and passions; that all their actions and pursuits 
 were then perfectly innocent ; and that, after the death 
 of the body, they were to be united to the Deity.” These 
 extravagant tenets resemble, in such a striking manner, 
 the opinions of the Beghards, or Brethren of the Free 
 Spirit, that it appears to me, beyond all doubt, that the 
 Libertines, or Spirituals, now under consideration, were 
 no more than a remnant of that ancient sect. The place 
 of their origin tends to confirm this hypothesis, since it 
 is well known, that, in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
 
 Commission Court; but his peaceable behaviour, andeminent reputation 
 in the learned world, procured him an exemption from the persecutions 
 that fell upon his brethren. His works, which were printed in three 
 volumes folio, afford abundant proofs of his piety and industry, espe- 
 cially when it is considered that he died in the 44th year of his age. 
 
 => * Dr. William Ames, educated at Cambridge under Mr. Perkins 
 fled from the persecution of archbishop Bancroft, and was invited by 
 the states of Friesland to the divinity chair in the university of Frane- 
 ker, which he filled with great reputation for twelve years. He then 
 removed to Rotterdam, at the invitation of an English church there, and 
 became their pastor. He was at the synod of Dordrecht, and informed 
 the ambassador of king James at the Hague, from time to time. of the 
 debates of that assembly. Besides his controversial writings aeainst 
 the Arminians, he published the following; Medulla Theologize (the 
 work here referred to by Dr. Mosheim;)—Manuductio Logica ;—Cases 
 ef Conscience ;—Analysis of the Book of Psalms ;—Notes on the First 
 and Second Epistles of St. Peter, &e. These productions are not void 
 of merit, considering the times in which they were written. 
 
 +> > In the preface to his famous book de Conscientia et ejus Jure 
 Dr. Ames observes, that an excessive zeal for doctrine had produced ay 
 unhappy neglect of morality: “ Quod hee pars prophetie (i. e. morali- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 ' turies, Flanders swarmed with licentious fanatics of this 
 kind. 
 
 | XXXIX. We must not confound (as is frequently 
 done) with these fanatics, another kind of Libertines, 
 whom Calvin had to combat, and who gave him much 
 
 edie and perplexity during the whole course of his life 
 
 nd ministry ; [mean the Libertines of Geneva. These 
 were rather a cabal of rakes than a sect of fanatics; for 
 they made no pretences to any religious system, but plead- 
 ed only for the liberty of leading voluptuous and immo- 
 ral lives. ‘This cabal was composed of such licentious 
 citizens as could not bear the severe discipline of Calvin, 
 who punished with rigour, not only dissolute manners, 
 but also whatever carried the aspect of irreligion and im- 
 piety. ‘This irregular troop stood forth in defence of the 
 licentiousness and dissipation that had reigned in their 
 city before the Reformation, pleaded for the continuance 
 of those brothels, banquetings, and other entertainments 
 of a sensual kind, which the regulations of Calvin were 
 designed to abolish, and employed all the bitterness of 
 reproach and invective, all the resources of fraud and vio- 
 lence, all the powers of faction, to accomplish their pur- 
 pose.’ In this turbulent cabal there were several persons, 
 who were not only notorious for their dissolute and scan- 
 'dalous manner of living, but also for their contempt of 
 all religion. Of this odious class was Gruet, who attack- 
 ed Calvin with the utmost animosity and fury, calling 
 him bishop of Asculum, the new pope, and branding him 
 with other contumelious denominations. This Gruet 
 denied the divinity of the Christian religion, the immor- 
 tality of the soul, the difference between moral good and 
 evil, and rejected, with disdain, the doctrines that: are 
 deemed most sacred among Christians ; for which impi- 
 eties he was at last brought before the civil tribunals, in 
 1550, and was punished with death.s 
 XL. 'The opposition that was made to Calvin did not 
 end here. He had contests of another kind to sustain 
 against those who disapproved his theological system, and, 
 more especially, his melancholy and discouraging doc- 
 trine in relation to eternal and absolute decrees. These 
 adversaries felt, by a disagreeable experience, the warmth 
 and violence of his haughty temper, and that impatience 
 of contradiction which arose from an over-jealous concern 
 for his honour, or rather for his unrivalled supremacy. 
 He would not suffer them to remain at Geneva; and, in 
 the heat of controversy, being carried away by the impe- 
 tuosity of his passions, he accused them of crimes from 
 
 ty,) hactenus minus fuerit exculta, hoc inde fuit, quod primipilares nos- 
 tri perpetuo in acie adversus hostes pugnare, fidem propugnare, et aream 
 ecclesiz purgare, necessitate quadam cogebantur, ita ut agros et vineas 
 plantare et rigare non potuerint ex voto, sicut bello fervente usu venire 
 solet.” The address to the students of Franeker, which is subjoined to 
 this book, under the title of Parzenesis ad Studiosos, &c. deserves to be 
 perused, as it tends to confirm what has been already observed with 
 respect to the neglect of the science of morality. “ Theologi (says 
 he) preclare se instructos putant ad omnes officil sui partes, si dogmata 
 tantum intelligant. Neque tamen omnia dogmata scrutantur, sed ile 
 sola, que precipue solent agitari et in controversiam vocari.” 
 
 3x¢p ¢ Dr. Mosheim ought to have given us a hint of his manner of 
 accounting for this, to avoid the suspicion of having been somewhat at 
 
 ‘| a loss for a favourable solution. 
 
 34> 4 Why all these comparisons? Our author seems, on some oc- 
 casions, to tinge his historical relation with the spirit of party. 
 
 e See ‘“Calvini Instructio adversus fanaticam et furiosam Sec- 
 tam Libertinorum, qui se Spirituales vocant,” among his theological 
 tracts. 
 
 f Spon’s Histoire de Geneve, tom. ii. p. 44, in the edition of 1730. 
 
 & Spon’s Hist. tom. 11. 
 
Pant II. 
 
 which they have been fully absolved by the impartial 
 judgment of unprejudiced posterity... Among these vic- 
 tims of Calvin’s unlimited power and excessive zeal, we 
 may reckon Sebastian Castalio, master of the public school 
 at Geneva, who, though not exempt from failings,’ was 
 nevertheless a man of probity, and was also remarkable 
 for the extent of his learning and the elegance of his 
 taste. As this learned man could neither approve all the 
 measures that were followed, nor all the opinions that 
 were entertained by Calvin and his colleagues, and_par- 
 ticularly that of absolute and unconditional predestination, 
 he was deposed from his office in 1544, and _ banished 
 from the city. ‘The magistrates of Basil, however, re- 
 ceived this ingenious exile, and gave him the Greek pro- 
 fessorship of their university.¢ 
 
 XLIL. A like fate happened to Jerome Bolsec, a French 
 monk of the Carmelite order, who, though much inferior 
 to Castalio in genius and learning, was judged worthy 
 of esteem, on account of the motive that brought him to 
 Geneva ; for it was a conviction of the excellence of the 
 protestant religion that engaged him to abandon the mo- 
 nastic retreats of superstition, and to repair to this city, 
 where he followed the profession of physic. His impru- 
 dence, however, was great, and was the principal cause 
 of the mifortunes that befell him. It led him, in 1551, 
 to lift up his voice in the full congregation, after the con- 
 clusion of divine worship, and to declaim, in the most 
 indecorous manner, against the doctrine of absolute de- 
 crees ; for which offence he was thrown into prison, and 
 soon after, sent into banishment. He then returned to 
 the place of his nativity, and to the communion of Rome, 
 and published the most bitter and. slanderous libels, in 
 which the reputation, conduct, and morals of Calvin and 
 Beza, were cruelly attacked.4 From this treatment of 
 
 Bolsec arose the misunderstanding between Calvin and 
 
 his intimate friend and patron Jaques de Bourgogne, a 
 man illustrious by his descent from the dukes of Bur- 
 gundy, who had settled at Geneva with no other view 
 
 than toenjoy the pleasure of conversing with him. Jaques 
 
 de Bourgogne had employed Bolsec as his physician, and 
 was so well satisfied with his services, that he endeayour- 
 ed to support him, and to prevent his being ruined by the 
 enmity and authority of Calvin. ‘This incensed the lat- 
 ter to such a degree, that he turned the force of his re- 
 sentinent against this illustrious nobleman, who, to avoid 
 his vengeance, removed from Geneva, and passed the 
 remainder of his days in a rural retreat.¢ 
 
 XLII. Bernardino Ochino, a native of Sienna, (and, 
 before his conversion, general of the Capuchin order, ) was, 
 
 ® At this day we may venture to speak thus freely of the rash deci- 
 sions of Calvin, since even the doctors of Geneva, as well as those of 
 the other reformed cliurches, ingenuously acknowledge that his eminent 
 talents and excellent qualities were accompanied with great defects, for 
 which, however, they plead indulgence, in consideration of his services 
 and virtues. See the notes to Spon’s Histoire de Geneve, tom. ii. p. 110, 
 as also the preface to Calvin’s Letters to Jaques de Bourgogne. 
 
 Z*p > See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Castalio, in which the 
 merit and demerit of that learncd man seem to be impartially and accu- 
 rately examined. 
 
 * See Uytenbogard’s Ecclesiastical History, part ii. where that au- 
 thor endeavours to defend the innocence of Castalio.—Sce also Colomesii 
 Italia Orientalis, p. 99.—Bayle’s Dict. tom. i. 
 
 4 See Bayle’s Bict at the article Bolsec.—Spon’s Hist. de Geneve, 
 iom. ii. p. 55, in the Notes.—Bibilioth. Raisonnée, tom. xxxii. p. 446, 
 tom. xxxiv. p. 409. 
 
 * See the preface to Lettres de Calvin 4 Jaques de Bourgogne, and La 
 Bibliotheque Raisoneé, tom, xxxil. xxxiv, 
 
 No. XLII. 123 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 489 
 
 in 1543, banished from Switzerland, in consequence of 
 a sentence passed upon him by the Helvetic church. 
 This proselyte, who was a man of a fertile imagination, 
 and a lively and subtle turn of mind, had been invited 
 to Zurich as pastor of the Italian church established in 
 that city. But the freedom, or rather the licentiousness 
 of his sentiments, justly exposed him to the displeasure 
 of those who had been his patrons and protectors ; for, 
 among many other opinions very different from such as 
 were commonly received, he maintained that the law, 
 which confined a husband to one wife, was susceptible 
 of exceptions in certain cases. In his writings also he 
 propagated several notions which were repugnant to the 
 theological system of the Helvetic doctors, and pushed 
 his inquiries into many subjects of importance, with a 
 boldness and freedom by no means suited to the genius 
 and spirit of the age in which he lived. Some have, 
 however, undertaken his defence, and have alleged in his 
 behalf, that the errors he maintained at the time of his 
 banishment, (when, worn out with age, and oppressed 
 with poverty, he was rather an object of compassion, than 
 of resentment,) were not of such a heimous nature as to 
 justify so severe a punishment. However that may have 
 been, this unfortunate exile retired into Poland, where he 
 embraced the communion of the Anti-T'rinitarians and 
 Anabaptists, and ended his days in 1564.s 
 
 XLII. It is remarkable that those very doctors, who 
 animadverted with such severity upon all that dared to 
 
 dissent from any part of their theological system, thought 
 
 proper, nevertheless, to behave with the greatest circum- 
 spection, and the most pacific spirit of mildness, in the 
 long controversy which was carried on with such ani- 
 mosity between the Puritans, and the advocates of epis- 
 copacy, in England ; for if, on the one hand, they could 
 not but stand well affected to the Puritans, who were 
 steadfast defenders of the discipline and sentiments of the 
 Helvetic church; so, on the other, they were connected with 
 their episcopal doctors by the bonds of Christian commu- 
 nion and fraternal love. In this critical situation, their 
 whole thoughts were turned to reconciliation and peace ; 
 and they exhorted their brethren, the Puritans, to put on ~ 
 a spirit of meekness and forbearance toward the episcopal 
 church, and not to break the bonds of charity and com- 
 munion with its rulers or its members. Such was the 
 gentle spirit of the doctors in Switzerland toward the 
 church of England, notwithstanding the severe treatment 
 the greatest part of the reformed had received from that 
 church, which constantly insisted on the divine origin of 
 its government and discipline, and scarcely allowed, to the 
 
 f See Boverii Annales Capucinorum; and a book entitled, La Guerre 
 Seraphique, ou Histoire des Perils qu’a couru la Barbe des Capucins, 
 livr. u. p. 147. livr. ili. p. 190, 230.—Observationes Halenses Latine, 
 tom. iv. Observ. xx. p. 406. tom. v. Observ. i. p. 3—Bayle’s Diction. at 
 the article Ochin.—Christ. Sandii Biblioth. Anti-Trinitar. p. 4, Nice- 
 ron’s Memoires pour servir al’ Hist. des Hommes illustres, t. xix. p. 166. 
 
 x“> ® Ochino did not leave the accusations of his adversaries without 
 a reply; he published, in Italian, an Apology for his character and con- 
 duct, printed, with a Latin translation by Seb. Castalio, without the 
 date of the year. The Geneva edition of this apology bears the date of 
 1554, and a German edition appeared in 1556. Beza, in his letter to 
 Dudithius, insults the memory of Ochino, and pretends to justify the 
 severity with which he was treated, in such a taunting and uncharitable 
 manner as does him little credit. See his Epist. Theolog. Geneve, 
 1575. What the writers of the Romish church have laid to the charge 
 of Ochino, may be seen in the life of cardinal Commendoni, written by 
 Gratiani, bishop of Amelia, (and published in a French translation by 
 
 the eloquent Flechier, bishop of Nismes,) B. 2.C. 9. p. 188—149. N. 
 
490 
 
 other reformed communities, the privileges, or even the 
 denomination of a true*church. This moderation of the 
 Helvetic doctors was the dictate of prudence. ‘They did 
 not, think it expedient to contend with a generous and 
 flourishing people, or to incur the displeasure of a mighty 
 queen, whose authority seemed to extend not only over her 
 own dominions, but even to the United Provinces, which 
 were placed in her neighbourhood, and, in some measure, 
 under her protection. Nor did the apprehensions of a ge- 
 neral schism in the reformed church contribute a little to 
 render them meek, moderate, and pacific. It is one thing 
 to punish and excommunicate a handful of weak and un- 
 supported individuals, who attempt to disturb the tran- 
 quillity of the state by the introduction of opinions, which, 
 though neither highly absurd, nor of dangerous conse- 
 quence, have yet the demerit of novelty ; and another to 
 irritate, or promote divisions in a flourishing church, which, 
 though weakened by intestine feuds, is yet both powerful 
 and respectable in a high degree. Besides, the dispute 
 between the church of England and the other reformed 
 churches, did not, as yet, turn upon points of doctrine, but 
 only on the rites of external worship and the form of ec- 
 clesiastical government. It is, however, to be observed, 
 that, soou after the period now under consideration, cer- 
 tain religious doctrines were introduced into the debate 
 between the churches, that contributed much to widen 
 
 34>" All the protestant divines of the reformed church, whether pu- 
 ritans or others, seemed, indeed, hitherto of one mind about the doc- 
 trines of faith. But, toward the latter end of queen Elizabeth’s reign, 
 there arose a party, that first wished to soften, and then to overthrow, the 
 received opinions concerning predestination, perseverance, free-will, ef- 
 fectual grace, and the extent of Christ’s redemption. ‘These are thedoc- 
 trines to which Dr. Mosheim alludes in this passage. The clergy of 
 the episcopal church began to lean toward the notions concerning these 
 intricate points, which Arminius propagated some time after this; 
 while, on the other hand, the puritans adhered rigorously to the system 
 of Calvin. Several episcopal doctors remained attached to the same 
 system; and all these abettors of Calvinism, whether episcopal or 
 presbyterian, were called doctrinal puritans. 
 
 b The modern Mennonites reject the denomination of Anabaptists, 
 and also disavow the custom of repeating the ceremony of baptism, 
 whence this denomination is derived. ‘They acknowledge that the an- 
 cient Anabaptists practised the repetition of baptism to those who 
 
 ‘joined them from other Christian churches; but they maintain, at the 
 same time, that this custom is at present abolished by the far greater 
 part of their community. See Herm. Schyn’s Historia Mennonita- 
 rum plenior Deductio, cap. i. But here, if Ido not mistake, these good 
 men forget that ingenuous candour and simplicity, of which, on other 
 occasions, they make such ostentation, and have recourse to artifice, in 
 order to disguise the true cause and origin of the denomination in 
 question. ‘They pretend, for instance, that the Anabaptists, their ances- 
 tors, were so called from their baptizing a second dime all the adult per- 
 sons who left other churches to enter into their communion. But it is 
 certain, that the denomination in question was given to them, not only 
 on this account, but also, and indeed principally, from the following 
 consideration ; that they did not look upon those who had been baptized 
 in a state of infancy, or at a tender age, as rendered, by the administra- 
 tion of this sacrament, true members of the Christian church; and 
 therefore insisted upon their being re-baptized, in order to their being re- 
 ceived into the communion of the Anabaptists. It is likewise certain that 
 ail the churches of that communion, however they may vary in other re- 
 spects, and differ from each other in their tenets and practices, agree never- 
 theless in this opinion, and persevere obstinately init. In a more espe- 
 cial manner are the ancient Flemish Anabaptists entitled to this denomi- 
 nation; for they not only re-baptized the children that had been already 
 baptized in other churches, but even observed the same method with 
 *espect to persons who had reached the years of reason and diseretion: 
 ana, what is still more remarkable, the different sects of Anabaptists 
 
 deal in the same manner one with another; each sect rebaptizes the 
 persons that enter into its communion, although they have already 
 received that sacrament in another sect of the same denomination ; and 
 the reason of this conduct is, that each sect considers its baptism alone 
 as pure and valid. It is indeed to be observed, that there is another 
 class of Anabaptists, called Waterlandians, who are more moderate in 
 their principles, and wiser in all respects than those now mentioned, and 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Sect. IT]. 
 
 the breach, and to obscure the prospect of reconcilia- 
 tion.* 
 
 XLIV. That the reformed church abounded, during 
 this century, with great and eminent men, justly celebra- 
 ted for their talents and learning, is too well known to re- 
 quire proof. Beside Calvin, Zuingle, and Beza, who ex- 
 hibited to the republic of letters very striking instances 
 of genius and erudition, we may place, in the list of those 
 who have gained an immortal name by their writings, 
 Ccolampadius, Bullinger, Farel, Viret, Martyr, Biblian- 
 der, Musculus, Pelican, Lavater, Hospinian, Ursinus, 
 Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, Szegedinus, and 
 many others, whose names and merits are recorded by the 
 writers of literary history, particularly by Melchior Adam, 
 Antony Wood, Gerard Brandt, and Daniel Neal, the learn- 
 ed and industrious author of the History of the Puritans. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The History of the Anabaptists or Mennonites. 
 
 I. Tue true origin of that sect which acquired the 
 denomination of Anabaptists® by their administering 
 anew the rite of baptism to those who came over to their 
 communion, and derived that of Mennonites from the 
 famous man to whom they owe the greatest part of their 
 present felicity, is hidden in the depths of antiquity, and 
 
 who do not pretend to re-baptize adult persons already baptized in other 
 Christian churches, or in other sects of their own denomination. These 
 moderate sectaries are, however, with propriety termed Anabaptists, on 
 account of their re-baptizing such as had received the baptismal rite in 
 a state of infancy or childhood. The patrons of this sect seem, indeed, 
 very studious to conceal a practice which they cannot deny to take 
 place among them; and their eagerness to conceal it, arises from a fear 
 of reviving the hatred and severities which formerly pursued them, 
 They are apprehensive that, by acknowledging the truth, the modern 
 Mennonites may be considered as the descendants of those flagitious 
 and fanatical Anabaptists of Munster, whose enormities rendered their 
 very name odious to all true Christians. All this appears evident from 
 the following passage in Schyn’s Historie Mennonitarum plenior De- 
 ductio, tom. 11. where that author pretends to prove that his brethren are 
 unjustly stigmatized with the odious denomination of Anabaptists. 
 His words are: ‘ Anabaptismus ille plane obsolevit; et a multis retro 
 annis neminem cujuscunque secte Christiane fidei, juxta mandatum 
 Christi baptizatum, dum ad nostras Ecclesias transire cupit, re-baptiza- 
 verunt.” i. e. That species of Anabaptism with which we are charged 
 exists no longer, nor has it happened during the space of many years 
 past, that any person professing Christianity, of whatever church or 
 sect he may have been, and who had been previously baptized accord- 
 ing to the commandment of Christ, has been re-baptized upon his enter- 
 ing into ourcommunion. This passage would, at first sight, induce an 
 inattentive reader to imagine that there is no such thing among the 
 modern Mennonites, as the custom of re-baptizing those who enter into 
 their community. But the words, juzta mandatum Christi, discover 
 sufficiently the artifice and fraud that lie hidden in this apology; for the 
 Anabaptists maintain that there is no commandment of Christ in favour 
 of infant baptism. Moreover, we see the whole fallacy exposed, by 
 what the author adds to the sentence already quoted: ‘ Sed illam etiam 
 aduliorum baptismum ut sufficientem agnoscunt.” Nevertheless, this 
 author, as if he had perfectly proved his point, concludes, with an air ot 
 triumph, that the odious name of Anabaptists cannot be given, with an 
 
 propriety, to the Mennonites at this day; ‘ Quare (says he,) verissi- 
 mum est, illud odiosum nomen Anabaptistarum illis non convenire.” 
 In this, however, he is certainly in an error; and the name in question 
 is as applicable to the modern Mennonites, as it was to the sect from 
 which they descend, since the best and wisest of the Mennonites main- 
 tain, in conformity with the principles of the ancient Anabaptists, that 
 the baptism of infants is destitute of validity, and consequently are 
 very careful in re-baptizing their proselytes, notwithstanding their 
 having been baptized in their tender years, in other Christian churches, 
 Many circumstances persuade me that the declarations and representa- 
 tions of things given by the modern Mennonites, are not always worthy 
 of credit. Unhappily instructed by the miseries and calamities in 
 which their ancestors were involved, they are anxiously careful to con- 
 ceal entirely those tenets and laws which are the distinguishing charac- 
 teristics of their sect; while they embellish what they cannot totally 
 
Part IL. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 AQ1 
 
 js, of consequence, extremely difficult to be ascertained.* || of those, who, before the dawn of the reformation, enter- 
 
 This uncertainty will not appear surprising, when it is 
 considered, that this sect started up suddenly in several 
 countries, at the same point of time, under leaders of dif- 
 ferent talents and different intentions, and at the very 
 
 sriod when the first contests of the reformers with the 
 tain pontiffs drew the attention of the world, and em- 
 ployed the pens of the learned, in such a manner, as to 
 render all other objects and incidents almost matters of 
 indifference. ‘The modern Mennonites not only consider 
 themselves as the descendants of the Waldenses, who 
 were so grievously oppressed and persecuted by the des- 
 potic heads of the Romish church, but pretend, more- 
 
 over, to be the purest offspring of these respectable suf-, 
 ferers, being equally averse to all principles-of rebellion, | 
 
 on the one hand, and all suggestions of fanaticism on 
 the other.» Their adversaries, on the contrary, repre- 
 sent them as the descendants of those turbulent and furi- 
 ous Anabaptists, who, in the sixteenth century, involved 
 Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and more especially the 
 province of Westphalia, in such scenes of blood, per- 
 plexity, and distress ; and allege, that, terrified by the 
 dreadful fate of their associates, and also influenced by the 
 moderate counsels and wise injunctions of Mennon, they 
 abandoned the ferocity of their primitive enthusiasm, and 
 were gradually brought to a better mind. After having 
 examined these different accounts of the origin of the 
 Anabaptists with the utmost attention and impartiality, 
 I have found that neither of them can justly be pronoun- 
 ced conformable to strict truth. 
 
 II. It may be observed, in the first place, that the 
 Mennonites are not entirely in an error when they boast 
 of their descent from the Waldenses, Petrobrusians, 
 and other ancient sects, who are usually considered as 
 witnesses of the truth, in the times of general darkness 
 and superstition. Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, 
 there lay concealed, in almost all the countries of Europe, 
 particularly in Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland, and Ger- 
 many, many persons, who adhered tenaciously to the fol- 
 
 lowing doctrine, which the Waldenses, Wickliffites, and. 
 
 Hussites, had maintained, some in a more disguised, and 
 others in a more open and public manner; viz. “'That 
 the kingdom of Christ, or the visible church which he 
 established upon earth, was an assembly of true and real 
 saints, and ought therefore to be inaccessible to the wicked 
 and unrighteous, and also exempt from all those institu- 
 tions which human prudence suggests, to oppose the pro- 
 
 gress of iniquity, or to correct and reform transgressors.” | 
 
 This maxim is the true source of all the peculiarities 
 that are to be found in the religious doctrine and disci- 
 pline of the Mennonites; and it is most certain, that the 
 greatest part of these peculiarities were approved by many 
 
 conceal, and disguise with the greatest art such of their institutions as 
 otherwise might appear of a pernicious tendency, and might expose 
 them to censure. 
 
 * The writers for and against the Anabaptists are amply enumerated 
 by Caspar Sagittarius, in his Introductio ad Histor. Eccles. tom. i. p. 
 §26. and by Christ. M. Pfaffius, in his Introduct. in Histor. Liter. Theo- 
 logiz, part ii. p. 349.— Add to these a modern writer and a Mennonite 
 
 reacher, Herman Schyn, who published at Amsterdam, in 1723, his 
 Historia Mennonitarum, and,*in 1729, his Plenior Deductio Histor. 
 Mennonit. These two books, though they do not deserve the title of a 
 History of the Mennonites, are nevertheless useful, in order to come at 
 a thorough knowledge of the affairs of this sect; for this aythor is much 
 more intent upon defending his brethren against the accusations and 
 reproaches with which they have been loaded, than careful in tracing 
 out the origin, progress, and revolutions of their sect. Indeed the Men- 
 
 tained the notion already mentioned, relating to the visi- 
 ble church of Christ. 'There were, however, different 
 ways of thinking among the different members of this 
 sect, with respect to the methods of attaining such a per- 
 fect church-establishment as they had in view. Some, 
 who were of a fanatical complexion on the one hand, and 
 were persuaded on the other, that such a visible church 
 as they had modelled out in fancy, could not be realized 
 by the power of man, entertained the pleasing hope, that 
 God, in his own good time, would erect to himself a holy 
 church, exempt from every degree of blemish and impu- 
 rity, and would set apart, for the execution of this grand 
 design, a certain number of chosen instruments, divinely 
 assisted and prepared for this work, by the extraordinary 
 succours of his Holy Spirit. Others, of a more prudent 
 and rational turn of mind, entertained different views of 
 
 | this matter. They neither expected stupenduous mira- 
 
 cles, nor extraordinary revelations, since they were per- 
 suaded, that it was possible, by human wisdom, industry, 
 and vigilance, to purify the church from the contagion of 
 the wicked, and restore it to the simplicity of its original 
 constitution, provided that the manners and spirit of the 
 primitive Christians could recover their lost dignity and 
 lustre. 
 
 IiI. The drooping spirits of these people, who had been 
 dispersed through many countries, and persecuted every 
 where with the greatest severity, were revived when they 
 were informed that Luther, seconded by several persons 
 of eminent piety, had attempted with success the reforma- 
 tion of the church. ‘Then they spoke with openness and 
 freedom ; and the enthusiasm of the fanatical, as well as 
 the prudence of the wise, discovered themselves in their 
 natural colours. Some of them imagined, that the time 
 was now come in which God himself was to dwell with 
 his servants in an extraordinary manner, by celestial suc- 
 cours, and to establish upon earth a kingdom truly spiritu- 
 al and divine. Others, less sanguine and chimerical in 
 their expectations, flattered themselves, nevertheless, with 
 the fond hope of the approach of that happy period, in 
 which the restoration of the church, which had been so 
 long expected in vain, was to be accomplished, under the 
 divine protection, by the labours and counsels of pious 
 and eminent men. ‘This sect was soon joined by great 
 numbers, and (as usually happens in sudden revolutions 
 of this nature) by many persons, whose characters and ca- 
 pacities were very different, though their views seemed to 
 turn upon the same object. Their progress was rapid ; 
 for, in a very short time, their discourses, visions, and 
 predictions, excited commoions in a great part of Europe, 
 and drew into their communion a prodigious multitude, 
 whose ignorance rendered them easy victims to the illu- 
 
 nonites have not much reason to boast either of the extraordinary learn- 
 ing or dexterity of this their patron; and it is to be imagined, that they 
 may easily find amore able defender. For an accurate account of the 
 Mennonite historians, and their confessions of faith, see Jo. Christ. Ko- 
 cheri Bibliotheca Theol. Symbolic, p. 461. 
 
 > Sce Herm. Schyn’s Plenior Deductio Histor. Mennon. cap. i. as 
 also a Dutch work by Galen Abrahamzon, entitled, Verdediging der 
 Christenen, die Doopsgesinde genand worden. 
 
 * See, for an account of the religious sentiments of the Waldenses, 
 Limborch’s excellent History of the Inquisition, translated into English 
 by the learned Dr. Samuel Chandler, book i. chap. vui.—It appears 
 
 '| from undoubted testimonies, that the W ickliffites and Hussites did not great- 
 
 ly differ from the Waldenses, with regard to the point underconsideration. 
 3’r See also Lydii Waldensia, and Allixs Ancient Churches o1 
 | Piedmont, ch. xxiii—xxvi. p. 211—200. N. 
 
492 
 
 sions of enthusiasm. It is, however, to be observed, that, 
 as the leaders of this sect had fallen into that erroneous 
 
 and chimerical notion, that the new kingdom of Christ, | 
 
 which they expected, was to be exempted from every kind 
 of vice, and from the smallest degree of imperfection and 
 corruption, they were not satisfied with the plan of reform- 
 ation proposed by Luther. They looked upon it as much 
 beneath the sublimity of their views, and, consequently, 
 undertook a more perfect reformation, or, to express more 
 properly their visionary enterprise, they proposed to found 
 a true church, entirely spiritual, and truly divine. 
 IV. It is difficult to determine, with certainty, the parti- 
 cular spot that gave birth to that seditious and pestilential 
 sect of Anabaptists, whose tumultuous and desperate at- 
 tempts were equally pernicious to the cause of religion, 
 and the civil interests of maukind. Whether this sect 
 arose in Switzerland, Germany, or Holland, is still a point 
 of debate, whose decision is of no great importance.* It is 
 most probable, that several persons of this odious class 
 made their appearance at the same time, in different coun- 
 tries; and we may fix this period soon after the dawn of the 
 Reformation in Germany, when Luther arose to set bounds 
 to the ambition of Rome. ‘This appears from a variety of 
 circumstances, and especially from this striking one, that 
 the first Anabaptist doctors of any eminence were, almost 
 all, heads and leaders of particular and separate sects ; for 
 it must be carefully observed, that though all these pro- 
 jectors of a new, unspotted, and perfect church, were com- 
 prehended under the general denomination of Anabaptists, 
 on account of their opposing the baptism of infants, and 
 their re-baptizing such as had received that sacrament in 
 a state of childhood in other churches, yet they were, from 
 their very origin, subdivided into various sects, which dif- 
 fered from each other in points of no small moment. ‘The 
 most pernicious faction of all those that composed this 
 motley multitude, was the sect which pretended that the 
 founders of the new and perfect church, already men- 
 tioned, were under the direction of a divine impulse, and 
 were armed against all opposition by the power of work- 
 ing miracles. It was this detestable faction that, in 1521, 
 began their fanatical work, under the guidance of Mun- 
 zer, Stubner, Storck, and other leaders of the same furious 
 complexion, and excited the most unhappy tumults and 
 commotions in Saxony and the adjacent countries. They 
 employed at first the various arts of persuasion, in order 
 to propagate their doctrine. ‘They preached, exhorted, ad- 
 monished, and reasoned, in a manner that seemed proper 
 to gain the multitude, and related a great number of vi- 
 sions and revelations, with which they pretended to have 
 been favoured from above. But when they saw that these 
 methods of making proselytes were not attended with such 
 rapid success as they fondly expected, and that the minis- 
 try of Luther, and other eminent reformers, proved detri- 
 mental to their cause, they had recourse to more expedi- 
 tious measures, and madly attempted to propagate their 
 fanatical doctrine by force o* arms. Munzer and his as- 
 sociates assembled, in 1525 a numerous army, chiefly 
 composed of the peasants of Suabia, Thuringia, Franco- 
 
 * Fueslin has attempted to examine, whether the Anabaptists first 
 arose in Germany or Switzerland, in a German work, entitled, Bey- 
 trage zur Schwezerisch Reformat. Geschichte, tom. i. p. 190; tom. ii. 
 p. 64, 265, 327; tom. iii. p. 923; but without success. 
 
 b See Seckendorf, Histor. Lutheranismi, lib. i. p. 192, 304. lib. ii. p- 
 13.—Sleidan, Commentar. lib. y. p. 47.—Joach. Camerarii Vita Me- 
 iancthonis, p. 44. 
 
 | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Secr. III. 
 
 nia, and Saxony, and, at the head of this credulous and 
 deluded rabble, declared war against all laws, govern- 
 ments, and magistrates of every kind, under the chimeri- 
 cal pretext, that Christ was now to take the reins of civil 
 and ecclesiastical government into his own hands, and to 
 rule alone over the nations. But this seditious crowd was 
 routed and dispersed, without much difficulty, by the 
 elector of Saxony and other princes; Munzer was igno- 
 miniously put to death, and his factious counsellors were * 
 scattered abroad in different places.» 
 
 V. This bloody defeat of one part of these seditious and 
 turbulent fanatics, did not produce that effect upon the rest 
 which might naturally have been expected ; it rendered 
 them, indeed, more timorous, but it did not open their eyes 
 upon their delusion. It is certain, that, even after this pe- 
 riod, numbers of them, who were infected with the same 
 odious principles that occasioned the destruction of Mun- 
 zer, wandered about in Germany, Switzerland, and Hol- 
 land, and excited the people to rebellion. by their seditious 
 discourses. They collected congregations in several 
 places ; affected to foretel, in consequence of a divine 
 commission, the approaching abolition of magistracy, and 
 the downfall of civil rulers and governors ; and, while 
 they pretended to be ambassadors of the Most High, in- 
 sulted on many occasions the majesty of Heaven by the 
 most flagitious crimes. ‘Those who distinguished them- 
 selves by the enormity of their conduct in this infamous 
 sect, were Louis Hetzer, Balthazar Hubmeyer, Felix 
 Mentz, Conrad Grebel, Melchior Hoffman, and George 
 Jacob, who, if their power had seconded their designs, 
 would have involved all Switzerland, Holland, and Ger- 
 many, in tumult and bloodshed. A great part of this 
 rabble seemed really delirious; and nothing more ex- 
 travagant or more incredible can be imagined than the 
 dreams and visions that were constantly arising in their 
 disordered brains. Such of them as had some sparks of 
 reason left, and bad reflexion enough to reduce their no- 
 tions into a certain form, maintained, among others, the 
 following points of doctrine: “ That the church of Christ 
 ought to be exempt from all sin; that all things ought to 
 be in common among the faithful; that all usury, tithes, 
 and tribute, ought to be entirely abolished; that the bap- 
 tism of infants was an invention of the devil; that every 
 Christian was invested with a power of preaching the Gos- 
 pel, and, consequently, that the church stood in no need 
 of ministers or pastors; that,in the kingdom of Christ 
 civil magistrates were absolutely useless; and that God 
 still continued to reveal his will to chosen persons by 
 dreams and visions.Ӣ 
 
 It would betray, however, a strange ignorance, or an 
 unjustifiable partiality, to maintain, that all.those who 
 professed this eccentric and absurd doctrine were charge- 
 able with that furious and brutal extravagance which has 
 been mentioned as the character of too great a part of 
 their sect. This was by no means the case; several of 
 these enthusiasts discovered a milder and more pacific 
 spirit, and were free from any other reproach, than that 
 which resulted from the errors they maintained, and their 
 
 See Jo. Bapt. Ottii Annales Anabaptist. p. 21—Jo. Hornbeckii 
 Summa Controvers. lib. v. p. 332—Anton. Matthei Analect. veteria 
 Evi, tom. iv. p. 629, 677, 679.—Bernard. Raupachii Aust. Evangel, 
 t. 1. p. 41.—Jo. Georg. Schelhorn, Act. ad Hist. Ec. pertin. t. i. p. 100.— 
 See also Arnold’s Kirchen Hist. lib. xvi. c. xxi. and Fueslin’s Beytrage. 
 
 4 This account of the doctrine of the Anabaptists is principally taken 
 from the learned Fueslin already quoted. 
 
Parr II. 
 
 too ardent desire of spreading them among the multitude. | 
 It may still farther be affirmed with truth, that many of 
 those who followed the wiser class of Anabaptists, and 
 even some who adhered to the most extravagant factions 
 of that sect, were men of upright intentions and sincere 
 piety, who were seduced into this mystery of fanaticism 
 and iniquity, on the one hand, by their ignorance and 
 sumplicity, and, on the other, by a laudable desire of re- 
 forming the corrupt state of religion. 
 
 VI. ‘The progress of this turbulent sect, in almost all 
 the countries of Europe, alarmed all who had any concern 
 for the public good. Princes, and sovereign states, exert- 
 ed themselves to check these rebellious enthusiasts in their 
 career, by issuing out, first, severe edicts to restrain their 
 violence, and employing, at length, capital punishments 
 to conguer their obstinacy. But here a maxim, already 
 verified by repeated experience, received a new degree of 
 confirmation ; for the conduct of the Anabaptists, under 
 the pressure of persecution, plainly showed the extreme 
 difficulty of correcting or influencing, by the prospect of 
 suffering, or even by the terrors of death, minds that are 
 either deeply tainted with the poison of fanaticism, or 
 firmly bound by the ties of religion. In almost all the 
 countries of Europe, an unspeakable number of these 
 unhappy wretches preferred death, in its worst forms, to a 
 retraction of their errors. Neither the view of the flames 
 that were kindled to consume them, nor the ignominy of 
 the gibbet, nor the terrors of the sword, could shake their 
 invincible, but ill-placed constancy, or make them aban- 
 don tenets, that appeared dearer to them than life and all 
 its enjoyments. ‘he Mennonites have preserved volu- 
 minous records of the lives, actions, and unhappy fate of 
 those of their sect, who suffered death for the crimes of rebel- 
 lion or heresy, which were imputed to them. Certain 
 it is, that they were treated with severity ; and it is much 
 to be lamented that so little distinction was made between 
 the members of this sect, when the sword of justice was 
 unsheathed against them. Why were the innocent and 
 the guilty involved in the same fate? Why were doc- 
 trines purely theological, or, at worst, fanatical, punished 
 with the same rigour that was shown to crimes inconsis- 
 tent with the peace and welfare of civil society? ‘Those 
 who had no other marks of peculiarity than their adminis- 
 tering baptism to adult persons only, and their excluding 
 the unrighteous from the external communion of the 
 church, ought undoubtedly to have met with milder treat- 
 ment than that which was given to those seditious incen- 
 diaries, who were for unhinging all government and des- 
 troying all civil authority. Many suffered for errors which 
 they had embraced with the most upright intentions, 
 seduced by the eloquence and fervour of their doctors, and 
 persuading themselves that they were contributing to the 
 
 * It was in Saxony, if I mistake not, and also in the year 1525, that 
 penal laws were first enacted against this fanatical tribe. These laws 
 were renewed in 1527, 1528, 1534. See a German work of the learned 
 Kappius, entitled, Nachlese von Reformations Urkunden, part i. p. 176. 
 Caarles V. incensed at the increasing impudence and iniquity of these 
 enthusiasts, issued out against them severe edicts, in the years 1527 and 
 1529. (See Ottii Annales Anabapt. p. 45.) The magistrates of Swit- 
 zerland treated, at first, with remarkable lenity and indulgence, the 
 Anabaptists who lived under their government; but when it was found 
 that this lenity rendered them still more enterprising and insolent, it 
 was judged proper to have recourse to a different manner of proceeding. 
 Accordingly the magistrates of Zurich, in 1525, denounced capital 
 punishment against this riotous sect. 
 
 b See Joach. Christ. Jehring, Prefat. ad Historiam Mennonitarum. 
 
 © Bockhold, or Bockelson, aliis John of Leyden, who headed them at 
 
 No. XLIi. 124 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 493 
 
 advancement of true religion. But, as the greatest part 
 of these enthusiasts had communicated to the multitude 
 their visionary notions, concerning the new spiritual king- 
 dom that was soon to be erected, and the abolition of ma- 
 gistracy and civil government that was to be the imme- 
 diate effect of this great revolution, this rendered the very 
 name of an Anabaptist unspeakably odious, and made it 
 always excite the idea of a seditious incendiary, a pest to 
 human society. It is true, that many Anabaptists suffered 
 death, not on account of their being considered as rebel- 
 lious subjects, but merely because they were judged to be 
 incorrigible heretics; for in this century the error of limit- 
 ing the administration of baptism to adult persons only, 
 and the practice of re-baptizing such as had received that 
 sacrament in a state of infancy, were looked upon as most 
 flagitious and intolerable heresies. It is, nevertheless, 
 certain, that the greatest part of these wretched sufferers 
 owed their unhappy fate to their rebellious principles and 
 tumultuous proceedings, and that many also were punish- 
 ed for their temerity and imprudence, which had led them 
 to the commission of various crimes. 
 
 VIL. ‘There stands upon record a most shocking in- 
 stance of this, in the dreadful commotions that were ex- 
 cited at Munster, in 1533, by some Dutch Anabaptists, 
 who chose that city as the scene of their horrid operations, 
 and committed in it such deeds as would surpass all cre- 
 dibility, were they not attested in a manner that excludes 
 every degree of doubt and uncertainty. A handful of 
 madmen, who had gotten into their heads the visionary 
 notion of a new and spiritual kingdom, soon to be esta- 
 blished in an extraordinary manner, formed themselves 
 into a society, under the guidance of a few illiterate leaders 
 chosen out of the populace; and they persuaded, not only 
 the ignorant multitude, but even several among the learn- 
 ed, that Munster was to be the seat of this new and hea- 
 venly Jerusalem, whose spiritual dominion was thence to 
 be propagated to all parts of the earth. The bold ring- 
 leaders of this furious tribe were John Matthison, John 
 Bockhold, a tailor of Leyden, one Gerard, with some 
 others, whom the blind rage of enthusiasm, or the still 
 more culpable principles of sedition, had embarked in this 
 extravagant and desperate cause. ‘They made themselves 
 masters of the city of Munster, deposed the magistrates, and 
 committed all the enormous crimes, and ridiculous follies, 
 which the most perverse and infernal imagination could 
 suggest. John Bockhold was proclaimed king and legis- 
 lator of this new hierarchy; but his reign was transitory, 
 and his end deplorable ; for Munster was, in 1536, retaken 
 after a long siege by its bishop and sovereign, count Wal- 
 deck, the New Jerusalem of the Anabaptists destroyed, 
 and its mock monarch punished with a most painful and 
 ignominious death.¢ ‘The disorders occasioned by the 
 
 Munster, ran naked in the streets, married eleven wives, at the same 
 time, to show his approbation of polygamy; and entitled himself king 
 of Sion; all which formed but a very small part of the pernicious follies 
 of this mock monarch. 
 
 4 See Anton. Corvini Narratio-de miserabili Monaster. Anabapt. Ex 
 cidio.—Casp. Sagittar. Introduct. in Histor. Ecclesiast. tom. i. p. 537 
 and 835.—Herm. Hamelmann, Historia Renati Evangelii in urbe Mo- 
 naster. in Operib. Genealogico-Historicis, p. 1203.—T he elegant Latin 
 poem of Bolandus in elegiae verse, entitled, J. Fabricii Bolandi Motus 
 Monasteriens. Libri decem,—Herm. Kerssenbrock, Histor. Belli Mo- 
 naster. edited by Dan. Gerdes in Miscellan. Groningens. Nov. tom. il. 
 The last-mentioned author speaks also of Bernard Rothman, an ecclesi- 
 astic of Munster, who had introduced the reformation into that city, but 
 afterwards was infected with the enthusiasm of the Anabapusts ; and 
 who, though, in other respects, he had shown himself to be neither desti- 
 
A94 
 
 Anabaptists at this period, not only in Westphalia, but also 
 in other parts of Germany,* showed too plainly to what 
 horrid extremities the pernicious doctrines of this wrong- 
 headed sect were calculated tu lead the inconsiderate and 
 unwary ; and therefore it is not at all to be wondered, 
 that the secular arm employed rigorous measures to ex- 
 tirpate a faction, which was the occasion, and the source, 
 of unspeakable calamities in so many countries.” 
 
 VII. While the terrors of death, in the most dreadful 
 forms, were presented to the view of this miserable sect, 
 and numbers of them were executed every day, without 
 a proper distinction being made between the innocent and 
 the guilty, those who escaped the severity of justice were 
 in the most discouraging situation that can well be ima- 
 gined. On the one hand, they beheld, with sorrow, all 
 their hopes blasted by the total defeat of their brethren at 
 Munster; and, on the other, they were filled with the 
 most anxious apprehensions of the perils that threatened 
 them on all sides. In this critical situation they derived 
 much comfort and assistance from the counsels and zeal 
 of Menno Simonis, a native of Friseland, who had former- 
 ly been a popish priest, and, as he himself confesses, a 
 notorious profligate. ‘This man went over to the Anabap- 
 tists, at first, in a clandestine manner, and frequented their 
 assemblies with the utmost secrecy ; but, in 1436, he threw 
 off the mask, resigned his rank and office in the Romish 
 Church, and publicly embraced theircommunion. About 
 a year after this, he was earnestly solicited by many of the 
 sect toassume among them the rank and functions of a 
 public teacher; and as he looked upon the persons, from 
 whom this proposal came, to be exempt from the fanatical 
 phrenzy of their brethren at Munster, (though, according 
 io other accounts, they were originally of the same stamp, 
 only rendered somewhat wiser by their sufferings,) he 
 yielded to their entreaties. From this period to the end of 
 his days, that is, during the space of twenty-five years, he 
 travelled from one country to another with his wife and 
 children, exercising his ministry under a series of pressures 
 and calamities of various kinds, and constantly exposed 
 to the danger of falling a victim to the severity of the 
 laws. Hast and West Friseland, together with the pro- 
 vince of Groningen, were first visited by the zealous apos- 
 tle of the Anabaptists: thence he directed his course into 
 
 tute of learning nor of virtue, yet enlisted himself in this fanatical 
 tribe, and had a share in their most turbulent and furious proceedings. 
 x= * The scenes of violence, tumult, and sedition, that were exhibit- 
 ed in Holland by this odious tribe, were likewise terrible. They form- 
 ed the design of reducing the city of Leyden to ashes, but were happily 
 prevented, and severely punished. John of Leyden, the Anabaptist 
 king of Munster, had taken it into his head that God had made him a 
 present of the cities of Amsterdam, Deventer, and Wesel; in conse- 
 quence of which, he sent bishops to these three places, to preach his gos- 
 pel of sedition and carnage. About the beginning of the year 1535, 
 twelve Anabaptists, of whom five were women, assembled at midnight 
 in a private house at Amsterdam. One of them, who was a tailor by 
 profession, fell into a trance, and, after having preached and prayed 
 during the space of four hours, stripped himself naked, threw his clothes 
 into the fire, and commanded all the assembly to do the same, in which 
 he was obeyed without the least reluctance. He then ordered them to 
 follow him through the streets in this state of nature, which they ac- 
 cordingly did, howling and bawling out, “Wo! wo! the wrath of 
 God! wo to Babylon!” When, after being seized and brought before 
 the magistrates, clothes were offered them to cover their indecency, they 
 refused them aeeae £ and cried aloud, “ We are the naked truth.” 
 When they were brought to the scaffold, they sang, danced, and disco- 
 vered all the marks of enthusiastic phrenzy.—These tumults were fol- 
 lowed by a regular and deep laid conspiracy, formed by Van Geelen 
 (an envoy of the mock king of Munster, who had made a very conside- 
 rable number of prosclytes) against the magistrates of Amsterdam, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Sect. Ill 
 
 Holland, Guelderland, Brabant, and Westphalia, continu- 
 ed it through the German provinces on the coast of the 
 Baltic sea, and penetrated as far as Livonia. In all these 
 places his ministerial labours were attended with remarka- 
 ble success, and added to his sect a prodigious number. of 
 proselytes. Hence he is deservedly looked upon as the 
 common chief of almostall the Anabaptists, and the parent 
 of the sect that still subsists under that denomination. 
 The success of this missionary will not appear very sur- 
 prising to those who are acquainted with his character, 
 spirit, and talents, and who have a just notion of the state 
 of the Anabaptists at the period now under consideration. 
 Menno was a man of genius; though, as his writings 
 show, his genius was not under the direction of a very 
 sound judgment. He had the inestimable advantage of 
 a natural and persuasive eloquence, and his learning was 
 sufficient to make him pass for an oracle in the eyes of 
 the multitude. He appears, moreover, to have been a man 
 of probity, of a meek and tractable spirit, gentle in his 
 manners, pliant and obsequious in his commerce with 
 persons of all ranks and characters, and extremely zeal- 
 ous in promoting practical religion and virtue, which he 
 recommended by his example, as well as by his precepts. 
 A man of such talents and dispositions could not fail to at- 
 tract the admiration of the people, and to gain a great 
 number of adherents wherever he exercised his ministry. 
 But no where could he expect a more plentiful harvest 
 than among the Anabaptists, whose ignorance and sim- 
 plicity rendered them peculiarly susceptible of new impres- 
 sions, and who, having been long accustomed to leaders 
 that resembled phrenetic Bacchanals more than Christian 
 ministers, and often deluded by odious impostors, who in- 
 volved them in endless perils and calamities, were rejoiced 
 to find at length a teacher, whose doctrine and manners 
 flattered them with the hopes of more prosperous days.¢ 
 
 IX. Menno drew up a plan of doctrine and discipline 
 of a much more mild and moderate nature than that of the 
 furious and fanatical Anabaptists already mentioned, but 
 somewhat more severe, though more clear and consistent, 
 than the doctrine of some of the wiser branches of that 
 sect, who aimed at nothing more than the restoration of 
 the Christian church to its primitive purity. Accordingly 
 he condemned the plan of ecclesiastical discipline, that was 
 
 with a design to wrest the government of that city out of their hands. 
 This incendiary marched with his fanatical troops to the town-house on 
 the day appointed, drums beating, and colours flying, and fixed there his 
 head-quarters. He was attacked by the burghers, who were assisted by 
 some regular troops, and headed by several of the burgomasters of the 
 city. After an obstinate resistance, he was surrounded with his whols 
 troop, who were put to death in the severest and most dreadful manner, 
 to serve as examples to the other branches of the sect, who were exciting 
 commotions of a like nature in Friseland, Groningen, and other provin- 
 ces and cities in the Netherlands. 
 
 b Ger. Brandt. Histor. Reform. Belgicz, tom. i. lib. ii. 
 
 ¢ Menno was born in the neighbourhood of Bolswert in Friseland, in 
 1505, and not in 1496, as most writers affirm. After a life of toil, peril, 
 and agitation, he died in peace in 1561, at the country seat of a certain 
 nobleman, (not far from the city of Oldesloe in Holstein,) who, moved 
 with compassion at a view of the perils to which Menno was exposed, 
 and the snares that were daily laid for his ruin, took him, with some of 
 his associates, into his protection, and gave him an asylum. We have 
 
 5] 
 
 | a particular account of this famous Anabaptist in the Cimbria Literata 
 
 of Mollerus, tom. ii. p. 835. Sce also Schyn’s Plenior Deduct. Fistor. 
 Mennon. cap. vi. p. 116.—The writings of Menno, which are almost all 
 composed in the Dutch language, were published at Amsterdam, in 
 1651. An excessively diffuse and rambling style, frequent and unneces- 
 sary repetitions, an irregular and confused method, with other defects of 
 equal moment, render the perusal of these productions highly disagree- 
 able. 
 
Parr II. 
 
 founded on the prospect of a new kingdom, to be miracu- 
 lously established by Jesus Christ on the ruins of civil go- 
 vernment, and the destruction of human rulers, and which 
 had been the pestilential source of such dreadful commo- 
 tions, such execrable rebellions, and such enormous 
 crimes. He declared, publicly, his dislike to that doctrine 
 which pointed out the approach of a marvellous reforma- 
 tion in the church by the means of a new and extraor- 
 dinary effusion of the Holy Spirit. He expressed his ab- 
 horrence of the licentious tenets which several of the 
 Anabaptists had maintained, with respect to the lawful- 
 ness of polygamy and divorce; and finally considered, as 
 unworthy of toleration, those fanatics who were of opinion 
 that the Holy Ghost continued to descend into the minds 
 of many chosen believers, in as extraordinary a manner 
 as it did at the first establishment of the Christian church, 
 and that it testified its peculiar presence to several of the 
 faithful, by miracles, predictions, dreams, and visions of 
 arious kinds. He retained, indeed, the doctrines com- 
 monly received among the Anabaptists in relation to the 
 baptism of infants, the Milleniwm, or thousand-years’ 
 reign of Christ upon earth, the exclusion of magistrates 
 from the Christian church, the abolition of war, and the 
 prohibition of oaths enjoined by our Saviour, and the 
 vanity, as well as the pernicious effects, of human science. 
 But, while Menno retained these doctrines in a general 
 sense, he explained and modified them in such a man- 
 
 * These facts show us plainly how the famous question concerning 
 the origin of the modern Anabaptists may be resolved. The Mennonites 
 oppose, with all their might, the account of their descent from the an- 
 cient, Anabaptists, which we find in so many writers, and would wil- 
 lingly give the modern Anabaptists a more honourable origin. (See 
 Schyn’s Histor. Mennonitar. cap. vill. ix. xxi. p. 223.) The reason of 
 their zeal in this matter is evident. Their situation has rendered them 
 timorous. ‘They live, as it were, in the midst of their enemies, and are 
 constantly filled with an uneasy apprehension, that, at some time or. 
 other, malevolent zealots may take occasion, from their supposed origin, 
 to renew against them the penal laws, by which the seditious Anabap- 
 tists of ancient times suffered in such a dreadful manner. At least, they 
 imagine that the odium under which they lie, will be greatly diminished, 
 if they can prove, to the satisfaction of the public, the falsehood of the 
 general opinion, that ‘“‘the Mennonites are the descendants of the Ana- 
 baptists ;” or, to speak more properly, ‘“ the same individual sect, purged 
 indeed from the fanaticism that formerly disgraced it, and rendered wiser 
 than their ancestors, by reflection and suffering.” 
 
 After comparing diligently and impartially what has been alleged by 
 the Mennonites and their adversaries in relation to this matter, I cannot 
 see what it is properly, thatgforms the subject of their controversy ; and 
 if the merits of the case be stated with accuracy and perspicuity, I do 
 not see how there can be any dispute at all about the matter now under 
 consideration. Tor, in the first place, if the Mennonites mean nothing 
 more than this, that Menno, whom they considered as their parent and 
 their chief, was not infected with those odious opinions which drew the 
 just severity of the laws upon the Anabaptists of Munster; that he 
 neither looked for a new and spotless kingdom that was to be miracu- 
 lously erected on earth, nor excited the multitude to depose magistrates, 
 and abolish civil government; that he neither deceived himself, nor im- 
 posed upon others, by fanatical pretensions to dreams and visions of the 
 supernatural kind; if (I say) this. be all that the Mennonites mean, 
 when they speak of their chief, no person, acquainted with the history 
 of their sect, will pretend to contradict them. Even those who maintain 
 that there was an immediate and intimate connexion between the an- 
 cient and modern Anabaptists, will readily allow to be true, all that has 
 been here said of Menno.—2dly, Ifthe Anabaptists maintain, that such 
 of their churches as received their doctrine and discipline from Menno, 
 have not only discovered, without interruption, a pacific spirit and an 
 unlimited submission to civil government, (abstaining from every thing 
 that bears the remotest aspect of sedition, and showing the utmost ab- 
 norrence of wars and bloodshed,) but have even banished from their 
 confessions of faith, and their religious instructions, all those tenets and 
 principles which led the ancient Anabaptists to disobedience, violence, 
 and rebellion; this also will be readily granted.—And if they allege, in 
 the third plac, that even the Anabaptists who lived before Menno, were 
 not all so delirious as Munzer, or so outrageous as the fanatical mem- 
 bers of the sect, who rendered their memory eternally odious by the 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 A95 
 
 “her, as made them resemble the religious tenets which 
 were universally received in the protestant churches ; and 
 this rendered them agreeable to many, and made them 
 appear inoffensive even t® numbers who had no inelina- 
 tion to embrace them. Indeed, it so happened, that the 
 nature of the doctrines, considered in themselves, the elo- 
 quence of Menno, which set them off to such advantage, 
 and the circunistances of the times, gave a high degree 
 of credit to the religious system of this famous teacher 
 among the Anabaptists, so that it made a rapid progress 
 in that sect. And thus it was in consequence of the 
 ministry of Menno that the different sorts of Anabaptists 
 agreed together in excluding from their communion the 
 
 5 
 fanatics who dishonoured it, and in renouncing all tenets 
 
 that were detrimental to the authority of civil government, 
 and, by an unexpected coalition, formed themselves into 
 ohne community.* 
 
 X. ‘lo preserve a spirit of union and concord in a body 
 composed ofsucha motley multitude of dissonant members, 
 required more than human power; and Menno neither 
 had, nor pretended to have, supernatural succours. Ac- 
 cordingly, the seeds of dissension were, in a little time, 
 sown among this people. About the middle of this cen- 
 tury, a warm contest, concerning excommunication, was 
 excited by several Anabaptists, headed by Leonard Bowen- 
 son and ‘Theodore Philip ; and its fruits are yet visible in 
 that divided sect. ‘These men carried the discipline of 
 
 enormities they committed at Munster; that, on the contrary, many of 
 these ancient Anabaptists abstained religiously from all acts of violence 
 and sedition, followed the pious examples of the ancient Waldenses, 
 Henricians, Petrobrusians, Hussites, and Wickliffites, and adopted the 
 doctrine and disciple of Menno, as soon as that new parent arose to re- 
 form and patronise the sect; all this will be allowed without hesita- 
 tion. 
 
 But, on the other hand,'the Mennonites may assert many things in 
 defence of the purity of their origin, which cannot be admitted by any 
 person who is free from prejudice, and well acquainted with their history. 
 If they maintain, Ist, that none of their sect descended, by birth, from 
 those Anabaptists, who involved Germany and other countries in the 
 most dreadful calamities, or that none of these furious fanatics adopted 
 the doctrine and discipline of Menno, they may be easily refuted by a 
 great number of facts and testimonies, and particularly by the declara- 
 tions of Menno himself, who glories in his having conquered the ferocity 
 and reformed the lives and errors of many members of this pestilentiat 
 sect. Nothing can be more certain than this fact, viz. that the first 
 Mennonite congregations were composed of the different sorts of Ana- 
 baptists already mentioned, of those who had been always inoffensive 
 and upright, and of those who, before their conversion by the ministry 
 of Menno, had been seditious fanatics. Nor can the acknowledgment 
 of this incontestable me a just matter of reproach to the Mennonites, 
 or be more dishonourable to them, than it is to us, that our ancestors 
 were warmly attached to the idolatrous and extravagant worship of 
 paganism or popery.— Again, it will not be possible for us to agree with 
 the Mennonites, if they maintain, 2dly, that their sect does not retain, 
 at this day, any of those tenets, or even any remains of those opinions 
 and doctrines which led the seditious and turbulent Anabaptists of old 
 to the commission of so many, and of such enormous crimes. For, not 
 to mention Menno’s calling the Anabaptists of Munster his Brethren, 
 (a denomination indeed somewhat softened by the epithet of erring, 
 which he joined to it,) it is undoubtedly true, that the doctrine concern- 
 ing the nature of Christ’s Iingdom, or the church of the New-Testa- 
 ment, which led by degrees the ancient Anabaptists to those furious acts 
 of rebellion that rendered them so odious, is by no means effaced in the 
 minds of the modern Mennonites. It is, indeed, weakened and modified 
 in such a manner as to have lost its noxious qualities, and to be no longer 
 pernicious in its influence ; but it is not totaiiy renounced or abolished.— 
 I shall not now inquire how far even the reformed and milder sect of 
 Menno has been, in time past, exempt from tumults and commotions 
 of a grievous kind, nor shall I examine what passes at this day among 
 the Anabaptists in general, or in particular branches of that sect, since 
 it is certain, that the more eminent communities of that denomination, 
 | particularly those that flourish in North Holland, and the places adja- 
 cent, behold fanatics with the utmost aversion, as appears evidently 
 from this circumstance, among others, that they will not suffer the peo- 
 | ple called Quakers to enter into their communion. 
 
496 
 
 excommunication to an enormous degree of severity. 
 They not only maintained, that open transgressors, even 
 those who sincerely deplored and lamented their faults, 
 should, without any previous warning or admonition, be 
 expelled from the communion of the church, but were 
 also audacious enough to pretend to exclude the persons, 
 thus excommunicated, from all intercourse with their 
 wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, children, and other rela- 
 tives. The same persons, as might naturally be expected 
 from this instance of their severity, were harsh and rigid 
 in their manners, and were for imposing upon their breth- 
 ren a course of moral discipline, which was difficult and 
 austere in the highest degree. Many of the Anabaptists 
 protested against this, as unreasonable and unnecessary ; 
 and thus the community was suddenly divided into two 
 sects, one of which treated transgressors with lenity and 
 moderation, while the other proceeded against them with 
 the utmost rigour. Nor was this the only difference that 
 was observable in the conduct and manners of these two 
 parties, since the members of the latter sect were remark- 
 able for the sordid austerity that reigned in their rules of 
 life and practice, while the former, considering more wise- 
 ly the present state of human nature, were less severe in 
 their injunctions, and were not altogether regardless of 
 what is called decent, agreeable, and ornamental in life 
 and manners. Menno employed his most vigorous efforts 
 to heal these divisions, and to restore peace and concord 
 in the community ; but, when he perceived that his at- 
 tempts were vain, he conducted himself in such a manner 
 as he thought the most proper to maintain his credit and 
 influence among both parties. For this purpose he de- 
 clared himself for neither side, but was constantly trimming 
 between the two, as long as he lived; at one time, discover- 
 ing an inclination toward the austere Anabaptists ; and, 
 at another, seeming to prefer the milder discipline and 
 manners of the moderate brethren. But in this he acted 
 in opposition to the plainest dictates of prudence ; and ac- 
 cordingly the high degree of authority he enjoyed, ren- 
 dered his inconstancy and irresolution not only disa- 
 greeable to both parties, but also the means of inflaming, 
 instead of healing, their divisions.* 
 
 XI. 'These two sects are, to this very day, distinguished 
 by the denomination of fine and gross,” or, to express the 
 distinction in more intelligible terms, into rigid and mo- 
 derate Anabaptists. The former observe, with the most 
 religious accuracy, veneration, and precision, the ancient 
 doctrine, discipline, and precepts of the purer sort of Ana- 
 baptists ; the latter depart much more from the primitive 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Secr. III. 
 
 sentiments, manners, and institutions of their sect, and 
 more nearly approach those of the protestant churches. 
 The gross or moderate Anabaptists consisted, at first, of 
 the inhabitants of a district in North-Holland, called Wa- 
 terland ; and hence their whole sect received the deno- 
 mination of Waterlandians.s ‘The fine or rigid part of 
 that community were, for the most part, natives of Flan- 
 ders ; and hence their sect acquired the denomination of, 
 Flemings or Flandrians. But new dissensions and con- 
 tests arose among these rigid Anabaptists, not, indeed, 
 concerning any point of doctrine, but about the manner 
 of treating persons that were to be excommunicated, and 
 other matters of inferior moment. Hence a new schism 
 arose; and they were subdivided into new sects, distin- 
 guished by the appellations of F'landrians and Friselan- 
 ders, who differed from each other in their manners and 
 discipline. The members of a third division took the 
 name of their country, like the two former sects, and 
 were called Germans; for the Anabaptists of Germany 
 passed in shoals into Holland and the Netherlands. But, 
 in process of time, the greatest part of these three sects 
 came over, by degrees, to the moderate community of the 
 Waterlandians, with whom they lived in the strictest 
 bonds of peace and union. ‘Those among the rigid Ana- 
 baptists, who refused to follow this example of modera- 
 tion, are still known by the denomination of the Old 
 Flemings or Flandrians, but are few in number, when 
 compared with the united congregations of the milder 
 sects now mentioned. 
 
 XII. No sooner had the ferment of enthusiasm sub- 
 sided among the Mennonites, than all the different sects, 
 into which they had been divided, unanimously agreed 
 to draw the whole system of their religious doctrine from 
 the Holy Scriptures alone. 'To give a satisfactory proof 
 of the sincerity of their resolution in this respect, they 
 took care to have Confessions drawn up, in which their 
 sentiments concerning the Deity, and the manner of serv- 
 ing him, were expressed in the terms and phrases of Holy 
 Writ. ‘The most ancient, and also the most respectable 
 of these Confessions, is that which we find among the 
 Waterlandians. Several others of later date, were also 
 composed, some for the use of large communities, for the 
 people of a whole district, and which were consequently 
 submitted to the inspection of thé*magistrate ; others de- 
 signed only for the benefit of private societies.¢ It might 
 not, perhaps, be amiss to inquire, whether all the tenets 
 received among the Mennonites are faithfully exhibited 
 and plainly expressed in these Confessions, or whether se- 
 
 @ See the Historia Bellorum et Certaminum que, ab An. 1615, inter 
 Mennonitas contigerunt, published by an anonymous Mennonite.—See 
 also a German work by Simon Frederic Rues, entitled Nachrichten von 
 dem Zustande der Mennoniten, published at Jena in 1743. 
 
 '2%p > The terms fine and gross are a literal translation of feinen and 
 groben, which are the German denominations used to distinguish these 
 two sects. ‘Ihe same terms have been introduced among the protestants 
 in Holland; the fine denoting a set of people, whose extraordinary and 
 sometimes fanatical devotion resembles that of the English methodists ; 
 while the epithet gross is applied to the generality of Christians, who 
 make no extraordinary pretensions to sanctity and devotion. 
 
 * See Fred. Spanhemii Elenchus Controvers. Theol. op. tom. iii. p. 
 772. The Waterlandians were also called Johannites, from John de 
 Ries, who was of great use to them in many respects, and who, assisted 
 by Lubert Gerard, composed their confession of faith in 1580. This 
 confession (which far surpasses both in point of simplicity and wisdom 
 all the other confessions of the Mennonites) has passed through several 
 editions, and has been lately republishedby Herman Schyn, in his His- 
 tor. Mennon. It was also illustrated in an ample Commentary, in 1686, 
 
 | pastor. 
 
 by Peter Joannis, a native of Holland, and pastor among the Waterlan- 
 dians. It has, however, been alleged, that this famous production is by 
 no means the general confession of the Waterlandians, but the private 
 one only of that particular congregation of which its author was the 
 See Rues, Nachrichten, p. 93. 
 
 1 See Schyn’s Plenior Deduct. Hist. Mennon. cap. iv. where he 
 maintains, that “ these Confessions prove as great an uniformity among 
 the Mennonites, in relation to the great and fundamental doctrines of 
 religion, as can be pretended to by any other Christian community.” 
 But should the good man even succeed in persuading us of this boasted 
 uniformity, he will yet never be able to make his assertion 20 down with 
 many of his own brethren, who are, to this day, quarreling about several 
 points of religion, and who look upon matters, which appear to him of 
 little consequence, as of high moment and importance to the cause of 
 true piety. And, indeed, how could any of the Mennonites, before the 
 present (eighteenth) century, believe what Schyn here affirms, since it is 
 well known, that they disputed about matters which he treats with 
 
 contempt, as if they had been immediately connected with their eternal 
 interests ? 
 
Part IL. 
 
 yeral points be not there omitted which relate to the inter- 
 nal constitution of this sect, and would give us a complete 
 idea of its nature and tendency. One thing is certain, 
 that whoever peruses these Confessions with an ordinary 
 degree of attention, will easily perceive, that those tenets 
 which appear detrimental to the interests of civil society, 
 particularly such as relate to the prerogatives of magis- 
 tracy, and the administration of oaths, are expressed with 
 the utmost caution, and embellished with the greatest art, 
 to prevent their bearing an alarming aspect. At the same 
 time, the more discerning observer will see, that these em- 
 bellishments are intended to disguise the truth, and that 
 the doctrines of the Anabaptists, concerning the critical 
 
 oints above-mentioned, are not represented, in their pub- 
 lic confessions, in their real colours. 
 
 XIII. The ancient Anabaptists, who trusted in an ex- 
 traordinary direction of the Holy Spirit, were (under the 
 pretended influence of so infallible a guide) little solicit- 
 ous about composing a system of religion, and never once 
 thought of instilling into the minds of the people just sen- 
 timents of the Deity. Hence warm dissensions arose 
 among them, concerning matters of the highest conse- 
 quence, such as the divinity of Christ, polygamy, and di- 
 vorce. Menno and his disciples made some attempts to 
 supply this defect. Yet we find, after his time, that the 
 Mennonites, more especially those of the rigid class, car- 
 ried the freedom of their religious speculations to such an 
 excessive height, as bordered upon extravagance. ‘This 
 circumstance alone, were there no other, proves that the 
 heads of this sect employed the smallest part of their zeal 
 to prevent the introduction and propagation of error, and 
 that they looked upon sanctity of life and manners alone 
 as the essence of true religion. ‘The Waterlandians, in- 
 deed, and after them the other Anabaptists, were obliged, 
 at length, to draw up a summary of their doctrine, and to 
 lay it before the public, in order to remove the odium that 
 was cast upon them, on account of their bold tenets and 
 their extravagant disputes, which were likely to involve 
 them in the greatest calamities. But these confessions of 
 the Mennonites were, in reality, little more than a me- 
 thod of defence, to which they were reduced by the op- 
 position they met with, and must therefore be rather con- 
 sidered as an expedient to avert the indignation of their 
 enemies, than as articles of doctrine, which all cf them 
 without exception were obliged to believe. For we do not 
 find among the Mennonites (a part of the modern Water- 
 Jandians excepted) any injunction, which expressly pro- 
 hibits individuals from entertaining or propagating reli- 
 gious opinions different from the public creed of the com- 
 munity ; and, indeed, when we look attentively into the 
 nature and constitution of this sect, it will appear to have 
 been, in some measure, founded upon this principle, that 
 practical piety is the essence of religion, and that the 
 eurest and most infallible mark of the true church is the 
 sanctity of its members; it is at least certain, that this 
 
 * That they did not entirely relinquish it, is evident from their own 
 recds and confessions, even from those in which the greatest caution 
 tas been employed to conceal the principles that rendered their ancestors 
 g¢ious, and to disguise whatever might render themselves liable to sus- 
 picoon. Forexample, they speak in the most pompous terms concern- 
 ing the dignity, excellence, utility, and divine origin, of civil magis- 
 trates; and I am willing to suppose that they speak their real senti- 
 ments *r this matter. But, when they proceed to give reasons that pre- 
 vent their admitting magistrates into their communion, they discover 
 unwarliy he very principles which they are otherwise so studious to 
 conceal. Thus, u the thirticth article of the Waterlandia. Vonfession, 
 
 No. XLi 125 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 A9T 
 
 principle was always universally adopted by the Ana- 
 baptists. 
 
 XIV. If we are to form our judgment of the religion of 
 the Mennonites from their public creeds and confessions, 
 we shall find, that, though it differs widely from the doc- 
 trine of the Lutherans, it varies little in most points from 
 that of the reformed church. 'They consider the sacra- 
 ments in no other light, than as signs or symbols of the 
 spiritual blessings administered in the Gospel ; and their ec- 
 clesiastical discipline seems to be almost entirely the same 
 with that of the Presbyterians. "There are, however, pecu- 
 liar tenets, by which they are distinguished from all other 
 religious communities ; and these may be reduced under 
 three heads; for it is observable, that there are certain 
 doctrines, which are holden in common by all the various 
 sects of the Mennonites; others, which are only received 
 in some of the more eminent and numerous sects of that 
 community ; (such were the sentiments of Menno, which 
 hindered him from being universally acceptable to the 
 Anabaptists ;) and some, which are only to be found 
 among the more obscure and inconsiderable societies of 
 that denomination. ‘hese last, indeed, appear and va- 
 nish, alternately, with the transitory sects that adopt them, 
 and therefore do not deserve to engage our attention. 
 
 XV. The opinions, entertained by the Mennonites in 
 general, seem to be derived from this leading and funda- 
 mental principle, that ‘the kingdom which Christ esta- 
 blished upon earth is a visible church, or community, in- 
 to which the holy and the just are alone to be admitted, 
 and which is consequently exempt from all those institu- 
 tions and rules of discipline that have been invented by 
 human wisdom for the correction and reformation of the 
 wicked.’ 
 
 This fanatical principle was frankly avowed by the an- 
 cient Mennonites: their more immediate descendants, 
 hewever, began to be less ingenuous ; and, in their pub- 
 lic confessions of faith, they either disguised it under am- 
 biguous phrases, or expressed themselves as if they meant 
 to renounce it. 'T’orenounce it entirely was, indeed, im- 
 possible, without falling into the greatest inconsistency, 
 and undermining the very foundation of those doctrines 
 which distinguished them from all other Christian socie- 
 ties. And yet it is certain that the present Mennonites, 
 as they have, in many other respects, departed from the 
 principles and maxims of their ancestors, have also given 
 a striking instance of defection in the case now before us, 
 and have almost wholly relinquished this fundamental 
 doctrine of their sect, relating to the nature of the Chris- 
 tian church. A dismal experience has convinced them 
 of the absurdity of this chimerical principle, which the 
 dictates of reason, and the declarations of Scripture, had 
 demonstrated sufficiently, but without tffect. Now, that 
 the Mennonites have opened their eyes, they seem to be 
 
 pretty generally agreed about the foliowing tenets: first, 
 
 That there is an invisible church, which is universal in 
 
 | they declare, that ‘‘ Jesus Christ has not comprehended the institution 
 | of civil magistracy in his spiritual kingdom, in the church of the New 
 
 Testament, nor has he added it to the oflices of his church.” ‘The Latin 
 words are: “Potestatem hance politicam Dominus Jesus in regno suo 
 spirituali, ecclesia Novi Testamenti, non instituit, neque hance officiis ec- 
 clesia suze adjunxit.” Hence it appears, that the Mennonites look upon 
 the church of the New Testamentas a holy republic, inaccessible to the 
 wicked, and, consequently, exempt from those institutions and laws 
 which are necessary to oppose the progress of iniquity. Why then de 
 they not speak plainly, when they deliver their doctrine concerning the 
 nature of the church, instead of affecting ambiguity and cvasions? 
 
498 
 
 HISTORY OF THE-ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Sect. TT 
 
 its extent, and is composed of members from all the sects || the source of all their peculiar tenets. It is somewhat 
 
 and communities that bear the Christian name: secondly, 
 That the mark of the true church is not, as their former 
 doctrine supposed, to be sought in the unspotted sanctity 
 of all its members, (since the acknowledge that the visible 
 church is promiscuously composed of the righteous and 
 the wicked,) but in the knowledge of the truth, as it was 
 delivered by Christ, and in the agreement of all the mem- 
 bers of the church in professing and defending it. 
 
 XVI. Notwithstanding all this, it is manifest, beyond 
 all possibility of contradiction, that the religious opinions 
 which still distinguish the Mennonites from all other 
 Christian communities, flow directly from the ancient doc- 
 trine of the Anabaptists concerning the nature of the 
 church. It is in consequence of this doctrine, that they 
 admit none to the sacrament of baptism, but persons who 
 are come to the full use of their reason ; because infants 
 are incapable of binding themselves by a solemn vow to 
 a holy life, and it is altogether uncertain whether, in ma- 
 ture years, they will be saints or sinners. Influenced by 
 the same doctrine, they neither admit civil rulers into their 
 communion, nor allow any of their members to perform 
 the functions of magistracy; for, where there are no 
 malefactors, magistrates are useless. Hence they pretend 
 also to deny the lawfulness of repelling force by force, 
 and consider war, in all its shapes, as unchristian and 
 unjust; for, as those who are perfectly holy, can neither 
 be provoked by injuries, nor commit them, they do not 
 stand in need of the force of arms, either for the purposes 
 of resentment or defence. It is still the same principle 
 that excites in them the utmost aversion to the execution 
 of justice, and more especially to capital punishments ; 
 since according to this principle, there are no transgres- 
 sions or crimes in the kingdom of Christ, and consequently 
 no occasion for the arm of the judge. Nor can it be 
 imagined, that they should refuse to confirm their testi- 
 mony by an oath npon any other foundation than this, 
 that the perfect members of a holy church can neither 
 dissemble nor deceive. It was certainly then the ancient 
 doctrine of the Anabaptists, concerning the sanctity of 
 the church, that gave rise to the tenets now mentioned, 
 and was the source of that rigid and severe discipline, 
 which excited such tumults and divisions among the 
 members of that community. 
 
 XVII. The rules of moral discipline, formerly observed 
 by the Mennonites, were rigorous and austere in the high- 
 est degree, and thus every way conformable to the funda- 
 mental principle, which has been already mentioned as 
 
 34> * It is certain, that the Mennonites in Holland, at this day, are, in 
 their tables, their equipages, and their country seats, the most luxurious 
 art of the Dutch nation. This is more especially true of the Mennon- 
 ites of Amsterdam, who are very numerous and opulent. 
 _ » This is the account that is given of the opinion of Menno by Her- 
 man Schyn, in his Plenior Deduct. Hist. Mennonit. which other writers 
 represent in a different manner. After an attentive perusal of several 
 passages in ths writings of Menno, where he professedly handles this 
 very subject, it appears to me more than probable, that he inclined to 
 the opinion attributed to him in the text, and that it was in this sense 
 only, that he supposed Christ to be clothed with a divine and celestial 
 body; for that may, without impropriety, be called celestial and divine, 
 which is produced immediately, in consequence of a creating act, by 
 the Holy Ghost. It must, however, be acknowledged, that Menno does 
 not seem to have been unchangeably wedded to this opinion: for, in 
 several places, he expresses himself ambiguously on this head, and even 
 sometimes falls into inconsistencies. Hence, perhaps, it may not be 
 unreasonable toconclude, that he renounced indeed the common opinion 
 concerning the origin of Christ’s human nature, but was undetermined 
 with respect to the hypothesis, which, among many that were proposed, 
 
 doubtful whether these rules still subsist and are respected 
 among them}; but it is certain, that in former times their 
 moral precepts were very severe. And indeed it could 
 not well be otherwise: for, when these people had once 
 imbibed a notion that sanctity of manners was the only 
 genuine mark of the true church, it may well be ima- 
 gined, that they would spare no pains to obtain this ho- 
 nourable character for their sect; and that, for this pur- 
 pose, they would use the strictest precautions to guard their 
 brethren against disgracing their profession by immoral 
 practices. Hence it was, that they unanimously, and no 
 doubt justly, exalted the rules of the Gospel, on account 
 of their transcendent purity. They alleged, that Christ 
 had promulgated a new law of life, far more perfect than 
 that which had been delivered by Moses and the prophets ; 
 and they excluded from their communion all such as devi- 
 ated, in the least, from tke most rigorous rules of simpli- 
 city and gravity in their looks, their gestures, their cloth- 
 ing, and their tables; all whose desires surpassed the dic- 
 tates of mere necessity; and even all who observed a 
 certain decorum in their manners, and paid a decent re- 
 gard to the innocent customs of the world. But this pri- 
 mitive austerity is greatly diminished in the more consi- 
 derable sects of the Mennonites, and more especially 
 among the Waterlandians and Germans. 'The opulence 
 they have acquired, by their mdustry and commerce, has 
 relaxed their severity, softened their manners, and ren- 
 dered them fess insensible of the sweets of life; so that at 
 
 ‘this day the Mennonite congregations furnish their pastors 
 
 with as much matter of censure and admonition as any 
 other Christian communion.« "here are, however, still 
 some remains of the abstinence and severity of manners 
 that prevailed formerly among the Anabaptists ; but these 
 are only to be found among some of the smaller sects of 
 that persuasion, and more particularly among those who 
 live remote from great and populous cities. 
 
 XVIII. The particular sentiments and opinions that 
 divided the more considerable societies of the Mennonites, 
 were those which follow: 1. Menno denied that Christ 
 derived from his mother the body he assumed; and 
 thought, on the contrary, that it was produced out of no- 
 thing, in the womb of that blessed virgin, by the creative 
 power of the Holy Ghost.» This opinion is yet firmly 
 maintained by.the ancient Flemings or rigid Anabaptists, 
 but has, long since, been renounced by all other sects of 
 that denomination.« 2. The more austere Mennonites, 
 like their forefathers, not only animadvert, with the most 
 
 it was proper to substitute in its place. 34 See Fueslini Centuria I. 
 Epistolar.a Reformator. Helveticis scriptar. p. 383.—Be that as it may, 
 Menno is generally considered as the author of this opinion concern- 
 ing the origin of Christ’s body, which is still entertained by the more 
 rigid part of his followers. lt appears probable, nevertheless, that this 
 opinion was much older than his time, and was only adopted by him 
 with the other tenets of the Anabaptists. As a preof of this, it may 
 be observed, that Bolandus, in his Poem, entitled, Motus Monasterien- 
 sis, lib. x. v. 49, plainly declares, that many of the Anabaptists of Mun- 
 ster (who certainly had. not been instructed by Menno) held this very 
 doctrine in relation to Christ’s incarnation : 
 Esse* Deum statuunt alii, sed corpore carnem 
 Humanam sumto sustinuisse negant: 
 At Diam mentem, tenuis quasi fauce canaiis, 
 Per Mari corpus virginis isse ferunt. 
 
 ¢ Many writers are of opinion, that the Waterlandians, of all the 
 Anabaptists, evinced the strongest propensity to adopt the doctrine of 
 Menno, relating to the origin of Christ’s body. See Histoire des Ana- 
 baptists, p. 223, and the Ceremonies et Coutumes de tous les Peuples au 
 
 * Christum. 
 
Parr Il. 
 
 unielenting severity, upon actions manifestly criminal, 
 and evidently repugnant to the divine laws, but also treat, 
 in the same manner, the smallest marks of an internal 
 propensity to the pleasures of sense, or of a dispositiori to 
 comply with the customs of the world. They condemn, 
 for example, elegant dress, rich furniture, every thing, in 
 a word, that looks like ornament, or surpasses the bounds 
 of absolute necessity. Their conduct also to offenders 
 is truly merciless; for they expel them from the church 
 without previous admonition, and never temper the rigour 
 of their judgments by an equitable consideration of the 
 infirmities of nature in this imperfect state. The other 
 Mennonites are by no means chargeable with this seyerity 
 toward their offending brethren; they exclude none from 
 their communion but the obstinate contemners of the di- 
 vine laws; nor do they proceed to this extremity even 
 with regard to such, until repeated admonitions have 
 proved ineffectual to reform them. 3. The more rigid 
 Mennonites look upon excommunicated persons as the 
 pests of society, who are to be avoided on all occasions, and 
 to be banished from all the comforts of social intercourse. 
 Neither the voice of nature, nor the ties of blood, are al- 
 lowed to plead in their behalf, or to procure them the 
 smallest degree of indulgence. In such a case the ex- 
 change of good offices, the sweets of friendly conversation, 
 and the mutual effusions of tenderness and love, are 
 cruelly suspended, even between parents and children, hus- 
 bands and wives, and also in all the other endearing rela- 
 tions of human life. But the more moderate branches 
 of this community have wisely rejected this unnatural 
 discipline, and consider the honour and sanctity of the 
 church as sufliciently vindicated, when its members avoid 
 a close and particular intimacy with those who have been 
 expelled from its communion. 4. ‘The rigid Anabaptists 
 enjoin it as an obligation upon their disciples, and the 
 members of their community, to wash the feet of their 
 guests as a token of brotherly love and affection, and in 
 obedience to the example of Christ; which they suppose, 
 in this case, to have the force of a positive command ; 
 and hence they are sometimes called Podonipte. But 
 the other Mennonites deny that Christ meant, in this in- 
 stance of his goodness and condescension, to recommend 
 this custom to the imitation of his followers, or to give to 
 his example, in this case, the authority of a positive pre- 
 cept. 
 
 XIX. The Anabaptists, however divided on other sub- 
 jects, agreed in their notions of learning and philosophy, 
 which, in former times, they unanimously considered as 
 the pest of the Christian church, and as highly detrimental 
 to the progress of true religion and viztue. Hence it hap- 
 pened, that among a considerable number of writers who, 
 in this century, employed their pens in the defence of that 
 sect, there is not one whose labours bear any inviting marks 
 of learning and genius. "Lhe rigid Mennonites persevere 
 still in the barbarous system of their ancestors, and, neg- 
 lecting the improvement of the mind and the culture of the 
 sciences, devote themselves entirely to trade, manual in- 
 
 dustry, and the mechanic arts. ‘The Waterlandians, in- 
 deed, are honourably distinguished from all the other Ana- 
 baptists, in this, as well as in many other respects ; for 
 they permit several members of their community to fre- 
 
 Moree, tom. iv. p. 200. But that these writers are in error, is abund- 
 antly manifest from the public Confession of Faith of the Waterlan- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 499 
 
 quent the public universities, and there to apply themselves 
 to the study of languages, history, antiquities, and more 
 especially of physic, whose utility and importance they do 
 not pretend to deny ; and hence it happens, that, in our 
 times, so many pastors among the Mennonites assume 
 the title and profession of physicians. It is not unusual 
 to see Anabaptists of this more humane and moderate 
 class engaged even in philosophical researches, to the ex- 
 cellence and advantages of which their eyes are, at length, 
 so far opened, as to make them acknowledge their impor- 
 tance to the well-being of society. It was, no doubt, in 
 consequence of this change of sentiment, that they erected, 
 not long ago, a public seminary of learning at Amster- 
 dam, in which there is always a person of eminent abili- 
 ties chosen as professor of philosophy. But, though these 
 moderate Anabaptists acknowledge the benefit that may 
 be derived to civil society from the culture of philosophy 
 and the sciences, they still persist so far in their ancient 
 prejudices, as to deem theology a system that has no con- 
 nexion with them ; and, consequently, they are of opinion, 
 that in order to preserve it pure and untainted, the utmost 
 
 ; caution must be used not to blend the dictates of philcso- 
 
 phy with the doctrines of religion. It is farther to be ob- 
 served, that, in the present times, even the Flemish or 
 rigid Anabaptists begin gradually to divest themselves of 
 their antipathy to learning, and allow their brethren to 
 apply themselves to the study of languages, history, and 
 the sciences. 
 
 XX. That simplicity and ignorance, of which the an- 
 cient Anabaptists boasted, as the guardians of their piety 
 and the sources of their felicity, contributed principally to 
 the divisions that prevailed among them, even from their 
 rise, in a degree unknown and unprecedented in any other 
 Christian community. ‘This will appear evident to such 
 as inquire, with the smallest attention, into the more im- 
 mediate causes of their dissensions; for it is observable, 
 that their most vehement contests had not for their object 
 any difference in opinion concerning the doctrines or mys- 
 teries of religion, but generally turned upon matters re- 
 lating to the conduct of life, on what was lawful, decent, 
 just, and pious, in actions and manners, and what, on the 
 contrary, was to be deemed criminal, indecorous, unjust, 
 or impious. ‘These disputes were a natural consequence 
 of their favourite principle, that holiness of life, and purity 
 of manners, were the authentic marks of the true church. 
 But the misfortune lay here, that, being ignorant them- 
 selves, and under the guidance of persons whose know- 
 ledge was little superior to theirs, they were unacquainted 
 with the true method of determining, in a multitude of 
 cases, what was pious, laudable and lawful, and what was 
 impious, unbecoming, and criminal. 'The criterion they 
 employed for this purpose was neither the decision of 
 right reason, nor the authority of the divine laws, accu- 
 rately interpreted, since their ignorance rendered them 
 incapable of using these means of arriving at the trath. 
 They judged, therefore, of these matters by the suggestions 
 of fancy, and the opinions of others. But, as this 
 method of discerning between right and wrong, decent 
 and indecent, was extremely uncertain and precarious, 
 and necessarily tended to produce a variety of decisions, 
 according to the different feelings, fancies, tempers, and 
 
 dians, composed by John de Ries. See also, for a farther refutation of 
 this mistake, Herm, Schyn’s Deduct, Plen. p. 165. 
 
500 
 
 capacities of different persons, hence naturally arose diver- 
 sity of sentiments, debates, and contests of various kinds. 
 These debates produced schisms, which are never more 
 easily excited, or more obstinately fomented and perpetu- 
 ated, than where ignorance, the true source of bigotry, 
 prevails. 
 
 XXI. The Mennonites, after having been long in an 
 uncertain and precarious situation, obtained a fixed and 
 unmolested settlement in the United Provinces, under the 
 shade of a legal toleration procured for them by William, 
 prince of Orange, the glorious founder of Belgic liberty. 
 This illustrious chief, who acted from principle in allow- 
 ing liberty of conscience and worship to Christians of dif- 
 ferent denominations, was moreover engaged, by gratitude, 
 to favour the Mennonites, who had assisted him, in 1572, 
 with a considerable sum of money, when his coffers were 
 almost exhausted. The fruits, however, of this tolera- 
 tion, were not immediately enjoyed by all the Anabaptists 
 that were dispersed through the different provinces of the 
 rising republic ; for, in several places, both the civil ma- 
 gistrates and the clergy made a long and obstinate oppo- 
 sition to the will of the prince in this matter ; particularly 
 in the province of Zealand and the city of Amsterdam, 
 where the plots formed by the Anabaptists, and the tu- 
 mults they had excited, were still remembered by the peo- 
 ple with horror.® ‘This opposition, indeed, was in a great. 
 measure conquered before the conclusion of this century, 
 partly by the resolution and influence of William the First, 
 and his son Maurice, and partly by the exemplary con- 
 duct of the Mennonites, who manifested their zealous at- 
 tachment to the republic on several occasions, and re- 
 doubled, instead of diminishing, the precautions which 
 were calculated to remove all grounds of suspicion, and 
 take from their adversaries every pretext which could 
 render their opposition justifiable. But it was not before 
 the following century, that their liberty and tranquillity 
 were fixed upon solid foundations, when, by a Confession 
 of Faith, published in 1626, they cleared themselves from 
 the imputation of those pernicious and detestable errors 
 waich had been laid to their charge.¢ 
 
 XXII. The sectaries in England, who reject the cus- 
 tom of baptising infants, are not distinguished by the title 
 of Anabaptists, but by that of Baptists. It is, however, 
 probable, that they derive their origin from the German 
 and Dutch Mennonites, and that, in former times, they 
 adopted their doctrine in all its points. That, indeed, is 
 by no means the case at present; for the English Bap- 
 tists differ, in many things, both from the ancient and 
 modern Mennonites. ‘They are divided into two sects. 
 ‘The members of one sect are distinguished by the deno- 
 mination of General or Arminian Baptists, on account of 
 their rejection of the doctrine of absolute and uncondi- 
 tional decrees; and the others are called Particular or 
 
 * See Brandt, Histoire de Reformatie in de Nederlande, vol. i. p.525.— 
 Ceremonies et Coutumes de tous les Peuples du Monde, tom. iv. p. 201. 
 
 > Brandt’s Hist. book xi. p. 555, 586, 609; book xiv. p. 780; book 
 xvi, >. Sil. 
 
 ¢ See Herm. Schyn’s Deduct. Plen. cap. iv. p. '79. 
 
 ¢ See Whiston’s Memoirs of his Life and Writings, vol. ii. p. 461. 
 
 ° See a German work composed by Ant. William Bohm, under the 
 title of the History of the Reformation in England, p. 151, 473, 536, 1152. 
 
 £ Bibliotheque Britannique, tom. vi. 
 & This appears evidently from their Confession of Faith, which ap- 
 peared first in 1660, was re-published by Mr. Whiston, in the Memoirs 
 of his Life, vol. ii. p. 561, andis drawn up with such latitude, that, with 
 the removal and alteration of a few points,* it may be adopted by | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 Calvinistical Baptists, from the striking resemblance of 
 their religious system to that of the presbyterians, who 
 have Calvin for their chief. The Baptists of the latter 
 sect settled chiefly in London, and in the adjacent towns 
 and villages; and they have departed so far from the 
 tenets of their ancestors, that, at this day, they retain no 
 more of the peculiar doctrines and institutions of the Men- 
 nonites, than the administration of baptism by immersion, 
 and the refusal of that sacrament to infants, and those of 
 tender years ; and consequently they have none of those 
 scruples relating to oaths, wars, and the functions of ma- 
 gistracy, which still remain among even the most rational 
 part of the Mennonites. ‘They observe in their congre- 
 gations the same rules of government, and the same forms 
 of worship, that are followed by the presbyterians; and 
 their community is under the direction of men eminent 
 for their piety and learning.«| From their Confession of 
 Faith, published in 1643, it appears plainly, that their re- 
 ligious sentiments were then the same as they are at this 
 day.* 
 
 XXIII. The General Baptists, or, as they are called 
 by some, the Antipeedobaptists, are dispersed in great num- 
 bers through several counties of England, and are, for the 
 most part, persons of mean condition, and almost totally 
 destitute of learning and knowledge, 'This latter circum- 
 stance will appear less surprising, when it is considered, 
 that, like the ancient Mennonites, they profess a contempt 
 of erudition and science. "There is much latitude in their 
 system of religious doctrine, which consists in such vague 
 and general principles, as render their communion acces- 
 sible to Christians of almost all denominations ; and, ac- 
 cordingly, they tolerate, in fact, and receive among them, 
 persons of every sect, even Socinians and Arians; nor do 
 they reject, from their communion, any who profess them- 
 selves Christians, and receive the Scriptures as the source 
 of truth, and the rule of faith. ‘They agree with the Par- 
 ticular Baptists in this circumstance, that they admit to 
 baptism adult persons only, and administer that sacra- 
 ment by dipping or total immersion ; but they differ from 
 them in another respect, that is, in their repeating the ad- 
 ministration of baptism to those who had received it, either 
 in a state of infancy, or by aspersion, instead of dipping ; 
 for, if the common accounts may be believed, the Parti- 
 cular Baptists do not carry matters so far. ‘The following 
 sentiments, rites, and tenets, are also peculiar to the former: 
 1. After the manner of the ancient Mennonites, they look 
 upon their sect as the only true Christian church, and con- 
 sequently shun, with the most scrupulous caution, the 
 communion of all other religious societies. 2. They dip on- 
 ly once (and not three umes, as is practised elsewhere) the 
 candidates for baptism, and consider it as a matter of in- 
 difference, whether that sacrament be administered in the 
 name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or in that of 
 
 Christians of all denominations.t Mr. Whiston, though an Arian, 
 became a member of this Baptist community, which, as he thought, 
 came nearest to the simplicity of the primitive and apostolic age. ‘The 
 famous Mr. Emlyn, who was persecuted on account of his Socinian 
 principles, joined himself also to this society, and died in their com- 
 munion. 
 
 xy * Namely, those relating to universal redemption, the perseve- 
 rance of the saints, election and reprobation, which are illustrated en- 
 tirely on Arminian principles, and consequently cannot be embraced b 
 rigid Calvinists; not to mention the points relating to baptism, viak 
 are the distinctive marks of this sect. 
 _ 3 t Our author certainly does not mean to include Roman catholics, 
 in this large class; for then his assertion would not be true. 
 
Parr II. 
 
 Christ alone. 3. They adopt the doctrine of Menno with 
 respect to the Millenium, or the reign of the saints with 
 Christ upon earth fora thousand years. 4. Many of them 
 embrace his particular opinion concerning the origin of 
 Christ’s body.» 5. They look upon the precept of the 
 apostles, prohibiting the use of blood and things strangled,° 
 as a law that was designed to be in force in all ages and 
 periods of the church. 6. They believe that the soul, from 
 the moment that the body dies until its resurrection at 
 the last day, remains in a state of perfect insensibility. 
 7. They use the ceremony of extreme unction. And, to 
 omit matters of a more trifling nature, 8. Several of them 
 observe the Jewish, as well as the Christian Sabbath.« 
 These Baptists have three different classes of ecclesiasti- 
 cal governors, bishops, elders, and deacons; the first of 
 these, among whom there have been several learned 
 men,‘ they modestly call messengers,* as St. John is 
 known to have styled that order in the book of the 
 Revelations. 
 
 XXIV. Before we conclude the history of the Anabap- 
 tists, it may not be improper to mention a very singular 
 ‘and ridiculous sect that was founded by David George, a 
 native of Delft, and a member of that community. ‘This 
 enthusiast, after having laid the foundation of the sect 
 of the Davidists, or David-Georgians, deserted the Ana- 
 baptists, and removed to Basil, in 1544, where he changed 
 his name, and by the liberality and splendour that attend- 
 ed his opulence, joined to his probity and purity of man- 
 ners, acquired a very high degree of esteem, which he 
 preserved till his death. ‘The lustre of his reputation was, 
 however, transitory ; for, soon after his decease, which 
 happened in 1556, his son-in-law, Nicholas Blesdyck, 
 charged him with having maintained the most blasphe- 
 mous and pestilential errors. ‘The senate of Basil, before 
 whom this accusation was brought, being satisfied with 
 the evidence by which it was supported, pronounced sen- 
 tence against the deceased heretic, and ordered his body 
 to be dug up and publicly burned. And indeed, nothing 
 more horridly impious and extravagant can be conceived, 
 than the sentiments and tenets of this fanatic, if they were 
 really such as they have been represented, either by his ac- 
 cusers or his historians; for he 1s said to have given him- 
 self out for the Son of God, the fountain of divine wis- 
 dom, to have denied the existence of angels, good and 
 evil, of heaven and hell, and to have rejected the doc- 
 
 trine of a future judgment; and he is also charged with | 
 
 having trampled upon all the rules of decency and mo- 
 desty with the utmost contempt.‘ In all this, however, 
 there may be much exaggeration. The enthusiast in 
 question, though a man of some natural genius, was, ne- 
 
 vertheless, totally destitute of learning of every kind, and | 
 had something obscure, harsh, and illiberal in his manner | 
 
 of expression, that gave too much occasion to an unfa- | 
 
 vourable interpretation of his religious tenets. 
 had both more sense and more virtue than he is gene- 
 
 x= * Namely, that the body of Jesus was not derived from the sub- 
 
 stance of the blessed Virgin, but was created in her womb by an |, 
 
 omnipotent act of the Holy Spirit. > Acts xv. 29. 
 * These accounts of the doctrine of the Baptists are taken from 
 
 That he | 
 
 Wail’s History of Infant Baptism, vol. ii. and also from the second | 
 
 volume of Whiston’s M += 2's. 
 
 ¢ See Whiston’: M49 23, vol. ii. p. 466, as also Crosby’s History 
 of the English Ba,*_32:. 
 
 * St. John calls them the “angels of the churches ;” the word angel 
 (in Greek dyyedos) signifies properly an envoy or messenger. 
 
 « See Nic. Blesdychii Historia Daviais Georgii a Jacobo Revio edita; _ 
 
 No. X LIT. 126 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITES. 
 
 501 
 
 rally supposed to have possessed, appears manifestly, not 
 only from his numerous writings, but also from the sim- 
 plicity and candour that were visible in the temper and 
 spirit of the disciples he left behind him, some of whom 
 are yet to be found in Holstein, Friseland, and other coun 
 
 tries.s He deplored the decline of vital and practical re- 
 ligion, and endeavoured to restore it among his followers ; 
 and in this he seemed to imitate the example of the more 
 moderate Anabaptists. But the excessive warmth of an 
 irregular imagination threw him into illusions of the most 
 dangerous and pernicious kind, and seduced him into a 
 persuasion that he was honoured with the gift of divine 
 inspiration, and had celestial visions constantly presented 
 to his mind. ‘Thus was he led to such a high degree of 
 fanaticism, that, rejecting as mean and useless the exter- 
 nal services of piety, he reduced religion to contempla- 
 tion, silence, and a certain frame or habit of soul, which 
 it is equally difficult to define and to understand. The 
 soaring Mystics, and the visionary Quakers, may there- 
 fore, if they please, give David George a distinguished 
 rank in their enthusiastical community. 
 
 XXYV. Henry Nicolas, a Westphalian, one of the inti- 
 mate companions of this fanatic, though somewhat dif- 
 ferent from him in the nature of his enthusiasm, and also 
 in point of genius and character, founded a sect in Hol- 
 land, in 1555, which he called the Family of Love. 
 ‘he principles of this sect were afterwards propagated 
 in England, and produced no small confusion in both 
 countries. ‘lhe judgment that has been formed with 
 respect to David George may be applied with truth, at 
 least in a great measure, to his associate Nicolas, who, 
 perhaps, would have prevented a considerable part of the 
 heavy reproaches with which he has been loaded, had he 
 been endowed with a degree of genius, discernment and 
 knowledge, sufficient to enable him to express his senti- 
 ments with perspicuity and elegance. Be that as it may, 
 the character, temper, and views of this man, may be 
 learned from the spirit that reigned in his flock.» As to 
 his pretensions, they were, indeed, visionary and chime- 
 vical; for he maintained, that he had a commission from 
 heaven, to teach men that the essence of religion consisted 
 in the feelings of divine love; that all other theological 
 tenets, whether they related to objects of faith, or modes 
 of worship, were of no moment; and consequently, that 
 it was a matter of perfect indifference, what opinions 
 Christians entertained concerning the divine nature, pro- 
 vided their hearts burned with the pure and sacred flame 
 of piety and love. ‘To this, his main doctrine, Nicolas 
 may have probably added other odd fancies, as always is 
 the case with those innovators who are endued with 
 a warm and fruitful imagination ; to obtain, however, 
 a true notion of the opinions of this enthusiast, it will 
 be much more advisable to consult his own writings, than 
 to depend entirely upon the accounts and refutations of his 
 adversaries. i 
 
 as also the life of the same fanatic, written in the German language, by 
 Stolterforth. Among the modern writers see Arnold’s Kirchen und 
 Ketzer Historie, tom. i. p. '750; tom. ii. p. 534 and 1183, in which there 
 are several things that tend to clear the character of David. See also Henr. 
 Mori Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, sect. xxiii—and the documents I have 
 published in relation to this matter, in the History of Servetus, p. 425, 
 
 £ See Jo. Melleri Introduct. in Histor. Chersones. Cimbrice, par. 11, 
 p- 116, and his Cimbria Literata, tom. i. p. 422. 
 
 h See Jo. Hornbeck, Summa Controvers. lib. vi. p. 393.—Arnold, p. 
 746.—Bohm, book iv. ch. v. p. 541. : 
 
 i The most learned of all the authors who wrote against the Family 
 
502 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The History of the Socinians. 
 
 I. Tue Socinians are said to have derived this deno- 
 mination from the illustrious family of the Sozzini, which 
 flourished a long time at Sienna in ‘Tuscany, and _ pro- 
 
 duced several great and eminent men, and among others | 
 
 Lelius and Faustus Socinus, who are commonly supposed 
 to have been the founders of this sect. The former was 
 
 the son of Marianus, a famous lawyer, and was himself | 
 a man of uncommon genius and learning ; to which he | 
 
 added, as his very enemies were obliged to acknowledge, 
 the lustre of a virtuous life and of unblemished manners. 
 Being obliged to leave his country, in 1547, on account 
 of the disgust he had conceived against popery, he tra- 
 velled through France, England, Holland, Germany, and 
 Poland, in order to examine the religious sentiments of 
 those who had thrown off the yoke of Rome, and thus 
 at length to come at the truth. After this he settled at 
 Zurich, where he died in 1562, before he had arrived at 
 the fortieth year of his age.» His mild and gentle dis- 
 position rendered him averse from whatever had the air 
 of contention and discord. He adopted the Helvetic con- 
 fession of faith, and professed himself a member of the 
 church of Switzerland ; and this did not induce him to 
 conceal entirely the doubts he had formed in relation to 
 certain points of religion, and which he communicated, 
 in effect, by letter, to some learned men, whose judgment 
 he respected, and in whose friendship he could confide.” 
 . His sentiments were indeed propagated, in a more public 
 manner, after his death, since Faustus, his nephew and 
 his heir, is supposed to have drawn, from the papers he 
 left behind him, that religious system upon which the 
 Socinian sect was founded. 
 
 II. It is, however, to be observed, that this denomina- 
 tion does not always convey the same ideas, since it is 
 susceptible of different significations, and is, in effect, 
 used sometimes in a more strict and proper, and at others 
 in a more improper and extensive sense. 
 
 whose sentiments bear a certain affinity to the system of 
 Socinus ; and those are more especially ranked in that 
 class, who either boldly deny, or artfully explain away, 
 the doctrines that assert the divine nature of Christ, and 
 a trinity of persons in the Godhead. But, in a strict and 
 proper sense, they only are deemed the members of this 
 
 of Love, was Dr. Henry More, in his Grand Explanation of the Myste- 
 ry of Godliness, &c. book vi. George Fox, the founder of the sect of 
 Quakers, inveighed also severely against this seraphic family, and 
 called them a motley tribe of fanatics, because they took oaths, danced, 
 sang, and made merry. See Sewell’s History of the Quakers, book iii. 
 p- 88, 89, 344. 
 
 * Cloppenburg, Dissertatio de Origine et Progressu Socinianismi.— 
 Jo. Hornbeck, Summa Controversiarum, p. 563.—Jo. Henr. Hottinger, 
 Hist. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 417. 
 
 > Zanchius, Pref. ad Libr. de tribus Elohim.—Beza, Epist. lxxxi. p. 
 167. Certain writings are attributed to him by Sandius, in his Biblio- 
 theca Anti-Trinitar. but it is very doubtful whether he was the real 
 author of them. 
 
 ¢ We have, hitherto, no complete or accurate history either of the 
 sect called Socinians, or of Lelius and Faustus Socinus, its founders; 
 nor any satisfactory account of those who laboured principally with 
 them, and, after them, in giving a permanent and stable form to this 
 community ; for the accounts we have of the Socinians, and their prin- 
 cipal doctors, from Hornbeck,* Calovius,t Cloppenburg,t Sandius,§ Lu- 
 bieniecius,|! and Lauterbach, are far from being proper to satisfy the 
 curiosity of those, who desire something more than a vague and super- 
 ficial knowledge of this matter. The history of Socinianism, published at 
 Paris by Lamy in 1723, is a wretched compilation from the most com- 
 
 For, according | 
 to the usual manner of speaking, all are termed Socinians, | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 Secr. Ill. 
 
 sect, who embrace wholly, or with a few exceptions, the 
 form of theological doctrine, which F'austus Socinus either 
 drew up himself or received from his uncle, and delivered 
 to the Unitarian brethren, or Socinians, in Poland and 
 'Transylvania.¢ 
 
 IIL. 'The origin of Socinianism may ‘be traced to the 
 earliest period of the Reformation. Searcely had the hap- 
 py revolution in the state of religion taken place, when a 
 set of men, fond of extremes, and consequently disposed to 
 look upon as erroneous whatever had hitherto been taught 
 and professed in the church of Rome, begain to undermine 
 the doctrine of Christ’s divinity, and the other truths that 
 are connected with it, and proposed reducing the whole of 
 religion to practical piety and virtue. ‘The efforts of these 
 men were opposed with united zeal and vigilance by the 
 Romish, Reformed, and Lutheran churches; and their 
 designs were so far disconcerted, as to prevent their form- 
 ing themselves and their followers into a regular and per- 
 manent sect. So early as the year 1524, the divinity of 
 Christ was openly denied by Louis Hetzer, one of the 
 wandering and fanatical Anabaptists, who, about three 
 years afterwards, suffered death at Constance.’ ‘There 
 were not wanting, among the first Anabaptists, several 
 persons who entertained the opinions of Hetzer, though it 
 would be manifestly unfair to lay these opinions to the 
 charge of the whole community. But it was not only 
 from that quarter that erroneous opinions were propagated. 
 in relation to the points already mentioned; others seemed 
 to have been seized with the contagion, and it manifested 
 itself from day to day in several countries. John Cam- 
 panus, a native of Juliers, disseminated, at Wittenberg and 
 other places, various tenets of an heretical aspect; and 
 taught, among wther things, that the Son was inferior to 
 the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was not the title of a 
 divine person, but a denomination used to denote the 
 nature of the Father and of the Son ; and thas did this in- 
 novator revive, in a great measure, the errors of the ancient 
 Arians. A doctrine of a similar kind was propagated, in 
 1530, at Augsburg and in Switzerland, by a person, 
 whose name was Claudius, who, by his opposition to the 
 doctrine of Christ’s divinity, excited no small commotions.‘ 
 But none of these new teachers were so far encouraged by 
 the number of their followers, or the indulgence of their 
 adversaries, as to be in a condition to form a regular sect. 
 
 IV. The attempts of Michael Servede,s or Servetus, a 
 Spanish physician, were much more alarming to those 
 
 mon-place writers on that subject; it is also full of errors, and is loaded 
 with a variety of matters that have no sort of relation to the history of 
 Socinus, or to the doctrine he taught. The very learned and laborious 
 La Croze promised a complete history of Socinianism, but did not fulfil 
 this interesting engagement. 
 
 4 Sandii Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitar.—Jo. Bapt. Ottti Annal. Anabap- 
 tist— Breitingeri Museum Helveticum, tom. v. vi. 
 
 ¢ See the Dissertation de Joh. Campano, Anti-Trinitario, in the 
 Amenitates Literarie of the learned Schelhornius, tom. xi. 
 
 f See Schelhornii Dissert. Epistol. de Mino Celso Senensi, Claudio 
 item Allobroge, homine Fanatico et SS. Trinitatis hoste—Jac. Breitin- 
 geri Museum Helvetic. tom. vii—Jo. Hallerus, Epistol. in Fueslin’s 
 Centuria Epistolar. Viror Eruditor. 
 
 ® By taking away the last syllable of this name (I mean the Sparish 
 termination de) there remains Serve, which, by placing differently the 
 letters that compose it, makes Reves. Servetus assumed the latter 
 name in the title-pages of all his books. THe also called himself some- 
 times Michael Villanovanus, or Villanovanus alone, after the place of 
 his nativity, omitting the name of his family. 
 
 * In his Socinianism. Confutat. vol. i—t In his Opera Anti-Socinia- 
 na.—t In his Dissertat. de origine et progressu Socinianismi, tom. ii. op. 
 —§ In his Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitariorum.—t! In his Historia Reforma- 
 tionis Polonice.—{ In his Ariano-Socinismus. 
 
 oR + 
 
Part II. 
 
 who had the cause of true religion at heart, than-the fee- 
 ble and impotent eflorts of the innovators now mentioned. 
 This man, who made so great a noise in the world, was 
 born at Villa-Nueva, in the kingdom of Arragon, distin- 
 guished himself by the superiority of his genius, and had 
 made a considerable progress in various branches of 
 science. Inthe years 1531 and 1532, he published, in 
 Latin, his seven books concerning the errors that are con- 
 tained in the doctrine of the Trinity, and two Dialogues 
 on the same subject, in which he attacked, in the most 
 audacious manner, the sentiments adopted by the greatest 
 part of the Christian church, in relation to the divine na- 
 ture, and a trinity of persons in the Godhead. Some 
 years after this he travelled into France, and, after a vari- 
 ety of adventures, settled at Vienne in Dauphiné, where 
 he applied himself, with success, to the practice of physic. 
 It was here, that, letting loose the reins of his warm and 
 irregular imagination, he invented that strange system of 
 theology, which was printed, in a clandestine manner, in 
 1553, under the title of Christianity restored. He seemed 
 to be seized with a passion for reforming (in his way); 
 and many things concurred to favour his desigas, such as 
 the fire of his genius, the extent of his learning, the power 
 of his eloquence, the strength of his resolution, the ob- 
 stinacy of his temper, and an external appearance, at least, 
 of piety, that rendered all the rest doubly engaging. Add, 
 to all this, the protection and friendship of many persons 
 of weight, in France, Germany, and Italy, which he had 
 obtained by his talents and abilities both natural and ac- 
 quired ; and it will appear, that few innovators have set 
 out with a better prospect of success. But, notwithstand- 
 ing these signal advantages, all his views were totally dis- 
 appointed by the vigilance and severity of Calvin, who, 
 when Servetus had escaped from his prison, and was 
 passing through Switzerland, in order to seek refuge in 
 Italy, caused him to be apprehended at Geneva, in 1553, 
 and had an accusation of blasphemy brought against him 
 before the council.s The issue of this accusation was fa- 
 tal to Servetus, who, adhering resolutely to the opinions 
 he had embraced, was, by a public sentence of the court, 
 declared an obstinate heretic, and condemned to the 
 flames. For it is observable, that, at this time, the ancient 
 laws which had been enacted against heretics by the em- 
 peror Frederic II. and had been so frequently renewed 
 after his reign, were still in vigour at Geneva. It must, 
 however, be acknowledged, that this learned and ingeni- 
 ous sufferer was worthy of a better fate; though it is cer- 
 tain, on the other hand, that his faults were neither few 
 nor trivial, since it is well known, that his excessive arro- 
 gance was accompanied with a malignant and contentious 
 spirit, an invincible obstinacy of temper, and a considera- 
 ble portion of fanaticism.» 
 
 Zr * This accusation was brought against Servetus by a person, 
 who lived in Calvin’s family as a servant; and this circumstance dis- 
 (leased many. 
 
 z*> © Dr. Mosheim refers the reader here, in a note, to an ample and 
 sinious history of Servetus, composed by him in his native tongue. 
 Those who are not acquainted with that language, will find a full ac- 
 count of this singular man, and of his extraordinary history, in a Latin 
 dissertation, composed under the inspection of Dr. Mosheim, and en- 
 ritled, Historia Michaelis Serveti, quam, Preside Jo. Laur. Moshemio, 
 Doctorum examini publice exponit Henricus ab Allwaerden. There is 
 un accurate history of this unhappy man, written by M. de la Roche, in 
 
 he first volume of the work, entitled, Memoirs of Literature, contain- |j 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 503 
 
 VY. The religious system that Servetus struck out of a 
 wild and irregular fancy, was, indeed, singular in the 
 highest degree. The greatest part of it was a necessary 
 consequence of his peculiar notions concerning the uni- 
 verse, the nature of God, and the nature of things, which 
 were equally strange and chimerical. Thus it is difficult 
 to unfold, ina few words, the doctrine of this unhappy 
 man ; nor, indeed, would any detail render it intelligible 
 in all its branches. He took it into his head that the true 
 and genuine doctrine of Christ had been entirely lost, even 
 before the council of Nice; and he was, moreover, of 
 opinion, that it had never been delivered with a sufficient 
 degree of precision and perspicuity in any period of the 
 church. 'Tothese extravagant assertions he added another 
 still more so, even that he himself had received a commis- 
 sion from above to reveal anew this divine doctrine, and 
 to explain it to mankind. His notions with respect to the 
 Supreme Being, and a trinity of persons in the Godhead, 
 were obscure and chimerical beyond all measure, and 
 amounted in general to the following propositions: That 
 “the Deity, before the creation of the world, had produced 
 within himself two personal representations or manners 
 of existence,, which were to be the medium of inter- 
 course between him and mortals, and by which, conse- 
 quently, he was to reveal his will, and to display his mercy 
 and beneficence to the children of men; that these two 
 representatives were the ‘Word and the Holy Ghost; 
 that the former was united to the man Christ, who was 
 born of the Virgin Mary by an omnipotent act of the 
 divine will; and that, on this account, Christ might be 
 properly called God; that the Holy Spirit directed the 
 course, and animated the whole system of nature; and 
 more especially produced in the minds of men wise coun- 
 sels, virtuous propensities, and divine feelings ; and, final- 
 ly, that these two representations were to cease after the 
 destruction of this terrestrial globe, and to be absorbed into 
 the substance of the Deity, from which they had been 
 formed.” ‘This is, at least,a general sketch of the doctrine 
 of Servetus, who, however, did not always explain his 
 system in the same manner, nor take any pains to avoid 
 inconsistencies and contradictions; and who frequently 
 expressed himself in such ambiguous terms, that ‘t is ex- 
 tremely difficult to learn from them his true sentiments. 
 His system of morality agreed in many circumstances 
 with that of the Anabaptists, whom he also imitated in 
 censuring, with the utmost severity, the custom of Infant- 
 Baptism. 
 
 VI. The pompous plans of reformation, that had been 
 formed by Servetus, were not only disconcerted, but even 
 fell into oblivion, after the death of their author. He was, 
 indeed, according to vulgar report, supposed to have left 
 behind him a considerable number of disciples; and we 
 
 Lives and Characters of the most eminent Writers of the Scottish nation. 
 To these we may add an Impartial History of Servetus, &c. written by 
 an anonymous author, and published at London in 1724. 
 
 It is impossible to justify the conduct of Calvin in the case of Serve- 
 tus, whose death will be an indelible reproach upon the character of that 
 great and eminent reformer. The only thing that can be aileged, not 
 to efface, but to diminish his crime, is, that it was no easy matter for him 
 to divest himself at once of that persecuting spirit, which had been so 
 long nourished and strengthened by the popish religion in which he was 
 educated. It was a remaining portion of the spiritof popery in the breast 
 of Calvin that kindled his unchristian zeal against the wretched Servetus 
 
 xr * These representations, or manners of existence, Servetus also 
 
 ing a Weekly Account of the State of Learning, both at home and |] called economies, dispensations, dispositions, &e. for be often changed 
 
 «broad. There is also an account of him given by Mackenzie, in his 
 
 his terms in unfolding his visionary system. 
 
504 
 
 find, in the writings of the doctors of this century, many 
 complaints and apprehensions that seem to confirm this 
 supposition, and would persuade us that Servetus had 
 really founded a sect; yet, when this matter is atten- 
 tively examined, there will appear just reason to doubt, 
 whether this man left behind him any one person that 
 might properly be called his true disciple. For those who 
 were denominated Servetians by the theological writers 
 of this century, not only differed from Servetus in many 
 points of doctrine, but also varied widely from him in his 
 opinion of the Trinity, which was the peculiar and dis- 
 tinguishing point of his theological system. Valentine 
 Gentili, a Neapolitan, who suffered death at Bern in 1566, 
 adopted the Arian hypothesis, and not that of Servetus, 
 as many writers have imagined ; for his only error con- 
 sisted in this, that he considered the Son and the Holy 
 Ghost as subordinate to the F'ather.s Nearly allied to this, 
 was the doctrine of. Matthew Gribaldi, a lawyer, whom a 
 timely death saved from the severity of an ecclesiastical 
 tribunal, that was ready to pronounce sentence against 
 him on account of his errors; for he supposed the divine 
 nature to be divided into three eternal spirits, which were 
 distinguished from each other, not only by number, but 
 also by subordination.’ It is not so easy to determine the 
 particular charge that was brought against Alciat, a na- 
 tive of Piedmont, and Sylvester Tellus, who were ba- 
 nished from the city and territory of Geneva, in 1559; 
 nor do we know, with certainty, the errors that were em- 
 braced by Paruta, Leonardo, and others,; who ranked 
 among the followers of Servetus. It is, however, more 
 than probable, that none of the persons now mentioned 
 were the disciples of Servetus, or adopted the hypothesis 
 of that visionary innovator. 'The same thing may be 
 affirmed with respect to Gonesius, who is said to have 
 embraced the doctrine of that unhappy man, and to have 
 introduced it into Poland ;4 for, though he maintained 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 Sect. IIL. 
 
 some opinions that really resembled it in some of its 
 points, his manner of explaining the mystery of the 'Tri- 
 nity was totally different from that of Servetus. 
 
 VII. It is evident that none of the persons, now men- 
 tioned, professed the form or system of theological doc- 
 trine, that is properly called Socinianism, the origin of 
 which is, by the writers of that sect, dated from the year 
 1546, and placed in Italy. ‘These writers tell us, that, 
 in this year, above forty persons eminently distinguished 
 by their learning and genius, and still more by their ge- 
 nerous zeal for truth, held secret assemblies, at different 
 times, in the territory of Venice, and particularly at Vi- 
 cenza, in which they deliberated upon a general reform- 
 ation of the received systems of religion, and, in a more 
 especial manner, undertook to refute the peculiar doctrines 
 that were afterwards publicly rejected by the Socinians. 
 They tell us farther, that the principal members of this 
 clandestine society, were Lelius Socinus, Alciat, Ochino, 
 Paruta, and Gentili; that their design was divulged, and 
 their meetings were discovered, by the temerity and im- 
 prudence of some of their associates; that two of them 
 were apprehended and put to death; while the rest, be- 
 ing dispersed, sought a refuge in Switzerland, Germany, 
 Moravia, and other countries; and that Socinus, after 
 having wandered up and down in several parts of Europe, 
 went into Poland, first in 1551, and afterwards in 1558, 
 and there sowed the seeds of his doctrine, which grew 
 apace, and produced a rich and abundant harvest.*. Such 
 is the account of the origin of Socinianism that is gene- 
 rally given by the writers of that sect. T’o assert that it 
 is, in every circumstance, fictitious and false, would per- 
 haps be going too far; but, on the other hand, it is easy 
 to demonstrate that the system, commonly called Socini- 
 anism, was neither invented nor drawn up in the meet- 
 ings at Venice and Vicenza.‘ 
 
 VIII. While, therefore, we reject this inaccurate ac- 
 
 * See Bayle’s Dictionary.—Spon’s Hist. de Geneve, tom. ii. p. 80.— 
 Sandii Biblioth. Anti-Trinit. p. 26—Lamy’s Histoire du Socinianisme, 
 part ‘i. ch. vi. p.251.—Fueslin’s Reformations Beytrage, tom. v. 
 
 > Sandius, p. 17—Lamy, part ii. ch. vii—Spon, tom. i. p. 85. not.— 
 Haller, in Museo Tigurino, tom. ii. p. 114. 
 
 * For an account of these, and other persons of the same class, see 
 Sandius, Zamy, and also Lubieniecius’ Historia Reformat. Polonice, 
 lib, il. cap. v-—T here is a particular and ample account of Alciat given 
 by Bayle, in his Dictionary; see also Spon, tom. ii. 
 
 _4 This is affirmed upon the authority of Wissowatius and Lubienie- 
 cius; but the very words of the latter will be sufficient to shew us upon 
 what grounds. He says, ‘Is Serveti sententiam de pre-eminentia pa- 
 tris in patriam attulit, eamque non dissimulavit,” i. e. Gonesius intro- 
 duced into Poland the opinion embraced by Servetus in relation to the 
 
 re-eminence of the Father, and was by no means studious to conceal it. 
 
 ho now does not see, that, if it was the pre-eminence of the Father 
 that Gonesius maintained, he must have differed considerably from 
 Servetus, whose doctrine removed all read distinction in the divine na- 
 ture? The reader will do well to consult Sandius with regard to the 
 sentiments of Gonesius, since it is from this writer, that Lamy has 
 borrowed the greatest part of what he has advanced in his Histoire de 
 Socinianisme, tom. 1i. chap. x. 
 
 * See the Bibliotheca Anti-Trinit. of Sandius, who mentions some 
 writings that are supposed to have been published by the clandestine 
 society of pretended reformers at Venice and Vicenza, though the truth 
 of this supposition is extremely dubious ;—Andr. Wissowatii Narratio 
 quomodo in Polonia Reformati ab Unitariis separati sunt, which is sub- 
 joined to the Biblioth. of Sandius.—The reader may likewise consult 
 Toplenieeian (Histor. Reformat. Polon. lib. ii. cap. i.) who intimates, 
 that he took this account of the origin of Socinianism from the manu- 
 script Commentaries of Budzinus, and his Life of Lelius Socinus. 
 See also Sam. Przipcovius, in Vita Socini. 
 
 fSee Gustav. Georg. Zeltneri Historia Crypto-Socinianismi A ltorfini, 
 cap. ii. sect. xli. p. 321, note—This writer seems to think that the in- 
 quiries hitherto made into this affair are by no means satisfactory ; and 
 
 examine the subject anew. ‘This, indeed, is much to be wished. In the 
 mean time, I shall venture to offer a few observations, which may, per- 
 haps, contribute to cast some light upon this matter. That there was in 
 reality such a society as is mentioned in the text, is far from being im- 
 probable. Many circumstances and relations prove sufficiently, that, 
 immediately after the Reformation had taken place in Germany, secret 
 assemblies were holden, and measures proposed, in several provinces that 
 were still under the jurisdiction of Rome, with a view to combat the 
 errors and superstition of the times. It is also, in amore especial man- 
 ner, probable that the territory of Venice was the scene of these delibe- 
 rations, since it is well known that a great number of the Venetians at 
 this time, though they had-no personal attachment to Luther, approved 
 his design of reforming the corrupt state of religion, and wished well 
 to every attempt that was made to restore Christianity to its native and 
 primitive simplicity. It is farther highly eredible, that these assemblies 
 were interrupted and dispersed by the vigilance of the papal emissaries, 
 and that some of their members were apprehended and put to death, 
 while the rest saved themselves by flight. All this is probable enough; 
 but it is extremely improbable, and utterly incredible, that all the per- 
 sons who are said to have been present at these assemblies, were really 
 so. And I therefore willingly adopt the opinion of those who affirm, 
 that many persons, who, in after-times, distinguished themselves from 
 the multitude by opposing the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, were 
 considered as members of the Venetian society, by ignorant writers, 
 who looked upon that society as the source and nursery of the whole 
 Unitarian sect. It is certain, for instance, that Ochino is erroneously 
 placed among the members of the famous society now mentioned; for, 
 not to insist upon the circumstance, that it is not sufficiently clear whether 
 he was really a Socinian or not, it undeniably appears, from the Annales 
 Capucinorum of Boverius, as well as from other unquestionable testi- 
 monies, that he left Italy so early as the year 1543, and went to Geneva. 
 See a singular book, entitled, La Guerre Seraphique, ou |’Histoire des 
 Perils qu’a courus la Barbe des Capucins, livr. 111. p. 191, 216—What 
 have said of Ochino may be confidently affirmed with respect to Lelius 
 Socinus, who, though reported to have been at the head of the society now 
 
 he therefore wishes that some men of learning, equal to the task, would |) under consideration, was certainly never present at any of its meetings. 
 
Parr Il. 
 
 count of the matter under consideration, it is incumbent | 
 upon us to substitute a better in its place; and, indeed, | 
 the origin and progress of the Socinian doctrine may, 
 I think, easily be traced out by such as are acquainted 
 with the history of the church during this century. ‘There 
 were certain sects and doctors, against whom the zeal, 
 vigilance and severity of Catholics, Lutherans, and Cal- 
 vinists, were united, and, in opposing whose settlement 
 and progress, these three communions, forgetting their dis- 
 sensions, joined their most vigorous counsels and endea- 
 vours. ‘‘he objects of their common aversion were the 
 Anabaptists, and those who denied the divinity of Christ, 
 and a trinity of persons in the Godhead. 'T’o avoid the 
 ubhappy consequences of such a formidable opposition, 
 great numbers of both classes retired into Poland, from 
 this persuasion, that, in a country whose inhabitants were 
 passionately fond of freedom, religious liberty could not 
 fail to find a refuge. However, on their first arrival, they 
 proceeded with circumspection and prudence, and explain- 
 ed their sentiments with much caution, and a certain mix- 
 ture of disguise, not knowing surely what might happen, 
 nor how far their opinions would be treated with indul- 
 gence. ‘Thus they live in peace and in quiet during seve- | 
 ral years, mixed with the Lutherans and Calvinists, who 
 had already obtained a solid settlement in Poland, and | 
 who admitted them into their communion, and even into 
 the assemblies where their public deliberations were holden. 
 They were not, however, long satisfied with this state of 
 constraint, notwithstanding the privileges with which it 
 was attended ; but, having insinuated themselves into 
 the friendship of several noble and opulent families, they 
 began to act with greater spirit, and even to declare, in an 
 open manner, their opposition to certain doctrines that 
 were generally received among Christians. Hence arose 
 
 For how can we suppose that a young man only one-and-twenty years 
 old, would leave the place of his nativity, and repair to Venice or 
 Vicenza without any other view than the pleasure of disputing freely 
 on certain points of religion ?* Or how could it happen, that a youth 
 of such inexperienced years should acquire such a high degree of influence 
 and authority, as to obtain the first rank, and the principal direction, in 
 an assembly composed of so many eminently learned and ingenious 
 men? Besides, from the life of Lzlius, which is still extant, and from 
 other testimonies of good authority, it is easy to show, that it was the 
 desire of improvement and the hope of being aided in his inquiries | 
 after truth, by the conversation of learned men in foreign nations, that 
 induced him to leave Italy, and not the apprehension of persecution and 
 death, as some have :magined. It is also certain, that he returned into | 
 his native country afterwards, and, in 1551, remained some time at 
 Sienna, while his father lived at Bologna. See his letter to Bullinger, 
 in the Museum Helveticum, tom. v. p. 489. Now surely it cannot easily | 
 be imagined, that a man in his senses would return to a country from 
 which, a few years before, he had been obliged to fly, in order to avoid | 
 the terrors of a barbarous inquisition and a violent death, 
 
 But, waving this question for a moment, let us suppose all the ac- 
 counts we have from the Socinians, concerning this famous assembly of | 
 Venice and Vicenza, and the members of which it was composed, to 
 be true and exact; yet it remains to be proved, that the Socinian system 
 of doctrine was invented and drawn up in that assembly. ‘This the 
 Socinian writers maintain; and this, as the case appears to me, may be 
 safely denied; for the Socinian doctrine is undoubtedly of much later 
 date than this assembly ; it also passed through different hands, and 
 was, during many years, reviewed and corrected by men of learning 
 and genius, and thus underwent various changes and improvements be- 
 fore 1t was formed into a regular, permanent, and connected system. To 
 be convinced of this, it will be sufficient to cast an eye upon the opinions, 
 doctrines, and reasonings of several of the members of the famous so- 
 ciety, so often mentioned ; which vary in such a striking manner, as to 
 show manifestly that this society had no fixed views, nor had ever 
 agreed upon any consistent form of doctrine. We learn, moreover, from 
 many cireumstances in the life and transactions of Lelius Socinus, that 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 this man had not, when he left Italy, formed the plan of a regular sys- 
 tem of religion; and it is well known, that, for many years afterwards, 
 
 No. XLII. 127 
 
 505 
 
 violent contests between them and the Swiss or reformed 
 churches, with which they had been principally connect- 
 ed. ‘These dissensions drew the attention of the govern- 
 raent, and occasioned, in 1565, a resolution of the diet 
 of Petrikow, ordering the innovators to separate themselves 
 from the churches already mentioned, and to form a dis 
 tinct congregation or sect.t| These founders of the Soci- 
 nian church were commonly called Pinczovians, from the 
 town in which the heads of their sect resided. Hitherto, 
 indeed, they had not carried matters so far as they did 
 afterwards ; for they professed chiefly the Arian doctrine 
 concerning the divine nature, maintaining that the Son 
 and the Holy Ghost were two distinct natures, begotten 
 by God the Father, and subordinate to him.» 
 
 IX. The Unitarians, being thus separated from the 
 other religious societies in Poland, had many difficulties 
 to encounter, both of an internal and external kind. From 
 without, they were threatened with a very unfavourable 
 prospect, arising from the united efforts of Catholics, Lu- 
 therans, and Calvinists, to crush their infant sect. From 
 within, they dreaded the effects of intestine discord, which 
 portended the ruin of their community before it could ar- 
 rive at any measure of stability or consistence. The lat- 
 ter apprehension had some foundation; for, as yet, they 
 had agreed upon no regular system of principles, which 
 might serve asa centre and bond of union. Some of 
 them chose to persevere in the doctrine of the Arians, and 
 to proceed no farther; and these were called F'arnovi- 
 ans.° Others, more adventurous, went much greater 
 lengths, and attributed to Jesus Christ scarcely any other 
 rank and dignity than those of a divine messenger anda 
 true prophet. A third class, distinguished by the denom- 
 ination of Budneians,* went still farther; declaring that 
 Christ was born in an ordinary way, according to the 
 
 his time was spent in doubting, inquiring, and disputing; and that his 
 ideas of religious matters were extremely fluctuating and unsettled; so 
 that it seems probable to me, that the man died in this state of hesita- 
 tion and uncertainty, before he had reduced his notions to any consis- 
 tent form. As to Gribaldi and Alciat, who have been already mention- 
 ed, it is manifest that they inclined toward the Arian system, and did not 
 entertain such low ideas of the person and dignity of Jesus Christ, as 
 those which are adopted among the Socinians. From all this it appears 
 abundantly evident, that these Italian reformers, if their famous society 
 ever existed in reality, (which I admit as a probable supposition, rather 
 than as a fact sufficiently attested,) were dispersed and obliged to seek 
 their safety in a voluntary exile, before they had agreed about any regu- 
 lar system of religious doctrine: so that this account of the origin of 
 Socinianism is rather imaginary than real, though it has been adopted 
 by many writers. Fueslin has alleged several arguments against 
 it in his German work, entitled, Reformations Beytragen, tom. iii 
 page 327. 
 
 « Lamy’s Histoire du Socinianisme, part i. chap. vi. &c. page 16— 
 Stoinii Epitome Originis Unitariorum in Polonia, apud Sandium, p. 
 183.—Georg. Schomanni Testamentum, apud eundem, p.194.—Andr, 
 Wissowatius de Separatione Unitar. a Reformatis, p. 211 —Lubieniecius, 
 Histor. Reformat. Polonice, lib. ii. cap. vi. vill. lib. iii. cap. i. 
 
 > This will appear abundantly evident to all such as consult with a pro- 
 per degree of attention, the writers mentioned in the preceding note. Itis 
 unquestionably certain, that all those, who then called themselves Uni- 
 tarian Brethren, did not entertain the same sentiments concerning the 
 Divine Nature. Some of the most eminent doctors of that sect adopted 
 the notions relating to the person and dignity of Christ, that were in af- 
 ter-times peculiar to the Socinians; the greatest part of them, however, 
 embraced the Arian system, and affirmed, that our blessed Saviour was 
 created beforo the formation of the world, by God the Father, to whom 
 he was much inferior, nevertheless, in dignity and perfection. , 
 
 > « Fora more particular account of the I’arnovians, see sect. XxIVv 
 of this chapter. ; 
 
 « See the part of this chapter referred to in the preceding note. 
 
 > * Is such a supposition really so absurd ? Is not a spirit of en- 
 thusiasm, or even an uncommon degree of zeal, adequate to the pro- 
 duction of such an effect? 
 
506 
 
 general law of nature, and that, consequently, he was no 
 proper object of divine worship or adoration.s There 
 were also among these people many fanatics, who were 
 desirous of introducing into the society the discipline of 
 the enthusiastic Anabaptists; such as a community of 
 gouds, an equality of rank, and other absurdities of the 
 same nature.» Such were the disagreeable and perilous 
 circumstances in which the Unitarians were placed, du- 
 ring the infancy of that sect, and which, no doubt, ren- 
 dered their situation extremely critical and perplexing. 
 But they were happily extricated out of these difficulties ; 
 by the dexterity and resolution of some of their doctors, 
 whose efforts were crowned with singular success, on ac- 
 count of the credit and influence which they had obtain- 
 ed in Poland. These divines suppressed, in a little time, ' 
 the factions that threatened the ruin of their community, 
 erected flourishing congregations at Cracow, Lublin, 
 Pinczow, Luck, Smila,: (a town belonging so the famous 
 Duditb,)* and in several other parts of Poland and Lithu- 
 ania, and obtained the privilege of printing their produc- 
 tions, and those of their brethren, without molestation or 
 restraint.¢ All these advantages were crowned by a sig- 
 nal mark of liberality and munificence which they re- 
 ceived from Jo. Sienienius, palatine of Podolia, who gave 
 them a settlement in the city of Racow, which he had 
 
 a Vita Andr. Wissowatii in Sandii Biblioth. p. 226; also Sandius in 
 Simone Budneo, p. 54. 
 
 b Lubieniecius, lib. ili. cap. xii. 
 
 ¢ Mart. Adelt, Historia Arianismi Smiglensis. 
 
 gr 4 This Dudith, who was certainly one of the most learned and 
 eminent men of the sixteenth century, was born at Buda, in 1533; and, 
 after having studied in the most famous universities, and visited almost 
 all the countries of Europe, was named to the bishophric of 'Tinia by the 
 emperor Ferdinand, and made privy counsellor to that prince. He had, 
 by the force of his genius, and the study of the uncient orators, acquired 
 such a masterly and irresistible eloquence, that in all public deliberations 
 he carrie{ every thing before him. In the council to which he was sent 
 in the name of the emperor and of the Hungarian clergy, he spoke with 
 such energy against several abuses of the church of Rome, and parti- 
 cularly against the celibacy of the clergy, that the pope, being informed 
 thereof by his legates, solicited the emperor to recall him. Ferdinand 
 complied; but, having hear? Dudith’s report of what passed in that fa- 
 mous council, he approved his conduct, and rewarded him with the 
 bishopric of Chonat. He afterwards married a maid of honour of the 
 cueen of Hungary, and resigned his bishopric; the emperor, however, 
 still continued tobe his friend and ~ tector. The papal excommunication 
 was levelled athis head; buthe trea -d it with contempt. Tiredof the fop- 
 peries cnd superstitions of the church of Rome, he retired to Cracow, where 
 he publicly embraced the protestant religion, after having been for a con- 
 siderable time its secret friend. It is said that he showed some inclina- 
 tion toward the Socinian system. Some of his friends deny this; others 
 confess it, but maintain, that he afterwards changed his sentiments in 
 that respect. He was well acquainted with several branches of philo- 
 sophy and the me“2natics, with physic, history, theology, and the civil 
 law. He was suct.+a enthusiastic admirer of Cicero, that he copied 
 over three times, with his own hand, all the works of that immortal au- 
 thor. He had something majestic in his figure, and in the air of his 
 countenance. His life ws regular and virtuous, his manners were ele- 
 gant and easy, and his ks ~=volence warm and exteusive. 
 
 * Sandu Biblioth, p. 2H, 
 
 f Sandius, p. 201. Lubi. aiecius, p. 239. 
 
 ‘9 See a Germes work of Ringeltaube, entitled, Von den Pohlnischen 
 Bibeln, p. 99, 113, 142, in which there is a farther account of the Polish 
 interpretations of the Bible composed by Socinian authors. 
 
 h From this litte performance, and indeed from it alone, we may learn 
 with certainty the true statc cf the Unitarian religion before Fausttis Soci- 
 pus; yet I do not find thatit has been so much as once quoted, or even 
 mentioned by any of tie Socinian writers, by any historians who have 
 given an account of their sect, or by any of the divines that have drawn 
 the pen of controversy against their religious system. I am almost in- 
 clined to believe, that the Socinians (when in process of time they had 
 gained ground, avguired more dexterity in the management of their af- 
 fairs, and drawn up a new, specious, and artful summary of their doc- 
 trine) were prudent enouga * desire that this primitive catechism should 
 disappear, that it might not furnish their adversaries with an occasion 
 of accusing them of inconstancy in abandoning the tenets of their an- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 Secr. TIL 
 
 himself built, in 1569, in the district of Serdomir.. This 
 extraordinary favour was peculiarly adapted to better the 
 state of the Unitarians, who were, at that time, scattered 
 about in the midst of their enemies ; and accordingly they 
 now looked upon their religious establishment as perma- 
 nent and stable, and presumed so far upon their good 
 fortune, as to declare Racow the centre of their commu- 
 nity, where their distant and dispersed members might 
 unite their counsels, and hold their deliberations. 
 
 X. When they saw their affairs in this promising situ- 
 ation, the first thing that employed the attention and zeal 
 of their doctors and spiritual rulers, was a translation of 
 the Bible into the Polish language, which was accord- 
 ingly published in 1572. ‘They had, s-.deed, before this, 
 a Polish version of the sacred writings, which they had 
 composed jointly with the Helvetic doctors, in 1565, while 
 
 they lived in communion with that church: but, after the. 
 
 breach of that communion, and the order they had re- 
 ceived to separate themselves from the reformed church, 
 this version lost its credit among them, as it did not seem 
 proper to answer their views. After they had finished 
 their new version, they drew up a summary of their re- 
 ligious doctrine, which was published at Cracow, in 1574, 
 under the title of Catechism or Confession of the Uni- 
 tarians.» 'The system of religion that is contained in 
 
 cestors, nor excite factions and divisions among themselves, by inducing 
 any of their people to complain that they had deviated from the ancient 
 simplicity of the founders of their sect. ‘These reasons, very probably, 
 engaged the Socinian doctors to buy up all the copies they could find of 
 this Confession, with a view to bury it in oblivion. It will not, there- 
 fore, be improper to give here some account of the form and matter of 
 this first Socinian creed, which contained the doctrine of that sect before 
 the Racovian Catechism was composed. ‘This account will throw new 
 light upon a period and branch of ecclesiastical history that are high] 
 
 interesting. The original catechism now under consideration, whick 
 is extremely rare, has the following title prefixed to it: ‘ Catechism 
 
 or Confession of Faith of the Congregation assembled in Poland, in tha 
 name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who was crucified, and raised from the 
 dead—Deuter. vi. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God— John 
 viii. 54. It ismy Father—of whom ye say that he is your God. Printed 
 by Alexander Turobinus, born in the year cf Christ, the Son of God, 
 1574.”* We find, by a passage at the end of the preface, that this curious 
 catechism was printed at Cracow; for it is said to have been published 
 in that city, in the year 1574 from the birth of Christ. Now it is known 
 that the Unitarians had, at that time, a printing-house at Cracow, whick 
 was, soon after, removed to Racow. ‘Turobinus, who is said to have 
 been the printer of this little production, 1s mentioned by Sandius, under 
 the denomination of Turobinezyck, which he undoubtedly derived from 
 Turobin, a town in the Palatinate of Chelm, in Little or Red Russia, 
 which was the place of his nativity. ‘The author of this catechism was 
 the famous George Schoman, as has been evidently proved from a piece 
 entitled Schomanni Testamentum,t and other circumstances, by Jo 
 
 Adam Mollerus, in his dissert. de Unitariorum Catechesi et Confessione 
 omnium prima.t The preface, composed in the name of the whola 
 congregation, begins with the following salutation: “'To all those wha 
 thirst after eternal salvation, the little and afflicted flock in Poland, whict 
 
 is baptized in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, sendeth greeting, pray: 
 ing most earnestly that grace and peace may be shed upon them ak 
 one supreme God and Father, through his only begotten Son, our Lore 
 Jesus Christ, who was crucified.Ӥ After this general salutation, the 
 prefacers give an account of the reasons that engaged them to compose 
 and publish this confession. The principal motives arose from the re- 
 
 * The original title runs thus: “ Cathechesis et Confessio fidei ecetus 
 per Poloniam congregati innomine Jesu Christi, Domini nostri crucifixi 
 et resuscitati. Deut. vi. Audi, Israel, Dominus Deus noster Deus unus 
 est. Johan. viii. dicit Jesus, Quem vos dicitis vestrum esse Deum, est 
 pater meus. T'ypis Alexandri ‘Turobini, anno nati Jesu Christi, filii Dei, 
 1574.” 
 
 + This testament is published by Sandius, in his Bibliotheca Anti-Triz 
 
 t The dissertation of Mollerus is to be found in a collection of pieces 
 published by Bartholomeus under the following title: “ Fortgesezten 
 nutzlichen Anmerckungen von allerhand Materien,’ part xxi. p. 758. 
 
 § Omnibus salutem eternam sitientibus, gratiam ac pacem ab uno ilia 
 altissimo Deo patre, per unigenitum ejus filium, Dominum nostrum, 
 Jesum Christum crucifixum, ex animo precatur ceetus exiguus et aff ictus 
 per Poloniam, in nomine eiisdem Christi Navareni Baptizatus. 
 
 acm, 
 
Part Il. 
 
 this catechism, is remarkable for its simplicity, an¢ is nei- ! 
 ther loaded with scholastic terms nor with subtle discus- 
 sions; but it breathes, in several places, the spirit of So- 
 cinianism, even in those parts of it which its authors look 
 upon as most important and fundamental. Nor will this 
 appear surprising to those who consider, that the papers 
 
 proaches and aspersions that were cast upon the Anabaptists in several 
 places; from which we learn, that, at this time, the denomination of 
 Anabaptists was given to those, who, in after-times, were called Soci- 
 nians. The rest of this preface is employed in besecching the reader to 
 be firmly persuaded, that the designs of the congregation are pious and 
 upright, to read with attention, that he may judge with discernment, and, 
 “abandoning the doctrine of Babylon, and the conduct and conversation 
 of Sodom, to take refuge in the ark of Noah,” i. e. among the Unitarian 
 Brethren. 
 In the beginning of the catechism itself, the whole doctrine of Chris- 
 tianity is reduced to six points. The first relates to the nature of God 
 and his Son Jesus Christ; the second to justification; the third to disci- 
 line; the fourth to prayer; the fifth to baptism; and the sixth to the 
 Mort's supper. These six points are explained at length, in the follow- 
 ing manner. Each point is defined and unfolded, in general terms, in 
 one question and answer, and is afterwards subdivided into its several 
 branches in various questions and answers, in which its different parts 
 are illustrated and confirmed by texts of Scripture. From this it appears, 
 at first sight, that the primitive state of Socinianism was a state of real 
 infancy and weakness; that its doctors were by no means distinguished 
 by the depth or accuracy of their theological knowledge; and that they 
 instructed their flock in a superficial manner, by giving them only some 
 vague notions of certain leading doctrines and precepts of religion. In 
 their definition of the nature of God, with which this catechism begins, 
 the authors discover immediately their sentiments concerning Jesus 
 Christ, by declaring that he is subject, with ‘all other things,’ to the 
 Supreme Creator of the universe. It may also be observed, as a proof 
 of the ignorance or negligence of these authors, that, in illustrating the 
 nature and perfections of the Deity, they make not the least mention of 
 his infinity, his omniscience, immensity, eternity, omnipotence, omni- 
 presence, spirituality, or of those other perfections of the divine nature 
 that surpass the comprehension of finite minds. Instead of this, they 
 sharacterize the Supreme Being only by his wisdom, his immortality, 
 his goodness, and unbounded dominion and empire over the creatures. 
 By this it would seem, that, even at this early period of Socinianism, 
 the rulers of that sect had adopted it as a maxim, that nothing incom- 
 prehensible or mysterious was to be admitted into their religious system. 
 —Their erroneous notion concerning Christ is expressed in the follow- 
 ing terms: ‘Our mediator before the throne of God is a man who was 
 formerly promised to our fathers by the prophets, and was born in these 
 latter days of the seed of David, and whom God the Father has made 
 Lord and Christ; that is, the most perfect prophet, the most holy priest, 
 and the most triumphant king, by whom he created the new world,* by 
 whom he sent peace upon earth, restored all things, and reconciled them 
 to himself; and by whom also he has bestowed eternal life upon his 
 elect, to the end that, after the Supreme God, we should believe in him, 
 adore and invoke him, hear his voice, imitate his example, and find in 
 him rest to our souls.”+ It is here worthy of notice, that, although they 
 call Christ @ most holy priest, and justify this title by citations from 
 Scripture, they no where explain the nature of that priesthood which 
 they attribute to him—With respect to the Holy Ghost, they plainly 
 deny his being a divine person, and represent him as nothing more than 
 a divine quality, or virtue, as appears from the following passage: ‘ The 
 Holy Ghost is the energy or perfection of God, whose fulness God the 
 Father bestowed upon his only begotten Son, our Lord, that we, be- 
 coming his adopted children, might receive of his fulness.”t—They ex- 
 press their sentiments of justification in the ensuing terms: “ Justifica- 
 tion consists in the remission of all our past sins, through the mere 
 grace and said of God, in, and by our Lord Jesus Christ, without our 
 merits and works, and in consequence of a lively faith; as also in the 
 certain hope of life eternal, and the true and unfeigned amendment of 
 our lives and conversation, through the assistance of the divine Spirit, 
 to the glory of God the Father, and the edification of our neighbours.’§ 
 As by this inaccurate definition justification comprehends in it amend- 
 ment and obedience, so, in the explication of this point, our authors 
 break in upon the following one, which relates to discipline, and lay 
 down a short summary of moral doctrine, which is contained in a few 
 hee and expressed for the most part in the language of Scripture. 
 here is this peculiarity in their moral injunctions, that they prohibit 
 the taking of oaths and the repelling of injuries. As to what regards 
 ecclesiastical discipline, they define it thus: “ Ecclesiastical discipline 
 consists in calling frequently to the remembrance of every individual, 
 the duties that are incumbent upon him; in admonishing, first privately, 
 and afterwards, if that be ineffectual, in a public manner, before the 
 “whole congregation, such as have sinned openly against God, or offend- 
 ed their neighbour; and, lastly, in excluding from the communion of the 
 church the obstinate and impenitent, that, being thus covered with shame, 
 
 eee 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. . 
 
 50 
 
 of Lelius Socinus, which he undoubtedly left behind hing 
 in Poland, were in the hands of many; and that, by the 
 perusal of them, the Arians, who had formerly the upper 
 hand in the community of the Unitarians, were engaged 
 to change their sentiments concerning the nature and me- 
 diation of Christ.* It is true, indeed, that the denomina- 
 
 they may be led to repentance, or, if they remain unconverted, may be 
 damned eternally.”I|_ By their farther explication of the point relating 
 to ecclesiastical discipline, we see how imperfect and incomplete their no- 
 tions of that matter were. For they treat, in the first place, concerning 
 the government of the church argl its ministers, whom they divide into 
 bishops, deacons, elders, and widows. After this they enumerate, at 
 length, the duties of husbands and wives, old and young, parents and 
 children, masters and servants, citizens and magistrates, poor and rich; 
 and conclude with what relates to the admonition of offenders, and their 
 exclusion from the communion of the church, in case of obstinate im- 
 penitence. Their sentiments concerning prayer, are, generally speak- 
 ing, sound and rational. But, in their notion of baptism, they differ 
 from other Christian churches in this, that they make it to consist in im- 
 mersion or dipping, and emersion or rising again out of the water, and 
 maintain that it ought not to be administered to any but adult persons 
 ‘“ Baptism,” say they, “is the immersion into water, and the emersion 
 of one who believes in the Gospel, and is truly penitent, performed in 
 the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or in the name of Jesus 
 Christ alone; by which solemn act the person baptized publicly acknow- 
 ledgeth, that he is cleansed from all his sins, through the merey of God 
 the Father, by the blood of Christ, and the operation of the Holy Spirit, 
 to the end that, being engrafted into-the body ef Christ, he may mortify 
 the old Adam, and be transformed into the image of the new and hea- 
 venly Adam, in the firm assurance of eternal life after the resurrec- 
 tion.’ The last point handled in this performance is the sacrament of 
 the Lord’s Supper, of which the authors give an explication that will be 
 readily adopted by those who embrace the doctrine of Zuingle on that 
 head. At the end of this curious catechism there is a piece entitled, 
 “(Economia Christiana, seu Pastoratus Domesticus,” which contains a 
 short instruction to heads of families, showing them hew they ought to 
 proceed in order to maintain and increase in their houses a spirit of 
 piety; in which also their devotion is assisted by forms of prayer, com- 
 posed for morning, evening, and other occasions. 
 
 The ry of this catechism, which is now before me, was given in 
 1680, by Martin Chelmius, one of the most eminent and zealous Soci- 
 nian doctors, to Mr. Christopher Heiligmier, as appears by a long in- 
 scription, written by the donor, at the end of the book. In this inserip- 
 tion Chelmius promises his friend other productions of the same kind, 
 provided he receives the present one kindly, and concludes with these 
 words of St. Paul: ‘God hath chosen the weak things of the world to 
 confound the strong.’ 
 
 “ This appears evidently from the following passage in Schoman’s 
 Testamentum, p. 194,195. ‘Sub id fere tempus (A. 1566,) ex rhapsodiis 
 
 * This expression is remarkable; for these doctors maintained, that 
 these declarations of Scripture, which represent the world as formed by 
 Christ, do not relate to the visible world, but to the restoration of man- 
 kind to virtue and happiness by the Son of God. They invented this 
 interpretation to prevent their being obliged to acknowledge the divine 
 glory and creative power of Christ. 
 
 + Est homo, mediator noster apud Deum, patribus olim per prophetas 
 promissus, et ultimis tandem temporibus ex Davidis semine natus, quem 
 Deus pater fecit Dominum et Christum, hoe est, perfectissimum prophe- 
 tam, sanctissimum sacerdotem, invictissimum regem, per quem mundimin 
 creavit, omnia restauravit, secum reconciliavit, pacificavit, et vilam ater- 
 nam electis suis donavit; utin illum, post Deum altissimum, credamus, 
 illum adoremus, invocemus, audiamus, pro modulo nostro imitemur, et 
 in illo, requiem animabus nostris inveniamus. 
 
 + Spiritus sanctus est virtus Dei, cujus plenitudinem dedit Deus pater 
 
 ? 
 
 -filio suo unigenito, Domino nostro, ut ex ejus plenitudine nos adoptivi 
 
 acciperemus, 
 
 § Justificatio est ex mera gratia, per Dominum nostrum Jesum Chris- 
 tum, sine operibus et meritis nostris, omnium preteritorum peccatorum 
 nostrorum in viva fide remissio, viteeque xterne indubitata expectatio, et 
 auxilio spiritus Dei vita nostre non simulata sed vera correctio, ad glo- 
 riam Det patris nostri et edificationém proximorum nostrorum. 
 
 | Disciplina ecclesiastica est officii singulorum frequens commemoratio, 
 et peccantium contra Deum vel proximum primum privata, deinde etiam 
 publica, coram toto ceetu, commonefactio, denique pertinacium a commu- 
 nione sanctorum alienatio, ut pudore suffusi convertantur, aut, si id 
 nolint, eterntm damnentur. 
 
  Baptismus est hominis Evangelio credentis et penitentiam agentis, 
 in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, vel in nomine Jesu Christi, 
 in aquam immersio et emersio, qua publice profitetur, se gratia Dei Patris, 
 in sanguine Christi, opera Spiritus Sancti, ab omnibus peceatis ablutum 
 esse, ut, in corpus Christi insertus, mortificet veterem Adamum, et trans 
 formetur in Adamum illum czlestem, certus, se post resurrectionenm 
 consequuturum esse vitam eternam. 
 
508 
 
 tion of Socinian was not as yet known. 'T'hose who were 
 afterwards distinguished by this title, passed in Poland, at 
 the time of which we now speak, under the name of 
 Anabaptists, because they admitted to baptism adult per- 
 sons only, and also rebaptized those who joined them from 
 other Christian churches.* 
 
 XI. The dexterity and perseverance of Faustus Soci- 
 nus gave a new face to the Unitarian sect, of which he 
 became a zealous and industrious patron. He was aman 
 of true genius, but of little learning ; firm in his purposes, 
 and steady in his measures ; much inferior in knowledge 
 to his uncle Lelius, while he surpassed him greatly in 
 coul&ge and resolution. This eminent sectary, after hav- 
 ing wandered through several countries of Europe, settled, 
 in 1579, among the Unitarians in Poland, and, at his ar- 
 rival there, suffered many vexations and much opposition 
 from a considerable number of persons, who looked upon 
 some of his tenets as highly erroneous. And, indeed, it 
 is evident, that his religious system, which he is said to 
 have drawn from the papers of Leelius, was much less re- 
 markable for its simplicity than that of the Unitarians. 
 He triumphed, however, at last, over all the difficulties 
 that had been laid in his way, by the power of his elo- 
 quence, the spirit and address that reigned in his com- 
 positions, the elegance and gentleness of his manner, the 
 favour and protection of the nobility, which he had ac- 
 quired by his happy talents and accomplishments, and 
 also by some lucky hits of fortune. By seizing the occa- 
 sions when it was prudent to yield, and improving the 
 moments that demanded bold resistance and firm resolu- 
 tion, he stemmed dexterously and courageously the tor- 
 rent of opposition, and beheld the Unitarians submitting 
 to his doctrine, which they had before treated with indig- 
 nation and contempt. ‘They, in effect, laid aside all feuds 
 and controversies, and formed themselves into one com- 
 munity under his superintendency and direction.» 
 
 XU. Thus did Socinus introduce a considerable change 
 into the ancient Unitarian system, which, before his time, 
 was ill digested, ill expressed, and chargeable in many 
 places with ambiguity and incoherence. He disguised 
 its Inconsistencies, gave it an air of connexion, method, 
 and elegance, and defended it with much more dexterity 
 
 Lelii Socini quidam fratres didicerunt, Dei filium non esse secundam 
 Trinitatis personam, patri coéssentialem et coewqualem, sed hominem 
 Jesum Christum, ex Spiritu Sancto conceptum, ex Virgine Maria natum, 
 erucifixum, et resuscitatum: a quibus nos commoniti, sacras literas 
 perscrutari persuasi sumus.” ‘These words show plainly, that the Uni- 
 tarians, or Pinezovians, had, before their separation from the reformed 
 church in 1565, believed in a Trinity of some kind or other, and had 
 not gone so far as totally to divest Jesus Christ of his divinity. Scho- 
 man, now cited, was a doctor of great authority in this sect; and he tells 
 us that, at the diet of Petricew, in 1565, he defended the unity of God 
 the Father against the reformed, who maintained the existence of a three- 
 _ fold Deity. We learn nevertheless, from himself, that it was not till the 
 
 ear 1566, that a perusal of the papers of Lzlius Socinus had engaged 
 inh to change his sentiments, and to deny the divine personality of 
 Christ. Hence we may conclude, that, before the year last-mentioned, 
 he and his Pinczovian flock were not Socinians, but Arians only. 
 
 « This the Unitarians acknowledge, and it is confirmed by the writer of 
 the Epistola de Vita Andr. Wissowatii, who tells us, thet his sect were 
 distinguished by the denomination of Anabaptists ara Arians, but that 
 all other Christian communities and individuals in 1’oland were promis- 
 cuously called Chrzesciani, from the word Chrzest, which signifies Bap- 
 tism. 
 
 » See Bayle’s Dictionary.—Sandii Biblioth. Anti-Trin. p. 64.—Sam. 
 Przypcopii Vita Socini, prefixed to the works of Socinus.—Lamy’s 
 Histoire du Socinianisme, parti. ii. 
 
 ¢ Hence it appears, that the modern Unitarians are very properly 
 called Socinians ; for certainly the formation and establishment of that 
 sect were entirely owing to the labours of Lelius and Faustus Socinus. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 Sect. III. 
 
 and art, than had ever been discovered by its former pa- 
 trons... And, accordingly, the aflairs of the Unitarians 
 put on a new face. Under the auspicious protection of 
 such a spirited and insinuating chief, the little flock, that 
 had been hitherto destitute of strength, resolution, and 
 courage, grew apace, and suddenly arose to a high degree 
 of credit and influence. Its number was augmented by 
 proselytes of all ranks and orders. Of these some were 
 distinguished by their nobility, others by their opulence, 
 some by their address, and many by their learning and 
 eloquence. All these contributed, in one way or another, 
 to increase the lustre, and to advance the interests of this 
 rising community, and to support it against the multitude 
 of adversaries, which its remarkable prosperity and suc- 
 cess had raised up against it from all quarters ; the rich 
 maintained it by their liberality, the powerful by their 
 patronage and protection, and the learned by their wmt- 
 ings. But now the system of the Unitarians, being thus 
 changed and new-modelled, required a new confession of 
 faith to make known its principles, and give a clear and 
 full account of its present state. ‘The ancient catechism, 
 which was no more than a rude and incoherent sketch, 
 was therefore laid aside, and a new form of doctrine was 
 drawn up by Socinus himself ‘This form was corrected 
 by some, augmented by others, and revised by all the So- 
 cinian doctors of any eminence ; and, having thus ac- 
 quired a competent degree of accuracy and perfection, 
 was published under the title of the Catechism of Racow, 
 and is still considered as the Confession of Faith of the 
 whole sect. An unexpected circumstance crowned all 
 the fortunate events that had happened to this sect, and 
 seemed to leave them nothing farther to desire ; and this 
 was the zealous protection of Jacobus a Sienno, to whom 
 Racow belonged. 'This new patron, separating himself 
 from the reformed church, in 1600, embraced the doctrine 
 and communion of the Socinians, and, about two years 
 after, erected in his own city, which he declared their 
 metropolis, a public school, designed as a seminary for 
 their church, to form its ministers and pastors.¢ 
 
 XIU. From Poland, the doctrine of Socinus made its 
 way into ‘Transylvania, in 1563, principally by the credit 
 and influence of George Blandrata, a celebrated physi- 
 
 The former, indeed, who was naturally timorous and irresolute, died at 
 Zurich, in 1562, in the communion of the reformed church, and seemed 
 unwilling to expose himself to danger, or to sacrifice his repose, by found- 
 ing anew sect, that is, by appearing professedly and openly in this 
 enterprise. Besides, many circumstances concur to render it highly 
 probable, that he did not finish the religious system of which he had 
 formed the plan, but died, on the contrary, in a state of uncertainty and 
 doubt with respect to several points of no smallimportance. But, not- 
 withstanding all this, he contributed much to the institution of the sect 
 now under consideration. He collected the materials that Faustus after- 
 wards digested and employed with such dexterity and success: he 
 secretly and imperceptibly excited doubts and scruples in the minds of 
 many, concerning several doctrines generally received among Christians, 
 and, by several arguments against the divinity of Christ, which he left 
 in writing, he so far seduced, even after his death, the Arians in Poland, 
 that they embraced the communion and sentiments of those who looked 
 upon Christ as a mere man, created immediately, like Adam, by God 
 himself. What Lelius had thus begun, Faustus carried on with vigour 
 and finished with success. It is indeed difficult, and scarcely possible, 
 to determine precisely, what materials he received from his uncle, and 
 what tenets he added himself; that he added several is plain enough. The 
 
 difficulty arises from this circumstance, that there are few writings of | 
 
 Lelius extant; and of those that bear his name, some undoubtedly be- 
 long to other authors. 
 the doctrine he propagated, with respect to the person of Christ, was 
 (at least, the greatest part of it) broached by Lelius. 
 
 4 See Wissowatil Narratio de Separatione Unitariorum a Reformatis, 
 p. 214.—Lubieniecius, lib. iii. cap. xii, 
 
 We learn, however, from Faustus himself, that — 
 
Parr I. 
 
 cian, whom Sigismund, at that time sovereign of the || and erect new congregations. 
 country, had invited to his court, in order to the restora- | 
 
 tion of his health. Blandrata was a man of uncommon 
 address, had a deep knowledge of men and things, and 
 was particularly acquainted with the manners, transac- 
 tions, and inttigues of courts. He was accompanied by 
 a Socinian nvnister, whose name was Francis Davides, 
 who seconded his efforts with such zeal, that, by their 
 united solicitations and labours, they engaged the prince, 
 and the greatest part of the nobility, in their cause, in- 
 fected almost the whole province with their errors, and 
 obtained for the ministers and members of their commu- 
 nion, the privilege of professing and propagating their 
 doctrines in a public manner. ‘The Bathori, indeed, who 
 were afterwards chosen dukes of 'Transylvania, were by 
 no means prejudiced in favour of the Socinians; but that 
 sect had become so powerful by its numbers and its in- 
 fluence, that they could not, in prudence, attempt to sup- 
 press it. Such also was the case with the successors of 
 the Bathori; they ardently wished to extirpate this society, 
 but never could accomplish that object; so that to this 
 day the Socinians profess their religion publicly in this 
 province, and, indeed, in it alone; and, relying on the 
 protection of the laws, and the faith of certain treaties 
 that have been adjusted with them, have their churches 
 and seminaries of learning, and hold their ecclesiastical 
 and religious assemblies, though exposed to perpetual dan- 
 gers and snares from the vigilance of their adversaries.® 
 About the same time the Socinians endeavoured to form 
 settlements in Hungary: and Austria ;4 but these attempts 
 were defeated by the united and zealous opposition both 
 of the Roman catholic and reformed churches. 
 
 XIV. No sooner had the Socinians obtained a solid 
 and happy settlement at Racow, than the dictates of zeal 
 and ambition suggested to them views of a still more ex- 
 tensive nature. Encouraged by the protection of men 
 in power, and the suffrages of men of learning and ge- 
 nius, they began to form several plans for the enlarge- 
 ment of their community, and meditated nothing less 
 than the propagation of their doctrine through all the 
 states of Europe. The first step they took toward the 
 execution of this purpose, was the publication of a consi- 
 derable number of books, of which some were designed 
 to illustrate and defend their theological system, and others 
 to explain, or rather to pervert, the sacred writings intoa 
 conformity with their peculiar tenets. ‘These books, which 
 were composed by the most subtile and artful doctors of 
 the sect, were printed at Racow, and dispersed with the 
 utmost industry and zeal through different countries.« 
 "They also sent some of their brethren into various parts 
 of Europe, toward the conclusion of this century, as we 
 learn from authentic records, in order to make proselytes 
 
 "See Sandius, p. 28, 55.—Salig, vol. ii. lib. vi—Debrezeni Hist. 
 Ecclesiee Reformate in Hungaria, p. 147.—Mart. Schmeizelii de Statu 
 Ee. Lutherane in Transylvania, p. 55.—Lamy, His. du Socinianisme, 
 part i. ch. xiii. 
 
 » Zelineri Historia Crypto-Socinismi Altorfini, cap. ii. p. 357. 
 
 ¢ Debrezeni Hist. p. 169° 
 
 «1 Henr. Spondani Continuat. Annal. Baronii, ad An. 1568. 
 
 ¢ A considerable number of these books were republished, in 1656, in 
 one great collection, consisting of six volumes in folio, under the title of 
 Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum. In this collection, indeed, many pieces 
 are not inserted, which were res by the most eminent leaders of 
 the sect; but what is there published, is sufficient to give the attentive 
 reader a clear idea of the doctrine of the Socinians, and of the nature of 
 their institution as a religious community. 
 
 No, XLIIL. 128 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 509 
 
 These missicnaries seem- 
 
 _edevery way qualified to gain credit to the cause in which 
 
 they had embarked, as some of them were distinguished 
 
 by the lustre of their birth, and others by the extent of 
 their learning, and the powers of their eloquence; and 
 yet, notwithstanding these uncommon advantages, they 
 failed, almost every where, in their attempts. A small 
 congregation was founded at Dantzic, which subsisted 
 for some time in a clandestine manner, and then gradu 
 ally dwindled to nothing.’ The first attempts to promote 
 the cause of Socinianism in Holland, were made by a 
 person whose name was Erasmus Johannis.« After him 
 Christopher Ostorod, and Andrew Voidovius, who were 
 the main pillars of the sect, used their utmost endeavours 
 to gain disciples and followers in that country; nor were 
 their labours wholly unsuccessful, though the zeal of the 
 clergy, and the vigilance of the magistrates, prevented 
 their forming any regular assemblies," and thus hindered 
 their party from acquiring any considerable degree of 
 strength and stability.: Socinianism did not meet with 
 a better reception in Britain than in Holland. It was in- 
 troduced into Germany by Adam Neuser, and other emis- 
 sarles, who infected the Palatinate with its errors, having 
 entered into a league with the Transylvanians, at the 
 critical period when the affairs of the Unitarians, in Po- 
 land, carried a dubious and unpromising aspect. But this 
 pernicious league was soon detected, and the schemes of 
 its authors were entirely disconcerted ; upon which Neu- 
 ser went into Turkey, and enlisted among the Janisa- 
 ries.* 
 
 XY. Although the Socinians professed to believe that 
 our divine knowledge is derived solely from the Holy 
 Scriptures, they maintain in reality, that the sense of 
 Scripture is to be investigated and explained by the dic- 
 tates of right reason, to which, in consequence, they at- 
 tribute a great influence in determining the nature, and 
 unfolding the various doctrines of religion. When their 
 writings are perused with attention, they will be found to 
 attribute more to reason, in this matter, than most other 
 Christian societies; for they frequently insinuate artfully, 
 and sometimes declare plainly, that the sacred penmen 
 were guilty of many errors, from a defect of memory, as 
 well as a want of capacity; that they expressed their sen- 
 timents without perspicuity or precision, and rendered the 
 plainest things obscure by their pompous and diffuse 
 Asiatic style; and that it was therefore absolutely neces- 
 sary to employ the lamp of human reason to cast a light 
 upon their doctrine, and to explain it in a manner con- 
 formable to truth. It iseasy to see what they had in view 
 by maintaining propositions of this kind. They aimed at 
 nothing less than the establishment of the following gen- 
 eral rule, viz. ‘That the history of the Jews, and also 
 
 f Zelterni Hist. p. 199. £ Sandius, p. 87. 
 
 xs Brandt, in his History of the Reformation of the Netherlands, 
 tells us, that Ostorod and Voidovius were banished, and that their books 
 were condemned to be publicly burned by the hands of the common 
 hangman. Accordingly the pile was raised, the executioner approach- 
 ed, and the multitude was assembled; but the books did not appear. The 
 magistrates, who were curious to peruse their contents, had quietly 
 divided them among themselves and their friends. 
 
 i Zeltnerus, p. 31, 178. 
 
 k Burch. Struvii Hist. Eccles. Palat. cap. viii. sect. liii—Alting, Hist. 
 Eccles. Palat. in Miegii Monum. Palat. p. 266—337.—La Croze, Dis- 
 sertations Historiques, tom. i: p. 101, 127. compared with Bern. Raupa- 
 chius’ Presbyterologia Austriaca, p. 113, where there is an account of 
 John Mattheus. who was concerned in these troubles. 
 
510 
 
 that. of Jesus Christ, were indeed to be derived from the 
 books of the Old and New ‘Testament, and that it was 
 not lawful to entertain the least doubt concerning the 
 truth of this history, or the authenticity of these books in 
 general; but that the particular doctrines which they con- 
 tain, were, nevertheless, to be understood and explained 
 in such a manner as to render them consonant with the 
 dictates of reason. According to this representation of 
 things, it is not the scripture that declares clearly and ex- 
 pressly what we are to believe concerning the nature, 
 counsels, and perfections of the Deity ; but it is human 
 reason, which shows us the system of religion that we 
 ought to seek in, and deduce from, the divine oracles. 
 
 XVI. This fundamental principle of Socinianism will 
 appear more dangerous and pernicious, when we con- 
 sider the sense in which the word Reason was under- 
 stood by this sect. ‘The pompous title of Right Reason 
 was given, by the Socinians, to that measure of intelli- 
 gence and discernment, or, in other wor ds, to that faculty 
 of comprehending and judging, which we derive from 
 nature. According to this definition, the fundamental 
 rule of Socinianism necessarily supposes, that no doctrine 
 ought to be acknowledged as true in its nature, or divine 
 in its origin, all whose parts are not level to the compre- 
 hension of the human understanding; and that, what- 
 ever the Scriptures teach concerning the perfections of 
 God, his counsels, and decrees, and the way of salvation, 
 must be modified, curtailed, and filed down, in such a 
 manner, by the transforming power of art and argument, 
 as to answer the extent of our limited faculties. ‘Those 
 who adopt this singular rule, must at the same time grant 
 that the number of religions must be nearly equal to that 
 of individuals ; for, as there is a great variety in the talents 
 and capacities of different persons, so what will appear dif- 
 ficult and abstruse to one, will seem evident and clear to 
 another; and thus the more discerning and penetrating 
 will adopt, as divine truth, what the slow and superficial 
 will look upon as unintelligible jargon. This consearence 
 does not at all alarm the Socinians, who suffer their mem- 
 bers to explain, in very different ways, many doctrines of 
 the highest importance, and permit every one to follow 
 his particular fancy in composing his theological system, 
 provided that they acknowledge, in general, the truth and 
 authenticity of the history of Christ, ane adhere to the pre- 
 cepts which the gospel lays down for the regulation of our 
 lives and actions. 
 
 XVII. In consequence of this leading maxim, the So- 
 cinians either reject without exception, or change and ac- 
 commodate to their limited capacities, all those doctrines 
 relating tothe nature of God and of Jesus Christ, the plan 
 of redemption, and the eternal rewards and punishments 
 unfolded in the Gospel, which they either cannot compre- 
 hend, or consider as attended with considerable difficulties. 
 The sum of their theology is as follows: “God, who is in- 
 finitely more perfect than‘man, though of a similar nature 
 in some respects, exerted an act of that power by which 
 he governs all things; in consequence of which an ex- 
 traordinary person was born of the Virgin Mary. That 
 person was Jesus Christ, whom God first translated to 
 heaven by that portion of his divine power, which is called 
 
 ® We have an account of the authors of this famous catechism, and 
 of the various success it met with, in the Commentatio de Catechesi 
 Recoviensi, published by Schmidius in 1707, See also Kocheri Biblioth. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 | 
 
 Sect. IT. 
 
 the Holy Ghee’ and, having there instructed him fully 
 in the knowle dee of his will, counsels, and designs 
 he sent him again into this sublunary world, to promul- 
 gate to mankind a new rule of life, more excellent than 
 that under which they had formerly lived, to propagate 
 divine truth by his ministry, and to confirm it by his 
 death. 
 
 “'T hose who obey the voice of this Divine Teacher, (and 
 this obedience is in the power of every one whose will and 
 inclination lead that way), shall one day be clothed with 
 new bodies, and inhabit eternally those blessed regions, 
 where God himself immediately resides. Such, on the 
 contrary, as are disobedient and rebellious, shall undergo 
 most terrible and exquisite torments, which shall be suc- 
 ceeded by annihilation, or the total extinction of their 
 being.” 
 
 The whole system of Socinianism, when stripped of the 
 embellishments and commentaries with which it has been 
 loaded and disguised by its doctors, is really reducible to 
 the few propositions now mentioned. 
 
 XVII. The nature and genius of the Socinian theol- 
 ogy have an immediate influence upon the moral system 
 of that sect, and naturally led its doctors to confine their 
 rules of morality and virtue to the external actions and 
 duties of life. On one hand, they deny the influence of a 
 divine spirit and power upon the minds of men; and, on 
 the other, they acknowledge, that no mortal has such an 
 empire over himself as to be able to suppress or extinguish 
 his sinful propensities and corrupt desires. Hence they 
 have no conclusion left but one, and that is, to declare all 
 such true and worthy Christians, whose words and exter- 
 nal actions are conformable tothe precepts of the divine law. 
 It is, at the same time, remarkable, that another branch 
 of their doctrine leads directly to the utmost severity in 
 what relates to life and manners, since they maintain, 
 that the great end of Christ’s mission upon earth was to 
 exhibit to mortals a new law, distinguished from all others 
 by its unblemished sanctity and perfection. Hence it 
 is, that a great number of Socinians have fallen into the 
 fanatical rigour of the ancient Anabaptists, and judge it 
 absolutely unlawful to repel injuries, to take oaths, to in- 
 flict capital punishments on malefactors, to oppose the des- 
 potic proceedings of tyrannical magistrates, or even to ac- 
 quire wealth by honest industry. “But, i in this, there is 
 something extremely singular, and they are here, indeed, 
 inconsistent with themselves ; for while, in matters of doc- 
 (rine, they take the greatest liberty with the expressions of 
 Scripture, and pervert them, in a violent manner, to the 
 defence of their peculiar tenets, they proceed quite: other- 
 wise, when they come to prescribe rules of conduct from the 
 precepts of the Gospel; for then they understand these pre- 
 cepts literally, and apply them without the least distinction 
 of times, persons, and circumstances. 
 
 XIX. It must carefully be observed, that the Cate- 
 chism of Racow, which most people look upon as the 
 great standard of Socinianism, and as an accurate sum- 
 mary of the doctrine of that sect, is, in reality, no more 
 than a collection of the popular tenets of the Socinians, 
 and by no means a just representation of the secret opi- 
 nions and sentiments of their doctors.* 
 ee ee ne ee Ce ee ee eet 
 
 The writings, 
 
 —A new edition of the catechism itself, with a solid refutation of the | 
 
 doctrine it contains, was published in 1739, by the learned George Louis 
 Oeder, 
 
Part II. 
 
 therefore, of these learned men must be perused with at- 
 tention, in order to our knowing the hidden reasons and 
 true principles from which the doctrines ofthe Catechism 
 are derived. It is observable, besides, that, in this Cate- 
 chism, many Socinian tenets and institutions, which might 
 have contributed to render the sect still more odious, and 
 to expose its internal constitution too much to public view, 
 are entirely omitted ; so that it seems to have been less 
 composed for the use of the Socinians themselves, than to 
 impose upon strangers, and to mitigate the indignation 
 which the tenets of this community had excited in the 
 minds of many.* Hence it never obtained, among the 
 Socinians, the authority of a public confession or rule of 
 faith ; and hence the divines of that sect were authorized 
 to correct and contradict it, or to substitute another form of 
 doctrine in its place. It is also observable, that the most 
 eminent writers and patrons of the Socinians, give no 
 clear or consistent account of the sentiments of that sect 
 in relation to ecclesiastical discipline and government, and 
 the form of public worship. All that we know is, that 
 they follow in these matters, generally speaking, the cus- 
 toms received in the protestant churches.” 
 
 XX. The founders and first patrons of this sect were 
 eminently distinguished by their learning and genius. 
 Their successors, however, did not follow their steps in 
 this respect, nor retain the reputation they had univer- 
 sally obtained. The Unitarians in Poland seem to have 
 had little ambition of science. "They gave no encourage- 
 ment to learning or talents; and appeared little solicitous 
 of having in their community subtle doctors and learned 
 disputants. But, when they perceived on the one hand, 
 that the success of their community required as able de- 
 fenders, as they had learned and ingenious adversaries, 
 and were so fortunate, on the other, as to obtain the pri- 
 vilege of erecting seminaries of learning at Racow and 
 Lublin, they changed their sentiments with respect to this 
 matter, and became sensible of the necessity under which 
 they lay, to encourage in their community a zeal for the 
 sciences. ‘This zeal increased greatly from the time that 
 Faustus Socinus undertook the restoration of their declin- 
 ing credit, and put himself at the head of their tottering 
 sect. At that time many persons, distinguished by their 
 birth, education, and talents, embraced its doctrine, and 
 contributed to promote the love of science among its mem- 
 bers. ‘hen the youth were instructed in the rules of 
 eloquence and rhetoric, and the important branches of 
 Oriental, Greek, and Latin literature. Even the secret 
 paths of philosophy were opened, though their treasures 
 were disclosed only to a few, who were selected, for that 
 purpose, from the multitude. ‘The Racovian doctors, in 
 compliance with the spirit and taste of the age, chose 
 Aristotle as their guide in philosophy, as appears evidently 
 from the Ethics of Crellius, and other literary records of 
 these times. 
 
 XXI. Notwithstanding this progress of philosophy 
 among the Socinians, their doctors seemed to reject its 
 aid in theology with obstinacy and disdain. They de- 
 clare, in numberless places of their writings, that both in 
 the interpretation of Scripture, and in explaining and de- 
 
 * This appears evident enough from their presenting a Latin transla- 
 tion of this catechism to James I. king of Great Britain, and a German 
 one to the university of Wittenberg. 
 
 * This is manitest from a work which bears the following title: 
 “Politia Ecclesiastica, quam vulgo Agenda vocant, sive forma Regi- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINTANS. 
 
 51} 
 
 monstrating the truth of religion in general, clearness and 
 simplicity are aloue to be consulted, and no regard paid 
 to the subileties of philosophy and logic. And, indeed, 
 had their doctors and interpreters followed, in practice, 
 that rule which they have laid down with so much osten 
 tation in theory, they would have saved their adversaries, 
 ind perhaps themselves, much trouble. But this is by ne 
 means the case. For, in the greatest part of their theolo 
 gical productions, their pretended simplicity is frequently 
 accompanied with much subtlety, and with the most re- 
 fined intricacies of scientific art. And, what is still more 
 inexcusable, they reason with the greatest dexterity and 
 acuteness upon those subjects, whica (as they surpass the 
 reach of the human understanding) are generally receiv- 
 ed, among other Christians, as facts confirmed by the most 
 respectable testimony, and consequently as matters of pure 
 faith, while they discover little sagacity, or strength of 
 judgment, in those discussions which are within the 
 sphere of reason, and are properly amenable to its tribu- 
 nal. ‘They are acute where they ought to be silent, and 
 they reason awkwardly where sagacity and argument are 
 required. 'These are certainly great inconsistencies ; yet 
 they proceed from one and the same principle, even the 
 maxim universally received in this community, that all 
 things which surpass the limits of human comprehen- 
 sion are to be entirely banished from the Christian re- 
 ligion. 
 
 XXII. It has been already observed, that the Unita- 
 rians had no sooner separated themselves from the Re- 
 formed churches in Poland, than they became a prey to 
 intestine divisions, and were split into several factions. 
 The points of doctrine that gave rise to these divisions, 
 related to the dignity of Christ’s nature and character, 
 the unlawfulness of infant-baptism, and the personality 
 of the Holy Ghost, to which were added several altera- 
 tions, concerning the duties of life, and the rules of con- 
 duct that were obligatory on Christians. The sects, pro- 
 duced by these divisions, were not all equally obstinate. 
 Some of them entertained pacific dispositions, and seemed 
 inclined toward a reconciliation. But two, particularly, 
 tenaciously maintained their sentiments, and persisted in 
 their separation ; these were the Budneans and the Far- 
 novians. ‘lhe former were so calied from their leader 
 Simon Budneeus, a man of considerable acuteness and 
 sagacity, who, more dexterous than the rest of his bre- 
 thren in deducing consequences from their principles, and 
 perceiving plainly the conclusions to which the peculiar 
 principles of Lzelius Socinus naturally led, peremptorily 
 denied the propriety of offering any kind of religious wor- 
 ship to Jesus Christ. Nor did Budneeus stop here : in or- 
 der to give a more specious colour to this capital error, 
 and to maintain it upon consistent grounds, he asserted that 
 Christ was not begotten by an extraordinary act of di- 
 vine power, but that he was born like other men, in a 
 natural way. This hypothesis, however conformable to 
 the fundamental principles of Socinianism, appeared in- 
 tolerable and impious to the major part even of that com- 
 munity. Hence Budneus, who had gained over to his 
 doctrine a great number of proselytes in Lithuania and 
 
 — 
 
 minis exterioris Eecclesiarum Christianarum in Polonia, que unum 
 Deum Patrem, per filium ejus Unigenitum in Spiritu Sancto, confitentur.” 
 This work was composed in 1642 by Peter Morscovius or Morscow sky 
 and published at Nuremberg by Oeder. It is mentioned by Sandius, 
 who says that it was drawn up for the use of the Belgic churches. 
 
512 
 
 Russian Poland, was deposed from his ministerial func- 
 tions, in 1584, and publicly excommunicated with all his 
 disciples. It is said, however, that he afterwards aban- 
 doned his peculiar and offensive sentiments, and was re- 
 admitted to the communion of that sect.* 
 
 XXII. This heretical doctrine, which had created so 
 much trouble to Budnzus, was soon after adopted by 
 
 Francis Davides, a native of Hungary, who was the su- | 
 
 perintendent of the Socinian churches in Transylvania, 
 and who opposed, with the greatest ardour and obstinacy, 
 the custom of offering up prayers and divine worship to 
 Jesus Christ. Several methods were used to reclaim him 
 from this offensive error. Blandrata employed all the 
 power of his eloquence for this purpose, and, to render his 
 remonstrances still more effectual, sent for Faustus Socinus, 
 who went accordingly into Transylvania, in 1573, and 
 seconded his arguments and exhortations with the utmost 
 zeal and perseverance. But Davides remained unmoved, 
 and was, in consequence of this obstinate adherence to. 
 his error, apprehended by order of Christopher Bathori, 
 prince of ‘Transylvania, and thrown into prison, where 
 he died in 1579, at an advanced age.» His unhappy 
 fate did not, however, extinguish the controversy to which 
 his doctrine had given rise; for he left behind him disci- 
 ples and friends, who strenuously maintained his senti- 
 ments, stood firm against the opposition that was made to 
 them, and created much uneasiness to Socinus and his 
 followers in Lithuania and Poland. The most eminent 
 of these were Jacob Palzologus, of the isle of Chio, who 
 was bummed at Rome in 1585; Christian Francken, who 
 had disputed in person with Socinus; and John Somer,* 
 who was master of the academy of Clausenburg.4 This 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS. 
 
 Sect. IN. 
 
 little sect is branded, by the Socinian writers, with the 1g- 
 nominious appellation of Semi-Judaizers.¢ 
 
 XXIV. The Farnoviens were treated by the Socinians 
 with much greater indulgence. 'They were neither ex- 
 cluded from the communion of the sect, nor obliged to re- 
 nounce their peculiar tenets; they were only exhorted to 
 conceal them prudently, and not publish or propagate them 
 in their discourses from the pulpit.. - This particular 
 branch of the Socinian community was so named from 
 Stantislaus F'arnovius, er Farnesius, who was engaged 
 
 | by Gonesius to prefer the Arian system to that of the So- 
 
 cinians, and consequently asserted, that Christ had been 
 engendered or produced out of nothing, by the Supreme 
 Being, before the creation of this terrestrial globe. It is 
 not so easy to say, what his sentiments were concerning 
 the Holy Ghost; all we know upon that head is, that he 
 warned his disciples against paying the tribute of religious 
 worship to that divine Spirit. Farnovius separated from 
 the other Unitarians, in 1568, and was followed in this 
 schism by several persons eminent on account of the ex- 
 tent of their learning, and the influence of their rank, 
 such as Martin Czechovicius, Neimoiovius, Stanislaus 
 Wisnowius, John Falcon, George Schoman, and others. 
 They did not, however, form themselves into a stable or 
 permanent sect. The lenity and indulgence of the So- 
 cinians, together with the dexterity of their disputants, 
 brought many of them back into the bosom of the com- 
 munity they had deserted, and considerable numbers were 
 dispersed or regained by the prudence and address of 
 Faustus Socinus; so that at length the whole faction, 
 being deprived of its chief, who died in 1615, was scat- 
 tered abroad, and reduced to nothing. 
 
 ¢ See Sandii Biblioth. Anti-Trinit. p. 54, 55.—Epistola de Vita, Wis- 
 sowatil, p. 226.—Ringeltaube’s German Dissertation on the Polish 
 Bibles, p. 144, 152.—Samuel Crellius, the most learned Socinian of our 
 times, is of opinion that Adam Neuser,* who was banished on account 
 of his erroneous sentiments, was the author of this doctrine, which is 
 so derogatory from the dignity of Jesus Christ. See Crellii Thesaur. 
 Epistol. Crozian. 
 
 > Sandius, Biblioth. Anti-Trinit. p. 55 —Faust. Socin. oper. tom. i. p. 
 353, 395; tom. 11. p. 713, 771, where there is an account of his confe- 
 rence and dispute with Francis Davides—Stan. Lubieniecii Hist. Re- 
 form. Polonice, lib. iii. c. xi. 
 
 * See Sandius, Biblioth. p.57. The dispute between Socinus and 
 Francken is related at large in the works of the former, tom. ii. p. 767. 
 
 2 4 Clausenburg, otherwise Coloswar, is a town in Transylvania, 
 extremely populous and well fortified. The Socinians have here a public 
 school aad a printing-house ; and their community in this place is very nu- 
 merous. ‘Till the year 1603, they were in possession of the cathedral, 
 which was then taken from them and given to the Jesuits, whose col- 
 lege and church they had pulled down. 
 
 ¢Faustus Socinus wrote a particular treatise against the Semi-Ju- 
 daizers. It is, however, worthy of observation, that the motive which 
 engaged him and his friends to employ so much pains and labour in the 
 suppression of this faction, was not a persuasion of the pernicious ten- 
 dency of its doctrines or peculiar notions. On the contrary, he express- 
 ty acknowledges, that this controversy turns upon matters of very little 
 importance, by deciaring it, as his opinion, that praying or offering up 
 divine worship to Christ, is not necessary to salvation. Thus, in his 
 answer to Wujeck, he expresses himself in the following manner: 
 “ The Christian, whose faith is so great, as to encourage him to offer 
 his addresses habitually and directly to the Supreme Being, and who 
 standeth not in need cf the comfort that flows from the invocation of 
 Christ, his brother, who was tempted in all things like as he is, is not 
 
 obliged to call upon the name of Jesus, by prayer or supplication.”t Ac- 
 cording therefore to the opinion of Socinus, those who lay aside all re- 
 gard to Christ as an intercessor, and address themselves directly to God 
 alone, have a greater measure of faith than others. But, if this be so, 
 why did he oppose with such vehemence and animosity the senti- 
 ment of Davides, who, in effect, did no more than exhort all Christians 
 to address themselves directly and immediately to the Father? Here 
 there appears to be a striking inconsistency. We find also Lubienie- 
 cius, in his Reformat. Histor. Polonice, lib. 11. cap. xi. speaking lightly 
 enough of this controversy, and representing it as a matter of very little 
 moment; for he says that in Transylvania there was ‘much ado about 
 nothing.’t We may therefore conclude, that Socinus and _ his followers 
 were more artful than ingenuous in their proceedings with respect to 
 Davides. They persecuted him and his followers, lest, by tolerating 
 his doctrine, they should increase the odium under which they already 
 lay, and draw upon themselves anew the resentment of other Christian 
 churches, while, in their private jadgment, they looked upon this very 
 doctrine, and its professors, as worthy of toleration and indulgence. 
 
 f Epistola de Vita Wissowatii, p. 226.—Sandius says, that a pro- 
 fessor of divinity at Clausenburg was prohibiied from saying any thing, 
 in his public discourses, of Christ’s having existed before the Virgin 
 Mary. 
 
 % Sandius, Biblioth. p. 52, &e. 
 
 h We omit here an enumeration of the more famous Socinian writers 
 who flourished in this century, because the greater part of them have 
 already been mentioned in the course of this History. The rest may 
 be easily collected from Sandius. 
 
 * See sect. xiv. of this chapter. 
 
 +Si quis tanta est fide preditus, ut ad Deum ipsum perpetuo recta 
 accedere audeat, nec consolatione, que ex Christi fratris sui per omnia 
 
 | tentati invocatione proficiscitur, indigeat, hic non opus habet ut Christum © 
 
 invocet. + F luctus in simpulo excitatos esse. 
 
 or eel 
 
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 1, THE arduous attempts of the pontiffs, in the preced- 
 ing century, to advance the glory and majesty of the see 
 of Rome, by extending the limits of the Christian church, 
 and spreading the Gospel among distant nations, met 
 with great opposition; and, as they were neither well 
 conducted nor properly supported, their fruits were nei- 
 ther abundant nor permanent. But in this century the 
 same attempts were renewed with vigour, and crowned 
 with such success, as contributed not a little to give a new 
 degree of stability to the tottering grandeur of the papacy. 
 They were begun by Gregory XV., who, by the advice 
 of his confessor Narni, founded at Rome, in 1622, the fa- 
 mous congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and 
 enriched it with ample revenues. ‘This congregation, 
 which consists of thirteen cardinals, two priests, one monk, 
 anda secretary,*is designed to propagate and maintain the 
 religion of Rome in all parts of the world. Its riches and 
 possessions were so prodigiously augmented by the mu- 
 nificence of Urban VIII. and the liberality of an incredible 
 number of donors, that its funds are, at this day, adequate 
 to the most sumptuous undertakings. And, indeed, the 
 enterprises of this congregation are great and extensive : 
 by it a vast number of missionaries are sent to the re- 
 motest parts of the world; books of various kinds pub- 
 lished, to facilitate the study of foreign and barbarous 
 languages; the sacred writings, and other pious produc- 
 tions, sent abroad to the most distant corners of the globe, 
 and exhibited to each nation and country in their own 
 language and characters; seminaries founded for the sus- 
 tenance and education of a great number of young men, 
 set apart for the foreign missions ; houses erected for the 
 instruction and support of the pagan youths who are year- 
 ly sent from abroad to Rome, that they may return thence 
 into their respective countries, and become the instructors 
 of their blinded brethren: not to mention the charitable 
 establishments that are intended for the relief and support 
 of those who have suffered banishment, or been involved in 
 other calamities, on account of their steadfast attachment 
 to the religion of Rome, and their zeal for promoting 
 the glory of its pontiff. Suchare the arduous and com- 
 plicated schemes, with the execution of which this congre- 
 gation is charged; but these, though the principal, are 
 not the only objects of its attention ; its views, in a word, 
 
 * Such is the number appropriated to this Congregation by Gregory’s 
 original Bull. See Bullarium Roman. tom. iii—Cerri mentions the 
 same number, in his Etat Present de ’Eglise Romaine. But a differ- 
 ent account is given by Aymon, in his Tableau de la Cour de Rome, 
 p. in. ch. iii. p. 279. for he makes this Congregation to consist of eighteen 
 cardinals, one of the pope’s secretaries, one apostolical proto-notary, one 
 referendary, and one of the assessors or secretaries of the inquisition. 
 
 b This assertion was not strictly true at the time when it was hazard- 
 ed; and to our own time it is very inapplicable —Edit. 
 
 * The authors who have given an account of this Congregation, are 
 mentioned by Fabricius, in Lie Lux Evangelii toti Orbi exoriens, cap, 
 
 No. XLIYV. 129 
 
 are vast, and its exploits almost incredible. Its members 
 hold their assemblies in a spacious and magnificent paiace, 
 whose delightful situation adds a singular lustre to us 
 beauty and grandeur.° 
 
 II. To this famous establishment, another, less splendaia 
 indeed, but highly useful, was added, in 1627, by Urban 
 VIII. under the denomination of a College or Seminary 
 for the Propagation of the Faith. This seminary is ap- 
 propriated to the education of those who are designed for 
 the foreign missions; and they are here instructed, with 
 the greatest care, in the knowledge of all the languages 
 and sciences that are necessary to prepare them for pro- 
 pagating the Gospel among the distant nations. This 
 excellent foundation was due tothe zeal and munificence 
 of John Baptist Viles, a Spanish nobleman, who resided 
 at the court of Rome, and who began by presenting to 
 the pontiff all his ample possessions, together with his 
 house, which was a noble and beautiful structure, for this 
 pious and generous purpose. His liberality excited a spirit 
 of pious emulation, and is followed with zeal even to this 
 
 day. ‘The seminary was at first committed by Urban to 
 
 the care and direction of three canons of the patriarchal 
 churches ; but this appointment was afterwards changed, 
 and, ever since the year 1641, it has been governed by 
 the congregation founded by Gregory XV.4 
 
 III. "The same zealous spirit reached France, and pro- 
 duced in that country several pious foundations of a 
 like nature. In 1663, the king instituted the Congrega- 
 tion of Priests of the foreign Missions ; while an as- 
 sociation of bishops and other ecclesiastics founded the 
 Parisian Seminary for the Missions abroad, designed for 
 the education of those who were set apart for the propa- 
 gation of Christianity among the pagan nations. Hence 
 apostolical vicars are still sent to Siam, Tonquin, Cochin- 
 China, and Persia, bishops to Bagdad, and missionaries 
 to other Asiatic nations ; and all these spiritual envoys 
 are supported by the ample revenues and possessions of 
 the congregation and seminary. These priests of the 
 foreign missions,‘ and the apostles whom they send into 
 foreign countries, are almost perpetually involved in alter- 
 cations and debates with the Jesuits and their missiona- 
 ries. ‘The former are shocked at the methods which are 
 ordinarily employed by the latter in converting the Chi- 
 
 xxxiii. p. 566. Add to these, Dorotheus Ascanius, de Montibus Pietatis 
 Ecclesiz Roman. p. 522, where may be seen a compleie list of the books 
 that have been published by this congregation, from its first institution 
 to the year 1667. 
 
 4 Helyot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. viii. cap. xii—Urb. Cerri, Etat. 
 Present de |’Eglise Romaine, p. 293, where, however, the founder of 
 this college is called, by mistake, Vives. 
 
 * See the Gallia Christiana Benedictinorum, tom. iv. p. 1024.—Hel- 
 yot, Histoire des Ordres, tom. viii. chap. xii. 
 
 f These Ecclesiastics are commonly called, in France, Messieurs des 
 Missions Etrangeres. 
 
514 
 
 nese and other Asiatics to the Christian religion; and the | 
 Jesuits, in their turn, absolutely refuse obedience to the 
 orders of the apostolical vicars and bishops, who receive 
 their commission from the congregation above-mentioned, 
 though this commission be issued out with the consent 
 of the pope, or of the College de propaganda fide re- 
 siding at Rome. ‘There was also another religious esta- 
 blishment formed in France, during this century, under 
 the title of the Congregation of the Holy Sacrament, 
 whose founder was Autherius, Bishop of Bethlehem, and 
 which, in 1644, received an order from Urban VIII. to 
 have always a number of ecclesiastics ready to exercise 
 their ministry among the pagan nations, whenever they 
 should be called upon by the pope, or the Congregation 
 de propaganda fide, for that purpose. It would be 
 endless to mention other associations of less note, that 
 were formed in several countries for promoting the cause 
 of Christianity among the darkened nations; as also 
 the care taken by the Jesuits, and other religious com- 
 munities, to have a number of missionanes always 
 ready for that service. . 
 
 IV. These congregations and colleges sent forth those 
 legions of missionaries, who, in this century, covered a 
 great part of the globe, and converted to the profession 
 of Christianity at least, if not to its temper and spirit, 
 multitudes of persons among the fiercest and most  bar- 
 barous nations. ‘The religious orders, that made the 
 greatest figure in these missions, were the Jesuits, Domi- 
 nicans, Franciscans, and Capuchins, who, though con- 
 cerned in one common cause, agreed very ill among them- 
 selves, publicly accusing each other, with the most bitter 
 reproaches and invectives, of want of zeal in the service 
 of Christ, and even of corrupting the purity of the Chris- 
 tian doctrine to promote their ambitious purposes. But 
 none of these teachers of religion were so generally ac- 
 cused of sinster views and unworthy practices, in this re- 
 spect, as the Jesuits, who were singularly odious in the eyes 
 of all the other missionaries, and were looked upon as a 
 very dangerous and pernicious set of apostles by a consi- 
 derable part of the Romish church. Nor, indeed, could | 
 they be viewed in any other light, if the general report 
 be true, that, instead of instructing their proselytes in the 
 genuine doctrines of Christianity, they then taught, and 
 still teach, a corrupt system of religion and morality, that 
 is not burthensome to the conscience, and is reconcilable 
 with the indulgence of gross appetites and passions ;— 
 that they not only tolerate, but even countenance, in new 
 converts, several profane opinions and superstitious rites 
 and customs ;—that, by commerce, carried on with the 
 most rapacious avidity, and various other methods, little 
 consistent with probity and candour, they have already | 
 acquired an overgrown opulence, which they augment 
 from day to day ;—that they burn with the thirst of am- 
 bition, and are constantly gaping after worldly honours || 
 and prerogatives ;—that they are perpetually employing | 
 the arts of adulation, and the seductions of bribery, to 
 insinuate themselves into the friendship and protection of 
 men in power ;—that they are deeply involved in civil 
 affairs, in the cabals of courts, and the intrigues of 
 politicians ;—and finally, that they frequently excite in- 
 iestine commotions and civil wars, in those states and 
 kingdoms, where their views are obstructed or disappoint- 
 
 —_— 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF 'THE CHURCH. 
 
 _means, looked upon as groundless. 
 | concur to prove this, and among others the conduct of that 
 
 Secr. ] 
 
 ed, and refuse obedience to the Roman pontiff, and to the 
 vicars and bishops that bear his commission. These 
 accusations are indeed grievous, but they are perfectly 
 well attested, being confirmed by the most striking cir- 
 cumstantial evidence, as well as by a prodigious number 
 of unexceptionable witnesses. Among these we may 
 reckon many of the most illustrious and respectable niem- 
 bers of the church of Rome, whose testimony cannot be 
 imputed to the suggestions of envy, on one hand, or be 
 considered as the effect of temerity or ignorance on the 
 other ; such are the cardinals, the members of the Con- 
 gregation de propaganda fide, and even some of the 
 popes themselves. ‘hese testimonies are supported and 
 confirmed by glaring facts, even by the proceedings of the 
 Jesuits in China, Abyssinia, Japan, and India, where they 
 have dishonoured the cause of Christianity, and, by their 
 corrupt practices, have injured, in the most sensible man- 
 ner, the interest of Rome.* 
 
 V. The Jesuits exhausted all the resources of their pecu- 
 liar artifice and dexterity to impose silence upon their ac- 
 cusers, confound their adversaries, and give a specious 
 colour to their own proceedings. But all their stratagems 
 were ineffectual: 'The court of Rome was informed of 
 their odious frauds; and this information was, by no 
 Many circumstances 
 
 congregation by which the foreign missions are carried on 
 and directed ; for itis remarkable, that, for many years past, 
 the Jesuits have been much less employed by this congre- 
 gation, than in former times, and are also treated, on almost 
 every occasion, with a degree of circumspection that mani- 
 festly implies suspicion and diffidence. Other religious or- 
 ders have evidently gained the ascendency which the Je- 
 suits formerly held; and, in the nice and critical affairs of 
 the church, especially in what relates to the propagation of 
 the Gospel in foreign parts, much greater confidence is 
 placed in the austere sobriety, poverty, industry, and pa- 
 tience of the Capuchins and Carmelites, than in the opu- 
 lence, artifice, genius, and fortitude, of the disciples of 
 Loyola. On the other hand it is certain, that, if the 
 Jesuits are not much trusted, they are more or less feared 
 since neither the powerful congregation, now mentioned, 
 nor even the pontiffs themselves, venture to reform all the 
 abuses, which they silently disapprove, or openly blame 
 in the conduct of this insidious order. ‘This connivance, 
 however involuntary, is now a matter of necessity. ‘The 
 opulence of the Jesuits is so excessive, and their credit and 
 influence are so extensive and formidable, in all those 
 
 parts of the world which have embraced the Romish re- 
 ligion, that they carry their insolence so far as to menace 
 
 often the pontiff himself, who cannot, without the utmost 
 peril, oblige them to submit to his orders, when they are 
 disposed to be refractory. Even the decisions of the pope 
 are frequently suggested by this powerful society; and it 
 
 ‘is only in such a case that the society treats them with 
 unlimited respect. 
 
 When they come from any other 
 quarter, they are received in a very different manner by 
 the Jesuits, who trample upon some of them with impu- 
 nity, and interpret others with their usual dexterity, 1p 
 such a manner, as to answer the views and promote the 
 interests of their ambitious order. Such, at least, are the 
 accounts that are generally given of their proceedings ; 
 
 The reader will find an ample relation of these facts, in the preface 
 
 to the Hist. de la Compagnie de Jesus, published at Utrecht in 1741. 
 
 INP RE ct ro 
 
Sect. I 
 / 
 
 accounts which, though contradicted by them, are sup- 
 
 ported by striking and palpable evidence. 
 
 VI. The rise of these dissensions between the Jesuits 
 and the other Romish missionaries, may be ascribed to 
 the methods of conversion used by the former, which are 
 entirely different from those that are employed by the lat- 
 ter. ‘The crafty disciples of Loyola judge it proper to 
 attack the superstition of the Indian nations by artifice 
 and stratagem, and to bring them gradually, with the 
 utmost caution and prudence, to the knowledge of Chris- 
 tianity. In consequence of this principle, they interpret 
 and explain the ancient doctrines of Paganism, and also 
 those which Confucius taught in China, in such a man- 
 ner as to soften and diminish, at least in appearance, 
 their opposition to the truths of the Gospel ; and when- 
 ever they find, in any of the religious systems of the In- 
 dians, tenets or precepts that bear even the faintest resem- 
 blance to certain doctrines or precepts of Christianity, 
 they employ all their dexterity and zeal to render this 
 resemblance more plausible and striking, and to persuade 
 the Indians, that there is a great conformity between their 
 ancient theology and the new religion they are exhorted 
 toembrace. ‘Chey go still farther; for they indulge their 
 proselytes in the observance of all their national customs 
 and rites, except such as are glaringly inconsistent with 
 the genius and spirit of the Uhristian worship. ‘These 
 rites are modified a little by the Jesuits, and are directed 
 toward a different set of objects, so as to form a sort of 
 coalition between Paganism and Christianity. 'T’o secure 
 themselves an ascendancy over the untutored minds of 
 these simple Indians, they study their natural inclinations 
 and propensities, comply with them on all occasions, and 
 carefully avoid whatever may shock them}; and, as in 
 all countries the clergy, and men of eminent learning, 
 are supposed to have a considerable influence on the mul- 
 titude, so the Jesuits are particularly assiduous in court- 
 ing the friendship of the Indian priests, which they ob- 
 tain by various methods, in the choice of which they are 
 far from being scrupulous. But the protection of men 
 in power is the great object at which they principally aim, 
 as the surest method of establishing,their authority, and 
 extending their influence. With this view, they study 
 all the arts that can render them agreeable or useful to 
 great men; apply themselves to the mathematics, physic, 
 poetry, the theory of painting, sculpture, architecture, and 
 other elegant arts; and persevere in studying men and 
 manners, the interests of princes, and the affairs of the 
 world, in order to prepare them for giving counsel in critical 
 situations, and suggesting expedients in perplexing and 
 complicated cases. It would be endless to enumerate all 
 the circumstances that have been complained of in the 
 proceedings of the Jesuits. "These, now mentioned, have 
 ruined their credit in the esteem of the other missionaries, 
 who consider their artful and insiduous dealings as every 
 way unsuitable to the character and dignity of the am- 
 
 * Others call this famous missionary Robert de Nobilibus. 
 
 » Urban Cerri, Etat present de Eglise Romaine, p. 173. 
 
 3p Nobili, who was looked upon by the Jesuits as the chief apostle 
 of the Indians after Francis Xavier, took incredible pains to acquire 
 knowledge of the religion, customs, and language of Madura, sullicient 
 for the purposes of his ministry. But this was not all; for, to stop the 
 mouths of his opposers, and particularly of those who treated his cha- 
 racter.of Bramin as an impostor, he produced an old, dirty parchment, 
 in which he had forged, in the ancient Indian characters, a deed, show- 
 ing that the Bramins of Rome were of much older date than those of 
 Jndia, and that the Jesuits of Rome descended, in a direct line, from the 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 515 
 
 bassadors of Christ, whom it becomes to plead the cause 
 of God with an honest simplicity, and an ingenuous 
 openness and candour, without any mixture of dissimu- 
 lation or fraud. And, accordingly, we find the other reli- 
 gious orders, that are employed in the foreign missions, 
 proceeding in a very different method in the exercise of 
 their ministry. ‘They attack openly the superstitions of 
 the Indians, in all their connexions and in all their con- 
 sequences, and are studious to remove whatever might 
 tend to nourish them. ‘They show little regard to the 
 ancient rites and customs in use among the blinded nations, 
 and little respect for the authority of those by whom 
 they were established. ‘They treat, with an indifference 
 bordering upon contempt, the pagan priests, grandees, and 
 princes; and preach, without disguise, the peculiar doc- 
 trines of Christianity, while they attack, without hesita- 
 tion or fear, the superstitions of those nations they are 
 called to convert. 
 
 VII. These missionaries diffused the fame of the Chris- 
 tian religion through a great part of Asia during this cen- 
 tury. ‘lhe ministerial labours of the Jesuits, Theatins, 
 and Augustinians, contributed to introduce some rays of 
 divine truth, mixed, indeed, with much darkness and 
 superstition, into those parts of India which had been pos- 
 sessed by the Portuguese, before their expulsion by the 
 Dutch. But, of all the missions that were established in 
 those distant parts of the globe, no one has been ntore 
 constantly and generally applauded than that of Madura, 
 or is said to have produced more abundant and permanent 
 fruit. It was undertaken and executed by Robert de 
 Nobili,* an Italian Jesuit, who took a very singular me- 
 thod of rendering his ministry successful. Considering, 
 on one hand, that the Indians beheld all Europeans 
 with an eye of prejudice and aversion, and, on the other, 
 that they held in the highest veneration the order of 
 Brachmans or Bramins, as descended from the Gods ; 
 and that, impatient of other rulers, they paid an implicit 
 and unlimited obedience to them alone; he assumed the 
 appearance and title of a Bramin who had come from a 
 distant country, and, by smearing his countenance, and 
 imitating that most austere and painful method of living 
 which the Sanianes or penitents observe, he at length 
 persuaded the credulous people that he was, in reality, a 
 member of that venerable order.» By this stratagem he 
 gained over to Christianity twelve eminent Bramins, 
 whose example and influence engaged a prodigious num- 
 ber of the people to hear the instructions, and to receive 
 the doctrine of this famous missionary. On the death 
 of Robert, this singular mission was for some time at a 
 stand, and seemed even to be neglected ;* but it was re- 
 newed by the zeal and industry of the Portuguese Jesuits, 
 and is still carried on by several missionaries of that order, 
 from France and Portugal, who have inured themselves 
 to the terrible austerities that were practised by Robert, 
 and which have thus become, as it were, the appendages 
 
 god Brama. Father Jouvenci, a learned Jesuit, tells us, in the His- 
 tory of his Order, something yet more remarkable; even that Robert 
 de Nobili, when the authenticity of his smoky parchment was called 
 in question by some Indian unbelievers, declared upon cath, before the 
 assembly of the Bramins of Madura, that he really derived his origin 
 from the god Brama. Is it not astonishing that this reverend father 
 should acknowledge, is it not monstrous that he should applaud, as a 
 piece of pious ingenuity, this detestable instance of perjury and fraud ? 
 See Jouvenci, Histoire des Jesuites ; and Norbet, Memoires Historiques 
 sur les Missions de Malab. tom. ii. p. 145. ; 
 * Urban Cerri, Etat present de l’Eglise Romaine, p. 173; 
 
516 
 
 of that mission. These fictitious Bramins, who boldly 
 deny their being Europeans or Franks,* and only give 
 themselves out for inhabitants of the northern regions, 
 are said to have converted a prodigious number of In- 
 dians to Christianity ; and, if common report may be cre- 
 dited. the congregations which they have already founded 
 in those countries grow more numerous from year to year. 
 Nor, indeed, do these accounts appear, in the main, un- 
 worthy of belief,» though we must not be too ready to 
 receive, as authentic and well attested, the relations which 
 have been given of the intolerable hardships and sufferings 
 sustained by these Jesuit-Bramins in the cause of Christ. 
 Many imagine, and not without good foundation; that 
 their austerities are (generally speaking) more dreadful in 
 appearance than in reality; and that, while they out- 
 wardly affect an extraordinary degree of self-denial, they 
 indulge themselves privately in a free, and even luxurious 
 mode of living, have their tables delicately served, and 
 their cellars exquisitely furnished, in order to refresh them- 
 selves after their labours. 
 
 VIII. The knowledge of Christianity was first con- 
 veyed to the kingdoms of Siam, T’ong-king or 'Tonquin, 
 and Cochin-China, by a mission of Jesuits, under the di- 
 rection of Alexander of Rhodes, a native of Avignon,’ whose 
 
 | 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. bh 
 
 instructions were received with uncommon docility by a 
 prodigious number of the inhabitants of those counmes. 
 When an account of the success of this spiritual expedi- 
 tion was brought to pope Alexander VII. in 1658, he re- 
 solved to commit this new church to the inspection and 
 government of a certain number of bishops, and chose 
 for this purpose some French priests out of the Congre- 
 gation of foreign Missions to carry his orders to the rising 
 community, and to rule over it as his representatives and 
 vicegerents. But the Jesuits, who can bear no superiors, 
 and scarcely am equal, treated these pious men with the 
 greatest indignity, loaded them with injuries and _ re- 
 proaches, and would not permit them to share their la- 
 bours or partake of their glory. Hence arose, in the court 
 of Rome, a long and tedious contest, which served to show, 
 in the plainest manner, that the Jesuits were ready enough 
 fo make use of the authority of the pope, when it was ne- 
 cessary to promote their interests, or to extend their influ- 
 ence and dominion ; but that they did not hesitate, on the 
 other hand, to treat the same authority with indifference 
 and contempt in all cases, where it, seemed to oppose 
 their private views and perscnal interests. After this, 
 Louis XIV. sent a solemn embassy,® in 1684, to the 
 king of Siam, whose prime minist¢., at that time, was a 
 
 * The Indians distinguish all the Europeans by the general denomi- 
 nation of /vanks, or (as they pronounce the word) Franghis. 
 
 > The Jesuits seem to want words to express the glory that has ac- 
 crued to their order from the remarkable success and the abundant fruits 
 of this famous mission, as also the dreadful sufferings and hardships 
 which their missionaries sustained in the course of their ministry. See 
 the Lettres Curieuses et Edifiantes, ecrites des Missions Etrangeres, tom. 
 i. where Father Martin observes, that this mission surpasses all others ; 
 that each missionary baptises, at least, a thousand converts every year ; 
 that, nevertheless, baptism is not indiscriminately administered, or 
 granted with facility and precipitation to every one who demands it; 
 that those who present themselves to be baptized, are accurately exami- 
 ned until they exhibit sufficient proofs of their sincerity, and are carefully 
 instructed during a period of four months in order tu their reception; 
 that, after their reception, they live like angels rather than like men; 
 and that the smallest appearance of a mortal sin 1s scarcely, if ever, to 
 be found among them. If any one is curious enough to inquire into the 
 causes that produced such an uncommon degree of sanctity among these 
 new converts, the Jesuits allege the two following: The first is mo- 
 destly drawn from the holy lives and examples of the missionaries, who 
 pass their days in the greatest austerity, and in acts of mortification 
 that are terrible to nature; (see tom. xii. p. 206; tom. xv. p. 211;) who 
 are not allowed, for instance, to take bread, wine, fish, or flesh, but are 
 obliged to be satisfied with water and vegetables, dressed in the most 
 insipid and digusting manner, and whose clothing and other circum- 
 stances of life are answerable to their miserable diet. The second 
 cause of this unusual appearance, alleged by the Jesuits, is the situation 
 of these new Christians, by which they are cut off from all communica- 
 ‘ion and intercourse with the Europeans, who are said to have corrupted, 
 by their licentious manners, almost all the other Indian proselytes. Add, 
 to all this, other considerations, which are scattered up and down, in 
 the Letters above cited, tom. i. p. 16, 17; tom. ii. p. 1; tom. iii. p. 217; 
 tom. v. p. 2; tom. vi. p. 119; tom. ix. p. 126. Madura is a separate 
 kingdom situated in the midst of the Indian peninsula beyond the Gan- 
 ges.* ‘There is an accurate map of the territory comprehended in the 
 mission of Madura, published by the Jesuits in the xvth tome of the 
 Lettres Curieuses, p. 60. The French Jesuits set on foot, in the king- 
 dom of Carnate and in the adjacent provinces, a mission like that of 
 Madura; and, toward the conclusion of this century, other missionaries 
 of the same order formed an enterprise of the same nature in the do- 
 minions of the king of Marava. The Jesuits themselves acknowledce 
 that the latter establishment succeeded much better than the former. 
 The reason of this may perhaps be, that the French Jesuits, who found- 
 ed the mission of Carnate, could not endure, with such constancy and 
 patience, the austere and mortified manner of living which an institu- 
 tion of this nature required, nor imitate the rigid self-denial of the Bra- 
 mins, so well as the missionaries of Spain and Portugal. Be that as it 
 may, all these missions, which formerly made such a noise in the 
 world, were suspended and abandoned, in consequence of a mandate 
 issued in 1754, by Benedict XIV., who declared his disapprobation of 
 
 the mean and perfidious methods of converting the Indians that were | 
 sractised by the Jesuits, and pronounced it unlawful to make use of | 
 
 frauds or insidious artifices in extending the limits of the Christian 
 church. See Norbert’s Memoires Historiques pour les Missions Orien- 
 tales, tom. i. and iv. Mammachius has given an account of this matter, 
 and also published the mandate of Benedict, in his Orig. et Antiq. 
 Christian. tom. ii. p. 245. See also Lockman’s Travels of the Jesuits. 
 ¢ See the writings of Alexander de Rhodes, who was undoubted! 
 a man of sense and spirit, and more especially his Travels, which 
 were published at Paris in 1666. 
 
 4 There were several pamphlets and memorials-published at Paris, in 
 the years 1666, 1674, and 1681, in which these French missionaries, whom 
 the Jesuits refused to admit as fellow-labourers in the conversion of the 
 Indians, relate, in an eloquent and affecting strain, the injuries they had 
 received from that jealous and ambitious order. ‘The most ample and 
 accurate narration of that kind was published in 1688 by Francis Pallu, 
 whom the pope had created bishop of Heliopolis. ‘The same subject is 
 largely treated in the Gallia Christiana of the learned Benedictines, 
 tom. vii. p. 1027; and a concise account of it is also given by Urban 
 Cerri, in his Etat present de ’Eglise Romaine, p. 199. The latter 
 author, though a secretary of the Congregation de propaganda fide, yet 
 inveighs with a just severity anda generous warmth against the perfidy, 
 cruelty, and ambition of the Jesuits, and laments it as a most unhappy 
 thing, that the congregation now mentioned, bad not sufficient power to 
 set limits to the rapacity and tyranny of that arrogant society. He 
 farther observes, toward the end of his narrative, which is addressed to 
 the pope, that he was not at liberty to reveal all the abominations. which 
 the Jesuits had committed, during the course of this contest, but, by the 
 order of his holiness, was obliged to pass them over in silence. His 
 words are, Votre Saintelé a ordonné qwelles demewrassent sous le se- 
 crel.—See also, on this topic, Helyot’s Histoire des Ordres, tom. viii. 
 
 2 ¢ The French bishops of Heliopolis, Berytus, and Metellopolis, 
 who nad been sent into India about the year 1663, had prepared the 
 way for this embassy, and, by an account of ths favourable dispositions 
 of the monarch then reigning at Siara, azd encouraged the French king 
 to make a new attempt for the establishment of Christianity in those 
 distant regions. A fixed residence had been formed at Siam for the 
 French missionaries. together with a seminary for instructing the youth 
 in the languages c* the ~‘ycumjacent nations, who had all settlements 
 (or camps, as they were called) at the capital. A church was also 
 erected there, by the king’s permission, in 1667; and that prince propo- 
 sed several questions to the missionaries, which seemed to discover a 
 propensity to inform himself concerning their religion. The bishop of 
 Heliopolis, who had gone back to Europe on the affairs of the mission, 
 returned to Siam in 1673, with letters from Louis and pope Clement 
 IX., accompanied with rich presents, to thank his Siamese majesty for 
 the favours bestowed on the French bishops. In a private audience to 
 which he was admitted, he explained, in an answer to a question pro- 
 posed to him by the king of Siam, the motive that had engaged the 
 French bishops to cross so many seas, and the French king to send his 
 
 ap * This is a mistake. Madura is ia the Indian peninsula on this 
 side of the Ganges, and not beyond it. Its ctuef produce is rice, which 
 is one of the principal instruments used by the rich Jesuits in the con- 
 version of the poor Indians. 
 
 a 
 
Srcr. J 
 
 Greek Christian, named Constantine Falcon, a man of an 
 artful, ambitious, and enterprising spirit. ‘he design of 
 this embassy was to engage the pagan prince to embrace 
 thristianity, and to permit the propagavion of the Gospel 
 in his dominions. ‘lhe ambassadois were attended by a 
 great retinue of priests and Jesuits, some of whom were 
 well acquainted with such branches of science as were 
 agreeable to the taste of the king of Siam. It was only, 
 however, among a small part of the people, that the la- 
 hours of these missionaries were crowned with any degree 
 o: ‘success ; for the monarch himself, and the great men 
 of his kingdom, remained unmoved by their exhortations, 
 and deaf to their instructions.» The king, indeed, though 
 he chose to persevere in the religion of his ancestors, yet 
 discovered a spirit of condescension and toleration towards 
 the conductors of this mission; and his favourite Constan- 
 tine had secretly invited the French to Siam to support 
 him in his authority, which was beheld with an envious 
 eye by several of the grandees. As long as this prince 
 and his minister lived, the French retained some hopes 
 of accomplishing their purpose, and of converting the na- 
 tion to the faith; but these hopes entirely vanished in 
 1688, when, in a popular sedition, excited and fomented 
 by some prince of the blood, both the king and his minis- 
 ter were put to death ;» and then the missionaries re- 
 turned home. 
 
 . China, the most extensive and opulent of all the 
 Asiatic kingdoms, could not but appear, to the missionaries 
 and their constituents, an object worthy of their pious zeal 
 and spiritual ambition. And accordingly a numerous 
 tribe of Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Capuchins, 
 set out about the commencement of this century, with a 
 view to enlighten that immense region with the know- 
 ledge of the Gospel. All these, however they differed in 
 other matters, agreed in proclaiming the astonishing suc- 
 cess of their ministerial labours. It is nevertheless certain, 
 that the principal honour of these religious exploits be- 
 longed to the Jesuits, who, with peculiar dexterity and ad- 
 dress, removed the chief obstacles to the progress of Chris- 
 tianity, among a people whose natural acuteness and pride 
 were accompanied with a superstitious attachment to the 
 religion and manners of their ancestors. ‘These artful mis- 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 517 
 
 sionaries studied the temper, character, taste, inclinations, 
 and prejudices of the Chinese, with incredible attention ; 
 and perceiving that their natural sagacity was attended 
 with an ardent desire of improvement, and that they took 
 the highest pleasure in the study of the arts and sciences. 
 and more especially in the mathematics, they lost no oc- 
 casion of sending for such members of their order as, be- 
 side their knowledge of mankind, and prudence in trans- 
 acting business, were also masters of the different branches 
 of learning and philosophy. Some of these learned Jesuits 
 acquired such a high degree of credit and influence by 
 their sagacity and eloquence, the insinuating sweetness 
 and facility of their manners, and their surprising dexte- 
 rity and skill in all kinds of transactions, that they were 
 at length gratified by the emperor with the most honour- 
 able marks of distinction, and were employed in the most 
 secret and important deliberations and affairs of the cabi- 
 net. Under the auspicious protection of such powerful 
 patrons, the other missionaries, though of a lower rank 
 and of inferior talents, were delivered from all apprehen- 
 sion of danger in the exercise of their ministry, and were 
 thus encouraged to exert themselves with spirit, vigour, 
 and perseverance, in the propagation of the Gospel, in all 
 the provinces of that mighty empire. 
 
 X. This promising scene was clouded for some time, 
 when Xun-chi, the first Chinese emperor of the Mogol 
 race, died, and left, as his only heir, a son, who was a 
 minor. ‘The grandees of the empire, to whose tuition and 
 care this young prince was committed, had long enter- 
 tained an aversion to Christianity, and only sought for a 
 convenient occasion of venting their rage against it. his 
 occasion was now offered and greedily embraced. ‘The 
 guardians of the young prince abused his power to exe- 
 cute their vindictive purposes, and, after using their ul- 
 most efforts to extirpate Christianity wherever it was pro- 
 fessed, they persecuted its patrons, more especially the Je- 
 suits, with great bitterness, deprived them of all the ho- 
 nours and advantages they had enjoyed, and treated them 
 with the utmost barbarity and injustice. John Adam 
 Schaal, their chief, whose advanced age and extensive 
 knowledge, together with the honourable place which he 
 held at court, seemed to demand some marks of exemp- 
 
 subjects to countries so far from home; observing, that a strong desire, 
 in his prince, to extend the kingdom of the true God, was the sole rea- 
 son of their voyage. Upon this we are told, that the king of Siam offer- 
 . ed a port in any part of his dominions, where a city might be built to 
 the honour of Louis the Great, and where, if he thought fit, he might 
 send a viceroy to reside; and declared afterwards, in a public assembly 
 of the grandees of his court, that he would leave all his subjects at 
 liberty to embrace the Romish faith. All this raised the hopes of the 
 missionaries to a very high pitch; but the expectations which they 
 thence derived of converting the king himself were entirely groundless, 
 as may be seen from a very remarkable declaration of that monarch in 
 the following note. See the Relation des Missions et des Voyages des 
 Eveques Frangois. 
 
 347 * When Monsieur de Chaumont, who was charged with this 
 famous embassy, arrived at Siam, he presented a long memorial to the 
 monarch of that country, intimating how solicitous the king of France 
 was to have his Siamese majesty of the same religion with himself. 
 Chaw Naraya, (for so was the latter named,) who seems to have al- 
 ways deceived the French by encouraging words, which administered 
 hopes that he never intended to accomplish, answered this memorial in 
 a very acute and artful manner. After asking who had made the king 
 of France believe that he entertained any such sentiments, he desired 
 his minister Falcon to tell the French ambassador, “‘ That he left it to 
 his most Christian majesty to judge, whether the change of a religion 
 that had been followed in his dominions without interruption for 2229 
 years could be a matter of small importance to him, or a demand with 
 which it was easy to comply ;—that, besides, he was much surprised to 
 find the king of France concern hiniself so zealously and so warmly in 
 
 No. XLIYV. 130 
 
 a matter which related to Ged and not to him ; and in which, though it 
 related to God, the Deity did not seem to interfere at all, but left it 
 entirely to human discretion.” The king asked, at the same time, 
 “Whether the true God, who created heaven and earth, and had be- 
 stowed on mankind such different natures and inclinations, could not, 
 when he gave to men the same bodies and souls, have also, if he had 
 pleased, inspired them with the same religious sentiments, and have 
 made all nations live and die in the same laws.” He added, that, 
 “since order among men, and unity in religion, depend absolutely on 
 the divine will, which could as easily introduce them into the world as a 
 diversity of sects, it is natural thence to conclude, that the true God 
 takes as much pleasure to be honoured by different modes of religion 
 and worship, as to be glorified by a prodigious number of different 
 creatures, who praise him every one in his own way.” He moreover 
 asked, “ Whether that beauty and variety, which we admire in the 
 order of nature, be less admirable in the order of supernatural things, or 
 less becoming in the wisdom of God 2— However that may be, (continued 
 the king of Siam,) since we know that God is the absolute master of 
 the world, and we are persuaded that nothing comes to pass contrary to 
 his will, L resign my person and dominions into the arms of his provi- 
 dence, and beseech his eternal wisdom to dispose thereof according to 
 his good will and pleasure.” See Tachard’s Prem. Voyage de Siam, 
 p. 218; as also tne Journal of the Abbé Choisi. 
 
 » An account of this embassy, and of the transactions both of ambas- 
 sadors and missionaries, is given by Tachard, Chaumont, and La 
 Loubere. The relations, however, of the author last-mentioned, who 
 was aman of learning and candour, deserve undoubtedly the prefe 
 rence. 
 
518 
 
 tion from the calamities that pursued his breti.ren, was | 
 thrown into prison, and condemned to death, while the 
 other missionaries were sent into exile. These distal : 
 scenes of persecution were exhibited in 1664; but, about | 
 five years after this gloomy period, when Kang-hi as- 
 sumed the reins of government, a new face of things S ap- 
 
 peared, ‘The Christian cause, and the labours of its mi- 
 nisters, not only resumed their former credit and vigour, 
 but even gained ground, and received such distinguished 
 marks of protection from the throne, that the Jesuits usu- 
 ally date from this period the commencement of the 
 golden age of Christianity in China. ‘The new emperor, 
 whose noble and generous spirits was equal to the un-} 
 common extent of his genius, and to his ardent curiosity 
 in the investigation of truth, began his reign by recalling 
 the Jesuits to his court, and res toring them to the credit 
 and influence which they had formerly enjoyed. But his 
 generosity and munificence did not stop here ; for he sent | 
 to Europe for a still greater number of the members of | 
 that order, such of them particularly as were eminent for | 
 their skill in the arts and sciences. Some of these he| 
 placed in the highest offices of the state, and employ ved | 
 in civil negotiations and transactions of the greatest 1m- | 
 portance. Others he chose for his private friends and | 
 counsellors, who were to assist him with their advice in 
 various paints, and to direct his philosophical and mathe- | 
 matical studies. These private friends and counsellors 
 were principally chosen from among the French Jesuits. | 
 Thus the order was raised, in a short time, to the very 
 summit of favour, and invested with a degree of autho- 
 rity and lustre which it had not before attained. In such 
 a state of things, it is natural to conclude, that the Chris- 
 tian religion would not want powerful patrons, and that 
 .ts preachers would not be left destitute and unsupported. 
 Accordingly a wultitude of spiritual labourers from all 
 parts of Europe repaired to China, allured by the pros- 
 pect of a rich, abundant, and glorious harvest; and, in- 
 deed, the success of their ministry seemed to answer fully 
 the extent of their expectations, since it is well known 
 that, with very little pains, and still less opposition, they 
 made a prodigious number of converts to the profession of | 
 the Gospel. At length Christianity seemed to triumph in | 
 1692, when the emperor, from an excessive attachment 
 to the Jesuits, issued that remarkable edict, by which he 
 declared, that the Christian religion was in no wise detri- 
 menial * the safety or interests of the monarchy, as its 
 enemies pretended ; and by which also he granted to all 
 his subjects an entire freedom of conscience, and a full 
 permission to embrace the Gospel. This triumph was 
 farther confirmed, when the same prince, in 1700, ordered 
 a magnificent church to be built for the Jesuits within the 
 precincts of the imperial palace.» 
 
 XI. This surprising success of the Christian cause may 
 undoubtedly be attributed to the dexterity and perseve- | 
 rance of the Jesuits, as even the greatest enemies of that | 
 artful order are obliged to acknowledge. But it is er 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. }. 
 
 another question, whether this success was obtained ty 
 methods agreeable to the dictates of reason and conscience, 
 ané consistent with the dignity and genius of the Chris. 
 tian religion. The latter point has “been long debated, 
 with great animosity and vehemence, on both sides. The 
 adversaries of the Jesuits, whose opposition is as keen as 
 their numbers are formidable, and more especially the 
 Jansenites and Dominicans, assert boldly, that the suc 
 cess above-mentioned was obtained by ihe most odious 
 frauds, and even, in many cases, by detestable crimes. 
 They charge the Jesuits with having given a false expo- 
 sition and a spurious account of the ancient religion of 
 the Chinese, and with having endeavoured to persuade 
 the emperor and the nobility, that the primitive theology 
 of their nation, and the doctrine of their great instructor 
 and philosopher Confucius, scarcely differed in any re- 
 spect from the doctrine of the Gospel. ‘The missionaries 
 are farther charged with having invented a variety of his- 
 torical fictions, in order to persuade the Chinese, (who are 
 warmly attached to whatever carries the air of remote 
 antiquity,) that Jesus Christ had been known and 
 worshipped in their nation many ages ago; and these 
 fictions are supposed to have prejudiced the emperor in 
 favour of Christianity, and to have engaged certain gran- 
 dees not only to grant their protection to the Jesuits, but 
 even to become members of their society. The disciples 
 of Loyola are also said to have lost sight of all the attics 
 and obligations that are incumbent on the ministers of 
 Christ, and the heralds of a spiritual kingdom, by not 
 only accepting worldly honours and places of civil autho- 
 rity and power, but even aspiring to them with all the 
 ardour of an insatiable ambition, by boasting, with an 
 arrogant vanity, of the protection and munificence of the 
 emperor, by deserting the simplicity of a frugal and hum- 
 ble appearance, and indulging themselves in all the cir- 
 cumstances of external pomp and splendour, such as 
 costly garments, numerous retinues, luxurious tables, and 
 magnificent houses. 'T’o all this is added, that they em- 
 ployed much more zeal and industry in the advancement 
 of human science, especially the mathematics, than in 
 promoting Christian knowledge and virtue; and that 
 they even went so far as to interfere in military matters, 
 and to concern themselves, both personally and by their 
 counsels, in the bloody scenes of war. While these heavy 
 crimes are laid to the charge of those Jesuits, who, by 
 their capacity and talents, had been raised to a high de- 
 gree of credit in the empire, the more obscure members 
 of that same order, who were appointed more immedi- 
 ately to instruct the Chinese in the truths of the Gospel, 
 are far from being considered as blameless. They are 
 accused of having employed, in the practice of usury, and 
 various kinds of traffic, the precious moments which ought 
 to have been consecrated to the functions of their ministry, 
 and of having used low and dishonourable methods of ad- 
 vancing their fortunes, and insinuating themselves into 
 the favour of the multitude. ‘The Jesuits pee LS 
 
 " See Joach. Bouveti Icon Monarche Sinarum, translated into Latin | 
 by the famous Leibnitz, and published in 1699, in the second part of his | 
 Novissima Sinica. See also Du Halde’s Deseri iption de la Chine, and | 
 the Letires Edifiantes, in which the Jesuits give an account of the suc- | 
 cess of their missions. In these productions, the virtues and talents of | 
 this emperor, which seem indeed to be universally acknowledged, are || 
 described and celebrated with peculiar encomiums. 
 
 t There is a concise but interesting account of these revolutions, 
 given by Du Halde, in his Description de la Chine, tom. 1i1., and by the 
 
 Jesuit Fontaney, in the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, tom. viil.—- 
 They are related in a more diffuse and ample manner by other writers, 
 See Suarez, de Libertate Religionem Christianam apud Sinas propa- 
 gandi Narratio, published in 1698 by Leibnitz, in the first part of his 
 Noviatate Sinica. The other authors who have treated this branch of 
 history are mentioned by Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii, cap. xxxix. 
 See also an Eccles. His. of China, which I published in ‘German in 1748, 
 x This history was translated into English, and published in 1750 
 with this title: Authentic Memoirs of the Christian Church in China. 
 
Secr. L 
 
 that. some of these accusations are founded upon facts ; 
 but they give a specious colour to these facts, and use all 
 their artifice and eloquence to justify what they cannot 
 deny. Other articles of these complaints they treat as 
 groundless, and as the fictions of calumny, invented with 
 no other design than to cast a reproach upon their order. 
 An impartial i inquirer into these matters will perhaps find, 
 that if, in several points, the Jesuits defend themselves in 
 a very weak and unsatisfactory manner, there are others, 
 in which their misconduct seems to have been exagge- 
 rated by envy and prejudice in the complaints of their 
 adversaries. 
 
 XII. The grand accusation that is brought against the 
 Jesuits in China, is this: That they make an impious 
 mixture of light and darkness, of Chinese superstition 
 and Christian truth, in order to triumph with the greater 
 
 speed and facility over the prejudices of that people against 
 the doctrine of the Gospel; and that they allow their con- 
 verts to retain the profane customs and the absurd rites 
 of their pagan ancestors. Ricci, who was the founder of 
 the Christian Church in that famous monarchy, declared 
 it as his opinion, that the greatest part of those rites, which 
 the Chinese are obliged by the laws of their country to 
 perform, might be innocently observed by the new con- 
 verts. 'T’o render this opinion less shocking, he supported 
 and explained it upon the following pr inciple : that these 
 rites were of a civil and not of a sacred nature ; ; that they 
 were invented from views of policy; and not for any pur- 
 poses of religion; and that none but the very dregs of 
 the populace in China, considered them in any other 
 light. This opinion was not only rejected by the Domi- 
 nicans and Franciscans, who were associated with the 
 Jesuits in this important mission, but also by some even 
 of the most learned Jesuits both in China and Japan, 
 and particularly by Nicolas Lombard, who published a 
 memorial, containing the reasons ® upon which his dissent 
 was founded. This contest, which was long carried on 
 in a private manner, was brought, by the Dominicans, 
 before the tribunal of the pontiff, in the year 1645; and 
 from that period it continued to produce great divisions, 
 cabals, and commotions, in the church of Rome. Inno- 
 cent X.,in the year now mentioned, pronounced in favour 
 of the Dominicans, and highly condemned the indulgence 
 which the Jesuits had shown to the Chinese superstitions. 
 But, about eleven years after, this sentence, though not 
 formally reversed, was virtually annulled by Alexander 
 VIL., at the instigation of the Jesuits, who persuaded that 
 pontiff to allow the Chinese converts the liberty of per- 
 forming several of the rites to which they had been accus- 
 tomed, | and for which they discovered a peculiar fondness. 
 This, however, did not prevent the Dominicans from renew- 
 ing their complai nts in 1661, and also in 1674, under the 
 pontificate of Innocent XL., though the power and credit of 
 the Jesuits seemed to triumph over all their remonstrances. 
 
 *See Mammachii Origines et Antiquitates Christiana, tom. ii. 
 . 373. 
 
 ‘ » See Chr. Kortholti Prefatio ad Volumen II. Epistolar. Leibnitiar. 
 sect. vi. To this work are subjoined the pieces composed against the 
 Jesuits by Lombard and Antony de 8. Maria, with the remarks of 
 Leibnitz; and there is also inserted in this collection, p. 413, an ample 
 dissertation on the Chinese philosophy, drawn up by Leibnitz, who 
 
 = therein the cause of the Jesuits. 
 ¢ See the Lettres des Messieurs des Missions Etrangeres au 
 Pape, »e, sur les Idolatries et les Superstitions Chinoises—Revoeation de 
 pprobation donnée par M. Brisacier, Superieur des Missions Ewan- 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF 'THE 
 
 CHURCH. 519 
 
 This fatal dispute, which had been suspended for many 
 years in China, broke out there again, in 1684, with 
 greater violence than ever; and then the vic tory seemed 
 to incline to the side of the Dominicans, in consequence 
 of a decision pronounced, in 1693, by Charles Maigrot, 
 a doctor of the Sorbonne, who acted as the delegate ar 
 vicar of the Roman pontiff in the province of Fokien, 
 and who was afterwards consecrated titular bishop of 
 Conon. 'This ecclesiastic, by a public edict, declared the 
 opinions and practices of the Jesuits, in relation to the 
 affairs of the Chinese mission, absolutely inconsistent with 
 the purity and simplicity of the Christian religion. But 
 the pope, to whose supreme cognisance and decision Mai- 
 grot had submitted this important edict, refused to come 
 to a determination before the matter in debate had been 
 carefully examined, and the reasons of each party weigh- 
 ed with the utmost attention; and therefore, in 1699, he 
 appointed a congregation of chosen doctors to examine 
 and decide this tedious controversy. ‘This resolution of 
 the pontiff was no sooner made public, than all the ene- 
 mies of the Jesuits, in all quarters of the church of Rome, 
 and more especially those who wished ill to the order in 
 France, came forth with their complaints, their accusa 
 tions, and invectives, and loaded the transactions and re- 
 putation of the whole society with the most bitter re- 
 proaches.© The Jesuits, on the other hand, were not 
 silent or inactive. ‘They attacked their adversaries with 
 vigour, and defended themselves with dexterity and spirit.* 
 —But the conclusion of this critical and momentous con- 
 test. belongs to the history of the following century. 
 
 XII. If, in considering this controversy, which em- 
 ployed the ablest pens of the Romish church, we confine 
 our attention to the merits of the cause, (passing over what 
 personally concerns the Jesuits, with some other questions 
 of a minute and incidental kind ,) it will appear, that the 
 whole dispute turns essentially upon two great points ; 
 the one relating to the Chinese notion of the Supreme 
 Being ; and the other to the nature of those honours 
 which that people offer to certain persons deceased. 
 
 As to the former of these points, it is to be observed, that 
 the Chinese call the supreme object of their religious wor- 
 ship Tien and Shang-ti, which, in their language, signify 
 the Heavens, and that the Jesuits employ the same terms 
 when they speak of the true God, who is adored by the 
 Christians. Hence it is inferred, that they make no distinc- 
 tion between the supreme God of the Chinese, and the infi- 
 nitely perfect Deity of the Christians; or (to express the 
 same thing in other words) that they imagine the Chinese 
 entertain the same notions concerning the Tien, or Hea- 
 ven, that the Christians do concerning the God whom 
 they adore. 'Vhe question then relative to this point is 
 properly as follows: “Do the Chinese understand, by the 
 denominations above-mentioned, the visible and material 
 heavens ? or are these terms, on the contrary, employed 
 
 geres, au Livre de la Defense des nouveaux Chretiens et des Mission- 
 aires de la Chine—Deux Lettres d’un Docteur de l’Ordre de St. Do- 
 minique au R. P. Dez, Provincial des Jesuites, sur les Ceremonies de la 
 Chine. 
 
 4 Du Halde, Description de la Chine, tom. iii. p. 142—See the enu- 
 meration of other writers on the same subject, given by Fabricius, in his 
 Lux Evangelii, cap. xxxix. p. 665.—See also Voltaire’s Siecle de Louis 
 XIV. tom. ii. p.318—But the most ingenious patron of the Jesuits, on 
 this occasion, was Father Daniel, himself a member of that famous 
 order. See his Histoire Apologetique de la Conduite des Jesuites de 'n 
 Chine, in the third volume of his Opuscules. 
 
520 
 
 by them to represent the Lord of these heavens, i. e. an 
 eternal ana a.t perfect Being, who presides over universal 
 nature, and, from heaven, the immediate residence of his 
 glory, governs all things with unerring wisdom ?” or, to 
 express the object in fewer words, “ Do the Chinese mean, 
 by their Tien, such a Deity as the Christians adore?” 'This 
 question the Jesuits answer in the affirmative. They 
 maintain, that the ancient Chinese philosophers, who had 
 an accurate knowledge of the great principles of natural 
 religion, represented the Supreme Being almost under the 
 very same characters that are attributed to him by Chris- 
 tians; and hence they not only allow their Chinese dis- 
 ciples to employ the terms already mentioned in their 
 prayers to the Deity, and in their religious discourses, but 
 even use these terms themselves, when they pronounce 
 the name of God in their public instructions, or in private 
 conversation. The adversaries of the Jesuits maintain 
 the negative of this question, regard the ancient philoso- 
 phy of the Chinese as an impure source of blasphemy and 
 impiety, and affirm, that it confounded the Divine Nature 
 with that of the universe. They assert farther, that the 
 famous Confucius, whose name and writings are held in 
 such veneration by the people of China, was totally igno- 
 rant of divine truth, destitute of religious principle, and re- 
 ferred the origin of all things that exist to an internal 
 and inevitable necessity. ‘This contest, concerning the 
 first point that divided the missionaries, produced a mul- 
 titude of learned dissertations on the manners, laws, and 
 opinions of the ancient inhabitants of China, and gave 
 rise to several curious discoveries. But all these were in- 
 sufficient to serve the chief purpose they were designed to 
 accomplish, since they were far from giving a clear and 
 satisfactory decision of the matter in debate. It still re- 
 mained a question, which were most to be believed,—the 
 Jesuits or their adversaries? and the impartial inquirer, 
 after long examination, thought it prudent to trust entire- 
 ly to neither ; since, if it appeared on the one hand, that 
 the Tien, or supreme God of the Chinese, was much in- 
 ferior, in perfection and excellence, to the God of the 
 Christians, it was equally evident, on the other, that this 
 Chinese Deity was looked upon by his adorers as entire- 
 ly distinct from the material ether and the visible heavens. 
 
 XIV. As to the other point in dispute, it must be pre- 
 viously observed, that the ancient laws of China oblige 
 the natives of that vast region to perform, annually, at a 
 stated time, in honour of their ancestors, certain rites, which 
 seem to be of a religious nature. It may also be observed, 
 
 i * True; if the means be not either criminal in themselves, perni- 
 cious in their consequences, or of such a nature as to defeat, in a great 
 measure, the benefits and advantages proposed by theend. And it is a 
 very nice and momentous question, whether the concessions pleaded for 
 in behalf of the Chinese converts, by the Jesuits, are not to be ranked 
 among the means here characterized _ Sce the following note. 
 
 » 2 The public honours paid to Confucius twice a year, used to be 
 performed before his statue, erected in the great hall or temple that is 
 dedicated to his memory. At present they are performed before a kind 
 of table, placed in the most conspicuous part of the edifice, with the 
 following inscription: “The Throne of the Soul of the most holy and 
 the most excellent chief Teacher Confucius.” The literati, or learned 
 celebrate this famous festival in the following manner :—The chief man- 
 darin of the place exercises the office of priest, and the others discharge 
 the functions of deacons, sub-deacons, &c. A certain sacrifice, which con- 
 sists of wine, blood, fruits, &c. is offered, after the worshippers have 
 prepared themselves for this ceremony by fasting and other acts of ab- 
 stinence and mortification. ‘They kneel before the inscription, prostrate 
 the body nine times before it, until the head touches the ground, and 
 repeat many prayers; after which the priest, taking in one hand a 
 cup full of wine, and in the other a like cup filled with blood, makes a 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. L 
 
 that it is a custom among the learned to pay, at stated 
 times, to the memory of Confucius, whom the Chinese 
 consider as the oracle of all wisdom and knowledge, cer- 
 tain marks of veneration that have undoubtedly a reh- 
 gious aspect, and which are, moreover, performed in a 
 kind of temple erected to that great and illustrious phi- 
 losopher. Hence arises a second question, which is thus 
 proposed: “Are those honours that the Chinese, in general, 
 pay to the memory of their ancestors, and which the 
 learned, in particular, offer at the shrine of Confucius, of 
 a civil or sacred nature? Are they to be considered as 
 religious offermgs, or are they no more than political 
 institutions designed to promote some public good?” The 
 Jesuits affirm, that the ancient Chinese law givers estab- 
 lished these rites with no other view than to keep the 
 people in order, and to maintain the tranquillity of the 
 state; and that the Chinese did not pay any religious 
 worship, either to the memory of Confucius, or to the de- 
 parted souls of their ancestors, but only declared, by the 
 performance of certain rites, their gratitude and respect to 
 both, and their solemn resolution to imitate their virtues, 
 and follow their illustrious examples. Hence these mis- 
 sionaries conclude, that the Chinese converts to Christian- 
 ity might be permitted to perform these ceremonies accord- 
 ing to the ancient custom of their country, provided they 
 understood their true nature, and kept always in remem- 
 brance, the political views with which they were institut- 
 ed, and the civil purposes they were designed to serve. 
 By this specious account of things, the conduct of the 
 Jesuits is, in some measure, justified. But, whether thic 
 representation be true or false, it will still remain evident, 
 that, in order to render the Christian cause triumphant in 
 China, some such concessions and accommodations as 
 those of the Jesuits seem almost absolutely necessary ; and 
 they who desire the end must submit to the use of the 
 means.* ‘The necessity of concession arises from this re- 
 markable circumstance, that, by a solemn law of ancient 
 date, it is positively declared, that no man shall be esteem- 
 eda good citizen, or be looked upon as qualified to hold 
 any public office in the state, who neglects the observance 
 of the ceremonies now under consideration. On the other 
 hand, the Dominicans, and the other adversaties of the 
 Jesuits, maintain, that the rites in question form an im- 
 portant branch of the Chinese religion ; that the honours 
 paid by the Chinese to Confucius and to the souls of their 
 ancestors, are not of a civil, but of a religious nature ;» and 
 consequently, that all who perform these rites are charge- 
 
 solemn libation to the deceased, and dismisses the assembly with a 
 blessing. The rites performed by families, in honour of their deceased 
 parents, are nearly of the same nature. 
 
 Now, in order to know, with certainty, whether this festival and 
 these rites be of a civil or religious nature, we have only to inquire 
 whether they be the same with those ceremonies that are performed by 
 the Chinese, in the worship they pay to certain celestial and terrestria) 
 spirits, or genii, which worship is undoubtedly of a religious kind 
 The learned Leibnitz* undertook to affirm, that the services now mer 
 tioned were not of the same kind, and, consequently, that the Jesuits 
 were accused unjustly. But that great man does not appear to have 
 examined this matter with his usual sagacity and attention; for it is 
 evident, from a multitude of relations every way worthy of credit, and 
 particularly from the observations made on the Chinese missions by 
 that learned and candid Franciscan, Antonio de 8. Maria,t not only 
 that Confucius was worshipped among the idols, and the celestial and 
 terrestrial spirits of the Chinese, but that the oblations and ceremonies 
 observed in honour of him, were perfectly the same with those that 
 were performed as acts of worship tothese idols and spirits. Those who 
 
 * See Pref. Novissim. Sinicorum. 
 
 _t See vol. ii. Epist. Leibnitz, 
 
Sect, I. GENERAL HISTORY 
 able with insulting the majesty of God, to whom alone 
 all divine worship is due, and cannot be considered as 
 true Christians. This account of the affair is so specious 
 and probable, and the consequences deducible from it are 
 so natural and just, that the more equitable and impartial 
 among the Jesuits have acknowledged the difficulties that 
 attend the cause they maintain; and taking, at length, 
 refuge in the plea of necessity, allege, that certain evils 
 and inconveniences may be lawfully submitted to when 
 they are requisite in order to the attainment of extensive, 
 important, and salutary purposes. 
 
 XV. The ministerial labours of the Romish mission- 
 aries, and more especially of the Jesuits, were crowned 
 in Japan with surprising success, about the commence- 
 ment of this century, and made an incredible number of 
 converts to the Christian religion.» But this prosperous 
 and flourishing state of the church was somewhat inter- 
 rupted by the prejudices that the priests and grandees of 
 the kingdom had conceived against the new religion, pre- | 
 judices which proved fatal in many places, both to those 
 who embraced it, and to those who taught it. "The cause 
 of Christianity did not, however, suffer only from the viru- | 
 ience and malignity of its enemies; it was wounded in 
 the house of its friends, and received some ‘detriment, fron. 
 che intestine quarrels and contentions of chose te whom 
 che care of the rising church was comratted. For the 
 same scenes of fraternal discord, that had given such 
 offence in the other heathen countries, were renewed in 
 Japan, where the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augus- 
 tinians, were at perpetual variance with the Jesuits. 
 This variance produced, on both sides, the heaviest accu- 
 sations, and the most bitter reproaches. ‘I'he Jesuits were 
 charged, by the missionaries of the three orders now men- 
 tioned, with insatiable avarice, with showing an excessive 
 indulgence, both to the vices and superstitions of the 
 Japanese, with crafty and low practices unworthy of the 
 ministers of Christ, with an ambitious thirst after autho- 
 rity and dominion, and other misdemeanors of a like na- 
 ture. These accusations were not only exhibited at the 
 court of Rome, but were spread abroad in every part of 
 Christendom. ‘lhe disciples of Loyola were by no means 
 silent under these reproaches; but, in their turn, charged 
 their accusers with imprudence, ignorance of the world, 
 obstinacy, asperity of manners, and a disgusting rusticity 
 in their way of living; adding, that these circumstances 
 
 desire a more ample account of this matter may consult the following 
 wthors: Budei Annal. Histor. Philos. p. 287, where he treats de super- 
 tetioso Demortworum apud Sinenses Cultu.—W olfii Not. ad Casau- 
 bon. p. 342.—Nic. Charmos, Annot. ad Maigrotti Historiam Cultus 
 Sinensis; and more especially Arnaud, Morale Pratique des Jesuites, 
 tom. iii. vi. vii.; and a collection of historical relations, published in 
 1700, under the following title: Historia Cultus Sinensium, seu varia 
 Scripta de Cultibus Sinarum inter Vicarios Apostolicos et P. P. S. L 
 eontroversis. 
 2+ * T'wo peculiar circumstances. contributed to facilitate the pro- 
 gress of the Romish religion in Japan. The first was the uncharitable 
 severity and cruelty of the Japanese bonzas or priests toward the sick 
 and indigent, compared with the humanity, zeal, and beneficence of the 
 missionaries. These bonzas represented the poor and infirm not as 
 objects of pity but as wretches loaded with the displeasure of the gods, 
 and abandoned to present and future misery by the judgments of 
 Heaven ; and inspired the rich with a contempt and abhorrence of them. 
 The Christian religion, therefore, which declares that poverty and af- 
 flictions are often surer marks of the divine favour than grandeur and 
 prosperity, and that the transitory evils which the righteous endure 
 ere, shall be crowned with everlasting glory and felicity hereafter, was 
 every way proper to comfort this unhappy class of persons, and could 
 not but meet with a most favourable reception among them. Add to 
 this, that the missionaries were constantly employed in providing them 
 
 No. XLIV. 131 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. 52] 
 rendered their ministry rather detrimental than advanta- 
 geous to the cause of Christianity, among a people re- 
 markable for their penetration, generosity, and magnifi- 
 cence. Such then were the contests that arose wong 
 the missionaries in Japan; and nothing but the amazing 
 progress that Christianity had already made, and the im- 
 mense multitude of those who had embraced it, could 
 have prevented these contests from being fatal to its in- 
 terests. As the cave stood, neither the cause of the Gos- 
 pel, nor its numerous professors, received any essential 
 damage from these divisions; and, if no other circum- 
 stance had intervened to stop its progress, an expedient 
 might have probably been found out, either to heal these 
 divisions, or at least to appease them so far as to prevent 
 them from being attended with mischievous and calami- 
 tous consequences.” 
 
 XVI. But anewand dreadful scene of oppécition arose, 
 in 1615, to blast the hopes of those who wished weil to the 
 cause of Christianity in Japan; for, in that year, the em- 
 peror issued, against the professors and ministers of that 
 divine religion, a persecuting edict, which was executed 
 with a degree of barbarity unparalleled in the annals of the 
 Christian history. ‘This cruel persecution raged for many 
 years with unrelenting fury, and only ended with the 
 extinction of Christianity throughout that mighty empire. 
 ‘That religion, which had been suffered to make such a 
 rapid and triumphant progress in Japan, was at length 
 considered as detrimental to the interests of the monarchy, 
 inconsistent with the good of the people, and derogatory 
 from the majesty of their high priest, whom they revered 
 as a person descended from the gods; and, on these ac 
 counts, it was judged unworthy not only of protection, 
 but even of toleration. This judgment was followed by 
 the fatal order, by which all foreigners that were Chris 
 tians, and more especially the Spaniards and Portuguese, 
 were commanded to quit the kingdom ; and the natives, 
 who had embraced the Gospel, were required to renounce 
 the name and doctrine of Christ, on pain of death pre- 
 sented to them in the most dreadful forms. ‘This tre- 
 mendous order was the signal for the perpetration of such 
 horrors as the most sanguine and atrocious imagination 
 will scarcely be able to conceive. Innumerable multitudes 
 of the Japanese Christians of each sex, and of all ages, 
 ranks, and stations, expired with magnanimous constancy, 
 amidst the most dreadful torments, rather than apostatize 
 
 with food, medicine, and habitations. A second circumstance that was 
 advantageous to Christianity (that is, to such a form of Christianity as 
 the popish missionaries preached in Japan,) was a certain resemblance 
 or analogy between it and some practices and sentiments which pre- 
 vailed among the Japanese. ‘The latter look for present and future 
 felicity only through the merits of Xaca Amida, and other of their dei- 
 ties, who, after a long course of severe mortifications freely undertaken, 
 had voluntarily, also, put an end to their lives. They sainted many 
 melancholy persons who had been guilty of suicide, celebrated their 
 memories, and implored their intercession and good offices. ‘They used 
 processions, statues, candles, and perfumes in their worship; as also 
 prayers for the dead, and auricular confession; and had monasteries 
 founded for devout persons of both sexes, who lived in celibacy, solitude, 
 and abstinence; so that the Japanese religion was not an inapplicable 
 preparation for popery. Beside these two circumstances, another may 
 be mentioned, which we take from the letters of the Jesuits themselves, 
 who inform us, that the princes of the maritime parts of Japan were so 
 fond of this new commerce with the Portuguese, that they strove who 
 should oblige them most, and encouraged the missionaries, less perhaps 
 from a principle of zeal, than from views of interest. See Varenius’ 
 Descrip. Japon. lib. iii. cap. vi. x. and the Modern Univ. History, 
 
 » See the writers on this subject enumerated by Fabricius, in his Lux 
 Evangelii, p. 678, as also Charlevoix, Histoire Generale de Japon, tom 
 il. liv, xi, = 
 
522 
 
 from the faith they had embraced. And here it may not 
 pe amiss to observe, that both the Jesuits and their adver- 
 saries in the missions expiated, in some measure, if I may 
 so express myself, by the agonies they endured, and the 
 fortitude with which they suffered, the faults they had 
 committed in the exercise of their ministry. For it is 
 well known, that the greatest part of them died magna- 
 
 nimously for the cause of Christ by the hands of the 
 
 executioner, and that some of them even expired with 
 triumphant feelings of satisfaction and joy. 
 
 Historians are not entirely agreed with respect to the | 
 
 real causes of this merciless persecution. 'The Jesuits con- 
 sider it as having been occasioned, in part, by the impru- 
 dence of the Dominicans and Franciscans ; while the lat- 
 ter impute it, in a great measure, to the covetous, arro- 
 gant, and factious spirit of the Jesuits.« Both parties ac- 
 cuse the English and Dutch of having excited in the em- 
 peror of Japan a strong prejudice against the Spaniards, 
 Portuguese, and the Roman pontiff, to the end that they 
 alone might engross the commerce of that vast monarchy, 
 and be unrivalled in their credit among that powerful 
 people. The English and Dutch allege, on the other 
 hand, that they never attempted to undermine, by any 
 false accusations, the credit of the Roman Catholics in 
 that kingdom, but only detected the perfidious plots the 
 Spaniards had laid against it. Almost all the historians, 
 who have given accounts of this country, concur in 
 affirming, that certain letters, intercepted by the Dutch, 
 and other ci:cumstances of a very striking and alarming 
 kind, had persuaded the emperor, that the Jesuits, as 
 also the other missionaries, had formed seditious designs 
 against his government, and aimed at nothing less than 
 exciting their numerous disciples to rebellion, with a view 
 to reduce the kingdom of Japan under the dominion of 
 Spain.» A discovery of this nature could not but make 
 the most dreadful impressions upon a prince naturally 
 suspicious and cruel, such as the emperor then reigning 
 Was ; and, indeed, as soon as he had received this infor- 
 mation, he concluded, with equal precipitation and vio- 
 lence, that he could not sit secure on his throne, while 
 the smallest spark of Christianity remained unextin- 
 guished in his dominions, or any of its professors breathed 
 under his government. It is from this remarkable period, 
 that we must date the severe edict by which all Euro- 
 peans are forbidden to approach the Japanese dominions, 
 and in consequence of which all the terrors of fire and 
 sword are employed to destroy whatever carries the remo- 
 test aspect or shadow of the Christian doctrine. 'The only 
 exception from this general law is made in favour of some 
 Dutch merchants, who are allowed to import annually a 
 certain quantity of European commodities, and have a 
 factory, or rather a kind of prison, allowed them, in one 
 of the extremities of the kingdom, where they are strictly 
 watched, and rigourously precluded from all communica- 
 
 * Thereis a concise and sensible account of this tedious dispute in the 
 sjxth discourse that is subjoined to the English edition of Kampfer’s 
 History of Japan, sect. iv. But it will also be proper to see what is 
 said on the other side, by an author, who, in his long and circumstantial 
 narration, has not omitted any incident, however minute, that tends, in 
 the least, to exculpate the Jesuits, or to procure them indulgence; that 
 author is Charlevoix; see his Histoire Generale de Japon, tom. ii. liv. 
 xii. The other historians that may be consulted with utility on this 
 subject, are enumerated by Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii, cap. x. p. 
 678. Add to these the Acta Sanctorum, tom. i. Mens. Februar. p. 723, 
 where we find not only a history of the commencement and progress of 
 Christianity in Japan, but also an account of the lives and martyr- 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 tion with the natives, but what is essentially necessary to 
 the commerce they are permitted to carry on. 
 
 XVI. The example of the Roman Catholic states could 
 not but excite a spirit of pious emulation in Protestant 
 countries, and induce them to propagate a still purer form 
 of Christianity among those unhappy nations that lay 
 grovelling in the darkness of Paganism and idolatry 
 Accordingly the Lutherans were, on several occasions, 
 solicited by persons of eminent merit and rank in their 
 communion, to embark in this pious and generous under- 
 taking. Justinian Ernest, baron of Wells, distinguished 
 himself by his zealous appearance in this good cause, hay- 
 ing formed the plan of a society that was to be intrusted 
 with the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, and 
 to bear the name of Jesus, the divine founder of that 
 religion which its members were anxious to promote.* But 
 several circumstances concurred to prevent the execution 
 of this pious design, among which we may reckon, prin- 
 cipally, the peculiar situation of the Lutheran princes, of 
 whom very few had any territories, forts, or settlements, 
 beyond the limits of Europe. 
 
 This was by no means the case with the princes and 
 states who professed the reformed religion. The English 
 and Dutch, more especially, whose ships covered the ocean, 
 and sailed to the most distant corners of the globe, and who, 
 moreover, in this century, had sent colonies to Asia, Africa, 
 and America, had abundant opportunities of spreading 
 abroad the knowledge of Christianity among the unen- 
 lightened nations. Nor were these opportunities entirely 
 neglected, notwithstanding the reports that have generally 
 prevailed, of their being much more zealous in engrossing 
 the riches of the Indians than in effecting their conver- 
 sion, though it may, perhaps, be granted, that neither of 
 these nations exerted themselves, to the extent of thei 
 power, in this salutary undertaking. In 1647, the pro 
 pagation of the Gospel in foreign parts was committed, by 
 an act of the English parliament, to the care and inspec- 
 tion of a society composed of persons of eminent rank and 
 merit. "The civil wars that ensued suspended the execu 
 tion of the plans that were laid for carrying on this salu 
 tary work. In 1661, under the sway of Charles IL., the 
 work was resumed, and the society re-established. In 
 1701, this respectable society received singular marks of 
 protection and favour from king William IIT. who en- 
 riched it with new donations and privileges.¢. Since that 
 period, even to the present time, it has been distinguished 
 by ample marks of the munificence of the kings of Eng- 
 land, and of the liberality of persons of all ranks and or- 
 ders, and has been, and continues to be, eminently useful 
 in facilitating the means of instruction to the nations im- 
 mersed in pagan darkness, and more especially to the 
 Americans. Nor are the laudable efforts of the United 
 Provinces, in the advancement and propagation of Chris- 
 tian knowledge, to be passed over in silence, since they 
 
 dom of those who first suffered for the cause of the Gospel in that 
 kingdom. See likewise Mammachii Origines et Antiquitat. Christian. 
 tom. ii. p. 376. ' 
 
 a> > The discoveries made by the Dutch were against the Portu- 
 guese, with whom they were then at war; so that, instead of Spein, our 
 author should have said Portugal. . See Keimpfer’s Japan, and the 
 the Modern Universal History. 
 
 © See Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. iii. as also a German work of 
 the learned Arnold, entitled, Kirehen und Ketzer Historie, part 1. 
 book xvii. ¢. xv. sect. 23. part ili. cap. xv. sect. 18. 4 
 
 4 See Humphrey’s Account of the Propagation of the Gospel) in 
 Foreign Parts. 
 
Sccr. I. 
 
 also are sail to have converted to the Gospel a prodigious 
 number of Indians, in the islands of Ceylon and Formosa, 
 on the coast of Malabar, and in other Asiatic settlements, 
 which they either had acquired by their own industry, or 
 obtained by conquest from the Portuguese. Some histo- 
 rians, perhaps, may have exaggerated, in their relations, 
 the number of proselytes made by the Dutch ; it is never- 
 less most certain, that, as soon as that nation had gained 
 a firm footing in the Kast Indies, they planned with wis- 
 dom, and executed, at a great expense, various schemes 
 for instructing the natives of those distant regions in the 
 doctrines of the Gospel.® 
 
 XVIII. The inward parts of Africa remain still in the 
 darkness of Paganism, as they have been hitherto inac- 
 cessible to the most adventurous of the Europeans. But 
 in the maritime provinces of that great peninsula, and 
 more especially in those where the Portuguese have their 
 settlements, there are several districts in which the religion 
 of Rome has prevailed over the savage superstitions of 
 that barbarous region. It is nevertheless acknowledged, 
 by the more ingenuous historians, even among the Roman 
 Catholics, who have given accounts of the African colo- 
 nies, that, of the proselytes made there to the Gospel, a 
 very small number deserve the denomination of Chris- 
 tians, since the greatest part of them retain the abomina- 
 lhle superstitions of their ancestors, and the very best among 
 them dishonour their profession by various practices of a 
 most vicious and corrupt nature. Any progress that Chris- 
 lianity made in these parts must be chiefly attributed to 
 the zealous labours of the Capuchin missionaries, who, in 
 this century suffered the most dreadful hardships and dis- 
 couragements in their attempts to bring the fierce and 
 savage Africans under the Christian yoke. These attempts 
 succeeded so far, as to gain over to the profession of the 
 Gospel the kings of Benin and Awerri,< and also to 
 engage the cruel and intrepid Anna Zingha, queen of 
 Metamba, and all her subjects, to embrace, in 1652, the 
 Christian faith. The African missions were allotted to 
 this austere order by the court of Rome, and by the society 
 de propaganda fide, for wise reasons, since none could 
 be se fitted for an enterprise attended with dreadful hard- 
 ships, difficulties, and perils, as a set of men whose mo- 
 nastic institute had familiarized them to the severest acts 
 of mortification, abstinence, and penance, and thus pre- 
 pared them for the bitterest scenes of trial and adversity. 
 Although the Capuchins seem to have been alone ho- 
 noured with this sacred, but arduous commission, it does 
 not appear that the other orders beheld, with the smallest 
 sentiment of envy, their dear-bought glory. 
 
 XIX. ‘The extensive continent of America swarms with 
 
 ® See Epist. de Successu Evangelii apud Indos Orientales, ad Johan. 
 Leusdeninm seript. 
 
 » See Braun’s Veritable Religion des Hollandois, p. 71, 267, &c. 
 This treatise, which was published at Amsterdam, in 1675, was intend- 
 ed as an answer to a malignant libel of one Stoup, entitled la Religion 
 des Hollandois, in which that writer proposed to persuade the world 
 that the Dutch had scarely any religion at all. 
 
 * Calied by some Ouverne. 
 
 3> ¢ For a more ample account of this queen, and her conversion, 
 Dr. Mosheim refers the reader (in his note [*]) to Urban Cerri’s Etat pre- 
 sent de l’Eglise Romaine, p. 222, and to the third and fourth volumes of 
 Father Labat’s Relation Historique de Afrique Occidentale, in the 
 former of which, he tells us, there is a French translation of Ant. Ca- 
 vazzi’s account of Africa. All these citations are inaccurate. Cerri 
 makes no mention of Zingha, or of Metamba; nor are they mentioned 
 by Labat, in any of the five volumes of his Historical Relation; nor 
 is Cavazzi’s account translated in that work. In general it may be 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 | 
 
 523 
 
 colonies from Spain, Portugal, and F'rance,¢ all which pro- 
 fess the Christian religion as it has been disfigured by the 
 church of Rome. But it is abundantly known, that these 
 colonists, more especially the Spaniards and Portuguese, 
 are the most worthless and profligate set of men that bear 
 the Christian name ; and this fact is confirmed by the tes- 
 timonies of Roman catholic writers of great merit and au- 
 thority, who cannot be suspected of partiality in this mat- 
 ter. Hven the clergy are not excepted from this general 
 condemnation ; but, as we learn from the same credible 
 testimonies, surpass even the idolatrous natives in the 
 ridiculous rites which they perform in the worship of God, 
 as well as in the licentiousness of their manners, and the 
 enormity of the crimes they commit without reluctance. 
 ‘Those of the ancient inhabitants of America, who either 
 have submitted to the European yoke, or live near the 
 colonies, have imbibed some faint knowledge of the Ro- 
 mish religion, from the Jesuits, Franciscans, and other 
 ecclesiastics ; but these feeble rays of instruction are totally 
 clouded by the gloomy suggestions of their native super- 
 stition, and the corrupt influence of their barbarous cus- 
 toms and manners. As to those Indians who live more 
 remote from the Huropean settlements, and wander about 
 in the woods without any fixed habitation, they are abso- 
 lutely incapable either of receiving or retaining any ade- 
 quate notions of the Christian doctrine, unless they be pre- 
 viously reclaimed from that irregular and desultory man- 
 ner of life, and civilized by an intercourse with persons, 
 whose humane and insinuating manners are adapted to 
 attract their love, and excite their imitation. This the 
 Jesuits, and other ecclesiastics who have been sent in later 
 times to convert these wandering savages, have found by 
 a constant and uniform experience.’ Hence the former 
 have erected cities, and founded civil societies, cemented 
 by government and laws, like the European states, in 
 several Indian provinces both in South and North Ame- 
 rica; and it is on this account that they discharge the 
 double functions of magistrates and doctors among these 
 
 | their new subjects and disciples, whose morals and senti- 
 
 ments, it is said, they endeavour to preserve pure and un- 
 corrupted, by permitting few or no Europeans to approach 
 them. ‘These arduous and difficult attempts have fur- 
 nished to the disciples of Loyola ample matter of boasting, 
 and a lucky occasion of extolling the zeal, the dexterity, 
 and industry of their order. But it has appeared, from 
 relations worthy of credit, that these exploits of the Jesuits, 
 in the internal and more inaccessible provinces of Ame- 
 rica, are not so much carried on with a view to the pro- 
 pagation of Christianity, as with an intention of gratify- 
 ing their own insatiable avarice and boundless ambition ; 
 
 observed, that the missions in Africa were greatly neglected by the 
 Portuguese, and that the few missionaries sent thither were men abso- 
 lutely void of learning, and destitute of almost every qualification that 
 was necessary to the prosecution of such an important undertaking 
 See Labat’s Preface, as also the Modern Universal History. 
 
 ° See the authors mentioned by Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii Or- 
 bem Terrarum collustrans, cap. xlviii. xlix. p. 769.—There is a cursory 
 account of the state of the Romish religion, in that part of America 
 which is possessed by the European catholics, in Cerri’s work above- 
 mentioned. 
 
 f A great variety of facts are alleged as a proof of this, in the Letters 
 in which the French Jesuits gave their friends in Europe an account of 
 the success and fruits of their mission, and which were regularly pub- 
 lished at Paris. a0 
 
 z“>* That this was by no means the only, nor even the principal 
 reason of cutting off all communication between the Indians and Europe- 
 ans, will appear evident from the contents of the following note, 
 
524 
 
 and, accordingly, they are reported to send yearly to the 
 members of their order, in Europe, immense quantities of 
 gold, drawn from several American provinces where they 
 have power and property, but chiefly from Paraguay, 
 which belongs to them alone.* 
 
 XX. The cause of Christianity was promoted with 
 greater wisdom, and consequently with better success, in 
 those parts of America where the English formed settle- 
 ments during this century; and, though it had the greatest 
 ignorance, stupidity, and indolence to conquer, it quickly 
 made a considerable progress. The English Independents 
 who retired to America because they dissented from the 
 established religion of their country, claimed the honour of 
 carrying thither the first rays of divine truth, and of begin- 
 ning a work that has been since continued with such pious 
 zeal and such abundant fruit; and indeed this claim is 
 founded in justice. Several families of this sect that had been 
 settled in Holland, removed thence into America? in 1620, 
 in order, as they alleged, to transmit their doctrine pure and 
 undefiled to future ages; and there they laid the founda- 
 tions of a new state. The success that attended this first 
 
 emigration engaged great numbers of the Puritans, who 
 
 groaned under the oppression of the bishops, and the seve- 
 rity of a court by which this oppression was authorized, to 
 
 ® While Father Labat was at Rome, Tamburini, at that time general 
 of the Jesuits, asked him several questions relating to the progress of 
 Christianity in America; to which, with equal courage and candour, he 
 gave immediately this general answer: “that the Gospel had made little 
 or noreal progress in that country; that he had never met with one adult 
 person among the Americans who could be regarded as a true proselyte 
 to Christianity ; and that the missionaries could scarcely pretend to any 
 other exploits (of a spiritual kind) than their having baptized some 
 children at the point of death.” [Labat’s Voyage en Espagne et en 
 Italie, tom, viii.] He added, that, “in orderto make the Americans 
 Christians, it was previously necessary to make them men.” This 
 bold Dominican, who had been himself a missionary in the American 
 islands, was inclined to give Tamburini some seasonable advice con- 
 cerning the immense wealth and authority that the Jesuits had acquired 
 in those parts of the world; but the cunning old man eluded artfully 
 this part of the conversation, and turned it upon another subject. 
 Labat gave, on another occasion, a still greater proof of his undaunted 
 spirit and presence of mind; for when, in an audience granted him by 
 Clement XI. that pontiff praised, in pompous terms, the industry and 
 zeal of the Portuguese and Spanish missionaries in promoting the sal- 
 vation of the Americans, and reproached the French with inactivity 
 and indifference in a matter of such high importance, our resolute Do- 
 minican told him plainly, “that the Spaniards and Portuguese boasted 
 of the success of their labours without any sort of foundation; since it 
 was well known, that, instead of converts, they had only made hypo- 
 crites, all their disciples among the Indians having been forced, by the 
 dread of punishment and the terrors of death, to embrace Christianity ;” 
 adding, “that such as had received baptism continued as open and egre- 
 gious idolators as they had been before their profession of Christianity.” 
 To this account we might add the relations of a whole cloud of wit- 
 nesses, whose testimonies are every way worthy of credit, and who 
 declare unanimously the same thing. See, among others, a remarkable 
 pices entitled, Memoire touchant l’Etablissement considerable des Peres 
 esuites dans les Indes d’Espagne, which is subjoined to Frezier’s Rela- 
 tion du Voyage de la Mer du Sud. See also Voyage aux Indes Occi- 
 dentales, par F’. Coreal, tom. ii. p. 67, and Mammachius, Orig. et Anti- 
 quit. Christian. tom. il. p. 337. There is a particular account of the 
 Jesuits of Paraguay, given by Don Ulloa, in his Voyage d’Amerique, 
 ‘tom. i. p.540; but this account is partial in their favour. They are 
 also zealously and artfully defended in an account of the mission of 
 Paraguay, published by Muratori. 
 a When Dr. Mosheim wrote this note, the important discovery 
 that placed the ambitious, despotic, and rebellious proceedings of the 
 
 Jesuits in Paraguay in the plainest and most striking light, had not heen ! 
 
 yet made. The book of Muratori deceived, for some time, the over- 
 credulous, and induced even the enemies of the Jesuits to suspect that 
 their conduct at Paraguay was not so criminalas ithad been represented ; 
 so that, notwithstanding the accusations that had been brought against 
 these missionaries by the writers mentioned by our historian: notwith- 
 standing a memorial seut to the court of Spain in 1730, by Don Martin 
 de Barua, at that time Spanish governor of Paraguay, in which the 
 Jesuits are charged with the most ambitious projects and the most rebel- 
 lious designs, represented as setting up an independent government, 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Sxcr. I. 
 
 follow the fortunes of these religious adventurers 34 and 
 this produced a second emigration in 1629. But, not- 
 withstanding the success which at length crowned this 
 enterprise, its commencement was unpromising, and the 
 colonists, immediately after their arrival, laboured under 
 such hardships and difficulties in the dreary and uncul- 
 tivated wilds of this new region, that, for several. years, 
 they could make very little progress in instructing the 
 Indians, their whole zeal and industry being scarcely 
 sufficient to preserve the infant settlement from the 
 horrors of famine. But, about the year 1633,° affairs 
 assumed a better aspect: the colony began to flourish, 
 and the new-comers, among whom the Puritans Mayhew, 
 Shepherd, and Elliot, made an eminent figure, had the 
 leisure, courage, and tranquillity of mind, that were neces- 
 sary for the execution of such.an important and arduous 
 design. All these devout exiles were remarkably zealous, 
 laborious, and successful in the conversion of the Indians ; 
 
 but none acquired such a shining reputation, in this pious 
 
 career, as John Elliot, who learned their language, (into 
 
 ‘which he translated the Bible, and other instructive and 
 
 edifying books,) collected the wandering savages, and 
 formed them into regular congregations, instructed them 
 in a manner suited to the dulness of their comprehen- 
 
 accused of carrying on a prodigious trade, and other things of that 
 nature; and notwithstanding the circumstantial evidence of various 
 known facts that supported these accusations in the strongest manner ; 
 a great proportion of the public had not just ideas upon the subject. 
 The illusion, however, did not lastlong. In 1750, the courts of Madrid 
 and Lisbon entered into a treaty for fixing the limits of their respective 
 dominions in South-America. The Jesuits, who had formed an inde- 
 pendent republic in the heart of those dominians, composed of the In- 
 dians, whom they had gained by the insinuating softness and affected 
 mildness, humility, and generosity of their proceedings, were much 
 alarmed at this treaty. It was one of the fundamental laws of this new 
 state, (which was founded under the mask of a Christian mission,) that 
 no bishop or governor, nor any officer, civil, military, or ecclesiastical, 
 nor even any individual, Spaniard or Portuguese, should be admitted 
 into its territories, to the end that the proceedings and projects of the 
 Jesuits might still remain an impenetrable secret. The members of 
 their order were alone to be instructed in this profound and important 
 mystery. The use of the Spanish language was prohibited in this new 
 territory, in order to prevent more effectually all communication between 
 the Indians and that nation. The Indians were trained to the use of 
 arms, furnished with artillery, instructed in the art of war, taught to 
 behold the Jesuits as their sovereigns and their gods, and to look upon 
 all white people, except the Jesuits, as demoniacs, atheists, and more- 
 over, as their barbarous and mortal enemies. Such was the state of 
 affairs when, in 1752, the united troops of Spain and Portugal marched 
 toward the eastern borders of the river Uragai, to make the exchanges 
 of certain villages that had been agreed upon in the treaty above-men- 
 tioned, Upon this, the Jesuits, not being sufficiently prepared for their 
 defence, demanded a delay of the execution of the treaty under various 
 pretexts. This delay was granted: but, as the Spanish general, Go- 
 mez Frere Andrada, perceived that the holy fathers employed this delay 
 in arming the Indians, and confirming them in their rebellion, he wrote 
 to his court, and thence received: new orders to proceed to the execution 
 of the treaty. A war ensued between the Spanish and the Portuguese on 
 one side, and the Indians, animated by the Jesuits, on the other, in 
 which the Spanish general lost his life, and of which the other circum- 
 stances are well known. This was the real and original cause of the 
 disgrace of the Jesuits at the court of Portugal. Those who desire a 
 more particular account of this matter, will find itin a famous pamphlet, 
 drawn from an authentic memorial, published by the court of Lisbon, 
 and printed in 1758, under the following title: La Republique des Je- 
 suites au Paraguay Renversée, ow Relation Authentique de la Guerre 
 que ces Religreux ont osé soutenir contre les Monarques d Espagne et 
 de Portugal en Amerique, pour y defendre les domaines dont tis aver- 
 ent wsurpé la Sowverarne au Paraguay sous pretexte de Religvon. 
 
 » This colony settled in that part of America which was afterwards 
 called New Plymouth. 
 
 ¢ See Neal’s Hist. of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 128; and also a German 
 work entitled, Englische Refor. Hist. by Ant. W. Bohm, b. vi. c. v. 
 
 4 See Mather’s History of New-England, p. 126.—Neal, vol. ii. 
 
 x¢p ¢ Dr. Mosheim says in the year 1623; but this is probably an 
 error of the press; for it is well known, that the emigration of Shep- 
 herd and Elhot happened between 1631 and 1634. 
 
Sect. L 
 
 sion, and the measure of their respective capacities ; and, 
 by such eminent displays of his zeal, dexterity, and inde- 
 fatigable industry, merited, after his death, the honour- 
 able title of the Apostle of the Indians.* 
 
 The unexpected success that attended these pious 
 attempts toward the propagation of Christian knowledge, 
 drew the attention of the parliament and people of Eng- 
 land; and the advancement of this good cause appeared 
 an object of sufficient importance to employ the delibera- 
 tions, and to claim the protection, of the great council of 
 the nation. ‘Thus was formed that illustrious society, 
 which derives its title from the great purpose of its insti- 
 tution, namely, the propagation of the Gospel in foreign 
 parts, and which, in proportion to the increase of its num- 
 ber, influence, revenues, and prerogatives, has still renew- 
 ed and augmented its efforts for the instruction of the 
 Pagans in all parts of the world, particularly those of the 
 American continent. It is true, that, after all its efforts, 
 much is yet to be done ; but it is also true, and must be 
 acknowledged by all who have examined these matters 
 with attention and impartiality, that much has been done, 
 and that the pious undertakings of this respectable society 
 have been followed by unexpected fruit.—With resnect 
 to the province of Pennsylvania, which receives in its 
 
 bosom, without distinction, persons of all sects and al | 
 opinions, we shall have occasion to speak of its religious , 
 
 state in another place. 'The American provinces which 
 were taken from the Portuguese by the Dutch, under the 
 command of count Maurice of Nassau, became immedi- 
 ately an object of the pious zeal of their new masters, 
 who began, with great ardour and remarkable success, 
 to spread the light of the Gospel among the wretched 
 inhabitants of those benighted regions.» But this fair 
 prospect was clouded in 1644, when the Portuguese reco- 
 vered the territories they had lost. As to the Dutch set- 
 tlement in Surinam, we cannot say much, having never 
 received the smallest information of any attempts made 
 by the colonists to instruct the neighbouring Indians in 
 the knowledge of Christianity.¢ 
 
 XXI. Religion in general, and the Christian faith in 
 particular, had many enemies to encounter in this century, 
 ‘hough their number has been studiously diminished in 
 the accounts of some, and greatly exaggerated in the 
 representations of others. The English complain of the 
 reign of Charles II. as the fatal period, when corruption 
 of manners, and vice, in the most licentious and _profli- 
 gate forms, over-ran their nation, engendered a spirit of 
 scepticism and infidelity, and formed a set of unhappy 
 men, who employed all the wantonness of inconsiderate 
 wit, all the sallies of imagination, and even all the force 
 
 * Hornbeckius, de Conversione Indorum et Gentil. lib. ii. cap. xv. 
 p. 260.—Crescentii Matheri Epistola de Successu Evangelii apud Indos 
 Occidentales ad Joh. Leusdenium. 34 The Letter to Leusden, by 
 Increase Mather, is translated into English, and inserted in Cotton Ma- 
 ther’s Life of Elliot, and in his History of New-England, book iit. N. 
 
 » Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Topographia Ecclesiastica, p. 47—Janicon, 
 Etat Present des Provinces Unies, tom. i, p. 396. The same author 
 gives an account of Surinam, and of the state of religion in that colony, 
 chap. xiv. p. 407. 
 
 3° There are three churches in that settlement for the use of the 
 colonists; but no attempt has been made to spread the knowledge of the 
 Gospel among the natives. 
 
 4 See Ricotier’s preface to his French translation of Dr. Clarke’s Dis- 
 courses on the Being and Attributes of God. For an account of the 
 
 ious, learned, and illustrious Mr. Boyle, see Budgell’s Memoirs of the 
 ice and Characters of the illustrious Family of the Boyles: see also 
 
 the Bibliotheque Brittanique, tom. xii. $4 But, above all, see the 
 
 No. XLY. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 525 
 
 of real talent and genius, to extinguish a sense of reli- 
 gion in the minds of mankind. That this complaint is 
 far from being groundless, appears, on one hand, from the 
 number of those writers among the English, who either 
 directed their attacks against all religion, or endeavoured 
 to confine the belief of men to natural religion alone ; 
 and, on the other from the still superior number of 
 learned and ingenious treatises in which the divinity, 
 dignity, and intrinsic excellence of the Gospel, were de- 
 monstrated and displayed in the mest striking and con- 
 spicuous manner. But nothing is more adapted to con- 
 firm the accounts that have been given of the progress of 
 infidelity and licentiousness at the period now under con- 
 sideration, than the famous Lectures founded by that 
 illustrious ornament of religion and humanity, Mr. Robert 
 Boyle, who, in 1691, consecrated a considerable part of 
 his large fortune to the service of Christianity, by leav- 
 ing, in his last will, a sum to be distributed successively 
 to a number of learned divines, who were to preach, in 
 their turns, eight sermons every year, in defence of natu- 
 ral and revealed religion.t. This pious and honourable 
 task has been generally committed to men of the most 
 eminent genius and abilities, and is still undertaken with 
 zeal, and performed with remarkable dignity and success. 
 The discourses that have been delivered in consequence 
 of this admirable institution have always been published ; 
 and they form at this day a large and important collec- 
 tion, which is known throughout all Europe, and has 
 done eminent service to the cause of religion and virtue.° 
 
 XXII. The leader of the impious band in England, 
 which, so early as the reign of Charles IL., attempted to 
 obscure the truth, and to dissolve the solemn obligations 
 of religion, was 'I‘homas Hobbes of Malmesbury, a man 
 whose audacious pride was accompanied with an uncom- 
 mon degree of artifice and address, whose sagacity was 
 superior to his learning, and whose reputation was more 
 owing to the subtilty and extent of his genius, than to 
 any progress he had made either in sacred or profane eru- 
 dition.! ‘This man, notwithstanding the pernicious na- 
 ture and tendency of his principles, had several adherents 
 in England ; and found also, in foreign countries, more 
 than one apologist, who, though they acknowledge that 
 his sentiments were erroneous, yet deny that he went such 
 an impious length as to introduce the disbelief, or to over- 
 turn the worship of a Supreme Being. But if it should 
 be granted, on one hand, that Hobbes was not totally des- 
 titute of all sense of a Deity, or of all impressions of reli- 
 gion, it must be allowed, on the other, by all who peruse 
 his writings with a proper degree of attention, that his 
 tenets lead, by natural consequences, to a contempt of 
 
 late learned Dr. Birch’s Life of Boyle, and that very valuable collection 
 of lives, the Biographia Britannica, Article Boyle (Robert) note*. Sea 
 also the article Hobbes, in the same collection. N. 
 
 * There is a complete list of these learned discourses in the Biblio- 
 theque Angloise, tom. xv. part ii. p. 416.—The late Reverend Mr. Gil- 
 bert Burnet published a judicious, comprehensive, and well-digested 
 abridgment of such of the Lectures as had been preached before the 
 
 ear 1737. This abridgment comprehends the discourses of Bentley, 
 
 idder, Williams, Gastrell, Harris, Bradford, Blackhall, Stanhope, 
 Clarke, Hancock, Whiston, Turner, Butler, Woodward, Derham, 
 Ibbot, Long, J. Clarke, Gurdon, Burnet, Berriman. 
 
 f See Bayle’s Dictionary, and Wood’s Athenz Oxonienses. 
 
 & Amcng the patrons and defenders of Hobbes, we may reckon Nic, 
 Hier. Gundlingius, in his Observationes Selectz, and in his Gundlingi- 
 ana, and also Arnold, in the second part of his German history of the 
 church and of heresy. These writers are refuted by the learned Bud- 
 deus, in his 'heses de Atheismo et Superstitione. 
 
526 
 
 religion and of divine worship ; and that, in some of his | 
 productions, there are visible marks of an extreme aver- 
 sion to Christianity. It has, indeed, been said of him, | 
 that, at an advanced age, he returned to a better mind, 
 and condemned publicly the opinions and tenets he had 
 formerly entertained ;* but how far this recantation was 
 sincere, we shall not pretend to determine, since the rea- 
 lity of his repentance has been strongly questioned. 
 The same thing cannot be said of John earl of Roches- 
 ter, who had insulted the majesty of God, and trampled 
 upon the truths of religion and the obligations of morality 
 with a profane sort of phrensy, that far exceeded the im- 
 piety of Hobbes, but whose repentance and conversion 
 were also as palpable as had been his folly, and much | 
 more unquestionable than the dubious recantation of the 
 philosopher of Malmesbury. ‘The earl was a man of 
 uncommon sagacity and penetration, of a fine genius and 
 an elegant taste ; but these natural talents were accom- 
 panied with the greatest levity and licentiousness, and 
 the most impetuous propensity to unlawful pleasure. As 
 long as health enabled him to answer the demands of 
 passion, his life was an uninterrupted scene of debauch- 
 ery.” He was, however, so happy in the last years of a 
 very short life, as to see the extreme folly and guilt of his 
 past conduct, in which salutary view he was greatly assist- 
 
 * This recantation depends upon the testimony of Wood, who in- 
 forms us, that Hobbes composed an apology for himself and his writings, 
 in which he declared, that the opinions he had published in his Levia- 
 than were by no means conformable to his real sentiments; that he had 
 only proposed them as a matter of debate, to exercise his mind in the 
 art of reasoning; that, after the publication of that book, he had never 
 maintained them either in public or in private, but had left them entirely 
 to the judgment and decision of the church; more especially that the 
 tenets, in this and his other writings, which seemed inconsistent with 
 the received doctrines concerning God and religion, were never delivered 
 by him as dvaths, but proposed as questions to be decided by divines 
 and ecclesiastical judges endued with a proper authority.—Such is the 
 account that Wood gives of the apology now under consideration ; but 
 he does not tell us the year in which it was published, which is a proof 
 that he himself had never seen it; nor does he inform us whether it ap- 
 peared during the life of Hobbes, or after his death. As indeed it is 
 placed in the catalogue of his writings, with a date posterior to the year 
 1682, itis natural to suppose that it was not published during his life, 
 since he died in 1679. It is, therefore, no easy matter to determine 
 what stress is to be laid upon this recantation of Hobbes, or what opi- 
 nion we are to form of his supposed repentance. That the apology 
 exists, we do not pretend to deny; but it may have been composed by 
 some of his friends, to diminish the odium which, it was natural to 
 think, his licentious principles would cast on his memory. But should | 
 it be granted, that it was drawn up and published by Hobbes himself, 
 even this concession would contribute little to save, or rather to recover, 
 his reputation, since it is well known, that nothing is more common 
 among those who, by spreading corrupt principles and pernicious opi- 
 nions, have drawn upon themselves the just indignation of the public, 
 than, like Hobbes, to deceive the world by insidious and insincere 
 declarations of the soundness of their belief, and the uprighmess of 
 their intentions. It is thus that they secure themselves against the ex- 
 ecution of the laws that are designed to fence religion, while they perse- 
 vere in their licentious sentiments, and propagate them, wherever they 
 can do it with security. 
 
 » See an account of his life and writings in Wood’s Athenz Oxoni- 
 enses, vol. il. His poetical genius is justly celebrated by Voltaire, in 
 his Melanges de Literature et de Philosophie. 
 
 ° Bishop Burnet has given a particular account of this last and very 
 affecting scene of the life of this nobleman, in a pamphlet written ex- 
 
 ressly on that subject, and entitled, Some Passages of the Life and 
 
 Jeath of John, Earl of Rochester, written, at his desire, on his death- 
 bed, by Gilbert Burnet, D. D. containing more amply their Conversa- 
 tions on the great principles of Natural and Revealed Religion. 
 
 4 His works were first collected and published under the title of Cha- 
 racteristics, in 1711, and, since that time, have passed through many 
 editions. See Le Clere’s account of them in his Bibliotheque Choise, 
 tom, xxili. The critical reflexions of the learned and ingenious Leib- 
 neitz on the philosophy of Lord Shaftesbury were published by Dez- 
 Maizeaux, in the second volume of his Receuil de diverses Pieces sur la 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Philosophie, p. 245.—There are some writers who maintain, that this 
 
 Stet L 
 
 ed by the wise and pathetic reasonings and exhortations 
 of Doctor Burnet, afterwards bishop of Sarum. This 
 conviction of his guilt produced a deep contrition and 
 repentance, an ardent recourse to the mercy of God, as it 
 is manifested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a sincere 
 abhorrence of the offences he had committed against the 
 Best of Beings. In these pious sentiments he died in 
 1680. ; 
 In this list we may also place Anthony, earl of Shaftes- 
 bury, who died of a consumption at Naples, in the year 
 1713; not that this illustrious writer attacked openly and 
 professedly the Christian religion, but that the most sedu- 
 cing strokes of wit and raillery, the most enchanting elo- 
 quence, and the charms of a genius, in which amenity, 
 elegance, copiousness, and elevation, were happily blended, 
 rendered him one of its most dangerous, though secret 
 enemies ; and so much the more dangerous, because his 
 Opposition was carried on under a mask. His works have 
 been published in various forms, and have passed through 
 many editions. ‘They are remarkable for beauty of dic- 
 tion, and contain very noble and sublime sentiments; 
 but they ought to be read with the utmost caution, as 
 being extremely dangerous to inexperienced, youthful and 
 unwary minds.¢ ‘The brutal rusticity and uncouth turn 
 of John ‘Toland, a native of Ireland, who, toward the 
 
 noble philosopher has been unjustly chafged, by the greatest part of the 
 clergy, with a contempt for revealed religion; and it is to be wished, 
 that the arguments they employ to vindicate him from this charge were 
 more satisfactory and solid than they really are. But, if Ido not 
 greatly mistake, whoever peruses his writings, and more especially his 
 famous letter concerning enthusiasm, will be inclined to adopt the judg- 
 ment that was formed of him by the ingenious Dr. Berkeley, bishop ot 
 Cloyne, in his Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher, vol. i. p. 200.— 
 Nothing is more easy than to observe, in the writings of Lord Shaftes- 
 bury, a spirit of raillery, mingling itself even with those of his reflex- 
 ions upon religious subjects that seem to be delivered with the greatest 
 seriousness and Bravity. But, at the same time, this unseemly mix- 
 ture of the solemn and the ludicrous, renders it difficult for those who 
 are not well acquainted with his manner, to know whether he is in jest 
 or in earnest. Itmay also be added, that this author has perniciously 
 endeavoured to destroy the influence and efficacy of some of the great 
 motives that are proposed in the Scriptures to render men virtuous, by 
 representing these motives as mercenary, and even turning them into 
 ridicule. He substitutes, in their place, the intrinsic excellence and 
 beauty of virtue, as the great source of moral obligation, and the true 
 incentive to virtuous deeds. But, however alluring this sublime scheme 
 of morals may appear to certain minds of a refined, elegant, and inge- 
 nious turn, it is certainly little adapted to the taste, the comprehension, 
 and the character of the multitude. ‘Take away from the lower orders 
 of mankind the prospects of reward and punishment, that lead them to 
 virtue and obedience, by the powerful suggestions of hope and fear; and 
 the great supports of virtue, and the most effectual motives to the pur- 
 suit of it will, with respect to them, be removed. 
 
 34> Since Dr. Mosheim wrote this note, the very learned and judi- 
 cious Dr. Leland published his View of the Principal Deistical Wri- 
 ters that have appeared in England during the last and present Century, 
 &c. in which there is a full account of the free-th’ ikers and deists men- 
 tioned by our historian, with a review of the writings of the earl of 
 Shaftesbury. This review merits a particular attention, as it contains 
 an impartial account, an accurate examination, and a satisfactory refu- 
 tation, of the erroneous principles of that great man. Like all other 
 eminent innovators, the earl has been misrepresented both by his friends 
 and his enemies. Dr. Leland has steered a middle course between the 
 blind enthusiasm of the former, and the partial malignity of the latter, 
 He points out, with singular penetration and judgment, the urors, 
 inconsistencies, and contradictions, of that illustrious author; does jus- 
 tice to what is good in his ingenious writings; separates carefully the 
 wheat from the chaff; and neither approves nor condemns in the lump, 
 as too many havedone. In a more particular manner he has shown, with 
 his usual perspicuity and good sense, that the being influenced by the 
 hope of the reward promised in the Gospel has nothing in it disingenu- 
 
 | ous and slavish, and is so far from being inconsistent with loving virtue 
 
 for its own sake, that it tends, on the contrary, to heighten our esteem 
 of its amiableness and worth. The triumphant manner in which the 
 learned Dr. Warburton has refuted Shaftesbury’s representation of rail 
 lery and ridicule as a test of truth, is too well known to be mentioned 
 
 . 
 
Srcr. IL 
 
 conclusion of this century, was rendered famous by sev- 
 eral injurious libels against Christianity, must naturally 
 appear doubly disgusting, when compared with the ami- 
 able elegance and specious refinement of the author now 
 mentioned. However, as those writers, who flatter the 
 passions by endeavouring to remove all the restraints that 
 religion imposes upon their excessive indulgence, will 
 never want patrons among the licentious part of mankind ; 
 so this man, who was not destitute of learning, imposed 
 upon the ignorant and unwary; and, notwithstanding 
 the excess of his arrogance and vanity, and the shocking 
 rudeness and ferocity of his manners, acquired a certain 
 measure of fame.* It is not necessary to mention other 
 authors of this class, who appeared in England, during 
 
 here. See also Dr. Brown’s Three Essays on the Characteristics, in 
 which that sensible author treats of ridicule considered as a test of truth; 
 of the obligations of men to virtue, and of the necessity of religious 
 principle, and of revealed religion and Christianity. 
 
 3*7 * Dr. Mosheim, in a short note, refers to an account he had 
 given of the Life and Writings of Toland, prefixed to his confutation 
 of the Nazarenus of that contemptible author. He also quotes a life of 
 Toland, prefixed to his posthumous works by Des-Maizeaux.—Dr. 
 Mosheim says, that this man was not destitute of learning. Should 
 that be granted, it must, nevertheless, be acknowledged that this learn- 
 ing lay quite undigested in his head, and that the use he made of it, in 
 his works, was equally injudicious andimpudent. His conference with 
 M. Beausobre concerning the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, which 
 was holden at Berlin in presence of the queen of Prussia, and in which 
 he made such a despicable figure, is a proof of the former; and his 
 writings, to all but half-scholars and half-thinkers, will be a proof (as 
 long as they endure) of the latter-—It is remarkable that (according to 
 the maxim of Juvenal, Nemo repente fuit turpissimus) Toland arrived 
 only gradually, and by a progressive motion, at the summit of infidelity. 
 His first step was Socinianism, which appeared in his book, entitled, 
 Christianity not Mysterious. This book procured him hard treatment 
 from the Irish parliament, and was answered by Mr. Brown, after- 
 wards bishop of Cork, who, unhappily, did not think good arguments 
 sufficient to maintain a good cause, unless they were seconded by the 
 secular arm, whose ill-placed succours he solicited with ardour. The 
 second step that Toland made in the devious fields of religion, was in 
 the publication of his Amyntor, which, in appearance, was designed to 
 vindicate what he advanced in his Life of Milton, to prove that king 
 Charies I. was not the real author of the Eikon Basilikeé, but, in reality, 
 was intended to invalidate the Canon of the New Testament, and to 
 render it uncertain and precarious. This piece, as far as it attacked the 
 authenticity of Scripture, was answered in a triumphant manner by 
 Dr. Clarke, in his Reflections on that part of the Book called Amyntor, 
 which relates to the Writings of the Primitive Fathers, and the Canon 
 of the New Testament; by Mr. Richardson, in his learned and judi- 
 cious Vindication of the Canon of the New Testament; and by Mr. 
 Jones, in his new and full Method of settling the Canonical Authority 
 of the New Testament. These learned writers have exposed, in the 
 most striking manner, the disingenuity, the blunders, the false quota- 
 tions, the insidious fictions,‘and ridiculous mistakes of Toland, who, on 
 various accounts, may pass for one of the most harmless writers against 
 the Christian religion. For an account of the Adeisidemon, the Naza- 
 renus, the Letters to Serena, the Pantheisticon, and the other irreligious 
 works of this author, and also of the excellent answers that have been 
 made tothem, see his Life inthe General Dictionary, or rather in Chauffi- 
 pied’s Supplement to Bayle’s Dictionary, entitled, Nouveau Dictionnaire 
 
 Tistorique et Critique, as this author has not only translated the articles 
 added to Bayle’s Dictionary by the English editors of that work, but has 
 augmented and improved them by several interesting anecdotes drawn 
 from the literary history of the continent. 
 2» Lord Herbert did not presume to deny ‘he divinity of the Gos- 
 el; he even declared that he had no intention to attack Caristianity. 
 Ie expressly calls it the “best religion,” and admits that it tends to es- 
 tablish the five great articles of that universal, sufficient, and absolutely 
 
 erfect religion, which he pretends to deduce from reason and nature. 
 Bat, notwithstanding these fair professions, his lordship loses no occa- 
 sion of throwing out insinuations against all revealed religion, as abso- 
 lutely uncertain, and of little or no use. But this same deist, who was 
 the ais and, indeed, the least contemptible of that tribe in England, has 
 left upon record one of the strongest instances of fanaticism and absurd- 
 ity chat perhaps ever were heard of, and of which he himseif was 
 uilty. This instance is preserved in a manuscript life of lord Her- 
 
 ert, drawn up from memorials penned by himself, which is now in the 
 
 ossession of a gentleman of distinction,* and is as follows: that lord, 
 tine finished his book de Veritate, apprehended that he should meet 
 with much opposition, and was, consequently, dubious for some time, 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 527 
 
 |this century, but are long since consigned to oblivion. 
 
 The reader may, however, add, to those who have been 
 already named, lord Herbert of Cherbury, a philosopher 
 of some note, who, if he did not absolutely deny the 
 divine origin of the Gospel,” maintained, at least, that it 
 was not essentially necessary to the salvation of man- 
 kind ;» and Charles Blount, who composed a book, enti- 
 tled the Oracles of Reason, and, in 1693, died by his own 
 hand.° 
 XXIII. Infidelity, and even atheism, shewed them- 
 selves also on the continent during this century. In 
 France, Julius Cesar Vanini, the author of two books, one 
 entitled, the Amphitheatre of Providence,‘ and the other, 
 Dialogues concerning Nature,* was publicly burned at 
 
 whether it would not be prudent to suppress it. ‘ Being thus doubtful 
 says his lordship,) in my chamber (at Paris, where he was ambassader, 
 in 1624,) one fair day in the summer, my casement being open towards 
 the south, the sun shining clear, and, no wind stirring, | took my book 
 de Veritate in my hands, and, kneeling on my knees, devoutly said 
 these words: O thou Eternal God, author of this light that now shines 
 upon me, and giver of all inward illuminations, 1 do beseech thee, of 
 thine infinite goodness, to pardon a greater request than a sinner ought 
 to make; [I am not sptittied enough whether I shall publish this book ; 
 if it be for thy glory, I beseech thee, give me some sign from heaven ; 
 if not, I shall suppress it.” What does the reader now think of this 
 corner-stone of deisrn, who demands a supernatural revelation fronr 
 heaven in favour of a book that was designed to prove all revelation un- 
 certain and useless? But the absurdity does not end here; for our deist 
 not only sought for this revelation, but also obtained it, if we are to be- 
 lieve him. “I had no sooner (says he) spoken these words, but a 
 loud though yet gentle noise came forth from the heavens, (for it was like 
 nothing on earth,) which did so cheer and comfort me, that I took my 
 petition as granted.” Rare credulity this in an unbeliever! but these 
 gentlemen can believe even against reason, when it answers their pur- 
 pose. His lordship continues, ‘This, however strange it may seem, i 
 protest before the Eternal God, is true: neither am I superstitiously de- 
 ceived herein,” &c. See Leland’s View of the Deistical Writers, vol. i. 
 
 ° This is sufficiently known to those who have perused lord Herbert’s 
 book de Causis Errorum, as also his celebrated work de Religione Gen- 
 tilium. This author is generally considered as the chief and founder of 
 the sect or society that are called Naturalists from their attachment to 
 natural religion alone. See Arnoldi Historia Eccles. at Heeret. part ii. 
 p. 1083.—The peculiar tenets of this famous deist have been refuted by 
 Muszus and Kortholt, two German divines of eminent learning and 
 abilities. 373° Gassendi also composed an answer to lord Herbert’s 
 book de Veritate. In England it was refuted by Mr. Richard Baxter, 
 in a treatise entitled, More Reasons for the Christian Religion, and no 
 Reason against it. Mr. Locke, in his Essay on the Human Understand- 
 ing, shows, with great perspicuity and force of evidence, that the five 
 articles of natural religion, provosed by this noble author, are not, 
 as he represents them, common notices, clearly inscribed by the hand of 
 God in the minds of all men, and that a divine revelation is necessary to 
 indicate, develope, and enforce them. Dr. Whitby has also treated the 
 same matter amply in his learned work, entitled, The Necessity and 
 Usefulness of the Christian Revelation, by reason of the Corruptions 
 of the Principles of Natural Religion among the Jews and Heathens. 
 
 4 See the Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique et Critique of Chauffepied, 
 who, however, has omitted the mention of this gentleman’s unhappy 
 fate, out of a regard, no doubt, to his illustrious family. 3¢° Mr. 
 Chauffepicd only translated the article Charles Blount, from that of the 
 English continuators of Bayle. 
 
 3% This book was published at Lyons in 1615, was approved by the 
 clergy and magistrates of that city, and contains many things abso- 
 lutely irreconcilable with atheistical principles: its title is as follows: 
 Amphitheatrum &terne Providentie, Divino-Magicum Christiano- 
 Physicum Astrologico-Catholicum, adversus Veteres Philosophos, 
 Atheos, Epicureos, Peripateticos, Stoicos, &c. This book has been 
 deemed innocent by several writers, impious by others; but, in our 
 judgment, it would have escaped reproach, had Vanini published none 
 of his other productions, since the impieties it may contain, according to 
 the intention of its author, are carefully concealed. This is by no 
 means the case of the book mentioned in the following note. 
 
 3%> ° This book, concerning the Secrets of Queen Nature, the Gc«i- 
 dess of Mortals, was published with this suspicious title at Paris, in 
 1616, and contains glaring marks of impiety and atheism; and yet it 
 was published with the king’s permission, and the approbation of the 
 Faculty of Theology. This scandalous negligence or ignorance 1s 
 unaccountable in such a reverend body. The Jesuit Garasse ros 
 
 «The translator probably alludes to Horace Walpole, earl of Orford, 
 who afterwards published it—Epir, 
 
528 
 
 Toulouse, 1629, as an impious and obstinate atheist. It 
 1s nevertheless to be observed, that several learned and 
 respectable writers consider this unhappy man rather as 
 a victim to bigotry and envy, than as a martyr to impiety 
 and atheism; and maintain, that neither his life nor his 
 writings were so absurd or blasphemous as to entitle him 
 to the character of a despiser of God and religion. But, 
 if Vanini had his apologists, this was by no means the 
 case of Cosmo Ruggieri, a native of Florence, whose 
 atheism was as impudent as it was impious, and who 
 died in the most desperate sentiments of irreligion at. Paris, 
 in 1615, declaring that he looked upon all the accounts 
 that had been given of the existence of a Supreme Being, 
 and of evil spirits, as idle dreams.» Casimir Leszynski, 
 a Polish knight, was capitally punished at Warsaw, in 
 1689, for denying the Being and Providence of God ; but 
 whether this accusation was well founded, can only be 
 known by reading his trial, and examining the nature 
 and circumstances of the evidence adduced against him.° 
 In Germany, a senseless and frantic man, called Matthew 
 Knutzen, a native of Holstein, attempted to found a new 
 sect, whose members, laying aside all considerations of 
 God and religion, were to follow the dictates of reason and 
 conscience alone, and thence were to assume the title 
 of Conscientiarians. But this wrong-headed sectary was 
 easily obliged to abandon his extravagant undertakings ; 
 and thus his idle attempt proved abortive.¢ 
 
 XXIV. The most acute and eminent of the atheists 
 of this cenfury, whose system represented the Supreme 
 Author of all things as a Being bound by the eter- 
 nal and immutable laws of necessity or fate, was 
 Benedict de Spinosa, a Portuguese Jew. This man, 
 who died at the Hague in 1677, observed in his conduct 
 the rules of wisdom and probity, much better than many 
 who profess themselves Christians; nor did he ever en- 
 deavour to pervert the sentiments or corrupt the morals of 
 those with whom he lived, or to inspire, in his discourse, 
 a contempt of religion or virtue.* It is true, indeed, that 
 in his writings, more especially in those which were pub- 
 lished after his death, he maintains openly, that God and 
 
 that the Faculty was deceived by Vanini, who substituted another trea- 
 tise in the place of that which had been approved. See a wretched book 
 of Garasse, entitled, Doctrine Curieuse; as also Durand’s Vie de Vanini. 
 
 «See Buddeus’s ‘Theses de Athcismo et Superstitione. ‘The author 
 of the Apologia pro Vanino, which appeared in Holland in 1712, was 
 Peter Frederic Arp, a learned !ewyer; and we may also place, among 
 the defenders of Vanini, Elias Frederic Heister, author of the Apolo-, 
 gia pro Medicis. b See Bayle’s Dictionary. 
 
 ¢ See Arnold’s History of the Church—T he famous library of Offen- 
 bach formerly contained a complete collection of all the papers relating to 
 the trial of Leszynski, and a full account of the proceedings against him. 
 
 4 See Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. i. p. 304; and Isagoge ad His- 
 toriam Chersonesi Cimbr. part ii. cap. vi. sect. vili—La Croze, Entreti- 
 ans sur divers sujets d'Histoire, p. 400. 
 
 ¢ The life of Spinosa was accurately written by Colcrus, whose per- 
 _ formance was published at the Hague in 1706. But a more ample and 
 circumstantial account of this singular man was given by Lenglet du 
 Fresnoy, and prefixed to Boulainvilliers’ Exposition of the Doctrine of 
 Spinosa. See Bayle’s Dictionary. 34> Lenglet du Fresnoy repub- 
 lished the work of Colerus, and added to it several anecdotes and cir- 
 cumstances, borrowed from a Life of Spinosa, written by an infamous 
 
 rofligate, whose name was Lucas, and who practised physic at the 
 cre See the notes © and 4 p. 529. 
 
 f The learned Fabricius, in his Bibliotheca Greca, and Jenichen, in 
 his Historia Spinosismi Lehnhofiani, have given us anample list of the 
 writers who have refuted the system of Spinosa. The real opinion 
 which this subile sophist entertained concerning the Deity, is to be 
 Jearned in his Ethics, that were published after his death, and not in his 
 Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, which was printed during his life. In 
 the latter treatise, be reasons like one who was persuaded that there 
 exists an eternal Deity, distinct from matter and the universe, who has 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. L 
 
 the universe are one and the same Being, and that all 
 things happen by the eternal and immutable law of 
 nature, i. e. of an all-comprehending and infinite Being, 
 that exists and acts by an invincible necessity. This 
 doctrine leads directly to consequences equally impious 
 and absurd ; for, if the principle now mentioned be true, 
 each individual is his own God, or, at least, a part of the 
 universal Deity, and is, therefore, impeccable and perfect.‘ 
 Be that as it may, it is evident that Spinosa was seduced 
 into this monstrous system by the Cartesian philosophy, 
 of which he was a passionate admirer, and which was 
 the perpetual subject of his meditation and study. When 
 he had adopted the general principle (about which philo- 
 sophers of all sects are agreed) that all realities are pos- 
 sessed by the Deity in the most eminent degree, and haz 
 annexed to this principle, as equally evident, the opinion 
 of Des-Cartes, that there are only two realities in nature, 
 thought and extension, one essential to spirit, and the 
 other to matter, the natural consequence was, that he 
 should attribute to the Deity both these realities, even 
 thought and extension, in an eminent degree, or, in other 
 words, should represent them as infinite and immense in 
 God. Hence the transition seemed easy to that enor- 
 mous system, which confounds God with the universe, 
 represents them as one and the same Being, and supposes 
 only one substance whence all things proceed, and into 
 which they all return. It is natural to observe here, that 
 even the friends of Spinosa are obliged to acknowledge, 
 that this system is neither attended with that luminous 
 perspicuity, nor with that force of evidence, which are 
 proper to make proselytes. It is too dark, too intricate, to 
 allure men from the belief of those truths relating to the 
 Deity, which the works of nature, and the plainest dictates 
 of reason, are perpetually enforcing upon the human 
 mind. Accordingly, the followers of Spinosa tell us, with- 
 out hesitation, that it is rather by the suggestions of a 
 certain sense, than by the investigations of reason, that 
 his doctrine is to be comprehended ; and that it is of such 
 a nature, as to be easily misunderstood even by persons 
 of the greatest sagacity and penetration." His disciples 
 
 sent upon earth a religion designed to form men to the practice of bene- 
 volence and justice, and has confirmed that religion by events of a won- 
 derful and astonishing, though not of a supernatural kind; but in his 
 Ethics he throws off the mask, explains clearly his sentiments, and 
 endeavours to demonstrate, that the Deity is nothing more than the 
 universe, producing a series of necessary movements or acts, in conse- 
 quence of its own intrinsic, immutable, and irresistible energy. This di- 
 versity of sentiment, that appears in the different productions of Spinosa, 
 is a sufficient refutation of those who, forming the estimate of his system 
 from his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus alone, pronounce it less perni- 
 cious, and igs author less impious, than they are generally supposed to 
 be. But, on the other hand, how shall this diversity be accounted for ? 
 Are we to suppose that Spinosa proceeded to atheism by gradual steps, 
 or is it more probable, that, during his life, he prudently concealed his 
 real sentiments? Whether the former, or the latter, be the real case, it 
 is not easy to determine. It appears, however, from testimonies, every 
 way worthy of credit, that he never, during his whole life, either made, 
 or attempted to make, converts to irreligion, and never said any thing in 
 public that tended to encourage disrespectful sentiments of the Supreme 
 Being, or of the worship that is due to him. It is well known, on the 
 contrary, that, when subjects of a religious nature were incidentally 
 treated in the’ course of conversation where he was present, he always 
 expressed himself with the utmost decency on the occasion, and often with 
 an air of piety and seriousness more adapted to edify than to give offence. 
 34> £ The hypothesis of Des-Cartes 1s not, perhaps, represented with 
 sufficient accuracy and precision, by saying that he looked upon thought 
 as essential to spirit, and extension as essential to matter, since it is well 
 known that this philosopher considered thought as the very essence or 
 substance of the soul, and extension as the very essence and substanve of 
 matter. 
 h There is certainly no man so little acquainted with the character of 
 
Secr. I. 
 
 assumed the denomination of Pantheists, choosing rather 
 to derive their distinctive title from the nature of their 
 doctrine, than from the name of their master.. The 
 most noted members of this strange sect were a physician, 
 whose name was Louis Meyer,” a person called Lucas,° 
 count Boulainvilliers,‘ and some others, equally con- 
 temptible on account, of their sentiments and morals. 
 XXY. 'The progressive and flourishing state of the 
 arts and sciences, in the seventeenth century, is abun- 
 dantly known ; and we see the effects, and enjoy the fruits, 
 of the efforts then made for the advancement of learning. 
 No branch of literature seemed to be neglected. Logic, 
 
 Bayle as to think him void of discernment and sagacity ; and yet this most 
 subtle metaphysician has been accused by the followers of Spinosa, of 
 misunderstanding and misrepresenting the doctrine of that Pantheist, 
 and consequently of answering it with very little solidity. This 
 charge is brought against Bayle, with peculiar severity, by L. Meyer, 
 in his preface to the posthumous works of Spinosa, in which, after com- 
 plaining of the misrepresentations that have been given of the opinions 
 of that writer, he pretends to maintain, that his system was, in every 
 point, conformable to the doctrines of Christianity. Boulainvilliers 
 also, another of Spinosa’s commentators and advocates, declares, in his 
 preface to a book, whose perfidious title is mentioned below in note 4, 
 that all the antagonists of that famous Jew either ignorantly misunder- 
 stood, or maliciously perverted, his true doctrine; his words are: Les 
 refutations de Spinosa m’ont induit a juger, ou que leurs auteurs n’avoi- 
 ent pas voulu mettre la doctrine, quils combattent, dans une evidence 
 suffisante, ou qu’ils Pavoient mal entendue, If this be true, if the dec- 
 trine of Spinosa be not only far beyond the comprehension of the vul- 
 gar, but also difficult to be understood, and liable to be mistaken and mis- 
 represented by men of the most acute parts and the most eminent abill- 
 ties, what is the most obvious conclusion deducible from this fact? It is 
 plainly this, that the greatest part of the Spinosists, whose sect is sup- 
 posed by some to be very numerous in Europe, have adopted the doc- 
 trine of that famous atheist, not so much from a conviction of its truth, 
 founded on an examination of its intricate contents, as from the pleasure 
 they take in a system that promises impunity to all transgressions that do 
 not come within the cognisance of the law, and thus lets loose the reins 
 to every irregular appetite and passion ; for-it would be senseless, in the 
 highest degree, to imagine, that the pretended multitude of the Spino- 
 sists, many of whom never once dreamed of exercising their minds in 
 
 the pursuit of truth, or accustoming them to philosophical discussion, | 
 
 should all accurately comprehend a system, which, according to their 
 own account, has escaped the penetration and sagacity of the greatest 
 geniuses. 
 
 * ‘Toland, unable to purchase a dinner, composed and published, in 
 order to supply the sharp demands of hunger, an infamous and impious 
 book under the following title: Pantheisticon, sive Formule celebrande 
 Societatis Socfatice, in tres Particulas divise, que Pantheistarum sive 
 Sedalium continent, I. Mores et Axiomata; II. Numen et Philoso- 
 
 hiam; If. Libertatem et non fallentem Legem neque fallendam, &c. 
 The design of this book, which was published at London in 1720, ap- 
 pears by the title. It was intended to draw a picture of the licentious 
 morals and principles of his brethren the Pantheists under the fictitious 
 description of a Socratical Society, which they are represented as hold- 
 ing in all the places where they are dispersed. In the Soeratical, or 
 rather Bacchanalian Society, described in this pernicious work, the 
 
 resident and members are said to converse freely on several subjects. 
 
 here is also a Form or Liturgy read by the president, who officiates as 
 
 priest, and is answered by the assembly in suitable responses. He 
 recommends earnestly to the members of the Society the care of truth, 
 liberty, and health; exhorts them to guard against superstition, that is, 
 religion; and reads aloud to them, by way of lesson, certain select pas- 
 sages out of Cicero and Seneca, which seem to favour irreligion. His 
 colleagues promise solemnly to conform themselves to his injunctions 
 and exhortations. Sometimes all the members, animated with enthusi- 
 So and joy, raise their voices together, and sing, out of the ancient 
 
 atin poets, certain verses which are suitable to the laws and principles 
 ef their sect. See Des-Maizeaux, Life of John Toland, p. 77.—Biblio- 
 theque Angloise, tom. viii. If the pantheistical community be really 
 such as it is here represented, it is not so much the duty of wise and 
 good men to dispute with or refute its members, as it is the business of 
 the civil raagistrate to prevent such licentious and turbulent spirits from 
 troubiing the order of society, and seducing honest citizens from their 
 religious principles, and the duties of their respective stations. 
 
 > This Meyer was the person who translated into Latin the pieces 
 that Spirosa had composed in the Dutch language; who assisted him 
 in his last moments, after having attempted in vain to remove his disor- 
 der; and who published his Posthumous Works, with a preface, in 
 which, with great impudence and little success, he endeavours to prove, 
 that the doctrine of Spinosa differs in nothing from that of the Gospel. 
 
 No. XLY. 133 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 529 
 
 philosophy, history, poetry, and rhetoric; ina word, all the 
 sciences that belong to the respective provinces of reason 
 experience, observation, genius, memory, and imagination, 
 were cultivated and improved with remarkable success 
 throughout the Christian world. While the learned men 
 of this happy period discovered such zeal for the improve- 
 ment of science, their zeal was both inflamed and directed 
 by one of the greatest and rarest geniuses that ever arose 
 for the instruction of mankind. "This was Francis Bacon, 
 lord Verulam, who, toward the commencement of this 
 century, opened the paths that lead to true philosophy in 
 his admirable works.* It must be acknowledged, indeed, 
 
 Meyer is also the author of a well-known treatise, entitled, Philosophia 
 Scripture Interpres, in which the merit and authority of the sacred 
 writings are examined by the dictates of philosophy, that is to say, of 
 the philosophy of Mr. Meyer. 
 
 ¢ Lueas was a physician at the Hague, and was as famous for what 
 he called his Quintessences, as he was infamous on account of the profli- 
 gacy of his morals. He left behind him a Life of Spinosa, from 
 which Lenglet du Fresnoy took all the additions that he made to the life 
 of that atheist written by Colerus. He also composed a work which is 
 still handed about, and bought at an extravagant price, by those in 
 whose judgment rarity and impiety are equivalent to merit. This 
 work is entitled, |’Esprit de Spinosa, and surpasses infinitely, in athcis- 
 tical profaneness, even those productions of Spinosa that are generally 
 looked upon as the most pernicious ; so far has this miserable writer lost 
 sight of every dictate of prudence, and triumphed even over the re- 
 straints of shame. 
 
 4 This fertile and copious, but paradoxical and inconsiderate writer, is 
 abundantly known by his various productions relating to the history and 
 political state of the I’rench nation, by a certain prolix Fable, entitled, 
 the Life of Mohammed, and by the adverse turns of fortune that pur- 
 sued him. His character was so made up of inconsistencies and contra- 
 dictions, that he is almost equally chargeable with superstition and 
 atheism; for, though he acknowledged no other Deity than the uni- 
 verse, or nature, yet he looked upon Mohammed as authorized, by a 
 divine commission, to instruct mankind; and he was of opinion, that 
 the fate of nations, and the destiny of individuals, could be foreknewn, 
 by an attentive observation of the stars. Thus the man was, at the 
 same time, an atheist and an astrologer. Now this medley of a man 
 was greatly concerned (in consequence, forsooth, of his ardent zeal for 
 the public good) to see the admirable doctrine of Spinosa so generally 
 misunderstood, and therefore he formed the laudable design of expound- 
 ing, illustrating, and accommodating it, as Is done with respect to the 
 doctrines of the Gospel in books of piety, to ordinary capacities. This 
 design, indeed, he executed, but not so fortunately for his master as he 
 might fondly imagine, since it appeared most evidently from his own 
 account of the system of Spinosa, that Bayle and the other writers who 
 had represented his doctrine as repugnant to the plainest dictates of rea- 
 son, and destructive of all religion, had judged rightly, and were not mis- 
 led by ignorance or by temerity. In short, the book of Boulainvilliers 
 set the atheism and impiety of Spinosa in a much more clear and strik- 
 ing light than ever they had appeared before. ‘This infamous book, which 
 was worthy of eternal oblivion, was published by Lenglet du Fresnoy, 
 who, that it might be bought with avidity, and read without reluctance, 
 prefixed to it the attractive but perfidious title of a Refutation of the 
 Errors of Spinosa; adding to it, mdeed, some separate pieces, to which 
 this title may, in some measure, be thought applicable. The whole title 
 runs thus: Refutation des Erreurs de Benoit de Spinosa, par M. de Fene- 
 lon, Archeveque de Cambray,par le Pere Lami Benedictin, et par M. le 
 Comte de Boulainvilliers, avec la Vie de Spinosa, eerite par Jean Cole- 
 rus, Ministre de ’Eglise Lutherienne de la Haye, augmentée de beau- 
 coup de Particularites tirées d’une Vie Manuscrite de ce Philosophe, 
 faite par un de ses Amis (this friend was Lucas, the atheistical physi- 
 cian mentioned in the preceding note,) & Bruxelles, chez Francois Fop- 
 pens, 1731. Here we sce the poison and the antidote joined, but the 
 latter perfidiously distributed in a manner and measure every way insuf- 
 ficient to remove the noxious effects of the former: in a word, the wolf 
 is shut up with the sheep. The account and defence of the philoscphy 
 of Spinosa, given by Boulainvilliers under the insidious title ef a Refu- 
 tation, take up the greatest part of this book, and are placed first, and 
 not the last in order, as the tide would insinuate. Besides, the whole 
 contents of this motley collection are not enumérated in the title: for at 
 the end of it we find a Latin treatise, entitled Certamen Philosophicum 
 propugnate Veritatis divine ct naturalis, adversus Jo. Bredenburgii 
 Principia, in fine annexa. This philosophical controversy contains a 
 Defence of the Doctrine of Spinosa, by Bredenburg, and a Refutation 
 of that Defence by Isaac Orobio, a learned Jewish physician at Amster- 
 dam, and was first published in 1703. j 
 
 ° More especially in his treatise de Dignitate et Angmentis Scientia- 
 rum, and in his Novum Organum. See the life of that great man, pre- 
 
530 
 
 that the rules he prescribes, to direct the researches of the 
 studious, are not all practicable amidst the numerous pre- 
 judices and impediments to which the most zealous in- 
 quirers are exposed in the pursuit of truth; and it appears 
 plainly that this great man, to whose elevated and com- 
 prehensive genius all things seemed easy, was at certain 
 times so far carried away by the vastness of his concep- 
 tions, as to require, from the application and abilities of 
 men, more than they were capable of performing, and to 
 desire the end, without always examining whether the | 
 means of attaining it were possible. At the same time 
 it must be confessed that a great part of the improvements 
 in learning and science, which distinguished Lurope dur- 
 ing this century, arose from the counsels and directions 
 of this extraordinary man. ‘This is more particularly 
 true of the progress then made in natural philosophy, to 
 which noble science Bacon did such important service, 
 as is alone sufficient to render his name immortal. He 
 opened the eyes of those who had been led blindfold by 
 the dubious authority of traditionary systems, and the 
 uncertain directory of hypothesis and conjecture. He 
 led them to Nature, that they might consult that oracle 
 directly and near at hand, and receive her answers ; and, 
 by the introduction of experimental inquiry, he placed 
 philosophy upon a new and solid basis. It was thus 
 undoubtedly that he removed the prejudices of former 
 times, which led men to consider all human knowledge 
 as circumscribed within the bounds of Greek and Latin 
 erudition, and an acquaintance with the more elegant and 
 liberal arts; and thus, in the vast regions of nature, he 
 opened scenes of instruction and science, which, although 
 hitherto unknown or disregarded, were infinitely more 
 noble and sublime, and much more productive of solid 
 nourishment to the minds of the wise, than the learning 
 that was cultivated before his time. 
 
 XXVI. It is remarkable, in general, that the sciences 
 of natural philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy, were 
 carried in this century, in all the nations of Europe, to 
 such a high degree of perfection, that they seemed sud- 
 denly to rise from the puny weakness of infancy to a 
 state of full maturity. There is certainly no sort of com- 
 parison between the philosophers, mathematicians, and 
 astronomers, of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 ‘The former look like pygimies, when compared with the 
 gigantic stature of the latter. At the head of the latter 
 appears Galileo, the ornament of natural science in Italy, 
 who was encouraged, in his astronomical researches and 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 discoveries, by the munificence and protection of the grand 
 dukes of ‘Tuscany. In France appeared Des-Cartes 
 and Gassendi, who left behind them a great number of 
 eminent disciples; in Denmark Tycho Brahe ; in Eng- 
 land Boyle and Newton; in Germany Kepler, Hevelius, 
 and Leibnitz ; and in Switzerland the brothers, James 
 wand John Bernoulli. These philosophers of the first 
 magnitude, if IT may use that expression, excited such a 
 spirit of emulation in Europe, and were followed by such 
 a multitude of admirers and rivals, that, if we except 
 
 fixed to his works published in four volumes, in folio, 1740.—Biblio- 
 theque Britannique, tom. xv.—In Mallet’s Life of Bacon there is a parti- 
 cular and interesting account of his noble attempt to reform the misera- 
 nle philosophy that prevailed before his time. See also Voltaire’s 
 Melanges de Literature et de Philosophie. 
 * Sge Heuman’s Acta Philosophorum, the xivth, xvth, and xviith parts. 
 > The history of the Royal Society of London, was published by Dr. | 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 those countries which had not yet emerged from a state 
 of ignorance and barbarism, there was scarcely any na- 
 tion that could not boast of possessing a profound mathe- 
 matician, a famous astronomer, or an eminent philosopher. 
 Nor were the dukes of Tuscany, however distinguished 
 by their hereditary zeal for the sciences, and their libe- 
 rality to the learned, the only patrons of philosophy at 
 this time, since it is well known that the monarchs of 
 Great-Britain and France, Charles Il. and Louis XIV., 
 honoured the sciences, and those who cultivated them 
 with their protection and encouragement. It is to the 
 munificence of those two princes that the Royal Society 
 of London, and the Academy of Sciences at Paris, owe 
 their origin and establishment, their privileges, honours 
 and endowments, and that we, in consequence, are in- 
 debted for the interesting discoveries that have been made 
 by these two learned bodies, the end of whose institution 
 is the study and investigation of nature, and the culture 
 of all those arts and sciences which lead to truth, and 
 are useful to mankind.» These establishments, and the 
 inquiries they were so naturally adapted to encourage 
 and promote, proved not only beneficial, in the highest 
 degree, to the civil interests of mankind, but were also 
 productive of inestimable advantages to the cause of true 
 religion. By these inquiries, the empire of superstition, 
 which is always the bane of genuine piety, and often a 
 source of rebellion and calamity m sovereign states, was 
 greatly shaken ; by them the fictitious prodigies, that had 
 so long kept miserable mortals in a painful state of servi- 
 tude and terror, were deprived of their influence; by 
 them natural religion was built upon solid foundations, 
 and illustrated with admirable perspicuity and evidence ; 
 as by them the infinite perfections of the Supreme Being 
 were demonstrated with the utmost clearness and force 
 from the frame of the universe in general, and also from 
 the structure of its various parts. 
 
 XXVI. The improvements made in history, and more 
 especially the new degrees of light that were thrown upon 
 the ancient history of the church, were of eminent service 
 to the cause of genuine Christianity ; for thus the original 
 sources and reasons of many absurd opinions and institu- 
 tions, which antiquity and custom had rendered sacred, 
 were discovered and exposed in their proper colours ; and 
 innumerable errors that had possessed and perplexed the 
 anxious spirits of the credulous and superstitious multi- 
 tude,.were happily deprived of their authority and influ 
 ence. Thus, in consequence, the cheerful light of truth, 
 and the calm repose and tranquillity that attend it, arose 
 upon the ininds of many ; and human life was delivered 
 from the crimes that have been sanctified by superstition, 
 and from the tumults and agitations in which it has so 
 often involved unhappy mortals. The advantages that 
 flowed from the improvement of historical knowledge 
 were both innumerable and inestimable. By this many 
 pious and excellent persons, whom ignorance or malice 
 had stigmatised as heretics, were delivered from reproach, 
 recovered their good fame, and thus were secured against 
 
 Sprat, inthe year 1722.* Fontenelle composed the History of the Aca- 
 demy of Sciences at Paris. The reader will find a comparison between 
 these learned bodies in Voltaire’s Melanges de Literature et de Philo- 
 sophie. 
 
 rs * A much more interesting and ample history of this respectable 
 society was afterwards composed, and published by Dr. Birch, its learn- 
 ed secretary. 
 
Sect. I. 
 
 % 
 
 the malignity of superstition. By this it appeared, that 
 many of those religious controversies, which had divided 
 nations, friends, and families, and involved so often sove- 
 reign states in bloddshed, rebellion, and crimes of the most 
 horrid kind, were owing to the most trifling and con- 
 temptible causes, to the ambiguity and obscurity of certain 
 theological phrases and terms, to superstition, ignorance, 
 and envy, to spiritual pride and ambition. By this it was 
 demonstrated with the fullest evidence, that many of those 
 religious ceremonies, which had been long considered as 
 of divine institution, were derived from the most inglorious 
 sources, being either borrowed from the manners and cus- 
 toms of barbarous nations, or invented with a design to 
 deceive the ignorant and credulous, or dictated by the idle 
 visions of senseless enthusiasm. By this the ambitious 
 intrigues of the bishops and other ministers of religion, 
 who, by perfidious arts, had encroached upon the prerog- 
 atives of the throne, usurped a considerable part of its 
 authority and revenues, and held princes in subjection to 
 their yoke by the terrors of the church, were brought to 
 light. And to mention no more instances, it was by the 
 lamp of history that those councils, whose decrees. had so 
 long been regarded as infallible and sacre ed, and revered as 
 the dictates of celestial wisdom, were exhibited to the atten- 
 tive observer as assembl€s, where an odious mixture of 
 ignorance and knavery very frequently presided. Our 
 happy experience, in these later times, furnishes daily 
 instances of the salutary effects of these important disco- 
 veries on the state of the Christian church, and on the 
 condition of all its members. Hence flow that lenity and 
 moderation which are mutually exercised by those who 
 differ in their religious sentiments; the prudence and 
 caution that are used in estimating opinions and deciding 
 controversies ; the protection and support that are granted 
 to men of worth, when attacked by the malice of bigotry ; 
 and the visible diminution of the errors, frauds, crimes, and 
 cruelties, with which superstition for merly embittered the 
 pleasures of human life, and the enjoyments of social 
 intercourse. 
 
 XXVIII. Many of the doctors of this century applied 
 themselves, with eminent success, to the study of Hebrew 
 and Greek literature, and of the oriental languages and 
 antiquities ; and, as their progress in this kind of erudition 
 was rapid, so, in many instances, was the use they made 
 of it truly excellent and laudable; for they were thus 
 enabled to throw light on many difficult passages of the 
 
 sacred writings that had been ill understood and injudi- 
 ciously applied, and which some had even employed in 
 supporting erroneous opinions, and giving a plausible 
 colour to pernicious doctrines. Hence it happened, that 
 many patrons and promoters of popular notions, and of 
 visionary and groundless fancies, were deprived of the falla- 
 sious arguments by which they maintained their errors. It 
 cannot also be denied, that the cause of religion received 
 considerable benefit from the labours of those, who either 
 endeavoured to preserve the purity and elegance of the 
 Latin language, or who, beholding with emulation 
 the example of the French, employ ed their industry in 
 unproving and polishing the languages of their respective 
 
 countries ; for it must be evidently both honourable and 
 
 *See Adam. Fr>i. Glafey’s Historia Juris Nature; 
 subjoined his Bibliotheca Juris Nature et Gentium. 
 >’ This sentence, beginning with “ There is scarcely a discourse,” 
 
 to which is 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 53k 
 
 advantageous to the Christian church, to have always in 
 its bosom men of learning qualified to write and discourse 
 upon theological subjects with precision, elegance, ease, 
 and perspicuity, that so the ignorant and perverse may 
 be allured to receive instruction, and also be able to com: 
 prehend with facility the instructions they receive. 
 
 XXIX. The rules of morality and practice, which were 
 laid down in the sacred writings by Christ nd his apostles, 
 assumed an advantageous form, received new illustrations, 
 and were supported upon new ‘and solid principles, when 
 that great system of law, which results from the consti- 
 tution of nature, and the dictates of right reason, began 
 to be studied with more diligence, and investigated with 
 more accuracy and perspicuity than had been the case in 
 preceding ages. In this sublime study of the law of nature 
 the immortal Grotius led the way in his excellent book 
 concerning the Rights of War and Peace: and, from the 
 dignity and. importance of the subject, his labours excited 
 the zeal and emulation of men of the most eminent genius 
 and abilities,s who turned their principal attention to this 
 noble science. How much the labours of these great men 
 contributed to assist the ministers ef the Gospel, both m 
 their discourses and writings concerning the duties and 
 obligations of Christians, may be easily seen by compar- 
 ing the books of a practical kind, published since the period 
 now under consideration, with those which were in vogue 
 before that time. be There is scarcely a discourse 
 upon any subject of Christian morality, how inconsiderable 
 soever it may be, that does not bear some marks of the 
 improvement which was introduced into the science of 
 morals by those great men, who studied that science in 
 the paths of nature, in the ‘frame and constitution of ra- 
 tional and moral beings, and in the relations by which they 
 are rendered members of one great family, under the 
 inspection and government of one common and universal? 
 Parent.] It is unquestionably certain, that since this period 
 the dictates of natural law, and the duties of Christian 
 morality, have been more accurately defined; certain 
 evangelical precepts, whose nature and foundations were 
 imperfectly comprehended in the times of old, have been 
 more clearly illustrated; the superiority which distin- 
 guishes the morality of the Gospel from the course of duty 
 that is deducible from the mere light of nature, has been 
 more fully demonstrated ; and those common notions and 
 general principles, which are the foundations of moral 
 obligation, and are every way adapted to dispel all doubts 
 that may arise, and all controversies that may be started, 
 concerning the nature of evangelical righteousness and 
 virtue, have been established with greater evidence and 
 certainty. It may also be added, that the impiety of those 
 infidels who have had the effrontery to maintain that the 
 precepts of the Gospel are contrary to the dictates of sound 
 reason, repugnant to the constitution of our nature, incon- 
 sistent with the interests of civil society, adapted to enervate 
 the mind, and to draw men off from the business, the 
 duties, and enjoyments of lifes has been much more 
 triumphantly refuted in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries, than in any other period of the Christian 
 church. 
 
 XXX. To these reflections upon the state of learning 
 
 and ending with “common and wniversal Parent,” is added by tha 
 translator. 
 ° Le Contra Social, par Rousseau. 
 
532 
 
 and science in general, it may not be improper to add a 
 particular and separate account of the progress and revo- 
 lutions of philosophy in the Christian schools. At the 
 beginning of this century almost all the European philo- 
 sophers were divided into two classes, one of which com- 
 prehended the Peripatetics, and the other the Chemists, 
 or Fire-Philosophers, as they were often styled. ‘These 
 two classes, during many years, contended warmly for 
 the pre-eminence; and a great number of laboured and 
 subtile productions were published amidst this philosophi- 
 cal contest. 'The Peripatetics were in possession of the 
 professorships in almost all the schools of learning, and 
 looked upon all such as presumed, either to reject, or even 
 amend the doctrines of Aristotle, as objects of indignation, 
 little less criminal than traitors and rebels. It is, how- 
 ever, observable, that the greatest part of these superci- 
 lious and persecuting doctors, if we except those of the 
 universities of Tubingen, Altorf, Juliers, and Leipsic, 
 were less attached to Aristotle himself than to his modern 
 interpreters and commentators. ‘he Chemists spread 
 themselves through almost all Europe, and assumed the 
 obscure and ambiguous title of Rosecrucian Brethren, 
 which drew at first some degree of respect, as it seemed 
 to be borrowed from the arms of Luther, which were a 
 cross placed upon a rose. 'They inveighed against the 
 Peripatetics with a singular degree of bitterness and ani- 
 mosity, represented them as corruptors both of religion 
 and philosophy, and published a multitude of treatises 
 against them, which discovered little else than their folly 
 and their malice. At the head of these fanatics were 
 Robert Fludd,® a native ef England, and a man of sur- 
 prising genius ; Jacob Behmen, a shoemaker, who lived 
 at Gorlitz ; and Michael Mayer.: ‘These leaders of the 
 sect were followed by Jobn Baptist Helmont, and his 
 son Francis, Christian Knorrius de Rosenroth, hulman, 
 Jollius, Sperber, and many others of various fame. A 
 uniformity of opinion, and a spirit of concord, seem scarcely 
 possible in such a society as this; for, as a great part of 
 its doctrine is derived from certain internal feelings and 
 flights of imagination, which can neither be compre- 
 hended nor defined, and is supported by testimonies of 
 the external senses, whose reports are illusory and change- 
 able, so it is remarkable, that, among the more eminent 
 writers of this sect, there are scarcely any two who adopt 
 the same tenetsand sentiments. ‘There are, nevertheless, 
 some common principles that are generally embraced, and 
 which serve as a centre of union to the society. They 
 
 * The title of Josecrucians evidently denotes the chemical philoso- 
 phers, and those who blended the doctrines of religion with the secrets of 
 chymistry. The denomination itself is drawn from the science of chy- 
 mistry ; and they only who are acquainted with the peculiar language 
 of the chymists can understand its true signification and energy. It is 
 not compounded, as many imagine, of the two words rosa and cruz, 
 ‘which signify rose and cross, but of the latter of these words, and the 
 Latin word vos, which signifies dew. Of all natural bodies, dev, is the 
 most powerful dissolvent of gold. ‘The cross, in the chymical style, is 
 equivalent to light; because the figure of the cross (+-) exhibits, at the 
 same time, the three letters of which the word luz, 1. e. light, is com- 
 pounded. Now luz is called by this sect the seed or menstruum of the 
 red dragon; or, in other words, that gross and corporeal light, which, 
 when properly digested and modified, produces gold. From all this it 
 follows, that a Roseerucian philosopher is one who, by the intervention 
 and assistance of the dew, seeks for light, or, in other words, the sub- 
 stance called the Philosopher’s Stone. All other explications of this 
 term are false and chimerical. ‘The interpretations that are given of it 
 by the chymists, who love, on all occasions, to involve themselves in in- 
 tricacy and darkness, are invented merely to deccive those who are stran- 
 gers to their mystcries. The true energy and meaning of this denomi- 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 % 
 all maintain, that the dissolution of bodies, by the power 
 of fire, is the only way through which men can arrive at 
 true wisdom, and come to discern the first principles of 
 things. 
 harmony between the powers of nature and the doctrines 
 of religion, and believe that the Deity governs the king- 
 dom of grace by the same laws with which he rules the 
 kingdom of nature; and hence it is that they employ 
 chemical denominations to express the truths of religion, 
 They ali hold, that there is a sort of divine energy, ot 
 soul, diffused through the frame of the universe, which 
 some call Archeeus, others the Universal Spirit, and which 
 others mention under different appellations. ‘They all 
 talk in the most obscure and superstitious manner of 
 what they cal! the signatures of things, of the power of 
 the stars over all corporeal beings, and their particular 
 
 ‘influence upon the human race, of the efficacy of magic, 
 
 and the various species and classes of demons. In fine, 
 they all agree in throwing out the most crude and incom- 
 prehensible notions and ideas, in the most obscure, quaint, 
 and unusual expressions. 
 
 XXXI. This controversy, between the Chemists and 
 Peripatetics, was buried in silence and oblivion, as soon 
 as a new and more seemly form of philosophy was pre- 
 sented to the world by two gi@at men, who reflected a 
 lustre upon the French nation,—Gassendi and Des-Cartes. 
 
 | The former, whose profound knowledge of geometry and 
 astronomy was accompanied with the most engaging 
 
 eloquence, and an acquaintance with the various brauches 
 of solid erudition and polite literature, was canon of 
 Digne, and professor of mathematics at Paris. The latter, 
 who was a man of quality and bred a soldier, surpassed 
 the greatest part of his contemporaries in acuteness, sub- 
 tlety, and extent of genius, though he was much inferior 
 to Gassendi in point of learning. In 1624, Gassendi 
 attacked Aristotle, and the whole body of his commenta- 
 tors and followers, with great resolution and ingenuity 34 
 but the resentment and indignation which he drew upon 
 himself from all quarters by this bold attempt, and the 
 sweetness of his natural temper, which made him an 
 enemy to dissention and contest, engaged him to desist, 
 and to suspend an enterprise, that, by opposing the pre- 
 judices, was so adapted to inflame the passions of the 
 learned. Hence no more than two books of the work he 
 had composed against the Aristotelians were made public ; 
 the other five were suppressed. He also wrote against 
 Fludd, and, by refuting him, refuted at the same time 
 
 nation of Rosecrucians did not escape the penetration and sagacity of 
 Gassendi, as appears by his Examen Philosophie Fluddane, sect. xv. 
 It was, however, still more fully explained by Renaudot, a famous 
 French physician, in his Conferences Publiques, t. iv. A great number 
 of materials and anecdotes relating to the fraternity, rules, observances, 
 and writings, of the Rosecrucians, (who made sucha noise in this century, ) 
 may be found in Arnold’s Kirchen-und-Ketzer, Historie, part ii. p. 1114. 
 
 > See, for an account of this singular man, from whose writings Jacob 
 Behmen derived all his mystical aud rapturous doctrine, Wood's 
 Athenz Oxonienses, vol. i. p. 610. and Histor. et Antiq. Academie 
 Oxoniensis, lib. ii. p. 308.—F'or an account of Helmont, the father, see 
 Hen. Witte, Memor. Philosoph.—Consult also Joach. Fred. Feller, in 
 Miscellan. Leibnitian—Several writers beside Arnold have given an 
 account of Jacob Behmen.* 
 
 © See Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. i. p. 376. 
 
 4 The title of his book against the Aristotelians is as follows: Exer- 
 citationum paradoxicarum adversus Aristoteleos Libri VII. in his qui- 
 bus precipua totius Peripatetic Doctrine Fundamenta excutiuntur, 
 Opiniones vero, ut ex vetustioribus obsolete, stabiliuntur. 
 
 ° See Bougerelle’s Vie de Gassendi. 
 
 * See, also sect. ii. part i, chap. 1. sect. xl. of this century. 
 
 They all acknowledge a certain analogy and. 
 
 mantel Ba a 
 
Sect. I. 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 533 
 
 the Rosecrucian Brethren; and here the Aristotelians*| system, and diminish the growing reputation of the new 
 
 seemed to behold his labours with a favourable eye. After 
 having overturned several false and visionary systems of 
 philosophy, he began to think of substituting something 
 more solid and satisfactory in their place, and in pursu- 
 ance of this design he proceeded with the utmost circum- 
 spection and caution. He recommended to others, and 
 followed himself, that wise method of philosophical inves- 
 tigation, which, with a slow and timorous pace, rises from 
 the objects of sense to the discussions of reason, and arrives 
 at truth by assiduity, experiment, and an attentive obser- 
 
 vation of the laws of nature; or, to express the same 
 thing in other words, he struck out that judicious method, 
 which, by an attention to facts, to the changes and mo- 
 tions of the natural world, leads by degrees to general 
 principles, and lays a solid foundation for rational i inquiry. 
 In the application of this method, he had recourse chiefly 
 to mathematical succours, from a persuasion that demon- 
 stration and certainty were the peculiar fruits of that 
 accurate and luminous science. “He drew no assistance 
 
 from metaphysics, which he overlooked from an opinion 
 
 that the greatest part of its rules and decisions were too 
 precarious to satisfy a sincere inquirer, animated with the 
 love of truth. 
 
 XXXII. Des-Cartes followed a very different method 
 in his philosophical researches. He abandoned mathe- 
 matics, which he had at first looked upon as the tree of 
 knowledge, and employed the science of abstract ideas, or 
 metaphysics, in the investigation of truth. Having ac- 
 cordingly laid down a few plain and general principles, 
 which seemed to be deduced immediately from the nature 
 of man, his next business was to form distinct notions of 
 the Deit y, of matter, soul, body, space, the universe, and 
 the various parts of which it ‘is composed. E'rom these 
 notions, examined with attention, compared and combin- 
 ed according to their mutual relations, connexions, and 
 resemblances, and reduced into a kind of system, he pro- 
 ceeded still farther, and made admirable use of them in 
 reforming the other branches of philosophy, and giving || v 
 them a new degree of stability and consistence. ‘This 
 he effected by connecting all his branches of philosophi- 
 
 cal reasoning in such a manner, that principles and con- 
 sequences were placed in the most accurate order, and the 
 latter seemed to flow from the former in the most natural 
 manner. ‘This method of pursuing truth could not fail 
 to attract the admiration of many ;and so indeed it hap- 
 pened ; for no sooner had Des-Cartes published his dis- 
 coveries in philosophy, than a considerable number of emi- 
 nent men, in different parts of Europe, who had long 
 entertained a high disgust to the inelegant and ambiguous 
 jargon of the schools, : adopted these discoveries with zeal, 
 declared their approbation of the new system, and express- 
 ed their desire that its author should be substituted in the 
 place of the Peripatetics, as a philosophical guide to the 
 youth in the public seminaries of learning. On the other 
 hand, the Peripatetics, or Aristotelians, seconded by the 
 influence of the clergy, who apprehended that the cause 
 of religion was aimed at, and endangered, by these philo- 
 sophical innovations, made a prodigious noise, and left 
 no means unemployed to prevent the downfall of their old 
 
 * See Gassendi’s Institutiones Philosophie; a diffuse production, 
 which takes up the two first volumes of his works, and in which his 
 principal design is to show, that those opinions, both of the ancient and 
 modern philosophers, which are deduced from metaphysical principles, 
 
 No: XLV. 134 
 
 philosophy. Io execute this invidious pas with the 
 greater facility, they not only accused Des-Cartes of the 
 most dangerous and pernicious errors, but went so far, in 
 the extravagance of their malignity, as to bring a charge 
 of atheism against him. ‘This furious zeal of the Aris- 
 totelians will not appear so extraordinary, when it is con- 
 sidered, that they contended, not so much for their philo- 
 sophical system, as for the honours, advantages, and pro- 
 fits they derived from it. The 'Theosophists, Rosecru- 
 cians, and Chymists, entered into this contest against Des- 
 Cartes, but conducted themselves with greater moderation 
 than the Aristotelians, notwithstanding their persuasion 
 that the Peripatetic philosophy, though chimerical and 
 impious, was much less intolerable than the Cartesian 
 system.” "lhe consequences of this dispute were favour- 
 able to the progress of science ; for the wiser part of the 
 European philosophers, although they did not adopt the 
 sentiments of Des-Cartes, were encouraged and animat- 
 ed by his example to carry on their inquiries with more 
 freedom from the restraints of traditional and personal 
 authority than they had formerly done, and to throw reso- 
 lutely from their necks that yoke of servitude, under 
 which Aristotle and his followers had so long kept them 
 in subjection. 
 
 XXXII. The most eminent contemporaries of Des- 
 Cartes applauded, in general, the efforts he made toward 
 the reformation of philosophy, and that noble resolution 
 with which he broke the shackles of magisterial autho- 
 rity, and struck out new paths, in which he proceeded 
 without a guide, in the search after truth. hey also 
 approved his method of rising, with caution and accu- 
 racy, from the most simple, and, as it were, the pri- 
 mary dictates of reason and nature, to truths and propo- 
 sitions of a more complex and intricate kind, and of 
 admitting nothing as truth, that was not clearly and dis 
 tinctly apprehended as such. 'They went still farther, 
 and unanimously acknowledged, that he had made most 
 
 valuable and important discoveries in philosophy, and 
 had demonstrated: several truths, which, before his time, 
 were received upon no other evidence than that of tradition 
 and conjecture. But these acknowledgments did not pre- 
 vent some of those who made them with the greatest since- 
 rity, from finding severalessential defects in the philosophy 
 of this great man. 'They considered his account of the 
 causes and principles of natural things, as for the most 
 part hypothetical, and founded on fancy, rather than expe- 
 rience. ‘They even attacked the fundamental principles 
 upon which the whole system of his philosophy was 
 built, such as his ideas of the Deity, of the universe, of 
 matter and spirit, of the laws of motion, and other points 
 that were connected with these. Some of these princi- 
 ples they pronounced uncertain ; others, they said, were 
 of a pernicious tendency, and likely to engender the most 
 dangerous errors; and they affirmed, that some were 
 directly contrary to the language of experience. At the 
 head of these objectors appeared his fellow-citizen, Gas- 
 sendi, who had made war before him upon the Aristote- 
 lians and Chymists ; who, in genius, was his equal; in 
 learning, greatly his superior ; and whose mathematical 
 
 have little solidity, and are generally defective in point of evidence and 
 ae a 
 
 ee Baillet’s Vie de René Des-Cartes, and also the General Dic- 
 tionary, 
 
5 
 
 34 
 knowledge was most, uncommon and extensive. This 
 formidable adversary directed his first attacks against the 
 metaphysical principles which supported the whole struc- 
 ture of the Cartesian philosophy. He then proceeded 
 still farther; and, for the physical system of Des-Cartes, 
 substituted one that resembled not a little the natural 
 philosophy of Epicurus, though far superior to it in soli- 
 dity, much more rational, consistent, and perfect, being 
 founded, not on the illusory visions of fancy, but on the 
 testimony of sense and the dictates of experience.* ‘his 
 new and sagacious observer of nature had not many fol- 
 lowers, and his disciples were much less numerous than 
 those of Des-Cartes. But what he wanted in number, 
 was sufficiently compensated by the merit and reputation 
 of those who adopted his philosophical system; for he 
 was followed by some of the most eminent men in Europe, 
 by persons who were distinguished in the highest degree 
 by their indefatigable application, and their extensive 
 knowledge both of natural philosophy and mathematics. 
 He had certainly few disciples in his own country ; but, 
 among the English, who in his time were remarkable 
 for their application to studies of a physical and mathe- 
 matical kind, a considerable number adopted his philoso- 
 phical system. It may here be observed, that even those 
 eminent philosophers and divines, such as Whichcot, 
 Gale, Cudworth, and More, who entered the lists with 
 Hobbes, (whose doctrine came nearer to the principles of 
 Gassendi than to the system of Des-Cartes,) and revived 
 ancient Platonism, in order to crush under its weight the 
 philosopher of Malmesbury, placed Gassendi and Plato 
 in the same class, and explained the sentiments of the 
 latter in such a manner as to make them appear quite 
 agreeable to the principles ef the former.® 
 
 XXXIV. Irom this period must be dated the famous 
 schism that divided the philosophical world into two great 
 sects, which, though they almost «gree upon those points 
 that are of the greatest utility and importance in human 
 life, differ widely about the principles of human know- 
 ledge, and the fundamental points whence the philoso- 
 pher must proceed in his search of truth. Of these sects, 
 one may properly be called Metaphysical, and the other 
 Mathematical. The metaphysical sect follows the sys- 
 tem of Des-Cartes; the mathematical one directs its 
 researches by the principles of Gassendi. Philosophers 
 of the former class look upon truth as attainable by ab- 
 stract reasoning; those of the latter seek it by observation 
 and experience. The follower of Des-Cartes attributes 
 little to the external senses, and much to meditation and 
 discussion. ‘The disciple of Gassendi, on the contrary, 
 places little confidence in metaphysical discussion, and 
 principally has recourse to the reports of sense and the 
 contemplation of nature. ‘The Cartesian, from a small 
 number of abstract truths, deduces a long series of pro- 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 a a reread 
 
 Secr. I. 
 
 positions, in order to arrive at a precise and accurate know- - 
 ledge of God and nature, of body and spirit; the Gassen- 
 dian admits these metaphysical truths, but at the same 
 time denies the possibility of erecting, upon their basis, a 
 regular and solid system of philosophy, without the aid 
 of assiduous observation and repeated experiments, which 
 are the most natural and effectual means of philosophical 
 progress and improvement. ‘The one, eagle-like, soars 
 with an intrepid flight to the first fountain of truth, and 
 to the general relations and final causes of things ; and 
 thence descending, explains, by them, the various changes 
 and appearances of nature, the attributes and counsels of 
 the Deity, the moral constitution and duties of man, the 
 frame and structure of the universe. The other, more 
 difficult and cautious, observes with attention, and exa- 
 mines with assiduity, the objects that are before his eyes; 
 and rises gradually from them to the first cause, and the 
 primordial principle of things. The Cartesians suppose, 
 that many things are_-known by man with the utmost 
 certainty ; and hence arises their propensity to form their 
 opinions and doctrines into a regular system. ‘The fol- 
 lowers of Gassendi consider man as in a state of ignorance 
 with respect to an immense number of points, and, con- 
 sequently, think it incumbent upon them to suspend their 
 judgment in a multitude of cases, until time and expe- 
 rience dispel their darkness; and hence it is also, that 
 they consider a system as an attempt of too adventurous 
 a nature, and by no means proportioned to the narrow 
 extent of human knowledge; or, at least, they think, 
 that the business of system-making ought to be left to 
 the philosophers of future times, who, by joining the 
 observations and experience of many ages, May acquire 
 a more satisfactery and accurate knowledge of nature 
 than has been yet. attained. 
 These dissensions and contests concerning .the first 
 principles of human knowledge, produced various debates 
 upon other subjects of the utmost moment and importance}; 
 such as, the nature of God, the essence of matter, the 
 elements or constituent principles of bodies, the laws of 
 motion, the manner in which the Divine Providence 
 exerts itself in the. government of the world, the frame 
 and structure of the universe, the nature, union, and 
 joint operations of soul and body. If we consider atten 
 tively the profound and intricate nature of these subjects, 
 together with the limits, debility, and imperfections of 
 the human understanding, we shall see too much reason 
 to fear, that these contests will last as long as the present 
 state of man.t ‘The wise and the good, sensible of this, 
 will carry on such debates with a spirit of mildness. and 
 mutual forbearance ; and, knowing that differences in 
 opinions ‘are inevitable where truth is so difficult of access, 
 will guard against that temerity with which too many dis 
 putants accuse their antagonists of irreligion and impiety.? 
 
 ® See his Disquisitio Metaphysica, seu Dubitationes et Instantie ad- 
 versus Cartesii Metaphysicam, et Responsa, in the third volume of his 
 works.—Bernier, a celebrated French physician, has given an accurate 
 view of the philosophy of Gassendi in his abridgment of it, published 
 at Lyons, in 1684. This abridgment will give the reader a better 
 account of this philosophy than even the works of Gassendi himself, in 
 which his meaning is often expressed in an ambiguous manner, and 
 which are, besides, loaded with superfluous erudition. The Life of 
 Gassendi, accurately written by Bougerelle, a priest of the oratory, was 
 published in 1737.—See Biblioth. Francoise, tom. xxvii. p. 353. 
 
 > See the preface to the Latin translation of Cudworth’s Intellectual 
 System; and also the remarks added to that translation. 3p Dr. Mo- 
 sheim is the author of that translation and of those remarks, 
 
 ee et 
 
 ¢ Voltaire published, in 1740, at Amsterdara, a pamphlet, entitled, La 
 Metaphysique de Newton, ou Parallele des Sentimens de Newton et de 
 Leibnitz, which, though superficial and inaccurate, may be useful to 
 those readers who have not application enough to draw from better 
 sources, and are desirous of knowing how much these two philosophical 
 sects differ in their principles and tenets. ; 
 
 4Itis abundantly known that Des-Cartes and his metaphysical fol- 
 lowers were accused by many of striking at the foundations of all reli: 
 gion; nor is this accusation entirely withdrawn even in our times. See, 
 in the miscellaneous works of Father Hardouin, his Atheists Unmasked, 
 Among these pretended atheists, Des-Cartes, and his two famous disci- 
 ples, (Antoine Le Grand and Sylvain Regis,) hold, the first rank ; nor is 
 Father Malebranche, though he seems rather chargeable with fanaticizm 
 
nor. I. STATE OF LEARNING 
 
 XXXY. Those who had either adopted, without excep- 
 tion, the principles of Des-Cartes, or who, without going 
 so far, approved the method and rules laid down by him 
 for the investigation of truth, employed all their zeal and 
 industry in correcting, amending, confirming, and illus- 
 trating, the metaphysical species of philosophy ; and its 
 votaries were exceedingly numerous, particularly in 
 France and in the United Provinces. But among the 
 members of this philosophical sect there were some who 
 aimed at the destruction of all religion, more especially 
 Spinosa, and others, who, like Balthasar Becker,* made 
 use of the principles of Des-Cartes, to overturn some doc- 
 trines of Christianity, and to pervert others. ‘This cir- 
 cumstance proved disadvantageous to the whole sect, and 
 brought it into disrepute in many places. ‘The metaphy- 
 sical philosophy fell, however, afterwards into better hands, 
 and was treated with great wisdom and acuteness by 
 Malebranche, a man of uncommon eloquence and sub- 
 tlety ; and by Leibnitz, whose name is consigned to im- 
 mortality as one of the greatest geniuses that ever appear- 
 ed in the world.’ Neither of these great men, indeed, 
 adopted all the principles and doctrines of Des-Cartes ; 
 but both of them approved, upon the whole, his philoso- 
 phical method, which they enlarged, amended, and im- 
 proved, by several additions and corrections, that rendered 
 its procedure more luminous and sure. ‘This is more 
 especially true of Leibnitz, who, rejecting the suggestions 
 of fancy, seemed to follow no other guides than reason 
 and judgment ; for Malebranche, having received from 
 nature a warm and exuberant imagination, was too much 
 ruled by its dictates, and was thus often imperceptibly 
 led into the visionary regions of enthusiasm. 
 
 XXXVI. The mathematical philosophy already men- 
 tioned, was much less studied and adopted than the meta- 
 physical system, and its followers in France were very 
 few in number. But it met with a favourable reception in 
 Great Britain, whose philosophers perceiving, in its infant 
 and unfinished features, the immortal lines of Verulam’s 
 wisdom, snatched it from its cradle, in a soil where it was 
 ready to perish, cherished it with parental tenderness, and 
 have still continued their zealous efforts to bring it to ma- 
 turity and perfection. The Royal Society of London, 
 which may be considered as the philosophical seminary 
 
 AND PHILOSOPHY. 535 
 of the nation, took it under their protection, and have 
 neither spared expense nor pains to cultivate and improve 
 it, and to render it subservient to the purposes of life. 
 It owed, more especially, a great part of its progress and 
 improvement to the countenance, industry, and genius of 
 that immortal protector of science, the pious and venera- 
 ble Robert Boyle, whose memory will be ever precious to 
 the worthy and the wise, the friends of religion, learning, 
 and mankind. . he illustrious names of Barrow, Wallis, 
 and Locke, may also be added to the list of those who 
 contributed to the progress of natural knowledge. Nor 
 were the learned divines of the British nation (though 
 that order has often excited the complaints of philosophers, 
 and been supposed to behold, with a jealous and suspi- 
 cious eye, the efforts of philosophy as dangerous to the 
 cause of religion) less zealous than the other patrons of 
 science in this noble cause. On the contrary, they looked 
 upon the “dal tag oR of natural knowledge not only as 
 innocent, but as of the highest utility and importance , 
 as admirably adapted to excite and maintain in the minds 
 of men a profound veneration for the Supreme Creator 
 and Governor of the world, and to furnish new supports 
 to the cause of religion; and also as agreeable both to 
 the laws and the spirit of the Gospel, and to the senti- 
 ments of the primitive church. And hence it was that 
 those doctors, who, in the lectures founded by Mr. Boyle, 
 attacked the enemies of religion, employed in this noble 
 and pious attempt the succours of philosophy with the most 
 happy and triumphant success. But the immortal man, 
 to whose immense genius and indefatigable industry 
 philosophy owed its greatest improvements, and who 
 carried the lamp of knowledge into paths of nature that 
 had been unexplored before his time, was Sir Isaac New- 
 ton,* whose name was revered, and whose genius was 
 admired, even by his warmest adversaries. This great 
 man spent, with uninterrupted assiduity, the whole of a 
 long life in correcting, digesting, and enlarging, the new 
 philosophy, and in throwing upon it the light of demon- 
 stration and evidence, both by observing the laws of nature, 
 and by subjecting them to the rules of calculation ; and 
 thus he introduced a great change into natural science, 
 and brought it to a very high degree of perfection.4 The 
 English look upon it as an unquestionable proof of the 
 
 than atheism, exempted from a place in this odious list. It is true that 
 Hardouin, who gives so liberally a place in the atheistical class to these 
 great men, was himself a visionary dreamer, whose judgment, in many 
 cases, is little to be respected; but it is also true, that, in the work now 
 under consideration, he does not reason from his own whimsical notions, 
 but draws all his arguments from those followers of Aristotle and Gas- 
 sendi, who have opposed, with the greatest success and acuteness, the 
 Cartesian system. Even Voltaire, notwithstanding the moderation with 
 which he expresses himself, seems plainly enough to give his assent to the 
 accusers of Des-Cartes. On the other hand, it must be observed that these 
 accusers are censured in their turns by several modern metaphysicians. 
 Gassendi, for example, is charged by Arnauld with overturning the 
 doctrine of the soul’s immortality in his controversy with Des-Cartes, 
 and by Leibnitz with corrupting and destroying the whole system of 
 natural religion: see Des-Maizeaux, Recueil de diverses pieces sur la 
 Philosophie, tom. 1:1.* Leibnitz has also ventured to affirm, that Sir 
 Isaac Newton and his followers rob the Deity of some of his most 
 excellent attributes, and sap the foundations of natural religion. In 
 short, the controversial writings on both sides are filled with rash and 
 indecorous reproaches of this kind. 
 
 3p * See, for a farther account of the particular tenets and opinions 
 of Becker, sect. ii. part il. chap. ii. sect. xxxv. of this century. 
 
 b For an ample and interesting account of Malebranche and his philo- 
 sophy, sce Fontenelle’s Eloges des Academiciens, tom: i. p. 317, and, 
 for a view of the errors and defects of his metaphysical system, see 
 Hardouin’s Atheists Unmasked, in his CEuvres Melées, p. 43. Fon- 
 
 of Leibnitz, in the work already quoted, vol. ii,; but a much more am- 
 ple one has been published in German by Charles Gunther Ludewig, 
 in his history of the Leibnitian Philosophy. However, the genius and 
 philosophy of this great man are best to be learned from his letters, 
 published by Kortholt. 
 
 37> ° Mr. Hume’s account of this great man is extremely just, and 
 contains some peculiar strokes that do honour to this elegant painter of 
 minds. “In Newton, (says he,) this island may boast of having produ- 
 ced the greatest and rarest genius that ever arose for the ornament 
 and instruction of the species. Cautious in admitting no principles 
 but such as were founded in experiment; but resolute to adopt every 
 such principle, however new and unusual ; from modesty, igrorant of his 
 superiority above the rest of mankind, and thence less carefiil to accom- 
 modate his reasonings to common apprehensions; more anxious to 
 merit than to acquire fame; he was, from these causes, long unknown 
 to the world; but his reputation, at last, broke out with a lustre, which 
 scarcely any writer, during his own life-time, had ever before attained. 
 While Newton seemed to draw off the veil from some of the mysteries 
 of nature, he showed, at the same time, the imperfections of the mecha- 
 nical philosophy; and thereby restored her ultimate secrets to that _ 
 obscurity, in which they ever did and ever will remain.” 
 
 ¢ The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, as also the 
 other writings, whether philosophical, mathematical, or theological, of 
 
 > * It appears, on reference, that the censure is not conveyed in 
 such strong terms as those employed by our historian; Leibnitz merely 
 says, that GasSendi appeared to hesitate and waver too much concerning 
 
 tenelle has also given an account of the life and philosophical sentiments Hl the nature of the soul, and the principles of natural religion, 
 
536 
 
 solidity and excellence of the Newtonian philosophy, that 
 its most eminent votaries were friends to religion, and 
 have transmitted to posterity shining examples of piety 
 and virtue; while, on the contrary, the Cartesian or meta- 
 physical system has exhibited, in its followers, many 
 flagrant instances of irrelizgion, and some demonstrations 
 of the most horrid impiety. 
 
 XXXVI. The two famous philosophical sects now 
 mentioned, deprived, indeed, all the ancient systems of 
 natural science, both of their credit and their disciples ; 
 and hence it might have been expected that they would 
 have totally engrossed and divided between them the 
 suffrages of the learned. But this was not the case; the 
 liberty of thinking being restored by Des-Cartes and 
 Newton, who broke the fetters of prejudice, in which 
 philosophical superstition had confined, in former times, 
 the human understanding, a variety of sects sprang up. 
 Some trusting to their superior genius and sagacity, and 
 others, more remarkable for the exuberance of their fancy 
 than for the solidity of their judgment, pretended to 
 strike out new paths in the unknown regions of nature, 
 and new methods of investigating truth; but of their 
 disciples the number was small, and the duration of their 
 inventions transitory; and therefore it is sufficient to have 
 barely mentioned them. ‘There appeared also another 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 Sect. 1. 
 
 sort of men, whom mediocrity of genius, or an indolent 
 turn of mind, indisposed for investigating truth by the 
 exertion of their own talents and powers, and who, terri- 
 fied at the view of such an arduous task, contented them- 
 selves with borrowing from the different sects such of 
 their respective tenets as seemed to them most remark- 
 able for their perspicuity and solidity, more especially 
 those concerning which all the different sects were agreed. 
 These they compiled and digested into a system, and 
 pushed their inquiries no farther. The philosophers of 
 this class are generally termed E’clectics. From these 
 remarkable differences of sentiment and system that 
 reigned among the jarring sects, some persons, otherwise 
 distinguished by their acuteness and sagacity, took occa- 
 sion to represent truth as unattainable by such a short- 
 sighted being as man, and to revive the desperate and 
 uncomfortable doctrine (shall I call it, or jargon) of the 
 Sceptics, that had long been buried in the silence and: 
 oblivion which it deserved. 'The most eminent of these 
 cloudy philosophers were Sanchez, a physician of 'Tou- 
 louse,* de la Mothe le Vayer,” Huet, bishop of Avranches,° 
 to whom we may justly add Peter Bayle,4 who, by the 
 erudition and wit that abound in his voluminous works, 
 acquired a distinguished reputation in the republic of 
 letters. 
 
 this great man, are abundantly known. ‘There is an elegant account 
 of his life, and literary and philosophical merit, given by Fontenelle, in 
 his Eloge des Academiciens, tom. ii. p. 293.—See also the Biblioth. 
 Angloise, tom. xv. par, i. p. 545, and Biblioth. Raisonée, tom. vi. par. 
 il. p.478. 34> See more especially the late learned and ingenious Mr. 
 Maclaurin’s Account of Sir Isaac Newton’s Discoveries. 
 
 * There is still extant a famous book of this writer, entitled, de co 
 guod nihil scitur, which, with the rest of his works, and an account of 
 his life, appeared at ‘Toulouse, in 1636. See Bayle’s Dictionary, and 
 Villemandi Scepticismus debellatus, cap. iv. 
 
 b See Bayle’s Dictionary for an account of this author. 
 
 * Huet’s book concerning the Weakness of Human Reason was pub- 
 lished after his death, in French, at Amsterdam,-in 1723, and lately in 
 Latin. It appears, however, that this eminent writer had, long be- 
 fore the composition of this book, recommended the sceptical method of 
 conducting philosophical researches, and looked upon it as the best 
 adapted to establish the truth of Christianity upon solid foundations. 
 
 See the Commentarius de Rebus ad eum pertinentibus, lib. iv. p. 230: 
 and Demonstrat Evangelice Preefat. sect. iv. p. 9, where he commends 
 their manner of proceeding, who, by sceptical arguments, invalidate ali 
 philosophical principles, before they begin to prove the truth of Chris- 
 tianity to those who doubt of its evidence. It is well known that the 
 Jesuits, who were particularly favoured by Huet, have, on many occa: 
 sions, employed this method to throw dust in the eyes of the Protes- 
 tants, and thus lead them blindfold into the Romish communion, and that 
 they still continue to practise the same insidious instrument of seduction. 
 
 4 Every thing relating to the life and sentiments of Bayle is abun- 
 dantly and universally known. His life, composed by M. Des-Mai- 
 zeaux, was. published at the Hague in 1732.—'The scepticism of this 
 insidious and seducing writer was unmasked and refuted, with great 
 learning and foree of argument, by J. P. de Crousaz, in a voluminous 
 French work, entitled, Traité du Pyrrhonisme, of which M. Formey 
 gave an elegant and judicious abridgment under the title of ‘Triomphe 
 de |’ Evidence. 
 
SECTION IL. 
 
 PART I. 
 THE HISTORY OF THE MORE ANCIENT CHURCHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Conaining the History of the Romish Church. 
 
 I. Hiprotrro ALDoBRANDINI, under the papal name 
 of Clement VIII. continued to rule the church of Rome at 
 the commencement of this century, having been elected 
 to that high dignity toward the conclusion of the preceding 
 one. ‘I'he eminent abilities and insidious dexterity of this 
 pontiff, as also his ardent desire of extinguishing the 
 Protestant religion, and extending the limits of the Romish 
 church, are universally acknowledged ; but it is much 
 questioned, whether his prudence was equal to the ardu- 
 ous nature of his pontifical station, and the critical circum- 
 stances of an incidental kind that arose during his admi- 
 nistration.s. He was succeeded in 1605 by Leo XI. of the 
 house of Medici, who died a few weeks after his election, 
 and thus left the papal chair open to Camillo Borghese, 
 by whom it was filled under the denomination of Paul V. 
 This pontiff was of a haughty and violent spirit, jealous 
 to excess of his authority, and insatiably furious in the 
 execution of his revenge upon such as encroached on his 
 pretended prerogative, as appears in a striking manner by 
 his rash and unsuccessful contest with the Venetians.'— 
 Gregory XV.,° who was raised to the pontificate in 1621, 
 seemed to be of a milder disposition, though he was not 
 less defective than his predecessor in equity and clemency 
 toward those who had separated themselves from the 
 church of Rome. An unjust severity against the friends 
 of the Reformation is, indeed, the general and inevitable 
 character of the Roman pontiffs; for, without this, they 
 would be destitute of the predominant and distinctive 
 mark of the papacy. <A pope inspired with sentiments 
 of toleration and charity toward those who refuse a blind 
 submission to his opinions and decisions, is-a contradic- 
 tion in terms. Urban VIII., who previously bore the 
 
 * This pontiff had an edition of the Vulgate published, which was 
 very different from that of pope Sixtus; and this is cue of the many 
 instances of that contrariety of opinion which has prevailed amongst 
 the infallible heads of the church of Rome. 
 
 3% > This contest arose, partly from two edicts of the republic of 
 Venice for preventing the unnecessary Increase of religious buildings, 
 and the augmentation of the enormous wealth of the clergy; and partly 
 from the prosecution of two ecclesiastics for capital crimes, who had 
 not been delivered up to the pope at his requisition. It is not surprising 
 that these proceedings of the Venetians, however just and equitable, 
 should inflame the ambitious fury of a pontiff, who called himself Vice- 
 God, the Monarch of Christendom, and the Supporter of Papal Omnipo- 
 tence. Accordingly, Paul subjected all the dominions of the republic to 
 an interdict, while the Venetians, on the other hand, declared that unjust 
 and tyrannical mandate null and void, and banished from their territory 
 the Jesuits and Capuchins, who had openly disobeyed the laws of the 
 state. Preparations for war were proceeding on both sides, when an 
 accommodation, not very honourable to the pope, was brought about by 
 the mediation of Henry LV. of France. This controversy between the 
 a and the Venetians produced several important pieces, composed by 
 
 arpi on the side of the republic, and by Baronius and Bellarmine in 
 behalf of the pontiff. The controversy concerning the nature and limits 
 of the pope’s pretended supremacy is judiciously stated, and the papal 
 
 pretensions are accurately examined, by Sarpi, in his history of this 
 tyrannical interdict, which, in Italian, occupies the fourth volume of his 
 works, and was translated into Latin by William Bedell, of Cambridge. | 
 
 No, XLVI. 135 
 
 name of Meffei Barberini, and who, by his interest in the 
 conclave, ascended the papal throne in 1623, was a man 
 of letters, an eloquent writer, an elegant poet, and a gene- 
 rous and munificent patron of learning and genius ;4 but 
 nothing could equal the rigour and barbarity with which 
 he treated all who bore the name of Protestants. He may 
 be indeed considered as a good and equitable ruler of the 
 church, when compared with Innocent X. of the family 
 of Pamphili, who succeeded him in 1644. This unworthy 
 pontiff, to a profound ignorance of all those things which 
 it was necessary for a Christian bishop to know, joined the 
 most shameful indolence and the most notorious profli- 
 gacy; for he abandoned his person, his dignity, the admi- 
 nistration of his temporal affairs, and the government of 
 the church, to the disposal of Donna Olympia,* a woman 
 of corrupt morals, insatiable avarice, and boundless ambi- 
 tion.£ His zealous endeavours to prevent the peace of 
 Westphalia, however odious they may appear when con- 
 sidered in themselves, ought not to be reckoned among 
 his personal crimes, since it is to be supposed, that any 
 other pontiff, in his place, would have made the same 
 attempts without hesitation or remorse. He was succeeded 
 in the papal chair, in 1655, by Fabio Chigi, who assumed 
 the title of Alexander VII. and who, though less odious 
 than his. predecessor, nevertheless possessed all the per- 
 nicious qualities that are necessary to constitute a true 
 pope, and without which the papal jurisdiction and 
 majesty cannot be maintained. 'The other parts of his 
 character are drawn much to his disadvantage, by several 
 ingenious and eminent writers of the Romish church, 
 who represent him as a man of a mean genius, unequal to _ 
 great or difficult undertakings, full of craft and dissimu- 
 lation, and chargeable with the most shameful levity and 
 the greatest inconsistency of sentiment and conduct.¢ 
 The two Clements IX. and X. who were elected succes- 
 
 —It was Paul V. that dishonoured his title of Holiness, and cast an 
 eternal stain upon his infallibility, by an express approbation of the 
 doctrine of Suarez, the Jesuit, in defence of the murder of kings. 
 
 3x¢> ° His family name was Alexander Ludovisio. 
 
 4 See Leonis Allatii Apes Urbane. This little work is a sort of index, 
 or list, of all the learned and eminent men who adorned Rome, under 
 the pontificate of Urban VIII. and experienced the munificence and 
 liberality of that pontiff; and their number is far from being small. 
 The Latin poems of Urban, which are not without a considerable portion 
 of wit and elegance, have passed through several editions. 27> These 
 poems were composed while he was yet a cardinal. After his elevation 
 to the pontificate, he published a remarkable edition of the Romish 
 Breviary and several bulls; among which, that which abolishes the 
 order of Female Jesuits and certain festivals, those relating to image- 
 worship, and to the condemnation of Jansenius’ Augustinus, and that 
 which confers the title of Eminence upon the cardinal-legates, the three 
 ecclesiastical electors, and the grand master of Malta, are the most 
 worthy of notice. 
 
 27° This Donna Olympia Maldachini was his brother’s widow, 
 with whom he had lived, before his elevation to the pontificate, in an 
 illicit commerce, in which his holiness continued afterwards. 
 
 f See the Memoires du Cardinal de Retz, tom. iii. and iv. of the last 
 edition published at Geneva.—I'or an account of the disputes betweer: 
 this pontiff and the French, see Bougeant’s Histoire de la Paix de 
 Westphalie, tom. iv. 
 
 See the Memoires du Cardinal de Retz, tom. iv. p. 16, 77—Ma 
 
538 
 
 sively to the papacy in 1668 and 1669, were concerned 
 in few transactions that deserve to be transmitted to pos- 
 terity.s This was not the case of Benedict Odeschalchi, 
 who is known in the list of pontiffs by the denomination 
 of Innocent XI. and was raised to that high dignity in 
 1677." This respectable pontiff acquired a very high and 
 permanent reputation by the austerity of his morals, his 
 uncommon courage and resolution, his dislike of the 
 grosser superstitions that reigned in the Romish church, 
 his attempts to reform the manners of the clergy, and to 
 abolish a considerable number of those fictions and frauds 
 that. dishonour their ministry, and also by other solid and 
 eminent virtues. But it appeared manifestly by his exam- 
 ple that those pontiffs, who respect truth, and act from 
 virtuous and Christian principles, may, indeed, form noble 
 plans, but will never be able to carry them into execution, 
 or at least to give them that measure of stability and per- 
 fection, which is the object of their wishes. By his example 
 and administration it appeared, that the wisest institutions, 
 and the most judicious establishments, will be unable to 
 stand firm, for any considerable time, against the insidious 
 stratagems, or declared opposition of a deluded multitude, 
 who are corrupted by the prevalence of licentious morals, 
 whose imaginations are impregnated with superstitious 
 fictions and fables, whose credulity is abused by pious 
 frauds, and whose minds are nourished, or rather amused, 
 with vain rites and senseless ceremonies.* Be that as it 
 may, all the wise and salutary regulations of Innocent XI. 
 were suffered to go almost to ruin by the criminal indo- 
 lence of Peter Ottoboni, who was raised to the head of 
 the Romish church, in 1689, and assumed the name of 
 Alexander VIII. <A laudable attempt was made to revive 
 them by Innocent XII., a man of uncommon merit and 
 eminent talents, whose name was Pignatelli, and who, in 
 1691, succeeded Alexander in the papal chair; nor were his 
 zealous endeavours absolutely destitute of success. But it 
 was also his fate to learn, by experience, that the most 
 prudent and resolute pontiffs are unequal to such an 
 arduous task, such an Herculean labour, as the reform- 
 ation of the church and court of Rome; nor were the 
 fruits of this good pope’s wise administration enjoyed long 
 after his decease.’ The pontiff, whose reign concluded 
 this century, was John Francis Albani, who was raised 
 to the head of the Romish church in 1699, and assumed 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Il 
 
 | the name of Clement XI. He surpassed in learning ihe 
 whole college of cardinals, and was inferior to none of the 
 preceding pontiffs in sagacity, lenity, and a desire, at least, 
 to govern well; but he was very far from opposing, with 
 a proper degree of vigour and resolution, the inveterate 
 corruptions and superstitious observances of the church 
 over which he presided ; on the contrary, he inconsider- 
 ately aimed at, what he thought, the honour and advan- 
 tage of the church (that is, the glory and interests of its 
 pontiff) by measures that proved detrimental to both ; 
 and thus showed, by a striking example, that popes, even 
 of the best disposition, may fall imperceptibly into the 
 greatest mistakes, and commit the most pernicious blun- 
 ders, through an imprudent zeal for extending their 
 jurisdiction, and augmenting the influence and lustre of 
 their station.¢ 
 
 II. The incredible pains that were taken by the pon- 
 tiffs and clergy of the Romish church, to spread their 
 doctrine and to erect their dominion among the nations 
 that lay in the darkness of Paganism, have been already 
 mentioned. We are, therefore, at present, to confine 
 our narration to the schemes they laid, the cabals they 
 formed, and the commotions they excited, with an unin- 
 terrupted and mischievous industry, in order to recover 
 the possessions and prerogatives they had lost in Europe, 
 to oppress the Protestants, and to extinguish the light of the 
 glorious Reformation. Various were the stratagems and 
 projects they formed for these purposes. he resources 
 of genius, the force of arms, the seduction of the most 
 alluring promises, the terrors of the most formidable threat- 
 enings, the subtle wiles of controversy, the influence of 
 
 pious, and often of impious frauds, the arts of dissimula- 
 tion, in short, all possible means, fair or disingenuous, 
 were employed for the destruction of the reformed 
 churches, but in most cases without success. The plan 
 of a dreadful attack upon the friends of the Reformation 
 had been, for some time, formed in secret; and the bigot- 
 ed and persecuting house of Austria, at the pope’s per- 
 suasion, undertook to put it in execution. However, as 
 injustice, however arrogant, usually seeks some pretext to 
 mask, or at least to diminish its deformity, so the church 
 of Rome endeavored before-hand to justify the persecution, 
 of which the flame was ready to break out. For this 
 purpose, the pens of the perfidious and learned Scioppius,‘ 
 
 moires de M, Joly, tom. ii. p. 186, 210, 237—Archenholtz, Memoires de 
 la Reine Christine, tom. ii. p. 125. 34 The craft and dissimulation 
 attributed to this pontiff really constituted an essential part of his 
 character; but it is not strictly true that he was a man of a mean genius, 
 or unequal to great and difficult undertakings. He was a man of learn- 
 ing, and discovered very eminent abilities at the treaty of Munster, 
 where he appeared in the character of nuncio. Some writers relate, that, 
 while he was in Germany, he had formed the design of abjuring popery, 
 and embracing the Protestant religion, but was deterred from the exe- 
 cution of this purpose by the example of his cousin count Pompey, who 
 was poisoned at Lyons, on his way to Germany, after he had abjured 
 the Romish faith. These writers add, that Chigi was confirmed in his 
 religion by his elevation to the cardinalship. See Bayle, Nouvelles de 
 la Repub. des Lettres, Oct. 1688. 
 
 3 *Clement IX. was of the family of Rospigliosi, and the family 
 name of Clement X. was Altieri. See Memoires de la Reine Chris- 
 sine, tom. ii. There are upon record several transactions of Clement 
 fX. that do him honour, and prove his dislike of nepotism, and his love 
 of peace and justice. 
 
 24> > Some maintain, and with the strongest appearance of truth 
 that this pontiff had formerly been a soldier, though this report is treat- 
 ed as groundless by count ‘Turrezonico, in his dissertation ‘ de supposi- 
 tiis militaribus Stipendiis Bened. Odeschalchi.’ See an interesting ac- 
 count of this pontiff in Bayle’s Dictionary. 
 
 * See Journal Universel, tom. i. p. 441; tom. vi. p. 306. The present 
 pope, Benedict X1V.,* attempted, in the year 1743, the canonization of 
 
 Innocent XI.; but the king of France, instigated by the Jesuits, op- 
 posed this design, chiefly on account of the misunderstandings that always 
 subsisted between Louis XIV. and Innocent, of which more will be said 
 hereafter. 
 
 4 Foran account of the character, morals, and election of Innocent 
 XIL, see the Letters of cardinal Norris, published in the fifth volume of 
 his Works, p. 362. 
 
 ¢ In the year 1752, there appeared, at Padua, a Life of Clement XI., 
 composed in French by the learned and eloquent M. Lafitau, bishop of 
 Sisteron. In the same year M. Reboulet, chancellor of Avignon, pub- 
 lished his Histoire de Clement XI. These two productions, and more 
 epecially the latter, are written with uncommon elegance; but they 
 abound with historical errors, which the French writers, in general, are 
 at too little pains to avoid. Besides, they are both composed rather in 
 the strain of panegyric than of history. An attentive reader will, how- 
 ever, easily perceive, even in these panegyrics, that Clement XI., not- 
 withstanding his acknowledged sagacity and prudence, took several rash 
 and inconsiderate steps, in order to augment the power, and multiply 
 the prerogatives of the Roman pontifis; and thus, through his own 
 temerity, involved himself in various perplexities. 
 
 Z“p f Scioppius seems rather to merit the titles of malevolent and fu- 
 rious, than that of perfidious, unless his turning papist be considered by 
 Dr. Mosheim as an instance of perfidy. This is the intemperate and 
 odious satirist who was caned by the servants of the English ambassadoy 
 at Madrid, for the invectives he had thrown out against king James I, 
 
 * This note was written during the life of Benidict XIV. 
 
Part [. 
 
 of the Jesuits Tanner, Possevin, Hager, Hederic, and 
 Forer, jurists of Dillingen, were employed to represent 
 the treaty of peace, concluded between Charles V. and 
 the protestants of Germany, as unjust, null, and even 
 rendered void by the Protestants themselves, by their 
 departing from, or at least perverting, by various changes 
 and modifications, the confession of Augsburg. ‘This 
 injurious charge was proved groundless by several Lu- 
 theran doctors who, of their own accord, defended their 
 communion against this instance of popish calumny ; 
 and it was also refuted by public authority, by the ex- 
 press order of John George, elector of Saxony. 'The 
 task was committed to Matthew Hoe, who, in the years 
 16238 and 1631, published an accurate and laborious de- 
 fence of the Protestants, entitled, Defensio Pupillae Evan- 
 gelice. ‘The mouth of calumny was not stopped by 
 these performances. ‘The accusers continued their cla- 
 mours, multiplied their libels, and had recourse to the suc- 
 cours of indecent raillery and sareastic wit, to cover as 
 well as they were able, the striking defects of a bad 
 cause. On the other hand, the Lutheran writers exerted 
 themselves in exposing the sophistry, and refuting the 
 arguments and invectives of their adversaries. 
 
 IU. The first flames of that religious war, which the 
 Roman pontiffs proposed to carry on by the arms of the 
 Austrians and Spaniards, their servile and bigoted in- 
 struments, broke out in Austria, where, about the 
 commencement of this century, the friends of the Re- 
 formation were cruelly persecuted and oppressed by 
 their Roman catholic adversaries.» 'The solemn treaties 
 and conventions, by which the religious liberty and civil 
 rights of these Protestants had been secured, were tram- 
 pled upon, and violated in the most shocking manner ; 
 nor had these unhappy sufferers resolution, vigour, or 
 strength, sufficient to maintain their privileges. ‘The Bo- 
 hemians, who were involved in the same vexations, pro- 
 ceeded in a different manner. Perceiving plainly that 
 the votaries of Rome earnestly wished to deprive them of 
 that religious liberty which had been purchased by the 
 blood of their ancestors, and so lately confirmed to them 
 by an imperial edict, they came to a resolution of taking 
 up arms to defend themselves against a set of men, whom, 
 in consequence of the violence they offered to conscience, 
 they could look upon in no other light than as the ene- 
 mies of their souls. Accordingly a league was formed 
 py the Bohemian Protestants ; and they began to avenge, 
 with great spirit and resolution, the injuries that had been 
 committed against their persons, their families, their reli- 
 gion, and their civil rights and privileges. But it must 
 be acknowledged, that, in this just attempt to defend 
 what was dear to them as men and Christians, they lost 
 sight of the dictates of equity and moderation, and carried 
 
 in a book which was burned by the hands of the common hangman at 
 Paris. : 
 
 * See Salig, Hist. August. Confessionis, t. i. lib. iv. cap. ili. p. 768. 
 
 » Raupachius, in his Austria Evangelica, (a German work with a 
 Latin title,) has given an accurate account of this persecution and these 
 commotions. ‘he same learned and worthy author had formed the de- 
 sign of publishing an authentic and circumstantial relation of the suf- 
 ferings of the Protestants in Styria, Moravia, and Carinthia, with an 
 account of the perfidious snares that were laid for them, the whole drawn 
 from unexceptionable records; but death prevented the execution of this 
 scheme. 
 
 ¢ Beside Caroli and Jagerus, who have composed the ecclesiastical 
 history of this century, see Burch. Gotth. Struvii Syntagma Historie 
 * Germanice, p. 1487, 1510, 1523, 1538; as also the writers whom he re- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 539 
 
 their resentment beyond the bounds, both of reason and 
 religion. ‘Their adversaries were alarmed at a view of 
 their intrepidity, but were not dismayed. The Bohe- 
 mians, therefore, apprehending still farther opposition and 
 vexations from bigotry, animated by a spirit of ven- 
 geance, renewed their efforts to provide for their security. 
 ‘The death of the emperor Matthias, which happened in 
 1619, furnished them, as they thought, with an opportu- 
 nity of striking at the root of the evil, and removing the 
 source of their calamities, by choosing a sovereign of the 
 reformed religion ; for they considered themselves as au- 
 thorized by the ancient laws and customs of the kingdom, 
 to reject any one who pretended to the throne by virtue 
 of an hereditary right, and to demand a prince whose 
 title to the crown should be derived from the free suffrages 
 of the states. Accordingly, Frederic V., elector Palatine, 
 who professed the reformed religion, was, in the same 
 year, chosen king of Bohemia, and solemnly crowned at 
 Prague.¢ 
 
 IV. 'This bold step, from which the Bohemians expected 
 such signal advantages, proved to them a source of com- 
 plicated misfortunes. Its consequences were highly detri- 
 mental to their new sovereign, and fatal to their own 
 liberties and privileges ; for by it they were involved in 
 the most dreadful calamities, and deprived of the free 
 exercise of the Protestant religion, the security of which 
 was the ultimate end of all the measures they had pursued. 
 Frederic was defeated, before Prague, by the Imperial 
 army, in 1620, and by this unfortunate battle was not 
 only deprived of his new crown, but also of his hereditary 
 dominions. Reduced thus to the wretched condition of 
 an exile, he was obliged to leave his fruitful territories, 
 and his ample treasures, to the merciless discretion of the 
 Austrians and Bavarians, who plundered and ravaged 
 them with the most rapacious barbarity. The defeat of 
 this unfortunate prince was attended with dreadful con- 
 sequences to the Bohemians, and more especially to those 
 who, from a zeal for religious liberty and the interests of 
 the Reformation, had embarked in his cause. Some of 
 them were committed to a perpetual prison, others 
 banished for life; several had their estates and posses- 
 sions confiscated ; many were put to death ; and the whole 
 nation was obliged, from that fatal period, to embrace the 
 religion of the victor, and bend an unwilling neck under 
 the yoke of Rome. The triumph of the Austrians would 
 neither have been so sudden nor so complete, nor would 
 they have been in a condition to impose such rigourous 
 and despotic terms on the Bohemians, had they not been 
 powerfully assisted by John George L., elector of Saxony, 
 who, partly from a principle of hatred toward the Reform- 
 ed,? and partly from considerations of a political kind, 
 reinforced with his troops the imperial army.: ‘This 
 
 commends. See also the Histoire de Louis XIII., composed by the 
 learned and accurate Le Vassor, tom. iii. p. 223. 
 
 => 4 By the Reformed, as has been already observed, we are to under- 
 stand the Calvinists, and also, in general, those Protestants who are not of 
 the Lutheran persuasion. And here weseea Lutheran elector drawing his 
 sword to support the cause of popery and persecution against a people gene- 
 rously struggling for the Protestant religion, and the rights of conscience. 
 
 * See the Commentarii de Bello Bohemico-Germanico, ab A. C. 1617 
 ad An. 1630.—Abraham Scultet, Narratio Apologetica de Curricule 
 Vite sux, p. 86.—It is well known, that the Roman catholics, and more 
 especially Manda Becan, a Jesuit, persuaded Matthew Hoe, who was 
 an Austrian by birth, and the elector’s chaplain, to represent to ins price 
 the cause of the elector Palatine (which was the cause of the reformed 
 religion) as not only unjust, but also as detrimental to the interest of 
 
540 
 
 invasion of the Palatinate was the occasion of that long 
 and bloody war, that was so injurious to Germany, and 
 in which the greatest part of the princes of Kurope were, 
 in one way or another, unhappily engaged. It began by 
 a confederacy formed"between some German powers and 
 the king of Denmark, in order to assert the rights of the 
 elector Palatine, unjustly excluded from his dominions, 
 against the despotic proceedings of the emperor. ‘The 
 confederates maintained, that the invasion of Bohemia, 
 by this unhappy prince, was no just subject of offence to 
 the emperor; and that the house of Austria, whose quar- 
 rel the emperor was not obliged by any means to adopt, 
 was alone the sufferer in this case. However that may 
 have been, the progress and issue of the war were unfa- 
 vourable to the allies. 
 
 VY. The success of the imperial arms filled the votaries 
 of popery and Rome with the warmest transports of joy 
 and exultation, and presented to their imaginations the 
 most flattering prospects. "They thought that the happy 
 period was now approaching, when the whole tribe of 
 heretics, that had withdrawn their necks from the papal 
 yoke, should either perish by the sword, or be reduced 
 under the dominion of the church. ‘The emperor him- 
 self seemed to have imbibed no small portion of this 
 odious spirit, which was doubly prepared, to convert or 
 destroy. The flame of ambition that burned within him 
 was nourished by the suggestions of bigotry. Hence he 
 audaciously carried his arms through a great part of Ger- 
 many, suffered his generals to harass, with impunity, 
 such princes and states as refused a blind obedience to 
 the court of Rome, and showed plainly, by all his_pro- 
 ceedings, that a scheme had been laid for the extinction 
 of the Germanic liberty, civil and sacred. ‘The Saxon 
 elector’s zealous attachment to the emperor, which he had 
 abundantly discovered by his warm and ungenerous oppo- 
 sition to the unfortunate Frederic, togetker with the 
 lamentable discord that reigned among the German 
 princes, persuaded the papal faction, that the difficulties 
 which seemed to oppose the execution of their project, 
 were far from being invincible. Accordingly, the persons 
 concerned in this grand enterprise began to act their respec- 
 tive parts. In 1629, Ferdinand IL., to give some colour 
 of justice to this religious war, issued out the terrible 
 restitution-edict, by which the Protestants were ordered 
 to restore to the church of Rome all the possessions of 
 which they had become masters in consequence of the 
 religious peace, concluded in the preceding century. This 
 edict principally arose from the suggestions of the Jesuits. 
 That greedy and ambitious order claimed a great part 
 of these goods and possessions as a recompense due to 
 their labours in the cause of religion; and hence arose 
 
 Lutheranism, and to recommend to him the cause and interests of the 
 house of Austria. See Unschuldige Nachricht, An. 1747, p. 858. 
 => What Dr. Mosheim observes here may be true; but then it is as 
 true that Matthew Hoe must have been a great fool, or a great knave, 
 to listen to such insinuations, not only on account of their glarmg ab- 
 surdity, bat also considering the persons from whom they came. This 
 is the same Hoe that is mentioned above, as a learned defender of the 
 Lutheran faith. 
 
 «See, for an illustration of this matter, the authors mentioned by 
 Struvius, in his Syntagma Histor. Germanie, p. 1553. 
 
 b See Salig, His. August. Confessionis, t. 1. lib. iv. ¢. ili.§ xxv. p. 810. 
 
 74> ¢ When the consequences of these iniquitous and barbarous pro- 
 ceedings were represented to this emperor, and he was assured that the 
 country must be utterly ruined, if the Bohemians, rendered desperate by 
 his enormous cruelty and oppression, should exert themselves in defence 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 a warm contest between them and the ancient and rea, 
 proprietors.» "This contest, indeed, was decided by the 
 law of force. It was the depopulating soldier, who, sword 
 in hand, gave weight and authority to the imperial edict, 
 wresting out of the hands of the lawful possessor, without 
 form of process, whatever the Romish priests and monks 
 thought proper to claim, and treating the innocent and 
 plundered sufferers with all the severity that the most 
 barbarous spirit of oppression and injustice could sug- 
 gest.° 
 
 VI. Germany groaned under these dismal scenes of 
 tumult and oppression, and looked about for succour in 
 vain. ‘lhe enemy assailed her on all sides; and not 
 one of her princes seemed qualified to stand forth as the 
 avenger of her injuries, or the assertor of her rights. 
 Some were restrained from appearing in her cause by the 
 suggestions of bigotry, others by a principle of fear, and 
 others again by an ungenerous attention to their own pri- 
 vate interest, which choked in their breasts all concern for 
 the public good. An illustrious hero, whose deeds even 
 envy was obliged to revere, and whose name will descend 
 with glory to the latest ages, came forth, nevertheless, at 
 this critical season ; Gustavus Adolphus took the field, and 
 maintained the cause of the Germanic liberties against the 
 oppression and tyranny of the house of Austria. At the 
 earnest request of the French court, which beheld, with 
 uneasiness, the overgrown power of that aspiring house, 
 he set sail for Germany, in 1629, with a small army ; 
 and, by his repeated victories, blasted, in a short time, the 
 sanguine hopes which the pope and emperor had entertain- 
 ed of suppressing the Protestant religion in the empire. 
 ‘These hopes, indeed, seemed to revive in 1632, when this 
 glorious assertor of Germanic liberty fell in the battle of 
 Lutzen ;* but this very serious loss was, in some measure, 
 made up in process of time, by the conduct of those who 
 succeeded Gustavus at the head of the Swedish armyz 
 And, accordingly, the war was obstinately carried on in 
 bleeding Germany, during many years, with various suc- 
 cess, until the exhausted treasures of the contending par- 
 ties, and the pacific inclinations of Christina, the daughter 
 and successor of Gustavus, put an end to these desolations, 
 and brought on a treaty of peace. 
 
 Vil. Thus, after a war of thirty years, carried on 
 with the most unrelenting animosity and ardour, the 
 wounds of Germany were closed, and the drooping states 
 of Europe revived, in 1648, by the peace of Westphalia, 
 so called from the cities of Munster and Osnabrug, where 
 the negotiations were prosecuted and concluded. The 
 Protestants, indeed, did not derive from this treaty all the 
 privileges they claimed, or all the advantages they had 
 in view; for the emperor, among less important instances 
 
 of their liberties, and endeavour to repel force by force, he is reported 
 to have answered, with great zeal and calmness, Malumus regnum vas- 
 tatum, quam damnatum. See the Historia Persecutionum Ecclesiz 
 Bohemice, published in 1648. This little book contains an ample reci- 
 tal of the deplorable effects of lawless power, inhuman bigotry, and 
 blood-thirsty zeal, and proves, by numberless facts, that Dr. Mosheim 
 had the strongest evidence for the account he gives of Ferdinand and 
 his missionaries. It is impossible to reflect upon the sanguinary spirit 
 of such converters, without expressing, at the same time, a generous de- 
 testation and abhorrence of their unjust and violent proceedings. 
 
 4 See Archenholtz, Memoires de la Reine Christine, tom. i. in which 
 are many very interesting anecdotes relating to the life, exploits, and 
 death of Gustavus. The learned compiler of these Memozres has also 
 thrown much light upon this period, and particularly upon the peace 
 that terminated this long and dreadful war. 
 
 Si ld 
 
Parr I. 
 
 of obstinacy, absolutely refused to reinstate the Bohe- 
 mian and Austrian protestants in their religious privileges, 
 yr to restore the Upper Palatinate to its ancient and law- 
 ful proprietor. Yet they obtained, by this peace, privi- 
 leges and advantages which the votaries of Rome beheld 
 with great displeasure and uneasiness ; and it is unques- 
 tionably evident, that the treaty of Westphalia gave a 
 new and remarkable degree of stability to the Lutheran 
 and reformed churches in Germany. By this treaty the 
 peace of Augsburg, which the Lutherans had obtained 
 from Charles V. in the preceding century, was firmly 
 secured against all the machinations and stratagems of 
 the court of Rome; it abrogated the edict that commanded 
 the protestants to restore to the Romish church the eccle- 
 siastical revenues and lands of which they had taken 
 possession after that peace ; and it confirmed both the con- 
 tending parties in the perpetual possession’of whatever 
 they had occupied in the beginning of the year 1624. 
 It would be entering into a very long detail, were we to 
 enumerate the advantages that accrued to the protestant 
 princes from this treaty. All this was a source of vex- 
 ation to the court of Rome, and made its pontiff feel the 
 severest pangs of disappointed ambition. He, accord- 
 ingly, used various stratagems, without being very scru- 
 pulous in his choice, in order to annul this treaty, or elude 
 its effects ; but his attempts were unsuccessful, since nei- 
 ther the emperor, nor the princes that had embarked in 
 this cause, thought it advisable to involve themselves anew 
 in the tumults of war, whose issue is so uncertain, and 
 whose most fatal effects they had lately escaped with so 
 much difficulty. ‘The treaty, therefore, was executed in 
 all its parts; and all the articles that had been agreed 
 upon at Munster and Osnabrug were confirmed and rati- 
 fied, in 1650, at Nuremberg.? 
 
 VIII. After this period, the court of Rome and its 
 creatures were laid under a considerable degree of re- 
 straint. "They no longer dared to make war in an open 
 and public manner upon the protestants, since the pre- 
 sent state of affairs blasted all the hopes they had fondly 
 entertained of extinguishing the light of the reformation, 
 by destroying, or reducing under their spiritual yoke, the 
 princes and states that had encouraged and _ protected 
 it in their territories. But, wherever they could exert 
 the spirit of persecution with impunity, they oppressed the 
 protestants in the most grievous manner, and, in defiance 
 of the most solemn conventions and the most sacred 
 obligations, encroached upon their rights, privileges, and 
 possessions. ‘Thus, in Hungary, during the space of ten 
 years, both Lutherans and Calvinists were involved in an 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 54d 
 
 lations.’ The injuries and insults they suffered from vari- 
 ous orders of men, and more especially from the Jesuits, 
 both before and after the period now under consideration, are 
 not tobe numbered. In Poland, all those who ventured to 
 differ from the pope, found, by a bitter experience, during 
 the whole course of this century, that no treaty or con- 
 vention that tended to set bounds to the authority or rapa- 
 city of the church, was deemed sacred, or even regarded 
 at Rome; for many of these were ejected out of their 
 schools, deprived of their churches, robbed of their goods 
 and possessions under a variety of perfidious pretexts, and 
 frequently condemned to the most severe and cruel punish- 
 ments, without having been even chargeable with the 
 appearance of a crime.* ‘The remains of the Waldenses, 
 that lived in the valleys of Piedmont, were persecuted 
 often with the most inhuman cruelty, (and more espe- 
 cially in the years 1632, 1655, and 1685,) on account of 
 their magnanimous and steady attachment to the religion 
 of their ancestors; and this persecution was carried on 
 with all the horrors of fire and sword by the dukes of 
 Savoy.£ In Germany, the same spirit of bigotry and 
 persecution produced almost every where flagrant acts 
 of injustice. "The infractions of the famous treaty above 
 mentioned, and of the Germanic liberty that was founded 
 upon it, would furnish matter for many volumes ;: and 
 all these infractions were occasioned by a preposterous 
 and extravagant zeal for augmenting the authority, and 
 extending the jurisdiction of the church of Rome. And, 
 indeed, as long as that church and its assuming pontiff 
 shall persist in maintaining that they have a right to 
 extend their lordly sceptre over all the churches of the 
 Christian world, so long must those who have renounced 
 their authority, but are more or less within their reach, 
 despair of enjoying the inestimable blessings of security 
 and peace. ‘They will always be considered as rebellious 
 subjects, against whom the greatest acts of severity and 
 violence are lawful. 
 
 IX. The over-zealous instruments of the court of Rome 
 at length accomplished, in this century, (what had often 
 been attempted without success,) the deliverance of 
 Spain from the infidelity of the Moors, and of France 
 from the heresy of the protestants. The posterity of 
 the Moors or Saracens, who had formerly been masters 
 of the greatest part of Spain, and hitherto lived in that 
 kingdom, mixed with the other inhabitants of the coun- 
 try, and their number was still considerable. They 
 were Christians, at least in their external profession and 
 manners ; industrious also, and inoffensive ; and, upon 
 the whole, good and useful subjects: but they were 
 strongly suspected of a secret propensity to the doctrine 
 
 uninterrupted series of the most cruel calamities and vex- 
 
 * An account of this whole matter, sufficient to satisfy the curiosity of 
 the most inquisitive reader, may be found in that most elaborate and 
 excellent work, compiled by the very learned and judicious John God- 
 frey de Meyern, under the following title: Acta Pacis Westphalice et 
 Executionis ejus Norimbergensis. See also the more compendious, 
 though valuable work of Adam Adami, bishop of Hierapolis, entitled, 
 Relatio Historica de Pacificatione Osnabrugo-Monasteriensi, of which 
 the illustrious author published a new edition in 1737, more accurate and 
 ample than the preceding one. We must not omit here the ingenious 
 Father Bougeant’s elegant history of this treaty, which though chiefly 
 drawn from the papers of the French ambassadors, is nevertheless 
 (generally speaking) composed with accuracy, impartiality, and can- 
 dour; it was published in 1746, under the title of Histoire de la Paix de 
 Westpiialie. 
 
 » Pope Innocent X. opposed, to this treaty of peace, in 1651, a flaming 
 bull, on which Hornbeck published an ample and learned commentary, 
 entitled, Examen Bulli Papalis, qua Innocentius X. abrogare nititur 
 
 2 
 
 No. XLVI. 136 
 
 Pacem Germaniz. This dwi/ might, perhaps, have produced some effect 
 upon the emperor and his allies, had it been properly gilded. 
 
 ° From 1671 to 1681. 
 
 4 See Historia Diplomatica de Statu Religionis Evangelice in Hun- 
 garia, p. 69.—Pauli Debrezeni Historia Ecclesie Reformate in Hun- 
 Pha il. p. 447,—Schelhornius, in Museo Helvetico, tom. vii. page 
 
 ¢ See Ad. Regenvolscii Historia Ecclesie Sclavonice, lib. ii. cap. xv. 
 p. 216, 235, 253. The grievances which the dissenters from the church 
 of Rome suffered in Poland, after the death of Regenvolscius, may 
 be learned from various memorials that have been published in our 
 times. 
 
 = Gilles’ Histoire Ecclesiastique des Eglises Vaudoises, ch. xlviii. 
 
 » 339. 
 ' * The histories of the grievances suffered by the protestants of Ger- 
 many on account of their religion, that have been composed by Struvius 
 and Hoffman, contain ample details of this matter. 
 
542 HISTORY OF THE 
 of Mohammed, which was the religion of their ancestors. 
 Hence the clergy beset the monarch with their impor- 
 tunate solicitations, and never ceased their clamorous 
 remonstrances before a royal edict was obtained to drive 
 the Saracens out of the Spanish territories. "Uhis impru- 
 dent step was highly detrimental to the kingdom, and its 
 pernicious effects are more or less visible even at the 
 present time; but the church, whose interest and domi- 
 nion are, in popish countries, considered as distinct from 
 the interests and authority of the state, and of a much 
 more sublime and excellent nature, acquired new acces- 
 sions of wealth and power by the expulsion of the Moors.* 
 In proportion as the community lost, the church gained ; 
 and thus the public good was sacrificed to the demands 
 of bigotry and superstition. 
 
 In France, the persecuting spirit of the Romish church 
 exhibited scenes still more shocking. 'The Huguenots, 
 after having long groaned under various forms of cruelty 
 and oppression, and seen multitudes of their brethren put 
 to death, by secret conspiracies or open tyranny and vio- 
 lence, were, at length, obliged either to save themselves 
 by a clandestine flight, or to profess, against their con- 
 sciences, the Romish religion. ‘Ehis barbarous and ini- 
 quitous scene of French persecution, than which the 
 annals of modern history present nothing more unnatu- 
 ral and odious, will find its place below, in the history of 
 the Reformed Church.» 
 
 X. All the resources of inventive genius and refined 
 policy, all the efforts of insinuating craft and audacious 
 rebellion, were employed to bring back Great Britain and 
 Ireland under the yoke of Rome. But all these attempts 
 
 were without effect. About the beginning of this cen- 
 tury, a set of desperate and execrable wretches, in whose 
 breasts the suggestions of bigotry and the hatred of the 
 protestant religion had suppressed all the feelings of jus- 
 tice and humanity, were instigated by three Jesuits, of 
 whom Garnet, the superior of the society in England, 
 was the chief, to form the most horrid plot that is known 
 in the annals of history. "he design of this conspiracy 
 was nothing less than to destroy, at one blow, James L, 
 the prince of Wales, and both houses of parliament, by 
 the explosion of an immense quantity of gunpowder, 
 which was concealed for that purpose, in the vaults situ- 
 ated under the house of lords. ‘The sanguinary bigots 
 concerned in it imagined, that, as soon as this horrible 
 deed was performed, they would be at full liberty to re- 
 store popery to its former credit, and substitute it in the 
 
 * See the history of this impolitic expulsion by Michael Geddes, in 
 his Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. i. 
 
 > In the second chapter of the second part of this section. 
 
 a> ° There is a letter extant written by Sir Everard Digby, one of 
 the conspirators, to his wife, after his condemnation, which deserves an 
 eminent place in the history of superstition and bigotry, and shows 
 abundantly their infernal spirit and tendency. The following passage 
 will confirm this judgment: “ Now for my intention,” says Digby, “ let 
 me tell you, thatif [had thought there had been the least sin in the plot, 
 [ would not have been of it for all the world; and no other cause drew 
 me to hazard my fortune and life, but zeal to God’s religion.” See the 
 Papers relating to the popish plot, published by the orders of secretary 
 Coventry. 
 
 4 See Rapin’s Hist. d’Angleterre, t. vii. livre xvill. and Heidegger’s 
 Historia Papatus. 
 
 * Mr. Hume, speaking of Laud’s learning and morals, expresses 
 himself in the following manner: “ This man was virtuous, if severity 
 of manners alone, and abstinence from pleasure, could. deserve that 
 name. He was learned, if polemical knowledge could entitle him to 
 that praise.” 
 
 f Ses Cerri’s Etat Present de l’Eglise Romaine, p. 315.—Neal’s His- 
 tory of the Puritans, vol. ili. p. 194. 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. Sect. Il 
 place of the protestant religion.© This odious conspiracy, 
 whose infernal purpose was providentially discovered, 
 when it was ripe for execution, is commonly known in 
 Britain under the denomination of the gw7-powder plot.4 
 
 ‘This discovery did not suspend the efforts and strata- 
 gems of the court of Rome, which carried on its schemes 
 in the succeeding reign, but with less violence, and more 
 caution. Charles I. was a prince of a soft and gentle 
 temper, and was entirely directed by the counsels of 
 Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, a man who was neither 
 
 . ’ . , eu: . 
 destitute of learning nor of good qualities,* though he carri- 
 ed things to excessive and intolerable lengths through his 
 warm and violent attachment to the ancient forms and 
 ceremonies of the church. ‘The queen also, Henrietta 
 Maria, who was a princess of France, was warmly devo- 
 ted to the interests of popery ; and from all this it seemed 
 probable, that, though treason and violence had failed, 
 yet artifice and mild measures might succeed, and that a 
 reconciliation might be brought about between England 
 and Rome.! This prospect, which had smiled in the im- 
 aginations of the friends of popery, vanished entirely when 
 the civil war broke out between the king and parliament. 
 In consequence of these commotions, both the unfortu- 
 nate Charles, and his imprudent and bigoted counsellor 
 Laud, were brought to the scaffold; and Oliver Crom- 
 well, a man of unparalleled resolution, dexterity, and fore- 
 sight, and a declared enemy to every thing that bore even 
 the most distant resemblance to popery, was placed at the 
 helm of government, under the title of Protector of the 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 The hopes of Rome and its votaries were nevertheless 
 revived by the restoration of Charles IL., and from that 
 period grew more lively and sanguine from day to day. 
 For that monarch, as appears from unquestionable au- 
 thorities,s had been initiated, during his exile, into the 
 mysteries of popery, and had secretly embraced that reli- 
 gion, while his only brother, the presumptive heir to the 
 crown, professed it openly, and had publicly apostatized 
 from the protestant faith. Charles, indeed, was not 
 a proper instrument for the propagation of any theologi- 
 cal system. Indolent and voluptuous on one hand, and 
 inclined to infidelity and irreligion on the other, it was 
 not from him that the Roman pontiff could expect the 
 zeal and industry which were necessary to force upon 
 the English nation, a religion so contrary as popery was 
 to the tenor of the laws and the spirit of the people." 
 This zeal was found in his bigoted successor James IL. ; 
 
 ¢ Burnet’s History of his Own Time vol. i. book iii—Neal, vol. iv. 
 —Rapin, livre. xxiil. 
 
 34> b Such is the representation given of Charles II. by almost every 
 historian; so that Dr. Mosheim is excusable in mistaking a part of this 
 monarch’s character, which was known to very few before him. Mr. 
 Hume, whose history of the reign of that prince 1s amaster-piece in every 
 respect, gave a like account of Charles, as fluctuating between deism 
 and popery. But this eminent historian having had occasion, during his 
 residence at Paris, to peruse the manuscript memoirs of king James IL. 
 which were written by himself, and are kept in the Scottish college 
 there, received from them new information with respect to the religious 
 character of Charles, and was convinced that his zeal for popery went 
 much farther than has been generally imagined. For it appears, with 
 the utmost evidence, from these memoirs, that the king had laid with 
 his ministry a formal plan for subverting the constitution in favour of 
 popery; and that the introduction of popery, as the established religion, 
 was the great and principal object which Charles had in view when he 
 entered into the French alliance, which was concluded at Versailles in 
 June 1670, by lord Arundel of Wardour. By this treaty, Louis was to 
 give Charles 200,000 pounds a-year, in quarterly payments, in order to 
 
 enable him to establish the Roman catholic religion in England; and he 
 also engaged to supply him with 6000 men in case of any insurrectio., 
 
Parr I. 
 
 but it was accompanied with such excessive vehemence 
 and imprudence as entirely defeated its own purposes ; 
 for that inconsiderate monarch, by his passionate attach- 
 ment to the court of Rome, and his blind obsequiousness 
 to the unseasonable and precipitate counsels of the Jesuits, 
 who were the oracles of his cabinet, gave a mortal blow 
 to that religion which he meant to promote, and lost that 
 royalty which he was attempting to fix on the basis of 
 despotism. He openly attempted to restore to its former 
 vigour, both in England and Ireland, the authority of the 
 pontiff, which had been renounced and annulled by the 
 laws of both realms ; and that he might accomplish with 
 the more facility this most imprudent purpose, he tram- 
 pled upon those rights and privileges of his people, that 
 had ever been deemed most respectable and sacred, and 
 which he had bound himself, by the most solemn en- 
 gagements, to support and maintain. Justly exaspera- 
 ted and provoked by repeated insults from the throne 
 upon their religion and liberties, and alarmed with na- 
 tural apprehensions of the approaching ruin of both, the 
 English looked about for a delivérer, and fixed their 
 views, in 1688, on William prince of Orange, (son-in-law 
 to their despotic monarch,) by whose wisdom and valour, 
 affairs were so conducted that James was obliged to re- 
 tire from his dominions, and to abdicate the crown; and 
 the pope and his adherents were disappointed in the fond 
 expectations they had formed of restoring. popery in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 XT. When the more prudent defenders and patrons of 
 the Romish faith perceived the ill success that attended 
 all their violent and sanguinary attempts to establish its 
 authority, they thought it expedient to have recourse to 
 softer methods; and, instead of conquering the protest- 
 ants by open force, proposed deluding them back into the 
 church of Rome by the insinuating influence of secret ar- 
 tifice. This way of proceeding was approved by many 
 of the votaries of Rome; but they did not all agree about 
 the particular manner of employing it, and therefore fol- 
 lowed different methods. Some had recourse to the ap- 
 pointment of public disputations or conferences between 
 the principal doctors of the contending parties; and this 
 from a notion, which past experience had rendered so vain 
 and chimerical, that the adversaries of popery would ei- 
 ther be vanquished in the debate, or at least be persuaded 
 to look upon the Roman catholics with less aversion and 
 disgust. Others declared it as their opinion, that all con- 
 test was to be suspended ; that the great point was to find 
 out the proper method of reconciling the two churches ; 
 and that, in order to promote this salutary purpose, as 
 little stress as possible was to be laid upon those mat- 
 ters of controversy which had been hitherto looked upon 
 as of the highest moment and importance. A different 
 manner of proceeding was thought more adviseable by a 
 third set of men, who, from a persuasion that their doc- 
 
 ae 
 
 "9 
 
 The division of the United Provinces between England and France was 
 another article of this treaty. But we are told that the subversion of 
 the protestant religion in England was the point that Charles had chiefly 
 at heart, and that he insisted warmly on beginning with the execution 
 of this partof the treaty ; but the duchess of Orleans, in the interview at 
 Dover, persuaded him to begin with the Dutch war. The king (says 
 Mr. Hume) was so zealous a papist, that he wept for joy when he en- 
 tertained the project of re-uniting his kingdom to the eatholie church. 
 See the Corrections and Additions to Mr. Hume’s History of Charles 
 If., and also Macpherson’s Appendix to his History of Great Bri- 
 tain, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 543 
 
 tors had more zeal than argument, and were much more 
 eminent for their attachment to the church of Rome, than 
 for their skill in defending its cause, prepared their com- 
 batants with greater care for the field of controversy, 
 taught them a new art of theological war, and furnished 
 them with a new and artful method of vanquishing, or at 
 least of perplexing, their heretical adversaries. 
 
 XII. A public conference took place at Ratisbon, in 
 1601, at the joint desire of Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, 
 and Philip Louis, elector Palatine, between some eminent 
 Lutheran doctors on one side, and three celebrated Je- 
 suits on the other. The dispute turned upon the two 
 great points, to which almost all the contests between the 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics are reducible, namely, 
 the rule of faith and the judge of controversies. In 1615, 
 James Heilbronner, a learned Lutheran, held a conference 
 at Neuburg with James Keller, a celebrated Jesuit, by the 
 appointment of Wolfgang William, prince Palatine, who 
 had recently embraced the Romish faith. But the most 
 famous conference of this kind, was that which was holden 
 in 1645, at Thorn, by the express order of Uladislaus IV. 
 king of Poland, between several eminent doctors of the 
 Romish, Lutheran, and Reformed churches. This meet- 
 ing, which was designed to heal the division that reigned 
 among these churches, and to find out some method of 
 reconciling their differences, and bringing about their re- 
 union, was thence called the Charitable Conference. 
 
 Some time after this, Ernest, landgrave of Hesse, in 
 order to give a plausible colour to his apostasy from the 
 Protestant religion, and make it appear to be the result 
 of examination and conviction, obliged Valerianus Mag- 
 nus, a learned Capuchin, to enter the lists with Peter Ha- 
 bercorn, a reformed minister, in the castle of Rheinfeld. 
 Beside these public conferences, there were some of a pri- 
 vate nature during this century, between the doctors of 
 the contending churches. Of these the most remarkable 
 was the famous dispute between John Claude, the most 
 learned of the reformed divines in France, and Jaques 
 Benigne de Bossuet, whose genius and erudition placed 
 him at the head of the Romish doctors in that country. 
 This dispute, which occurred in 1683, ended like all the 
 rest. They all widened the breach instead of healing it. 
 Neither of the contending parties could be persuaded to 
 yield :* on the contrary, they both returned from the field 
 of controversy more riveted in their own opinions, and 
 more unfriendly to the tenets of their adversaries. 
 
 XIIL. 'Those Roman catholics, whose views were turned 
 toward union and concord, did not omit the use of pions 
 artifice, in order to accomplish this salutary purpose. 
 They endeavoured to persuade the zealous protestants 
 and the rigid catholics, that their differences in opinion 
 were less considerable, and less important, than they them- 
 selves imagined ; and that the true way to put an end to 
 their dissensions, and to promote union, was not to nourish 
 
 * The circumstances of this famous and ever-memorable revolution 
 are accurately recorded by Burnet, in the second volume of his History 
 of his. own Times; and also by Rapin, in the tenth volume of his 
 History of England. Add to these, Neal’s History of the Puritans, 
 vol. iv. ch. xi. p. 536. 
 
 » The reader who desires a more particular account of what passed 
 in these conferences, may satisfy his curiosity by consulting the writers 
 mentioned by Sagittarius, in his Introduct. in Historiam Ecelesiast. tom. 
 ii. p. 1569, 1581, 1592, 1598. An account of the conference between 
 
 | Claude and Bossuet, was composed and published by each of these 
 | famous combatants, 
 
544 
 
 the flames of discord by disputes and conferences, but to 
 see whether their systems might not be reconciled, and 
 apparent inconsistencies removed, by proper and candid 
 explications. "Uhey imagined that a plausible and artful 
 exposition of those doctrines of the church of Rome, which 
 appeared the most shocking to the Protestants, would tend 
 much to conquer their aversion to popery. Such was the 
 general principle in which the Romish peace-makers 
 agreed, and such the basis on which they proposed to 
 carry on their pacific operations ; but they differed so widely 
 in their manner of applying this general principle, and 
 pursued such different methods in the execution of this 
 nice and hazardous stratagem, that the event did not 
 answer their expectations. In the way they proceeded, 
 instead of promoting the desired union by their represen 
 tations of things, by their exhortations and counsels, this 
 union seemed to be previously necessary, in order to ren- 
 der their explications and exhortations acceptable, or even 
 supportable ; so little were the means proportioned to the 
 end ! 
 
 The first, as well as the most eminent, of those who 
 tried the force of their genius in this arduous enterprise, 
 was cardinal Richelieu, that great minister, who employed 
 all the influence of promises and threats, all the powers of 
 sophistry and eloquence, all the arts of persuasion, in order 
 to bring back the French protestants into the bosom of 
 the Romish church.» The example of this illustrious 
 prelate was followed, with less dignity and less influence, 
 by Masenius, a German Jesuit,’ Volusius, a theologian of 
 
 Mentz,* Pretorius, a Prussian,? Gibbon de Burg, an Irish | 
 
 doctor, who was professor at Erfort,s Marcellus, a Jesuit,‘ 
 and other divines of inferior note. But, of all modern 
 adepts in controversy, none pursued this method with such 
 dexterity and art as Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, a man of 
 true genius, directed by the most consummate circum- 
 spection and prudence. ‘The famous Exposition of the 
 Roman Catholic Faith, that was drawn up by this subtle 
 and insinuating author, was designed to show the pro- 
 testants, that their reasons against returning to the bosom 
 of the Romish church would be easily removed, if they 
 would view the doctrines of that church in their true light, 
 and not as they had been erroneously represented by pro- 
 
 * Rich. Simon, Lettres Choisies, tom. i—Bayle’s Dictionary, at the 
 articles Amyraut, Beaulieu, Ferry, and Milletiere. 
 
 b See F. Spanhemii Stricture ad Bossueti Expositionem Fidei Catho- 
 lice, tom. iil. op. ‘Theolog. pars iL. p. 1042. 
 
 ¢ There is extant a book composed by this writer under the following 
 title: Aurora Pacis religiose divine Veritate amica. 
 
 4d Ja his Tuba Pacis, of which the reader may see a curious ac- 
 count ini Bayle’s Nouvelles dela Republique des Lettres for the year 1685. 
 
 ° In a treatise, entitled, Luthero Calvinismus schismaticus quidem 
 sed reconciliabilis. 
 
 f The book of Marcellus, entitled Sapientia Pacifica, was refuted by 
 Seldius, at the express desire of the duke of Saxe-Gotha. 
 
 £ This book might furnish topics for a multitude of reflexions. See a 
 particular account of its history and its effects in Pfaff’s Historia Lite- 
 raria Theologie, tom. il., and Le Clerc’s Bibliotheque Universelle et 
 Historique, tom. xi. 3 It is remarkable, that nine years passed be- 
 fore this work could obtain the pope’s approbation. Clement X. refu- 
 sed it positively ; and several catholic priests were rigorously treated, 
 and severely persecuted, for preaching the doctrine contained in the 
 Exposition, which was, moreover, formally condemned by the univer- 
 sity of Louvain, in 1685, and declared to be scandalous and pernicious. 
 The Sorbonne also disavowed the doctrine contained in that book, 
 though by a late edict we learn, that the fathers of that theological semi- 
 nary have changed their opinion on that head, and thus given a new 
 instance of the variations that reign in the Romish church, which boasts 
 so much of its uniformity in doctrinal matters. The artifice that was 
 employed in the composition of this book, and the tricks that were used 
 in the suppression and alteration of the first edition that was given of it, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 OO 
 
 | cilably opposite.” 
 _these pacific attempts to re-unite the two churches, were 
 
 Sect. II, 
 
 testant writers. This notion was propagated, though 
 with less dexterity and success, by Dezius, a Jesuit of 
 Strasbourg, who wrote a book expressly to prove, that 
 there was little if any difference between the doctrine of 
 the council of Trent, and that of the confession of Augs- 
 burg, than which no two systems can be more irrecon~ 
 It is, however, remarkable, that all 
 
 made by the persons now mentioned on their own private 
 authority ; they were not avowed by the higher powers, 
 who alone were qualified to remove, modify, or explain 
 away those doctrines and rites of the Romish church, that 
 shocked the protestants and justified their separation. It 
 is true, that, in 1686, this plan of reconciliation was 
 warmly recommended by a person properly commissioned, 
 or, at least, who gave himself out for such. This pacifi- 
 cator was Christopher de Roxas, bishop of 'Tinia, in the 
 district of Bosnia ; who, during several years, frequented, 
 with these reconciling views, the courts of the protestant 
 princes in Germany ; intimated the assembling of a new 
 council, that was to be more impartial in its decisions and 
 less restrained in its proceedings than the council of Trent; 
 and even assured the protestants, that they might obtain 
 without difficulty whatever rights, privileges, and immu- 
 nities, they should think proper to demand from the Roman 
 pontiff, provided they would acknowledge his paternal au- 
 thority, and no longer refuse submission to his mild and 
 gentle empire. But the artifice and designs of this spe- 
 cious missionary were easily detected; the protestant 
 doctors, and also their sovereigns, soon perceived that a 
 fair and candid plan of reconciliation and union was not 
 what the court of Rome had in view ; but that a scheme 
 Was in agitation for restoring its pontiffs to their forme: 
 despotic dominion over the Christian world. : 
 XIV. The Romish peace-makers found among the 
 protestants, and more especially among those of the 
 reformed church, certain doctors, who, by a natural pro- 
 pensity to union and concord, seconded perhaps, in some, 
 by views of interest, or by the suggestions of ambition, 
 were disposed to enter into their plan, and co assist them 
 in the execution of it. These theologians maitained, 
 that the points in debate between the churches were not 
 
 have been detected with great sagacity and evidence ky the learned and 
 excellent archbishop Wake, in the Introduction to his Exposition of the 
 Doctrine of the Church of England. See ulso his two Defences of that 
 Exposition, in which the perfidious sophistry of Bossuet is unmasked 
 and refuted in the most satisfactory w.anner. 
 answer to Bossuet’s book publish.d by M. de la Bastide, one of the 
 most eminent protestant ministers in France. Of this answer the 
 French prelate took no notice dura, eight years; at the end of which, 
 he published an advertisement im a new edition of his Exposition, 
 which was designed to removi the objections of Bastide. The latter 
 replied in such a demonstrative and victorious manner, that the learned 
 bishop, notwithstanding all his eloquence and art, was obliged to quit 
 the field of controversy. See a very interesting account of this insidi- 
 ous work of Bossuet, and the controversies it occasioned, in the Biblio- 
 theque des Sciences published at the Hague, vol. xviii. This account, 
 which is curious, accurate, ample, and learned, was given partly on 
 occasion of a new edition of the Exposition, printed in 1761, and ac- 
 companied with a Latin translation by Fleury, and partly on occasion 
 of Burigny’s Life of Bossuet. 
 
 h This book is entitled, La Re-union des Protestans de Strasbourg a 
 ’Eglise Romaine, and was published in 1689.—See Phil. Jac. Speneri 
 Consilia Theol. German. in parte iii. p. 650, 662. 
 
 iSee Jo. Wolf. Jaegeri Historia Ecclesiast. Seculi X VI.—Christ. 
 Eberhardi Weismanni. Hist. Ecclesiast. Sec. XVII. p. 735. The 
 reader will find, in the Commercium Epistolico-Leibnitianum of Gru- 
 berus, vol. i. an account of the particular conditions of reconciliation 
 that were proposed to the German courts in 1660, by the elector ot 
 Mentz, authorized, as it is alleged, by the Roman pontiff. 
 
 There was an excellent . 
 
 ee 
 
Parr I. 
 
 of sufficient importance to justify their separation. Among 
 the French protestants, Louis Le Blanch and his disciples 
 were suspected of a strong inclination to go too far in this 
 -matter.* ‘he same accusation was brought, with fuller evi- 
 dence, against Huisseaux, professor of divinity at Saumur, 
 Milletiere, Le Fevre, and others of less note.» Among 
 the British divines, this excessive propensity to diminish 
 the shocking absurdities of popery was less remarkable ; 
 William Forbes was the principal person who discovered 
 an extreme facility to compose a considerable number of 
 the differences that contributed to perpetuate the separation 
 between the churches. With respect to the Dutch, it 
 is abundantly known, how ardently the great and learned 
 Grotius desired the re-union of all Christian churches in 
 one general bond of charity and concord, and with what 
 peculiar zeal he endeavoured to reform some enormities 
 of the church of Rome, and to excuse others. But these, 
 and all the other arbitrators, whose names and whose 
 efforts in this pacific cause it would be tedious to mention, 
 derived no other fruit from their (perhaps, well-intended) 
 labours, than the displeasure of both the contending par- 
 ties, and the bitter reproaches of their respective churches. 
 In the number of the protestant doctors who betrayed 
 an inconsiderate zeal for the re-union of these churches, 
 many writers place George Calixtus, a man of eminent 
 learning, and professor of divinity in the university of 
 Helmstadt. It is nevertheless certain, that this great man 
 discovered and exposed the errors and corruptions of 
 popery with a degree of learning and perspicuity scarcely 
 surpassed by any writer in this century, and persisted in 
 maintaining that the decrees and anathemas of the coun- 
 
 eil of Trent had banished all hopes of a reconciliation | 
 between the potestant churches and the see of Rome. | 
 
 He looked, indeed, upon some of the controversies that 
 divided the two communions with much greater indul- 
 gence than was usually shown, and decided them ina 
 manner that did not seem suited to the taste and spirit 
 of the times; he was also of opinion that the church of 
 Rome had not destroyed the genuine principles of Chris- 
 tianity, but had only deformed them with its senseless 
 fictions, and buried them under a heap of rubbish, under 
 a motley multitude of the most extravagant and intole- 
 rable doctrines and ceremonies. It was undoubtedly on 
 this account, that he has been ranked by some in the 
 class of the imprudent peace makers already mentioned. 
 
 XV. It was no difficult matter to defeat the purposes, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 545 
 and ruin the credit of these pacific arbitrators, who, upon 
 the whole, made up but a motley and ill composed so- 
 ciety, weakened by intestine discords. It required more 
 dexterity and greater efforts of genius, to oppose the pro- 
 gress, and disconcert the sophistry of a set of men who 
 had invented new methods of defending popery, and 
 attacking its adversaries. ‘This new species of polemic 
 doctors were called Methodists, and the most eminent of 
 them arose in France, where a perpetual scene of contro- 
 versy, carried on with the most learned among the Hugue- 
 nots, had augmented the dexterity, and improved the theo- 
 logical talents of the catholic disputants. ‘The Metho- 
 dists, from their different manner of treating the contro- 
 versy in question, may be divided into two classes. In 
 one we may place those doctors whose method of disput- 
 ing was disingenuous and unreasonable, and who followed 
 the examples of those military chiefs, who shut up their 
 troops in entrenchments and strong-holds, in order to 
 cover them from the attacks of the enemy. Such was 
 the manner of proceeding of the Jesuit Veron, who was 
 of opinion that the protestants should be obliged to prove 
 the tenets of their church ¢ by plain passages of Scripture, 
 without being allowed to have the liberty of illustrating 
 these passages, reasoning upon them, or drawing any con. 
 clusions from them.* In the same class may be ranked 
 Nihusius, an apostate from the protestant religion,’ the 
 two Walenburgs, and other polemics, who, looking upon 
 it as an easier matter to maintain their pretensions, than 
 to show upon what principles they were originally found- 
 ed,¢ obliged their adversaries to prove all their assertions 
 and objections, whether of an’ affirmative or negative 
 kind, and confined themselves to the mere business of 
 answering objections, and repelling attacks. We may 
 also place among this kind of Methodists cardinal Riche- 
 lieu, who judged it the shortest and best way to attend 
 little to the multitude of accusations, objections, and 
 reproaches, with which the protestants loaded the various 
 branches of the Romish government, discipline, doctrine, 
 and worship, and to confine the whole controversy to the 
 single article of the divine institution and authority of 
 the church, which he thought it essential to establish by 
 the strongest arguments, as the grand principle that would 
 render popery impregnable.* 
 
 The Methodists of the second class were of opinion, 
 that the most expedient manner of reducing the protes- 
 
 tants to silence, was not to attack them partially, but to 
 
 * See a particular and interesting account of Le Blanc, in Bayle’s 
 Dictionary, at the article Beaulieu. 
 
 b See the above-mentioned Dictionary, at the article Miletiere. For 
 an account of Huisseaux, ard his pacific counsels, see Rich. Simon’s 
 Lettres Choisies, tom. iii., and Aymon’s Synodes Nationaux des Egli- 
 ses Reformées en France, tom. ii. The labours of Le-Fevre, father to 
 the famous Madame Dacier, in the same cause, are mentioned by Mor- 
 hoff, in his Polyhistor, tom. i. 
 
 * See Forbes’ ‘‘ Considerationes modestz et pacificee Controversiarum 
 de Justificatione, Purgatorio,” &c., which were published at London in 
 1658, and afterwards more correctly in Germany, under the inspection 
 of John Fabricius, professor of divinity at Helmstadt. Forbes 1s men- 
 tioned by Grabe with the highest encomiums, in his Note ad Bulli Har- 
 moniam Apostolicam; and, if we consider his probity, and the exem- 
 plary regularity of his life and conversation, he must be allowed to 
 deserve the praise that is due to piety and good morals. - Nevertheless, 
 he had his infirmities, and the wiser part of the English doctors ac- 
 knowledge, that his propensity toward a reconciliation with the church 
 of Rome was carried too far. See Burnet’s History of his own Time, 
 vol. i. On this account he has been lavishly praised by the catholic 
 wffiers; see R. Simon’s Lettres Choisies, tom. ili. lettre xvii—He was 
 undoubtedly one of those who contributed most to spread among the 
 English a notion, (the truth or falsehood of which we shall not here 
 
 No. XLVI. 137 
 
 examine,) that king Charles I. and archbishop Laud had formed the 
 design of restoring popery in England. 
 
 23> 4 More especially the doctrines that peculiarly oppose the de- 
 crees and tenets of the council of Trent. 
 
 * Muszus de Usu Principiorum Rationis it Controversiis Theologi- 
 cis, lib. i. c. iv.—G. Calixti Digressio de Arte nova, p. 125. Simon’s 
 Lettres Choisies, tom. i. 
 
 f See a particular account of this vain and superficial doctor in 
 Bayle’s Dictionary. His work, entitled Ars nova dicto Sacrie Scrip- 
 turze unico lucrandi a Pontificiis plurimas in partes Lutheranorum de- 
 tecta, &c., was refuted in the most satisfactory manner by Calixtus, in 
 his Digressio de Arte Nova contra Nihusium, a curious and learned 
 work, published at Helmstadt in 1634. 
 
 z“p ® That is to say, in other words, that they pleaded prescriplion 
 in favour of popery, and acted like one who, having been for a long 
 time in possession of an estate, refuses to produce his title, and requires 
 that those who question it should prove its insufficiency or falsehood. 
 
 h For a more ample account of these methods of controversy, and of 
 others used by the church of Rome, the curious reader may consult 
 
 | Fred. Spanheim’s Strictur. ad Expositionem Fidei Bossueti, tom. ili. op. 
 
 | par. ii. p. 1037.—Heidegger’s Histor. Papatus, Period. vii. sect. ecxviti, 
 p. 316.—Walchii Introduct. ad Controvers. 'Theolog. tom. 11,—Weis- 
 manni Histor, Ecclesiastica, sec. xvii.p. 726. 
 
546 
 
 overwhelm them at once, by the weight of some general 
 principle or presumption, some universal argument, which 
 comprehended, or might be applied to, all the points con- 
 tested between the churches. ‘They imitated the con- 
 
 duct of those military leaders, who, instead of spending | 
 
 their time and strength in sieges and skirmishes, endea- 
 
 vour to put an end to a war by a general and decisive ac- 
 tion. ‘This method, if not invented,* was at least im- 
 proved and seconded, with all the aids of eloquence and 
 genius, by Nicole, a celebrated doctor among the Jansen- 
 ists ;> and it was followed by many of the disputants of 
 the church of Rome, who were so fully persuaded of its 
 irresistible influence, that they looked upon any one of 
 the general points already mentioned as sufficient, when 
 properly handled, to overturn the whole protestant cause. 
 Hence it was, that some of these polemics rested the de- 
 fence of popery upon the single principle of prescription ; 
 others upon the vicious lives of several of those princes 
 who had withdrawn their dominions from the yoke of 
 Rome; and some upon the criminal nature of religious 
 schism, with which they reproached the promoters of the 
 Xeformation; and they were all convinced, that, by urg- 
 ing their respective arguments, and making good their 
 respective charges, the mouths of their adversaries must 
 be stopped, and the cause of Rome and its pontiff 
 triumph.: 'The famous Bossuet stood foremost in this 
 class, which he peculiarly adorned, by the superiority of 
 his genius and the insinuating charms of his eloquence. 
 His arguments, indeed, were more specious than solid, 
 and the circumstances from which they were drawn were 
 imprudently chosen. From the variety of opinions ‘which 
 had taken place among the protestant doctors, and the 
 changes which had happened in their discipline and doc- 
 trine, he endeavoured to demonstrate, that the church 
 
 34> * This method certainly was not the invention of Nicole, for it 
 seems to differ little, if at all, from the method of cardinal Richelieu. 
 We may observe farther, that Richelieu seems rather to belong to the 
 second class of Methodists than to the first, where Dr. Mosheim has 
 placed him. 
 
 b Nicole is supposed to be the author of a book entitled, “ Prejugez 
 1ezitimes contre les Calvinistes,” which was answered in a satisfactory 
 manner by several learned men. 
 of the principal arguments employed in this book against the protes- 
 tants, are precisely the same that the deists make use of to show that it 
 is impossible for the general body of Christians to believe upon a ra- 
 tional foundation. ‘The learned Claude, in his Defence of the Reforma- 
 tion, showed in a demonstrative manner, that the difficulties arising 
 from the incapacity of the multitude to examine the grounds and princi- 
 ples of the protestant religion, are much less than those which occur to 
 a papist, whose faith is founded, not on the plain word of God alone, 
 but on the dictates of tradition, on the decrees of councils, and a variety 
 of antiquated records that are beyond his reach. ‘The protestant divine 
 goes sull farther, and proves that there are arguments in favour of Chris- 
 Uanity and the protestant faith, that are intelligible by the lowest capa- 
 city, and, at the same time, sufficient to satisfy an upright and unpre- 
 judiced mind. 
 
 ¢ Fred. Spanhemii Diss. de Prescriptione, in Rebus Fidei, adversus 
 novos Methodistas, tom. ill. par. 11. op. p. L079. 
 
 4 This is the purpose of Bossuet’s Historie des Variations des Egli- 
 ses Protestantes, which was published in 1688, and is still considered 
 by the catholics as one of the strongest bulwarks of popery. Let them 
 go on in their delusions, and boast of this famous champion and defender ; 
 but, if they have any true zeal for the cause he defends, or any regard 
 for the authority of the supreme head of their church, they will bury in 
 oblivion that maxim of this ¢hezr champion, that “the church, which 
 frequently modifies, varies, and changes its doctrines, is destitute of the 
 direction of the Holy Spirit.” 24 This observation might be verified 
 by numberless instances of variations in the doctrine and worship of 
 Rome, that must strike every one who has any tolerable acquaintance 
 with the history of that church.—But, without going any farther than 
 one instance, we may observe, that Bossuet had a striking proof of the 
 variations of his own church, in the different reception that his Exposi- 
 tion of the Roman Catholic Faith met with from different 7 2rsons, and 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 2 It is very remarkable, that some | 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 founded by Luther was not the true church ; and, on the 
 other hand, from the perpetual sameness and unifor- 
 mity that prevailed in the tenets and worship of the church 
 of Rome, he pretended to prove its‘ divine original.4 
 Such an argument must indeed surprise, coming from a 
 man of learning, who could not be ignorant of the tem- 
 porising spirit of the Roman pontifls, or of the changes 
 they had permitted in their discipline and doctrine, ac- 
 cording to the genius of time and place, and the different 
 characters of those whom they were desirous to gain 
 over to their interest. It was still more surprising in a 
 French prelate, since the doctors of that nation generally 
 maintain, that the leaden age does not differ more from 
 the age of gold, than the modern church of Rome differs 
 from the ancient and primitive church of that famous city. 
 
 XVI. These various attempts of the votaries of Rome, 
 though they gave abundant exercise to the activity and 
 vigilance of the protestant doctors, were not, however, at- 
 tended with any important revolutions, or any consider- 
 able fruits. Some princes, indeed, and a few learned 
 men, were thereby seduced into the communion of that 
 church, from whose superstition and tyranny their ances- 
 tors had delivered themselves and others; but these de- 
 fections were only personal, nor could any people or pro- 
 vince be persuaded to follow these examples. Among 
 the more illustrious deserters of the Protestant religion, 
 we may place Christina, queen of Sweden,* who was a 
 princess of great spirit and genius, but was precipitate and 
 vehement in almost all her proceedings, and preferred 
 her ease, pleasure, and liberty, to all other considerations ;f 
 Wolfgang William, count Palatine of the Rhine ; Chris- 
 tian William, marquis of Brandenburg; Ernest, prince 
 of Hesse ;¢ John Frederic, duke of Brunswick; and 
 Frederic Augustus, king of Poland. 
 
 at different times. It was disapproved by one pope, and approved by 
 another; it was applauded by the archbishop of Rheims, and condemn- 
 ed by the university of Louvain; it was censured by the Sorbonne in 
 1671, and declared by the same society a true exposition of the catholic 
 faith in the following century. For a full proof of the truth of these 
 and other variations, see Wake’s Exposition, &e.—the Biblioth. Univ. 
 of Le Clerc, tom. xi. p. 438—the General Dictionary, at the article 
 Wake, in the note, and the Biblioth. des Sciences, tom. xviii. 
 
 * See Archenholtz, Memoires de la Reine Christine, which contain a 
 variety of agreeable and interesting anecdotes. - 
 
 x The candid and impartial writer, mentioned in the preceding 
 note, has given an ample account of the circumstances that attended 
 this queen’s change of religion, and of the causes that might have con- 
 tributed to determine her to a step so unexpected and inexcusable. It 
 was neither the subtlety of Des-Cartes, nor the dexterity of Canut, tha 
 brought about this event, as Baillet would persuade us. The true state 
 of the case seems to have been this: Christina, having had her senti- 
 ments of religion in general considerably perverted by the licentious 
 insinuations of her favourite Bourdelot, was prepared for embracing 
 any particular religion, that pleasure, interest, or ambition, should re- 
 commend to her. Upon this foundation, the Jesuits Macedo, Malines, 
 and Cassati, under the immediate protection of Pimentel, and encouraged 
 by the courts of Rome, Spain, and Portugal, employed their labours and 
 dexterity in the conversion of this princess, whose passion for Italy, 
 together with that taste for the fine arts and the precious remains of 
 antiquity, which rendered her desirous of sojourning there, may have 
 contributed not a little to make her embrace the religion of that coun- 
 try. 
 
 t This learned and well-meaning prince was engaged, by the conver- 
 sation and importunities of Valerius Magnus, a celebrated monk of the 
 Capuchin order, to embrace popery, in 1651. Sce Gruberi Commercium 
 Epistol. Leibnitianum, t.i. p. 27,35. Memoires de la Reine Christine, t. 
 i. p. 216 —It is, however, to be observed, that this prince, with Anthony 
 Ulric, duke of Brunswick, and several others, who went over to the 
 church of Rome, did not go over to that church of Rome which is now 
 exhibited to us in the odious forms of superstition and tyranny, but to 
 another kind of church, which, perhaps, never existed but in their id@a, 
 and which at least has long ceased to exist. ‘That this was the case 
 appears evidently from the theological writings of prince Ernest. 
 
 oe 
 
Part I. HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The learned men that embraced the communion of | 
 the church of Rome were, baron Boineburg, secretary to 
 the elector of Mentz, and a zealous patron of erudition 
 and genius,* Christopher Ranzow, a knight of Holstein,» 
 Caspar Scioppius, Peter Bertius, Christopher Besold, Ul- 
 ric Hunnius, Nicolas Stenon, a Danish physician, of 
 great reputation in his profession, John Philip Pfeiffer, 
 professor at Konigsberg, Luke Holstenius, Peter Lambe- 
 cius, Henry Blumius, professor a at Helmstadt, a man of 
 learning, and of excessive vanity,* Daniel Nesselius, An- 
 drew Fromius, Barthold Nihusius, Christopher Hellwi- 
 gius, Matthew Pretorius, and a few others of inferior 
 rank in the learned world. But these conversions, when 
 considered with the motives that produced them, will be 
 found, in reality, less honourabie to the church of Rome 
 than they are in appearance ; for if, from this list of 
 princes and learned men, we efface those whom the 
 temptations of adv ersily, the impulse of avarice and am- 
 bition, the suggestions of levity, the effects of personal 
 attachments, the e power of superstition upon a feeble and 
 irresolute mind, and other motives of like merit, engaged 
 to embrace the Romish religion, these proselytes will be re- 
 duced to a number too small to excite the envy of the 
 
 rotestant churches.4 
 
 XVII. The Christian churches in the East, which 
 were not dependent on the yoke of Rome, did not stand 
 less firm against the attempts of the papal mission- 
 aries than those of Europe. ‘The pompous accounts 
 which several Roman catholic writers: have given of the 
 wonderful success of the missionaries among the Nesto- 
 rians and Monophysites, are little else than splendid fa- 
 bles, designed to amuse and dazzle the multitude ; and 
 many of the wisest and best of the Romish doctors 
 acknowledge, that they ought to be considered in no 
 other light. As little credit is to be given to those who 
 mention the strong propensity discovered by several of 
 the heads and superintendents of the Christian sects in 
 those remote regions, to submit to the jurisdiction of the 
 Roman pontiff: It is evident, on the contrary, that. 
 Rome, in two remarkable instances, suffered a con- 
 siderable diminution of its influence and authority in the 
 eastern world during this century. One instance was 
 the dreadful revolution in Japan, which has been already 
 related, and which was unhappily followed by the total 
 extinction of Christianity in that great monarchy. ‘The 
 other was the downfall of popery by the extirpation of 
 its missionaries in the empire of Abyssinia, of which it 
 will not be improper, or foreign from our purpose, to give 
 here a brief account. 
 
 * This eminent man, who had more learning than philosophy, and 
 who was more rem: wkable for the extent of his memory than for the 
 rectitude of his judgment, foilowed the example of the prince of Hesse, 
 in 1653. See Gruberi Commercium Epistol. Leibnitianum, in which 
 his letters, and those of Conringius, are published, tom. i. 
 
 b See Molleri Cimbria Literata, tom. i. p. 520. 
 
 > Blumius deserted the protestant church in 1654.—See Burckhardi 
 flistoria Biblioth. Auguste, pars iii. p. 223.—Gruberi Comm. Epist. tom. 
 i. p. 41, 95, &c. In some of these letters he is called Florus, probably 
 in allusion to his German name Blum, which signifies a flower, 
 
 4 Sce, for a particular account of these proselytes to popery, Weis- 
 
 man’s Historia Eccles. sec. X VII. p. 738.—Walchius’ Introductio in 
 Controversias, tom. i. p. 728.—Arnold’s Kirchen und Ketzer Historie, 
 ot ii, p. 912, and other writers of civil and literary history. 
 
 e the remarks made by Chardin ia several places of the last edi- 
 ai “of his travels. See also what Cerri, in his Etat Present de l’Eglise 
 Romaine, says of the Armenians and Copts.—It is true, that, among 
 these sects, the papal missionaries sometimes forny congregations that 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 5A? 
 
 About the commencement of the seventeenth century, 
 the Portuguese Jesuits renewed, under the most auspicious 
 encouragement, the mission to Abyssinia that had been for 
 some time interrupted and suspended ; for the emperor. 
 Susneius or Socinios, who assumed the denomination of 
 Sultan Segued, after the defeat of his enemies and his 
 accession to the throne, covered the missionaries with his 
 peculiar protection. Gained over to their cause, partly by 
 the eloquence of the Jesuits, and partly by the hopes of 
 maintaining himself upon the throne by the succours of 
 the Portuguese, he committed the whole government of 
 the church to Alphonso Mendez, a missionary from that 
 nation ; created him patriarch of the Abyssinians ; and, 
 in 1626, not only swore, in a public manner, allegiance 
 to the Roman pontiff, but also obliged his subjects to aban- 
 don the religious rites and tenets rot their ancestors, and 
 to embrace the doctrine and worshi p of the Romish church. 
 But the new patriarch, by his intemperate zeal, impru- 
 dence, and arrogance, ruined the cause in which he had 
 embirked, and occasioned the total subversion of the 
 Roman pontifl’s authority and jurisdiction, which seemed 
 to have been established upon solid foundations. He 
 began his ministry with the most inconsideraté acts of 
 violence and despotism. Following the spirit of the Spa- 
 nish inquisition, he employed formidable threatenings and 
 cruel tortures to convert the Abyssinians; the greatest part 
 of whom, together with their priests and ministers, held 
 the religion of their ancestors in the highest veneration, 
 and were willing to part with their lives and fortunes 
 rather than forsake it. He also ordered those to be re- 
 baptized, who, in compliance with the orders of the 
 emperor, had embraced the faith of Rome, as if their for- 
 mer religion had been nothing more than a system of 
 Paganism. ‘ 'This the Abyssinian clergy looked upon as 
 a shocking insult to the religious discipline of their ances- 
 tors, as even more provoking than the violence and bar- 
 barities practised against those who refused to submit. to 
 the papal yoke. Nor did the insolent patriarch rest satis- 
 fied with these arbitrary and despotic proceedings in the 
 church ; he excited tumults and factions in the state, and, 
 with an unparalleled spirit of rebellion and arrogance, 
 encroached upon the prerogatives of the throne, and 
 attempted to give law to the emperor himself. Hence 
 arose civil commotions, conspiracies, and seditions, which 
 excited in a little time the indignation of the emperor, 
 and the hatred of the people against the Jesuits, and pro- 
 duced, at length, in 1631, a public declaration from the 
 throne, by which the Abyssinian monarch annulled the 
 orders he had formerly given in favour of popery, and left 
 
 are obedient to the see of Rome; but these congregations are poor, and 
 es only of a very small number of individuals. ‘Thus the 
 
 Capuchins, about the middle of the century now under consideration, 
 founded a small congregation among the Monophysites of Asia, whose 
 bishop resided at Aleppo. See Lequien, Oriens Christianus, t. i. p. 1408, 
 
 3x“ € The reader will recollect, that the Aby ssinians differ very little 
 from the Copts, and acknowledge the patriarch of Alexandria as their 
 spiritual chief. ‘They receive the old and new Testament, the three 
 first Councils, the Nicene Creed, and the Apostolical Constitutions. 
 Their first conversion to Christianity is attributed by some to the fa- 
 mous prime minister of their queen Candace, mentioned in the Acts of 
 the Apostles: it is, however, probable, that ‘the general conversion of 
 that great empire was not perfected before the fourth century, when 
 Frumentius, ordained bishop of Axuma. bv Athanasius, exercised his 
 ministry among the peop!s win ihe most astonisning success. They 
 were esteemed a pure church before they feli into the errors of Eutyches 
 and Dioscorus ; and even since that period they still form a purer church 
 than that of Rome. 
 
548 
 
 his subjects at liberty, either to persevere in the doctrine 
 of their ancestors, or to embrace the faith of Rome. This 
 rational declaration was mild and indulgent toward the 
 Jesuits, considering the treatment which their insolence 
 and presumption had so justly deserved ; but, in the fol- 
 lowing reign, much severer measures were employed 
 against them. Basilides or Facilidas, the son of Segued, 
 who succeeded his father in 1632, thought it expedient 
 to free his dominions from these troublesome and despotic 
 guests; and accordingly, in 1634, he banished from his 
 territories the patriarch Mendez, with all the Jesuits and 
 Europeans who belonged to his retinue, and treated the 
 Roman Catholic missionaries with excessive severity.* 
 From this period the very name of Rome, its religion, and 
 its pontiff, were objects of the highest aversion among the 
 Abyssinians, who guarded their frontiers with the greatest 
 vigilance and the strictest attention, lest any Jesuit or 
 Romish missionary should steal into their territories in 
 diseuise, and excite new tumults and commotions in the 
 kingdom. The Roman pontiffs indeed made more than 
 one attempt to recover the authority they had lost by the 
 ill success and misconduct of the Jesuits. They began 
 by sending two Capuchin monks to repair their loss; but 
 these unfortunate wretches were no sooner discovered than 
 they were stoned to death. 'They afterwards employed 
 more artful and clandestine methods of reviving the mis- 
 sions, and had recourse to the influence and intercession 
 of Louis XIV. to procure admission for their emissaries 
 into the Abyssinian empire ;° but, as faras we have learned, 
 neither the pontiffs nor their votaries have yet been able 
 to calm the resentment of that exasperated nation, or to 
 conquer its reluctance against the worship and jurisdic- 
 tiun of the church of Rome.: 
 
 XVIII. Hitherto we have confined our views to the 
 external state and condition of this church, and to the 
 good or ill success that attended its endeavours to extend 
 its dominion in the different parts of the world. It will 
 be now proper to change the scene, to consider this esta- 
 blishment in its internal constitution, and to review its 
 polity, discipline, institutions, and doctrine. Its ancient 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. ll 
 
 form of government still remained ; but its pontiffs and 
 bishops lost, in many places, no small part of that exten- 
 sive authority which they had so long>enjoyed. ‘I'he 
 halcyon days were now over, in which the papal clergy 
 excited with impunity seditious tumults in the state, in- 
 terfered openly in the transactions of government, struck 
 terror into the hearts of sovereigns and subjects by the 
 thunder of their anathemas, and, imposing burthensome 
 contributions on the credulous multitude, filled their cof- 
 fers by notorious acts of tyranny and oppression. ‘The 
 pope himself, though still honoured with the same pom- 
 pous titles and denominations, frequently found, by a 
 mortifying and painful experience, that these titles had 
 lost a considerable part of their former signification, and 
 that the energy of these denominations daily diminished. 
 For now almost all the princes and states of Europe had 
 adopted the important maxim, formerly peculiar to the 
 French nation ; that the power of the Roman pontiff is con- 
 fined to matters of a religious and spiritual nature, and can- 
 not, under any pretext whatever, extend to civil transactions 
 or worldly affairs. In the schools, indeed, and colleges 
 of Roman catholic countries, and in the writings of the 
 Romish priests and doctors, the majesty of the pope was 
 still exalted in the most emphatic terms, and his prero- 
 gatives were displayed with all imaginable pomp. ‘The 
 Jesuits also, who have been always ambitious of a distin- 
 guished place among the assertors of the power and pre- 
 eminence of the Roman see, and who give themselves 
 out for the pope’s most obsequious creatures, raised their 
 voices, in this ignoble cause, even above those of the 
 schools and colleges. Fiven in the courts of sovereign 
 princes, very flattering terms and high-sounding phrases 
 Were sometimes used, to express the dignity and autho- 
 rity of the head of the church. But as it happens in 
 other cases, that men’s actions are frequently very diffe- 
 rent from their language, so was this observation particu- 
 larly verified in the case of Rome’s holy father. He 
 was extolled in words, by those who despised him most 
 in reality ; and, when any dispute arose between him and 
 the princes of his communion, the latter respected his 
 
 2 See Ludolfi Histor. A:thiopica, lib. i. cap. xiii—Geddes’ Church 
 History of Ethiopia, p. 233.—La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme 
 d’Ethiopie, p. 79.—-Lobo, Voyage d’Abyssinie, p. 116, 130, 144, with the 
 additions of Le Grand, p.173, and the fourth Dissertation that is subjoin- 
 edto the second volume. In this dissertation, Le Grand, himself a Roman 
 Catholic, makes the following remark upon the conduct of the patriarch 
 Mendez: “It is tobe wished that the patriarch had never intermeddled 
 in such a variety of affairs,’ (by which mitigated expression the au- 
 thor means his ambitious attempts to govern in the cabinet as well asin 
 the chwrch,) “or carried his authority to such a height, as to behave in 
 Ethiopia as if he had been in a country where the inquisition was 
 established: for, by this conduct, he set all the people against him, 
 and excited in them such an aversion to the Roman Catholics in general, 
 and to the Jesuits in particular, as nothing has been hitherto able to 
 diminish, and which subsists in its full force to this day.” z¢- The 
 third book of La Croze’s History, which relates to the progress and 
 ruin of this mission, is translated by Mr. Lockman into English, and 
 inserted in the Travels of the Jesuits, vol. i. p. 308, &c. as also is Pon- 
 cets Voyage, mentioned in the following note. 
 
 » These projects are mentioned by Cerri, and by Le Grand in his 
 Supplement to Lobo’s Itinerarium /Ethiopicum.*” The reader who 
 would know what credit is to be given to what the Jesuits say of the 
 attachment and veneration which the Asiatic and African Christians 
 express for the church of Rome, will do well to compare the relations 
 of Le Grand, who was a Roman Catholic, and no enemy to the Jesuits, 
 and who drew his relations from the most authentic records, with those 
 of Poncet, a French physician, who went into Ethiopia in 1698, accom- 
 panied by Father Brevedent, a Jesuit, who died during the voyage. 
 This comparison will convince every ingenuous and impartial inquirer, 
 that the accounts of the Jesuits are not to be trusted, and that they sur- 
 pass the ancient Carthaginians themselves in the art of deceiving. Pon- 
 
 cet’s Voyage is published in the fourth volume of the Jesuitical work, 
 entitled, Lettres Curieuses et Edifiantes des Missions Etrangeres. 
 
 *Lafitau and Reboulet, who have composed each a Life of pope 
 Clement XI., tell us, that the emperor of Abyssinia desired that pontiff, 
 in 1703, to send to his court missionaries and legates to instruct him 
 and his people, and to receive their submission to the see of Rome. 
 These biographers go still farther, and assert that this monarch actually 
 embraced the communion of Rome, in 1712. But these assertions are 
 idle fictions, forged by the Jesuits and their creatures. It is well known, 
 on the contrary, that, not many years ago, the edict prohibiting the 
 entrance of Europeans within the Abyssinian frontier, was still in force, 
 and was executed with the greatest severity. Even the Turks are 
 included in this prohibition; and what is still more remarkable, the 
 Egyptian Monophysites, who have once entered within the Abyssinian 
 territories, are not allowed to return into their own country, All these 
 facts are confirmed by a modern writer of the most unquestionable 
 authority, the learned and worthy M. Maillet, the French consul-gene- 
 ral in Egypt, and ambassador from Louis XIV. to the emperor of Abys- 
 sinia, in his Description de Egypte, par. 1. p.325. See also Le Grand’s 
 Supplement. ‘The last-mentioned author, after relating all the attempts 
 that have been made in our times, by the F’rench nation and the pope, 
 to introduce Romish priests into Abyssinia, adds, that all such attempts 
 must appear vain and chimerical to all those who have any knowledge 
 of the empire of Abyssinia, and of the spirit and character of its - 
 
 3¢> * Father Lobo, who resided nine years in Ethiopia, has given an 
 elegant and lively, though simple and succinct description, of that vast 
 empire, in his Itinerarium Aithiopicum. This itinerary was translated 
 into French by M. Le Grand, and enriched by him with curious anec- 
 dotes and dissertations. Hence Dr. Mosheim sometimes quotes the 
 Itinerarium, under the title of Voyage d’Abyssinie, referring to La 
 Grand’s French translation of it. 
 
Parr L 
 
 authority no farther than they found expedient for their 
 own purposes, and measured the extent of his prerogatives 
 and jurisdiction, not by the slavish adulation of the col- 
 ,eges and the Jesuits, but by a regard to their own inte- 
 rests and independence. 
 
 ‘XIX. This the pontiffs learned by disagreeable expe- 
 rience, as often as they endeavoured, in this century, to 
 resume their former pretensions, to interpose their autho- 
 rity in civil affairs, and encroach upon the jurisdiction 
 of sovereign states. The conduct of Paul V. and its 
 consequences furnish a striking example that abundantly 
 verifies this observation. ‘This haughty and arrogant 
 pontiff, in 1606, laid the republic of Venice under an 
 interdict. The reasons alleged for this insolent proceed- 
 ing, were the prosecution of two ecclesiastics for capital 
 crimes, and the promulgation of two edicts, one of which 
 prohibited the erection of any more religious edifices in 
 the Venetian territories, without the knowledge and con- 
 sent of the senate, while the other forbade the alienation 
 of any lay possessions or estates in favour of the clergy, 
 without the express approbation of the republic. The 
 assembled senators received this papal insult with dignity, 
 and conducted themselves under it with becoming reso- 
 lution and fortitude. ‘Their first step was to prevent their 
 clergy from executing the interdict, by an act prohibiting 
 that cessation of public worship, and that suspension of 
 the sacraments. which the pope had so imperiously com- 
 manded. ‘Their next step was equally vigorous; for 
 they banished from their territories the Jesuits and Capu- 
 chins, who intended to obey the orders of the pope, in 
 opposition to their express commands. In the process 
 of this controversy they employed their ablest pens, and 
 particularly that of the learned and ingenious Paul Sarpi, 
 of the order of Servites, to demonstrate, on one hand, the 
 justice of their cause, and to determine, on the other, 
 after an accurate and impartial inquiry, the true limits of 
 the pontiff’s jurisdiction and authority. The arguments 
 of these writers were so strong and cogent, that Baronius, 
 and the other learned advocates whom the pope had em- 
 ployed in supporting his pretensions and defending his 
 measures, struggled in vain against irresistible evidence. 
 
 inhabitants; his words are: “ Toutes ces entreprises paroitront chimé- 
 riques a ceux qui connoitront l’Abissinie et les Abissins.” 
 
 => * It must be observed here, that it was at the request of the pope, 
 and not of the Venetians, that Henry acted as mediator. The Vene- 
 tians had nothing to fear. Their-cause was considered as the common 
 cause of all the sovereign states of Italy: and the dukes of Urbino, 
 Modena, and Savoy, had already offered their troops and services to the 
 republic. ‘The rash pontiff, perceiving the storm that was gathering 
 against him, took refuge in the French monarch’s intercession. 
 
 > Beside De Thou and other historians, see Daniel’s Histoire de la 
 France, tom. x.—Heidegger’s Historia Papatus, period. vii. sect. ecxx. 
 —Jaeger’s Historia Eccles. sec. X VII. decenn. ii—More especially the 
 writings of the famous Paul Sarpi, commonly called Fra-Paolo, and of 
 the other divines and canonists that defended the cause of the republic, 
 deserve a careful and attentive perusal; for these writings were com- 
 posed with such solidity, learning, and eloquence, that they produced 
 remarkable effects, and contributed much to open the eyes of several 
 
 rinces and magistrates, and to prevent their submitting blindly and 
 implicitly, as their ancestors had done, to the imperious dictates of the 
 pontiffs. Among the most masterly pieces written in this cause, we 
 must place F'ra-Paolo’s Istoria delle Cose passate entre Paolo V. é la 
 Republ. di Venetia, published at Mirandola in 1624, and his Historia 
 Interdicti Veneti, which was published at Cambridge in 1626, by 
 bishop Bedell, who, during these troubles, had been chaplain to the 
 English ambassador at Venice. Paul V., by forcing the Venetians to 
 expose, in these admirable productions, his arrogance and temerity, on 
 one hand, and many truths unfavourable to the pretensions of the popes 
 on the other, was the occasion of the greatest perplexities and opposi- 
 tions that the court of Rome had to encounter in after-times. 
 
 No. XLVI. 138 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 549 
 
 In the mean time all things tended toward a rupture ; 
 and Paul was assembling his forces in order to make 
 war upon the Venetians, when Henry IV., king of France, 
 interposed as mediator,’ and adjusted a peace between 
 the contending parties, on conditions not very honourable 
 to the ambitious pontiff ;s for the Venetians could not be 
 persuaded either to repeal the edicts and resolutions they 
 had issued against the court of Rome on this occasion, 
 or to recall the Jesuits from their exile: It is remarka- 
 ble, that, at the time of this rupture, the senate enter- 
 tained serious thoughts of a total separation from the 
 church of Rome, in which the ambassadors of England 
 and Holland did all that was in their power to confirm 
 that assembly. But many considerations of a momen- 
 tous nature intervened to prevent the execution of this 
 design, which, as it would seem, had not the approbation 
 of the sagacious and prudent Father Paul, notwithstand- 
 ing his aversion to the tyranny and maxims of the court 
 of Rome.* 
 
 XX. Had the Portuguese acted with the same wisdom 
 and resolution that distinguished the Venetians, their con- 
 test with the court of Rome, which began under the pon- 
 tificate of Urban VIII. m 1641, and was carried on until 
 the year 1666, would have been terminated in a manner 
 equally disadvantageous to the haughty pretensions of the 
 pontifis. "The Portuguese, unable to bear any longer the 
 tyranny and oppression of the Spanish government, threw 
 off the yoke, and chose Don John, duke of Braganza, for 
 their king. Urban and his successors obstinately refused, 
 notwithstanding the most earnest and pressing solicitations, 
 both of the French and Portuguese, either to acknowledge 
 Don John’s title to the crown, or to confirm the bishops 
 whom that prince had named to fill the vacant sees in 
 Portugal. Hence it happened, that the greatest part of 
 the kingdom remained for a long time without bishops. 
 The pretended vicar of Christ upon earth, whose character 
 ought to set him above the fear of man, was so slavishly 
 apprehensive of the resentment of the king of Spain, that, 
 rather than offend that monarch, he violated the most 
 solemn obligations of his station, by leaving such a num- 
 ber of churches without pastors and spiritual guides. ‘The 
 
 ¢ When peace was concluded between the Venetians and the pope, in 
 1607, the Capuchins and the other ecclesiastics, who had been banished 
 on account of their partiality to the cause of Rome, were all re-instated in 
 their respective functions, except the Jesuits; and even the latter were 
 recalled in 1657, under the pontificate of Alexander VII. in consequence 
 of the earnest and importunate requests of Louis XIV. king of France, 
 and several other princes, who gave the Venetians no rest until they 
 re-admitted these dangerous guests into their territories. It is, never- 
 theless, to be observed, that the Jesuits never recovered the credit and 
 influence they had formerly enjoyed in that republic, nor, at this pre- 
 sent time, are there any people of the Romish communion, among whom 
 their society has less power than among the Venetians, who have 
 never yet forgotten their rebellious behaviour during the quarrel now 
 mentioned. See the Voyage Historique en Italie, Allemagne, Suisse, 
 (published at Amsterdam in 1736,) tom. 1. p. 291. It is farther worthy 
 of observation, that, since this famous quarrel, the bulls and rescripts 
 of the popes have just as much authority at Venice, as the senate judges 
 consistent with the rules of wise policy, and the true interests and wel- 
 fare of the community. For proof of this, we need go no farther than 
 the respectable testimony of cardinal Henry Norris, who, in 1676, 
 wrote to Magliabecchi in the followimg terms: Poche Bulle passevano 
 quelle acque verso la parte del Adriatico, per le massime lasciate nel 
 Testamento di Fra-Paolo; i. e. Few papal Bulls pass the Po, or ap- 
 proach the coasts of the Adriatic sea: the maxims bequeathed to the 
 Venetians by Fra-Paolo, render this passage extremely difficult. 
 
 4 This intention is particularly mentioned by Burnet, in his Life of 
 Bishop Bedell, and by M. Courayer in his Defense de la Novvelle 
 Traduction de Histoire du Concile de Trente. The latter writer 
 shows plainly, that Father Paul, though his sentiments diflered in many 
 
550 
 
 French, and other European courts, advised and exhorted 
 the new king of Portugal to follow the noble example of 
 the Venetians, and to assemble a national council, by 
 which the new-created bishops might be confirmed, in 
 spite of the pope, in their respective sees. Don John 
 seemred disposed to listen to their counsels, and to act with 
 resolution and vigour at this important crisis; but his en- 
 terprising spirit was checked by the formidable power of 
 the court of inquisition, the incredible superstition of the 
 people, and the blind zeal and attachment that the nation 
 in general discovered for the person and authority of the 
 pontiff. Hence the popes continued their insults with im- 
 punity; and it was not before peace was concluded be- 
 tween Portugal and Spain, five-and-twenty years after this 
 revolution, that the bishops nominated by the king were 
 confirmed by the pope. It was under the pontificate of 
 Clement LX. that an accommodation was brought about 
 between the courts of Portugal and Rome. — It must, in- 
 deed, be observed, to the honour of the Portuguese, that, 
 notwithstanding their superstitious attachment to the court 
 of Rome, they vigorously opposed its ambitious pontiff in 
 all his attempts to draw from this contest an augmentation 
 of his power and authority in their kingdom ; nor did the 
 bishops permit, mm their respective sees, any encroachment 
 to be made, at this time, upon the privileges and rights 
 enjoyed by their monarchs in former ages.* 
 
 X XI. There had subsisted, during many preceding ages, 
 an almost uninterrupted variance between the French mo- 
 narchs and the pontiffs, which had often occasioned an 
 open rupture, and which produced more than once that 
 violent effect during this century. ‘he greatest exertions 
 of industry, artifice, and assiduous labour, were employed 
 by the popes, during the whole of this period, to conquer 
 the aversion that the French had conceived against the 
 wetensions and authority of the court of Rome, and to 
 
 ndermine imperceptibly, and enervate and destroy by 
 degrees, the liberties of the Gallican church. In this 
 arduous and important enterprise the Jesuits acted a 
 principal part, and seconded, with all their dexterity and 
 craft, the designs of the aspiring pontiffs. But these 
 attempts and stratagems were effectually defeated and dis- 
 concerted by the parliament of Paris, while many able 
 pens exposed the tyranny and injustice of the papal claims. 
 Rieher, Launoy, Peter de Marca, Natalis Alexander, Elias 
 du-Pin, and others, displayed their learning and talents in 
 this contest, though with different degrees of merit. They 
 appealed to the ancient decrees of the Gallican church, 
 which they confirmed by recent authorities, and enforced 
 by new and victorious arguments. It will naturally be 
 thought, that these bold and respectable defenders of the 
 rights and liberties, both of the church and state, were 
 amply rewarded, for their generous labours, by peculiar 
 marks of the approbation and protection of the court of 
 France. But this was so far from being always the case, 
 
 points from the doctrine of the church of Rome, did not approve all the 
 tenets received by the protestants, or suggest to the Venetians the idea 
 of renouncing the Romish faith. 
 
 « See Geddes’ History of the Pope’s Behaviour toward Portugal, from 
 1641 to 1666, in his Miscellaneous Tracts, vol. ii. p. 73—186.—The 
 cause of the Portuguese, in this quarrel, is defended with great learning 
 and sagacity by a French writer, whose name was Bulliald, in a 
 pook entitled, Pro Ecclesiis Lusitanis ad Clerum Gallicanum Libelli 
 Duo. 
 
 3p > It is with a view to this that Voltaire, speaking of the manner 
 in which the court of France maintains its prerogatives against the 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 that they received, on the contrary, from time to time, 
 several marks of its resentment and displeasure, designed 
 to appease the rage and indignation of the threatening 
 pontiff, whom it was thought expedient to treat sometimes 
 with artifice and caution. Rome, however, gained little 
 by this mild policy of the French court; for it has been 
 always a prevailing maxim with the monarchs of that 
 nation, that their prerogatives and pretensions are to be 
 defended against the encroachments of the pontiffs with 
 as little noise and contention as possible, and that pom- 
 pous memorials, and warm and vehement remonstrances, 
 are to be carefully avoided, except in cases of urgent 
 necessity.” Nor do these princes think it beneath their 
 
 i dignity to yield, more or less, to time and occasion, and 
 to} b) p] d 
 
 even to pretend a great veneration for the orders and 
 authority of the pontifls, in order to obtain from them, by 
 fair means, the immunities and privileges which they 
 look upon as their due. But they are, nevertheless, con- 
 stantly on their guard; and, as soon as they perceive the 
 court of Rome taking advantage of their lenity to extend 
 its dominion, and the lordly popes growing insolent in 
 consequence of their mildness and submission, they then 
 alter their tone, change their measures, and resume the 
 language that becomes the monarchs of a nation, that 
 could never bear the tyranny and oppression of the papal 
 yoke. ‘This appears evidently in the contests that arose 
 between the courts of France and Rome, under the reign 
 of Louis XIV., of which it will not be improper to give 
 here some remarkable instances.° 
 
 XXII. The first of these contests happened in the pon- 
 tificate of Alexander VIL, and arose from the temerity 
 and insolence of his Corsican guards, who, in 1662, in- 
 sulted the French ambassador and his lady, the duke and 
 duchess of Crequi, at the instigation, as it is supposed, of 
 the pope’s nephews. Louis demanded satisfaction for the 
 insult offered to his representative ; and, on the pope’s de- 
 laying to answer this demand, actually ordered his troops 
 to file off for Italy, and to besiege the arrogant pontiff in 
 his capital. Alexander, terrified by these warlike prepa- 
 rations, implored the clemency of the incensed monarch, 
 who granted pardon and absolution to the humble pontiff, 
 and concluded a peace with him at Pisa, in 1664, upon 
 the most inglorious and mortifying conditions. These 
 conditions were, that the pope should send his nephew to 
 Paris, in the character of a suppliant for pardon; that he 
 should brand the Corsican guards with perpetual infamy, 
 and break them bya public edict; and should erect a pyra- 
 mid at Rome, with an inscription destined to preserve the 
 memory of this audacious instance of papal insolence, 
 and of the exemplary manner in which it was chastised 
 and humbled by the French monarch. It is however to 
 be observed, that, in this contest, Louis did not chastise 
 Alexander, considered as head of the church, but as a 
 temporal prince violating the law of nations.¢ Yet he 
 
 Roman pontiff, says, pleasantly, that “the king of France kisses tho 
 pope’s feet, and ties up his hands.” | : : ; 
 
 x ° The long note! of the original, in which Dr. Mosheim has 
 examined that interesting question, ‘‘ Whether the papal authority gain- 
 ed or lost ground in France during the seventeenth century ?” is trans- 
 posed by the translator into the text, and placed at the end of our author’s 
 account of the quarrels of Louis XIV. with the pope, where it comes in 
 with the utmost propriety. See sect. xxiii. 
 
 @ See Jaegeri Histor. Eccles. sec. X VII. decenn. vii. lib. ii. cap. ii. p. 
 180.—Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. tom. i. p. 1384. Edit. de Dresde, 
 1753.—Archenholtz, Memoires de la Reine Christine, tom. ii. p. 72. 
 
Parr L. HISTORY OF THE 
 showed, on other occasions, that, when seriously provoked, 
 he was as much disposed to humble papal as princely am- 
 bition, and that he feared the head of the church as little 
 as the temporal ruler of the ecclesiastical state. This 
 appeared evidently by the important and warm debate he 
 had with Innocent XI. considered in his spiritual charac- 
 ter, which began about the year 1678, and was carried 
 on for several years with great animosity and contention. 
 The subject of this controversy was a right called in 
 France the regale, by which the French king, upon the 
 death of a bishop, claimed the revenues and fruits of his 
 see, and also discharged several parts of the episcopal 
 function, until a new bishop was elected. Louis was de- 
 sirous that all the churches in his dominions should be 
 subject to the regale. Innocent pretended, on the con- 
 trary, that this claim could not be granted with such 
 universality ; nor would he consent to any augmentation 
 of the prerogatives of this nature, that had ‘formerly been 
 enjoyed by the kings of France. ‘Thus the claims of the 
 prince and the remonstrances of the pontiff, both urged 
 with warmth and perseverance, formed a sharp .and 
 
 violent contest, which was carried on by both parties 
 
 with spirit and resolution. ‘The pontiff sent forth his bulls 
 and mandates. ‘The monarch opposed their execution by 
 the terror of penal laws, and the authority of severe edicts 
 against all who dared to treat them with the smallest re- 
 gard. When the pope refused to confirm the bishops who 
 were nominated by the king, the latter took care to have 
 them consecrated and inducted into their respective sees ; 
 and thus, in some measure, declared to the world, that 
 the Gallican church could govern itself without the inter- 
 vention of the Roman pontiff. Innocent, who was a man 
 of a high spirit, and inflexibly obstinate in his purposes, did 
 not lose courage at a view of these resolute and vigorous 
 proceedings, but threatened the monarch with the di- 
 vine vengeance, issued out bull after bull, and did every 
 thing in his power to convince his adversaries, that the 
 vigour and intrepidity, which formerly distinguished the 
 lordly rulers of the Remish church, were not yet totally 
 
 _ x * The author means here undoubtedly the collation of all bene- 
 fices, which became vacant in the diocese of a deceased bishop, before the 
 nomination of his suecessor. The right of collation, in such cases, was 
 eomprehended in the regale. See note °. 
 
 b See Jo. Hen. Heideggeri Hi8toria Papatus, period. vii. sect. eccxli. 
 p. 555. 3% Voltaire’s Siecle de-Louis XIV. tom. i. p. 221. A great 
 number of writers have either incidentally or professedly treated the 
 subject of the regale, and have given ample accounts of the controver- 
 sies it has occasioned. But no author has traced out more circumstan- 
 tially the rise and progress of this famous right than cardinal Henry 
 Norris, in his Istoria delle Investiture Ecclesiast. p. 547. 
 
 a3 ° This assembly, which consisted of thirty-five bishops, and as 
 many deputies of the second order, extended the regaie to all the churches 
 in France without exception. ‘The bishops, at the same time, thought 
 proper to represent it to the king, as their humble opinion, that those 
 ecclesiastics whom he should be pleased to nominate, during the vacancy 
 of the see, to benefices attended with cure of souls, were bound to apply for 
 induction and confirmation to the grand vicars appointed by the chapters. 
 
 27 4 These four propositions were to the following purport: 
 
 1. That neither St. Peter nor his successors have received from God 
 any power to interfere, directly or indirectly, in what concerns the tem- 
 poral interests of princes and sovereign states; that kings and princes 
 cannot be deposed by ecclesiastical authority, nor their subjects freed 
 from the sacred obligation of fidelity and allegiance, by the power of the 
 church, or the bulls of the Roman pontiff. 
 
 2. That the decrees of the council of Constance, which represent the 
 authority of general councils as superior to that of the pope, in spiritual 
 matters, are approved and adopted by the Gallican church. 
 
 3. That tke rules, customs, institutions, and observances, which have 
 been received in the Gallican church, are to be preserved inviolable. 
 
 4. That the decisions of the pope, in points of faith, are not infallible, 
 unless they be attended with the consent of tse church. 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 551 
 extinguished.’ 'This obstinacy, however, only served to 
 add fuel to the indignation and resentment of Louis ; and 
 accordingly that monarch summoned the famous assem- 
 bly of bishops,* which met at Paris in 1682. In this con- 
 vocation, the ancient doctrine of the Gallican church, that 
 declares the power of the pope to be merely spiritual, and 
 also inferior to that of a general council, was drawn uf 
 anew in four propositions,’ which were solemnly adopted 
 by the whole assembly, and were proposed to the whole 
 body of the clergy and to all the universities throughout 
 the kingdom, as a sacred and inviolable rule of faith. But 
 even this respectable decision of the affair, which gave 
 such a severe wound to the authority of Rome, did not 
 shake the constancy of its resolute pontiff, or reduce him 
 to silence.° 
 
 Another contest arose, some time after the one now 
 mentioned, between these princes, whose mutual jealousy 
 and dislike inflamed their divisions. 'This new dispute 
 broke out in 1687, when Innocent wisely resolved to 
 suppress the franchises, and the right of asylum, which 
 had formerly been enjoyed by the ambassadors residing 
 at Rome, and had, on many occasions, proved a sanc- 
 tuary for rapine, violence, and injustice, by procuring 
 impunity for the most heinous malefactors. ‘The mar- 
 quis de Lavardin refused, in the name of the French 
 king, to submit to this new regulation; and Louis took 
 all the violent methods that pride and resentment could 
 invent to oblige the pontiff to restore to his ambassador 
 the immunities above mentioned.s Innocent, on the 
 other hand, persisted in his purpose, opposed the king’s 
 demands in the most open and intrepid manner, and 
 could not be induced by any consideration to yield, even 
 in appearance, to his ambitious adversary." His death, 
 however, put an end to this long debate, which had 
 proved really detrimental to both parties. His succes- 
 sors, being men of a softer and more complaisant dispo- 
 sition, were less averse to the concessions that were neces- 
 sary to bring about a reconciliation, and to the measures 
 that were adapted to remove the chief causes of these 
 
 ¢ This pope was far from keeping silence with respect to the famous 
 propositions mentioned in the preceding note. As they were highly un- 
 favourable to his authority, so he took care to have them refuted and op- 
 posed both in private and in public. The principal champion for the 
 
 apal cause, on this occasion, was the cardinal Celestin Sfondrati, who, 
 in 1684, published, under the feigned name of Eugenius Lombardus, a 
 treatise, entitled, Regale Sacerdotium Romano Pontifici assertium, et 
 quatuor Propositionibus explicatum. This treatise was printed in 
 Switzerland, as appears evidently by the character or form of the letters. 
 Several German, F'lemish, Italian, and Spanish doctors, stood forth to 
 support the tottering majesty of the pontiff against the court of France; 
 and more especially the learned Nicolas du Bois, professor at Louvain, 
 whose writings in defence of the pope are mentioned by Bossuet. But 
 all these papal champions were defeated by the famous prelate last men- 
 tioned, the learned and eloquent bishop of Meaux, who, by the king’s 
 special order, composed that celebrated work, which appeared in 1730, 
 under the following title: Defensio Declarationis celeberrime, quam de 
 Potestate Ecclesiastica sanxit Clerus Gallicanus, xix Martii, MDCLxXxXxII, 
 Luxemburgi. The late publication of this defence was owing to the 
 prospect of a reconciliation between the courts of France and Rome, 
 after the death of Innocent; which reconciliation actually took place, and 
 engaged Louis to prohibit the publication of this work. 
 
 a‘ This right of asylum extended much farther than the ambassa- 
 dor's palace, whose immunity the pope did not mean to violate; itcom- 
 prehended a considerable extent of ground which was called a quarter, 
 and undoubtedly gave occasion to great and flagrant abuses. | 
 
 Z¢p © The marquis de Lavardin began his embassy by entering Rome, 
 surrounded with a thousand men in arms. ; 
 
 b See Jaegeri Historia Ecclesiastic. sec. X VI. decenn. ix. p. 19, ang 
 Legatio Lavardini; but, above all, the Memoires de la Reine Christine, 
 tom. ii. p. 248; for Christina took part in this contest, and adopted the 
 
 cause of the French monarch. 
 
552 
 
 unseemly contests. They were not, indeed, so far 
 unmindful of the papal dignity, and of the interests of 
 Rome, as to patch up an agreement on inglorious terms. 
 On the one hand, the right of asylum was suppressed 
 with the king’s consent; on the other the right of the 
 regale was settled, with modifications.» ‘The four 
 famous propositions, relating to the pope’s authority and 
 jurisdiction, were softened, by the king’s permission, in 
 private letters addressed to the pontiff by certain bishops ; 
 but they were neither abrogated by the prince, nor 
 renounced by the clergy: on the contrary, they still 
 remain in force, and occupy an eminent place among the 
 laws of the kingdom. 
 
 XXIII. 'Several protestant writers of great merit and 
 learning, lament the accessions of power and authority 
 which the Roman pontifls are supposed to have gained 
 in France during the course of this century. They tell 
 us, with sorrow, that the Italian notions of the papal 
 majesty and jurisdiction, which the French nation had, 
 in former ages, looked upon with abhorrence, gained 
 ground now, and had infected not only the nobility and 
 clergy, but almost all ranks and orders of men; and 
 hence they conclude, that the famous rights and liberties 
 of the Gallican church have suffered greatly by the per- 
 fidious stratagems of the Jesuits. They are led into this 
 opinion by certain measures that were taken by the 
 French court, and which seemed to favour the pretensions 
 of the Roman pontiff. They are confirmed in it by 
 the declamations of the Jansenists, and other modern 
 writers among the French, who complain of the high 
 veneration that was paid to the papal bulls during this 
 century ; of the success of the Jesuits in instilling into 
 the mind of the king and his counsellors the maxims of 
 Rome, and an excessive attachment to its bishop ; of the 
 ‘iolence and ill treatment that were offered to all those 
 
 ho firmly adhered to the doctrine and maxims of their 
 forefathers ; and of the gradual attempts that were made 
 to introduce the formidable tribunal of the inquisition into 
 France. But it will perhaps appear, on mature consi- 
 deration, that too much stress is laid, by many, on these 
 complaints, and that the rights and privileges of the Gal- 
 lican church were in this century, and are actually at 
 this day, in the same state and condition in which we 
 find them during those earlier ages, of which the writers 
 and declaimers above mentioned incessantly boast. It 
 might be asked, where are the victories that are said to 
 have been obtained over the I'rench by the popes, and 
 which some protestant doctors, lending a credulous ear 
 to the complaints of the Jansenists and Appellants, think 
 they perceive with the utmost clearness? I am_per- 
 suaded that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to give 
 a satisfactory answer in the affirmative to this question. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that, as the transactions of govern- 
 ment, in general, are now carried on in France, with more 
 subtlety, secrecy, and art, than in former times, so, in 
 particular, the stratagems and machinations of the pon- 
 tiffs have been opposed and defeated with more artifice 
 
 *Sce Fleury’s Institutions du Droit Ecclesiastique Francois, which 
 excellent work is translated into Latin. Dr. Mosheim refers to p. 454 
 of the Latin version. > See Note ¢, p. 550. 
 
 3 ¢It is scarcely necessary to inform the reader, that by these 
 liberties we do not mean that rational and Christian liberty which 
 entitles every individual to follow the light of his own conscience and 
 the dictates of his own judgment in religious matters; for no such liberty 
 is allowed in France. The liberties of the Gallican church consist in 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. Il 
 
 and less noise, than in those more rude and unpolished 
 ages, when almost every contest was terminated by bru- 
 tal force and open violence. ‘The opposition between the 
 court of France and the bishop of Rome still subsists ; 
 but the manner of conducting it is changed ; and the con- 
 tests are carried on with less clamour, though not with less 
 animosity and vigour, than in former times. ‘This new and 
 prudent manner of disputing is not agreeable to the restless, 
 fiery, and impatient temper of the French,who have an irre- 
 sistible propensity to noisy, clamorous, and expeditious 
 proceedings ; and hence undoubtedly arise all the com- 
 plaints we have heard, and still hear, of the decline of 
 the liberties of the Gallican church, in consequence of 
 the growing influence and perfidious counsels of the 
 Jesuits. If those, however, who are accustomed to make 
 
 these complaints, would for a moment suspend their pre-> 
 
 judices, and examine with attention the history, and 
 also the present state of their country, they would soon 
 perceive that their ecclesiastical liberties,: instead of 
 declining, or of being neglected by their monarchs, are 
 maintained and preserved with greater care, resolution, 
 and foresight, than ever. It must indeed be acknow- 
 ledged, that, in France, there are multitudes of cringing 
 slaves, who basely fawn upon the pontifls, exalt their 
 prerogatives, revere their majesty, and, through the dic- 
 tates of superstition, interest, or ambition, are ever ready 
 to hug the papal chain, and submit their necks blindly 
 to the yoke of those spiritual tyrants; but it may be 
 proved, by the most undoubted facts, and by innumera- 
 ble examples, that these servile creatures of the pope 
 abounded as much in France in former ages as they do 
 at this day; and it must be also considered, that it is not 
 by the counsels of this slavish tribe, that the springs of 
 government are moved, or the affairs of state and church 
 transacted. It must be farther acknowledged, that the 
 Jesuits have attained a very high degree of influence 
 and authority,4 and sometimes have credit enough to 
 promote measures that are by no means consistent with 
 the rights of the Gallican church, and must consequently 
 be considered as heavy grievances by the patrons of the 
 ancient ecclesiastical liberty. But here it may be observ- 
 ed, on one hand, that many such measures were propo- 
 sed and followed before -the rise of the Jesuits; and, on 
 the other, that many affairs of great consequence are 
 daily transacted in a manner highly displeasing and 
 detrimental to that society, and extremely disagreeable to 
 the Roman pontiffs. If it be alleged, that those who 
 defend with learning and judgment the ancient doctrines 
 and maxims of the Gallican church, scarcely escape 
 public censure and punishment, and that those who 
 maintain them with vehemence and intemperate zeal 
 are frequently rewarded with exile or a prison; and that 
 even the most humble and modest patrons of these doc- 
 trines are left in obscurity without encouragement or 
 recompense; all this must be granted. But it must be 
 considered, that the cause they maintain, and the ancient 
 doctrines and maxims they defend, are not condemned, 
 
 the opposition which that church has made, at different times, to the 
 overgrown power of the Roman pontiff, and to his pretended persona. 
 infallibility. 
 
 =¢p 4 Dr. Mosheim wrote this in 1753, before the suppression of the 
 order of Jesuits in France. ‘The downfall of that society, and the 
 circumstances that attended it, seem both to illustrate and confirm his 
 judicious notion with respect to the degree of credit and influence which 
 the popes have had in that kingdom for some time past. 
 
 Se 
 
Parr I. 
 
 nor even deserted ; the matter is only this, that the prince 
 
 and his ministry have fallen upon a new method of 
 
 maintaining and supporting them. It appears to them 
 mucls more conducive to public peace and order, that the 
 stratagems and attempts of the pontifls should be op- 
 posed and defeated by secret exertions of resolution and 
 vigour, without noise or ostentation, than by learned pro- 
 ductions and clamorous disputes ; which, for the most 
 part, excite factions in the kingdom, inflame the spirits 
 of the people, throw the state into tumult and confusion, 
 exasperate the pontilfs, and alienate them still more and 
 more from the French nation. In the mean time the 
 doctors and professors, who are placed in the various semi- 
 aaries of learning, are left at liberty to instruct the youth 
 nthe ancient doctrine and discipline of the church, and 
 o explain and inculcate those maxims and laws by 
 vhich, in former times, the papal authority was restrain- 
 ed and confined within certain limits. If these laws and 
 maxims. are infringed, and if even violent methods are 
 employed against those who firmly adhere to them, this 
 fappens very rarely, and never but when their suspen- 
 sion is required by some case of extreme necessity, or by 
 the prospect of some great advantage to the community. 
 Besides, those who sit at the political helm, always take 
 care to prevent the pope’s reaping much benefit from this 
 suspension or neglect of the ancient Jaws and maxims 
 of the church. This circumstance, which is of so much 
 importance in the present question, must appear evident 
 
 to such as will be at the pains to look into the history of 
 
 the debates that attended, and the consequences that fol- 
 lowed the reception of the Bull Unigenitus in France, 
 than which no papal edict could seem more repugnant to 
 the rights and liberties of the Gallican church. In the 
 business of this bull, as in other transactions of a like 
 nature, the court proceeded upon this political maxim, 
 that a smatHer evil is to be submitted to, when a greater 
 may be thereby prevented. . 
 
 In a word, the kings of France have almost always 
 treated the Roman pontiffs as the heroes, who are said in 
 pagan story to have descended into ‘Tartarus, behaved 
 toward the triple-jawed guardian of that lower region : 
 sometimes they offered a soporiferous cake to suppress his 
 grumbling and menacing tone; at others they terrified 
 him with their naked swords, and the din of arms; and 
 this with a view to stop his barking, and to obtain the 
 liberty of directing their course in the manner they thought 
 proper. ‘There is nothing invidious designed by this 
 comparison, which certainly represents, in a lively man- 
 ner, the caresses and threatenings that were employed by 
 ihe French monarchs, according to the nature of the 
 times, the state of affairs, the characters of the pontifls, 
 and other incidental circumstances, in order to render 
 the court of Rome favourable to their designs. We have 
 dwelt, perhaps, too much upon this subject ; but we 
 thought it not improper to undeceive many protestant 
 writers, who, too much influenced by the bitter complaints 
 and declamations of certain Jansenists, and not sufficiently 
 instructed in the history of these ecclesiastical contentions, 
 have formed erroneous notions concerning that point 
 which we have here endeavoured to examine and discuss. 
 XXIV. The corruptions that had been complained of 
 
 * The reader may see these disagreeable accounts of the corruptions 
 of the clergy confirmed by a great number of unexceptionable testimo- 
 
 No. XLVIL. 139 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 553 
 
 in preceding ages, Poth in the higher and inferior orders 
 of the Romish clergy, were rather increased than dimi- 
 nished during this century, as the most impartial writers 
 of that communion candidly confess. The bishops were 
 rarely indebted for their elevation to eminent learning, or 
 superior merit. ‘The intercession of potent patrons, ser- 
 vices rendered to men in power, connexions of blood, and 
 simoniacal practices, were, generally speaking, the steps 
 to preferment; and, what was still more deplorable, their 
 promotion was sometimes obtained by their vices. Their 
 lives were such, as might be expected from persons who 
 had risen in the church by such unseemly means ; for, 
 had they been obliged by their profession, to give public 
 examples of those vices which the holy laws of the Gos- 
 pel so solemnly and expressly condemn, instead of exhi- 
 biting patterns of sanctity and virtue to their flock, they 
 could not have conducted themselves otherwise than they 
 did.» Some indeed there were, who, sensible of the obli- 
 gations of their profession, display ed a true Christian zeal, 
 in administering useful instruction, and exhibiting pious 
 examples to their flock, and exerted their utmost vigour 
 and activity, in opposing the vices of the sacred order in 
 particular, and the licentiousness of the times in general. 
 But these rare cultivators of virtue and piety were either 
 ruined by the resentment and stratagems of their en- 
 vious and exasperated brethren, or w ere left in obscurity, 
 without that encouragement and support which were 
 requisite to enable them to execute effectually their pious 
 and laudable purposes. 'The same treatment fell to the 
 lot of those among the lower order of the clergy, who 
 endeavoured to maintain the cause of truth and virtue. 
 But the number of sufferers in this noble cause was small, 
 compared with the multitude of corrupt ecclesiastics, who 
 were carried away with the torrent, instead of opposing it, 
 and whose lives were spent in scenes of pleasure, or in 
 the anxiety and toils of avarice and ambition. While 
 we acknowledge, that, among the bishops and inferior 
 clergy, there were several exceptions from that general 
 prevalence of immorality and licentiousness with which 
 the sacred order was chargeable, it is also incumbent upon 
 us to do justice to the merit of some of the Roman pon- 
 tifls, in this century, who used their most zealous endea- 
 vours to reform the manners of the clergy, or, at least, 
 to oblige them to observe the rules of external decency 
 in their conduct and conversation. It is however mat- 
 ter of surprise, that these pontiffs did not perceive the 
 insurmountable obstacles to the success of their counsels. 
 and the fruits of their wise and salutary edicts, that arose 
 from the internal constitution of the Romish church, and 
 the very nature of the papal government; for, if the pon- 
 tiffs were even divinely inspired, and really infallible, yet, 
 unless this inspiration and infallibility were attended with 
 a miraculous power, and with the supernatural privilege 
 of being present in many places at the same time, it is 
 not conceivable how they should ever entertain a notion 
 of the possibility of restoring or maintaining order, or good 
 morals, among the prodigious multitude of persons of all 
 classes and characters that are subject to their jurisdiction. 
 XXV. Though the monks, in several places, behaved 
 with much more circumspection and decency than in for- 
 mer times, yet they had every where departed, in a great 
 
 nies, drawn from the writings of the most eminent doctors of the Romish 
 church, in the Memoires de Port Royal, tom. ii. p. 308, 
 
554. HISTORY OF THE 
 measure, from the spirit of their founders, and the pri- 
 mitive laws of their respective institutions. About the 
 commencement of this age, their convents and colleges 
 made a most wretched and deplorable figure, as we learn 
 from the accounts of the wisest and most learned, even 
 of their own writers. But, in the progress of the cen- 
 tury several attempts were made to remove this disorder. 
 Some wise and pious Benedictines, in France and other 
 countries, reformed several monasteries of their order, and 
 endeavoured to bring them back, as near as was possible, 
 to the laws and discipline of their founders.« ‘Their 
 example was followed by the monks of Clugni, the Cis- 
 tercians, the regular canons, the Dominicans, and F'ran- 
 ciscans." It is from this period that we are to date the 
 division of the monastic orders into two general classes. 
 One comprehends the reformed monks, who, reclaimed 
 from that licentiousness and corruption of manners which 
 had formerly dishonoured their societies, lead more strict 
 and regular lives, and discover in their conduct a greater 
 regard to the primitive laws of their order. ‘The other 
 is composed of the un-reformed orders, who, forgetting 
 the spirit of their founders, and the rules of their insti- 
 tutes, spend their days in ease and pleasure, and have no 
 taste for the austerities and hardships of the monastic 
 life. "he latter class is evidently the most numerous ; 
 and the majority, even of the reformed monks, not only 
 fall short of that purity of manners which their rules 
 enjoin, but are moreover gradually and imperceptibly 
 relapsing into their former indolence and disorder. 
 XXVI. Among the reformed monks, a particular de- 
 
 "Le Beuf, Memoires sur Histoire d’Auxerre, tom. ii. p. 513, 
 where an account is given of the first veforms made in the convents 
 during this century—sSee Martenne’s Voyage Literaire de deux Bene- 
 dictins, par. ii. p. 97. 
 
 > There is an account of all the convents reformed in this century, in 
 Helyot’s Histoire des Ordres, tom. v. vi. vil. to which, however, several 
 interesting circumstances may be added, by consulting other writers. 
 The reform of the monks of Clugni is amply described by the Benedic- 
 tines, in the Gallia Christiana, tom. vit. p. 544. The same authors 
 speuk of the reform of the Regular Canons of St. Augustin, tom. vii. 
 
 .778, 787, 790.—F or an account of that of the Cistercians, see Mabil- 
 lon’s Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 121; and the Voyage Literaire de 
 deux Benedictins, tom. i. p. 7; tom. i. p. 133, 229, 269, 303. The Cis- 
 tercians were no sooner reformed, than they used their most zealous 
 endeavours for the reformation of the whole society, (i. e. of the Bene- 
 dictine order,) but in vain. See Meaupou’s Vie del’ Abbé de la Trappe, 
 tom. 1. 
 
 ° See the Gallia Christiana Nova, an admirable work, composed by 
 the Congregation of St. Maur, tom vii. p. 474.—Helyot, tom. vi. cap. 
 xXxxvil. p. 256. The letters patent of Gregory XV., by which the 
 establishment of this famous congregation was approved and confirmed, 
 were criticised with great severity and rigour by Launoy, that formi- 
 dable scourge of all the monastic orders, in his Examen. Privil. S. Ger- 
 mani, tom. ii. p.1. op. p. 303. The same author, (in his Assert. Inquisit. 
 in priv. S. Medardi, tom. ili. op.) gives an account of the dissentions 
 that arose in this congregation, immediately after its establishment; 
 but this account savours too much of that partiality with which he is 
 chargeable, whenever he treats of monastic affairs. 
 
 4 The Benedictines celebrate, in pompous terms, the exploits of this 
 congregation in general, and more especially its zealous and successful 
 labours in restoring order, discipline, and virtue, in a great number of 
 monasteries, which were falling into ruin through the indolence and 
 corruption of their licentious members, see the “ Voyage de deux Re- 
 ligieux Benedictins de la Congregation de 8. Maur,” tom. i. p. 16; tom. 
 ii. p. 47. This eulogy, though perhaps exaggerated, is not entirely 
 unmerited; and there is no doubt that the Benedictines have contribu- 
 ted much to restore the credit of the monastic orders. There are, never- 
 theless, several classes of ecclesiastics in the Romish church, who are 
 no well-wishers to this learned congregation, though their dislike be 
 founded on different reasons. In the first class, we may place a cer- 
 tain number of ambitious prelates, whose artful purposes have been 
 disappointed by this ingenious fraternity; for the monks of St. Maur, 
 having turned their principal study toward ancient history and antiqui- 
 ties of every kind, and being perfectly acquainted with ancient records, 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. Sect II 
 
 i gree of attention is due to certain Benedictine societies, 
 
 or congregations, who surpass all the other monastic 
 orders, both in the excellence and utility of their rules 
 and constitution, and in the zeal and perseverance with 
 which they adhere to them. Of these societies the most 
 distinguished is the congregation of St. Maur,* which was 
 founded in 1620 by the express order of Gregory XV., 
 and was enriched by Urban VIL. in 1627, with various 
 donations and privileges. It does not indeed appear, that 
 even this society adheres strictly to the spirit and maxims 
 of Benedict, whose name it bears, nor is it beyond the 
 reach of censure in other respects ; but these imperfections 
 are compensated by the great number of excellent rules 
 and institutions that are observed in it, and by the regu- 
 lar lives and learned labours of its members. For, in this 
 congregation, a select number of men of genius and talent 
 are set apart for the study of sacred and profane literature, 
 and more especially of history and antiquities ; and these 
 learned members are furnished with all the means and 
 materials of knowledge in a rich abundance, and with 
 every thing that can tend to facilitate their labours and 
 render them successful.4 It must be abundantly known, 
 to those who have any acquaintance with the history and 
 progress of learnmg in Europe, what signal advantages 
 the republic of letters has derived from the establishment 
 of this famous Congregation, whose numerous and admi- 
 rable productions have cast a great light upon the various 
 branches of philology and the belles lettres, and whose 
 researches have embraced the whole circle of science, phi- 
 losophy excepted.¢ 
 
 diplomas, and charters, are thus peculiarly qualified to maintain their 
 possessions, their jurisdictions, and privileges, against the litigious pre- 
 tensions of the bishops, and have, in fact, maintained them with more 
 success than their order could do in former times, when destitute of 
 learning, or ill furnished with the knowledge of ancient history. ‘The 
 Jesuits form the second class of adversaries, with whom this learned 
 congregation has been obliged to struggle; for, their lustre and reputa- 
 tion being considerably eclipsed by the numerous and admirable produc- 
 tions of these Benedictines, they have used their utmost endeavours to 
 sink, or at least to diminish, the credit of such formidable rivals. See 
 Simon’s Lettres Choisies, tom. iv. p.36,45. These Benedictines have a 
 third set of enemies, who are instigated by superstition; and it is not 
 improbable that this superstition may be accompanied with a certain 
 mixture of envy. To understand this fully, it must be observed, that 
 the learned monks, of whom we are now speaking, have substituted an 
 assiduous application to the culture of philology and literature in the 
 place of that bodily and manual labour, which the rule of St. Benedict 
 prescribes to his followers. ‘The more robust, healthy, and vigorous 
 monks, indeed, are obliged to employ a certain portion of the day in 
 working with their hands; but those of a weaker constitution and 
 superior genius, are allowed to exchange bodily for mental labour, and, 
 instead of cultivating the lands or gardens of the convent, to spend their 
 days in the pursuit of knowledge, both human and divine. The lazy 
 monks envy this bodily repose; and the superstitious and fanatical 
 ones, who are vehemently prejudiced in favour of the ancient monastic 
 discipline, behold with contempt these learned researches as unbecoming 
 the monastic character, since they tend to divert the mind from divine 
 contemplation. This superstitious and absurd opinion was maintained 
 with peculiar warmth and vehemence, by Armand John Bouthillier de 
 Rance, abbot of La Trappe, in his book des Devoirs Monastiques ; 
 upon which the Benedictines employed Mabillon, the most learned of 
 their fraternity, to defend their cause, and to expose the reveries of the 
 abbot in their proper colours. ‘This he did with remarkable success, in 
 his famous book, de Studiis Monasticis, which was published in 1691, 
 passed through many editions, and was translated into different langua- 
 ges. Hence arose that celebrated question, which was long debated 
 with great warmth and animosity in France ;—‘‘ How far a monk may, 
 consistently with his character, apply himself to the study of literature ?” 
 There is an elegant and interesting history of this controversy given by 
 Vincent Thuillier, a most learned monk of the congregation of St. 
 Maur; see the Opera Posthuma of Mabillon and Ruinart, tom. 1. p. 
 365—4125. 
 
 ° The curious reader will find an account of the authors and learned 
 productions with which the congregation of St. Maur has enriched the 
 
 Ee eS ee et 
 
Part lL. 
 
 XXVIII. Though these pious attempts to reform the 
 monasteries were not entirely unsuccessful, yet the eflects 
 they produced, even in those places where they had suc- 
 ceeded most, came far short of that perfection of austerity 
 that had seized the imaginations of a set of persons, whose 
 number is considerable in the Romish church, though 
 their credit be small, and their severity be generally looked 
 upon as excessive and disgusting. ‘These rigid censors, 
 having always in their eyes the ancient discipline of the 
 monastic orders, and being bent on reducing the modern 
 convents to that austere discipline, looked upon the changes 
 above-mentioned as imperfect and trifling. ‘They consi- 
 dered a monk as a person obliged, by the sanctity of his 
 profession, to spend his whole time in prayer, tears, con- 
 templation, and silence ; in the perusal of holy books, and 
 the hardships of bodily labour: they even went so far as 
 to maintain, that all other designs and occupations, how- 
 ever laudable and excellent in themselves, were entirely 
 foreign from the monastic vocation, and, on that account, 
 vain and sinfulin persons of that order. This severe plan 
 of monastic discipline was recommended by several per- 
 sons, whose obscurity put it out of their power to influence 
 many in its behalf; but it was also adopted by the Jan- 
 senists, who reduced it to practice in some parts of France, 
 
 and in none with more success and reputation than in | 
 the female convent of Port Royal, where it has subsisted | 
 
 from the year 1618 to our time.” These steps of the Jan- 
 senists excited a spirit of emulation, and several monaste- 
 ries exerted themselves in the imitation of this austere 
 
 model; but they were all surpassed by the famous Bovu- | 
 
 thillier de Rance, abbot de la Trappe,* who, with the most 
 ardent zeal, and indefatigable labour, attended with un- 
 common success, introduced into his monastery this dis- 
 cipline, in all its austere and shocking perfection. "This 
 abbot, so illustrious by his birth, and so remarkable for his 
 extraordinary devotion, was so happy as to vindicate his 
 fraternity from the charge of excessive superstition, which 
 the Jansenists had drawn upon themselves by the auste- 
 rity of their monastic discipline; and yet his society ob- 
 served the severe and laborious rule of the ancient Cister- 
 cians, whom they even surpassed in abstinence, mortifi- 
 cations, and self-denial. This order still subsists, under the 
 denomination of the Reformed Bernardins of La Trappe, 
 and has several monasteries both in Spain and Italy ; but, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 555 
 
 if credit may be given to the accounts of writers who seein 
 to be well informed, it is degenerating gradually from the 
 austere and painful discipline of its famous founder.« 
 
 XXVIIL* The Romish church, from whose _ prolific 
 womb all the various forms of superstition issued forth in 
 an amazing abundance, saw several new monastic estab- 
 lishments arise within its borders during this century. 
 The greatest part of them we shall pass over in silence, 
 and confine ourselves to the mention of those which have 
 obtained some degree of fame. 
 
 We begin with the Fathers of the Oratory of the Holy 
 Jesus, a famous order, instituted by cardinal Berulle, a 
 man of genius and talents, who displayed his abilities with 
 such success, in the service both of state and church, that 
 ihe was generally looked upon as equally qualified for 
 shining in these very different spheres. ‘his order, which, 
 both in the nature of its rules, and in the design of its 
 establishment, seems to be in direct opposition to that of 
 the Jesuits, was founded in 1613, has produced a consi- 
 derable number of persons eminent for their piety, learn- 
 ing, and eloquence, and still maintains its reputation in 
 this respect. Its members however have, on account of 
 certain theological productions, been suspected of intro- 
 ducing new opinions; and this suspicion has not only 
 been raised but is also industriously fomented and propa- 
 gated by the Jesuits. The priests who enter into this 
 society are not obliged to renounce their property or pos- 
 sessions, but only to refuse all ecclesiastical cures or offices 
 to which any fixed revenues or honours are annexed, as 
 long as they continue members of this fraternity, from 
 which they are, however, at liberty to retire whenever 
 they think proper.e While they continue in the order, 
 they are bound to perform, with the greatest fidelity and 
 accuracy, all the priestly functions, and to turn the whole 
 bent of their zeal and industry to one point, namely, the 
 task of preparing and qualifying themselves and others 
 for discharging them daily with greater perfection and 
 more abundant fruits. If, therefore, we consider this order 
 in the original end of its institution, its convents may, not 
 improperly, be called the schools of sacerdotal divinity! 
 It is nevertheless to be observed, that, in later times, the 
 Fathers of ihe Oratory have not confined themselves to 
 this object, but have imperceptibly extended their original 
 plan, and applied themselves to the study of polite litera- 
 
 republic of letters, in Ph. le Cerf’s Bibliotheque Historique et Critique 
 des Auteurs de la Congregation de St. Maur; and also in Bernard Pez’s 
 Bibliotheea Benedictino-Maurina.—These Benedictines still maintain 
 their literary fame by the frequent publications of laborious and learned 
 works both in sacred and profane literature. 
 
 ® See the Mémoires de Port Royal, tom. ii. p. 601. Martin Barcos, 
 
 the most celebrated Jansenist of this century, introduced this austere rule | 
 
 of discipline into the monastery of St. Cyran, of which he was abbot. 
 See the Gallia Christiana, tom. ii. p. 132, and Moleon’s Voyages 
 Liturgiques, p. 135; but, after the death of this famous abbot, the monks 
 
 of his cloister relapsed into their former disorder, and resumed their |) 
 
 former manners. See the Voyage de deux Benedictins, tom. 1. 
 
 b Helyot, tom. v. chap. xliv. p. 455. : 
 
 ¢ This illustrious abbot showed very early an extraordinary genius 
 for the belles lettres. At the age of ten, he was master of several of the 
 Greek and Roman poets, and understood Homer perfectly. At the age 
 of twelve or thirteen, he gave an edition of Anacreon, with. learned 
 annotations. Some writers allege, that he had imbibed the voluptuous 
 spirit of that poet, and that his subsequent application to the study of 
 theology in the Sorbonne did not entirely extinguish it. They also 
 attribute his conversion to a singular incident. They tell us, that re- 
 turning from the country, after six weeks’ absence from alady whom he 
 loved passionately, (and not in vain,) he went directly to her chamber 
 by a back-stair, without having the patience to make any previous 
 inquirv about her health and situation. On opening the door, he found 
 
 the chamber illuminated, and hang with black; and, on approaching 
 _the bed, saw the most hideous spectacle that could be presented to his 
 / eyes, and the most adapted to mortify passion, inspire horror, and 
 engender the gloom of melancholy devotion, in a mind too lively and too 
 ,much agitated to improve this shocking change to the purposes of ra- 
 ‘tional piety ; he saw his fair mistress in her shroud—dead of the small 
 pox—all her charms fled—and succeeded by the ghastly lines of death, 
 | and the frig¢htful marks of that terrible disorder. From that moment, it is 
 | said, our abbot retired from the world, repaired to La Trappe, the most 
 | gloomy, barren, and desolate spot in the whole kingdom of France, and 
 there spent the forty last years of his life in perpetual acts-of the most 
 | austere piety. 
 | 4 Marsolier’s Vie del’ Abbé dela Trappe.—Meanpou’s Vie de M.l’ Abbé 
 de la Trappe.—Felibien’s, Descrip. del’Ab. dela Trappe.—Helyot,t. vi. 
 37> ° The Fathers, or Priests (as they also are called) of the Oratory, 
 _ are not, properly speaking, religious, or monks, being bound by no vows, 
 | and their institute being purely ecclesiastical or sacerdotal. 
 | See Hubert de Cerisi, Vie du Cardinal Berulle, Fondateur de 
 | POratoire de Jesus—Morini Vita Antiq. prefixed to his Orientalia, p. 
 | 3, 110.—R. Simon, Lettres Choisies, tom. ii. p. 60, and his Bibliotheque 
 | Critique, (published under the fictitions name of Saint Jorre,) tom. ill. p. 
 | 303, 324, 330. Fer an account of the genius and capacity of Berulle, 
 | see Baillet’s Vie de Richer, p. 220, 342.—Le Vassor’s Histoire de Louis 
 XILL. tom. iii. p. 397—Helyot, tom. viii. chap. x.—Gallia Christiana 
 Benedictinorum, tom. vii. p. 976. 
 
556 
 
 ture and theology, which they teach with reputation in 
 their colleges.* 
 
 After these Fathers, the next place is due to the Priests 
 of the Missions; an order founded by Vincent de Paul, 
 (who obtained, not long ago, the honours of saintship,) 
 and formed into a regular congregation, in 1632, by pope 
 Urban VUI. The rule prescribed to this society, by its 
 founder, lays its members under the three following obli- 
 gations: first, to purify themselves, and to aspire daily 
 to higher degrees of sanctity and perfection, by prayer, 
 meditation, the perusal of pious books, and other de- 
 vout exercises; secondly, to employ eight months in 
 the year in the villages, and, in general, among the coun- 
 try people, in order to instruct them in the principles of 
 religion, form them to the practice of piety and virtue, 
 accommodate their differences, and administer consolation 
 and relief to the sick and indigent; thirdly, to inspect 
 and govern the seminaries in which persons designed 
 for holy orders receive their education, and to instruct the 
 candidates for the ministry, in the sciences that relate to 
 their respective vocations.» 
 
 The Priests of the Missions were also intrusted with 
 the direction and government of a female order called 
 Virgins of Love, or Daughters of Charity, whose office 
 t was to administer assistance and relief to indigent per- 
 
 sons, who were confined to their beds by sickness and 
 infirmity. ‘This order was founded by a noble virgin, 
 
 whose name was Louisa le Gras, and received, in 1660, 
 the approbation of Clement IX. ‘The Brethren and 
 
 Sisters of the pious and Christian schools, who are now 
 
 commonly called Pietists, were formed into a society in 
 1678, by Nicolas Barre, and obliged by their engagements 
 to devote themselves to the education of poor children of 
 both sexes.” It would be endless to mention all the reli- 
 gious societies which rose and fell, were formed by fits 
 of zeal, and dissolved by external incidents, or by their 
 own internal principles of instability and decay. 
 
 XXIX. If the Company of Jesus, which may be con- | 
 sidered as the soul of the papal hierarchy, and the main- | 
 
 spring that directs its motions, had not been invincible, it 
 must have sunk under the attacks of those formidable 
 
 a> * The Fathers of the Oratory will now be obliged, in a more par- 
 
 ticular manner, to extend their plan, since, by the suppression of the ! 
 
 Jesuits in France, the education of youth is committed to them. 
 
 b Abely’s Vie de Vincent de Paul—-Helyot, tom. vill. chap. xii— 
 Gallia Christiana, tom. vil. p. 998. 
 
 ¢ Gobillon’s Vie de Madame le Gras, Fondatrice des Filles de la 
 Charité, published at Paris, in 1676. 
 
 4 Helyot’s Histoire des Ordres, tom. viii. chap. xxx. p. 233. 
 
 * An account of this opposition to, and of these contests with the 
 Jesuits, would furnish matter for many volumes, since there is scarcely 
 any Roman catholic country which has not been the theatre of violent 
 divisions between the sons of Loyola, and the magistrates, monks, or 
 doctors, of the Romish church. In these contests, the Jesuits seemed 
 almost always to be vanquished; and, nevertheless, in the issue, they 
 always came victorious from the field of controversy. A Jansenist 
 writer proposed, some years ago, to collect into one relation the dis- 
 persed accounts of these contests, and to give a complete history of this 
 famous order. The first volume of his work accordingly appeared at 
 Utrecht, in 1741, was accompanied with a curious preface, and entitled, 
 Histoire des Religieux de la Compagnic de Jesus. If we may give 
 credit to what this writer tells us of the journeys he undertook, the 
 dangers and difficulties he encountered, and the number of years he spent 
 in investigating the proceedings, and in detecting the frauds and artifices 
 of the Jesuits, we must certainly be persuaded, that no man could be 
 better qualified for composing the history of this insidious order. But 
 this good man, returning imprudently into France, was discovered by 
 his exasperated enemies the Jesuits, and is said to have perished 
 miserably by their hands. Hence not above a third part of his intended 
 work was either published, or finished for the press. 37> Some things 
 may be added, both by way of correction and illustration, to what Dr. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMiSH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. li 
 
 enemies, who, during the course of this century assailed 
 it on all sides and from every quarter. When we consi- 
 der the multitude of the adversaries the Jesuits had to en- 
 counter, the heinous crimes with which they were charged, 
 the innumerable affronts they received, and the various 
 calamities in which they were involved, it must appear 
 astonishing that they yet subsist ; and still more so, that 
 they enjoy any degree of public esteem, and are not, on 
 the contrary, sunk in oblivion, or covered with infamy. 
 In France, Holland, Poland, and Italy, they experienced, 
 from time to time, the bitter effects of a warm and vehe- 
 ment opposition, and were, both in public and _ private, 
 accused of the greatest enormities, and charged with 
 maintaining pestilential errors and maxims, that were 
 equally destructive of the temporal and eternal interests 
 of mankind, by their tendency to extinguish the spirit of 
 true religion, and to trouble the order and peace of civil 
 society. The Jansenists, and all who espoused their 
 cause, distinguished themselves more especially in_ this 
 opposition. ‘They composed an innumerable multitude 
 of books, in order to cover the sons of Loyola with eter- 
 nal reproach, and to expose them to the hatred and scorn 
 of the universe. Nor were these productions mere defa~ 
 matory libels dictated by malice alone, or pompous decla- 
 mations, destitute of argument and evidence. On the 
 contrary, they were attended with the strongest demon- 
 stration, being drawn from undeniable facts, and confirm 
 ed by unexceptionable testimonies.e Yet all this was far 
 from overturning that fabric of profound and insidious 
 policy which the Jesuits had raised, under the protection 
 of the Roman pontiffs, and the connivance of deluded 
 princes-and nations. It seemed, on the contrary, as if 
 the opposition of such a multitude of enemies and ac- 
 cusers had strengthened their interest instead of dimi- 
 nishing it, and added to their affluence and prosperity, 
 instead of bringing on their destruction. Amidst the 
 storm that threatened them with a fatal shipwreck, they 
 directed their course with the utmost dexterity, tranquil- 
 lity and prudence. ‘Thus they safely reached the desired 
 harbour, and rose to the very summit of spiritual autho- 
 rity in the church of Rome. Avoiding, rather than repel- 
 
 Mosheim has here said concerning the history of the Jesuits and its 
 author. In the first place, its author or compiler is still alive, resides at 
 the Hague, passes by the name of Benard, is supposed to be a Janse- 
 nist, and a relative of the famous Father Quesnel, whom the Jesuits 
 persecuted with such violence in France. He is a native of France, 
 and belonged to the oratory. It is also true that he went thither from 
 Holland several years ago; and it was believed, that he had fallen a 
 victim to the resentment of the Jesuits, until his return to the Hague 
 proved that report false. Secondly, this history is carried no farther 
 down than the year 1572, notwithstanding the express promises and 
 engagements, by which our author bound himself, four and twenty 
 years ago,* (in the preface to his first volume,) to publish the whole in a 
 very short time, declaring that it was ready forthe press. This suspen- 
 sion is far from being honourable to M. Benard, as he is at full liberty 
 to accomplish his promise. ‘This has made some suspect, that, though 
 
 he is too much out of the Jesuits’ reach to be influenced by their threat- 
 enings, he is not too far from them to be moved by the eloquence of 
 their promises, or sufficiently firm and resolute to stand out against the 
 weighty remonstrances they may have employed to’ prevent the farther 
 publication of his history. It may be observed, thirdly, that the cnarac- 
 ter of a traveller, who has studied the manners and conduct of the 
 Jesuits in the most remarkable scenes of their transactions in Europe, 
 and the other parts of the globe, is here assumed by M. Benard as the 
 most pleasing manner of conveying the accounts which he compiled in 
 his closet. These accounts do not appear to be false, though the cha- 
 racter of a traveller, assumed by the compiler, be fictitious. It must be 
 | allowed, on the contrary, that M. Benard has drawn his relations from 
 good sources, though his style and manner cannot well be justified from 
 the charge of acrimony and malignity. 
 * 'The translator wrote this note in 1765. 
 
Part LI. 
 
 line the assault of their enemies, opposing, for the most 
 part, patience and silence to their redoubled insults, they 
 proceeded uniformly and steadily to their great purpose, 
 and they seemed to have attained it. For those very 
 nations who formerly looked upon a Jesuit as a kind of 
 monster, and as a public pest, commit, at this day, some 
 through necessity, some through choice, and others 
 through both, a great part of their interests and transac- 
 tions to the direction of this most artful and powerful 
 society." 
 
 XXX. All the different branches of literature received, 
 during this century, in the more polished Roman Catholic 
 countries, a new degree of lustre and improvement. 
 France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, produced seve- 
 ral men eminent for their genius, erudition, and acquain- 
 tance with the learned languages. ‘This happy circum- 
 stance must not, however, be attributed to the labour of 
 the schools, or to the methods and procedure of public 
 education ; for the old, dry, perplexing, inelegant, scholastic 
 method of instruction prevailed then, and indeed still takes 
 place in both the higher and lower seminaries of learning ; 
 and it is the peculiar tendency of this method to damp 
 genius, to depress (instead of exciting and encouraging) 
 the generous efforts of the mind toward the pursuit of 
 truth, and to load the memory with a multitude of insig- 
 nificant words and useless distinctions. It was beyond 
 the borders of these pedantic seminaries, that genius was 
 encouraged, and directed by great and eminent patrons 
 of science, who opened new paths to the attainment of 
 solid learning, and presented the sciences under a new 
 and engaging aspect to the studious youth. It must be 
 observed here, in justice to the French, that they bore a 
 distinguished part in this literary reformation. Excited 
 by their native force of genius, and animated by the en- 
 couragement which learning and learned men received 
 from the munificence of Louis XIV., they cultivated with 
 success almost every branch of literature, and, rejecting 
 the barbarous jargon of the schools, exhibited learning 
 under an elegant and alluring form, and thereby multiplied 
 
 the number of its votaries and patrons. It is well known ! 
 
 how much the example and labours of this polite nation 
 contributed to deliver other countries from the yoke of 
 scholastic bondage. 
 
 XXXI. The Aristotelians of this century were a set of 
 intricate dialecticians, who had the name of the Stagirite 
 always in their mouths, without the least portion of his 
 genius, or any tolerable knowledge of his system; and 
 they maintained their empire in the schools, notwithstand- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 {OMISH CHURCH. 557 
 ing the attempts that had been made to diminish their 
 credit. It was long before the court of Rome, which 
 beheld with terror whatever bore the smallest aspect of 
 novelty, could think of consenting to the introduction of 
 a more rational philosophy, or permit the modern disco- 
 veries in that noble science to be explained with freedom 
 in the public seminaries of learning. This appears suffi- 
 ciently from the fate of Galileo, the famous mathema- 
 tician of Florence, who was cast into prison by the court 
 of Inquisition, for adopting the sentiments of Copernicus, 
 with regard to the constitution of the solar system. It is 
 true, that Des-Cartes and Gassendi, one by his new phi- 
 losophy, and the other by his admirable writings, gave a 
 mortal wound to the Peripatetics, and excited a spirit of 
 liberty and emulation that changed the face of science in 
 France. It was under the auspicious influence of these 
 adventurous guides, that several ingenious men of that 
 nation abandoned the perplexed and intricate wilds of the 
 philosophy that was taught by the modern Aristotelians ; 
 and, throwing off the shackles of mere authority, dared 
 to consult the dictates of reason and experience, in the 
 study of nature, and in the investigation of truth. Among 
 these converts to true philosophy, several Jesuits, and a 
 still greater number of Jansenists and priests of the Ora- 
 tory, distinguished themselves; and, accordingly, we find 
 in this list the respectable names of Malebranche, Arnauld, 
 Lami, Nicole, Pascal, who acquired immortal fame by illus- 
 trating and improving the doctrine of Des-Cartes, and 
 accommodating it to the purposes of human life.t The 
 modesty, circumspection, and self-diffidence of Gassendi, 
 who confessed the scanty measure of his knowledge, and 
 pretended to no other merit than that of pointing out a 
 rational method of arriving at truth, while others boasted 
 that they had already found it out, rendered him disagree- 
 able in France. 'The ardent curiosity, the fervour, preci- 
 pitation, and impatience of that lively people, could not 
 bear the slow and cautious method of proceeding that was 
 recommended by the cool wisdom of this prudent inquirer. 
 They wanted to get at the summit of philosophy, without 
 climbing the steps that lead to it. ; 
 
 Toward the conclusion of this century, many eminent 
 men, in Italy and in other countries, followed the example 
 of the French, in throwing off the yoke of the Peripatetics, 
 and venturing into the paths that were newly opened for 
 the investigation oftruth. This desertion of the old phi- 
 losophy was at first attended with that timidity and secrecy 
 which arose from apprehensions of the displeasure and 
 resentment of the court of Rome; but, as soon as it was 
 
 * It may perhaps be affirmed with truth, that none of the Roman 
 catholic nations attacked the Jesuits with more vehemence and animo- 
 sity than the French did upon several occasions; and it is certain, that 
 the Jesuits inthat kingdom have been, more than once, involved in great 
 difficulties and distress. ‘To be convinced of this, the reader has only to 
 consult Du-Boulay’s Hist. Academiz Parisiensis, tom. vi. page 559, 648, 
 576, 738, 742, 763, 874, 890, 909, in which he will find an ample and 
 accurate account of the resolutions and transactions of the parliament 
 and university of Paris, and also of the proceedings of the people in 
 general, to the detriment of this artful and dangerous society. But 
 what was the final issue of all these resolutions and transactions, and in 
 what did all this opposition end? I answer, in the exaltation and 
 grandeur of the Jesuits. ‘They had been banished with ignominy out 
 of the kingdom, and were recalled from their exile, and honourably 
 restored to their former credit in 1604, in the reign of Henry IV., not- 
 withstanding the remonstrances of many persons of the highest rank 
 and dignity, who were shocked beyond expression at this unaccountably 
 mean and ignoble step, (see the Memoires de Sully, modern edition, 
 published at Geneva, tom. v. p. 83,314.) After that period, they moved 
 he main-springs of government both in church and state, and still 
 
 No. XLVI. 140 
 
 continue to sit, though invisibly, at the helm of both. #%> The reader 
 must be reminded, that this note was written by Dr. Mosheim some 
 years before the suppression of the society of Jesuits in France. 
 
 > For an ample account of this matter, see Voltaire’s Siecle de Louis 
 XIV. and more especially the chapter in the second volume relative to 
 the arts and sciences. 
 
 * See Gassendi Exercitationes Paradox adversus Aristoteleos, tom. 
 ili. op. This subtle and judicious work contributed, perhaps more than 
 any thing else, to hurt the cause, and ruin the credit, of the Peripatetics. 
 
 4 These great men were, indeed, very ill treated by the Peripatetics, 
 on account of their learned and excellent labours. ‘They were accused, 
 by these exasperated scholastics, of irreligion, and were even charged 
 with atheism by father Hardouin, who was really intoxicated with the 
 large draughts he had taken from the muddy fountains of Peripatetic 
 and scholastic science. See his Athei Detecti, in his Op. Posthum.—It 
 is easy to perceive the reasons of all this resentment, since the Cartesian 
 system, which aimed at restoring the authority of reason, and the light 
 | of true philosophy, was by no means so proper to defend the preten- 
 sions of Rome and the cause of popery, as the dark and intricate jargon 
 of the Peripatetics, 
 
558 
 
 known that the pontiffs beheld, with less indignation and 
 jealousy, the new discoveries in metaphysics, mathematics, 
 and natural philosophy, the deserters broke their chains 
 with greater confidence, and proceeded with greater free- 
 dom and boldness in the pursuit of truth. 
 
 X XXII. After this general account of the state of learn- 
 ing in the catholic countries, it will not be improper to 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 point out, in a more particular manner, those Romish | 
 
 writers, who contributed most to the propagation and im- 
 provement both of sacred and profane erudition during 
 this century. The Jesuits, for a long time, not only pos- 
 sessed an undisputed pre-eminence in this respect, but 
 were, moreover, considered as almost the sole fountains 
 of universal knowledge, and the only religious order that 
 made any great figure in the literary world. And it must 
 be allowed by all, “who are not misled by want of candour 
 or of proper infor mation, that this famous society was 
 adorned by many persons of uncommon genius and 
 learning. The names of Petau, Sirmond, Poussin, Labbe, 
 and Abram, will live as long as literature shall be honoured 
 and valued ; and even that of Hardouin, notwithstanding 
 the singularity of his disordered fancy, ‘and the extrava- 
 gance.of many of his opinions, will escape oblivion. 
 
 It is at the same time to be observed, that the literary 
 glory of the Jesuits suffered a remarkable eclipse in this 
 century, from the growing lustre of the Benedictine order, 
 and more especially of the Congregation of St. Maur. 
 The Jesuits were perpetually boasting of the eminent 
 merit and lustre of their society on the one hand, and 
 exposing, on the other, to public contempt, the ignorance 
 and stupidity of the Benedictines, who, indeed, “former ly 
 made a very different figure from what they do at pre- 
 sent. Their view in this was to form a plausible pretext 
 for invading the rights of the latter, and engrossing their 
 ample revenues and possessions; but the “Benedictines 
 resolved to disconcert this insidious project, to wipe off 
 the reproach of ignorance that had heretofore been cast 
 upon them with too much justice, and to disappoint the 
 rapacious avidity of their enemies, and rob them of their 
 pretexts. For this purpose they not only erected schools 
 in their monasteries, for the instruction of youth in the va- 
 rious branches of learning and science, but also employed 
 such of their select members, as were distinguished 
 by their erudition and genius, in composing a variety of 
 Jearned productions that were likely to survive the waste 
 of time, adapted to vindicate the honour of the fraternity, 
 and to reduce its enemies to silence. This important 
 task was executed with incredible ability and success by 
 Mabillon, D’Achery, Massuet, Ruinart, Beaugendre, Gar- 
 nier, De la Rue, Martenne, Montfaucon, and other emi- 
 nent men of that learned order. It is to these Benedic- 
 tines that we are indebted for the best editions of the 
 Greek and Latin fathers ; for the discovery of many curi- 
 ous records, and ancient documents, that throw a new 
 light upon the histor y of remote ages, and upon the an- 
 tiquities of various countries ; for the best accounts of 
 ancient transactions, whether ecclesiastical or political, 
 and of the manners and customs of the earliest times ; 
 for the improvement of chronology, and the other Priaiae 
 of literature. In all these parts of philology and the belles 
 
 | 
 
 Secr. IL. 
 
 lettres, the religious order, now under consideration, has 
 shone with a distinguished lustre, and given specimens 
 of knowledge, discernment, and industry, that are wor- 
 thy of being transmitted to the latest posterity. It would 
 be perhaps difficult to assign a reason for that visible de- 
 cline of learning among the Jesuits, which commenced 
 precisely at the very period when the Benedictines began 
 to make this eminent figure in the republic of letters. 
 The fact, however, is undeniable ; ; and the Jesuits have 
 long been at a loss to produce any one or more of their 
 members who are qualified to dispute the pre-eminence, 
 or even to claim an equality, with the Benedictines. The 
 latter still continue to shine in the various branches of 
 philology, and, almost every year, enrich the literary world 
 with productions that furnish abundant proofs of their 
 learning and industry ; whereas, if we except a single 
 work published by the Jesuits’of Antwerp, (the Acts ‘of 
 the Saints,) many years have passed since the sons of 
 Loyola have given any satisfactory proofs of their boasted 
 learning, or added to the mass of literature any work wor 
 thy to be compared with the labours of the followers of 
 Benedict. 
 
 These learned monks excited the emulation of the 
 Priests of the Oratory, whose efforts to resemble them 
 were far from being destitute of success. Several mem- 
 bers of the latter order distinguished themselves by their 
 remarkable proficiency in various branches both of sacred 
 and profane literature. ‘This, to mention no more exam- 
 ples, appears sufficiently from the writings of Morin, 
 ‘Thomassin, and Simon, and from that admirable work 
 of Charles le Cointe, entitled, The Ecclesiastical Annals 
 of France. 'The Jansenists also deserve a place in the 
 list of those who cultivated letters with industry and suc- 
 cess. Many of their productions abound with erudition, 
 
 and several of them excel both in elegance of style and 
 precision of method; and it may be said, in gener ral, that 
 their writings were eminently serviceable in the instruc- 
 tion of youth, and also proper to contribute to the progress 
 of learning among persons of riper years. The writings 
 of those who composed the community of Port-Royal, 
 the works of Tillemont, Arnauld, Nicole, Pascal, and 
 Lancelot, with many other elegant and useful productions 
 of persons of this class, were undoubtedly an ornament 
 to French literature during this century. The other reli- 
 gious societies, the higher and lower orders of the clergy, 
 had also among them men of learning and genius, who 
 reflected a lustre upon the respective classes to which they 
 belonged. Nor ought this to be a matter of astonishment, 
 since nothing is more natural than that, in an immense 
 multitude of monks and cler ey, all possessing abundant 
 leisure for study, and the best opportunities of improve- 
 ment, there should be some who, unwilling to hide or 
 throw away such a precious talent, would employ with 
 success this leisure, and these opportunities, in the culti- 
 vation of the sciences. It is nevertheless certain, that the 
 eminent men who were to be found beyond the limits of 
 the four classes already mentioned,” were few in number, 
 comparatively speaking, and scarcely exceeded the list 
 that any one of these classes could furnish. 
 
 XXXII. Hence it comes, that the church of Rome 
 
 * The denomination of Messieurs de ‘Port-Royal comprehended all 
 the Jansenist writers ; but it was applied, in a more confined and par- 
 ticular sense, to those Jansenists who passed their days in pious exer- 
 eises and literary pursuits in the reireat of Port-Royal, a mansion situa- 
 
 ted near Paris. It is well known, 
 genius, extensive learning, 
 sanctuary of letters, 
 
 b The Jesuits, Benedictines, Priests of the Oratory, and Jansenists. 
 
 that several writers of superior 
 and uncommon eloquence, resided in this 
 
Part I. 
 
 can produce a long list of writers who have arisen in its 
 bosom, and acquired a shining and permanent reputation 
 by their learned productions. At the head of the emi- 
 nent authors, found among the monastic orders and the 
 regular clerzy, must be placed the cardinals Baronius and 
 Bellarmine, who have obtained an immortal name in 
 their church, one by his laborious Annals, and the other 
 by his books of controversy. The other writers who be- 
 long to this class,-are, Serrarius, Fevardentius, Possevin, 
 Gretser, Combefis, nats Alexander, Becan, Sirmond, 
 Petau, Poussin, Cellot, Caussin, Morin, Renaud, Fra- 
 Paolo, Pallavicini, Labbe, Maimbourg, homassin, Sfon- 
 drati, Aguirre, Henry Norris, D’Achery, Mabillon, Har- 
 douin, Simon, Ruinart, Montfaucon, Galloni, Scacchi, 
 Cornelius a Lapide, Bonfrere, Menard, Seguenot, Ber- 
 nard, Lamy, Bolland, Henschen, Papebroch, and others. 
 
 The principal among the secular clergy, who are nei- 
 ther bound by vows, nor attached to any peculiar com- 
 munity and rules of discipline, were, Perron, Estius, 
 Launoy, Albaspinzeus, Peter de Marca, Richelieu, Hol- 
 stenius, Baluze, Bona, Huet, Bossuet, Fenelon, Godeau, 
 Ay illemont, Thiers, Du-Pin, Leo Allatius, Zaccagni, Cote- 
 lier, Filesac, Visconti, &c.* This list might be consider- 
 ably augmented by adding to it those writers among the 
 laity who distinguished themselves by their theological or 
 literar y productions. 
 
 XXXIV. If we take an accurate view of the religious 
 
 system of the Romish church during this century, “both | 
 
 with respect to articles of faith and rules of practice, we 
 shall find that, instead of being improved by being brought 
 nearer to the perfect model of doctrine and morals, exhi- 
 bited to us in the Holy Scriptures, it had contracted new 
 degrees of corruption and degeneracy, partly by the neg- 
 ligence of the pontiffs, and partly by the dangerous max: 
 ims and influence of the Jesuits. 'This is not only the 
 observation of those who have renounced the Romish com- 
 munion, and in the despotic style of that church are called 
 heretics ; it is the complaint of the wisest and worthiest 
 part of that communion, of all its members who have a 
 zeal for the advancement of true Christian knowledge and 
 genuine piety. 
 
 As to the doctrinal part of the Boneh religion, it is 
 said, and not without foundation, to have suffered ex- 
 tremely i in the hands of the Jesuits, who, under the con- 
 nivance, and sometimes even by the immediate assistance 
 of the pontiffs, have perverted and corrupted such of the 
 fundamental doctrines of Christianity as were left entire 
 by the council of ‘Trent. ‘There are proofs sufficient to 
 support this charge ; inasmuch as the subtle and insidious 
 fathers have manifestly endeavoured to diminish the autho- 
 rity and importance of the Scriptures, have extolled the 
 power of human nature, changed the sentiments of many 
 with respect to the necessity and efficacy of divine grace, 
 represented the mediation and sufferings of Christ as less 
 powerful and meritorious than they are said to be in the 
 sacred writings, turned the Roman pontiff into a terres- 
 trial Deity, and put him almost upon an equal footing 
 with the Divine Saviour; and, finally, have rendered, as 
 far as they can, the truth of the Christian religion dubious, 
 by their fallacious reasonings, and their artful and per- 
 nicious sophistry. ‘he testimonies adduced to support 
 these accusations by men of weight and meritwparticu- 
 
 ® For a particular account of the respective merit of the writers here 
 
 HISTORY OF 'THE ROMISH CHURCH. , 559 
 
 ‘larly among the Jansenists, are of very great authority ; 
 and it is extreme ly difficult to refuse our assent to them, 
 when they are impartially examined: but, on the other 
 hand, it may be easily proved, that the Jesuits, instead 
 of inventing these pernicious doctrines, did no more, in 
 reality, than propagate them as they uid them in that 
 ancient system of religion which preceded the Reform- 
 ation, and was directly calculated to raise the authority 
 of the pope, and the power and prerogatives of the church, 
 to the highest pitch of despotic grandeur. 'T'o inculcate 
 this form of doctrine was the direct vocation of the Jesuits, 
 who were to derive all their credit, opulence, and influ- 
 ence, from their being considered as the main support of 
 the papacy, and the peculiar favourites of the pontiffs. If 
 the ultimate end and purpose of these pontiffs were to 
 render the church more pure and holy, and to bring it as 
 near as possible to the resemblance of its Divine F° ounder, 
 and if this were the commission they gave to their favour- 
 ite emissaries the doctors, then the Jesuits would be at 
 liberty to preach a very different doctrine from what they 
 now inculcate. But that liberty cannot be granted to 
 them as long as their principal orders from the papal 
 throne are, to use all their diligence and industry, to the 
 end that the pontifls may hold what they have acquired, 
 and recover what they have lost, and that the bishops 
 and other ministers of the church may daily see their 
 opulence increase, and the limits of their authority ex- 
 tended and enlarged. The chief crime then of the Jesuits 
 is really this, that they have explained, with more open- 
 hess and perspicuity, those pomts which the leading 
 managers in the council of Trent had either entirely 
 omitted, or slightly mentioned, that they might not shock 
 the friends of true religion, who composed a part of that 
 famous assembly. And here we see the true reason why 
 the pontiffs, notwithstanding the ardent solicitations and 
 remonstrances that have been employed to arm their just 
 severity against the Jesuits, have always maintained that 
 artful order, and have been so deaf to the accusations of 
 their adversaries, that no entreaties have been able to per- 
 suade them to condemn their religious principles and 
 tenets, however erroneous in their nature, and pernicious 
 in their effects. On the contrary, the court of Rome has 
 always opposed, either in a public or clandestine manner, 
 all the vigorous measures that have been used to procure 
 the condenmation and suppression of the doctrine of the 
 Jesuits ; and it has constantly treated all such attempts 
 as the projects of rash and imprudent men, who, through 
 involuntary ignorance or obstinate prejudice, were blind 
 to the true interest of the church. 
 
 XXXYV. In the sphere of morals, the Jesuits made still 
 more dreadful and atrocious inroads than in that of reli 
 gion. In affirming that they have perverted and corrupted 
 almost every branch and precept of morality, we should 
 not express sufficiently the pernicious tendency of their 
 maxims. Were we to go still farther, and maintain, that 
 they have sapped and destroyed its very foundations, we 
 should maintain no more than what innumerable writers 
 of the Romish church abundantly testify, and what many 
 of the most illustrious communities of that church pub- 
 licly lament. Those who bring this dreadful charge 
 against the sons of Loyola, have taken abundant pre- 
 cautions to vindicate themselves from the reproach of 
 
 mentioned, see Du-Pin’s His. des Ecrevains Eccles. t. XVil Xvill, Xix. 
 
560 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 «< 
 
 calumny. They have published several maxims, incon- 
 sistent with all regard for virtue and even decency, which 
 they have drawn from the moral writings of that order, 
 and more especially from the numerous productions of its 
 casuists. "hey observe, more particularly, that the whole 
 society adopts and inculcates the following maxims : 
 
 “ That persons truly wicked, ahd void of the love of 
 God, may expect to obiain eternal life in heaven, provided 
 hat they be impressed with a fear of the divine anger, 
 
 nd avoid all hetnous and enormous crimes through the 
 dread of future punishment. 
 
 “ That those persons may transgress with safety, who 
 have a probable reason for transgressing, 1. e. any plausible 
 argument or authority in favour of the sin they are in- 
 clined to commit.* 
 
 “That actions intrinsically evil, and directly contrary 
 to the divine laws, may be innocently performed, by those 
 who have so much power over their own minds, as to join, 
 even ideally, a good end to this wicked action, or (to speak 
 in the style of the Jesuits) who are capable,of rightly 
 directing their mtention.> 
 
 “That philosophical sin is of a very light and trivial 
 nature, and does not deserve the pains of hell:—By phi- 
 losophical sin the Jesits mean an action contrary to the 
 
 Sect. IL 
 dictates of nature and right reason, done by a person who 
 is ignorant of the written law of God, or doubtful © of its 
 true meaning. 
 
 “ That the transgressions committed by a person blind- 
 ed by the seduction of lust, agitated by the impulse of 
 tumultuous passions, and destitute of all sense and im- 
 pression of religion, however detestable and heinous they 
 may be in themselves, are not imputable to the transgres- 
 sor before the tribunal of God; and that such transgres 
 sions may often be as involuntary as the actions of a 
 madman : 
 
 “That the person who takes an oath, or enters into a 
 contract, may, to elude the force of the one, and the obli- 
 gation of the other, add, to the form of words by which 
 they are expressed, certain mental additions and tacit 
 reservations.” 
 
 These, and other enormities of a like nature,’ are 
 said to make an essential part of the system of morality 
 inculcated by the Jesuits. And they were complained 
 of, in the strongest remonstrances, not only by the Domi- 
 nicans and Jansenists, but also by the most eminent theo- 
 logians of Paris, Poictiers, Louvain, and other academical 
 cilies, who expressed their abhorrence of them in such a 
 public and solemn manner, that the pontiff neither thought 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 24 * This is one of the mist corrupt and most dangerous maxims 
 of the Jesuits. On one hand, t-ey have among them doctors of different 
 characters and different princip..s, that thus they may render their 
 society recommendable in the eyes of all sorts of persons, the licentious 
 as well as the austere. Onthe otha hey maintain, that an opinion or 
 practice, reeommended by any one doctor, becomes thereby probable, as 
 it is not to be supposed, that a learned divine would adopt an opinion, 
 or recommend a practice, in favour of which no considerable reason 
 could be alleged.—But here les the poison: this probable opinion or 
 practice may be followed, say the Jesuits, when the contrary is still 
 more probable, and even when it is swre, because, though the man may 
 err, he errs under the authority of an eminent doctor. Thus Escobar 
 affirms, that a judge may decide in favour of that side of a question 
 which is the least probable, and even against his own opinion, if he be 
 supported by any tolerable authority. See the vilith of the Lettres 
 Provinciales. 
 
 3+ >For example, an ecclesiastic who buys a benefice, in order to 
 direct his intention rightly, must, by a powerful act of abstraction, turn 
 away his thoughts from the crime of simony, which he is committing, 
 to some lawful purpose, such as that of acquiring an ample subsistence, 
 or that of doing good by instructing the ignorant. Thus again, a man 
 who runs his neighbour through the body in a duel, on account of a 
 trivial affront, to render his action lawful, has only to turn his thoughts 
 from the principal of vengeance, to the more decent principle of honour, 
 and the murder he commits will, by the magic power of Jesuitical 
 morality, be converted into an innocent action, ‘There is no crime or 
 enormity to which this abominable maxim may not be extended. “A 
 famous Jesuit has declared, that a son may wish for the death of his 
 father, and even rejoice at it when it arrives, provided that his wish 
 does not arise from any personal hatred, but only from a desire of the 
 patrimony which this death will procure him.” See Gaspard Hurtado, 
 de sub. peceat. definit. 9, quoted by Diana, p. 5. tr. 14. R. 99, and ano- 
 ther has had the effrontery to maintain, that a monk or ecclesiastic may 
 lawfully assassinate a calumniator, who threatens to impute scandalous 
 crimes to their community, when there is no other way of preventing the 
 execution of his purpose. See the works of Father L’Amy, tom. v. 
 disp. 36, n. 118. 
 
 3 ° It would perhaps be more accurate to define the philosophical 
 sin of the Jesuits to be “an action contrary to right reason, which is 
 done by a person who is either absolutely ignorant of God, or does not 
 think of him during the time this action is committed.” 
 
 4 The books that have been written to expose and refute the corrupt 
 and enormous maxims of the Jesuits, would make an ample library, were 
 they collected. But nothing of this kind is equal to the learned, inge- 
 nious, and humorous work of the famous Pascal, entitled, Les Provin- 
 eciales, ou Lettres ecrites par Louis de Montalte & un Provincial de ses 
 amis, et aux Jesuites, sur la Morale et la Politique de ces Peres. This 
 exquisite production is accompanied, in some editions of it, with the 
 learned and judicious observations of Nicole, who, under the fictitious 
 name of Guillaume Wenderock, fully demonstrated the truth of those 
 facts which Pagcal had advanced without quoting his authorities, and 
 placed, in a full and striking light, several interesting circumstances 
 which that great man had treated with, perhaps, too much brevity. 
 
 These letters, which did the Jesuits more real mischief than either 
 the indignation of sovereign princes, or any other calamity that had 
 heretofore fallen upon their order, were translated into Latin by Rache- 
 lius. On the other hand, the sons of Loyola, sensibly affected and 
 alarmed by this formidable attack upon their reputation, left no means 
 unemployed to defend themselves against such a respectable adversary. 
 They sent forth their ablest champions to defend their cause, or, at least, 
 to cover them from shame: among which champions the subtle and 
 eloquent I’ather Daniel, the celebrated author of the History of Irance, 
 shone forth with a superior lustre; and, as if they thought it unsafe to 
 trust to the powers of argument, and the force of evidence alone, they 
 applied themselves for help to the secular arm, and had eredit enough to 
 obtain a sentence, condemning the Provinciales to be burned publicly 
 at Paris. See Daniel’s Opuscules, vol. i. p. 363. This author, how- 
 ever, acknowledges that the greatest part of the answers which the 
 Jesuits opposed to the performance of Pascal were weak and unsatis- 
 factory. Certain it is, that (whether it was owing to the strength of argu- 
 ment, or to the elegant wit and humour that reigned in them,) the Pro- 
 vincial Letters lost not the smatlest portion of their credit and reputation 
 by all the answers that were made to them, but continued to pass through 
 a great number of editions, which could scarcely be printed off with 
 rapidity suflicient to satisfy the desires of the public. 
 
 Another severe attack was made upon the Jesuits, in a book inferior 
 to Pascal’s work in point of wit and genteel pleasantry, but superior 
 to it in point of evidence, since it abounds with passages and testimo- 
 nies, which are drawn from the most applauded writings of the Jesuits, 
 and demonstrate fully the corruption and enormity of the moral rules 
 and maxims inculcated by that famous order. This book, which was 
 published at Mons in 1702, bears the following title: La Morale des 
 Jesuites, extraite fidélement de leurs Livres imprimez avec la permis- 
 sion et approbation des Superieurs de leur Compagnie, par un Docteur 
 de Sorbonne. The author was Perrault, (son of Charles Perrault, who 
 began the famous controversy in France concerning the respective 
 merits of the ancients and moderns,) and his book met with the: same 
 fate with the Provinciales of Pascal: for it was burned at Paris in 1670, 
 at the request of the Jesuits. See the Opuscules du Pere Daniel, t. i. p. 
 356. Nor indeed is it at all surprising, that the Jesuits exerted all their 
 zeal against this compilation, which exhibited, in one shocking point of 
 view, all that had been complained of and censured in their maxims and 
 institutions, and unfolded the whole mystery of their iniquity. 
 
 It has also been laid to the charge of the Jesuits, that they reduced 
 their pernicious maxims to practice, especially in the remoter parts of 
 the world. Arnauld, and some of his Jansenist brethren, ably endea- 
 voured to support this charge in that laborious and celebrated work, 
 entitled La Morale Pratique des Jesuites. In this important work, a 
 multitude of authentic relations, documents, facts, and testimonies, are 
 employed to demonstrate the criminal conduct and practices of the 
 Jesuits. For an ample account of the Jesuitical doctrine concerning 
 philosophical sin, and the dissensions and controversies it occasioned, 
 see Jacobi Hyacinthi Serry.* Addenda ad Histor. Congregationum de 
 Auxiliis,@p. 82; as also his Auctarium, p. 289. 
 
 xr * This is a fictitious name; the true name of the author of th 
 Addenda was Augustin Le Blane. 
 
 a a 
 
Part [. 
 
 it safe nor honourable to keep silence on that head. Ac- 
 cordingly some of these maxims were condemned, in 1659, 
 by pope Alexander VIL. in a public edict; and, in 1690, 
 the article relating to philosophical sin met with the same 
 fate, under the pontificate of Alexander VIIL.*. It was 
 natural to think, that, if the order of Jesuits did not ex- 
 pire under the terrible blows it received from such a for- 
 midable list of adversaries, yet their system of morals 
 riust at least have been suppressed, and their pestilential 
 maxims banished from the schools. 'This is the least 
 that could have been expected from the complaints and 
 remonstrances of the clerical and monastic orders, and 
 the damnatory bulls of the pontiffs. And yet, if we may 
 credit the testimonies of many learned and pious men in 
 the communion of Rome, even this effect was not produc- 
 ed; and the remonstrances of the monks, the complaints 
 of the clergy, and the bulls of the popes, rather served to 
 restrain, in a certain measure, the enormous licentiousness 
 that had reigned among the writers of this corrupt order, 
 than to purify the seminaries of instruction from the con- 
 tagion of their dissolute maxims.—After what has been 
 observed in relation to the moral system of the Jesuits, it 
 will not be difficult to assign a reason for the remarkable 
 propensity that is discovered by kings, princes, the nobi- 
 lity and gentry of both sexes, and an innumerable multi- 
 tude of persons of all ranks and conditions, tocommit their 
 consciences to the direction, and their souls to the care, of 
 the brethren of this society. It is, no doubt, highly con- 
 venient for persons, who do not pretend to a rigid obser- 
 vance of the duties of religion and morality, to have spi- 
 ritual guides, who diminish the guilt of transgression, 
 disguise the deformity of vice, let loose the reins to all 
 the passions, and even nourish them by their dissolute 
 precepts, and render the way to heaven as easy, agreeable, 
 and smooth as is possible.® 
 
 What has here been said concerning the erroneous 
 maxims and corrupt practices of the Jesuits, must, how- 
 ever, be understood with modifications and restrictions. 
 It must not be imagined, that these maxims are adopted, 
 or these practices justified, by all the sons of Loyola, with- 
 out exception, or that they are publicly taught and incul- 
 cated in all their schools and seminaries: for this, in re- 
 ality, is not the case. As this order has produced men 
 of learning and genius, so neither has it been destitute 
 of men of probity and candour; nor would it be a diffi- 
 cult task to compile from the writings of the Jesuits a 
 much more just and proper representation of the duties 
 of religion and the obligations of morality, than that 
 hideous and unseemly exhibition of both, which Pascal 
 and his followers have drawn from the Jesuitical casuists, 
 summists; and moralists. Those who censure the Jesuits 
 in general, must, if their censures be well founded, have 
 the following circumstances in view; first, that the 
 rulers of that society not only suffer many of their mem- 
 bers to propagate publicly impious opinions and corrupt 
 maxims, but even go so far as to set the seal of their 
 
 * There is a concise and accurate account of the contests and divisions, 
 to which the morality of the Jesuits gave rise in France and in other 
 countries, in a work, entitled, Catechisme Historique et Dogmatique sur 
 les Contestations qui divisent maintenant l’Eglise, published in 1730. 
 See tom. i. p. 26.—It is very remarkable, that the two bulls of Alexan- 
 der VII. and VIII. against the Jesuits are not to be found in the Bulla- 
 rium Pontificum; but the Jansenists and Dominicans, who are careful 
 
 in perpetuating whatever may tend to the dishonour of the Jesuits, have 
 preserved them industriously from oblivion. 
 
 No, XLVIII. 141 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 561 
 
 approbation to the books in which these opinions and 
 maxims are contained ;* secondly, that the system of 
 religion and morality, taught in the greatest part of their 
 seminaries, is so loose, vague, and ill-digested, that it not 
 only may be easily perverted to bad purposes and erro- 
 neous conclusions, but even seems peculiarly susceptible 
 of such abuse ; and lastly, that the select few, who are 
 initiated into the grand mysteries of the society, and set 
 apart to transact its affairs, to carry on its projects, to exert 
 their political talents in the closet of the minister, or in 
 the cabinet of the prince, commonly make use of the 
 dangerous and pernicious maxims that are complained 
 of to augment the authority and opulence of their order. 
 The candour and impartiality that become an historian, 
 oblige us to acknowledge, at the same time, that, in de- 
 monstrating the turpitude and enormity of certain max- 
 ims and opinions of the Jesuits, their adversaries have 
 gone too far, and permitted their eloquence and zeal to 
 run into exaggeration. ‘l'his we might show, with the 
 fullest evidence, by examples deduced from the doctrines 
 of probability and mental reservation, and the imputa- 
 tions that have been made to the Jesuits on these heads; 
 but this would lead us too far from the thread of our his- 
 tory. We shall only observe, that what happens fre- 
 quently in every kind of controversy, happened here in 
 asingular manner; I mean, that the Jesuits were charg- 
 ed with tenets, which had been drawn consequentially 
 from their doctrine, by their accusers, without their con- 
 sent ; that their phrases and terms were not always in- 
 terpreted according to the precise meaning which they 
 annexed to them; and that the tendency of their sys- 
 tem was represented in too partial and unequitable a 
 light. 
 
 XXXVI. The Scriptures did not acquire any new 
 degrees of public respect and authority under the pontiffs 
 of this century. It can be proved, on the contrary, by 
 the most authentic records, that the votaries of Rome, and 
 more especially the Jesuits, employed all their dexterity 
 and art, either to prevent the word of God from falling 
 into the hands of the people, or at least to have it explain- 
 ed in a manner consistent with the interest, grandeur, 
 and pretensions of their church. In France and the 
 Netherlamds there arose, indeed, several commentators 
 and critics, who were very far from being destitute of 
 knowledge and erudition; but it may nevertheless be said 
 of them, that, instead of illustrating and explaining the 
 divine oracles, they rendered them more obscure, by 
 blending their own crude inventions with the dictates of 
 celestial wisdom. 'This is chargeable even upon the Jan- 
 senists, who, though superior to the other Roman catho- 
 lic expositors in most respects, yet fell into that absurd 
 method of disfiguring the pure word of God, by far-fetched 
 allusions, mystic interpretations, and frigid allegories, 
 compiled from the reveries of the ancient fathers. Here, 
 nevertheless, an exception is to be made in favour of 
 Pasquier Quesnel, a priest of the oratory, whose edition 
 
 > The translator has here inserted in the text the note 9 of the original. 
 
 x%> © This is, no doubt, true. The Jesuits have doctors of all sorts 
 and sizes; and this, indeed, is necessary, in order to the establishment 
 of that universal empire at which they aim. See Lettres Provinciales, 
 let. v. p. 62 of the tenth Cologne edition. Te 
 
 4 The reader will find a striking example of this in the well-known 
 Bible of Isaac le Maitre, commonly called Sacy, which contains all the 
 erude and extravagant fancies and allegories, with which the ancient 
 doctors obscured the beautiful simplicity of the Scriptures, and rendered 
 their clearest expressions intricate and mysterious. 
 
562 
 
 of the New Testament, accompanied with pious medita- 
 tions and remarks, made such a prodigious noise in the 
 theological world,* and even in our time has continued to 
 furnish matter of warm and violent contest, and to split 
 the Roman catholic doctors into parties and factions.” 
 
 XXXVI. The majority of the public schools retained 
 that dry, intricate, and captious method of teaching theo- 
 logy, which had prevailed in the ages of barbarism and 
 darkness, and which could only excite disgust in all such 
 as were endowed with a liberal turn of mind. ‘There was 
 no possibility of ordering matters so, that didactic or bibli- 
 cal theology, which is supposed to arrange and illustrate 
 the truths of religion by the dictates of Scripture, should 
 be placed upon the same footing, and holden in the same 
 honour with scholastic divinity, which had its source in 
 the metaphysical visions of the Peripatetic philosophy. 
 Even the edicts of the pontiffs were insufficient to accom- 
 plish this object. In the greatest part of the universities, 
 the scholastic doctors domineered, and were constantly 
 molesting and insulting the biblical divines , who, generally 
 speaking, were little skilled in the captious arts of sophis- 
 try and dialectical chicane. It is nevertheless to be ob- 
 served, that many of the French doctors, and more espe- 
 cially the Jansenists, explained the principal doctrines and 
 duties of Christianity in a style and manner that were at 
 least recommendable on account of their elegance and per- 
 spicuity; and indeed it may be affirmed, that almost all 
 the theological or moral treatises of this age, that were 
 composed with an y tolerable degree of simplicity and good 
 sense, had the doctors of Port- Royal, or the French priests 
 of the orator y, for their authors. We have already taken 
 notice of the changes that were introduced, during this 
 
 century, into the method of carrying on theological con- 
 troversy. he German, Belgic, and French divines, being 
 at length convinced, by disagreeable experience, that their 
 captious, incoherent, and uncharitable manner of disput- 
 ing , exasperated those who differed from them in their 
 religious sentiments, and confirmed them in their respec- 
 tive systems, instead of converting them ;—and perceiv- 
 ing, moreover, that the arguments in which they had 
 formerly placed their principal confidence, proved feeble 
 and insufficient to make the least impression,—found it 
 necessary to look out for new and more specious methods 
 of attack and defence. 
 
 XXXVUT. The Romish church has, notwithstanding 
 its boasted uniformity of doctrine, been always divided by 
 a multitude of controversies. It would be endless to enu- 
 merate the disputes that have arisen between the semi- 
 naries of learning, and the contests that have divided the 
 monastic orders. ‘The greatest part of these, as being of 
 little moment, we shall pass over in silence; for they have 
 been treated with indifference and neglect by the popes, 
 who never took notice of them but when they grew violent 
 and noisy, and then suppressed them with an imperious 
 
 nod, that imposed silence upon the contending parties. Be- 
 sidéa, these less momentous controversies, which it will ne- 
 ver be possible entirely to extinguish, are not of such a na- 
 ture as to affect the church in its fundamental principles, to 
 
 x¢> * That is, in the Roman Catholic part of the theological world. 
 Never perhaps did any thing show, in a more striking manner, the 
 plind zeal of faction than the hard treatment this book met with. See 
 Cent. xviii. sect. x. note 
 
 > The first part of this work, which contains observations on the four 
 Gospels, was published in 1671; and, as it was received with general 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. IL. 
 
 endanger its constitution, or to hurt its interests. It will, 
 therefore, be sufficient to give a brief account of those de- 
 bates which, by their superior importance and their various 
 connexions and dependencies, may be said to have affected 
 the church in general, and to have threatened it with 
 alarming changes and revolutions. 
 
 And here the first place is naturally due to the famous 
 debates, carried on between the Jesuits and Dominicans 
 concerning the nature and necessity of divine grace ; the 
 decision of which important point had, toward the conclu- 
 sion of the preceding century, been committed by Clement 
 VILL. toa select assembly of learned divines. ‘These arbi- 
 ters, after having employed several years in deliberating 
 upon this nice and critical subject, and in examining the 
 arguments of the contending parties, intimated, plainly _ 
 enough, to the pontiff, that the sentiments of the Domini- 
 cans, concerning grace, predestination, human liberty, and 
 original sin, were more conformable to the doctrine of 
 Scripture and the decisions of the ancient fathers than 
 the opinions of Molina, which were patronised by the 
 Jesuits. They observed, more especially, that the former 
 leaned toward the tenets of Augustine, while the latter 
 bore a striking resemblance to the Pelagian heresy. In 
 consequence of this declaration, Clement seemed resolved 
 to pass condemnation on the Jesuits, and to determine the 
 controversy in favour of the Dominicans. Affairs were in 
 this state in 1601, when the Jesuits, alarmed at the dan- 
 gers that threatened them, beset the old pontiff night and 
 day, and so importuned him with entreaties, menaces, 
 arguments, and complaints, that, in 1602, he consented tu 
 re-examine this intricate controversy, and undertook him- 
 self the critical task of principal arbitrator. For this pur- 
 pose, he chose a councils (composed of fifteen cardinals, 
 nine professors of divinity, and five bishops,) which, in 
 the course of three years,‘ assembled seventy-eight times. 
 or, to speak in the style of Rome, held so many congye- 
 gations. At these meetings, the pontiff heard, at one 
 time, the Jesuits and Dominicans disputing in favour of 
 their respective systems; and, at another, ordered the 
 assembled doctors to weigh their reasons, and examine 
 the proofs that were adduced on both sides of this difficult 
 question. ‘lhe result of this examination is not known 
 with certainty ; as the death of Clement, which happened 
 on the fourth day of March, 1605, prevented his pro- 
 nouncing a decisive sentence. ‘The Dominicans assure 
 us, that the pope, had he lived, would have condemned 
 Molina. 'The Jesuits, on the contrary, maintain, that he 
 would have acquitted him publicly from all charge of 
 heresy and error. "They alone who have seen the records 
 of this council and the journals of its proceedings, are qua- 
 lified to determine which of the two we are to believe ; 
 but these records are kept with the utmost secrecy at 
 Rome. 
 
 XXXIX. The proceedings of the congregation that 
 had been assembled by Clement were suspended for some 
 time, by the death of that pontiff; but they were resumed, 
 in the same year, by the order of Paul V. his successor. 
 Their deliberations, which were continued from September 
 
 applause, this encouraged the author not only to revise and augment it, 
 but also to enlarge his plan, and compose observations on the other 
 books of the N. ay est. See the Catech. Hist. sur les Centest. de l’Eglise, 
 t. ii. p. 150.—Ch. Eberh. Weismanni Hist.Eccles. sec. XVII. p. 588. 
 x ° This council was called the congregation de Awxilits. 
 4 From the 20th of March, 1602, to the 22d of J anuary, 1605. 
 
Bier L HISTORY OF THE 
 
 to the following March, did not turn so much upon the me- | 
 rits of the cause, which were already sufficiently examined, | 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 563 
 
 of this famous controversy, by his apprehensions of offend 
 ing either the king of I*rance, who protected the Jesuits, 
 
 as upon the prudent and proper method of finishing the || or the king of Spain, who warmly maintained the cause 
 contest. ‘The great question now was, whether the well- of the Dominicans. It is farther probable, and almost cer- 
 
 being of the church would admit the decision of this con- | 
 troversy by a papal bull; and, if such a decision should | 
 seem advisable, it still remained to be considered, in what | 
 terms the bull should be drawn up. All these long and | 
 solemn deliberations resembled the delivery of the moun- 
 
 tain in the fable, and ended in this resolution, that the | 
 
 whole controversy, instead of being decided, should be 
 suppressed, and that each of the contending parties 
 should have the liberty of following their* respective 
 opinions. ‘lhe Dominicans assert, that the two pontiffs, 
 together with the congregation of divines employed by 
 them in the review of this important controversy, were 
 fully persuaded of the justice of their cause, and of the 
 truth of ¢heir system; they moreover observe, that Paul 
 had expressly ordered a solemn condemnation of the doc- 
 trine of the Jesuits to be drawn up, but was prevented 
 from finishing and publishing it, by the unhappy war 
 that was kindled about that time between him and the 
 Venetians. ‘The Jesuits, on the other hand, represent 
 these accounts of the Dominicans as entirely fictitious, 
 and affirm that neither the pontiff, nor the more judicious 
 and respectable members of the congregation, found any 
 thing in the sentiments of Molina that was worthy of 
 censure, or stood in much need of correction. In a point 
 which is rendered thus uncertain by contradictory testi- 
 monies and assertions, it is difficult to determine what we 
 are to believe ; it however appears exceedingly probable, 
 that, whatevex the private opinion of Paul may have been, 
 he was prevented from pronouncing a public determination 
 
 * Beside the authors we have above recommended as proper to be 
 consulted in relation to these contests, see Le Clerc, Memoires pour ser- 
 vir a1’Histoire des Controverses dans |’Eglise Romaine sur la Predesti- 
 nation et sur la Grace, in his Bibliotheque Universelle et Historique, 
 tom. xiv. p, 235. The conduct, both of the Jesuits and Dominicans, 
 after their controversy was hushed, affords much reason to presume that 
 they had been both secretly exhorted by the pontiff to mitigate their 
 respective systems, and so to modify their doctrines or expressions, as 
 to avoid the reproach of heresy that had been cast upon them; for the 
 Jesuits had been accused of Pelagianism, and the Dominicans of a pro- 
 pensity to the tenets of the protestantchurches. This appears, in a more 
 particular manner, from a letter written by Claudius Aquaviva, general 
 of the Jesuits, in 1613, and addressed to all the members of his order. 
 In this letter the prudent general modifies with great dexterity and cau- 
 tion the sentiments of Molina, and enjoins it upon the brethren of the 
 society to teach every where the doctrine which represents the Supreme 
 Being as electing, freely, to eternal life, without any regard had to their 
 merits, those whom he has been pleased to render partakers of that 
 inestimable blessing; but, at the same time, he exhorts them to incul- 
 eate this doctrine in such a manner, as not to give up the tenets relating 
 to divine grace, which they had maintained in their controversy with 
 the Dominicans. Never, surely, was such a contradictory exhortation 
 or order heard of; the good general thought, nevertheless, that he could 
 reconcile abundantly these contradictions, by that branch of the divine 
 knowledge which is called, by the schoolmen, scientia media. See the 
 Catechisme Historique sur les Dissensions de |’Eglise, tom. i. p. 207. 
 
 On the other hand, the Dominicans, although their sentiments remain 
 the same as they were before the commencement of this controversy, 
 have learned to cast a kind of ambiguity and obscurity over their theo- 
 logical system, by using certain terms and expressions, which are mani- 
 festly borrowed from the schools of the Jesuits ; and this they do to pre- 
 vent the latter from reproaching them with a propensity to the doctrine 
 of Calvin. They are, moreover, much less remarkable than formerly, 
 for their zealous opposition to the Jesuits, which may be owing perhaps 
 to prudent reflections on the dangers they may have been involved in 
 by this opposition, and the fruitless pains and labour it has cost. them. 
 The Jansenists reproach them severely with this change of conduct, 
 and consider it as a manifest and notorious apostac from divine truth. 
 See the Lettres Provinciales of Pascal, lettre ii. ¢ are not, however, 
 
 tain, that, had the pontiff been independent of all foreign 
 
 | influence, and at full liberty to decide this knotty point, 
 
 | he would have pronounced one of those ambiguous sen- 
 'tences, for which the oracle of Rome is so famous, and 
 ‘would have so conducted matters as to shock neither of 
 | the contending parties.* 
 
 | XL. The flame of controversy, which seemed thus ex- 
 tinguished, or at least covered, broke out again with new 
 violence, in 1640, and formed a kind of schism in the 
 church of Rome, which involved it in great perplexity, 
 and proved highly detrimental to it in various respects. 
 The occasion of these new troubles was the publication 
 of a book, entitled Augustinus, composed by Cornelius 
 Jansenius, bishop of Ypres, and published after the death 
 of the author. In this book, which even the Jesuits ac- 
 knowledge to be the production of a man of learning and 
 piety, the doctrine of Augustine, concerning man’s natural 
 corruption, and the nature and efficacy of that divine 
 grace, which alone can eflace this unhappy stain, is un- 
 folded at large, and illustrated, foy the most part, in Au- 
 gustine’s own words: for the end, which Jansenius pro- 
 posed to himself in this work, was not to give his own 
 private sentiments concerning these important points, but 
 to show in what manner they had been understood and 
 explained by that celebrated father of the church, now 
 mentioned, whose name and authority were highly rever- 
 ed in all parts of the Roman catholic world.: No incident 
 could be more unfavourable to the cause of the Jesuits, 
 and the progress of their religious system, than the publi- 
 
 to conclude, from this change of style and external conduct among the 
 Dominicans, that they are reconciled to the Jesuits, and that there 
 remain no traces of their ancient opposition to that perfidious order. 
 By no means; for, besides that many of them are shocked at the 
 excessive timidity or prudence of a great part of their brethren, the 
 whole body retain some hidden sparks: of the indignation with which 
 they formerly beheld the Jesuits; and, when a convenient occasion of 
 discovering this indignation is offered, they do not let it pass unim- 
 proved. ‘The Jansenists are here embarked in the same cause with 
 the Dominicans since the sentiments of St. Thomas, concerning divine 
 grace differ very little from those of St. Augustine. Cardinal Henr 
 
 | Noris, the most eminently learned among the followers of the latter, 
 expresses his concern, that he is not at liberty to publish what passed 
 | 
 
 in favour of Augustine, and to the disadvantage of Molina and the 
 Jesuits, in the famous congregation de Auxiliis, so often assembled by 
 the popes Clement VII. and Paul V. See his Vindicie Augustiniane, 
 cap. vi. p. 1175, tom. i. op.—* Quando,” says he, “ recentiori Romano 
 decreto id vetitum est, cum dispendio caus, quam defendo, necessariam 
 defensionem omitto.” 
 >For an account of this famous man, see Bayle’s Dictzonaire— 
 Leydecker, de Vita et Morte Jansenii, lib. iii. which makes the first 
 part of his History of Jansenism.—Dictionaire des Livres Jansenis- 
 tes, tom. i—This celebrated work of Jansenius, which gave such a 
 wound to the Romish church, as neither the power nor wisdom of its 
 pontiffs will ever be able to heal, is divided into three parts. The first 
 is historical, and contains a relation of the Pelagian controversy, which 
 arose in the fifth century. In the second we find an accurate account 
 ; and illustration of the doctrine of Augustine, relating to the Constitution 
 ‘and Powers of Human Nature, in its original, fallen, and renewed 
 ; state. The third contains the doctrine of the same great man relating 
 to the Aids of sanctifying Grace procured by Christ, and to the eternal 
 Predestination of Men and Angels. The style of Jansenius is clear, 
 but not sufficiently correct. sl 
 ° Thus Jansenius expresses himself in his Augustinus, tom. ii. lib 
 
 proemial. cap. xxix. p. 65.—Non ego hie de aliqua nova sententia repe- 
 
 rienda disputo...sed de antiqua Augustini. Queritur, non quid de 
 
 nature humane statibus et viribus, vel de Dei gratia et predestinatione 
 
 sentiendum est, sed quid Augustinus olim, ecclesiz# nomine et applausu, 
 tradiderit, predicaverit, scriptoque multipliciter consignaverit.” 
 
564 
 
 cation of this book; for, as the doctrine of Augustine 
 scarcely differed from that of the Dominicans ;* as it was 
 held sacred, and almost respected as divine, in the church 
 of Rome, on account of the extraordinary merit and 
 authority of that illustrious bishop, and, at the same time, 
 was almost diametrically opposite to the sentiments gene- 
 rally received among the Jesuits, the latter could scarcely 
 consider the book of Jansenius in any other light than as 
 a tacit, but formidable refutation of their opinions concern- 
 ing human liberty and divine grace; and accordingly, 
 they not only drew their pens against this famous book, 
 but also used their most zealous endeavours to obtain a 
 public condemnation of it from Rome. Their endea- 
 vours were not unsuccessful. The Roman inquisitors 
 began the opposition by prohibiting the perusal of it, in 
 1741; and, in the following year, Urban VIII. condemn- 
 ed it by a solemn bull, as infected with various errors that 
 had been long banished from the catholic church. 
 
 XLI. There were nevertheless places, even within the 
 bounds of the Romish church, where neither the decisions 
 of the inquisitors, nor the bull of the pontiff, were in the 
 least respected. The doctors of Louvain in particular, 
 and the followers of Augustine in general, who were very 
 numerous in the Netherlands, opposed, with the utmost 
 vigour, the proceedings of the Jesuits and the condemna- 
 tion of. Jansenius; and hence arose a warm contest, which 
 proved a source of much trouble to the Belgic provinces. 
 But it was not confined within such narrow limits; it 
 reached the neighbouring countries, and broke out with 
 peculiar vehemence in France, where the abbot of St. 
 Cyran, a man of an elegant genius, and equally distin- 
 guished by the extent of his learning, the lustre of his piety, 
 and the sanctity of his manners, had procured to Augus- 
 tine many zealous followers, and to the Jesuits as many 
 bitter and implacable adversaries.° This respectable ab- 
 bot was the intimate friend and relative of Jansenius, and 
 one of the most strenuous defenders of his doctrine. On 
 the other hand, the far greater part of the French theolo- 
 gists appeared on the side of the Jesuits, whose religious 
 tenets seemed more honourable to human nature, or, at 
 least, more agreeable to its propensities, more suitable to 
 the genius of the Romish religion, and more adapted to 
 promote and advance the interests of the Romish church, 
 than the doctrine of Augustine. The party of Jansenius 
 had also its patrons; and they were such as reflected 
 honour on the cause. In this respectable list we may 
 reckon several bishops eminent for their piety, and some 
 of the first and most elegant geniuses of the French na- 
 tion, such as Arnauld, Nicole, Pascal, and Quesnel, and 
 the other famous and learned men, who are known under 
 the denomination of the Authors of Port-Royal. This 
 party was also considerably augmented by a multitude 
 
 * The Dominicans followed the sentiments of Thomas Aquinas, con- 
 cerning the nature and efficacy of Divine Grace. 
 
 > The name of this abbot was Jean du Verger de Haurane. 
 
 ¢ This illustrious abbot is considered by the Jansenists as equal in 
 merit and anthority to Jansenius himself, whom he is supposed to have 
 assisted in composing his Augustinus. The French, more especially, 
 (I mean such of them as adopt the doctrine of Augustine,) revere him 
 as an oracle, and even extol him beyond Jansenius. For an account of 
 the life and transactions of this pious abbot, see Lancelot’s Memoires 
 touchant la Vie de M. de S. Cyran.—Recueil de plusieurs Pieces pour 
 servir 4 |’Histoire de Port-Royal—Arnaud D’Andilly, Memoires au 
 sujet de l’Abbé de S. Cyran, published in the first volume of his Vies 
 des Religieuses de Port-Royal.—Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Jan- 
 senius. Dictionaire des Livres Jansenistes, tom.i. For an account of 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Src. IL 
 
 of persons, who looked upon the usual practice of piety in 
 the Romish church (which consists in the frequent use of 
 the eucharist, the confession of sins, and the performance 
 of certain external acts of religion) as much inferior to 
 what the Gospel requires, and who considered Christian 
 piety as the vital and internal principle of a soul, in which 
 true faith and divine love have gained a happy ascendency. 
 Thus one of the contending parties excelled in the num- 
 ber and power of its votaries, the other in the learning, 
 genius, and piety of its adherents; and, things being thus 
 balanced, it is not difficult to comprehend, how a contro- 
 versy, which began about a century ago, should be still 
 carried om with vehement contention and ardour.‘ 
 
 XLII. Those who have taken an attentive view of 
 this long, and indeed endless controversy, cannot but 
 think it a matter both of curiosity and amusement to ob- 
 serve the contrivances, stratagems, arguments, and arts 
 employed by both Jesuits and Jansenists ; by the former 
 in their methods of attack, and by the latter in their 
 plans of defence. ‘The Jesuits came forth into the field 
 of controversy, armed with sophistical arguments, odious 
 comparisons, papal bulls, royal edicts, and the protection 
 of a great part of the nobility and bishops; and, as if all 
 this had appeared to them insufficient, they had recourse 
 to still more formidable auxiliaries, even the secular arm, 
 and a competent number of dragoons. The Jansenists, 
 far from being dismayed at the view of this warlike host, 
 stood their ground with steadiness and intrepidity. They 
 evaded the seemingly mortal blows that were levelled at 
 them in the royaland papal mandates, by the help of nice 
 interpretations and subtle distinctions, and by the very 
 same sophistical refinements which they blamed in the 
 Jesuits. 'l’o the threats and frowns of the nobles and 
 bishops, who protected their adversaries, they opposed the 
 favour and applause of the people; to sophisms they 
 opposed sophisms, and invectives to invectives; and to 
 human power they opposed the Divine Omnipotence, and 
 boasted of the miracles by which Heaven had declared it- 
 self in their favour. When they perceived that the strong- 
 est arguments, and the most respectable authorities, were 
 insufficient to conquer the obstinacy of their adversaries, 
 they endeavoured by their religious exploits, and their 
 application to the advancement of piety and learning, to 
 obtain the favour of the pontiffs, and strengthen their in- 
 terest with the people. Hence they declared war against 
 the enemies of the Romish church; formed new strata- 
 gems to ensnare and ruin the protestants; took extraor- 
 dinary pains in instructing the youth in all the liberal 
 arts and sciences ; drew up a variety of useful, accurate, 
 and elegant abridgments, containing the elements of phi 
 losophy and the learned languages; published a multitude 
 of treatises on practical religion and morality, whose per- 
 
 the earlier studies of the abbot in question, see Gabriel Liron’s Singu- 
 larités Historiques et Literaires, tom. iv. p. 507. 
 
 4 The history of this contest is to be found in many authors, who have 
 either given a relation of the whole, or treated apart some of its most 
 interesting branches. 'The writers that ought to be principally consult- 
 ed on this subject are the following: Gerberon, Histoire Generale du 
 Jansenisme, published at Amsterdam in 1700; and Du-Mas, Histoire 
 des Cinq Propositions de Jansenius. The former maintains the cause 
 of the Jansenists, while the latter favours that of the Jesuits—Add, to 
 these, Melch. Leydecker’s Historia Jansenismi, and Voltaire’s Siecle de 
 Louis XIV. Several books, written on both sides, are enumerated in 
 the Bibliotheque Janseniste, ou Catalogue Alphabetique des Principanx 
 Livres Jansenistes, the author of which is said to be Domin. Colonia, a 
 learned Jesuit. 
 
Part I. 
 
 suasive eloquence charmed all ranks and orders of men; 
 introduced and cultivated an easy, correct, and agreeable 
 manner of writing; and gave accurate and learned in- 
 terpretations of several ancient authors. 'To all these 
 various kinds of merit, the greatest part of which were 
 real and solid, they added others that were at least vision- 
 ary and chimerical; for they endeavoured to persuade, 
 and did in effect persuade many, that the Supreme Being 
 interposed particularly in support of their cause, and, by 
 prodigies and miracles of a stupendous kind, confirmed 
 the truth of the doctrine of Augustine, in a manner adap- 
 ted to remove all doubt, and triumph over all opposition. 
 All this rendered the Jansenists extremely popular, and 
 held the victory of the Jesuits for some time dubious ; and 
 it is more than probable, that the former would have 
 triumphed, had not the cause of the latter been the cause 
 of the papacy, and had not the stability and grandeur of 
 the Romish church depended in a great measure upon the 
 success of their religious maxims. 
 
 XLII. It appears from several circumstances, that 
 Urban VIII., and after him Innocent X., were really bent 
 on appeasing these dangerous tumults, in the same man- 
 ner as the popes in former times had prudently suppressed 
 the controversies excited by Baius and the Dominicans. 
 But the vivacity, inconstancy, and restless spirit of the 
 French doctors, threw all into confusion, and disconcerted 
 the measures of the pontiffs. The opposers of the doc- 
 trine of Augustine selected five propositions out of the 
 work of Jansenius already mentioned, which appeared to 
 them the most erroneous in their nature, and the most perni- 
 cious in their tendency; and, being set on by the instiga- 
 tion, and seconded by the influence of the Jesuits, employed 
 their most zealous endeavours and their most importunate 
 entreaties at the court of Rome, to have these propositions 
 condemned. On the other hand, a great part of the 
 Gallican clergy used their utmost efforts to prevent this 
 condemnation ; and, for that purpose they sent deputies 
 to Rome, to entreat Innocent to suspend his final decision 
 
 * It is well known that the Jansenists, or Augustinians, have long 
 
 retended to confirm their doctrine by miracles; and they even acknow- 
 biane, that these miracles have sometimes saved them, when their 
 affairs have been reduced to a desperate situation. See the Memoires de 
 Port-Royal, tom. i. p. 256, tom. ii. p. 107—The first time we hear men- 
 tion made of these miracles, is in 1656, and the following years, when a 
 thorn of the derisive crown that was put upon our Saviour’s head by 
 the Roman soldiers, is reported to have performed several marvellous 
 cures in the convent of Port-Royal. See the Recueil de plusieurs 
 Pieces pour servir 41’Histoire de Port-Royal, p. 228, 448; and Fon- 
 taine’s collections upon the same subject, tom. ii—-Other prodigies fol- 
 lowed in 1661 and 1664; and the fame of these miracles rose to a great 
 height during the last century, and proved singularly advantageous to 
 the cause of the Jansenists; but they are now fallen, even in France, into 
 oblivion and discredit. The Jansenists, therefore, of the present age, 
 being pressed by their adversaries, were obliged to have recourse to 
 new prodigies, as the old ones had entirely lost their credit; and they 
 seemed, indeed, to have had miracles at command, by the considerable 
 number they pretended to perform. Thus, (if we are credulous enough 
 to believe their reports,) in 1725, a woman, whose name was La Fosse, 
 was suddenly cured of a bloody flux, by imploring the aid of the host, 
 when it was, one day, carried by a Jansenist priest. About two years 
 after this, we are told, that the tomb of Gerard Rouse, a canon of 
 Avignon, was honoured with miracles of a stupendous kind; and, 
 finally, we are informed; that the same honour was conferred, in 
 1731, on the stnes of the abbé de Paris, which were interred at St. 
 Medard, where innumerable miracles are said to have been wrought. 
 This last story has given rise to the warmest contests, between the 
 superstitious or crafty Jansenists and their adversaries in all commu- 
 nions. Beside all this, Quesnel, Levier, Desangins, and Tournus, the 
 great ornaments of Jansenism, are said to have furnished extraordinary 
 guccours, on several occasions, to sick and infirm persons, who testified 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 565 
 
 until the true sense of these propositions should be deli- 
 berately examined, since the ambiguity of style, in which 
 they were expressed, rendered them susceptible of a false 
 interpretation. But these entreaties were ineffectual : the 
 interest and importunities of the Jesuits prevailed ; and 
 the pontiff, without examining the merits of the cause 
 with a suitable degree of impartiality and attention, con- 
 demned, by a public bull, on the 31st of May, 1653, the 
 propositions of Jansenius. These propositions contained 
 the following doctrines: 1. “That there are divine pre- 
 cepts which good men, notwithstanding their desire to 
 observe them, are, nevertheless, absolutely unable to obey ; 
 nor has God given them that measure of grace, which is 
 essentially necessary to render them capable of such obe- 
 dience: 2. That no person, in this corrupt state of nature, 
 can resist the influence of divine grace, when it operates 
 upon the mind: 3. That, in order to render human 
 actions meritorious, it is not requisite that they be 
 exempt from necessity, but only that they be free from 
 constraint :» 4. That the Semi-Pelagians err grievously 
 in maintaining, that the human will is endowed with 
 the power of either receiving.or resisting the aids and in- 
 fluences of preventing grace: 5. That whosoever affirms, 
 that Jesus Christ made expiation, by his sufferings and 
 death, for the sins of all mankind, is a Semi-Pelagian.” 
 —Of these propositions the pontiff declared the first four 
 only heretical; but he pronounced the fifth rash, impious, 
 and injurious to the Supreme Being.« 
 
 XLIV. This sentence of the supreme ecclesiastical 
 judge was indeed painful to the Jansenists, and in con- 
 sequence highly agreeable to their adversaries. It did not 
 
 | however either drive the former to despair, or satisfy the 
 
 latter to the extent of their desires; for while the doctrine 
 was condemned, the man escaped. Jansenius was not 
 named in the bull, nor did the pontiff even declare that 
 the five propositions were maintained, in the book entitled 
 Augustinus, in the sense in which he had condemned 
 them. Hence the disciples of Augustine and Jansenius 
 
 book composed in answer to the Bull Unigenitus, and entitled, Jesus 
 Christ sous ’ Anatheme et sous lExcommunication, art. xvii. xvili— 
 There is no doubt that a great part of the Jansenists defend these mira- 
 cles from principle, and in consequence of a persuasion of their truth 
 and reality; for that party abounds with persons, whose piety is 
 blended with a most superstitious credulity, who look upon their reli- 
 gious system as celestial truth, and their cause as the immediate cause 
 of Heaven, and who are consequently disposed tu think that it cannot 
 be neglected by the Deity, or left without extraordinary marks of his 
 approbation and supporting presence. It is however amazing, and 
 almost incredible, on the other hand, that the more judicious defenders 
 of this cause, those eminent Jansenists, whose sagacity, learning, and 
 good sense, discover themselves so abundantly in other matters, do not 
 consider that the powers of nature, the efficacy of proper remedies, or 
 the effects of imagination, produce many important changes and effects, 
 which, from imposture, or a blind attachment to some particular cause, 
 many are led to attribute to the miraculous interposition of the Deity. 
 We can easily account for the delusions of weak enthusiasts, or the 
 tricks of egregious impostors; but when we see men of piety and 
 judgment appearing in defence of such miracles as those now under 
 consideration, we must conclude, that they look upon fraud as lawfuh 
 in the support of a good cause, and make no scruple of deceiving the 
 people, when they propose, by this delusion, to confirm and propagate 
 what they take to be the truth. 
 
 » Augustine, Leibnitz, and a considerable number of modern philoso- 
 phers, who ‘raaintain the doctrine of necessity, consider this necessity, 
 in moral actions, as consistent with true liberty, because it 1s consistent 
 with spontaneity and choice. According to them, constraint alone and 
 external force destroy merit and imputation. ‘ 
 
 © This bull is still extant in the Bullarium Romanum, tom. vi. p. 456. 
 It has also been published, together with several other pieces relating to 
 thiscontroversy, by Du-Plessis D’Argentre, in his Collectio Judiciorum 
 
 alively confidence in their prayers and merits. See a famous Jansenist || de novis Erroribus, tom. iii. p. ii. 
 
 No. XLVIII 
 
566 
 
 defended themselves by a distinction invented by the in- 
 genious and subtle Arnaud, in consequence of which 
 they considered separately in this controversy the matter 
 of doctrine and the matter of fact; that is to say, they 
 acknowledged themselves bound to‘believe, that the five 
 propositions were justly condemned by the pontiff ;* but 
 they maintained, that the pope had not declared, and con- 
 sequently that they were bound not to believe, that these 
 propositions were to be found in Jansenius’ book, in the 
 sense in which they had been condemned.’ ‘They did 
 not however enjoy long the benefit of this artful distinc- 
 tion. 'The restless and invincible hatred of their enemies 
 pursued them in every quarter where they looked for pro- 
 tection or repose, and at length engaged Alexander VIL, 
 the successor of Innocent, to declare, by a solemn bull, 
 issued in 1656, that the five condemned propositions were 
 the tenets of Jansenius, and were contained in his book. 
 The pontiff did not stop here; but to this flagrant in- 
 stance of imprudence added another still more shocking 
 for, in 1665, he sent into France the form of a Adace 
 tion, that was to be subscribed by all those who aspired 
 to any preferment in the church, and in which it was 
 affirmed; that. the five propositions were to be found in 
 the book of Jansenius, in the same sense in which they 
 had been condemned by the church. This declaration, 
 whose temerity and contentious tendency appeared in 
 the most odious colours, not only to the Jansenists, but 
 also to the wiser part of the French nation, produced 
 deplorable divisions and tumults. It was immediately 
 opposed with vigour by the Jansenists, who maintained, 
 that in matters of fact the pope was fallible, especially 
 when his decisions were merely personal, and not con- 
 firmed by a general council; and, in consequence, that 
 it was neither obligatory nor necessary to subscribe this 
 yapal declaration, which had only a matter of fact for its 
 bject. The Jesuits, on the contrary, audaciously assert- 
 ed, even openly, in the city of Paris, and in the face of the 
 Gallican church, that faith and confidence in the papal 
 decisions relating to matter of fact, had no less the cha- 
 racters of a well-grounded and divine faith, that when 
 these decisions related merely to matters of doctrine and 
 opinion. It is to be remarked, on the other hand, that 
 all the Jansenists were by no means so resolute and in- 
 trepid as those above-mentioned. Some of them declar- 
 ed, that they would neither subscribe nor reject the Form 
 in ‘question, but would show their veneration for the autho- 
 rity of the pope, by observing a profound silence on that 
 subject. Others professed themselves ready to subscribe 
 it, not indeed without exception and reserve, but on con- 
 dition of being allowed to explain, either verbally or in 
 writing, the sense in which they understood it, or the dis- 
 tinctions and limitations with which they were willing to 
 
 4p * This was what our author calls the questio de jure. 
 i » This is the guestio de facto. 
 
 ° This bull, and several other pleces, are aiso tc be found in D’Argen- 
 tre’s Collectio Judiciorum, tom. i1i.—See the form of Alexander’s decla- 
 ration, with the Mandate of Louis XIV. ibid. 
 
 d See Du-Mas, Histoire des Cing Propositions, p. 158.—Gerberon, 
 Histoire Generale du Jansenisme, p. li. p. 516. 
 
 ¢ The transactions relating to this event, which were carried on under 
 the pontificate of Clement ie are circumstantially related by cardinal 
 Rospigliosi, in his Commentaries, which Du-Plessis D’Argentre has 
 subjoined to his Elementa Theologica, published at Paris, in I716. See 
 also the last-mentioned author's Collectio Judiciorum, tom, iii, PD: Ue pe 
 336, in which the letters of Clement are inserted. Two Jansenists 
 have written the History of the Clementine Peace.— Varet, vicar to the 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ROMiSH CHURCH. Sect. II. 
 adopt it. Others employed a variety of methods and strata- 
 gems toelude the force of this tyrannical declaration.¢ But 
 nothing: of this kind was sufficient to satisfy the violent de- 
 mands of the Jesuits; nothing less than the entire ruin of 
 the Jansenists could appease their fury. Such, therefore, 
 among the latter, as made the least opposition to the decla- 
 ration in question, were thrown into prison, or sent into 
 exile, or involved in some other species of persecution ; 
 and it is well known, that this severity was a consequence 
 of the suggestions of the Jesuits, and of their influence 
 in cabinet-councils. 
 
 XLV. The lenity or prudence of Clement IX. sus- 
 pended, for a while, the calamities of those who had sacri- 
 ficed their liberty and their fortunes to their zeal for the 
 doctrine of Augustine, and gave them both time to breathe, 
 and reason to hope for better days. his change, which hap- 
 pened in 1669, was occasioned by the fortitude and reso- 
 lution of the bishops of Angers, Beauvais, Pamiers, and 
 Alet, who obstinately and gloriously refused to subscribe, 
 without the proper explications and distinctions, the oath 
 or declaration that had produced such troubles and divi- 
 sions in the church. ‘They did not indeed stand alone in 
 the breach ; for, when the court of Rome began to menace 
 and level its thunder at their heads, nineteen bishops more 
 arose with a noble intrepidity, and adopted their cause, in 
 solemn remonstrances, addressed both to the king of 
 France and the pontiff. ‘These resolute protesters were 
 joined by Ann Genevieve de Bourbon, duchess of Lon- 
 gueville, a heroine of the first rank both in birth and mag- 
 nanimity, who, having renounced the pleasures and vani- 
 ties of the world, which had long employed her most seri- 
 ous thoughts, espoused, with a devout ardour, the doctrines 
 and cause of the Jansenists, and most earnestly implored 
 the pope’s clemency in their behalf. Moved by these entrea- 
 ties, and also by other arguments and considerations of 
 like moment, Clement became so indulgent as to accept 
 a conditional subscription to the famous declaration, ané 
 to permit doctors of scrupulous consciences to sign i 
 according to the mental interpretation they thought propei 
 to give it. "This instance of condescension anid lenity wa: 
 no sooner made public, than the Jansenists began to come 
 forth from their lurking-places, to return from their volun 
 tary exile, and to enjoy their former tranquillity and free 
 dom, being exempt from all uneasy apprehensions of any 
 farther persecution. 
 
 This remarkable event is commonly called the Peace of 
 Clement [X.; its duration, nevertheless, was but transi- 
 tory.° It was violated in 1676, at the instigation of the 
 Jesuits, by Louis XIV., who declared, in a public edict, 
 that it had only been granted for a time, out of conde- 
 scending indulgence to the tender and scrupulous con- 
 sciences of a certain number of persons ; and it was totally 
 
 archbishop of Sens, in an anonymous work, entitled, Relation de ce 
 qui s’est pass dans l’Affaire de la Paix de I’ Eglise sous le Pape Cle- 
 ment IX.; and Quesnel, in an anonymous production also, entitled, 
 La Paix de Clement [X. ou Demonstration des deux Faussetés 
 capitales avancées dans |’Histoire des Cinq Propositions contre la 
 Foi des Disciples de St. Augustin. That Varet was the author of the 
 former work is asserted in the Catechisme Historique sur les Contesta- 
 tions de l’Eglise, tom. i. p. 352; and that the latter came from the pen of 
 Quesnel, we learn from the writer of the Bibliotheque Janseniste, p. 314, 
 There was another accurate and interesting account of this transaction 
 published in 1706, under the following title: Relation de ce» qui svest 
 passé dans V Affaire de la Paix del’ Eglise sous le Pape Cle vent IX. 
 avec les Lettres, Actes, Memoires, et autres Pieces quiy ont renport. 
 The important services that the duchess of Longueville rendered i0 Use 
 
Part I. 
 
 abolished after the death of the dutchess of Longueville, 
 which happened in 1679, and deprived the Jansenists of 
 their principal support. From that time their calamities 
 were renewed, and they were pursued with the same ma- 
 lignity and rage that they had before experienced. Some 
 of them avoided the rising storm by a voluntary exile ; 
 others sustained it with invincible fortitude and constancy 
 of mind; others turned aside its fury, and escaped its 
 violence, as well as they could, by dexterity and prudence. 
 Antoine Arnaud, who was the head and leader of the 
 party, fled into the Netherlands in 1679 ;* and in this 
 retreat he not only escaped the fury of his enemies, but 
 had it in his power to hurt them considerably, and actually 
 made the Jesuits feel the weight of his talents and the ex- 
 tent of his influence. For the admirable eloquence and 
 sagacity of this great man gave him such an ascendency 
 in the Netherlands, that the greatest part of the churches 
 there embraced his opinions, and adopted his cause ; the 
 Romish congregations in Holland also were, by his influ- 
 ence, and the ministry of his intimate friends and adhe- 
 rents, John Neercassel and Peter Coddeus, bishops of Cas- 
 torie and Sebasto,” entirely gained over to the Jansenist 
 party. The latter churches still persevere with the utmost 
 steadiness in the principles of Jansenism; and, secured 
 under the protection of the Dutch government, defy the 
 threats, and hold in derision the resentment, of the Romish 
 pontiffs.¢ 
 
 XLVI. It is not only on account of their embracing the 
 doctrine of Augustine concerning divine grace (a doctrine 
 
 which bears a striking resemblance to that of the Calvin- 
 
 ists,) that the Jansenists have incurred the displeasure 
 and resentment of the Jesuits. ‘They are charged with 
 many other circumstances, which appear intolerable to 
 the warm votaries of the church of Rome. And, indeed, it 
 is certain, that the various controversies, which have been 
 mentioned above, were excited in that church principally by 
 the Jansenists, and have been propagated and handed down 
 
 Jansenists in this affair are related with elegance and spirit by Villefort, 
 in his Vie d’Anne Genevieve de Bourbon, Duchesse de Longueville, 
 tom. il, livr. vi. p. 89, of the edition of Amsterdam (1739,) which is 
 more ample and complete than the edition of Paris. 
 
 "For an account of this great man, see Bayle’s Dictionary, and 
 the Histoire abregée de la Vie et des Ouvrages de M. Arnaud, pub- 
 lished at Cologne. The change introduced into the Romish churches in 
 Holland is mentioned by Lafiteau, Vie de Clement XI. tom. i. p. 123. 
 For an account of Coddeus, Neercassel, and Varet, and the other pa- 
 trons of Jansenism among the Dutch, see the Dictionaire des Livres 
 Jansenistes, tom. i. ii. iv. 
 
 b Bishops in partibus infideliwm. 
 
 33> ° It must, however, be observed, that, notwithstanding the ascen- 
 dency which the Jansenists have in Holland, the Jesuits, for some time 
 past, have by artifice and disguise gained a considerable footing among 
 the Romish churches that are tolerated by the republic. 
 
 4 See Hist. Eccles. Rom. sec. XVI. sect. xxxi. 
 
 * They who desire to form a just notion of the dismal piety of the 
 Jansenists, (whick. carries the unseemly features of the gloomy devotion 
 that was formerly practised by fanatical hermits in the deserts of 
 Syria, Libya, and Egypt, but is entirely foreign from the dictates of 
 reason and the amiable spirit of Christianity,) have only to peruse the 
 epistles and other writings of the abbot of St. Cyran, who is the great 
 oracle of the party. This abbot was a well-meaning man; and his 
 picty, such as it was, carried in it the marks of sincerity and fervour ; 
 ne was also superior, perhaps, as a pastor, to the greatest part of the 
 Roman catholic doctors; and his learning, more especially his know- 
 ledge of religious antiquity, was very considerable; but to propose this 
 man as a complete and perfect model of genuine piety, and as a most 
 accurate and accomplished teacher of Christian virtue, is an absurdity 
 peculiar to the Jansenists, and can be adopted by no person who knows 
 what genuine piety and Christian virtue are. ‘That we may not seem 
 to detract rashly, and without reason, from the merit of this eminent 
 man, it will not be improper to confirm what we have said by some 
 instances. This good abbot, having undertaken to vanquish the here- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 567 
 
 by them, even to our times, in a prodigious multitude of their 
 books published both in France and in the Netherlands.4 
 But that which offends most the Jesuits, and the other 
 creatures of the pontiff, is the austere severity that reigns 
 in the system of moral discipline and practical religion 
 adopted by the Jansenists. For the members of this sect 
 cry out against the corruptions of the church of Rome, 
 and complain that neither its doctrines nor morals retain 
 any traces of their former purity. They reproach the 
 clergy with an universal depravation of sentiments and 
 manners, and an entire forgetfulness of the dignity of 
 their character, and the duties of their vocation. 'They 
 censure the licentiousness of the monastic orders, and in- 
 sist upon the necessity of reforming their discipline accord- 
 ing to the rules of sanctity, abstinence, and self-denial, 
 that were originally prescribed by their respective founders. 
 They maintain, also, that the people ought to be carefully 
 instructed in all the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, 
 and that, for this purpose, the Scriptures and public litur- 
 gies should be offered to their perusal in their mother- 
 tongue ; and, finally, they look upon it as a matter of the 
 highest moment to persuade all Christians that true piety 
 does not consist in the observance of pompous rites, or in 
 the performance of external acts of devotion, but in inward 
 holiness and divine love. 
 
 ‘These sentiments of the Jansenists, on a general view, 
 seem just and rational, and suitable to the spint and ge- 
 nius of Christianity; but, when we examine the particular 
 branches into which they extend these general principles, 
 the consequences they deduce from them, and the manner 
 in which they apply them, in their rules of discipline and 
 practice, we shall find, that the piety of this famous party 
 is deeply tinged both with superstition and fanaticism ; 
 that it more especially favours the harsh and enthusias- 
 tical opinion of the Mystics; and, in consequence, that 
 the Jansenists are not undeservedly branded by their ad- 
 versaries with the appellation of Rigorists.e ‘This deno- 
 
 tics, (z. e. the protestants,) in a prolix and extensive work, was obliged 
 to read, or at least to look into the various writings published by that 
 impious tribe ; and this he did in company with his nephew Martin de 
 Barcos, who resembled him entirely in his sentiments and manners. 
 But before he would venture to open a book composed by a protestant, 
 he constantly marked it with the sign of the cross, to expel the evil spirit. 
 ‘What weakness and superstition did this ridiculous proceeding discover ! 
 for the good man was persuaded that Satan had fixed his residence in 
 the books of the protestants ; but it is not so easy to determine where he 
 imagined the wicked spirit lay, whether in the paper, in the letters, 
 between the leaves, or in the doctrines of these infernal productions. 
 Let us see the account that is given of this matter by Lancelot, in his 
 Memoires touchant la Vie de M.)Abbé de 8. Cyran, tom. i. p. 226. 
 His words are as follow: “ II lisoit ces livres avec tant de piété, qu’en 
 les prenant il les exorcisoit toujours en faisant la signe de la croix dessus, 
 ne doutant point que le demon n’y residoit actuellement.” His attach- 
 ment to Augustine was so excessive, that he looked upon as sacred and 
 divine even those opinions of that great man, which the wiser part of 
 the Romish doctors had rejected as erroneous and highly dangerous. 
 Such, (among others,) was the extravagant and pernicious tenet, that 
 the saints are the only lawful proprietors of the world, and that the 
 wicked have no right, by the divine law, to those things which they 
 possess justly, in consequence of the decisions of human law. ‘To this 
 purpose is the following assertion of our abbot, as we find it in Fon- 
 taine’s Memoires pour servir a1’ Histoire de Port-Royal, tom. i. p. 200. 
 “Jesus Christ n’est encore entré dans la possession de son royaume 
 temporel, et des biens du monde qui lui appartiennent, a par cette 
 petite portion qu’en tient l’eglise par les benefices de ses cleres, qi ne 
 sont que les fermiers et les depositaires de Jesus Christ.” If, therefore, 
 we are to give credit to this visionary man, the golden age is approach- 
 ing, when Jesus Christ, having pulled down the mighty from their 
 seats, and dethroned the kings and princes of the earth, shall reduce the 
 whole world under his sole dominion, and give it over to the government 
 of priests and monks, who are the princes of his church.—After we 
 have seen such sentiments as these maintained by their oracle and 
 
568 
 
 mination they merited in a peculiar manner, by their doc- 
 trine concerning repentance and penance, whose tendency, 
 considered both in a civil and religious point of view, is 
 
 singularly pernicious ; for they make repentance consist | 
 and extravagant species of devotion, was exhibited in that 
 
 chiefly in those voluntary sufferings, which the trans- 
 gressor inflicts upon himself, in proportion to the nature 
 of his crimes and the degree of his guilt. As their no- 
 tions of the extent of man’s original corruption are greatly 
 exaggerated, they prescribe remedies to it that are of the 
 same nature. ‘They look upon Christians as bound to 
 expiate this original guilt by acts of mortification per- 
 formed in solitude and silence, by torturing and macerat- 
 ing their bodies, by painful labour, excessive abstinence, 
 continual prayer and contemplation ; and they hold every 
 person obliged to increase. these voluntary pains and suf- 
 ferings, in proportion to the degree of corruption derived by 
 each from nature, or contracted by a vicious and licentious 
 course of life. They even carry these austerities to so high 
 a pitch, that they do not scruple to call those holy self- 
 tormentors, who have gradually put an end to their days 
 
 _by excessive abstinence or labour, the ‘ sacred victims of | 
 
 repentance, that have been consumed by the fire of divine 
 love.’ Not satisfied with this fanatical language, they go 
 still farther, and superstitiously maintain, that the conduct 
 of these self-murderers is peculiarly meritorious in the eye 
 of Heaven; and that their sufferings, macerations, and 
 labours, appease the anger of the Deity, and not only con- 
 tribute to their own felicity, but draw down abundant 
 blessings upon their friends and upon the church. We 
 might confirm this account by various examples, and 
 more especially by that of the famous abbé de Paris, the 
 great wonder-worker of the Jansenists, who put himself 
 
 chief, it is natural to be surprised when we hear the Jansenists boasting 
 
 of their zeal in defending sovereign states, and, in general, the civil 
 ights of mankind, against the stratagems and usurpations of the 
 ontiffs. 
 
 The notions of the abbot of St. Cyran concerning prayer, which 
 breathe the fanatical spirit of mysticism, will farther confirm what we 
 have said of his propensity to enthusiasm. It was, for example, a fa- 
 vourite maxim with him, that the Christian who prays, ought never to 
 recollect the good things he stands in need of in order to ask them of 
 God, since true prayer does not consist in distinct notions and clear 
 ideas of what we are doing in that solemn act, but in a certain blind 
 impulse of divine love. Such is the account given of the abbot’s senti- 
 ments on this head by Lancelot, tom. ii. p. 44—“ I] ne croyoit pas, (says 
 that author,) que l’on pit faire quelque effort pour s’appliquer a quelque 
 point, ou a quelque pensée particuliere—parce que la veritable priere est 
 plutot un attrait de son amour, qui emporte notre cceur vers lui, et nous 
 enleve comme hors de nous-mémes, qu'une occupation de notre esprit, 
 qui se remplisse de l’idée de quelque objeti quoi que divin.” According to 
 this hypothesis, the man prays best who neither thinks nor asks, in that 
 act of devotion. This is, indeed, a very extraordinary account of the 
 matter, and contains an idea of prayer which seems to have been quite 
 unknown to Christ, and his apostles; for the former has commanded us 
 to address our prayers to God in a set form of words; and the latter 
 frequently tell us the subjects of their petitions and supplications. 
 
 But, of all the errors of this Arch-Jansenist, not one was so pernicious 
 as the fanatical notion he entertained of his being the residence of the 
 Deity, the instrument of the Godhead, by which the divine nature itself 
 essentially operated. It was in consequence of this dangerous principle, 
 that he recommended it as a duty incumbent on all pious men to follow, 
 without consulting their judgment or any other guide, the first motions 
 and impulses of their minds, as the dictates of Heaven. And, indeed, 
 the Jansenists, in general, are intimately persuaded, that God operates 
 immediately upon the minds of those who have composed, or rather 
 suppressed, all the motions of the understanding and of the will, and 
 that tosuch he declares, from above, his intentions and commands; since 
 whatever thoughts, inclinations, or designs, arise within them, in this 
 calm state of tranquillity and silence, are to be considered as the direct 
 suggestions and oracles of the divine wisdom. See, for a farther ac- 
 count of this pestilential doctrine, the Memoires de Port-Royal, tom iii. 
 
 . 246. 
 Bi See Morin’s Com. de Penitentid, pref. p. 3, in which there isa 
 tacit censure of the penance of the Jansenists,—See, on the other hand, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL 
 
 to a most painful death, in order to satisfy the justice of 
 an incensed God :* such was the picture he had formed 
 of the best of beings in his disordered fancy. 
 
 XLVI. A striking example of this austere, forbidding, 
 
 celebrated female convent called Port-Royal in the Fields, 
 which was situated in a retired, deep, and gloomy vale 
 not far from Paris. Henry IV. committed the inspection 
 and government of this austere society, about the com 
 mencement of this century, to Jaqueline, daughter of 
 Antoine Arnaud,» who, after her conversion, assumed the 
 name of Marie Angelique de la Sainte-Madelaine. This 
 lady had at first led a very dissolute life,: which was the 
 general case of the cloistered fair in France about this 
 period ; but a remarkable change happened in her senti- 
 ments and manners, in 1609, when she resolved no more 
 to live like a nun, but to consecrate her future days to 
 deep devotion and penitential exercises. This holy reso- 
 lution was strengthened by her acquaintance with the 
 famous Francois de Sales, and the abbot of St. Cyran. 
 The last of these pious connexions she formed in 1623, 
 and regulated both her own conduct and the manners 
 of her convent by the doctrine and example of these de- 
 vout men. Hence it happened, that, during the whole 
 course of this century, the convent of Port-Royal excited 
 the indignation of the Jesuits, the admiration of the Jan- 
 senists, and the attention of Europe. The holy virgins 
 observed, with the utmost rigour and exactness, that an- 
 cient rule of the Cistercians, which had been almost every 
 where abrogated on account of its excessive and intoler- 
 able austerity: they even went beyond its most cruel 
 demands.1_ Such was the fame of this devout sisterhood, 
 
 the Memoires de Port-Royal.—The Jansenists, among all the meritori- 
 ous actions of the abbot of St. Cyran, find none more worthy of admi- 
 ration and applause than his restoring from oblivion the true system of 
 penitential discipline; and they consider him as the second author or 
 parent of the doctrine of penance. This very doctrine, however, was 
 one of the principal reasons of his being committed to prison by the 
 order of cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 > An eminent lawyer, and father to the famous Arnaud, doctor of the 
 Sorbonne. 
 
 = 4° The dissolute life imputed to this abbess by Dr. Mosheim is an 
 egregious mistake, which seems to have proceeded from his misunder- 
 standing a passage in Bayle’s Dictionary, vol. i. p. 338, note‘, the 
 fourth French edition. 
 
 4 There is a prodigious multitude of books still extant, in which the 
 rise, progress, laws, and sanctity, of this famous convent, are described 
 and extolled by eminent Jansenists, who, at the same time, deplore its 
 fate in the most doleful strams. Of this multitude we shall mention 
 those only which may easily be procured, and which contain the most 
 modern and circumstantial accounts of that celebrated establishment.— 
 The Benedictines of St. Maur have given an exact, though dry history 
 of this convent in their Gallia Christiana, tom. vil. A more elegant 
 and agreeable account of it, charged, however, with imperfection 
 and partiality, was composed by the famous poet Racine, under the 
 title of Abrégé de 1 Histoire de Port-Royal, and was published, after 
 having passed through many editions, in the year 1750, at Amsterdam, 
 among the works of his son Louis Racine, tom. ii. The external state 
 and form of this convent are professedly described by Moleon, in his 
 Voyages Liturgiques, p. 234.—Add to these, Nic. Fontaine’s Memoires 
 pour servir a Histoire de Port-Royal, published in 1738.—The Me- 
 moires (by Du-Fosse) pour servir 4 Histoire de Port-Royal; and 
 the Recueil de plusiers Pieces pour servir a |’Histoire de Port-Royal.— 
 The editor of this last compilation promises, in his preface, farther col- 
 lections of pieces relative to the same subject, and seems to insinuate, 
 that a complete history of Port-Royal, drawn from these and other 
 valuable and authentic records, will sooner or later see the light. See, 
 beside the authors above-mentioned, Lancelot’s Memoires touchant 
 la Vie de ’ Abbé de St. Cyran. All these authors confine their re- 
 lations to the external form and various revolutions of this nunnery. 
 Its internal state, its rules of discipline, the manners of its virgins, and 
 the incidents and transactions that happened between them and the holy 
 neighbourhood of Jansenists, are described and related by another set of 
 writers. See the Memoires pour servir a]’Histoire de Port-Royal, et a 
 
Part IL 
 
 that multitudes of pious persons were ambitious to dwell 
 in the neighbourhood of Port-Royal, and that a great part 
 of the Jansenist Penitents, or self-tormentors, of both 
 sexes, built huts without its precincts, where they imitated 
 the manners of those austere and gloomy fanatics, who, 
 in the fourth and fifth centuries, retired into the wild and 
 uncultivated places of Syria and Egypt, and were com- 
 monly called the Fathers of the Desert. ‘The end which 
 these penitents had in view was, by silence, hunger, thirst, 
 prayer, bodily labour, watchings, sorrow, and other volun- 
 tary acts of self-denial, to etlace the guilt, and remove the 
 pollution which the soul had derived from natural corrup- 
 tions or evil habits* They did not, however, all observe 
 the same discipline, or follow the same kind of applica- 
 tion and labour. The more learned consumed their 
 strength in composing laborious productions filled with 
 sacred and profane erudition, and some of these have, no 
 doubt, deserved well of the republic of letters : others were 
 employed in teaching youth the rudiments of language 
 and the principles of science; but the far greatest part 
 exhausted both the health of their bodies and the vigour 
 of their minds in servile industry and rural labour, and 
 thus pined away by a slow kind of death. What is sin- 
 gularly surprising is, that many of these voluntary vic- 
 tims of an inhuman piety were persons illustrious both 
 by their birth and stations, who, after having distin- 
 guished themselves in civil or military employments, de- 
 based themselves so far in this penitential retreat, as to 
 assume the character, offices, and labours, of the lowest 
 servants. 
 
 This celebrated retreat of the devout and austere Jan- 
 senists was subject to many vicissitudes during the whole 
 course of this century: at one time it flourished in unri- 
 valled glory ; at another, it seemed eclipsed, and on the 
 brink of ruin. At length, however, the period of its ex- 
 tinction approached. ‘The nuns obstinately refused to sub- 
 scribe the declaration of pope Alexander VII., that has 
 been so often mentioned ; on the other hand, their convent 
 and rule of discipline were considered as detrimental to 
 the interests of the kingdom, anda dishonour to some of 
 the first families in France; hence Louis XIV., in 1709, 
 instigated by the violent counsels of the Jesuits, ordered the 
 convent to be suppressed, the whole building to be levelled 
 with the ground, and the nuns to be removed to Paris. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 569 
 
 And, lest there should still remain some secret fuel to 
 nourish the flame of superstition in that place, he ordered 
 the very careases of the nuns and devout Jansenists to be 
 dug up and buried elsewhere. 
 
 XLVI. he other controversies that disturbed the 
 tranquillity of the church of Rome, were but light blasts 
 when compared with this violent hurricane. The old de- 
 bate, however, between the I’ranciscans and Dominicans, 
 concerning the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, 
 which was maintained by the former, and denied by the 
 latter, gave much trouble and perplexity to the pontifls, 
 and more especially to Paul V., Gregory XV., and Alex- 
 ander VU. The kingdom of Spain was so agitated and 
 divided into factions by this controversy, in the for- 
 mer part of this century, that solemn embassies were sent 
 to Rome, both by Philip LT., and his successor, with a view 
 to engage the Roman pontiff to determine the question, or, 
 at any rate, to put an end to the contest by a public edict. 
 But, notwithstanding the weighty solicitations of these 
 monarchs, the oracle of Rome pronounced nothing but 
 ambiguous words ; and its high priests prudently avoided 
 coming to a plain and positive decision of the affair. If 
 they were awed, on one hand, by the warm remon- 
 strances of the Spanish court, which favoured the senti- 
 ment of the Franciscans, they were restrained, on the 
 other, by the credit and influence of the Dominicans: so 
 that, after the most earnest entreaties and importunities, 
 all that could be obtained from the pontiff, by the court 
 of Spain, was a declaration, intimating that the opinion 
 of the I*'ranciscans had a high degree of probability on 
 its side, and forbidding the Dominicans to oppose it in a 
 public manner; but this declaration was accompanied 
 with another,® by which the Franciscans were prohibited, 
 in their turn, from treating as erroneous the doctrine of 
 the Dominicans. ‘This accommodation of the dispute 
 would have been highly laudable in a prince or civil ma- 
 gistrate, who, unacquainted with theological questions of 
 such an abstruse nature, preferred the tranquillity of his 
 people to the discussion of such an intricate and unim- 
 portant point; but whether it was honourable to a supreme 
 pontiff, who boasts of a divine right to decide all religious 
 controversies, and pretends to a degree of inspiration that 
 places him beyond the possibility of erring, we leave to 
 the consideration of those who have his glory at heart. 
 
 la Vie de Marie Angelique D’Arnaud, published at Utrecht in 1742; 
 also the Vies interessantes et edifiantes des Religicuses de Port-Royal, 
 et de plusieurs Personnes qui leur etoient attachées; and, for an account 
 of the suppression and abolition of this convent, see the Memoires sur la 
 Destruction de V Abbaye de Port-Royal des Champs. If we not do mis- 
 take, all these histories and relations have been much less serviceable to 
 the reputation of this famous convent than the Jansenist party are will- 
 ing to think. When we view Arnaud, Tillemont, Nicole, Le Maitre, 
 and the other authors of Port-Royal, in their learned productions, they 
 then appear truly great; but, when we lay aside their works, and, 
 taking up these histories of Port-Royal, see these great men in private 
 life, in the constant practice of that austere discipline of which the Jan- 
 senists boast so foolishly, they shrink almost to nothing, appear in the 
 contemptible light of fanatics, and seem totally unworthy of the fame 
 they have acquired. When we read the Discourses that Isaac le 
 Maitre, commonly called Sacy, pronounced at the bar, together with his 
 other ingenious productions, we cannot refuse him the applause that is 
 slue to such an elegant and accomplished writer; but when we meet 
 with this polite author at Port-Royal, mixed with labourers and reapers, 
 and with the spade or the sickle in his hand, he certainly makes a ludi- 
 crous or comical figure, and can scarcely be looked upon as _ perfectly 
 right in his head. 
 
 * Among the most eminent of these penitents was Isaac le Maitre, a 
 celeliated advocate at Paris, whose eloquence had procured him a 
 shining reputation, and who, in 1637, retired to Port-Royal to make ex- 
 
 No. XLVIIL. 143 
 
 piation for his sins. The retreat of this eminent man raised new 
 enemies to the abbot of St. Cyran. See the Memoires pour |’Histoire 
 de Port-Royal, tom. i. p. 223. ‘The example of Le Maitre was followed 
 by some persons of the highest distinction, and by a great number of per- 
 sons of all ranks. See the Vies des Religieuses de Port-Royal, t. i. p. 141. 
 
 b See Fred. Ulr. Calixti Historia Inimaculate Conceptionis B. Vir- 
 ginis Marie, published in 1696.—Hornbeckii Comm. ad Bullam Urbani 
 VIII. de diebts Festis, p. 250.—Launoii Prescriptiones de Conceptu 
 Virginis Marie, tom. 1. p. i. oper.—Long after this period, Clement XI. 
 went a step farther, and appointed, in 1708, a festival to be celebrated, 
 in honour of the immaculate conception, throughout the Romish church. 
 See the Memoires de Trevoux for the year 1709, art. xxxviii. p. 514, 
 But the Dominicans obstinately deny that the obligation of this law 
 extends to them, and persist in maintaining their ancient doctrine, though 
 with more modesty and circumspection than they formerly discovered 
 in this debate; and when we consider that their opinion in this respect 
 has never been expressly condemned by any pope, and that they are 
 not in the least molested, or even censured, for refusing to celebrate the 
 festival above-mentioned, it appears evidently, from all this, that the 
 terms of the papal edict are to be understood with certain restrictions, 
 and interpreted in a mild and indulgent manner; and that the spirit of 
 this edict is not contrary to the tenor of the former declarations of the 
 pontiffs on this head. See Lamindus Pritanius (a fictitious name assu- 
 med by the author Muratori) de Ingeniorum Moderatione in Rcligionis 
 Negouo, p. 254. 
 
K 
 
 570 
 
 XLIX. The controversies with the Mystics were now 
 renewed; and that sect, which in former times enjoyed 
 such a high degree of reputation and authority, was treated 
 with the greatest severity, and involved in the deepest 
 distress, toward the conclusion of this century. ‘This un- 
 happy change in its affairs was principally occasioned by 
 the fanaticism and imprudence of Michael de Molinos, a 
 Spanish priest, who resided at Rome, and the fame of 
 Whose ardent piety and devotion procured him a consider- 
 able number of disciples of both sexes. A book published 
 at Rome in 1681, by this ecclesiastic, under the title of 
 the Spiritual Guide, alarmed the doctors of the church.s 
 This book contained, beside the usual precepts and in- 
 stitutions of mystic theology, several notions relating to a 
 spiritual and contemplative life, that seemed to revive the 
 pernicious and infernal errors of the Beghards, and open 
 a door to all sorts of licentiousness and ‘profligacy. The 
 principles of Molinos, which have been very differently 
 interpreted by his friends and enemies, amount to this: 
 “that the whole of religion consists in the perfect tran- 
 quillity of a mind removed from all external and finite 
 things, and centred in God, and in such a pure love of 
 the Supreme Being, as is independent of all prospect of 
 ‘nterest or reward ;” or, to express the doctrine of this 
 Mystic, in other words, “ The soul, in the pursuit of the 
 supreme good, must retire from the reports and gratifica- 
 tions of sense, and, in general, from all corporeal objects, 
 and, imposing silence upon all the motions of the under- 
 standing and will, must be absorbed in the Deity.” Hence 
 the denomination of Quietist was given to the followers 
 of Molinos ; though that of Mystic, which was their vulgar 
 title, was more applicable, and expressed with greater pro- 
 priety their fanatical system ; for the doctrine of Melinos 
 had no other circumstance of novelty attending it, than the 
 singular terms he employed in unfolding his 1 notions, and 
 the ingenuity he discovered in digesting ‘what the ancient 
 Mystics had thrown out in the most confused and inco- 
 herent jargon, into something that looked like a system. 
 Tbe Jesuits, and other zealous votaries of Rome, soon per- 
 ceived that his system Was a tacit censure of the Romish 
 church, as having departed from the spirit of true reli- 
 gion, by placing the essence of piety in external works, 
 and in the performance of a certain round of ceremonies. 
 But the warmest opposition that he met with was from 
 the French ambassador? at Rome, who raised a most vio- 
 Jent persecution against him. This made any imagine, 
 that it was not his the ological system alone that had in- 
 - flamed the resentment of that minister r, but that some con- 
 siderations of a political nature had been blended with 
 this famous controversy, and that the Spanish Mystic had 
 opposed the designs and negotiations of the French mon- 
 arch at the court of Rome. However that may have been, 
 Molinos, unable to resist the storm, and abandoned by 
 those from whom he chiefly expected succour, yielded to 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 ' by no means the case. 
 | Netherlands, Molinos had a considerable number of dis- 
 
 Sect. If. 
 
 it in 1685, when, notwithstanding the number, rank, and 
 credit of his friends at Rome, and the particular marks of 
 favour he had received from the pontiff: he was thrown 
 into prison. ‘T'wo years after this, he was obliged to re- 
 nounce, in a public manner, the errors of which he was 
 accused ; and this solemn recantation was followed by a 
 sentence of perpetual imprisonment, from which he was, 
 in an advanced age, delivered by death, in 1696.4 The 
 candid and impartial will be obliged to acknowledge, that 
 
 _the opinions and expressions of this enthusiast were per- 
 
 fidiously misrepresented and perverted by the Jesuits and 
 others, whose interest it was that he should be put out of 
 the way, and excluded from every thing but contempla- 
 tion and repose; and it is most certain, that his doctrine 
 was charged with consequences which he neither approv- 
 ed nor even apprehended. But, on the other hand, it 
 must also be confessed, that his system was chargeable. 
 with the greatest part ‘of the reproaches that are justly 
 thrown upon the Mystics, and favoured much the illusions 
 and follies of those fanatics, who would make the crude 
 visions of their disordered fancies pass for divine revela- 
 lions.® 
 
 L. It would have been truly surprising had a system 
 of piety, that was so adapted to seduce the indolent mind, 
 to captivate the warm imagination, and melt the tender 
 heart, been destitute of votaries and followers. This was 
 In Italy, Spain, France, and the 
 
 ciples; and, beside the reasons we have now hinted, an- 
 other circumstance must have contributed much to multi- 
 ply his votaries ; for, in all parts of the Romish dominion, 
 there were numbers of persons, who had sense and know- 
 ledge enough to perceive, that ‘the whole of religion could 
 not consist in external rites and bodily mortifications, ut 
 too little to direct themselves in religious matters, or to 
 substitute what was right in the place of what they knew 
 to be wrong ; and hence it was natural for them to follow 
 the first plausible guide that was offered to them. But 
 the church of Rome, apprehensive of the consequences of 
 this mystic theology, left no method unemployed that 
 could contribute to stop its progress ; and, by the force of 
 promises and threats, of severity and mildness properly 
 applied, stifled in the birth the commotions and changes 
 it seemed adapted to excite. "he death of Molinos con- 
 tributed also to dispel the anxiety of the Romish doctors, 
 since his disciples and followers seemed too inconsidera- 
 ble to deserve any notice. Among these are generally 
 reckoned cardinal Petrucci, Francis de la Combe, a Bar 
 nabite friar, (the spiritual director of Madame Guyon,) 
 Francis Malavalle, Bernier de Louvigni, and others of less 
 note. ‘These enthusiasts, as is common among the Mys- 
 tics, differ from Molinos in several points, and are also 
 divided among themselves. ‘This diversity is, however, 
 rather nominal than real; and, if we consider the true — 
 
 * This work, which was published in 1675, was honoured with the 
 approbation and encomiums of many eminent andr espectable personages. 
 Jt was translated into Latin, Italian, French, and Dutch, and passed 
 through many editions. There is another work of Molinos composed 
 in the same spirit, concerning the daily celebration of the communion, 
 which was also condemned. See the “ Recueil de diverses Pieces con. 
 cernant le Quietisme et les Quietistes, ou Molinos, ses Sentimens ct ses 
 Disciples,” published at Amsterdam, in 1688, in which the reader will 
 find a French translation of the Spiritual Guide, together with a collec- 
 tion. of letters on various subjects, written by Molinos. 
 
 > Cardinal d’Estrées. 
 
 ¢TInnocent XI. 
 
 4 He was born in the diocese of Saragossa, in 1627; seethe Biblioth, 
 Janseniste, p. 469.—For an account of this controversy, see the Narra- 
 tive of the Proceedings of the Controversy concerning Quietism, sub- 
 joined to the German t translation of Burnet’s Travels; as also Arnoldi 
 Histor. Eccles. et Heretic. tom. iil. c. xvii—Jaegeri Histor. Eccles. et 
 Polit. Seculi SVL: decen. ix.—Plessis D’Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum 
 de novis Erroribus, t. iii. p. 357, where may be seen the papal edicts 
 relating to this controversy. 
 
 © All that can be alleged in defence of Molinos has been collected by 
 Weisman, in his Histor. Ecclesiast sec. XVII. 
 
Parr 1. HISTORY OF THE 
 signification of the terms by which they express their re- 
 spective notions, we shall find that they all set out from 
 the same principles, and tend to the same conclusions." 
 LI One of the principal patrons and propagators of 
 Quietism in France was Marie Bouvieres de la Mothe 
 Guyon, a woman of fashion, remarkable for the goodness 
 of ler heart and the regularity of her manners, but of an 
 inconstant and unsettled temper, and subject to be drawn 
 away by the seduction of a warm and unbridled fancy. 
 This female apostle of mysticism derived all her ideas of 
 religion from the feelings of her own heart,” and described | 
 its nature to others as she felt it herself; a manner of | 
 proceeding which is extremely uncertain and delusive. 
 And, accordingly, her religious sentiments made a great | 
 noise in 1687, and gave offence to many. Hence, after 
 they had been attentively and accurately examined by 
 several men of eminent piety and learning, 
 pronounced erroneous and unsound, and, in 1697, were 
 professedly confuted by the celebrated Bossuet. ‘This 
 gave rise to a controversy of still greater moment, between 
 the prelate last mentioned, and Francis Salignac de Fene- 
 lon, archbishop of Cambray, whose sublime virtue and, 
 superior genius were beheld with veneration in all the 
 countries of Kurope. Of these two disputants, who, in 
 point of eloquence, were avowedly without either supe- 
 riors or equals in France, the latter seemed disposed to 
 favour the religious system of Madame Guyon;_ for, 
 when Bossuet desired his approbation of the book he had 
 composed in answer to the sentiments of that female 
 mystic, Fenelon not only refused it, but openly declared 
 that this pious woman had been treated with great par- 
 tiality and injustice, and that the censures of her adver- 
 sary were unmerited and groundless. Nor did the warm 
 imagination of this amiable prelate permit him to stop 
 here, where the dictates of prudence ought to have set 
 bounds to his zeal; for, in the same year, he published a 
 book,: in which he adopted several of the tenets of Ma- 
 dame Guyon, and more especially that favourite doctrine 
 of the Mystics, which teaches that the love of the Supreme 
 Being must be pure and disinterested ; that is, exempt 
 from all views of interest and all hope of reward.¢ This 
 doctrine Fenelon explained with pathetic eloquence, and 
 confirmed it by the authority of many of the most emi- 
 nent and pious among the Romish doctors. Bossuet, 
 whose leading passion was ambition, and who beheld 
 with anxiety the rising fame and eminent talents of Fene- 
 lon as an obstacle to his glory, was highly exasperated 
 by this opposition, and left no method unemployed which 
 artifice and jealousy could suggest to mortify a rival whose 
 
 they were | 
 
 ROMISH CHURCH. 571 
 illustrious merit had rendered him so formidable. For 
 this purpose, he threw himself at the feet of Louis XIV., 
 implored the pope’s aid, and, by his importunities and 
 stratagems, obtained the condemnation of Ienelon’s book. 
 ‘his censure was pronounced, in 1699, by Innocent 
 XIi., who, in a public brief, declared that book unsound 
 in general, and branded with peculiar marks of disap- 
 probation twenty- three propositions, specified by that Con- 
 gregation which had been appointed toexamine it. The 
 book, however, was condemned alone, without any men- 
 tion of the author ; and the conduct of Fenelon on this 
 occasion was very remarkable. He declared publickly 
 his entire acquiescence in the sentence by which his boolx 
 had been condemned, and not only read that sentence to 
 his people in the pulpit at Cambray, but exhorted them 
 to respect and obey the papal decree.t ‘This step was 
 differently interpreted by different persons, according to 
 their notions of this great man, or their respective ways 
 of thinking. Some considered it as an instance of true 
 magnanimity, as the mark of a meek and gentle spirit, 
 that preferred the peace of the church to every private 
 view of interest or glory. Others, less charitable, looked 
 upon this submissive conduct as ignoble and_pusillani- 
 mous, as denoting manifestly a want of integrity, in- 
 asmuch as it implied, that the prelate condemned with 
 his lips what in his heart he believed to be true. One 
 thing indeed seems generally agreed on; and that is, 
 that Fenelon persisted, to the end of his days, in the sen- 
 timents which, in obedience to the order of the pope, he 
 retracted and condemned in a public manner. 
 
 LAI. Beside these controversies, which derived their 
 importance chiefly from the influence and reputation of 
 the disputants, and thus became productive of great 
 tumults and divisions in the church, there were others 
 excited by several innovators, whose new and singular 
 opinions were followed by troubles, though of a less mo- 
 mentous and permanent nature. Such was the strange 
 doctrine of Isaac la Peyrere, who, in two small treatises, 
 published in 1655, maintained that it is the origin of the 
 Jewish nation, and not of the human race, that we find 
 recorded in the books of Moses, and that our globe was 
 inhabited by many nations before Adam, whom he con- 
 sidered as merely the father of the Jews. ‘Though Pey- 
 rere Was a protestant when he published this opinion, yet 
 the doctors of the Romish church thought themselves 
 bound to punish an error that seemed to strike at the 
 foundation of all revealed religion; and, therefore, in 
 1656, had him seized at Brussels, and thrown into prison, 
 where, to escape the flames, he publickly renounced his 
 
 * The writings of these fanatics are enumerated and shar ply criticised 
 by Colonia, in the Bibliotheque Quietiste (which he has subjoined to his 
 Biblioth. Janseniste ,) p- 455, 488.—See also God. Arnoldi Hist. et De- 
 scr iptio Theologiz My stice, p. 364, and Poiret’s Biblio. Mystic orum. 
 
 t The writings of this lady abound with childish alle -gories and 
 mystic ejaculations. She wrote an account of her own life and spiritual 
 
 vadventures; but her principal production was La Bible de Mad. Guyon, 
 
 avec des Explications et Reflexions qui regardent la Vie interieure. 
 This Bible, with Annotations relating to the hidden or internal Life, 
 was published i in 1715, in twenty volumes in 8vo. and the notes abun 
 dantly discover the fertile imagination and shallow judgment of this fe- 
 male mystic.—See a farther account ef her in the Letters of Mad. de 
 Maintenon, tom. i. ii. 
 
 © This book was entitled, Explication des Maximes des Saints sur la 
 Vie interieure. It has been translated into Latin. 
 
 > 4 This doctrine has thus far a foundation in reason and philoso- 
 phy, that the moral perfestions of the Deity are, in themselves, intrin- 
 sically amiable ; and that their excellence is as much adapted to excite 
 our esteem and love, as the experience of their beneficent effects in 
 
 promoting our well- -being, is toi: flame our gratitude. The error, therefore 
 of the mystics lay in their drawing extray agant conclusions from a right 
 principle, and in their requiring in their followers a perpetual abstraction 
 and separa ion of ideas which are intimate ly connected, and, as it were, 
 blended te zether, such as felicity and perfection; for, though’ these two 
 are inseparable in fact, yet the mystics, froma fanlostic pretension to dis- 
 interestedness, would separate them right or wrong, and turned their 
 whole attention to the latter. In their views also of the Supreme Being, 
 they overlooked the important relations he bears to us as benefactor and 
 rewarder ; relations which certainly give rise to noble sentiments and 
 important duties; and confined their views to his supreme beauty, ex- 
 cellence, and perfection. 
 
 *An ample and impartial account of this controversy has been given 
 by Toussaint du Plessis, a Benedictine, in his Histoire de lEglise de 
 Meaux, livre v. tom. i. p. 485—523. —Ramsay, in his life of Fenelon, 
 is less impartial, but is nevertheless worthy of being Folens d on this 
 subject. See Voltaire’s Siecle de Louis XIV. tom. p. 301.— The 
 public acts and edicts relating to this controversy have oe n collected by 
 M. du Plessis Argentre, in his Collectio Judiciorum, tom. iii. 
 
572 
 
 erroneous system, and, to make a full expiation for it, 
 embraced the popish religion. ‘: 
 
 Thomas White, known at different times, and in differ- 
 ent countries, by the names of Albius, Anglus, Candidus, 
 Bianchi, which he assumed successively, made a con- 
 siderable figure, about the middle of this century, in Eng- 
 land, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands, by the 
 number and subtlety of his philosophical productions ; 
 but he also incurred the displeasure of many of the doc- 
 tors of his communion, on account of the novelty and 
 singularity of his opinions. He was undoubtedly a man 
 of genius and penetration; but, being a passionate ad- 
 mirer of the Peripatetic philosophy, he ventured to employ 
 it in the explication of some of the peculiar doctrines of 
 che Romish church. This bold attempt led him imper- 
 ceptibly out of the beaten road of popery, opened to him 
 new views of things, and made him adopt notions that 
 had never been heard of in the church of Rome; and 
 hence his books were prohibited and condemned in seve- 
 
 ral places, and particularly at Rome by the Congregation 
 
 of the Index. This innovator is said to have died in 
 England, his native country, and to have left a sect be- 
 hind him that embraced his doctrine, but which, in pro- 
 cess of time, fell into oblivion.¢ 
 
 His peculiarities, however, were nothing, in comparison 
 with the romantic notions of Joseph Francis Borri, a 
 Milanese knight, eminent for his knowledge of chemistry 
 and physic ; but who, at the same time, appears to have 
 been rather a madman than a heretic. The fancies 
 broached by this man, concerning the Virgin Mary, the 
 Holy Ghost, the erection of a new celestial kingdom, of 
 which he himself was to be the founder, and the down- 
 fall of the Roman pontiff, are so extravagant, childish, 
 and absurd, that no sober person can view them in any 
 other light than as the crude reveries of a disordered brain. 
 Besides, the conduct of this fanatic, in many instances, 
 discovered the greatest vanity and levity, attended with 
 that spirit of imposture which is usually visible in quacks 
 and mountebanks; and, indeed, in the whole of his be- 
 haviour, he seemed destitute of sense, integrity, and pru- 
 dence. ‘The inquisitors had spread their snares for Borri; 
 but he fortunately escaped them, and wandered up and 
 down through a great part of Europe, giving himself out 
 for another “ZEsculapius, and pretending to be initiated 
 into the most. profound mysteries of chemical science. 
 But, in 1672, he imprudently fell into the power of the 
 pontiff, who pronounced against him a sentence of per- 
 petual imprisonment.¢ 
 
 The last innovator we shall here mention is Celestine 
 Sfondrati, who, having formed the design of terminating 
 the disputes concerning predestination, by new explica- 
 tions of that doctrine, wrote a book upon that- knotty 
 
 * Bayle’s Dictionary—Arnold’s Histor. Eccles. et Heeret. tom. iii— 
 Menagiana, published by M. de la Monnoye, tom. ii. 
 
 xt b All these denominations bear reference to his true name, which 
 was White. This man was a peculiar favourite of Sir Kenelm Digby, 
 and mentions him with singular veneration in his philosophical writings. 
 See more of this White in Wood’s Athenee Oxon. second edit. vol. 11. 
 p. 665, and in the Biograph. Brit. article Glanville, vol. iv. p. 2206. 
 
 © See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Anglus. Baill let, Vie de M. 
 Des Cartes, tom. il. 
 
 ¢ There is a very interesting article in Bayle’s Dictionary relatirig to 
 Borri, in which all the extravagances of that wrong-headed man are 
 curiously related. See also Arnold’s History, p. iii. c. xviii. p. 193. 
 
 * This book, which was published at Rome in 1696, is patitled, Nodus 
 Predestinationis dissolutus. The letters of the French bishops, with 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 subject, which threw into combustion, in 1696, a consid- 
 erable part of the Romish church, since it was, in some 
 things, agreeable to none of the contending patties, and 
 neither satisfied entirely the Jesuits nor their adversaries.« 
 Five French bishops, of great credit at the court of Rome, 
 accused the author, notwithstanding the high rank of 
 ardinal to which he had been raised on account of his 
 xtensive learning, of various errors, and more especially 
 of having departed from the sentiments and doctrine of 
 Augustine. This accusation was brought before Inno- 
 cent XII. in 1696; but the contest which it seemed cal- 
 culated to excite was nipped in the bud. ‘The pontiff 
 appeased, or rather put off, the French prelates, with a 
 fair promise that he would appoint a congregation to ex- 
 amine the cardinal’s doctrine, and then pronounce sentence 
 accordingly ; but he forgot his promise, imitated the pru- 
 dent conduct of his predecessors on like occasions, and did 
 not venture to decide this intricate controversy. 
 
 LUI. There was scarcely any change introduced into 
 the Romish ritual during this century, if we except an 
 edict of Urban VIIL., issued in 1643,‘ for diminishing the 
 number of holidays: we shall therefore conclude this 
 account with a list of the saints added to the calendar by 
 the Roman pontiffs during the period now before us. 
 
 In the year 1601, Clement VIII. raised to that spiritual 
 dignity Raymond of Pennafort, the famous compiler of 
 the Decretais ; in 1608, Frances Pontiani, a Benedictine 
 nun; and, in 1610, the eminent and illustrious Charles 
 Borromeo, bishop of Milan, so justly celebrated for his 
 exemplary piety, and almost unparalleled liberality and 
 beneficence. 
 
 Gregory XV. conferred, in 1622, the honour of saint- 
 ship on Theresa, a native of Avila in Spain, and a nup 
 of the Carmelite order. 
 
 Urban VIII. in 1623, conferred the same spiritual 
 honours on Philip Neri, the founder of the order entitled 
 Fathers of the Oratory, in ftaly; on Ignatius Loyola, 
 the parent of the Jesuits ; and on his chief disciple Franc 
 Xavier, the Apostle of the Indians. 
 
 Alexander VII. canonized, in 1658, Thomas de Villa 
 nueva, a Spanish monk, of the order of St. Augustin, 
 and, in 1665, Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva. 
 
 Clement X. added to this honourable list, in 1670, 
 Pedro de Alcantara, a Franciscan monk, and Maria Mag- 
 dalena Pactii, a Florentine nun of the Carmelite order ; 
 and, in 1671, Rose, an American virgin, of the third order 
 of Dominick, and Louis Bertrand, a Dominican monk. 
 
 Under the pontificate of Innocent XII. saintship was 
 conferred upon Caietan of Vicenza, a regular clerk of the 
 order of Theatins, for whom that honovir had been de- 
 signed twenty years before by Clement X. who died at the 
 time when the canonization was to have been performed. 
 
 the answer of the pontiff, are to be found in Du-Plessis D’Argentre’s 
 Collectio Judiciorum, tom. 111. and in Natalis Alexander’s Theologia 
 Dogmatica et Moralis, p. 877. The letters of the bishops are remarkable 
 in this respect, that they contain sharp animadversions upon the Jesuits 
 and their discipline. The prelates express, in the strongest terms, their 
 abhorrence of the doctrine of philosophical sin, which rendered the 
 Jesuits so deservedly infamous, and their detestation of the methods of 
 propagating Christianity employed by the missionaries of that order i in 
 China; and, to express their aversion to the doctrine of Sfondra., 
 they say, that his opinions are still more erroneous and pernicious than 
 even those of the Molinists. The doctrine of this cardinal has been 
 accurately represented and compared with that of Augustin by the 
 learned Basnage, in his Histoire de I’Eglise, livre xii. ¢. i. sect. x1. 
 
 f This bull may be seen in the N ouvelle Bibliotheque, tom. xv. p. 88 
 
Part I. 
 
 John of Leon, also, a hermit of St. Augustin; Pascal 
 Baylonio, a Franciscan monk of the kingdom of Arra- 
 gon; and John de Dieu, a Portuguese, and one of the order 
 of the Brethren of Hospitality, all of whom had been 
 marked for a place in the calendar by Alexander VIIL, 
 were solemnly canonized, in 1691, by Innocent XIL* 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 The History of the Greek and Oriental Churches. 
 
 I. Tue history of the Greek and Eastern Christians, | 
 faithfully and accurately composed, would, no doubt, fur- | 
 
 nish us with a variety of entertaining and useful records ; 
 but the events that happen, and the transactions that are 
 carried on in those distant regions, are very rarely trans- 
 mitted to us genuine and uncorrupted. ‘The spirit of 
 religious party, and the pious frauds which it often 
 engenders, want of proper information, and undistinguish- 
 ing credulity, have introduced a fabulots mixture into the 
 accounts we have of the state of the Christian religion in 
 the East ; and this consideration has engaged us to treat 
 ina more concise manner than would otherwise have been 
 
 expedient, this particular branch of ecclesiastical history. | 
 
 The Greek church, whose wretched situation was 
 mentioned in the history of the preceding century, con- 
 tinued, during the present one, in the same deplorable 
 
 state of ignorance and decay, destitute of the means of 
 
 acquiring or promoting solid and useful knowledge. ‘This 
 account is, however, to be considered as taken from a 
 general view of that church ; for several of its members 
 may be alleged as exceptions from the prevailing character 
 of ignorance, superstition, and corruption. Among the 
 multitude of Greeks who travel into Sicily, Italy, England, 
 Holland, and Germany, or carry on trade in their own 
 country, or fill honourable and important posts in thecourts 
 of the ‘Turkish emperors, there are undoubtedly some 
 who are exempt from this reproach of ignorance and 
 stupidity, of superstition and profligacy, and who make a 
 figure by their opulence and credit.» But nothing can be 
 more rooted and invincible than the aversion the Greeks 
 in general discover to the Latin or Romish church; an 
 aversion which neither promises nor threats, artifice nor 
 
 * The diplomas of the pontiffs, relative to all these canonizations, may 
 be seen in Fontanini’s Codex Constitutionum, quas summi Pontifices 
 ediderunt in solemni Canonizatione sanctorum, p. 260, published at 
 Rome, in 1729. As they contain the particular reasons which occasion- 
 ed the elevation of these persons toa place in the calendar, and the 
 peculiar kind of merit on which each promotion was founded, they 
 offer abundant matter for reflection and censure to a judicious reader. 
 Nor would it be labour ill employed to inquire, without prejudice or 
 
 partiality, into the justice, piety, and truth of what the popes allege in | 
 
 these diplomas, as the reasons for conferring saintship on the persons 
 therein mentioned. 
 
 >I have been led to these remarks by the complaints of Alexander 
 Flelladius, and of others who see things in the light in which he has 
 placed them 
 author, in 1714, entitled, The present State of the Greek Church, in 
 which he throws out the bitterest reproaches upon several authors of 
 eminent merit and learning, who have given accounts of that church, 
 and maintains that his brethren of the Greek communion are much more 
 
 ious, learned, wise, and opulent, than they are commonly supposed to 
 Bs. Instead of envying the Greeks the merit and felicity which this 
 panegyrist supposes them to possess, we sincerely wish them much 
 greater degrees of both. But we observe at the same time, that from 
 the very accounts given by Helladius it would be easy to prove, that 
 the state of the Greeks is not a whit better than it is generally supposed to 
 ve; though it may be granted, that the same ignoranee, superstition, and 
 smmorality, do not abound alike in all places, or among all persons. 
 See what we have remarked on this subject in the accounts we have 
 given of the Eastern church during the sixteenth century, 
 
 No. XLVIIL. 144 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 There is still extant a book published in Latin by this | 
 
 | of its pontiff. 
 
 573 
 
 violence, have been ahle to conquer, or even to temper or 
 diminish, and which has continued inflexible and unre- 
 lenting amidst the most zealous efforts of the Roman 
 pontiffs, and the various means employed by their nu- 
 merous missionaries, to gain over this people to their 
 communion and jurisdiction.s It is true, indeed, that 
 the Latin Christians have founded churches in some of 
 the islands of the Archipelago; but these congregations 
 
 | are poor and inconsiderable ; nor will either the Greeks 
 
 or their masters, the Turks, permit the Romish mission- 
 aries to extend farther their spiritual jurisdiction. 
 
 II. Under the pontificate of Urban VIII. great hopes 
 were entertained of softening the antipathy of the Greeks 
 against the Latin church,‘ and of engaging them and the 
 other Christians of the East, to embrace the communion of 
 Rome, and acknowledge the supremacy and jurisdiction 
 This was the chief object that excited the 
 ambitious zeal and employed the assiduous labour and 
 activity of Urban, who called to his assistance such eccle- 
 siastics as Were most eminent for their acquaintance with 
 Greek and Oriental learning, and with the tempers, man- 
 ners, and characters of the Christians in those distant 
 regions, that they might suggest the shortest and most 
 effectual method of bringing them and their churches 
 under the Roman yoke. ‘The wisest of these counsellors 
 advised the pontiff to lay it down for a preliminary in 
 this difficult negotiation, that the Greek and Eastern 
 Christians were to be indulged in almost every point that 
 had hitherto been refused them by the Romish mission- 
 aries, and that no alteration was to be introduced either 
 into their ritual or doctrine ; that their ceremonies were 
 to be tolerated, since they did not concern the essence of 
 religion; and that their doctrine was to be explained and 
 understood in such a manner as might give it a near and 
 striking resemblance to the doctrine and institutions of 
 the church of Rome. In defence of this method of pro- 
 ceeding, it was judiciously observed, that the Greeks would 
 be much more tractable and obsequious, were they told 
 by the missionaries, that it was not meant to convert 
 them; that they had always been Roman catholics in 
 reality, though not in profession ; and that the popes had 
 no intention of persuading them to abandon the doctrine 
 
 ¢ The Jesuit Tarillon has given an ample relation of the numerous 
 missions in Greece and the other provinces of the Ottoman empire, and 
 of the present state of these missions, in his letter to Pontchartrain, sur 
 Etat present des Missions des Péres Jesuites dans la Grece, published 
 in the Nouveaux Memoires des Missions de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. 
 i. p. 1125. For an account of the state of the Romish religion in the 
 islands of the Archipelago, see the letter of the Jesuit Kavier Portier, 
 in the Lettres edifiantes et curieuses, écrites des Missions étrangeres, t. 
 x. p. 328. These accounts are, it is true, somewhat embellished, in 
 order to advance the glory of the Jesuits ; but the exaggerations of these 
 missionaries may be easily corrected by the accounts of other writers, 
 who, in our times, have treated this branch of ecclesiastical history. 
 See, above all others, R. Simon’s (under the fictitious name of Saint- 
 Jore) Bibliotheque Critique, tom. i. ¢. xxiii. p. 340, and especially p. 
 346, where the author confirms a remarkable fact, which we have men- 
 tioned above upon the authority of Cerri, namely, that, amidst the 
 general dislike which the Greeks have to the Romish church, no per- 
 sons carry this dislike to such a high degree of antipathy and aversion, 
 as those very Greeks who have been educated at Rome, or in the other 
 schools and seminaries belonging to its spiritual jurisdiction. “Ils sont 
 (says Father Simon) les premiers a crier contre et & medire du pape et 
 des Latins. Ces pelerins Orientaux qui viennent chez nous, fourbent 
 et abusent de notre credulité, pour acheter un benefice, et tourmenter les 
 
 | missionaries Latins, &c.” We have still more recent and ample testi- 
 
 monies of the invincible hatred of the Greeks toward the Latins, in the 
 preface to Cowell’s Account of the present Greek Church. 
 
 4See the Life of Morinus, prefixed to his Antiquitates Eccles 
 Orient. p. 37, 
 
574 HISTORY OF THE GREEK 
 of their ancestors, but only desired that they would under- 
 stand it in its true and genuine sense. ‘This plan gave 
 rise to a variety of laborious productions, in which there 
 was more learning than probity, and more dexterity than 
 candour and good faith. Such were the treatises publish- 
 ed by Leo Allatius, Morinus, Clement Galanus, Lucas 
 Holstenius, Abraham Ecchellensis,s and others who pre- 
 tended to demonstrate, that there was little or no differ- 
 nee between the religion of the Greeks, Armenians and 
 Nestorians, and that of the church of Rome, a few cere- 
 monies excepted, together with some unusual phrases 
 and terms that are peculiar to the Christians of the 
 
 Hast. 
 
 The design of bringing, by artful compliances, the | 
 
 Greek and Eastern churches under the jurisdiction of 
 Rome, was opposed by many, but by none with more 
 resolution and zeal than by Cyril Lucar, patriarch of 
 Constantinople, a man of extensive learning and know- 
 ledge of the wold, who had visited a great part of Europe, 
 and was well acquainted with the doctrine and discipline, 
 both of the protestant and papal churches. This prelate 
 declared openly, and indeed with more courage than pru- 
 dence, that he had a strong propensity to the religious 
 sentiments of the English and Dutch churches, and had 
 conceived the design of reforming the doctrine and ritual 
 of the Greeks, and bringing them nearer to the purity 
 and simplicity of the Gospel. This was sufficient to 
 render the venerable patriarch odious to the friends of 
 Rome ; and accordingly the Jesuits, seconded by the cre- 
 dit and influence of the French ambassador, and assisted 
 by the treacherous stratagems of some perfidious Greeks, 
 continued to perplex and persecute the good man in vatri- 
 ous ways, and at length accomplished his ruin ; for, by 
 
 the help of false witnesses, they obtained an accusation | 
 |ing and masterly eloquence, maintained, that’ many of 
 
 of treason against him; in consequence of which he 
 was put to death, in 1638, by the mandate of the Turkish 
 emperor.” He was succeeded by Cyril, bishop of Berea, 
 a man of a dark, malignant, and violent spirit, and the in- 
 famous instrument the Jesuits had chiefly employed in 
 bringing him toan untimely end. As this new patriarch 
 declared himself openly in favour of the Latins, the recon- 
 ciliation of the Greeks with the church of Rome seemed 
 
 AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 more probable than ever, and almost certain ;* but the dis- 
 mal fate of this unworthy prelate suddenly dispelled the 
 pleasing hopes and the anxious fears with which 
 
 Rome and its adversaries beheld the approach of this im- 
 
 portant event. ‘he same violent death that had con- 
 cluded the days of Cyril Lucar pursued his successor, in 
 whose place Parthenius, a zealous opposer of the doctrine 
 and ambitious pretensions of Rome, was raised to the 
 patriarchal dignity. After this period the Roman pontiffs 
 desisted from their attempts upon the Greek church, no 
 opportunity being offered either of deposing its patriarchs, 
 or gaining them over to the Romish conimunion. 
 
 IL. Notwithstanding these unsuccessful attempts of 
 the pontiffs to reduce the Greek church under their domi- 
 nion, many allege, and more especially the reformed 
 clergy complain, that the doctrine of that church has been 
 manifestly corrupted by the emissaries of Rome. It is 
 supposed, that, in later times, the munificence of the 
 French ambassadors at the Porte, and the persuasive 
 sophistry of the Jesuits, have made such irresistible impres- 
 sions on the avarice and ignorance of the Greek bishops, 
 whose poverty is great, that they have departed, in several 
 points, from the religious system of their ancestors, and 
 have adopted, among other errors of the Romish church, 
 the monstrous and unnatural doctrine of transubstantia- 
 tion. ‘This change is said to have been more especially 
 brought about in the famous council, which was assem- 
 bled, in 1672, at Jerusalem, by Dositheus, the patriarch 
 of that city.¢ Without entering into an examination of 
 the truth and equity of this charge brought against the 
 Greek bishops, we shall only observe, that it was the con- 
 troversy between the catholics and protestants in France 
 that first gave rise to it. The latter, and more especially 
 John Claude, so justly celebrated for his extensive learn- 
 
 the doctrines of the Romish church, and more particu- 
 larly that of transubstantiation, were of a modern date, 
 and had never been heard of before the ninth century. 
 The catholics on the contrary, with Arnaud at their head, 
 affirmed, that the doctrine of Rome concerning the eucha- 
 rist, and the real conversion of the bread and wine into 
 the body and blood of Christ in that holy ordinance, had 
 
 * The book of Leo Allatius, de Concordié Ecclesie Orientalis et 
 Occidentalis, 1s welt known, and deservedly looked upon, by the most 
 learned protestants, as the work of a disingenuous and insidicus writer. 
 Vhe Grecia Orthodoxa of the same author, which was published at 
 Rome in 1652, and contains a compilation from all the books of the 
 Grecian doctors who were well affected to the Latin church, is still ex- 
 tant.—We have nothing of Lucas Holstenius (who was superior to 
 Allatius in leatning and sagacity) upon this subject, except two posthu- 
 mous dissertations, de Ministro et Forma Sacramenti Confirmationis 
 apud Grecos, which were published at Rome in 1666.—The treatises 
 of Morinus, de Penitentia et Ordinationibus, are known to all the learn- 
 ed, and seem expressly composed to make the world believe, that there 
 is a striking conformity of sentiment between the Greek and Latin 
 churches on these two important points, when, laying aside the differ- 
 ence that scholastic terms and peculiar modes of expression may ap- 
 pear to occasion, we attend to the meaning that is annexed to these 
 terms by the members of the two communions. Galanus, in a long and 
 laborious work, has endeavoured to prove, that the Armenians differ 
 very little from the Latins in their religious opinions; and Abraham 
 Ecchellensis has attempted to convince us in several treatises, (and 
 more especially in his Animadversiones ad Hebed. Jesu Cataloeum lib- 
 rorum Chaldaicorum) that all Christians throughout Africa and Asia 
 have the same system of doctrine that is received amone the Latins. 
 
 » The Confession of Faith, drawn up by Cyril Lucar, was published 
 in Holiand, in 1645; and is also inserted by Aymon in his Monumens 
 authentiques de la Religion des Grees, p. 237." By this confession, it 
 appears evidently, that this prelate had a stronger inclination toward 
 the doctrine of the reformed churches, than to that which was commonly 
 
 received among the Greeks. Nor was he, by any means, ill-affected 
 toward the Lutherans, since he addressed several letters to the Swedish 
 clergy about this time, and solicited their friendship, as appears from 
 the learned Archenholtz’ Memoires dela Reine Christine. —Aymon has 
 published, in the work already mentioned, twenty-seven letters of this 
 patriarch to the clergy of Geneva, and to the doctors of the reformed 
 church, in which his religious sentiments are still more plainly disco- 
 vered. His life, transactions, and deplorable fate, have been recorded 
 by Thomas Smith, a learned divine of the English church, in his Narra- 
 tio de Vita, Studiis, Gestis et Martyrio Cyrilli Lucaris, which is the 
 third article of his Miscellanea; as also by Hottinger, and by other 
 authors mentioned by Fabricius in his Bibliotheca Greca. * 
 
 ¢ Sce Eliz Vegelii Defensio Exerc. de Ecclesia Graca, p. 800, where 
 we find the letters of pope Urban VIII. to Cyril of Berea, in which he 
 loads with applause this new patriarch, for having been so instrumental 
 in banishing from among the Greeks the pernicious errors of Cyril 
 Luear, and warmly exhorts him to depose all the Greek patriarchs and 
 bishops who are not favourable to the Latin church. These exhorta- 
 tions are seconded by flattering promises, and, particularly, by an assu- 
 rance of protection and succour from the king of Spain. Cyril of Berea 
 died in the communion of the Romish church. See Hen. Hilarii Not. 
 ad Phil. Cyprii Chron. Ecclesie Greece, p. 470. 
 
 4 See, for an account of this council, Aymon’s Memoires Authentiques 
 de la Religion des Grees, tom. i. p. 263; and Gisberti Cuperi Epistole, 
 p. 404, 407.—See, more especially, the judicious and learned ovserva- 
 tions of Basnage on the transactions of this council, in his Histoire de 
 la Religion des Eglises Reformées, period iv. p. i. ¢. xxxii. p. 452, and 
 Cowell’s Account of the Present State of the Greek Church, book 1. ch. v. 
 
 d 
 f 
 
 Aw 
 
Part Ly HISTORY OF THI: GREEK 
 been received by Christians in all ages of the church.* 
 To strengthen their cause by authorities, which they | 
 imagined would have no small imfluence upon their ad- | 
 versaries, they ventured to assert that this doctrine was 
 adopted by all the Hastern Christians, and particularly 
 by the Greek churches.’ 'This bold assertion required | 
 striking and authentic testimonies to give it any degree 
 of credit. Accordingly the ambassador of France, resi- 
 ding at Constantinople, received orders from his court to 
 concur with the Jesuits, and to leave no methods unem- 
 ployed in procuring certificates from the Greek clergy to 
 confirm this assertion. On the other hand, the English 
 and Dutch ambassadors, persuaded that no such doctrine 
 was really professed in the Greek church, procured also 
 the testimonies of several ecclesiastics, in order to take 
 from the catholic disputants this pretext; which, after all, 
 was of no great consequence, as it did not affect the merits 
 of the cause. The result, however, of this scrutiny was 
 favourable to the Romish doctors, whose agents in foreign 
 parts procured a more numerous list of testimonies than 
 their adversaries could produce. ‘The protestants invali- 
 dated these testimonies, by proving fully, that many of 
 them were obtained by bribery from the indigent Greeks, 
 whose deplorable poverty made them sacrifice truth to 
 lucre ; and that a great number of them were drawn by 
 artifice from ignorant priests, whom the Jesuits deceived, 
 by disguising the doctrines of Rome in such a mannet as 
 to give them a Grecian air, and make them resemble 
 the religious system of the Eastern churches.: If we 
 grant this to be true, we may nevertheless justly question, 
 whether the admission of certain doctrines in the Greek 
 church, that resemble the errors of popery, ought to be 
 dated from the period now before us; and whoever exa- 
 mines this controversy with a spirit of impartiality, accom- 
 panied with a competent knowledge of the history of 
 the religious doctrine of the Greek churches, will perhaps 
 find that a certain vague and obscure notion, similar to 
 the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation, was received 
 during many ages by several of these churches; though, 
 in these later times, they may have learned, from the 
 Romish missionaries, the popish manner of expressing 
 this very absurd and unaccountable tenet.4 
 
 IV. Of those independent Greek churches, which are 
 
 AND ORTENTAL CHURCHES. 575 
 
 || governed by their own laws, and are not subject to the 
 
 Jurisdiction of the patriarch of Coustantinople, there is not 
 one that can furnish any matter for an ecclesiastical his- 
 torian, except the church established in Russia; the rest 
 are sunk in the most deplorable ignorance and barbarity 
 that can be imagined. About the year 1666, a certain 
 sect, which assumed the name of /sbranili, i. e. the mul- 
 titude of the Elect, but were called by their adversaries 
 Roscolskika, or the seditious Faction, arose in Russia, 
 and excited considerable tumults ‘and commotions in that 
 kingdom.* ‘The reasons alleged by this sect in defence 
 
 | of its separation from the Russian church, are not yet 
 
 known with certainty ; nor have we any satisfactory or 
 accurate account of its doctrines and institutions ;* we 
 only know in general, that its members affect an extra- 
 ordinary air of piety and devotion, and complain of the 
 corruptions introduced into the ancient religion of the 
 Russians, partly by the negligence, and partly by the 
 ambition, of the episcopal order. On the other hand, 
 great pains were taken to conquer the obstinacy of this 
 factious sect ; arguments, promises, threatenings, dragoon- 
 ings, the authority of synods and councils, seconded by 
 racks and gibbets ; in a word, all the methods that arti- 
 fice or barbarity could suggest, were practised to bring 
 back these seditious heretics into the bosom of the church. 
 But the effect of these violent measures by no means an- 
 swered the expectations of the Russian government ; they 
 exasperated, instead of reclaiming, these schismatics, who 
 retired into the woods and deserts, and, as it often happens, 
 were rendered more fierce and desperate by the calamities 
 and sufferings in which they were involved. From the 
 time that Peter the Great ascended the throne of Russia, 
 and made such remarkable changes both in its civil and 
 ecclesiastical government, this faction has been treated 
 with greater humanity and mildness; but it is alleged, 
 that these mild proceedings have by no means healed the 
 schism, and that, on the contrary, the Roskolniki have 
 gained strength, and have become still more obstinate 
 since the period now mentioned. 
 
 V. It will not be improper here to give some account 
 of this reformation of the church of Russia, which resulted 
 from the, active zeal and wisdom of Peter ; for, though 
 this interesting event belongs to the history of the follow- 
 
 3° It was to prove this most groundless assertion, that the famous 
 Nicole published his artful book, de la Perpetuité de la Foi, in 1664, 
 which was answered, with a victorious force of evidence, by the learned 
 Claude. 
 
 > The names and productions of the principal writers that appeared 
 in this controversy may be found in the Bibliotheca Greca of Fabricius, 
 vol. x. p. 444, and in the learned Pfaff’s Dissertatio contra Ludov. Roge- 
 rii Opus Eucharisticum. 
 
 * Here, above all other histories, the reader will do well to consult 
 Cowell’s Account of the present State of the Greek Church, as this 
 author was actually at Constantinople when the scene of fraud and 
 bribery was carried on, and was an eye-witness of the insidious arts 
 and perfidious practices employed by the Jesuits to obtain, from the 
 Greek priests and monks, testimonies in favour of the doctrine of the 
 Latin or Romish church. 
 
 4 ‘The learned La Croze, who cannot be suspected of any propensity 
 to favour the cause of Rome in general, or that of the Jesuits in parti- 
 cular, was of opinion that the Greeks had been long in possession of 
 the foolish doctrine of transubstantiation. See Gisberti Cuperi Epis- 
 tole. 
 
 * These, perhaps, are the same persons of whom the learned Gmelin 
 speaks, under the denomination of Sterowerzi, in the account of his 
 Voyage into Siberia, tom. iv. p. 404. 
 
 x“> ‘ This sect is called, by other authors, the sect of the Roskolniki. 
 According to the account of Voltaire, who pretends to have drawn the 
 materials of his History of the Russian Empire under Peter I. from 
 authentic records furnished by the court of Petersburg, this sect made 
 
 its first appearance in the twelfth century. The members of it alleged, 
 in defence of their separation, the corruptions, both in doctrine and 
 discipline, which had been introduced into the Russian church. They 
 profess a rigorous zeal for the letter of Scripture, which they do not 
 understand; and the transposition of a single word in a new edition of 
 the Russian Bible, though it tended only to correct an uncouth phrase in 
 the translation commonly received, threw them into the greatest combus- 
 tion and tumult. They will not allow a priest to administer baptism 
 after having tasted spirituous liquor; and in this, perhaps, they do not 
 amiss, since it is well known, that the Russian priests seldom touch the 
 flask without drinking deeply. They hoid that there is no subordination 
 of rank, no superior or inferior, among the faithful; that a Christian 
 may kill himself for the love of Christ; that it is a great sin to say 
 Hallelujah thrice, and that a priest must never give a blessing but with 
 three fingers. They are regular, even to austerity, in their manners; 
 but, as they have always refused to admit Christians of other denomina- 
 tions into their religious assemblies, they have been suspected of com- 
 mitting, at those meetings, various abominations, which ought not to be 
 believed without the strongest demonstrative proof. They are accused, 
 for example, of killing a child in these assemblies, and of drinking its 
 blood, and of lascivious commerce in its most irregular forms. } 
 
 © See Bergius, de Statu Ecclesiz et Religionis Mescovitice, sect. Xi. 
 cap. vii. sect. ii. cap. xvii—Append. 270.—Heineccius’ Account of the 
 Greek Church, written in German ; and Haven’s Iter Russicum.—Some 
 writers conjecture, that the Roskolniki are a branch descended from the 
 ancient Bogomilians, of whom we have already given some account, 
 cent, Xil. p. ii, chap. v. sect. ii. 
 
576 HISTORY OF THE GREEK 
 ing century, yet the scheme, by which it was brought 
 about, was formed toward the conclusion of the seven- 
 teenth. ‘This great prince made no change in the articles 
 of faith received among the Russians, and which contain 
 the doctrine of the Greek church. But he took the utmost 
 pains to have this doctrine explained in a manner con- 
 formable to the dictates of right reason and the spirit of 
 the Gospel; and he used the most effectual methods to 
 lestroy, on one hand, the influence of the hideous super- 
 tition that sat brooding over the whole nation, and, on 
 the other, to dispel the ignorance of the clergy, which 
 was incredible, and that of the people, which would have 
 exceeded it, had that been possible. "These were great and 
 arduous undertakings ; and the reformation to which they 
 pointed, was such as seemed to require whole ages to 
 accomplish and bring to any tolerable degree of perfection. 
 To accelerate the execution of this glorious plan, Peter 
 became a zealous protector and patron of arts and sciences. 
 He encouraged, by various instances of munificence, men 
 of learning and genius to settle in his dominions. He 
 reformed the schools that were sunk in ignorance and 
 barbarism, and erected new seminaries of learning. He 
 endeavoured to excite in his subjects a desire of emerging 
 from their ignorance and brutality, and a taste for know- 
 ledge and the useful arts. And, to crown all these noble 
 attempts, he extinguished the infernal spirit of persecution ; 
 abolished the penal laws against those who differed mereiy 
 in religious opinion from the established church; and 
 granted to Christians of all denominations liberty of con- 
 science, and the privilege of performing divine worship in 
 the manner prescribed by their respective liturgies and 
 institutions. ‘This liberty, however, was modified in such 
 a prudent manner, as to restrain and defeat any attempts 
 that might be made by the Latins to promote the interests 
 of popery in Russia, or to extend the jurisdiction of the 
 Roman pontiff beyond the tolerated chapels of that com- 
 munion ; for, though Roman Catholics were allowed to 
 have places for the celebration cf divine worship, the 
 Jesuits were not permitted to exercise the functions of 
 missionaries or public teachers in Russia; and a patti- 
 cular charge was given to the council, to which belonged 
 the cognizance of ecclesiastical affairs, to use the utmost 
 care and vigilance to prevent the propagation of Romish 
 tenets among the people. 
 
 Beside all this, a remarkable change was now intro- 
 duced into the manner of governing the church. The 
 splendid dignity of patriarch, which approached too near 
 the lustre and prerogatives of majesty, not to be offensive 
 to the emperor, and burthensome to the people, was sup- 
 
 ressed, or rather assumed by this spirited prince, who 
 declared himself the supreme pontiff and head of the 
 Russian church. The functions of this high and im- 
 
 AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. . Sect. I. 
 portant office were committed to a council assembled at 
 Petersburg, which was called the Holy Synod, and in 
 which one of the archbishops, the most distinguished by 
 his integrity and prudence, acted as president. This 
 honourable office was filled by the famous Stephen Javor- 
 ski, who composed a laborious work, in the Russian lan- 
 guage, against heresy.» ‘The other orders of the clergy 
 continued in their respective ranks and offices; but both 
 their revenues and their authority were considerably dimi- 
 nished. It was resolved at first, in this general reform- 
 ation, to abolish all monasteries and convents, as’ preju- 
 dicial to the community, and unfriendly to population ; 
 but this resolution was not executed; on the contrary, 
 the emperor himself erected a magnificent monastery in 
 honour of Alexander Newsky, whom the Russians place 
 in the list of their heroes.¢ 
 
 VI. A small body of the Monophysites in Asia aban- 
 doned, for some time, the doctrine and institutions of their 
 ancestors, and embraced the communion of Rome. ‘This 
 step was entirely occasioned by the suggestions and in 
 trigues of a person named Andrew Achigian, who had 
 been educated at Rome, where he imbibed the principles 
 of popery, and, having obtained the title and dignity of 
 patriarch from the Roman pontiff, assumed the denomi- 
 nation of Ignatius XXIV.¢ After the death of this pre- 
 tended patriarch, another usurper, whose name was Peter, 
 aspired to the same dignity, and, taking the title of Igna- 
 tius XX V., placed himself in the patriarchal chair; but 
 the lawful patriarch of the sect had credit enough with 
 the ‘Turks to procure the deposition and banishment of 
 this pretender; and thus the small congregation which 
 acknowledged his jurisdiction was entirely dispersed.¢ 
 ‘The African Monophysites, and more especially the Copts 
 notwithstanding that poverty and ignorance which expo- 
 sed them to the seductions of sophistry and gain, stood 
 firm in their principles, and made an obstinate resistance 
 to the promises, presents, and*attempts, employed by the 
 papal missionaries to bring them under the Roman yoke. 
 With respect to the Abyssinians, we have mentioned 
 already, in its proper place, a revolution by which they 
 delivered themselves from that tyrannical yoke, and re- 
 sumed the liberty they had so imprudently renounced. 
 It is proper, however, to take notice here of the zeal dis- 
 covered by the Lutherans, in their attempts to dispel the 
 ignorance and superstition of this people, and to bring 
 them to the knowledge of a purer religion and a more 
 rational worship. It was with this pious design that the 
 learned Heyling, of Lubeck, undertook a voyage into 
 Ethiopia in 1634, where he resided many years, and ac- 
 quired such a distinguished place in the favour and es- 
 teem of the emperor, that he was honoured with the im- 
 portant office of prime minister of that mighty empire. 
 
 3’7* This account is not perhaps entirely accurate. Dr. Mosheim 
 seems to insinuate that Peter assumed not only the authority, but also 
 the office and title of patriarch or supreme pontiff and head of the church. 
 This, however, was not the case; he retained the power without the 
 title, as may be seen by the oath that every member of the synod he 
 had established was obliged to take when he was appointed to that 
 office. It was in consequence of his authority, as emperor, that he 
 claimed an absolute authority in the church, and not from any spiritual 
 character or denomination. Thé oath now mentioned ran thus: “I 
 swear and promise to be a faithful and obedient subject and servant to 
 my true and natural sovereign, and to the august successors whom it 
 shall please him to appoint, in consequence of the indisputable power he 
 has to regulate the succession to the crown.—I acknowledge him as the 
 supreme judge of this spiritual college,” &c. See Voltaire’s Histoire de 
 VEmpire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand, tom. i. p. 174. 
 
 b Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 1295. 
 
 ¢ Those who are acquainted with either the Danish or German Jan- 
 cuage, will find several interesting anecdotes relating to these changes 
 in Haven’s Iter Russicum. 
 
 4 Fyrom the fifteenth century downwards, all the patriarchs of the 
 Monophysites have taken the name of Ignatius, for no other reason than 
 to show that they are the lineal successors of Ignatius, (who was bishop 
 of Antioch in the first century,) and of consequence the lawful patriarchs 
 of Antioch. A like reason induces the religious chief of the Maro- 
 nites, who also claims the same dignity, to assume the name of Peter ; 
 for St. Peter is said to have governed the church of Antioch before 
 Ignatius. ? 
 
 4 Jo. Simon. Assemani Biblioth. Oriental. Clementino- Vatican. tom. 
 ji, p. 482, and his Dissert. de Monophysitis, sect. iii. 
 
 ae 
 
Part I HISTORY OF THE GREEK 
 In this eminent station he gave many instances of his 
 zeal both for the interests of religion and the public good ; 
 afier which he set out for Kurope, but never arrived there ; 
 nor is it Known in what manner, or by what accident, 
 he ended his days.* 
 
 Several years after this, Ernest, duke of Saxe-Gotha, 
 surnamed the Pious, on account of his sanctity and vir- 
 tue, formed the resolution of making a new attempt to 
 diffuse the knowledge of the Gospel, in its purity and 
 simplicity, among the ignorant and superstitious Abyssi- 
 nians. ‘This design was formed by the.counsels and sug- 
 gestions of the famous Ludolph, and was to have been 
 executed by the ministry of the abbot Gregory, an Abys- 
 sinian, who had resided for some time in Europe.” The 
 unhappy fate of this missionary, who perished in a ship- 
 wreck in 1657, did not totally discourage the prince from 
 pursuing his purpose; for,in 1663, he entrusted the same 
 pious and important commission to John Michael Wansleb, 
 a native of Erfort, to whom he gave the wisest orders, 
 and whom he charged particularly to leave no means 
 unemployed that might contribute to give the Abyssinian 
 nation a favourable opinion of the Germans, as it was 
 upon this basis alone that the success of the present en- 
 terprise could be built. Wansleb, however, whose virtue 
 was by no means equal to his abilities, instead of conti- 
 nuing his journey to Abyssinia, remained several years 
 in Egypt. On his return thence info Europe, he began 
 to entertain uneasy apprehensions of the account that 
 would naturally be demanded both of his conduct, and 
 of the manner in which he had employed the sums of mo- 
 ney he had received for his Abyssinian expedition. hese 
 apprehensions rendered him desperate, because they were 
 attended with a consciousness of guilt. Hence, instead 
 of returning into Germany, he went to Rome, where, in 
 1667, he embraced, at least in outward profession, the 
 doctrine of that church, and entered into the Dominican 
 order. ‘Thus the pious design of the best of princes 
 failed in the execution. ‘To his formation of that scheme, 
 however, we are indebted for the great light that has 
 been thrown by the learned and laborious Ludolph on 
 the history, doctrine, literature, and manners of the Abys- 
 sinians, which before this period were very superficially 
 known in Europe. 
 
 VII. The state of the Christians in Armenia under- 
 wenta considerable change soon after the commencement 
 of this century, in consequence of the incursions of Abbas 
 the Great, king of Persia, into that province. This prince 
 ravaged that part of Armenia which lay contiguous to 
 his dominions, and ordered the inhabitants to retire into 
 Persia. These devastations were intended to prevent the 
 ‘Turks from approaching his frontier; for the Eastern 
 monarchs, instead of erecting fortified towns on the bor- 
 
 5 
 
 ders of their respective kingdoms, as is done by the Euro- 
 
 pean princes, laid waste their borders upon the approach 
 of the invaders, that, by thus cutting off the means of 
 
 * A very curious life of Heyling was published in German by Dr. 
 Michaelis at Halle, in 1724.—See also Moller’s Cimb. Litera. t. i. p. 253. 
 
 » See Ludolphi Proémium ad Comm. in Hist. Ethiop. p. 31.—Junc- 
 keri Vita Lobi Ludolphi, p. 63. 
 
 * Foran account of this inconstant and worthless, but learned man, see 
 Lobo’s Voyage d’Abyss. tom. i. p. 198, 227, 233, 248 —Cyprian’s Cata- 
 log. MSS. Bublioth. Gothane, p. 64.—Eus. Renaudot’s Pref. ad Histor. 
 Patriarch. Alexand. and his Historia Ecclesia Alexandrine: see also 
 Scriptor. Ordin. Predicatorum, edited by Echard and Quetif. t. ii. p. 693. 
 
 4 Sce Chardin’s Voyages en Perse, tom. ii. p. 106; and the Nouvelles 
 Relations au Levant, by Gabriel de Chinon, p, 206. 
 
 No. XLIX. 145 
 
 AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 577 
 
 | their subsistence, their progress might be either entirely 
 stopped, or considerably retarded. In this general emi- 
 gration, the more opulent and the better sort of the Arme- 
 nians removed to Ispahan, the capital of Persia, where 
 the generous monarch granted them a beautiful suburb 
 for their residence, with the free exercise of their religion 
 under the jurisdiction of a bishop or patriarch. Under 
 the sway of this magnanimous prince, who cherished his 
 people with a paternal tenderness, these happy exiles en- 
 joyed the sweets of liberty and abundance ; but after 
 his death the scene changed, and they were involved in 
 calamities of various kinds.t. "The storm of persecutior. 
 that arose upon them shook their constancy; many of 
 them apostatised to the Mohammedan religion, so that it 
 was justly to be feared that this branch of the Armenian 
 church would gradually be lost. On the other hand, the 
 state of religion in that church derived considerable ad- 
 vantages from the settlement of a great number of Arme- 
 nians in different parts of Europe for the purposes of 
 commerce. ‘These merchants, who had fixed their resi- 
 dence, during this century, at London, Amsterdam, Mar- 
 seilles, and Venice, were not unmindful of the interests of 
 religion in their native country ; and their situation fur- 
 nished them with opportunities of exerting their zeal in 
 this good cause, and particularly of supplying their Asi- 
 atic brethren with Armenian translations of the Scriptures, 
 and of other theological books, from the European presses, 
 especially from those of England and Holland. These 
 pious and instructive productions, being dispersed among 
 the Armenians, who lived under the Persian and Turkish 
 governments, contributed, no doubt, to preserve that illi- 
 terate and superstitious people from falling into the most 
 consummate and deplorable ignorance. 
 
 VIII. The divisions that reigned among the Nestorians 
 in the preceding century still subsisted, as all the methods 
 employed to heal them had hitherto proved ineffectual. 
 Some of the Nestorian bishops discovered a propensity 
 to accommodate matters with the church of Rome. Elias 
 IL., bishop of Mosul, sent two private embassies to the 
 pope, in 1607 and 1610, to solicit his friendship; and, in 
 the letter he addressed upon that occasion to Paul V., he 
 declared his desire of effecting a reconciliation between 
 the Nestorians and the Latin church.! Elias IIL, though 
 at first extremely averse to the doctrine and institution of 
 that church, changed his sentiments in this respect ; and, 
 in 1657, addressed a letter to the congregation de propa- 
 ganda Fide, in which he intimated his readiness to join 
 with the church of Rome, on condition that the pope 
 would allow the Nestorians a place of public worship in 
 that city, and would abstain from all attempts to alter the 
 discipline of the sect.« | he Romish doctors could not 
 but perceive that a reconciliation, founded on such con- 
 ditions as these, would be attended with no advantage to 
 their church, and promised nothing that could flatter the 
 
 =) 
 ambition of their pontiff; and accordingly we do not find 
 
 © For an account of the Armenians who settled at Marseilles, and of 
 the books which they ordered to be printed in that city for the use of 
 their brethren in foreign parts, see Richard Simon’s Lettres Choisies, 
 tom. il. p. 137—The same author (tom. iv. p. 160,) and the learned 
 Joachim Schroder, in a dissertation prefixed to his Thesaurus Lingue 
 Armenice, give an account of the Armenian Bible that was printed 
 in Holland. The latter also takes notice of the other Armenian books 
 that were published at Venice, Lyons, and Amsterdam. — . 
 
 f Jos. Sim. Assemani Biblioth. Orient. Clement, Vatican, tom. L 
 
 6 Idem Opus, tom. iii 
 
578 
 
 that the proposal above-mentioned was accepted. It does 
 not appear that the Nestorians were received, at this time, 
 into the communion of the Romish church, or that the 
 bishops of Mosul were, after this period, at all solicitous 
 about the friendship or good-will of the pope. The Nes- 
 torian bishops of Ormus, who successively assume the 
 name of Simeon, proposed also, more than once,‘ plans 
 of reconciliation with the church of Rome; and, with 
 that view, sent to the pontiff a confession of their faith, 
 which gave a clear idea of their religious tenets .and_ in- 
 stitutions. But these proposals were little attended to by 
 the court of Rome, either in consequence of its disappro- 
 bation of the doctrine of these Nestorians,» or of that 
 contempt which their poverty and want of influence ex- 
 cited in the pontifis, whose ambition and avidity aimed 
 at acquisitions of greater consequence ; for it is well Known, 
 that, since the year 1617, the bishops of Ormus have been 
 in a low and declining state, both in point of opulence 
 and credit, and are no longer in a condition to excite the 
 envy of their brethren at Mosul.« | The Romish mission- 
 aries gained over, nevertheless, to their communion, a 
 
 * Jn the years 1619 and 1658. 
 b Assemani Biblioth. tom. i. ii. iii. 
 * Pet. Strozza, Pref. ad Librum de Chaldezorum Dogmatibus. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK AND ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Secr. If. 
 
 small number of Nestorians, whom they formed into a 
 congregation or church, about the middle of this century: 
 The bishops or patriarchs of this little flock reside in the 
 city of Amida, or Diarbek, and all assume the denomi- 
 nation of Joseph.¢ ‘The Nestorians, resident on the coast 
 of Malabar, called also the Christians of St. homas, 
 suffered innumerable vexations, and the most grievous 
 persecution, from the Romish priests, and more especially 
 from the Jesuits, while those settlements were in the hands 
 of the Portuguese ; but neither artifice nor violence could 
 engage them to embrace the communion of Rome.¢ 
 When Cochin was taken by the Dutch, in 1663, and 
 the Portuguese were driven out of these quarters, the 
 persecuted Nestorians resumed their primitive liberty, and 
 were reinstated in the privilege of serving God without 
 molestation, according to their consciences. ‘These bless- 
 ings they still continued to enjoy; nor are such of them 
 as entered into the communion of Rome disturbed by the 
 Dutch, who are accustomed to treat with toleration and 
 indulgence all sects that live peaceably with those who 
 differ from them in religious opinions and ceremonies.‘ 
 
 4 See Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. il. p. 1078. 
 ° La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes, liv. v. p. 334. 
 f Schouten, Voyage aux Indes Orient. tom. 1. p. 319, 446. 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 PART II. 
 THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN CHURCHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The History of the Lutheran Church. 
 
 I. We have already seen* the calamities and vexations 
 that were entailed on the Lutheran church, by the perse- 
 cuting spirit of the Roman pontiffs, and the intemperate 
 zeal of the house of Austria, which, on many occasions, 
 showed too great a propensity to second their ambitious 
 and despotic measures ; we shall, therefore, at present con- 
 fine our view to the losses it sustained from other quarters. 
 The cause of Lutheranism suflered considerably by the 
 desertion of Maurice, lJandgrave of Hesse, a prince of un- 
 common genius and learning, who not only embraced the 
 doctrine and discipline of the reformed church, but also, 
 in 1604, removed the Lutheran professors from their places 
 in the university of Marpurg, and the doctors of that com- 
 munion from the churches they had in his dominions. 
 After taking this vigorous step, on account of the obstinacy 
 with which the Lutheran clergy opposed his design, he 
 took particular care to have his subjects instructed in the 
 doctrine of the Helvetic church, and introduced into the 
 Hessian churches the form of public worship that was 
 observed at Geneva. This plan was not executed with- 
 out some difficulty ; but it acquired a complete degree of 
 stability and consistence in 1619, when deputies were sent 
 by this prince to the synod of Dordrecht, with express 
 orders to consent, in the name of the Hessian churches, 
 to all the acts that should be passed in that assembly. 
 The doctors of the reformed church, who lived at this 
 period, strenuously defended the measures followed by 
 Maurice, and maintained, that in all these transactions he 
 observed the strictest principles of equity, and discovered 
 an uncommon spirit of moderation. Perhaps the doctors 
 of modern days may view this matter in a different light. 
 They will acknowledge, perhaps without hesitation, that 
 if this illustrious prince had been more influenced by the 
 sentiments of the wisest of the reformed doctors, concern- 
 ing the conduct we ought to observe toward those who 
 differ from us in religious matters, and less by his own will 
 and humour, he would have ordered many things other- 
 wise than he actually did.¢ 
 
 II. The example of the landgrave of Hesse was followed, 
 in 1614, by John Sigismund, elector of Brandenburg, who 
 also renounced Lutheranism, and embraced the commu- 
 nion of the reformed churches, though with certain restric- 
 tions, and without employing any acts of mere authority 
 to engage his subjects in the same measure; for it is 
 observable, that this prince did not adopt all the peculiar 
 doctrines of Calvinism. He introduced, indeed, into his 
 
 * Jn the History of the Romish Church.—See above. 
 
 3’> > The reader must always remember, that the writers of the con- 
 tinent generally use the denomination of reformed i in a limited sense, to 
 distinguish the church of England and the Calvinistical churches from 
 shose of the Lutheran persuasion. 
 
 ¢ The reader will find a more ample account of this matter in the con- 
 
 | dominions the Genevan form of public worship, and ems 
 braced the sentiments of the reformed churches concerning 
 the person of Christ, and the manner in which he is pre- 
 sent in the eucharist, as they appeared to him much more 
 conformable to reason and Scripture than the doctrine of 
 the Lutherans relating to these points. But, on the other 
 hand, he refused to admit the Calvinistical doctrines of 
 divine grace and absolute decrees ; and, on this account, 
 he neither sent deputies to the synod of Dordrecht, nor 
 adopted the decisions of that famous assembly on these in- 
 tricate subjects. ‘This way of thinking was so exactly fol- 
 lowed by the successors of Sigismund, that they never 
 would allow the opinion of C Calvin, concerning the divine 
 decrees, to be considered as the public and received doc- 
 trine of the reformed churches in their dominions. It 
 must be Jats mentioned, to the honour of this wise 
 prince, that he granted to his subjects an entire liberty in 
 religious matters, and left it to their unrestrained and free 
 choice, whether they would remain in the profession of 
 Lutheranism, or follow the example of their sovereign ; 
 nor did he exclude from civil honours and employments, 
 or from the usual marks of his protection and favour, those 
 who continued in the faith of their ancestors. This lenity 
 and moderation, which seemed so adapted to prevent jea- 
 lousy and envy, and to satisfy both parties, did not how- 
 ever produce this natural and salutary effect; nor were 
 they sufficient to restrain within the bounds of decency 
 and charity several warm and inconsiderate votaries of 
 Lutheranism. ‘These over-zealous persons, who breathed 
 the violent spirit of an age in which matters of conse- 
 quence were usually carried on with vehemence and rigour, 
 deemed it intolerable and highly provoking, that the Lu- 
 therans and Calvinists should enjoy the same honours and 
 prerogatives ; that all injurious terms and odious compa- 
 tisons should be banished from religious debates; that 
 the controverted points in theology should either be en- 
 tirely omitted in the public discourses of the clergy, or ex- 
 plained with a spirit of modesty and Christian charity ; 
 that certain rites which displeased the Calvinists should be 
 totally abolished; and that they who differed in opinion 
 should be obliged to live in peace, concord, and the mutual 
 exchange of eood offices. If it was unreasonable in them 
 to be offended at injunctions of this nature, it was still 
 more so to discover their indignation in a manner, that 
 excited not only sharp and uncharitable debates, but also 
 civil commotions and violent tumults, that disturbed con- 
 siderably the tranquillity of the state, and nourished a spirit 
 of sedition and revolt, which the labour of years was in 
 vain employed to extinguish. In this troubled state of 
 
 troversial writings of the divines of Cassel and Darmstadt, of which 
 Salig speaks largely i in his Hist. Aug. Confess. tom. i. lib. iv. cap. ii. p. 
 756. Those who understand the German language, may also consult 
 Garth’s Historischer Bericht von dem Religions- Wesen in Furstenthum 
 Tessen—Cyprian’s Unterricht von Kirchlicher Vereinigung der Pro- 
 | testanten, and the Acts published in the Unschuld. Nachrich. An. 1749 
 
580 
 
 things, the divines of Saxony, and more especially those | 
 of Wittenberg, undertook to defend the Lutheran cause ; 
 but if it be acknowledged, on one hand, that their views 
 were good, and their intentions upright, it must be owned, 
 on the other, that their style was keen even to a degree 
 of licentiousness, and their zeal warm beyond all measure. 
 And, indeed, as it generally happens, their want of mode- 
 ration injured, instead of promoting, the cause in which 
 they had embarked ; for it was in consequence of their 
 violent proceedings, that the Form of Concord was sup- 
 pressed in the territories of Brandenburg, and the subjects 
 of that electorate were prohibited, by a solemn edict, from 
 studying divinity in the university of Wittenberg. 
 
 III. It was deplorable to see two churches, which had 
 discovered an equal degree of pious zeal and fortitude in 
 throwing off the despotic yoke of Rome, divided among 
 themselves, and living in discords that were highly detri- 
 mental to the interests of religion and the welfare of 
 society. Hence several eminent divines and leading men, 
 both among the Lutherans and Calvinists, anxiously 
 sought some method of uniting the two churches, though 
 divided in their opinions, in the bonds of Christian cha- 
 rity and ecclesiastical communion. A competent know- 
 ledge of human nature and human passions served to 
 persuade these wise and pacific mediators, that a perfect 
 uniformity of religious opmion was not practicable, and 
 that it would be entirely extravagant to imagine that either 
 of these communities could ever be brought to embrace 
 universally, and without limitation, the doctrines of the 
 other. ‘They made it, therefore, their principal business 
 to persuade those, whose spirits were inflamed with the 
 heat of controversy, that the points in debate between the 
 churches were not essential to true religion ;—that the 
 fundamental doctrines of Christianity were received and 
 professed in both communions ;—and that the difference 
 of opinion between the contending parties, turned either 
 upon points of an abstruse and incomprehensible nature, 
 or upon matters of indifference, which did not tend to 
 render mankind wiser or better, and in which the interests 
 of genuine piety were in no respects concerned. ‘Those 
 who viewed things in this point of light, were obliged to 
 acknowledge, that the diversity of opinion was by no 
 means a sufficient reason for the separation of the churches, 
 and that in consequence they wete called, by the dictates 
 of that Gospel which they both professed, to live not only 
 in the mutual exercise of Christian charity, but also to 
 enter into the fraternal bondsof churchcommunion. The 
 gieatest part of the reformed doctors seemed disposed to 
 acknowledge, that the errors of the Lutherans were not 
 of a momentous nature, or of a pernicious tendency, and 
 that the fundamental doctrines, of Christianity had ot 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. ll 
 
 undergone any remarkable alteration in that communion; 
 
 and thus on their side an important step was made toward 
 
 peace and union between the churches. But the majority 
 of the Lutheran doctors declared, that they could not form 
 a like judgment with respect to the doctrine of the reformed 
 churches ; they maintained tenaciously the importance of 
 the points which divided the two communions, and 
 affirmed, that a considerable part of the controversy 
 turned upon the fundamental principles of all religion 
 and virtue. It is not at all surprising, that the opposite 
 party branded this steadiness and constancy with the 
 epithets of morose obstinacy, supercilious arrogance, and 
 the lie odious denominations. ‘The Lutherans were not 
 behind-hand with their adversaries in acrimony of style ; 
 they recriminated with vehemence, and charged their 
 accusers with instances of misconduct, different in kind, 
 but equally condemnable. 'They reproached them with 
 having dealt disingenuously, by disguising, under ambi- 
 guous expressions, the real doctrine of the reformed 
 churches; they observed farther, that their adversaries, 
 notwithstanding their consummate prudence and cireum- 
 spection, gave plain proofs, on many occasions, that their 
 propensity to a reconciliation between the churches arose 
 from views of private interest, rather than from a zeal for 
 the public good. ' 
 IV. Among the public transactions relative to the project 
 of an union between the reformed and Lutheran churches, 
 Wwe must not omit mentioning the attempt made in 1615 
 by James L, king of Great Britain, to accomplish this 
 salutary purpose. ‘The person employed for this end by 
 the British monarch, was Peter du Moulin, the most emi- 
 nent among the Protestant doctors in France ;* but this 
 design was neither carried on with spirit, nor attended 
 with success. Another attempt of the same pacific nature 
 was made in 1631, in the synod of Charenton, in which 
 an act was passed by the reformed doctors of that respect- 
 able assembly, declaring the Lutheran system of religion 
 conformable with the spirit of true piety, and free from 
 pernicious and fundamental errors. By this act, an oppor- 
 tunity was offered to the Lutherans of joining with the re- 
 formed church upon honourable terms, and of entering into 
 the bonds both of civil and religious communion with their 
 Calvinistical brethren.¢ But this candid and charitable pro- 
 ceeding was attended with very little fruit, since few of the 
 Lutherans were disposed to embrace the occasion that was 
 here so freely offered to them, of terminating the dissen- 
 sions that separated the two churches. In the same year, 
 a conference took place at Leipsic between the Saxon 
 doctors, Koe, Lyser, and Hopfner, on one side, and some 
 of the most eminent divines of Hesse-Cassel and Branden- 
 burg, on the other; to the end that, by exposing with 
 
 @ The edicts of Sigismund and his successors, relating to this change 
 in the state of religion in Brandenburg have been several times republish- 
 ed in one collection. Beside these, there are many books, treatises, and 
 pamphlets, which give an account of this remarkable transaction, and of 
 which the reader will find a complete list in the German work, entitled, 
 Unschuldigen Nachrichten, An. 1745, p. 34; An. 1746, p. 326, compared 
 with Jo. Carol. Kocheri. Biblioth. Theolog. Symbol. p.312.—'The reader 
 who desires to attain a perfect acquaintance with this controversy, and to 
 be able to weigh the merits of the cause, by having a true state of the 
 case before him, will do well to consult Arnold’s Histor. Eccles. et He- 
 ret. p. il. lib. xvil. c. vil. p. 965.—Cyprian’s Unterricht von der Vereini- 
 gung der Protestant. p. 75, and Append. Monum. p. 225. Unschuldigen 
 Nachrichten, An. 1727, p. 1069, et An. 1732, p.715. They who affirm 
 that the elector’s ultimate end, in changing the face of religion in his 
 dominions, was not the prospect of augmenting and extending his 
 
 authority, found their opinion rather on conjecture than on demonstra- 
 tion ; nor do they confirm this assertion by testimonies that are sufficient 
 to produce full conviction. It must, however, be acknowledged, on the 
 other hand, that their conjectures have neither an absurd nor an impro- 
 bable aspect. 
 
 b See Le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII. tom. ii. part ii. 
 
 34> ¢ King James, who would have abandoned the most important 
 and noble design, at any time, to discuss a point of grammar or the- 
 ology, or to gain a point of interest for himself or his minions, neglected 
 this union of the Lutheran and reformed churches, which he had begun 
 to promote with such an appearance of piety and zeal. 
 
 4 Benoit, Histoira de l’Edit de Nantes, tom. ii. p.544.—Aymon, Actes 
 des Synodes Nationaux des Eglises Reformées de France, tom. i. p. 
 500.—Ittigii Dissert. de Synodi Carentoniensis Indulgentiaé erga Lu- 
 theranos, Lips. 1705. 4to. 
 
Par IL 
 fidelity and precision their respective doctrines, it might 
 be more easily seen, what were the real obstacles to the 
 union projected between the churches. ‘This conference 
 was conducted with decency and moderation, and the 
 deliberations were neither disturbed by intemperate zeal 
 nor by a proud spirit of contention and dispute ; but that 
 openness of heart, that mutual trust and confidence, which 
 are so essential to the success of all kinds of pacification, 
 were not manifested on this occasion; for, though the 
 doctors of the reformed party exposed, with great  preci- 
 sion and fairness, the tenets of their church, and even 
 made several concessions, which the Lutherans them- 
 selves could scarcely expect ; yet the latter, suspicious and 
 fearful, and always apprehensive of schemes, formed by 
 artifice under the mask of candour, to betray and ensnare 
 them, did not dare to acknowledge, that they were satis- 
 fied with these explications and offers ; and thus the con- 
 ference broke up without having contributed in any re- 
 spect to promote the salutary work of peace. 'T’o form 
 a true idea of these pacific deliberations, of the reasons 
 that gave rise to them, and of the principles by which 
 they were conducted, it will be necessary to study the 
 civil history of this interesting period with attention and 
 care. ‘ 
 
 VY. Uladislaus [V., king of Poland, formed a still more 
 extensive plan of religious union than those which have 
 been mentioned ; he proposed a reconciliation, not only 
 between the Reformed and Lutheran churches, but also 
 between these communions and that of Rome. For 
 this purpose, he ordered a conference to be holden at 
 Thorn, in 1645, the issue of which, as might naturally 
 have been expected, was far from being favourable to the 
 projected union ; for the persons employed by the three 
 churches to heal their divisions, or at least to calm their 
 animosities, returned from this conference with a greater 
 measure of party zeal, and a smaller portion of Christian 
 charity, than they had brought to it. 
 
 The conference which took place at Cassel in 1661, by 
 the order of William VI., landgrave of Hesse, between 
 Museus and Henichius, professors at Rintelen, on the 
 side of the Lutherans, and Curtius and Heine, of the 
 university of Marpurg, on that of the reformed, was at- 
 tended with better success; and, if it did not bring about 
 a perfect uniformity of opinion, it produced what was 
 more desirable, a spirit of Christian charity and forbearance. 
 For these candid doctors, after having diligently examin- 
 ed the nature, and weighed the importance, of the con- 
 troversies that divided the two churches, embraced each 
 other with reciprocal marks of aflection and esteem, and 
 mutually declared that their respective doctrines were less 
 different than was generally imagined, and that this dif- 
 ference was not of sufficient moment to prevent their 
 fraternal union and concord. But it unfortunately hap- 
 pened, that these moderate theologians could not infuse 
 the same spirit of peace and charity that animated ‘hem, 
 into their Lutheran brethren, nor persuade them to view 
 
 * Timanni Gesselii Historia Sacra et Ecclesiastica, p. ii. in addendis, 
 . 597—613, in which the acts of this conference are published.—Jo. 
 olfg. Jaegeri Historia Seculi XVII. decenn. iv. p. 497. #2 This 
 testimony of Dr. Mosheim, who was himself a Lutheran, is singularly 
 honourable to the reformed doctors. 
 > The writers who have given accounts of the conferences of Thorn 
 and Cassel, are enumerated by Sagittarius, in his Introd. ad Hist. Eccle- 
 siast. tom ii. p. 1604. See also Jaegeri Historia Seculi X VII. decenn, 
 
 No. XLIX. 146 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 581 
 
 ‘the diversities of opinion that divided the Protestant 
 churches, in the same indulgent point of view in which 
 they had considered them in the conference at Cassel. 
 On the contrary, this their moderation drew upon them 
 
 the hatred of almost all the Lutherans; and they were 
 loaded with bitter reproaches in a multitude of pamphlets,” 
 that were composed expressly to refute their sentiments, 
 and to censure their conduct. The pains that were 
 taken after this period by the princes of the house of 
 Brandenberg, and more especially by Frederic William 
 and his son Frederic, in order to compose the dissensions 
 and animosity that divided the Protestants, and particu- 
 larly to promote a fraternal union between the reformed 
 and Lutheran churches in the Prussian territories, and 
 in the rest of their dominions, are well known ; and it 
 is also equally notorious, that innumerable difficulties op- 
 posed the execution of this salutary design. 
 
 VI. Beside these public conferences, holden by the 
 authority of princes, in order to promote union and con- 
 cord among Protestants,-a multitude of individuals, ani- 
 mated by a spirit of true Christian charity, embarked in 
 this pious cause on their own private authority, and of- 
 fered their mediation and good offices to reconcile the 
 two churches. It is true, indeed, that these peace-makers 
 were, generally speaking, of the reformed church, and 
 that those among the Lutherans, who appeared in this 
 amiable character, were but few, in comparison with the 
 great number of Calvinists that favoured this benevolent 
 but arduous design. ‘I'he most eminent Calvinistical 
 advocate of peace was John Dureus, a native of Scotland, 
 justly celebrated on account of his universal benevolence, 
 solid piety, and extensive learning, but, at the same time, 
 more remarkable for genius and memory, than for nicety 
 of discernment and accuracy of judgment, as might be 
 evinced by several proofs and testimonies, were this the 
 proper place for discussions of that nature. Be that as 
 it will, never, perhaps, were greater zeal and perseverance 
 manifested than by Dureus, who, during a period of foriy- 
 three years,* suffered vexations and underwent labours 
 which required the firmest resolution and the most inex- 
 haustible patience; wrote, exhorted, admonished, entreat- 
 ed, and disputed ; in a word, tried every method that 
 human wisdom could suggest, to put an end to the dis- 
 sensions and animosities that reigned among the Protes- 
 tant churches. It was not merely by the persuasive elo- 
 quence of his pen, or by forming plans in the silence of 
 the closet, that this worthy divine performed the task 
 which his benevolence and zeal engaged him to under- 
 take ; his activity and industry were equal to his zeal ; 
 he travelled through all the countries in Europe, where 
 the Protestant religion had obtained any footing; he 
 formed connexions with the doctors of both parties ; he 
 addressed himself to kings, princes, magistrates, and mi- 
 nisters; and by representing, in lively and striking colours, 
 the utility and importance of the plan he had formed, 
 hoped to engage them more or less in this good cause, or 
 
 v. p. 689, and decenn. vii. p. 160, where the acts of the two conferences 
 are extant.—Add to these Jo. Alphons. Turretini Nubes Testium pro 
 moderato in Rebus theologicis Judicio, p. 178.—There is an ample ac- 
 count of the conference of Cassel in the life of Muszus, given by Moller, 
 in his Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 566. The reader will find, in the 
 
 | : 
 same work, an accurate index of the accounts of this conference, pub- 
 
 | lished on both sides. 
 
 ¢ From the year 1631 to 1674. 
 
582 
 
 at least to derive some succour from their influence and 
 protection. But here his views were considerably disap- 
 pointed ; for, though his undertaking was generally ap- 
 plauded, and though he met with a favourable and civil 
 reception from the greatest part of those to whom he ad- 
 dressed himself, he found very few wlio were seriously 
 disposed to alleviate his labours, by lending him their 
 assistance, and seconding his attempts by their influence 
 and counsels. Some, suspecting that his fervent and 
 extraordinary zeal arose from mysterious and sinister 
 motives, and apprehending that he had secretly formed 
 a design of drawing the Lutherans into a snare, even 
 attacked him in their writings with animosity and bitter- 
 ness, and loaded him with the sharpest invectives and 
 reproaches: so that this well-meaning man, neglected at 
 length by those of his own communion, opposed and 
 rejected by the followers of Luther, involved in various 
 perplexities and distress, exhausted by unsuccessful labour, 
 and oppressed and dejected by injurious treatment, per- 
 ceived, by a painful experience, that he had undertaken 
 a task which was beyond the power of a private person, 
 and spent the remainder of his days in repose and obscu- 
 rity at Cassel. 
 
 It may not be improper to observe here, that Dureus, 
 who, notwithstanding the general uprightness of his inten- 
 tions, was sometimes deficient in ingenuous frankness, 
 had annexed to his plan of reconciliation certain doctrines 
 which, were they susceptible of proof, would serve as a 
 foundation for the union, not only of the Lutherans and 
 Calvinists, but also of all the different sects that bear the 
 Christian name; for, among other things, he maintained, 
 that the Apostles’ Creed was a complete body of divinity ; 
 that the T’en Commandments formed a perfect system of 
 morals, and the Lord’s Prayer a comprehensive series of 
 petitions for all the blessings contained in the divine 
 promises. Now if this notion, that these sacred compo- 
 sitions contain all that is essential to faith, obedience, and 
 devotion, had been universally entertained, or evidently 
 demonstrated, it would not have been a chimerical project 
 to aim at a reconciliation of all Christian churches upon 
 this basis, and to render these compositions the foundation 
 of their coalition and the bond of their union. But it 
 would have been highly chimerical to expect, that the 
 Christian sects would universally adopt this notion, or be 
 pleased to see the doctrines of Christianity reduced to such 
 general principles. It is farther to be observed, with re- 
 spect to Dureus, that he showed a peculiar propensity 
 toward the sentiments of the Mystics and Quakers, on 
 account of their tendency to favour his conciliatory and 
 
 pacific project. Like them, he placed the essence of reli- | 
 ‘lay concealed in that land of despotism and _ bigotry, 
 
 gion in the ascent of the soul to God, in calling forth the 
 
 * See Coleri Historia Joh. Durei, to which many important additions 
 might be made from public records, and also from doctiments that have 
 not yet seen the light. Some records and documents of the kind here 
 referred to, have been published by Haszus, in his Bibliotheca Bre- 
 mens. Theologico-Philologica, tom. 1. p. 911, and tom. iv. p. 683. A still 
 greater number are given by Gesselius, in the addenda to his Historia 
 Eeclesiastica, tom. il. p. 614. The transactions of Dureus at Marpurg, 
 are. mentioned by Schenck, in his Vite Professorum Theologiz Mar- 
 pure. p. 207.—His attempts in Holstein may be learned from the letters 
 of Lackman and Lossius, which are joined together in the same volume. 
 Tis exploits in Prussia and Poland are recorded by Jablonsky, in his 
 Historia Consensus Sendomiriensis, p. 127; and his labours in Switzer- 
 land, Denmark, and the Palatinate, are mentioned respectively in the 
 Museum Helveticum, tom. iii. iv. v. by Elswich, in his Fasciculus 
 fepistol. Theolog. p. 147, and by Seelen, in the Delicie Epistol. p. 353. 
 
 See also Jaegeri Historia Seculi XVII. decenn. vii. p. 171; the | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 I 
 
 Sect. IL. 
 
 hidden word, in fanning the divine spark that resides in 
 the recesses of the human mind ; and, in consequence of 
 this system, he was intimately persuaded, that differences 
 
 ; merely in theological opinions did not at all concern the 
 
 essence of true piety. 
 
 VII. Among the Lutherans, those who appeared the 
 most zealous in this pacific cause, were John Matthias,' 
 bishop of Strengnes in Sweden, and George Calixtus, pro- 
 fessor of divinity at Helmstadt, whom Dureus had ani- 
 mated with a portion of his charitable and indulgent spi- 
 rit. ‘The former was a man of capacity and merit; the 
 latter was eminently distinguished among the divines of 
 this century, by his learning, genius, probity, and can- 
 dour ; but both failed in the arduous undertaking in which 
 they had engaged, and suffered considerably in their at 
 tempts to promote the cause of unity and concord. The 
 Olive-branches: of Matthias, who entitled thus his pacific 
 productions, were, by a royal edict, publicly condemned 
 and suppressed in Sweden; and their author, in order to 
 appease the fury of his enemies, was obliged to resign 
 his bishopric, and pass the rest of his days in retirement.4 
 The zeal of Calixtus, in calming the tumultuous and 
 violent spirit of the contending parties, drew upon him the 
 bitterest reproaches, and the warmest animosity and re- 
 sentment from those who were more bent on maintaining 
 their peculiar opinions, than in promoting that charity 
 which is the end of the commandment; and, while he 
 was labouring to remove all sects and divisions, he ap- 
 peared to many of his brethren in the light of a new 
 sectary, who was founding the most pernicious of all sects, 
 even that of the Syncretists, who were supposed to pro- 
 mote peace and concord at the expense of truth. We shall, 
 before we finish this chapter, endeavour to give a more 
 particular and circumstantial account of the sentiments 
 and trials of this great man, to whose charge many other 
 things were laid, beside the crime of endeavouring to 
 unite the disciples of the same master in the amiable 
 bonds of charity, concord, and mutual forbearance, and 
 whose opinions and designs excited warm contests in the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 VUI. The external state of the Lutheran church at 
 this period was attended with various circumstances of 
 prosperity, among which we may reckon its standing 
 firm against the assaults of Rome, whose artifice and 
 violence were in vain employed to effect its destruction. 
 
 It is well known, that a very considerable number of 
 
 Lutherans resided in those provinces where the public 
 
 exercise of their religion was prohibited. It has more 
 especially been shown by the late memorable emigration 
 of the Saltzburgers,¢ that a still greater number of them 
 
 Englische Reformations Historie, by Bohm, and more especially an 
 account of Dureus, published under my direction at Helmstadt, in 1744, 
 by Benzelius, and. entitled, Dissertatio de Johan. Duro, maxime de 
 Actis ejus Suecanis. 
 
 24> » Matthias: had been chaplain to Gustavus Adolphus, and was 
 afterwards appointed, by that prince, preceptor to his daughter Christina, 
 so famous in history, on account of the whimsical peculiarities of her 
 character, her taste for learning, and her desertion of the Swedish throne 
 and the protestant religion. ¢ Rami Olive Septentrionalis. 
 
 4 See Schefferi Suecia Literata, p. 123, and Joh. Molleri ad eam Hy- 
 pomnemata, p. 3L7—Archenholtz, Memoires de la Reine Christine, 
 tom. 1. p. 320, 505; tom. it. p. 63. , 
 
 a“y © For an account of the persecuted Lutherans in the archbishopric 
 of Saltzburg, see Burnet’s Travels. See more especially a famous Latin 
 discourse, entitled, Commentariolus Theologicus de non tolerandis in Re- 
 
 ligione Dissentientibus, pub at Tubingen, in 1732, by W. L. Letsching. 
 
Parr Il. 
 
 where the smallest dissent from popery, with whatever 
 secrecy and circumspection it may be disguised, is consi- 
 dered as an enormous and capital crime ; and that they 
 preserved their religious sentiments and doctrines pure 
 and uncorrupted amidst the contagion of Romish super- 
 stition, which they always beheld with aversion and 
 horror. In those countries which are inhabited by persons 
 of different communions, and whose sovereigns are mem- 
 bers of the Romish church, we have numberless instances 
 
 of the cruelty and injustice practised by the papists against 
 those who dissent from them; and these cruelties are ex- 
 ercised under a pretext suggested by the most malevolent 
 bigotry, which represents these dissenters as seditious sub- 
 jects, and consequently as worthy of the most rigorous treat- 
 ment. And yet it is certain that, amidst all these vexa- 
 tions, the Lutheran church stood its ground; nor could 
 either the craft or fury of its enemies, in any country, 
 deprive it entirely of its rights and privileges. It may 
 also be observed, that the doctrine of Luther was carried 
 into Asia, Africa, and America, by several persons who 
 fixed their habitations in those distant regions, and was 
 ilso introduced into some parts of Europe, where it had 
 hitherto been unknown. 
 
 IX. When we turn our view to the internal state of 
 the Lutheran church during this century, we shall find 
 it improved in various respects. ‘Though several blem- 
 ishes yet remained that clouded its lustre, it must be ac- 
 knowledged, to the honour of the Lutherans, that they 
 cultivated all the branches of literature, both sacred and 
 profane, with uncommon industry and success, and made 
 several improvements in the sciences, which are too well 
 known to stand in need of a particular mention, and of 
 which a circumstantial enumeration would be inconsist- 
 ent with the brevity required in an historical compendium. 
 But if it cannot be denied, on one hand, that the cause of 
 religion gained by these improvements in learning, it. 
 must be owned, on the other, that some branches of 
 science were perverted by injudicious or ill-designing men, 
 to corrupt the pure simplicity of genuine Christianity, and 
 to render its doctrines abstruse and intricate. ‘Thus it too 
 often happens in life, that the best things are the most 
 egregiously abused. About the commencement of this 
 century, the sciences chiefly cultivated in the schools were 
 logic and metaphysics, though the manner in which they 
 were treated was almost entirely destitute of elegance, sim- 
 plicity, and precision. But, in process of time, the scene 
 changed in the seminaries of learning; and the more 
 entertaining and agreeable branches of literature, that 
 polish wit, excite taste, exercise judgment, and enrich 
 memory, such as civil and natural history, philology, an- 
 tiquities, criticism, and eloquence, gained the ascendency. 
 Both these kinds of knowledge acquired also a more grace- 
 ful, consistent, and regular form than that under which 
 they had hitherto appeared. But it unfortunately happened, 
 that, while the boundaries of science were extended from 
 day to day, and new discoveries and improvements were 
 constantly enriching the republic of letters, the credit of 
 learning began sensibly to decrease, and learned men 
 seemed gradually to lose those peculiar marks of venera- 
 tion and distinction that the novelty of their character, as 
 well as the excellence and importance of their labours, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 583 
 
 had hitherto drawn from the public. Among the various 
 circumstances that contributed to this decline of lite rary 
 glory, we may particularly reckon the multitude of those 
 who, without natural capacity, taste, or inclination, were 
 led, by authority or a desire of applause, to literary pursuits, 
 and, by their ignorance or their pedantry, cast a reproach 
 upon the republic of letters. 
 
 X. 'The only kind of philosophy that was taught in 
 the Lutheran schools, during the greatest part of this 
 century, was that of Aristotle, ‘dressed up in that scholastic 
 form which increased its native intricacy and subtlety ; 
 and such was the devout and excessive veneration enter- 
 tained by many for this abstruse system, that any attempt 
 to reject the Grecian oracle, or to correct its decisions, was 
 looked upon as of the most dangerous consequence to the 
 interests of the church, and as equally criminal with a 
 like attempt upon the sacred writings. ‘Those who dis- 
 tinguished themselves in the most extraordinary manner 
 by their zealous and invincible attachment to the Peri- 
 patetic philosophy, were the divines of Leipsic, Tubingen, 
 Helmstadt, and Altorf. The enchantment, however, was 
 not universal; and there were many who, withdrawing 
 their private judgment from the yoke of-authority, were 
 bold enough to see with their own eyes, and thus dis- 
 cerned the blemishes that were indeed sufficiently visible 
 in the pretended wisdom of the Grecian sage. ‘The first 
 attempt to reduce his authority within narrow bounds was 
 made by certain pious and prudent divines,* who, though 
 they did not pretend to discourage all philosophical in- 
 quiries, yet were desirous of confining them to a few select 
 subjects, and complained, that the pompous denomination 
 of philosophy was too frequently prostituted by being 
 applied to unintelligible distinctions, and words (or 1 rather 
 sounds) destitute of sense. These were succeeded in 
 their repugnance to the Peripatetic philosophy by the dis- 
 ciples of Ramus, who had credit enough to banish it from 
 several seminaries of learning, and to substitute in its place 
 the system of their master, which was of a more practical 
 kind, and better adapted to the purposes of life.’ But, if 
 the philosophy of Aristotle met with adversaries, who 
 opposed it upon solid and rational principles, it had also 
 enemies of a very different character, who imprudently 
 declaimed against philosophy in general, -as highly detri- 
 mental to the cause of religion and the interests sof society. 
 Such was the fanatical extravagance of Daniel Hoffman, 
 professor at Helmstadt, who betrayed, in this controversy, 
 an equal degree of ignorance and ee cre and such 
 also were the followers of Robert Fludd, Jacob Behmen, 
 and the Rosecrucians, who boasted of having stricken out, 
 by the assistance of fire and divine illumination, a new 
 wonderful, and celestial system of philosophy, of which 
 mention has been already made.e ‘These adversaries of 
 the Stagirite were divided among themselves ; and this 
 diminished the strength and vigour of their opposition to 
 the common enemy. But, even if they had been very 
 
 closely united in theirsentiments and measures, they would 
 
 not have been able to overturn the empire of Aristotle, 
 
 which was deeply rooted in the schools through long pos- 
 session, and had a powerful support in the multitude of its 
 
 votaries and defenders. 
 XI. The Peripatetic system had still more for midable 
 
 * Among these we find Wenceslaus Schellingius, of w vhom a parti- 
 cular account is given by Arnold, in his Histor, Eccles. et Hieret. p. ii. || 
 lib. xvii. cap. vi. 
 
 » See Jo. Herman ab Elswich, de varia Aristote lis fortuna, § xxi. p. 
 54, and Walchius, His. Logices, lib. ii. c. ii.§ iii. v.in Parergis ejus Acade- 
 micis, p.613.  * See above, in the General His. of the Church, § 31. 
 
584 
 
 adversaries to encounter in Des-Cartes and Gassendi, 
 whose writings were composed with such perspicuity and 
 precision as rendered them highly agreeable to many of 
 the Lutheran doctors of this century, who were hence in- 
 duced to look with contempt on that obsolete and barren 
 philosophy of the schools, which was expressed in uncouth 
 terms and barbarous phrases, without taste, elegance, or 
 accuracy. ‘The votaries of Aristotle beheld with envy 
 these new philosophers, used their most zealous endea- 
 vours to bring them into discredit, and, for this purpose, 
 represented their researches and principles as highly in- 
 jurious to the interests of religion and the growth of true 
 piety. But when they found, by experience, that these 
 methods of attack proved unsuccessful, they changed their 
 method of proceeding, and (like a prudent general, who, 
 besieged by a superior force, abandons his outworks and 
 retires into the citadel) they relinquished much of their 
 jargon, and defended only the main and essential prin- 
 ciples of their system. ‘l’o render these principles more 
 palatable, they began to adorn them with the graces of 
 
 elocution, and to mingle with their philosophical tenets | 
 
 the charms of polite literature. ‘They even went so far 
 as to confess, that Aristotle, though the prince of philoso- 
 pbers, was chargeable with errors and defects, which it 
 was both lawful and expedient to correct. But these con- 
 cessions only served to render their adversaries more con- 
 fident and enterprising, since they were interpreted as 
 resulting from a consciousness of their weakness, and were 
 looked upon as a manifest acknowledgment of their de- 
 feat. In consequence of this, the enemies of the Stagirite 
 renewed their attacks with redoubled impetuosity, and 
 with a full assurance of victory; nor did they confine 
 them to those branches of the Peripatetic philosophy which 
 were allowed by its votaries to stand in need of correction, 
 but levelled them, without distinction, at the whole system, 
 and aimed at nothing less than its total dissolution. Gro- 
 tius, indeed, who marched at the head of these philosophi- 
 cal reformers, proceeded with a certain degree of prudence 
 and moderation. Puffendorf, in *treating of the law of 
 nature and of the duties of morality, threw off, with more 
 boldness and freedom, the Peripatetic yoke, and pursued 
 a method entirely different from that which had been 
 hitherto observed in the schools. This freedom drew 
 upon him a multitude of enemies, who loaded him with 
 the bitterest reproaches; his example, however, was imi- 
 tated by 'Thomasius, professor of law in the academy of 
 Leipsic, and afterwards at Hall, who attacked the Peri- 
 patetics with new degrees of vehemence and zeal. This 
 eminent man, though honourably distinguished by the 
 excellence of his genius and the strength of his resolution, 
 was not, perhaps, the most proper person that could be 
 fixed upon to manage the interests of philosophy. His 
 views, nevertheless, were vast ; be aimed at the reforma- 
 tion of philosophy in general, and of the Peripatetic sys- 
 tem in particular ; and he assiduously employed both the 
 power of exhortation and the influence of example, in 
 order to persuade the Saxons to reject the Aristotelian 
 system, Which he had never read, and which most cer- 
 tainly he did not understand. The scheme of philosophy, 
 that he substituted in its place, was received with little 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 applause, and soon fell into oblivion ; but his attempt to 
 overturn the system of the Peripatetics, and to restore the 
 freedom of philosophical inquiry, was attended with re- 
 markable success, made, in a little time, the most rapid 
 progress, and produced such admirable effects, that Tho- 
 masius is justly looked upon, to this day, as the chief of 
 those bold spirits who pulled down philosophicai tyranny 
 from its throne in Germany, and gave a mortal blow to 
 what was called the Sectarian Philosophy: in that country. 
 The first seminary of learning that adopted the measures 
 of 'Thomasius was that of Hall in Saxony, where he was 
 professor ; this example was followed by the rest of the 
 German schools, by some sooner, and by others later ; 
 and thence a spirit of philosophical liberty began to spread 
 itself into other countries where the J.utheran religion 
 was established ; so that, toward the conclusion of this 
 century, the Lutherans enjoyed a perfect liberty of con- 
 ducting their philosophical researches in that manner 
 which they judged the most conformable with truth and 
 reason, of departing from the mere dictates of authority 
 in matters of science, and of proposing publicly every 
 one his respective opinions. ‘l'his liberty was not the 
 consequence of any positive decree of the state, nor was 
 it inculcated by any law of the church; it seemed to 
 result from that invisible disposal of things, which we call 
 accident, and certainly proceeded from the efforts of a 
 few great men, seconding and exciting the natural pro- 
 pensity toward free inquiry, that can never be totally 
 extinguished in the human mind. Many employed this 
 liberty in extracting, affer the manner of the ancient 
 Eclectics, what they thought most conformable to reason, 
 and most susceptible of demonstration, from the produc- 
 tions of the different schools, and connecting these ex- 
 tracts in such a manner as to constitute a complete body 
 of philosophy. But some made a yet more noble use of 
 this inestimable privilege, by employing, with indefati- 
 gable zeal and industry, their own faculties in the 
 investigation of truth, and building upon solid and un 
 changeable principles a new and sublime system of 
 philosophy.® At the head of these we may place Leib- 
 nitz, whose genius and Jabours have deservedly rendered 
 his name immortal. 
 
 In this conflict between the reformers of philosophy and 
 the votaries of Aristotle, the latter lost ground from day 
 to day ; and his system, in consequence of the extremes 
 
 into which reformers often fall, became so odious, that 
 condemnation was passed on every part of it. Hence 
 the science of Metaphysics, which the Grecian sage had 
 considered as the master science, as the original fountain 
 of all true philosophy, was despoiled of its honours and 
 fell into contempt; nor could the authority and influence 
 even of Des-Cartes (who also set out, in his inquiries, on 
 metaphysical principles) support it effectually against the 
 prejudices of the times. However, when the first heat of 
 opposition began to cool, and the rage of party to subside, 
 this degraded science was not only recalled from its exile, 
 by the interposition and credit of Leibnitz, but was also 
 reinstated in its former dignity and lustre. 
 
 XII. The defects and vices of the Lutheran clergy 
 have been circumstantially exposed and even exaggera- 
 
 _ 24> * By the Sectarian Philosophers were meant those who followed 
 implicitly some one of the ancient philosophical sects, without daring to 
 use the dictates of their private judgment, to correct or modify the doc- 
 trines or expressions of these hoary guides. 
 
 > The curious reader will find an accurate and ample account of this 
 revolution in philosophy, in the learned Brucker’s Historia Critica 
 | Philosophie. 
 
Part II. 
 
 ied by many writers, who seem to require in the minis- 
 ters of the Gospel a degree of perfection, which ought in- 
 deed always to be aimed at, but which no wise observer 
 of uman nature can ever hope to see generally reduced 
 to practice, ‘I'hese censors represent the leading men of 
 the Lutheran church as arrogant, contentious, “despotic, 
 and uncharitable ; as destitute of Christian simplicity and 
 candour; fond of quibbling and dispute ; judging of all 
 things by the narrow spirit of party ; and treating with 
 the utmost antipathy and aversion those who difler from 
 them very slightly in religious matters. ‘I'he less con- 
 siderable among the Lutheran doctors are charged with 
 ignorance, W ith a neglect of the sacred duties of their 
 station, and with a want of talent in their characters as 
 public teachers ; and avarice, indolence, want of piety, 
 and corruption of manners, are boldly imputed to the 
 whole body. 
 
 It will be acknowledged, without difficulty, by those 
 who have studied with attention and impartiality the 
 genius, manners, and history of this century, that the 
 Lutheran clergy. were not wholly irreproachable with 
 respect to the matters that are here laid to their charge, and 
 that many Lutheran churches were under the direction 
 of pastors who were highly deficient, some in zeal, others 
 in abilities, many in both, and consequently ill qualified 
 for propagating the truths of Christianity with wisdom 
 and success. But this reproach is not peculiarly applica- 
 ble to the seventeenth century ; it is a general charge, 
 that, with too much truth, may be brought against all 
 the ages of the church. On the other hand, it must be 
 acknowledged, by all such as are not blinded by ignorance 
 or partiality, that the whole of the Lutheran clerey did 
 not consist of these unworthy pastors, and that many of 
 the Lutheran doctors of this century were distinguished by 
 their learning, piety, gravity, and wisdom ; and perhaps 
 it might be difficult to decide, whether in our times , in 
 which some pretend that the sanctity of the primitive 
 doctors is revived in several places, there be not as many 
 that do little honour to the pastoral character as in the 
 times of our ancestors. It must farther be observed, that 
 many of the defects which are invidiously charged upon 
 the doctors of this age, were in a great measure occasion- 
 ed by the infelicity of thetimes. 'T hey were the unhappy 
 effects of those public calamities which a dreadful war of 
 thirty years produced in Germany ; they derived strength 
 from the influence of a corrupt education, and were some- 
 times encouraged by the protection and countenance of 
 vicious and profligate magistrates. 
 
 XIII. That the vices of the Lutheran clergy were 
 partly owing to the infelicity of the times, will appear 
 evident from some particular instances. It must be ac- 
 knowledged that, during the greatest part of this century, 
 neither the discourses of the pulpit, nor the instructions 
 of the schools, were adapted to promote, among the people, 
 just ideas of religion, or to give theyn a competent know- 
 ledge of the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel. The 
 eloquence of the pulpit, as some ludicrously and too justly 
 represent it, was reduced, in many places, to the noisy 
 art of bawling (during a certain space of time measured 
 by a sand- -glass) upon various points of theology, which 
 the orators understood very imperfectly, and which the 
 people did not understand at all ; and, when the i important 
 
 “op * Itis to be wished that the Lutherans had not, in ‘many places, per- 
 
 No. XLIX. 147 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 985 
 
 doctrines and precepts of Christianity were introducea in 
 these public discourses, they were frequently disfigured 
 by taw dry and puerile ornaments, wholly inconsistent with 
 the spirit and genius of the divine wisdom that shines 
 forth in the Gospel, and were thus, in a great measure, 
 deprived of their native beauty, efficacy, and power. All 
 this must be confessed ; but perhaps it may not appear 
 an object of wonder, when all things are duly considered. 
 The ministers of the Gospel had their heads full of sono- 
 rous and empty words, of trivial distinctions and meta- 
 physical subtleties, and very ill furnished with that kind 
 of knowledge which is adapted to touch the heart and to 
 reform the life; they had also few models of true elo- 
 quence before their eyes ; and therefore it is not very 
 surprising, that they dressed out their discourses with 
 foreign and tasteless ornaments. 
 
 The charge brought against the universities, that they 
 spent more time in subtle and contentious controversy, 
 than in explaining the Scriptures, teaching the duties of 
 morality, and promoting a spirit of piety and virtue, though 
 too just, yet may also be alleviated by considering the 
 
 nature and circumstances of the times. The Lutherans 
 were surrounded with a multitude of adversaries, who 
 olftiged them to be perpetually in a posture of defence ; 
 and the Roman catholics, by threatening their destruc- 
 tion, contributed, in a more particular manner, to excite 
 in their doctors that polemic spirit which unfortunately 
 became a habit, and had an unhappy influence on the 
 exercise both of their academical and _ pastoral functions. 
 In time of war, the military art not only becomes singu- 
 larly respectable, but is preferred, without hesitation, to all 
 others, on account of its tendency to maintain the inestima- 
 ble blessings of liberty and independence; and thus, in the 
 midst of theological commotions, the spirit of controversy, 
 by becoming necessary, gains an ascendency, which, even 
 when the danger is over, it is unwilling to lose. It is in- 
 deed ardently to be wished, that the Lutherans had treat- 
 ed with more mildness and charity those who differed 
 from them in religious opinions, and had discovered more 
 indulgence and forbearance toward such, more especially, 
 as by ignorance, fanaticism, or excessive curiosity, were 
 led into error, yet without pretending to disturb the public 
 tranquillity by propagating their particular systems. But 
 they had unhappily imbibed a spirit of persecution in 
 their early education ; this was too much the spirit of 
 the times, and it was even a leading maxim with our 
 ancestors, that it was both lawful and expedient to use 
 severity and force against those whom they looked upon 
 as heretics. ‘This maxim was derived from Rome; and 
 even those who separated from that church did not find 
 it easy to throw off, suddenly, that despotic and unchari- 
 table spirit which had so long been the main-spring of 
 its government, and the general characteristic of its mem- 
 bers. In their narrow views of things, their very piety 
 seemed to suppress the generous movements of fraternal 
 love and forbearance; and the more they felt themselves 
 animated with a zeal for the divine glory, the more dif 
 ficult did they find it to renounce that ancient and fa- 
 vourite maxim, which had so often been ill interpreted and 
 ill applied, that ‘whoever is found to be an enemy to God, 
 ought also to be declared an enemy to his country.’ 
 
 XIV. There were few or no changes introduced, du- 
 
 severed in these severe and despotic principles longer than other Protes- 
 
A86 
 
 ring this century, into the form of government, the method 
 of worship, and the external rites and ceremonies of the | 
 Lutheran church. Many alterations would indeed have 
 been made in all these, had the princes and states of that 
 communion judged it expedient to put in execution the 
 plans that had been laid by Thomasius, and other emi- 
 nent men, for reforming its ecclesiastical polity. 'These 
 plans were built upon a new principle, which supposed, 
 that the majesty and supreme authority of the sovereign 
 formed the only source of church-power. On this funda- 
 mental principle, which these great men took all imagin- 
 able pains to prove, by solid and striking arguments, they 
 raised a voluminous system of laws, which, in the judg- 
 ment of many, evidently tended to these conclusions ;— 
 that the same sovereign who presides in the state ought 
 to rule in the church; that prince and pontiff are insepa- 
 rable characters ; and that the ministers of the Gospel are 
 not the ambassadors of the Deity, but the deputies or 
 
 vicegerents of the civil magistrate. 'These reformers of 
 Lutheranism did not stop here; they reduced within nar- 
 rower bounds the few privileges and advantages that the 
 clergy yet retained ; and treated many of the rites, insti- 
 tutions, and customs of our church, as the remains of 
 popish superstition. Hence an abundant source of con- 
 tention was opened, and a long and tedious controversy 
 was carried on with warmth and animosity between the 
 clergy and civilians. We leave it to others to determine 
 with what views these debates were commenced and 
 
 fomented, and with what success they were respectively 
 carried on. We shall only observe, that their effects and 
 consequences were unhappy, as, in many places, they 
 proved seriously detrimental to the reputation of the clergy, 
 10 the dignity and authority of religion, and to the peace 
 and prosperity of the Lutheran church.» The present 
 state of that church verifies too plainly this observation. 
 It is now its fate to see few entering into its public ser- 
 vice, Who are adapted to restore the reputation it has lost, 
 or to maintain that which it yet retains. Those who 
 are distinguished by illustrious birth, uncommon genius, 
 and a liberal and ingenuous turn of mind, look upon the 
 study of theology, which has so few external honours 
 and advantages to recommend it, as below their ambi- 
 tion ; and hence the number of wise, learned, and emi- 
 nent ministers may be said gradually to decrease. This 
 circumstance is deeply lamented by those among us who 
 consider with attention the dangerous and declining state 
 of the Lutheran church ; and it is to be feared, that our 
 descendants will have reason to lament it still more bit- 
 terly. 
 
 XV. The eminent writers that adorned the Lutheran 
 church through the course of this century, were many 
 in number. We shall only mention those whom it is 
 most necessary for a student of ecclesiastical history to be 
 more particularly acquainted with; such are Giles and 
 Nicolas Hunnius—Leonard Hutter—Joseph and John 
 Ernest Gerard—George and Frederic Ulric Calixtus— 
 
 tant churches. Until this very day, the Lutherans of Frankfort on the 
 Maine have always refused to permit the Reformed to celebrate public 
 worship within the bounds, or even in the suburbs of that city. Many 
 attempts have been made to conquer their obstinacy in this respect, but 
 hitherto without success. 
 
 x * It has been the misfortune even of well-meaning persons to fall 
 into pernicious extremes, in the controversies relating to the foundation, 
 power, and privileges of the church. ‘Too few have steered the middle 
 way, and laid their plans with such equity and wisdom as to maintain 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. IL, 
 
 ‘the Mentzers—Godfrey and John Olearius—Frederic 
 
 Baldwin—Albert Grawer—Matthias Hoe—two of the 
 name of Carpzovius—John and Paul 'Tarnovius—John 
 Affelman—Ejlhart Luber—the Lysers—Michael Walther 
 —Joachim Hildebrand—John Valentine Andreas—Solo- 
 mon Glassius—Abraham Calovius—'Theodore Hackspan 
 —John Hulseman—Jacob Weller—Peter and John Mu- 
 seus, brothers—John Conrad Danhaver—John George 
 Dorscheus—John Arndt—Martin Geyer—John Adam 
 Schartzer—Balthazar and John Meisner— Augustus Pfeif- 
 fer—Henry and John Muller—Justus Christopher Scho- 
 mer—Sebastian Schmidt—Christopher Kortholt—the 
 Osianders—Philip Jacob Spener—Geb. Theodore Meyer 
 —Fridem. Bechman—and others.» 
 
 XVI. The doctrine of the Lutheran church remained 
 entire during this century ; its fundamental principles 
 received no alteration, nor could any doctor of that church, 
 who should have presumed to renounce or invalidate any 
 of those theological points which are contained in the 
 symbolical books of the Lutherans, have met with tole- 
 ration and indulgence. It is, however, to be observed, 
 that, in later times, various circumstances contributed to 
 diminish, in many places, the authority of these oracles, 
 which had so long been considered as almost infallible 
 rules of faith and practice. Hence arose that unbounded 
 liberty, which is at this day enjoyed by all who are not 
 invested with the character of public teachers, of dissent- 
 ing from the decisions of these symbols or creeds, and of 
 declaring this dissent in the manner they judge the most 
 expedient. The case was very different in former times : 
 whoever ventured to oppose any of the received doctrines 
 of the church, or to spread new religious opinions among 
 the people, was called before the higher powers to give 
 an account of his conduct, and very rarely escaped with- 
 out suffering in his fortune or reputation, unless he re- 
 nounced his innovations. But the teachers of novel doc- 
 trines had nothing to apprehend, when, toward the con- 
 clusion of this century, the Lutheran churches adopted 
 the leading maxim of the Armenians, that “ Christians 
 were accountable to God alone for their religious senti- 
 ments, and that no individual could be justly punished 
 by the magistrate for his erroneous opinions, while he 
 conducted himself like a virtuous and obedient subject, 
 and made no attempts to disturb the peace and order of 
 civil society.” It is to be wished, that this religious liberty, 
 which the advocates of equity must approve, but of which 
 the virtuous mind alone can make a wise and proper use, 
 had never degenerated into the unbridled licentiousness 
 that holds nothing sacred, but with an audacious insolence 
 tramples under foot the solemn truths of religion, and is 
 constantly endeavouring to throw contempt upon the 
 respectable profession of its ministers. . 
 
 X VIL. The various branches of sacred erudition were 
 cultivated with uninterrupted zeal and assiduity among 
 the Lutherans, who,,in no period, were without able 
 commentators, and learned and faithful guides for the 
 
 , 
 
 the sovereignty and authority of the s/ate, without reducing the churcna 
 to amere creature of civil policy. The reader will find a most interest- 
 ing view of this nice and important subject in the learned and ingenious 
 bishop Warburton’s Alliance between Church and State, and in his 
 dedication of the second volume of his Divine Legation of Moses, to 
 the earl of Mansfield. 
 
 t For an account of the lives and writiags of these authors, see Witte’s 
 Memorize Theologorum, and his Diarium Biographicum; as also Pip- 
 pingius, Goesius, and other writers of literary history, 
 
Part II. 
 
 interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. 
 mention here 'Tarnovius, Gerard, Hackspan, Calixtus, | 
 Erasmus Schmidt, to w hom might be added a numerous 
 list of learned and judicious expositors of the sacred ora- 
 cles. But what appears more peculiarly worthy of obser- 
 vation is, that the very period which some look upon as 
 the most barren of learned productions, and the most 
 remarkable for a general inattention to the branch of eru- 
 dition now under consideration, produced that inestimable 
 and immortal work of Solomon Glassius, which he pub- 
 lished under the title of Sacred Philology, ‘and than which 
 none can be more useful for the interpretation of Scrip- 
 ture, as it throws an uncommon degree of light upon 
 the language and phraseology of the inspired writers. 
 It must, at the same time, be candidly acknowledged, 
 that a considerable part of this century was more employ- 
 ed, by the professors of the different universities, in defend- 
 ing, with subtlety and art, the peculiar doctrines of the 
 Lutheran church, than in illustrating and explaining the 
 Scripture, the only genuine source of divine truth. 
 Whatever was worthy of censure in this manner of pro- 
 ceeding, was abundantly repaired by the more modern di- 
 vines of the Lutheran communion: for no sooner did the 
 rage of controversy begin to subside, than the greatest part 
 of them turned their principal studies toward the exposition 
 and illustration of the sacred writings ; and they were 
 particularly animated in the execution of this laborious 
 task, by observing the indefatigable industry of those 
 among the Dutch divines s, who, in their interpretations 
 of Scripture, followed the sentiments and method of Coc- 
 ceius. At the head of these modern commentators we 
 may place, with justice, Sebastian Schmidt, who was at 
 least the most laborious and voluminous expositor of this 
 age. After this learned writer, may be ranked Calovius, 
 Geyer, Schomer, and others of inferior notes ‘The con- 
 tests excited by the persons called Pietists, though un- 
 happy in several respects, were nevertheless attended with 
 this good effect, that they engaged many to apply them- 
 selves to the study of the Scriptures, which they had too 
 much neglected before that period, and to the perusal of 
 the commentators and interpreters of the sacred oracles. 
 These commentators pursued various methods, and were 
 unequal both in their merit and success. Some confined 
 themselves to the mere signification of the words, and the 
 literal sense that belonged to the phrases of the inspired 
 writers; others applied their expositions to the decision 
 of controverted points, and attacked their adversaries, 
 either by refuting their false interpretations, or by making 
 use of their own commentaries to overturn their doctrines; 
 a third sort, after unfolding the sense of Scripture, applied 
 it carefully to the purposes of life and the direction of 
 practice. We might mention another class of interpreters, 
 who, by an assiduous perusal of the writings of the Coc- 
 ceians, are said to have injudiciously acquired their defects, 
 as appears by their turning the sacred history into alle- 
 gory, and seeking rather the more remote and mysterious 
 sense of Scripture, than its obvious and literal signification. 
 
 XVIII. The principal doctors of this century followed, 
 at first, the loose method of deducing their theological 
 doctrines from Scripture under a few general heads. ‘This 
 method had been observed in ancient times by Melanc- 
 thon, and was vulgarly called common-place divinity. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 387 
 
 It is 184 se to || They, however, made use of the principles, terms, and 
 
 subtle distinctions of the Peripatetic philosophy, which 
 was yet in high reputation, in explaining and illustrating 
 each ‘particular doctrine. "The first person that reduced 
 theology into a regular system, and gave it a truly scien 
 
 tific and philosophical form, was George Calixtus, a mar 
 of great genius and erudition, who had imbibed the spirit 
 of the Aristotelian school. His general design was not s¢ 
 
 much censured, as the particular method he followed, and 
 the form he gave to his system; for he divided the whole 
 science of divinity into three parts, viz. the end, the sub- 
 ject, the means ; and this division, which was borrowed 
 from Aristotle, appeared to many extremely improper. 
 
 This philosophical method of arranging the truths of 
 Christianity was followed, with remar kable zeal and emu- 
 lation, by the most eminent doctors in the different schools 
 of learning ; and even in our times it has its votaries. 
 Some indeed had the courage to depart from it, and to 
 exhibit the doctrines of religion under a different, though 
 still under a scientific form; but they had few followers, 
 and struggled in vain against the empire of Aristotle, who 
 reigned with a despotic authority in the schools. 
 
 ‘There were, however, many pious and good men, who 
 beheld, with great displeasure, this irruption of metaphy- 
 sics into the sphere of theology, and never could be 
 brought to approve this philosophical method of teaching 
 the doctrines of Christianity. ‘They earnestly desired to 
 see divine truth freed from captious questions and subtle- 
 ties, delivered from the shackles of an imperious system, 
 and exhibited with that beautiful simplicity, perspicuity, 
 and evidence, in which it appears in the sacred writings. 
 Persons of this turn had their wishes and expectations in 
 some measure answered, when, toward the conclusion of 
 this century, the learned Spener, and others who were 
 animated by his exhortations and example, began to in- 
 culcate the truths and precepts of religion in a more plain 
 and popular manner, and when the eclectics had succeeded 
 so far as to dethrone Aristotle, and to banish his philoso- 
 phy from the greatest part of the Lutheran schools. 
 Spener was not so far successful as to render universal 
 his popular method of teaching theology ; it was never- 
 theless adopted by a considerable number of doctors: and 
 it cannot be denied, that, since this period, the science of 
 divinity, delivered from ‘the jargon of the schools, has 
 assumed a more liberal and graceful aspect. The same 
 observation may be applied to controversial productions ; 
 it is certain that polemics were totally destitute of elegance 
 and perspicuity so long as Aristotle reigned in the semi- 
 naries of learning, and that they were more or less em- 
 bellished and improved after the suppression and disgrace 
 of the Peripatetic philosophy. It is, however, to be 
 lamented, that controversy did not lose, at this period, all 
 the circumstances which had so justly rendered it dis- 
 pleasing ; ; and that the defects, that had given such offence 
 in the theological disputants of all parties, were far from 
 being entirely removed. These defects still subsist, though 
 perhaps in a less shocking degree ; and, whether we pe- 
 ruse the polemic writers of ancient or modern times, we 
 shall find too few among them who may be said to be 
 animated by the pure love of truth, without any mixture 
 of pride, passion, or partiality, and whom we may pro- 
 nounce free from the illusions of prejudice and self-love. 
 
 * See J. Franc. Buddei Isagoge in | i heolariars lib. 
 
 cap. Viil. p. 1686, 
 
588 
 XIX. The science of morals, 
 
 esteemed the master-science, from its immediate influence 
 upon life and manners, was, for a long time, neglected 
 among the Lutherans. If we except a few eminent men, 
 such as Arndt and Gerard, who composed some popular 
 treatises concerning the internal worship of the Deity, and 
 the duties of Christians, there did not appear, in the for- 
 mer part of this c entury, any moral writer of distinguished 
 merit. Hence it happened, that those who applied them- 
 selves to the business of resolving what are called Cases of 
 Conscience, were holden in high esteem, and their tribu- 
 
 nals were much frequented. But, as the true principles 
 and foundations of morality were not yet established with 
 a sufficient degree of precision and evidence, their decisions 
 were often erroneous, and they were liable to fall into daily 
 mistakes. Calixtus was the first who separated the objects 
 of faith from the duties of morality, and exhibited the lat- 
 ter under the form of an independent science. He did not, 
 ‘indeed, live to finish this work, the beginning of which 
 met with general applause ; his disciples, however, em- 
 ployed, with some degree of success, the instructions they 
 had received from their master, in executing his plan, 
 and composing a system of Moral 'Theology. "This sys- 
 tem, in process of time, fell into discredit on account of 
 the Peripatetic form under which it appeared ; for, not- 
 withstanding the striking dissimilarity that exists, in the 
 very nature fot things, helween the beautiful science of 
 morals, and the perplexing intricacies of metaphysics, 
 Calixtus could not abstain from the latter in building his 
 moral system. ‘The moderns, however, stripped mor ‘ality 
 of the Peripatetic garment. ‘Calling to their assistance 
 the law of nature, which had been explained and illus- 
 trated by Puffendorf and other authors, and comparing 
 this law with the sacred writings, they not only disco- 
 vered the true springs of Christian virtue, and entered into 
 the true spirit and sense of the divine laws, but also di- 
 gested the whole science of morals into a better order, and 
 demonstrated its principles with a new and superior degree 
 of evidence. 
 
 XX. These improvements in theology and morality 
 did not diffuse such a spirit of concord in the Lutheran 
 church, as was sufficient to heal ancient divisions, or to 
 prevent new ones. That church, on the contrary, was in- 
 volved in the most lamentable commotions and tumults, 
 during the whole course of this century, partly by the 
 controversies that arose among its most eminent doctors, 
 and partly by the intemperate zeal of violent reformers 
 the fanatical predictions of pretended prophets, and the 
 rash measures of innovators, who studiously spread among 
 the people singular notions and (for the most part) extra- 
 vagant opinions. The controversies that divided the Lu- 
 theran doctors may be ranged under two classes, according 
 to their different importance and extent, as some of them 
 involved the whole church in tumult and discord, while 
 others were less general in their pernicious effects. Of the 
 former class there were two controversies, that gave abun- 
 dant exercise to the polemic talents of the Lutheran divines 
 during the greatest part of this century; and these turned 
 upon the religious systems that are generally known under 
 the denominations of Synecretism and Pietism. Nothing 
 could be more amiable than the principles that gave rise 
 
 ° The Sy neretists were also called Calixtines, from their chief, George 
 
 Caiixtus ; and Helmstadians, from the university where their plan ‘of 
 
 doctrine and union took its rise. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Il. 
 
 which must ever be || to the former, and nothing more respectable and_ praise 
 
 worthy than the design that was proposed by the latter. 
 The Syncretists,s animated with that fraternal love and 
 that pacific spirit, which Jesus Christ had so often recom- 
 mended as the peculiar characteristics of his true disciples, 
 used their warmest endeavours to promote union and con- 
 cord among Christians ; and the Pietists had undoubtedly 
 in view the restoration and advancement of that holiness 
 and virtue, which had suffered so much by the influence 
 of licentious manners on the one hand, and by the turbu- 
 lent spirit of controversy on the other. These two great 
 and amiable virtues, that gave rise to the projects and 
 efforts of the two orders of persons now mentioned, were 
 combated by a third, even a zeal for maintaining the truth, 
 and preserving it from all mixture of error. Thus the love 
 of truth was unhappily found to stand in opposition to the 
 love of union, piety, and concord; and thus, in the pre- 
 sent critical and corrupt state of human nature, the unruly 
 and turbulent passions of men can, by an egregious abuse, 
 draw the worst consequences from the best things, and 
 
 render the most excellent principles and views productive 
 
 of discord, confusion, and calamity. 
 
 XXI. The origin of Syneretism was owing to George 
 Calixtus, of Sleswick, a man of eminent and ‘dis stinguish- 
 ed abilities and merit, and who had few equals in this 
 century, either in point of learning or genius. his 
 great man being placed in an university,» which, from 
 the very time of its foundation, had been remarkable for 
 encouraging freedom of inquiry, improved this happy 
 privilege, examined the respective doctrines of the vari- 
 ous Christian sects, and found, in the notions commonly 
 received among divines, some things defective and erro- 
 neous. He accordingly gave early intimations of his dis- 
 satisfaction at the state of theology, and lamented, in a 
 more particular manner, the divisions and factions that 
 reigned among the servants and disciples of the same 
 great master. He therefore turned his views to the salu- 
 tary work of softening the animosities produced by these 
 divisions, and showed the warmest desire, not so much 
 of establishing a perfect harmony and concord between 
 the jarring sects, which no human power.seemed capable 
 of effecting, as ‘of extinguishing the hatred, and appea- 
 sing the resentment, which the contending parties disco- 
 vered too much in their conduct toward each other. 
 His colleagues did not seem at all averse to this pacific 
 project ; and the surprise that this their silence or acqui- 
 escence must naturally excite, in such as are acquainted 
 with the theological spirit of the seventeenth century, will 
 be diminished, when it is considered, that the professors 
 of divinity at Helmstadt bind themselves, at their admis- 
 sion, by an oath, to use their best and most zealous endea- 
 vours to heal the divisions, and terminate the contests 
 that prevail among Christians. Neither Calixtus, how- 
 ever, nor his friends, escaped the opposition which it was 
 natural to expect in the execution of such an unpopular 
 and comprehensive project. ‘They were warmly attacked, 
 in 1639, by Statius Buscher, a Hanoverian ecclesiastic, a 
 bigoted votary of Ramus, a declared enemy to all philo- 
 sophy, and a man of great temerity and imprudence. 
 This man, exasperated at the preference given by Calix- 
 tus and his companions to the Peripatetic philosophy over 
 
 » The university of Helmstadt, in the dutchy of Brimswick, founded 
 in 1576. 
 
Part II. 
 
 bs a : a 
 the principles of the Ramists, composed a very malignant 
 book entitled, Crypto-Papismus novee 'Theologie Helmsta- 
 diensis,* in which Calixtus was charged with a long list of 
 errors. ‘Though this production made some small impres- 
 sion on the minds of certain persons, it is nevertheless pro- 
 bable that Buscher would have almost universally passed 
 fora partial, malicious, and rash accuser, had his invectives 
 and complaints rendered Calixtus more cautious and pru- 
 dent. «But the upright and generous heart of this emi- 
 nent man, which disdained dissimulation to a degree that 
 bordered upon the extreme of imprudence, excited him 
 to speak with the utmost frankness his private sentiments, 
 and thus to give a certain measure of plausibility to the 
 accusations of his adversary. Both he and his colleague 
 Conrad Horneius maintained, with boldness and _perse- 
 verance, several propositions, which appeared, to many 
 others beside Buscher, new, singular, and of a dangerous 
 tendency ; and Calixtus more especially, by the freedom 
 and plainness with which he declared and defended his 
 sentiments, drew upon himself the resentment and indig- 
 nation of the Saxon doctors, who, in 1645, were present 
 at the conference of Thorn. He had been chosen by 
 Frederic William, elector of Brandenburg, as colleague 
 and assistant to the divines sent from Conigsberg to these 
 conferences ; and the Saxon deputies were greatly in- 
 censed to see a Lutheran ecclesiastic in the character 
 of an assistant to a deputation of reformed doctors. ‘The 
 first cause of offence was followed by other incidents, in 
 the course of these conferences, which increased the 
 resentment of the Saxons against Calixtus, and made 
 them accuse him of leaning to the side of the reformed 
 churches. We cannot enter here into a circumstantial 
 account of this matter, which would lead us from our 
 main design. We shall only observe, that, when these 
 conferences broke up, the Saxon doctors, and more espe- 
 cially Hulseman, Weller, Scharfius, and Calovius, turned 
 the whole force of their polemic weapons against Calix- 
 tus, and, in their public writings, reproached him with 
 apostacy from the principles of Lutheranism, and with 
 a propensity toward the sentiments both of the reformed 
 and Romish churches. ‘This great man did not receive 
 tamely the insults of his adversaries. His consummate 
 knowledge of the philosophy that reigned in the schools, 
 and his perfect acquaintance with the history of the 
 church, rendered him an able disputant; and accordingly 
 he repelled, with the greatest vigour, the attacks of his 
 enemies, and carried on, with uncommon spirit and eru- 
 dition, this important controversy, until the year 1656, 
 when death put an end to his labours, and transported 
 him from these scenes of dissension and tumult into the 
 regions of peace and concord.» 
 
 XXII. Neither the death of Calixtus, nor the decease 
 of his principal adversaries, could extinguish the flame 
 
 * i.e. Popery disguised under the mask of the new theological sys- 
 tem of Helmstadt. 
 
 * Those who desire to be more minutely acquainted with the particu- 
 Jar circumstances of this famous controversy, the titles and characters of 
 the books published on that occasion, and the doctrines that produced 
 such warm contests and such deplorable divisions, will do well to 
 consult Walchius, Carolus, Weisman, Arnold, and other writers ; and, 
 above all, the third volume of the Cimbria Literata of Moller, in which 
 there is an ample account of the life, transactions, and writings of Calix- 
 tus. But, if any reader should push his curiosity still farther, and be 
 solicitous to know the more secret springs that acted in this whole affair, 
 the remote causes of the events and transactions relating to it, the 
 spirit, views, and characters of the disputants, the arguments used on 
 
 No. L. 148 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 589 
 
 they had kindled: on the contrary, the contest was car- 
 ried on, after that period, with greater animosity and vio- 
 lence than ever. ‘The Saxon doctors, and more especi- 
 ally Calovius, insulted the ashes and attacked the memory 
 of this great man with unexampled bitterness and malig- 
 nity; and in the judgment of many eminent and worthy 
 divines, who were by no means the partisans of Calixtus, 
 conducted themselves with such imprudence and temerity, 
 as tended to produce an open schism in the Lutheran 
 church. ‘They drew up a new creed, or confession of 
 faith, which they proposed to place in the class of what 
 the members of our communion call their Symbolical 
 Books, and which, consequently, all professors of divinity 
 and all candidates for the ministry would be obliged to sub- 
 scribe, as containing the true and genuine doctrine of the 
 church. By this new production of intemperate zeal, 
 the friends and followers of Calixtus were declared un- 
 worthy of the communion of that church, and were 
 accordingly supposed to have forfeited all right to the pri- 
 vileges and tranquillity that were granted to the Luthe- 
 rans by the laws of theempire. ‘The reputation of Calix- 
 tus found, nevertheless, some able defenders, who pleaded 
 his cause with modesty and candour ; such were 'Titius, 
 Hildebrand, and other ecclesiastics, who were distinguish- 
 ed from the multitude by their charity, moderation, and 
 prudence. These good men showed with the utmost 
 evidence, that the new creed would be a perpetual source 
 of contention and discord, and would thus have a fatal 
 effect upon the true interests of the church: but their 
 counsels were overruled, and their admonitions neglected. 
 Among the writers who opposed this creed, was Frederic 
 Ulric Calixtus, who was not destitute of abilities, though 
 much inferior to his father in learning, genius, and mode- 
 ration. Of those who stood forth in its vindication and 
 defence, the most considerable were Calovius and Strau- 
 chius. ‘The polemic productions of these contending par- 
 ties were multiplied from day to day, and yet remain as 
 deplorable monuments of the intemperate zeal of the 
 champions. ‘The invectives, reproaches, and calumnies, 
 with which these productions were filled, showed too 
 plainly that many of these writers, instead of being ani- 
 mated with a love of truth and a zeal for religion, were 
 rather actuated by a keen spirit of party, and by the sug- 
 gestions of vindictive pride and vanity. ‘These contests 
 were of long duration ; they were, however, at length 
 suspended toward the close of this century, by the death 
 of those who had been the principal actors in this scene 
 of theological discord, by the abolition of the creed that 
 had produced it, by the rise of debates of a different na- 
 ture, and by various circumstances of inferior moment, 
 which do not require particular notice. 
 
 XXIIT. It will be proper to give here some account of 
 the accusations adduced against Calixtus by his adversa- 
 
 — 
 
 both sides,—in a word, those things which are principally interesting 
 and worthy of attention in controversies of this kind,—he will find no 
 history that will satisfy him fully in these respects. A history that 
 would throw a proper light upon these important matters, must be com- 
 posed by aman of great candour and abilities; by one who knows the 
 
 ' world, has studied human nature, is furnished with materials and docu- 
 
 ments that lie yet concealed in the cabinets of the curious, and is not 
 
 | unacquainted with the spirit that reigns, and the cabals that are carried 
 
 on in the courts of princes.—But were such an historian to be found, I 
 question very much, whether, even in our times, he could publish 
 without danger all the circumstances of this memorable contest. 
 
 ° The title of this new creed was, Consensus repetitus Fidei vere 
 Lutherane. 
 
590 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Il. 
 
 ries. The principal charge was, his having formed a || to certain Rémish doctrines and institutions, which have 
 
 roject, not of uniting into one ecclesiastical body, as some 
 ie understood it, the Romish, Lutheran, and Reformed 
 churches, but of extinguishing the hatred and animosity 
 that reigned among the members of these different com- 
 munions, and joining them in the bonds of charity, mutual 
 benevolence, and forbearance. 'This is the project, whict 
 was at first condemned, and is still known under the de- 
 nomination of Syncretism.* Several singular opinions 
 were also laid to the charge of this great man, and were 
 exaggerated and blackened, as the most innocent things 
 generally are, when they pass through the medium of ma- 
 lignity and party-spirit. Such were his notions concern- 
 ing the obscure manner in which the doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity was revealed under the Old Testament dispensation, 
 the appearances of the Son of God during that period, the 
 necessity of good works to the attainment of everlasting 
 salvation, and God’s being occasionally” the author of sin. 
 ‘l'hese notions have been considered, by many of the best 
 judges of theology, as of an indifferent nature, as opinions 
 which, even were they false, would not affect the great 
 and fundamental doctrines of Christianity. But the two 
 great principles that Calixtus laid down as the foundation 
 of all his reconciling and pacific plans, gave much greater 
 oflence than the plans themselves, and drew upon him the 
 indignation and resentment of many. ‘Those principles 
 were ; first, that the fundamental doctrines of Christianity 
 (by which he meant those elementary principles from 
 which all its truths flow) were preserved pure and entire 
 in all the three communions, and were contained in the 
 ancient form of doctrine, vulgarly known by the name of 
 the Apostles’ Creed ; and secondly, that the tenets and opi- 
 nions, which had been constantly received by the ancient 
 doctors during the first five centuries, were to be considered 
 as of equal truth and authority with the express declarations 
 and doctrines of Scripture. The general plan of Calixtus 
 was founded upon the first of these propositions ; and he 
 made use of the second to give some degree of plausibility 
 
 * It is neither my design nor my inclination to adopt the cause of 
 Calixtus; nor do I pretend to maintain that his writings or his doctrines 
 are exempt from error. But the love of truth obliges me to observe, that 
 it has been the ill fortune of this eminent man to fall into the hands of 
 bad interpreters; and that even those who imagine they have been 
 more successful than others in investigating his true sentiments, have 
 most grievously misunderstood them. Calixtas is commonly supposed 
 to have formed the plan of a formal reconciliation of the protestants with 
 the church of Rome and its pontiffs; but this notion is entirely ground- 
 less, since he publicly and expressly declared, that the Protestants could 
 by no means enter into the bonds of concord and communion with the 
 Romish church, as it was constituted at this time; and that, if there had 
 ever existed any prospect of healing the divisions that reigned between 
 it and the Protestant churches, this prospect had entirely vanished since 
 the council of Trent, whose violent proceedings and tyrannical decrees 
 had rendered the union now under consideration absolutely impossible. 
 He is farther charged with having either approved or excused the 
 greatest part of those errors and superstitions, that are looked upon as a 
 dishonour to the church of Rome ; but this charge is abundantly refuted, 
 not only by the various treatises in which he exposed the falsehood and 
 absurdity of the doctrines and opinions of that church, but also by the 
 declarations of the Roman catholics themselves, who acknowledge that 
 Calixtus attacked them with much more learning and ingenuity than 
 had been discovered by any other protestant writer.* It is true, he 
 maintained that the Lutherans and Roman Catholics did not differ 
 about the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith; and it is to be 
 wished, that he had never asserted any such thing, or, at least, that he 
 had expressed his meaning in more proper and inoffensive terms. It 
 must however be considered, that he always looked upon the popes and 
 their votaries, as having adulterated these fundamental doctrines with 
 an impure mixture or addition of many opinions and tenets, which no 
 wise and good Christian could adopt; and this consideration diminishes 
 a good deal the extravagance of an assertion, which, otherwise, would 
 
 a 
 
 been always rejected by the protestant church, and to estab- 
 lish a happy concord between the various Christian com- 
 munions that had hitherto lived in a state of dissension 
 and separation from each other. 
 
 XXIV. The divines of Rintelen, Konigsberg, and Jena, 
 were more or less involved in these warm contests. 'Those 
 of Rintelen, more especially Henichius and Peter Museeus, 
 had, on several occasions, and particularly at theconfer- 
 ence of Cassel, shewn plainly that they approved the plan 
 of Calixtus for removing the discords and animosities that 
 reigned among Christians, and that they beheld with pe- 
 culiar satisfaction that part of it which had, for its objects, 
 union and concord among the protestant churches. 
 Hence they were opposed with great animosity by the 
 Saxon doctors and their adherents, in various polemic pro- 
 ductions.° ‘ 
 
 The pacific spirit of Calixtus discovered itself also at 
 Konigsberg. John Laterman; Michael Behmius, and the 
 learned Christopher Dryer, who had been the disciples of 
 that great man, were at little pains to conceal their attach- 
 ment to the sentiments of their master. By this disco- 
 very, they drew upon them the resentment of their col- 
 leagues John Gehmius and Celestine Mislenta, who were 
 seconded by almost the whole body of the clergy of Kon- 
 
 igsberg; and thus a warm controversy arose, which was 
 
 carried on, during many years, in such a manner as did 
 
 very little honour to either of the contending parties. The 
 interposition of the civil magistrate, together with the de- 
 cease of Behmius and Mislenta, put an end to this intes- 
 tine war, which was succeeded, however, by a new contest 
 of long duration between Dryer and his associates on one 
 side, and several foreign divines on the other, who consi- 
 dered the system of Calixtus as highly pernicious, and 
 looked upon its defenders as the enemies of the church. 
 This new controversy was managed, on both sides, with 
 as little equity and moderation as those which preceded it.? - 
 
 XXY. It must, at the same time, be acknowledged, to 
 
 deserve the severest censure. We shall not enter farther into a review 
 of the imputations that were cast upon Calixtus, by persons more dis- 
 posed to listen to his accusers, than to those who endeavour, with can- 
 dour and impartiality, to represent his sentiments and his measures in 
 their true point of view. But if it should be asked here, what this man’s 
 real design was, we answer, that he laid down the following maxims: 
 first, “that if it were possible to bring back the church of Rome to 
 the state in which it was during the first five centuries, the Protestants 
 would be no longer justified in rejecting its communion: secondly, that 
 the modern members of the Romish church, though polluted with many 
 intolerable errors, were not all equally criminal; and, that such of them, 
 more especially, as sincerely believed the doctrines they had learned 
 from their parents or masters, and by ignorance, education, or the 
 power of habit, were hindered from perceiving the truth, were not to be 
 excluded from salvation, or deemed heretics, provided they gave their 
 assent to the doctrines contained in the Apostle’s Creed, and endeavoured 
 seriously to govern their lives by the precepts of the Gospel.” 1 do not 
 pretend to defend these maxims, which seem, however, to have many 
 patrons in our times; I would only observe, that the doctrine they con- 
 tain is much less intolerable than that which was commonly imputed to 
 Calixtus. 
 
 » Per accidens. 
 
 ¢ See Abrah. Calovii Historia Syncretistica, p. 618—Jo. Georgii 
 Walchii Introductio in Controversias Lutheran. vol. 1. p. 286. 
 
 4 See Christopher Hartknoch’s Church-History of Prussia, book ii. 
 chap. x. p. 602.—Moller’s Cimbria Literata, tom. iil. p. 150.--See also 
 the Acts and Documents contained in the famous collection, entitled, 
 Unschuldige Nachrichten, A. 1740. p. 144, A. 1742. p. 29. A. 1745, 
 
 oe 
 PY Bossuet, in his Traité de la Communion sous les deux Especes, 
 speaks thus of the eminent man now under consideration; “ Le fameux 
 George Calixte, le plus habile des Lutheriens de notre tems, qui a ecrit 
 le plus doctement contre nous,” &c. 
 
Part JI. 
 
 the immortal honour of the divines of Jena, that they disco- | 
 vered the most consummate prudence and the most ami- ; 
 able moderation in the midst of these theological debates ; 
 for, though they ingenuously confessed, that all the senti- 
 ments of Calixtus were not of such a nature, as to be rea- 
 sonably adopted without exception, yet they maintained, 
 thatthe greatest part of his tenets were much less pernicious 
 than the Saxon divines had represented them, and that 
 several of them were innocent, and might be freely admit- 
 ted without any danger to the cause of truth. Solomon 
 Glassius, an ecclesiastic renowned for the mildness of his 
 temper and the equity of his proceedings, examined with 
 the utmost candour and impartiality the opposite sentiments 
 of the doctors who were engaged in this important contro- 
 versy, and published the result of this examination, by the 
 express order of Ernest, prince of Saxe-Gotha, surnamed 
 the Pious John Museeus, a man of superior learning 
 and exquisite penetration and judgment, so far adopted 
 the sentiments of Calixtus and Horneius, as to maintain 
 that good works might, in a certain sense, be considered 
 as necessary to salvation ; and that, of the erroneous doc- 
 trines imputed to the former of these divines, several were 
 of little importance. It is very probable, that the followers 
 of Calixtus would have willingly submitted this whole 
 controversy to the arbitration of such candid and impar- 
 tial judges. But this laudable moderation so highly offend- 
 ed the Saxon doctors, that they began to suspect the uni- 
 versity of Jena of several erroneous opinions, and marked 
 out Muszeus, in a particular manner, as a person who had 
 in various respects apostatized from the true and orthodox 
 faith.® 
 
 XXVI. These debates were suppressed and succeeded 
 by new disputes, which are commonly known under the 
 denomination of the Ptetistical Controversy. 'This dis- 
 pute arose from the zeal of a certain set of persons, who, 
 no doubt, with pious and upright intentions, endeavoured 
 to stem the torrent of vice and corruption, and to reform 
 the licentious manners both of the clergy and the people. 
 But, as the best things may be abused, so this reforming 
 spirit inflamed persons who were ill qualified to exert it 
 with wisdom and success. Many, deluded by the sug- 
 gestions of an irregular imagination and an ill-informed 
 understanding, or guided by principles and views of a cri- 
 minal nature, spread abroad new and singular opinions, 
 false visions, unintelligible maxims, austere precepts, and 
 imprudent clamours against the discipline of the church; 
 all which excited dreadful tumults, and kindled the flames 
 of contention and discord. "The commencement of Pietism 
 was indeed laudable and decent. It was set on foot by the 
 piousand learned Philip James Spener, who, by the private 
 societies which he formed at Francfort, with a view of pro- 
 moting vital religion, roused the luke-warm from their indif- 
 ference, and excited a spirit of vigour and resolution in those 
 who had been satisfied to lament, in silence, the progress of 
 impiety. The remarkable effect of these pious meetings 
 was increased by a book published by this well-meaning 
 man, under the titleof Pious Desires, in which he exhibited 
 a striking view of the disorders of the church, and proposed 
 the remedies that were proper to heal them. Many persons 
 of good intentions were highly pleased both with the pro- 
 MAMAS aS SB Bas Ne Te De et RT 
 
 « This piece, which did not appear in public till after the death of 
 Glassius, in 1662, exhibits a rare and shining instance of theological 
 moderation, and is worthy of a serious and attentive perusal. 
 
 > For an account of the imputations cast upon the divines of Jena, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 591 
 
 ceedings and writings of Spener ; and indeed the majority 
 of those who had the cause of virtue and practical reli- 
 gion at heart, applauded the designs of this good man, 
 though an apprehension of abuses restrained numbers from 
 encouraging them openly. ‘These abuses actually hap- 
 pened. ‘I'he remedies proposed by Spener to heal the dis- 
 orders of the church fell into unskilful hands, were admi- 
 nistered without sagacity or prudence, and thus, in many 
 cases, proved to be worse than the disease itself. The reli- 
 gious meetingsabove-mentioned (or the Colleges of Piety, 
 as they were usually called by a phrase borrowed from 
 the Dutch,) tended in many places to kindle in the breasts 
 of the multitude the flames of a blind and intemperate zeal, 
 whose effects were impetuous and violent, instead of that 
 pure and rational love of God, whose fruits are benign and 
 peaceful. Hence complaints arose against these insti- 
 tutions of Pietism, as if, under a striking appearance of 
 sanctity, they led the people into false notions of religion, 
 and fomented in those who were of a turbulent and vio- 
 lent character, the seeds and principles of mutiny and 
 sedition. 
 
 XXVII. These first complaints would have been un- 
 doubtedly hushed, and the tumults which they occasioned 
 would have subsided by degrees, had not the contests that 
 arose at Leipsic, in 1689, added fuel to the flame. Some 
 pious and learned professors of philosophy, and particu- 
 larly Franckius, Schadius, and Paulus Antonius, the dis- 
 ciples of Spener, who at that time was ecclesiastical super- 
 intendant of the court of Saxony, began to consider with 
 attention the defects that prevailed in the ordinary method 
 of instructing the candidates for the ministry; and this 
 review persuaded them of the necessity of using their best 
 endeavours to supply what was deficient, and to correct 
 what was amiss. For this purpose, they undertook to 
 explain in their colleges certain books of Scripture, in 
 order to render these genuine sources of religious know- 
 ledge better understood, and to promote a spirit of prac- 
 tical piety and vital religion in the minds of their hearers. 
 The novelty of this method drew attention, and rendered 
 it singularly pleasing to many ; accordingly, these lectures 
 were much frequented, and their effects were visible in the 
 lives and conversations of several persons, whom they 
 seemed to inspire with a deep sense of the importance of 
 religion and virtue. Whether these first effusions of reli- 
 gious fervour, which were, in themselves, most certainly 
 laudable, were always kept within the strict bounds of 
 reason and discretion, is a question not easily decided. If 
 we are to believe the report of common fame, and the tes 
 timonies of several persons of great weight, this was by no 
 means the case; and many things were both said and 
 done in these Liblical Colleges (as they were called) 
 which, though they might be looked upon, by equitable 
 and candid judges, as worthy of toleration and indul- 
 gence, were contrary to custom, and far from being consist- 
 ent with prudence. Hence rumours were spread, tumults 
 excited, animosities kindled, and the matter at length 
 brought to a public trial, in which the pious and learned 
 men above-mentioned were, indeed, declared free from the 
 errors and heresies that had been laid to their charge, but 
 were, at the same time, prohibited from carrying on that 
 
 and more especially on Museus, see a judicious and solid work of the 
 latter, entitled, Der Jenischen Theologen Ausfuhrliche Erklarung, &e, 
 See also Jo. Georgii Walchii Introductio in Controversias Ecclesiae 
 Lutherane, vol, i. p. 405. 
 
592 
 
 plan of religious instruction which they had undertaken 
 with such zeal. It was during these troubles and divisions 
 that the invidious denomination of Pietist was first invent- 
 ed; itmay, at least, be affirmed, that it was not commonly 
 known before this period. It was at first applied by some 
 giddy and inconsiderate persons to those who frequented 
 the Biblical Colleges, and lived in a manner suitable to 
 the instructions and exhortations that were addressed to 
 them in those seminaries of piety. It was afterwards 
 used to characterise all who were either distinguished by 
 the excessive austerity of their manners, or who, regard- 
 less of truth and opinion, were only intent upon practice, 
 and turned the whole vigour of their efforts toward the 
 attainment of religious feelings and habits. But, as it is 
 the fate of all those denominations by which peculiar sects 
 are distinguished, to be variously and often very impro- 
 perly applied, so the title of Pietist was frequently given, 
 in common conversation, to persons of eminent wisdom 
 and sanctity, who were equally remarkable for their adhe- 
 rence to truth and their love of piety; and, not seldom, 
 to persons whose motley characters exhibited an enor- 
 mous mixture of profligacy and enthusiasm, and who de- 
 served the title of delirious fanatics rather than any other 
 denomination. 
 
 XXVIII. This contest was by no means confined to 
 Leipsic, but diffused its contagion, with incredible celerity, 
 through all the Lutheran churches, in the different states 
 and kingdoms of Europe; for, from this time, in all the 
 cities, towns, and villages, where Lutheranism was _pro- 
 fessed, there suddenly started up persons of various ranks 
 and professions, of both sexes, learned and illiterate, who 
 declared that they were called, by a divine impulse, to pull 
 up iniquity by the root, to restore to its primitive lustre, 
 and propagate through the world, the declining cause of 
 piety and virtue, to govern the Church of Christ by wiser 
 rules than those by which it was at present directed ; and 
 who, partly in their writings, and partly in their private 
 and public discourses, pomted out the means and mea- 
 sures that were necessary to bring about this important 
 revolution. Ali those who were stricken with this imagi- 
 nary impulse, unanimously agreed, that nothing could 
 have a more powerful tendency to propagate among the 
 multitude solid knowledge, pious feelings, and holy habits, 
 than the private meetings which had been first contrived 
 by Spener, and were afterwards introduced into Leipsic. 
 Several religious assemblies were accordingly formed in 
 various places, which, though they differed in some cir- 
 cumstances, and were not all composed and conducted 
 with equal wisdom, piety, and prudence, were intended to 
 promote the same general purpose. In the mean time, 
 these unusual, irregular and tumultuous proceedings, filled, 
 with uneasy and alarming apprehensions, both those who 
 were intrusted with the government of the church, and 
 those who sat at the helm of the state. These apprehen- 
 sions were justified by this important consideration, that 
 the pious and well-meaning persons who composed these 
 
 ® This whole matter is amply illustrated by the learned John George 
 Walchius, in his Introductio ad Controversias, vol. ii. and ili. who ex- 
 hibits successively the various scenes of this deplorable contest, with a 
 view of the principal points that were controverted, and his judgment 
 concerning each, and a particular account of the writers who displayed 
 their talents on this occasion. It would, indeed, be difficult for any one 
 man to give an ample and exacthistory of this contest, which was ac- 
 companied with so many incidental circumstances, and was, upon the 
 whole, of such a tedious and complicated nature. It is therefore to be 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. 1. 
 
 assemblies, had indiscreetly admitted into their commu- 
 
 nity a number of extravagant and hot-headed fanatics, 
 
 who foretold the approaching destruction of Babel, (by 
 
 _ which they meant the Lutheran church,) terrified the popu- 
 
 lace with fictitious visions, assumed the authority of pro 
 phets honoured with a divine commission, obscured the sub- 
 lime truths of religion by a gloomy kind of jargon of their 
 own invention, and revived doctrines that had long before 
 been condemned by the church. "These enthusiasts also 
 asserted, that the millennium, (or thousand-years’ reign 
 of the saints on earth,) mentioned by St. John, was near 
 at hand. ‘They endeavoured to overturn the wisest estab- 
 lishments, and to destroy the best institutions, and desired 
 that the power of preaching and administering public 
 instruction might be given promiscuously to all sorts of 
 persons. ‘Thus was the Lutheran church torn asunder 
 in the most deplorable manner, while the votaries of Rome 
 stood by and beheld, with a secret satisfaction, these un- 
 happy divisions. ‘The most violent debates arose in all 
 the churches ; and persons, whose differences were occa- 
 sioned rather by mere words and questions of little conse- 
 quence, than by any doctrines or institutions of consider- 
 able importance, attacked one another with the bitterest 
 animosity; and, in many countries, severe laws were at 
 length enacted against the Pietists.« 
 
 XXIX. These revivers of piety were of two kinds, 
 who, by their different manner of proceeding, deserve to 
 be placed in two distinct classes. One sect of these practi- 
 cal reformers proposed to carry on their plan without intro- 
 ducing any change into the doctrine, discipline, or form of 
 government, established in the Lutheran church. The 
 other maintained, on the contrary, that it was impossible 
 to promote the progress of real piety among the Lutherans, 
 without making considerable alterations in their doctrine, 
 
 || and changing the whole form of their ecclesiastical disci- 
 
 pline and polity. ‘The former had at their head the 
 learned and pious Spener, who, in 1691, removed from 
 Dresden to Berlin, and whose sentiments were adopted 
 by the professors of the new university at Halle, and par- 
 ticularly by Franckius and Paulus Antonius, who had 
 been invited thither from Leipsic, where they began to be 
 suspected of Pietism. ‘Though few pretended to treat 
 either with indignation or contempt the intentions and 
 purpose of these good men (which, indeed, no one could 
 despise without affecting to appear the enemy of practical 
 religion and virtue,) yet many eminent divines, and more 
 especially the professors and pastors of Wittenberg, were 
 of opinion, that, in the execution of this laudable purpose, 
 several maxims were adopted, and certain measures em- 
 ployed, that were prejudicial to the truth, and also detri- 
 mental to the interests of the church. Hence they thought 
 themselves obliged to proceed publicly, first against Spe- 
 ner, in 1695, and afterwards against his disciples and 
 adherents, as the Inventors and promoters of erroneous 
 and dangerous opinions. ‘These debates are of a recent 
 date ; so that those who are desirous of knowing more par- 
 
 wished, that a society of prudent and impartial persons, furnished with a 
 competent knowledge of human nature and political transactions, and 
 also with proper materials, would undertake to compose the history of 
 Pietism. If several persons were employed in collecting from public 
 fecords, and also from papers that are yet concealed in the cabinets of 
 the curious, the events which happened in each country where this con- 
 troversy reigned ; and if these materials, thus carefully gathered on the 
 spot, were put into the hands of a man capable of digesting the whole 
 this would produce a most interesting and useful matory. 
 
Parr Il. 
 
 ticularly how far the principles of equity, moderation, and 
 candour, influenced the conduct and directed the proceed- 
 ings of the contending parties, may easily receive satis- 
 factory info:mation. 
 
 XXX. These debates turned upon a variety of points; 
 and therefore the matter of them cannot be comprehended 
 under any one general head. . If we consider them indeed 
 in relation to their origin, and the circumstances that 
 gave rise to them, we shall be able to reduce them to 
 some fixed principles. It is well known that those who 
 had the advancement of piety most zealously at heart, en- 
 tertained a notion that no order of men contributed more 
 to retard its progress than the clergy, whose peculiar vo- 
 cation it was to inculcate and promote it. While they 
 considered this as the root of the evil, it was natural that 
 their plans of reformation should begin here; and, accord- 
 ingly, they laid it down as an essential principle, that 
 none should be admitted into the ministry, but such as 
 had received a proper education, were distinguished by 
 their wisdom and sanctity of manners, and had hearts 
 filled with divine love. Hence they proposed, in the first 
 place, a thorough reformation of the schools of divinity 
 and they explained clearly enough what they meant by 
 this reformation, which consisted inthe following points: 
 That the systematical theology, which reigned in the 
 colleges, and was composed of intricate and disputable 
 doctrines, and obscure and unusual forms of expression, 
 should be totally abolished ; that polemical divinity, which 
 comprehended the controversies subsisting between Chris- 
 tians of different communions, should be less eagerly 
 studied, and less frequently treated, though not entirely 
 neglected; that all mixture of philosophy and human 
 learning with divine wisdom was to be most carefully 
 avoided ; that, on the contrary, all those who were intend- 
 ed for the ministry, should be accustomed from their early 
 youth to the perusal and study of the Scriptures; that 
 they should be instructed in a plain system of theology, 
 drawn from these unerring sources of truth; and that the 
 whole course of their education was to be so directed, as 
 to render them useful in life, by the practical power of 
 their doctrine and the commanding influence of their 
 example. As these maxims were propagated with the 
 greatest industry and zeal, and were explained inadvert- 
 ently by some, without those restrictions which prudence 
 seemed to require, these professed patrons and revivers 
 of piety were suspected of designs that could not but ren- 
 der them obnoxious to censure. ‘They were supposed to 
 despise philosophy and earning, to treat with indifference, 
 and even to renounce, all inquiries into the nature and 
 foundations of religious truth, to disapprove the zeal and 
 labours of those who defended it against such as either cor- 
 rupted or opposed it, and to place the whole of their theo- 
 logy in certain vague and incoherent declamations con- 
 cerning the duties of morality. Hence arose those famous 
 disputes concerning the use of philosophy and the value 
 of human learning, considered in connexion with the 
 interests of religion—the dignity and usefulness of sys- 
 eimatic theology—the necessity of polemic divinity—the 
 excellence of the mystic system-—and also concerning 
 the true method of instructing the people. 
 
 The second great object, that employed the zeal and 
 attention of the persons now under consideration, was, that 
 the candidates for the ministry should not only, for the 
 
 No. L. 149 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
 
 593 
 
 future, receive such an academical education as would 
 tend rather to solid utility than to mere speculation, but 
 also that they should dedicate themselves to God in a 
 
 them holy resolutions ; but also produced another maxim, 
 which was a lasting source of controversy and debate, 
 namely, “that no person, who was not himself a model 
 of piety and divine love, was qualified to be a public 
 teacher of piety, or a guide to others in the way of salva- 
 tion.” ‘This opinion was considered by many as 
 derogatory from the power and efficacy of the word of 
 God, which cannot be deprived of its divine influence by 
 the vices of its ministers, and a sort of revival of the long- 
 exploded errors of the Donatists; and what rendered it pe 
 culiarly liable to an interpretation of this nature was, the 
 imprudence of some Pietists, who inculcated it without 
 those restrictions that were necessary to render it unex- 
 ceptionable. Hence arose endless and intricate debates 
 concerning the following questions; “whether the reli- 
 gious knowledge acquired by a wicked man can be termed 
 thgology ?” “whether a vicious person can, in effect, obtain 
 a true knowledge of religion ?”—“ how far the office and 
 ministry of an impious ecclesiastic can be pronouncec 
 salutary and efficacious ?”’—“ whether a licentious and 
 ungodly man can be susceptible of illumination ?”—and 
 other questions of a like nature. 
 
 XXXI. These revivers of declining piety went yet far- 
 ther. In order to render the ministry of their pastors as 
 successful as possible, in rousing men from their indolence, 
 and in stemming the torrent of corruption and immorality, 
 they judged two things indispensably necessary. "The first 
 was, to suppress entirely, in the course of public instruc- 
 tion, and more especially in that delivered from the pulpit, 
 certain maxims and phrases which the corruption of men 
 leads them frequently to interpret in a manner favourable 
 to the indulgence of their passions. Such, in the judg- 
 ment of the Pietists, were the following propositions :— 
 ‘“¢ No man is able to attain that perfection which the divine 
 law requires: good works are not necessary to salvation : 
 in the act of justification, on the part of man, faith alone 
 is concerned, without good works.” Many, however, were 
 apprehensive, that, by the suppression of these propositions, 
 truth itself must suffer deeply, and that the Christian reli- 
 gion, deprived thus of its peculiar doctrines, would be 
 exposed, naked and defenceless, to the attacks of its 
 adversaries. ‘Ihe second step they took, in order to give 
 efficacy to their plans of reformation, was to form new 
 rules of life and manners, much more rigorous and austere 
 than those which had been formerly practised, and to 
 place in the class of sinful and unlawful gratifications seve- 
 ral kinds of pleasure and amusement, which had hitherto 
 been looked upon as innocent in themselves, and which 
 could only become good or evil, in consequence of the 
 respective characters of those who used them with pru 
 dence, or abused them with intemperance. ‘Thus, dancing, 
 public sports, pantomimes, theatrical diversions, the read- 
 ing of humorous and comical books, with several other 
 kinds of pleasure and entertainment, were prohibited by 
 
594 
 
 the Pietists, as unlawful and unseemly, and, therefore, by 
 no means of an indifferent nature.. Many, however, 
 thought this rule of moral discipline far too rigid and 
 severe ; and thus was revived the ancient contest of the 
 schoolmen, concerning the famous question, whether any 
 human actions are truly indifferent ? i. e. equally removed 
 from moral good on the one hand, and from moral evil on 
 the other; and whether, on the contrary, it be not true, 
 that all actions, whatever, must be either considered as 
 good or as evil? ‘The discussion of this question was 
 attended with a variety of debates upon the several points 
 of the prohibition now mentioned ; and these debates were 
 often carried on with animosity and bitterness, and very 
 rarely with that precision, temper, and judgment, which 
 the nicety of the matters in dispute required. "The third 
 point, on which the Pietists insisted, was, that beside the 
 stated meetings for public worship, private assemblies 
 should be holden for prayer and other religious exercises. 
 But many were of opinion, that the cause of true piety and 
 virtue was rather endangered than promoted by these as- 
 semblies; and experience and observation seemed to con- 
 firm this opinion. It would be both endless and unneces- 
 sary toenumerate all the little disputes that arose from the 
 appointment of these private assemblies, and, in general, 
 from the notions entertained, and the measures pursued 
 by the Pietists.». [t is nevertheless proper to observe, that 
 the lenity and indulgence shown by these people to per- 
 sons whose opinions were erroneous, and whose errors 
 were by no means of an indifferent nature, irritated their 
 adversaries to a very high degree, and made many suspect, 
 that the Pietists laid a much greater.stress upon practice 
 than upon belief, and that, separating what ought ever to 
 pe inseparably joined, they held virtuous manners in higher 
 esteem than religious truth. Amidst the prodigious num- 
 bers that appeared in these controversies it was not at all 
 “surprising, if the variety of their characters, capacities, and 
 views, be duly considered, that some were chargeable with 
 imprudence, others with intemperate zeal, and that many, 
 to avoid what they looked upon as unlawful, fell injudi- 
 ciously into the opposite extreme. 
 
 XXXII. The other class of Pietists already mentioned, 
 whose reforming views extended so far, ag to change the 
 system of doctrine, and the form of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment, established in the Lutheran church, comprehended 
 persons of various characters and different ways of think- 
 ing. Some of them were totally destitute of reason and 
 judgment ; their errors were the reveries of a disordered 
 brain; and they were rather to be considered as lunatics 
 than as heretics. Others were less extravagant, and tem- 
 pered the singular notions, which they had derived from 
 reading or meditation, with a certain mixture of the im- 
 portant truths and doctrines of religion. Of this class we 
 shall mention those only who were distinguished from the 
 rest by superior merit and reputation. Among these we 
 find Godfrey Arnold, a native of Saxony, a man of exten- 
 sive reading, tolerable parts, and richly endowed with that 
 natural and unaffected eloquence, which is so wonderfully 
 adapted to touch and to persuade. This man disturbed 
 
 * These debates were first collected, and also needlessly multiplied, by 
 Schelvigius, in his Synopsis Controversarium sub Pietatis Praetextu 
 motarum, published in 1701. The reader will also find the arguments, 
 used by the contending parties in this dispute, judiciously summed up 
 in two different works of Langius, one entitled Anti-Barbarus, and the 
 other the Middle Way, (die Mittel-strasse ;) the former composed in 
 Latin, the latter in German.* 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. []. 
 
 the tranquillity of the church, toward the conclusion of 
 this century, by a variety of theological productions, that 
 were full of new and singular opinions, and more’ espe- 
 cially by his ecclesiastical history, which he had the assur- 
 ance to impose upon the public, as a work composed with 
 candour and impartiality. His natural complexion was 
 dark, melancholy and austese ; and these seeds of fanati- 
 cism were so expanded and nourished by the perusal of 
 the mystic writers, that the flame of enthusiasm was kin- 
 dled in his breast, and broke forth in his conduct and 
 writings with peculiar vehemence. He looked upon the 
 Mystics as superior to all other writers, and even as the 
 only depositories of true wisdom ; reduced the whole of 
 religion to certain internal feelings and motions, of which 
 it is difficult to form a just idea; neglected entirely the 
 study of truth; and employed the whole power of his 
 genius and eloquence in enumerating, deploring, and ex- 
 agegerating, the vices and corruptions of human nature. 
 If it is universally allowed to be the first and most essential 
 obligation of an historian to avoid all appearance of parti- 
 ality, and neither to be influenced by personal attachments 
 ior by private resentment in the recital of facts, it may 
 fairly be acknowledged, that no man could be less fit for 
 writing history than ‘Arnold. His whole history, as every 
 one must see who looks into it with the smallest degree 
 of attention, is the production of a violent spirit, and is 
 dictated by a vehement antipathy to the doctrines and 
 institutions of the Lutheran church. <A fundameatal 
 principle that influences the judgment, and direc’; the 
 opinions and decisions of this historian. through tb . whole 
 course of his work, is, that all the abuses and co -iptions 
 that have found admittance into the church sinc. ihe time 
 of the apostles, have been introduced by its min sters and 
 rulers, men of vicious and abandoned characters. From 
 this principle he draws the following goodly consequence: 
 that all those who opposed the measures of the clergy, or 
 felt their resentment, were persons of distinguished sanctity 
 and virtue; and that, on the contrary, such as either 
 favoured the ministers of the church or were favoured by 
 them, were strangers to the spirit of true and genuine piety. 
 Hence proceeded Arnold’s unaccountable partiality to 
 almost all that bore the denomination of heretics ;»> whom 
 he defended with the utmost zeal, without having always 
 understood their doctrine, and, in some cases, without hav- 
 ing even examined their arguments. 'This partiality was 
 highly detrimental to his reputation, and rendered his his- 
 tory peculiarly obnoxious to censure. He did not, however, 
 continue in this way of thinking: but, as he advanced in 
 years and experience, perceived the errors into which he 
 had been led by the impetuosity of his passion and the 
 contagious influence of pernicious examples. This sense 
 of his mistakes corrected the vehemence of his natural 
 temper and the turbulence of his party spirit, so that, as 
 we learn from witnesses worthy of credit, he became at 
 last a lover of truth and a pattern of moderation.« 
 
 XXXIIT. Arnold was far exceeded in fanatical malig- 
 nity and insolence by John Conrad Dippelius, a Hessian 
 divine, who assumed the denomination of the Chiistian 
 
 3x*> » Arnold’s history is entitled Historia Ecclessiastica et Heretica. 
 Dr. Mosheim’s account of this learned man is drawn up with much 
 severity, and perhaps is not entirely destitute of partiality. See the 
 Life of Arnold in the General Dictionary. 
 
 © See Coleri Vita Arnoldi, and also the Nouveau Diction. Histor. tt 
 
 Critique, tom. i. p. 485. 
 * See also the Timotheus Verinus of Val. Ern, Loscher. 
 
Part IL. 
 
 Democritus, inflamed the minds of the simple by a variety 
 of productions, and excited considerable tumults and 
 commotions near the close of this century. ‘This vain, 
 supercilious, and arrogant dector, who seemed formed by 
 nature for a satirist and a buffoon, instead of proposing 
 any new system of religidus doctrine and discipline, was 
 solely employed in overturning those which were received 
 in the protestant church. His days were principally spent 
 in throwing out sarcasms and invectives against all deno- 
 minations of Christians; and the Lutherans, to whose 
 communion he belonged, were more especially the objects 
 of his raillery and derision, which, on many occasions, 
 spared not those things which had formerly been looked 
 upon as the most respectable and sacred. It is much to 
 be doubted, whether he had formed any clear and distinct 
 notions of the doctrines he taught, since, in his views of 
 things, the power of imagination domineered evidently 
 over the dictates of reason and common sense. But, if 
 he really understood the religious maxims he was propa- 
 gating, he certainly had not the talent of rendering them 
 clear and perspicuous to others; for nothing can be more 
 ambiguous and obscure than the expressions under which 
 they are conveyed, and the arguments by which they are 
 supported. A man must have the gift of divination, to 
 be able to deduce a regular and consistent system of doc- 
 trine from the various productions of this incoherent and 
 unintelligible writer, who was a chemist into the bargain, 
 and whose brain seems to have been heated into a high 
 degree of fermentation by the fire of the laboratory. If 
 the rude, motley, and sarcastic writings of this wrong- 
 headed reformer should reach posterity, it will be certainly 
 a just matter of surprise to our descendants, that a consi- 
 derable number of their ancestors should have been so 
 
 blind as to choose, for a model of genuine piety and a’ 
 
 teacher of religion, a man who had audaciously violated 
 the first and most essential principles of solid piety and 
 sound sense.* . 
 
 XXXIV. The mild and gentle temper of John Wil- 
 liam Petersen, minister and first member of the ecclesi- 
 astical consistory of Lunenburg, distinguished him remark- 
 ably from the fiery enthusiast now mentioned. But the 
 mildness of this good-natured ecclesiastic was accompa- 
 nied with a want of resolution, that might be called weak- 
 ness, and a certain floridness and warmth of imagination, 
 which rendered him peculiarly susceptible of illusion him- 
 self, and a fit instrument to lead others innocently into 
 error. Of this he gave a very remarkable specimen in 
 1691, by maintaining publicly that Rosamond Juliana, 
 countess of Asseburg (whose disordered brain suggested 
 to her the most romantic and chimerical notions) was 
 honoured with a vision of the Deity, and commissioned 
 to make a new declaration of his will to mankind. He 
 also revived and propagated openly the absolute doctrine 
 of the Millennium, which Rosamond had confirmed by 
 her pretended authority from above. ‘This first error pro- 
 duced many; for error is fertile, especially in those minds 
 
 *Tfis works were all puh.ished in 1747; and his memory is still 
 highly honoured and respected by many, who consider him as having 
 been, in his day, an eminent teacher of true piety and wisdom. No 
 kind of authors find such zealous readers and patrons as those who deal 
 largely in invective, and swell themselves, by a vain self-sufficiency, 
 into 1n imagined superiority over the restof mankind. Besides, Dippe- 
 rius was an excellent chemist, and a good physician; and this procured 
 him many friends and admirers, as all men are fond of riches and long 
 life, and these two sciences were supposed to lead to the one and the 
 
 other. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 595 
 
 where imagination has spurned the yoke of reason, and 
 considers all its airy visions as solid and important disco- 
 veries. Accordingly, Petersen went about prophesying 
 with his wife,» who also gave herself out for a kind of 
 oracle, and boasted of her extensive knowledge of the 
 secrets of heaven. They talked of a general restitution 
 of all things; at which grand and solemn period all in- 
 telligent beings were to be restored to happiness, the gates 
 of hell opened, and wicked men, together with evil spirits, 
 delivered from the guilt, power and punishment of sin. 
 They supposed that two distinct natures, and both of them 
 human, were united in Christ ; one assumed in heaven 
 before the formation of this globe, the other derived, upon 
 earth, from the Virgin Mary. ‘These opinions were swal- 
 lowed down by many among the multitude, and were 
 
 even embraced by some of superior rank ; they met, how- 
 ever, with great opposition, and were refuted by a consi- 
 derable number of authors, to whom Petersen, who was 
 amply furnished with leisure and eloquence, wrote volu- 
 minous replies. In the year 1692, he was deposed; and, 
 from that period, passed his days in the tranquillity of a 
 rural retreat in the territory of Magdeburg, where he 
 cheered his solitude by epistolary commerce, and spent 
 the remainder of his life in composition and study.° 
 
 XXXYV. It is not easy to determine whether John Cas- 
 par Schade and George Bosius may be associated properly 
 with the persons now mentioned. They were both good 
 men, full of zeal for the happiness and salvation of their 
 brethren ; but their zeal was neither directed by prudence, 
 nor tempered with moderation. ‘The former, who was 
 minister at Berlin, propagated several notions that seemed 
 crude and uncouth; and, in 1697, inveighed with the 
 greatest bitterness against the custom that prevails in the 
 Lutheran church of confessing privately to the clergy. 
 These violent remonstrances excited great commotions, 
 and were even attended with popular tumults. Bosius per- 
 formed the pastoral functions at Soraw ; and, to awaken 
 sinners from their security, and prevent their treating, with 
 negligence and indifference, interests that are most impor- 
 tant by being eternal, denied that God would continue 
 always propitious and placable with respect to those offen- 
 ders, whose incorrigible obstinacy he had foreseen from 
 all eternity ; or that he would offer to them beyond a cer- 
 tain period, marked in his decrees, those succours of grace 
 which are necessary to salvation. This tenet, in the judg- 
 ment of many grave divines, seemed highly injurious to 
 the boundless mercy of God, and was accordingly refuted 
 and condemned in several treatises: it found, nevertheless, 
 an eminent patron and defender in the learned Rechen- 
 berg, professor of divinity at Leipsic, not to mention others 
 of less note, who appeared in its behalf. 
 
 XXXVI. Among the controversies of inferior moment 
 that divided the Lutheran church, we shall first mention 
 those that broke out between the doctors of Tubingen 
 and Giessen so early as the year 1616. The principal 
 part of this debate related to the abasement and humilia- 
 
 > Her name was Johanna Eleonora & Merlau. 
 
 ¢ Petersen wrote an account of his own life in German; his wife 
 added her life to it, by way of supplement; and these pieces of biogra- 
 phy will satisfy such as are desirous of a particular account of the 
 character, manners, and talents, of this extraordinary pair. For an 
 account of the troubles they excited at Lunenburgh, see Moller’s Cim- 
 bria Literata, tom. ii. p. 639; the Unschuldigen Nachrichten, An. 
 
 1748, p. 974; An. 1749, p. 30—200. : 
 4 See the first part of Walchius’ Introductic ad Controversias, 
 
 cap. iv. 
 
596 
 
 tion, or to what divines call the exinanition of Jesus 
 Christ ; and the great point was, to know in what this 
 exinanition properly consisted, and what was the precise 
 characteristic of this smgular situation. That the man 
 Christ possessed, even in the most dreadful periods of his 
 abasement, the divine properties and attributes he had 
 received in consequence of the hypostatic union, was 
 unanimously agreed on by both parties; but they differed 
 in their sentiments relating to this subtle and intricate 
 question, whether Christ during his mediatorial sufferings 
 and sacerdotal state, really suspended the exertion of 
 these attributes, or only concealed this exertion from the 
 view of mortals? The latter was maintained by the 
 doctors of Tubingen, while those of Giessen were inclined 
 
 to think, that the exertion of the divine attributes was_ 
 
 really suspended in Christ during his humiliation and suf- 
 ferings. This main question was followed by others 
 which were much more subtle than important, concern- 
 ing the manner in which God is present with all his 
 works, the reasons and foundation of this universal pre- 
 sence, the true cause of the omnipresence of Christ’s body, 
 and others of a like intricate and unintelligible nature. 
 The champions who distinguished themselves on the side 
 of the doctors of Tubingen were, Lucas Osiander, Mel- 
 chior Nicolas, and Theodore Thummius. The most 
 eminent of those who adopted the cause of the divines of 
 Giessen were Balthasar Menzer and Justus leverborn. 
 ‘The contest was carried on with zeal, learning, and saga- 
 city: itis to be wished that one could add, that it was 
 managed with wisdom, dignity, and moderation. This, 
 indeed, was far from being the case; for such was the 
 complexion of the age, that many things were now treated 
 with indulgence, or beheld with approbation, which the 
 wisdom and decency of succeeding times have justly en- 
 deavoured to discountenance and correct. In order to ter- 
 minate these disagreeable contests, the Saxon divines 
 were commanded by their sovereign, to offer themselves 
 as arbitrators between the contending parties in 1624: 
 their arbitration was accepted; but it did not at all con- 
 tribute to decide the matters in debate. ‘Their decisions 
 were vague and ambiguous, and were therefore not 
 adapted to give satisfaction. "They declared, that they 
 could not fully or entirely approve the doctrine of either; 
 but insinuated, at the same time, that a certain degree of 
 preference was due to the opinions maintained by the 
 doctors of Giessen. Those of Tubingen rejected the de- 
 cision of the Saxon arbitrators; and it is very probable, 
 that the divines of Giessen would have appealed from it 
 also, had not the public calamities, in which Germany be- 
 gan to be involved at this time, suspended this miserable 
 contest, by imposing silence upon the disputants, and 
 leaving them in the quiet possession of their respective 
 opinions. 
 
 XXXVII. Before the cessation of the controversy now 
 mentioned, a new one was occasioned, in 1621, by the 
 writings of Herman Rathman, minister at Dantzic, a man 
 of eminent piety, some learning, and a zealous patron 
 and admirer of Arndt’s famous book concerning true 
 Christianity. This good man was suspected by his col- 
 league Corvinus, and several others, of entertaining senti- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 ments derogatory from the dignity and power of the 
 sacred writings. ‘These suspicions they derived from a 
 
 book published by him in 1621, concerning Christ's King- 
 
 dom of Grace, which, according to the representations of 
 his adversaries, contained the following doctrine: “That 
 the word of God, as it stands in the sacred writings, has 
 no innate power to illuminate the mind, to excite in it a 
 principle of regeneration, and thus to turn it to God: that 
 the external. word shows, indeed, the way to salvation, 
 but cannot effectually lead men to it; but that God him- 
 self, by the ministry of another, and an internal word, 
 works such a change in the minds of men, as is necessary 
 to render them agreeable in his sight, and enables them 
 to please him by their words and actions.” "This doctrine 
 was represented by Corvinus and his associates as the 
 same which had been formerly maintained by Schwenck- 
 feld, and was professed by the Mystics in general. But 
 whoever will be at the pains to examine with attention 
 the various writings of Rathman on this subject, must 
 soon be convinced, that his adversaries either misunder- 
 stood his true sentiments, or wilfully misrepresented them. 
 His real doctrine may be comprised in the four following 
 points: “first, that the divine word, contained in Scrip- 
 ture, is endowed with the power of healing the minds of 
 men, and bringing them to God; but that, secondly, it 
 cannot exert this power in the minds of corrupt men, who 
 resist its divine operation and influence ; and that, in con- 
 sequence, thirdly, it is absolutely- necessary, that the 
 word be preceded or accompanied by some divine energy, 
 which may prepare the minds of sinners to receive it, and 
 remove those impediments that oppose its efficacy ; and, 
 fourthly, that it is by the power of the holy spirit, or 
 internal word, that the external word is rendered capable 
 of exerting its efficacy in enlightening and sanctifying the 
 minds of men.” There is, indeed, some difference 
 between these opinions and the doctrine commonly receiv- 
 ed in the Lutheran church, relating to the efficacy of the 
 divine word; but a careful perusal of the writings of 
 Rathman on this subject, and a candid examination of 
 his inaccurate expressions, will persuade the impartia 
 reader, that this difference is neither great nor important 
 
 and he will only perceive, that this pious man had not 
 the talent of expressing his notions with order, perspicuity 
 and precision. However that may have been, this con- 
 test grew more general from day to day, and, at length, 
 extended its polemic influence through the whole Lu- 
 theran church, the greatest part of whose members fol- 
 lowed the example of the Saxon doctors in condemning 
 Rathman, while a considerable number, dazzled by the 
 lustre of his piety, and persuaded of the innocence of his 
 doctrine, espoused his cause. He died in 1628, when 
 this controversy was at the greatest height, and the 
 warmth and animosity of the contending parties gradually 
 subsided. 
 
 XXXVIII. It would be repugnant to the true end of 
 history, as well as to all principles of candour and equity 
 to swell this enumeration of the controversies that divid- 
 ed the Lutheran church, with the private disputes of in- 
 dividuals concerning particular points of doctrine and 
 worship. Some writers have, indeed, followed this me- 
 
 — 
 
 * Jo. Wolf. Jager, Histor. Eccles. et. Polit. sec. XVII. decenn. iii. p. 
 329.—Christ. Eberh. Weisman, Histor. Ecclesiast. sec. X VIL. p. 1178. 
 —Walchius, p. 206.—See also Carolus, Arnold, and the other writers, 
 who have written the ecclesiastical history of these times. 
 
 b See Moller’s Cimbria Literata, tom. iii. p. 559.—Hartknoch’s Ger- 
 man work, entitled, Preussische Kirchen-Geschichte, book iii. ch, viii, 
 p. 812. Armnold’s Kirchen Historie, part iii. chap. xii, 
 
Part IL. 
 
 tlod, not so much with a design to enrich their histories 
 with a multitude of facts, and to show men and opinions 
 iu all their various aspects, as with a view to render the 
 Lutherans ridiculous or odious. In the happiest times, 
 and in the best-modelled communities, there will always 
 remain sufficient marks of human imperfection, and abun- 
 dant sources of private contention, at least, in the impru- 
 dence, inadvertency, and misconceptions of some, and 
 the impatience and severity of others ; but it must betray 
 a great want of sound judgment, as well as of candour 
 and impartiality, to form a general estimate of the state 
 and character of a whole church upon such particular 
 instances of imperfection and error. Certain singular 
 opinions and modes of expression were censured by many 
 in the writings of ‘Tarnovius and Affelman, two divines 
 of Rostoch, who were otherwise men of distinguished 
 merit. ‘This, however, will surprise us less if we consider, 
 that these doctors often expressed themselves improperly, 
 when their sentiments were just ; and that, when their 
 expressions were accurate and proper, they were frequently 
 misunderstood by those who pretended to censure them. 
 Joachim Lutkeman, whose reputation was considerable, 
 and, in many respects, well deserved, conceived the idea 
 of denying that Christ remained @ true man during the 
 three days that intervened from his death to his resurrec- 
 tion. ‘This sentiment appeared highly erroneous to many ; 
 and hence arose a contest, which was merely a dispute 
 about words, resembling many other debates, which, like 
 bubbles, are incessantly swelling and vanishing on the 
 stirface of human life. Of this kind, more especially, was 
 the controversy which, for some time, exercised the talents 
 of Boetius and Balduin, professors of divinity (the former 
 at Helmstadt, and the latter at Wittenberg,) and had for 
 its subject the following question, whether the wicked 
 shall one day be restored to life by the merits of Christ ? 
 In the duchy of Holstein, Reinboth distinguished himself 
 by the singularity of his opinions. After “the example of 
 Calixtus, he reduced the fundamental doctrines of religion 
 within narrower bounds than were usually prescribed to 
 them; he also considered the opinion of those pitty 
 who denied that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son, as 
 an error of very little consequence. In both these respects, 
 his sentiments were adopted by many ; they, however, 
 
 met with opposition from several quarters, and were cen- | 
 
 sured with peculiar warmth by the learned John Conrad 
 Danhaver, professor of divinity at Strasbourg : in conse- 
 quence of this, a kind of controversy was kindled be- 
 tween these eminent men, and was carried on with more 
 vehemence than the nature and importance of the deba- 
 ted points could justify. But these and other contests of 
 this nature, must not be admitted into that list of contro- 
 
 versies, from which we are to form a judgment of the in- | 
 
 ternal state of the Lutheran church during this century. 
 XX XIX. We cannot make the same observation with 
 regard to certain controversies, which were of a personal 
 rather than a real nature, and related to the orthodoxy or 
 unsoundness of certain men, rather than to the truth or 
 falsehood of particular opinions ; for these are more patti- 
 cularly connected with the internal state and history of the 
 church, than the contests last mentiomed. It is not unusual 
 for those who proveapedly embark in the cause of declining 
 
 ® For a general account of these controversies, see Arnold’s Kirchen 
 Hist. p. ii. lib. xvii, cap. vi. p. 957. That which was occasioned by |! 
 No. LI. 150 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERA CHURCH. 
 
 597 
 
 piety, and aim, in a solemn, zealous, and public manner, 
 at its revival and restoration, to be elated with high and 
 towering views, and w armed with a certain enthusiastic, 
 though noble fervour. This ardent elevation of mind i 
 
 by no means a source of accuracy and precision ; on the 
 contrary, it produces many unguarded expressions, and 
 prevents men of warm piety from framing their language 
 by those rules which are necessary to render it clear, aceu- 
 rate, and proper; it frequently dictates expressions and 
 phrases that are : om: ous and emphatic, but, at the same 
 time, allegorical and at biguous; and leads pious and 
 even sensible men to adopt uncouth and vulgar forms of 
 speech, employed by writers whose style is as low and bar- 
 barous as their intentions are upright and pious, and whose 
 practical treatises on religion and morality have nothing 
 to recommend thein but the zeal and fervour with which 
 they are penned. Persons of this warm and enthusiastic 
 turn fall with more facility than any other set of men into 
 the suspicion of heresy, on account of the inaccuracy of 
 their expressions. "This many doctors found to be irue,® 
 
 | by a disagreeable experience, during the course of this cen- 
 
 tury ; but it was, in a more particular manner, the fate of 
 Stephen Pretorius, minister of Saltzwedel, and of John 
 Arndt, whose piety and virtue have rendered his memory 
 precious to the friends of true religion. Pretorius had, so 
 early as the preceding century, composed certain treatises, 
 designed to revive a spirit of vital religion, and awaken in 
 the minds of men a zeal for their future and eternal inter- 
 ests. These productions, which were frequently repub- 
 lished during this century, were highly applauded by many, 
 while, in the judgment of others, they abounded w ith ex- 
 pressions and sentiments, that were partly false, and partly 
 adapted by their ambiguity to lead men into error. It can- 
 not be denied, that there are in the writings of Pretorius 
 some improper and unguarded expressions, which may too 
 easily deceive the ignorant and unwary, as also several 
 
 marks of a credulity that borders upon weakness; but 
 those who peruse his works with impartiality will be ‘fully 
 persuaded of the uprightness of his intentions. 
 
 The unfeigned piety and integrity of Arndt could not 
 secure him from censure. His famous book concerning 
 true Christianity, which is still perused with the utmost 
 pleasure and edification by many persons eminent for the 
 sanctity of their lives and manners, met with a warm and 
 obstinate opposition. Osiander, Rostius, and other doctors, 
 inveighed against it with great asperity, pretended to find 
 in it various “defects, and alleged, among other things, that 
 its style was infected with the jargon of the Paracelsists, 
 Weigelians, and other Mystico-chemical philosophers. It 
 must, indeed, be acknowledged, that this eminent man 
 was highly discusted at the philosophy that, in his time, 
 reigned in the schools; nor can it be denied, that he had 
 a high, perhaps an excessive degree of respect for the 
 chemists, and an ill-placed confidence in their obscure de- 
 cisions and pompous undertakings. 'This led him some- 
 times into conversation with those fantastic philosophers, 
 who, by the power and ministry of fire, pretended to unfold 
 both the secrets of nature and the mysteries of religion. 
 But, notwithstanding this, he was declared exempt from 
 any errors of moment by a multitude of grave and pious 
 divines, among whom were Egard, Dilger, Breler, Gerard, 
 
 Reinboth is amply and circumstantially related by Moller, in part ii. of 
 his Introd. ad Hist. ChersonesiCimbricz,, and in his Cimbria Literata, t. il, 
 
598 
 
 and Dorscheus; and in the issue the censures and oppo- 
 sition of his adversaries seemed rather to give a new 
 lustre to his reputation than to cover him with reproach.* 
 
 We may place, in the class now under consideration, 
 Valentine Weigel, a minister of the church of Zscopavia in 
 Misnia; for, though he died in the preceding century, yet 
 it was in this that the greatest part of-his writings were 
 published, and also censured as erroneous and of a dan- 
 gerous tendency. ‘The science of chemistry, which at this 
 time was making such a rapid progress in Germany, 
 proved also detrimental to this ecclesiastic ; who, though 
 in the main a man of probity and merit, neglected the 
 paths of right reason, and chose rather to wander in the 
 devious wilds of a chimerical philosophy.* ‘ 
 
 XL. There were a set of fanatics among the Luther- 
 ans, who in the flights of their enthusiasm far surpassed 
 those now mentioned, and who had such a high notion 
 of their own abilities as to attempt melting down the pre- 
 sent form of religion, and casting a new system of piety 
 ®after a model drawn from their wanton and irregular fan- 
 cies; it is with some account of the principal of these 
 spiritual projectors that we shall conclude the history of 
 the Lutheran church during this century. 
 
 At the head of this visionary tribe we may place Jacob 
 Behmen, a taylor at Gorlitz, whoewas remarkable for the 
 multitude of his patrons and adversaries, and whom his 
 admirers commonly called the German 'Theosophist. 
 This man had a natural propensity toward the investiga- 
 tion of mysteries, and was fond of abstruse and intricate 
 inquiries of every kind; and having, partly by books, and 
 partly by conversation with certain physicians, acquired 
 some knowledge of the doctrine of Robert Fludd and 
 the Rosecrusians, which was propagated in Germany with 
 great ostentation during this century, he struck out of the 
 element of fire, by the succours of imagination, a species 
 of theology much more obscure than the numbers of 
 Pythagoras, or the intricacies of Heraclitus. Some have 
 bestowed high praises on this enthusiast, on account of 
 his piety, integrity, and sincere love of truth and virtue ; 
 and we shall not presume to contradict these encomiums. 
 But such as carry their admiration of his doctrine so far 
 as to honour him with the character of an inspired mes- 
 senger of Heaven, or even of a judicious and wise phi- 
 losopher, must be themselves deceived and blinded in a 
 very high degree; for never did there reign such obscu- 
 rity and confusion in the writings of any mortal, as in the 
 miserable productions of Jacob Behmen, which exhibit a 
 motley mixture of chemical terms, crude visions, and mys- 
 tic jargon. Among other dreams of a disturbed and eccen- 
 tric fancy, he entertained the following chimerical notion : 
 “'That the divine grace operates by the same rules, and 
 follows the same methods, which the divine providence 
 
 *See Arnoldi Hist. Eccles. p. ii. lib. xvi. cap. vi. p. 940.—Weis- 
 manni Histor. Eccles. sec. X VIL. p. 1174, 1189.—Godof. Balth, Scharfii. 
 Supplementum Historie Litisque Arndtiane. 
 
 > There is an account of Weigel, more ample than impartial, given 
 by Arnold, lib. xvii. cap. xvii. p. 1088. ; 
 
 * Tobias Kober and Balthaser Walther. 
 
 4 It is needless to mention the writers who employed their pens in 
 stemming the torrent of Behmen’s enthusiasm. The works of this 
 fanatic are in every body’s hands, and the books that were composed to 
 refute them are well known, and to be found every where. All that has 
 been alleged, in his favour and defence, has been carefully collected by 
 Arnold, who is, generally speaking, peculiarly eloquent in the praises 
 of those whom others treat with contempt. For an account of Kuhlman, 
 and his unhappy fate see the German work, entitled, Unschuld. Nach- 
 richten, An. 1748. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL. 
 
 observes in the natural world, and that the minds of men 
 are purged from their vices and corruptions in the same 
 way that metals are purified from their dross;” and this 
 maxim was the principle of his fire-theology. Behmen 
 had a considerable number of followers in this century, 
 the most eminent of whom were John Louis Giftheil, John 
 Angelus Werdenhagen, Abraham Frankenberg, Theodore 
 Tzetsch, Paul Felgenhauer, Quirinus Kuhlman, John Ja 
 cob Zimmermann ; and he has still many votaries and ad- 
 mirers even in our times. Some of his followers retained, 
 notwithstanding their attachment to his extravagant sys- 
 tem, a certain degree of moderation and good sense, while 
 others seemed entirely out of their wits, and by their 
 phrensy excited the compassion of those who were the 
 spectators of their conduct; such were Kuhlman and 
 Gichtel, of whom the former was burned at Moscow in 
 1684; but, indeed, it may be affirmed in general, that 
 none of his disciples propagated his doctrine, or con- 
 ducted themselves, in such a manner as to do honour 
 either to their master or to his cause in the judgment of 
 the wise.‘ 
 
 XLI. Another class of persons, who deserve to be placed 
 immediately after Behmen, were they, whom a disordered 
 brain persuaded that they were prophets sent from above, 
 and that they were divinely inspired with the power of 
 prediction. A considerable number of these delirious fana- 
 tics arose in this century, more especially at that juncture 
 when the house of Austria was employed in maintaining 
 its power in the empire, against the united armies of Swe- 
 den, France, and Germany. It is remarkable, that pre- 
 tended prophets and diviners are never more numerous 
 than at those critical and striking periods when great revo- 
 lutions are expected, or sudden and heavy calamities have 
 happened, as such periods, and the scenes they exhibit, 
 inflame the imagination of the fanatic, and may be turned 
 to the profit of the impostor. 'The most eminent of the 
 fanatical prophets now under consideration, were Nicholas 
 Drabicius, Christopher Iotter, Christina Poniatovia (all of 
 whom found an eloquent defender and patron in John 
 Amos Comenius,) Joachim Greulich, Anne Vetter, Mary 
 Frdlich, and George Reichard ; beside several others, who 
 audaciously assumed the same character. It is not neces- 
 sary to enter into a circumstantial detail of the history of 
 this visionary tribe, since none of them arose to such a 
 degree of reputation and consequence, as to occasion any 
 considerable tumults by their pretended predictions. It is 
 sufficient to have observed in general, that, even in this 
 century, there were among the Lutherans some crazy 
 fanatics, who, under the impulse of a disordered imagina- 
 tion, assumed the character and authority of prophets sent 
 from above to enlighten the world.: 
 
 XLIL. It will not, however, be improper to mention, 
 
 3*> Behmen, however, had the good fortune to meet with, in our 
 days, a warm advocate and an industrious disciple, in the late well- 
 meaning but gloomy and visionary Mr. William Law, who employed 
 himself, for many years, in preparing a new edition and translation of 
 Behmen’s works, which, after his death, a friend gave to the world. 
 
 e Arnold is to be commended for giving us an accurate collection of 
 the transactions and visions of these enthusiasts, in the third and fourth 
 parts of his History of Heretics, since those who are desirous of full 
 information in this matter may easily see, by consulting this historian, 
 that the pretended revelatigns of these prophets were no more than the 
 phantoms of a disordered imagination. A pious but ignorant man, 
 named Benedict Bahnsen, who was a native of Holstein, and lived at 
 Amsterdam about the middle of the seventeenth century, was so delight- 
 ed with the effusions and writings cf these fanatics, that he collected 
 them carefully, and published them. In 1670, a catalogue of his library 
 
Part IL. 
 
 somewhat more circumstantially, the case of those, who, | 
 though they did not arrive at that enormous height of 
 folly which leads men to pretend to divine inspiration, yet 
 deceived themselves and deluded others, by entertaining 
 and propagating the strangest fancies, and the most mon- 
 strous and impious absurdities. Some time after the 
 commencement of this century, Isaiah Stiefel and Ezekiel 
 Meth, natives of Thuringia, were observed to throw out the 
 most extraordinary and shocking expressions, while they 
 spoke of themselves and their religious attainments. ‘These 
 expressions, in the judgment of many, amounted to no- 
 thing less, than attributing to themselves the divine glory 
 and majesty, and thus implied a blasphemous, or rather 
 a phrenetic, insult on the Supreme Being and his eternal 
 Son. It is nevertheless scarcely credible, however irra- 
 tional we may suppose them to have been, that these 
 fanatics should have carried their perverse and absurd 
 fancies to such an amazing height; and it would perhaps 
 be more agreeable -both to truth and charity to suppose, 
 that they only imitated the pompous and turgid language 
 of the mystic writers in such an extravagant manner, as 
 to give occasion to the heavy accusation above stated. 
 Considering the matter even in this candid and charitable 
 light, we may see by their examples what an effect the 
 constant perusal of the writings of the Mystics may have 
 in shedding darkness, delusion, and folly, into the imagi- 
 nations of weak and ignorant men.* "The reveries of Paul 
 Nagel, professor of divinity at Leipsic, were highly absurd, 
 but of a less pernicious tendency than those already men- 
 tioned. ‘This prophetic dreamer, who had received a 
 superficial tincture of mathematical knowledge, pretended 
 to see, in the position of the stars, the events that were to 
 happen in church and state; and, from a view of these 
 celestial bodies, affected to foretell, in a more particular 
 manner, the erection of a new and most holy kingdom 
 in which Christ should reign here upon earth.° 
 
 XLII. Christian Hoburg, a native of Lunenburg, a 
 man of a turbulent and inconstant spirit, and not more 
 remarkable for his violence, than for his duplicity, threw 
 out the most bitter reproaches and invectives against the 
 whole Lutheran church without exception,: and thereby 
 involved himself in various perplexities. He long deceived 
 the multitude by his dissimulation and hypocrisy ; and, 
 by a series of frauds, which he undoubtedly looked upon 
 as lawful, hé so far disguised his true character that he 
 appeared to many, and especially to persons of a candid 
 and charitable turn, much less contemptible than he was 
 in reality ; and though the acrimony and violence of his 
 proceedings were condemned, yet they were supposed to 
 be directed, not against religion itself, but against the 
 ' licentiousness and vices of its professors, and particularly 
 of its ministers. At length, however, the mask fell from 
 the face of this hypocrite, who became an object of general 
 indignation and contempt, and, deserting the communion 
 of the Lutheran church, went over to the Mennonites.@ 
 There was a striking resemblance between this petulant 
 
 was j\rinted at Amsterdam, which was full of chemical, fanatical, and 
 preten Jedly-prophetic books. ; 
 
 *See Arnold's Historia Eccles. p. iii. cap. iv. p. 832-—Thomasius’ 
 German work, entitled, Histoire der Weisheit und Narrheit, vol. i. 
 
 b Arnold, p. iii. cap. v. p. 53.— Andr. Caroli Memorabilia Ecclesia, 
 sec. XVII. in parte 1. lib. iii. cap. iv. p. 513. : 
 
 ° Hoburg, in some of his petulant and satirical writings, assumed the 
 names of Elias Pretorius and Bernard Baumann. 
 
 ¢ Arnold, p. iii. cap. xiii. p. 130.—Andr. Caroli Mem. Eccles. vol. i. p. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 599 
 
 railer and Freder’c Breckling ; the latter, howeve:, sur- 
 passed even the former in impetuosity and malignity. 
 Breckling had been pastor, first in the duchy of Holstein, 
 and afterwards at Zwoll, a city in the United Provinces, 
 where he was desposed from his ministry, and lived many 
 years afterward without being attached to any religious 
 sect or community. There are several of his writings 
 extant, which, indeed, recommend warmly the practice of 
 piety and virtue, and seem to express the most implacable 
 abhorrence of vicious persons and licentious manners ; 
 and yet, at the same time, they demonstrate plainly that 
 their author was destitute of that charity, prudence, meek- 
 ness, patience, and love of truth, which are essential and 
 fundamental virtues of a real Christian.e It is undoubt- 
 edly a just matter of surprise, that these vehement de- 
 claimers against the established religion and its ministers, 
 who pretend to be so much more sagacious and sharp- 
 sighted than their brethren, do not perceive a truth, 
 which the most simple may learn from daily observation ; 
 even that nothing is more odious and disgusting than an 
 angry, petulant, and violent reformer, who comes to heal 
 the disorders of a community, armed as it were with fire 
 and sword, with menaces and terrors. We may also 
 wonder, that these men are not aware of another con- 
 sideration equally obvious, namely, that it is scarcely 
 credible, that a spiritual physician will cure another with 
 entire success of the disorders under which he himself is 
 known to labour. 
 
 George Laurence Seidenbecher, pastor at Eisfeld in 
 Saxony, adopted himself, and propagated among the 
 multitude, the doctrine of the Millennium, which scarcely 
 ever gains admittance but in disordered brains, and rarely 
 produces any other fruits than incoherent dreams and 
 idle visions. Seidenbecher was censured on account of 
 this doctrine, and deposed from his pastoral charge.° 
 
 XLIV. It would be superfluous to name the other fana- 
 tics that seem to demand a place in the class now before 
 us, since they almost all laboured under the same disorder, 
 and such uniformity prevailed in their sentiments and 
 conduct, that the history of one may m a great measure 
 be considered as the history of all. We shall therefore con- 
 clude this crazy list with a short account of the very worst 
 of the whole tribe, namely, Martin Seidel, a native of 
 Silesia, who endeavoured to forna a sect in Poland toward 
 the conclusion of the preceding century and the com- 
 mencement of this, but could not find followers, even 
 among the Socinians ; so wild were his views, and so 
 extravagant his notions. This audacious adventurer in 
 religious novelty was of opinion, that God had, indeed, 
 promised a Saviour or Messiah to the Jews; but that 
 this Messiah had never appeared, and never would ap- 
 pear, on account of the sins of the Jewish people, which 
 rendered them unworthy of this great deliverer. Hence 
 he concluded, that it was erroneous to look upon Christ 
 as the Messiah; that the only office of Jesus was, to in- 
 terpret and republish the law of nature, which had been 
 
 1065. Jo. Hornbeck’s Summa Controvers. p. 535.—Moller’s Cimbria 
 Literata, tom. ii. p. 337. 
 
 * Arnold has given an account of Breckling, in the third and fourth 
 parts of his History; he has also published some of his writings, 
 which sufficiently demonstrate the irregularity and exuberance of his 
 fancy. There is a particular account of this degraded pastor given in 
 the Cimbria Literata, tom. ili. p. 72. 
 
 ‘ There is a circumstantial account of this man given by Alb. Meno, 
 
 | Verpoorten, in his Commentat. de Vita et Institutis G. L. Seidenbecheri. 
 
600 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Ii. 
 
 perverted and obscured by the vices, corruptions, and igno- || They were confirined in their attachment to the tenets 
 
 rance of men; and that the whole duty of men, and all 
 the obligations of religion, were fulfilled by an obedience 
 to this law, republished and explained by Jesus Christ. 
 To render this doctrine more defensible and specious, or, 
 at least, to get rid of a multitude of arguments and ex- 
 press declarations that might be drawn from the Scrip- 
 tures to prove its absurdity, he boldly rejected all the 
 books of the New ‘Testament. ‘The small number of 
 disciples, that adopted the fancies of this intrepid inno- 
 
 vator, were denominated semi-judaizers.s» | Had_ he 
 appeared in our times, he would have given less offence 
 
 than at the period in which he lived; for, if we except 
 his singular notion concerning the Messiah, his doctrine 
 was such as would at present be highly agreeable to 
 many persons in Great-Britain, Holland, and other coun- 
 tries.° 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The History of the Reformed Church. 
 
 I. Ir ‘has been already observed, that the Reformed 
 Church, considered in the most comprehensive sense of 
 that term, as forming a whole, composed of a great variety 
 of parts, is rather united by the principles of moderation 
 and fraternal charity, than by a perfect uniformity in 
 doctrine, discipline, and worship. It will, therefore, be 
 proper first to take a view of those events which related to 
 this great body collectively considered, and afterwards to 
 enter into a detail of the most memorable occurrences that 
 happened in the particular commynities of which it is 
 composed. 
 this century have already been mentioned, when, in the 
 history of the Lutheran church, we related the changes 
 and commotions that happened in the principalities of 
 Hesse-Cassel and Brandenburg. ‘These, however, were 
 not the only changes that took place in favour of the re- 
 formed church. Its doctrine was embraced, early in this 
 century, by Adolphus, duke of Holstein; and it was 
 naturally expected, that the subjects would follow the 
 example of their prince: but this expectation was dis- 
 appointed by the death of Adolphus, in 1616.2 Henry, 
 duke of Saxony, withdrew also from the communion of 
 the Lutherans, in whose religious principles he had been 
 educated, and, in 1688, embraced the doctrine of the re- 
 formed church at Dessau, in consequence, as some allege, 
 of the solicitations of his duchess.e. In Denmark, about 
 the beginning of this century, there were still a consider- 
 able number of persons who secretly espoused the senti- 
 ments of that church, and more especially could never 
 reconcile themselves to the Lutheran doctrine of Christ’s 
 bodily presence with the sacrament of the eucharist. 
 
 The principal accessions it received during 
 
 of the reformed by Hemming, and the other followers of 
 Melanchthon, whose secret ministry and public writings 
 were attended with considerable success. "he face of 
 things, however, changed ; and the reformed in Den- 
 mark saw their expectations vanish, and their credit sink, 
 in 1614, when Canute, bishop of Gothenburg, who had 
 given too plain intimations of his propensity to the doc- 
 trines of Calvin, was deprived of his episcopal dignity.t 
 The progress of the reformed religion in Africa, Asia, 
 and America, is abundantly known ; it was carried into 
 those distant regions by the English and Dutch emi- 
 grants, who formed settlements there for the purposes of 
 commerce, and founded flourishing churches in the vari- 
 ous provinces where they fixed their habitations. It is 
 also known, that, in several places where Lutheranism 
 was established, the French, German, and British mem- 
 bers of the reformed church were allowed to enjoy the 
 free exercise of their religion. 
 
 II. Of all the calamities that tended to diminish the 
 influence, and eclipse the lustre, of the reformed church, 
 none proved more dismal in its circumstances, and more 
 unhappy in its effects, than the deplorable fate of that 
 church in France. From the time of the accession of 
 Henry IV. to the throne of that kingdom, this church 
 had acquired the form of a body-politic.s Its members 
 were endowed with considerable privileges ; they were 
 also secured against insults of every kind by a solemn 
 edict, and possessed several fortified places, particularly 
 the strong city of Rochelle; in which, to render their 
 security still more complete, they were permitted to have 
 their own garrisons. ‘This body politic was not, indeed, 
 always under the influence and direction of leaders emi- 
 nent for their prudence, or distinguished by their perma- 
 nent attachment to the interests of the crown, and the 
 person of the sovereign. ‘Truth and candour oblige us to 
 acknowledge, that the Reformed conducted themselves, 
 on some occasions, in a manner inconsistent with the 
 demands of regular subordination. Sometimes, amidst 
 the broils and tumults of faction, they joined the parties 
 that opposed the government; at others, they took im- 
 portant steps without the king’s approbation or consent ; 
 they even went so far as to solicit, more than once, with- 
 out so much as disguising their measures, the alliance 
 and friendship of England and Holland, and formed views 
 which, at least in appearance, were scarcely consistent 
 with the tranquillity of the kingdom, or with a proper 
 respect for the authority of its monarch. Hence contests 
 arose in 1621, and subsisted long, between Louis XIII. 
 and his protestant subjects; and these civil broils fur- 
 nished a pretence for the severe and despotic maxim of 
 
 4 See Gustavi Georgii Zeltneri Historia Crypto-Socinismi Altorffini, 
 vol. i. p. 268, 335. 
 
 34 >» We are much at a loss to know what Dr. Mosheim means by 
 this insinuation, as also the persons he has in view; for, on one hand, it 
 is sufficiently evident he cannot mean the deists; and, on the other, we 
 know of no denomination of Christians, who “boldly reject all the books 
 of the New Testament.” Our author probably meant that the part of 
 Seidel’s doctrine which represents Christ’s mission as only designed to 
 republish and interpret the law of nature, and the whole religious and 
 moral duty of man, as consisting in an obedience to this law, would 
 have been well received by many persons in Great-Britain and Hol- 
 land; but he should have said so; nothing requires such precision as 
 accusations, 
 
 * See sect. ii. part ii. chap. i. sect. i. 11. where the History of the 
 Lutheran church commences with an account of the loss which that 
 church sustained by the secession of Maurice, landgrave of Hesse-Cas- 
 
 sel, and John Sigismund, elector of Brandenburg, who embraced 
 solemnly the doctrine of the reformed church, the former in 1604, and 
 the latter in 1614. 
 
 4 Jo, Molleri Introd. ad Histor. Chersonesi Cimbricz, p. ii. p. 101.— 
 Erici Pontoppidani Annales Ecclesiz Danicz Diplomatici, tom. iii. p. 
 691. 
 
 * See Moebii Selectee Disp. Theolog. p. 1137. The duke of Saxcny 
 published a Confession of his Faith, containing the reasons of his 
 change. This piece, which the divines of Leipsic were obliged by a 
 public order to refute, was defended against their attacks by the learned 
 Isaac de Beausobre, at that time pastor at Magdeburg, in a book 
 entitled, ‘‘ Defense de la Doctrine des Reformés, et en particulier de la 
 Confession de 8. A. 8. Mon-Seigneur le Duc Henri de Saxe, contre uu 
 Livre composé par Ja Faculté de Theologie & Leipsic.” 
 
 f Pontoppidani Annal. Eccles. Danicz, tom. ill. p. 695. 
 
 © Imperium in imperio, i. €. an empire within an empire. 
 
Part II. “ 
 
 Richelieu, the first minister of that monarch, that the 
 kingdom could never enjoy the sweets of peace, or the 
 satisfaction that was founded upon the assurance of pub- 
 lic safety, before the protestants were deprived of their 
 towns and strong-holds, and before their rights and_pri- 
 vileges, together with their ecclesiastical polity, were 
 crushed to pieces, and totally suppressed. "This haughty 
 minister, after many violent efforts and hard struggles, at 
 length obtained his purpose; for, in 1628, Rochelle, the 
 chief bulwark of the reformed interest in France, was 
 taken, after a long and difficult siege, and annexed to 
 the crown. From this fatal event the party, defenceless 
 and naked, dated its decline; since, after the reduction 
 of their chief city, these protestants had no other resource 
 than the pure clemency and generosity of their sovereign.* 
 Those who judge of the reduction of this place by the 
 maxims of civil policy, consider the conduct of the French 
 court as entirely consistent with the principles both of 
 wisdom and justice; since nothing can be more detri- 
 mental to the tranquillity and safety of any nation, than 
 a body politic erected in its bosom, independent of the 
 supreme authority of the state, and secured against its 
 influence or inspection by an external force ; and if the 
 French monarch, satisfied with depriving the Protestants 
 of their strong-holds, had continued to maintain them in 
 the possession of that liberty of conscience, and that free 
 exercise of their religion, for which they had shed so much 
 blood, and to the enjoyment of which their eminent ser- 
 vices to the house of Bourbon had given them such a 
 fair and illustrious claim, it is highly probable that they 
 would have borne with patience this infraction of their 
 privileges, and the loss of that liberty which had been 
 confirmed to them by the most solemn edicts. 
 
 III. But the court and the despotic minister were not 
 satisfied with this success. Having destroyed that form 
 of civil polity which had been annexed to the reformed 
 church as a security for the maintenance of its religious 
 privileges, and was afterwards considered as detrimental 
 to the supreme authority of the state, they proceeded still 
 farther, and regardless of the royal faith, confirmed by 
 the most solemn declarations, perfidiously invaded those 
 privileges of the church which were merely of a spiritual 
 and religious nature. At first, the court, and the minis- 
 ters of its tyranny, put in practice all the arts of insinua- 
 tion and persuasion, in order to gain over the heads of 
 the reformed church, and the more learned and celebrated 
 ministers of that communion. Pathetic exhortations and 
 alluring promises were tried ; artful interpretations of those 
 doctrines of popery which were most disagreeable to the 
 Protestants were brought forward ; in a word, every in- 
 sidious method was employed to conquer their aversion 
 to the church of Rome. Richelieu exhausted all the 
 resources of his dexterity and artifice, and eagerly prac- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 601 
 
 tised, with the most industrious assiduity,!all the means 
 that he thought the most adapted to seduce the protestants 
 into the Romish communion. When all these stratagems 
 were observed to produce little or no effect, barbarity and 
 violence were employed to extirpate and destroy a set of 
 men, whom mean perfidy could not seduce, and whom 
 weak arguments were insuflicient to convince. The 
 most inhuman laws that the blind rage of bigotry could 
 dictate, the most oppressive measures that the ingenious 
 efforts of malice could invent, were put in execution to 
 damp the courage of a party become odious by their reso- 
 lute adherence to the dictates of their consciences. and to 
 bring them by force under the yoke of Rome. 'The 
 French bishops distinguished themselves by their intem- 
 perate and unchristian zeal in this horrid scene of perse- 
 cution and cruelty: many of the protestants sunk under 
 the weight of despotic oppression, and yielded up their 
 faith to armed legions, that were sent to convert them ; 
 a considerable number fled from the storm, and deserted 
 their families, their friends, and their country ; and the 
 greatest part persevered, with a noble and heroic con- 
 stancy, in the purity of that religion, which their ances- 
 tors had delivered, and happily separated, from the mani- 
 fold superstitions of a corrupt and idolatrous church. 
 
 IV. When at length every method which artifice or 
 perfidy could invent had been practised in vain against 
 the protestants under the reign of Louis XIV., the bishops 
 and Jesuits, whose counsels had a peculiar influence in 
 the cabinet of that prince, judged it necessary to extirpate 
 by fire and sword, this resolute people, and thus to ruin. a, 
 it were by one mortal blow, the cause of the Reformation 
 in France. ‘Their insidious arguments and importunate 
 solicitations had such an effect upon the weak and cre- 
 dulous mind of Louis, that, in 1685, trampling on the 
 most solemn obligations, and regardless of* all laws, hu- 
 man and divine, he revoked the edict of Nantes, and 
 thereby deprived the protestants of the liberty of serving 
 God according to,their consciences. 'This revocation was 
 accompanied with the applause of Rome ; but it excited 
 the indignation even of many Roman Catholics, whose 
 bigotry had not effaced or suspended, on this occasion, 
 their natural sentiments of generosity and justice. It 
 was, moreover, followed by a measure still more tyran- 
 nical and shocking, even an express order, addressed to 
 all the reformed churches, to embrace the Romish faith. 
 The consequences of this cruel and unrighteous proceed- 
 ing were highly detrimental to the true interests and the 
 real prosperity of the French nation,» by the prodigious 
 emigrations it occasioned among the Protestants, who 
 sought, in various parts of Europe, that religious liberty, 
 and that humane treatment, which their mother-country 
 had so cruelly refused them. ‘Those among them, whom 
 the vigilance of their enemies guarded so closely as to 
 
 "See Le Clerc, Vie du Cardinal Richelieu, tom. i. p. 69,77, 177, 199, 
 269.—-Le Vassor, Histoire de Louis XIII. tom. iii. p. 676, tom. iv. p. 1, 
 and the following volumes. See also the third, fourth, and fifth volumes 
 ef the Memoirs of Sully (the friend and confidant of Henry IV.) who, 
 though a protestant, acknowledges frankly the errors of his party. 
 
 > See the Life of Isaac de Beausobre, written by the ingenious Ar- 
 mand de la Chapelle, and subjoined to Beausobre’s Remarques Histo- 
 riques, Critiques, et Philologiques sur le Nouveau Testament. 
 
 +> Some late hireling writers, employed by the Jesuits, have been 
 audacious enough to plead the cause of the revocation of the edict of 
 Nantes. But it must be observed, to the honour ef the French nation, 
 that these impotent attempts, to justify the measures of a persecuting 
 and unrelenting priesthood, have been treated almost universally at 
 
 T 
 
 No. LL 151 
 
 Paris with indignation and contempt. They who are desirous of seeing 
 a true statement of the losses the French nation sustained, by the revo- 
 cation wf that famous edict, have only to consult the curious and authentic 
 account of the state of that nation, taken from memorials drawn ve by 
 the intendants of the several provinces, for the use of the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, and published in 17%7 with the following title: “ Etat de la 
 France, extrait, par M. le Comte de Boulainvilliers, des Memoirés 
 dressés par les Intendans du Royaume, par l’Ordre du Roi Louis XIV. 
 & la Solicitation du Duc de Bourgogne.” See also Voltaire, Sur la 
 Tolerance, p. 41 and 201; and, for an account of the conduct of the 
 French court toward the protestants at that dismal period, see the incom- 
 parable memorial of the learned and pious Claude, entitled, Plaintes des 
 rotestans de France. 
 
602 
 
 prevent their flight, were exposed to the brutal rage of an 
 unrelenting soldiery, and were assailed by every barba- 
 rous form of persecution that might tend to subdue their 
 courage, exhaust their patience, ‘and thus engage them 
 to a feigned and external profession of popery, which in 
 their consciences they beheld with the utmost aversion 
 and disgust. ‘This crying act of perfidy and injustice in 
 a prince, who, on other occasions, gave evident proofs of 
 his generosity and equity, sufficient to show, in their true 
 and genuine colours, the spirit of the Romish church and 
 pontiffs, and the manner in which they stand affected to 
 those whom they consider as heretics. It is peculiarly 
 adapted to convince the impartial and attentive observer, 
 that the most solemn oaths, and the most sacred treaties, 
 are never looked upon by this church and its pontiffs as 
 respectable and obligatory, when the violation of them 
 may contribute to advance their interest, or to accomplish 
 their views. 
 
 The Waldenses, who lived in the vallies of Pied- 
 mont, and had embraced the doctrine, discipline, and wor- 
 ship of the church of Geneva, were oppressed and _per- 
 secuted, in the most inhuman manner, during the greatest 
 part of ‘this century, by the ministers of Rome. ‘This 
 persecution was carried on with peculiar marks of rage 
 and enormity in the years 1655, 1686, and 1696, and 
 seemed to portend nothing less than the total extinction 
 of that unhappy nation. The most horrid scenes of 
 violence and bloodshed were exhibited on this theatre of 
 papal tyranny; and the small numbers of the Waldenses 
 that yet survive, are indebted for their existence and sup- 
 port, precarious and uncertain as it is, to the continual 
 intercession made for them by the English and Dutch 
 governments, and also by the Swiss cantons, who never 
 cease to solicit the clemency of the duke of Savoy in 
 their behalf. 
 
 The church of the Palatinate, which had been long 
 at the head of the Reformed churches in Germany, declin- 
 ed apace from the year 1685, when a catholic prince was 
 raised to that electorate. This decline became at length 
 so visible, that, instead of being the first, it was the least 
 considerable of all the Protestant assemblies in that 
 country. 
 
 VI. The eminent and illustrious figure that the prin- 
 cipal members of the reformed church ‘made in the learn- 
 ed world is too well known, and the reputation they ac- 
 quired, by a successful application to the various branches 
 of literature and science, is too well established, to require 
 our entering into a circumstantial detail upon ‘that head. 
 We shall also pass in silence the names of those cele- 
 brated men who have acquired immortal fame by their 
 
 - writings, and transmitted their eminent usefulness to suc- 
 ceeding times in their learned and_ pious productions. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 Out of the copious list of famous authors that adorned 
 
 this church, it would be difficult to select the most emi- 
 
 nent; and this is a sufficient reason for our silence.» The 
 supreme guide and legislator of such as applied themselves 
 to the study of philosophy had been Aristotle, who, for a 
 long time, reigned unrivalled in the reformed, as well as 
 in the Lutheran schools, and was exhibited, in both, not 
 in his natural and genuine aspect, but in the motley and 
 uncouth form in which he had been dressed up by the 
 scholastic doctors. But, when Gassendi and Des-Cartes 
 appeared, the Stagirite began to decline, and his fame and 
 authority diminished gradually. Among the French and 
 Dutch, many adopted the Cartesian philosophy on its 
 first promulgation ; and a considerable number of the 
 English embraced the principles of Gassendi, and were 
 singularly pleased with his prudent and candid manner 
 of investigating truth. ‘The Aristotelians every where, 
 and more especially in Holland, were greatly alarmed at 
 this revolution in the philosophical world, and set them- 
 selves, with all their vigour, to oppose its progress. They 
 endeavoured to persuade the people, that the cause of truth 
 and religion must suffer considerably by the efforts that 
 were made to dethrone Aristotle, and bring into disrepute 
 the doctrine of his interpreters; but the principal cause 
 of their anxiety and zeal, was the apprehension of losing 
 their places in the public schools ; a thought which they 
 could not bear with any degree of patience.c However, 
 the powerful lustre of truth, which unfolded daily more 
 and more its engaging charms, and the love of liberty, 
 which had been kept i in chains by Peripatetic tyranny, 
 obliged this obstinate sect to yield, and reduced them to 
 silence ; ; and hence it is, that the doctors of the reformed 
 church carry on, at this day, their philosophical inquiries 
 with the same freedom that is observable among the Luthe- 
 rans. It may, indeed, be a question with some, whether 
 Aristotle be not, even yet, secretly revered in some of the 
 English universities. It is at least certain, that, although, 
 under the government of Charles IJ. and in the two suc- 
 ceeding reigns, the mathematical philosophy had made 
 a most extensive progress in Great-Britain, there were, 
 both at Oxford and Cambridge, some doctors who pre- 
 ferred the ancient system of the schools to the new dis- 
 coveries now under consideration. 
 
 VII. All the interpreters and expositors of Scripture 
 that made a figure in the reformed church about the com- 
 mencement of this century, followed scrupulously the 
 method of Calvin in their illustrations of the sacred writ- 
 ings, and unfolded the true and natural signification of 
 the words of Scripture, without perplexing their brains 
 to find out deep mysteries in plain expressions, or to force, 
 by the inventive efforts of fancy, a variety of singular 
 notions from the metaphorical language that is frequently 
 
 a Leger, Histoire Generale des Eglises Vaudoises, p. ii. c. vi. p. '72.— 
 
 ftilles, “Histoire Ecclesiast. des Eglises Vaudoises, che xlix. p. 353.—A 
 
 par ticular history of the persecution suffered by these victims of papal 
 cruelty in 1686, appeared at Rotterdam in 1688. 
 
 x See also a pamphlet, entitled, An Account of the late Persecu- 
 tions of the Waldenses by the duke of Savoy and the French king in 
 1686; and likewise a detail of the miseries endured by these unforti- 
 nate objects of papal persecution in the years 1655, 1662 , 1663, and 
 1686, related by Peter Boyer, in his history of the Vaudois. 
 
 zp » The list of the eminent divines and men of learning who were 
 ornaments to the Reformed church in the seventeenth ce ntury, is indeed 
 extremely ample. Among those who adornta Great Britain, we shall 
 always remember, with peculiar veneration, the immortai names of 
 Newton, Barrow, Cudworth, Boyle, Chillingworth, Usher, Bedell, Hall, 
 Pocock, Fell, Lightfoot, Hammond, Calamy, Walton, Baxter, Pearson, 
 
 Stillingfleet, Mede, Parker, Oughtred, Burnet, Tillotson, and_many 
 others well known in the literary, world. In Germany. we ‘find Pareus, 
 Scultet, Fabricius, the two Altings, Pelargus, and Bergius; in Switzer- 
 land and Geneva, Hospinian, the two Buxtorfs, Hottinger, Heidegger, 
 and Turretin. In the churches and universities of Holland, we meet 
 with the following learned divines: Drusus, Amama, Gomar, Rivet, 
 Cloppenburg, Vossius, Cocceius, Voet, Des-Marets, Heidan, Momma, 
 Burman, Wittichius, Hornbeck, the Spanheims, Le Moine, De Mae- 
 stricht, and others. ‘Among the French doctors, we may reckon Came- 
 ron, Chamier, Du-Moulin, Mestrezat, Blondel, Drelincourt, Daillé, 
 Amyrault, the two Capels, "De la Place, Gamstole, Croy, Morus, Le 
 Blane, Pajon, Bochart, Claude, Allix, Jurieu, Basnage, Abbadie, 
 Beausobre, L’Enfant, Martin, Des- Vignoles, &e, 
 * See Baillet’s Vie de René Des-Cartes. 
 
Part II. 
 
 used by the inspired writers. ‘This attachment to the 
 method of Calvin, wag indeed considerably diminished, | 
 in the sequel, by the credit and influence of two celebrat- 
 ed commentators, who struck out new paths in the sphere 
 of sacred criticism. ‘These were Hugo Grotius, and John 
 Cocceius. ‘lhe former departed less from the manner of 
 interpretation generally received than the latter. Like 
 Calvin, he followed in his commentaries, both in the Old 
 ‘and New ‘Testament, the litera! and obvious signification 
 of the words employed by the sacred writers; but he dif- 
 fered considerably from that great man in his manner of 
 explaining the predictions of the prophets. ‘The hypo- 
 thesis of Grotius, upon that important subject, amounts 
 to this: “'That the predictions of the ancient prophets 
 were all accomplished in the events to which they directly 
 pointed before the coming of Christ; and that therefore 
 the natural and obvious sense and import of the words 
 and phrases, in which they were delivered, do not termi- 
 nate in our blessed Lord; but that in some of these pre- 
 dictions, and more especially in those which the writers 
 of the New Testament apply to Christ, there is, beside 
 the literal and obvious signification, a hidden and myste- 
 rious sense, that lies concealed under the external mask 
 of certain persons, events, and actions, which are repre- 
 sentative of the person, ministry, sufferings, and merits 
 of the Son of God.” 
 
 The method of Cocceius was entirely different from 
 this.. He looked upon the whole history of the Old 'Tes- 
 tament as a perpetual and uninterrupted representation 
 yr mirror of the history of the divine Saviour, and of the 
 Christian church ; he maintained, moreover, that all the 
 prophecies have a literal and direct relation to Christ ; 
 and he finished his romantic system by laying it down 
 as a certain maxim, that all the events and revolutions 
 which shall happen in the church, until the end of time, | 
 
 are prefigured and pointed out, though not all with the 
 same degree of evidence and. perspicuity, in different | 
 places of the Old Testament. Each of these cae 
 commentators had his zealous disciples and followers. 
 
 The Arminians in general, many of the English and | 
 French divines, together with those warm votaries of 
 ancient Calvinism who are called Voetians (from their 
 chief Gisbert Voet, the Great adversary of Cocceins,) 
 adopted the method of interpreting Scripture introduced 
 
 } 
 ) 
 
 ® Jt is become almost a proverbial saying, that in the Books cf the 
 Old Testament Cocceius finds Christ every where, while Grotius meets 
 nim no where. The first part of this saying is certainly true; the 
 .atter much less so: for it appears, with sufficient evidence, from tne 
 Commentaries of Grotius, that he finds Christ prefigured in many 
 laces of the Old Testament, not, indeed, directly in the letter of the pro- 
 phecies, where Cocceius discovers him, but mysteriously, under the appear- 
 ance of certain persons, and in the secret sense of certain transactions. 
 
 3 > These have been confuted by the learned Dr. Whitby, in his 
 important work, concerning the Interpretation of Scripture after the 
 Manner of the Fathers, which was published in 1714, under the follow- 
 ing title: ‘ Dissertatio de Scripturarum Interpretatione secundum Pa- 
 trum Commentarivus,” &c.—In this dissertation, which was the forerun- 
 ner of the many remarkable attempts that were afterwards made to 
 deliver the right of private judgment in matters of religion, from the 
 restraints of human authority, the judicious author has shown, first, that 
 the Scripture is the only rule of faith, and that by it alone we are to 
 judge of the doctrines that are necessary to salvation; secondly, that 
 the fathers, both of the primitive times and also of succeeding ages, are 
 extremely deficient and unsuccessful in their explications of the sacred 
 writings ; and, thirdly, that it is impossible to terminate the debates 
 concerning the Trinity, by the opinions of the fathers, the decisions of 
 councils, or by any tradition which is really universal. The contradic- 
 tions, absurdities, the romantic conceits and extravagant fancies, that 
 are to be found in the commentaries of the fathers, were never repre- 
 
 " HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 sented in such a ridiculous point of view as they are in this perform- 
 
 603 
 
 by Grotius. On the other hand, many of the Dutch, 
 Swiss, and Germans, were singularly delighted with the 
 learned fancies of Cocceius. ‘here are, however, still 
 great numbers of prudent and impartial divines, who, con- 
 sidering the extremes into which these two eminent cri- 
 tics ran, and disposed to profit by what is really solid in 
 both their systems, neither reject nor embrace their opi- 
 nions in the aggregate, but agree with them both in some 
 things, and differ from them both in others. It may also 
 be observed, that neither the followers of Grotius nor 
 those of Cocceius are agreed among themselves, and that 
 these two general classes of expositors may be divided 
 into many subordinate ones. A considerable number of 
 English divines of the episcopal church refused to adopt 
 the opinions, or to respect the authority, of these modern 
 expositors ; they appealed to the decisions of the primi- 
 tive fathers, and maintained, that the sacred writings 
 ought always to be understood in that sense only, which 
 has been attributed to them by these ancient doctors of 
 the rising church.» 
 
 VII. ‘The doctrines of Christianity, which had been so 
 sadly disfigured among the Lutherans by the obscure jar- 
 gon and the intricate tenets of the scholastic philosophy, 
 met with the same fate in the Reformed churches. ‘The 
 first successful effort, that prevented these churches from 
 falling entirely under the Aristotelian yoke, was made by 
 the Arminians, who were remarkable for expounding, with 
 simplicity and perspicuity, the truths and precepts of reli 
 gion, and who censured, with great plainness and severity, 
 those ostentatious doctors, who affected to render them 
 obscure and unintelligible, by expressing them in the 
 terms, and reducing them under the classes and divisions, 
 used in the schools. ‘The Cartesians and Cocceians con- 
 tributed also to deliver theology from the chains of the 
 Peripatetics; though it must be allowed, that it had not, 
 in some respects, a much better fate in the hands of these 
 its deliverers. ‘The Cartesians applied the principles and 
 tenets of their philosophy, in illustrating the doctrines of 
 the Gospel; the Cocceians imagined, that they could not 
 give a more sublime and engaging aspect to the Christian 
 religion, than by representing it under the notion, of a 
 
 covenant concluded between God and man ;° and both 
 
 these modes of proceeding were disliked by the wisest and 
 most learned divines of the reformed church. "They com- 
 
 ance. The worst part of .the matter is, that such a production as Dr. 
 Whitby’s, in which all the mistakes of these ancient expositors are 
 culled out and compiled with such care, may tend to prejudice young 
 students even against wha@may be good in their writings, and thus 
 give them a disgust to a kind of study, which, when conducted with 
 impartia.ity and prudenve, has its uses. It is the infirmity of our 
 nature to be fond of extreraes. 
 
 He ¢ [tis somewhat surprising, that Dr. Mosheim should mention 
 this circumstance as an invention of Cocceius, or as a manner of speak- 
 ing peculiar tohim. The representation of the Gospel dispensation 
 under the idea of a Covenant, whether this representation be literal or 
 metaphorical, is to be found, almost every where, in the Epistles of St. 
 Paul, and of the other apostles, though rarely, (scarcely. more than 
 twice) in the Gospels. The same phraseology has also been adopted by 
 Christians of almost ail denominations. It is, indeed, a manner of 
 speaking that has been grossly abused by those divines, who, urging 
 the metaphor too closely, exhibit the sublime transactions of the divine 
 wisdom under the narrow and imperfect forms of human tribunals, and 
 thus lead to false notions of the springs of action, as well as of the 
 dispensations and attributes of the Supreme Being. We have remarka- 
 ble instances of this abuse, in a book lately translated into English; I 
 mean the Gconomy of the Covenants, by Witsius, in which that learn- 
 ed and pious man, who has deservedly gained an eminent reputation by 
 other valuable productions, has inconsiderately introduced the captious, 
 formal, and trivial terms, employed in human courts, into his deserip- 
 tions of the stupendous scheme of redemption. 
 
604 
 
 plained with reason, that the tenets and distinctions of the 
 Cartesian philosophy had as evident a tendency to render the 
 doctrines of Christianity obscure and intricate as the abstruse 
 terms, and the endless divisions and subdivisions of the 
 Peripatetics, ‘hey observed also, that the metaphor of a 
 covenant, applied to the Christian religion, must be at- 
 tended with many inconveniences, by leading uninstructed 
 minds to form a variety of ill-grounded notions, which is 
 the ordinary consequence of straining metaphors; and that 
 it must contribute to introduce into the colleges of divinity 
 the captious terms, distinctions, and quibbles, that are em- 
 ployed in the ordinary courts of justice, and thus give rise 
 to the most trifling and ill-judged discussions and debates 
 about religious matters. Accordingly, the greatest part, 
 both of the British and French doctors, refused to admit 
 the intricacies of Cartesianism or the imagery of Coc- 
 celus into their theological system, and followed the free, 
 easy, and unaffected method of the Arminian divines 
 in illustrating the truths, and enforcing the duties of 
 Christianity. 
 
 1X. We have had occasion to observe, that Dr. William 
 Ames, a Scottish divine, was one of the first among the Re- 
 formed whoattempted to treat morality as a separate science, 
 to consider it abstractedly from its connexion with any par- 
 ticular system of doctrine, and to introduce new light, and 
 a new degree of accuracy and precision, into this master- 
 science of lifeand manners. he attempt was laudable, had 
 it been well executed ; but the system of this learned writer 
 was dry, theoretical, and subtle, and was thus much more 
 adapted to the instruction of the studious than to the prac- 
 tical direction of the Christian. ‘I'he Arminians, who are 
 known to be much more zealous in enforcing the duties 
 of Christianity than in illustrating its truths, and who ge- 
 nerally employ more pains in directing the will than in 
 enlightening the understanding, engaged several authors 
 of note to exhibit the precepts and obligations of morality 
 in a more useful, practical, and popular manner ; but the 
 English and French surpassed all the moral writers of the 
 reformed church in penetration and solidity, and in the 
 ease, freedom, and perspicuity, of their method and com- 
 positions. Moses Amyrault, a man of a sound under- 
 standing and subtle genius, was the first F’rench divine 
 who distinguished himself in this kind of writing. He 
 composed an accurate and elaborate system of morality, 
 in a style, indeed, that is now obsolete; and those more 
 moderate French writers, such as La Placette and Pictet, 
 who acquired such a high reputation on account of their 
 moral writings, owe to the excellent work now mentioned 
 a considerable part of their glory. While England groaned 
 under the horrors and tumutts of a civil war, it was chiefly 
 the Presbyterians and Independents that employed their 
 talents and their pens in promoting the cause of practical 
 religion. During this unhappy period, indeed, these doctors 
 were remarkable for the austere gravity of their manners, 
 and fora melancholy complexion and turn of mind which 
 appeared abundantly in their compositions. Some of these 
 were penned with such rigour and severity, as discovered 
 either a total ignorance of the present imperfect state of 
 humanity, or an entire want of indulgence for its unavoid- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL 
 
 able infirmities. Others were composed with a spirit of 
 enthusiasm, that betrayed an evident propensity to the doc- 
 trine of the Mystics. But, when Hobbes appeared, the 
 scene changed. A new set of illustrious and excellent 
 writers arose to defend the truths of religion, and the obli- 
 gations of morality, against this author, who aimed at the 
 destruction of both, since he subjected the unchangeable 
 
 endeavoured to efface the eternal distinction that exists 
 between moral good and evil. Cudworth, Cumberland, 
 Sharrock, and others,* alarmed at the view of a system so 
 false in its principles, and so pernicious in its effects, ren- 
 dered eminent service to the cause of religion and morals 
 by their immortal labours, in which, rising to the first. prin- 
 ciples of things, and opening the primitive and eternal 
 fountains of truth and good, they illustrated clearly the 
 doctrines of the one with the fairest evidence, and estab- 
 lished the obligations of the other on the firmest foun- 
 dations. 
 
 X. About the commencement of this century, the col 
 lege of Geneva was in such high repute among the 
 reformed churches, that it was resorted to from all quarters 
 by persons who were desirous of a learned education, and 
 more especially by those students of theology, whose 
 circumstances in life permitted them to frequent this 
 famous seminary.» Hence it very naturally happened, 
 that the opinions of Calvin, concerning the decrees of 
 God and divine grace, became daily more general, and 
 were gradually introduced every where into the schools 
 of learning. ‘There was not, however, any public law or 
 confession of faith that obliged the pastors of the refsrmed 
 churches, in any part of the world, to conform their senti- 
 ments to the theological doctrines that were adopted and 
 taught at Geneva. And accordingly there were many, 
 who either rejected entirely the doctrine of that college on 
 these intricate points, or received it with certain restric- 
 tions and modifications. Hven those who were in general 
 attached to the theological system of Geneva, did not per- 
 ectly agree about the manner of explaining the doctrines 
 relating to the divine decrees. The majority were of 
 opinion, that God had only permitted the first man to 
 fall into transgression, without positively predetermining 
 his fall. But others went much farther, and presumptu- 
 ously forgetting their own ignorance on the one hand, 
 and the wisdom and equity of the divine counsels on the 
 other, maintained, that God, in order to exercise and dis- 
 play his awful justice and his free mercy, had decreea 
 from all eternity the transgression of Adam, and so ordered 
 the course of events, that our first parents could not possi- 
 bly avoid their unhappy fall. ‘Those who held this latter 
 sentiment were denominated Supralapsarians, to distin- 
 
 uish them from the Sublapsarian doctors, who main- 
 tained the doctrine of permission already mentioned. 
 
 XI. It is remarkable that the Supralapsarian and Sub- 
 Japzarian divines forgot their debates and differences, as 
 matters of little consequence, and united their force against 
 those who thought it their duty to represent the Deity, as 
 extending his goodness and mercy to all mankind. 'This 
 gave rise, soon after the commencement of this century, 
 
 xp * See Leland’s View of the Deistical Writers, vol. 1. p. 48. 
 » The lustre and authority of the college of Geneva began gradually 
 to decline, from the time that, the United Provinces being formed into a 
 
 free and independent republic, universities were founded at Leyden, | 
 
 Franeker, and Utrecht. 
 
 * See, for a full demonstration of this assertion, Grotius’ Apologeticus 
 &c.; as also several treatises, written in Dutch by Theod. Volkh. 
 Coornhert, of whom Arnold makes particular mention in his Historia 
 
 Eccles. tom. 11. 
 
 nature of religion to the arbitrary will of the sovereign, and - 
 
Part IL. 
 
 to a deplorable schism, which all the etforts of human 
 wisdom have since been unable to heal. James Arminius, 
 professor of divinity in the university of Leyden, rejected, 
 the doctrine of the church of Geneva, in relation to the 
 leep and intricate points of predestination and grace ; and 
 maintained, with the Lutherans, that God has excluded 
 none from salvation by an absolute and eternal decree. 
 He was joined in these sentiments by several persons in 
 Holland, who were eminently distinguished by the extent 
 of their learning, and the dignity of their stations ; but he 
 met with the warmest opposition from Francis Gomar, his 
 colleague, and from the principal professors in the Dutch 
 universities. The magistrates exhorted the contending 
 parties to moderation and charity ; and observed, that, in 
 a free state, their respective opinions might be treated with 
 toleration, without any detriment to the essential interests 
 of true religion. After long and tedious debates, which 
 were frequently attended with popular tumults and civil 
 broils, this intricate controversy was, by the counsels and 
 authority: of Maurice, prince of Orange, referred to the 
 decision of the church, assembled in a general synod at 
 Dordrecht, in 1618. ‘The most eminent divines of the 
 United Provinces, and many learned deputies from the 
 churches of England, Scotland, Switzerland, Bremen, 
 Hesse, and the Palatinate, were present at this numerous 
 and solemn assembly. It was by the sentence of these 
 judges, that the Arminians lost their cause, and were de- 
 clared corruptors of the true religion. It must be observed, 
 at the same time, that the doctors of Geneva, who embraced 
 the Sublapsarian system, triumphed over their adversaries 
 in this synod; for, though the patrons of the Supralapsa- 
 rian cause were far from being contemptible either in point 
 of number or of abilities, yet the moderation and equity of 
 the British divines prevented the synod from giving its 
 sanction to the opinions of that presumptuous sect. Nor 
 indeed would even the Sublapsarians have obtained the 
 accomplish ment of their desires, had the doctors of Bremen, 
 
 who for weighty reasons were attached to the Lutherans, 
 
 been able to execute their purposes. 
 
 XII. It is greatly to be doubted, whether this victory, 
 gained over the Arminians, was, upon the whole, advan- 
 tageous or detrimental to the church of Geneva in particu- 
 lar, and to the reformed church in general. It is at least 
 certain, that, after the synod of Dordrecht, the doctrine of 
 absolute decrees, lost ground from day to day; and its 
 patrons were put to the hard necessity of holding frater- 
 nal communion with those whose doctrine was either pro- 
 fessedly Arminian, or at least nearly resembled it. ‘The 
 leaders of the vanquished Arminians were eminently dis- 
 tinguished by their eloquence, sagacity, and learning ; 
 and, being highly exasperated by the injurious and op- 
 pressive treatment they met with, in consequence of their 
 condemnation, they defended themselves, and attacked 
 their adversaries with such spirit and vigour, and also with 
 such dexterity and eloquence, that multitudes were per- 
 suaded of the justice of their cause. It is particularly to 
 be observed, that the authority of the synod of Dordrecht 
 was far from being universally acknowledged among the 
 
 3cp7* It was not by the authority of prince Maurice, but by that of the 
 States-General, that the national synod was assembled at Dordrecht. 
 The states were not indeed unanimous; three of the seven provinces 
 protested against the holding of this synod, viz. Holland, Utrecht, and 
 Over-Yssel. 
 
 > We shail give, in the History of the Arminians, a list of the writers 
 
 No. LL. 152 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 605 
 
 Dutch ; the provinces of Friseland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guel- 
 derland, and Groningen, could not be persuaded to adopt 
 its decisions ; and though, in 1651, they were at length 
 gained over so far as to intimate, that they would see with 
 pleasure the reformed religion maintained upon the footing 
 on which it had been placed and confirmed by the synod, 
 yet the most eminent adepts in Belgic jurisprudence deny 
 that this intimation has the force or character of a law.¢ 
 In England, the face of religion changed considerably, 
 in a very little time after the famous synod now mention- 
 ed; and this change, which was entirely in favour of 
 Arminianism, was principally effected by the counsels 
 and influence of William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury. 
 This revolution gave new courage to the Arminians ; 
 and, from that period to the present time, they have had the 
 pleasure of seeing the decisions and doctrines of the synod, 
 relating to the points in debate between them and the 
 Calvinists, treated in England, with something more than 
 mere indifference, beheld by some with aversion, and by 
 others with contempt.¢ And, indeed, if we consider the 
 genius and spirit of the church of England during this 
 period, we shall plainly see, that the doctrine of the Go- 
 marists, concerning predestination and grace, could not 
 meet there with a favourable reception, since the leading 
 English divines were zealous in modelling its doctrine 
 and discipline after the sentiments and institutions that 
 were received in the primitive times, and since those early 
 fathers of the church, whom they followed with a pro- 
 found submission, had never presumed, before Augustine, 
 to set limits to the extent of the divine grace and mercy. 
 The reformed churches in France seemed, at first. 
 disposed to give a favourable reception to the decisions of 
 this famous synod ; but, as these decisions were highly 
 displeasing to the votaries of Rome among whom they 
 lived, and kindled anew their rage against the protestants, 
 the latter thought it their duty to be circumspect in this 
 matter; and, in process of time, their real sentiments, and 
 the doctrines they taught, began to differ extremely from 
 those of the Gomarists. "he churchesof Brandenburg and 
 Bremen, which made a considerable figure among the 
 reformed in Germany, would never suffer their doctors to 
 be tied down to the opinions and tenets of the Dutch 
 divines ; and thus it happened, that the liberty of private 
 judgment, (with respect to the doctrines of predestination 
 and grace,) which the spirit that prevailed among the 
 divines of Dordrecht seemed so much calculated to sup- 
 press or discourage, acquired rather new vigour, in con- 
 sequence of the arbitrary proceedings of that assembly ; 
 and the reformed church was immediately divided into 
 Universalists, Semi-Universalists, Supralapsarians, and 
 Sublapsarians, who, indeed, notwithstanding their dissen- 
 sions, Which sometimes become violent and tumultuous, 
 live generally in the exercise of mutual toleration, and 
 are reciprocally restrained by many reasons from indulg- 
 ing a spirit of hostility and persecution. What is still 
 more remarkable, and therefore ought not to be passed 
 over in silence, we see the city of Geneva, which was the 
 parent, the nurse, and the guardian of the doctrine of 
 
 who appeared in this controversy, and a more particular account of the 
 transactions of the synod of Dordrecht. , 
 © See the very learned and illustrious president Bynkershoek’s Ques- 
 tiones Juris publici, lib. ii. cap. xviii. :‘' Ay 
 4 Sev. Lintrupii Dissertatio de Contemptu_Concilii Dordraceni in 
 Anglia, in Dissert. Theologicis Hect. Godofr. Masii, tom. i, n. xix, 
 
606 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. JI. 
 
 absolute predestination and particular grace, not only dis- |] tous kind, of which some were so erroneous that they 
 
 play sentiments of charity, forbearance, and esteem for 
 the Arminians, but become itself almost so far Arminian, 
 as to deserve a place among the churches of that com- 
 nuinion. 
 
 XIII. While the reformed church in France yet sub- 
 sisted, its doctors departed, in several points, from the 
 common rule of faith that was received in the other 
 churches of their communion. ‘This, as appears from 
 several circumstances, in a great measure resulted from 
 their desire of diminishing the prejudices of the catholics 
 against them, and of repelling a part of the odious con- 
 clusions which were drawn by their adversaries from the 
 doctrines of Dordrecht, and laid to their charge with that 
 malignity which popish bigotry so naturatly inspires. 
 Hence we find, in the books that were composed by the 
 doctors of Saumur and Sedan after the synod, many 
 things which seem conformable, not only to the senti- 
 ments of the Lutherans, concerning grace, predestination, 
 the person of Christ, and the efficacy of the sacraments, 
 but also to certain peculiar opinions of the Romish church. 
 This moderation may be dated from the year 1615, when 
 the opinion of John Piscator, pastor at Herborn, concerning 
 the obedience of Christ, was tacitly adopted, or at least pro- 
 nounced free from error, by the synod of the isle of France, 
 though it had been condemned and rejected in several 
 preceding assemblies of the same nature.” Piscator main- 
 tained, that it was not by his obedience to the divine law 
 that Christ made a satisfaction to that law in our stead, 
 since this obedience was his duty considered as a man ; 
 and, therefore, being obliged to obey this law himself, his 
 observance of it could not merit-any thing for others from 
 the Supreme Being. 'This opinion, as every one may 
 see, tended to confirm the doctrine of the Romish church, 
 concerning the merit of good works, the natural power of 
 man to obey the commands of God, and other points of 
 a like nature. These less important concessions were 
 followed by others of a much more weighty and momen- 
 
 * Aymon, Actes de tous les Synodes Nationaux des Eglises Refor- 
 mées de France, tom. il. p. 275, 276. 
 
 b See Aymon, tom. i. p. 400, 401, 457. tom. ii. p. 13.—Bossuet, Histoire 
 des Variations des Eglises Protestantes, livr. xil. tom. 11. p. 268, where 
 this prelate, with his usual malignity and bitterness, reproaches the pro- 
 testants with their inconstancy. ‘The learned Basnage has endeavoured 
 to defend the reformed churches against this charge, in the second vo- 
 lume of his Histoire de ’Eglise, p. 1533: but his defence is not satisfac- 
 tory. 3 To Dr. Mosheim, who speaks more than once of the reform- 
 ed church and its doctors with partiality and prejudice, this defence may 
 not appear satisfactory ; it has, nevertheless, been judged so by many 
 persons of uncommon discernment; and we invite the reader to judge 
 for himself. 
 
 34> ¢ It does not appear to me that any one, who looks with an unpre- 
 judiced eye, can see the least connexion between the opinion of Piscator 
 (which I shall not here either refute or defend,) and the popish doctrine 
 which maintains the merit of good works ; for, though we are not justi- 
 fied (i. e. pardoned or treated as if we had not offended) in consequence 
 of Christ’s active obedience to the divine law, yet we may be so by his 
 
 death and sufferings; and it is really to these, that the Scriptures, in’ 
 
 many places, ascribe our acceptance. Now a person Who ascribes his 
 acceptance and salvation to the death and mediation of Christ, does not 
 surely give any countenance to the doctrine of the strict and rigorous 
 merit of works, although he should not be so sharp-sighted as to per- 
 ceive the influence which certain doctors attribute to what is called 
 Christ’s active obedience. But let it be observed here, in a particular 
 manner, that the opinion of Piscator is much more unfavourable to 
 popery than our author imagined, since it overturns totally, by a direct 
 and most natural consequence, the popish doctrine concerning works of 
 supererogation, which is as monstrous an absurdity in morals, as tran- 
 substantiation is in the estimation of common sense; for, if Christ, in 
 his universal and perfect obedience to the divine laws, did no more than 
 he was morally obliged to do by his character as a man, is it not absurd, 
 
 were strongly disapproved and rejected, even by those of 
 the French protestants themselves, who were the most 
 remarkable for their moderation, charity, and love o 
 peace.@ 
 
 XIV. The doctors of Saumur revived a controversy, 
 that had for some time been suspended, by their attempts 
 to reconcile the doctrine of predestination,-as it had been 
 taught at Geneva, and confirmed at Dordrecht, with the 
 sentiments of those who represent the Deity as oflering 
 the displays of his goodness and mercy to all mankind. 
 The first person who made this fruitless attempt was 
 John Cameron, whose sentiments were supported and 
 illustrated by Moses Amyrault, a man of uncommon 
 sagacity and erudition. ‘The latter applied himself, from 
 the year 1634, with unparalleled zeal, to this arduous 
 work, and displayed in it extraordinary exertions of capa- 
 city and genius ; and so ardently was he bent on bringing 
 it into execution, that he made, for this purpose, no 
 small changes in the doctrine commonly received among 
 the reformed in France. "The form of doctrime which he 
 had devised, in order to accomplish this important recon- 
 cilation, may be briefly summed up in the following pro- 
 positions : “ That God desires the happiness of all men, 
 and that no mortal is excluded, by any divine decree, 
 from the benefits that are procured by the death, suffer- 
 ings, and gospel of Christ : 
 
 “That, however, no one can be made a partaker of 
 the blessings of the Gospel, and of eternal salvation, with- 
 out believing in Jesus Christ : 
 
 “That such, indeed, is the immense and universal 
 goodness of the Supreme Being, that he refuses to none 
 the power of believing, though he does not grant unto 
 all his assistance and succour, that they may wisely im- 
 prove this power to the attainment of everlasting salvation : 
 
 “ And, that, in consequence of this, multitudes perish 
 through their own fault, and not from any want of good- 
 ness in God.”* 
 
 if not impious, to seek in the virtue of the Romish saints (all of whom 
 were very imperfect, and some of them very worthless mortals) an 
 exuberance of obedience, a superabundant quantity of virtue, to which 
 they were not obliged, and which they are supposed to deposit in the 
 hands of the popes, who are empowered to distribute it, for love or 
 money, among such as have need of it to make up their accounts ? 
 
 4 This affirmation is groundless, and I wish it were not liable to the 
 charge of malignity. ‘The accusation that Dr. Mosheim brings here 
 against the reformed church in France is of too serious a nature not to 
 require the most evident and circumstantial proofs. He has, however, 
 alleged none; nor has he given any one instance of these weighty and 
 momentous concessions that were made to popery. It was not, indeed, 
 in his power either to give arguments or examples of a satisfactory 
 kind; and it is highly probable, that the unguarded words of Elias 
 Saurin, minister of Utrecht, in relation to the learned Louis Le Blane, 
 professor of Sedan (which dropped from the pen of the former, in his 
 Examen de la Theologie de M. Jurieu,) are the only testimony Dr. 
 Mosheim had to allege, in support of an accusation, which he has not 
 limited to any one person, but inconsiderately thrown out upon the 
 French churches in general. Those who are desirous of a full illustra- 
 tion of this matter, and yet have not an opportunity of consulting the 
 original sources of information, may satisfy their curiosity by perusing 
 the articles Beauliew and Amyrault in Bayle’s Dictionary, and tha 
 articles Pajon and Papin in M. de Chauftepied’s supplement to that 
 work. Any concessions that seem to have been made by the protes- 
 tant doctors in France to their adversaries, consisted in giving an Armis 
 nian turn to some of the more rigid tenets of Calvin relating to original 
 sin, predestination, and grace; and this turn would undoubtedly have 
 been given to these doctrines, had popery been out f the question. But 
 these concessions are not certainly what our historian had in view; nor 
 would he, in effect, have treated such concessions as erroneous. 
 
 ® See Jo. Wolfg. Jaegeri Hist. Eccles. sec. X VII. decenn. iv. p. 522. 
 x This mitigated view of the doctrine of predestination has only 
 
Parr II. 
 
 Those who embraced this doctrine were called Uni- j 
 
 versalists, because they represented God as willing to 
 show merty to all mankind; and Hypothetical Univer- 
 salists, because the condition of faith in Christ was 
 necessary to render them the objects of this mercy. It 
 is the opinion of many, that this doctrine differs little 
 from that which was established by the synod of Dor- 
 drecht: but such do not seem to have attentively con- 
 sidered either the principles whence it is derived, or the 
 consequences to which it leads. 'The more I examine 
 this. reconciling system, the more I am persuaded, that 
 it is no more than Arminianism or Pelagianism artfully 
 dressed up, and ingeniously covered with a half-transpa- 
 rent veil of specious, but ambiguous expressions; and 
 this judgment is confirmed by the language that is used 
 in treating this subject by the modern followers of Amy- 
 rault, who express their sentiments with greater courage, 
 plainness, and perspicuity, than the spirit of the times 
 permitted their master to do. A cry was raised in seve- 
 ral French synods, against the doctrine of Amyrault ; 
 but, after it had been carefully examined by them, and 
 defended by him at their public meetings with his usual 
 eloquence and erudition, he was honourably acquitted.* 
 The opposition he met with from Holland was still more 
 formidable, as it came from the celebrated pens of Rivet, 
 Spanheim, Des-Marets, and other learned adversaries. 
 He nevertheless answered them with great spirit and 
 vigour ; and his cause was powerfully supported after- 
 wards by Daillé, Blondel, Mestrezat, and Claude.” "This 
 controversy was carried on for a long time, with great 
 animosity, and little fruit to those who opposed the opinions 
 of the French innovator: for the sentiments of Amyrault 
 were not only received in all the colleges of the Hugue- 
 notz in France, and adopted by divines of the highest 
 note in that nation, but also spread themselves as far as 
 Getieva, and were afterwards disseminated by the French 
 protestants, who fled from the rage of persecution, through 
 all the reformed churches of Europe ; and they now are 
 so generally received, that few have the courage to oppose 
 or decry them. 
 
 XY. The desire of mitigating certain doctrines of the 
 reformed church, which drew upon it the heaviest cen- 
 sures from both the Roman catholics and some protestant 
 commumions, was the true origin of the opinion propa- 
 gated, in the year 1640, by Joshua de la Place, concern- 
 ing vhe imputation of original sin. ‘This divine, who was 
 the intimate friend of Amyrault, and his colleague at 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 607 
 
 Saumur, rejected the opinion generally received in the 
 schools of the reformed, that the personal and actual 
 transgression of the first man is imputed to his posterity. 
 He maintained, on the contrary, that God imputeés to 
 every man his natural corruption, his personal guilt, and 
 his propensity to sin; or, to speak in the theological style, 
 he affirmed, that original sin is indirectly, and not direct- 
 ly, imputed to mankind. 'This opinion was condemned 
 as erroneous, in 1642, by the synod of Charenton, and 
 many Dutch and Helvetic doctors of great name endea- 
 voured to refute it,° while the love of peace and union 
 prevented ifs author from defending it in a public and 
 open manner.? But neither the sentence of the synod, 
 nor the silence of M. de la Place, could preclude this sen- 
 timent from making a deep impression on the minds of 
 many, wks deemed it conformable to the plainest dictates 
 of justice and equity; nor could they prevent its being 
 transmitted, with the French exiles, into other countries. 
 
 In the class of those who, to diminish or avoid the 
 resentment of the papists, made concessions inconsistent 
 with truth, and detrimental to the purity of the protestant 
 religion, many place Louis Capel, professor at Saumur, 
 who, in a voluminous and elaborate work,* undertook to 
 prove that the Hebrew points were not used by the sacred 
 writers, and were a modern invention added to the text 
 by the Masoretes. It is at least certain, that this» hypo- 
 thesis was highly agreeable to the votaries of Rome, and 
 seemed manifestly adapted to diminish the authority 
 of the Scriptures, and to put them upon a level with oral 
 tradition, if not to render their decisions still less respect- 
 able and certain.¢ On these accounts, the system of this 
 famous professor was opposed, with the most ardent efforts 
 of erudition and zeal, by several doctors both of the re- 
 formed and Lutheran churches, who were eminent for 
 their knowledge of the Hebrew language, and their gene- 
 ral acquaintance with Oriental Jearning.® 
 
 XVI. Though these great men gave offence to many, 
 by the freedom and novelty of their sentiments, yet they 
 had the approbation and esteem of the greatest part of the 
 reformed churches; and the equity of succeeding gene- 
 rations removed the aspersions that envy had thrown upon 
 them during their lives, and made ample amends for the 
 injuries they had received from several of their contempo- 
 raries. ‘This was far from being the case of those doctors 
 who either openly attempted to bring about a complete 
 reconciliation and union between the reformed and Romish 
 churches, or explained the doctrines of Christianity in such 
 
 one defect; but it is a capital one. It represents God as desiring a 
 thing (7. e. salvation and happiness) for all, which, in order to its attain- 
 ment, requires a degree of his assistance and succour, which he refuses 
 tomany. This rendered grace and redemption universal only in words, 
 but partial in reality, and therefore did not at all mend the matter. The 
 Supralapsarians were consistent with themselves; but their doctrine 
 was harsh and terrible, and was founded on the most unworthy notions 
 of the Supreme Being; and, on the other hand, the system of Amyrault 
 was full of inconsistencies; even the Sublapsarian doctrine has its 
 difficulties, and rather palliates than removes the horrors of Supralapsa- 
 rianism. What then is to be done? from what quarter shall the candid 
 and well-disposed Christian receive that solid satisfaction and wise 
 direction, which neither system is adapted to administer? These he 
 will receive by turning his dazzled and feeble eye from the secret de- 
 crees of God, which were neither designed to be rules of action, nor 
 sources of comfort to mortals here below ; and by fixing his view upon 
 the mercy of God, as it is manifested through Christ, upon the pure 
 Jaws and sublime promises of his gospel, and the equity of his present 
 government and his future tribunal. 
 
 * See Aymon’s Actes des Synodes Nationaux des Eglises Reformées 
 en France, tom. ii. p. 571, 604.—Blondel’s Actes Authentiques des 
 Eglises Reformées touchant la Paix et la Charité fraternelle. 
 
 b Bayle’s Dictionary, vol. i. at the articles Amyrault and Blondel ; 
 and vol. ii. at the article Daillé—See Christ. Pfaffius, de Formula 
 Consensus, cap. 1. ¢ Aymon, tom. li. p. 680. 
 
 4 Christ. Eberh. Weismanni Histor. Eccles. sec. X VIL. p. 817. 
 
 ¢ This work, which is entitled, Arcanum Punctuationis Revelatum, 
 may be found with its Vindicie in the works of Capel, printed at 
 Amsterdam in 1689, and in the Critica Sacra Veteris Testament, 
 published at Paris in 1650. 
 
 f =*> It was also Capel who affirmed that the characters which com- 
 pose the Hebrew text, were such as the Chaldeans used after the Baby- 
 tonian captivity, the Jews having always made use of the Samaritan 
 characters before that period. ays 
 
 % 24> This absurd notion of the tendency of Capel’s hypothesis is 
 now almost entirely exploded by the learned world. Be that as it may, 
 the hypothesis in question is by no means peculiar to Capel; it was 
 adopted by Luther, Zuinele, Calvin, the three great pillars of the 
 Reformation ; as also by Munster, Olivetan, Masius, Scaliger, Casau- 
 bon, Drusius, De Dieu, Walton, and Bochart, those eminent men, who 
 have thrown’ such light on sacred philology; so that Capel had only 
 the merit of supporting it by new arguments, and placing it in a str 
 king and luminous point of view. ‘ 
 
 h See B. Jo. Christ. Wolfii Biblioth, Hebraica. 
 
608 
 
 a manner as lessened the difference between the commu- 
 nions, and thereby rendered the passage from the former 
 to the latter less disgusting and painful. The attempts 
 of these advocates of peace were looked upon as odious ; 
 and in the issue they proved utterly unsuccessful. ‘lhe 
 most eminent of these reconciling doctors were Louis Le 
 Blanc, professor at Sedan, and Claude Pajon, minister of 
 Orleans,* who were both remarkable for the persuasive 
 power of their eloquence, and discovered an uncommon 
 degree of penetration and sagacity in their writings and 
 negotiations. ‘The former passed in review many ‘of the 
 controversies that divided the two churches, and seemed 
 clearly to prove, that some of them were merely disputes 
 about words, and that the others were of much less con- 
 sequence than was generally imagined.» ‘I’his manner 
 of stating the differences between ‘the two churches drew 
 upon Le Blane the indignation of those who considered 
 all attempts to soften and modif: y controverted doctrines as 
 dangerous and detrimental to the cause of truth. On the 
 other hand, the acuteness and dexterity with which he 
 treated this delicate affair, made a considerable impression 
 upon many persons, and procured him disciples, who still 
 entertain his reconciling sentiments, but either conceal 
 them entirely, or discover them with caution, as they are 
 known to be displeasing to the greatest part of the mem- 
 bers of both communions. 
 
 XVII. The modifications under which Pajon exhibited 
 some of the doctrines of the reformed church, were also 
 extremely offensive and unpopular. ‘This ecclesiastic ap- 
 plied the principles and tenets of the Cartesian philosophy, 
 of which he was a warm and able defender, to.an explica- 
 tion of the opinions of that church relating to the corrup- 
 tion of human nature, the state of its moral faculties and 
 powers, the grace of God, and the conversion of sinners ; 
 and, in the judgment of many, he gave an erroneous in- 
 terpretation of these opinions. It is, indeed, very difficult 
 to determine what were the real sentiments of this man; 
 nor is it easy to say, whether this difficulty be most owing 
 to the affected obscurity and ambiguity under which he 
 disguised them, or to the inaccuracy with which his ad- 
 versaries, through negligence or malignity, have repre- 
 sented them. If we may give credit to the latter, his doc- 
 trine amounts to the following propositions: “ That the 
 corruption of man is less, and his natural power to amend 
 his ways greater, than is generally imagined :—That 
 original sin lies in the understanding alone, and consists 
 principally in the obscurity and imperfection of our ideas 
 of divine things :—'That this imperfection of the human 
 understanding has a pernicious influence upon the will, 
 excites in it vicious propensities, and thus leads it to sinful 
 actions :—That this internal disorder is healed, not by the 
 mere efforts of our natural faculties and powers, but by the 
 assistance and energy of the Holy Spirit, operating upon 
 the mind by the divine word as its mean or instrument :— 
 That, however, this word is not endowed with any divine 
 
 34> * It is difficult to conceive what could engage Dr. Mosheim to 
 place Pajon in the class of those who explained the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity in such a manner, as to diminish the difference between . 
 docirines of the reformed and papal churclfs. Pajon was, indeed, 
 moderate divine, and leaned toward the Arminian system ; and this 
 propensity was ‘not uncommon among the French protestants. But 
 few doctors of this time wrote against popery with more learning 
 zeal, and judgment, than Claude Pajon, as appears from his excellent 
 treatise against Nicole, entitled, “Examen du Livre qui porte pour 
 titre prejugez legitimes contre les Calvinistes.” 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 and divine thing 
 truth and divinity of the Christian religion, and its perfect 
 
 Sect. JT 
 
 intrinsic energy, either natural or supernatural, but only 
 with a moral influence, i. e. It corrects and improves the 
 understanding, in the same manner as human truth does, 
 even by imparting clear and distinct notions of spiritual 
 s, and furnishing solid arguments for the 
 
 conformity with the dictates of right reason ;—and that, mn 
 consequence, every man, if no internal or external impedi- 
 ments destroy or suspend the exertion of his natural powers 
 and faculties, may, by the use of his own reason, and a 
 careful and assiduous study of there vealed will of God, be 
 enabled to correct what is amiss in his sentiments, affec- 
 
 tions, and actions, without any extraordinary assistance 
 
 from the Holy Ghost.”4 
 
 Such is the account of the opinions of Pajon, given by 
 his adversaries. On the other hand, if we take our ideas 
 of his doctrine from himself, we shall find this account 
 disingenuous and erroneous. Pajon intimates plainly his 
 assent to the doctrines that. were confirmed by the synod 
 of Dordrecht, and which are contained in the catechisms 
 and confessions of faith of the reformed churches ; he com- 
 plains that his doctrine has been ill understood or wilfully 
 perverted ; and he observes, that he did not deny entirely 
 an immediate operation of the Holy Spirit on the minds 
 of those who are really converted to God, but only such 
 an immediate operation as was not accompanied with the 
 ministry and efficacy of the divine word; or, to express 
 the matter in other terms, he declared that he could not 
 adopt the sentiments of those who represent that word 
 as no more than an instrument void of intrinsic efficacy, 
 a mere external sign of an immediate operation of the 
 Spirit of God.e ‘This last declaration is, however, both 
 obscure and captious. Be that as it may, Pajon concludes 
 by observing, that we ought not to dispute about the man- 
 ner in which the Holy Spirit operates upon the minds of 
 men, but content ourselves with acknowledging, that this 
 spirit is the true and original author of all that is good in 
 the affections of our heart, and the actions that proceed 
 from them. Notwithstanding these declarations, the doc- 
 trine of this learned and ingenious ecclesiastic was not 
 only deemed heterodox by some of the most eminent 
 divines of the reformed church, but was also condemned, 
 in 1677, by several synods in France, and, in 1686, by a 
 synod assembled at Rotterdam. 
 
 XVIII. This controversy, which seemed to be brought 
 to a conclusion by the death of Pajon, was revived, or 
 rather continued, by Isaac Papin, his nephew, a native of 
 Blois, who, by his writings and travels, was highly instru- 
 mental in communicating to England, Holland, and Ger- 
 many, the contagion of these unhappy debates. This 
 ecclesiastic expressed his sentiments without ambiguity or 
 reserve, and zealously propagated the doctrine of his uncle, 
 which, according to his crude and harsh manner of 
 representing it, he reduced to the two following pro- 
 positions :— 
 
 > In his Theses Theologice, which are highly worthy of an attentive 
 perusal. * See Bayle’s Dictionary, at the article Beauliew. 
 
 4 Hyed. Spanheim’s Append. ad Elenchum Controversiar. tom. iil. 
 op. p. 882.—Jurieu’s Traité de la Nature et de la Grace, p. 35.— Val. 
 Ern. Loscher’s Exercit. de Claud. Pajonii ejusque Sectatorum Doctrina 
 
 / et Fatis. 
 
 ¢ All these declarations made by Pajon may be seen in a confession 
 of his faith, supposed to have been drawn up by himself, and published 
 by the learned M. de Chauffepied, in his Nouveau Dictionnaire Histor 
 et Critique, tom. ii. p. 164. 
 
 ” 
 
Part IL. 
 
 “That the natural powers and faculties of man are 
 more than sufficient to lead him to the knowledge of divine 
 truth : 
 
 “That, in order to produce that amendment of the 
 heart, which is called regeneration, nothing more is requi- 
 site than to put the body, if its habit is bad, into a sound 
 state by the power of physic, and then to set truth and 
 falsehood before the understanding, and virtue and vice 
 before the will, in their genuine colours, clearly and dis- 
 tinctly, so that their nature and properties may be fully 
 apprehended.” 
 
 This and the other opinions of Papin were refuted with 
 a considerable degree of acrimony, in 1686, by the famous 
 Jurieu, professor of divinity, and pastor of the French 
 church at Rotterdam; and they were condemned in the 
 following year by the synod of Bois-le-duc. In 1688, they 
 were condemned, with still greater marks of severity, by the 
 French synod at the Hague, where a sentence of excom- 
 munication was pronounced against their author. Exas- 
 perated at these proceedings, Papin returned into France 
 in 1690, where he publicly abjured the protestant religion, 
 and embraced the communion of the church of Rome, in 
 which he died in 1709.* It has been affirmed by some, 
 that this ingenious man was treated with great rigour and 
 injustice, and that his theological opinions were unfaith- 
 fully represented by his violent and unrelenting adversary, 
 Jurieu, whose warmth and impetuosity in religious con- 
 troversy are well known. How far this affirmation may 
 be supported by evidence, we cannot pretend to determine. 
 A doctrine in some degree resembling that of Pajon, was 
 maintained in several treatises, in 1684, by Charles le Cene, 
 a French divine of uncommon learning and sagacity, who 
 gave a new and very singular translation of the Bible.» 
 But he entirely rejected the doctrine of original sin, and 
 of the impotency of human nature; and asserted, that it 
 Was in every man’s power to amend his ways, and arrive 
 at a state of obedience and virtue, by the mere use of 
 his natural faculties, and an attentive study of the 
 divine word; more especially, if these were seconded 
 by the advantage of a good education, and the influ- 
 ence of virtuous examples. Hence several divines pre- 
 tend that his doctrine is, in many respects, different from 
 that of Pajon.: 
 
 * See Jurieu de la Nature et de la Grace—Molleri Cimbria Literata, 
 
 tom. 1. p. 608. 
 
 »’ This translation was published at Amsterdam in 1741, and was 
 condemned by the French synod in Holland. 
 
 © See the learned and laborious M. Chauffepied’s Nouv. Diction. tom. 
 ii. p. 160. 
 
 32 4JIn a general assembly holden at Edinburgh, in 1590, this 
 prince is said to have made the following public declaration: I praise 
 God that I was born in the time of the light of the Gospel, and in such 
 a place as to be the king of the sincerest (1. e. purest) kirk in the world. 
 The kirk of Geneva keep pasche and yule (i. e. Easter and Christmas.) 
 What have they for them? They have no institution. As for our 
 neighbour kirk of England, their service is an evil-said mass in Eng- 
 lish; they want nothing of the mass but the liftings (i. e. the elevation of 
 the host.) charge you, my good ministers, doctors, elders, nobles, 
 gentlemen, and barons, to stand to your purity, and to exhort your peo- 
 ple to do the same; and I, forsooth, as long as I brook my life, shall do 
 the same.” Calderwood’s History of the Church of Scotland, p. 256. 
 
 * The religious disputes between the church and the puritans induced 
 James to appoint a conference between the two parties’ at Hampton- 
 Court, at which nine bishops, and as many dignitaries of the church, 
 appeared on one side, and four puritan ministers on the other. The 
 king himself took a considerable part in the controversy against the 
 latter; and this was an occupation well adapted to his taste; for no- 
 thing could be more pleasing to this royal pedant, than to dictate magis- 
 terially to an assembly of divines upon points of faith and discipline, 
 and to receive the applause of these holy men for his superior zeal and 
 
 No. LI. 153 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 609 
 
 XIX. The church of England had, for a Jong time, 
 resembled a ship tossed on a boisterous and tempestuous 
 ocean. ‘I'he opposition of the Papists on the one hand, 
 and the discontents and remonstrances of the Puritans on 
 the other, had kept it in a perpetual ferment. When, on 
 the death of Elizabeth, James I. ascended the throne, the 
 latter conceived the warmest hopes of seeing more serene 
 and prosperous days, and of being delivered from the 
 vexations and oppressions to which they had been con- 
 stantly exposed on account of their attachment to the dis- 
 cipline and worship of the church of Geneva. 'These 
 hopes were so much the more natural, as the king had 
 received his education in Scotland, where the Puritans 
 prevailed, and bad, on some occasions, made the strongest 
 declarations of his attachment to their ecclesiastical con- 
 stitution ¢ And some of the first steps taken by this prince 
 seemed to encourage those hopes, as he appeared desirous 
 of assuming the character and office of an arbitrator, in 
 order to accommodate matters between the church and the 
 Puritans. But these expectations soon vanished ; and, 
 under his government, aflairs assumed a new aspect. As 
 the desire of unlimited power and authority was his reign- 
 ing passion, so all his measures, whether of a civil or reli- 
 gious nature, were calculated to answer the purposes of 
 his ambition. ‘The presbyterian form of ecclesiastical 
 government seemed less favourable to his views than the 
 episcopal hierarchy, as the former exhibits a kind of re- 
 public, which is administered by various rules of equal 
 authority, while the latter approaches much nearer to the 
 spirit and genius of monarchy. ‘lhe very name of a re- 
 public, synod, or council, was odious to James, who dreaded 
 every thing that had a popular aspect; hence he distin- 
 guished the bishops with peculiar marks of his favour, ex- 
 tended their authority, increased their prerogatives, and 
 publicly adopted and inculcated the following maxim, ‘ No 
 bishop, no king’ At the same time, as the church of 
 England had not yet abandoned the Calvinistical doctrines 
 of predestination and grace, he alsoadhered to them for some 
 time, and gave his theological representatives, in the synod 
 of Dordrecht, an order to join in the condemnation of the 
 sentiments of Arminius, in relation to these deep and in- 
 tricate points. Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, a man 
 of remarkable gravity,’ and of eminent zeal both for civil 
 
 learning. The conference continued three days. On the first day, it 
 was managed between the king and the bishops and deans, to whor 
 James proposed some objections against certain expressions in the 
 liturgy, and a few alterations in the ritual of the church; in consequence 
 of which, some slight alterations were made. On the two following 
 days, the puritans were admitted, whose proposals and remonstrances 
 may be seen in Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. ii. Dr. Warner, 
 in his Ecclesiastical History of England, observes, that this author 
 must be read with caution, on account of his unfairness and partiality : 
 why therefore did he not take his account of the Hampton-Court confe- 
 rence from a better source? 'The different accounts of the opposite par- 
 ties, and more particularly those published by Dr. Barlow, dean of 
 Chester, on one hand, and Patrick Galloway, a Scottish writer, on the 
 other, (both of whom were present at the conference,) must be carefully 
 consulted, in order to our forming a proper idea of these theological 
 transactions. James at least obtained, on this occasion, the applause 
 he had in view. The archbishop of Canterbury (Whitgift) said, that 
 “undoubtedly his majesty spoke by the special assistance of God’s 
 spirit ;” and Bancroft, falling on his knees, with his eyes raised to—— 
 James, expressed himself thus: “I protest, my heart melteth for joy, 
 that Almighty God, of his singular mercy, has given us such a king, as 
 since Christ’s time has not been.” 7 
 3 t The earl of Clarendon says, in his History of the Rebellion, 
 that “ Abbot was a man of very morose manners, and of a very sour 
 aspect, which at that time was called gravity.” If, in general, we 
 strike a medium between what Clarendon and Neal say of this prelate, 
 
 ‘we shall probably arrive at the true knowledge of his character. See 
 
610 
 
 and religious liberty, whose lenity toward their ancestors 
 
 the Puritans still celebrate in the highest strains,* used his | 
 
 utmost endeavours to confirm the king in the principles 
 of Calvinism, to which he himself was thoroughly attached. 
 But scarcely had the British divines returned from the 
 synod of Dordrecht, and given an account of the Jaws 
 that had been enacted, and the doctrines that had been 
 established by that famous assembly, when the king, and 
 
 , . 7 =, | 
 the greatest part of the episcopal clergy, discovered, in the 
 
 strongest terms, their dislike of these proceedings, and 
 judged the sentiments of Arminius, relating to the divine 
 decrees, preferable to those of Gomar and of Calvin.’ ‘This 
 
 the History of the Rebellion, vol. i. p.88; and Neal’s History of the 
 Puritans, vol. il. p. 243. It is certain, that nothing can be more unjust 
 and partial than Clarendon’s account of this emiment prelate, particu- 
 larly when he says, that “he neither understood nor regarded the con- 
 stitution of the church.” But it is too much the custom of this writer, 
 and others of his stamp, to give the denomination of latitudinarian 
 indifference to that charity, prudence, and moderation, by which alone 
 the best interests of the church (though not the personal views of many 
 of its ambitious members) can be established upon firm and permanent 
 foundations. Abbot would have been reckoned a good churchman by 
 some, if he had breathed that spirit of despotism and violence, which, 
 being essentially incompatible with the spirit and character of a people, 
 not only free, but jealous of their liberty, has often endangered the 
 church, by exciting that resentment which always renders opposition 
 excessive. Abbot was so far from being indifférent about the constitu- 
 tion of the church, or inclined to the presbyterian discipline, (as the 
 noble author affirms,) that it was by his zeal and dexterity that the 
 clergy of Scotland, who had refused to admit the bishops as moderators 
 in their synods, were brought to a more tractable temper, and affairs 
 put into such a situation as afterwards produced the entire establishment 
 of the episcopal order in that nation. It is true, that Abbot’s zeal in 
 this affair was conducted with great prudence and moderation; and it 
 was by these that his zeal was rendered successful. Nor have these 
 his transactions in Scotland, where he went as chaplain to the lord- 
 weasurer Dunbar, been sufficiently attended to by historians. they 
 even seem to have been entirely unknown to some, who have pretended 
 to depreciate the conduct and principles of this virtuous and excellent 
 prelate. King James, who had been so zealous a presbyterian in ap- 
 pearance before his accession to the crown of England, had scarcely 
 set his foct out of Scotland, when he conceived the design of restoring 
 the ancient form of episcopal government in that kingdom; and it was 
 Abbot's conduct there that brought him to that high favour with the king, 
 which, in a short time, raised him from the deanery of Winchester to 
 the see of Canterbury. For it was by Abbot’s mild and prudent coun- 
 sels, that Dunbar procured that famous act of the eeuetal assembly fo 
 Scotland, by which it was provided, “that the king should have the 
 calling of all general assemblies, that the bishops (or their deputies) 
 “snould be perpetual moderators of the diocesan synods, that no excom- 
 munication should be pronounced without their approbation, that all 
 presentations of benefices should be made by them, that the deprivation 
 or suspension of ministers should belong to them, that the visitation of 
 the diocese should be performed by the bishop or his deputy only, and 
 that the bishop should ee moderator of all conventions for exercisings 
 or prophesyings (i. e. preaching) within their bounds.” See Calder- 
 wood’s ‘True History of the Church of Scotland, p. 588,589. Heylin’s 
 History of the Presbyterians, p. 381, $82; and above all, Spced’s His- 
 tory of Great Britain, book x. The writers who seem the least disposed 
 to speak favourably of this wise and good prelate, bear testimony, 
 nevertheless, to his eminent piety, his exemplary conversation, and his 
 inflexible probity and integrity; and it may be said with truth, that, if 
 his moderate measures had been pursued, the liberties of England 
 
 would have been secured, popery discountenanced, and the church pre- | 
 vented from running into those excesses which afterwards proved so | 
 
 injurious to it. If Abbot's candour failed him on any occasion, it was 
 in the representations, which his rigid attachment, not to the discipline, 
 but to the doctrinal tenets of Calvinisra, led him to give of the Arminian 
 doctors. There is a remarkable instance of this in a letter of his to Sir 
 Ralph Winwood, dated at Lambeth, the first of June, 1613, and ocea- 
 sioned by the arrival of Grotius in England, who had been expressly 
 sent from Holland, by the Remonstrants, or Arminians, to mitigate the 
 king’s displeasure and antipathy against that party. In this letter, the 
 archbishop represents Grotius (with whom he certainly was not worthy 
 to be named, either in point of learning, sagacity, or judgment) as a 
 pedant, and mentions, with a high degree of complacency and approba- 
 tion, the absurd and impertinent judgment of some civilians and di- 
 vines, who called this immortal ornament of the republic of letters, a 
 smatterer and a simple fellow. See Winwood’s Memorials, vol. iii. p. 
 459. 
 
 * See Wood’s Athene Oxoniens. t. i. p. 583.—Neal’s History of the 
 
 HISTORY> OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL. 
 
 sudden change in the theological opinions of the court and 
 clergy, was certainly owing to a variety of reasons, as will 
 appear evident to those who have any acquaintance with 
 the spirit and transactions of these times. The principal 
 one, if we are not deceived, must be sought in the plans 
 of a farther reformation of the church of England, which 
 were proposed by several eminent ecclesiastics, whose in- 
 tention was to bring it to as near a resemblance as wag 
 possible of the primitive church ; and every one knows, 
 that the peculiar doctrines to which the victory was 
 assigned by the synod were absolutely unknown in the 
 first ages of the Christian church.c Be that as it mav 
 
 Puritans, vol. ii. ch. iv. p. 242.—Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion 
 vol. 1. 
 
 b See Heylin’s History of the Five Articles—Neal, vol. il. ch ii. p. 
 117. The latter author tells us, that the following verses were made 
 England, with a design to pour contempt on the synod, and to turn its 
 proceedings into ridicule: 
 
 “Dordrechti Synodus, nodus; chorus integer, wger; 
 Conventus, ventus; sessio, stramen. Amen!??* 
 
 With respect to James, those who are desirous of forming a just idea 
 of the character, proceedings, and theological fickleness and inconstancy 
 of that monarch, must peruse the writers of English history, more espe- 
 cially Larrey and Rapin. ‘The majority of these writers tell us, that, 
 toward the close of his life, James, after having deserted from the Cal- 
 vinists to the Arminians, began to discover a strong propensity toward 
 popery; and they affirm positively, that he entertaied the most ardent 
 desire of bringing about an union between the churches of England and 
 Rome. In this, however, these writers seem to have gone too far; for, 
 though many of the proceedings of this injudicious prince justly deserve 
 the sharpest censure, yet it is both rash and unjust to accuse him of a 
 design to introduce popery into England. It is not to be believed, that 
 a prince, who aspired to arbitrary power and uncontrolled dominion, 
 could ever have entertained a thought of submitting to the yoke of the 
 Roman pontiff.t The truth of the matter seems to be this, that, toward 
 the end of his reign, James began to have less aversion to the doctrines 
 and rites of the Romish church, and permitted certain religious obser- 
 vances, that were conformable to the spirit of that church, to be used in 
 England. This conduct was founded upon a manner of reasoning, 
 which he had learned from several bishops of his ume, that the primi- 
 tive church is the model which all Christian churches ought to imitate 
 in doctrine and worship: that, in proportion as any church approaches 
 to this original standard of truth and purity, it must become proportion- 
 ably pure and perfect; and that the Romish church retained more of 
 the spirit and manner of the primitive church than the Puritan or Cal- 
 vinist churches. Zp Of these three propositions, the two first are 
 undoubtedly true, and the last is evidently and demonstrably false. Be- 
 sides, this makes nothing to the argument: for, as James had a mani- 
 fest aversion to the Puritans, it could, in his eyes, be no very great 
 recommendation of the Romish church, that it surpassed that of the 
 Puritans in doctrine and discipline. 
 
 ° Dr. Mosheim has annexed the following note to this passage: ‘ Per- 
 haps the king entered into these ecclesiastical proceedings with the 
 more readiness, when he reflected on the civil commotions and tumults 
 that an attachment to the presbyterian religion had occasioned in Scot- 
 land. There are also some circumstances that intimate plainly enough, 
 that James, before his accession to the crown of England, was very far 
 from naving an aversion to popery.” Whoever, indeed, looks into the 
 Elistorical View of the Negociations between the Courts of England, 
 France, and Brussels, from the year 1592 to 1617, extructed from the 
 manuscript State Papers of Sir ‘Thomas Edmondes and Anthony Ba- 
 con, Esa., and published in 1749 by the learned and judicious Dr. Birch, 
 will be persuaded, that, about the year 1595, this fickle and unsteady 
 prince had really formed an intention of embracing the faith of Rome. 
 See, in the curious collection now mentioned, the postscript of a letter 
 from Sir Thomas Edmondes to the lord high treasurer, dated the 20th 
 of December, 1595. We learn also, from the Memoirs of Sir Ralph 
 
 34> * It would be a difficult, and indeed an impracticable task, to 
 justify all the proceedings of this synod; and it is much to be wished, 
 that they had been more conformable to the spirit of Christian charity, 
 than the representations of history, impartially weighed, show thein to 
 have been. We are not, however, to conclude, from the insipid mank- 
 ish lines here quoted by Dr. Mosheim, that the transactions and dec) 
 sions of that synod were universally condemned or despised in England. 
 It had its partisans in the established church, as well as among the 
 Puritans: and its decisions, in point of doctrine, were looked upon by 
 many, and not without reason, as agreeable to the tenor of the book of 
 articles established by law in the church of England. 
 
 + This remark is confuted by fact, observation, and the perpetual 
 contradictions that are observable in the conduct of men: besides, see 
 the note* 
 
 —— 
 
Parr IL 
 
 this change was very injurious to the Puritans; for, the 
 king being indisposed to the opinions and institutions of 
 Calvinism, those sectaries were left without defence, and 
 exposed anew to the animosity and hatred of their adver- 
 saries, Which had been, for some time, suspended, but now 
 broke out with redoubled vehemence, and at length kin- 
 dled a religious war, whose consequences were deplorable 
 beyond expression. In 1625 this prince died, of whom it 
 may be observed, that he was the bitterest enemy of the 
 doctrine and discipline of the Puritans, to which he had 
 been in his youth most warmly attached ; the most inflexi- 
 ble and ardent patron of the Arminians, in whose ruin 
 and condemnation in Holland he had been highly instru- 
 mental; and the most zealous defender of episcopal 
 government, against which he had more than once ex- 
 pressed himself in the strongest terms. He left the con- 
 stitution of England, both ecclesiastical and civil, in a very 
 unsettled and fluctuating state, languishing under intes- 
 tine disorders of various kinds. 
 
 XX. His son and successor Charles, who had imbib- 
 ed his political and religious principles, had nothing so 
 much at heart as to bring to perfection what his father 
 had left unfinished. All the exertions of his zeal, and 
 the whole tenor of his administration, were directed to- 
 ward the three following objects: “'The extending the 
 royal prerogative, and raising the power of the crown 
 above the authority of the law—the reduction of all the 
 churches in Great-Britain and Ireland under the jurisdic- 
 tion of bishops, whose government he looked upon as of 
 divine institution, and also as the most adapted to guard 
 the privileges and majesty of the throne—and, lastly, 
 the suppression of the opinions and imstitutions that 
 
 Winwood, that, in 1596, James sent Mr. Ogilvie, a Scottish baron, 
 into Spain, to assure his catholic majesty, that he was then ready and 
 resolved to embrace popery, and to ta te an alliance with that king 
 and the pope against the queen of England. See State Tracts, vol. 1. 
 
 .]. See also an extract of a letter from Tobie Matthew, D. D. dean of 
 
 urham, to the lord-treasurer Burghley, containing an information of 
 Scotch affairs, in Strype’s Annals, vol. iv. p.201. Above all, see Harris’ 
 Hist. and Critical Account of the Life and Writings of James [., p, 29, 
 note (N.) This last writer may be added to Larrey and Rapin who have 
 exposed the pliability and inconsistency of this self-sufficient monarch. 
 
 a See Wood's Athene Oxon. t. ii. p. 55.—Heylin’s Cyprianus Ange- 
 licus, or Hist. of Life and Death of Wm. Laud.—Clarendon’s His. vol. i. 
 
 » “Sincere he undoubtedly was, (says Mr. Hume,) and, however mis- 
 
 uided, actuated by religious principles in all his pursuits; and it is to 
 ” regretted, that a man of such spirit, who conducted his enterprises 
 with such warmth and industry, had not entertained more enlarged 
 views, and embraced principles more favourable to ‘the general happi- 
 ness of human society.” 
 
 ¢ See Mich. le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII. tom. v. p. 262. 
 
 #’> This expression may lead the uninformed reader into a mistake, 
 and make him imagine that Laud had caused the Calvinistical doctrine 
 of the xxxix Articles to be abrogated, and the tenets of Arminius to be 
 substituted in their place. It may therefore be proper to set this matter 
 in aclearer light. In 1625, Laud wrote a small treatise to prove the 
 orthodoxy of the Arminian doctrines; and, by his credit with the duke 
 ‘of Buckingham, had Arminian and anti-puritanical chaplains placed 
 about the king. ‘This step increased the debates between the Calvinis- 
 tical and Arminian doctors, and produced the warmest animosities and 
 dissensions. ‘To calm these, the king issued out a proclamation, dated 
 the 14th of January, 1626, the literal tenor of which was, in truth, more 
 favourable to the Calvinists than to the Arminians, though, by the man- 
 ner in which it was interpreted and executed by Laud, it was turned to 
 the advantage of the latter. Jn this proclamation it was said expressly, 
 “that his majesty would admit no mnovations in the doctrine, disci- 
 pline, or government of the church ;”"(N. B. The doctrine of the church, 
 previously to this, was Calvinistical,) “ and therefore charges all his 
 subjects, and especially the clergy, not to publish or maintain, in preach- 
 ing or writing, any new inventions or opinions, contrary to the said 
 doctrine and discipline established by law, &ec.” It was certainly a 
 very singular instance of Laud’s indecent partiality, that this proclama- 
 tion was employed to suppress the books that were expressly written in 
 the defence of the xxxix Articles, while the writings of the Arminians, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 primitive church.” 
 
 61L 
 
 were peculiar to Caivinism, and the modelling of the 
 doctrine, discipline, ceremonies, and polity of the church 
 of England, after the spirit and constitution of the 
 The person whom the king chiefly 
 intrusted with the execution of this arduous plan, 
 was William Laud, bishop of London, who was raised, 
 in 1633, to the see of Canterbury, and exhibited in 
 these high stations a mixed character, composed of 
 great qualities and great defects. The voice of justice 
 must celebrate his fortitude, his erudition, his zeal for 
 the sciences, and his munificence and liberality to men 
 of letters; and, at the same time, even charity must 
 acknowledge, with regret, his inexcusable imprudence, 
 his excessive superstition, his rigid attachment to the sen- 
 timents, rites, and institutions of the ancient church, 
 which made him behold the Puritans and Calvinists with 
 horror, and that violent spirit of animosity and persecu- 
 tion which discovered itself in the whole course of his 
 ecclesiastical administration.” This haughty prelate exe- 
 cuted the plans of his royal master, and fulfilled the views 
 of hisown ambition, without using those mild and mode- 
 rate metheds, which prudence employs in the prosecution 
 of unpopular schemes. He carried things with a high 
 hand: when he found the laws opposing his views, 
 he treated them with contempt, and violated them with- 
 out hesitation ; he loaded the Puritans with injuries and 
 vexations, and aimed at nothing less than their total ex- 
 tinction ; he publicly rejected, in 1625, the Calvinistical 
 doctrine of predestination, and, notwithstanding the oppo- 
 sition and remonstrances of Abbot, substituted the Armi- 
 nian system in its place ;« he revived many religious cere- 
 monies, which though stamped with the sanction of ant}. 
 
 who certainly opposed these articles, were publicly licensed. I do not 
 here enter into the merits of the cause; I only speak of the tenor of the 
 proclamation, and the manner of its execution. 
 
 This manner of proceeding showed how difficult and arduous a thing 
 it is to change systems of doctrine established by law, since neither 
 Charles, who was by no means diffident of his authority, nor Laud, 
 who was far from being timorous in the use and abuse of it, attempted 
 to reform articles of faith, that stoog in direct opposition to the Armi- 
 nian doctrines, which they were now promoting by the warmest en- 
 couragements, and which were daily gaining ground under their protec- 
 tion. Instead of reforming the xxxix Articles, which step would have 
 met with great apposition from the house of commons, and from a con- 
 siderable part of the clergy and laity, who were still warmly attached 
 to Calvinism, Laud advised the king to have these articles reprinted, 
 with an ambiguous declaration prefixed to them, which might tend to 
 silence or discourage the reigning controversies between the Calvinists 
 and Arminians, and thus secure to the latter an unmolested state, in 
 which they would daily find their power growing under the countenance 
 and protection of the court. This degtlaration, which, in most editions 
 of the Common Prayer, is still to be found at the head of the articles, is 
 a most curious piece of political theology ; and, if it had not borne hard 
 upon the right of private judgment, and been evidently designed to 
 favour one party, though it carried the aspect of a perfect neutrality, it 
 might have been looked upon as a wise and provident measure to secure 
 the tranquillity of the church; for, in the tenor of this declaration, pre- 
 cision was sacrificed to prudence and ambiguity; and even contra- 
 dictions were preferred to consistent, clear, and positive decisions, that 
 might have fomented dissensions and discord. The declaration seemed 
 to favour the Calvinists, since it prohibited the affixing any new sense 
 to any article: it also in effect favoured the Arminians, as it ordered 
 all curious search about the contested points to be laid aside, and these 
 disputes to be shut up in God’s promises, as they are set forth to us in 
 the holy scriptures, and in the general meaning of the articles of the 
 church of England according to them. But what was singularly prepos- 
 terous in this declaration was, its being designed to favour the Armini- 
 ans, and yet prohibiting expressly any person, either in sermons or 
 writings, from giving his own sense or comment as the meaning of the 
 article, and ordering every one, on the contrary, to take each article in 
 its literal and grammatical sense, and to submit to it in the full and 
 plain meaning thereof; for certainly, if the 17th article has a pox 
 literal, and grammatical meaning, it is a meaning unfavourable to Armi- 
 nianism; and bishop Burnet was obliged afterwards to acknowledge, 
 
612 
 
 quity, were nevertheless marked with the turpitude of 
 superstition, and had been on that account justly abro- 
 gated; he forced bishops upon the Scots, who were zea- 
 lously attached to the discipline and ecclesiastical polity 
 of Geneva, and had shown, on all occasions, the greatest 
 reluctance against an episcopal government ; and, lastly, 
 he gave many, and very plain intimations, that he looked 
 upon the Romish church, with all its errors, as more pure, 
 more holy, and preferable upon the whole to those Pro- 
 testant churches which were not subject to the jurisdiction 
 of bishops. By these his unpopular sentiments and vio- 
 lent measures, Laud drew an odium on the king, on 
 himself, and on the episcopal order in general. Hence, 
 in 1644, he was brought before the public tribunals of 
 justice, declared guilty of high treason, and condemned 
 to lose his head on a scaffold; which sentence was 
 accordingly executed. 
 
 After the death of Laud, the dissensions that had reign- 
 ed for a long time between the king and parliament, grew 
 still more violent, and rose at length to so great a height, 
 that they could not be extinguished but by the blood of 
 that excellent prince. The great council of the nation, 
 heated by the violent suggestions of the Puritans and Inde- 
 pendents,: abolished episcopal government; condemned 
 and abrogated every thing in the ecclesiastical establish- 
 ment that was contrary to the doctrine, worship, and dis- 
 cipline of the church of Geneva; turned the vehemence 
 of their opposition against the king himself, and, having 
 brought him into their power by the fate of arms, accused 
 him of treason against. the majesty of the nation ; and, in 
 1649, while the eyes of Europe were fixed with astonish- 
 ment on this strange spectacle, ordered him to be decapi- 
 tated on a public scaffold. Such are the calamities that 
 flow from religious zeal without knowledge, from that 
 enthusiasm and bigotry which inspire a blind and im- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. IL 
 
 moderate attachment to the external unessential parts of 
 religion, and to certain doctrines ill-understood! ‘These 
 broils and tumults tended also unhappily to confirm the 
 truth of an observation often made, that all religious sects, 
 while they are kept under and oppressed, are remarkable 
 for inculcating the duties of moderation, forbearance, and 
 charity toward those who dissent from them; but, as 
 soon as the scenes of persecution are removed, and they 
 in their turn arrive at power and pre eminence, they for- 
 get their own precepts and maxims, and leave both the 
 recommendation and practice of charity to those who 
 groan under their yoke. Such, in reality, was the be 
 haviour of the Puritans during their transitory exaltation ; 
 they showed as little clemency and equity to the bishops 
 and other patrons of episcopacy, as they had received 
 from them when the reins of government were in their 
 hands.» 
 
 XXI. The Independents, who have been just men- 
 tioned among the promoters of civil discord in England, 
 are generally represented by the British writersin a much 
 worse light than the Presbyterians or Calvinists. They 
 are commonly accused of various enormities, and they 
 are even charged with the crime of parricide, as having 
 borne a principal part in the death of the king. But who- 
 ever will be at the pains of examining, with impartiality 
 and attention, the writings of that sect, and their confes- 
 sion of faith, must soon perceive, that many crimes have 
 been imputed to them without foundation, and will prob- 
 ably be induced to think, that the bold attempts of the 
 civil Independents (i.e. of those warm republicans who 
 were the declared enemies of monarchy, and wished to 
 extend the liberty of the people beyond all bounds of wis- 
 dom and prudence) have been unjustly laid to the charge 
 of those independents whose principles were merely of a 
 religious kind.s 'The religious Independents derived their 
 
 that, without enlarging the sense of the articles, the Arminians could 
 not subscribe them consistently with their opinions, or without violating 
 the demands of common candour and sincerity. See Burnet’s remarks 
 on the examination of his exposition, &c. p. 3. 
 
 This renders it probable, that fhe declaration now mentioned (in 
 which we see no royal signature, no attestation of any officer of the 
 crown, no date. in short, no mark to show where, when, or by what 
 authority it was issued out) was not composed in the reign of king 
 Charles. Burnet, indeed, was of opinion, that it was composed in that 
 reign to support the Arminians, who, when they were charged with 
 departing from the true sense of the articles, answered, ‘‘that they took 
 the articles in their literal and grammatical sense, and therefore did not 
 prevaricate.” But this reasoning does not appear conclusive to the 
 acute and learned author of the Confessional. He thinks it more pro- 
 bable that the declaration was composed, and first published, in the lat- 
 ter part of king James’ reign; for though, says he, there be no evidence 
 that James ever turned Arminian in principle, yet this was the party 
 that adhered to him in his measures, and which it became necessary for 
 him on that account to humour, and to render respectable in the eyes of 
 the people by every expedient that might not bring any reflection on his 
 own consistency. ‘And whoever (continues this author) considers the 
 quibbling and equivocal terms in which this instrument is drawn, will, I 
 am persuaded, observe the distress of a man divided between his prin- 
 ciples and his interests, that is, of a man exactly in the situation of king 
 James I. in the three Jast years of his reign.” It is likely then, that 
 this declaration was only republished at the head of the articles, which 
 were reprinted by the order of Charles I. 
 
 @ The origin of this sect has been already mentioned. 
 
 » Beside Clarendon and the other writers of English history already 
 mentioned, see Neal’s History of the Puritans, vol. 1i. and iii. 
 
 * This sect is of recent date, and still subsists in England; there is, 
 nevertheless, not one, either of the ancient or modern sects of Christians, 
 
 that is less known, or has been more loaded with groundless aspersions | 
 
 and reproaches. ‘The most eminent English writers, not only among 
 the patrons of episcopacy, but even among those very presbyterians 
 
 with whom those sectaries are now united, have thrown out against | 
 «hem the bitterest accusations and severest invectives that the warmest | 
 
 indignation could invent. They have not only been represented as 
 
 delirious, mad, fanatical, illiterate, factious, and ignorant both of natural 
 and revealed religion, but also as abandoned to all kinds of wickedness 
 and sedition, and as the only authors of the odious parricide committed 
 on the person of Charles I.* And as the writers who have given these 
 representations, are considered by foreigners as the best and most authen- 
 tic narrators of the transactions that passed in their own country, and 
 are therefore followed as the surest guides, the Independents appear, 
 almost every where, under the most unfavourable aspect. It must 
 indeed be candidly acknowledged, that, as every class and order of 
 men consist of persons of very different characters and qualities, the 
 independent sect has been likewise dishonoured by several turbulent, 
 factious, profligate, and flagitious members. But if it be a constant 
 maxim with the wise and prudent, not to judge of the ‘spirit and princi- 
 ples of a sect from the actions or expressions of a handful of its mem- 
 bers, but from the manners, customs, opinions, and behaviour of the 
 generality of those who compose it, from the writings and discourses of 
 its learned men, and from its public and avowed forms of doctrine, and 
 confessions of faith, I make no doubt that, by this rule of estimating 
 matters, the Independents will appear to have been unjustly loaded with 
 so many accusations and reproaches. 
 
 ‘We shall take no notice of the invidious and severe animadversions 
 that have been made upon this religious community by Clarendon, 
 Echard, Parker, and so many other writers. To set this whole matter 
 in the clearest and most impartial light, we shall confine ourselves to 
 the account of the Independents given by a writer, justly celebrated by 
 the English themselves, and who, though a foreigner, is generally sup- 
 posed to have had an accurate knowledge of the Brjtish nation, its his- 
 tory, parties, sects, and revolutions. This writer is mea de 'Thoyras, 
 who, (in the twenty-first book of his History of England) represents the 
 Independents under such horrid colours, that, were his portrait just they 
 
 * Dare (whom nevertheless Louis de Moulin, the most zealous de- 
 fender of the Independents, commends on account of his ingenuity and 
 candour,) in his Historia Rituum Sancte Ecclesie Anglicane, c. 1. p. 4, 
 expresses himself thus: ‘‘Fateor, si atrocis illius tragediz tot actus 
 fuerint, quot ludicrarum esse solent, postremum fere Independentium 
 fuisse ;---adeo ut non acute magis, quam vere, dixerit L’Estrangius nos- 
 ter, Regem primo 4 Presbyterianis interemtum, Carolum deinde ab 
 Independentibus interfectum, 
 
Part II. 
 
 denomination from the following principle, which they 
 held in common with the Brownists; that every 
 
 would not deserve to enjoy the light of the sun, or to breathe the free air 
 of Britain, much less to be treated with indulgence and esteem by those 
 who have the cause of virtue at heart. Let us now examine the ac- 
 count which this illustrious historian gives of this sect. He declares, in 
 the first place, that, notwithstanding all the pains he had taken to trace 
 out the true origin of it, his inquiries had been entirely fruitless; his 
 words may be thus translated: ‘After all my researches, I have not 
 been able to discover, precisely, the origin of the Independent sect, or 
 faction.” It is very surprising to hear a man of learning, who had 
 “a pat dd seventeen years in composing the History of England, and 
 had admittance to so many rich and famous libraries, express his igno- 
 rance of a matter, about which it was so easy to acquire ample informa- 
 tion. Had he only looked into the work of the learned Hornbeck, 
 entituled, Summa Controversiarum, lib. x. p. 775, he would have found, 
 in a moment, what he had been so long and so laboriously seeking in 
 vain.» Rapin proceeds to the doctrines and opinions of the Independents, 
 and begins this part of his work by a general declaration of their ten- 
 dency to throw the nation into disorder andcombustion. He says, “It is 
 at least certain, that their principles were* very proper to put the king- 
 dom in a flame; and this hey did effectually.” hat truth may be in 
 this assertion, will be seen by what follows. Their sentiments con- 
 cerning government were, if we are to believe this writer, of the most 
 pernicious kind, since, according to him, they wanted to overturn the 
 monarchy, and to establish a democracy in its place: his words are, 
 “With regard to the state, they abhorred monarchy, and approved only 
 a republican government.” I will not pretend to deny, that there were 
 among the Independents several persons who were unfriendly to a 
 kingly government; persons of this kind were to be found among the 
 Presbyterians, Anabaptists, and all the other religious sects and com- 
 munities that flourished in England during this tumultuous period ; but 
 I want to see it proved, in an evident and satisfactory manner, that 
 these republican principles were embraced by all the Independents, 
 and formed one of the distinguishing characteristics of that sect. 
 There is, at least, no such thing to be found in their public writings. 
 They declared, on the contrary, in a public memorial drawn up by 
 them in 1647, that, as magistracy in general is the ordinance of God, 
 “they do not disapprove any form of civil government, but do freely 
 acknowledge, that a kingly government, bounden by just and whole- 
 some laws, is both allowed by God, and also a good accommodation 
 unto men.” I omit the mention of several other circumstances which 
 unite to prove that the Independents were far from looking with abhor- 
 rence‘on a monarchical government. 
 
 Their sentiments of religion, according to Rapin, were highly ab- 
 surd, since he represents their principles as entirely opposite to those of 
 all other religious communities: “ As to religion, (says he,) their princi- 
 ples werecontrary tothose of all the rest of the world.” With respect to this 
 accusation, it may be proper to observe, that there are extant two Confes- 
 sions of Faith, one of the English Independents in Holland, and ano- 
 ther drawn up by the principal members of that community in England. 
 The former was composed by John Robinson, the founder of the sect, 
 and was published at Leyden in 1619, under the following title: 
 “ Apologia pro Exulibus Anglis, qui Browniste vulgo appellantur :” 
 the latter appeared at London, for the first time, in 1658, and was thus 
 entitled: “A declaration of the Faith and Order owned and practised in 
 the Congregational churches in England, agreed upon, and consented 
 unto by their elders and messengers, in their meeting at the Savoy, 
 October 12, 1658. Hornbeck gave, in 1659, a Latin translation of this 
 Declaration, and subjoined it to his Epistole ad Dureum de Indepen- 
 dentismo. It appears evidently from these two public and authentic 
 pieces not to mention other writings of the Independents, that they 
 differed from the presbyterians or calvinists in no single point of any 
 consequence, except that of ecclesiastical government. To put this 
 matter beyond all doubt, we have only to attend to the following pas- 
 sage in Robinson’s Apology for the English Exiles, p. 7, 11, where 
 that founder of the Independent sect expresses his own private senti- 
 ments, and those of his community, in the plainest manner: “ Profite- 
 mur coram Deo et hominibus, adeo nobis convenire cum ecclesiis refor- 
 matis Belgicis in re religionis, ut omnibus et singulis earundem ecclesi- 
 arum fidei articulis, pos habentur in harmonia confessionum fidei, 
 gales simus subscribere.—Ecclesias reformatas pro veris et genuinis 
 
 abemus, cum iisdem in sacris Dei communionem profitemur, et, quan- 
 tum in nobis est, colimus.” It clearly appears from this declaration, 
 that, instead of differing totally from all other Christian societies, it may 
 rather be said >f the Independents, that they perfectly agreed with the 
 far greater part of the reformed churches. esto, as he imagines, 
 by a striking example, the absurdity of their religion and worship, our 
 eminent historian tells us, that they not only reject all kind of pig a3 
 tical government, but, moreover, allow all their members promiscuously, 
 and without exception, to perform in public the pastoral functions, i. e. 
 to preach, pray, and expound the Scriptures; his words are, “ The 
 were not only averse to episcopacy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy,” 
 this charge is true, but it may equally be brought against the Presbyte- 
 rians, Brownists, Anabaptists, and all the various sects of Non-confor- 
 mists,) “ but they would not so much as endure ordinary ministers in the 
 
 No. LII. 154 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 613 
 
 | Christian congregation ought to be governed by its wn 
 laws, without depending on the jurisdiction of bist ops, 
 
 church. They maintained, that every man might pray in public, ex- 
 hort his brethren, and interpret the Scriptures, according to the talents 
 with which God had endowed him. So with them every one preached, 
 prayed, admonished, interpreted the Scriptures, without any other cali 
 than what he himself drew from his zeal and supposed gifts, and with- 
 out any other authority than the approbation of his auditors.” This 
 whole charge is evidently false and groundless. The Independents 
 have, and always have had, fixed and regular ministers, approved by 
 their people; nor do they allow to teach in public every person who 
 thinks himself qualified for that important office, The celebrated histo- 
 rian has here confounded the Independents with the Brownists, who, as 
 is wel! known, permitted all to pray and preach in public without dis- 
 tinction. We shall not enlarge upon the other mistakes into which he 
 has fallen on this subject; but only observe, that if so eminent a writer, 
 and one so well acquainted with the English nation, has pronounced 
 such an unjust sentence against this sect, we may the more easily 
 excuse an inferior set of authors, who have loaded them with groundless 
 accusations. 
 
 It will, however, be alleged, that, whatever may have been the reli- 
 gious sentiments and discipline of the Independents, innumerable testi- 
 monies concur in proving, that they were chargeable with the death of 
 Charles I. and many will consider this single circumstance as a suffi- 
 cient demonstration of the impiety and depravity of the whole sect. I 
 am well aware, indeed, that many of the most eminent and respectable 
 English writers have given the Independents the denomination of Regi- 
 cides; and if, by the term Indepencents, they mean those licentious 
 republicans, whose dislike of a monarchical form of government carried 
 them to the most pernicious and extrévagant lengths, I grant that this 
 denomination is well applied. But if, by this term, we are to understand 
 a religious sect, the ancestors of those who still bear the same title in 
 England, it appears very questionable to me, whether the unhappy fate 
 of the worthy prince above-mentioned ought to be imputed entirely to 
 that set of men. They who affirm that the Independents were the only 
 authors of the death of king Charles, must mean one of these two things, 
 either that the regicides were animated and set on by the seditious doc- 
 trines of that sect, and the violent suggestions of its members, or that all 
 who were concerned in this atrocious deed were themselves Indepen- 
 dents, zealously attached to the religious community now under consider- 
 ation. Now it may be proved with the clearest evidence, that neither 
 was the case. There is nothing in the doctrines of this sect, so far 
 as they are known to me, that seems in the least adapted to excite men 
 to such a horrid deed; nor does it appear from the history of those 
 times, that the Independents were a whit more exasperated against 
 Charles, than were the Presbyterians. And as to the latter supposition, 
 it is far from being true, that all those who were concerned in bringing 
 this unfortunate prince to the scaffold were Independents, since we learn 
 from the best English writers, and from the public declarations of 
 Charles II., that this violent faction was composed of persons of diffe- 
 rent sects. That there were Independents among them may be cin 
 conceived. After all, this matter willbe best unravelled by the English 
 writers, who know best in what sense the term is used, when it is 
 applied to those who brought Charles I. to the block.t , 
 
 On inquiring, with particular attention, into the causes of the odium 
 that has been cast upon the Independents, and of the heavy accusations 
 
 + Tout-a-fait propres & mettre l’Angleterre en combustion. 
 
 =¢> * Dr. Mosheim’s defence of the Independents is certainly specious ; 
 but he has not sufficiently distinguished the times; and he has, perhaps, 
 in defending them, strained too far that equitable principle, that we 
 must not impute to a sect any principles that are not contained in, or 
 deducible from, their religious system. This maxim does not entirely 
 answer here the purpose to which it is applied. The religious system of 
 a sect may be in itself pacific and innocent, while incidental circumstan- 
 ces, or certain associations of ideas, may render that sect more turbulent 
 and restless than others, or at least involve it in political factions and 
 broils. Such perhaps was the case of the Independents at certain 
 
 eriods, and more especially at the period now under consideration, 
 hen we consider hee religious form of government, we shall see 
 evidently, that a principle of analogy (which influences the sentiments 
 and imaginations of men much more than is generally supposed) must 
 naturally have led the greatest part of them to republican notions of 
 civil government; and it is farther to be observed, that, from a republican 
 government, they must have expected much more protection and favour, 
 than from a kingly one. When these two points are considered, to- 
 gether with their situation under the reign of Charles I. when the 
 government was unhinged, when affairs were in great confusion, when 
 the minds of men were suspended upon the issue of the national troubles, 
 and when the eager spirit of party, nourished by hope, made each fac- 
 tion expect that the chaos would end in some settled system, favourable 
 to their respective views, sentiments, and passions; we may be induced 
 to think, that the Independents, at that time, were much more tumultu- 
 ous and republican than the sect which bears that denomination In our 
 times. The reader who would form just ideas of the matter of fact, 
 must examine the relations given by the writers of both parties, See 
 particularly the histories of Clarendon, Neal, Burnet, am\ Hume, 
 
614 
 
 or being subject to the authority of synods, presbyteries, 
 or any ecclesiastical assembly composed of the deputies 
 from different churches.* It is in this their notion of ec- 
 clesiastical government, that the difference, between them 
 and the Presbyterians, principally consists; for their re- 
 ligious doctrines, if we except some points of very little 
 moment, are almost entirely the same with those of the 
 church of Geneva. The founder of this sect was John 
 Robinson, a man who had much of the solemn piety of 
 the times, and was master of a congregation of Brown- 
 ists that had settled at Leyden. This well-meaning man, 
 perceiving the defects that reigned in the discipline of 
 Brown, and in the spirit and temper of his followers, 
 employed his zeal and diligence in correcting them, and 
 in modelling anew the society, in such a manner as to ren- 
 der it less odious to its adversaries, and less liable to the 
 cust censure of those true Christians, who looked upon 
 charity as the end of the commandment. ‘The Inde- 
 pendents, accordingly, were much more commendable 
 than the Brownists in two respects. hey surpassed them 
 both in the moderation of their sentiments, and the order 
 of their discipline. ‘They did not, like Brown, pour forth 
 bitter and uncharitable invectives against the churches | 
 that were governed “by rules entirely different from 
 theirs, nor pronounce them, on that account, unworthy 
 of the Christian name. On the contrary, though they 
 considered their own form of ecclesiastical government as 
 of divine institution, and as originally introduced by the 
 authority of the apostles, or by the apostles themselves, 
 yet they had candour and charity enough to acknowledge 
 that true religion and solid piety might flourish in those 
 communities, which were under the jurisdiction of bishops, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 or the government of synods and presbyteries. They 
 were also much more attentive than the Brownists to the 
 establishment of a regular ministry in their communities ; 
 for, while the latter allowed promiscuously all ranks and 
 orders of men to teach in public, and to perform the other 
 pastoral functions, the Independents had, and still have, 
 a certain number of ininisters, chosen respectively by the 
 congregations where they are fixed; nor is any person 
 among them permitted to speak in public, before he has 
 submitted to a proper examination of his capacity and ta- 
 lents, and has been approved by the heads of the congre 
 gation. ‘This community, which was originally formed 
 in Holland in 1610, made at first but a very small pro- 
 gress in England ;» it worked its way slowly, and in a 
 clandestine manner; and its members concealed their 
 principles from public view, to avoid the penal laws that 
 had been enacted against Non-conformists. But during 
 the reign of Charles I., when, amidst the shocks of civil 
 and religious discord, the authority of the bishops and the 
 cause of episcopacy began to decline, and more particular- 
 ly about the year 1640, the Independents became more 
 courageous, and came forth, with an air of resolution and 
 confidence, to public view. After this period, their affairs 
 took a prosperous turn; and, in a little time, they became 
 so considerable, both by their numbers, and by the repu- 
 tation they acquired, that they vied in point of pre-emi- 
 nence and credit, not only with the bishops, but also with 
 the Presbyterians, while these were in the very zenith of 
 their power. ‘This rapid progressof the Independents, no 
 doubt, arose froma variety of causes; among which jus- 
 tice obliges us to reckon the learning of their teachers, 
 and the regularity and sanctity of their manners... Dur- 
 
 and severe invectives with which they have been loaded, I was more 
 peculiarly struck with the three following considerations, which will 
 perhaps furnish a satisfactory account of this matter. In the first place, 
 the denomination is ambiguous, and is not peculiar to any one distinct 
 order of men. For, not to enumerate the other notions that have been 
 annexed to this term, it 1s sufficient to observe, that it is used sometimes 
 by the English writers to denote those who aim at the establishment of a 
 purely democratical or popular government, in which the body of the 
 people is clothed with the supreme dominion. Such a faction there was 
 in England, composed, in a great measure, of persons of an enthusiasti- 
 cal character and complexion; and to it, no doubt, we are to ascribe 
 those scenes of sedition and misery, whose effects are still justly 
 lamented. The violence and folly that dishonoured the proceedings of 
 this tumultuous faction have been, if I mistake not, too rashly imputed 
 to the religious Independents now under consideration, who, with all 
 their defects, were a much better sect of men than the party now men- 
 tioned. It may be observed, secondly, that almost all the religious 
 sects, which divided the English nation in the reign of Charles I. and 
 more especially under the administration of Cromwell, assumed the 
 denomination of Independents, in order to screen themselves from the | 
 reproaches of the public, and.to share a part of that popular esteem 
 which the true and genuine Independents had acquired, on account of 
 the regularity of their lives, and the sanctity of their manners. This 
 is confirmed, among other testimonies, by the following passage of a 
 letter from Toland to Le Clerc. ‘“ Au commencement tous les sectaires 
 se disoient Independans, parce que ces derniers etoient fort honorés du 
 
 euple & cause de leur pieté.” See Le Clerc’s Biblioth. Univers. et 
 Pristor. tom. xxiil. p. il. p. 506. As this title was of a very extensive 
 signification, and of great latitude, it might thus easily happen, that all 
 the enormities of the various sects that sheltered themselves under it, 
 and several of which were but of short duration, might unluckily be laid 
 to the charge of the true Independents. But it must be particularly 
 remarked, in the third place, that the usurper Cromwell preferred the 
 Independents to all other religious communities. He looked, with an 
 equal eye of suspicion and fear, upon the presbyterian synods and the 
 episcopal visitations; every thing that looked like an extensive au- 
 thority, whether it was of a civil or religious nature, excited uneasy 
 apprehensions in the breast of the tyrant; but, in the limited and simple 
 form of ecclesiastical discipline that was adopted by the Independents, 
 
 he saw nothing that was calculated to alarm his fears. This circum- 
 stance was sufficient to render the Independents odious in the eyes of 
 many, who would be naturally disposed to extend their abhorrence of | 
 
 Cromwell to those who were the objects of his favour and protection. 
 
 2 'The Independents were undoubtedly so called from their main- 
 taining that all Christian congregations were so many independent 
 religious societies, which had a right to be governed by their own laws, 
 without being subject to any ulterior or foreign jurisdiction. Robinson, 
 the founder of the sect, makes express use of this term in explaining his 
 doctrine relating to ecclesiastical government; ‘‘ Ceetum quemlibet par- 
 ticularem (says he, in his Apologia, cap. v. p. 22,) esse totam, integram, 
 et perfectam ecclesiam ex suis partibus constantem, immediate et 7n- 
 dependenter (quoad alias ecclesias) sub ipso Christo.” It may possibly 
 have been from this very passage that the title of Independent was 
 originally derived. The disciples of Robinson did not reject it; nor 
 indeed is there any thing shocking in the title, when it is understood 
 in a manner conformable to the sentiments of those to whom it is ap- 
 plied. It was certainly utterly unknown in England before the year 
 1640; at least it is not once mentioned in the ecclesiastical canons and 
 constitutions that were drawn up, during that year, in the synods or 
 visitations holden by the archbishops of Canterbury, York, and other 
 prelates, in which canons all the various sects that then existed in Eng- 
 land are particularly mentioned. See Wilkins’ Concilia Magne Bri- 
 tanniz et Hiberniz, vol. iv. cap. v. p. 548, where are the “ constitutions 
 and canons ecclesiastical treated upon by the archbishops of Canterbury 
 and York, and the rest of the bishops and clergy, in their several synods.” 
 An. mpcxu. It is true, that not long after this period, and more parti- 
 cularly from the year 1642, we find this denomination very frequently 
 in the English annals. The English Independents were so far from 
 being displeased with it, that they assumed it publicly in a piece they 
 published in their own defence in 1644, under the following title; Apo- 
 logetical Narration of the Independents. But when, in process of time, 
 a great variety of sects, as has been already observed, sheltered them- 
 selves under the cover of this extensive denomination, and even seditious 
 subjects, who aimed at nothing less than the death of their sovereign 
 and the destruction of the government, employed it as a mask to hide. 
 their deformity, then the true and genuine Independents renounced this 
 title, and substituted a less odious appellation for it, calling themselves 
 Congregational Brethren, and their religious assemblies Congrega- 
 tional Churches. 
 
 34p > In 1616, Mr. Jacob, who had adopted the religious sentiments 
 of Robinson, set up the first Independent or Congregational church in 
 
 Eneland. 
 
 ° Neal’s History, vol. ii. p. 107, 393; vol. vill. p. 141, 276, 203, 437, 
 549. See also Bohm’s Englische Reformations-Historie, p. 794. 
 
 ———— 
 
Part IL. 
 
 ing the administration of Cromwell, whose peculiar pro- 
 tection and patronage they enjoyed on more than one ac- 
 count, their credit rose to the greatest height, and their 
 influence and reputation were almost universal ; but, after 
 the Restoration, their cause declined, and they fell back 
 gradually into their primitive obscurity. "The sect, in- 
 deed, still subsisted, but in such a state of dejection and 
 weakness, as engaged them in 1691, under the govern- 
 mentof King William, to enter into an association with 
 the Presbyterians residing in and about London, under 
 certain heads of agreement, that tended to the mainte- 
 nance of their respective institutions. 
 
 XX. While Oliver Cromwell held the reins of go- 
 vernment in Great-Britain, all sects, even those that disho- 
 poured true religion in the most shocking manner by their 
 fanaticism or their ignorance, enjoyed a full and unbound- 
 ed liberty of professing publicly their respective doctrines. 
 The Episcopalians alone were excepted from this tolera- 
 tion, and received the most severe and iniquitous treat- 
 ment. The bishops were deprived of their dignities and 
 revenues, and felt, in a particular manner, the heavy 
 hand of oppression. But, though toleration was extend- 
 ed to all other sects and religious communities, yet the 
 Presbyterians and ludependents were treated with pecu- 
 liar marks of distinction and favour. Cromwell, though 
 attached to no one paricuiar sect, gave to the latter extraor- 
 dinary proofs of his good-wiil, and augmented their credit 
 and authority, as this seemed the easiest and least exas- 
 
 * From this time they were callea United Brethren. The heads of 
 agreement that formed and cemenited this union are to be found in the 
 second volume of Whiston’s Memoirs of his Life and Writings; and 
 they consist of nine articles. The first relates to “ Churches and Church 
 Members,” in which the United Ministers, Presbyterians and Inde- 
 
 endents, declare, among other things, “That each particular church 
 Gath a right to choose its own officers, and, being furnished with such 
 _as are duly qualified and ordained according to the Gospel rule, hath 
 authority from Christ for exercising government and enjoying all the 
 ordinances of worship within itself: that, in the administration of 
 ehurch-power, it belongs to the pastors and other elders of every parti- 
 evlar church (if such there be) to rule and govern, and to the brother- 
 tiood to consent, according to the rule of the Gospel.” In this both 
 Presbyterians and Independents depart from the primitive principles of 
 their respective institutions. Article II. relates to “the Ministry,” 
 ‘shich they grant to have been instituted by Jesus Christ, “for the 
 gathering, guiding, edifying, and governing of his church.” In this 
 article it is farther observed, “that ministers ought to be endued with 
 competent learning, sound judgment, and solid piety; that none are to 
 he ordained to the work of the ministry, but such as are chosen and 
 exiled thereunto by a particular church ;” that, in such a weighty matter, 
 “it is ordinarily requisite, that every such church consult and advise 
 with the pastors of neighbouring congregations: and that, after such 
 advice, the person thus consulted about, being chosen by the brotherhood 
 of that particular church, be duly ordained and _ set apart to his office 
 over them.” Article IIL relates to “ Censures,” and prescribes, first, 
 the admonishing, and, if this prove ineffectual, the excommunication of 
 offending and scandalous members, to be performed by the pastors, with 
 the consent of the brethren. Article IV. concerning the “ Communion 
 of Churches,” lays it down as a principle, that there is no subordination 
 between particular churches: that they are all equal, and consequently 
 independent ; that the pastors, however, of these churches “ ought to have 
 frequent meetings, that, by mutual advice, support, encouragement, and 
 drotherly intercourse, they may strengthen the hearts and hands of each 
 other in the ways of the Lord.” In Article V. which relates to * Dea- 
 cons and Ruling Elders,” the United Brethren acknowledge, that, “ the 
 office of a deacon is of divine appointment, and that it belongs to his 
 office to receive, lay out, and distrituce, the stock of the church to its 
 
 roper uses ;” and as there are different sentiments about the office of 
 Roline Elders, who labour not in word ana doctrine, they agree that 
 this difference makes no breach among them. In Article VI. concern- 
 ing “ Occasional Meetings of Ministers” Ac. the brethren agree, that 
 it is needful, in weighty and difficult cases. %.at the ministers of several 
 churches meet together, ‘tin order to de conzulted and advised with 
 about such matters ;” and that parucular ciscches ‘ ought to have a 
 reverential regard to their judgment so given, and not dissent therefrom 
 without apparent grounds from ihe word of God.” Article VII. which 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 615 
 
 perating method of setting bounds to the ambition of the 
 Presbyterians, who aimed at a very high degree of eccle- 
 siastical power.” It was during this period of religious anar- 
 chy, that the Fifth-Monarchy-Men arose—a set of wrong- 
 headed and turbulent enthusiasts, who expected Christ’s 
 sudden appearance upon earth to establish a new kingdom, 
 and, acting in consequence of this illusion, aimed at the sub- 
 version of all human government, and were for turning 
 all things into the most deplorable confusion.: It was at 
 this time also, that the Quakers, of whom we propose to 
 give a more particular account,* and the hot-headed Ana- 
 baptists,* propagated, without restraint, their visionary doc- 
 trines. It must likewise be observed, that the Deists, 
 headed by Sidney, Neville, Martin, and Harrington, ap- 
 peared with impunity, and promoted a kind of religion, 
 which consisted in a few plain precepts, drawn from the 
 dictates of natural reason.‘ 
 
 XXII. Among the various religious factions that 
 sprang up in England during this period of confusion 
 and anarchy, we may reckon a certain sect of Presbyte- 
 rians, who were called by their adversaries Antinomians, 
 or enemies of the law, and still subsist even in our times. 
 The Antinomians are a more rigid kind of Calvinists, 
 who pervert Calvin’s doctrine of absolute decrees to the 
 worst purposes, by drawing from it conclusions highly 
 detrimental to the interests of true religion and virtue. 
 Such is the judgment that the other Presbyterian com- 
 munities form of this perverse and extravagant sect.s 
 
 relates to “the Demeanour of the Brethern towards the Civil Magis- 
 trate,” prescribes obedience to, and prayers for God’s protection and 
 blessing upon, their rulers. In Article VII. which relates to a ‘‘ Con- 
 fession of Faith,” the brethren esteem it sufficient, that a church acknow- 
 ledge the Scriptures to be the word of God, the perfect and only rule of 
 faith and practice, and ‘ own either the doctrinal part of the articles of 
 the church of England,” or the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, 
 drawn up by the Presbyterians, or the Confession of the Congregational 
 Brethren (i. e. the Independents) to be agreeable to the said rule. 
 Article [X. which concerns the “ duty and deportment of the Brethren 
 towards those who are not in communion with them,” inculcates charity 
 and moderation. It appears from these articles, that the Independents 
 were led by a kind of necessity to adopt, in many things, the sentiments 
 of the Presbyterians, and to depart thus far from the original principles 
 of their sect. 
 
 2% » Soon after Cromwell’s elevation, it was resolved by the parlia- 
 ment, at the conclusion of a debate concerning public worship and church- 
 government, that the Presbyterian system should be the established 
 government, ‘The Independents had not yet agreed upon any standard 
 of faith and discipline ; and it was only a little before Cromwell’s death 
 that they held a synod, by his permission, in order to publish to the 
 world an uniform account of their doctrine and principles. 
 
 ¢ See Burnet’s History of his own Time, vol. i. p. 67. 
 
 4 See the History of the Quakers, in the present volume. 
 
 x= ° We are not to imagine, by the term hot-headed, (furios?,) that 
 the Anabaptists resembled the furious fanatics of that name who for- 
 merly excited such dreadful tumults in Germany, and more especially 
 at Munster. This was by no means the ease; the English Anabap- 
 tists differed from their Protestant brethren about the subject and mode 
 of baptism alone, confining the former to grown Christians, and the 
 latter to immersion, or dipping. ‘They were divided into Generals and 
 Particulars, from their different sentiments upon the Arminian contro- 
 versy. ‘The latter, who were so called from their belief of the doctrines of 
 particular election, redemption, &c. were strict Calvinists, who separa- 
 ted from the Independent congregation at Leyden in 1638. Their con- 
 fession was composed with a remarkable spirit of modesty and charity. 
 Their preachers were generally illiterate, and were eager in making 
 proselytes of all that would submit to their immersion, without a due 
 regard to their religious principles, or their moral characters. The 
 writers of these times represent them as tinctured with a kind of enthu- 
 siastic fury against all that opposed them. There were, hd ale 
 
 | among them some learned and pious persons, who highly disapprove 
 
 all violent and uncharitable proceedings. 
 
 f Neal’s History, vol. iv. p. 87. 
 
 € See Toland’s Letters to Le Clerc, in the periodical work of the 
 latter, entitled, Bibliotheque Universelle et Historique, fom. xxiii. p, 505 + 
 and also Hornbeck’s Summa Controversiarum, p. $00, 812. 
 
616 
 
 Several of the Antincmians (for they are not all precisely 
 of the same mind) look upon it as unnecessary for Chris- 
 ‘ian ministers to exhort their flock to a virtuous practice, 
 and a pious obedience to the divine law, “since they whom 
 God has elected to salvation, by an eternal and immutable 
 decree, will, by the irresistible impulse of divine grace, be 
 led to the practice of piety and virtue; while those who 
 are doomed by a divine decree to eternal punishment, 
 will never be engaged, by any exhortations or admonitions, 
 how affecting soever they may be, to a virtuous course ; 
 nor have they it in their power to obey the divine law, 
 when the succours of divine grace are withholden from 
 them.” From these principles they concluded, that the 
 niinisters of the Gospel discharged sufficiently their pas- 
 tcral functions, when they inculcated the necessity of faith 
 in Christ, and proclaimed to their people the blessings of 
 the new covenant. Another, and a still more hideous 
 form of Antinomianism, is that which is exhibited in the 
 opinions of other doctors of that sect,s who maintain, 
 “That, as the elect cannot fall from grace or forfeit the 
 divine favour, the wicked actions they commit, and the 
 violations of the divine law with which they are charge- 
 able, are not really sinful, nor are to be considered as in- 
 stances of their departing from the law of God; and, 
 consequently, they have no occasion either to confess 
 their sins or to break them off by repentance. ‘Thus adul- 
 tery, for example, in one of the elect, though it may ap- 
 pear sinful in the sight of men, and be considered uni- 
 versally as an enormous violation of the divine law, yet is 
 not asin in the sight of God, because it is one of the 
 essential and distinctive characters of the elect, that they 
 cannot do any thing which is either displeasing to God, 
 cr prohibited by the law.”> 
 
 XXIV. The public calamities, that flowed from these 
 vehement and uncharitable disputes about religion, afflict- 
 ed all wise and good men, and engaged several who were 
 not less eminent for their piety than for their moderation 
 and wisdom, to seek some method of uniting such of the 
 contending parties as were capable of listening to the dic- 
 rates of charity and reason, or at least of calming their ani- 
 mosities, and persuading them to mutual forbearance. 
 ‘These pacific doctors offered themselves as mediators be- 
 tween the more violent Episcopalians on the one hand, 
 and the more rigid Presbyterians and Independents on 
 the other; and hoped that, when their differences were 
 accommodated, the minor factions would fall of them- 
 selves. ‘The contests that reigned between the former 
 turned partly on the forms of church government and 
 public worship, and partly on certain religious tenets, 
 more especially those that were debated between the Ar- 
 minians and Calvinists. 'T’o lessen the breach that kept 
 
 3+ ° This second Antinomian hypothesis has certainly a still more 
 odious aspect than the first; and it is therefore surprising that our author 
 should use, in the original, these terms; Alii tantum statuwnt, Elec- 
 tos, gc. 
 
 » There is an account of the other tenets of the Antinomians, and of 
 the modern disputes that were occasioned by the publication of the post- 
 humous works of Crisp, a flaming doctor of that extravagant and per- 
 nicious sect, given by Pierre Frangois le Courayer, in his Examen des 
 Defauts Theologiques, tom. ii. p. 198. Baxter and Tillotson distin- 
 guished themselves by their zeal against the Antinomians; and they 
 were also completely refuted by Dr. Williams, in his famous book, 
 entitled, Gospel Truth Stated and Vindicated. 3% I have been inform- 
 ed, since the first edition of this history was published, that the book 
 ertitled Examen des Defauts Theologiques, which our author supposes 
 xo have been written by Dr. Courayer, is the production of another 
 pen. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 these two great communities at such a distance from each * 
 other, the arbitrators, already mentioned, endeavoured to 
 draw them out of their narrow enclosures, to render their 
 charity more extensive, and widen the paths of salvation, 
 which bigotry and party-rage had been labouring to render 
 inaccessible to many good Christians. This noble and 
 truly evangelical method of proceeding procured to its au- 
 thors the denomination of Latitudinarians.: Their views, 
 indeed, were generous and extensive. They were zeal- 
 ously attached to the forms of ecclesiastical government 
 and worship that were established in the church of Eng- 
 land, and they recommended episcopacy with all the 
 strength and power of their eloquence ; but they did not 
 goso far as to look upon it as of divme institution, or as 
 absolutely and indispensably necessary to the constitu- 
 ition of a Christian church; and hence they maintained, 
 that those who followed other forms of government and 
 worship, were not, on that account, to be excluded from 
 their communion, or to forfeit the title of brethren. As 
 to the doctrinal part of religion, they took the system of 
 the famous Episcopius for their model; and, like him, 
 reduced the fundamental doctrines of Christianity (or 
 those doctrines, the belief of which is necessary to salva- 
 tion,) to a few points. By this manner of proceeding 
 they showed, that neither the Episcopalians, who, gene- 
 rally speaking, embraced the sentiments of the Arminians 
 nor the Presbyterians and Independents, who as gene- 
 rally adopted the doctrine of Calvin, had any reason tc 
 oppose each other with such animosity and_ bitterness 
 since the subjects of their debates were matters of an in 
 different nature, with respect to salvation, and might be 
 variously explained and understood, without any preju- 
 dice to their eternal interests. ‘lhe chief leaders of these 
 Latitudinarians were Hales and Chillingworth, whose 
 names are still pronounced in England with that vene- 
 ration which is due to distinguished wisdom and rational 
 piety. The respectable names of More, Cudworth, Gale, 
 Whichcot, and Tillotson, add a high degree of lustre to 
 this eminent list. "The undertaking of these great men, 
 was indeed bold and perilous; and it drew upon them 
 much opposition, and many bitter reproaches. ‘They re- 
 ceived, as the first fruits of their charitable zeal, the odi- 
 ous appellations of Atheists, Deists, and Socinians, both 
 from the Roman Catholics and the more rigid of the con- 
 tending protestant parties; but, on the restoration of 
 Charles II., they were raised to the first dignities of the 
 church, and were deservedly holden in general esteem. 
 Tt is also well known, that, even at the present time, the 
 church of England is chiefly governed by Latitudinari- 
 ans of this kind, though there be among both bishops 
 and clergy, from time to time, ecclesiastics who breathe 
 
 © See Burnet’s History of his own Time, vol. i. book ii. 
 
 4 The life of the ingenious and worthy Mr. Hales was composed in 
 English by M. Des-Maizeaux, and published at London in 1719; it 
 was considerably augmented in the Latin translation of it, which I pre- 
 fixed to the account of the synod of Dordrecht, drawn from the letters 
 of that great man, and published at Hamburg in 1724. A life of Mr. 
 Hales, written in French, is to be found in the first volume of the French 
 translation of Chillingworth’s Religion of Protestants, a safe Mies to 
 Salvation. The life of Chillingworth also was drawn up by Des- 
 Maizeaux in English: and a French translation of it appeared in 1730 
 at the head of the excellent book now mentioned, which was also trans- 
 lated into that language, and published at Amsterdam in 1730. Those 
 who are desirous of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the doctrines, 
 government, laws, and present state of the church of England, will do 
 well to read the history of these two men, and more especially togperuse 
 Chillingworth’s admirable book already mentioned. 
 
Part II. 
 
 the narrow and déspotic spirit of Laud, and who, in the 
 language of faction, are called High-Churchmen, or 
 Church-'Tories.* 
 
 XXYV. 
 throne of his ancestors, than the ancient forms of eccle- 
 siastical government and public worship were restored 
 with him, and the bishops reinstated in their dignities and 
 honours. The Non-conformists hoped, that they should 
 be allowed to share some part of the honours and revenues 
 of the church; but their expectations were totally disap- 
 pointed, and the face of aflairs changed very suddenly 
 with respect to them; for Charles subjected to the go- 
 vernment of bishops, not only the church of Ireland, but 
 also that of Scotland, a nation which was peculiarly 
 attached to the ecclesiastical discipline and polity of Ge- 
 neva; and, in 1662, a public law was enacted, by which 
 all who refused to observe the rites, and subscribe the 
 doctrines of the church of England, were entirely ex- 
 cluded from its communion.’ From this period until 
 the reign of William III. the Non-conformists were in a 
 precarious and changing situation, sometimes involved in 
 calamity and trouble, at others enjoying some intervals 
 of tranquillity and gleams of hope, according to the vary- 
 ing spirit of the court and ministry, but never entirely 
 free from perplexities and fears. But, in 1689, their 
 affairs took a favourable turn, when a bill for the toleration 
 of all protestant dissenters from the church of England, 
 except the Socinians, passed in parliament almost without 
 opposition, and delivered them from the penal laws to 
 which they had been subjected by the act of uniformity, 
 and other statutes enacted under the sway of the Stuart 
 family. Nor did the protestant dissenters in England 
 enjoy, alone, the benefits of this act; for it extended also 
 to the Scottish church, which was permitted thereby to 
 follow the ecclesiastical discipline of Geneva, and was de- 
 livered from the jurisdiction of bishops, and from the forms 
 of worship that were annexed to episcopacy. It is from 
 this period that the non-conformists date the liberty and 
 tranquillity they have long been blessed with, and which 
 they still enjoy; but it is also observable, that it is to the 
 transactions carried on during this period, in favour of reli- 
 zious liberty, that we must chiefly impute the multitude 
 of religious sects and factions, that start up from time to 
 time in that free and happy island, and involve its inhabi- 
 tants in the perplexities of relig iousdivision and controversy.® 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 No sooner was Charles II. re-established on the | 
 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 61? 
 
 XXVI. In the reign of King William, and in the year 
 1689, the divisions among the friends of episcopacy ran 
 high, and terminated in that famous schism in the church 
 of "England, which has never hitherto been entirely heal- 
 ed. Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, and seven of the 
 other bishops,’ all of whom were eminently distinguished 
 both by their learning and their virtue, deemed it ‘unlaw- 
 ful to take the oath of allegiance to the new king, from 
 a mistaken notion that James L., though banished from 
 his dominions, remained their rightful sovereign. As 
 these scruples were deeply rooted, and no arguments or 
 exhortations could engage these prelates to acknow ledge 
 the title of the prince of Orange to the crown of Great 
 Britain, they were deprived of their ecclesiastical dignities, 
 and their sees were filled by other men of eminent merit.¢ 
 The deposed bishops and clergy formed a new episcopal 
 church, which differed, in some points of doctrine, and 
 certain circumstances of public worship, from the establish- 
 ed church. ‘The memvers of this new religious commu- 
 nity were denominated Non-jurors, on account of their 
 refusing to take the oath of allegiance, and were also call- 
 ed the High-Church party, cn account of the high no- 
 tions they entertained of the dignity and power of the 
 church, and the extent they gave to its prerogatives and 
 Those, on the other hand, who disapproved 
 this schism, who*distinguished themselves by their cha- 
 rity and moderation toward dissenters, and were less ardent 
 in extending the limits of ecclesiastical authority, were 
 denominated Low-Churchmen.» The bishops who were 
 deprived of their sees, and those who embarked in their 
 cause, maintained openly that the church was not depen- 
 dent on the jurisdiction of the king or the parliament, but 
 was subject to the authority of God alone, and empower- 
 ed to govern itself by its own laws; that consequently the 
 sentence, pronounced against these prelates by the great 
 council of the nation, was destitute both of justice and vali- 
 dity ; and that it was only by the decree of an ecclesias- 
 tical council that a bishop could be deposed. These high 
 notions of the authority and prerogatives of the church 
 were maintained and propagated, with peculiar zeal, by 
 the famous Henry Dodwell, who led the way in this im- 
 portant cause, and who, by his example and abilities, form- 
 ed a considerable number of champions for its defence. 
 Hence arose a very nice and intricate controversy, con- 
 cerning the nature, privileges, and authority of the church, 
 
 * See Rapin’s Dissertation on the Whigs and Tories. 3p See an 
 admirable defezce of the latitudinarian divines, in a book entitled, The 
 Principles and Practices of certain moderate Divines of the Church of 
 England (greatly misunderstood) truly represented and defended, Lon- 
 don, 1670. This book was written by Dr. Fowler, afterwards bishop 
 of Gloucester. N. 
 
 x > This was the famous Act of Uniformity, in consequence 
 of which the validity of presbyterian ordination was renounced, the 
 ministrations of the foreign churches were disowned, the terms of con- 
 formity rendered more difficult, and raised higher than before the civil 
 wars; and by which (contrary to the manner of proceeding in the times 
 of Elizabeth and Cromwell, both of whom reserved for the subsistence 
 of each ejected clergyman a fifth part of his beneficef no provision was 
 made for those who should be deprived of their livings. See Wilkins’ 
 Concilia Magne Britannie et Hiberniz, tom. iv. p. 573.—Burnet’s 
 History of his own Time, vol. ii. p, 190, &c.—Neal’s History of the 
 Puritans, vol. iv. p. 358, 
 
 * See the whole fourth volume of Neal’s History. 
 
 4 This was called the Toleration Act; and it may be seen at length 
 in tne Appendix, subjoined to the fourth volume of Neal’s History of 
 the Puritans.—37“> It is entitled, An Act for exempting their Majesties’ 
 Protestant Subjects, dissenting from the Church of England, from the 
 Penalties of certain Laws. In this bill the Corporation and Test acts 
 are omitted, and consequently still remain in force. The Socinians are 
 
 No. LIL. 155 
 
 also excepted ; but provision is made for Quakers, upon their making a 
 solemn declaration, instead of taking the oaths to the government. T his 
 act excuses protestant dissenters from the penalties ‘of the laws therei in 
 mentioned, provided they take the oaths to the government, and sub- 
 scribe the doctrinal articles of the church of England, 
 
 ° Burnet’s History of his own Time, vol. 11. p. 23. 
 
 x¢% ¢ The other non-juring bishops were Lloyd, bishop of Norwich; 
 Turner, of Ely; Kenn, of Bathand Wells; Frampton, of Gloucester ; 
 Tao of Worcester ; Lake, of Chichester, and White, of Peterbo- 
 roug 
 
 zp * Among these were Tillotson, Moore, Patrick, Kidder, Fowler, 
 and Cumberland, names that will be ever pronounced with veneration 
 by such as are capable of esteeming well employed learning and genuine 
 piety, and that will always shine among the brightest ornaments of the 
 church of England. 
 
 h The denomination of High-church is given certainly, with great 
 propriety, to the Non-jurors, ‘who have very proud notions of church 
 
 ower; but it is commonly used in a more extensive signification, and 
 
 is applied to all those who, though far from being Non-jurors, or other- 
 wise disaffected to the present happy establishment, *rt forra pompous 
 and ambitious conceptions of the authority and jurisdicttor. of the church, 
 and would raise it to an absolute exemption from all human control. 
 Many such are to be found even among those who go under the general 
 denomination of the Low-Church party. 
 
618 
 
 which has not yet been brought to a satisfactory con- | 
 
 clusion.* 
 
 XXVII. The Non-jurors or High-Churchmen, who | 
 
 boast with peculiar ostentation’ of their orthodoxy, and | 
 
 treat the Low-Church as unsound and schismatical, dif- 
 fer in several things from the members of the episcopal 
 church, in its present estabiisament ; but they are more 
 particularly distinguished by the following principles : 
 1. That it is never lawful for the people, under any pro- 
 vocation or pretext whatever, to resist the sovereign. 
 ‘This is called in England passive obedience, and is a 
 doctrine warmly opposed by many, who think it both 
 lawful and necessary, in certain circumstances, and in 
 cases of an urgent and momentous nature, to resist the 
 prince for the happiness of the people. ‘They maintain far- 
 ther, 2. That the hereditary succession to the throne is of 
 divine institution, and therefore can never be interrupted, 
 suspended, orannulled, on any pretext: 3.'That the church 
 is subject to the jurisdiction, not of the civil magistrate, 
 but of God alone, particularly in matters of a religious 
 nature: 4. That, consequently, Sancroft, and the other 
 bishops, deposed by King William IIL, remained, notwith- 
 standing their deposition, true bishops, to the day of their 
 death ; and that those who were substituted in their places 
 were the unjust possessors of other men’s property: 5. 
 That these unjust possessors of ecclesiastical dignities 
 were rebels against the state, as well as schismatics in 
 the church ; and that all, therefore, who held communion 
 with them, were also chargeable with rebellion and 
 schism: 6. That this schism, which rends the church in 
 pieces, is a most heinous sin, and that the punishment 
 due to it must fall heavy upon all those who do not. re- 
 turn sincerely to the true church, from which they have 
 departed.” 
 
 XXVIII. It will now be proper to change the scene, 
 and to consider a hittle the state of the reformed church 
 m Holland. The Dutch Calvinists thought themselves 
 happy after the defeat of the Arminians, and were flat- 
 tering themselves with the agreeable prospect of enjoying 
 long, in tranquillity and repose, the fruits of their victory, 
 when new scenes.of tumult arose from another quarter. 
 Scarcely had they triumphed over the enemies of abso- 
 lute predestination, when, by an ill hap, they became the 
 prey of intestine disputes, and were divided among them- 
 
 selves in such a deplorable manner, that, during the | 
 
 whole of this century, the United Provinces were a scene 
 of contention, animosity, and strife. It is not necessary to 
 mention all the subjects of these religious quarrels; nor 
 indeed would this be an easy task. We shall therefore 
 pass over in silence the debates of certain divines, who 
 
 347 * Dodwell himself was deprived of his professorship of his*ry, 
 for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to King William and Queen 
 Mary; and this circumstance, no doubt, augmented the zeal with which 
 he interested himself in the defence of the bishops, who were suspended 
 for the same reason. It was on this occasion that he published his 
 “Cautionary Discourse of Schism, with a particular regard to the case 
 of the bishops, who are suspended for refusing to take the new oath.” 
 This book was fully refuted by the learned Dr. Hody, in 1691, in a 
 work entitled, ‘The Unreasonableness of a Separation from the new 
 Bishops: or a Treatise out of Ecclesiastical History, showing, that 
 although a bishop was unjustly deprived, neither he nor the church ever 
 made a separation, if the successor was not a heretic ;” translated out 
 
 of an ancient Greek manuscript (among the Baroccian MSS.) in the 
 
 public library at Oxford. The learned author translated this work 
 afterwards into Latin, and prefixed to-it some pieces out of ecclesiastical 
 antiqu ty, relative to the same subject. Dodwell published, in 1692, an 
 answer to it, which he ealled, ‘¢A Vindication of the deprived Bishops,” 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. I 
 
 disputed about some particular, though not very momen- 
 tous, points of doctrine and discipline ; such as those of 
 the famous Voet and the learned Des-Marets ; as also the 
 disputes of Salmasius, Boxhorn, Voet, and others, con- 
 cerning usury, ornaments in dress, stage-plays, and other 
 minute points of morality ; and the contests of Apollo- 
 nius, Trigland, and Vedelius, concerning the power of 
 the magistrate in matters of religion and ecclesiastical dis: 
 cipline, which produced such a flaming division between 
 Irederic Spanheim and John Vander-Wayen. These, 
 and other debates of the like nature and iniportance 
 rather discover the sentiments of certain learned men, 
 concerning some particular points of religion and mora- 
 lity, than exhibit a clear view of the internal state of the 
 Belgic church. 'The knowledge of this must be derived 
 from those controversies alone in which the whole church, 
 or at least the greatest part of its doctors, have been 
 directly concerned. 
 
 X XIX. Such were the controversies occasioned in Hol- 
 land by the philosophy of Des-Cartes, and the theological 
 novelties of Cocceius. Hence arose the two powerful and 
 numerous factions, distinguished by the denominations of 
 Cocceians and Voetians, which still subsist, though their 
 debates are now less violent, and their champions some- 
 what, more moderate than they were in former times. 
 The Cocceian theology and the Cartesian philosophy 
 have, indeed, no common features, nor any thing, in their 
 respective tenets and principles, that was in the least adapt- 
 ed to form a connexion between them; and, in consequence, 
 the debates they excited, and the factions they produced, 
 had no natural relation to, or dependence on, each other. 
 It nevertheless so happened, that the respective votaries 
 of these very different sciences formed themselves into 
 one sect; so far at least, that those who chose Cocceius 
 for their guide in theology, took Des-Cartes for their mas 
 ter in philosophy.c "This will appear less surprising when 
 we consider, that the very same persons who opposed the 
 progress of Cartesianism in Holland were the warm ad- 
 versaries of the Cocceian theology ; for this opposition, 
 equally levelled at these two great men and their respec- 
 tive systems, laid the Cartesians and Cocceians under a 
 kind of necessity of uniting their force, in order to defend 
 their cause, in a more effectual manner, against the for- 
 midable attacks of their numerous adversaries. The Voe- 
 tians were so called from Gisbert Voet, a learned and emi- 
 
 | nent professor of divinity in the university of Utrecht, 
 
 who first sounded the alarm of this theologico-philosophi- 
 cal war, and led on, with zeal, the polemic legions against 
 those who followed the standard of Des-Cartes and ‘Coc- 
 ceiUus. 
 
 the Sees vacant by an unjust or uncanonical Deprivation stated, in 
 reply to the Vindication,” &c. The controversy did not end here; for 
 it was extremely difficult to reduce Mr. Dodwell to silence. Accordingly 
 he came fortha third time with his stiff and rigid polemics, and publish- 
 ed, in 1695, his Defence of the Vindication of the deprived Bishops, 
 The preface whigh he designed for this work, was at first suppressed, 
 but appeared afterwards under the following title: “ The Doctrine of 
 the Church of England concerning the independency of the Clergy on 
 the Lay-power, as to those rights of theirs which are purely spiritual, 
 reconciled with our oath of supremacy and the lay-deprivation of the 
 popish Bishops in the beginning of the Reformation. Several other 
 pamphlets were published on the subject of this controversy. 
 
 b See Whiston’s Memoirs of his Life and Writings, vol. i. p. 30.— 
 Hickes’ Memoirs of the Life of John Kettlewell—Nouveau Diction. 
 Histor. et Crit. at the article Collier—Ph. Masson, Histoire Critique 
 de la Repub. des Lettres, tom. xiil. p. 298. 
 
 ° See Fred. Spankemii Epistola de novissimis ia Belgio Dissidiis, 
 
 &e,, to which Dr. Hody replied, in a treatise entitled, “'The Case of !\ tom. ii. op. p. 973. 
 
 ee 
 
Part II. 
 
 XXX. The Cartesian philosophy, at its first appear- 
 ance, attracted the attention and esteem of many, and 
 seemed more conformable to truth and nature, as well 
 as more elegant and pleasing in its aspect, than the intri- 
 cate labyrinths of Peripatetic wisdom. It was considered 
 in this light in Holland; it however met there with a 
 formidable adv ersary, in 1639, i in the famous Voet above 
 mnentioned, who taucht theology with the greatest reputa- 
 tion, and gave plain. intimations of his looking upon Car- 
 tesianism as a system of impiety. Voet was a man of 
 uncommon application and immense learning; he had 
 made an extraordinary progress in the 
 of erudition and philosophy ; but he was not endowed 
 with a large portion of that philosophical spirit, which 
 judges with acuteness and precision of natural science 
 and abstract truths. While Des-Cartes resided at Utrecht, 
 Voet found fault with many things in his philosophy ; 
 but what induced him to cast upon it the aspersion of im- 
 piety, was its being introduced by the following principles : 
 “That the person who aspires to the character of a true 
 philosopher must begin by doubting of all things, even 
 of the existence of a Supreme Being—that the nature or 
 essence of spirit, and even of God himself, consists in 
 thought—that space has no real existence, and is no more 
 than the creature of fancy,—and that, consequently, mat- 
 ter is without bounds.” 
 
 Des-Cartes defended his principles, with his usual acute- 
 ness, against the professor of Utrecht; his disciples and 
 . followers thought themselves obliged, on this occasion, to 
 assist their master ; and thus war was formally declared. 
 On the other hand, Voet was not only seconded by those 
 Belgic divines who were the most eminent, at this time, 
 for the extent of their learning and the soundness of their 
 theology, such as Rivet, Des-Marets, and Maestricht, but 
 also was followed and applauded by the greatest part of 
 the Dutch clergy.s | While the flame of controversy burn- 
 ed with sufficient ardour, it was considerably augmented 
 by the proceedings of certain doctors, who applied the 
 principles and tenets of Des-Cartes to the illustration of 
 theological truth. Hence, in 1656, an alarm was raised 
 in the Dutch churches and schools, and a strong resolu- 
 tion was taken in several of their ecclesiastical assemblies 
 (commonly called classes,) to make head against Carte- 
 sianism, and not to permit that imperious philosophy to 
 make such encroachments upon the domain of theology. 
 The states of Holland not only approved this resolution, 
 but also gave a new force and efficacy by a public edict, 
 issued in the same year, by which both the professors of 
 philosophy and theclozy were forbidden either to explain 
 the writings of Des-Cartes to the youth under their care, 
 or to illustrate the doctrines of the Gospel by the princi- 
 ples of philosophy. It was farther resolved in an assem- 
 bly of the clergy, holden at Delft in the following year, 
 that no candidate for holy orders should be received into 
 the ministry before he made a solemn declaration, that 
 he would neither promote the Cartesian philosophy, nor 
 disfigure the divine simplicity of religion, by loading it 
 with foreign ornaments. Laws of a like tenor were after- 
 wards passed by the States-general, and by the govern- 
 ments of other countries.» But as there is in human 
 
 * See Baillet’s Vie de M. Des-Cartes, tom. ii. chap. v. and Daniel’s 
 Voyage du Monde de M. Des-Cartes. 
 » Fred. Spanheim, de novissimis in Belgio Dissidiis, tom. ii. op. p. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 rarious branches amidst their contentions 
 
 619 
 
 nature a strange propensity to struggle against authority, 
 and to pursue, with a peculiar degree of ardour, things 
 that are forbidden, so it happened, that all these edicts 
 proved insuffic ient to stop the progress of Cartesianism, 
 which at length obtained a solid and permanent footing 
 in the seminaries of learning, and was applied, both in 
 the universities and churches, and sometimes indeed very 
 
 | preposterously, to explain the truths and precepts of C hris- 
 | tianity. 
 
 Hence it was, that the United Provinces were 
 divided into the two great factions already mentioned, and 
 that the whole remainder of this century was spent 
 and debates. 
 
 XXXI. John Koch of Cocceius, a native of Bremen, 
 and professor of divinity in the university of Leyden, 
 might have certainly passed for a great man, had his vast 
 erudition, his exuberant fancy, his ardent piety, and his 
 uncommon application to the study of the Scriptures, 
 been under the direction of a sound and solid judgment. 
 This singular man introduced into theology a multitude 
 of new tenets and strange notions, which had never be- 
 
 | fore entered into the brain of any other mortal, or at least 
 
 had never been heard of before his time. In the first 
 place, as has been already hinted, his manner of explain- 
 
 Ing Scripture was totally different from that of Calvin and 
 
 his followers. Departing entirely from the admirable sim- 
 plicity that reigns in the commentaries of that great man, 
 he represented the whole history of the Old ‘Testament 
 as a mirror, that held forth an accurate view of the trans- 
 actions and events which were to happen in the church 
 under the dispensation of the New ‘Testament, and to the 
 end of the world. He even went so far as to maintain, 
 that the miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ and of 
 his apostles, during the course of their senanciehes were 
 types and images of future events. He affirmed, that the 
 far greater part of the ancient prophecies foretold Christ’s 
 ministry and mediation, and the rise, progress, and revo- 
 
 lutions of the church, not only under the figures of per- 
 
 sons and transactions, but in a literal manner, and by the 
 very sense of the words, used in these predictions ; and 
 
 _he completed the extravagance of this chimerical system, 
 
 by turning, wiih w onderful art and dexterity, into holy 
 riddles and typical predictions, even those passages of the 
 Old ‘Testament which seemed intended for no other pur- 
 pose than to celebrate the praises of the Deity, convey 
 some religious truth, or inculcate some rule of practice. 
 In order to give an air of solidity and plausibility to these 
 eccentric notions, he first laid it down as a fundamental 
 rule of interpret ation, “hat the words and phrases of 
 Scripture are to be understood in every sense of which 
 they are susceptible ; or, in other words, that they signify, 
 in effect, every thing that they can signify ; ” arule w hich, 
 when followed by a man who had more imagination than 
 judgment, could not fail to produce very extraordinary 
 comments on the sacred writings. After having laid 
 down this singular rule, he divided the whole history of 
 the church into seven periods, conformable to the seven 
 trumpets and seals mentioned in the Revelations. 
 XXXIf. One of the great designs formed by Cocceits, 
 
 was that of separating theology from philosophy, and of 
 confining the Christian doctors, in their explications of 
 
 959.—The reader may also consult the historians of this century, such 
 as Arnold, Weismann, Jager, Carolus, and also Walchius’ Histor. 
 
 Controvers. Germanic, tom. ‘il, 
 
620 
 
 the former, to the words and phrases of the Scriptures. 
 Hence it was, that. finding, in the language of the sacred 
 writers, the Gospel dispensation represented under the 
 image of a covenant made between God and man, he 
 looked upon the use of this image as admirably adapted 
 to exhibit a complete and well connected system of religi- 
 ous truth. But while he was labouring this point, and 
 endeavouring to accommodate the circumstances and 
 characters of human contracts to the dispensations of di- 
 vine wisdom, which they represent in such an inaccurate 
 and imperfect manner, he fell imprudently into some 
 erroneous notions. Such was kis opinion concerning the 
 covenant made between God and the Jewish nation by 
 the ministry and the mediation of Moses, which he 
 affirmed to be “of the same nature with the new cove- 
 nant obtained by the mediation of Jesus Christ.” In con- 
 sequence of this general principle, he maintained, “ That 
 the Ten Commandments were promulgated by Moses 
 not as a rule of obedience, but as a representation of the 
 covenant of grace; that when the Jews had provoked 
 the Deity, by their various transgressions, particularly by 
 the worship of the golden calf, the severe and servile yoke 
 of the ceremonial law was added to the decalogue, as a 
 punishment inflicted on them by the Supreme Being in 
 his righteous displeasure ; that this yoke, which was pain- 
 ful in itself, became doubly so on account of its typical 
 signification, since it admonished the Israelites, from day 
 to day, of the imperfection and uncertainty of their state, 
 filled them with anxiety,and was a standing and perpetual 
 proof that they. had merited the displeasure of God, and 
 could not expect, before the coming of the Messiah, the 
 entire remission of their transgressions and iniquities ; 
 that, indeed, good men, even under the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation, were immediately after death made partakers of 
 everlasting happiness and glory; but that they were, 
 nevertheless, during the whole course of their lives, far 
 removed from that firm hope and assurance of salvation, 
 with which the faithful are gratified under the dispensa- 
 tion of the Gospel, and that their anxiety flowed naturally 
 from this consideration, that their sins, though they re- 
 mained unpunished, were not pardoned, because Christ 
 had not then offered himself up a sacrifice to the Father 
 to make an entire atonement for them.” ‘These are the 
 principal lines that distinguish the Cocceian from other 
 systems of theology; it is attended, indeed, with other 
 peculiarities ; but we shall pass them over in silence, as 
 of little moment, and unworthy of notice. These notions 
 were warmly opposed by the persons who had declared war 
 against the Cartesian philosophy; and the contest was 
 carried on for many years with various success. But in the 
 issue, the doctrines of Cocceius, like those of Des-Cartes, 
 maintained their ground; and neither the dexterity nor 
 the vehemence of his adversaries could exclude his disci- 
 ples from the public seminaries of learning, or hinder them 
 from propagating, with surprising success sand rapidity, the 
 tenets of their master in Germany and Switzerland. 
 XXXII. The other controversies that divided the 
 
 * See Baillet’s Vie de M. Des-Cartes, tom. ii. p. 33.—Daniel’s Voy- 
 age du Monde de Des-Cartes.—Val. Alberti rete karma, Cartesian- 
 ismus et Cocceianismus descripti et refutati. 
 
 b See the Biblioth. Univers. et Historique of Le Clere, tom. vi. 
 
 * For an account of Roell, see the Bibliotheca Bremens, Theologico- 
 Philolog. tom. ii, p. Vi. p. 707; and Casp, Burmanni Trajectum Eru- 
 ditum, p. 306. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 Batavian church during this century, arose from the im- 
 moderate propensity that certain doctors discovered toward 
 an alliance between the Cartesian philosophy and their 
 theological system. This will appear, with the utmost 
 evidence, from the debates excited by Roell and Becker, 
 which surpassed all the others, both by the importance of 
 their subjects and by the noise they made in the world. 
 About the year 1686, certain Cartesian doctors of divinity, 
 headed by the ingenious Herman Alexander Roell, pro- 
 fessor of theology i in the university of Franeker, seemed 
 to attribute to the dictates of reason a more extensive 
 authority in religious matters, than they had _ hitherto 
 possessed. ‘The controversy occasioned by this innovation 
 was reducible to the two following questions : “TI. Whether 
 the divine origin and authority of Scripture can be 
 demonstrated by reason alone, or whether an inward tes- 
 timony of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Christians be 
 necessary in order to the firm belief of this fundamental 
 point? 2. Whether the sacred writings propose to us, 
 as an object of faith, any thing that is ‘repugnant to the 
 dictates of right reason ?” These questions were answer- 
 ed, the former in the affirmative, and the latter in the 
 negative, not only by Roell, but also by Vander-Wayen, 
 Wessel, Duker, Ruard ab Andala, and other doctors, who 
 were opposed on this occasionby Ulric Nuber, an eminent 
 lawyer, Gerard de Vries, and others of inferior note.® 
 The flame excited by this controversy spread itself far and 
 wide through the United Provinces; and its progress 
 seemed to be increasing from day to day, when the states 
 of Friseland prudently interposed to restore the peace of 
 the church, by imposing silence on the contending par- 
 ties. Those whose curiosity may engage them to exa- 
 mine with attention and accuracy the points debated in this 
 controversy, will find, that a very considerable part of it 
 was merely a dispute about words, and that the real dif- 
 ference of sentiment that existed between these learned 
 disputants might have been easily accommodated, by 
 proper explications on both sides. 
 
 XXXIV. Not long after this controversy had been 
 hushed, Roell alarmed the orthodoxy of his colleagues, 
 and more particularly of the learned Vitringa, by some 
 other new tenets, that rendered the soundness of his reli- 
 gious principles extremely doubtful, not only in their 
 opinion, but likewise in the judgment of many Dutch 
 divines ;° for he maintained, “'That the account we have 
 of the generation of the Son, in the sacred writings, is not 
 to be understood in a literal sense, or as a rea] generation 
 of a natural kind ;” he also affirmed, “ That the afflic- 
 tions and death of the righteous are as truly the penal 
 effects of original sin, as the afflictions and death of the 
 wicked and impenitent ;” and he entertained notions con- 
 cerning the divine decrees, original sin, the satisfaction of 
 Christ, and some points of less moment, which differed in 
 reality, or by the manner of expressing them seemed to 
 differ greatly, from the doctrines received and established 
 in the Dutch church. The magistrates of Friseland 
 used all the precautions that prudence could suggest, to 
 
 4 Those who are desirous of the most accurate account of the errors 
 of Roell, will find them enumerated in a public piece composed by the 
 faculty of theology at Leyden, in order to confirm the sentence of con- 
 demnation that had been pronounced against them by the Dutch synods. 
 This piece is entitled, Judicium Ecclesiasticum, quo Opiniones quedam 
 Cl. H. A. Roellii synodice damnate sunt, laudatum a Professoribus 
 | Theologiz in Academia Lugduno-Batava. 
 
: 
 
 Part II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 621 
 
 prevent these controversies from being propagated in their || titude of adversaries, and publicly deposed from his pasto- 
 
 province ; and they enacted several laws for this purpose, 
 all tending toward peace and silence. This conduct, 
 however, was not imitated by the other provinces, where 
 Roell and his disciples were condemned, both in private 
 and in public, as heretics and corruptors of divine truth.* 
 Nor did the death of this eminent man extinguish the 
 animosity and resentment of his adversaries; for his dis- 
 ciples were still treated with severity ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing the solemn protestations they have given of the 
 soundness and purity of their religious sentiments, they 
 labour under the imputation of many concealed errors. 
 XXXV. The controversy set on foot by the ingenious 
 Balthasar Becker, minister at Amsterdam, must not be 
 omitted. 'This fearned ecclesiastic took occasion, from 
 the Cartesian definition of spirit, of the truth and preci- 
 sion of which he was intimately persuaded, to deny boldly 
 all the accounts we have in Scripture of the seduction, in- 
 fluence, and operations of the devil and his infernal emis- 
 saries, as also all that has been said in favour of the exis- 
 tence of ghosts, spectres, and magicians. The long and 
 elaborate work which he published in 1691, upon this 
 interesting subject, is still extant. In this singular produc- 
 tion, which bears the title of the World Bewitched, he 
 modifies and perverts, with the greatest ingenuity, but also 
 with equal temerity and presumption, the accounts given 
 by the sacred writers of the power of Saian and wicked 
 angels, and of persons possessed by evil spirits; he 
 affirms, moreover, that the unhappy and malignant being, 
 who is called in Scripture Satan, or the Devil, is chained 
 down with his infernal ministers in hell; so that he can 
 never come forth from this eternal prison to terrify mor- 
 tals, or to seduce the righteous from the paths of virtue. 
 According to the Cartesian definition above mentioned, 
 the essence of spirit consists in thought; and, from this 
 definition, Becker drew his doctrine, since none of that 
 influence, or of those operations which are attributed to evil 
 spirits, can be effected by mere thinking.» Rather, there- 
 fore, than call in question the accuracy or authority of 
 Des-Cartes, Becker thought proper to force the narrations 
 and doctrines of Scripture intoa conformity with the prin- 
 ciples and definitions of this philosopher. This error 
 excited great tumults and divisions, not only in all the 
 United Provinces, but also in some parts of Germany, 
 where several doctors of the Lutheran church were 
 ularmed at its progress, and arose to oppose it.’ Its inven- 
 tor and promoter, though refuted victoriously by a mul- 
 
 2"> * This affirmation is somewhat exaggerated; at least we must 
 not conclude from it, that Roell was either deposed or persecuted ; for 
 he exercised the functions of his professorship fur several years after 
 this at Franeker, and was afterwards called to the chair of divinity at 
 Utrecht, upon the most honourable and advantageous terms. The 
 states of Friseland published an edict, enjoining silence, and forbidding 
 all professors, pastors, &c. in their province, to teach the particular 
 opinions of Roell; and this pacific divine sacrificed the propagation of 
 his opinions to the love of peace and concord. His notion concerning 
 the T'rinity did not essentially differ from the doctrine generally received 
 upon that mysterious and unintelligible subject; and his design seemed 
 to be no more than to prevent Christians from humanising the relation 
 between the Fatherand Son. But this was wounding his brethren, the 
 rigorous systematic divines, in a tender point; for, if Anthropomor- 
 phism, or the custom of attributing to the Deity the kind of procedure 
 in acting and judging that is usual among men (who resemble him only 
 as imperfection resembles perfection,) should be banished from theology, 
 orthodoxy would be deprived of some of its most precious phrases, and 
 our confessions of faith and systems of doctrine would be reduced within 
 much narrower bounds. 
 
 » 3r Our historian relates here somewhat obscurely the reasoning 
 
 No. LAI. 156 
 
 ral charge, died in 1718, in the full persuasion of the truth 
 of those opinions which had drawn upon him so much 
 opposition, and professed, with his last breath, his sincere 
 adherence to every thing he had written on that subject; 
 nor can it be said, that this his doctrine died with him, 
 since it is abundantly known, that it has still many vota- 
 ries and patrons, who either hold it in secret, or profess it 
 publicly. 
 
 XXXVI. The curious reader can be no stranger to 
 the multitude of sects, some Christian, some half-Chris- 
 tian, some totally delirious, that have started up at diffe- 
 rent times both in England and Holland. It is difficult, 
 indeed, for those who live in other countries, to give accu- 
 rate accounts of these’separatists, asthe books that contain 
 their doctrines aid views are seldom dispersed among 
 foreign nations. We have, however, been lately favoured 
 with some relations, that give a more just idea of the 
 Dutch sects, called Verschorists and Hattemists, than we 
 had before entertained ; and it will not therefore be im- 
 proper to give here some account of these remarkable 
 communities. ‘The former derives its denomination from 
 Jacob Verschoor, a native of Flushing, who in 1680, out 
 of a perverse and heterogeneous mixture of the tenets of 
 Cocceius and Spinosa, produced a new form of religion, 
 equally remarkable for its extravagance and impiety. 
 His disciples and followers were called Hebrews, on ac- 
 count of the zeal and assiduity with which they all, with- 
 out distinction of age or sex, applied themselvesto the study 
 of the Hebrew language. 
 
 The Hattemists were so called from Pontian Van 
 Hattem, a minister in the province of Zealand, who was 
 also addicted to the sentiments of Spinosa, and was on 
 that account degraded from his pastoral office. The 
 Verschorists and Hattemists resemble each other in their 
 religious systems, though there must also be some points 
 in which they differ, since it is well known, that Van Hat- 
 tem could never persuade the former to unite their sect 
 with his, and thus to form one communion. Neither of 
 the two would wish the public to conclude that they have 
 abandoned the prefession of the Reforimed religion; they 
 affect, on the contrary, an apparent attachment to it; and 
 Hattem, in particular, published a treatise upon the Cate- 
 chism of Heidelberg. If I rightly understand the imper- 
 fect relations that have been given of the sentiments and 
 principles of these two communities, both their founders 
 began by perverting the doctrine of the Reformed church 
 
 which Becker founded upon the Cartesian definition of mind or spirit. 
 The substance of his argument is as follows: ‘‘ The essence of mind is 
 thought, and the essence of matter extension. Now since there is no 
 sort of conformity or connexion between thought and extension, mind 
 cannot act upon matter, unless these two substances be united, as soul 
 and body are in man: therefore no separate spirits, either good or evil, 
 can act upon mankind. Such acting is miraculous, and miracles can be 
 performed by God alone. «dt follows of consequence that the scriptural 
 accounts of the actions and operations of good and evil spirits must be 
 understood in an allegorical sense.” This is Becker’s argument; and it 
 does, in truth, little honour to his acuteness and sagacity. By proving 
 too much, it proves nothing at all; for, if the want of a connexion or 
 conformity between thought and extension renders mind incapable of 
 acting upon matter, it is hard to see how their union should remove this 
 incapacity, since the want of conformity and of connexion remains 
 notwithstanding this union. Besides, according to this Teasoning, the 
 Supreme Being cannot act upon material beings. In vain does Becker 
 maintain the affirmative, by having recourse to a miracle; for this would 
 imply, that the whole course of nature is a series of miracles, that is to 
 say, that there are no miracles at all. ; e 
 
 * See Lilienthalii Selecte Historie Literar. p. i. observat. ii. p. 17.— 
 
622 HISTORY OF THE 
 concerning absolute decrees, so as to deduce from it the 
 impious system of a fatal and uncontrollable necessity. 
 Having laid down this principle to account for the origin 
 of all events, they went a step farther into the domain of 
 atheism, and denied “the difference between moral good 
 and evil, and the corruption of human nature.” lence 
 they concluded, “That mankind were under no sort of 
 obligation to correct their manners, toimprove their minds, 
 or to endeavour after aregular obedience to the divine laws ; 
 that the whole of religion consisted, not in acting, but in 
 suffering ; and that all the precepts of Jesus Christ are 
 reducible to this single one, that we should bear with cheer- 
 fulness and patience the events that happen to us through 
 the divine will, and make it our constant and only study 
 to maintain a permanent tranquillity of mind.” 
 
 This, if we mistake not, was the common doctrine of 
 the two sects under consideration. ‘There were, however, 
 certain opinions or fancies, which were peculiar to Hattem 
 and his followers, who affirmed, “'That Christ had not 
 satisfied the divine justice, nor made an expiation for the 
 sins of men by his death and sufferings, but had only sig- 
 nified to us, by his mediation, that there was nothing in 
 us.that could offend the Deity.” Hattem maintained, 
 “that this was Christ’s manner of justifying his servants, 
 and presenting them blameless before the tribunal of 
 God.” 'These opinions seem perverse and pestilential in 
 (he highest degree; and they evidently tend to extin- 
 guish all virtuous sentiments, and to dissolve all moral 
 obligation. It does not however appear, that either of 
 these innovators directly recommended immorality and 
 vice, or thought that men might safely follow, without 
 any restraint, the impulse of their irregular appetites and 
 passions. It is at least certain, that the following maxim 
 is placed among their tenets, that God does not punish 
 men /or their sins, but by their sins; and this maxim 
 seems to signify, that, if a man does not restrain his 
 irregular appetites, he must suffer the painful fruits of his 
 licentiousness, both in a present and future life, not in 
 consequence of any judicial sentence pronounced by the 
 will, or executed by the immediate hand of God, but ac- 
 cording to some fixed law or constitution of natures The 
 two sects still subsist, though they bear no longer the 
 names of their founders. 
 
 XXXVI. The churches of Switzerland, so early as 
 the year 1669, were alarmed at the progress which the 
 opinions of Amyrault, De la Place, and Capel, were mak- 
 ing in different countries; and they were apprehensive that 
 the doctrine they had received from Calvin, and which 
 had been so solemnly confirmed by the Synod of Dor- 
 drecht, might be altered and corrupted by these supposed 
 improvements in theology. This apprehension was so 
 much the less chimerical, as at that very time there 
 
 ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. II. 
 
 were, among the clergy of Geneva, certair; doctors emi- 
 nent for their learning and eloquence, who not only 
 adopted these new opinions, but were also desirous, not- 
 withstanding the opposition and remonstrances of their 
 colleagues, of propagating them among the people.’ To 
 set bounds to the zeal of these innovators, and to stop the 
 progress of the new doctrines, the learned John Henry 
 Heidegger, professor of divinity at Zurich, was employed 
 in 1675, by an assembly composed of the most eminent 
 Helvetic divines, to draw up a form of doctrine, in direct 
 opposition to the tenets and principles of the celebrated 
 French writers mentioned above. ‘I'he magistrates were 
 engaged, without much difficulty, to give to this produc- 
 tion the stamp of their authority, and to add to it the other 
 confessions of faith received in the Helvetic church, under 
 the peculiar denomination of the Form of Concord. 
 This step, which seemed to be taken with pacific views, 
 proved an abundant source of division and discord. Many 
 declared, thot they could not conscientiously subscribe this 
 new form; and thus unhappy tumults and contests arose 
 in several places. Hence it happened, that the canton of 
 Basil and the republic of Geneva, perceiving the incon- 
 veniences that proceeded from this new article of church 
 communion, and being strongly solicited, in 1686, by 
 Frederic William, elector of Brandenburg, to ease the 
 burthened consciences of their clergy, abrogated this 
 form.© It is nevertheless certain, that in the other can- 
 tons it maintained its authority for some time after this 
 period; but, in our time, the discords it has excited in 
 many places, and more particularly in the university of 
 Lausanne, have contributed to deprive it of all its autho- 
 rity, and to plunge it into utter oblivion.4 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The History of the Arminian Church. 
 
 I. Tuere sprang forth from the bosom of the reformed 
 church, during this century, two new sects, whose birth 
 and progress were, for a long time, painful and perplexing 
 to the parent that bore them. These sects were the Armi- 
 nians and Quakers, whose origin was owing to very dif- 
 ferent principles, since the former derived its existence 
 from an excessive propensity to improve the faculty of 
 reason, and to follow its dictates and discoveries : while 
 the latter sprang up, like a rank weed, from the neglect 
 and contempt of human reason. ‘The Arminians derive 
 their name and their origin from James Arminius, or 
 Harmensen, who was first pastor at Amsterdam, after- 
 wards professor of divinity at Leyden, and who attracted 
 the esteem and applause of his very enemies, by his 
 acknowledged candour, penetration, and piety.e ‘They 
 received also the denomination of Jtemonstrants, from 
 
 Miscellan. Lipsiens, tom. i. p. 361, where may be found an explication 
 of a satirical medal, struck to expose the”Sentiments of Becker. See 
 also Nouveau Diction. Hist. et Critique, tom. i. p. 193. 
 
 ® See Theod. Haszi Dissert. in Museo Bremensi Theol. Philolog. 
 vol. ii. p. 144.—Bibliotheque Belgique, tom. ii. p. 203. 
 
 b See Leti Istoria Genevina, part iv. book v. p. 448, 488, 497, &e. 
 
 ¢ 3 It must not be imagined, from the expressions of our historian, 
 that this Consensus, or Form of Agreement, was abrogated at Basil by 
 a positive edict. ‘The case stood thus: Mr. Peter Werenfels, who 
 was at the head of the ecclesiastical consistory of that city, paid such 
 regard to the letter of the elector, as to avoid requiring a subscription to 
 this form from the candidates for the ministry: and his conduct, in this 
 respect, was imitated by his successors. The remonstrances of the 
 elector do not seem to have had the same effect upon those who governed 
 the church ¢f Geneva; for the form maintained its credit and authority 
 
 there until the year 1706, when, without being abrogated by any posi- 
 tive act, it fell into disuse. In several other parts of Switzerland, it was 
 still imposed as a rule of faith, as appears from the letters addressed by 
 George I., king of Great Britain, and by the king of Prussia, in 1723, to 
 the Swiss cantons, in order to procure the abrogation of this form, 
 which was considered as an obstacle to the union of the Reformed and 
 Lutheran churches. See the Memoires pour servir & Histoire des 
 Troubles arrivées en Suisse a l’occasion du Consensus, published at 
 Amsterdam in 1726. 
 
 4 See the work last quoted, and also Christ. Matth. Pfaffii. Schediasma 
 de Formula Consens. Helvet. 
 
 ® The most ample account we have of this eminent man is given by 
 Caspar Brandt, in his Historia Vite Jac. Arminii, published at Leyden, 
 in 1724, and the year after by me at Brunswick, with an additional pre- 
 face and some annotations. See also Nouveau Dictionaire Histor. et 
 
Parr IL. 
 
 an humble petition, entitled their Remonstrance, which | 
 they addressed, in L610, to the states of Holland and | 
 West-Iriseland ; and, as the patrons of Calvinism pre- | 
 sented an address in opposition to this, which they called 
 their Counter-Remonstrance, the latter received the name 
 of Counter-Remonstrants. 
 
 fl. Arminius, though he had imbibed in his tender 
 vears the doctrines of Geneva, and had even received his 
 theological education in the university of that city, yet 
 reiected, when he arrived at the age of manhood, the sen- 
 timents, concerning predestination and the divine decrees, 
 that were adopted by the greatest part of the reformed 
 churches, and embraced the principles and communion 
 of those, whose religious system extended the love of the 
 Supreme Being, and the merits of Jesus Christ, to all 
 mankind.s As time and deep meditation had only serv- 
 ed to confirm him in these principles, he thought himself 
 obliged, by the dictates both of candour and conscience, 
 to profess them publicly, when he had obtained the chair 
 of divinity in the university of Leyden, and to oppose 
 the doctrine and sentiments of Calvin on these heads, 
 which had been followed by the greatest part of the Dutch 
 clergy. ‘T'wo considerations encouraged him, in a patti- 
 cular manner, to venture upon this open declaration of 
 his sentiments; for he was persuaded, on one hand, that 
 there were many persons, beside himself, and, among 
 these, some of the first rank and dignity, who were highly 
 disgusted at the doctrine of absolute decrees; and, on the 
 other, he knew that the Dutch divines and doctors were 
 neither obliged by their confession of faith, nor by any 
 other public law, to adopt aad propagate the principles of 
 Calvin. ‘Thus animated and encouraged, he taught his 
 sentiments publicly, with great freedom and equal success, 
 and persuaded many of the truth of his doctrine: but, 
 as Calvinism was at this time ina flourishing state in 
 Holland, this freedom procured him a multitude of ene- 
 mies, and drew upon him the severest marks of disappro- 
 bation and resentment from those who adhered to the 
 theological system of Geneva, and more especially from 
 Francis Gomar, his colleague. ‘Thus commenced that 
 long, tedious, and intricate controversy, which afterwards 
 made such a noise in Europe. Arminius died in 1609, | 
 when it was just beginning to involve his country in con- 
 tention and discord.” 
 
 itl. After the death of Arminius, the contest seemed 
 
 Critique, tom. i. p. 471. They who would form a just and accurate 
 notion of his temper, genius, and doctrine, will do well to peruse, with 
 
 articular attention, his Disputationes publice et private. There are 
 in his manner of reasoning, and also in his phraseology, some little 
 remains of the scholastic jargon of that age; yet we find in his wri- 
 tings, upon the whole, much of that simplicity and perspicuity which 
 his followers have always looked upon, and still consider, as among the 
 prinzipal qualities of a Christian minister. For an account of the Ar- 
 yiian confessions of faith, and the historical writers who have treated 
 of this sect, see J. Christ. Kocher’s Biblioth. Theol. Symbolic, p. 481. 
 
 * Bertius in his Funeral Oration on Arminius, Brandt in his history 
 of the life of that divine, and almost all the ecclesiastical historians of 
 this pericd, mention the occasion of this change in his sentiments. It 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 7) 
 
 ~ 
 
 623 
 to be carried on, during some years, with equal success ; 
 so that it was not easy to foresee which side would gain 
 the ascendency. ‘lhe demands of the Arminians were 
 moderate ; they required no more than a bare toleration 
 of their religious sentiments 3° and some of the first men 
 in the republic, such as Olden-Barneveldt, Grotius, 
 Hoogerbeets, and several others, looked upon this demand 
 as reasonable and just. It was the opinion of these great 
 men, that, as the points in debate had not been determined 
 by the Belgic confession of faith, every individual had an 
 unquestionable right to judge for himself, more especially 
 in a free state, which had thrown off the yoke of spiri- 
 tual despotism and civil tyranny. In consequence of 
 this persuasion, they used their utmost efforts to accom- 
 modate matters, and left no methods unemployed to 
 engage the Calvinists to treat with Christian moderation 
 and forbearance their dissenting brethren. ‘These efforts 
 were at first attended with some prospect of success. 
 Maurice, prince of Orange, and the princess dowager, his 
 mother, countenanced these pacific measures, though the 
 former became afterwards one of the warmest adversaries 
 of the Arminians. Hence a conference was holden in 
 1611, at the Hague, between the contending parties; ano- 
 ther took place at Delft in 1613; and with the same 
 view, a pacific edict was issued in 1614 by the states of 
 Holland to exhort them to charity and mutual forbear- 
 ance; not to mention a number of expedients applied in 
 vain to prévent the schism that threatened the church.¢ 
 But these measures confirmed, instead of removing, the 
 
 happened in 1591, as appears from the remarkable letter of Arminius to 
 Grynzus, dated in that year, in which the former proposes to the Jatter 
 rome of his theological doubts. ‘This letter is published in the Biblioth. 
 Brem. Theol. Philolog. tom. iii. p. 384. 
 
 +The history of this controversy, and of the public discords and 
 tumults it occasioned, is more circumstantially related by Brandt, in the 
 second and third volumes of his History of the Reformation, than by 
 any other writer. This excellent history is written in Dutch; but 
 there is an abridgment of it in French, which has been translated into 
 English. Add to this, Uytenbogard’s Ecclesiastical History, written 
 aiso in Dutch; Limborchi Historia Vite Episcopii; and the Epistole 
 
 apprehensions of the Calvinists; from day to day they 
 were still more firmly persuaded, that the Arminians 
 aimed at nothing less than the ruin of all religion ; 
 and hence they censured their magistrates with great 
 warmth and freedom, for interposing their authority to 
 promote peace and union with such adversaries ;* and 
 those, who are well informed and impartial, must can- 
 didly acknowledge, that the Arminians were far from 
 being sufficiently cautious in avoiding connexions with 
 persons of loose principles, and that, by frequenting the 
 company of those, whose sentiments were entirely dif- 
 ferent from the-received doctrines of the reformed church, 
 they furnished their enemies with a pretext for suspecting 
 their own principles, and representing their theological 
 system in the worst colours. 
 
 IV. It is worthy of observation, that this unhappy con- 
 
 Clarorum Virorum, published by Limborch. Those who desire a more 
 concise view of this contest, will find it in Limborch’s Relatio Historica 
 de Origine et Progressu Controversiarum in Feederato Belgio de Pre- 
 destinatione et capitibus annexis, which is subjoined to the later editions 
 of his ‘Theologia Christiana, or Body of Divinity. It is true, all these 
 are Arminians; and, as impartiality requires our hearing both sides, the 
 reader may consult Trigland’s Ecclesiastical History, composed likewise 
 in Dutch, and a prodigious number of polemical writings published 
 against the Arminians. 
 
 ¢ 3*> This toleration was offered to them in the conference holden at 
 the Hague in 1611, provided they would renounce the errors of Socinian- 
 ism. See Trigland’s History, and also Henry Brandt’s Collatio Scrip- 
 torum habita Hage-Comitum. 
 
 a The writers who have given accounts of these transactions are well 
 known: we shall only mention the first and second volumes of the His- 
 toire de Louis XIII. by Le Vassor, who treats largely and accurately of 
 these religious commotions, and of the civil transactions that were 
 connected with them. 
 
 ¢ The conduct of the states of Holland, who employed not only the 
 language of persuasion, but also the voice of authority, in order to calm 
 these commotions, and restore peace to the church, was defended, with 
 his usual learning and eloquence, by Grotius, in two treatises. One, 
 which contains the general principles on which this defence is founded, 
 : is entitled, “De Jure summarum Potestatum circa Sacra;” the other, in 
 
624 
 
 troversy, which assumed another form, and was rendered 
 more comprehensive by new subjects of contention, after 
 the synod of Dordrecht, was at this time confined to the 
 doctrines relating to predestination and grace. The sen- 
 timents of the Arminians concerning these intricate points, 
 were comprehended in five articles. They held, 
 
 L. “'That God, from all eternity, determined to bestow 
 salvation on those who, as he foresaw, would persevere 
 to the end in their faith in Christ Jesus, and to inflict 
 everlasting punishments on those who should continue in 
 their unbelief, and resist, to the end of life, his divine 
 succours : 
 
 2. “That Jesus Christ, by his death and sufferings, 
 made an atonement for the sins of mankind in general, 
 and of every individual in particular: that, however, none 
 but those who believe in him can be partakers of that 
 divine benefit. 
 
 3. “That true faith cannot proceed from the exer- 
 cise of our natural faculties and powers, or from the 
 force and operation of free-will, since man, in consequence 
 of his natural corruption, is incapable either of thinking 
 or doing any good thing ; and that therefore it is neces- 
 sary to his conversion and salvation, that he be regene- 
 rated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, 
 which is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. “That this divine grace, or energy of the Holy 
 Ghost, which heals the disorders of a corrupt nature, be- 
 gins, advances, and brings to perfection, every thing that 
 can be called good in man; and that, consequently, all 
 
 ood works, without exception, are to be attributed to God 
 alone, and to the operation of his grace; that, neverthe- 
 less, this grace does not force the man to act against his 
 mclination, but may be resisted and rendered ineffectual 
 by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner. 
 
 5. “'That they who are united to Christ by faith are 
 thereby furnished with abundant strength, and with suc- 
 cours sifficient to enable them to triumph over the seduc- 
 tions of Satan, and the allurements of sin and tempta- 
 tion; but that the question, Whether such may fall from 
 their faith, and forfeit finally this state of grace, has not 
 been yet resolved with sufficient perspicuity, and must, 
 therefore, be yet more carefully examined by an attentive 
 study of what the Scriptures have declared in relation to 
 this important point.” 
 
 It is to be observed, that this: last article was after- 
 wards changed by the Arminians, who, in process of time, 
 declared their sentiments with less caution, and _posi- 
 tively affirmed, that the saints might fail from a state of 
 grace.* 
 
 which these principles are peculiarly applied in justifying the conduct 
 of the states, was published, in 1613, under the following title: “ Ordi- 
 num Hollandiz ac West-Frisiz Pietas a multorum Calumniis vindicata.” 
 * The history of these five articles, and more particularly of their 
 reception and progress in England, has been written by Dr. Heylin, 
 ~whose book was translated into Dutch by the learned and eloquent 
 Brandt, and published at Rotterdam in 1687. 
 bzZ¢> This is a curious remark. It would seem as if the Lutherans 
 were not Semi-Pelagians; as if they considered man as absolutely 
 passive in the work of his conversion and sanctification; but such an 
 opinion surely has never been the general doctrine of their church, 
 however rigorously Luther may have expressed himself on that head, in 
 some unguarded moments: more especially it may be affirmed, that in 
 later times the Lutherans are, to a man, Semi-Pelagians; and let it not 
 be thought that this is imputed to them as a reproach. 
 ¢ That Maurice aimed at the dignity of count of Holland we learn 
 from Aubery’s Memoires pour servir & |’Histoire d’ Hollande et des 
 autres Provinces Unies, sect.ii. Ifwe are to believe Aubery (informed 
 
 HISTORY OF THE*ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IT. 
 
 If we are to judge of men’s sentiments by their words 
 and declarations, the tenets of the Arminians, at the period 
 now under consideration, bear a manifest resemblance to 
 the Lutheran system. But the Calvinists did not judge 
 in this manner; on the contrary, they explained the 
 words and declarations of the Arminians according to the 
 notions they had formed of the hidden sentiments of those 
 sectaries ; and, instead of judging of their opinions by 
 their expressions, they judged of their expressions by their 
 opinions. ‘They maintained, that the Arminians designed, 
 under these specious and artful declarations, to insinuate 
 the poison of Socinianism and Pelagianism into unwary 
 and uninstructed minds. ‘The secret thoughts of men are 
 only known to Him, who is the searcher of hearts; and 
 it is his privilege alone to pronounce judgment upon those 
 intentions and designs which are concealed from public 
 view. Butif we were allowed to interpret the five articles 
 now mentioned in a sense conformable to what the lead- 
 ing doctors among the Arminians have taught in later 
 times concerning these points, it would be difficult to show, 
 that the suspicions of the Calvinists were entirely ground- 
 less ; for it is certain, whatever the Arminians may allege 
 to the contrary, that the sentiments of their most eminent 
 theological writers, after the synod of Dordrecht, concern- 
 ing divine grace, and the doctrines that are connected with 
 it, are much more accordant to the opinions of the Pela- 
 gians and Semi-Pelagians, than to those of the Lutheran 
 church. 
 
 VY. The mild and favourable treatment which the Armi- 
 nians received from the magistrates of Holland, and from 
 several persons of merit and distinction, encouraged them 
 to hope, that their affairs would take a prosperous turn, 
 or at least that their cause was not desperate, when an 
 unexpected storm arose against them, and blasted their 
 expectations. This change was produced by causes 
 entirely foreign to religion ; and its origin must be sought 
 in those connexions which can scarcely be admitted as 
 possible by the philosopher, but are perpetually presented 
 to the view of the historian. A secret misunderstanding had 
 for some time subsisted between the stadtholder Maurice, 
 prince of Orange, and some of the principal magistrates and 
 ministers of the new republic, such as Olden-Barneveldt, 
 Grotius, and Hoogerbeets; and this misunderstanding had 
 at length broken out into an open enmity and discord. 
 The views of this great prince are differently represented 
 by different historians. Some allege, that he had formed 
 the design of getting himself declared count of Holland, a 
 dignity which William L, the glorious founder of Belgic 
 liberty, is also said to have had in view. Others affirm, 
 
 by his father, who was, at that time, ambassador of France at the 
 Hague, ) Olden-Barneveldt disapproved this design, prevented its execu- 
 tion, and lost his life by his bold opposition to the views of the prince. 
 This account is looked upon as erroneous by Le Vassor, who takes 
 much pains to refute it, and indecd with success, in his Histoire de Louis 
 XIIL, t. ii. p. ii. Le Clere, in his Biblioth. Choisie, and in his History 
 of the United Provinces, endeavours to confirm what is related bg 
 Aubery ; and also affirms, that the project formed by Maurice had been 
 entertained before by his father. ‘The determination of this debatec 
 point is not necessary to our present purpose. It is sufficient to observe 
 what is acknowledged on all sides, that Olden-Barneveldt and his assc- 
 ciates suspected prince Maurice of a design of encroaching upon the 
 liberties of the republic, and arrogating to himself the supreme dominion. 
 Hence arose the zeal of Barneveldt to weaken his influence, and to set 
 bounds to his authority; hence the indignation and resentment of Mau. 
 rice; and hence the downfall of the Arminian sect, which enjoyed the 
 patronage and adhered to the interests of Oiden-Barneveldt and Gro- 
 tius, : 
 
Pane IL. 
 
 chat he only aspired to a greater degree of authority and || 
 niluence than seemed consistent with the liberties of the 
 “epublic ; it is at least certain, that some of the principal 
 persons in the government suspected him of aiming at 
 supreme dominion. ‘The leading men above mentioned 
 opposed these designs; and these leading men were the 
 patrons of the Arminians. The Arminians adhered to 
 these their defenders, without whose aid they could have 
 no prospect of security or protection. ‘Their adversaries 
 the Gomarists, on the contrary, seconded the views and 
 espoused the interests of the prince, and inflamed his 
 resentment, which had been already kindled by various 
 suggestions, to the disadvantage of the Arminians, and 
 of those who protected them. Thus, after mutual sus- 
 picions and discontents, the flame broke out with violence ; 
 and Maurice aimed at the ruin of those who ruled the 
 republic without showing a proper regard to his counsels, 
 and also of the Arminians, who espoused their cause. 
 he men who sat at the helm of government, were cast 
 into prison. Olden-Barneveldt, a man of gravity and wis- 
 dom, whose hairs were grown grey in the service of his 
 country, lost his life on a public scaffold; while Grotius 
 and Hoogerbeets were condemned to perpetual imprison- 
 ment ;* under what pretext, or in consequence of what 
 accusations or crimes, is unknown to us.» As the Armi- 
 nians were not charged with any violation of the laws, 
 but merely with departing from the established religion, 
 their cause was not of such a nature as rendered it cog- 
 nisable by a civil tribunal. That, however, this cause 
 might be regularly decided, it was judged proper to bring 
 it before an ecclesiastical assembly, or national synod. 
 This method of proceeding was agreeable to the sentiments 
 and principles of the Calvinists, who are of opinion, that 
 all spiritual concerns and religious controversies ought to 
 be judged and decided by an ecclesiastical assembly or 
 council.¢ 
 
 * The truth of this general account of these unhappy divisions will 
 undoubtedly be acknowledged by all parties, particularly at this period, 
 when these tumults and commotions have subsided, and the spirit of 
 party is less blind, partial, and violent; and the candid and ingenu- 
 ous Calvinists who acknowledge this, will not thereby do the smallest 
 prejudice to their cause. If they should even grant (what I neither pre- 
 tend to affirm nor deny) that their ancestors, carried away by the impe- 
 tuous spirit of the times, defended their religious opinions in a manner 
 that was far trom being consistent with the dictates of moderation and 
 prudence, no rational conclusion can be drawn from this, either against 
 them or the goodness of their cause; for it is well known, both by 
 observation and experience, that unjustifiable things have often been 
 done by men, whose characters and intentions, in general, were good 
 and upright, and that a good cause has frequently been maintained by 
 methods that would not bear a rigorous examination, WhatI have said 
 with brevity on this subject is confirmed and amplified by Le Clerc, in 
 his Histoire des Provinces Unies, and in the Biblioth. Choisie, tom. 11. 
 p. 134; and also by Grotius, in his Apologeticus eorum, qui Hollandiz 
 et West-Frisiz, et vicinis quibusdam Nationibus, prefuerunt ante Muta- 
 tionem que evenit Anno 1618. The life of Olden-Barneveldt, written 
 in Dutch, was published in 1648. The history of his trial, and of the 
 judgment pronounced on the famous triumvirate, mentioned above, was 
 drawn by Gerard Brandt from authentic records, and published under 
 the following title: Historie van de Rechts-pleginge gehouden in den 
 janren L618 en 1619, omtrent de drie gevangene Heeren Johan van 
 Olden-Barneveldt, Rombout Hoogerbeets, en Hugo de Groot; a third 
 edition of this book, augmented with annotations, appeared in 1723. 
 The History of the Life and Actions of Grotius, composed in Dutch by 
 Caspar Brandt and Adrian van Cattenburg, and drawn mostly from 
 original papers, throws a considerable degree of light on the history of 
 these transactions. This famous work was published in 1727, under 
 the following title: Historie van het leven des Heeren Huig de Groot, 
 beschrewen tot den Anfang van zyn Gesandchap wegens de Koninginne 
 en Kroone van Zweden aanit Hof van Vrankryck, door Caspard Brandt, 
 er vervolgt tot zyn doodt door Adrian van Catterburg Those who desire 
 to form a true and accurate notion of the character and conduct of Gro- 
 
 No. LUI. 157 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 fi25 
 
 VI. Accordingly a synod was convoked at Dordrecht, 
 in 1618, by the counsels and influence of prince Maurice.4 
 at which were present ecclesiastical deputies from the United 
 Provinces, as also from the churches of England, Hesse, 
 Bremen, Switzerland, and the Palatinate. ‘The leading 
 men among the Arminians appeared, before this famous 
 assembly, to defend their cause; and they had, at theiz 
 head, Simon Episcopius, who was, at that time, professor 
 of divinity at Leyden, had formerly been the disciple of 
 Arminius, and admired, even by his enemies, on account 
 of the depth of his judgment, the extent of his learn- 
 ing, and the force of his eloquence. This eminent man 
 addressed a discourse, full of moderation, gravity, and elo- 
 cution, to the assembled divines ; but this was no sooner 
 finished, than difficulties arose, which prevented the con- 
 ference the Arminians had demanded, in order to show 
 the grounds, in reason and Scripture, on which their opi- 
 nions were founded. The Arminian deputies proposed to 
 
 begin the defence of their cause by refuting the opinions 
 
 of the Calvinists. "This proposal was rejected by the synod, 
 which looked upon the Arminians as a set of men that lay 
 under the charge of heresy, and therefore thought it in- 
 cumbent upon them to declare and prove their own 
 opinions, before they could be allowed to combat the sen- 
 timents of others. 'The design of the Arminians, in the 
 proposal they made, was probably to get the people on 
 their side, by such an unfavourable representation of the 
 Calvinistical system, and of the harsh consequences that 
 seem deducible from it, as might excite, in the minds of 
 those who were present, a disgust to its patrons and abet- 
 tors; and it is more than probable, that one of the prin- 
 cipal reasons, that engaged the members of the synod to 
 reject this proposal, was a consideration of the genius and 
 talents of Episcopius, and an apprehension of the effects 
 of his eloquence upon the multitude. When all the me- 
 thods employed to persuade the Arminians to submit to the 
 
 tius, and to see him as it were near hand, must have recourse to this 
 excellent work, since almost all the other accounts of this great man are 
 insipid, lifeless, and exhibit little else than a poor shadow, instead of a 
 real and animated substance. The life of Grotius, composed by Bu- 
 rigni in French, deserves perhaps to be included in this general cen- 
 sure; it is at least a very indifferent and superficial performance. 
 34> There appeared in Holland a warm vindication of the memory of 
 this great man, in a work published in 1727, and entitled, Grotii Manes _. 
 ab iniquis Obtrectationibus vindicati; aeccedit Scriptoram ejus, tum 
 
 editorum tum in editorum, Conspectus Triplex. See the following note. 
 
 b 3* Dr. Mosheim, however impartial, seems to have consulted 
 more the authors of one side than of the other, probably because they 
 are more numerous, and more generally known. When he published 
 this history, the world had not been favoured with the Letters, Memoirs, 
 and Negotiations of Sir Dudley Carleton; which lord Royston (afier- 
 wards earl of Hardwicke) drew forth from his inestimable treasure of 
 historical manuscripts, and presented to the public, or rather at first to a 
 select number of persons, to whom he distributed a small number of 
 copies of these Negotiations, printed at his own expence. They were 
 soon translated both into Dutch and French; and though it cannot be 
 affirmed that the spirit of party is no where discoverable in them, yet 
 they contain anecdotes with respect both to Olden-Barneveldt and Gro- 
 tius, which the Arminians, and the other patrons of these two great men, 
 have been studious to conceal. These ancedotes, though they may not 
 be sufficient to justify the severities exercised against these eminent men, 
 would, however, have prevented Dr. Mosheim from saying that he 
 knew not under what pretext they were arrested. 
 
 ¢3z* The Calvinists are not particular in this; and indeed it is 
 natural that debates, purely theviogical, should be discussed in an assem- 
 bly of divines. 
 
 4 3*> Our author always forgets to mention the order, issued by the 
 states-veneral, for the convocation of this famous synod; and, by his 
 manner of expressing himself, and particularly by the phrase (Mauritio 
 auctore,) would seem to insinuate, that it was by the prince that this 
 assembly was called together. The legitimacy of the manner of con- 
 
 voking this synod was questioned by Olden-Barneveldt, who maintain- 
 
626 
 
 manner of proceeding, proposed by the synod, proved inef- 
 fectual, they were excluded from that assembly, and re- 
 turned home, complaining bitterly of the rigour and par- 
 tiality with which they had been treated. Their cause 
 was nevertheless tried in their absence; and, in conse- 
 quence of a strict examination of their writings, they were 
 pronounced guilty of pestilential errors, and condemned as 
 corruptors of the true religion. This sentence was followed 
 by its natural effects, which were the excommunication of 
 the Arminians, the suppression of their religious assemblies, 
 and the deprivation of their ministers. _In this unhappy 
 contest, the candid and impartial observer will easily per- 
 ceive that faults were committed on both sides. Which of 
 the contending parties may justly be thought most worthy 
 of censure, is a point, whose discussion is foreign to our 
 present purpose.* 
 
 Vil. We shall not here appreciate either the meri or 
 demerit of the divines who were assembled in this famous 
 synod; but we cannot help observing that their sanctity, 
 wisdom, and virtue, have been exalted beyond all mea- 
 sure by the Calvinists, while their partiality, violence, and 
 their other defects, have been exaggerated with some de- 
 gree of malignity by the Arminians.” There is no doubt 
 that, among the members of this assembly, who sat in 
 judgment upon the Arminians, there were several persons 
 equally distinguished by their learning, piety, and integ- 
 rity, who acted with upright intentions, and had not the 
 Jeast notion, that the steps they were taking, or encoura- 
 ging, were inconsistent with equity and wisdom. — On the 
 other hand it clearly appears, that the Arminians had rea- 
 son to complain of several circumstances that strike us in 
 the history of this remarkable period. It is evident in the 
 first place, that the ruin of their community was a point 
 not only premeditated, but determined even before the 
 meeting of the national synod ;° and that this synod was 
 not so much assembled to examine their doctrine, in order 
 to see whether it was worthy of toleration and indul- 
 gence, as to publish and execute, with a certain solem- 
 nity, with an air of justice, and with the suffrages and con- 
 sent of foreign divines, whose authority was respectable, 
 a sentence already drawn up and agreed upon by those 
 who had the principal direction of these affairs. It is far- 
 ther to be observed, that the accusers and adversaries of 
 the Arminians were their judges, and that Bogerman, 
 who presided in this synod, was distinguished by his 
 
 ed that the states-general had no sort of authority in matters of religion, 
 not even the power of assembling a synod; affirming that this was an 
 act of sovereignty, that belonged to each province separately and re- 
 spectively. See Carleton’s Letters. 
 
 * The writers who have given accounts of the synod of Dordrecht, are 
 mentioned by Jo. Albert Fabricius, in his Biblioth. Gree. vol. xi. p. 723. 
 The most ample account of this famous assembly has been given by 
 Brandt, in the second and third volumes of his History of the Reforma- 
 tion in the United Provinces; but, as this author is an Arminian, it 
 will not be improper to compare his relation with a work of the learned 
 Leydekker, in which the piety and justice of the proceedings of this 
 synod are vindicated against the censures of Brandt. This work, 
 which is composed in Dutch, was published in 1707 under the following 
 title: Eere van de nationale Synode van Dordrecht, voorgestaan en 
 bevestigd tegen de beschuldingen, van G. Brandt. After comparing 
 diligently these two productions, I can see no enormouserror in Brandt; 
 for, in truth, these two writers do not so much differ about facts, as they 
 do inthe reasoning they deduce from them, and in their accounts of the 
 causes whence they proceeded. ‘The reader will do well to consult the 
 Letters of the learned and worthy Mr. John Hale of Eton, who was an 
 impartial spectator of the proceedings of the synod, and who relates 
 with candour and simplicity what he saw and heard. 
 
 » All that appeared unfair to the Arminians in the proceedings of this 
 synod has been collected in a Dutch book, entitled, Nulliteyten, Miskan- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Sect. Ib 
 
 peculiar hatred of that sect; that neither the Dutch nor 
 foreign divines had the liberty of giving their suflrages 
 according to their own private sentiments, but were obli- 
 ged to deliver the opinions of the princes and magistrates, 
 of whose orders they were the depositories ;* that the in- 
 fluence of the lay deputies, who appeared in the synod 
 with commissions from the states-general and the prince 
 of Orange, was still superior to that of the ecclesiastical 
 meinbers, who sat as judges ; and, lastly, that the solemn 
 promise, made to the Arminians, when they were sum- 
 moned before the synod, that they should be allowed to 
 enjoy the liberty of explaining and defending their opi- 
 nions as far as they thought proper or necessary to their 
 justification, was manifestly violated.¢ 
 
 VIII. ‘The Arminians, in consequence of the decision 
 of the synod, were considered as enemies of their country 
 and of its established religion; and they were accordingly 
 treated with great severity. ‘They were deprived of all 
 their posts and employments, whether ecclesiastical or civil ; 
 and, which they looked uponas a yet more intolerable in- 
 stance of the rigour of their adversaries, their ministers were 
 silenced, and their congregations were suppressed. They 
 refused obedience to the order, by which their pastors 
 were prohibited from performing, in public, their ministe 
 rial functions ; and thus they drew upon themselves anew 
 the resentment of their superiors who punished them 
 by fines, imprisonment, exile, and other marks of igno- 
 miny. ‘To avoid these vexations, many of them retired 
 to Antwerp, others fled into France; while a considera- 
 ble number, accepting the invitation sent to them by Fre- 
 deric, duke of Holstein, formed a colony, which settled in 
 the dominions of that prince, and built for themselves a 
 handsome town called F'redericstadt, in the duchy of Sle:- 
 wick, where their descendants still live unmolested, in 
 the open profession and free exercise of their religion. 
 The heads of this colony were persons of distinction, who 
 had been obliged to leave their native country on account 
 of these troubles, particularly Adrian Vander-Wael, who 
 was the first governor of the new city.! Among the per- 
 secuted ecclesiastics, who followed this colony, were, the 
 famous Vorstius, (who, by his religious sentiments, which 
 differed little from the Socinian system, had rendered the 
 Arminians particularly odious,) Grevinckhovius (a man 
 of a resolute spirit, who had been pastor at Rotterdam,) 
 Goulart, Grevius, Walther, Narsius, and others.¢ 
 
 delingen, ende onbyllike, Proceduren des nationalen Synodi gehouden 
 binnen Dordrecht, &c. 1619. 
 
 ¢ This assertion is of too weighty a nature to be advanced without 
 sufficient proof. Our author quotes no authority for it. 
 
 4 34> Here our author has fallen into a palpable mistake. The Dutch 
 divines had no commission but from their respective consistories, or 
 subordinate ecclesiastical assemblies ; nor are they ever depositories of 
 the orders of their magistrates, who have lay-deputies to represent 
 them both in provincial and national synods. As to the English and 
 other foreign doctors who appeared in the synod, the case perhaps may 
 have been somewhat different. 
 
 ¢ See Le Vassor, Histoire du Regne de Louis XIII. tom. iii. livr. xi, 
 p. 365.—and Mosheim’s preface to the Latin translation of the evcount 
 of the synod of Dordrecht, written by the ever-memorable John Hale. 
 
 f The history of this colony is accurately related in the famous letters 
 published by Philip Limborch and Christian Hartsoeker, entitled, 
 Epistole prestantium et eruditorum virorum ecclesiastice et theologive, 
 of which the last edition was published at Amsterdam in 1704. See 
 also Molleri Introductio in Histor. Chersonesi Cimbrice, p. 11. p. 108, 
 and Pontoppidani Annales Ecclesiz Danice Diplomatici, tom. iil. p 
 714. 
 
 s For an ample account of Vorstius, see Molleri Cimbria Literata, 
 tom. ii. where we find a particular account of the other ecclesiastics 
 above mentioned. 
 
Part IL. HISTORY OF THE 
 
 IX. After the death of prince Maurice, which happen- 
 ed in 1625, the Arminian exiles experienced the mildness 
 and clemency of his brother and successor Frederic Hen- 
 ry, under whose administration they were recalled from 
 banishment, and restored to their former reputation and 
 tranquillity. "Those who had taken refuge in the king- 
 dom of France, and in the Spanish Netherlands, were the 
 first that embraced this occasion of returning to their 
 native country, where they erected churches in several 
 places, and more particularly in the cities of Amsterdam 
 and Rotterdam, under the mild shade of religious tolera- 
 tion. ‘That they might also have a public seminary for 
 the instruction of their youth, and the propagation of their 
 theological principles, they founded a college at Amster- 
 dam, in which two professors were appointed to instruct 
 the candidates for the ministry, in the various branches of 
 literature and science, sacred and profane. Simon Epis- 
 copius was the first professor of theology among the 
 Arminians; and, since his time, the seminary now men- 
 tioned has been, in general, furnished with professors emi- 
 nent for their learning and genius, such as Courcelles, 
 Poelenburg, Limborch, Le Clerc, Cattenburg,s and Wet- 
 stein. 
 
 X. We have already seen that the original difference, 
 between the Arminians and the Calvinists, was entirely 
 confined to the five points mentioned above, relative to 
 the doctrines of predestination and grace; and it was the 
 doctrine of the former concerning these points alone that 
 occasioned their condemnation in the synod of Dordrecht. 
 It is farther to be observed, that these points, as explain- 
 ed at that time by the Arminians, seemed to differ very 
 Jittle from the Lutheran system. But after the dissolu- 
 tion of the synod, and especially after the return of the 
 Arminian exiles into their native country, the theological 
 system of this community underwent aremarkablechange, 
 and assumed an aspect that distinguished it entirely from 
 that of all other Christian churches ; for then they gave 
 a new explication of these five articles, that made them 
 almost coincide with the doctrine of those who deny the 
 necessity of divine succours in the work of conversion, and 
 in the paths of virtue. They even went farther; and, 
 
 * There isan accurate account of these and the other Arminian wri- 
 ters given by Adrian van Cattenburg, in his Bibhotheca Scriptorum 
 Remonstrantium, printed at Amsterdam in 1728. 
 
 » [t is acommon opinion, that the ancient Arminians, who flourished 
 before the synod of Dordrecht, were much more sound in their opinions, 
 and strict in their morals, than those who have lived since that period; 
 that Arminius himself only rejected the Calvinistical doctrine of abso- 
 lute decrees, and what he took to be its immediate consequences, adopt- 
 ing in all other points the doctrines received in the reformed churches: 
 but that his disciples, and more especially Episcopius, had boldly trans- 
 gressed the bounds which had been wisely prescribed by their master, 
 and had gone over to the Pelagians, and even to the Socinians. Such, 
 I say, is the opinion commonly entertained concerning this matter. 
 
 But it appears, on the contrary, evident to me, that Arminius himself 
 
 had laid the plan of that theological system, which was, in after-times, 
 embraced by his-4ollowers, and that he had instilled the main principles 
 of it into the minds of his disciples; and that these latter, and particularly 
 Episcopius, did really no more than bring this plan to a greater degree 
 of perfection, and propagate, with more courage and perspicuity, the 
 doctrines it contained. I have the testimony of Arminius to support 
 this notion, deside many others that might be alleged in its behalf: for, 
 in the last will made by this eminent man, a little before his death, he 
 
 liinly and positively declares, that the great object. he had in view, in 
 in all his theological and ministerial labours, was to unite in one commu- 
 nity, cemented by the bonds of fraternal charity, all sects and denomina- 
 tions of Christians, the papists excepted. His words, as they are 
 recorded in the funeral oration, which was composed on occasion of his 
 death by Bertius, are as follow: ‘Ea proposui et docui... qua ad 
 propagationem amplificationemque veritatis religionis Christiane, veri 
 
 ARMINIAN CHURCH. 627 
 bringing the greatest part of the doctrines of Christianity 
 before the tribunal of reason, they modified them con- 
 siderably, and reduced them to an excessive degree of sim- 
 plicity. Arminius, the parent and founder of the com- 
 munity, was undoubtedly the inventor of this new form 
 of doctrine, and taught it to his disciples ;» but it was first 
 digested into a regular system, and embellished with the 
 charms of a masculine eloquence, by Episcopius, whose 
 learning and genius have given him a place among the 
 Arminian doctors, next to their founder.« 
 
 XI. The great and ultimate end which the Arminians 
 seem to have in view is, that Christians, though divided 
 in their opinions, may be united in fraternal charity, and 
 love, and thus be formed into one family or-community, 
 notwithstanding the diversity of their theological senti- 
 ments. In order to execute their benevolent purpose, 
 they maintain, that Christ demands from his servants 
 more virtue than faith ; that he has confined, to a few 
 articles, that belief which is essential to salvation ; that, 
 on the other hand, the rules of practice he has prescribed 
 are extremely large in their extent; and that charity.and 
 virtue ought to be the principal study of true Christians. 
 Their definition of a true Christian issomewhat latitudina- 
 rian in point of belief. According to their account, every 
 person is a genuine subject of the kingdom of Christ, “1. 
 who receives the Scriptures, and more especially the New 
 Testament, as the rule of his faith, however he may 
 think proper to interpret and explain these sacred oracles; 
 2. who abstains from idolatry, polytheism, and all their 
 concomitant absurdities; 3. who leads a decent, ho- 
 nest, and virtuous life, directed and regulated by the laws 
 of God; and, 4. who never discovers a spirit of persecu- 
 tion, discord, or ill-will, toward those who differ from him 
 in their religious sentiments, or in their manner of inter- 
 preting Scripture.” ‘Thus the wide bosom of the Armi- 
 nian church is open to Christians in general, however 
 
 | they may differ in some of their theological opinions. 
 
 ‘The papists alone are excluded from this extensive com- 
 munion, because they deem it lawful ¢ to persecute those 
 who will not submit to the yoke of the Roman pontiff. 
 It is not our design here either to justify or condemn these 
 
 Dei cultus, communis pietatis, et sancte inter homines conversationis, 
 denique ad convenientem Christiano nomini tranquillitatem et pacem 
 juxta verbum Dei possent conferre, excludens ex iis papatum, cum quo 
 nulla unitas fidei, nullum pietatis aut Christiane pacis vinculum servari 
 potest.” These words, in their amount, coincide perfectly with the 
 modern system of Arminianism, which extends the limits of the Chris- 
 tian church, and relaxes the bonds of fraternal communion in such a 
 manner, that Christians of all denominations, whatever their sentiments 
 and opinions may be (papists excepted,) may be formed into one reli- 
 gious body, and live together in brotherly love and concord. 
 
 ° The life of this eminent man was composed in Latin by the learned 
 and judicious Limborch, and is singularly worthy of an attentive peru- 
 sal. It was published at Amsterdam in 1701. 
 
 4 > It is not only on account of their persecuting spirit, but also on 
 account of their idolatrous worship, that the Arminians exclude the 
 Papists from their communion. See the following note. 
 
 * For a full and accurate representation of this matter, it will be suffi- 
 cient for the reader to have recourse to that treatise which is published in 
 the first volume of the works of Episcopius (p. 508.) under the following 
 title: Verus Theologus Remonstrans, sive vere Remonstrantium Theo- 
 logizw de errantibus dilucida Declaratio. ‘This treatise is written with 
 precision and perspicuity. Le Clerc, in the dedication prefixed to his 
 Latin translation of Dr. Hammond’s Paraphrase and Commentary on 
 the New Testament, gives a brief account of the Arminian principles 
 and terms of communion in the following words, addressed to learned 
 men of that sect: ‘ You declare,” says he, “ that they only are excluded 
 from your communion, who are chargeable with idolatry, who do not 
 receive the Scriptures as the rule of faith, who trample upon the pre- 
 cepts of Christ by their licentious manners and actions, and who perse- 
 
628 
 
 latitudinarran terms of communion; but it may be said, 
 that, if other Christian churches should adopt them, 
 diversity of sentiment would be no longer an obstacle to 
 mutual love and concord. 
 
 XI. From all this it appears, that the Arminian com- 
 munity was a kind of medley, composed of persons of 
 different principles, and that; properly speaking, it could 
 have no fixed and stable form or system of doctrine. 
 The Arminians, however, foreseeing that this circum- 
 stance might be objected to them as a matter of reproach, 
 and unwilling to pass for a society connected by no com- 
 mon principles or bond of union, have adopted, as their 
 Confession of Faith, a kind of theological system, drawn 
 up by Episcopius, and expressed, for the most part, in the 
 words and phrases of Scriptures But as none of their 
 pastors are obliged, either by oath, declaration, or tacit 
 compact, to adhere strictly to this confession, and as, on 
 the contrary, by the fundamental constitution of this com- 
 munity, every one is authorized to interpret its expres- 
 sions (which are in effect susceptible of various significa- 
 tions) ina manner conformable to their peculiar senti- 
 ments; it evidently follows, that we cannot thence de- 
 duce an accurate and consistent view of Arminianism, or 
 know, with certainty, what doctrines are adopted or 
 rejected by this sect. Hence it happens, that the Armi- 
 nian doctors differ widely among themselves concerning 
 some of the most important doctrines of Christianity ;» 
 and they can scarcely be said to agree universally, or to 
 be entirely uniform, in their sentiments of any one point, 
 if we except the doctrines of predestination and grace. 
 They all, indeed, unanimously adhere to the doctrine that 
 excluded their ancestors from the communion of the re- 
 formed churches, importing ‘ that the love of God extends 
 itself equally to all mankind ; that no mortal is rendered 
 finally unhappy by an eternal and invincible decree; and 
 that the misery of those who perish comes from them- 
 selves ;’ but they explain this doctrine in a very different 
 manner from that in which it was formerly understood. 
 Be that as it may, this is the fundamental doctrine of the 
 Arminians, and whoever opposes it, becomes thereby an 
 adversary to the whole community ; whereas those whose 
 objections are levelled at particular tenets which are found 
 in the writings of the Arminian divines, cannot be said, 
 with any degree of propriety, to attack or censure the 
 Arminian church, whose theological system, a few arti- 
 cles excepted, is vague and uncertain,* and is not charac- 
 terised by any fixed set of doctrines and principles. Such 
 only attack certain doctors of that communion, who are 
 divided among themselves, and do not agree, even in their 
 
 cute those who differ from them in matters of religion.”* Many writers 
 affirm, that the Arminians acknowledge, as their brethren, all those who 
 receive that form of doctrine which is known under the denomination of 
 the Apostle’s Creed. But that these writers are in an error, appears 
 sufficiently from what has been already said on this subject, and 1s con- 
 firmed by the express testimony of Le Clerc, who (in his Biblioth. 
 Ancienne et Mod. tom. xxv. p. 110,) declares, that it is not true that the 
 Arminians admit to their communion all those who receive the Apostles’ 
 Creed ; his words are, “ Ils se trompent; ils (the Arminians) offrent la 
 communion & tous ceux qui recoivent l’ecriture sainte comme la seule 
 régle de la foi et des meurs, et qui ne sont ni idolatres ni persecuteurs.” 
 
 ® This Confession of Faith is extant in Latin, Dutch, and German. 
 The Latin edition of 1t 1s to pe round in the works of Episcopius, tom. 
 ii. p. ii. p.69; where may be found also a Defence of this Confession 
 against the objections of the professors of divinity at Leyden. 
 
 » They who will be at the pains of comparing the theological wri- 
 ungs of Episcopius, Courcelles, Limborch, Le Clerc, and Cattenbure, 
 will see’ clearly the diversity of sentiment that reigns among the 
 Arminian doctors. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ARMINIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Secr. IL 
 
 explications of the doctrine relating to the extent of the 
 divine love and mercy, though this be the fundamental 
 point that occasioned their separation from the reformed 
 churches. 
 
 XI. The Arminian church makes at present but an 
 inconsiderable figure, when compared with the reformed ; 
 and, if credit may be given to public report, it declines 
 from day to day. ‘The Arminians have only in the 
 United Provinces thirty-four congregations more or lesg 
 numerous, which are furnished with forty-four pastors ; 
 beside these, their church at Fredericstadt, in the duchy 
 of Sleswick, still subsists. It cannot, however, be said, 
 that the credit and influence of their religious principles 
 have declined with the external lustre of their commu- 
 nity, since it is well known that their sentiments were 
 early adopted in several countries, and were secretly re- 
 ceived by many who had not the courage to profess them 
 openly. Every one is acquainted with the change that 
 has taken place in the established church of England, 
 whose clergy, generally speaking, since the time of arch- 
 bishop Laud, have embraced the Arminian doctrine con- 
 cerning predestination and grace, and, since the restora- 
 tion of Charles IL, have discovered a strong propensity 
 to several other tenets of the Arminian church. Beside 
 this, whoever has any acquaintance with the world, must 
 know, that, in many of the courts of protestant princes, 
 and, in general, among those persons who pretend to be 
 wiser than the multitude, the following fundamental prin- 
 ciple of Arminianism is adopted: “that those doctrines, 
 whose belief is necessary to salvation, are very few in 
 number; and that every one is to be left at full liberty, 
 with respect to his private sentiments of God and religion, 
 provided his life and actions be conformable to the rules 
 of piety and virtue.” Even the United Provinces, which 
 saw within their bosom the defeat of Arminianism, are 
 at this time sensible of a considerable change in that 
 respect; for, while the patrons of Calvinism in that repub- 
 lic acknowledge, that the community, which makes an 
 external profession of Arminianism, declines gradually 
 both in its numbers and influence, they, at the same time, 
 complain, that its doctrines and spirit gain ground from 
 day to day; that they have even insinuated themselves 
 more or less into the bosom of the established church, 
 and infected the theological system of many of those very 
 pastors who are appointed to maintain the doctrine and 
 authority of the synod of Dordrecht. The progress of 
 Arminianism, in other countries, is abundantly known ; 
 and its votaries in France, Geneva, and many parts of 
 Switzerland, are certainly very numerous.‘ 
 
 ¢ 2% What renders the Arminian Confession of Faith an uncertain 
 representation of the sentiments of the community, is, the liberty in 
 which every pastor is indulged of departing from it, when he finds any 
 of its doctrines contradictory to his private opinions. See the Introduc- 
 tion to the Arminian Confession of Faith, in the third volume of the 
 French abridgment of Brandt’s History. 
 
 4 => It may not, however, be improper to observe here, that the pro- 
 gress of Arminianism has been greatly retarded, and that its cause daily 
 declines in Germany and several parts of Switzerland, in consequence 
 of the ascendency which the Leibnitian and Wolfian philesophy has 
 gained in these countries, and particularly among the clergy and men of 
 learning. Leibnitz and Wolff, by attacking that liberty of enuifference, 
 which is supposed to imply the power of acting, not only without but 
 against motives, struck at the very foundation of the Arminian system, 
 But this was not all: for, by considering the multiplicity of worlds that 
 
 * The original words of Le Clere cue, “ Profiteri soletis. ... eos dun- 
 taxat a vobis excladi, qui idololatrié sunt contaminati, qui minime has 
 bent Seripturam pro fidei nerma, qui impuris moribus sancta Christi 
 precepta conculeant, aut qui denique alios religionis causa vexant ” 
 
Part II. 
 
 The external forms of divine worship and ecclesiastical 
 government, in the Arminian church, are almost the 
 same with those which are in use among the Presbyte- 
 rians. As, however, the leading men among the Armi- 
 nians are peculiarly ambitious of maintaining their cor- 
 respondence and fraternal intercourse with the church of 
 England, and leave no circumstance unimproved that 
 may tend to confirm this union ; so they discover, upon 
 all occasions, their approbation of the episcopal form of 
 ecclesiastical government, and profess to regard it as most 
 ancient, as truly sacred, and as superior to all other insti- 
 tutions of church-polity.* 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The History of the Sect called Quakers. 
 
 I. Tue sect of Quakers received this denomination, 
 in the year 1650, from Gervas Bennet, a justice of peace 
 in Derbyshire,” partly on account of the convulsive agita- 
 tions and shakings of the body with which their discourses 
 to the people were usually attended, and partly on account 
 of the exhortation addressed to this magistrate by Fox and 
 his companions, who, when they were called before him, 
 desired him, with a loud voice and a vehement emotion 
 of body, ‘ to tremble at the word of the Lord’ However 
 sarcastical this appellation may be, when considered in its 
 
 origin, the members of this sect are willing to adopt it, pro- 
 
 vided it be rightly understood; they prefer, nevertheless, 
 to be called, in allusion to that doctrine which is the fun- 
 damental principle of their association, ‘Children or Con- 
 
 compose the universe, as one system or whole, whose greatest possible 
 perfection is the ultimate end of creative goodness, and the sovereign 
 purpose of governing wisdom, they removed from the doctrine of pre- 
 destination those arbitrary procedures and narrow views, with which 
 the Calvinists are supposed to have loaded it, and gave it a new, a more 
 pleasing, and a more philosophical aspect. As the Leibnitians laid 
 down this great end, as the supreme object of God’s universal dominion, 
 and the scope to which all his dispensations are directed, so they con- 
 cluded, that, if this end was proposed, it must be accomplished. Hence 
 the doctrine of necessity seemed proper to fulfil the purposes of a pre- 
 destination founded in wisdom and goodness; a necessity, physical and 
 mechanical in the motions of material and inanimate things, but moral 
 and spiritual in the voluntary determinations of intelligent beings, in 
 consequence of prepollent motives, which produce their effects with cer- 
 tainty, though these effects be contingent, and by no means the offspring 
 of an absolute and essentially immutable fatality. These principles are 
 evidently applicable to the main doctrines of Calvinism; by them pre- 
 destination is confirmed, though modified with respect to its reasons and 
 its ends; by them irresistible grace (irresistible in a moral sense) is 
 maintained uponthe hypothesis of prepollent motives and a moral neces- 
 sity. The perseverance of the saintsis also explicable upon the same 
 system, by a series of moral causes producing a series of moral effects. 
 In consequence of all this, several divines of the German church have 
 applied the Leibnitian and Wolfian philosophy to the illustration of the 
 doctrines of Christianity; and the learned Canzius has written a book 
 expressly to show the eminent use that may be made of that philosophy 
 in throwing light upon the chief articles of our faith. See his Philoso- 
 phie Leibnitiane et Wolfiane Usus in Theologia per precipua Fidei 
 capita, auctore Israele Theoph. Canzio. See also Wittenbach’s Tenta- 
 men Theologie Dogmatice Methodo Scientifica pertractate ; but, above 
 all, consult the famous work of Leibnitz, entitled, ‘‘ Essais de Theo- 
 dicée, sur la Bonté de Dieu, la Liberté de l’Homme, et l’Origine 
 du Mal.” It is remarkable enough, that the Leibnitian system has 
 been embraced by very few, scarcely by any of the English Calvinists. 
 Can this be owing to a want of inclination toward philosophical dis- 
 cussions? This cannot be said. The scheme of necessity, and of 
 partial evil’s tending to universal good, has indeed been fostered in 
 some parts of Great Britain, and even has turned some zealous Armi- 
 nians into moderate and philosophical Calvinists. But the zealous Cal- 
 vinists have, for the most part, adhered firmly to their theology, and blend- 
 ed no philosophical principles with their system: and it is certain, that 
 the most eminent pbilosophers have been found, in general, among 
 the Arminians. If both Calvinists and Arminians claim a King, it is 
 certain that the latter alone can boast of a Newton, a Locke, a Clarke, 
 and a Boyle. 
 No. LIT. 158 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 625 
 
 fessors of Light.’ In their conversation and intercourse 
 with each other, they use no other term of appellation than 
 that of riend.« 
 
 This sect had its rise in England, in those unhappy 
 limes of confusion, anarchy, and civil discord, when every 
 political or religious fanatic, who had formed a new plan 
 of government, or invented a new system of theology, came 
 forth with his novelties to public view, and propagated them 
 with impunity among a fickle and unthinking multitude. 
 Its parent or founder was George Fox,‘ a shoemaker of a 
 dark and melancholy complexion, and of a visionary and 
 enthusiastic turn of mind. About the year 1647, which 
 was the twenty-fourth year of his age, he began to stroll 
 through several counties in England, giving himself out 
 for a person divinely inspired, and exhorting the people to 
 attend to the voice of the divine word, that lies hidden in 
 the hearts of all men. After the decapitation of Charles L, 
 when all laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, seemed to be 
 entirely suspended, if not extinct, Fox exerted his fanati- 
 cal powers with new vigour, and formed more ambitious 
 and extensive views. Having acquired a considerable 
 number of disciples of both sexes, who were strongly in- 
 fected with his wild enthusiasm, he excited great tumults 
 in several parts of England, and, in 1650, went so far as 
 to disturb the devotion of those who were assembled in the 
 churches for the purposes of public worship, declaring that 
 all such assemblies were useless and unchristian. For 
 these extravagances, both he and his companions were 
 sometimes thrown into prison, and chastised, as disturbers 
 of the peace, by the civil magistrate.¢ 
 
 * Hence, to omit many other circumstances that show unquestionably 
 the truth of this observation, the Arminians have been at great pains to 
 represent Grotius, their hero and their oracle, as a particular admirer of 
 the constitution and government of the church of England, which he pre- 
 ferred to all other forms of ecclesiastical polity. See what Le Clerc has 
 published on this subject at the end of the edition of Grotius’ book, de 
 Veritate Religionis Christiane, which he gave at the Hague in 1724, 
 
 . 376. 
 3 b See George Sewell’s History of the Quakers, p. 23—Neal’s His- 
 tory of the Puritans, vol. iv. p. 32. ° Sewell, p. 624. 
 
 4 34 The anonymous writer of a letter to Dr. Formey seems much 
 offended at that gentleman on account of his calling George Fox a man 
 of a turbulent spirit, &c. He tells us, on the contrary, that, from all the 
 information worthy of credit which he was able to procure, Fox was 
 ‘a man of so meek, contented, easy, steady, and tender a disposition, 
 that it was a pleasure to be in his company; that he exercised no 
 authority but over evil, and that every where, and in all, but with love, 
 compassion, and long-suffering.” 'This account he takes from Penn; 
 and it is very probable that he has looked no farther, unless it be to the 
 curious portrait which Thomas Ellwood, another Quaker, has given of 
 Fox,—a portrait in which there is such an affected jingle of words as 
 shows the author to have been more attentive to the arrangement of his 
 sentences, than to a true exhibition of the character of his original: for 
 we are told by Ellwood that this same George Fox was deep in divine 
 knowledge, powerful in preaching, fervent in prayer, quick in discern- 
 ing, sound in judgment (riswm teneatis, amici ?)—manly in personage, 
 grave in gesture, courteous in conversation, weighty in communication, 
 &e. After having thus painted George after the fancy of his two 
 brethren (for fancy is the quaker’s fountain of light and truth,) the letter- 
 writer observes, that Dr. Formey has taken his account of George’s 
 turbulence and fanaticism from Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History. 
 As Mosheim is dead, and cannot defend himself, may I be permitted to 
 request this anonymous letter-writer, who appears to be a candid and 
 rational man, to cast an eye upon Sewell’s History of the Quakers, and 
 to follow this meek, cowrleows and modest George, running like a wild 
 man through several counties, refusing to pay due homage to his sove- 
 reign, interrupting the ministers in the public celebration of divine ser- 
 vice at Nottingham, Mansfield, and Bosworth? It is remarkable, that 
 the very learned and worthy Dr. Henry More, who was not himself 
 without a strong tincture of enthusiasm, and who looked upon Penn as 
 a pious Christian, treated nevertheless George Fox as a melancholy 
 fanatic, and as one possessed with the Devil. See his Myst. of Godli- 
 ness, B. x. ch. xiii. and also Schol. in Dialogue v. sect. 5. 
 
 * Beside the ordinary writers of the ecclesiastical history of this cen- 
 tury, the curious reader will do well to consult Croesii Historia Quaker- 
 
630 
 
 II. The first association of Quakers consisted chiefly of 
 visionary fanatics, and of persons who really seemed to be 
 disordered in their brains; and hence they committed 
 many enorimities, which the modern Quakers endeavour to 
 alleviate and diminish, but which they neither pretend to 
 justify nor to approve ; for the greatest part of them were 
 riotous and tumultuous in the highest degree, and even 
 their female disciples, forgetting the delicacy and decency 
 peculiar to their sex, bore their part in these disorders. 
 They ran, like Bacchanals, through the towns and villages, 
 declaiming against episcopacy, presbyterianism, and every 
 fixed form of religion ; railed at public and stated worship ; 
 affronted and mocked the clergy, even in the very exercise 
 of their ministerial functions ;* trampled upon the laws and 
 the authority of the magistrates, under the pretext of be- 
 ing actuated by a divine impulse; and made use of their 
 pretended inspiration to excite vehement commotions both 
 in state and church. Hence it is not at all surprising, that 
 the secular arm was at length raised against these perni- 
 cious fanatics, and that many of them were severely chas- 
 tised for their extravagance and folly.» Cromwell himself, 
 who was, in general, an enemy to no sect, however en- 
 thusiastical it might be, entertained uneasy apprehensions 
 from the frantic violence of the Quakers, and therefore, 
 in his first thoughts, formed a resolution to suppress their 
 rising community. But when he perceived that they 
 treated with contempt both his promises and threats, and 
 were, in effect, too powerful or too headstrong to yield to 
 either, he prudently abstained from the use of force, and 
 contented himself with employing wise measures and pre- 
 
 jana, tribus libris comprehensa. A physician named Kohlhansius, who 
 was born a Lutheran, but afterwards became a Quaker, published 
 critical remarks upon this history, under the title of Dilucidationes ; and 
 it must be acknowledged, that there are many inaccuracies in the work 
 of Croesius; it is, however, much less faulty than another history of 
 this sect, which was published at Cologne in 1692, under the following 
 title: Histoire abregée de la Naissance et du Progres du Kouakerisme, 
 avec celle de ses Dogmes; for the anonymous author of the latter his- 
 tory, instead of relating well-attested facts, has compiled, without 
 either discernment or choice, such an extravagant medley of truth and 
 falsehood, as is rather adapted to excite laughter than to administer 
 instruction. See the second book of Croesius’ Historia Quakeriana, p. 
 322, and 376, as also Le Clerc, Biblioth. Universelle et Historique, tom. 
 xxii. p. 53.— The most ample and authentic account of this sect is that 
 which was composed by George Sewell from a great variety of genuine 
 records, and partly from the papers of Fox, its founder, and published 
 under the following title: “The History of the Christian people called 
 Quakers.” This work is remarkable for the industry and accuracy 
 which the author has discovered in compiling it; but, as Sewell was 
 himself a Quaker, he is sometimes chargeable with concealing, dim1- 
 nishing, or representing under artful colours, many things, which, if 
 impartially related, mwst have appeared dishonourable, and might have 
 been detrimental, to his community. It must however be granted, that, 
 notwithstanding these defects, his history is abundantly sufficient to 
 enable an impartial and intelligent reader to form a just and satisfactory 
 idea of this visionary sect. Voltaire has also entertained the public 
 with four Letters, concerning the religion, manners, and history of the 
 Quakers, in his Melanges de Literature, d’Histoire et de Philosophie, 
 which are written with his usual wit and elegaice, but are rather 
 adapted to amuse than instruct. The conversation between him and 
 Andrew Pitt, an eminent Quaker in London (which is related in these 
 letters,) may be true in general; but, to render the account of it still 
 
 more pleasing, the ingenious writer has embellished it with effusions of 
 
 wit and fancy, and even added some particulars, that are rather drawn 
 from imagination than memory. It is from the books already mentioned 
 that the French Dissertation on the Religion of the Quakers (which is 
 inserted in the third volume of the splendid work, entitled, Ceremonies 
 et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples,) is chiefly compiled, though 
 with less attention and accuracy than might have been expected. A 
 Lutheran writer, named Fiederie Ernest Meis, has given an account of 
 he English Quakers in a German work, entitled, Entwurff der Kirchen 
 
 rdnung und Gebrauche der Quacker in Engelana, 1715. 
 
 s=*> A female, contrary to the modesty of her sex, appeared in 
 Whitehall chapel stark naked, in the midst of public worship, when 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 Sect. Il. 
 
 cautions to prevent their fomenting sedition among the 
 people, or undermining the foundations of his new sove- 
 reignty.° 
 
 III. In process of time, the fumes of this excessive 
 fanaticism began to evaporate, and the ardent impetuosity 
 of the rising sect seemed gradually to subside ; nor did the 
 divine light, of which the Quakers boast, produce such 
 tumults in church and state, as at the first declaration of 
 their celestial pretensions. In the reign of Charles II. 
 both their religious doctrine and discipline assumed a more 
 regular and permanent form, by the care and industry 
 of Fox, assisted, in this very necessary undertaking, by 
 Robert Barclay, George Keith, and Samuel Fisher, men 
 of learning and abilities, who became, notwithstanding, 
 members of this strange community. Fox stood in urgent 
 need of such able assistants; for his gross ignorance had 
 rendered his religion, hitherto, a confused medley of inco- 
 herent tenets and visions. ‘The new triumvirate, there- 
 fore, used their utmost endeavours to digest these under 
 certain heads, and to reduce them to a sort of theological 
 system.? But such was the change of times, that the 
 wiser and more moderate Quakers of England suffered 
 more vexations, and were involved in greater calamities, 
 than had fallen to the lot of their frantic and turbulent 
 ancestors. ‘hese vexations, indeed, were not so much 
 the consequence of their religious principles, as of their sin- 
 gular customs and manners in civil life; for they would 
 never give to magistrates those titles of honour and_pre- 
 eminence which are designed to mark the respect due to 
 their authority ; they also refused obstinately to take the 
 
 Cromwell was there present. Another entered the parliament-house, 
 with a trencher in her hand, which she broke in pieces, saying, “ Thus 
 shall he be broken in pieces.” ‘Thomas Adams, having complained to 
 the protector of the imprisonment of some of his friends, and not finding 
 redress, took off his cap and tore it in pieces, saying, “So shall thy 
 government be torn from thee and thy house.” Several, pretending an 
 extraordinary message from heaven, went about the streets, denouncing 
 the judgments of God against the protector and his council; and one 
 approached the door of the parliament-house with a drawn sword, and 
 wounded several persons, saying, that ‘he was inspired by the Holy 
 Spirit to kill every man who sat in that house.” The most extravagant 
 Quaker who appeared at this time, was James Naylor, formerly an 
 officer, a man of parts, and so much admired by these fanatics, that they, 
 blasphemously styled him, ‘the everlastimg son of righteousness, the 
 prince of peace, the only begotten son of Grod, the fairest among ten 
 thousand.” See Neal’s History of the Puritans, and the Life and Trial 
 of Naylor. Th® anonymous author of the Letter to Dr. Formey, 
 seems to have lost sight of the state of Quakerism in the time of Fox, 
 when he denies that the charge of turbulence and fanaticism can be 
 proved against him or his friends, and gives the gentle denomination 
 of imprudence to the extravagances exhibited by the Quakers under 
 Charles I. and the commonwealth. The single story of Naylor, who 
 was the convert and pupil of Fox, and the letters, full of blasphemous 
 absurdity, written to this ‘Rose of Sharon,” this “new Jesus,” by 
 Hannah Stranger, Richard Fairman, and others, show the horrid vein 
 of fanaticism that ran through this visionary sect. See these letters in 
 the Life and Trial of Naylor, who, though cruelly scourged, was, how- 
 ever, whipped into his senses, or at least, brought by his sufferings into 
 a calmer state of mind. See also Satan Inthroned. If Quakerism be 
 now in England on amore rational footing, we may congratulate its 
 members upon the happy change, but at the same time condole with 
 them on the approaching annihilation of their sect; for, if reason gets 
 in among them, the spirit (I mean their spirit) will soon be quenched, 
 and fancy being no more the only criterion of truth, the fundamental 
 principle of their existence will be destroyed. In such a catastrophe, 
 the abettors of ancient Quakerism will find some resource among tue 
 Methodists. » Neal’s History, vol. iv.—Sewell. 
 
 ¢ The earl of Clarendon tells us, in his History of the Rebellion, that 
 the Quakers always persevered in their bitter enmity against Cromwell. 
 See Sewell’s History, book i. 
 
 4 For an account of the life and writings of Barclay, see the General 
 Dictionary. Sewell, in his Histéry, gives an ample account of Keith. 
 There is also particular mention made of Fisher, in the Unschuldige 
 Nachrichten, An. 1750, p. 338. 
 
Part IT. 
 
 oath of allegiance to their sovereign,* and to pay tithes to 
 the clergy ; hence they were looked upon as rebellious 
 subjects, and, on that account, were frequently punished 
 with great severity.” In the reign of James LI. and more 
 particularly about the year 1685, they began to see more 
 prosperous days, and to enjoy the sweets of toleration and 
 liberty, which they owed, not tothe clemency of the govern- 
 ment, but to the friendship of that monarch for the famous 
 William Penn, who had been employed by him in matters 
 of the utmost moment, and had rendered him signal and 
 important services. What James had done, from motives 
 of a personal or political nature, in favour of the Quakers, 
 King William IL. confirmed and continued, from a zeal 
 for maintaining the rights of conscience, and advancing 
 the cause of religious liberty. Krom these motives, he 
 procured a full and ample toleration for dissenters of almost 
 all denominations ; and the Quakers, in consequence of 
 this grant, enjoyed at length, upon a constitutional foot- 
 ing, tranquillity and freedom.¢ 
 
 IV. Fatigued with the vexations and persecution which 
 they suffered in their native country during the reign of 
 Charles LL., the Quakers looked about for some distant 
 settlements, where they might shelter themselves from 
 the storm ; and with this view they began to disseminate 
 their religious principles in various countries. Attempts 
 of this nature were made in Germany, Prussia, France, 
 Italy, Greece, Holland, and Holstein, but with little suc- 
 cess. ‘he Dutch, however, were, after much importunity, 
 persuaded to allow a certain number of these enthusiasts 
 to settle in Holland, where their descendants still continue 
 to reside. Multitudes of them had already gone over 
 to America, and formed settlements there, not long after 
 the rise of their sect; and it afterwards happened, by a 
 singular coneourse of events, that this new world became 
 the chief seat of their prosperity and freedom. William 
 Penn, son of the famous vice-admiral of that name, who 
 embraced Quakerism in 1668, received, in 1680, from 
 Charles and from the English parliament, the grant of 
 an ample and fertile but uncultivated province in America, 
 as a reward for the eminent services of his father. ‘This 
 illustrious Quaker, who was far from being destitute of 
 parts, and whose activity and penetration were accom- 
 panied with an uncommon degree of eloquence,‘ carried 
 over with him into his new dominions a considerable 
 colony of his #riends and Brethren; and he founded in 
 
 ® x* This refusal to take the oath of allegiance did not proceed from 
 any disaffection to the government, but from a persuasion that all oaths 
 were unlawful, and that swearing, even upon the most solemn occasions, 
 was forbidden in the New Testament.” They also sincerely believed, 
 that they were as much obliged to obedience by an affirmation, which 
 -hey were willing to make, as by an oath. 
 
 » Sce a circumstantial account of their sufferings under Charles IT. in 
 Neal’s fourth volume, p. 313, 353, 396, 432, 510, 552, 569.—Burnet’s 
 History of his own Time, vol. i. p. 271.—Sewell’s Hist. 
 
 * See Sewell’s History. 
 
 43% The indulgence of James towara the Quakers and other dis- 
 senters from the established church, was, in fact, founded on a zeal for 
 sopery, and designed to favour the Roman Catholics. More particu- 
 .arly the order which he sent to the lord-mayor of London, on the 7th of 
 November, 1687, to dispense with an oath from the Quakers, was 
 evidently designed to open a door to the catholics to bear offices in 
 the state without a legal qualification. At the same time it is probable 
 eneugh, that a personal attachment to the famous William Penn may 
 have contributed to render this monarch more indulgent to this sect than 
 he would otherwise have been. 
 differently represented. Some suppose it to have been owing to the 
 services of his father in the fleet commanded against the Dutch in 1665, 
 by James, when duke of York. Others attribute this attachment to his 
 personal services. From the high degree of favour he enjoyed at court, 
 
 The reasons of this attachment are | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 631 
 
 those distant regions a republic, whose form, laws, and 
 institutions, resembled no other known system of govern- 
 ment, whose pacific principles and commercial spirit have 
 long blessed it with tranquillity and opulence, and which 
 still continues in a prosperous and flourishing state.s 
 The Quakers predominate in this colony, both by their 
 influence and their numbers; but all those who acknow- 
 ledge the existence and providence of one Supreme Being, 
 and show their respect to that Being, either by external 
 worship, or at least by the regularity of their lives and 
 actions, are admitted to the rights and privileges of citi- 
 zens in this happy republic. The large province that 
 constitutes its territory was called Pennsylvania, from the 
 name of its proprietor; and its capital city was named 
 Philadelphia, from the spirit of union and fraternal love 
 that reigned at first, and is still supposed to prevail, among 
 its inhabitants. 
 
 V. Even during the life of their founder, the Quakers, 
 notwithstanding their extraordinary pretensions to frater- 
 nal charity and union, were frequently divided into parties, 
 and involved in contests and debates. These debates, 
 indeed, which were carried on in the years 1656, 1661, 
 and 1683, with peculiar warmth, were not occasioned by 
 any* doctrines of a religious nature, but by a diversity of 
 opinions about matters of discipline, about certain customs 
 and manners, and other affairs of litthke moment; and 
 they were generally terminated in a short time, and with- 
 out much difficulty.» But, after the death of Fox, which 
 happened in 1691, some Friends, and more especially 
 George Keith, who was indisputably the most learned 
 member of their community, excited, by their dectrines 
 and innovations, discords of a more serious and momen- 
 tous kind than those which had before divided the Breth- 
 ren. ‘This fountain of contention was opened in Penn- 
 sylvania, where Keith was charged with erroneous opi- 
 nions respecting several points of theology, and more par- 
 ticularly concerning the human nature of Christ, which 
 he supposed to be two-fold, one part being spiritual and 
 celestial, the other corporeal and terrestrial: This and 
 other inventions of Keith would perhaps have passed 
 without censure, among a people who reduce the whole 
 of religion to fancy and a kind of spiritual instinct, had 
 not this learned man animadverted, with a certain degree 
 of severity, upon some of the fantastic notions of the 
 American brethren, and opposed, in a more particular 
 
 they concluded that he was a concealed papist, and assisted the king in 
 the execution of his designs. That the imputation of popery was 
 groundless, appears from his correspondence with Dr. Tillotson, which 
 is published in the life of Penn, prefixed to the first volume of the works 
 of the latter. It is nevertheless certain, that he was very intimate with 
 Father Petre, the hot-headed Jesuit, whose bigotry framed the king’s 
 projects, and whose imprudence rendered them abortive. Itis also cer- 
 tain, that, in/1686, he went over to Holland, in order to persuade the 
 prince of Orange to support the measures of king James. 
 
 ¢ Guvres de M. de Voltaire, tom. iv. p. 182. 
 
 %’r { Bishop Burnet, who knew Penn personally, says, that “he 
 was a talking, vain man, who had such a high opinion of his own 
 eloquence, that he thought nothing could stand before it;” and that “ he 
 had a tedious luscious way, that was not apt to overcome a man’s rea- 
 son, though it might tire his patience.” 
 
 * The laws and charters of the colony of Pennsylvania may be seen 
 in Rapin’s History, Penn’s Works, and in other collections of pubiic 
 records ; they are also inserted in the Bibliotheque Britannique, tom. xv. 
 p. 510; tom. xvi. p. 127.—Penn acquired a great reputation, both by his 
 writings and the active figure he made in life. See the accounts given 
 of him by Sewell and Burnet. 
 
 h See Sewell’s History. 
 
 #4 i Ceremonies et Coutumes de tous les Peuples du Monde, tom. iv, 
 p- 141.—Croesii Historia Quakeriana, lib. ili. p. 446. 
 
652 
 
 manner. their method of converting the whole history of 
 Christ’s life and sufferings into a mere allegory, or sym- 
 bolical representation of the duties of Christianity. "The 
 European Quakers dare not so far presume upon the in- 
 dulgence of the civil and ecclesiastical powers, as to deny 
 openly the reality of the history of the life, mediation, 
 and sufferings of Christ; but in America, where they 
 have nothing to fear, they are said to express themselves 
 without ambiguity, on this subject, and to maintain 
 publicly, that Christ never existed but in the hearts of 
 the faithful. This point was debated between Keith 
 and his adversaries, in several general assemblies of the 
 sect holden in England, and was at length brought be- 
 fore the parliament. ‘The contest was terminated, in 
 1695, by the excommunication of Keith and his adhe- 
 rents, which so exasperated this famous Quaker,* that 
 he returned, some years after this, into the bosom of the 
 English church, and died in its communion.” His friends 
 and followers long continued to hold their assemblies, 
 and to exercise their religion in a state of separation from 
 the rest of the sect; but now, if we may believe public 
 fame, they are reconciled with their brethren.: 
 
 VI. The religion of this sect has an air of novelty that 
 strikes at first sight; but, when viewed closely, it ewill 
 appear to be nothing more than a certain modification of 
 that famous Mystic Theology, which arose so early as 
 the second century, was fostered and embellished by the 
 luxuriant fancy of Origen, and, passing through various 
 hands, assumed different aspects until it was adopted by 
 the Quakers, who set off the motley form with their own 
 inventions. Fox, indeed, is not chargeable with these 
 inventions ; his ignorant and inelegant simplicity places 
 him beyond the reach of suspicion in this matter ; but it 
 is, at the same time, undoubtedly certain, that all his 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 order. 
 
 Sect. IL 
 
 notions concerning the internal word, the divine light 
 
 . . . . . 
 | within, and its operations and effects, were either borrow- 
 
 ed from the writings of the Mystics, which were, at that 
 time, in the hands of many, or at least collected from the 
 conversation and expressions of some persons of the Mystic 
 The tenets, however, which this blunt and illite- 
 rate man expressed in a rude, confused, and ambiguous 
 
 | manner, were dressed up and presented under a different 
 
 form by the masterly hands of Barclay, Keith, Fisher, 
 and Penn, who digested them with such sagacity and 
 art, that they assumed the aspect of a regular system, 
 The Quakers may therefore be deemed with reason the 
 principal branch of the Mystics, as they not only embra- 
 ced the precepts of their hidden wisdom, but even saw its 
 whole tendency, and adopted, without hesitation, all its 
 consequences. 
 
 VII. The fundamental doctrine of Quakerism, from 
 which all the other tenets of the sect are derived, is that 
 famous and ancient opinion of the mystic school, “ that 
 there lies concealed in the minds of all men a certain por- 
 tion of divine reason, a spark of the same wisdom that 
 exists in the Supreme Being. ‘Therefore, those who are 
 desirous of arriving at true felicity and eternal salvation, 
 must, (according to their system) by self-converse, con- 
 templation, and perpetual efforts to subdue their sensual 
 affections, endeavour to draw forth, kindle, and inflame that 
 divine, hidden spark, which is overpowered by the dark- 
 ness of the flesh, and suffocated, as it were, hy that mass 
 of matter with which it is surrounded. They who ob- 
 serve this rule, will feel (say the Quakers) a divine glow 
 of warmth and light, and hear a celestial and divine voice 
 proceeding from the inward recesses of their souls ; and by 
 this light and this voice, they will be led to all truth, and be 
 perfectly assured of their union with the Supreme Being.” 
 
 34> * Bishop Burnet, who was certainly better acquainted with the 
 history of Keith (with whom he had been educated) than Dr. Mosheim, 
 attributes his return to the church of England to a much worthier mo- 
 tive than irritation and resentment. He tells us that Keith, after the 
 American quakers had appeared to him as little better than deists, op- 
 posed them so warmly, that they sent him back to England. Here he 
 opened a new meeting, and by printed summons called together the 
 whole party to convince them of these errors. ‘‘ He continued those 
 meetings, (says the bishop,) being still, in outward appearance, a 
 Quaker, for some years ; till having prevailed as far as he saw any ap- 
 pearance of success, he laid aside their exterior, and was reconciled to 
 the church.” 
 
 > See Burnet’s History, and also that of Sewell ; but it is proper to 
 observe, that the latter was either unacquainted with the true nature and 
 state of this controversy, which, as he was an illiterate man, may easily 
 be supposed to have been the case, or he has given designedly a false 
 and ambiguous representation of the matter. See the life of Kuster, in 
 the Europa Erudita of Rahtlef (a work written inGerman,) where this 
 controversy is placed in its true light. Kuster was a man of probity, who 
 lived at that time in America, and was an eye-witness of these divisions. 
 
 © See Rogers’ Christian Quaker; as also the Quakers a divided Peo- 
 ple, and Unschuld. Nachricht. 1744, p. 496, 
 
 4 Most people are of opinion that we are to learn the true doctrine 
 and sentiments of the Quakers from the Catechism of Robert Barclay, 
 and more especially from his Apology for the true Christian Divinity, 
 &e. which was published in 1676, and was translated into several foreign 
 languages; nor doI deny, that the members of this sect are very desi- 
 rous that we should judge of their religious sentiments by the doctrine 
 that is exhibited in these books: but, if those who are disposed to judge 
 by this rule, go so far as to maintain, that these books contain all the re- 
 ligious tenets that were formerly advanced, or are at present adopted by 
 the people called Quakers, they may be refuted without difficulty, from 
 a great variety of books and records of unquestionable authenticity. It 
 is necessary to enter into the true spirit of Barclay’s writings. This in- 
 
 enious man appeared as a patron and defender of Quakerism, and not 
 as a professed teacher or expositor of its various doctrines; and he in- 
 terpreted and modified the opinions of this sect after the manner of a 
 champion or advocate, who undertakes the defence of an odious cause. 
 
 How then does he go to work ? In the first place, he observes an entire 
 silence in relation to those fundamental principles of Christianity, con 
 cerning which it is of great consequence to know the real opinions of the 
 Quakers; and thus he exhibits a system of theology that is evidently 
 Jame and imperfect; for it is the peculiar business of a prudent apolo- 
 gist to pass over in silence points that are scarcely susceptible of a plau- 
 sible defence, and to enlarge upon those only which the powers of genius 
 and eloquence may be able to embellish and exhibit in an advantageous 
 point of view. It is observable, in the second place, that Barclay 
 touches, in a slight, superficial, and hasty manner, some tenets, the ex- 
 planation of which had already exposed the Quakers to severe censures ; 
 and in this he discovers plainly the weakness of his cause. Lastly (to 
 omit many other observations that might be made here), this writer 
 employs the greatest dexterity and art in softening and modifying those 
 
 ' invidious doctrines which he cannot conceal, and presumes not to dis- 
 
 avow; for which purpose he carefully avoids all those phrases and 
 terms which are used by the Quakers, and are peculiar to their sect, 
 and expresses their tenets in ordinary language, in terms of a vague 
 and indefinite nature, and in a style that casts a sort of mask over their 
 natural aspect. At this rate the most enormous errors may be main- 
 tained with impunity; for there is no doctrine, however absurd, to 
 which a plausible air may not be given by following the insidious me 
 thod of Barclay; and it is well known that even the doctrine of Spinosa 
 was, with a like artifice, dressed out and disguised by some of his dis- 
 ciples. The other writers of this sect have declared their sentiments 
 with more freedom, perspicuity, and candour, particularly the famous 
 William Penn and George Whitehead, whose writings deserve an at- 
 tentive perusal, preferably to all the other productions of that commu- 
 
 ‘nity. ‘There is, among other writings of these eminent Quakers, one 
 _ in whose composition they were both concerned, and which was pub- 
 i lished in 1674, under the following title: The Christian Quaker and 
 
 his divine Testimony vindicated by Scripture, Reason, and Authority, 
 against the injurious Attempts that have been lately made by several 
 Adversaries. The first part of this book was written by Penn, and the 
 second by Whitehead. ‘There is also, in Sewell’s History, a confes- 
 sion of faith that was published by the Quakers in 1693, during their 
 controversy with Keith; but this confession is composed with great 
 caution, and is full of ambiguity. 
 
Parr ll. - 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 633 
 
 This hidden treasure, which is possessed, though not im- || means of the Christ that lies hidden within them, and 
 
 roved, by all the human race, bears different denomina- | 
 ? oe ’] 
 
 tions in the language of this fanatical sect. 
 quently call it divine ligh/, sometimes a ray of the eter- 
 
 They fre-_ 
 
 nal wisdom, at others, the heavenly Sophia, whom they | 
 
 suppose married to a mortal, and whose wedding garments 
 some of their writers describe with the most gaudy and 
 pompous eloquence. But the most usual epithets given 
 to this spiritual treasure are those of the infernal word, 
 and of Christ within; for as, on the one hand, they 
 adopt that doctrine of Origen, and the ancient Mystics, 
 which represents Christ as the eternal reason or wisdom 
 of God, and, on the other, maintain, that all men are en- 
 dowed naturally with a certain portion of the divine wis- 
 dom, they are thus directly led to affirm, that Christ, or 
 the word of God, dwells and speaks in the hearts of all 
 men.* 
 
 VIIL All the singularities and wonderful fancies which 
 are to be found in the religious system of the Quakers, 
 are the immediate consequences of the fundamental prin- 
 ciple now mentioned; for, since Christ resides in the 
 inward frame of every mortal, it follows, “first, that the 
 whole of religion consists in calling off the mind from 
 external objects, in weakening the influence and ascen- 
 dancy of the outward senses, and in every one’s entering 
 deeply into the inmost recesses of his heart, and listening 
 attentively to the divine instructions and commands that 
 the internal word, or Christ within, delivers there; se- 
 condly, that the external word, i.e. the Scripture, neither 
 points out the way of salvation, nor leads men to it, since 
 it only consists of letters and words, which, being void of 
 life, have not a sufficient degree of efficacy and power to 
 illuminate the human mind, and unite it to God. The 
 only advantage that, in their opinion, results from a pe- 
 rusal of the Scripture, is, that it excites the mind to listen 
 to the dictates of the internal word, and to go to the school 
 of Christ, who teaches within them; or (to express the 
 same thing in other words,) they look upon the Bible as 
 a mute master, who, by signs and figures, points out and 
 discovers that living master, that effective guide, who 
 Jwells in the mind. Thirdly, they who are without this 
 written word, such as the Jews, Mohammedans, and sav- 
 age nations, are not, on that account, either removed from 
 the path, or destitute of the doctrine of salvation, though 
 they indeed want this inferior and subordinate help to 
 its attainment; for, if they only attend to this inward 
 teacher, who always speaks when the man is silent, 
 they will learn abundantly, from him, all that is neces- 
 sary tobe known and practised in order to their final hap- 
 piness. In consequence, fourthly, the kingdom of Christ 
 is of a vast extent, and comprehends whole race of 
 mankind ; for ail have Christ within them, and therefore, 
 even those who are deprived of the means of knowledge, 
 and live in the grossest ignorance of the Christian religion, 
 are capable of obtaining, through him, wisdom here, and 
 happiness hereafter. Hence also they conclude, that 
 those who lead virtuous lives, and resist the impulse of 
 their lusts and passions, whether they be Jews, Moslems, 
 or Polytheists, shall be united to God in this life, by 
 
 t 
 tae 
 
 * It is nevertheless to be observed, that the modern Quakers, as ap- 
 pears from the writings of Martyn and others, are, in general, ignorant 
 of the system of their ancestors, and perpetually confound the innate 
 divine light above-mentioned, with the operations of the Holy Ghost in 
 the minds of the faithful. 
 
 159 
 
 No. LIT. 
 
 shall enjoy the fruits of this union in the life to come. 'I'o 
 these tenets they add, in the fifth place, that a heavy, 
 dark body, composed of corrupt matter, hinders men from 
 discerning, with ease, this hidden Christ, and from hear- 
 ing his divine and internal voice. Therefore they lool 
 upon it as a matter of the highest importance, to watch 
 against the pernicious consequences of this union between 
 the soul and body, that the latter may not blunt the powers 
 of the former, disturb its tranquillity, or, by the minis- 
 try of the outward senses, fill it with the images of vain, 
 sensible, and external objects.” The consideration now 
 mentioned engages them, lastly, “to look upon it as ut- 
 terly incredible, that God should ever again shut up, in 
 the same material habitation, the souls that are set free 
 by death from their bodily prison; and therefore they 
 affirm, that the Gospel-account of the resurrection of the 
 body must either be interpreted in a figurative sense, or 
 be understood as pointing out the creation of a new and 
 celestial body.> | 
 
 IX. It evidently appears from all this, that the exist- 
 ence of the man of Christ Jesus, and the circumstantial 
 accounts we have in Scripture of his divine origin, his life, 
 and actions, his satisfaction, merits and sufferings, make 
 no essential part of the theological system of the Quakers, 
 which is built upon a different foundation, and derives the 
 whole plan and method of salvation from the Christ with- 
 in. Hence several members of that sect, as we learn 
 from writers of unquestionable authority, went such an 
 extravagant length as to maintain, that the accounts we 
 have of Jesus Christ, in the evangelical history, do not 
 relate to the Son of God, who took upon him the nature 
 of man, but te that Christ within, whose operations are 
 recorded by the sacred historians in figurative and allego- 
 rical language. This opinion, if we may confide in the 
 testimonies of unexceptionable witnesses, is so far from 
 having lost its credit among them, that it is still openly 
 professed by the American Quakers. Those of Europe, 
 whether from the force of conviction or the suggestions of 
 prudence, differ entirely from their brethren in this respect. 
 They hold, “'That the divine wisdom, or reason, resided 
 in the son of the Virgin Mary, and conveyed its instruc- 
 tions to mankind by his ministry ;” and they profess to be- 
 lieve, “that this divine man really did and suffered what 
 is recorded concerning him by the sacred writers.” It is 
 nevertheless certain, that they express themselves in a 
 very ambiguous manner on many points that relate to the 
 history of the divine Saviour; and, ina more particular 
 manner, their notions respecting the fruits of his suffer- 
 ings, and the efficacy of his death, are so vague and ob- 
 scure, that it is very difficult to know what is their real 
 opiniontabout the degree of this efficacy, and the nature 
 of these fruits. It is also worthy of observation, that the 
 European Quakers, though they acknowledge the reality 
 of the life, actions, and sufferings of Christ, yet do not en- 
 tirely reject the allegorical interpretation of our Saviour’s 
 history mentioned above; for they consider the events 
 that happened to Christ, in the course of his ministry upon 
 earth, as the signs and emblems of those scenes through 
 
 > The Quakers adopt all these tenets; they are at least obliged to 
 adopt them, unless they renounce the fundamental principles of their 
 system. We have omitted the mention of those points about which 
 they dispute among themselves, that we may not appear to take plea- 
 sure in. representing them under odious colours. 
 
634 
 
 which the mental Christ must pass, in order to render us 
 partakers of eternal salvation. Hence they talk in high 
 and pompous strains (like their models the Mystics) of the 
 birth, life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ ‘in 
 the hearts of the faithful 
 
 X. ‘The religious discipline, worship, and practice of the 
 Quakers, flow from the same source from which, as we 
 have already observed, their doctrine and tenets were im- 
 mediately derived. "They meet for the purposes of reli- 
 gion on the same days which are set apart for the celebra- 
 tion of public worship in all other Christian churches; 
 but they neither observe festivals, nor use external rites 
 and ceremonies, nor suffer religion, which they place 
 entirely in the mental worship of the hidden Christ, to be 
 shackled and cramped by positive institutions. All the 
 members of their community, whether male or female, 
 have an equal right to teach and exhort in their public 
 meetings; for who, say they, will presume to exclude, 
 from the liberty of speaking to the Brethren, those per- 
 sons in whom Christ dwells, and by whom he speaks ? 
 They reject the use of prayers, hymns, and the various 
 outward forms of devotion by which, in other Christian 
 churches, public worship is distinguished ; and this, in- 
 deed, is an instance of their consistency with themselves, 
 as it is the immediate consequence of their religious sys- 
 tem; for, in their judgment, it is not the person who ex- 
 presses his desires in a set form of words, that can be said 
 to pray truly, but he, on the contrary, who, by a deep 
 recollection, withdraws his mind from every outward ob- 
 ject, reduces it to a state of absolute tranquillity, silences 
 every inward motion and affection, and plunges it, as it 
 were, into the abyss of Deity. They neither observe the 
 institution of baptism, nor do they renew the remem- 
 brance of Christ’s death, and of the benefits that result from 
 it, by the celebration of the eucharist. ‘They look upon 
 these two institutions as merely Judaical, and allege, that 
 our Saviour observed them for no other end than to show 
 for once, in a visible manner, the mystical purification of 
 the soul, under the figure of baptism, and the spiritual 
 nourishment of the inward man, under that of the eucha- 
 rist. 
 
 XI. The moral doctrine of this sect, which is remark- 
 able for its excessive austerity, 1s chiefly comprehended in 
 ihe two following precepts. One is of this import: 
 
 «Phat the faithful are either to avoid entirely every thing 
 that tends to gratify the external senses and passions, 
 every thing that can be ranked under the denomination 
 of sensual or bodily pleasure ; or, if such rigorous absti- 
 nence be impossible in this present state, and contrary to 
 the evident laws of nature, such pleasure is to be so mod- 
 ified and restrained by reason and meditation, as to pre- 
 vent it from debasing and corrupting the mind; for, as 
 the whole attention of the mind must be given to the 
 voice and orders of the internal guide, so, for this purpose, 
 all possible care must be taken to remove it from the con- 
 tagion of the body, and from all intimate and habitual 
 commerce with corporeal objects.” By another leading 
 precept of morality among the Quakers, all imitation of 
 those external manners, that go by the name of civility 
 and politeness, as also several matters of form, usual in the 
 conduct of life, and in the connexions of human society, 
 are strictly prohibited as unlawful. Hence they are easi- 
 ly distinguished from all other Christian sects, by their 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 Src. I. 
 
 outward deportment and their manner of life. They 
 never salute any person whom they meet in their way, 
 nor employ in their conversation the usual manner of ad- 
 dress, or the appellations that civility and custom have 
 rendered a matter of decency, at least, if not of duty; 
 they never express their respect for magistrates, or persons 
 in authority, either by bodily gestures, titles of honour, or 
 in general by any of the marks of homage that are paid 
 to them by persons of all other denominations. ‘They 
 carry their pacific sentiments to such an extravagant 
 length as to renounce the right of self-defence, and let 
 pass with impunity, and even without resistance, the at- 
 tacks that are made on their possessions, their reputation, 
 and even on their lives. ‘They refuse to confirm their testi- 
 monies by an oath, to appear in behalf of their property 
 before a civil tr ibunal, or to accuse those who have in- 
 jured them. 'T'o these negative parts of their external 
 conduct, they add peculiar circumstances of a positive 
 kind, that discover the same austere, stiff, proud, and 
 formal spirit ; for they distinguish themselves, i in a strik- 
 ing manner, from the rest of their fellow-citizens, by the 
 gravity of their aspects, the rustic simplicity of their appa- 
 rel, the affected tones of their voices, the stiffness of their 
 conversation, and the frugality of their tables. It is, how- 
 ever, affirmed by persons of credit, who are eye-witnesses 
 of what passes among the members of this sect, that the 
 modern, and more especially the English Quakers, whom 
 trade has furnished with the means of luxury, have de- 
 parted from this rigid and austere manner of life, and 
 gradually become more reconciled to the outward plea- 
 sures and enjoyments of the world. These more sociable 
 Quakers are also said tomodify and explain the theology of 
 their ancestors, in such a manner as to render it more ra- 
 tional than it was in its primitive state. At the same time 
 it is certain, that many of the members of this sect have 
 either a false notion, or no notion at all, of that theology. 
 XII. The principles of this community seem to exclude 
 the very idea of order, discipline, and ecclesiastical go- 
 vernment. Its leading members, however, began to per- 
 ceive in process of time, that without laws and rulers it 
 could not subsist, but must inevitably fall into confusion 
 andruin. "TL hey accordingly erected a council of elders, 
 who discuss and determine matters of a doubtful or diff 
 cult nature, and use all possible care and diligence in 
 inspecting the conduct of the Brethren, and in preventing 
 whatever they look upon as prejudicial to the interests of 
 the community. ‘The names of those who enter into the 
 state of matrimony are given in to those leading members, 
 who also keep an exact register of the births and deaths 
 that happen in their society. They exercise, moreover, 
 a certain degree of authority over those who speak in their 
 meetings, since it is well known, that in some places these 
 speakers show their discourses to the ruling elders before 
 they deliver them, in order that they may Judge whether 
 they are fit to be repeated i in public ; for, since the abuse 
 that was made of the unbounded liber ty that every indi- 
 vidual had to instruct and exhort the congregation, and to 
 speak and harangue when the pretended spirit moved 
 them, new regulations have been observed; and this lib- 
 erty has been considerably modified, in several places, to 
 avoid the mockery, contempt, and censure, to which the 
 community was Constantly exposed, by the absurd, nco- 
 herent, and insipid discourses of many of its members. 
 
Part II. HISTORY OF THE 
 There are also in some of the more considerable congrega- 
 tions, and more especially in those which are formed at 
 London, certain persons whose duty it is to be always 
 prepared to speak to the people, if none of the congrega- 
 tion should seem to be inwardly moved or disposed to rise 
 and harangue. ‘The appointment of these professed 
 speakers was designed to remedy an inconvenience that 
 frequently happened i in the Quaker-meetings, the whole 
 assembly being dismissed without either instr uction or ex- 
 hortation, because no persons found themselves moved to 
 speak. It is indeed to be observed, that this public dis- 
 course is not looked upon by the Quakers as an essential 
 part of their religion and worship; for the Brethren and 
 Sisters do not meet that they may hear the words of an 
 external teacher, but that they may listen with recollec- 
 tion to the voice of the divine instructor, which every one 
 carries with him in his own breast, or, to use their own 
 phrase, that they may ‘commune with themselves.’ 
 Nevertheless, as these mute assemblies excite the laugh- 
 ter of their adversaries, and expose them to the reproach of 
 enthusiasm and folly, they have, on that account, appoint- 
 ed fixed speakers to whom they give a small salary, that 
 the whole time of their meeting may not be passed in 
 silence. 
 
 The Quakers have, annually, a general assembly, 
 which meets at London in the week before Whitsuntide,* 
 and is composed of deputies from all their particular con- 
 gregations. ‘They still complain, notwithstanding the 
 toleration they enjoy, of certain severities and hardships ; 
 but these are entirely owing to their obstinate refusal to 
 pay those tithes, which, by the laws of the land, are de- 
 signed for the support of the established church. 
 
 VINDICATION OF THE. QUAKERS. 
 
 [The following Vindication was added to the Philadelphia edition 
 of Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, published in 1799 :] 
 
 An American edition of Mosheim’s [Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory being nearly completed, in which is contained a very 
 false account of the principles, doctrine and discipline of 
 our religious society, a very erroneous character of George 
 Fox, and divers other misrepresentations and untrue 
 charges; and although full answers and refutations of 
 these calumnies have been heretofore published, yet as 
 this book may fall into the hands of persons unacquainted 
 with the true state of facts, we think it a point of justice 
 due to the cause of truth and to our religious society, and 
 for the information of candid and unprejudiced minds, 
 briefly to give what from authentic histories and our own 
 knowledge we have ascertained is a just narration. 
 
 Men who consider themselves accountable for their 
 words and actions, and think it highly criminal to deceive 
 others by either disguising or falsification, who are well 
 informed and acquainted with the facts and subjects they 
 relate or write upon, are entitled to greater credit than 
 professed and avowed opposers, who from mistaken mo- 
 
 z¢p * The truth of this account of fixed speakers appointed to dis- 
 course and exhort (when the spirit does not move any of the other 
 brethren), and rewarded for their pains, is denied by the writer of the 
 letter to Dr. Formey. We leave the decision of the matter to those who 
 have an opportunity of examining the supposed fact. The translator, 
 instead of leaving this point unsettled, ought to have inquired into the 
 circumstance ; but, as he was unwilling to take that trouble, the editor 
 is induced to supply the deficiency, by. stating that for Dr. "Mosheim’s 
 assertion there is no authority. Many persons are in the habit of 
 
 SECT CALLED QUAKERS. 
 
 635 
 
 tives publish distortions and misconstructions. From the 
 misrepresentations and wrong aceounts given by our adver- 
 saries, we have no doubt Mosheim has ‘taken most of his 
 narrative. 
 
 ‘The true character of George Fox has been drawn hy 
 men of the first respectability and the fullest information; 
 men who were conversant with him from his youth to his 
 close: and a cloud of witnesses and authentic testimonies 
 can be produced to prove that he was a pious, sober, solid 
 andexemplary man, and no fanatic, eminently qualified for 
 the work he was raised up to promote. As we wish to be 
 brief, we shall omit recurring to other documents, and only 
 cite a few sentences from a prefac e to George Fox’s Journal 
 written by Willian Penn, as follows: 
 
 “ He was a man that God endowed with a clear and 
 wonderful depth, a discerner of others’ spirits, and very 
 much a master of his own. 
 
 “ Tle was of an innocent life, no busy body nor self- 
 seeker, neither touchy nor critical. So meek, contented, 
 modest, steady, tender, it was a pleasure to be in his com- 
 pany. 
 
 “ As he was unwearied, so he was undaunted in his 
 services for God. For in all things he acquitted himself 
 like a man, a new and heavenly -minded man, a divine and 
 a naturalist, and all of God Almighty’s making. I have 
 been surprised at his questions and answers in natural 
 things, that whilst he was ignorant of useless and sophis- 
 tical science, he had in him the foundation of useful and 
 commendable. knowledge, and cherished it every where. 
 
 “'Phus he lived and sojourned among us, and as he 
 lived so he died, feeling in his last moments the same 
 eternal power that had raised and preserved him.” 
 
 Instead of the first association of Quakers “ being 
 mostly composed of visionary fanatics, and of persons that 
 really seemeé to be disordered in their brains,” William 
 Penn, in his aforesaid preface, gives the names of a num- 
 ber of eminent men who became members of this society, 
 and who were inati@Pnesital with many others in spread- 
 ing and propagating the doctrines which they had espoused, 
 and also of establishing a discipline and church govern- 
 ment which must be allowed to be a compact and well 
 regulated system of good order. 
 
 "The charge of their “ running like bacchanals through 
 the towns and villages, declaiming against Episcopacr y; 
 Presbyterianism, and every fixed form of religion, &c. 
 trampling upon the laws, and making use of their pre- 
 tended inspirations to excite the most vehement com- 
 motions both in church and _ state,” and divers other 
 scandalous aspersions, we deny. 
 
 ‘That tumults were raised by their opposers, is very true, 
 and also that they refused complying with laws which 
 they conceived as violating the rights of conscience ; but 
 that in any one instance they offered violence to the per- 
 son of any man, or departed from their peaceable testi- 
 mony, is false. That they,bore beatings, imprisonment 
 and death, with patience, meekness, and perseverance, 
 
 preaching, exhorting, or advising, at the different meetings ; but they 
 are not selected or appointed by the congregation. and do not act as sti- 
 pendiary ministers. The Friends know that the labor rer 1S W crhy of 
 his hire, and follow that rule in ordinary cases ; but the 1dea of rei 
 neration for religious instruction is neither ente ‘tained by the cracls 
 himself, nor by the Brethren and Sislers who listen to his extempora- 
 neous effusions. 
 * It is now fixed for the third Sunday in May. 
 
636 
 
 praying for their enemies, is a fact indisputable and of 
 great notoriety ; so that in time, when the clouds of pre- 
 judice were dissipated and their innocence fully mani- 
 fested, way was made in the minds of rulers for their 
 toleration : ; and this may with truth be said, that such of 
 them as keep true to their principles, are as good members 
 of civil society as any other people, and have never been 
 found in any plots or combinations against the govern- 
 ments which in the course of providence have been set 
 over them. 
 
 The conduct of James Naylor, in his dark and bewil- 
 dered state, we freely condemn ; but his punishment was 
 rigorous in the extreme. ‘That two or three weak persons 
 were deluded and paid a sort of divine honour to him, is 
 confessed ; but that this was in any degree countenanced 
 by our religious society is positively denied, but on the con- 
 trary was fully reprobated by them. Although James Nay- 
 lor had lamentably missed his way, yet we have reason 
 to believe he was through divine mercy restored toa sound 
 mind. He published a condemnation of his misconduct, 
 and we reverently hope he died in peace with God and 
 love to all men. 
 
 As to the absurd story of “one of these people going to 
 the parliament house with a drawn sword and wounding 
 several, and saying he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to 
 kill every man ‘that sat in that house,” it is a very fiction, 
 and we deny that any acknowledged member among us 
 ever was guilty of such conduct. 
 
 We have also made diligent search and cannot find any 
 account ofa female going naked as mentioned in the same 
 note, and believe it is untrue. 
 
 That George Keith was a man of learning and a mem- 
 ber of our society, and wrote several pieces in support of 
 our tenets, is true; but that he gave way to a contentious 
 spirit, and endeavoured to lay waste what he himself had 
 assisted to build up, and was, after much patient labour 
 and forbearance, disowned by friends, weacknowledge. and 
 that an opposition was made to the &tablishment of meet- 
 ings for discipline, by some through ignorance, who after- 
 wards saw their error and condemned it, and by others 
 from mistaken motives; but that our fundamental opi- 
 nions have been the same from the first promulgation of 
 them, we confidently assert. 
 
 We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New 'Testa- 
 ment to be of divine original, and give full credit to the 
 historical facts, as well as the doctrines therein delivered ; 
 aud never had any doubt of the truth of the actual birth, 
 life, su flerings, death, resurrection and ascension of our 
 Lord and Saviour Teddies Christ, as related by the evange- 
 lists, without any mental or other reserve, or the least dimi- 
 nution by allegorical explanation: and there is not, nor 
 ever has been, any essential difference in faith or practice 
 between Friends in Europe and America; but a corres- 
 pondence is regularly maintained, and love, harmony, and 
 unity have been preserved down to this day ; and we hope 
 and believe, under divine favour, nothing will be able to 
 scatter or divide us. 
 
 We do not wish to meddle with those, called mystics, 
 or to adopt many of theirexpressions. We presume there 
 were sincerely religious people among them; but we 
 think religion is a simple thing, the work of the Spirit 
 
 — 
 
 * The severities exercised in Switzerland against the Mennonites are 
 recorded by Ottius, iz his Annal. Anabapt. p. . 337, and more particu- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SECT CALLED QUAKERS 
 
 i of God in the hearts of men: 
 
 Secr. II. 
 
 and as to our tenets and 
 history we refer to Fox, Barclay, Penn, Sewell, Gough, &c. 
 and declare, that we never had, nor now have, any other 
 doctrines to publish, and that there are no religious opi- 
 nions or practices among us which have nct been made 
 known to the world. 
 
 When any person by submitting to the influence and 
 operation of the Spirit of God, becomes thereby qualified, 
 and is called to the work of the ministry, after having 
 made full proof thereof to the satisfaction of the congre- 
 gation, he or she is accepted and recommended as such ; 
 but as to any person being appointed with a stipend, small 
 or great, or preparing a sermon to be delivered in our 
 meetings to be previously examined, or without stich 
 examination, there never was any such practice among 
 us. Our ministers , elders, overseers, and other friends 
 appointed to religious services, receive no pecuniary pay, 
 but spend their time and their own money freely on such 
 occasions, at home and abroad; yet proper attention is 
 given to those in low or poor ‘citcumstances of every 
 description, besides contributing our full proportion to the 
 support of the general poor. Equally untrue is the insi- 
 nuation that we are ashamed of our silent meetings, 
 having experienced them to be both profitable and refresh- 
 ing, as by waiting on the Lord we renew our strength in 
 him. 
 
 Having referred to divers books for further information 
 respecting us, and a more minute refutation of the other 
 false charges, we shall content ourselves at present with this 
 general answer. 
 
 Signed by direction and on behalf of a meeting repre- 
 
 senting the religious society called Quakers in Penn- 
 sylvania, New- -Jersey, &c. held in Philadelphia the 
 22d of 11th Month, 1799. 
 
 JOHN DRINKER, Clerk. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concerning the Mennonites, or Anabaptists. 
 
 1. ArrerR various scenes of trial and perplexity, the 
 Mennonites at length found, during this century, that 
 tranquillity which they had long sought in vain. "They 
 arrived, indeed, at this state of repose by very slow steps ; 
 for though, in the preceding age, they were admitted to 
 the rights and privileges of citizens in the United Pro- 
 vinces , yet it was a long time before their solicitations and 
 pleas of innocence could engage the English, the Swiss, 
 and Germans, to receive them in their bosom, and to ab- 
 rogate the laws that had been enacted against them. 
 Ai he civil magistrates, in these countries, had still before 
 their eyes the enormities committed by the ancient Ana- 
 baptists ; and, besides, they could not persuade them- 
 selves, that a set of men, who looked upon all oaths as 
 sinful, and declared that magistracy and penal laws have 
 no place in the kingdom of Christ, had the qualities and 
 sentiments that are necessary to constitute a good citizen. 
 Hence we find, even in this century, several examples 
 of great severities employed against the Anabaptists, and 
 some Instances of even capital punishments being inflicted 
 on them. But now, that the demonstrations of their in- 
 nocence and probity are clear and unquestionable, they 
 
 larly those which they suffered in the year 1693, by Hottinger, in_his 
 German work, entitled Schweizerische Kirchen-Hisiorie, vol. i. p. 1101, 
 
Part IL. 
 
 enjoy the sweets of security and repose, not only in the 
 United Provinces, but also in England, Germany, and 
 Prussia, where they procure by their honest industry, and 
 particularly by their application to trade and commerce, an 
 ample subsistence for themselves and their families. 
 
 tf. The wiser members of this community easily per- 
 ceived, that their external tranquillity would not be staple 
 or permanent, unless their intestine discords were removed, 
 and their ancient disputes about trifling and unimportant 
 matters charitably terminated. ‘They accordingly used 
 their most zealous endeavours to diffuse the sweets of 
 charity and concord throughout their sect ; nor were their 
 labours altogether unsuccessful. In 1630, a considerable 
 part of the Anabaptists of Flanders, Germany, and F'rise- 
 land, concluded their debates in a conference at Amster- 
 dam, and entered into the bonds of fraternal communion ; 
 each, notwithstanding, reserving a liberty of retaining 
 certain opinions. ‘This association was renewed, and 
 confirmed by new resolutions in 1649, by the Anabaptists 
 of Flanders and Germany, among whom great divisions 
 had reigned.* All these formed a bond of union with those 
 branches of the sect that were most distinguished by their 
 moderation ; and they mitigated and corrected, in various 
 respects, the rigorous laws of Menno and _ his successors. 
 
 Ilf. At this day, therefore, the whole community may 
 be divided into two large sects. One comprehends the 
 more refined Anabaptists, remarkable for their austerity, 
 who are also called Flemings or Flandrians ; and those 
 who form the other sect are styled the Gross Anabaptists, 
 who are of a milder complexion, and an easier and more 
 moderate character, and go commonly under the denomi- 
 nation of Waterlandians. We have already given a par- 
 ticular account of the origin and etymology of these de- 
 nominations. Each sect is subdivided into a variety of 
 branches, more especially the refined and austere Ana- 
 baptists; who have not only produced two separate so- 
 cieties, distinguished by the names of Groningenists,® and 
 Dantzickers, or Prussians,° but also a considerable num- 
 ber of more obscure factions, which differ in doctrine, 
 discipline, and manners, and agree ‘in nothing but the 
 name of Anabaptists, and In some ancient opinions that 
 have been unanimously embraced by all the members of 
 that sect. All the refined Anabaptists are the rigid fol- 
 lowers of Simon Menno, and firmly maintain, though not 
 all with the same degree of severity and rigour, the senti- 
 ments of their chief on the following points—the human 
 nature of Christ—the obligation that binds us to wash the 
 feet of strangers in consequence of our Saviour’s command 
 —the necessity of excommunicating and of avoiding, as 
 one would do the plague, not only avowed sinners, but 
 also those who depart, even in some light instances, from 
 the simplicity of their ancestors, and are tainted with any 
 appearance of evil—the contempt that is due to human 
 Jearning, and other matters of less moment.‘ It is how- 
 ever to be observed, that, in our times, some of the con- 
 eregations of this refined sect have been gradually depart- 
 
 | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE MENNONTTES, 
 
 | 
 | 
 
 | distinct orders of persons. 
 
 OR ANABAPTISTS. 637 
 with a slow pace, toward the opinions and discipline of 
 the moderate Anabaptists. 
 
 IV. All these Anabaptists adopt a form of ecclesiastical 
 government and discipline, that is administered by three 
 The first order is that of the 
 Bishops or Presbyters, who always preside in the consis- 
 tory, and are alone invested with the power of adminis- 
 tering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper. 
 ‘he second is that of the 'l'’eachers, who are set apart for 
 the purposes of public instruction, and the celebration of 
 divine worship. ‘lhe third comprehends the Deacons, 
 who are chosen out of both sexes. ‘These three orders 
 compose the consistory, or council, by which the church 
 is governed. All matters of importance are proposed, ex- 
 amined, and decided, in the meetings of the Brethren. 
 By their suffrages the ministers are elected to their holy 
 office, and are all, the deacons excepted, installed by 
 public prayers, attended with imposition of hands. 
 
 VY. Among the inferior sects of the rigid Anabaptists, 
 the most considerable is that which passes under the de- 
 nomination of Ukewallists, and is so called after its foun- 
 der Uke Walles, a native of Friseland. ‘This rustic, rigid, 
 and ignorant sectary, not only exhorted his followers to 
 maintain the primitive and austere doctrine of Menno, 
 without suffering it to be softened or altered in the small- 
 est degree, but also, in the year 1637, began to propagate, 
 jointly with another innovator, named John Leus, a 
 singular opinion concerning the salvation of Judas, and 
 the rest of Christ’s murderers. ‘To give an air of plausi- 
 bility to the favourable opinion he entertained concerning 
 the eternal state of this arch-apostate, he invented the 
 following odd hypothesis: “That the period which ex- 
 tended from the birth of Christ to the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost, and was, as it were, the distinctive term that sepa- 
 rated the Jewish from the Christian dispensation, was a 
 time of deep ignorance and darkness, during which the 
 Jews were void of light, and entirely destitute of divine 
 succour ; and that, in consequence, the sins and enormi- 
 ties that were committed during this interval were in a 
 great measure excusable, and could not merit the severest 
 displays of the divine justice.” This idle fiction met with 
 no indulgence, either from the Mennonites on the one 
 hand, or from the magistrates of Groningen on the other ; 
 for the former excluded its inventor from their commu- 
 nion, and the latter banished him from their city. He 
 fixed his residence in the adjacent province of Hast-F'rise- 
 land, and there drew after him a considerable number of 
 disciples, whose descendants still subsist in Friseland, and 
 also in Lithuania and Prussia, and have their own reli- 
 gious assemblies, separate from those of the other Men- 
 nonites. As they have little intercourse with any but 
 those of their own communion, it is not an easy matter 
 to know, with certainty, whether they persevere in the 
 singular opinion that proved so detrimental to the interest 
 of their leader. It is at least certain, that they follow 
 scrupulously the steps of their original founder, Menno, 
 and exhibit a lively image of the primitive manners and 
 
 La 
 
 rea 
 
 ing from their austere system, and are proceeding, though 
 
 nor even in the present* century have they been treated more mildly in 
 the canton of Bern, as appears from Schyn’s Historia Mennonitar. cap. 
 x. p. 289, in which we find the letters of the states-general of the United 
 Provinces, interceding with that canton in their behalf. A severe per- 
 secution was set on foot against them in the Palatinate in 1694, which 
 was suspended by the intercession of William IIL. king of Great Bri- 
 tuin. See Schyn’s rea 265. Bishop Burnet mentions some in- 
 stances of Anabaptists suffering death in England during the seven- 
 
 No. LIV. 160 
 
 teenth century, in the first volume of his History of his own ‘Time. 
 
 * Herm. Schyn, Plenior Deductio Historia Mennonit. p. 41, 42. 
 
 » So called, because they met at certain stated times in Groningen. 
 
 ¢ They derive this denomination from their adopting the manners 
 and discipline of the Prussians. : 
 
 4 See a German work, entitled, Nachrichten von dem gegenwartigen 
 Zustande der Mennoniten, by Rues, 1743. 
 
 * The eighteenth, 
 
638 
 
 constitution of the Mennonites. They re-baptize all ' 
 those who leave other Christian churches to embrace 
 their communion. ‘Their apparel is mean beyond ex- 
 pression, and they avoid every thing that has the most 
 distant appearance of elegance or ornament. ‘They suffer 
 thei: beards to grow to an enormous length ; their hair, 
 uncombed, lies in a disorderly manner on their shoulders ; 
 their countenances are marked with the strongest lines 
 of dejection and melancholy ; and their habitations and 
 household furniture are such as are only fitted to answer 
 the demands of mere necessity. Such moreover is the 
 severity of their discipline, that any member of their 
 community, who departs in the smallest instance from 
 this austere rule, is immediately excluded from the society, 
 and avoided by all the Brethren as a public pest. Their 
 inspectors or bishops, whom they distinguish from the 
 ministers, whose office is to preach and instruct, are chosen 
 by an assembly composed of all the congregations of the 
 sect. '[he ceremony of washing the feet of strangers, 
 who come within the reach of their hospitality, is looked 
 upon by them as a right of divine institution. We shall 
 pot enlarge upon the other circumstances of their ritual, 
 but only observe, that they prevent all attempts to alter 
 or modify their religious discipline, by preserving their 
 people from every thing that bears the remotest aspect of 
 learning and science ; from whatever, in a word, might 
 have a tendency to enlighten their devout ignorance. 
 
 VI. The more gross or moderate and less scrupulous 
 Anabaptists are composed of certain inhabitants of Water- 
 land, Flanders, Friseland, and Germany, who entered 
 into an association, as has been already observed, and 
 commonly pass under the denomination of Waterlandians. 
 The members of this community have abandoned the 
 severe discipline and singular opinions of Menno, whom, 
 nevertheless, they generally respect as their primitive 
 parent and founder, and have advanced a step nearer 
 than the other Anabaptists to the religious doctrines and 
 customs of other Christian churches. ‘They are, however, 
 divided into two distinct sects, which bear the respective 
 denominations of Friselanders and Waterlandians, and 
 are both without bishops, employing no other ecclesiastical 
 ministers than presbyters and deacons. Hach congrega- 
 tion of this sect is independent of all foreign jurisdiction, 
 having its own ecclesiastical council or consistofy, which 
 is composed of presbyters and deacons. ‘he supreme 
 spiritual power is, wevertheless, in the hands of the peo- 
 ple, without whose consent nothing of importance can be 
 carried into execution. Their presbyters are, generally 
 speaking, men of learning, and apply themselves with 
 success to the study of physic and philosophy: and a 
 public professor is supported, at. present, by the sect at 
 Amsterdam, for the instruction of their youth in the 
 various branches of philosophy and sacred erudition. 
 
 VIL. One of these Waterlandian sects divided itself, in 
 1664, into two factions, which were respectively called 
 Galenists and Apostoolians, from the names of their two 
 leaders. ‘The founder of the former sect was Galen 
 Abraham Haan, a doctor of physic, and pastor of a Men- 
 nonite congregation at Amsterdam, who received the 
 
 a nnl 
 
 applause even of his enemies, on account of his uncommon 
 
 * For a more particular account of these two Mennonites, see Schyn’s 
 Deductio plenior Histor. Mennonit. cap. xv. page 318, and xviii. page 
 237, - 
 
 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITES, OR ANABAPTISTS. 
 
 iment, and led holy and virtuous lives. 
 
 Secr. If 
 
 penetration and eloquence. ‘This eminent Anabaptist 
 in imitation of the Arminians, considered the Christiar 
 religion as a system that laid much less stress upon faitl 
 than upon practice; and he was inclined to receive, int¢ 
 the communion of the Mennonites, all who acknowledged 
 the divine origin of the books of the Old and New 'Testa- 
 Such, in his 
 judgment, were true Christians, and had an undoubted 
 
 right to all the rights and privileges that belonged to that 
 
 character. ‘These comprehensive terms of communion 
 were peculiarly favourable to his own theological senti- 
 ments, since his notions concerning Christ’s divinity, and 
 the salvation of mankind by his death and merits, were 
 very different from those of the Mennonites, and coincided 
 in a great measure with the Socinian system. 
 
 Several persons opposed the sentiments of this latitudi- 
 narian, and more especially Samuel Apostool, an eminent 
 pastor among the Mennonites at Amsterdam, who not 
 only defended, with the utmost zeal, the doctrines gene- 
 rally received among the Mennonites, in relation to the 
 divinity of Christ and the fruits of his death, but also 
 maintained the ancient hypothesis of a visible and glo- 
 rious church of Christ upon earth, that was peculiar to 
 this sect. ‘Thus a controversy was excited which pro- 
 duced the division now mentioned ; a division which the 
 zealous efforts of several of the wisest and most respecta- 
 ble members of this community have hitherto proved 
 insufficient to heal. ‘The Galenists are not less disposed 
 than the Arminians to admit, as members of their com- 
 munity, all who call themselves Christians; and they 
 are the only sect of the Anabaptists who reject the 
 denomination of Mennonites. ‘The Apostoolians, on the 
 contrary, admit to their communion those only who pro- 
 fess to believe all the points of doctrine which are con 
 tained in their public confession of faith.» 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Concerning the Socinians and Arians; 
 
 I. Avour the commencement of this century, the sect 
 of the Socinians seemed to be well established, and their 
 affairs were even in a flourishing condition. In Tran- 
 sylvania and Lucko, they enjoyed the liberty of holding, 
 without molestation, their religious assemblies, and_pro- 
 fessing publicly their theological opinions. The advan- 
 tages that attended their situation in Poland were still 
 more considerable ; for they had at Racow a public semi- 
 nary, which was furnished with professors eminently dis- 
 tinguished by their erudition and genius, together with a 
 press for the publication of their writings ; they had also a 
 considerable number of congregations in that district, 
 and were supported by the patronage of several persons of 
 the highest distinction. Elate with this scene of prosperity, 
 they began to form more extensive views, and aimed at 
 enlarging the borders of their community, and procuring 
 it patrons and protectors in other countries. Authentic 
 records are extant, from which it appears, that they sent 
 emissaries with this view, about the commencement of 
 the century, into Holland, England, Germany, and 
 Prussia, who endeavoured to make proselytes to Socini- 
 
 » Casp. Commelini Descriptio Urbis Amstelodami, tom. i. p. 500.— 
 Stoupa’s Religion des Hollandois, p. 20—Benthem’s Hollandischer 
 Schul and Kirchen Staat, p. 1. ch. xix. p. 830. 
 
Parr II. 
 
 anism in these countries, among men of learning and 
 men in power; for it is remarkable, that the Socinians, 
 in propagating their religious principles, have always 
 
 followed a quite different ‘method from that which has 
 beep observed by other sects. It has heen the general 
 yractice of sectaries and innovators to endeavour to 
 render themselves popular, and to begin by gaining the 
 multitude to their side ; but the disciples of Socinus, who 
 are perpetually exalting the dignity, prerogatives, and 
 authority of reason, have this peculiarity in their manner 
 of proceeding, that they are at very little pains to court 
 the favour of the people, or to make proselytes to their 
 cause among those who are not distinguished from the 
 multitude by their rank or their abilities; it is only 
 among the learned and the great that they seek disciples 
 and patrons with zealous assiduity. 
 
 Il. 'The effect of the missions now mentioned, though 
 they were conducted and executed by persons of whom 
 the greatest part were eminent, both on account of their 
 rank and abilities, was nevertheless far from answering 
 the views and expectations of the community. In most 
 places the success of the cause was doubtful, at best in- 
 considerable ; in some, however, the missionaries were fa- 
 vourably received, and seemed to employ their labours with 
 effect. They had no where a more flattering prospect of 
 success than in the university of Altorf, where their sen- 
 timents and their cause were promoted with dexterity by 
 Ernest ‘Sohner, an acute and learned cultivator of the 
 peripatetic system, who was also professor of physic and 
 natural philosophy. This subtle philosopher, who had 
 joined the Socinians during his residence in Holland, in- 
 stilled their principles into the minds of his scholars with 
 much greater facility, by his having acquired the highest 
 reputation, both for learning and piety. The death, in- 
 deed, of this eminent man, “which happened in 1612, de- 
 prived the rising society of its chief ornament and support ; 
 nor could the remaining friends of Socinianism carry on 
 the cause of their community with such art. and dexte- 
 rity, as to escape the vigilant and severe eye of the other 
 professors. Their secret designs were accordingly brought 
 to light in 1616; and the contagion of Socinianism, 
 which was gathering strength from day to day, and 
 growing imperceptibly into a reigning system, was sud- 
 denly dissipated and extinguished-by the vigilant severity 
 of the magistrates of Nuremberg. ‘The foreign students, 
 who had been infected with these doctrines, s saved them- 
 selves by flight; while those natives, who were charge- 
 able with the same reproach, accepted the remedies that 
 were presented to them by the healing hand of orthodoxy, 
 and returned quietly to their former theological system.* 
 
 Ill. The establishment of the Socinians in Poland, 
 though it seemed to rest upon solid foundations, was 
 nevertheless of a short duration.” Its chief supports were 
 withdrawn, in 1638, by a public decree of the diet. It 
 happened in this year that some of the students of 
 
 Racow vented, in an irregular and tumultuous manner, 
 2h 
 © The learned Gustavus George Zeltner, formerly professor of divi- 
 nity in the university of Altorf{ composea av ample and learned ac- 
 count of this theological revolution, drawn principally ae manuscript 
 records; which Ge ‘bauer publishe d at Leipsic, in 1729, under the fol- 
 lowing title, “ Historia Crypto-Socinianismi Port at quondam Aca- 
 demia infesti, arcana.’ 
 t We have a circumstantial account of the flourishing state of the 
 Racovian seminary, while it was under the direction of the learned 
 Martin Ruarus, in the Cimbria Literata of Moller, tom. i. p. 572, where 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SOCINIANS AND ARIANS 
 
 OOo llllllll_eeeSES SSS ———a—Savw>S> (6666 OOOO 
 —— 
 
 639 
 
 their religious resentment against a crucifix, at which 
 they threw stones, till they beat it down out of its place. 
 This act of violence excited such a high degree of indig- 
 nation, in the catholics, that they vowed revenge, and 
 sey erely fulfilled this vow ; for it was through their im- 
 portunate solicitations that the terrible law was enacted 
 at Warsaw, by which it was resolved, that the college of 
 Racow should be demolished, its professors banished with 
 ignominy, the printing- -house of the Socinians destroyed, 
 
 and their churches shut. All this was executed without 
 the smallest alleviation or the least delay, notwithstanding 
 the efforts made by the powerful patrons of the Socinians 
 to ward off the blow.s But a catastrophe, still more ter- 
 
 rible, awaited them ; and the persecution now mention- 
 ed was the forerunner of that dreadful revolution, which, 
 about twenty years afterwards, brought on the entire 
 ruin of this community in Poland: for, by a public and 
 solemn act of the u.et holden at Warsaw, in 1658, all the 
 Socinians were banished for ever from the territory of that 
 republic, and capital punishment was denounced against 
 all who should either profess their opinions, or harbour 
 their persons. The unhappy exiles were, at first, allowed 
 the space of three years to settle their affairs, and to dis- 
 pose of their possessions ; but this term was afterwards 
 abridged by the cruelty of their enemies, and reduced to 
 two years. In 1661, the terrible edict was renewed ; and 
 all the Socinians that yet remained in Poland were bar- 
 barously driven out of that country, some with the loss 
 of their property, others with the loss of their lives, as 
 neither sickness, nor any domestic consideration, could 
 suspend the execution of that rigorous sentence.@ 
 
 IV. A part of these exiles, who sought refuge among 
 their brethren in Transylvania, sunk under the burthen 
 of their calamities, and perished amidst the hardships to 
 which they were exposed. A considerable number of 
 these unhappy emigrants were dispersed through the ad- 
 jacent provinces of Silesia, Brandenburg, and Prussia ; 
 and their posterity still subsist in those countries. Seve- 
 ral of the more eminent members of the sect, in conse- 
 quence of the protection granted to them by the duke 
 of Brieg, resided for some time at Crossen in Silesia.* 
 
 Others went in search of a convenient settlement for them- 
 selves and their brethren, into Holland, England, Hol- 
 stein, and Denmark. Of all the Socinian exiles, none 
 discovered such zeal and industry for the interests and 
 establishment of the sect as Stanislaus Lubieniecius, a 
 Polish knight, distinguished by his learning, and singu- 
 larly cpieemued by persons of the highest rank, and even 
 
 by several sovereign princes, on account of his eloquence, 
 politeness s, and pr udence. This illustrious patron of So- 
 cinianism succeeded so far in his designs, as to gain the 
 favour of Frederic HI. king of Denmark, of Christian 
 Albert duke of Holstein, and Charles Louis elector Pala- 
 tine ; and thus he had almost obtained a secure retreat 
 and settlement for the Socinians, about the year 1662, at 
 Altena, Fredericstadt, and Manheim; but his measures 
 
 we learn that Ruarus was a native of Holstein, who became a prose- 
 lyte to the Socinian system. 
 
 * Epistolade Wissowatii Vita in Sandii Bib. Anti-Trinitar, p.233.-— 
 Gust. Georg. Zeltneri His. Crypto-Socinianismi Altorfini, vol. 1. p. 299, 
 4 Stanislai Lubieniecii Hist: Reformat. Polonice, lib. iii, ¢. xvil. xviii. 
 p. 279.—Equitis Poloni Vindicie pro Unitariorum in Polonia Religio- 
 nis Libertate, apud Sandium, p. 267. 
 
 © Lubieniccii Hist. cap. xvili. p. 285, where there is a letter written 
 
 by the Socinians of Crossen. 
 
640 SECTS O. 
 were disconcerted, and all his hopes entirely frustrated, 
 by the opposition and remonstrances of the clergy estab- 
 lished in those countries; he was opposed in Denmark 
 by Suaning bishop of Sealand, in Holstein by Reinboth, 
 and in the Palatinate by John Louis Fabricius. Several 
 other attempts were made, in different countries, in favour 
 of Socinianism; but their success was still less consi- 
 derable ; nor could any of the European nations be per- 
 suaded to grant a public settlement to a sect, whose 
 members denied the divinity of Christ. 
 
 V. The remains, therefore, of this unfortunate commu- 
 nity are, at this day, dispersed through different countries, 
 particularly in the kingdoms of England and Prussia, the 
 electorate of Brandenburg, and the United Provinces, 
 where they lie more or less concealed, and hold their reli- 
 gious assemblies in a clandestine manner. ‘hey are, 
 indeed, said to exercise their religion publicly in England,» 
 not in consequence of a legal toleration, but through the 
 indulgent connivance of the civil magistrate.. Some of 
 them have embraced the communion of the Arminians ; 
 others have joined with those Anabaptists who form a sect 
 distinguished by the name of Galenists ; and in this there 
 is. nothing at all surprising, since neither the Arminians 
 nor Anabaptists require, from those who enter into their 
 communion, an explicit or circumstantial declaration of 
 their religious sentiments. It is also said, that a consid- 
 erable number of this dispersed community became mem- 
 bers of the religious society called Collegiants.¢ Amidst 
 such frequent changes and vicissitudes, it was not possi- 
 ble that the Socinians could maintain a uniform system 
 of doctrine, or preserve unaltered and entire the religious 
 tenets handed down to them by their ancestors. On the 
 contrary, their peculiar and distinctive opinions are vari- 
 ously explained and understood both by the learned and 
 illiterate members of their community, though they all 
 
 « See Sandii Biblioth. p. 165.—Historia Vite Lubieniecii, prefixed 
 to his History.—Molleri Introductio in Histor. Chersones. Cimbrice, 
 p. i. p. 105, and his Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 487.—Jo. Henr. Hei- 
 deggeri Vita Joh. Lud. Fabricii, suhjoined to the works of the latter. 
 
 34> > The Socinians in England have never made any figure as a 
 community, but have rather been dispersed among the great variety of 
 sects that have arisen in a country where liberty displays its most go- 
 rious fruits, and at_the same time exhibits its most striking inconve- 
 niences. Besides, few ecclesiastics, or writers of any note, have 
 
 adopted the theological system now under consideration, in all its | 
 
 branches. The Socinian doctrine relating to the design and efficacy of 
 the death of Christ had indeed many abettors in England during the 
 seventeenth century ; and it may be presumed, that its votaries are 
 rather increased than diminished in the present; but those divines who 
 have abandoned the Athanasian hypothesis concerning the Trinity of 
 Persons in the Godhead, have more generally gone into the Arian and 
 Semi-Arian notions of that inexplicable subject, than into those of the 
 Socinians, who deny that Jesus Christ existed before his appearance in 
 the human nature. The famous John Biddle, after having maintained, 
 both in public and in private, during the reign of Charles and the pro- 
 tectorship of Cromwell, the Unitarian system, erected an Independent 
 congregation in London, the only British church we have heard of, in 
 which all the peculiar doctrines of Socianism were inculeated; for, if 
 we may give credit to the account of Sir Peter Pett, this congregation 
 _ held the following notions: “ That the fathers under the old covenant 
 had only temporal promises; that saving faith consisted in universal 
 obedience performed to the commands of God and Christ; that Christ 
 rose again only by the power of the Father, and not by his own; that 
 justifying faith is not the pure gift of God, but may be acquired by 
 men’s natural abilities; that faith cannot believe any thing contrary to, 
 or above reason; that there is no original sin; that Christ has not the 
 same body now in glory, in which he suffered and rose again; that the 
 saints shall not have the same bodies in heaven which they: had on 
 earth; that Christ was not Lord or King before his resurrection, or 
 Priest before his ascension; that the saints shall not, before the day of 
 judgment, enjoy the bliss of heaven; that God does not certainly know 
 future contingencies; that there is not any authority of fathers or general 
 councils in determining matters of faith; that Christ, before his death, 
 
 INFERIOR NOTE. 
 
 } 
 
 Secr. 01 
 
 agree in rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity, and tha 
 also of the divinity and satisfaction of Jesus Christ.¢ 
 VI. After the Socinians, as there is a great affinity be 
 
 tween the two sects, it is proper to mention the Arians, 
 who had several celebrated writers in this century, such 
 as Sandiusand Biddle.f Of those who also passed under the 
 general denomination of Anti-Trinitarians and Unita- 
 rians, there are many that may be placed in the class of 
 the Socinians and Arians; for the term Unitarian is 
 very comprehensive, and is applicable to a great variety 
 of persons, who agree in this common principle, that there 
 is no real distinction in the divine nature. The denomi- 
 nation of Arian is also given in general to those who con- 
 sider Jesus Christ as inferior and subordinate to the Fa- 
 ther. But, as this subordination may be understood and 
 explained in various ways, it is evident that the term 
 Arian, as it is used in modern language, is susceptible of 
 different significations ; and that, in consequence, the per- 
 sons to whom it is applied cannot be all considered in the 
 same point of light with the ancient Arians, or supposed 
 to agree perfectly with each other in their religious tenets. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Concerning some Sects of Inferior Note. 
 
 I. Ir will not be improper to take notice here of a few 
 sects of inferior consequence and note, which we could not 
 conveniently mention in the history of the more extensive 
 and important communities that we have been surveying, 
 and which, nevertheless, we cannot omit, for several reasons. 
 While the disputes and tumults, produced in Holland in 
 1619 by the Arminian system, were at the greatest height, 
 a religious society arose, whose members hold at Rhinsberg, 
 near Leyden, a solemn assembly in every half-year, and 
 are generally known by the denomination of Collegiants.¢ 
 
 had not any dominion over the angels; and that Christ, by dying, made 
 not satisfaction for us.” See the preface to Sir Peter Pett’s Happy 
 future State of England, printed in 1688. 
 
 ¢ The Socinians, who reside at present in the district of Mark, used 
 to meet, some years ago, at stated times, at Koningswald, a village in 
 the neighbourhood of Frankfort, on the Oder. See the Recueil de Li- 
 terature, de Philosophie et d’Histoire (published at Amsterdam, in 
 1731*,) p. 44. They published in 1716, at Berlin, their confession of 
 faith, in the German language, which is to be found, with a refutation 
 thereto annexéd, in a book entitled, Den Theologischen Heb. Opfern, 
 part x. p. 852. 
 
 34 ¢ This community, of which an account is given in the following 
 chapter, called their religious meetings Colleges, that is, congregations 
 or assemblies; and hence they were denominated Collegiants. 
 
 ¢ Many examples might be alleged in proof of this. It will be suffi- 
 cient to mention that of the learned Crellius, who, though he was pro- 
 fessor of theology among the Socinians, yet differed in his opinions 
 about many points of doctrine, from the sentiments of Socinus and the 
 Racovian Catechism, and would not be called a Socinian, but an Arte- 
 monite.t See the Journal Literaire, tom. xvii. part i. andthe account I 
 have given of this celebrated man in my Syntagm. Dissertationum ad 
 sanctiores Disciplinas pertinentium, p. 352.—Unschuld. Nachrict. 1750, 
 p- 942.—Nouveau Diction. Historique et Critique, tom. ii. p. 88. 
 
 3¢> This last citation is erroneous ; there is no account of Crellius in 
 the place here referred to. 
 
 f For an account of Sandius, father and son, see Arnold and other 
 writers. The life of Biddle 1s to be found in the Nouveau Diction. 
 Historique et Critique, tom. i. p. ii. p. 288. 34 Dr. Mosheim places 
 Biddle improperly among the Arians; it is manifest that he belongs to 
 the Socinian sect, since, in the third article of his Confession of Faith, 
 he professes to believe that Christ has no other than a human nature. 
 See the Socinian Tracts, entitled, The Faith of one God, &c. published 
 at London in 1691. Sce also above, note [* °]. 
 
 < See note [*], in the preceding chapter. 
 
 3¢p * The author of this collection was one Jordan, who was pastor 
 of a church in the neighbourhood of Berlin. 
 
 3¢p + After Artemon, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Severus, 
 and denied the pre-existence and divinity of Jesus Christ. 
 
Pa RT Il. ? 
 
 This community was founded by three brothers, of the 
 name of Vander-Kodde, who passed their days in the ob- 
 scurity of a rural life, and are said to have been men of 
 eminent piety, well acquainted with sacred literature, and 
 great enemies to religious controversy. ‘They had for their 
 associate Anthony Cornelius, a man also of a mean condi- 
 tion, and who had no qualities that could give any degree 
 of weight or credit to their cause. he descendants and 
 followers of these men acquired the name of Collegiants, 
 because they called their religious assemblies Colleges. 
 All are admitted to the communion of this sect who ac- 
 knowledge the divinity of the Scriptures, and endeavour 
 to live suitably to the precepts and doctrines contained in 
 those writings, whatever their peculiar sentiments may be 
 concerning the nature of the Deity and the truths of Chris- 
 tianity. ‘l‘heir numbers are very considerable in the pro- 
 vinces of Holland, Utrecht, East and West-Friseland. 
 They meet twice in every week, namely, on Sundays and 
 Wednesdays, for the purpose of divine worship; and, after 
 singing a psalm or hymn, and addressing themselves to the 
 Deity by prayer, they explain a certain portion of the New 
 Testament. 'The female members of the community are 
 not allowed to speak in public ; but all others, without any 
 exception founded on rank, condition, or incapacity, have 
 a right to communicate the result of their meditations to 
 the assembly, and to submit their sentiments to the judg- 
 ment of the brethren. All likewise have an unquestion- 
 able right toexamine and oppose what has been advanced 
 by any of the brethren, provided that their opposition be 
 attended with a spirit of Christian charity and moderation. 
 There is a printed list of the passages of Scripture, that 
 are to be examined and illustrated at each of their reli- 
 gious meetings ; so that any one who is ambitious of ap- 
 pearing among the speakers, may study the subject before- 
 hand, and thus come fully prepared to descant upon it in 
 public. ‘The Brethren, as has been already observed, have 
 a general assembly twice a year at Rhinsberg, where they 
 have ample and convenient houses for the education of 
 orphans and the reception of strangers; and there they 
 remain together during the space of four days, which are 
 employed in hearing discourses that tend to edification, 
 and exhortations which are principally designed to incul- 
 cate brotherly love and sanctity of manners. The sacra- 
 ment of the Lord’s supper is also administered during this 
 assembly ; and those adult persons who desire to be bap- 
 
 * See the Dissertation sur les Usages de ceux qu’on appelle en Hol- 
 Jande Collegiens et Rhinobourgeois, in the Ceremonies Religieuses de 
 tous les Peuples du Monde, tom. iv. p. 323.; as also a Dutch book, con- 
 taining an account of the Collegiants, and published by themselves in 
 1736, under the following title : ‘‘ De Oorspronck, Natuur, Handelwyze 
 en Oogmerk der zo genaamde Rynburgsche Vergadering.” 
 
 >’ The names of John Bredenburg, and Francis Cuiper, are well 
 known among the followers and adversaries of Spinosa; but the cha- 
 racter and profession of these two disputants are less generally known. 
 Bredenburg, or (as he is otherwise called) Breitenburg, was a Colle- 
 giant, and a merchant of Rotterdam, who propagated in a public man- 
 ner the doctrine of Spinosa, and pretended to demonstrate mathemati- 
 cally its conformity to the dictates of reason, The same man not only 
 professed Christianity, but moreover explained, recommended, and 
 maintained the Christian religion in the meetings of the Collegiants, 
 and asserted, on all occasions, its divine original. ‘To reconcile these 
 striking contradictions, he declared, on one hand, that reason and Chris- 
 lianity were in direct opposition to each other; but maintained, on the 
 other, that we were obliged to believe, even against the evidence of the 
 strongest mathematical demonstrations, the religious doctrines compre- 
 hended in the Scriptures; (this, indeed, was adding absurdity to absur- 
 dity.) He affirmed, that truth was two-fold, theological and philosophi- 
 cal: and that those propositions, which were false in theology, were 
 true in philosophy. There is a brief but accurate account of the cha- 
 
 o. LIV. 161 
 
 SECTS OF INFERIOR NOTE. 
 
 641 
 
 | tized, receive the sacrament of baptism, according to the 
 ancient and primitive manner of celebrating that institu 
 tion, that is, by immersion. Those Collegiants, who 
 reside in the province of Friseland, have at present an 
 annual meeting at Leewarden, where they administer the 
 sacraments, as the distance at which they live from Rhins- 
 berg renders it inconvenient for them to repair thither 
 twice a year. We shall conclude our account of these 
 sectaries by observing, that their community is of a most 
 ample and extensive kind; that it comprehends persons 
 of all ranks, orders, and sects, who profess themselves 
 Christians, though their sentiments concerning the person 
 and doctrine of the divine Founder of Christianity be ex- 
 tremely different; that it is kept together, and its union 
 maintained, not by the authority of rulers and doctors, 
 the force of ecclesiastical laws, the restraining power of 
 creeds and confessions, or the influence of positive rites 
 and institutions, but merely by a zeal for the advance- 
 ment of practical religion, and a desire of drawing instruc- 
 tion from the study of the Scriptures. 
 
 IL. In such a community, or rather amidst such a multi- 
 tude as this, in which opinion is free, and every one is per- 
 mitted to judge for himself in religious matters, dissensions 
 and controversies can scarcely have place. However, a 
 debate attended with some warmth, arose in 1672, be- 
 tween the merchants John and Paul Bredenburg, on one 
 side, and Abraham Lemmerman and Francis Cuiper on 
 the other. John Bredenburg had erected a particular 
 society, or college, in which he gave a course of lectures 
 upon the religion of nature and reason; but this under- 
 taking was highly disapproved by Lemmerman and Cui- 
 per, who were forexcluding reason altogether from religious 
 inquiries and pursuits. During the heat of this contro- 
 versy, Bredenburg discovered a manifest propensity toward 
 the sentiments of Spinosa ; he even defended them pub- 
 licly, and yet, at the same time, professed a firm attach- 
 ment to the Christian religion.» Other debates of less con- 
 sequence arose in this community; and the effect was a 
 division of the Collegiants into two parties, which held 
 their assemblies separately at Rhinsberg. This division 
 happened in 1686; but it was healed about the com- 
 mencement of the following century, by the death of 
 those who had principally occasioned it; and then the 
 Collegiants returned to their former union and con- 
 cord.¢ 
 
 racter and sentiments of Bredenburg, in the learned work of the Jew, 
 Isaac Orobio, entitled, ‘‘Certamen Philosophicum propugnate Veri- 
 tatis, divine et naturalis, adversus Jo. Bredenburgii Principia, ex qui- 
 bus, quod Religio Rationi repugnat, demonstrare nititur.” This work, 
 which contains Bredenburg’s pretended demonstrations of the philoso- 
 phy of Spinosa, was first published at Amsterdam in 1703, and after- 
 wards at Brussels, in 1731. His antagonist, Francis Cuiper, acquired 
 a considerable reputation by his Arcana Atheismi detecta, i.e. the se- 
 crets of Atheism detected. He was a bookseller at Amsterdam; and 
 it was he that published, among other things, the Bibliotheca Fratrum 
 Polonorum seu Unitariorum. Those who have a tolerable acquaint- 
 ance with the literary history of this century, know that Cuiper, on 
 account of the very book which he wrote against Bredenburg, was sus- 
 pected of Spinosism, though he was a Collegiant, and a zealous defender 
 of the Christian faith, as also of the perfect conformity that subsists 
 between right reason and true religion. “> Dr. Mosheim said a little 
 before, in the text, that Lemmerman and Cuiper were for excluding rea- 
 son altogether from religion ; how then can he consistently say here of 
 the latter, that he was a defender of the conformity between reason and 
 religion ? 
 
 ¢ Beside the authors who have been already mentioned, those who 
 understand the German language may consult the curious work of 
 Simon Frederic Rues, entitled, “Nachrichten vom Zustande der Men- 
 noniten,” p. 267. 
 
642 
 
 III. The Labadists were so called from their founder 
 John Labadie, a native of France, a man of no mean 
 genius, and remarkable fora natural and masculine elo- 
 quence. This man was born in the Romish communion, 
 entered into the order of the Jesuits, and, being dismiss- 
 ed by them,* became a member of the reformed church, 
 and exercised with reputation the ministerial functions 
 in France, Switzerland, and Holland. He at length erect- 
 ed a new community, which resided successively at Mid- 
 dleburg in Zealand, and at Amsterdam. In 1670, it was 
 transplanted to Hervorden in Westphalia, at the particular 
 desire of the princess Elizabeth, daughter of the elector 
 Palatine, and abbess of Hervorden.® It was soon driven 
 from that part of Germany, notwithstanding the protec- 
 tion of this illustrious princess ; and, in 1672, settled at 
 Altena, where its founder died two years after his arrival. 
 After the death of Labadie, his followers removed the 
 wandering community to Wiewert, in the district of North- 
 Holland, where it found a peaceful retreat, and soon fell 
 into oblivion ; so that few, if any, traces of it are now to 
 be found. 
 
 Among the persons that became members of this sect, 
 there were some, whose learning and abilities gave it a 
 certain degree of credit and reputation, particularly Anna 
 Maria Schurman, of Utrecht, whose extensive erudition 
 rendered her so famous in the republic of letters. The 
 members of this community, if we may judge of them 
 by their own account, did not differ from the reformed 
 church so much in their tenets and doctrines, as in their 
 manners and rules of discipline ;* for their founder exhi- 
 bited in his own conduct a most austere model of sanc- 
 tity and obedience, which his disciples and followers were 
 obliged to imitate ; and they were taught to look for the 
 communion of saints, not only in the invisible church, 
 but also in a visible one, which, according to their views 
 of things, ought to be composed of none but such persons 
 as were distinguished by their sanctity and virtue, and 
 by a pious progress toward perfection. ‘There are still 
 
 SECTS OF INFERIOR NOTE. 
 
 Secr. J]. 
 
 extant several treatises composed by Labadie, which suffi- 
 ciently discover the temper and spirit of the man, and 
 bear evident marks of a lively and glowing imagination, 
 not tempered by the influence of a sober and accu- 
 rate judgment; and, as persons of this character are 
 sometimes carried, by the impetuosity of passion and tne 
 seduction of fancy, both into erroneous notions and licen- 
 tious pursuits, we are not perhaps to reject, in consequence 
 of an excessive charity or liberality of sentiment, the testi- 
 monies of those who have found many things worthy of 
 censure, both in the life and doctrine of this turbulent 
 enthusiast.¢ 
 
 IV. Among the fanatical contemporaries of Labadie 
 was the famous Antoinette Bourignon de la Porte, a na- 
 tive of Flanders, who pretended to be divinely inspired, 
 and set apart, by a particular interposition of Heaven, to 
 revive the true spirit of Christianity, that had been extin- 
 guished by theological animosities and debates. ‘This 
 female enthusiast, whose religious feelings were accompa- 
 nied with an unparalleled vivacity and ardour, and whose 
 fancy was exuberant beyond all expression, joined to these 
 qualities a volubility of tongue, less wonderful indeed, 
 yet much adapted to seduce the unwary. Furnished 
 with these useful talents, she began to propagate her theo- 
 logical system, and her enthusiastical notions made a great 
 noise in Flanders, Holland, and some parts of Germany, 
 where she had resided some years. Nor was it only the 
 ignorant multitude that swallowed down with facility her 
 visionary doctrines, since it is well known that several 
 learned and ingenious men were persuaded of their truth, 
 and caught the contagion of her fanaticism. After expe- 
 riencing various turns of fortune, and suffering much 
 vexation and ridicule on account of her religious fancies, 
 she ended her days at Franeker, in Friseland, in 1680. 
 Her writings were voluminous ; but it would be a fruitless 
 attempt to endeavour to draw from them an accurate and 
 consistent scheme of religion ; for the pretended divine 
 light, that guides people of this class, does not proceed in 
 
 x4p * From this expression of our author, some may be led to ima- 
 gine that Labadie was expelled by the Jesuits from their society ; and 
 many have, in effect, entertained this notion. But this is a palpable 
 mistake ; and whoever will be at the pains of consulting the letter of the 
 abbé Goujet to father Niceron (published in the Memoires des Hommes 
 illustres, tom. xx. p. 142.) will find that Labadie had long solicited his 
 discharge from that society, and, after many refusals, obtained it at 
 length in an honourable manner, by a public act signed at Bordeaux, 
 by one of the provincials, on the 17th of April, 1639. For a full ac- 
 count of this restless, turbulent, and visionary man, who, by his plans 
 of reformation, conducted by a zeal destitute of prudence, produced 
 much tumult and disorder, both in the Romish and reformed churches, 
 see his Life, composed with learning, impartiality, and judgment, by 
 M. Chauffepeid, and inserted in that author’s Supplement .to Bayle. 
 
 3> » This illustrious princess seems to have had as strong a taste 
 for fanaticism as her grandfather king James I. of England had for 
 scholastic theology. She carried on a correspondence with Penn, the 
 famous Quaker, and other members of that extravagant sect. She is, 
 nevertheless, celebrated by certain writers, on account of her applica- 
 tion to the study of philosophy and poetry. That a poetical fancy may 
 have rendered her susceptible of fanatical impressions, is not impossible ; 
 but how these impressions could be reconciled with a philosophical 
 spirit, is more difficult to jmagine. 
 
 3 ° Labadie always declared, that he embraced the doctrines of the 
 reformed church. Nevertheless, when he was called to perform the 
 ministerial functions to a French church at Middelburgh in Zealand, he 
 refused to subscribe its confession of faith. Besides, if we examine his 
 writings, we shall find that he entertained very odd and singular opi- 
 nions on various s“yjects. He maintained, among other things, “that 
 God may and docs, on certain occasions, deceive men; that the Serip- 
 tures are not suflicient to lead men to salvation, without certain parti- 
 cular illuminations and revelations from the Holy Ghost; that, in 
 reading them, we ought to give less attention to the literal sense of the 
 
 of the word depends upon the preacher ;—that the faithful ought to have 
 all things in common; that there is no subordination or distinction of 
 rank in the true church of Christ ;—that Christ is to reign a thousand 
 years upon earth; that the contemplative life is a state of grace and 
 union with God, and the very height of perfection; that the Christian, 
 whose mind is contented and calm, sees all things in God, enjoys the 
 Deity, and is perfectly indifferent about every thing that passes in the 
 world; and that the Christian arrives at that happy state by the exer- 
 cise of a perfect self-denial, by mortifying the flesh and all sensual 
 affections, and by mental prayer.” Beside these, he had formed singu- 
 lar ideas of the Old and New Testaments, considered as covenants, as 
 also concerning the Sabbath, and the true nature of a Christian church. 
 
 It is remarkable, that almost all the sectaries of an enthusiastical 
 turn were desirous of entering into communion with Labadie. The 
 Brownists offered him their church at Middelburg, when he was sus- 
 pended by the French synod from his pastoral functions. ‘The Quakers 
 sent their two leading members, Robert Barclay and George Keith, to 
 Amsterdam, while he resided there, to examine his doctrine; and, 
 after several conferences with him, these commissioners offered to re- 
 ceive him into their communion, which he refused, probably from a 
 principle of ambition, and the desire of remaining head of a sect. It is 
 even said, that the famous William Penn made a second attempt to gain 
 over the Labadists; and that he went for that purpose to Wiewert, 
 where they resided after the death of their founder, but without success. 
 We do not pretend to answer for the truth of these assertions, but shall 
 only observe, that they are related by Moller, in his Cimbria Literata, 
 on the authority of a manuscript journal, of which several extracts have 
 been given by Joach. Fred. Feller, in his Trimest. ix Monumentorum 
 ineditorum, sect. ili. A. 1717. p. 498—500. 
 
 d MOller’s Cimbria Literata, tom. iii. p. 35, and his Isagoge ad Histor. 
 Chersones. Cimbrice, p. 2, cap. v. p. 121.—Arnold’s Hist. Eccles. v. i. p. 
 ii. lib. xvii. cap, xxi. p. 1186—Weissman’s Hist. Eccles. sec. xvil. p. 
 927.—F or an account of the two famous companions of Labadie, name- 
 
 words, than to the inward suggestions of the spirit, and that the efficacy || ly, Du Lignon and Yvon, see Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 472, 1020. 
 
4 
 
 Part IL. 
 
 a methodical way of reasoning and argument ; it disco- | siderable number of disciples, 
 : | persons of learning ; 
 ness in the minds of those who investigate truth with the 
 
 vers itself by flashes, which shed nothing but thick dark- 
 
 understanding, and do not trust to the reports of fancy, | 
 
 that is so often governed by sense and passion. . An atten- 
 live reader will, however, learn something by perusing the 
 writings of this fanatical virgin: he will be persuaded, 
 that her intellect must have been in a disordered state ; 
 that her divine effusions were principally borrowed from 
 the productions of the Mystics; and that by the intem- 
 peranice of her imagination, she gave an additional air of 
 extravagance and absurdity to the tenets which she deriv- 
 ed from those pompous enthusiasts. 
 roain and predominant principle that appears in the inco- 
 herent productions of Bourignon, we shall find it to be 
 the following : “ That the Christian religion neither con- 
 sists in knowledge nor in practice, but in a certain inter- 
 nal feeling, and divine impulse, arising immediately from 
 communion with the Deity.”* Among the more consi- 
 derable patrons of this fanatical doctrine, we may reckon 
 Christian Bartholomew de Cordt, a Jansenist, and priest 
 of the oratory at Mechlin, who died at Nordstrand, in 
 the duchy of Sleswick ;» and Peter Poiret, a man of a 
 bold and penetrating genius, who was a great master of 
 the Cartesian philosophy. The latter was shown ina 
 striking manner by his own example, that knowledge 
 and ignorance, reason and superstition, are often divided 
 by thin partitions; and that they sometimes not only 
 dwell together in the same person, but also, by arr unna- 
 tural and unaccountable union, afford mutual assistance, 
 and thus engender monstrous productions. 
 
 V. The same spirit, the same views, and the same kind 
 of religion that distinguished Bourignon, were observable 
 in an English, and also a female fanatic, named Jane 
 Leadley, who, toward the conclusion of this century, 
 seduced .by her visions, predictions, and doctrines, a con- 
 
 * See, for an ample account of Bourignon, Moller’s Cimbria Literata, 
 and his Isagoge.—Bayle’s Dict. at the article Bourignon.—Arnold, vol. 
 ii. 34> See also Poiret’s Epist. de Auctoribus Mysticis, sect. xiv. p. 
 565. This treatise is inserted at the end of his book, de Euriditione 
 solida et superficiaria. 
 
 t MOlleri Cimbria Literata, tom. ii. p. 149. 
 
 SECTS OF INFERIOR NOTE. 
 
 643 
 
 among whom were som@ 
 
 g; and thus gave rise to what was call- 
 ed the Philadelphian Society. ‘This woman was of opi- 
 nion that all dissensions among Christians would cease, 
 and the kingdom of the Redeemer become, even here 
 below, a glorious scene of charity, concord, and felicity, 
 if those who bear the name of Jesus, without regarding 
 the forms of doctrine or discipline which distinguish 
 particular communions, would all join in committing their 
 souls to the internal guide, to be instructed, governed, and 
 formed by his divine impulse and suggestions. She even 
 
 went farther, and declared, in the name of the Lord, that 
 If we attend to the 
 
 this desirable event would happen, and that she hada 
 divine commission to proclaim the approach of this glori 
 ous communion of saints, who were to be collected in one 
 visible universal church, or kingdom, before the dissolu 
 tion of this earthly globe. This prediction she delivered 
 with a peculiar degree of confidence, from a notion that 
 her Philadelphian society was the true kingdom of Christ, 
 in which alone the divine spirit resided and reigned. We 
 shall not mention the other dreams of this enthusiast, 
 among which the famous doctrine of the final restoration 
 of all intelligent beings to perfection and happiness held 
 an eminent place. Leadley was less fortunate than Bou- 
 rignon in this respect, that she had not such an eloquent 
 and ingenious patron as Poiret to plead her cause, and to 
 give an air of philosophy to her wild reveries ; for Por- 
 dage and Bromley, who were the chief of her associates, 
 had nothing to recommend them but their mystic piety 
 and contemplative turn of mind. Pordage, indeed, was 
 so far destitute of the powers of elocution and reasoning, 
 that he even surpassed Jacob Behmen, whom he admired, 
 in obscurity and nonsense; and, instead of imparting 
 instruction to his readers, did no more than excite in them 
 a stupid kind of awe by a high-sounding jingle of pom- 
 pous words.4 
 
 the wild and incoherent fancies of Bourignon, in his large work, entitled, 
 L’CEconomie Divine, ou Systeme Universel, which was published, 
 both in French and Latin, at Amsterdam, in 1686. For an account of 
 this mystic philosopher, whose name and voluminous writings made 
 such a noise, see Bibliotheca Brem. Theolog. Philol. tom. iii. p. 75. 
 
 4 Jo. Wolf. Jaegeri Historia Sacra et Civilis, sac. xvii. decenn, xX. p. 
 
 « Poiret drcssed out in anartful manner and reducedtoa kind of system, || 90.— Petri Poireti Bibliotheca Mysticor. p. 161, 174, 283, 286. 
 
A SHORT VIEW OR GENERAL SKETCH OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 I. Tne Ilistory of the Christian Church during this 
 period, instead of a few pages, would alone require a 
 volume; such are the number and importance of the ma- 
 terials that it exhibits to an attentive inquirer. 
 fore to be hoped that, in due time, some able and impar- 
 
 tial writer will employ his labours on this interesting sub- | 
 
 iect. At the same time, to render the present work as 
 complete as possible, and to give a certain clue to direct 
 those who teach or who study ecclesiastical history, through 
 a multitude of facts that have not yet been collected, or 
 digested into a regular order, we shall draw a general 
 sketch that will exhibit the principal outlines of the state 
 of religion since the commencement of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. "That this sketch may not swell to too great an 
 extent, we shall omit the mention of the authors who have 
 furnished materials for this period of church history. 
 Those who are acquainted with modern literature niust 
 know, that there are innumerable productions extant, 
 whence such a variety of lines and colours might be 
 taken, as would render this group and general draught 
 a finished piece. 
 
 Il. The doctrines of Christianity have been propagated 
 in Asia, Africa, and America, with equal zeal, both by the 
 Protestant and Popish missionaries. But we cannot say 
 the same thing of the true spirit of the Gospel, or of the 
 religious discipline and institutions which it recommends 
 to the observance of Christians; for it is an undeniable 
 fact, that many of those whom the Romish missionaries 
 have persuaded to renounce their false gods, are Christians 
 only as far as an external profession and certain religious 
 ceremonies go; and that, instead of departing from the 
 superstitions of their ancestors, they observe them still, 
 though under a different form. We have, indeed, pom- 
 pous accounts of the mighty success with which the Jesu- 
 itical ministry has been attended among the barbarous and 
 unenlighted nations; and the French Jesuits, in particu- 
 lar, are said to have converted innumerable multitudes in 
 the course of their missions. ‘This perhaps cannot be alto- 
 gether denied, if we are to call those converts to Christian- 
 ity who have received some faint and superficial notions of 
 the doctrines of the Gospel; for it is well known, that 
 several congregations of such Christians have been formed 
 by the Jesuits in the East- -Indies, and more especially in 
 the Carnatic, the kingdoms of Madura and Mar ava, some 
 tertitories on the coast of Malabar, in the kingdom of 'Ton- 
 quin, the Chinese empire, and also in certain provinces of 
 America. ‘T’hese conversions have, in outward appear- 
 ance, been carried on with particular success, since Antony 
 Veri has had the direction of the foreign missions, and has 
 taken such especial care, that neither hands should fail for 
 
 It is there- | 
 
 | solemn edict, forbade the Chine 
 
 ‘and as tokens of civil homage to their lawgivers, 
 
 this spiritual harvest, nor any expenses be spared that might 
 be necessary to the execution of such an arduous and im- 
 portant undertaking. But these pretended conversions, 
 instead of effacing “the infamy under which the Jesuits 
 labour in consequence of the iniquitous conduct of their 
 missionaries in former ages, have only served to augment 
 it, and to show their designs and practices in a still more 
 odious point of view; for they are known to be much 
 more zealous in satisfying the demands of their avarice 
 
 /and ambition, than in promoting the cause of Christ, and 
 
 are said to corrupt and modify, by a variety of inventions, 
 the pure doctrine of the Gospel, in order to render it more 
 
 generally palatable, and to increase the number of their 
 _ambiguous converts. 
 
 5 
 Ill. A famous question arose in this century, relating 
 
 to the conduct of the Jesuits in China, and their manner 
 of promoting the cause of the Gospel, by permitting the 
 new converts to observe the religious rites and customs of 
 theirancestors. This question was decided to the disadvan- 
 tage of the missionaries, in 1704, by Clement XI. , who, bya 
 e Christians to practise the 
 religious rites of their ancestors, a more especially those 
 which are celebrated by the Chinese in honour of their de- 
 ceased parents, and of their great lawgiver Confucius. "This 
 severe edict was, nevertheless, considerably mitigated in 
 1715, in order to appease, no doubt, the resentment of the 
 Jesuits, whom it exasperated in the highest degree ; for the 
 pontiff allowed the missionaries to make use of the word 
 tien, to express the divine nature, with the addition of the 
 word ¢chu, to remove its ambiguity, and make it evident, 
 that it was not the heaven, but the Lord of heaven, that 
 the Christian doctors worshipped :* he also permitted the ob- 
 servance of those ceremonies which had so highly offended 
 the adversaries of the Jesuits, on condition that they should 
 be considered merely as marks of respect to their parents, 
 without 
 being abused to the purposes of superstition, or even being 
 viewed in a religious point of light. In consequence of 
 this second papal edict, considerable indulgence is granted 
 to the Chinese converts : among other things, they have 
 in their houses tablets, on which the names of their an- 
 cestors, and particularly of Confucius, are written in golden 
 letters; they are allowed to light candles before these tab 
 lets, to make offerings to them of rich perfumes, victuals 
 fruits, and other delicacies, and even to prostrate the bedy 
 before them until the head touches the ground. "The same 
 ceremony of prostration is performed by the Chinese Chris- 
 tians at the tombs of their ancestors. 
 
 The former edict, which was designed to prevent the 
 motley mixture of Chinese superstition with the institu- 
 
 * The phrase Tien Tehu 
 
 signifies the Lord of heaven. 
 
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 ti s of Christianity, was conveyed into China, in 1705, | 
 by cardinal Tournon, the pope’s legate ; and the second, 
 which was of a more indulgent nature, was sent, in 1721, 
 with Mezzabarba, who went to China with the same cha- 
 racter. Neither the emperor nor the Jesuits were satisfied 
 with these edicts. "ournon, who executed the orders of 
 his spiritual employer with more zeal than prudence, was, 
 by the express command of the emperor, thrown into pri- 
 aon, where he died in 1710. Mezzabarba, though more 
 xvutious and prudent, yet returned home without having 
 succeeded in his negotiation; nor could the emperor be 
 »ngaged, either by arguments or entreaties, to make any 
 alteration in the institutions and customs of his ancestors.* 
 At present the state of Christianity in China being ex- 
 emely precarious and uncertain, this famous controversy 
 s entirely suspended; and many reasons induce us to 
 hink, that both the pontiffs and the enemies of the Jesuits 
 will unite in permitting the latter to depart from the rigour 
 of the papal edicts, and to follow their own artful and in- 
 sinuating methods of conversion; for they will both 
 esteem it expedient and lawful to submit to many incon- 
 veniences and abuses, rather than to risk the entire sup- 
 pression of popery in China. 
 
 LY. ‘The attempts made since the commencement of 
 the present century, by the English and Dutch, and more 
 especially by the former, to diffuse the light of Christianity 
 through the benighted regions of Asia, and America, have 
 been carried on with more assiduity and zeal than in the 
 preceding age. ‘That the Lutherans have borne their part 
 in this salutary work appears abundantly from the Danish 
 mission, planned with such piety in 1706 by Frederic LV. 
 for the conversion of the Indians who inhabit the coast of 
 Malabar, and attended with such remarkable success. 
 ‘This noble establishment, which surpasses all that have 
 heen yet erected for the propagation of the Gospel, not 
 only subsists still in a flourishing state, but progressively 
 acquires new degrees of perfection under the auspicicus 
 and munificent patronage of that excellent monarch 
 Christian VI. We will, indeed, readily grant, that the 
 converts to Christianity, made by the Danish missionaries, 
 are less numerous than those which we find in the lists 
 of the popish legates; but it may be affirmed, that they 
 are much better Christians, and far.excel the latter in sin- 
 cerity and zeal. ‘There is a great difference between 
 Christians in reality, and Christians in appearance ; and 
 it is very certain, that the popish missionaries are much 
 more ready than the protestant doctors, to admit into their 
 communion proselytes, who have nothing of Christianity 
 but the name. 
 
 We have very imperfect accounts of the labours of the 
 Russian clergy, the greatest part of whom are still involved 
 in that gross ignorance which covered the most unen- 
 
 => * Tournon had been made, by the pope, patriarch of Antioch; 
 and Mezzabarba, to add a certain degree of weight to his mission, was 
 created patriarch of Alexandria. After his return, the latter was pro- 
 moted to the bishopric of Lodi, a preferment which, though inferior in 
 point of station to his imaginary patriarchate, was far more valuable 
 in point of ease and profit. : 
 
 See a more ample account of this mission in Dr. Mosheim’s Memoirs 
 of the Christian Church in China. 
 
 xr » This observation, and the examples by which it is supported in 
 the following sentence, stand in need of some correction. Many_ 
 
 books have, indeed, been published in England against the divinity |} 
 ? > 5 Ss 
 
 Nee es 
 
 both of the Jewish and Christian dispensations ; and it is justly to be 
 lamented, that the inestimable blessing of religious liberty, which the 
 wise and good have improved to the glory of Christianity, by setting 
 
 No LIV. 162 
 
 645 
 
 lightened ages of the church: but we learn, from the 
 modern records of that nation, that some of their doctors 
 have employed, with a certain degree of success, their zeal 
 and industry in spreading the light of the Gospel in those 
 provinces which border upon Siberia. 
 
 V. While the missionaries now mentioned exposed 
 themselves to the greatest dangers-and suflerings, in order 
 to diffuse the light of divine truth among these remote and 
 darkened nations, there arose in Europe, where the Gospel 
 had obtained a firm footing, a multitude of adversaries who 
 shut their eyes upon its excellence, and endeavoured to 
 eclipse its immortal lustre. "There is no country in Europe 
 where infidelity has not exhaled its poison; and scarcely 
 any denomination of Christians among whom we may 
 not find several persons, who either aim at the extinction 
 of all religion, or at least endeavour to invalidate the 
 authority of the Christian system. Some carry on these 
 unhappy attempts in an open manner, others under the 
 mask of a Christian profession ; hut no where have these 
 enemies of the purest religion, and consequently of man- 
 kind, whom it was designed to render wise and happy. 
 appeared with more eflrontery and insolence, than under 
 the free governments of Great-Britain and the United Pro- 
 vinces. In England, more especially, it is not uncommon 
 to meet with books, in which, not only the doctrines of 
 the Gospel, but also the perfections of the Deity, and the 
 solemn obligations of piety and virtue, are impudently 
 called in question, and turned into derision.” Such im- 
 pious productions have cast a deserved reproach on the 
 names and memories of Toland, Collins, Tindal, and 
 Woolston, a man of an inauspicious genius, who made 
 the most audacious though senseless attempts to invalidate 
 the miracles of Christ. Add to these Morgan, Chubb, Man- 
 deville, and others. And writers ofthesame class will be soon 
 found in all the countries of Europe, particularly in those 
 where the Reformation has introduced a spirit of liberty, 
 if mercenary booksellers are still allowed to publish, with- 
 out distinction or reserve, every wretched production that 
 is addressed to the passions of men, and designed to obli- 
 terate in their minds a sense of religion and virtue. 
 
 VI. The sect of Atheists, by which, in strictness of 
 speech, those only are to be meant who deny the exist- 
 ence and moral government of an infinitely wise and 
 powerful Being, by whom all things subsist, is reduced to 
 avery small number, and may be considered as almost 
 totally extinct. Any who yet remain under the influence 
 of this unaccountable delusion, adopt the system of Spi- 
 nosa, and suppose the universe to be one vast. substance, 
 which excites and produces a great variety of motions, all 
 uncontrollably necessary, by a sort of internal force, which 
 they carefully avoid defining with perspicuity and precision. 
 
 The Deists, under which general denomination those 
 
 its doctrines and precepts in a rational light, and bringing them back 
 to their primitive simplicity, has been so far abused by the pride of 
 some, and the ignorance and licentiousness of others, as to excite an 
 opposition to the Christian system, which is both designed and adapted 
 to lead men, through the paths of wisdom and virtue, to happiness and 
 perfection. It is, nevertheless, carefully to be observed, that the most 
 eminent of the English unbelievers were far from renouncing, at least 
 in their writings and profession, the truths of what they call natural 
 
 | religion, or denying the unchangeable excellence and cbligations of 
 
 virtue and morality. Dr. Mosheim is more especially in an <vror, 
 when he places Collins, Tindal, Morgan, and Chubb, in the list of those 
 who called in question the perfections of the Deity and the obligations 
 of virtue: it was sufficient to put Mandeville, Woolston, and ‘Loland, 
 in this infamous class. 
 
646 
 
 are comprehended who deny the divine origin of the 
 Gospel in particular, and are enemies to all revealed reli- 
 gion, form a motley tribe, which, on account of their 
 jarring opinions, may be divided into different classes. 
 'The most decent, or to use a more proper expression, the 
 Jeast extravagant and insipid form of Deism, is that which 
 aims at an association between Christianity and natural 
 religion, and represents the Gospel as no more than a 
 republication of the original laws of nature and reason, 
 
 that were more or less obliterated in the minds of men. | 
 
 his is the hypothesis of Tindal, Chubb, Mandeville, 
 Morgan, and several others, if we are to give credit to their 
 own declarations, which, indeed, ought not always to be 
 done without caution. 'This also appears to have been 
 the sentiment of an ingenious writer, whose eloquence 
 has been ill employed in a book, entitled, Essential Reli- 
 gion distinguished from that which is only accessory ;* 
 for the whole religious system of this author consists in 
 the three following points:—-That there is a God, that the 
 world is governed by his wise providence, and that the 
 soul is immortal; and he maintains, that it was to estab- 
 lish these three points by his ministry, that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world. 
 
 VII. The church of Rome has been governed, since | church of Rome; but that edict put an end to all these 
 
 the commencement of this century, by Clement XI. Inno- 
 cent XIII. Benedict XIII. Clement XID .and Benedict 
 XIV. who may be all considered as men of eminent wis- 
 dom, virtue, and learning, if we compare them with the 
 pontiffs of the preceding ages. Clement XI. and Prosper 
 Liambertini, who at present fills the papal chair under the 
 title of Benedict XIV.," stand much higher in the list of 
 literary fame than the other pontifls now mentioned ; 
 and Benedict XIII. surpassed them all in piety, or at least 
 in its appearance, which, in the whole of his conduct, 
 was extraordinary and striking. Jt was he that con- 
 ceived the laudable design of reforming many disorders 
 in the church, and restraining the corruption and licen- 
 tiousness of the clergy ; and for this purpose, in 1725, he 
 held a council in the palace of the Lateran, whose acts 
 and decrees have been made public. But the event did 
 not answer his expectations ; nor is it probable that Bene- 
 dict XIV. who is attempting the execution of the same 
 worthy purpose, though by different means, will meet 
 with better success. 
 
 We must not omit observing here, that the modern 
 bishops of Rome make but an indifferent figure in Ku- 
 rope, and exhibit litthe more than an empty shadow of 
 the authority of the ancient pontiffs. Their prerogatives 
 are diminished, and their power is restrained within very 
 narrow bounds. ‘The sovereign princes and states of 
 Yurope, who embrace their communion, no longer trem- 
 ble at the thunder of the Vatican, but treat their anathe- 
 mas with contempt. ‘They, indeed, load the holy father 
 with pompous titles, and treat him with all the external 
 marks of veneration and respect; yet they have given a 
 mortal blow to his authority, by the prudent and artful 
 distinction they make between the court of Rome and 
 the Roman pontiff; for, under the cover of this distinc- 
 tion, they buffet him with one hand, and stroke him with 
 
 ! 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 the other ; and, under the most respectful profession of 
 
 attachment to his person, oppose the measures, and dimi- 
 
 nish still more, from day to day, the authority of his 
 court. A variety of modern transactions might be alleged 
 
 in confirmation of this, and more especially the debates 
 
 that have arisen in this century, between the court of 
 Rome and those of France, Portugal, Naples, and Sar 
 dinia, in all of which that ghostly court has been obliged 
 to yield, and to discover its insignificancy and weakness. 
 
 VIII. There have been no serious attempts made in 
 recent times to bring about a reconciliation between the 
 Protestant and Romish churches; for, notwithstanding 
 the pacific projects formed by private persons with a view 
 to this union, it is justly considered as an impracticable 
 scheme. The difficulties that attend its execution were 
 greatly augmented by the bull Unigenitus, which depriv- 
 ed the peace-makers of the principal expedient they 
 employed for the accomplishment of this union, by put- 
 ting it out of their power to soften and mitigate the doc- 
 trines of popery, that appeared the most shocking to the 
 friends of the Reformation. This expedient had been 
 frequently practised in former times, in order to remove 
 the disgust that the Protestants had conceived against the 
 
 modifications, and, in most of those points that had occa- 
 sioned our separation from Rome, represented the doctrine 
 of that church in the very same shocking light in which 
 it had been viewed by the first reformers. ‘This shews, 
 with the utmost evidence, that all the attempts the Romish 
 doctors have made, from time to time, to give an air of 
 plausibility to their tenets, and render them palatable, 
 were so many snares insidiously laid to draw the Protes- 
 tants into their communion; that the specious conditions 
 they proposed as the terms of a reconciliation, were perfi- 
 dious stratagems; and that, consequently, there can be 
 no firm dependence upon the promises and declarations 
 of such a disingenuous set of men. 
 
 IX. The intestine discords, tumults, and divisions, that 
 reigned in the Romish church, during the preceding cen- 
 tury, were so far from being terminated in this, that new 
 fuel was added to the flame. ‘These divisions still 
 subsist; and the animosities of the contending parties 
 seem to grow more vehement from day to day. The 
 Jesuits are at variance with the Dominicans, and some 
 other religious orders, though these quarrels make little 
 noise, and are carried on with some regard to decency 
 and prudence; the Dominicans are on bad terms with 
 the Franciscans ; the controversy concerning the nature, 
 lawfulness, and expediency of the Chinese ceremonies, 
 still continues, at least in Europe ; and were we to men- 
 tion all the debates that divide the Romish church, which 
 boasts so much of its unity and infallibility, the enume 
 ration would be almost endless. 'The controversy rela- 
 ting to Jansenism, one of the principal sources of that 
 division which reigned within the papal jurisdiction, 
 has been carried on with great spirit and animosity in 
 France and in the Netherlands. ‘The Jansenists, or, as 
 they rather choose to be called, the disciples of Augustin, 
 are inferior to their adversaries the Jesuits, in number, 
 
 2“; * The original title of this book (which is supposed to have been 
 written by one Muralt, a Swiss, author of the Lettres sur les Anglois et 
 sur les Francois,) is as follows:’ ‘ Lettres sur la Religion essentielle 4 
 lV’ Homie, distinguée de ce qui n’en est que l’accessoire.” ‘There have 
 
 been several excellent refulations of this book published on the conti- 
 
 nent; among which the Lettres sur les vrais Principes de la Religion 
 composed by the late learned and ingenious M. Bouiller, deserve parti- 
 cular notice. 
 
 x47 > This history was published before the death of Benedict 
 XIV. 
 
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 power, and influence ; but they equal them in resolution, | 
 
 prudence, and learning, and surpass them in sanctity of | this edict were violent in the highest degree. 
 
 manners and superstition, by which they excite the. 
 respect of the people. When their affairs take an unfa- 
 vourable turn, aiid they are oppressed and persecuted by 
 their victorious enemies, they find an asylum in the Low- 
 Countries; for the greatest part of the catholics in the 
 Spanish Netherlands, and all the Romanists who live un- 
 der the jurisdiction of the United Provinces, embrace the 
 principles and doctrines of Jansenius.s| The latter have 
 almost renounced their allegiance to the pope, though 
 they profess a warm attachment to the doctrine and com- 
 munion of the church of Rome; nor are either the ex- 
 hortations or threats of the holy father, sufficient to sub- 
 due the obstinacy of these wayward children, or to reduce 
 ihem to a state of subjection and obedience. 
 
 X. The cause of the Jansenists acquired a peculiar 
 degree of credit and reputation, both in this and the pre- 
 ceding century, by a French translation of the New 'Tes- 
 tament, made by the learned and pious Pasquier Quesnel, 
 a priest of the Oratory, and accompanied with practical 
 annotations, adapted to excite lively impressions of reli- 
 gion in the minds of men. The quintessence of Jan- 
 senism was blended, in an elegant and artful manner, 
 with these annotations, and was thus presented to the 
 reader under the most pleasing aspect. ‘The Jesuits were 
 alarmed at the success of Quesnel’s book, and particu- 
 larly at the change it had wrought in many, in favour of 
 the doctrines of Jansenius; and, to remove out of the 
 way an instrument which proved so advantageous to their 
 adversaries, they engaged that weak prince Louis XIV. 
 to solicit the condemnation of this production at the court 
 of Rome. Clement XI. granted the request of the French | 
 monarch, because he considered it as the request of the 
 Jesuits ; and, in 1713, issued the famous bull Unigenitus, 
 in which Quesnel’s New Testament was condemned, and 
 a hundred and one propositions contained in it were pro- 
 nounced heretical.» This bull, which is also known by 
 the name of The Constitution, gave a favourable turn to 
 the affairs of the Jesuits; but it was highly detrimental 
 to the interests of the Romish church, as many of the 
 wiser members of that communion candidly acknowledge ; 
 for it not only confirmed the Protestants in their separa- 
 tion, by convincing them that the church of Rome was 
 resolved to adhere obstinately to its ancient superstitions 
 and corruptions, but also offended many of the catholics 
 who had no particular attachment to the doctrines of Jan- 
 senius, and were only bent on the pursuit of truth and 
 the advancement of piety. It must also be observed, that 
 the controversy relating to Jansenism was much heated 
 and augmented, instead of being mitigated or suspended, 
 by this despotic and ill-judged edict. 
 
 zp * This assertion is too general. It is true, that the greatest part 
 of the catholics in the United Provinces are Jansenists, and that there is 
 no legal toleration of the Jesuits in that republic. It is, nevertheless, a 
 known fact, and a fact that cannot be indifferent to those who have the 
 welfare and security of these provinces at heart, that the Jesuits are 
 daily gaining ground among the Dutch papists. They havea flourish- 
 ing chapel in the city of Utrecht, and have places of worship in several 
 other cities, and in a great number of villages, It would be worthy of 
 the wisdom of the rulers of the republic to put a stop to this growing 
 evil, and not to suffer, in a protestant country, a religious order which 
 has been suppressed in a popish one, and declared hostile to the state.* 
 
 the bull to a general council. 
 
 37» To show what a political weathercock the infallibility of the 
 holy father was upon this occasion, it may not be improper to intro- 
 duce an anecdote which is related by Voltaire in his Seicle de Louis 
 Xi¥. vol. ii. The credit of the narrator, indeed, weighs lightly in the 
 
 647 
 
 XT. The dissensions and tumults excited in France by 
 A consi- 
 derable number of bishops, and a large body composed 
 of persons eminently distinguished by their piety and eru- 
 dition, both among the clergy and laity, appealed from 
 Jt was more particularly 
 opposed by the cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, arch- 
 bishop of Paris, who, equally unmoved by the authority 
 
 of the pontiff, and by the resentment and indignation of 
 
 Louis XIV., made a noble stand against the despotic pro- 
 ceedings of the courtof Rome. 'T'hese defenders of the 
 ancient doctrine and liberties of the Gallican church were 
 persecuted by the popes, the French monarch, and the 
 Jesuits, from whom they received a series of injuries and 
 affronts. ven their total ruin was aimed at by these 
 unrelenting adversaries ; but this inhuman purpose could 
 not be entirely effected. Some of the Jansenists, however, 
 were obliged to fly for refuge to their brethren in Holland; 
 others were ferced, by the terrors of penal laws, and by 
 various acts of tyranny and violence, to receive the papal 
 edict; while a considerable number, deprived of their 
 places, and ruined in their fortunes, looked for subsistence 
 and tranquillity at a greater distance from theif native 
 country. ‘The issue of this famous contest was favour- 
 able to the bull, which was at length rendered valid by 
 the authority of the parliament, and was registered among 
 the laws of the state. ‘This contributed, in some mea- 
 sure, to restore the public tranquillity ; but it was far from 
 diminishing the number of those who complained of the 
 despotism of the pontiff; and the kingdom of France is 
 still full of appellants,s who reject the authority of the 
 bull, and only wait for an opportunity of reviving a con- 
 troversy which is rather suspended than erminated, and 
 of re-kindling a flame, that is covered without being 
 extinguished. 
 
 XIf. Amidst the calamities in which the Jansenists 
 have been involved, they have only two methods left of 
 maintaining their cause against their powerful adversaries ; 
 and these are their writings and their miracles. ‘The 
 former alone haye proved truly useful to them ; the lat- 
 ter gave them only a transitory reputation, which being 
 ill founded, contributed in the issue to sink their credit. 
 The writings in which they have attacked both the pope 
 and the Jesuits ave innumerable ; and many of them are 
 composed with such eloquence, spirit, and solidity, that 
 they have produced a remarkable effect. ‘The Jansenists, 
 however, looking upon all human means as insufficient 
 to support their cause, turned their views toward super- 
 natural succours, and endeavoured to make it appear, that 
 their cause was the peculiar object of the divine protec- 
 tion and approbation. For this purpose they persuaded 
 the multitude, that God had endowed the bones and ashes 
 
 balance of historical fame; but the anecdote is well attested, and is as 
 follows: “ The abbé Renaudot, a learned Frenchman, happening to be 
 at Rome in the first year of the pontificate of Clement XI., went one 
 day to see the pope, who was fond of men of letters, and was himself a 
 learned man, and found his holiness reading Father Quesnel’s book. 
 On seeing Renaudot enter the apartment, the pope said, in a kind of 
 rapture, ‘Here is a most excellent book: we have no body at Rome 
 that is capable of writing in this manner ;—I wish I could engage tne 
 author to reside here !’” And yet this same book was condemned after- 
 wards by this same pope. ; 
 
 3*>° This was the denomination aasumed by those who appealed 
 from the bull and the court of Rome to a general council. ; 
 
 * This note is left for the purpose of showing the state of affairs, at 
 the time when Dr. Maclaine inserted it; but its purport is superseded by 
 the effeets of the French revolution. Epir. 
 
648 
 
 uf certain persons, who had distinguished themselves by 
 their zeal in the cause of Jansenius, and had, at the 
 point of death, appealed a second time from the pope to 
 a generat council, with the power of healing the most 
 inveterate diseases. ‘The person whose remains were 
 principally honoured with this efficacy, was the abbé 
 Paris, a man of a respectable family, whose natural cha- 
 racter was dark and melancholy ; whose superstition was 
 
 excessive beyond all credibility; and who, by an austere | 
 
 abstinence from bodily nourishment, and the exercise of 
 other inhuman branches of penitential discipline, was the 
 voluntary cause of his own death.» To the miracles 
 which were said to be wrought at the tomb of this fana- 
 tic, the Jansenists added a great variety of visions and 
 revelations to which they audaciously attributed a divine 
 origin; for several members of the community, and more 
 especially those who resided at Paris, pretended to be filled 
 with the Holy Ghost; and, in consequence of this pre- 
 rogative, delivered instructions, predictions, and exhorta- 
 tions, which, though frequently extravagant, and almost 
 always insipid, yet moved the passions, and attracted the 
 admiration, of the ignorant multitude. The prudence, 
 however, of the court of France, put a stop to these fana- 
 tical tumults and false miracles ; and, in the situation in 
 which things are at present, the Jansenists have nothing 
 left but their genius and their pens to maintain their 
 cause.” 
 
 XII. We can say very little of the Greek and Eastern 
 churches. The profound ignorance in which they live, 
 
 and the despotic yoke under which they groan, prevent 
 their forming any plans to extend their limits, or making 
 any attempts to change their state. ‘The Russians, who, 
 in the reign of Peter the Great, assumed a less savage 
 and barbarous aspect than they had before that memora- 
 vole period, have in this century given some grounds to 
 hope that they may one day be reckoned among the civi- 
 ized nations. ‘There are, nevertheless, immense multi- 
 tudes of that rugged people, who are still attached to the 
 brutish superstition and discipline of their ancestors ; and 
 there are many in whom the barbarous spirit of persecu- 
 tion still so far prevails, that, were it in their power, they 
 would cut off the Protestants, and all other sects that 
 differ from them, by fire and sword. ‘This appears evi- 
 dent from a var iety of circumstances, and more especi- 
 ally from the book which Stephen Javorski has com- 
 posed against heretics of all denominations. 
 
 The Greek Christians are said to be treated at present 
 by their haughty masters with more clemency and indul- 
 gence than in former times. The Nestorians and Mono- 
 physites in Asia and Africa persevere in their refusal to 
 enter into the communion of the Romish church, notwith- 
 standing the earnest intreaties and alluring offers that 
 
 to) 
 have been made from time to time by the pope’s legates, 
 to conquer their inflexible constancy.—The pontifls have 
 frequently attempted to renew, by another sacred expedi- 
 
 tion, their former connexions with Abyssinia ; but they 
 
 * The imposture, that reigned in these pretended miracles, has been 
 
 ness, perspicuity, and penetration, than by the ingenious Dr. Douglas, 
 
 in his excellent treatise on miracles, entitled the Criteri ion, published in| 
 
 1754. 
 3¢7 > Things are greatly changed since the learnea author wrote this 
 naragraph. The storm of just resentment that has arisen against the |, 
 
 listen to their counsels and representations. 
 have not yet been able to find out a method aa escaping | 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 the vigilance of that court, which still persists in its ab- 
 horrence of popery. Nor is it at all probable that the 
 embassy which is now preparing at Rome for the Abys- 
 sinian emperor, will be attended with success: "The 
 Monophysites propagate their doctrine in Asia with zeal 
 and assiduity, and, not long ago, gained over to their 
 communion a part of the Nesterians who inhabit the 
 coasts of India. 
 
 XIV. The Lutheran church, which dates its founda 
 
 ‘tion from the year 1517, and the confession of Augsburg 
 3 fo) BS 
 
 from 1530, celebrated in peace and prosperity the secular 
 return of those memorable periods in the years 1717 and 
 1720. It received, some years ago, a considerable acces- 
 sion to the number of its members by the emigration of 
 those protestants, who abandoned the territory of Saltz- 
 burg, and the town of Berchtolsgaden, in order to breathe 
 a free air, and to enjoy unmolested the exercise of their 
 religion. One body of these emigrants settled in Prussia, 
 another in Holland; and many of them transplanted 
 themselves and their families to America, and other distant 
 regions. ‘T‘his circumstance contributed greatly to pro- 
 pagate the doctrine, and extend the reputation of the 
 Lutheran church, which thus formed several congregations 
 of no small note in Asia and America. ‘lhe state of 
 Lutheranism et home has not been so prosperous, since 
 we learn both from public transactions, and also from the 
 complaints of its professors and patrons, that, in several 
 parts of Germany, this church has been injuriously op- 
 pressed, and unjustly deprived of some of its privileges 
 and’ advantages, by the votaries of Rome. 
 
 XV. It has been scarcely possible to introduce any 
 change into the doctrine and discipline of that church, 
 because the ancient confessions and rules that were drawn 
 
 | up to point out the tenets that were to be believed, and 
 
 the rites and ceremonies that were to be performed, 
 still remain in their full authority, and are considered as 
 the sacred guardians of the Lutheran faith and worship. 
 The method, however, of illustrating, enforcing, and de- 
 fending the doctrines of Christianity, has undergone seve- 
 ral changes. About the commencement of this century, 
 an artless simplicity was generally observed by the Lu- 
 theran ministers, and all philosophical terms and abstract 
 reasonings were relinquished, as more adapted to obscure 
 than to illustrate the truths of the Gospel. But, in pro- 
 cess of time, a very different way of thinking began to 
 take place ; and several learned men entertained a notion 
 that the doctrines of Christianity could not maintain their 
 ground, if they were not supported by the aids of philo- 
 sophy, and exhibited and proved in geometrical order. 
 The adepts in jurisprudence, who undertook, in the 
 
 ‘last century, the revision and correction of the ecclesias- 
 tical code that is in force among the Lutherans, carried 
 
 on their undertaking with great Saeed and spirit; and 
 our church- -government would at this day bear another 
 aspect, if the ruling powers had judged it expedient to 
 We see, 
 indeed, evident proofs that the directions of these great 
 
 |, Jesuits, and has been attended with the extinction of their crder in Por- 
 detected and exposed by various authors, but by none with more acute- 
 
 tugal, France, and in all the Spanish dominions, has disarmed the most 
 formidable adversaries of Jansenism, and must consequently be cons 
 sidered as an event highly favourable to the Jansenists.* 
 * See the Continuation. 
 *In consequence of the French revolution, more important changes 
 | have taken place since the translator wrete the last note—Epit. 
 
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 men, relating to the external form of ecclesiastical go- 
 vernment, discipiine, and worship, are highly respected ; 
 and that their ideas, even of doctrine, have been more or 
 less adopted by many. Hence it is not surprising, that 
 warm disputes have arisen between them and the rulers 
 of the church concerning several points. The Lutheran 
 doctors are apprehensive that, if the sentiments of some 
 of these reformers should take place, religion would be- 
 come entirely subservient to the purposes of civil policy, 
 and be converted into a mere state-machine; and this 
 apprehension is not peculiar to the clergy, but is also 
 entertained by some persons of piety and candour, even 
 among the civilians. 
 
 XVI. The liberty of thinking, speaking, and writing, 
 concerning religious matters, which began to prevail in 
 the last century, was, in this, confirmed and augmented ; 
 and it extended so far as to encourage both infidels and 
 fanatics to pour forth among the multitude, without 
 restraint, all the crudities of their enthusiasm and extra- 
 vagance.. Accordingly we have seen, and still see, num- 
 bers of fanatics and innovators start up, and, under the 
 influence of enthusiasm or of a disordered brain, divulge 
 their crude fancies and dreams among the people; by 
 which they either delude many from the communion of 
 the established church, or at least occasion contests and 
 divisions of the most disagreeable kind. We mentioned 
 formerly several of these disturbers of the tranquillity of 
 the church, to whom we may now add the notorious 
 names of Tennhart, Gichtel, Uberfeld, Rosenbach, Bredel, 
 Seiz, Roemeling, and many others, who either imagined 
 that they were divinely inspired, or, from a persuasion of 
 their superior capacity and knowledge, set up for reformers 
 of the doctrine and discipline of the church. Many 
 writers drew their pens against this presumptuous and 
 fanatical tribe, though the greatest part of those who com- 
 posed it were really below the notice of men of character, 
 and were rather worthy of contempt than of opposition. 
 And, indeed, it was not so mu@h the force of reason and 
 argument, as the experience of their ill success, that con- 
 vinced these fanatics of their folly, and induced them to 
 desist from their chimerical projects. Their attempts 
 could not stand the trial of time and common sense ; and 
 therefore, after having made a transitory noise, they fell 
 into oblivion. Such is the common and deserved fate of 
 almost all the fanatic ringleaders of the deluded populace ; 
 they suddenly start up, and make a figure for a while; 
 but, in general, they ruin their own cause by their im- 
 
 Zp * It is somewhat surprising to hear Dr. Mosheim speak in such 
 vague and general terms of this sect, without taking the least notice of 
 their pernicious doctrines and their flagitious practices, that not only 
 disfigurz the sacred truths of the Gospel, but also sap all the founda- 
 tions of morality. 'To be persuaded of this, the reader, beside the ac- 
 counts which Rimius has given of this enormous sect, will do well to 
 consult a curious Preface, prefixed to the French translation of a Pas- 
 oral Letter against Fanaticism, addressed by Mr. Stinstra, an Anabap- 
 ust minister in F'riseland, to his congregation, and published at Ley- 
 den in 1752. Jt may not be amiss to add here a passage relating to 
 this odious community, from the bishop of Glocester’s treatise, entitled, 
 the Doctrine of Grace. The words of that great and eminent prelate 
 are as follow: “ As purity respects practice, the Moravians give us 
 little trouble. If we may credit the yet unconfuted relations, both in 
 print and in MS., composed by their own members, the participants in 
 their most sacred mysterious rites, their practices in the consummation 
 of marriage are so horribly, so unspeakably flagitious, that this people 
 seem to have no more pretence to be put into the number of Christian 
 sects, than the Turlupins of the thirteenth century, a vagabond crew 
 of miscreants, who rambled over Italy, France, and Germany, calling 
 themselves the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit, who, in specu- 
 
 No. LY. 163 
 
 649 
 
 prudence or obstinacy, by their austerity or perverseness, 
 by their licentious conduct or their intestine divisitns. 
 
 XVI. Many place in this fanatical class the Brethren 
 of Herrenhut, who were first formed into a religious com- 
 munity in the village so named, in Lusatia, by the famous 
 count Zinzendorff, and afterwards grew so numerous that 
 their emigrants were spread abroad in almost all the 
 countries of Europe, formed settlements in the Indies, and 
 even penetrated to the remotest parts of the globe. They 
 call themselves the descendants of the Bohemian and 
 Moravian Brethren, who, in the fifteenth century, threw 
 off the despotic yoke of Rome, animated by the zealous 
 exhortations and heroic example of John Huss. They 
 may, however, be said, with more propriety, to imitate the 
 example of that famous community, than to descend from 
 those who composed it ; for it is well known, that there 
 are very few Bohemians and Moravians in the fraternity 
 of the Herrenhutters; and itisextremely doubtful, whether 
 even this small number are to be considered as the pos- 
 terity of the ancient Bohemian Brethren, that distinguish- 
 ed themselves so early by their zeal for the Reformation. 
 
 If we are to give credit to the declarations of the Her- 
 renhutters, they agree with the Lutherans in their doctrine 
 and opinions, and only differ from them in their ecclesi- 
 astical discipline, and in those religious institutions and 
 rules of life which form the resemblance between the 
 Bohemian Brethren and the disciples of Zinzendorff. 
 There are, indeed, many who doubt much of the trutt: 
 of this declaration, and suspect that the society now under 
 consideration, and more especially their rulers and ring- 
 leaders, speak the language of Lutheranism when they 
 are among the Lutherans, in order to obtain their favour 
 and indulgence; and those who have examined this 
 matter with the greatest attention, represent this fraternity 
 as composed of persons of different religions, as well as of 
 various ranks and orders. Be that as it may, it is at 
 least very difficult to guess the reason that induces them 
 to live in such an entire state of separation from the 
 Lutheran communion, and to be so ambitiously zealous 
 in augmenting their sect, if there be no other difference 
 between them and the Lutherans than that of discipline 
 and of ceremony; for the true and genuine followers of 
 Jesus Christ are little concerned about the outward forms 
 of ecclesiastical government and discipline, knowing tha 
 real religion consists in faith and charity, and not in 
 external rites and institutions.* 
 
 XVIII. It was the opinion of many, that the succours 
 
 lation, professed ‘that species of atheism called Pantheism, and, in prac- 
 tice, pretended to be exempted from all the obligations of morality and 
 religion.” See The Doctrine of Grace, vol. ii. As to the doctrines of 
 this sect, they open a door to the most licentious effects of fanaticism. 
 Such among many others are the following, drawn from the express 
 declarations of count Zinzendorff; the head and founder of the commu- 
 nity: that the law is not a rule of life to a believer ;—that the moral law 
 belongs only to the Jews ;—that a converted person cannot sin against 
 light. But of all the singularities for which this sect is famous, the 
 notions they entertain of the organs of generation in both sexes are the 
 most enormously wild and extravagant. I consider (says Zinzendorff, 
 in one of his sermons) the parts for distinguishing both sexes in Chris- 
 tians, as the most honourable of the whole body, my Lord and God 
 having partly inhabited them, and partly worn them himself. This 
 raving secretary looks upon the conjugal act as a piece of scenery, in 
 which the male represents Christ the husband of souls, and the female 
 the church. ‘The married brother (says he) knows matrimony, respects 
 it, but does not think upon it of his own accord ; and thus the precious 
 member of the covenant (i.e. the penis) is so much forgotten, becomes 
 so useless, and consequently is reduced to such a natural numbness, by 
 not being used, that afterwards, when he is to marry, and use it, the 
 
650 
 
 of philosophy were absolutely necessary to stem the torrent 
 of superstition, and stop its growing progress, and that 
 these alone were adapted to accomplish this desirable 
 purpose. Hence the study of philosophy, which, toward 
 the conclusion of the last century, seemed to decline, was 
 now revived, established upon a more rational footing, 
 and pursued with uncommon assiduity and ardour. The 
 branch of philosophy which is commonly known under 
 the denomination of Metaphysics, was generally prefer- 
 red, as it leads to the first principles of things ; and the 
 linprovements made in this important science were very 
 considerable. 'T‘hese improvements were chiefly produced 
 by the genius and penetration of Leibnitz, who threw a 
 new light upon metaphysics, and gave this interesting 
 branch of philosophy a more regular form. ‘This science 
 received a still greater degree of perfection from the philoso- 
 phical labours of the acute and indefatigable Wolff, who 
 reduced it into a scientific order, and gave to its decisions 
 the strength and evidence of a geometrical demonstration. 
 Under this new and respectable form it captivated the 
 attention and esteem of the greatest part of the German 
 philosophers, and of those in general who pursue truth 
 through the paths of strict evidence ; and it was applied 
 with great ardour and zeal to illustrate and confirm the 
 great truths both of natural and revealed ®ligion. This 
 application of the First Philosophy gave much uneasiness 
 to some pious men, who were extremely solicitous to 
 preserve, pure and unmixed, the doctrines of Christianity ; 
 and it was accordingly opposed by them with great eager- 
 ness and obstinacy. ‘Thus the ancient contest between 
 philosophy and theology, faith and reason, was unhappily 
 revived, and has been carried on with much animosity 
 for several years past. For many are of opinion, that 
 this metaphysical philosophy inspires youthful minds with 
 nations that are far from being favourable either to the 
 doctrines or to the positive institutions of religion ; that, 
 seconded by the warmth of fancy, at that age of levity 
 and presumption, it engenders an arrogant contempt of 
 Divine Revelation, and an excessive attachment to human 
 reason, as the only infallible guide of man; and that, 
 instead of throwing new light on the science of theology, 
 and giving it an additional air of dignity, it has contributed, 
 on the contrary, to cover it with obscurity, and to sink it 
 into oblivion and contempt. 
 
 XIX. In order to justify this heavy charge against the 
 metaphysical philosophy, they appeal to the writings of 
 Laurent Schmidt, whom they commonly call the Wer- 
 theim interpreter, from the place of his residence. This 
 man, who was by no means destitute of abilities, and had 
 acquired a profound knowledge of the philosophy now 
 under consideration, undertook, some years ago, a new 
 German translation of the Holy Scriptures, to which he 
 prefixed a new system of theology, drawn up in a geome- 
 trical order, that was to serve him as a guide in the expo- 
 sition of the sacred oracles. This undertaking proved 
 highly detrimental to its author, as it drew upon him from 
 many quarters severe marks of opposition and resentment; 
 
 Saviour must restore him from this deadness of body. And when an 
 Esthor by grace, and sister according to her make, gets sight of this 
 member, her senses are shut up, and she piously perceives that God 
 the Son was a boy. Ye holy matrons, who as wives are about your 
 Vice-Christs, honour that precious sign with the utinost veneration.” We 
 beg the chaste reader’s pardon for presenting him with this odious spe- 
 cimen of the horrors of the Moravian theology. 
 
 3° * Dr. Mosheim gives here but one half of the accusation brought 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 for he had scarcely published the Five Books of Moses, as 
 a specimen of his method and abilities, when he was not 
 only attacked by several writers, but also brought before 
 the supreme tribunal of the empire, and there accused 
 as an enemy of the Christian religion, and a caviller at 
 divine truth. ‘This severe charge was founded upon this 
 circumstance only, that he had boldly departed from the 
 common explication of certain passages in the books of 
 Moses, which are generally supposed to prefigure the Mes- 
 siah.* On this account he was sent to prison, and his 
 errors were looked upon as capitally criminal; but he escap- 
 ed the vigilance of his keepers, and saved himself by flight. 
 
 XX. ‘The bare indication of the controversies that 
 have divided the Lutheran church since the commence- 
 ment of this century would make up a Jong list. ‘The 
 religious contests that were set on foot by the Pietists 
 were carried on i some places with animosity, in others 
 with moderation, according to the characters of the 
 champions, and the temper and spirit of the people. 
 ‘These contests, however, have gradually subsided, and 
 seem at present to be all reduced to the following ques- 
 tion, whether a wicked man be capable of acquiring a 
 true and certain knowledge of divine things, or be sus- 
 ceptible of any degree or species of divine illumination. 
 ‘The controversy that has been excited by this question is 
 considered by many as a mere dispute about words; its 
 decision, at least, is rather a matter of curivsity than 
 importance. Many other points, that had been more or 
 less debated in the last century, occasioned keen contests 
 in this, such as the eternity of hell torments ; the reign of 
 Christ upon earth during a thousand years; and the final 
 restoration of all intelligent beings to order, perfection, 
 and happiness. ‘The mild and indulgent sentiments of 
 John Fabricius, professor of divinity at Helmstadt, con- 
 cerning the importance of the controversy between the 
 Lutherans and Catholics, excited also a warm debate ; 
 for this doctor and his disciples went so far as to maintain, 
 that the difference, betwéen those churches, was of so 
 little consequence, that a Lutheran might safely embrace 
 popery. ‘The warm controversies that have been carried 
 on between certain divines, and some eminent civilians, 
 concerning the rites and obligations of wedlock, the lawful 
 grounds of divorce, and the nature and guilt of concubi- 
 nage, are sufficiently known. Other disputes of inferior 
 moment, which have been of a sudden growth, and of a 
 short duration, we shall pass over in silence, as the know- 
 ledge of them is not necessary to our forming an accurate 
 idea of the internal state of the Lutheran church. 
 
 XXI. The reformed church still carries the same ex- 
 ternal aspect under which it has been already described ;» 
 for, though there be everywhere extant certain beoks, 
 creeds, and confessions, by which the wisdom and vigi- 
 Jance of ancient times thought proper to perpetuate the 
 truths of religion, and to preserve them from the conta- 
 gion of heresy, yet, in most places, no person is obliged to 
 adhere strictly to the doctrines they contain ; and those 
 who profess the main and fundamental truths of the Chris- 
 
 against Schmidt, in 1737, when he was charged with attempting to 
 prove, that there was not the smallest trace or vestige of the doctrine of 
 the Trinity, nor any prediction pointing out the Messiah, to be found in 
 the Five Books of Moses. It was by the authority of an edict ad- 
 dressed by Charles VI. to the princes of the empire, that Schmidt was 
 imprisoned. ‘4s 
 
 3p » This description the reader will find above, at the beginning of 
 the preceding century. 
 
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH’ CENTURY. 
 
 thun religion, and take care to avoid too great an intimacy* 
 with the tenets of Socinianism and popery, are deemed 
 worthy members of the reformed church.® Hence, in our 
 times, this great and extensive community comprehends, 
 in its bosom, Arminians, Calvinists, Supralapsarians, Sub- 
 lapsarians, and Universalists, who live together in charity 
 an friendship,® and unite their effortsin healing the breach, 
 and diminishing the weight and importance of those con- 
 troversies that separate them from each other.¢ ‘This mode- 
 ration is, indeed, severely censured by many of the reform- 
 ed divines in Switzerland, Germany, and more especially 
 in Holland, who lament, in the most sorrowful strains, the 
 decline of the ancient purity and strictness that charac- 
 terized the doctrine and discipline of the church, and 
 sometimes attack, with the strongest marks of indigna- 
 tion and resentment, these modern contemners of primi- 
 tive orthodoxy. But, as the moderate party have an evi- 
 dent superiority in point of number, power, and influ- 
 ence, these attacks of their adversaries are, in general, 
 treated with the utmost indifference. 
 
 Zs * Nimiam consuetudinem. The expression is remarkable and 
 malignant; it would make the ignorant and unwary apt to believe, that 
 the reformed church allows its members certain approaches toward 
 popery and Socinianism, provided they do not carry these approaches 
 too far, even to an intimate union with them. This representation of 
 the reformed church is too glaringly false to proceed from ignorance ; 
 and Dr. Mosheim’s extensive knowledge places him beyond the suspi- 
 cion of an involuntary mistake in this matter. It is true, this reflection 
 bears hard upon his candour; and we are extremely sorry that we can- 
 not, in this place, do justice to the knowledge of that great man, without 
 arraigning his equity. 
 
 xp > Nothing can be more unfair, or at least more inaccurate, than 
 this representation of things. It proceeds from a supposition that is 
 quite chimerical, even that the reformed churches in England, Scotland, 
 Holland, Germany, Switzerland, &c. form one general body, and, be- 
 side their respective and particular systems of government and disci- 
 pline, have some general laws of religious toleration, in consequence of 
 which they admit a variety of sects into their communion. But this 
 general hierarchy does not exist. The friends of the Reformation, 
 whom the multiplied horrors and absurdities of popery obliged to aban- 
 don the communion of Rome, were formed, in process of time, into 
 distinct ecclesiastical bodies, or national churches, every one of which 
 has its peculiar form of government and discipline. The toleration 
 that is enjoyed by the various sects and denominations of Christians, 
 arises in part from the clemency of the ruling powers, and from the 
 charity and forbearance which individuals think themselves bound. to 
 exercise one toward another. See the following note. 
 
 => ° If the different denominations of Christians here mentioned 
 live together in the mutual exercise of charity and benevolence, notwith- 
 standing the diversity of their theological opinions, this circumstance, 
 which Dr. Mosheim seems tq mention as a reproach, is, on the contrary, 
 a proof, that the true and genuine spirit of the Gospel (which is a spirit 
 of forbearance, meekness, and charity,) prevails among the members of 
 the reformed churches. But it must be carefully observed, that this 
 charity, though it discovers the amiable bond of peace, does not, by any 
 means, imply uniformity of sentiment or indifference about truth, or lead 
 us to suppose that the reformed churches have relaxed or departed from 
 their system of doctrine. Indeed, as there is no general reformed 
 church, so there is no general reformed Creed or Confession of Faith. 
 The church of England has its peculiar system of doctrine and govern- 
 ment, which remains still unchanged, and in full force; and to which 
 an assent is demanded from all its members, and in a more especial, 
 solemn, and express manner from those who are its ministers. Such is 
 the case with the national reformed churches in the United Provinces. 
 The dissenters in these countries, who are tolerated by the state, have 
 also their respective bonds of ecclesiastical union; and such of them, 
 particularly in England and Ireland, as differ from the establishment only 
 in their form of government and worship, and not in matters of doctrine, 
 are treated with indulgence by the moderate members of the national 
 church, who look upon.them as their brethren. 
 
 => 4In the 4to edition of this work, I- mistook, in a moment of 
 inadvertency, the construction of this sentence in the original Latin, 
 and rendered the passage as if Dr. Mosheim had represented the reform- 
 ed churches as diminishing the weight and importance of those contro- 
 versies that ‘separate them from the church of Rome;’ whereas he 
 represents them (and, indeed, what he says is rather an encomium than 
 a reproach) as diminishing the weight of those controversies which 
 ‘separate them from each other.’ One of the circumstances that made 
 
 651 
 
 XXII. Whoever considers all these things with due 
 attention, will be obliged to acknowledge that neither the 
 Lutherans nor Arminians have, at this day, any farther 
 subject of controversy or debate with the reformed church, 
 considered in a general point of view, but only with indi- 
 vidual members of this great community ;* for the church, 
 considered in its collective and general character, allows 
 now to all its members the full liberty of entertaining the 
 sentiments which they think most reasonable, in relation 
 to those points of doctrine that formerly excluded the 
 Lutherans and Arminians from its communion, and looks 
 upon the essence of Christianity and its fundamental 
 truths as in no wise aflected by these points, however 
 variously they may be explained by the contending par- 
 ties. But this moderation, instead of facilitating the exe- 
 cution of the plans that have been proposed by some for 
 the re-union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, 
 contributes rather to prevent this re-union, or at least to 
 render it much more difficult; for those among the 
 Lutherans who are zealous for the maintenance of the 
 
 me fall more easily into this mistake was my having read, the moment 
 before I committed it, Dr. Mosheim’s insinuation with respect to the 
 spirit of the church of England in the very next page, where he says, 
 very inconsiderately, that we may judge of that spirit by the conduct of 
 Dr. Wake, who formed a project of peace and union between the Eng- 
 lish and Gallican churches, founded upon this condition, that each com- 
 munity should retain the greatest part of its peculiar doctrines. This is 
 supposing, though upon the foundation of a mistaken fact, that the 
 church of England, at least, is making evident approaches to the church 
 of Rome.—When I had made the mistake, which turned really an 
 encomium into an accusation, I thought it incumbent on me to defend 
 the reformed church against the charge of an approximation to popery. 
 For this purpose, I observed (in note * of the 4to edition,) “that the 
 reformed churches were never at such a distance from the spirit and 
 doctrine of the church of Rome as they are at this day; and that the 
 improvements in science, that characterize the last and the present age, 
 seem to render a relapse into Romish superstition morally impossible in 
 those who have been once delivered from its baneful influence.” The 
 ingenious author of the Confessional did not find this reasoning conclu- 
 sive; but the objections he has started against it, do not appear to me 
 insurmountable. I have, therefore, thrown upon paper some farther 
 thoughts upon the present state of the reformed religion, and the influ- 
 ence of improvements in philosophy upon its advancement; and these 
 thoughts the reader will find in the third part of the Appendix. 
 
 3x ¢ Even if we grant this to be true with respect to the Arminians, 
 it cannot be affirmed, with equal truth, in regard to the Lutherans, 
 whose doctrine concerning the corporal presence of Christ in the eucha- 
 rist, and the communication of the properties of his divine to his human 
 nature, is rejected by all the reformed churches, without exception. But 
 it is not universally true, even with respect to the Arminians ; for, though 
 the latter are particularly favoured by the church of England; though 
 Arminianism may be said to have become predominant among the 
 members of that church, or at least to have lent its influence in mitigating 
 some of its articles in the private sentiments of those who subscribe 
 them; yet the thirty-nine Articles of the same church still maintain 
 their authority ; and, when we judge of the doctrine atid discipline of 
 any church, it is more natural to form this judgment from its established 
 creeds and confessions of faith, than from the sentiments and principles 
 of particular persons; so that, with respect to the church of England, 
 the direct contrary of what Dr. Mosheim asserts is strictly true; for it 
 is rather with that church, and its rule of faith, that the Lutherans are 
 at variance, than with private persons, who, prompted by a spirit of 
 Christian moderation, mitigate some of its doctrines, in order charitably 
 to extend the limits of its communion. But, if we turn our view to the 
 reformed churches in Holland, Germany, and a part of Switzerland, the 
 mistake of our author will still appear more palpable ; for some of these 
 churches consider certain doctrines both of the Arminians and Luther- 
 ans, as a just cause of excluding them from their communion. ‘The 
 question here is not, whether this rigour is laudable; it is the matter of 
 fact that we are examining at present. The church of England, in- 
 deed, if we consider its present temper and spirit, does not look upon 
 any of the errors of the Lutherans as fwndamental, and is therefore 
 ready to receive them into its communion; and the same thing may, 
 perhaps, be affirmed of several of the reformed churches upon the con- 
 tinent. But this is very far from being a proof, that the ‘“ Lutherans 
 have at this day (as Dr. Mosheim asserts) no farther subject of cone 
 traversy or debate with these churches ;” it only proves, that these 
 churches nourish a spirit of toleration and charity worthy of imitation, 
 
652 
 
 truth, complain, that the reformed church has rendered 
 too wide the way of salvation, and opened the arms of 
 fraternal love and communion, not only to us (Luther- 
 ans,) but alsoto Christians of all sects and denominations. 
 Accordingly, we find, that when, about twenty years ago, 
 several eminent doctors of our communion, with the 
 learned and celebrated Matthew Pfaff at their head, em- 
 ployed their good offices with zeal and sincerity in order 
 to our union with the reformed church, this specific pro- 
 ject was so warmly opposed by the majority of the 
 Lutherans, that it was soon rendered abortive.* 
 
 XXUI. The church of England, which is now the 
 chief branch of the great community denominated the 
 Reformed Church, continues in the same state, and is 
 governed by the same principles, that it assumed at the 
 Revolution. The established form of church government 
 is episcopacy, which is embraced by the sovereign, the 
 nobility, any 
 
 terians, and the numerous sects that are comprehended 
 under the general title of Non-conformists, enjoy the 
 sweets of religious liberty, under the influence of a legal 
 toleration. 'Uhose, indeed, who are best acquainted with 
 the present state of the English nation, confidently affirm 
 that the dissenting interest is declining, and that the cause 
 of non-conformity owes this gradual decay, in a great 
 measure, to the lenity and moderation that are practised 
 by the rulers of the established church. The members of 
 this church may be divided into two classes, according to 
 their different ideas of the origin, extent, and dignity of 
 episcopal jurisdiction. ‘Some look upon the government 
 of bishops as founded on the authority of a divine institu- 
 lion, and are immoderately zealous in extending the power 
 and prerogatives of the church ; others, of a more mild 
 and sedate spirit, while they consider that form of govern- 
 ment as far superior to every other system of ecclesiastical 
 polity, and warmly recommend all the precautions that 
 are necessary to its preservation and the independence of 
 the clergy, yet do not carry this attachment to such an 
 excessive degree, as to refuse the name of a church to 
 every religious community that is not governed by a 
 bishop, or to defend, with intemperate zeal, the preroga- 
 tives and pretensions of the episcopal order.» —'These two 
 classes are sometimes involved in warm debates, and 
 oppose each other with no small degree of animosity, of 
 which this century has exhibited the following remarkable 
 example. Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, bishop of Winchester, 
 a, prelate eminently distinguished by the accuracy of his 
 judgment, and the purity of his flowing and manly elo- 
 
 => * The project of the very pious and learned Dr. Pfaff for uniting 
 the Lutheran and Reformed churches, and the reasons on which he 
 justified this project, are worthy of the truly Christian spirit, and do 
 honour to the accurate and sound judgment of that most eminent and 
 excellent divine ;* and it is somewhat surprising, considering the proofs 
 of moderation and judgment that Dr. Mosheim has given in other parts 
 of this valuable history, that he neither mentions the project of Dr. Pfaff 
 with applause, nor the stiffness of the Lutherans on this occasion with 
 any mark of disapprobation. 
 
 3x > The learned and pious archbishop Wake, in a letter to Father 
 Courayer, dated from Croydon-House, July 9, 1724, expresses himself 
 thus: “J bless God that I was born and have been bred in an episcopal 
 church, which, I am convinced, has been the government established in 
 the Christian church from the very time of the apostles. But I should 
 be unwilling to affirm, that, where the ministry is not episcopal, there is 
 no church, nor any true administration of the sacraments; and very 
 many there are among us who are zealous for episcopacy, yet dare not 
 go so far as to annul the ordinances of God performed by any other 
 ministry.” 
 
 x3 * Archbishop Wake certainly corresponded with some learned 
 
 the greatest part of the people. The Presby- | 
 
 | sects and controversies. 
 
 | 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 quence, used his utmost endeavours, and not withcut suce 
 cess, to lower the authority of the church, or at least to 
 reduce the power of its rulers within narrow bounds. On 
 the other hand, the church and its rulers found several 
 able defenders; and, among the rest, Dr. John Potter, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, maintained the rights and pre- 
 tensions of the clergy with great eloquence and erudition. 
 As to the spirit of the established church of England, in 
 relation to those who dissent from its rules of doctrine and 
 government, we see it no where better than in the conduct 
 of Dr. Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, who formed a 
 project of peace and union between the English and Gal- 
 lican churches, founded upon this condition, that each 
 community should retain the greatest part of its peculiar 
 doctrines.¢ 
 
 XXIV. The unbounded liberty which every individual 
 in England enjoys of publishing, without restraint, his 
 religious opinions, and of worshipping God in the manner 
 which he deems the most conformable to reason and Scrip- 
 ture, naturally produces a variety of sects, and gives rise 
 to an uninterrupted succession of controversies about theo- 
 logical matters. It is scarcely possible for any historian 
 who has not resided for some time in England, and exa- 
 mined with attention, upon the spot, the laws, the privi- 
 leges, the factions, and opinions of that free and happy 
 people, to give a just and accurate account of these religious 
 Even the names of the greatest 
 part of these sects have not yet reached us; and many 
 of those which have come to our knowledge, we know but 
 imperfectly. We are greatly in the dark with respect to 
 the grounds and principles of these controversies, because 
 we are destitute of the sources from which proper informa- 
 tion might be drawn. At present the ministerial labours of 
 George Whitefield, who has formed a community, which 
 he proposes to render superior in sanctity and perfection to 
 all other Christian churches, make a considerable noise in 
 England, and are not altogether destitute of success. If 
 there is any consistency in this man’s theological system, 
 and if we are not to look upon him as a mere enthu- 
 siast, led by the blind impulse of an irregular fancy, his 
 doctrine seems to amount to these two propositions :— 
 “ "hat true religion consists alone in holy affections, or in 
 acertain inward feeling, which it is impossible to explain ; 
 and that Christians ought not to seek truth by the dictates 
 of reason, or by the aids of learning, but by laying their 
 minds open to the direction and influence of divine illumi- 
 nation.” 
 
 XXV. The Dutch church is still divided by the con- 
 
 and moderate Frenchmen on this subject, particularly with M. Du-Pin, 
 the ecclesiastical historian: and no doubt the archbishop, when he 
 assisted Courayer in his Defence of the Validity of the English Ordina- 
 tions, by furnishing him with unanswerable proofs drawn from the 
 registers at Lambeth-Palace, had it in his view to remove certain 
 groundless prejudices, which, while they subsisted among catholics, 
 could not but defeat all projects of peace and union between the English 
 and Gallican churches. ‘The interests of the protestant religion could 
 not be in safer hands than those of archbishop Wake. He who had 
 so ably and so successfully defended protestantism, as a controversial 
 writer, could not surely form any project of peace and union with a 
 Roman catholic church, the terms of which would have reflected on his 
 character as a negociator. 3% This note has been misunderstood and 
 censured by the acute author of the Confessional. This censure gave 
 occasion to the fourth Appendix, which the reader will find in this 
 volume, and in which the matter contained in this note is fully illvs- 
 trated, and the conduct of archbishop Wake set in its true light. 
 
 X’r * See this learned author’s Collectio Scriptorum Irenicorum 
 ad Unionem inter Protestantes facientium, published at Hall, in 
 1723. 
 
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 troversies that arose from the philosophy of Des-Cartes and 
 the theology of Cocceius; but these controversies are carried 
 on with less bitterness and animosity at present than in 
 former times. It is even to be hoped that these contests 
 will soon be totally extinguished, since it is well known, 
 that the Newtonian philosophy has expelled Cartesianism 
 from alfnost all the seminaries of learning in the United 
 Provinces. We have already mentioned the debates that 
 were occasioned by the opinions of Roell. In 1703, Fre- 
 deric Van Leenhof was suspected of a propensity toward 
 the system of Spinosa, and drew upon himself a multi- 
 tude of adversaries, by a remarkable book, entitled Heaven 
 upon Earth, in which he maintained literally, that it was 
 the duty of Christians to rejoice always, and to suffer no 
 feelings of affliction and sorrow to interrupt their gaiety. 
 The same accusations were brought against an illiterate 
 man, named William Deurhoff, who, in some treatises 
 composed in the Dutch language, represented the Divine 
 Nature under the idea of a certain force, or energy, that is 
 diffused throughout the whole universe, and acts in every 
 part of the great fabric. he more recent controversies 
 that have made a noise in Holland, were those that sprang 
 from the opinions of James Saurin and Paul Maty, on two 
 very different subjects. ‘The former, who was minister to 
 the French at the Hague, and acquired a shining repu- 
 tation by his genius and eloquence, fell into an error, which, 
 if it may be called such, was at least an error of a very 
 pardonable kind; for, if we except some inaccurate and 
 incautious expressions, his only deviation from the received 
 opinions consisted in his maintaining, that it was some- 
 times lawful to swerve from truth, and to deceive men by 
 our speech, in order to the attainment of some great and 
 important good.* ‘This sentiment did not please, as the 
 most considerable part of the reformed churches adopt the 
 doctrine of Augustin, “That a lie or a violation of the 
 truth can never be allowable in itself, or advantageous in 
 the issue.” ‘The conduct of Maty was much more worthy 
 of condemnation ; for, in order to explain the mystery of 
 the Trinity, he invented the following unsatisfactory hypo- 
 thesis: “'That the Son and the Holy Ghost were two finite 
 Beings, who had been created by God, and at a certain 
 time were united to the divine nature.” 
 
 XXVI. The particular confession of faith, that we have 
 already had occasion to mention under the denomination 
 of the Formulary of Agreement or Concord, has, since the 
 commencement of this century, produced warm and vehe- 
 
 Zp *See Saurin’s Discours Historiques, Theologiques, Critiques, et 
 Moraux, sur les Evenements les plus memorables du Vieux et du Nou- 
 veau Testament, tom. i. of the folio edition. 
 
 x¢p > Dr. Mosheim, in another of his learned productions, has ex- 
 plained, in a more accurate and circumstantial manner, the hypothesis 
 of Maty, which amounts to the following propositions: ‘ ‘That the 
 Father is the pure Deity; and that the Son and the Holy Ghost are 
 ‘two other persons, in each of whom there are two natures; one divine, 
 which is the same in all the three persons, and with respect to which 
 they are one and the same God, having the same numerical divine 
 essence; and the other a finite and dependent nature, which is united to 
 the divine nature in the same manner in which the orthodox say, that 
 Jesus Christ is God and man.” See Dissertationes ad Historiam 
 Ecclesiasticam pertinentes, (published at Altena in 1743.) vol. ii. p, 
 498, but principally the original work of Mr. Maty, which was pub- 
 lished (at the Hague) in 1729, under the following tite: Lettre d’un 
 Theologien & un autre Theologien sur le Mystere de la Trinité.—The 
 publication of this hypothesis was unnecessary, as it was destitute even 
 of the merit of novelty, being very little more than a repetition of what 
 Dr. Thomas Burnet, prebendary of Sarum, had said, about ten years 
 before, upon this mysterious subject, which nothing but presumption 
 can make any man attempt to render intelligible. See a treatise pub- 
 
 No, LY. 164 
 
 religion prior to the conclusion of the second century. 
 
 653 
 
 ment contests in Switzerland, and more especially in the 
 canton of Bern. In 1718, the magistrates of Bern pub- 
 lished an order, by which all professors, and particularly 
 those of the university and church of Lausanne, who were 
 suspected of entertaining erroneous opinions, were obliged 
 to declare their assent to this Formularly, and to adopt it 
 as the rule of their faith. This injunction was so much 
 the more grievous, as no demand of that kind had been 
 made for some time before this period; and the custom of 
 requiring subscription to this confession had been suspend- 
 ed in the case of several who were promoted in the uni- 
 versity, or had entered into the church. Accordingly many 
 pastors and candidates for holy orders refused the assent 
 that was demanded by the magistrates, and some of them 
 were punished for this refusal. Hence arose warm con- 
 tests and heavy complaints, which engaged the king of 
 Great Britain, and the. states-general of the United Pro- 
 vinces, to offer their intercession, in order to terminate 
 these unhappy divisions ; and hence the Formulary lost 
 much of its credit and authority. 
 
 Nothing memorable happened during this period in the 
 German churches. ‘The Reformed church that was estab- 
 lished in the Palatinate, and had formerly been in such 
 a flourishing state, suffered greatly from the persecuting 
 spirit and the malignant counsels of the votaries of 
 Rome. 
 
 XX VII. The Socinians, dispersed through the different 
 countries of Europe, have not hitherto been able to form 
 a separate congregation, or to celebrate publicly divine 
 worship, in a manner conformable to the institutions of 
 their sect, although, in several places, they hold clandes- 
 tine meetings of a religious kind. The person that made 
 the principal figure among them in this century, was the 
 learned Samuel Crellius, who died in an advanced age at 
 Amsterdam: he indeed preferred the denomination of 
 Artemonite to that of Socinian, and departed in many 
 points from the received doctrines of that sect. 
 
 The Arians found a learned and resolute patron in Wil- 
 liam Whiston, professor of mathematics in the university 
 of Cambridge, who defended their doctrine in various pro- 
 ductions, and chose rather to resign his chair, than to 
 renounce his opinions. He was followed in these opinions, 
 as is commonly supposed, by Dr. Samuel Clarke, a man 
 of great abilities, judgment, and learning, who, in 1724, 
 was accused of altering and modifying the ancient and 
 orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. But it must argue a 
 
 lished without his name by Dr. Burnet, in 1720, with this title: The 
 Scripture Trinity intelligibly explained; or, An Essay towards the 
 Demonstration of a Trinity in Unity from Reason and Scripture, in a 
 Chain of Consequences from certain Principles, &c. by a Divine of the 
 Church of England. See also the same author’s Scripture Doctrine of 
 the Redemption of the World by Christ, intelligibly explained, &e. 
 
 3 © It is too evident that few controversies have so little augmented 
 the sum of knowledge, and so much hurt the spirit of charity, as the con- 
 troversies that have been carried on in the Christian church in relation 
 to the doctrine of the Trinity. Mr. Whiston was one of the first divines 
 who revived this controversy in the xvilith century. About the year 
 1706, he began to entertain some doubts about the proper eternity and om- 
 niseience of Christ. This led him to review the popular doctrine of the 
 Trinity ; and, in order to execute this review with a degree of diligence 
 and cireumspection suitable to its importance, he read the New Testa- 
 ment twice over, and also all the genuine monuments of the Christian 
 y. By this inquiry, 
 he was led to think, that, at the incarnation of Christ, the Logos, or 
 Eternal Wisdom, supplied the place of the rational soul, or rvevpa; that 
 the eternity of the Son of God was not a real distinct existence, as of a 
 son properly co-eternal with his father by a true eternal generation, but 
 rather a metaphysical existence in polentid, or in some sublimer man- 
 
654 
 
 great want of equity and candour, to rank this eminent 
 man in the class of Arians, taking that term in its proper 
 and natural signification ; for he only maintained what 
 is commonly called the Arminian Subordination, which 
 has been, and is still, adopted by some of the greatest. men 
 in England, and even by some of the most learned bishops 
 
 ner, in the Father, as his wisdom or word; that Christ’s real creation 
 or generation (for both these terms are used by the earliest writers) 
 took place some time before the creation of the world; that the council 
 of Nice itself established no other eternity of Christ; and, finally, that 
 the Arian doctrine, in these points, was the original doctrine of Christ 
 himself, of his holy apostles, and of the primitive Christians. Mr. 
 Whiston was confirmed in these sentiments by reading Novatian’s 
 treatise concerning the Trinity, but more especially by the perusal of 
 the Apostolical Constitutions, the antiquity and authenticity of which 
 he endeavoured, with more zeal than precision and prudence, to prove, 
 in the third part of his Primitive Christianity Revived. — 
 
 This learned visionary, and upright man, was a considerable sufferer 
 by his opinions. He was not only removed from his theological and 
 pastoral functions, but also from his mathematical professorship, as if 
 Arianism had extended its baneful influence even to the science of 
 lines, angles, and surfaces. ‘This measure was undoubtedly singular, 
 -and it appeared rigid and severe to all those, of both parties, who were 
 dispassionate enough to see things in their true point of light; and, 
 indeed though we should grant that the good man’s mathematics might, 
 by erroneous conclusions, have corrupted his orthodoxy, it will still 
 remain extremely difficult to comprehend, how his heterodoxy could 
 hurt his mathematics. It was not therefore consistent, either with cle- 
 mency or good sense, to turn Mr. Whiston out of his mathematical 
 chair, because he did not believe the explication of the Trinity that is 
 given in the Athanasian creed; and I mention this as an instance of the 
 
 - unfair proceedings of immoderate zeal, which often confounds the plain- 
 est distinctions, and deals its punishments without measure or proportion. 
 
 Dr. Clarke also stepped aside from the notions commonly received 
 concerning the Trinity ; but his modification of this doctrine was not so 
 remote from the popular and orthodox hypothesis, as the sentiment of 
 Whiston. His method of inquiring into that incomprehensible subject 
 was modest, and, at least, promised fairly as a guide to truth. Tor he 
 did not begin by abstract and metaphysical reasonings in his illustra- 
 tions of this doctrine, but turned his first researches to the word and to 
 the testimony, being persuaded that, as the doctrine of the ‘Trinity was 
 a matter of mere revelation, all human explications of it must be tried 
 by the declarations of the New Testament, interpreted by the rules of 
 grammar, and the principles of sound criticism. It was this persua- 
 sion that produced his famous book entitled, The Scripture Doctrine of 
 the Trinity, wherein every Text in the New Testament relating to that 
 Doctrine is distinctly considered, and the Divinity of our blessed Saviour, 
 according to the Scriptures, proved, and explained. The doctrine, 
 which this learned divine drew irom his researches, was comprehended 
 in 55 propositions, which, with the proper illustrations, form the second 
 
 art of the work. As the reader will find them in that work at full 
 hee we shall only observe here, that Dr. Clarke, if he was careful 
 in searching for the true meaning of those scriptural expressions that 
 relate to the divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost, was equally cir- 
 cumspect in avoiding the accusation of heterodoxy, as appears by the 
 series of propositions now referred to. ‘There are three great rocks of 
 heresy on which many bold adventurers on this Anti-Pacific ocean 
 have been seen to split violently. These rocks are Tritheism, Sabelli- 
 anism, and Arianism. Dr. Clarke got evidently clear of the first, by 
 denying the self-existence of the Son and the Holy Ghost, and by main- 
 taining their derivation from, and subordination to, the Father. He 
 strenuously laboured to avoid the second, by acknowledging the person- 
 ality and distinct agency of the Son and the Holy Ghost; and he flat- 
 tered himself with having escaped from the dangers of the third, by 
 his asserting the eternity (for he believed the possibility of an eternal 
 production which Whiston could not digest) of the two divine subordi- 
 nate persons. But, with all his circumspection, Dr. Clarke did not 
 escape opposition and censure. He was answered and abused; and 
 heresy was subdivided and modified, in orderto give him an opprobrious 
 appellation, even that of Semi-Arian. The convocation threatened ; 
 but the doctor calmed by his prudence the apprehensions and fears 
 which his scripture-doctrine of the Trinity had excited in that learned 
 and reverend assembly. An authentic account of the proceedings of 
 the two houses of convocation upon this occasion, and of Dr. Clarke’s 
 conduct in consequence of the complaints that were made against his 
 book, may be seen in a piece supposed to have been written by the Rev. 
 Mr. John Laurence, and published at London, in 1714, under the fol- 
 lowing title: An Apology for Dr. Clarke, containing an account of the 
 late Proceedings in Convocation upon his Writings concerning the 
 Trinity. The true copies of all the original papers relating to this 
 affair are published in this apology. 
 
 If Dr. Clarke was attacked by authority, he was also combatted by 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 in that country. This doctrine he illustrated with greater 
 care and perspicuity than any before him had done, and 
 taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are equal 
 in nature, and different in rank, authority, and subordi- 
 nation.* A great number of English writers have en- 
 deavoured, in a variety of modes, to invalidate and under- 
 
 argument. The learned Dr. Waterland was one of his principal adver. 
 saries, and stands at the head of a polemical body, composed of eminent 
 divines, such as Gastrell, Wells, Nelson, Mayo, Knight, and others 
 who appeared in this controversy. Against these, Dr. Clarke, unawed 
 by their numbers, defended himself with great spirit and perseverance, 
 in several letters and replies. This prolonged a controversy, which 
 may often be suspended through the fatigue of the combatants, or the 
 change of the mode in theological researches, but which will probably 
 never be terminated: for nothing affords such an endless subject of 
 debate as a doctrine above the reach of human understanding, and 
 expressed in the ambiguous and improper terms of human language, 
 such as persons, generations, substance, &c. which, in this controversy, 
 either convey no ideas at all, or false ones. The inconveniences, 
 accordingly, of departing from the divine simplicity of the scripture- 
 language on this subject, and of converting a matter of mere revelation 
 into an object of human reasoning, were palpable in the writings of 
 both the contending parties. For, if Dr. Clarke was accused of verging 
 toward Arianism, by maintaining the derived and caused existence of 
 the Son and the Holy Ghost, it seemed no less evident that Dr. Water- 
 land was verging toward Tritheism, by maintaining the self-existence 
 and independence of these divine persons, and by asserting that the 
 subordination of the Son to the Father is only a subordination of of- 
 fice and not of nature: so that, if the former divine was deservedly 
 called a Semi-Arian, the latter might, with equal justice, be denomina- 
 ted a Semi-Tritheist. The difference between these learned men lay 
 in this, that Dr. Clarke, after making a faithful coilection of the texts 
 in Scripture that relate to the Trinity, thought proper to interpret them 
 by those maxims and rules of right reasoning, which are used on other 
 subjects; whereas Dr. Waterland denied that this method of reasoning 
 was to be admitted in illustrating the doctrine of the Trinity, which was 
 far exalted above the sphere of human reason; and therefore he took 
 the texts of Scripture in their direct, literal, and grammatical sense. Dr 
 Waterland, however, employed the words persons, subsistence, &c. as 
 useful for fixing the notion of distinction; the words uncreated, eternal, 
 and immutable, for ascertaining the divinity of each person ; and the 
 words interior, generation, and procession, to indicate their wnton. This 
 was departing from his grammatical method, which ought to have led 
 him to this plain conclusion, that the Son and the Holy Ghost, to whom 
 divine attributes are ascribed in Scripture (and even the denomination 
 of God to the former,) possess these attributes in a manner which it is 
 impossible for us to understand in this present state, and the understand- 
 ing of which is consequently unessential to our salvation and happiness. 
 The doctor, indeed, apologises in his queries (p. 321.) for the use of 
 these metaphysical terms, by observing, that “they are not designed to 
 enlarge our views, or to add any thing to our stock of ideas, but to 
 secure the plain fundamental truth, that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 are all strictly divine, and uncreated; and yet are not three Gods, but 
 one God.” It is, however, difficult to comprehend how terms that 
 neither enlarge our views, nor give us ideas, can secure any truth. It 
 is difficult to conceive what our faith gains by being entertained with a 
 certain number of sounds. Ifa Chinese should explain a term of his 
 language which I did not understand, by another term, which he knew 
 beforehand that I understood as little, his conduct would be justly-con- 
 sidered as an insult against the rules of conversation and good breeding ; 
 and I think it is an equal violation of the equitable principles of candid 
 controversy, to offer, as illustrations, propositions or terms that are as 
 unintelligible and obscure as the thing to be illustrated. The words of 
 the excellent and learned Stillingfleet (in the Preface to his Vindication 
 of the Doctrine of the Trinity) administer a plain and a wise rule 
 which, if observed by divines, would greatly contribute to heal the 
 wounds which both truth and charity have received in this controversy. 
 “ Since both sides yield (says he) that the matter they dispute about is 
 above their reach, the wisest course they can take is, to assert and de- 
 fend what is revealed, and not to be peremptory and quarrelsome about 
 that which is acknowleged to be above our comprehension; I mean 
 as to the manner how the three persons partake of the divine nature.” 
 
 Those who are desirous of amore minute historical view of the man- 
 ner in which the Trinitarian controversy has been carried on during the 
 present century, may consult a pamphlet that was published in 1720, 
 entitled, An Account of all the considerable Books and Pamphlets that 
 have Seen written on either Side in the Controversy concerning the 
 
 | Trimty since the year 1712; in which is also contained an Account ot 
 
 the Pamphlets written this last year, on each side, by the Dissenters, 
 to the end of the year 1719. The more recent treatises on the subject 
 of the Trinity are sufficiently known. 
 
 3“p 4 It will appear to those who read the preceding note * that Pr. 
 
THE FIRST 
 
 mine the doctrine of the holy Trinity; and it was this 
 consideration that engaged a lady,* eminently distin- 
 guished by her orthodoxy and opulence, to bequeath a 
 valuable legacy as a foundation for a lecture, in which 
 eight sermons are preached annually by a learned divine, 
 
 Mosheim has here mistaken the true hypothesis of Dr. Clarke, or, at 
 least, expresses it imperfectly; for what he says here is rather applica- 
 ble to the opinion of Dr. Waterland. Dr. Clarke maintained an equality 
 
 APPENDIX. 655 
 who is nominated to that office by the trustees. This 
 foundation has subsisted since the year 1720, and pro- 
 mises to posterity an ample collection of learned pro- 
 
 ductions in defence of this branch of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 of perfections in the three persons, but a subordination of nature in point 
 of existence and derivation, 
 
 * Lady Moyer. 
 
 THE FIRST 
 
 Mosuetm’s Ecclesiastical History can be justly appre- 
 ciated only by considering it as a general epitome. As 
 such, it is indeed excellent; the arrangement is luminous; 
 the style both of the author andof his translator, is in gene- 
 ral perspicuous ; and though topics of the greatest im- 
 portance are, from the nature of the work, necessarily 
 treated with a brevity which the reader may sometimes 
 regret, the references at the bottoms of the pages inform 
 him where he may, on every subject, find fuller informa- 
 tion. It must, however, be confessed, that those references, 
 being for the most part made to the works of German 
 authors, are of less value to us than to those for whose 
 use the history was originally composed ; and, perhaps, 
 it cannot be wholly denied, that the author, learned and 
 pious as he undoubtedly was, either had not studied the 
 works of the primitive fathers of the Christian church 
 with sufficient care, or laboured under some prejudices, 
 from which the most powerful minds are not wholly 
 exempt, that made him refer to learned moderns for the 
 decision of questions, which the ancients alone can de- 
 cide. This we think, appears most remarkably in the 
 view which he exhibits of the constitution, government, 
 and discipline, of the primitive church, of which it is ob- 
 vious that we can know nothing but from the testimony 
 of the primitive writers. . 
 
 The Fathers, as they are called, may have been bad 
 critics, as we think they generally were ; they may have 
 been extremely credulous, and ready to attribute, to the 
 miraculous interposition of God, natural events, for which 
 their philosophy did not enable them to account; and 
 their speculative doctrines may haye been often corrupted 
 by that science, falsely so called, which spread from the 
 Alexandrian school over the whole Christian world ; but 
 the integrity of men who laid down their lives for what 
 they believed lo be the truth, cannot surely be questioned. 
 “T see no reason,” said one,* who did not pay to them 
 undue deference, “ why their veracity should be question- 
 ed, when they bear witness to the state of religion in their 
 own times, because they disgraced their judgment, in 
 giving ear to every strange tale of monkish extraction. 
 Controversy apart, their testimony to common facts may 
 yet stand good ;” and surely the constitution, government 
 and discipline of the church, were common facts, about 
 which none of them could be deceived. 
 
 The view however which Dr. Mosheim has given of 
 
 * Warburton in his introduction to Julian. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the primitive church appears not to us to be countenanced 
 by any primitive writer; and accordingly he rarely ap- 
 peals directly to them in support of what he advances, but 
 refers to modern authors, generally I’rench or Germans, 
 who have written on the sgbject, and who could write 
 nothing on it authentic, which they did not derive from 
 the ancients. The qualifications indeed which he thinks 
 essential to an historian, and the rules which he lays down 
 for the manner of treating ecclesiastical history, though 
 highly valuable in themselves, are by him stated in such 
 a manner as cannot fail to excite, in the reflecting mind, 
 suspicions of the authenticity of his account of the go- 
 vernment and discipline of the primitive church. After 
 observing that, in order to render the history of the church 
 useful and interesting, it is necessary to trace effects to 
 their causes, and to connect events with the circumstances, 
 views, principles, and instruments that have contributed 
 to their existence, he adds, “ In order to discover the secret 
 causes of public events, some general succours are to be 
 derived from the history of the times in which they hap- 
 pened, and the testimonies of the authors by whom they 
 are recorded. But, beside these, a considerable acquain- 
 tance with human nature, founded on long observation 
 and experience, is extremely useful in researches of this 
 kind. The historian who has acquired a competent know- 
 ledge of the views that occupy the generality of men, who 
 has studied a great variety of characters, and attentively 
 observed the force and violence of human passions, toge- 
 ther with the infirmities and contradictions they produce 
 in the conduct of life, will find, in this knowledge, a key 
 to the secret reasons and motives which gave rise to many 
 of the most important events of ancient times. A know- 
 ledge also of the manners and opinions of the persons con- 
 cerned in theevents that are related, will contribute much 
 to lead us to the true origin of things.» 
 
 There is unquestionably much truth as well as good 
 sense in this account of the qualifications requisite to ren- 
 der an historian instructive and interesting; for it is ob- 
 vious that he who has merely studied human nature 
 through the medium of books, not in the society of men, 
 and who has not observed the motives which generally 
 influence human conduct, can never trace events to their 
 causes, or discover the springs of those actions on which 
 perhaps the happiness or misery of millions may depend. 
 But, if this knowledge of human nature be ever employ- 
 
 » Introduction, sect. xiii. 
 
656 THE FIRST 
 ed to counteract the testimony of ancient authors, who 
 were under no conceivable temptation to write falsely ; or 
 if the actions of men in one stage of society be traced to | 
 the same motives from which similar actions are observed 
 to spring in another stage altogether different, and in many 
 respects the reverse; if, because men are prompted by 
 avarice and ambition to solicit offices which at one period 
 lead to honour and opulence, it be inferred that they must 
 have been influenced by similar motives at a period when 
 such offices led not to opulence or honour, but to certain 
 death, in its most hideous forms; if an historian reason thus 
 from the observations which he has made on the force 
 and violence of human passions, and set his conclusions in 
 opposition to facts recorded by ancient authors, who were 
 witnesses of what they relate; it is obvious that his confi- 
 dence in the knowledge which he has acquired of human 
 nature by mixing in society, may lead him into the 
 greatest errors; by inducing him either to neglect entirely, 
 or to inspect carelessly, those writings from which alone 
 he can derive any authentic information concerning the 
 events of which he is writing. 
 
 That Dr. Mosheim was not entirely free from some bias 
 of this kind, seems evident, as, without appealing to any 
 ancient authority whatever, he represents the government 
 of the primitive church as democratical—a form of govern- 
 ment unknown in the religious societies of that age, as 
 well heathen as Jewish. 
 
 He had witnessed the tyranny of the Romish clergy, 
 and had traced the steps and discovered the causes by | 
 which the bishops of Rome had gradually reached the 
 summit of ecclesiastical usurpation; and not adverting 
 perhaps to the fact that, before the conversion of Constan- 
 tine, ecclesiastical preferment could be no object of worldly 
 ambition or avarice, he appears to have hastily concluded 
 that this progress had commenced from the very begin- 
 ning. 
 
 Accordingly, as if the matter were self-evident, he 
 affirms, in the introduction-to his work,* “that, when we 
 look back to the commencement of the Christian church, 
 we find its government administered jointly by the pas- 
 tors and the people. But, in process of time, the scene 
 changes, and we see these pastors affecting an air of pre- 
 eminence and superiority, trampling upon the rights and | 
 
 privileges of the community, and assuming to themselves 
 a supreme authority, both in civil and religious matters 
 
 Of this joint administration of the government of the , 
 original church by the pastors and the people, he thinks it) 
 not necessary here to offer any evidence whatever ; but, | 
 when he enters on the subject as an historian, and ob- 
 serves that the form of government, which the primitive 
 churches borrowed from that of Jerusalem established by 
 the apostles themselves, must be esteemed as of divine in- | 
 stitution, he gives the following account of that form, 
 which he endeavours to support by the authority of Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 “In those early times, every Christian church consist- 
 ed of the people, their leaders, and the ministers, or dea- 
 cons; and these indeed belong essentially to every reli- | 
 gious society. ‘The people were, undoubtedly, the first in 
 authority ; for the ola showed by their own example, 
 that nothing of moment was to be carried on or deter- 
 
 —= 
 
 * Sect. vii. 
 >Cent I. part ii. chap. il. sect. 5, &c. 
 
 | this was done, as the s 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 mined without the consent of the assembly; and sucha 
 method of proceeding was both prudent and necessary in 
 those critical times. It was, therefore, the assembly of 
 the people, which chose their own rulers and teachers, or 
 received them by a free and authoritative consent, when 
 recommended by others. ‘The same people rejected or 
 confirmed, by their suffrages, the laws that were proposed 
 by their rulers to the assembly; excommunicated profli- 
 gate and unworthy members of the church ; restored the 
 penitent to their forfeited privileges; passed judgment 
 upon the different subjects of controversy and dissension, 
 that arose in the community; examined and decided the 
 disputes which happened between the elders and deacons; 
 and, in a word, exercised all that authority which belongs 
 to such as are invested with the sovereign power.”» 
 
 Such, according to our author, was the government of 
 the Christian church during the greater part of the first 
 century ; and he infers this supreme authority of the peo- 
 ple from the Acts of the Apostles, chap. 1. v. 15. vi. 3. xv. 
 A, xxi. 22; but it is difficult to conceive by what mode 
 of interpretation these texts can be made to countenance 
 the supreme authority of the people in the church. 
 
 At the time of the transaction mentioned in the fif- 
 teenth and following verses of the first chapter of the 
 Acts of the Apostles, we know, from the testimony of 
 St. Paul, that the number of believers in Jerusalem and 
 its neighbourhood amounted at least to five hundred ; but 
 St. Luke assures us that the number of names met toge- 
 ther at the appointment of Matthias to the apostleship, 
 did not exceed one hundred and twenty. Ifthe authority 
 of the people was at that period supreme, and if it belong- 
 ed to them to elect by their own suffrages even a successor 
 in the apostleship to Judas, how came so very large a 
 majority to be deprived of their right at the election of 
 Matthias? On this question Dr. Lightfoot says, Quum 
 Matthias et Joses coram apostolis, ut par candidatorum, 
 sisterentur, haud constat universum fidelium ccetum, sive 
 individuum quemyis in eorum electione suo nomine suf- 
 fragia tulisse, quin in presbyterio potius, sive in collegio 
 virorum 108, inter se coacto, jus et potestatem eligendi 
 resedisse.” And though in ordinary cases it belonged to 
 the apostles to ordain, by imposition of hands, such as 
 were chosen to fill any office in the church by those to 
 whom they had deputed the right of election, yet in the 
 present case, they left the determination between the can- 
 didates wholly to the giving-forth of lots, after solemnly 
 praying that the divine head of the church would show 
 which of them he had chosen to take part of the minis- 
 try and apostleship from which Judas had fallen ; and all 
 same learned writer observes, 
 “utpote qui gradus apostolicos immediata quasi, Christi 
 manuductione adierint.” 
 
 The second text quoted by our author in support of 
 the power of the people, appears to us to teach the very 
 opposite doctrine in terms which cannot be mistaken. 
 When the murmuring of the Grecians against the He- 
 brews arose on account of the neglect, real or supposed, 
 of their widows in the daily ministration, the sovereign 
 people did not take the treasure of the church into their 
 own hands, and by their supreme authority appoint offi- 
 cers to distribute it to the poor with greater equity. They 
 
 61 Cor..xve'6; 
 4 Oper. Omn. tom. ii. p. 758, edit. Roterodami. 
 
THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 scem not indeed to have imagined that they had a right 
 to take any step whatever in the matter, till “the twelve 
 called them together, and said—Look ye out among you 
 seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and 
 wisdom, whom we (not ye) may appoint over this busi- 
 ness ;” thus giving the people authority to elect, specifying 
 the number and qualifications of the persons to be elected, 
 and still reserving to themselves the authoritative appoint- 
 ment of those persons to the work for which they were to 
 be chosen. 
 
 In the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we 
 are told, that a deputation was sent from Antioch to Jeru- 
 salem to consult—not the people—but the apostles and 
 elders about the necessity of circumcision; that, when the 
 deputies had come to Jerusalem, they were received by 
 the church and by the apostles and elders; that these dis- 
 tinguished persons came together to consider of the mat- 
 ter referred to their decision; that, after much disputing 
 among the apostles and elders, the question was decided 
 against the necessity of circumcision; and that then it 
 pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to 
 send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with 
 their synodical decree. In all this there is not the slightest 
 countenance given to the authority of the multitude. 'The 
 people were not called together on the arrival of the depu- 
 ties from Antioch; and indeed their number was so great 
 long before that period, that the tenth part of them could 
 not have been contained in any house at the command 
 of the apostles within the city of Jerusalem ; nor would 
 such a multitude have been allowed by the civil power to 
 assemble quietly in the street or in the field. As many of 
 them as could find admission were doubtless present at the 
 deliberations of the apostles and elders on a question of 
 such great and general importance; but the multitude is 
 mentioned but once, and then as keeping profound silence. 
 The synodical epistle to the Gentiles at Antioch and in 
 Syria and Cilicia, is indeed written in the name of the 
 apostles and elders and brethren; but this was, in those 
 days, the common style of such epistles. Thus St. Paul’s 
 epistle to the Galatians is written, not in his own name 
 only, but also in the names of all the brethren who were 
 with him; and the first epistle of St. Clement his fellow- 
 labourer (which is undoubtedly genuine) is in the name 
 of “the church of God which dwelleth or sojourneth at 
 Rome, to the church of God which sojourneth at Corinth ;” 
 though it is certain that all the brethren who were with 
 St. Paul had no authority over the Galatians, nor the lay 
 members of the church in Rome any right to expostulate 
 with the church in Corinth. 'The synodical decree issued 
 at Jerusalem may indeed, with the greatest propriety, be 
 
 called the decree of the church, because it was enacted | 
 
 by the undoubted governors of the church; just as the 
 acts of the British parliament are called the laws of Great 
 Britain, though the people at large were not consulted in 
 the framing of one of them. 
 
 The last text appealed to by Dr. Mosheim as a proof 
 of the supreme authority of the people in the church, not 
 only proves no such thing, but, if it be at all applicable to 
 the question at issue, is of itself a complete proof that 
 they had then no such authority, and indeed that they 
 were wholly unfit to be entrusted with such authority. 
 
 «In Stephens’ Thesaurus, and even in Scapula’s Lexicon, the reader 
 will find a number of extracts from Xenophon, Plutarch, and other 
 Greek writers, in which yiwwexw is of the same import with censeo, exis- 
 
 No. LY. 
 
 _ toms. 
 
 657 
 
 The case was this. St. Paul, after an absence of some 
 
 length from Jerusalem, returned to that city, and on the 
 day after his arrival went into the house of James, who is 
 
 represented as having ail the elders about him ; but, as is 
 
 -evident from what passed, with not so much as one of the 
 
 multitude of laymen in the company. When St. Paul 
 had declared particularly what things God had wrought 
 
 /among the Gentiles by his ministry, James and the elders 
 
 glorified the Lord, and said unto him, “'Thou seest, bro- 
 
 _ther, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe ; 
 
 and they are all zealous of the law ; and they are informed 
 of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among 
 the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying, that they ought not 
 to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the cus- 
 What is it (what is to be done) therefore? The 
 multitude must needs come together, (it cannot be but 
 they will come together,) for they will hear that thou art 
 come. Dotherefore this that we say unto thee: we have 
 four men which have a vow on them; them take, and 
 purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, 
 that they may shave their heads: and all may know 
 (think or judge)» that those things whereof they were 
 informed concerning thee are nothing but that thou thy- 
 seHt also walkest orderly and keepest the law.” (Acts xxi. 
 19——24.) 
 
 This advice St. Paul followed, not however in obe- 
 dience to the people as possessing in his opinion the 
 supreme authority in the church of Jerusalem, but to 
 humour a harmless prejudice, upon that principle which 
 induced him, as he declares to the Corinthians, “to be- 
 come unto the Jews asa Jew, that he might gain the 
 Jews: to them that were under the law, as under the 
 
 law, that he might gain them that were under the law; 
 
 to them that were without the law, as without the law, 
 that he might gain them that were without the law ;” 
 and, evenin matters indifferent, “to become all things to 
 all men, that he might by all means save some.” Had 
 the multitude. possessed the supreme power in the church 
 of Jerusalem, St. James and the elders would undoubtedly 
 have called them together to hear St, Paul’s declaration 
 of the things which God had wrought among the Gen- 
 tiles by his ministry, and not have left them to be drawn 
 together by their own curiosity and zeal, when they should 
 hear of his arrival. At any rate St. James and the elders 
 could not have proposed, nor would St. Paul have agreed, 
 to impose on the people by even an innocent deception, 
 had those people in the church of Jerusalem been the first 
 in authority ; for, in that case, it would have been the 
 duty of the two apostles and elders to give a full and fair 
 account of their own conduct to their superiors. 
 
 It was certainly known to St. Paul and St. James, and 
 probably to the elders, that from the moment when the 
 veil of the temple was rent in twain, the ceremonies of the 
 Mosaic law were no longer obligatory on the disciples of 
 their master. 'T'his, however, it appears, was not known 
 to the great body of Jewish Christians dwelling at Jeru 
 salem, who still continued zealous for the law as well as 
 for the faith, and strongly attached to the customs of their 
 fathers. Were men labouring under prejudices so invete- 
 rate, and in truth so inconsistent with the final object of 
 the Gospel, fit to be entrusted with sovereign power in the 
 
 timo, and judico in Latin. That it is used in that sense by St. Luke is 
 obvious, since the multitude could not know that to be false, which was 
 undoubtedly true. >1 Cor, ix, 20—28, 
 
658 THE FIRST 
 Christian church ; with authority to excommunicate un- 
 worthy members, or even with the privilege of choosing 
 their own teachers? What should we think of the con- 
 stitution of a great school, in which the sovereign power 
 was committed to the scholars, with autharity to expel 
 every member whom they might deem unworthy, and 
 even to dismiss the masters, and choose teachers for them- 
 selves out of their own number? Could such a school be 
 reasonably expected to prove a seminary of learning, sci- 
 ence, virtue, or truth ? Surely not ; and yet Dr. Mosheim 
 supposes that the Christian church, founded by the Son 
 of God himself for the purpose of training up mankind in 
 the faith, piety, and virtue necessary to render them 
 “ meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
 light,” was thus constituted. "That he is in an error, no 
 man can doubt, who reflects that the doctrines to be taught 
 in the church were, till the manifestation of Christ, un- 
 known in the world, and such as human reason could 
 never have discovered; that of such doctrines half-con- 
 verted Jews and Heathens were incompetent to judge ; 
 that these doctrines were therefore revealed, not to every 
 individual in the church, but to those who were “ given 
 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the minis- 
 try, for the edifying of the body of Christ ;” and that by 
 those inspired teachers they were “ committed only to 
 faithful men, whom they (not the multitude at large) 
 judged able to teach others also.” How this was done, 
 we shall endeavour to show, when we come to give a view 
 of the rise, progress, constitution, and object of the Chris- 
 tian church, from the infallible records of the New 'Testa- 
 ment, illustrated, where they seem obscure, by primitive 
 practice ; but, before we enter on that detail, it will be pro- 
 per to analyse our author’s account of the officers or min- 
 isters of the church, and of their different privileges, about 
 which he seems to have fallen into mistakes as great as 
 those which led him to attribute the supreme authority in 
 each church to the people. 
 
 According to Dr. Mosheim, “ the rulers of the church 
 were called either presbyters or bishops, which two titles 
 are;in the New 'l'estament, undoubtedly applied to the 
 same order of men, and such as had distinguished them- 
 selves by their superior sanctity and merit. Their parti- 
 eular functions were not always the same; for, while 
 some of them confined their labours to the instruction of 
 the people, others contributed in different ways to the edi- 
 fication of the church. Among the first professors of 
 Christianity, there were few men of learning ; few who 
 had capacity enough to insinuate, into the minds of a 
 gross and ignorant. multitude, the knowledge of divine 
 things. God, therefore, in his infinite wisdom, judged it 
 necessary to raise up, in many churches, extraordinary 
 teachers, who were to discourse, in the public assemblies, 
 upon the various points of the Christian doctrine, and to 
 
 treat with the people in the name of God, as guided by his 
 direction, and clothed with his authority. Such were the 
 prophets of the New ‘Testament, an order of men which 
 ceased, when the want of teachers, which gave rise to it, 
 was abundantly supplied. 
 
 “'The church was undoubtedly provided from the be- 
 ginning with inferior ministers or deacons. No society 
 can be without its servants, and still less such societies as 
 those of the first Christians were ; and it appears not only 
 probable, but evident, that the young men, who carried 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 || away the dead bodies of Ananias and Sapphira, were the 
 
 subordinate ministers or deacons of the church of Jerusa- 
 lem, who attended the apostles to execute their orders. 
 Ali the other Christian churches followed the example of 
 that of Jerusalem, in whatever related to the choice and 
 office of the deacons. Some, particularly the eastern 
 churches, elected deaconesses, and chose, for that purpose, 
 matrons or widows of eminent sanctity, who also minis- 
 tered to the necessities of the poor, and performed several 
 other offices, that tended to the maintenance of order and 
 decency in the church. 
 
 “ Such was the constitution of the Christian church in 
 its infancy, when its assemblies were neither numerous 
 nor splendid. ‘Three or four presbyters, men of remark- 
 able piety and wisdom, ruled these small congregations in 
 perfect harmony ; nor did they stand in need of any pre- 
 sident or superior to maintain concord and order where no 
 dissensions were known. But the number of presbyters 
 and deacons increasing with that of the churches, and the 
 sacred work of the ministry growing more painful and 
 weighty, by a number of additional duties, these new 
 circumstances required new regulations. It was then 
 judged necessary that a man of distinguished gravity and 
 wisdom should preside in the council of presbyters, in or- 
 der to distribute among his colleagues their several tasks, 
 and to be a centre of union to the whole society. This 
 person was at first styled the angel of the church to which 
 he belonged, but was afterwards distinguished by the name 
 of bishop, or inspector ; a name borrowed from the Greek 
 language, and expressing the principal part of the episco- 
 pal function, which was to inspect and superintend the 
 affairs of the church. It is highly probable, that the 
 church of Jerusalem, grown considerably numerous, and 
 deprived of the ministry of the apostles, who were gone 
 to instruct the other nations, was the first which chose a 
 president or bishop; and it is no less probable, that the 
 other churches followed by degrees such a respectable ex- 
 ample. 
 
 “ A bishop, during the first and second centuries, was 
 a person who had the care of one Christian assembly, 
 which, at that time, was, generally speaking, small enough 
 to be contained in a private house. In this assembly he 
 acted, not somuch with the authority of a master, as with 
 the zeal and diligence of a faithful servant. He charged, 
 indeed, the presbyters with the performance of those duties 
 and services, which the multiplicity of his engagements 
 rendered it impossible for him to fulfil; but he had not the 
 power to decide or enact any thing without the consent 
 of the presbyters and people ; and, though the episcopal 
 office was both laborious and singularly dangerous, yet 
 its revenues were extremely small, since the church had 
 no certain income, but depended on the gifts or oblations 
 of the multitude, which were, no doubt, inconsiderable, 
 and were, moreover, to be divided between the bishop, 
 presbyters, deacons, and poor. 
 
 “'Phe power and jurisdiction of the bishops were not 
 Jong confined to these narrow limits, but soon extended 
 themselves, and that by the following means. ‘The bi- 
 shops who lived in the cities, had, either by their own mi- 
 nistry, or that of their presbyters, erected new churches in 
 the neighbouring towns and villages. ‘These churches, 
 continuing under the inspection and ministry of the bi- 
 shops, by whose labours and counsels they had been en- 
 
THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 gaged to embrace the Gospel, grew imperceptibly into ec- 
 clesiastical provinces, which the Greeks afterwards called 
 dioceses. But, as the bishop of the city could not ex- 
 tend his labours and inspection to all those churches in the 
 country and in the villages, so he appointed certain suflra- 
 gans or deputies to govern and to instruct these new soci- 
 eties ; and they were distinguished by the title of Chore- 
 piscopi, i. e. country bishops. This order held the middle 
 rank between bishops and presbyters, being inferior to the 
 former and superior to the latter.” 
 
 Such, according to our author, was the constitution of 
 the Christian church during the first century and part of 
 the second: for he affirms,” that the jurisdiction of a bishop 
 extended not over more than one Christian assembly, and 
 that the authority of the people continued supreme, until 
 the middle of the second century, when the ancient pri- 
 vileges of the people were considerably diminished, and 
 the power and authority of the bishops greatly augment- 
 ed, by councils, of which, he says, we find not the small- 
 est trace before that period. It was not, he adds,° till 
 some time after the reign of Adrian, that the Christian doc- 
 tors had the good fortune to persuade the people, that the 
 ministers of the Christian church succeeded to the charac- 
 ter, rights, and privileges of the Jewish priesthood. Then, 
 indeed, the bishops began to consider themselves as invest. 
 ed with a rank and character similar to those of the high- 
 priest among the Jews, while the presbyters represented 
 the priests, and the deacons the Levites. 
 
 In support of this detail, the author appeals not to one 
 ancient writer; and the consequence is, that the greater 
 part of it is in direct opposition to the unanimous testi- 
 mony of all antiquity. He refers, indeed, to several texts 
 in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles of St. Paul, 
 as proofs of what, we believe, has never been controvert- 
 ed—that the titles of bishop and presbyter are in the New 
 Testament indifferently applied to the same order of men. 
 He seems however to mistake when he supposes that the 
 order, to which these titles were commonly applied, consist- 
 ed of the rulers of the church ; for, though the apostles 
 sometimes call themselves elders, the order to which that 
 title as well as the title of bishop more properly belonged, 
 was evidently subordinate to the apostles, as well as to the 
 church rulers, whom he admits to have been known by 
 the appellation of angels. 
 
 That the bishops or elders of the New 'Testament were 
 subordinate to the apostles, has never been controverted ; 
 and that they were likewise subordinate to the angels of 
 the churches, appears indisputable from the charges given 
 by “him who hath the sharp sword with two edges, who 
 hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like 
 dne brass,” to the angels of the churches of Pergamos and 
 Thyatira.t These angels are described as eminent for 
 their “ good works, charity, service, steadfastness in the 
 faith, and patience;” and yet they are both severely 
 blamed, and the former threatened for suffering in their 
 respective churches false teachers, whom, if they were 
 ‘themselves nothing more than such presidents of congre- 
 gational presbyteries as Dr. Mosheim describes, it is obvi- 
 ous that they could not remove from their churches. Ac- 
 coraing to him, these presidents, afterwards called bishops, 
 were chosen by the joint suffrages of the other presbyters 
 
 * Cent. I. part ii, chap. ii. Ssinsg ys 9,11, 12,33, 
 > Cent. II, part ti. chap. ii. sect. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 thousands, 
 on; but every one doeth those things which are enjoined 
 
 659 
 
 and of the lay members of the congregation to which they 
 respectively belonged; when thus chosen, they acted in 
 their respective congregations, not with tha authority of 
 masters, but with the zeal and diligence of faithful ser- 
 
 vants ; they had not the power to “decide or enact any 
 thing without the consent of the presbyters and the peo- 
 ple, who were in every church the first in authority ; and 
 therefore the censure and threatening, for suffering false 
 teachers in the churches of Pergamos rand 'T hyatira, were 
 on his principles due, not to the ane, els of those churches, 
 but to the presby ters and people! "That the principles 
 are erroneous which infer injustice in the Son of God, Dr. 
 Mosheim would have been as ready as any man to con- 
 fess; and therefore we have not a doubt that, if, instead 
 of paying undue deference to the opinions of some of his 
 less candid countrymen, he had duly weighed in his own 
 mind the import of what the Spirit said to the seven 
 churches, he would have perceived that the angels must 
 have been of an order superior to the presbyters properly 
 so called; and that they must bave derived their superi- 
 ority from some other source than the mere choice of the 
 presbyters and people. 
 
 To the truth of this inference it is no objection, that, in 
 the New Testament, all officers in the church above the 
 order of deacons are indiscriminately called sometimes 
 bishops and sometimes presbyters. In the Old 'Testa- 
 ment, the individuals of every order of priesthood, with 
 the exception of the mere Levites, are generally styled 
 priests without any distinction; though every Jew and 
 every Christian know, that the high-priest was of an or- 
 der superior to the rest, and authorized to perform at least 
 one ministration to which none of his inferiors were com- 
 petent. 
 
 Dr. Mosheim, indeed, seems to think, that there is no 
 resemblance, and hardly any analogy between the Jewish 
 priesthood and the Christian ministry ; but this is a mis- 
 take so palpable, that a man of learning and- integrity 
 could not have fallen into it, but through ‘the influence 0. 
 some deep-rooted prejudice. In the fifth chapter of the 
 Hpistle to the Hebrews there is an evident analogy point- 
 ed out between the Jewish and Christian churches, and, 
 of course, between their respective ministers ; and the first 
 epistle of St. Clement of Rome furnishes incontrovertible 
 evidence, that long before the reign of Adrian—and even in 
 the first century,—the bishops, presbyters, and deacons, 
 were considered as invested with rank and characters 
 similar to those of the high-priest, priests, and Levites 
 among the Jews. That apostolical father, whose name, 
 we are assured by St. Paul, was in the book of life, ex- 
 postulating with the Corinthians, then in a state of schism 
 among themselves, and of sedition against the governors 
 of their church, thus reasons with them. 
 
 “Let us consider those who fight under our earthly 
 governors ; how orderly, how readily, and with what ex- 
 act obedience they perform those things which are com- 
 manded them. All are not generals, nor commanders of 
 nor centurions, nor captains of fifties, and so 
 
 him by the king, and by those officers who have the com- 
 mand over him. 'T hey who are great, cannot yet subsist 
 without those that are litle ; nor the little without the 
 
 © Sect. 4. 
 _ @Rey, chap, ii, 12—21. 
 
660 
 
 great. 
 
 these there is fitness, xenes. Let us take our own 
 
 body: the head is nothing without the feet; so neither | 
 
 are the feet of use without the head: even the smallest 
 members of our body are necessary and useful to the 
 
 therefore our whole body be saved in Christ Jesus; and 
 let every one be subject to his neighbour according to the 
 order in which he is placed by the grace given him. Let 
 not the powerful despise the weak, and let the weak reve- 
 rence the powerful. 
 
 “Seeing then that these things are manifest unto us, 
 even looking into the depths of the divine knowledge, we 
 ought to do, in order, all things which the Lord hath com- 
 manded us to do; at stated times to perform our offerings 
 and public services ; for he hath commanded them to be 
 done not rashly and disorderly, but at predetermined times 
 and hours. He hath determined also by his own supreme 
 will, where and by whom he would have them to be cele- 
 brated ; that so all things beings piously done, unto 
 all well-pleasing, they may be acceptable to his will. 
 They therefore who make their offerings at the appointed 
 seasons, are accepted and happy ; for, following the insti- 
 tuted laws (voutmors) of the Lord, they do not go astray. 
 For to the chief priest his proper services (Asiroveytas) are 
 committed ; and to the priests their proper place is ordain- 
 ed; and on the Levites their proper ministries (Jraxovsct) 
 are imposed ; and the layman is confined by the laws or- 
 dained for laymen.”® 
 
 It is impossible for an unprejudiced man to read these 
 extracts with attention, and to entertain a doubt that St. 
 Clement considered the bishops, priests, and Levites in the 
 Christian church, as succeeding to the high-priest, priests, 
 and Levites in the Jewish. Indeed, if he understood, as 
 he appears to have done, the great scheme of human re- 
 demption ; if he believed, as our church believes, that, in 
 the Old as well as in the New Testament, “everlasting life 
 is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only mediator 
 
 between God and man ;” if, with St. Paul and the inspir- | 
 
 ed author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, he considered 
 Judaism as Christianity under a veil; he must have con- 
 sidered the Jewish and Christian churches as essentially 
 
 the same, though the ministrations of the former were | 
 more carnal than those of the latter, on account of the | 
 With this view of the stupen- | 
 
 grossness of the people. 
 dous plan of redemption, it seems impossible that he, or 
 indeed any other man, could have considered the bishops, 
 presbyters, and deacons of the church, as succeeding to 
 any thing else than the rank and character of the high- 
 
 priest, priests and Levites of the temple; unless, indeed, | 
 there had been any text of Scripture plainly declaring, | 
 
 that the Jewish and Christian churches were wholly uncon- 
 nected with each other, and that the former was not intend- 
 ed to serve asa school-master to lead the descendants of 
 Abraham to Christ. Such a text as this, however, none 
 of the sons of latitude have yet pretended to discover. 
 
 It seems likewise very strange that Dr. Mosheim should | 
 have supposed that, in the church of Jerusalem, there was | 
 no fixed president over the presbyters or elders, till the dis- | 
 
 persion of the apostles; and that the jurisdiction of such 
 presidents, who were then styled angels, and afterwards 
 
 ® jrorayi| ped Yorrat. 
 
 THE FIRST 
 
 There is a certain mixture in all things, and in| 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 bishops, extended no farther, during the first and second 
 centuries, than over one Christian assembly, which was 
 generally small enough to be contained in a private house. 
 
 It has been already observed that St. James is represent- 
 
 \| ‘ 5 a 
 
 ed, with the elders about him, as bishop of Jerusalem, when 
 whole body: all conspire together, and are adapted by | 
 one subordination: to the preservation of the whole. Let, 
 
 St. Paul returned to that city, and declared what things 
 God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 
 Indeed the part which, in the New Testament, James ap- 
 
 | pears to have acted from a very early period, cannot be 
 
 accounted for on any other supposition, than that he really 
 was, what the concurring testimony of all antiquity de- 
 clares him to have been, the fixed bishop or angel of the 
 church of Jerusalem. When St. Peter was miraculously 
 deliyered from prison, and had been received into the house 
 of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, 
 (Acts xii.) he said, ‘‘ Go show these things to James and 
 to the brethren.” Why to James in particular ? and why 
 were the brethren with James rather than with John, 
 who had acted a more conspicuous part than he during 
 the life of our Lord, as well as at the first preaching of the 
 apostles after the shedding abroad of the Holy Ghost, and 
 who had not at the period of St. Peter’s deliverance, or for 
 four years afterwards, left Jerusalem? In the second 
 chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul says, 
 that “when Peter was come to Antioch, he withstood him 
 to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before 
 that certain came from James, he (Peter) did eat with the 
 Gentiles; but, when they were come, he withdrew, and 
 separated himself, fearing them who were of the circum- 
 cision.” Inthe Acts of the Apostles we have no other 
 account of persons from Judea teaching the Gentiles of 
 Antioch, that, except they should be circumcised, they 
 could not be saved, than that which is given in the fif- 
 teenth chapter ; and it is indeed highly improbable, that, 
 after the synodical decree at Jerusalem, St. Peter could 
 have acted the part of which he was accused by St. Paul, 
 or have attempted “to compel the Gentiles to live as 
 do the Jews,” contrary to the solemn decision of himself 
 and the whole church under the immediate influence of 
 the Holy Ghost. "There is therefore no room for reason- 
 able doubt that it was on the occasion mentioned in the 
 fifteenth chapter of the Acts, and some time before the 
 meeting of the council at Jerusalem, that this dissension 
 took place between those great apostles. But by St. Luke 
 the certain men, who wished to impose circumcision and 
 the other rites of the Mosaic law on the Gentile Christians 
 at Antioch, are said only to have come from Judea ; 
 whereas by St. Paul they are said to have come from 
 James. Why are certain men, who came down from 
 Judea, represented as having come from James, rather 
 than from the other apostles and elders, of whom it is evi- 
 dent, from the short history of the council, that there must 
 have been many then residing in Jerusalem. 
 
 If St. James was the proper bishop of Jerusalem, all 
 these facts, which, upon any other supposition, cannot be 
 accounted for, were perfectly natural; for, to whom was 
 it so expedient that St. Paul should give an account of 
 “ the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles 
 by his ministry,” as to the bishop and presbyters of the 
 mother church of the Hebrews? 'To what individual of 
 the church of Jerusalem should St. Peter have sent the 
 earliest account of his miraculous deliverance from prison, 
 
 > Chapters 37, 38 and 40. 
 
THE FIRST 
 
 mit to the bishop of that church? If St. James had not 
 been that bishop, is it conceivable that St. Peter would 
 have sent such welcome intelligence to him, rather than 
 to his more intimate friend and companion, St. John, who 
 was the disciple peculiarly dear to their divine Master? 
 And could any thing be more natural than for St. Paul 
 to say that certain brethren, who came to Antioch from 
 the church of Judea, came from the governor of that 
 church? This accounts likewise for St. James’s presiding 
 in the council of apostles and elders, which was holden in 
 Jerusalem, for determining the question about circumcising 
 the Gentiles ; for that he was president of that council is 
 incontrovertible, if any credit be due to the testimony of 
 antiquity, to the unanimous opinion of critics and com- 
 mentators, (a few members of the modern church of Rome 
 excepted,) or, indeed, to the obvious meaning of his words, 
 Ad éya xptva, &C. 
 
 But if James was bishop of the church of Jerusalem, 
 and if the constitutions of all other churches were framed 
 after that model, there is surely no reason to suppose that 
 even in the first century, and still less in the second, the 
 bishop or angel of any church had the care of only one 
 Christianassembly. ‘The episcopal care of James unques- 
 tionably extended over many assemblies. By the preach- 
 ing of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, after the miracu- 
 lous effusion of the Holy Ghost we are assured,* that to 
 the number of the disciples “ there were added about three 
 thousand souls.” It is indeed probable, that of these many 
 were strangers, who, after the celebration of the feast, 
 which had brought them to Jerusalem, departed from that 
 city, and returned to their respective countries. It appears, 
 however, that, soon afterwards, the number of believers 
 resident in Jerusalem amounted to five thousand; and, 
 by the time that St. Paul returned to give an account to 
 James and the elders, of what things God had done by 
 his ministry among the Gentiles, even that number had 
 greatly increased.» But ten or even five thousand men 
 could not meet for public worship, for the breaking of bread 
 and for prayers, in any private house, or any ten private 
 houses, belonging to the Christians in Jerusalem; and, 
 therefore, as James appears to have had the episcopal care 
 of them all, that care must have extended: over many 
 assemblies. 
 
 That such was the nature of episcopal jurisdiction even 
 in that age appears still more evident, if possible, from St. 
 John’s epistle, in the Apocalypse, to the seven churches in 
 Asia. "That epistle is addressed, not tara éxxrnciass ray 
 éy 71 Acre, as it probably would have been, had it been 
 intended for seven of a greater number of churches in Asia 
 Minor, but rats terra tunrnriass rats (xxanzicss) ev tn Aree, 
 to the seven churches, the churches in Asia. ‘Those 
 seven, therefore, must have been the only societies in Asia 
 Minor so organized as to be entitled to the appellation of 
 churches, at the time when St. John wrote the Apoca- 
 lypse. But is it conceivable that, in an age when “so 
 mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed,” the num- 
 ber of believers, in acountry so extensive, which had been 
 visited by different apostles and apostolical men, should, 
 in the year 96, have been so very small as to constitute 
 only seven Christian congregations? Even if this could 
 be conceived, the Christians in Asia Minor were too much 
 
 — 
 
 * Acts ii. 41. b The words of St. James in the original 
 Greek are, Ocwpirs, ddedpe, r6oat puprddes Erotv lovduiwy rav nercorevkérav, &e. 
 
 No. LVI. 
 
 APPENDIX. 661 
 scattered over the face of the country, to repair, every one, 
 for the purpose of public worship, to one or other of the 
 small oratories of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, 
 Sardes, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. From the Acts of 
 the Apostles, and the Epistles of St. Paul, we know that, 
 long before the writing of the Apocalypse, there were 
 believers in various provinces and towns of Asia Minor, 
 and even regular churches in the province of Galatia and 
 the city of Colosse; but it seems evident, from the man- 
 ner in which St. John expresses himself, that, before the 
 year 96, “the candlesticks of Galatia and Colosse,” to use 
 the apostle’s language, “had been removed out of their 
 places.” '‘his indeed can excite no wonder, when we 
 reflect that every where the churches were in that age 
 beset by persecution without, and by heresies within; that 
 the churches of the Galatians appear to have been ex- 
 ceedingly corrupt, even when St. Paul wrote his Fipistle 
 to them; and that the city of Colosse was destroyed by 
 an earthquake during the reign of Nero, and, if ever 
 rebuilt, certainly not when the Apocalypse was written. It 
 is not however to be supposed that there were then no 
 Christians in Galatia or the neighbourhood of Colosse, or 
 that those Christians did not meet regularly in different 
 congregations for “ the breaking of bread and for prayers.” 
 ‘Tbe only inferences that can be drawn, are, that those 
 assemblies did not constitute what St. John called churches, 
 and that they, with their presbyters and deacons, were 
 under the temporary inspection either of the apostle him- 
 self, or of some of the angels of the seven churches, of 
 which he speaks as the only churches then in Asia. 
 
 That the jurisdiction of Timothy and 'Titus extended 
 over more than one Christian assembly at Ephesus and 
 in Crete; that by the apostle they were invested with 
 authority over the presbyters as well as people of those 
 assemblies ; and that to them an exclusive right was given 
 to ordain elders or presbyters in every city under their 
 jurisdiction ; are facts which no man has ventured to 
 deny, and which no man can deny, who has read St. 
 Paul’s epistles to ‘Timothy and Titus, and at the same time 
 possesses common sense and honesty. Attempts have 
 indeed been made to get rid of the inference from these 
 facts, by representing the extensive authority with which 
 Timothy and Titus were entrusted, as the authority, not 
 of fixed governors of the churches over which they were 
 to preside, but of H’vangelists! This, however, cannot 
 be admitted. We are not aware of a single instance in 
 the New ‘Testament, where an evangelist, as such, is 
 represented as ordaining elders or even deacons; and it is 
 certain that Timothy and Titus neither acted nor could act 
 as evangelists at Ephesus or in Crete, except in a sense 
 which, under that denomination, includes elders. 
 
 The word evangelist is unquestionably derived from 
 the verb évayyeaGw, which, according to an able critic: not 
 prejudiced in behalf of a hierarchy, “relates to the first 
 intimation that is given to a person or people, that is, when 
 the subject may be properly called good news. ‘Thus, in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, it is frequently used for the first 
 publication of the Gospel in a city or village, or amongst 
 a particular people.” But if this be essential to the radical 
 
 import of the verb, of which indeed there can be no doubt, 
 then it follows that an evafigelist, considered as a distinct 
 
 | You see, brother, how many myriads there are of Jews who believe. &c. 
 
 ° Dr. Campbell of Aberdeen. 
 
662 
 
 character, could only be one, whether apostle, elder, dea- 
 con, or layman, who first carried the glad tidings of the 
 Gospel to an individual or a people. Hence it is, that of the 
 seven deacons not one is called an evangelist but Philip, 
 becat.se, though Stephen preached the Gospel as well and 
 as ably as he, Philip is the only one of the number men- 
 tioned by St. Luke as having carried the glad tidings of 
 the Gospel beyond the limits of Judea, within which these 
 tidings were first told by Christ and his apostles. Hence 
 too it follows, that those, whom St. Paul says that Christ, 
 after his ascension, “ gave as evangelists for the work of 
 the ministry,” must have been men miraculously inspired 
 with the knowledge of the Gospel, which cannot be said 
 of ‘Timothy or of Titus, and impelled by the same heavenly 
 influence to communicate that knowledge to those towhom 
 it was new., But in this sense 'T imothy and 'Litus 
 could not be evangelists to the churches of Ephesus and 
 Crete, because St. Paul himself had preached the Gospel 
 in those churches before them, and had even ordained 
 presbyters in the church of Ephesus. 
 
 It has indeed been said that edayyearZouar is occasionally 
 used in the same sense with didecxm. If we grant this 
 for the sake of argument, though we are not aware of a 
 single instance in which one of these verbs could be 
 properly substituted for the other, still we must observe, 
 that the character of an evangelist, in this sense of the 
 word, could give to ‘Timothy no su periority over the elders 
 of Ephesus, who were deachers as well as he, and enjoined 
 by the apostle to “ feed the church of God, which he had 
 purchased with his own blood.” ‘Timothy was indeed 
 exhorted by St. Paul to “do the work of an evangelist” at 
 Ephesus; but the elders were in duty bound, as well as 
 he, to do the work of evangelists; for in Ephesus there 
 were then many people who had not heard of the Gospel, 
 which every minister of Christ is bound, as he has oppor- 
 tunity, to propagate among the heathens as well as to 
 preach among Christians. ‘Timothy was likewise ex- 
 horted, in the very same verse, to “accomplish his deacon- 
 ship’—ray draxoviay cov mAngoPopnrov; but it would surely 
 be absurd to infer from such an exhortation that the over- 
 seer of the presbyters and people of Ephesus was himself 
 nothing more than a deacon. 
 
 If it be thus evident that the bishops known in the first | 
 century by the titles of apostles or angels of the churches 
 presided each over more than one Christian assembly, we 
 need not pursue the argument through the second and 
 third centuries, since it is on all hands agreed, that the 
 powers of the bishops were not diminished as the bounda- 
 ries of the church were enlarged. This would have been 
 extremely absurd; though we see no evidence that, during 
 the second and third centuries, the bishops in general either 
 claimed or had the smallest inducement to claim any power 
 or pre-eminence which they possessed not in the first. 
 What the hierarchy was in the beginning of the second 
 century is apparent from the epistles of Ignatius, and from 
 the fragments of other primitive writers preserved by 
 Eusebius, whilst the canons commonly called apostolical, 
 with the writings of St. Cyprian and other fathers of the 
 church, define the powers and privileges of each of the 
 
 ® Tac év rats KOPALS, ) rats yapats, Wj Tes kadspéves Nwoettoxdras, E Kat 
 xetpobeciay sev éxtoxdrov éidngorss, Edole rit aya cvvdds eidévat ra Lavray 
 pérpa, kat Ototxéty ras broxetpivas adrots éxkAnoias, kal TH TeTwY dokétcbat ppov- 
 ride Kat xndepovia, Ka0icray dé dvayveoras, Kat inodtakdvss, Kai émopKioras, Kai 
 
 7 Tétwy dpxiicbat mpoaywyn, pire dé mosoBorepov, pire dlakovoy yetporoviw 
 
 THE FIRST APPENDIX 
 
 three orders in the third century in terms which cannot be 
 mistaken. From these canons and writings it appears 
 evident, that no bishop in that century, with the exception 
 perhaps of Victor and Stephen, bishops of Rome, arrogated 
 to himself any authority which was not committed to the 
 angels of the Asiatic churches, and which Timothy and 
 ‘Titus were not enjoined to exercise in the churches of 
 Ephesus and Crete. 
 
 The only thing else, in Dr. Mosheim’s view of the 
 constitution of the primitive church, which calls for ani- 
 madversion, is the account which he gives of the origin of 
 chorepiscop?, and of deacons in the church of Jerusalem, 
 before the ordination of the seven recorded in the sixth 
 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 ‘There is no evidence of chorepiscopi being any where 
 established in the first or second century, or in the begin- 
 ning of the third. ‘They are not mentioned in the apos- 
 tolical canons, nor in the writings of Clement of Rome, 
 Ignatius of Antioch, or even St. Cyprian. ‘The first 
 council that takes any notice of them is that of Ancyra, 
 holden in 315, which prohibits them from ordaining 
 priests and deacons. ‘They are mentioned by the great 
 council of Nice, which provides the place of a village-bishop 
 or chorepiscopus for such of the Novatian bishopsas should 
 abjure their schism, and be reconciled to the catholic 
 church. But the fullest, as well as the most accurate and at 
 the same time concise account, that is perhaps any where 
 extant of the chorepiscop?, is in the tenth canon of the 
 Synod of Antioch, holden in the year 341, which decrees, 
 
 “That village-bishops, though they have received epis- 
 copal ordination, shall yet keep within their bounds, and 
 administer the affairs of the churches subject to them, and 
 be content with the management of them, and ordain 
 readers, and sub-deacons, "and exorcists, and content 
 themselves with the power of promoting men to these 
 offices, and not dare to ordain a priest or deacon, without 
 the consent of the bishop of the city to which they them- 
 selves and their districts are subject; and, if any one dare 
 to transgress, what has now been determined, he shall be 
 deprived of the honour which he has. A village-bishop 
 is made by the bishop of the city to which he is subject.” 
 
 From this canon it is evident that the chorepiscopt 
 were bishops regularly ordained ; that they were chosen 
 or nominated by the city-bishop, or diocesan, to take upon 
 
 them part of his labour, and were in all things to be direct- 
 -ed by him, when their duty was not expressly pointed 
 
 out by any canon. ‘They seem to have been introduced 
 
 ‘into the church toward the end of the third century, when 
 
 the extent of some dioceses, the poverty of the bishops, 
 and the occasional severity of persecution, rendered it 
 difficult, if not impossible, for the diocesan to perform, as 
 often as was proper, the various duties of his function ; 
 but those village-bishops appear to have sometimes acted 
 very irregularly, by multiplying without reason the num- 
 ber of the inferior clergy, and therefore were soon laid 
 aside. hey were indeed retained for some time aftcr the 
 danger of persecution was over, and when the revenues of 
 the city-bishop enabled him, without inconvenience, to visit 
 every church under his jurisdiction ; but, in 367, it was 
 ToApdy, diya rs tv tn Twodet éxtoxdrs, n bréxewwrat dutds TéE Katy Xwpa. Ei & 
 ToApnoetsy TLS rapafivat TH opia0é SyTa, kaJaroecOat avrov, ns werévet Tiunse 
 
 Xwpericxomoy dt yivecbac b vmO 78 TIS ect ” broKetrat, émioxo7é. 
 
 >See the Canons of St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, 
 canon 90. 
 
 ? 
 
THE FIRST 
 
 decreed by the council of Laodicea, that no more village- ' 
 
 bishops or chorepiscopi should be ordained. 
 
 Though we see no evidence whatever that the young 
 men, who carried away the dead bodies of Ananias and 
 Sapphira, were such ministers of the church of Jerusalem, 
 as Stephen and Philip and the other five, who were ordain 
 ed at the same time with them by the apostles; yet we 
 readily admit that the words ve@repos and veavirxo: may sig- 
 nify the inferior ministers of the church, as well as the word 
 mperSurepot signifies those of a higher order: we even read- 
 ily adopt Dr. Mosheim’s opinion, that the words “(Zev and 
 vedreBos (St. Luke xxii. 26.) ve@repos and wperBurepors (1 
 Peter v. 5.) relate to offices and not to age, and that vearepos 
 may, in both these texts, mean those ministers of the 
 church, who from the beginning have been known by the 
 designation of deacons: but it does not therefore follow 
 that the young men, who carried out the dead bodies of 
 Ananias and Sapphira, were likewise deacons in the eccle- 
 siastical sense of the word. 
 
 Among the Jews, every person who touched a dead 
 body was hereby rendered unclean ; and it is not very 
 probable that St. Peter would wantonly give offence to 
 that people, by ordering the ministers of the religion 
 which it was his duty to preach, but against which he 
 knew them to entertain the most inveterate prejudices, to 
 render themselves unclean by doing what the door-keepers 
 could have done as well as they. ‘The young men who 
 were employed to carry away the dead bodies, may indeed 
 have been dséxever in the sense of menial servants of the in- 
 fant church ; but, in the Acts of the Apostles, there is not 
 the slightest allusion to ordained deacons until we come 
 to the sixth chapter, which gives so full an account of the 
 ordination of the seven. Accordingly an ancient com- 
 mentator, whose testimony, respecting a matter of fact, is 
 surely entitled to greater credit than the mere conjecture 
 of the most learned modern, says expressly, when speak- 
 ing of the conversion and baptism of Cornelius the centu- 
 rion,—Adhuc enim preter septem diaconos nullus fuit 
 ordinatus. . 
 
 The difficulty in ascertaining the original constitution 
 of the church is indeed greater than he can easily con- 
 ceive, who has not attended to the power of prejudice. 
 ‘The controversies on the subject have been so acrimoni- 
 ous, and the tendency to confound Christianity with a 
 mere system of what is called natural religion, is in the 
 present age so very prevalent, that few men have brought, 
 to the inquiry, minds so completely divested of preposses- 
 sion, as to be capable of judging impartially. The truth 
 may be detailed in the Scriptures with sufficient clearness; 
 but we all study those writings under a bias, more or less 
 powerful, in favour of the party to which we belong; 
 and that bias, especially if we have ourselves been engag- 
 ed in controversy, is very apt to prevent us from secing 
 what is written even as with a sun-beam. We may be 
 ambitious of making discoveries in theology, and of be- 
 coming the founders of new sects; and such ambition 
 must necessarily impel us to differ as much as possible 
 from the luminaries of antiquity, that we may display the 
 vigour of our own minds, and our superiority to what we 
 are pleased to call prejudice: or we may be so attached to 
 antiquity as to consider every practice and every rite of the 
 primitive church, as of perpetual obligation, not distin- 
 
 * Hilar. in Eph. cap. iv. 
 
 APPENDIX. 663 
 guishing between what was deemed essential, and what 
 was even then considered as only expedient, in conse- 
 quence of the circumstances in which the church was 
 placed. 
 
 'T’o avoid as much as possiblethe errors which flow from 
 these sources, it will be proper to trace the progress of the 
 Gospel from the first preaching of John the Baptist, to the 
 completion of the canon of the New Testament ascertain- 
 ing, as we proceed, the import of the principle doctrines 
 preached, as well as the offices and authority of the several 
 preachers ; and pointing out at the same time the privi- 
 leges of the people. As all parties appeal to Scripture in 
 support of their own opinions and systems, it would be 
 fortunate if men could agree on some rule, by which 
 Scripture, where it appears obscure, should be interpreted : 
 and the constitution of the church being a matter of fact 
 obvious to all mankind, it seems not difficult to find the 
 rule, by which whatever relates to it may be interpreted 
 with little danger of mistake. If the principles of the per- 
 sons, to whom the writings which compose the New Tes- 
 tament were immediately addressed, can be ascertained, 
 it will be easy, in cases of any importance, to discover 
 how those writings should themselves be understood ; and 
 with respect to matters of fact, there can be no doubt, 
 that they who conversed with the apostles, perfectly un- 
 derstood their meaning. Indeed, as long as the pastors of 
 the Christian church had no worldly ambition to gratify, 
 
 | by bringing themselves into public notice; as long as 
 
 pre-eminence among them led not to opulence and power, 
 but to poverty, persecution and death, it would be in the 
 highest degree unreasonable to question their veracity, 
 when they are giving an account of the constitution of 
 the church, as established by the apostles. Their testimo- 
 ny therefore may be safely employed, not as of authority 
 in itself, but as an authentic commentary on what is 
 taught on that subject in the sacred pages; and as such 
 only do we mean to appeal to it. 
 
 That the church, whatever be its constitution, is some- 
 thing of great importance, is unquestionable, sinée it was 
 deemed worthy of being alluded to, even by the forerun- 
 ner of our Lord. ‘The very first words on record, of the 
 venerable Baptist’s preaching, are, “repent ye, for the 
 kingdom of Heaven is at hand;” by which was un- 
 doubtedly meant the kingdom of the Messiah, or the 
 church of Christ, soon to be established instead of the 
 Jewish polity and temple. He goes on, to say, “that 
 every valley should be filled, and every mountain and 
 hill be made low; that the crooked should be made 
 straight, and the rough ways smooth; and that all flesh 
 should see the salvation of God;” and soon afterwards, 
 when he saw Jesus coming unto him, he said to the 
 multitude, “ Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away 
 the sin of the world.” 
 
 Our blessed Lord began his own preaching with the 
 very same words—* Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven 
 is at hand;” or, as St. Mark expresses it, “Jesus came into 
 Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, 
 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of 
 God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel.” Ac- 
 cording to St. Luke, “ When Jesus returned, in the power 
 of the Spirit, into Galilee, from the scene of his tempta- 
 tion, he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought 
 up; and, as his custom was, he went into the Synagogue 
 
664 
 
 THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 on the Sabbath-day, and stood up to read. And there | therefore were not prepared, at our blessed Lord’s first 
 
 was delivered to him the book of the prophet Hsaias ; 
 and, when he had opened the book, he found the place 
 where it is written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, be- 
 cause he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the 
 poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to 
 preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight 
 to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised; to 
 preach the acceptable year of the Lord ;” and this passage 
 of the prophet, he applied to himself. 
 
 No christian can be ignorant, that, in this first preach- 
 ing of our Lord and his faithful forerunner, there is at 
 least one very important truth, which was wholly un- 
 known to the Gentiles, and very little understood by the 
 generality of the Jews. It is contained in these words of 
 the Baptist—“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh 
 away the sin, (ta éuepriav) not the sins, of the world.” 
 What is the sin of the world? Evidently the transgres- 
 sion of our first parents, which brought death and many 
 other miseries on themselves, and all their posterity ; and 
 to take away these consequences of that sin, was the pur- 
 pose for which a redeemer was first promised to the fallen 
 pair, from which the “ Word, which was in the beginning 
 with God, and was God,” condescended to take upon him 
 human nature, and, with the patience of a lamb led to 
 the slaughter, to die on a cross. Controversies have been 
 agitated in the church from a very early period, concern- 
 ing the nature of that death, which was brought upon 
 the human race by the fall of our first parents. This 1s 
 not a proper place for discussing such topics ; but, what- 
 ever more may be included in the signification of the 
 words FQN MID, it isevident from the whole scope of 
 the Christian revelation, that the death incurred by the first 
 transgression was absolute, without any reason to hope 
 for a resurrection from the dead, but through the interpo- 
 sition of that seed of the woman, which was to bruise the 
 head of the serpent. 
 
 Our Saviour says expressly —“ I am the resurrection 
 and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were 
 dead, yet shall live; and whosoever liveth, and believeth 
 in me, shall never die :” and, in another place, he says, 
 “Tam he that liveth and was dead: and behold, I am 
 alive for evermore ; and have the keys of hell (hades) and 
 death.” In perfect conformity with this, St. Paul taught 
 the Corinthians, and, through them, the whole Christian 
 world, that “ Christ is risen from the dead, and become 
 the first fruits of them that slept ; for, since by man came 
 death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead : 
 and, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive.” ‘That these salutary truths were not wholly 
 unknown to the ancient prophets, and such other Israelites 
 as could look through the shadows of the law to the sub- 
 stance of the Gospel, is indisputable: but that they were 
 not fully comprehended by any Jew, in the days of our 
 Saviour’s sojourning on earth, is evident from a variety 
 of passages in the New ‘Testament, as well as from the 
 unquestionable fact, that the Sadducees, “who said that 
 there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit,” were 
 not only in communion with the other Jews, but capable 
 even of executing the office of high-priest. The people 
 
 * That such is the meaning of the word blind, in this passage of St. 
 Luke’s gospel, appears unquestionable, when it is compared with other 
 pore of Scripture, more especially with St. John, chap. x. 16, and 
 
 om. 11. 17, 21, 
 
 appearance, to receive these truths in all their lustre ; 
 but, as it would have been improper—and too like the 
 common practice of impostors—to conceal entirely the 
 great object of his mission even for a moment, he pro- 
 claimed in the words of the prophet Isaiah, that he was 
 sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, and ‘ deliverance 
 to the captives,’ and to ‘set at liberty them that were 
 bruised,’ which can mean nothing but deliverance from 
 the curse of death, brought on mankind when the serpent 
 bruised Adam’s heel. 
 
 As these truths are wholly discovered by revelation, 
 they could not be left to make their way in the world, 
 like the dogmas of philosophy, by the discussions of human 
 reason ; for, by the philosophers of that age, a resurrection 
 from the dead was deemed impossible. Accordingly both 
 our Lord and his forerunner declared that a kingdom 
 was at hand—even the kingdom of heaven or of God, in 
 which all obstacles to their reception were to be taken 
 away ; which should comprehend the Gentiles here called 
 the blinds and in which “ all flesh should see the sal- 
 vation of God.” 'That by the kingdom of Heaven was 
 meant the church of Christ, will be seen more clearly in 
 the sequel. At present it is sufficient to observe that, 
 though at hand, it was not yet come. 
 
 Our Saviour, however, began to lay the foundation of 
 it immediately afier his baptism, by preaching the Gospel, 
 by inviting all the Jews to become his disciples, and by 
 working miracles to prove the truth of his mission. By 
 these means he attracted many disciples, whom he bap- 
 tized, not, as John had done, in the name of “one to 
 come after him,”» but probably in general terms unto faith 
 in the Messiah, declaring that without his baptism no 
 man should enter into the kingdom of Giod* or the 
 church. Of these disciples, after continuing all night in 
 prayer to God, “he chose twelve, that they should be 
 with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 
 whom he named apostles ;”4 and some time afterwards 
 “he appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and 
 two before his face into every city and place whither he 
 himself would come.”* That the seventy were subordi- 
 nate to the twelve, and that they were all subject to their 
 divine Master, is evident from every passage in the Gos- 
 pels, in which any mention is made of these two orders 
 of ministers; and in this arrangement for laying the 
 foundation of the Christian church, there is a striking 
 resemblance to the means employed for conducting the 
 Israelites to the land of promise. 
 
 ‘The Israelites-were delivered from Egyptian slavery 
 by Moses the servant of God; the members of the 
 Christian church, who walk worthy of the vocation where- 
 with they are called, are delivered from slavery infinitely 
 more intolerable by Jesus Christ the Son of God. The 
 twelve tribes of Israel were conducted under Moses through 
 the wilderness, by twelve officers, the heads of their re- 
 spective tribes; and, on the foundation of the Christian 
 church, Christ appointed twelve apostles, who, when he 
 
 should sit on the throne of his “ Glory, should also sit on 
 twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” 
 
 And to complete the analogy, as the Lord commanded 
 
 b Acts xix. 4. 
 
 ¢ John ii. 5. 
 
 4St. Luke vi. 12, 13. 
 * St. Luke x- I? 
 
THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 Moses to gather unto him seventy men of the elders of 
 Israel, who, partaking of the spirit that was upon him, 
 should bear the burthen of the people with him ;* so 
 Christ appointed the like number of disciples to go before 
 his face to every place, whither he himself should come. 
 
 An analogy so striking could not escape the observation 
 of the apostles, after their divine Master had “ opened 
 their understandings, that they might understand the 
 Scriptures,” and perceive the close connexion between 
 the Mosaic and Christian dispensations. But, if the ana- 
 logy between what may be called the civil polity of the 
 Israelites in the wilderness,and the subordination establish- 
 ed among our Lord’s immediate followers, be thus evident, 
 the analogy between the polity of the Jewish church and 
 the same subordination is surely not less evident. 
 
 In what relates to religion, the disciples could not but 
 perceive that the station of Jesus himself resembled that 
 of the high-priest; that the twelve held a place in the 
 little flock similar to that of the priests among the Jews ; 
 and that the seventy answered to the Levites in the temple 
 service. ‘The twelve were sent out to preach the Gospel 
 to all the Jews ; to baptizee the converts to the Christian 
 faith ; and, a little before the death of their Master. they 
 ‘were authorised to administer the rite commemorative of 
 his sacrifice on the cross. ‘'T'o the seventy no other com- 
 mission was given than to go before the face of Chrisi, 
 and prepare the people for his reception, as “ the Levites 
 were given to Aaron and his sons, to wait upon the ser- 
 vice of the tabernacle of the congregation.”4 
 the twelve nor the seventy had yet power to admit a 
 single labourer into the vineyard, or to cast an individual 
 out of the flock. 
 
 The church indeed was not yet built,* though its foun- 
 dation was laid, and a model exhibited for its future 
 superstructure. As it is the purchase of Christ’s blood, 
 who gave himself for it,* the building could not be com- 
 pleted til after his resurrection from the dead, and his 
 ascension into heaven ; and therefore the apostles were 
 from the beginning intended to be the builders,: as soon 
 as they should, for that purpose, be endowed w ith power 
 from on high. It has accordingly been justly observed 
 by an eminent prelate of the church of England,® that 
 they were gradually raised to their high office in a man- 
 ner strikingly analogous to that in which their blessed 
 Master was raised to his; and that hardly any power is 
 said to have belonged to him, which he-did not delegate 
 to them, when he commissioned them to complete the work 
 which he had begun. 
 
 Although he was anointed, from his first appearance 
 in this world, to be a king, priest, and prophet, he did not 
 
 actually enter on any of those offices, until the Holy Ghost, 
 descending visibly from heaven, had anointed him to them 
 asecond time. In like manner, though at an early period 
 of his ministry he had separated the twelve from the 
 inultitude of believers, and promised even then that they 
 “should sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel,” and that “ whatsoever they should bind on 
 
 earth should be bound in heaven, and whatsoever they 
 should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven ;” they 
 
 * Nunibers xi. 16. 
 © St. John iv. 1, 2. 
 *St. Matth. xvi. 18, 19. 
 £1 Cor. iii. 10, 11. 
 
 1St. John xx. 21, 22, 23. 
 
 No. LVI. 
 
 ’St. Luke XXiv. 452 
 
 4 Numbers iii. 9. viii. 24. 
 Gal. v. 25. 
 
 b Archbishop Potter. 
 
 k St. Matth. x. 5, 6. 
 
 167 
 
 But neither | 
 
 HA5 
 
 did not actually receive this high commission, till after the 
 resurrection of their divine Master, when he appeared to 
 them saying,—* Peace be unto you; as my Father hath 
 sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said 
 this, he breathed on the *m, saying—LReceive ye the Holy 
 Ghost : whose-soever sins ye remit, they are remitted 
 unto them ; and whose-soever sins ye retain, they are 
 retained.”i 
 
 Whilst our blessed Lord sojourned on earth, he was the 
 king of the Jews only, and, as such, when he sent forth 
 the twelve to preach, he said, “ Go not into the way of 
 the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter 
 ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel.”« After his resurrection from the dead, as the limits 
 of his kingdom were extended, he extended likewise the 
 commission of his apostles; for he said unto them, “ All 
 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye 
 therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
 I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, 
 even unto the end of the world.”1 They were not how- 
 ever to enter on this great office of converting the nations, 
 and opening to them the kingdom of heaven, until they 
 should receive the promise of the Father, w hich they had 
 heard from him; for, added he, “ John truly baptized 
 with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost 
 not many days hence ;’™ alluding undoubtedly to his 
 own baptism, when the Holy Ghost visibly descended on 
 himself, as he did on them at the ensuing festival of 
 Pentecost. 
 
 Thus striking is the analogy between the manner in 
 which the man Christ Jesus was raised to his high office, 
 and that in which he raised the apostles to theirs; and 
 thus ample was the authority which he conferred on those 
 master-builders of his church. As the promise of the 
 keys of the kingdom was first made to St. Peter, he had 
 the honour to make the first converts both among the 
 Jews and the Gentiles. It was in consequence of his 
 preaching on the day of Pentecost, that three thousand 
 souls were added to the number of the disciples; and 
 then we read for the first time of a church as actually 
 built. Immediately after the effects of that preaching it 
 is said that “the Lord added to the church daily such as 
 should be saved.”" St. Peter was likewise employed to 
 open the door of the kingdom of Heaven, or the church, 
 to the Gentiles,e who, being “aliens to the commonwealth 
 of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise,” had 
 hitherto been shut out from it ; and this personal distinc- 
 tion—the reward of his heroic zeal in confessing his 
 master—is the only foundation on-which the supremacy 
 of his successors in the see of Rome is endeavoured to be 
 built, although it is obviously a distinction in which he 
 could have no successor, being indeed temporary, and 
 consisting In two single acts.» 
 
 Of these acts one was performed in Jerusalem, and in 
 that city was the first Christian church gradually organ- 
 ized ; but it was not placed under the government of St. 
 Peter, nor was it governed by the apostles in common, 
 
 1St. Matth. xxviii. 18, &e. m Acts 1. 4, 5. 
 
 » Acts ii. 14, &c. ° Acts x. 
 
 ? This has been proved by bishop Horsley, in one of his published 
 sermons, with a force of reasoning that admits no reply. See his Ser- 
 mons. 
 
666 
 
 We have already seen that he who presided over the 
 church of Jerusalem, even before the dispersion of the 
 apostles, was James, called the Lord’s brother; that under 
 him was a college of elders (we know not how many, ) 
 and subordinate to them were the seven deacons. When 
 it is said that the church of Jerusalem was not governed 
 by the apostles in common, nothing more is meant than 
 that James was its tmediate governor, or stood in a 
 relation to the elders, deacons and people of that church, 
 in which the other apostles did not stand; and of this 
 fact no man can doubt who has read without prejudice 
 the Acts of the Apostles. 'That James was ready to be 
 guided by the judgment of the apostles ; that he consulted 
 them, as Jong as he had an opportunity, in all the trials 
 to which he must have been subjected; and that he 
 occasionally enforced his own admonitions by the weight 
 of their authority, is readily granted ; but he never appears 
 in the Acts, or is mentioned in the epistles of St. Paul, 
 but as the chief governor of the church of Jerusalem, of 
 which he is called by the unanimous voice of antiquity 
 the first bishop. 
 
 Here then is one church, of which the constitution 
 was unquestionably not democratical ; and all the other 
 churches that we read of in the New ‘Testament appear 
 to have been constituted on the same model with the 
 church of Jerusalem. The apostles, in the discharge of 
 the duties of their high commission, not only preached 
 the Gospel every where, but also “ ordained presbyters or 
 elders in every church Pa and in the churches of Kphesus 
 and Philippi,® and doubtless in all the rest, they appear 
 to have ordained deacons as well as presbyters. It has 
 indeed been contended that the deacons were merely 
 trustees for the poor in matters purely secular, and there- 
 fore no order of those who have long been known in 
 every church by the denomination of the clergy ; but 
 the solemnity with which the first deacons were ordained 
 by prayer and imposition of hands, the qualifications 
 required of those who were to be ordained deacons in the 
 church of Ephesus, and the universal practice of the 
 primitive church, prove this to be a palpable mistake. 
 To distribute the public charity has indeed been one part 
 of the deacon’s 
 where a legal establishment was not made for the support 
 of the poor ; and it was that part of the office which gave 
 rise to the order at the particular time at which it was 
 instituted ; but that the office included something more— 
 and that the seven were, in the language of antiquity, 
 Osexovor Asryou—ministers of the word, as ‘Well as pier 
 zpameCov—miinisters of the tables,—is evident from every 
 thing that we read of deacons in ‘the New Testament. 
 
 It has been already observed that in the churches of 
 Eiphesus, Crete, and Asia Minor, as well asin the church 
 
 of Jerusalem, there were officers of a higher order than | 
 
 the presbyters; and to these officers alone belonged the 
 
 right to ordain the presbyters and deacons; to exhort | 
 
 them to the due discharge of their respective duties ; to 
 
 reprove them for their faults,« and by consequence to degrade |, 
 
 them from their offices when no longer worthy of them. 
 If Timothy and ‘Titus had not been invested with all 
 
 office in all ages, and inevery church | 
 
 this authority, the admonitions of St. Paul to them would | 
 
 been different from what we find them in his 
 
 surely have 
 
 ~ 
 
 * Acts xiv. 23. b1 Philip, 1. 1; and 1 Tim. 11.8. 
 * See the Epistles to Timothy and Titus passim. 
 
 THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 three epistles. ‘Timothy is particularly instructed in the 
 qualifications requisite for presbyters and deacons ; cau- 
 tioned against laying hands suddenly on any man, lest 
 he should be partaker of other mens sins; and directed 
 how to receive accusations against presbyters ; but, if the 
 supreme power in the church of Iiphesus had been vested 
 in the people, or if the presbyters had shared equally with 
 ‘Timothy authority to ordain and reprove each other, such 
 instructions as these to any individual would have been 
 palpably absurd. It would likewise have been absurd to 
 appoint Titus to ordain presbyters in every city of Crete, 
 and after the first and second admonition to reject heretics , 
 for, if it had belonged to the office of a presbyter to ordain, 
 and finally to judge of heresies, the presbyter first or dained 
 by him, might, ea officio, and with the aid of the people. 
 have either supported or resisted him in the discharge of 
 these duties. 
 
 The governors of churches, to whom the presbyters 
 as well as people were thus subject, appear, as Dr. Mosheim 
 acknowledges, to have been generally called, during the 
 first century, the angels or apostles of their respective 
 churches. Such a governor certainly was Epaphroditus, 
 styled by St. Paul his « brother, and companion in labour, 
 and fellow-soldier; but the apostle of the church of Phi: 
 lippi,” and therefore to be “holden by the Philippians in 
 reputation.”4 Such likewise were Sosthenes and Sylva- 
 nus, whom he so frequently associates with himself as 
 his partners, fellow-helpers and brethren ; and such were 
 those brethren whom he calls é&xorrodce éxxanoidy, doze 
 Xptrrod—* apostles of the churches, the glory of Christ.” 
 
 Doubtless there were presbyters ordained in some places, 
 where no men were sufficiently qualified for the govern- 
 ment of the infant church; and the care of such churches 
 was retained by the apostle by whom they were founded, 
 until some persons could be found to whom the immediate 
 inspection both of the presbyters and the people might be 
 safely entrusted. Hence it is that St. Paul, when enu- 
 merating his labours and sufferings for the promotion of 
 the Gospel, expressly mentions, as one of those labours 
 
 | which came upon him daily—‘ the care ofall the churches 
 
 which he had planted.” It is however evident that each 
 church was, as soon as possible, placed under the super- 
 intendance of an apostle or angel of its own, that the 
 twelve, with St. Paul and Barnabas, might be as little as 
 possible interrupted in their glorious career of converting 
 all nations ; but it does not appear that in-the appointment 
 
 | of these angels or secondary aposiles, or indeed of the 
 
 presbyters, the people were, in the first century, so much 
 as consulted. Paul and Barnabas ordained elders or 
 presbyters in every church which they planted; but St. 
 Paul himself assures us that the presbyters so or dained in 
 the church of Ephesus, ‘‘ were made overseers of the flock 
 (not by the people but) by the Holy Ghost, to feed the 
 church of God, which he hath purchased with his own 
 blood.”* He likewise informs us that God, and not the 
 people, had set, in the church, governments and governors 
 of different orders, of which the apostles were the first ;¢ 
 that there were in the church of Thessalonica those He 
 as the people were exhorted to ‘now them, as well as 
 esteem them very highly for their work’s sake, could not 
 | have been appointed by those people themselves to “labour 
 
 4 Philip. ii. 25, 29. 
 f Acts xx. 28. 
 
 ¢2 Cor. viii. 23. 
 
 £1 Cor. xii. 28, and Eph. iv. 11, 12, 
 
THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 among them, and be over them in the Lord,”* and that 
 in all churches there are overseers, whom the people are 
 bound to “obey as those who have the rule over them, 
 and to submit themselves as to those who watch for their 
 souls.”° 
 
 Who those rulers were, it is not difficult to discover. 
 We have seen that, in every completely organized church 
 mentioned in the New ‘Testament, there were three orders 
 of men, who, each in his station, laboured in the word 
 and doctrine. Of these the lowest order was that of dea- 
 cons, who appear, from the conduct of Stephen and Philip, 
 to have preached and occasionally administered the sacra- 
 ment of baptism. Superior to the deacons was the order 
 of presbyters, often called bishops, whose duty it was to 
 feed the flock of Christ, by preaching the word, and 
 administering both the sacraments ; and over both these 
 orders we find a president, who is generally called in the 
 New ‘Testament the angel or apostle of the particular 
 church over which he presided; whose pastoral care 
 extended over more than one congregation; to whom 
 alone belonged the privilege of ordaining presbyters and 
 deacons ; who was himself always ordained by apostolic 
 hands; and who alone could finally cut off unworthy 
 Christians from the communion of the church. 
 
 It has been often said that the apostles neither had nor 
 could have successors, and that therefore the elders, 
 all admit to be often called bishops in the New Testament, 
 are the highest order of ministers intended to continue in 
 the church of Christ. This, however, is said, not only 
 without authority, but in dir ect contradiction to the plain- 
 est testimony of Scripture, and the consequent practice of 
 all antiquity. It was to the apostles alone, and not to the 
 multitude of believers, or even to the seventy, that our 
 blessed Lord said, “ Go ye and teach all nations.” It was 
 to them alone that he gave the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, saying, “whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall 
 be bound in “heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on 
 earth, shall be loosed in heaven :” and the apostles alone 
 were sent by him, as his Father had sent him, with 
 authority to govern that kingdom which he had purchased 
 with his own blood. As he knew all things, he was fully 
 aware that the apostles were mortal, and that, i in fact, none 
 of them would long survive the approaching destruction 
 of Jerusalem. It could not therefore be with themselves 
 personally, but with their successors in office from age to 
 age, that he was to be always even to the end of the world. 
 The church, which he every where calls his kingdom, 
 and which he declared to Pilate was not to be of this world, 
 was founded by himself, and built by his apostles acting 
 under his authority ; and its privileges whatever they may 
 be, are derived wholly from him. No man could be 
 admitted into the church, or cast out of it, but by the 
 authority which he conferred on the apostles for these pur- 
 poses ; and therefore, if they were to have no successors, 
 the church must have been swept from the face of the 
 earth, almost as soon as that ritual service, which was 
 established among the Jews, merely as preparatory to it. 
 After the death of St. John, no man could either have 
 been received into the church, or cast out of it; and the 
 church itself must have perished with that generation. 
 Yet Christ himself solemnly promised, that “against the 
 church to be built on the faith confessed by St. Peter, the 
 
 *1 Thess. v. 12, 13. 
 
 whom | 
 
 667 
 
 | gates of hell—-xbaa: 2Jov—the gates of death, or of the 
 
 receptacle of the dead—should never prevail ;” for he 
 well knew, that the perpetuity of the church is necessary 
 to the perpetuity of the faith. 
 
 ‘There are indeed men of some learning, who seem to 
 think otherwise; who profess great regard for the doctrmes 
 and morality of the Gospel; but who raise hideous out- 
 cries against every claim to any other authority in the 
 church of C hrist, than what is exercised in literary clubs, 
 or philosophical societies. But what must have been the 
 consequence to the faith, if, on the death of the apostles 
 and other inspired preachers of the Gospel, all ecclesiastical 
 authority had. ceased, or devolved on the multitude at 
 large? With the Old and New ‘Testaments in their 
 hands, could the rabble have maintained the purity of the 
 faith? Could they have discovered, even from those 
 Writings, the consequences of the first. transgression ; the 
 necessity of a redeemer to fallen man; or the nature sand 
 extent of the redemption wrought for him? Could they 
 have discovered the necessity of divine aid to enable us to 
 work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, or 
 have guarded that doctrine, supposing it discovered, from 
 the opposite and dangerous extremes, to which it is too often 
 carried even by learned ministers of the church? Could 
 such men have preserved in purity the doctrine of one God 
 in three persons; or would they not rather have immedi- 
 ately relapsed into the polytheism and idolatry, with which, 
 as they had themselves but lately emerged from it, they 
 were still surrounded? Would they have long maintained 
 the resurrection of the dead, and a general judgment, 
 against the sophisms of those philosophers, who considered 
 the body as the prison of the soul, who thought a resur- 
 rection of the dead impossible even to omnipotence, and 
 who taught, either that the gods could not be offended 
 with men, or that the human soul is no subject either of 
 reward or of punishment; being in fact a portion of zo éy, 
 or the soul of the world, im which it was finally to be re- 
 absorbed. 
 
 Even the morality of the Gospel, so justly admired, 
 would, if left to the guardianship of the people at large, 
 have been as liable to corruption as its peculiar doctrines. 
 From the epistles of St. Paul, as well as from the philoso- 
 phers, satirists, and profane historians of the age, it appears 
 that the morals of the heathen world, at the “period when 
 the Gospel was first preached to all nations, were sunk toa 
 state of the lowest depravity ; that the sensual appetites of 
 our nature were indulged to the utmost excess ; that some 
 of those, who were converted to the faith, had themselves, 
 in their unregenerated state, given way to every inordinate 
 affection ; and that vices, not even to be named among: 
 Christians, were countenanced by the teaching, if not the 
 practice, even of some of the philosophers. Had the mul- 
 titude been left, each to interpret the scriptures for himself; 
 had they been left without control, to choose their own 
 teachers and governors; had the power of the /eys, or 
 the supreme authority in the church, been committed to 
 them, is it not probable—is it not, indeed, morally certain, 
 that they would soon have relapsed into their former 
 courses, “as the dog turns to his vomit again, and the sow 
 that is washed to her wallowing in the mire ?” 
 
 Although all the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, 
 which are essential to salvation, are easily understood by 
 
 b Heb. xii. 17. 
 
663 
 
 candour, combined with attention, yet some of them, such 
 as St. Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith for instance, 
 are very liable to be misapprehended, where either candour 
 or attention is wanting. But candour and attention are not 
 to be looked for in ignorant and illiterate men, when they 
 are under the dominion of corrupt habits, or are impelled 
 by the strongest propensities of our animal nature; and 
 therefore such men, and the teachers chosen by such men, 
 may be expected to interpret that doctrine so as to make 
 it encourage their “continuance in sin that grace may 
 abound,” and enable them to reconcile their impure prac- 
 tices with. their profession of Christianity. ‘his is not a 
 mere kypothesis formed for the sake of argument. It is a 
 fact well known to ecclesiastical historians, and occasion- 
 ally pointed out by our author, that some of the ancient 
 sects, who renounced the communion of the regularchurch, 
 taught that Christ hath set men free, not only from the 
 ritual law of Moses, but even from the obligations of mora- 
 lity ; and there is reason to suspect that some of the mob- 
 commissioned teachers of the present age, acquire their 
 popularity by the same execrable doctrine. 
 
 All this was well known to Christ, who therefore estab- 
 lished a society or church in the world, to be “ the pillar 
 and ground of his truth,”* and the guardian of the morals 
 of his disciples. 'T'o that society are confined all the privi- 
 leges of the Gospel ;> men are to be admitted into it only 
 by baptism ;° he who, when the Gospel has been fully 
 preached to him, refuses to be baptized, has no claim, by the 
 Christian covenant, to salvation ;4 and he who submits not 
 to the discipline of the church, is in the state of a heathen 
 man ora publican.e But we have seen that the apostles 
 alone had received authority to admit into the church, or 
 cast out of it; and that therefore the apostolical order must 
 be continued by succession from those, who were originally 
 raised to that order by the divine head of the church, even 
 to the end of the world. — Accordingly St. Paul speaks of 
 apostles ordained by menf in his time, of whom Epaphro- 
 ditus appears to have been one, as Barnabas certainly was 
 another, and warns the Corinthians against false apostles ;s 
 whilst our blessed Lord, by the pen of St. John, makes 
 express mention of some, who “ said they were apostles, 
 and were not, but were found liars.”* Nothing of all this 
 could have happened, if it had been understood, that the 
 primary apostles were to have no successors; for the twelve 
 with St. Paul were all, except St. John, dead some time 
 before the false apostles were detected by the angel of the 
 church of Ephesus ; and, had they been alive, they must 
 have been too well known for the most impudent liars 
 then existing, to personate them in a church which had 
 been founded by St. Paul, and so lately governed by his 
 son ‘Timothy. 
 
 The case appears to have been as Theodoret and others 
 expressly represent it—“ 'That those now called bishops 
 were anciently called apostles ; but in process of time the 
 name of spostle was left to them who were truly apostles 
 (viz. the twelve and St. Paul ;) and the name of bishop 
 
 *1 Tim. iii. 15 b Acts ii. 47. Luke xviii. 18. 
 
 ¢ St. Matth. xxvui. 19. a St. Mark xvi. 16. 
 ¢St. Matth. xvii. 17, 18. f Gal.i. 1. 
 £0 Cor xiebo: h Rev. ii. 2. 
 
 iTovs de vv kadovpevovs értaxrmovs drocrodovs wvopatov, tov de x povOD 
 mootovros To pev TNS dtooTOANS dvopa Tots dAnOws drooTodoLS KaTEdtTOY THY dE 
 TS émiskomns mTovcnyoptay Tots mahat Kadovpevors amoarvdots éne0ecav, &e, 
 Theod. in Tim. cap. 3. He repeats the same thing, Com. in Phil. i. if 
 and ii. 25. The priker under the name of Ambrose, generally believed 
 
 THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 was restrained to those who were anciently called apostles. 
 Thus Epaphroditus was the apostle of the Philippians, 
 Titus of the Cretans, and Timothy of the Asiatics.”i This 
 change of the denomination of the highest order of eccle- 
 siastics, from apostle to bishop, seems to have been made 
 about the beginning of the second century, soon after the 
 death of St. John, and probably gave occasion to Ignatius 
 to insist so much on the obedience due to the bishops, lest 
 the churches, to which his epistles were addressed, should 
 imagine that the authority of their chief pastors had been 
 diminished by the change of their designation. That 
 change, however, appears not to have been strictly attend- 
 
 _ed to, for several centuries, by those who had occasion to 
 
 write of the immediate successors of the apostles in parti- 
 cular churches ; for Clement, bishop of Rome, is by Cle- 
 ment of Alexandria, called* Aworroaes Kanunys, and Jena- 
 tius, one of the first bishops of Antioch, is by Chrysostom! 
 styled GMOTTOACS xh ERITKO®OS, 
 
 Thus then it appears that the constitution of the church, 
 in the first century, was episcopal in the diocesan sense of 
 that word ; that the bishop was the chief pastor of a greater 
 or less number of congregations, according to the extent 
 of his diocese; that though both presbyters and deacons 
 preached and administered the sacrament of baptism, and 
 the former the Lord’s supper, they could perform no eccle 
 siastical office, but by authority derived from the bishop ;= 
 that the people had no such authority in the church, as 
 Dr. Mosheim supposes; and that neither the presbyters, 
 
 ‘nor people, nor both united, could excommunicate any 
 
 person, or cast him entirely out of the church, but by the 
 
 sentence of the bishop. It does not however appear that for 
 several centuries a bishop’s diocese, or the tract of country 
 over which his pastoral care extended, was every where di- 
 vided into what we now call parishes, each with its resident 
 pastor. On the contrary, this division became not general 
 before the fifth century, and seems not to have been made 
 in England previous to the seventh. It is indeed hardly 
 supposable that in the first century the Christians had any 
 buildings wholly set apart for the service of the church. 
 During that period, the probability is that the bishop, with 
 one or two inferior clergymen to assist him, convened part 
 of his flock in his own or some other house ; that the 
 presbyters were sent by him to other private houses, where 
 in different divisions, the remainder of the flock assembled 
 themselves together, for the breaking of bread and for 
 prayer; and it is certain, that, when the presbyters re- 
 turned to their bishops, they delivered, each into the com- 
 mon stock of the church, the oblations which had been made 
 by their respective congregations. When the number of 
 Christians every where incr eased, presbyters appear indeed, 
 even during the era of persecution, to have been stationed 
 in a suburb, or in the country-region of the bishop’s dio- 
 cese; but even then the oblations of the people were all 
 delivered into the common stock of the mother-church, 
 and there distributed into shares, for the maintenance of 
 the bishop, for the support of the clergy under him, for 
 
 to be Hilary the deacon, asserts that all bishops were at first called 
 apostles, and that it was to distinguish himself from such apostles, that 
 St. Paul called himself an “ apostle, not of men, neither by men, but 
 by Jesus Christ and God the Father.” Ambros, Com. in Eph. iv. and in 
 Gal. i. 1. 
 
 x Strom. lib. 4. 1Encom. Ign. 
 
 mM ndcis NXwpts Tov émiokérov Tt mpacaira TOY dynkévrev ég THVv ExKANCIAV..1000 
 évk é&ov éoru, xX wpis Tod émtaxdrov, OvTE Barrivety, obre dydmny movéty’ GAA, 8 ds 
 éxstvos doxtpdon, rovro xii ro Ocw évipeorov. Ignatii Epist. ad Smyrn. cap. 8, 
 
THE FIRST APPENDIX. 
 
 assisting the poor and strangers, and for purchasing what- 
 ever was necessary for the public service of the church. 
 Afier the empire became Christian, what we now call 
 parish churches were built, and endowed, sometimes by 
 the public, and more frequently by opulent individuals ; 
 and hence the origin of patronage, or the right granted 
 to individuals, to present their own clerks to the churches 
 which they had endowed. 'This practice seems to have 
 become general about the year 500, as there are two laws 
 by Justinian of that date, authorizing and confirming it ; 
 but even then no clerk could be presented without the 
 concurrence of the bishop wader whom he was to minister, 
 nor be supported by any patron against the censures of his 
 diocesan, when so unhappy as to have incurred them. 
 
 In the first and second centuries there seems to have 
 been a perfect equality of rank among the several bishops 
 of the church, he presiding in provincial synods, in whose 
 diocese the synod was holden. ‘Thus, though St. Peter 
 certainly took place of St. James in the college of the 
 
 -Apostles, St James appears to have presided in the first 
 council, because it took place in Jerusalem, of which he 
 was acknowledged to be the bishop. This perfect equality, 
 however, was gradually done away ; for, by the middle of 
 the third century, it is evident that, without acknowledg- 
 ing any superiority of order, the bishops of every province 
 paid a particular respect to the bishop of the chief city ; 
 and hence the origin of metropolitans and patriarchs. ‘T'o 
 this deviation from primitive practice several things con- 
 tributed. In the chief city, it must have been the prac- 
 tice of the church, from the beginning, to place as bishop 
 aman of approved talents, and piety, and virtue ; and 
 even when the clergy subsisted on the voluntary oblations 
 of the faithful, the bishops of the larger cities must 
 have been more opulent than those of the smaller; 
 and in every age of the church—the purest as well as 
 the most corrupt—opulence has always commanded a 
 degree of respect, especially when in the possession of 
 talents and virtue. 
 
 There was, however, another and a better motive than 
 this for giving precedency to the bishops of the chief cities. 
 The whole Christian church is, or ought to be, one society 
 
 _ or kingdom, united under its divine head, by the profession 
 of the same faith, by the administration of the same sacra- 
 ments, and by the same government and discipline. In 
 the apostolic age, whoever had the misfortune to be ex- 
 pelled from one particular church, found himself expelled 
 from all particular churches, or, in other words, excom- 
 municated by the church universal ; and, by the authority 
 of Christ himself, was reduced to the state of a heathen 
 man or a publican. Hence St. Cyprian sayss—“ Episco- 
 patus unus est, cujus a singulis in solidum pars tenetur :”?— 
 and elsewhere, “ Idcirco copiosum est sacerdotium concor- 
 diz mutuz glutino atque unitatis vinculo copulatum, ut 
 siquis ex collegio nostro heeresin facere, et gregem Christi 
 lacerare et vastare tentaverit, subveniant czeteri, et, quasi 
 pastores utiles et misericordes, oves Dominicas in gregem 
 colligant.”® "This is indeed the doctrine of a much greater 
 man than Cyprian. It is the doctrine of the illustrious 
 apostle of the Gentiles, who compares the unity of the 
 church, and the due subordination of its several members, 
 to the unity of the human body, and the adaptation of its 
 
 * De Unitate Ecclesie. > Epist. 67. ed. Pamel. 68, ed. Fell. 
 ¢ Rom. xii. 4,5. 1 Cor. xii. 12. 31. 
 
 No. LVI. 168 
 
 669 
 
 | members to their respective uses ;* beseeching Christians 
 “to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, be- 
 /cause, among them, there is but one body and one spirit 
 even as they are called in one hope of their calling, one Lord, 
 one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is 
 above all, and through all, and in them all.”4 It is the 
 doctrine of a still greater—an infinitely greater personage 
 than St. Paul—even of our Lord himself, who declared, that 
 the whole Christian world was to be “one fold under him 
 the one shepherd,” and who, when praying for his imme- 
 diate followers, added—* Neither pray I for these alone, 
 but for them also who shall believe in me through their 
 word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in 
 me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that 
 the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”* 
 
 That this catholic unity might be preserved entire, every 
 bishop elect was obliged, before his ordination, to make a 
 declaration of his faith to the bishops who ordained him, 
 and, immediately after his ordination, to send, by the hands 
 of some confidential clergymen, circular or encyclical let- 
 ters, as they were called, to foreign churches, declaratory 
 of his faith, announcing his promotion to such a see, and 
 professing his communion with the churches to which the 
 letters were sent. If his faith was deemed catholic, and 
 nothing irregular appeared to have taken place in the vari- 
 ous steps of his promotion, answers were immediately 
 returned to his letters, approving what had been done, and 
 acknowledging him as a bishop of the catholic church; but, 
 if doubts were excited in the minds of those to whom the 
 encyclical letters were addressed, no answer was returned 
 until proper inquiries were made, and all doubts respect- 
 ing the faith of the lately consecrated bishop, or the regu- 
 larity of his promotion, were completely removed. It was 
 thus that Christian communion was maintained between 
 the remotest churches. But had the bishops been, in the 
 modern sense of the word, parochial, and therefore as 
 numerous as the various congregations of Christians, 
 which assembled under separate roofs for the celebration 
 of the mysteries of their religion, it is obvious that this 
 salutary process could not have been carried on ; the doc- 
 trines taught in distant churches must have been un- 
 known to each other; and catholic unity could have been 
 nothing but a name. Even among diocesan bishops, 
 when all of equal rank, sucha correspondence must have 
 become so difficult and tedious, after churches were planted 
 in every corner of the empire, that the authors of heresies 
 might, as Cyprian expresses it, have divided and laid waste 
 the flock of Christ, before the bishops at a distance could 
 have stepped in to its assistance ; but, by the institution of 
 metropolitans and patriarchs, it became easy and expe- 
 ditious, as the bishops corresponded with their own metro- 
 politans, the metropolitans with their respective patriarchs, 
 and the patriarchs with each other. 
 
 After the conversion of Constantine, the distinctions of 
 rank which had thus been introduced among the bishops 
 of the church, were confirmed by the council of Nice, and 
 modelled according to the precedency that was allowed 
 among the civil provinces into which the empire was 
 divided ; but, if such an arrangement was attended by 
 some advantages, it was productive likewise of many evils. 
 It was the parent of those fierce contentions between the 
 
 4 Ephesians iv. 3, 17. 
 ¢ St. John x. 16, xvii. 20, 21. 
 
670 THE FIRST 
 
 bishops of Rome and Constantinople for precedency, 
 which disgraced the character of both as the ministers of 
 the meek and lowly Jesus; and, at last, it furnished the 
 former of those pre.ates with the means of erecting that 
 tyranny, which he so long exercised over the whole west- 
 ern church. 
 
 About the zra of the council of Nice, if not at an ear- 
 lier period, distinctions, unknown in the apostolic age, were 
 introduced likewise among the inferior clergy of the same 
 order. When parochial churches were endowed and pro- 
 vided each with a resident pastor, it was judged expedient 
 to give to the bishop a permanent council, which might 
 supply the place of those presbyters who had hitherto 
 lived with him, but were now removed to their respective 
 cures ; and from this appointment may be dated the origin 
 of deans and chapters. 
 
 Ata very early period there seems to have been, in every 
 church where there were many deacons, one who by the 
 bishop's authority had precedence of the rest; but there 
 is no good evidence that visiting presbyters were any 
 where appointed to offices similar to those of our archdea- 
 cons, until the abolition of the order of chorepiscopi. That 
 the appointment took place then, is rendered unquestion- 
 able by the 57th canon of the council of Laodicea, which 
 substitutes visiting presbyters for those village-bishops, of 
 whom it decreed that no more were to be ordained. 
 
 Whether the church acted prudently in all these appa- 
 rent deviations from primitive simplicity, is a question 
 which we are not called upon to answer; but it is certain 
 hat in none of them did she exceed that authority, with 
 which, as an independent society to be spread over the 
 whole world, she must have been invested by her divine 
 aweiver, to adapt her constitution, as much as possible, to 
 che circumstances in which she might be placed. 'To 
 his authority St. Paul repeatedly alludes; and if her 
 metropolitans and patriarchs, her deans and chapters, her 
 Visiting presbyters and archdeacons, &c., contributed in 
 
 * Epist. 27, edit. Pamel.—33, edit. Fell. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 any degree to the maintenance of order and decency, she 
 had an unquestionable right to appoint them. Her patri 
 archs and metropolitans, however dignified with titles and 
 outward splendour, derived from Christ, by apostolical 
 succession, no authority which was not equally possessed 
 by every other bishop; the visiting presbyters, though the 
 bishop devolved on them such parts of his authority as 
 presbyters were capable of exercising, were still nothing 
 more than mere presbyters; and an ar chdeacon, although 
 he had precedence among his brethren, could not admi- 
 nister the Lord’s supper, and was therefore inferior to the 
 lowest presbyter in the church. 
 
 The authority of the church to decree rites or ceremo- 
 nies and to make such regulations in the mode of admi- 
 nistering hervdiscipline, as are best adapted to produce the 
 effects for which her discipline itself was instituted, are facts 
 which cannot indeed be questioned. When incorporated 
 with the state, her governors may certainly be armed by the 
 civil magistrate with civil rank and civil power; but she 
 has no authority to depart in a single article from the faith 
 which was once delivered to the saints, or to surrender to 
 any man that authority which her bishops derive by suc 
 cession from the apostles. The church is a kingdom not 
 of this world ; and therefore, as she derives not her inhe- 
 rent authority from the potentates of this world, to the 
 potentates of this world she cannot resign that authority. 
 Wherever the faith is maintained in purity, and the epis- 
 copal succession preserved, there is a true church, or the 
 elements of a true church: “ quando,” to use the words of 
 Cyprian, “ Ecclesia in episcopo, et clero, et in omnibus 
 stantibus, sit constituta ;”* and to the efficacious adminis- 
 tration of the word and sacraments, it is of no consequence 
 whether the bishop of such a church be a prince, a peer 
 or an obscure pastor; for, as another ancient writer? ob- 
 serves, “ potestas peccatorum remittendorum apostolis data 
 est, et ecclesiis quas illi a Christo missi constituerunt, et 
 episcopis qui eis ordinatione vicaria successerunt.” 
 
 >Firmilian. inter Cyp. Epistolas, Ep. '75. edit. Pamelii et Fell. 
 
 THE SECOND APPENDIX, 
 
 BY DR. MACLAINE 
 
 CONCERNING THE SPIRIT AND CONDUCT OF THE FIRST REFORMERS, AND THE CHARGE OF ENTHUSIASM 
 (i. ee FANATICISM) THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT AGAINST THEM BY A CELEBRATED AUTHOR. 
 
 THe candour and impartiality, with which Dr. Mosheim 
 represents the transactions of those who were agents and 
 instruments in bringing about the Reformation, are highly 
 laudable. He acknowled ges that imprudence, passion, 
 and even a low self-interest, mingled sometimes their rash 
 proceedings and ignoble motives in this excellent cause } 
 and, in the very nature of things, it could not be other- 
 wise. It is one of the inevitable consequences of the sub- 
 ordination and connexions of civil society, that many im- 
 proper instruments and agents are set to work in all great 
 and important revolutions, whether of a religious or politi- | 
 
 cal nature. When great men appear in these revolutions, 
 they draw after them their dependents; and the unhappy 
 effects of a party spirit are unavoidably displayed in the 
 best cause. ‘The subjects follow their prince; the multi- 
 tude adopt the system of their leaders, without entering 
 into its true spirit, or being judiciously attentive to the 
 proper methods of promoting it; and thus irregular pro- 
 ceedings are employed in the maintenance of the truth. 
 Thus it happened in the important revolution that 
 delivered a great part of Europe from the ignominious 
 yoke of the Roman pontiff. The sovereigns, the eccle- 
 
THE SECOND APPENDIX. 
 
 siastics, the men of weight, piety, and learning, who arose 
 to assert the rights of human nature, the cause of genuine 
 Christianity, and the exercise of religious liberty, came 
 forth into the field of controversy with a multitude of de- 
 pendents, admirers, and friends, whose motives and con- 
 
 duct cannot be entirely justified. Besides, when the eyes 
 of whole nations were opened upon the iniquitous absurd- 
 ities of popery, and upon the tyranny and insolence of 
 
 the Roman. pontiffs, it was scarcely possible to set bounds 
 to the indignation of an incensed and tumultuous multi- 
 tude, who are naturally prone to extremes, generally pass 
 from blind submission to lawless ferocity, and too rarely 
 distinguish between the use and abuse of their undoubted 
 rights. In a word, many things, which appear to us 
 extremely irregular in the conduct and measures of some 
 of the instruments of our happy reformation, will be enti- 
 tled to a certain degree of indulgence, if the spirit of the 
 times, the situation of the contending parties, the barba- 
 rous provocations of popery, and the infirmities of human 
 nature, be duly and attentively considered. 
 
 ‘The question here is, what was the spirit which ani- 
 mated the first and principal reformers, who arose in times 
 of darkness and despair to deliver oppressed kingdoms 
 from the dominion of Rome, and upon what principles a 
 Luther, a Zuingle, a Calvin, a Melanchthen, a Bucer, &c. 
 embarked in the arduous cause of the Reformation? 'This 
 question, indeed, is not at all necessary to the defence of 
 the Reformation, which rests upon the strong foundations 
 of Scripture and reason, and whose excellence is absolute- 
 ly independent of the virtues of those who took the lead in 
 promoting it. Bad men may be, and often are, embark- 
 ed in the best causes, as such causes afford the most spe- 
 cious mask to cover mercenary views, or to disguise ambi- 
 tious purposes. But until the more than Jesuitical and 
 disingenuous Philips resumed the trumpet of calumny,* 
 even the voice of popery had ceased to attack the moral 
 characters of the leading reformers. 
 
 These eminent men were indeed attacked from another 
 quarter, and by a much more respectable writer. The 
 truly ingenious Mr. Hume, so justly celebrated as one of 
 the first favourites of the historic muse, has, in his history 
 of England, and more especially in the history of the 
 houses of Tudor and Stuart, represented the character and 
 temper of the first reformers in a point of view, which un- 
 doubtedly shows, that he had not considered them with the 
 close and impartial attention that ought always to precede 
 personal reflections. He has laid it down as a principle, 
 that superstition and enthusiasm are two species of reli- 
 gion that stand in diametrical opposition to each other ; 
 and seems to establish it as a fact, that the former is the 
 genius of popery, and the latter the characteristic of the 
 Reformation. Both the principle and its application must 
 appear extremely singular; and three sorts of persons 
 must be more especially surprised at it. 
 
 In the first place, persons of a philosophical turn, who 
 are accustomed to study human nature, and to describe 
 with precision both its regular and eccentric movements, 
 
 must be surprised to see superstition and fanaticism? re- | 
 Tae Sk Pee eee ee eee ee 
 
 * See the various answers that were made to this biographer by the 
 mgenious Mr. Pye, the learned Dr. Neve, and other commendable wri- 
 ters who have appeared in this controversy. 
 
 >I use the word fanaticism here, instead of enthusiasm, to prevent 
 all ambiguity; because, as shall be shown presently, Mr. Hume takes 
 enthusiasm in its worse sense when he applies it to the reformers; and 
 
 in that sense it is not only equivalent to, but is perfectly synonymous | 
 
 671 
 
 presented as opposite and jarring qualities. They have 
 been often seen together, holding with each other a most, 
 friendly correspondence ; and indeed if we consider their 
 nature, and their essential characters, their union will ap- 
 pear, not only possible, but in some cases natural, if not 
 necessary. Superstition, which consists in false and 
 abject notions of the Deity, in the gloomy and groundless 
 fears of invisible beings, and in the absurd rites, that these 
 notions and these fears naturally produce, is certainly the 
 root of various branches of fanaticism. For what is 
 fanaticism, but the visions, illuminations, impulses, and 
 dreams of an overheated fancy, converted into rules of 
 faith, hope, worship, and practice? "This fanaticism, as 
 it springs up in a melancholy or a cheerful complexion, 
 assumes a variety of aspects, and its morose and gloomy 
 forms are certainly most congenial with superstition, in its 
 proper sense. It was probably this consideration that led 
 the author of the article F'anaticism, in the famous Dic- 
 tionnaire Encyclopedique, to define ite as “a blind and 
 passionate zeal, which arises from superstitious opinions, 
 and leads its votaries, to commit ridiculous, unjust, and 
 cruel actions, not only without shame, but even with cer- 
 tain internal feelings of joy and comfort ;” from which the 
 author concludes, that “ fanaticism is really nothing more 
 than superstition set in motion.” ‘This definition unites 
 perhaps too closely these two kinds of false religion, whose 
 enormities have furnished very ill-grounded pretexts for 
 discrediting and misrepresenting the true. It is, however, 
 a testimony from one of the pretended oracles of modern 
 philosophy, in favour of the compatibility of fanaticism 
 with superstition. "These two principles are evidently dis- 
 tinct; because superstition is, generally speaking, the 
 effect of ignorance, or of a judgment perverted by a sour 
 and splenetic temper; whereas fanaticism is the offspring 
 of an inflamed imagination, and may exist where there is 
 no superstition, 7. e. where no false or gloomy notions of 
 the divinity are entertained. But, though distinct, they 
 are not opposite principles; on the contrary, they lend on 
 many occasions, some strength and assistance to each 
 other. 
 
 If persons accustomed to philosophical precision will not 
 relish the maxim of the celebrated writer which I have 
 been now considering, so neither, in the second place, can 
 those who are versed in ecclesiastical history look upon 
 superstition as a more predominant characteristic of popery 
 than fanaticism ; and yet this is a leading idea, which is 
 not only visible in many parts of this author's excellent 
 History, but appears to be the basis of all the reflections he 
 employs, and of all the epithets he uses, in his speculations 
 upon the Romish religion. 
 
 And nevertheless it is manifest, that the multitudes of 
 fanatics, which arose in the church of Rome before the 
 Reformation, are truly innumerable; and the operations 
 of fanaticism in that church were, at least, as visible and 
 frequent, as the restless workings of superstition; they 
 went, in short, hand in hand, and united their visions and 
 their terrors in the support of the papacy. It is, more 
 especially, well known, that the greatest part of the mo- 
 
 with, fanaticism. Besides, the latter term is used indiscriminately with 
 enthusiasm,by this celebrated historian, in characterising the Reformation. 
 
 © The words of the original are, “ Le fanatisme est un zele aveugle et 
 passionné, qui nait des opinions superstiticuses, et fait commettre des 
 actions ridicules, injustes et cruelles, non seulement sans honte, muis 
 avec une sorta de joye et de consolation, Le fanatisme donc n'est que 
 la superstition mise en mouvement.” 
 
672 
 
 nastic establishments (that alternately insulted the benig- 
 nity of Providence by their austerities, and abused it by 
 their licentious luxury,) were originally founded in con- 
 sequence of pretended illuminations, miraculous dreams, 
 and other wild delusions, of an over-heated fancy. W hens 
 ever a new doctrine was to be established, that could 
 angment the authority of the pope, or fill the coffers of the 
 clergy; whenever a new convent was to be erected, there 
 was always a vision or a miracle ready to facilitate the busi- 
 ness; nor must it be imagined, that forgery and impos- 
 ture were the only agents in this matter;—by no means ; 
 —imposture there was; and it was frequently employed ; 
 but impostors made use of fanatics; and in return fana- 
 tics found impostors, who spread abroad their fame, and 
 turned their visions to profit. Were I to recount with 
 the utmost simplicity, without the smallest addition of 
 ludicrous embellishment, the ectasies, visions, seraphic 
 amours, celestial apparitions, that are said’to have shed 
 such an odour of sanctity upon the male and female saints 
 of the Romish church; were I to pass in review the 
 famous conformities of St. Francis, the illuminations of 
 St. Ignatius, and the enormous cloud of fanatical witnes- 
 ses that have dishonoured humanity in bearing testimony 
 to popery, this dissertation would become a voluminous 
 history. Let the reader cast an eye upon Dr. Mosheim’s 
 account of those ages which more immediately preceded 
 the Reformation, and he will see what a number of sects, 
 purely fanatical, arose in the bosom of the Romish 
 church. 
 
 But this is not all—for it must be carefully observed, 
 that even those extravagant fanatics, who produced such 
 disorders in Germany about the commencement of the 
 Reformation, were nursed in the bosom of popery, were 
 professed papists before they adopted the cause of Luther ; 
 and that many of them even passed directly from popery 
 to fanaticism, without even entering into the outward pro- 
 fession of Lutheranism. It is also to be observed, that 
 beside the fanatics, who exposed themselves to the con- 
 tempt of the wise upon the public theatre of popery, 
 Seckendorf speaks of a sect that merits this denomination, 
 which had spread in the Netherlands, before Luther rais- 
 ed his voice against popery, and whose members were 
 engaged, by the terror of penal laws, to dissemble their 
 sentiments, and even affected a devout compliance with 
 the ceremonies of the established worship, until religious 
 liberty, introduced by the reformation, encouraged them 
 to pull off the mask, and propagate their opinions, several 
 of which were licentious and profane. 
 
 But, in the third place, the friends of the Reformation 
 must naturally be both surprised and displeased to find 
 enthusiasm, or fanaticism, laid down by Mr. Hume, as 
 the character and spirit of its founders and abettors, with- 
 out any exception or distinction in favour of ¢ any one of the 
 reformers. ‘That fanaticism was visible in the conduct 
 and spirit of many who embraced the Reformation, is a 
 fact which I do not pretend to deny; and it may be wor- 
 thy of the reader’s curiosity to consider, for a moment, how 
 this came to pass. ‘That religious liberty, which the 
 Reformation introduced and granted (in consequence of 
 its essential principles) indiscriminately to all, to the learn- 
 ed and unlearned, rendered this eruption of enthusiasm 
 inevitable. It is one of the imperfections annexed to all 
 human things, that our best blessings have their incon- 
 
 THE SECOND APPENDIX. 
 
 veniences, or, at least, are susceptible of abuse. _ As liberty 
 isa natural right, but not a discerning principle, it could 
 not open the door to truth without letting error and delu- 
 sion come with it. If reason came forth with dignity, 
 when delivered from the despotism of authority, and the 
 blind servitude of implicit faith ; imagination, also set free 
 
 and less able to bear the prosperous change, came forth 
 
 likewise, but with a different aspect, and exposed to view 
 the reveries which it had been long obliged to con- 
 ceal. 
 
 _'Thus many fanatical phantoms were exhibited, which 
 neither arose from the spirit of the Reformation, nor from 
 the principles of the reformers, but which had been en- 
 gendered in the bosom of popery, and which the fostering 
 
 rays of liberty had disclosed ; similar in this, to the enli- 
 vening beams of the sun, which fr uctify indiscriminately 
 the salutary plant in the well cultivated ground, and the 
 noxious weed in a rank and neglected soil. And as the 
 Reformation had no such miraculous influence (not to 
 speak of the imperfection that attended its infancy, and 
 that has not entirely been removed from its more advanc- 
 ed stages) as to cure human nature of its infirmities and 
 follies, to convert irregular passions into regular principles, 
 or to turn men into angels before the time, it has stiil left 
 the field open, both for fanaticism and superstition to sow 
 their tares among the good seed; and this will probably 
 be the case until the end of the world. It is here, that we 
 must seek for the true cause of all that condemnable 
 enthusiasm which has dishonoured the Christian name 
 and often troubled the order of civil society, at different 
 periods since the Reformation; and for which the reforma- 
 tion is no more responsible, than a free government is 
 for the weakness or corruption of those who abuse its 
 lenity andindulgence. ‘I'he Reformation established the 
 sacred and inalienable right of private judgment; but it 
 could not hinder the private judgment of many ae 
 being wild and extravagant. 
 
 The Reformation, then, which the multiplied enormities 
 of popery rendered so necessary, must be always distin- 
 guished from the abuses that might be, and were often 
 made, of the liberty it introduced. If you ask, indeed, 
 what was the temper or spirit of the first heralds of this 
 happy Reformation, Mr. Hume will tell you, that they 
 were universally inflamed with the highest enthusiasm. 
 This assertion, if taken singly, and not compared with 
 other passages relating to the reformers, might be under- 
 stood in a sense consistent with truth, and even honour- 
 able to the character of these eminent men. For, if by 
 enthusiasm we understand that spirit of ardour, intrepidity, 
 and generous zeal, which leads men to brave the most 
 formidable obstacles and dangers in defence of a cause, 
 whose excellence and importance have made a deep 
 impression upon their minds, the first reformers will be 
 allowed by their warmest friends to have been enthusiasts. 
 This species of enthusiasm is a noble affection, when fitly 
 placed and wisely exerted. It is this generous sensibility, 
 this ardent feeling of the great and excellent, that forms 
 heroes and patriots ; and, without it, nothing difficult and 
 arduous, that is attended with danger, or prejudice to our 
 temporal interests, can either be attempted with vigour, or 
 executed with success. If this ingenious writer had even 
 observed, that the ardour of the first reformers was more or 
 less violent, that it was more or less blended with the 
 
THE SECOND APPENDIX. 
 
 warmth and vivacity of human passions, candour would 
 be obliged to avow the charge. 
 
 But it is not in any of these points of view, that our 
 eminent historian considers the spirit, temper, and enthu- 
 siasmn of the first reformers. ‘The enthusiasm he attributes 
 to them is fanaticism in its worst sense. He speaks indeed 
 of the ‘inflexible intrepidity, with which they braved 
 dangers, torments, and even death itself;’ but he calls 
 them ‘the fanatical and enraged reformers ’ he represents 
 fanaticism, through the whole course of his history, as the 
 characteristic of the sipciptenica religion and its glorious 
 founders: the terms, ‘ protestant ‘fanaticism—fanatical 
 churches’—are interspersed in various parts of his work ; 
 and we never meet with the least appearance of a distinc- 
 tion between the rational and enthusiastic, the wise and 
 indiscreet friends of the Reformation. In short, we find 
 a phraseology constantly employed upon this subject, 
 which discovers an intention to confound protestantism 
 with enthusiasm, and to make reformers and fanatics 
 synonymous terms. We are told, that, while absurd 
 rites and burthensome superstitions reigned in the Romish 
 church, the reformers were ‘ thrown, by a spirit of oppo- 
 sition, into an enthusiastic strain of devotion ;’ and, in 
 another place, that the latter ‘placed all merit in a 
 mysterious species of faith, in inward vision, rapture, and 
 ecstasy.’ It would be endless to quote the passages in 
 which this representation of things is repeated in a great 
 variety of phrases, and artfully insinuated into the mind 
 of the reader, by dexterous strokes of a seducing pencil ; 
 which, though scattered here and there, yet gradually 
 unite their influence on the imagination of an uninstruc- 
 ted and unwary reader, and form, imperceptibly, an 
 unfavourable impression of that great event, to which we 
 owe at this day our civil and religious liberty, and our 
 deliverance from a yoke of superstitious and barbarous 
 despotism. Protestants, in all ages and places, are stig- 
 matised by Mr. Hume with very-dishonourable titles; and 
 it struck me particularly to see even the generous opposers 
 of the Spanish inquisition in Holland, whose proceedings 
 were so moderate, and whose complaints were so humble, 
 until the barbarous yoke of superstition and tyranny be- 
 came intolerable ; it struck me, I say, to see these generous 
 patriots branded with the general character of bigots. 
 ‘This is certainly a severe appellation ; and were it applied 
 with much more equity than it is, I think it would still 
 come with an ill grace from a lover of freedom, from a 
 man who lives and writes with security under the auspi- 
 cious shade of that very liberty which the Reformation 
 introduced, and ‘for which the Belgic heroes (or bigots— 
 if we must call them so) shed their blood. 
 
 T observe with 
 pain, that the phraseology and mode of expression, em- 
 ployed perpetually by Mr. Hume, on similar occasions, 
 seem to discover a keen dislike of every opposition made 
 to power in favour of the Reformation. Upon the too 
 general principle which this eminent writer has diffused 
 through his history, we shall even be obliged to brand, 
 with the opprobrious mark of fanaticism, those generous 
 friends of civil and religious liberty, who, in the revolution 
 of 1688, opposed the measures of a popish prince and 
 an arbitrary government, and to rank the Burnets, Til- 
 
 5 
 lotsons, Stillingfleets, and other immortal ornaments of 
 
 See the sensible and judicious Letters on Mr. Hume’s History of 
 Gerat Britain, i were published at Edinburgh in 1756, and in which 
 
 No. LVII 
 
 673 
 
 the protestant name, among the enthusiastic tribe ; it is 
 a question, whether even a Boyle, a Newton, or a Locke, 
 will escape a censure which is lavished without mercy 
 and without distinction.—But my present business is with 
 the first reformers, and to them I return. 
 
 "Those who more especially merit that title were Luther, 
 Zuingle, Calvin, Melancthon, Bucer, Martyr, Bullinger, 
 Beza, G4colampadius, and others. Now these were all 
 men of learning, who came forth into the field of contro- 
 versy (in which the fate of future ages, with respect to 
 liberty, was to be decided) with a kind of arms that did 
 not at all give them the aspect of persons agitated by the 
 impulse, or seduced by the delusions of fanaticism. "They 
 pretended not to be called to the work they undertook by 
 
 visions, or internal illuminations and impulses ;—they 
 never attempted to work miracles, or pleaded a divine 
 commission ;—they taught no new religion, nor laid 
 claim to any extraordinary vocation ;—they respected 
 government, practised and taught submission to civil 
 rulers, and desired only the liberty of that conscience 
 which God has made free, and which ceases to be con- 
 science if it be not free. They maintained, that the faith 
 of a Christian was to be determined by the word of God 
 alone; they had recourse to reason and argument, to the 
 rules of sound criticism, and to the authority and light of 
 history. ‘They translated the Scriptures into the popular 
 languages of different countries, and appealed to them as 
 the only test of religious truth. ‘They exhorted Christians 
 to judge for themselves, to search the Scriptures, break 
 asunder the bonds of ignorant prejudice and lawless 
 authority, and assert that liberty of conscience to which 
 they had an inalienable right as reasonable beings. Mr. 
 Hume himself acknowledges, that they offered to submit 
 
 ‘all religious doctrines to private judgment, and exhorted 
 every one to examine the principles formerly imposed 
 upon him.’ In short, it was their great and avowed 
 purpose to oppose the gross corruptions and the spiritual 
 tyranny of Rome,* of which Mr. Hume himself complains 
 with a just indignation, and which he censures in as keen 
 and vehement terms as those which were used by Luther 
 and Calvin in their warmest moments. 
 
 I have already insinuated, and I acknowledge it here 
 again, that the zeal of the reformers was sometimes in- 
 temperate ; but I cannot think this circumstance sufficient 
 to justify the aspersion of fanaticism, which is cast both 
 on the spirit of the Reformation, and the principal agents 
 concerned in it. A man may be over-zealous in the 
 advancement of what he supposes to be the true religion, 
 without being entitled to the denomination of a fanatic, 
 unless we depart from the usual sense of this word, which 
 is often enough employed to have acquired, before this 
 time, a determinate signification. 'The intemperate zeal 
 of the reformers was the result of that ardour, which takes 
 place in all divisions and parties that are founded upon 
 objects of real or supposed importance ; and it may be 
 affirmed, that, in such circumstances, the most generous 
 minds, filled with a persuasion of the goodness of their 
 end, and of the uprightness of their intentions, are the 
 most liable to transgress the exact bounds of moderation, 
 and to adopt measures, which, in the calm hour of delib- 
 erate reflection, they themselves would not approve. In 
 
 some points, which I have barely mentioned here, are enlarged upon 
 and illustrated, in an ample and satisfactory manner. 
 
674 
 
 all great divisions, the warmth of natural temper,—the 
 provocation of unjust and violent opposition,—a spirit of 
 sympathy, which connects, in some cases, the most dis- 
 similar characters, renders the mild violent, and the 
 phlegmatic warm ;—and frequently the pride of conquest, 
 which mingles itself, imperceptibly, with the best principles 
 and the most generous views,—produce or nourish an 
 intemperate zeal ; and this zeal is, in some cases, almost 
 inevitable. On the other hand, it may be suspected, that 
 some writers, and Mr. Hume among others, may have 
 given too high colours to their descriptions of this i- 
 temperate zeal. ‘There is a passage of Sir Robert Cotton, 
 that has much meaning. “ Most men (says he) grew 
 to be frozen in zeal and benumbed, so that whosoever 
 pretended a little spark of earnestness, seemed no less 
 
 than red fire hot, in comparison of the other.” 
 
 Nothing can ‘be more foreign from my temper and 
 sentiments, than to plead the cause of an excessive zeal ; 
 more especially, every kind of zeal that approaches to a 
 spirit of intolerance and persecution ought to be regarded 
 with aversion and horror by all who have at heart the 
 interest of genuine Christianity, and the happiness of civil 
 society. a here ‘may be, nevertheless, cases, 1n which a 
 ‘zeal (net that breathes a spirit of persecution, but) that 
 mounts to a certain degree of intemperance, may be not 
 only inevitable, but useful; and not only useful but 
 necessary. ‘This assertion I advance almost against my 
 will, because it is susceptible of great and dangerous abuse ; 
 the assertion, however, is true, though the cases must be 
 singularly important and desperate to which such zeal 
 may be applied. It has been observed, that the reforma- 
 tion was one of these cases, and, all things attentively 
 considered, the observation appears to be entirely just ; 
 and the violence of expression and vehement measures 
 employed by some of the reformers might have been 
 (1 do not say that they really were) as much the effect 
 of providentreflection, as of natural fervour and resentment. 
 To a calculating head, which considered closely, in those 
 times of corruption and darkness, the strength of the court 
 of Rome, the luxury and despotism of the pontifls, the 
 ignorance and licentiousness of the clergy, the superstition 
 and stupidity of the people; in a word, the deep root 
 which the papacy had gained through all these circum- 
 stances combined,—what was the first thought that must 
 naturally have occurred? No doubt, it was this—the 
 improbability that cool philosophy, dispassionate reason, 
 and affectionate remonstrances, would ever triumph over 
 these multiplied and various supports of popery. And, if 
 a calculating head must have judged in this manner, a 
 generous heart, which considered the blessings that must 
 arise upon mankind from religious liberty and a reforma- 
 tion of the church, would naturally be excited to apply 
 even a violent remedy, if that were necessary, to remove 
 such a desperate and horrible disease. It would really 
 seem that Luther acted on such a view of things. He 
 began mildly, and did not employ the fire of his zeal, 
 before he saw that it was essential to the success of his 
 cause. Whoever looks into Dr. Mosheim’s history, or 
 any other impartial account of the sixteenth century, 
 will find, that Luther’s opposition to the infamous traffic 
 of indulgences, was carried on at first in the most sub- 
 missive strain, by humble remonstrances addressed to the 
 pope, and the most eminent prelates of the church. || 
 
 |temper inflamed by opposition. 
 
 | bring about a reformation of the church. 
 
 THE SECOND APPENDIX. 
 
 These remonstrances were answered not only by the 
 
 ‘despotic voice of authority, but also by opprobrious in- 
 
 vectives, perfidious plots against his person, and the terror 
 of penal laws. Even under these he maintained his 
 tranquillity ; and his conduct at the famous diet of Worms, 
 though resolute and steady, was nevertheless both respect- 
 ful and modest. But, when all moderate measures proved 
 
 ‘ineffectual, then, indeed, he acted with redoubled vigour, 
 and added a new degree of warmth and impetuosity to 
 
 his zeal; and (I repeat it) reflection might have dictated 
 those animated proceedings, which were owing, perhaps, 
 merely to his resentment, and the natural warmth of his 
 Certain it is at least, 
 that neither the elegant satires of Erasmus (had he 
 even been a friend to the cause of liberty), nor the 
 timid remonstrances of the gentle Melancthon (who 
 was really such), would ever have been sufficient to 
 The former 
 made many laugh, the latter made some reason ; but 
 neither of the two could make them acé, or set them in 
 motion. At such a crisis, bold speech and ardent resolu- 
 tion were necessary to produce that happy change in the 
 face of religion, which has crowned with inestimable 
 blessings one part of Europe, and has been productive of 
 many advantages even to the other, which censures it. 
 
 As to Calvin, every one, who has any acquaintance 
 with history, knows how he set out in promoting the 
 Reformation. It was by a work composed with a classic 
 elegance of style, and which, though tinctured with the 
 scholastic theology of the times, breathes any uncommon 
 
 spirit of good sense and moderation. ‘This work was the 
 Institutes of the Christian religion, in which the learned 
 writer shows, that the doctrines of the reformers were 
 founded in Scripture and reason ; and one of the designs 
 of this book was to show, that the reformers ought not to 
 be confounded with certain fanatics, who, about the time 
 of the Reformation, sprang from the bosom of the church 
 of Rome, and excited tumults and commotions in several 
 places. "The French monarch (Francis I.) to cover with 
 a specious pretext his barbarous persecution of the friends 
 of the Reformation, and to prevent the resentment of the 
 protestants in Germany, with whom it was his interest 
 to be on good terms, alleged that his severity fell only 
 upon a sect of enthusiasts, who, under the title of Ana- 
 baptists, substituted their visions in the place of the 
 doctrines and declarations of the Scriptures. ‘T'o vindicate 
 the reformers from this reproach, Calvin wrote the book 
 now under consideration : and though the theology that 
 reigns in it be chargeable with some deftcts, yet it is as 
 remote from the spirit and complexion of fanaticism, as 
 any thing can be. Nor indeed is this spirit visible in any 
 of the writings of Calvin that I have perused. His com- 
 mentary upon the Old and New Testament is a produc- 
 tion that will always be esteemed, on account of its elegant 
 simplicity, and the evident marks it bears of an unpre- 
 judiced and impartial inquiry into the plain sense of the 
 sacred writings, and of sagacity and penetration in the 
 investigation of it. 
 
 If we were to pass in review the writings of the other 
 eminent reformers, whose names have been already men- 
 tioned, we should find abundant matter to justify them 
 in the same respect. ‘They were men of letters, and some 
 of them were even men of taste for the age in which they 
 
THE THIRD APPENDIX. 
 
 lived ; they cultivated the study of languages, history, 
 and criticism and applied themselves with indefatigable 
 industry to these studies, which, of all others, are the least 
 adapted to excite or nourish a spirit of fanaticism. 'They 
 had, indeed, their errors and prejudices ; nor perhaps were 
 they few in number; but who is free from the same 
 charge? We have ours too, though they may turn on a 
 different set of objects. Their ‘theology savoured somewhat 
 of the pedantry and jargon of the schools ;—how could 
 it be otherwise, considering the dismal state of philosophy 
 at that period? ‘The advantages we enjoy above them, 
 
 \ 
 
 675 
 
 give them, at least, a title to our candour and indulgence ; 
 perhaps to our gratitude, as the instruments who prepared 
 the way through which these advantages have been con- 
 veyed tous. 'I'o conclude, let us regret their infirmities ; 
 let us reject their errors ; let us even condemn any in- 
 stances of ill-judged severity and violence with which they 
 may have been chargeable ; but let us never forget, that, 
 through perils and obstacles almost insurmountable, they 
 opened the path to that religious liberty, which we cannot 
 too highly esteem, nor be too careful to improve to rational 
 and worthy purposes. 
 
 THE THIRD APPENDIX. 
 
 SOMEOBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO THE PRESENT STATE OF THE REFORMED RELIGION, AND THE INFLUENCE 
 OF IMPROVEMENTS IN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE ON ITS PROPAGATION AND ADVANCEMENT; OCCASIONED 
 BY SOME PASSAGES IN THE PREFACE TO A BOOK, ENTITLED, THE CONFESSIONAL. 
 
 In one of the notes,* which I added to those of Dr. 9 not proportionable to the progress 
 
 Mosheim, in my translation of his Ecclesiastical History, 
 I observed, that ‘the reformed churches were never at 
 such a distance from the spirit and doctrine of the church 
 of Rome as they are at this day ;—that the improvements 
 in science, that characterise the last and the present age, 
 seem to render a relapse into Romish superstition morally 
 impossible in those who have been once delivered from its 
 baneful influence: and that, if the dawn of science and 
 philosophy toward the end of the sixteenth, and the com- 
 mencement of the seventeenth centuries, was favourable 
 to the cause of the Reformation, their progress, which has 
 a kind of influence even upon the multitude, must confirm 
 us in the principles that occasioned our separation from 
 the church of Rome.’ 
 
 This reasoning did not appear conclusive to the in- 
 
 genious author of the Confessional, who has accordingly 
 made some critical reflections upon it in the preface to that 
 work. However, upon an impartial view of these reflec- 
 tions, I find that this author’s excessive apprehensions 
 of the progress of popery have had an undue influence on 
 his method of reasoning on this subject. He supposes 
 that the improvements in science and philosophy, in 
 some popish countries, have been as considerable as in 
 any reformed country ; and afterwards asks, ‘ What in- 
 telligence have we from these popish countries of a pro- 
 portionable progress of religious reformation’? Have we 
 no reason to suspect (adds he) that, if an accurate account 
 were to be taken, the balance, in point of conversions, in 
 _ the most improved of these countries, would be greatly 
 against the reformed religion ? 
 
 Icannot see how these observations, or rather conjec- 
 tures, even were they founded in truth and fact, tend to 
 prove my reasoning inconcfusive. I observed that the 
 progress of science was adapted to confirm ws (namely, 
 Protestants) in the belief and profession of the reformed 
 religion ; and [had here in view, as every. one may see, 
 those countries in which the Protestant religion is esta- 
 blished ; and this author answers me by observing, that 
 the progress of reformation in some popish countries, is 
 
 * This note was occasioned by my inadvertently mistaking, the true 
 
 s of science and philoso- 
 phy in these countries. 'T his, surely, is no answer at all, 
 since there are in popish countries accidental circumstan- 
 ces, that counteract, in favour of popery, the influence of 
 those improvements in science, which are in direct opposi- 
 tion to its propagation and advancement ; circumstances 
 that I shall consider presently, and which do not exist in 
 protestant states. This subject is interesting; and I 
 therefore presume, that some farther thoughts upon it 
 will not be disagreeable to the candid reader. 
 
 The sagacious author of the Confessional cannot, I 
 think, seriously call in question the natural tendency o. 
 improvements in learning and science to strengthen and 
 confirm the cause of the Reformation; for, as the founda- 
 tions of popery are a blind submission to an usurped 
 authority over the understandings and consciences o 
 men, and an implicit credulity * that adopts, without 
 
 | examination, the miracles and visions that derive their 
 
 existence from the crazy brains of fanatics; or the lucra- 
 tive artifice of impostors, so it is unquestionably evident. 
 that the progress of sound philosophy, and the spirit of 
 free inquiry it produces, strike directly at these founda- 
 tions. I say the progress of sound philosophy, that the 
 most inattentive reader may not be tempted to imagine 
 (asthe author of the Confessional has been informed,) 
 that ‘improvements in philosophy have made many 
 sceptics In all churches reformed and unreformed.’ For I 
 am persuaded, that, as true Christianity can never lead to 
 superstition, so true philosophy will never be a guide to 
 infidelity and scepticism. We must not be deceived by 
 the name of philosophers, which some poets and wits 
 have assumed in our days, particularly upon the conti- 
 nent, and which many lavish upon certain subtle refi- 
 ners in dialectics, who bear a much greater resemblance 
 to overweening sophists, than to real sages. We must 
 not be so far lost to all power of distineuishing as to con- 
 found, in one common mass, the philosophy of a Bacon, 
 a Newton, a Boyle, anda Nieuw entyt, with the incohe- 
 rent views and rhetorical rants of a Bolingbroke, or the 
 flimsy sophistry of a Voltaire ; and though vandour must 
 
 sense of the passage to which it relates. It has since been corrected, 
 
676 
 
 acknowledge, that some men of true learning have been 
 so unhappy as to fall into infidelity, and charity must 
 wee} to see a Hume and a D’Alembert joining a set of 
 men who are unworthy of their society, and covering a 
 daik and uncomfortable system with the lustre of their 
 supertor talents, yet equity itself may safely affirm, that 
 neither their science nor their genius are the causes of 
 their scepticism. 
 
 But if the progress of science and free inquiry have a 
 natural tendency to destroy the foundations of popery, 
 how comes it to pass, that, in popish countries, the pro- 
 gress of religious reform bears no proportion to the pro- 
 gress of science? and how can we account for the ground 
 which popery (if the apprehensions of the author of the 
 Confessional are well founded) gains even in England ? 
 
 Before I answer the first of these questions, it may be 
 proper to consider the matter of fact, and to examine, for 
 amoment, the state of science and philosophy in popish 
 countries: this examination, if I mistake not, -will con- 
 firm the theory I have laid down with respect to the 
 influence of philosophical improvement upon true reli- 
 gion. Let us then turn our view first to one of the most 
 considerable countries in Europe, I mean Germany ; and 
 here we shall be struck with this undoubted fact, that it 
 is inthe Protestant part of this vast region only, that the 
 improvements of science and philosophy appear, while 
 the barbarism of the fifteenth century reigns, as yet, in 
 those districts of the empire which profess the Romish 
 religion. The celebrated M. D’Alembert, in his treatise, 
 entitled, ‘de Abus de la Critique en Matiere de Reli- 
 gion, makes the following remarkable observation on 
 this head: “ We must acknowledge, though with sor- 
 row, the present superiority of the Protestant universities 
 in Germany over those of the Romish persuasion. "This 
 superiority is so striking, that foreigners who travel 
 through the empire, and pass from a Komish college to a 
 Protestant university, even in the same neighbourhood, 
 are induced to think that they have ridden, in an hour, 
 four hundred leagues, or lived, in that short space of 
 time, four hundred years; that they have passed from 
 Salamanca to Cambridge, or from the times of Scotus to 
 those of Newton.” Will it be believed (says the same 
 author,) “in succeeding ages, that, in the year 1750, 
 a book was published in one of the principal cities of 
 Europe (Vienna) with the following title: ‘Systema 
 Aristotelicum de Formis substantialibus et Accidentibus 
 absolutis, 7. e.‘'The Aristotelian System concerning sub- 
 stantial,Forms and absolute Accidents? Will it not 
 rather be supposed, that this date is an error of the press, 
 and that 1550 is the true reading?’ See D’Alembert’s 
 Melanges de Literature, d’Histoire, et de Philosophie, vol. 
 iv. p. 376.—This fact seems evidently to show the connex- 
 ion that subsists between improvements in science, and 
 the free spirit of the reformed religion. ‘The state of 
 letters and philosophy in Italy and Spain, where canon- 
 law, monkish literature, and scholastic metaphysics, have 
 reigned during such a long course of ages, exhibits the 
 same gloomy spectacle. ‘Some rays of philosophical light 
 are now breaking through the cloud in Italy ; Bosco- 
 vich, and some geniuses of the same stamp, have dared 
 to hold up the lamp of science, without feeling the rigour 
 of the Inquisition, or meeting with the fate of Galileo. 
 If this dawning revolution be brought to any degree of 
 
 | 
 sures. 
 
 THE THIRD APPENDIX. 
 
 perfection, it may, in due time produce effects that at 
 present we have little hope of. 
 
 France, indeed, seems to be the country which the 
 author of the Confessional has principally in view, when 
 he speaks of a considerable progress in philosophy in 
 popish states, that has not been attended with a propor- 
 tionable influence on the reformation of religion. He 
 even imagines that, ‘if an account were to be taken, the 
 the balance, in point of conversions, in this most impro- 
 ved of the popish countries, would be greatly against the 
 reformed religion.’ The reader will perceive, that I 
 might grant this, without giving up any thing that I 
 maintained in the note which this judicious author cen- 
 I shall, however, examine this notion, that we 
 may see whether it is to be adopted without restriction ; 
 and perhaps it may appear, that the improvements in 
 philosophy have, had more influence on the spirit of reli- 
 gion in France than this author is willing to allow. 
 
 And here I observe, in the first place, that it is no easy 
 matter, either for him or for me, to calculate the number 
 of conversions that are made, on both sides, by priests 
 armed with the secular power, and Protestant ministers, 
 discouraged by the frowns of government, and the ter- 
 rors of persecution. If we judge of this matter by the 
 external face of things, the calculation may, indeed, be 
 favourable to his hypothesis, since the apostate Protes- 
 tant comes forth to view, and is publicly enrolled in the 
 registers of the church, while the converted Papist is 
 obliged to conceal his profession, and to approach the truth, 
 like Nicodemus, secretly and by night. This evident 
 diversity of circumstances, in the respective proselytes, 
 shows that we are not to form our judgment by external 
 appearances, and renders it but equitable to presume, that 
 the progress of knowledge may have produced many 
 examples of the progress of reformation, which do not 
 strike the eye of the public. Is it not, in effect, to be pre- 
 sumed, that if either a toleration, or even an indulgent 
 connivance, were granted to French Protestants, many 
 would appear friends of the Reformation, who, at present 
 have not sufficient strength of mind to become martyrs, 
 or confessors, in its cause? History informs us of the 
 rapid progress which the Reformation made in France in 
 former times, when a legal toleration was granted,to its 
 friends. When this toleration was withdrawn, an im- 
 mense number of Protestants abandoned their country, 
 their relations, and their fortunes, for the sake of their 
 religion. But when that abominable system of tyranny 
 was set up, which would neither permit the Protestants 
 to profess their religion at home, nor to seek for the enjoy- 
 ment of religious liberty abroad, and when they were 
 thus reduced to the sad alternative of dissimulation on 
 martyrdom, the courage of many failed, though then 
 persuasion remained the same. In the South of France 
 many continued, and still continue, their profession, even 
 in the face of those booted apostles, who are sent, from 
 time to time, to dragoon them into popery. In other 
 places (particularly in the metropolis, where the empire of 
 the mode, the allurements of court favour, the dread of 
 persecution, unite their influence in favour of popery,) 
 the public profession of protestantism lies under heavy 
 discouragements, and would require a zeal that rises to 
 heroism,—a thing too rare in modern times! In _a word, 
 a religion like popery, which forms the main spring in the 
 
THE THIRD APPENDIX. 
 
 pvlitical machine, which is doubly armed with allure- 
 ments and terrors, must damp the fortitude of the feeble 
 friend to truth, and attract the external respect even of 
 libertines, free-thinkers, and sceptics. 
 
 In the second place, if it should be alleged, that men 
 eminent for learning and genius have adhered seriously 
 to the profession of popery, the fact cannot be denied. 
 But what does it prove? It proves only that, in such 
 persons, there are circumstances that counteract the natu- 
 ral influence of learning and science. It cannot be 
 expected that the influence of learning and philosophy 
 will always obtain a complete victory over the attachment 
 to a superstitious church, that is riveted by the early 
 prejudices of education, by impressions formed by the 
 examples of respectable persons who have professed and 
 defended the doctrine of that church, by a habit of vene- 
 ration for authority, and by numberless associations of 
 ideas, whose combined influence gives a wonderful bias 
 to the mind, and renders the impartial pursuit of truth 
 extremely difficult. Thus knowledge is acquired with 
 an express design to strengthen previous impressions and 
 prejudices. Thus many make considerable improve- 
 ments in science, who have never once ventured to re- 
 view their religious principles, or to examine the autho- 
 rity on which they have been taken up. 
 
 Others observe egregious abuses in the Romish church, 
 and are satisfied with rejecting them in secret, without 
 thinking them sufficient to justify a separation. This 
 class is extremely numerous; and it cannot be said that 
 the improvements in science have had no effect upon 
 their religious sentiments. They are neither thorough 
 Papists nor entire Protestants; but they are manifestly 
 verging toward the Reformation. 
 
 Nearly allied to this class is another set of men, whose 
 case is singular and worthy of attention. Even in the 
 bosom of the Romish church, they have tclerably just 
 notions of the sublime simplicity and genuine beauty of 
 the Christian religion; but, either from faise reasonings 
 upon human nature, or an observation of the powerful 
 impressions that authority makes upon the credulity, and 
 & pompous ritual upon the senses of the multitude, ima- 
 gine that Christianity, in its native form, is too pure and 
 elevated for vulgar souls, and therefore countenance and 
 maintain the absurdities of popery, from a notion of their 
 utility. Those who conversed intimately with the sub- 
 lime Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray, have declared, that 
 such was the nature of his sentiments with respect to the 
 public religion of his country. 
 
 ‘To all this I may add, that a notion of the necessity of 
 a visible universal church, and of a visible centre or bond 
 of union, has led many to adhere to the papacy (consi- 
 dered in this light,) who look upon some of the principal 
 and fundamental doctrines of the Romish church as erro- 
 neous and extravagant. Such is the case of the learned 
 and worthy Dr. Courayer, whose unshaken fortitude in 
 declaring his sentiments obliged him to seek an asylum 
 m England; and who, notwithstanding his persuasion of 
 the absurdities which abound in the church of Rome, has 
 never totally separated himself from its communion; and 
 such is known to be the case with many men of learning 
 and piety in that church. Thus it happens, that particu- 
 lar and accidental circumstances counteract, in favour of 
 
 * France, Spain, and Portugal. 
 
 No. LVIL. 170 
 
 677 
 
 popery, the natural effects of improvements in learning 
 and philosophy, which have their full and proper influ- 
 ence in Protestant countries, where any thing that resem- 
 bles these circumstances is directly in favour of the 
 reformed religion. 
 
 But I beg that it may be attentively observed, in the 
 third place, that, notwithstanding all these particular and 
 accidental obstacles to the progress of the Reformation 
 among men of knowledge and letters, its spirit has, 
 in fact, gained more ground than the ingenious author of 
 the Confessional seems to imagine. I think it must be 
 allowed, that every branch of superstition that is re- 
 trenched from popery, as well as every portion of author- 
 ity that is taken from its pontiff, is a real gain to the cause 
 of the Reformation; and, though it does not render that 
 cause absolutely triumphant, yet prepares the way for its 
 progress and advancement. Now (in this point of view,> 
 Tam persuaded it will appear that, for twenty or thirty 
 years past, the Reformation, or at least its spirit, has rather 
 gained than lost ground in Roman catholic states. In 
 several countries, and more particularly in France, many 
 of the gross abuses of popery have been corrected. We 
 have seen the saintly legend, in many places, deprived of 
 its fairest honours. We have seen a mortal blow given 
 in France to the absolute power of the pope. What is 
 still more surprising, we have seen, even in Spain and 
 Portugal, the display of a spirit of opposition to the pre- 
 tended infallible ruler of the church. We have seen the 
 very order, that has been always considered as the chief 
 support of the papacy, the order of the Jesuits, the funda- 
 mental characteristic of whose institute is an inviolable 
 obligation to extend, beyond all limits, the despotic author- 
 ity of the pontiffs; we have seen, I say, that order sup- 
 pressed, banished, covered with deserved infamy, in three 
 powerful kingdoms;* and we see, at this moment, their 
 credit declining in other Roman catholic states. We see, 
 in several popish countries, and more especially in France, 
 the Scriptures more generally in the hands of the people 
 than in former times. We have seen the senate of Ven- 
 ice, not many months ago, suppressing, by an express 
 edict,” the officers of the inquisition in all the small towns, 
 reducing their power toa shadow in the larger cities, 
 extending the liberty of the press; and all this in a 
 steady opposition to the repeated remonstrances of the 
 court of Rome. These, and many other facts that might 
 be collected here, facts of a recent date, show that the 
 essential spirit of popery, which is a spirit of unlimited 
 despotism in the pretended head of the church, and a 
 spirit of blind submission and superstition in its mem- 
 bers, is rather losing than gaining ground, even in those 
 countries that still profess the religion of Rome. 
 
 If this be the case, it would seem, indeed, very strange, 
 that popery, which is losing ground at home, should be 
 gaining it abroad, and acquiring new strength, as some 
 imagine, even in Protestant countries. This, at first sight, 
 must appear a paradox of the most enormous size; and 
 it is to be hoped that it will continue to appear such, upon 
 the closest examination. While the spirit and vigour of 
 popery are actually declining on the continent, | would 
 fondly hope, that the apprehensions of some worthy per- 
 sons, with respect to its progress in England, are without 
 foundation. ‘T'o account for the growth of popery in an 
 
 b This edict was issued in the month of February, 1767. 
 
678 
 
 age of light would be incumbent upon me, if the fact 
 were true. Until this fact be proved, I may be excused 
 from undertaking such a task. The famous story of the 
 golden tooth, that employed the laborious researches of 
 phy sicians, chemists, and philosophers, stands upon record, 
 43 a warning to those who are over- hasty to account for 
 t thing w hich has no existence. M y distance from Eing- 
 land, during many years past, renders me, indeed, less 
 ca pable of judging of the state of popery, than those ‘who 
 are upon the spot: I shall therefore confine myself to a 
 few reflections upon this interesting subject. 
 
 When it is said that popery gains ground in England, 
 one of the two following things must be meant by this 
 expression : either that the spirit of the established, and 
 other reformed churches, is leaning that way ; or that a 
 number of individuals are made prosely tes, by the seduc- 
 tion of popish emissaries, to the Romish communion. 
 With respect tothe established church, I think that a can- 
 did and accurate observer must vindicate it from the char ge 
 of a spirit of approximation to Rome. We do not live in 
 the days of a Laud; nor do his successors seem to have 
 imbibed his spirit. I ‘do not hear that the claims of church- 
 power are carried high in the present times, or that a spirit 
 of intolerance characterises the episcopal hierarchy; and 
 though it may be wished, that the case of subscription 
 might be made easier to cood and learned men, whose 
 scruples deserve indulgence, and be better accommodated 
 to what is known to be the reigning theology among the 
 episcopal clergy, yet it is straining matters too far to allege 
 the demand of subscription as a proof that the established 
 church is verging toward popery. As to the Protestant 
 dissenting churches in England and Ireland, they stand 
 so avowedly clear of all imputations of this nature, that 
 it is utterly unnecessary to vindicate them on this head. 
 If any thing of this kind is to be apprehended from any 
 quarter within the pale of the Reformation, it is from the 
 quarter of fanaticism, which, by discrediting free inquiry, 
 crying down human learning, and encouraging those pre- 
 tended illuminations and impulses which give imagination 
 an undue ascendency in religion, lays weak minds open 
 to the seductions of a church, which has always made its 
 conquests by wild visions and false miracles, addressed to 
 the passions and fancies of men. Cry down reason, preach 
 up implicit faith, extineuish the lamp of free i inquiry ,make 
 inward experience the test of truth; and then the main 
 barriers against popery will be removed. Persons who 
 follow this method possibly may continue Protestants ; 
 but there is no security against their becoming Papists, 
 if the occasion is presented. Were they placed in a scene 
 where artful priests and enthusiastic monks could play 
 their engines of conversion, their Protestant faith would 
 be very likely to fail. 
 
 If by the supposed growth of popery be meant, the 
 success of the Romish emissaries in making proselytes to 
 their communion, here again the question. turns upon a 
 matter of fact, upon which I cannot venture to pronounce. 
 There is no faukt that the Romish hierarchy carries on 
 its operations under the shade of an indulgent connivance; 
 and it is to be feared that its members are ‘wiser (i. e. more 
 artful and zealous) in their generation than the children 
 of light’ The establishment of the Protestant religion 
 inspires, it is to be feared, an indolent security into the 
 hearts of its friends. Ease and negligence are the fruits 
 
 THE THIRD APPENDIX. 
 
 of prosperity ; and this maxim even extends to religion, 
 It is not unusual to see a victorious general sleep upon his 
 laurels, and thus give advantage to an enemy, whom ad- 
 versity renders vigilant. All good and true Protestants 
 will heartily wish that this were otherwise. They will be 
 sincerely afflicted at any decline that may happen in the 
 zeal and vigilance that ought ever to be employed against 
 popery and its emissaries, since they can never cease to 
 consider it as a system of wretched superstition and poli- 
 tical despotism, and must particularly look upon popery 
 in the British isles as pregnant with the pr inciples of dis- 
 affection and rebellion, and as at invariable enmity with 
 our religious liberty and our happy civil constitution. But 
 still there is reason. to hope, that it makes very little pro- 
 gress, notwithstanding the apprehensions that have been 
 entertained on. this subject. ‘The insidious publications 
 of a 'T'aafe and a Philips, who abuse the terms of charity, 
 philanthropy, and humanity, in their flimsy apologies for 
 a church whose fender mercies are known to be cruel, 
 have alarmed many well-meaning persons. But it is 
 much more wise, as well as noble, to be vigilant and steady 
 against the enemy, than to take the alarm at the smallest 
 of his motions, and to fall into a panic, as if we were con 
 scious of our weakness. Be that as it will, Ireturn to my 
 first principle, and am still persuaded, that the Protestant 
 church, and its prevailing spirit, are, at this present time, 
 as averse to popery, as they were at any period since the 
 Reformation, and that the thriving state of learning and 
 philosophy, is adapted to confirm them in this well-founded 
 aversion. Should it even be granted that proselytes to 
 popery have been made, among the ignorant and unwary, 
 by the emissaries of Rome, this would by no means invali- 
 date what I here maintain, though it may justly be con- 
 sidered as a powerful incentive to the zeal and vigilance 
 of rulers temporal and spiritual, of the pastors and people 
 of the reformed churches, against the encroachments of 
 Rome. 
 
 ‘The author of the Confessional complains, and perhaps 
 justly, of the bold and public appearance which popery 
 has of late made in England. “ The papists (says he) 
 strengthened and animated by an influx of Jesuits, ex- 
 pelled even from popish countries for crimes and practices 
 of the worst complexion, open public mass-houses, and 
 affront the laws of this Protestant kingdom in other res- 
 pects, not without insulting some of those who endeavour 
 to check their insolence. And we are told, with the utmost 
 coolness and composure, that popish bishops go about 
 here, and exercise every part of their function, without 
 offence, and without observation.” ‘This, is, indeed, a cir- 
 cumstance that the friends of reformation and religious 
 liberty cannot behold without offence: I say, the friends 
 of religious liberty ; because the maintenance of all liberty, 
 both civil and religious, depends on circumscribing popery 
 within proper bounds, since it is not asystem of innocent 
 speculative opinions, but a yoke of despotism, an enormous 
 mixture of princely and priestly tyranny, designed to en- 
 slave the consciences of mankind, and to destroy their 
 most sacred and invaluable rights. But, at the same time, 
 I do not think we can, from this public appearance of 
 popery, rationally conclude that it gains ground, much less 
 (as the author of the Confessional suggests,) ‘that the two 
 hierarchies (i. e. the episcopal and the popish) are growing 
 daily more and more into a resemblance of each other.’ 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 The natural reason of this bold appearance of popery is 
 the spirit of toleration, that has been carried to a great 
 height, and has rendered the execution of the laws against 
 papists, in recent times, less rigorous and severe. 
 
 How it may be proper to act with regard to the growing 
 insolence of popery, is a matter that must be left to the 
 wisdom and clemency of government.. Rigour against 
 any thing that bears the name of religion, gives pain to 
 a candid and generous mind; and it is certainly more 
 eligible to extend too far, than to circumscribe too nar- 
 rowly, the bounds of forbearance and indulgent. cha- 
 rity. 
 
 If the dangerous tendency of popery, considered as a 
 pernicions system of policy, should be pleaded as a suffi- 
 cient reason to except it from the indulgence due to merely 
 speculative systems of theology ;—if the voice of history 
 should be appealed to, as declaring the assassinations, 
 rebellisas, conspiracies, the horrid scenes of carnage and 
 
 679 
 
 desolation, that popery has produced ;—if standing prin- 
 ciples and maxims of the Romish church should be quoted, 
 
 | which authorize these enormities ;—if it should be alleged, 
 finally, that popery is much more malignant and danger- 
 
 ous in Great Britain than in any other Protestant coun- 
 try ;—I acknowledge that all these pleas against it are 
 well-founded, and plead for modifications to the connivance 
 which the clemency of government may think proper to 
 grant to that unfriendly system of religion. All 1 wish 
 is, that mercy and humanity may ever accompany the 
 execution of justice, and that nothing like merely religious 
 persecution may stain the British annals; and all [ main- 
 tain with respect to the chief point under consideration is, 
 that the public appearance of popery, which is justly com- 
 plained of, is no certain proof of its growth, but rather 
 shows its indiscretion than its strength, and the declining 
 vigour of our zeal than the growing influence of its 
 maxims. 
 
 - THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 A CIRCUMSTANTIAL AND EXACT ACCOUNT OF THE CORRESPONDENCE THAT WAS CARRIED ON, IN THE 
 ‘SARS 1717 AND 1718, BETWEEN DR. WILLIAM WAKE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AND CERTAIN DOC- 
 TORS OF THE SORBONNE AT PARIS, RELATIVE TO A PROJECT OF UNION BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND 
 
 GALLICAN CHURCHES. 
 
 WueEn the famous Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, laid an | 
 
 insidious snare for uathinking Protestants,*in his artful 
 
 Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, the 
 pious and learned Dr. Wake unmasked this deceiver ; and 
 the writings he published on this occasion gave him a dis- 
 tinguished rank among the victorious champions of the 
 Protestant cause. Should any person, who had perused 
 these writings, be informed, that this ‘ pretended champion 
 of the Protestant religion had set on foot a project of union 
 with a popish church, with concessions in favour of the 
 grossest superstition and idolatry,’* he would be apt to 
 
 * See the Confessional, 2d edition, Pref. p. 1xxvi. 
 
 » Dr. Mosheim had certainly a very impertect idea of this corres- 
 pondence; and he seems to have been misled by the account of it, 
 which Kiorning has given in his dissertation De Consecrationibus 
 Episcoporum Ang!torum, published at Helmstadt in 1739; which account, 
 notwithstanding the means of information its author seemed to have by 
 his journey to England, and his conversations with Dr. Courayer, is 
 fwl of mistakes. ‘Thus Kiorning tells us, that Dr. Wake submitted to 
 the judgment of the Romish doctors, his correspondents, the conditions 
 of peace between the two churches, which de had drawn up;—that he 
 sent a learned man (Dr. Wilkins, his chaplain) to Paris, to forward and 
 complete, if possible, the projected union ;—that, in a certain assembly 
 holden at Paris, the difficulties of promoting this union without the 
 pope’s concurrence were insisted upon by some men of high rank, who 
 seemed inclined to the union, aid that these difficulties put an end to 
 the conferences ;—that, however, two French divines (whom he sup- 
 poses to be Du-Pin and Girardin) were sent to England to propose new 
 terms. It now happens unluckily for Mr. Kiorning’s reputation as an 
 historian, that not one syllable of all this is true, as will appear suffi- 
 ciently to the reader, who peruses with attention the account and the 
 pieces which I here lay before the public.—But one of the most egregious 
 errors in the account given by Kiorning, is at page 61 of his Disser- 
 tation, where he says, that archbishop Wake was so much elated with 
 the prospect of suecess in the scheme of an accommodation that he 
 acquainted the divines of Geneva with it in 1719, and plainly inti- 
 mated to them, that he thought it an easier thing than reconciling the 
 Protestants with each other.—Let us now see where Kiorning received 
 
 Magis amica veritas. 
 
 stare; at least he would require the strongest possible evi- 
 dence for a fact, in all appearance so contradictory and 
 unaccountable. ‘This accusation has, nevertheless, been 
 brought against the eminent prelate, by the ingenious and 
 intrepid author of the Confessional; and it is founded 
 upon an extraordinary passage in Dr. Mosheim’s Keclesi- 
 astical History; where we are told, that Dr. Wake ‘ formed 
 a project of peace and union between the English and Gal- 
 lican churches, founded upon this condition, that each of 
 the two communities should retain the greatest part ef 
 
 their respective and peculiar doctrines.» This passage, 
 
 this information.— Why, truly, it was from a letter of Dr. Wake to Pro- 
 fessor Turretin of Geneva, in which there is not one syllable relative 
 to a scheme of union between the English and Gallican churches ; and 
 yet Kiorning quotes a passage in this letter as the only authority he has 
 for this affirmation. The case was this: Dr. Wake, in the former part 
 of his letter to Turretin, speaks of the sufferings of the Hungarian and 
 Piedmontese churches, which he had successfully endeavoured to alle- 
 viate, by engaging George I. to intercede in their behalf; and then pro- 
 ceeds to express his desire of healing the differences that disturbed the 
 union of the Protestant churches abroad. ‘Interim (says he) dum hee 
 (i. e. the endeavours to relieve the Hungarian and Piedemontese 
 churches) feliciter peraguntur, ignoscite, Fratres Dilectissimi, si majoris 
 quidem laboris atque difficultatis, sed longé maximi omnibus commodi 
 inceptum vobis proponam; unionem nimirtim, &c.’ Professor ‘Turretin, 
 in his work entitled, Nubes Testium, printed only the latter part of Dr. 
 Wake’s letter, beginning with the words, ‘Interig, &c.’ and Kiorning, 
 not having seen the preceding part of this letter, which relates to the 
 Hungarian and Piedmontese churches, and with which these words are 
 connected, took it into his head that these words were relative to the 
 scheme of union between the English and Gallican churches. Nor did 
 he only take this into his head by way of conjecture, but he affirms, 
 very sturdily and positively, that the words have this signification : 
 ‘Hee verba (says he) tangunt pacis cum Gallis instaurarde negotium, 
 
 uod ex temporum rationibus manifestum est.’ To show him, however, 
 that he grossly errs, I have published among the annexed pieces (No, 
 XX.) the whole letter of archbishop Wake to Turretin. 
 
680 
 
 though it is, perhaps, too uncharitably interpreted by the 
 author already mentioned, would furnish, without doubt, 
 just matter of censure, were it founded in truth. I was 
 both surprised and perplexed while I was translating it. I 
 could not immediately procure proper information with 
 respect to the fact, nor could I examine Mosheim’s proofs 
 of this strange assertion, because he alleged none. Des- 
 titute of materials, either to invalidate or confirm the fact, 
 I made a slight mention, in a short note, of a correspon- 
 dence which had been carried on between archbishop Wake 
 and Dr. Du-Pin, with the particulars of which I was not 
 acquainted; and, in this myignorance, only made a gene- 
 ral observation, drawn from Dr. Wake’s known zeal for 
 the Protestant religion, which was designed, not to con- 
 firm that assertion, but rather to insinuate my disbelief 
 of it. It never could come into my head, that the interests 
 of the Protestant religion would have been safe in arch- 
 bishop Wake’s hands, had I given the smallest degree of 
 credit to Dr. Mosheim’s assertion, or even suspected that 
 this eminent prelate was inclined to form a union between 
 the English and Gallican churches, ‘founded on this con- 
 dition, that each of the two communities should retain 
 the greatest part of their respective and peculiar doc- 
 trines.’ 
 
 If the author of the Confessional had given a little 
 more attention to this, he could not have represented me, 
 as confirming the fact alleged by Mosheim, much less as 
 giving it what he is pleased to call the sanction of my 
 approbation. I did not confirm the fact; for I only said 
 there was a correspondence on the subject, without speak- 
 ing a syllable of the unpleasing condition that forms the 
 charge against Dr. Wake. I shall not enter here into a 
 debate about the grammatical import of my expressions, 
 as I have something more interesting to present to the 
 reader, who is curious of information about archbishop 
 Wake’s real conduct in relation to the correspondence 
 already mentioned. I have been favoured with authentic 
 copies of the letters which passed in this correspondence, 
 which are now in the hands of Mr. Beauvoir of Canter- 
 bury, the worthy son of the clergyman whowas chaplain to 
 lord Stair in the year 1717, and also with others, from the 
 valuable collection of manuscripts left by Dr. Wake to the 
 library of Christ-Church College in Oxford. It is from 
 these letters that I have drawn the following account, at 
 the end of which copies of them are printed, to serve as 
 proofs of the truth of this relation, which I publish with 
 a disinterested regard to truth. 'This impartiality may be, 
 in some measure, expected from my situation in life, 
 which has placed me at a dist&hce from the scenes of reli- 
 gious and ecclesiastical contention in England, and cut 
 
 * The perusal of this letter (which the reader will find among the 
 pieces here subjoined, No. I.) is sufficient to remove the suspicions of 
 the author of the Confessional, who seems inclined to believe, that arch- 
 bishop Wake was the first mover in the project of uniting the English 
 and Gallican churches. This author, having mentioned Mr. Beauvoir’s 
 letter, in which Du-Pin’s desire of this union is communicated to the 
 archbishop, asks the fllowing question: ‘Can any man be certain that 
 Beauvoir mentioned this merely out of his own head, and without some 
 previous occasion given, in the archbishop’s letter to him, for such a con- 
 versation with the Sorbonne doctors ? I answer to this question, that 
 every one who reads the archbishop’s letter of the 28th of November, 
 to which this letter of Mr. Beauvoir is an answer, may be very certain 
 that Dr. Wake’s letter did not give him the !east occasion for sucha con- 
 versation, but relates entirely to the Benedictine edition of St. Chrysos- 
 tom, Martenne’s Thesaurus Anecdotorum, and Moreri’s Dictionary. 
 ‘But, says our author, there is an -c. in this copy of Mr. Beauvoir’s 
 letter, very suspiciously placed, as if t0 cover something improper to be 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 me off from those personal connexions, that nourish the 
 prejudices of a party spirit, more than many are aware 
 of; but it would be still more expected from my principles, 
 were they known. 
 
 From this narrative, confirmed by authentic papers, it 
 will appear with the utmost evidence, 
 
 (st, That archbishop Wake was not the first mover in 
 this correspondence, nor the person who formed the pro- 
 ject of union between the English and Gallican churches. 
 
 2dly, ‘That he never made any concessions, nor oflered 
 to give up, for the sake of peace, any one point of the 
 established doctrine and discipline of the church of Eng- 
 land, in order to promote this union. 
 
 3dly, That any desires of union with the church of 
 Rome, expressed in the archbishop’s letters, proceeded from 
 the hopes (well founded, or illusory, is not my business to 
 examine here) that he at first entertained of a considerable 
 reformation in that church, and from an expectation that 
 its most absurd doctrines would fall to the ground, if they 
 could once be deprived of their great support, the papal 
 authority ;—-the destruction of which authority was the 
 very basis of this correspondence. 
 
 It will farther appear, that Dr. Wake considered union 
 in external worship, as one of the best methods of healing 
 the uncharitable dissensions that are often occasioned by 
 a variety of sentiments in point of doctrine, in which a 
 perfect uniformity is not to be expected. "This is undoubt 
 edly a wise principle, when it is not carried too far; and 
 whether or no it was carried too far by this eminent pre- 
 late, the candid reader is left to judge from the following 
 relation : 
 
 In the month of November, 1717, archbishop Wake 
 wrote a letter to Mr. Beauvoir, chaplain to the earl of Stair, 
 then ambassador at Paris, in which his grace acknow- 
 ledges the receipt of several obliging letters from Mr. Beau- 
 voir. ‘This is manifestly the first letter which the prelate 
 wrote to that gentleman, and the whole contents of it are 
 matters of a literary nature. In answer to this letter, Mr. 
 Beauvoir, in one dated the eleventh of December, 1717, 
 O.S. gives the archbishop the information he desired, 
 about the method of subscribing to a new edition of St. 
 Chrysostom, which was at that time in the press at Paris, 
 and then mentions his having dined with Du-Pin, and 
 three other doctors of the Sorbonne, who talked as if the 
 whole kingdom of France was to appeal (in the affair of 
 the Bull Unigenitus) tu a future general council, and 
 who ‘wished for a union with the church of England, 
 as the most effectual means to unite all the western 
 churches” Mr. Beauvoir adds, that Dr. Du-Pin had 
 desired him to give his duty to the archbishop.» Here 
 
 disclosed.* But really if any thing was covered here, it was covered 
 from the archbishop as well as from the public, since the very name, q-c, 
 that we see in the printed copy of Mr. Beauvoir’s letter, stands in the 
 original. Besides, I would be glad to know, what there is in the placing 
 of this, g-c. that can give rise to suspicion? The passage of Beauvoir’s 
 letter runs thus: ‘They (the Sorbonne doctors) talked as if the whole 
 kingdom was to appeal to the future general council, &c. They wished 
 for a union with the church of England, as the most effectual means to 
 unite all the Western churches.’ It is palpably evident, that the &c. 
 here has not the least relation to the union, in question, and gives no 
 sort of reason to suspect any thing but the spirit of discontent, which 
 the insolent proceedings of the court of Rome had excited among the 
 Trench divines. 7 
 
 » See the Letters subjoined, No. II. 
 
 * The other reflections that the author has there made upon the corres- 
 pondence between archbishop Wake and the doctors of the Sorbonng 
 are examined in the following note. 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 we see a first hint, the very first overture that was made 
 relative to a project of union between the English and 
 Gallican churches; and this hint comes originally from 
 the doctors of the Sorbonne, and is not occasioned by any 
 thing contained in preceding letters from archbishop Wake 
 to Mr. Beauvoir, since the one only letter, which Mr. 
 Beauvoir had hitherto received from that eminent prelate, 
 was entirely taken up in inquiries about some new editions 
 of books that were then publishing at Paris. 
 
 Upon this the archbishop wrote a letter to Mr. Beauvoir, 
 in which he makes honourable mention of Du-Pin as an 
 author of merit, and expresses his desire of serving him, 
 with that benevolent politeness which reigns in our learned 
 prelate’s letters, and seems to have been a striking line in 
 his amiable character. Dr. Du-Pin improved this favour- 
 able occasion of writing to the archbishop a letter of 
 thanks, dated January 31, (February 11, N.S.) 1717-18; 
 in which, toward the conclusion, he intimates his desire of 
 a union between the English and Gallican churches, 
 and observes, that the difference between them, in most 
 points, was not so great as to render a reconciliation im- 
 practicable; and that it was his earnest wish, that all 
 Christians should be united in one sheepfold. His words 
 are: ‘Unum addam cum bona venia tué, me vehemen- 
 
 « This ‘handsome mention’ of Dr. Du-Pin, made by the archbishop, 
 gives new subject of suspicion to the author of the Confessional. He 
 had learned the fact from the article Wake, in the Biographia Britan- 
 nica; ‘but, says he, we are left to guess what this handsome mention 
 was ;—had the biographer given us this letter, together with that of No- 
 vember 27, they might probably (it would have been move accurate to 
 have said possibly,) have discovered what the biographer did not want 
 we should know, namely, the share Dr. Wake had in forming she pro- 
 iect of a union between the two churches.’ This is guessing with a 
 witness :—and it is hard to imagine how the boldest calculator of pro- 
 babilities could conclude from Dr. Wake’s handsome mention of Dr, 
 Du-Pin, that the former had a share, of any kind, in forming the project 
 of union now under consideration. For the ingenious guesser happens 
 to be quite mistaken in his conjecture; and I hope to convince him of 
 this, by satisfying his desire. He desires the letter of the 27th (or rather 
 
 the 28th) of November; I have referred to it in the preceding note, and | 
 he may read it at the end of this account. He desires the letter in which | 
 
 handsome mention is made of Du-Pin; and I can assure him, that in 
 that letter there is not a single syllable relative toa union. The passage 
 that regards Dr. Du-Pin is as follows: I am much obliged to you (says 
 Dr. Wake, in his letter to Mr. Beauvoir, dated January 2, 1717-18) for 
 
 making my name known to Dr. Du-Pin. He is a gentleman by whose | 
 
 labours I have profited these many years; and I do really admire how 
 it is possible for one man to publish so much, and yet so correctly, as 
 he has generally done. I desire my respects to him; and that, if there 
 be any thing here whereby I may be serviceable to him, he will freely 
 command me.’ Such was the archbishop’s handsome mention of Du-Pin; 
 and it evidently shows that, till then, there never had been any commu- 
 nication between them. Yet these are all the proofs which the author 
 of the Confessional gives of the probability that the archbishop was the 
 first mover in this affair. 
 
 But ‘his grace accepted the party, a formal treaty commences, and 
 jis carried on in a correspondence of some length,’ says the author of 
 the Confessional. And I would candidly ask that author, upon 
 
 what principles of Christianity, reason, or charity, Dr. Wake could | 
 
 nave refused to hear the proposals, terms, and sentiments of the Sor- 
 Fonne doctors, who discovered an inclination to unite with his church ? 
 Ihe author of the Confessional says elsewhere, ‘that it was, at the 
 best, officious and presumptuous in Dr. Wake to enter into a negotiation 
 df this nature, without authority from the church or the government.’ 
 
 Put the truth is, that he entered into no negotiation or treaty on this | 
 
 ead; he considered the letters that were written on both sides as a per- 
 
 sonal cerrespondence between individuals, who could not commence a | 
 
 regotiation, until they had received the proper powers from their re- 
 »pective sovereigns ; and I do think he was greatly in the right to enter 
 ato this correspondence, as it seemed very likely, in the then circum- 
 ytances of the Gallican church, to serve the Protestant interest and the 
 sauise of reformation. If, indeed, in the course of this correspondence, 
 he had discovered any thing like what Mosheim imputes to him, even 
 a disposition toward a union, founded upon the condition that each of 
 the two churches should retain the greatest part of their respective and 
 yeculiar doctrines, I should think his conduct liable to censure. Butno 
 
 No. LVII. 171 
 
 681 
 
 ter optare, ut unionis inter Ecclesias Anglicanam et Gal- 
 licanam ineundee via aliqua inveniri posset: non ita sumus 
 ab invicem in plerisque dissiti, ut non possimus mutuo 
 reconciliari. Atque utinam Christiani omnes essent unum 
 ovile’? ‘The archbishop wrote an answer to this letter, 
 dated February 13-24, 1717-18, in which he asserts, at 
 large, the purity of the church of England, in faith, wor- 
 ship, government, and discipline, and tells his correspon- 
 dent, that he is persuaded that there are few things in the 
 doctrine and constitution of that church, which even he 
 himself (Du-Pin) would desire to see changed; the original 
 words are: ‘Aut ego vehementer fallor, aut in eA pauca 
 admodum sunt, quee vel tu—immutanda velles;’ and again, 
 ‘Sincere judica, quid in hac nostra ecclesia invenias, quod 
 jure damnari debeat, aut nos atra hereticorum, vel etiam 
 schismaticorum, nota inurere.’ Che zeal of the venerable 
 prelate goes still farther; and the moderate sentiments 
 which he observed in Dr. Du-Pin’s letter induced him to 
 exhort the French to maintain, if not. to enlarge, the rights 
 and privileges of the Gallican church, for which the exist- 
 ing disputes, about the constitution Unigenitus, furnished 
 the most favourable occasion. He also expresses his readi- 
 hess to concur in improving any opportunity, that might 
 be offered by these debates, to form a union that might 
 
 such thing appears in his letters, which I have subjoined to this account, 
 that the candid examiner may receive full satisfaction in this affair. 
 Mosheim’s mistake is palpable, and the author of the Confessional 
 seems certainly to have been too hasty in adopting it. He alleges, that 
 Dr. Wake might have maintained the justice and orthodoxy of every 
 individual article of the church of England, and yet ‘give up some of 
 them for the sake of peace.’ But the archbishop expressly declares, in his 
 letters, that he would give up none of them, and that, though he was a 
 friend to peace, he was still-a greater friend to truth. The author’s re- 
 flection, that, without some concessions on the part of the archbishop, 
 the treaty could not have gone a step farther, may be questioned in 
 theory ; for treaties are often carried on for a long time without conces- 
 sions on both sides, or perhaps on either; and the archbishop might 
 hope that Du-Pin, who had yielded several things, would still yield 
 more; but this remark is overturned by the plain fact. Besides, I repeat 
 what I have already insinuated, that this correspondence does not de- 
 serve the name of a ¢reaty.* Proposals were made only on Du-Pin’s side; 
 and these proposals were positively rejected by the archbishop, in his 
 letters to Mr. Beauvoir. Nor did he propose any thing in return to 
 either of the Sorbenne doctors, but that they should entirely renounce 
 the authority of the pope, hoping, though perhaps too fancifully, that, 
 when this was done, the two churches might come to an agreement 
 about other matters, as far as was necessary. But the author of the 
 Confessional supposes, that the archbishop must have made some con- 
 cessions, because the letters on both sides were sent to Rome, and re- 
 ceived there as ‘so many trophies gained from the enemies of the 
 church.’ This supposition, however, is somewhat hasty. Could nothing 
 but concessions from the archbishop make the court of Rome considea 
 those letters in that light? Would they not think it a great triumph, 
 that they had obliged Du-Pin’s party to give up the letters as a token 
 of their submission, and defeated the archbishop’s design of engaging 
 the Gallican church to assert its liberty, by throwing off the papal yoke? 
 If Dr. Wake made concessions, where are they? And if these were 
 the trophies, why did not the partisans of Rome publish authentic copies 
 of them to the world? Did the author of the Confessional ever hear of 
 a victorious general, who carefully hid under ground the standards he 
 had taken from the enemy? ‘Lhis, indeed, is a new method of dealing 
 with trophies. Our author, however, does not, as yet, quit his hold; he 
 alleges, that the French divines could not have acknowledged the catho- 
 lic benevolence of the archbishop, if he made no concessions to them. 
 This reasoning would be plausible, if charity toward those who err 
 consisted in embracing their errors; but this isa definition of charity, 
 that, I fancy, the ingenious author will give up, upon second 
 thoughts. Dr. Wake’s catholic benevolence consisted in his esteem 
 for the merit and learning of his correspondents, in his compassion for 
 their servitude and their errors, in his desire of the reformation and 
 liberty of their church, and his inclination to live in friendship and con- 
 cord, as far as was possible, with all that bear the Christian name; and 
 this disposition, so suitable to the benevolent genius of Christianity, 
 will always reflect a true and solid glory upon his character as a Chris- 
 tian bishop. , 
 * See post, note * and the letters subjoined, No. XI. 
 
682 
 
 be productive ofa farther reformation, in which, not only the | 
 
 most rational Protestants, but also a considerable number 
 
 of the Roman catholic churches, should join with the 
 
 church of England; ‘ 
 ing of the recent commotions excited by the Constitution) 
 
 siexhine (say s the archbishop, speak- | 
 
 aliquid amplius elici possit ad unionem nobiscum ecclesi- | 
 
 asticum ineundam ; 
 
 unde forte nova queedam reformatio | 
 
 exoriatur, in quam non solum ex Protestantibus optimi | 
 quique, verum etiam pars magna ecclesiarum Communi- | 
 
 onis Romano-Catholice, una nobiscum conveniant.’ 
 Hitherto we see, that the expressions of the two learned 
 doctors of the English and Gallican churches, relating to 
 the union under consideration, are of a vague and general 
 nature. When they were thus far advanced in their cor- 
 respondence, an event happened, which rendered it more 
 close, serious, and interesting, and even brought on some 
 particular mention of preliminary terms, and certain pre- 
 paratives for a future negotiation. The event I mean, 
 was a discourse delivered, in an extraordinary meeting of 
 the Sorbonne, March 17-28, 1717-18, by Dr. Patrick Piers 
 de Girardin, in which he exhorts the doctors of that society 
 to proceed in their design of revising the doctrines and rules 
 of the church, to separate things necessary from those which 
 are not so, by which they will show the church of England 
 that they do not hold every decision of the pope for an arti- 
 cle of faith. The learned orator observes farther (upon 
 what foundation it is difficult to guess,) that the English 
 church may be more easily reconciled than the Greek was ; 
 and that the disputes between the Gallican church and the 
 court of Rome, removing the apprehensions of papal 
 tyranny, which terrified the English from the Catholic 
 communion, will lead them back into the bosom of the 
 Hee with greater celerity than they formerly fled from 
 it: ‘Facient (says he) profecto offensiones, que vos inter 
 senatum Capitolinum videntur intervenisse, ut Angeli 
 deposito servitutis metu, in ecclesia gremium revolent alac- 
 rius quam olim inde, quorundam exosi tyrannidem, avo- 
 Jarunt. Meministis ortas inter Paulum et Barnabam dis- 
 sensiones animorum tandem eo recidisse, ut singuli propa- 
 gandee in diversis regionibus fidei felicius insudaverint 
 sigillatim, quam junctis viribus fortasse msudassent.’ 
 This last sentence (in which Dr. Girardin observes, that 
 Paul and Barnabas probably made more converts in con- 
 sequence of their separation, than they would have done 
 had they travelled together, and acted in concert,) is not 
 a little zemarkable; and, indeed, the whole passage dis- 
 covers rather a desire of making proselytes, than an incli- 
 nation to form a coalition founded upon concessions and 
 some reformation on the side of popery. It may, perhaps, 
 be alleged, in opposition to this remark, that prudence 
 required a language of this kind, in the infancy of a 
 project of union, whatever concessions might be offered 
 
 afterwards to bring about its execution ; and this may | 
 
 be true. 
 
 After the delivery of this discourse in the Sorbonne, 
 Dr. Du-Pin showed to Girardin archbishop Wake’s letter, 
 which was also communicated to cardinal de Noailles, 
 who admired it greatly, as appears from a letter of Dr. 
 Piers de Girardin to Dr. Wake, written, I believe, April 
 18-29, 1718. Before the arrival of this letter the arch- 
 bishop had received a second from Dr. Du-Pin, and also 
 a copy of Girardin’s discourse. But he does not seem to 
 
 have entertained any notion, in consequence of all this, 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 | scheme might fairly be offered for such a union, 
 
 that the projected union would go on smoothly. On the 
 contrary, he no sooner received these letters, than he wrote 
 to Mr. Beauvoir (April 15, 1718,) that it was his opinion, 
 that neither the regent nor the cardinal would ever come 
 to a rupture with the court of Rome; and that nothing 
 could be done, in point of doctrine, until this rupture was 
 brought about. He added, that fundamentals should be 
 distinguished from matters of less moment, in which dif- 
 ferences or errors might be tolerated. He expresses a 
 curiosity to know the reception which his former letter to 
 Du-Pin had met with; and he wrote again to that eccle- 
 siastic, and also to Girardin (May 1, 1718 ,) and sent both 
 his letters toward the end of that month. 
 
 The doctors of the Sorbonne, whether they were set in 
 motion by the real desire of a union with the English 
 church, or only intended to make use of this union as 
 the means of intimidating the court of Rome, began to 
 form a plan of reconciliation, and to specify the terms 
 upon which they were willing to bring it into execution. 
 Mr. Beauvoir acquaints the archbishop, in July, 1718, 
 that Dr. Du-Pin had made a rough draught of an essay 
 toward a union, which cardinal de No ailles desired to 
 peruse before it was sent to his grace; and that both Du- 
 Pin and Girardin were highly pleased with his grace’s 
 letters to them. ‘These letters, however, were written 
 with a truly Protestant spirit; the archbishop insisted, in 
 them, upon the truth and orthodoxy of the articles of the 
 church of England, arid did not make any concession, 
 which supposed the least approximation to the peculiar 
 doctrines, or the smallest approbation of the ambitious 
 pretensions of the church of Rome; he observed, on the 
 contrary, that it was now the time for Dr. Du-Pin, and 
 his brethren of the Sorbonne, to declare openly their true 
 sentiments with respect to the superstition and tyranny of 
 that church; that it was the interest of all Christians to 
 unmask that court, and to reduce its authority to its 
 primitive limits; and that, according to the fundamental 
 principle of the Reformation in general, and of the 
 church of England in particular, Jesus Christ is the only 
 founder, source, and head of the church. Accordingly, 
 when Mr. Beauvoir had acquainted the archbishop with 
 Du-Pin’s having formed a plan of union, his grace 
 answered in a manner which showed that he looked upon 
 the removal of the Gallican church from the jurisdiction 
 of Rome as an essential preliminary article, without which 
 ho negotiation could even be commenced. “ 'T'o speak 
 freely (says the prelate, in his letter of the 11th of August, 
 to Mr. Beauvoir,) I do not think the regent (the duke of 
 Orleans) yet strong enough in his interest, to adventure 
 at a separation from the court of Rome. Could the regent 
 openly appear in this, the divines would follow, anda 
 as 
 alone is requisite, between the English and Gallican 
 churches. But, till the time comes that the state will 
 enter into such a work, all the rest is mere speculation. 
 It may amuse a few contemplative men of learning and 
 probity, who see the errors of the church, and groan under 
 the tyranny of the court of Rome. It may dispose them 
 secretly to wish well to us, and think charitably of us ; 
 but still they must call themselves Catholics, and us 
 Heretics ; and, to all outward appearance, say mass, and 
 
 act so as they have been wont to do. Jf, under the shel- 
 
 ter of Gallican privileges, they can now and then serve 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 the state by speaking big in the Sorbonne, they will do 
 it heartily: but that is all, if I am not greatly mistaken.” 
 
 Soon after this the arehbishop received Du-Pin’s Com- 
 monitorium, or advice relating to the method of re-uniting 
 the English and Gallican churches; of the contents of 
 which it will not be improper to give here a compendious 
 account, as it was read in the Sorbonne, and was approved 
 there, and as the concessions it contains, though not suf- 
 ficient to satisfy a true Protestant, are yet such as one 
 would not expect from a very zealous papist. Dr. Du-Pin, 
 afier some reflections, in the tedious preface, on the Refor- 
 mation, and the present state of the church of England, 
 reduces the controversy between the churches to three 
 heads, viz. articles of faith,—rules and ceremonies of eccle- 
 slastical discipline,—and moral doctrine, or rules of prac- 
 tice ; and these he treats, by entering into an examination 
 of the XX XIX articles of the church of England. 'The 
 tirst five of these articles he approves. With regard to 
 the Vith, which affirms that the Scripture contains all 
 things necessary to salvation, he expresses himself thus: 
 “'This we will readily grant, provided that you do not 
 entirely exclude tradition, which does not exhibit new 
 articles of faith, but confirms and illustrates those which 
 are contained in the sacred writings, and places about 
 them new guards to defend them against gainsayers,* 
 &c.” He thinks that the apocryphal books will not occa- 
 sion much difficulty. He is, indeed, of opinion, that “ they 
 ought to be deemed canonical, as those books concerning 
 which there were doubts for some time ;” yet, since 
 they are not in the first or Jewish canon, he will allow 
 them to be called Deutero-Canonical. He consents to 
 the Xth article, which relates to free-will, provided that 
 by the word power be understood what school-divines call 
 potentia proxima, or a direct and immediate power, 
 since, without a remote power of doing good works, sin 
 could not be imputed. 
 
 With respect to the XIth article, which contains the 
 doctrine of justification, he thus expresses the sentiments 
 of his brethren: “ We do not deny that it is by faith 
 alone that we are justified, but we maintain that faith, 
 charity, and good works, are necessary to salvation; and 
 this is acknowledged in the following article.» 
 
 Concerning the XIiIth article, he observes, “ that there 
 will be no dispute, since many divines of both communions 
 embrace the doctrine contained in that article,” (viz. that 
 works done before the grace of Christ are not pleasing to 
 God, and have the nature of sin.) He indeed thinks “ it 
 very harsh to say, that all those actions are sinful which 
 have not the grace of Christ for their source ;” but he con- 
 siders this rather as a matter of theological discussion than 
 as a term of fraternal communion.¢ 
 
 On the XIVth article, relating to works of supereroga- 
 
 tion (undoubtedly one of the most absurd and pernicious | 
 
 doctrines of the Romish church,) he observes, “ that works 
 of supererogation mean only works conducive to salvation, 
 which are not matters of strict precept, but of counsel only; 
 (lat the word, being new, may be rejected, provided it be 
 owned that the faithful do some such works.” 
 
 * The original words are: ‘ Hoc lubenter admittemus, modo non ex- 
 cludatur traditio, que articulos fidei novos non exhibet, sed confirmatet ex- 
 dlicat ea, que in sacris literis habentur, ac adversus aliter sapientes munit 
 eos novis cautionibus, ita ut non nova dicantur, sed antiqua nove.’ 
 
 ’ The original words are: ‘Fide sola in Christum nos justificari, 
 quod articulo XImo exponitur, non inficiamur; sed fide, charitate, et ad- 
 
 683 
 He makes no objections to the XV, XVI, XVII, and 
 
 /XVIIIth articles. 
 
 His observation on the XIXth is, that to the definition 
 of the church, the words, wnder lawful pastors, ought 
 to be added; and that though all particular churches, 
 even that of Rome, may err, it is needless to say this in 
 a confession of faith. 
 
 He consents to the decision of the X Xth article, which 
 refuses to the church the power of ordaining any thing 
 that is contrary to the word of God; but he says, it must 
 be taken for granted, that the church will never do this 
 in matters which overturn essential points of faith, or, to 
 use his own words, ‘ quee fidei substantiam evertant.’ 
 
 It is in consequence of this notion that he remarks on 
 the X XIst article, that general councils, received by the 
 universal church, cannot err; and that, though particular 
 councils may, yet every private man has not a right to 
 reject what he thinks contrary to Scripture. 
 
 As to the important points of controversy contained in 
 the X XIId article, he endeavours to mince matters as nicely 
 as he can, to see if he can make the cable pass through 
 the eye of the needle ; and for this purpose observes, that 
 souls must be purged, i. e. purified from all defilement 
 of sin, before they are admitted to celestial bliss ; that the 
 church of Rome does not affirm this to be done by fire ; 
 that indulgences are only relaxations or remissions of tem- 
 poral penalties im this life; that the Roman catholics do 
 not worship the cross, or relics, or images, or even saints 
 before their images, but only pay them an external respect, 
 which is not of a religious nature; and that even the 
 external demonstration of respect is a matter of indiffer- 
 ence, which may be laid aside or retained without harm. 
 
 He approves the X XIIId article ; and does not pretend 
 to dispute about the XX1Vth, which ordains the celebra- 
 tion of divine worship in the vulgar tongue. He, indeed, 
 excuses the Latin and Greek churches for preserving 
 their ancient languages ; but, as great care has been taken 
 that every thing be understood by translations, he allows, 
 that divine service may be performed in the vulgar tongue, 
 where that is customary. 
 
 Under the XX Vth article he insists that the five Romish 
 sacraments be acknowledged as such, whether instituted 
 
 ‘immediately by Christ or not. 
 
 He approves the XXVith and XX VIIth articles ; and 
 he proposes expressing the part of the XXVIilth that 
 relates to Transubstantiation (which term he is willing to 
 omit entirely,) in the following manner: “Phat the 
 bread and wine are really changed into the body and 
 blood of Christ, which last are truly and really received 
 by all, though none but the faithful partake of any benefit 
 from them.” ‘This extends also to the X XLXth article. 
 
 With regard to the XX Xth, he is for mutual toleration, 
 and would have the receiving of the communion in both 
 kinds held indifferent, and liberty left to each church to 
 preserve, or change, or dispense with its customs on certain 
 occasions. 
 
 He is less inclined to concessions on the X X_XIst article, 
 and maintains that the sacrifice of Christ is not only 
 
 — 
 
 junctis bonis operibus, que omnind necessaria sunt ad salutem, ut arti- 
 culo sequenti agnoscitur.’ a. 
 
 ©‘ De articulo XIIImo nulla lis erit, cum multi theologi in eAdem ver- 
 sentur sententia. Durius videtur id dici, eas omnes actiones que ex 
 gratia Christi non fiunt, esse peccatu. Nolim tamen de hac re discep- 
 tari, nisi inter theologos.’ 
 
684 
 
 commemorated, but continued, in the eucharist, and that 
 every communicant offers him along with, the priest. 
 
 He is not a warm stickler for the celibacy of the clergy, 
 put consents so far to the XXXIId article, as to allow 
 that priests may marry, where the laws of the church do 
 not prohibit it. 
 
 In the XX XIIId and XX XIVth articles, he acquiesces 
 without exception. 
 
 He suspends his judgment with respect tothe XXX Vth, 
 as he never perused the homilies mentioned therein. 
 
 As to the XX XVIth, he would not have the English 
 ordinations pronounced null, though some of them, perhaps, 
 are so; but thinks that, if a union be made, the English 
 clergy ought to be continued in their offices and benefices, 
 either by Tight or indulgence, ‘ sive ex jure, sive ex indul- 
 gentia ecclesive.’ 
 
 He admits the XX XVIIth, so far as relates to the 
 authority of the civil power; denies all temporal and all 
 immediate spiritual jurisdiction of the pope ; but alleges, 
 that, by virtue of his primacy, which moderate (he ought 
 to have said immoderate) Church-of-England-men do 
 not deny, he is bound to see that the true faith be main- 
 tained ; that the canons be observed every where ; and, 
 when any thing is done in violation of either, to provide 
 the remedies prescribed for such disorders by the canon 
 laws, ‘secundum leges canonicas, ut malum resarciatur, 
 procurare.’ As to the rest, he is of opinion, that every 
 church ought to enjoy its own liberties and privileges, 
 which the pope has no right to infringe. He declares 
 against going too far (the expression is vague, but the 
 man probably meant well) in the punishment of heretics, 
 against admitting the inquisition into France, and against 
 war without a just cause. 
 
 The XX XVIiIth and XX XIXth articles he approves. 
 Moreover, in the discipline and worship of the church of 
 England, he sees nothing amiss and thinks no attempts 
 should be made to discover or ak by whose fault the 
 schism was begun. He farther observes, “that a union 
 between the English and French bishops and clergy may 
 be completed, or at least advanced, without consulting 
 the Roman pontiff, who may be informed of the union as 
 soon as it is accomplished, and may be desired to consent 
 to it; that, if he consents to it, the affair will then be 
 finished; and that, even without his consent, the union 
 shall be valid ; that, in case he attempts to terrify by his 
 threats, it will then be expedient to appeal to a general 
 council.”* He concludes by observing, “that this arduous 
 matter must first be discussed between a few; and, if 
 there be reason to hope that the bishops, on both sides, 
 will agree about the terms of the designed union, that 
 hen application must be made to the civil power, to 
 
 advance and confirm the work,” to which he wishes all | 
 
 success. 
 
 It is from the effect which these proposals and terms 
 made upon archbishop Wake, that it will be most natural 
 to form a notion of his sentiments with respect to the 
 church of Rome. It appears evident, from several passages 
 in the writings and letters of this eminent prelate, that he 
 was persuaded that a reformation in the church of Rome 
 could only be made gradually ; that it was not probable 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 that they would renounce all their follies at once; bu 
 that, if they should once begin to make concessions, thi 
 would set in motion the work of reformation, which, in 
 all likelihood, would receive new accessions of vigour, and 
 go on until a happy change should be effected. ‘This 
 way of thinking might have led the archbishop to give 
 an indulgent reception to these proposals of Du-Pin, 
 which contained some concessions, and might be an in- 
 troduction to more. And yet we find that he rejected 
 this piece, as insufficient to serve as a basis, or ground- 
 work, to the desired union. On receiving the piece, he 
 immediately perceived that he had not sufficient ground 
 for carrying on this negotiation, without previously con- 
 sulting his brethren, and obtaining a permission from the 
 king for this purpose. Beside this, he was resolved not to 
 submit either to the direction of Dr. Du-Pin, or to that of 
 the Sorbonne, in relation to what was to be retained, or 
 what was to be given up, in the doctrine and discipline of 
 the two churches; nor to treat with the church of Rome 
 upon any other footing, than that of a perfect equality in 
 point of authority and power. He declared more especially, 
 that he would never comply with the proposals made in 
 Du-Pin’s Commonitorium, of which I have now given 
 the contents; observing that, though he was a friend to 
 peace, he was still more a friend to truth; and that, “unless 
 the Roman catholics gave up some of their doctrines 
 and rites,” a union with them could never be effected. 
 All this is contained in a letter written by the archbishop 
 to Mr. Beauvoir, on receiving the Commonitorium. ‘This 
 letter is dated August 30, 1718 ; and the reader will find 
 a copy of it subjoined to this appendix.® About a month 
 after, his grace wrote a letter to Dr. Du-Pin, dated October 
 1, 1718, in which he complains of the tyranny of the 
 pope, exhorts the Gallican doctors to throw off the papal 
 yoke in a national council, since a general one is not to 
 be expected ; and declares, that this must be the great 
 preliminary and fundamental principle of the projected 
 union, which being settled, a uniformity might be brought 
 about in other matters, or a diversity of sentiments mutu- 
 ally allowed, without any violation of peace or concord. 
 The archbishop commends, in the same letter, the candour 
 and openness that reign in the Commonitorium ; entreats 
 Dr. Du-Pin to write to him always upon the same foot- 
 ing, freely, and without disguise or reserve ; and tells him 
 he is pleased with several things in that piece, and with 
 nothing more than with the doctor’s declaring it as his 
 opinion, that there is not a great difference between their 
 respective sentiments; but adds, that he cannot at present 
 give his sentiments at large concerning that piece.° 
 
 Dr. Wake seems to have aimed principally, in this 
 correspondence, at bringing about a separation between 
 the Gallican church and the court of Rome. ‘The terms 
 in which the French divines often spoke about the liber- 
 ties of their church, might give him some hope that this 
 separation would take place, if ever these divines should 
 be countenanced by the civil power of France. But a 
 man of the archbishop’s sagacity could not expect that 
 they would enter into a union with any other nationai 
 church all at once. He acted, therefore, with dignity, 
 as well as with prudence, when he declined to explain 
 
 ®*Unio fieri potest aut saltem promoveri, inconsulto pontifice, qui, 
 facta unione, de eA admonebitur, ac suppliciter rogabitur, ut velit ei con- 
 sentire. Si consentiat, jam peracta res erit: sin abnuat, nihilominus 
 valehit hee unio, Et siminas intentet, ad concilium generale appellabitur.’ | 
 
 >See this Letter, No. IT. 
 
 ¢ See this Letter to Du- -Pin, No. V. as also the archbishop’s letters _ 
 Dr. P. Piers de Girardin, No. VI, 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 himself on the proposals contained in Du-Pin’s Commoni- 
 torium. ‘To have answered ambiguously, would have 
 been mean ; and to have answered explicitly, would have 
 blasted his hopes of separating them from Rome, which 
 separation he desired upon the principles of civil and 
 ecclesiastical liberty, independent of the discussion of 
 theological tenets. ‘lhe archbishop’s sentiments in this 
 matter will still appear farther from the letters he wrote to 
 Mr. Beauvoir, in October, November, and December, 
 1718, and the January following, of which the proper 
 extracts are here subjoined.* It appears from these letters, 
 that Dr. Wake insisted still upon the abolition of the pope’s 
 jurisdiction over the Gallican church, and leaving him 
 no more than a primacy of rank and honour, and that 
 merely by ecclesiastical authority, as he was once bishop 
 of the imperial city; to which empty title our prelate 
 seems willing to have consented, provided that it should 
 be attended with no infringement of the independence 
 and privileges of each particular country and church. 
 “ Si quam prerogativam” (says the archbishop in his letter 
 to Girardin,” after having defied the court of Rome to pro- 
 duce any precept of Christ in favour of the primacy of its 
 bishop) “ ecclesize concilia sedis imperialis episcopo con- 
 cesserint (etsl cadente imperio etiam ea prarogativa exci- 
 disse merito possit censeri) tamen, quod ad me attinet, 
 servatis semper regnorum juribus, ecclesiarum libertatibus, 
 episcoporum dignitate, modo in ceteris conveniatur, per 
 me licet, suo fruatur qualicumque primatu: non ego illi 
 locum primum, non inanem honoris titulum invideo. At 
 in alias ecclesias dominari, &c. heec nec nos unquam ferre 
 potuimus, nec vos debetis.” 
 
 It appears farther, from these letters, that any proposals 
 or terms conceived by the archbishop, in relation to this 
 project of union, were of a vague and general nature, and 
 that his views terminated rather in a plan of mutual tole- 
 ration, than in a scheme for effecting an entire uniformity. 
 The scheme that seemed to his grace the most likely to 
 succeed was, that “the independence of every national 
 church, or any other, and its right to determine all matters 
 that arise within itself, should be acknowledged on, both 
 sides ; that, for points of doctrine, they should agree as 
 far as possible, in all articles of any moment (as in effect 
 the two churches either already did, or easily might) ; 
 and, in other matters, that a difference should be allowed 
 until God should bring them to a union in them also.” 
 It must be allowed, however, though the expression is 
 still general, that the archbishop was for “ purging out of 
 the public offices of the church all such things as hinder 
 a perfect communion in divine service, so that persons 
 coming from one church to the other might join in prayers, 
 and the holy sacrament, and the public service.”4 He 
 was persuaded, that, in the liturgy of the church of Eng- 
 land, there was nothing but what the Roman catholics 
 would adopt, except the single rubric relating to the 
 eucharist ; and that in the Romish liturgy there was 
 nothing to which Protestants object, but what the more 
 rational Romanists agree might be laid aside, and yet the 
 
 b No. VI. 
 
 * See No. 1V, VII, VIII, IX, X/ 
 
 . ae pieces subjoined to this appendix, No. VIII. 
 
 4 Ibid. 
 
 *See No. VIII. 
 
 t See No. X. 
 
 © Dr Wake seems to have been sensible of the impropriety of carry- 
 mg on a negotiation of this nature without the approbation and counte- 
 nance of government. “I always (says he, in his letter to Mr. Beau- 
 
 No. LVIII. 172 
 
 | 
 
 685 
 
 public offices be not the worse, or more imperfect, for the 
 want of it. He therefore thought it proper to make the 
 demands already mentioned the ground-work of the project 
 of union, at the beginning of the negotiation ; not that he 
 meant to stop here, but that, being thus far agreed, they 
 might the more easily go farther, descend to particulars, 
 and render their scheme more perfect by degrees.° 
 
 The violent measures of the court of Rome against that 
 part of the Gallican church which refused to admit the 
 constitution Unigenitus as an ecclesiastical law, made 
 the archbishop imagine that it would be no difficult matter 
 to bring this opposition to an open rupture, and to engage 
 the persons concerned in it to throw off the papal yoke, 
 which seemed to be borne with impatience in France. 
 The despotic bull of Clement XL. dated August 28, 1718, 
 and which begins with the words, Pastoralis officii, was 
 a formal act of excommunication, thundered out against 
 all the anti-constitutionists, as the opposers of the bull 
 Unigenitus were called ; and it exasperated the doctors 
 of the Sorbonne in the highest degree. It is to this that 
 the archbishop alludes, when he says, in his letter to Mr. 
 Beauvoir, dated the 23d of January, 1718, “ At present 
 he (the pope) has put them out of his communion. We 
 have withdrawn ourselves from his ; both are out of com- 
 munion with him, and I think it is not material on 
 which side the breach lies.” But the wished-for separa- 
 tion from the court of Rome, notwithstanding all the pro- 
 vocations of its pontiff, was still far off. ‘Though, on 
 numberless occasions, the French divines showed very 
 little respect for the papal authority, yet the renouncing 
 it altogether was a step which required deep deliberation, 
 and which, however inclined they might be to it, they 
 could not make, if they were not seconded by the state. 
 But from the state they were not likely to have any 
 countenance. ‘I'he regent of France was governed by 
 the abbé Du Bois; and Du Bois was aspiring eagerly after 
 a cardinal’s cap. ‘This circumstance (not more unimpor- 
 tant that many secret connexions and trivial views that 
 daily influence the course of public events, the transactions 
 of government, and the fate of nations) was sufficient to 
 stop the Sorbonne and its doctors in the midst of their 
 career; and, in effect, it contributed greatly to stop the 
 correspondence of which I have been now giving an 
 account, and to nip the project of union in the bud. ‘The 
 correspondence between the archbishop and thetwo doctors 
 of the Sorbonne had been carried on with a high degree 
 of secrecy. ‘I‘his secrecy was prudent, as neither of the 
 corresponding parties had been authorised by the civil 
 power to negotiate a union between the two churches :s 
 and,on Dr. Wake’s part, it was partly owing to his having 
 nobody that he could trust with what he did. He was 
 satisfied (as he says in a letter to Mr. Beauvoir) “ that 
 most of the high-church bishops and clergy would readily 
 come into such a design; but these (adds his grace) are 
 not men either to be confided in, or made use of, by me.”" 
 
 The correspondence, however, was divulged ; and the 
 project of union engrossed the whole conversation of the 
 
 voir, which the reader will find at the end of this Appendix, No. XI.’ 
 took it for granted, that no step should be taken toward a union, but 
 with the knowledge, approbation, and even by the authority of civil 
 powers. All, therefore, that has passed hitherto stands clear of any ex- 
 ception as tothe civil magistrate. Itis only a consultation, in order to 
 find out a way how a union might be made, if a fit occasion should 
 hereafter be offered.” 
 See the letters subjoined, No. IX. 
 
686 
 
 city of Paris. Lord Stanhope and the earl of Stair were 
 congratulated thereupon by some great personages in the 
 royal palace. The duke regent himself and the abbé Du 
 Bois, minister of foreign affairs, and Mr. Jolide Fleury, the 
 attorney-general, gave the line at first, appeared to ee our 
 the corres spondence and the project. and let things run on 
 to certain lengths. But the Jesuits and Constitutionists 
 sounded the alarm, and overturned the whole scheme, by 
 spreading a report, that the cardinal de Noailles, and his 
 friends the Jansenists, were upon the point of making a 
 coalition with the heretics. Hereupon the regent was in- 
 timidated ; and Du Bois had an opportunity of appearing 
 a meritorious candidate for a place in the sacred college. 
 Dr. Piers Girardin was sent for to court, was severely repri- 
 manded by Du Bois, and strictly charged, upon pain of 
 being sent to the Bastile, to give up all the letters he had 
 received from the archbishop of Canterbury, as also a copy 
 of all his own. He was forced to obey; and all the letters 
 were immediately sent to Rome, “as so many trophies 
 (says a certain author) gained fiom the enemies of the 
 church.”* The archbishop’s letters were greatly admired, 
 as striking proofs both of his catholic benevolence and 
 extensive abilities. 
 
 Mr. Beauvoir informed the archbishop, by a letter dated 
 February 8, 1719, N.S. that Dr. Du-Pin had been sum- 
 moned by the abbé Du Bois, to give an account of what 
 had passed between him and Dr. Wake. ‘This step 
 naturally suspended the correspondence, though the arch- 
 bishop was ata loss, at first, whether he should look upon it 
 as favourable, or détriniental, to the projected union.» "he 
 letters which he wrote to Mr. Beauvoir and Dr. Du-Pin 
 after this, express the same sentiments which he discovered 
 through the whole of this transaction.c. The letter to Du- 
 Pin, more especially, is full of a pacific and reconciling 
 spirit, and expresses the archbishop’s desire of cultivating 
 fraternal charity with the doctors, and his regret at the ill 
 success of their endeavours toward the projected union. 
 Du-Pin died before this letter, which was retarded by 
 some accident, arrived at Paris. Before the archbishop 
 had heard of his death, he wrote to Mr. Beauvoir, to 
 express his concern, that an account was going to be 
 published of what had passed between the two ) doctors and 
 himself, and his hope, “that they would keep in generals, 
 as the only way to renew the good design, if occasion 
 
 should serve, and to prevent themselves trouble from the 
 reflections of their enemies,” on account (as the archbishop 
 undoubtedly means) of the concessions they had made, 
 which, though insufficient to satisfy ue Protestants, were 
 adapted to exasperate bigoted papists. The aru e adds, 
 in the conclusion of this letter, “I shall be gl ad to know 
 that your doctors still continue their good opinion of us; 
 for, though we need not the approbation of men on our 
 own account, yet I cannot but wish it asa mean to bring 
 them, if not to a perfect agreement in all things with us, 
 (which is not presently to be expected,) yet to such a 
 union as may put an end to the odious charges against, 
 and consequential aversion of us, as heretics and schis- 
 matics, and in truth, make them cease to be so.” 
 
 Dr. Du-Pin (whom the archbishop very sincerely 
 
 | 
 | | 
 | 
 | 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 | 
 } 
 | 
 
 great man (probably the regent.) 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 lamented, as the only man, after Mr. Ravechet, on whom 
 the hopes of a reformation in France seemed to depend) 
 left behind him an account of this famous correspondence. 
 Some time before he died, he showed it to Mr. Beauvoir, 
 and told him, that he intended to communicate it to a very 
 Mr. Beauvoir observed 
 to the doctor, that one would be led to imagine, from the 
 
 ‘manner in which this account was drawn up, that the 
 archbishop made the first overtures with respect to the cor- 
 
 respondence, and was the first who intimated his desire 
 of the union; whereas it was palpably evident that he 
 (Dr. Du-Pin) had first solicited the one and the other. 
 Du-Pin acknowledged this freely and candidly, and pro- 
 mised to rectify it, but was prevented by death. It does 
 not, however, appear, that his death put a final stop to the 
 correspondence ; for we learn by a letter from the arclhi- 
 bishop to Mr. Beauvoir, dated August 27, 1719, that Dr. 
 Piers Girardin frequently wrote to his grace. But the 
 opportunity was past; the appellants from the bull Unz- 
 genitus, or the anti-constitutionists, were divided; the 
 court did not smile at all upon the project, because the 
 regent was afraid of the Spanish party and the Jesuits ; 
 and therefore the continuation of this correspondence after 
 Du-Pin’s death was without effect. 
 
 Let the reader now, after having perused this historical 
 account, judge of the appearance which Dr. Wake makes 
 in this transaction. An impartial reader will certainly draw 
 from this whole correspondence the following conclusions : 
 that archbishop Wake was invited te this correspondence 
 by Dr. Du-P's, the sos: madterate of all the Roman catho- 
 lic divines; that he entered into it with a view to improve 
 one of the most favourable opportunities that could be 
 offered, of withdrawing the church of France from the 
 jurisdiction of the pope; a circumstance which must have 
 immediately weakened the power of the court of Rome, 
 and, in its consequences, offered a fair prospect of a farther 
 reformation in doctrine and worship, as the case happened 
 in the church of England, when it happily threw off the 
 papal yoke ;—that he did not give Du-Pin, or any of the 
 doctors of the Sorbonne, the smallest reason to hope that 
 the church of England would give up any one point of 
 belief or practice to the church of France; but insisted, 
 on the contrary, that the latter should make alterations 
 and concessions, in order to be reconciled to the former ;— 
 that he never specified the particular alterations, which 
 would be requisite to satisfy the rulers and doctors of the 
 church of England, but only expressed a general desire 
 of a union between the churches, if that were possible, 
 or at least of a mutual toleration; that he never flattered 
 himself that this union could be perfectly accomplished, 
 or that the doctors of the Gallican church would be entirely 
 brought over to the church of England; but thought 
 that every advance made by them, and every concession, 
 must have proved really advantageous to the Protestant 
 cause. 
 
 The pacific spirit of Dr. Wake did not only discover 
 itself in his correspondence with the Romish doctors, but 
 in several other transactions in which he was engaged by 
 his constant desire of promoting union and concord among 
 
 2 These trophies were the defeat of the moderate part of the Gallican 
 church, and the ruin of their project to break the papal yoke, and unite 
 with the church of England. See above, note, p. 143, where the con- 
 clusion which the author of the Confessional has drawn from this ex- 
 pression is shown to be groundless. 
 
 b See his letter to Mr. Beauvoir, in the pieces subjoined: ‘No. XI 
 dated February 5 (16,) 1718-19 
 
 ¢ See No. X1—X VIII. 
 
 4 See his letter to Mr. Beauvoir, No. XV. 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 Christians; for it is well known, that he kept up a con- 
 stant friendly correspondence with the most eminent 
 “ministers of the foreign Protestant churches, and showed 
 a fraternal regard to them, notwithstanding the difference 
 of their discipline and government from that of the church 
 of Mngland. Ina letter written to the learned le Clere in 
 1716, he expresses, in the most cordial terms, his affection 
 for them, and declares positively, that nothing can be 
 farther from his thoughts, than the notions adopted by 
 certain bigoted and furious writers who refuse to embrace 
 the foreign Protestants as their brethren, will not allow 
 to their religious assemblies the denomination of churches, 
 and deny the validity of their sacraments. He declares, 
 on the contrary, these churches’ to be true Christian 
 churches, and expresses a warm desire of their union 
 with the church of England. It will be, perhaps, difficult 
 to find, in any epistolafy composition, ancient, or modern, 
 a more elegant simplicity, a more amiable spirit of meek- 
 ness, moderation, and charity, and a happier strain of that 
 easy and unaffected politeness which draws its expressions 
 from a natural habit of goodness and humanity, than we 
 meet with in this letter.» We see this active and bene- 
 volent prelate still continuing to interest himself in the 
 welfare of the Protestant churches abroad. In several 
 letters written in the years 1718 and 1719, to.the pastors 
 and professors of Geneva and Switzerland, who were then 
 at variance about the doctrines of predestination and grace, 
 and some other abstruse points of metaphysical theology, 
 he recommends earnestly to them a spirit of mutual toler- 
 ation and forbearance, entreats them particularly to be 
 moderate in their demands of subscription to articles of 
 faith, and proposes to them the example of the church of 
 Kingland as worthy of imitation in this respect. In one of 
 these letters, he exhorts the doctors of Geneva not to go too 
 far in explaining the nature, determining the sense, and 
 imposing the belief of doctrines, which the divine wisdom 
 has not thought proper to reveal clearly in the Scriptures, 
 and the ignorance of which is very consistent with a state of 
 salvation ; and he recommends the prudence of the church 
 
 of England, which has expressed these doctrinesin such ge- | 
 
 neral terms, in its articles, that persons who think very dif. 
 ferently about the doctrines may subscribe the articles, 
 without wounding their integrity.’ His letters to professor 
 Schurer of Bern, and to the excellent and learned John 
 Alphonso 'Turretin of Geneva, are in the same strain of 
 moderation and charity, and are here subjoined,° as every 
 way worthy of attentive perusal. But what is more pecu- 
 liarly worthy of attention here, is a letter written May 22, 
 
 1719,* to Mr. Jablonski of Poland, who, from a persuas sion 
 of Dr. W ake’s great wisdom, discernment, and moderation, 
 had proposed to him the following question, viz. “ Whether 
 it was lawful and expedient for the Lutherans to treat of 
 a union with the church of Rome; or whether all nego- 
 tiations of this kind ought not to be looked upon as dan- 
 gerous and delusive?”’ ‘The archbishop’s answer to this 
 question contains a Lappy mixture of Protestant zeal and 
 Christian charity. He gives the strongest cautions to the 
 Polish Lutherans against entering into any treaty of union 
 with the Roman catholics, except on a footing of perfect 
 equality, and in consequence of a previous renunciation, 
 on the part of the latter, of the tyranny, and even of the 
 
 * See an extract of it among the pieces subjoined, No. XIX. 
 » See the pieces here subjoined, No. XX. 
 
 687 
 
 superiority and jurisdiction of the church of Rome and its 
 pontiff; and as to what concerns points of doctrine, he 
 exhorts them not to sacrifice truth to temporal advantages, 
 or even to a desire of peace. It would carry us too far, 
 were we to give a minute account of Dr. Wake’s corres- 
 pondence with the Protestants of Nismes, or of Lithuania 
 and other countries: it may however he aflirmed, that no 
 prelate, since the Reformation, had so extensive a corres- 
 pondence with the Protestants abroad, and none could 
 have a more friendly one. 
 
 It does not appear, that the dissenters in England made 
 tothe archbishop any proposals relative. to a union with 
 the established church, or that he made any proposals to 
 them on that head. The spirit of the times, and the situ- 
 ation of the contending parties, offered little prospect. of 
 success to any scheme of that nature. In queen Anne’s 
 time, he was only bishop of Lincoln ; and the disposition 
 of the house of commons, and of all the Tor y part of the 
 nation, was then so unfavourable to the dissenters, that it 
 is not at all likely that any ae toward re-uniting 
 them to the established church would have passed into a 
 law. And, in the next reign, the face of things was so 
 greatly changed in favour of the dissenters, and their 
 hopes of recovering the rights and privileges, of which 
 they had been deprived, were so sanguine, that it may be 
 well questioned whether they would have accepted the 
 offer of a union, had it been made to them. Be that as 
 it will, one thing is certain, and it is a proof of archbishop 
 Wake’s moderate and pacific spirit, that, in 1714, when 
 the spirit of the court and of the triumphant part of the 
 ministry was, with respect to the Whigs in general, and 
 to dissenters in particular, a spirit of enmity and oppres- 
 sion, this worthy prelate had the courage to stand up in 
 opposition to the schism-bill, and to pr otest against it as a 
 hardship upon the dissenters. 'This step, which must 
 have blasted his credit at court, and proved detrimental to 
 his private interest, as matters then stood, showed that he 
 had a friendly and sincere regard for the dissenters. It is 
 true, four years after this | when it was proposed to repeal 
 the schism-bill and the act against occasional conformity, 
 both at once, he disapproved this proposal ; and this cir- 
 cumstance has been alleged as an objection to the encomi- 
 ums that have been given to his tender regard for the 
 dissenters, or at least asa proof’that he changed his mind ; 
 and that Wake, bishop of Lincoln, was more their friend 
 than Wake, archbishop of Canterbury. I do not pre- 
 tend to justify this change of conduct. It seems to have 
 been, indeed, occasioned by a change of circumstances. 
 The dis senters, in their state of oppression during the mi- 
 nistry of Bolingbroke and his party, were objects of com- 
 passion ; and those who had s sagacity enough to perceive 
 the ultimate object which that - ministry had in view in 
 oppressing them, must have interested themselves in their 
 sufferings, and opposed their oppressors, from a regard to 
 the united causes of Protestantism and liberty. ‘In the 
 following reign, their credit rose; and, while this 
 encouraged the wise and moderate men among them to 
 plead with prudence and with justice their right to be 
 delivered from several real grievances, it elated the violent 
 (and violent men there are in all parties even in the cause 
 
 of moderation) to a high degree. ‘This rendered them 
 Se fo eee 
 ¢ See these letters, No. XXI, XXII, XXII 
 a No. XXV. 
 
688 
 
 formidable to all those who were jealous of [zealous for] 
 the power, privileges, and authority, of the established 
 church; and archbishop Wake was probably of this num- 
 ber. He had protested against the shackles that were 
 imposed upon them when they lay under the frowns of 
 government ; but apprehending, perhaps, that the remo- 
 val of these shackles in the day of prosperity would ren- 
 der their motions toward power too rapid, he opposed the 
 abrogation of the very acts which he had before endea- 
 voured to stifle in their birth. In this, however, it must be 
 acknowledged, that the spirit of party mingled too much 
 of itsinfluence with the dictates of prudence; and that 
 prudence, thus accompanied, was not very consistent with 
 Dr. Wake’s known principles of equity and moderation. 
 As I was at a loss how to account for this part of the 
 archbishop’s conduct, I addressed myself to a learned and 
 worthy clergyman of the church of England, who gave 
 
 me the following answer: “ Archbishop Wake’s objection 
 to the repeal of “the schism-act was founded on this con- 
 sideration only, that suth a repeal was needless, as no use 
 had been made, or was likely to be made, of that act. It 
 is also highly ‘probable, that he would have consented 
 without hesitation to rescind it, had nothing farther been 
 endeavoured at the same time. But, considering what 
 sort of spirit was then shown by the dissenters and others, 
 it ought not to be a matter of great wonder, if he was 
 afraid that, from the repeal of the other act (viz. that 
 against occasional confor mity,) considerable damage 
 might follow to the church over aioe he presided; and, 
 
 even supposing his fears to be excessive, or quite g ground. 
 less, yet certainly they were pardonable in a man who 
 had never done, or designed to do, any thing disagreeable 
 to the dissenters in any r other affair, and who, i in this, had 
 the concurrence of some of the greatest and wisest of the 
 English lords, and of the earl of Ilay, among the Scotch, 
 though a professed Presbyterian.” 
 
 However some may judge of this particular incident, I 
 think it will appear from the whole tenor of archbishop 
 Wake’s correspondence and transactions with Christian 
 churches of different denominations, that he was a man 
 of a pacific, gentle, and benevolent spirit, and an enemy 
 to the feuds, animosities, and party prejudices, which 
 divide the professors of one holy religion, and by which 
 Christianity is exposed to the assaults ef its virulent ene- 
 mies, and wounded in the house of its pretended friends. 
 ‘l’o this deserved eulogy, we may add what a learned and 
 worthy divine* has said of this eminent prelate, considered 
 as a controversial writer, even, “that his accurate and su- 
 perior knowledge of the nature of the Romish hierarchy, 
 and of the constitution of the church of England, fur- 
 nished him with victorious arms, both for the subversion of 
 error and the defence of truth. 
 
 AUTHENTIC COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 FROM WHICH THE PRECEDING ACCOUNT IS DRAWN. 
 
 No. I. 
 A Letter from Archbishop Wake to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Lambeth, Nov. 28, 8. V. 1717. 
 I am indebted to you for sever al kind letters,.and some 
 small tracts, which I have had the favour to receive from 
 
 master of Emanuel college in Cam- 
 
 * Dr. William Richardson, Ly 
 See his noble edition, and his very 
 
 bridge, and canon of Lincoln. 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 you. The last, which contains an account of the new 
 edition that is going on of Chrysostom, I received yester- 
 day. It will, no doubt, be a very valuable edition ; as 
 as they propose to go on with it, I shall hardly live to s 
 
 it finished. They do not tell us, to whom here we ed 
 go for subscriptions : and it is too much trouble to make 
 returns to Paris. They should, for their own advantage, 
 say, where subscriptions will be taken in London, and 
 where one may call fer the several volumes as they come 
 out, and pay for the next that are going on. 
 
 Among the account of books you were pleased to send 
 me, there is one with a very promising title, Thesaurus 
 Anecdotorum, 5 volumes. I wish Icould know what the 
 chief of those anecdotes are ; it may be a book very well 
 worth having. Ladmire they do not disperse some sheets 
 of such works. What they can add to make Moreri’s 
 Dictionary so very voluminous,«I cannot imagine. I 
 bought it in two exorbitant volumes, and thought it big 
 enough so. While I am writing this, company is come 
 in, so that Lam forced to break off; ; and I can only assure 
 you, that, upon all occasions, you shall find me very sin- 
 cerely, 
 
 Reverend Sir, Your faithful friend, 
 W. Cant. 
 
 N. B. This is the earliest letter in the whole collection; and, by the 
 beginning of it, seems to be the first which the archbishop wrote to 
 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 No. I. 
 
 A Letter from Mr. Beauvoir to Archbishop Wake. 
 
 Pare. Dec. 1) al tad. ee 
 
 My Lord,—I wap the honour of your grace’s letter of 
 the 28th ultimo but Sunday last, and therefore could not 
 answer it sooner. A person is to be appointed to receive 
 subscriptions for the new edition of St. Chrysostom, and 
 deliver the copies. Inclosed is an account of Thesaurus 
 Anecdotorum. Dr. Du-Pin, with whom I dined last 
 Monday, and with the Syndic of the Sorbonne and two 
 other doctors, tells me, that what swells Moreri’s Diction- 
 ary are several additions, and particularly the families of 
 Great Britain. He hath the chief hand in this new edi- 
 tion. ‘They talked asif the whole kingdom was to appeal 
 to the future general council, &c. They wished for a 
 union with the church of England, as the most effectual 
 means to unite all the western churches. Dr. Du-Pin 
 desired me to give his duty to your grace, upon my tell- 
 ing him, that I would send you an arrét of the parliament 
 of Paris relating to him, and a small tract of his. I have 
 transmitted them to Mr. Prevereau, at Mr. Secretary 
 Addison’s office. 
 
 No. III. 
 A Letter from Archbishop Wake to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Aug. 30, 1718. 
 
 I Top you in one of my last letters, how little I expec- 
 ted from the present pretences of a union with us. Since 
 I received the papers you sent me, I am more convinced 
 that I was not mistaken. My task is pretty hard, and I 
 scarce know how to manage myself in this matter. To 
 go any farther than I have done in it, even as a divine 
 only of the church of England, may meet with censure 
 and, as archbishop of Canterbury, 1 cannot treat with 
 
 elegant and judicious continuation of Bishop Godwin’s Comimentarius 
 de Presulibus Angliz, published in 1743, at Cambridge. His words 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 these gentlemen. I do not think my character at all in- 
 ferio: to that of an archbishop of Paris: on the contrary, 
 without lessening the authority and dignity of the church 
 of England, I must say it is in some respects superior. If 
 the cardinal were in earnest for such a union, it would 
 not be below him to treat with me himself about it. I 
 should then have a sufficient ground to consult with my 
 brethren, and to ask his majesty’s leave to correspond with 
 him concerning it. But to go on any farther with these 
 gentlemen, will only expose me to the censure of doing 
 what, in my station, ought not to be done without the 
 king’s knowledge; and it would be very odd for me to 
 have an authoritative permission to treat with those who 
 have no’ manner of authority to treat with me. However, 
 I shall venture at some answer or other to both their let- 
 ters and papers; and so have done with this affair. 
 
 I cannot tell well what to say to Dr. Du-Pin. If he 
 thinks we are to take their direction what to retain, and 
 what to give up, he is utterly mistaken. I ama friend to 
 peace, but more to truth. And they may depend upon it, 
 I shall always account our church to stand upon an equal 
 foot with theirs: and that we are no more to receive 
 laws from them, than we desire to impose any upon them. 
 In short, the church of England is free, is orthodox: she 
 has a plenary authority within herself, and has no need 
 to recur to any other church to direct her what to retain, 
 or what to do. Nor will we, otherwise than in a brotherly 
 way, and in a full equality of right and power, ever con- 
 sent to have any treaty with that of France. And there- 
 fore, if they mean to deal with us, they must lay down 
 this for the foundation, that are to deal with one another 
 upon equal terms. If, consistently with our own estab- 
 lishment, we can agree upon a closer union with one 
 another, well: if not, we are as much, and upon as good 
 grounds, a free independent church, as they are. And, 
 for myself, as archbishop of Canterbury, I have more 
 power, larger privileges, and a greater authority, than any 
 of their archbishops: from which, by the grace of God, 
 I will not depart—no, not for the sake of a union with 
 them. 
 
 You see, Sir, what my sense of this matter is; and may 
 perhaps think that [have a little altered my mind since this 
 affair was first set on foot. As to my desire of peace and 
 union with all other Christian churches, I am still the 
 same: but with the doctor’s Commonitorium [ shall never 
 comply. ‘The matter must be put into another method ; 
 and, whatever they think, they must alter some of their 
 doctrines, and practices too, or a union with them can 
 never be effected. Of this, as soon as I have a little more 
 leisure, I shall write my mind as inoffensively as I can to 
 them, but yet freely too. 
 
 If any thing is to come*of this matter, it will be the 
 shortest method I can take of accomplishing it, to put them 
 in the right way. If nothing (as I believe nothing will be 
 done in it,) ’tis good to leave them under a plain know- 
 ledge of what we think of ourselves and our church, and 
 to let them see, that we neither need nor seek the union 
 proposed, but for their sake as well as our own; or rather 
 neither for theirs nor ours; but in order to the promotion 
 of a catholic communion (as faras is possible) among all 
 the true churches of Christ. 
 
 (p 167,) are: “ Nemo usbiam ecclesie Romane vel Anglicane sta- 
 tum penitiis cognitum exploratum habuit; et proinde in disputandi 
 
 No. LVILL. 173 
 
 689 
 
 I have now plainly opened my mind to you: you will 
 communicate no more of it than is fitting to the two 
 doctors, but keep it as a testimony of my sincerity in this 
 affair; and that I have no design, but what is consistent 
 with the honour and freedom of our English church, and 
 with the security of that true and sound doctrine which is 
 taught in it, and from which no consideration shall ever 
 make me depart. 
 
 I am, Reverend Sir, 
 Your affectionate friend and brother, 
 W. Cant. 
 
 NG, bts 
 From Archbishop Wake to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Oct. 8, 1718. 
 
 WHaTeEveER be the consequence of our corresponding 
 with the Sorbonne doctors about matters of religion, the 
 present situation of our affairs plainly seems to make it 
 necessary for us so todo. Under this apprehension I have 
 written, though with great difficulty, two letters to your 
 two doctors, which I have sent to the secretary’s office, to 
 go with the next packet to my lord Stair. I beg you to 
 enquire after them; they made up together a pretty thick 
 packet, directed to you. In that to Dr. Du-Pin, I have, 
 in answer to two of his MSS., described the method of 
 making bishops in our church. I believe he will be equally 
 both pleased and surprised with it. I wish you could show 
 him the form.of consecration, as it stands in the end of 
 your large common prayer-books. ‘The rest of my letters, 
 both to him and Dr. Piers, is a venture which I know not 
 how they will take,to convince them of the necessity of 
 embracing the present opportunity of breaking off from 
 the pope, and going one step farther than they have yet 
 done in their opinion of his authority, so as to leave him 
 only a primacy of place and honour; and that merely by 
 ecclesiastical authority, as he was once bishop of the im- 
 perial city. I hope they both show you my letters: they 
 are at this time very long, and upon a nice point. I shall 
 be very glad if you can any way learn how they take the 
 freedom I have used, and what they really think of it. [ 
 cannot so much trust to their answers, in which they have 
 more room to conceal their thoughts, and seldom want to 
 overwhelm me with more compliments than I desire, or am 
 well able to bear. 
 
 Pray do all you can to search out their real sense of, 
 and motions at the receipt of these two letters; I shall 
 thereby be able the better to judge how far I may venture 
 hereafter to offer any thing to them upon the other points 
 in difference between us; though after all, [still think, if 
 ever a reformation be made, it is the state that must 
 govern the church in it. But this between ourselves. 
 
 Now V. 
 A Letter from Archbishop Wake to Dr. Du-Pin, dated 
 October 1, 1718. 
 
 Spectatissimo Viro, eruditorum sux gentis, si non et sui seculi principi ; 
 D» L. Ell. Du-Pin, Docturi Parisiensi. 
 
 Gul. prov. div. Cant. Arch* in omnibus evppovetv kat sutparrery. 
 
 Div est, amplissime Domine, ex quo debitor tibi factus 
 sum ob plures tractatus MSS. quos tuo beneficio a dilecto 
 
 arenam prodiit tam ad oppugnandum tum ad propugnandum instructissi- 
 mus.” 
 
690 
 
 mihi in Christo D. Beauvoir accepi. Perlegi diligen- 
 ter omnes, nec sine fructu: plurima quippe ab iis, cog- 
 nitu dignissima, vel primtim didici, vel clariis intellexi ; 
 beatamque his difficillimis temporibus censeo ecclesiam Gal- 
 licanam, quee talem sibi in promptu habeat doctorem, in 
 dubis consiliartum, in juribus suis tuendis advocatum ; 
 qui et possit et audeat, non modo contra suos vel erroneos 
 vel perfidos symmystas dignitatem ejus tueri, sed et ipsi 
 summo pontifici (ut olim B. Apostolus Paulus Petro) in 
 faciem resistere, quia reprehensibilis est. Atque utinam 
 hee que jam Rome aguntur, tandem aliquando omnibus 
 vobis animum darent ad jura vestra penitts asserenda ! 
 Ut deinceps non ex pragmaticis (ut olim) sanctionibus non 
 (ut hoc feré tempore) ex concordatis, non ex pr aejudicatis 
 hominum opinionibus, res vestras agatis; sed ea@ authori- 
 tate qua decet ecclesiam tam illustris ac praepotentis impe- 
 ri; que nullo jure, vel divino, vel humano, alteri olim aut 
 ecclesice aut homini subjicitur ; sed ipsa jus habet intra se 
 sua negotia terminandi, et in omnibus, § sup rege suo Chris- 
 tianissimo, populum suum commissum propriis suis legi- 
 bus et sanctionibus gubernandi. 
 
 Eixpergiscimini itaque, viri, eruditi; et quod ratio pos- 
 tulat, nec refragatur religio, strenué agite. Hoc bonorum 
 subditorum erga regem suum officium. Christianorum erga 
 episcopos suos, heu! nimitim extraneorum tyrannide op- 
 pressos, pictas exigit, flagitat, requirit. Excutite tandem 
 jugum istud, quod. nec patres vestri, nec vos ferre potuistis. 
 Hic ad reformationem non preetensam, sed yeram, sed jus- 
 tam, sed necessariam ecclesiz nostra, primus fuit gradus. 
 Que Cesaris erant, Ceesari reddidimus : quz Dei, Deo. 
 Corone imperiali regni nostri suum suprematum, episcopa- 
 tuisuam «ay, ecclesiz suam libertatem restituit, vel eo so- 
 lam nomine semper cum honore memorandus, rex Henri- 
 cus VIII. Hee omnia sub pedibus conculcaverat idem 
 ille tunc nobis, qui jam vobis inimicus. Seepitts authoritas 
 papalis intra certos fines legibus nostris antea fuerat coér- 
 cita; et lis quidem legibus, quas siquis hodie inspiceret, 
 impossibile ei videretur eas potuisse, aliqua vel vi vel astutia, 
 perrumpere. Sed idem nobis accidit quod illis, qui damonia- 
 cum vinculis ligare voluere. Omnia frustra tentata: nihil 
 perfacere inania legum repagula, contra nescio quos praetex~ 
 tus potestatisdivinee nullis humanis constitutionibus subdite. 
 ‘Tandem defatigato regno dura necessitas sua juratuendi oc- 
 ulos omnium aperuit. Proponitur questio episcopis ac clero 
 in utriusque provinciz synodo congregatis, an episcopus Ro- 
 manus in sacris scripturis habeat aliquam majorem Juris- 
 dictionem in regno Anglie quam quivis alius externus 
 episcopus? In partem sanam, justam, veram, utriusque 
 concilii suffragia concurrére. Quod episcopi cum suo clero 
 statuerant, etiam regni academiz calculo suo approbarunt, 
 rex cum parliamento sancivit; adeoque tandem, quod 
 unicé fieri poterat, sublata penitis potestas, quam nulle 
 leges, nulla jura, vel civilia vel ecclesiastica, intra debitos 
 fines unquam poterant continere. En nobis promptuiy ac 
 paratum exemplum ; quod agi vobis gloriosum, nec ml- 
 nus posteris vestris utile fuerit ! Quo solo pacem, absque 
 veritatis dispendio, tueri valeatis, ac irridere bruta de Vati- 
 vano fulmina, que jumdudum ostenditis vobis non ultra 
 terrori esse, utpote a sacris scripturis edoctis, quod male- 
 dictio absque causa prolata non superveniet.—Prov. 
 xxvi. 2 
 
 State ergo in lbertate qué Christus vos donaverit. | 
 
 Frustra ad concilium generale nunquam convocandum 
 
 | 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 res vestras refertis. Frustra decretorum vim suspendere 
 curatis, que ab initio injusta, erronea, ac absurda, ac plane 
 nulla erant. Non talibus subsidiis vobis opus est. Regia 
 permissione, authoritate sua a Christo commissa, archie- 
 piscopi et episcopi vestri in concilium nationale coéant : 
 academiarum, cleri, ac preecipué utrorumque principis the- 
 ologicee facultatis Parisiensis, concilium atque auxilium 
 sibi assumant: sic muniti quod equum et justum fuerit 
 decernant: quod decreverint etiam civili authoritate fir- 
 mandum curent: nec patiantur factiosos homines alié res 
 vestras vocare, aut ad judicem appellare qui nullam in vos 
 authoritatem exposcere debeat, aut, si exposcat, meritd a 
 vobis recusari et poterit et debuerit. 
 
 Ienoscas, vir roAvpabéorare, indignationi dicam an amori 
 meo, si forte aliquanto ultra modum commoverl videar ab 
 lis quee vobis his proximis annis acciderint. Veritatem 
 Christi omni qué possum animi devotione colo. Hane vos 
 tuemini: pro hac censuras ponuficias subiistis, et porrd 
 ferre parati estis. 
 
 Ille, qui se pro summo ac feré unico Christi vicario ven- 
 ditat, veritatem ejus sub pedibus proterit, conculcat. Jus- 
 tiliam veneror : ac proinde vos injusté, ac plané tyrannice, 
 si non oppressos, at petitos, at comminatos ; at ideo solum 
 non penitts obrutos, subversos prostr atos, qui a Deus furori 
 ejus obicem posuit, nec permiserit vos in ipsius manus in- 
 cidere ; non possum non vindicare, et contra violentum op- 
 pressorem, meum qualecunque suffragium ferre. 
 
 Jura ac libertates inclyti regni, celeberrime ecclesiz, 
 preestantissimi clericum honore intueor. Heec papa repro- 
 bat, contemnit ; et, dum sic alios tractat, merito se aliis 
 castigandum, certé intra justos fines coécendum, exhibet. 
 Siquid ei potestatis supra alios episcopos Christus commis- 
 erit, proferantur tabule ; jus evincatur; cedere non recu- 
 samus. 
 
 Siquam prerogativam ecclesiz concilia sedis imperialis 
 episcopo concesserint (etsi cadente imperio, etiam ea prie- 
 rogativa excidisse merito possit censeri ;) tamen quod ad 
 me attinet, servatis semper regnorum juribus, ecclesiarum 
 libertatibus, episcoporum dignitate, modo in ceeteris con- 
 veniatur, per me licet, suo fruatur, qualicunque primatu : 
 non ego jlli locum primum, non inanem honoris titulum 
 invideo. At in alias ecclesias dominari; episcopatum, 
 cujus partem Christus unicuique episcopo in solidum 
 reliquit, tantum non in solidum sibi soli vindicare ; siquis 
 ejus injuste tyrannidi sese opposuerit, coelum ac terram in 
 illius perniciem commovere ; hac nec nos unquam ferre 
 potuimus, nec vos debetis. In hoc pacis fundamento si 
 inter nos semel conveniatur, in ceteris aut idem sentie- 
 mus omnes, aut facilé alii aliis dissentiendi libertatem 
 absque pacis jactura concedemus. 
 
 Sed abripit calamum meum nescio quis "Exébovearnis, 
 dum de vestris injuriis nimiim sum solicitus; et forte 
 liberitis quam par esset de his rebus ad te scripsisse 
 videbor. 
 
 Ego veré uti ea omnia, que tu in tuo commonitorio, 
 exaraveris, etiam illa in quibus ab invicem dissentimus, 
 grato animo accipio ; ita ut aperte, ut candideé, et absque 
 omni fuco porré ad me scribere pergas, edque rapfnzre 
 qua amicum cum amicoagere deceat, imprimis a te peto; 
 eo te mihi amiciorem fore existimans, quo simplicits 
 quo planitis, quicquid censueris, liberé dixeris. 
 
 Nec de commonitorio tuo amplius aliquid hoc tempore 
 
 ‘reponam; in quo cum plurima placeant, tum id imprimis, 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. . 
 
 quod etiam tuo judicio, non adeo longe ab invicem diste- 
 mus, quin si de fraterna unione ineunda publica aliquan- 
 do authoritate deliberari contigerit, via facile iInveniri pote- 
 rit ad pacem inter nos stabiliendam, salva utrinque 
 ecclesie catholicee fide ac veritate. 
 
 Quod ad alteros tuos tractatus de constitutione episco- 
 porum in ecclesiis vacantibus, siquidem papa, legitimé 
 requisitus, facultates suas personis a rege nominatis ; obsti- 
 nate pernegaverit ; in lis sane reperio quod non tua eru- 
 ditione et judicio sit ; quare, ne prorsus é7vmores discedam, 
 ordinem tibi breviter delineabo constituendi episcopos in 
 hac reformata nostra ecclesia. 
 
 Tu judicabis, an aliquid magis canonicé vel excogitari 
 vel statui potuerit. 
 
 Nog VI. 
 A Letter from Archbishop Wake to Dr. P. Piers 
 Girardin, written in October 1718. 
 
 Prestantissimo Viro, consummatissimo Theologo D° Patricio Piers 
 de Girardin, sacre Facultatis Parisiensis Theologie Doctori. 
 
 Gul. prov. div. Cant, Arch*. Gratiam, Pacem, ac Aalatens in Domino, 
 
 Post prolixiores epistolas eruditissimo confratri tuo 
 D> D« Du-Pin hoc ipso tempore exaratas ; quasque ego 
 paulo mints tuas quam illius existimari, velim; facilis a 
 te veniam impetrabo, vir spectatissime, si aliquanto bre- 
 vius ad te rescribam ; et in illis quidem animi mei vel 
 amori vel indignationi liberé indulsi; eaque simplicitate, 
 qua decet Christianum, et maxime episcopum, quid vobis, 
 mea saltem sententia, factu opus sit, aperté exposul. 
 Siquid, vel tuo vel illius judicio, asperius quam par esset 
 a me exciderit, cum vestri causa adeo commotus fuerim, 
 facile id homini tam benevolé erga vos animato, uti spero 
 condonabitis: unaque reminiscemini, nullam unquam 
 vobis stabilem inter vos pacem, aut catholicam cum aliis 
 unionem, haberi posse, dum aliquid ultra merum honoris 
 primatum ac *poedpia pontifici Romano tribuitis. Hoc nos 
 per aliquot seecula experti sumus; vos jam sentire debetis, 
 qui, nescio quo insano ipsius beneficio, adeo commodam 
 occasionem nacti estis, non tam ab illius decretis appellan- 
 di, quam ab ipsius dominio ac potestate vos penitts sub- 
 ducendi. Ipse vos pro schismaticis habet; qualem vos 
 eum censere debetis. Ipse a vestraé communione se 
 suosque separandos publicé denunciat. Quid vobis in 
 hoc casu faciendum? Liceat mihi veteris illius Ceesareze 
 episcopi Firmilani verbis respondere ; sic olim Stephanum 
 papam acriter quidem, sed non ideo minus juste, castiga- 
 vit: Vide qua imperitia reprehendere audeas eos qui 
 contra mendacium pro veritate nituntur. 
 verd quam magnum tibi exaggerasti, quando te a tot 
 gregibus scidisti: excidisti enim te ipsum, noli te 
 fallere ; siquidem ille est vere schismaticus qui se a 
 communione ecclesiasticd unitatis apostatam fecerit. 
 Dum enim putas omnes a te abstineri posse, solum te 
 ab omnibus abstinuisti. Cypr. Op. Epist. 75. 
 
 Agite ergo, viri eruditi, et quo vos divina providentia 
 vocat, libenter sequimini. Clemens papa vos abdicavit ; 
 a sud et suorum communione repulit, rejecit. Vos illius 
 authoritati renunciate. Cathedre Petri, qua in omnibus 
 catholicis ecclesiis conservatur, adherete: etiam nostram 
 ne refugiatis communionem; quibuscum si non in omni- 
 bus omnind doctrine Christiane capitibus conveniatis, at 
 in precipuis, at in fundamentalibus, at in omnibus artic- 
 ulis fidei ad salutem necessariis, plané concentitis ; etiam 
 in ceteris, uti speramus, brevi concensuri. Nobis certé eo 
 
 Peceatum 
 
 691 
 
 | minus vos vel hereticos vel schismaticos fore confidite, 
 quod a papa ejecti pro hereticis et schismaticis Rome 
 estimemini. Sed contrahenda vela, nec indulgendum 
 huic meo pro vobis zelo, etsi sit secundim scientiam. 
 Prudentibus loquor ; vos ipsi, quod dico, judicate. 
 
 Ad literas tuas, praestantissime Domine, redeo; in qui- 
 bus uti tuum de mediocritate mea judicium, magis ex 
 affectu erga me tuo, quam secunddm merita mea prolatum 
 eratanter. accipio, ita in eo te nunquam falli patiar, quod 
 me pacis ecclesiasticee amantissimum credas, omniaque 
 illi consequendz danda putem, preeter veritatem. Quan- 
 tum ad illam promovendam tu jamjam contuleris, ex sex 
 illis propositionibus quas tuis inseruistiliteris, gratus ag- 
 nosco: ac nisi ambitiosé magis quam hominem privatum 
 deceat, me fracturum existimarem, etiam eruditissimis illis 
 confratribus tuis doctoribus Sorbonicis, quibus priores 
 meas literas communicasti, easdem per te gratias refer- 
 rem. Sané facultas vestra Parisiensis, uti maximum in 
 his rebus pondus merit6 habere debeat, sive numerum, 
 sive dignitatem, sive denique eruditionem suorum mem- 
 brorum spectemus ; ita a vobis exordium sumere debebit 
 unio illa inter nos tantopere desiderata, siquidem eam ali- 
 quando iniri voluerit Deus. 
 
 Interim gratulor vobis post illustrissimum card. Noail 
 lium, alterum illum ecclesiz Gallicane, fidei catholice, 
 columnam et ornamentum, procuratorem regium D. D. 
 Joly de Fleury ; quem virum ego non jam primum ex 
 tuis literis debito prosequi honore didici, verum etiam ob 
 
 ea que vestri causd his proximis annis publicé egerit, 
 antea suspicere, et pené vener ari, consueveram. Sub his 
 ducibus, quid non sperandum in publicum vestrum ac 
 catholice ecclesia commodum? Intonet de Vaticano 
 pontifex Romanus; fremant inter vos Ipsos conjurata 
 turba, Romane curie servi magis quam sue Gallic fideles 
 subditi. His praesidiis ab eorum injuriis tuti, vanas eorum 
 iras contemnere valeatis. 
 
 Ego vero, uti omnia vobis publicé fausta ac felicia pre- 
 cor, ita tibi, spectatissime vir, me semper addictissimum 
 fore promitto. De quo quicquid alias sensetis, id saltem 
 ut de me credas jure postulo; me sinceré veritatem 
 Christi et amare et querere, et, nisi omninod me fallat ani- 
 mus, etiam assecutum esse Nulli. Christiano inimicus 
 antehac aut fui aut deinceps sum futurus: sic de erroribus 
 eorum, qui a me dissident, judico, ut semper errantes Deo 
 judicandos relinqguam. Homo, sum, errare possum; sis 
 vero animatus audacter dicam, hereticus esse nolo. 'T'e 
 vero, siquidem id permittas, fratrem; sin id minus pla- 
 ceat, saltem id indulgebis, ut me veré et ex animo profi- 
 tear, excellentissime Domine, tui amantissimum. 
 
 We C, 
 No. VII. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to Mr. 
 Beauvoir. 
 
 Nov. 6, O. S. 1718. 
 
 Your last letter gives me some trouble, but more curi- 
 osity. I little thought, when I wrote to your two doctors, 
 that my letters should have been read, much less copies 
 of them given to any such great persons as you mention. 
 I write in haste, as you know, and trust no amanuensis 
 to copy for me, because I will not be liable to be betrayed. 
 And upon a review of my foul, and only copy of them. 
 since I had your account from Paris, [ find some things 
 
 SS SE SRS RR SR A SE Sat SR eS 
 
 ® 
 
692 
 
 might have been more accurately expressed, had I taken 
 more time to correct my style. But I wish that may be 
 the worst exception against them: I fear the freedom I 
 took in exhorting them to do somewhat in earnest, upon 
 so fair a provocation, with regard to the papal authority, 
 though excused as well asel could, will hardly go down so 
 effectually as I could wish with them. ‘This raises my 
 curiosity to know truly and expressly how that part of 
 my letters operated on both your doctors; which by a 
 wary observation, you may in good measure gather from 
 their discourse. I cannot tell whether they showed my 
 letters to you; if they did, Tam sure you will think I did 
 not mince the matter with them in that particular. — 
 
 Of your two doctors, Dr. Piers seems the more polite : 
 he writes elegantly both for style and matter, and has the 
 free air, even as to the business of a union. Yet I do 
 not despair of Dr. Du-Pin, whom, thirty years ago, in his 
 collection of tracts relating to church discipline, 1 did not 
 think far from the kingdom of God. 
 
 e No. VIII. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to Mr. 
 Beauvoir. 
 
 Novy. 18, 1718. 
 
 Ar present, my more particular curiosity leads me to 
 know the sentiments of the leading men in France with 
 regard to the court of Rome; from which, if we could 
 once divide the Gallican church, a reformation in other 
 matters would follow of course. The scheme that seems 
 to me most likely to prevail, is, to agree in the independ- 
 ence (as to all matters of authority) of every national 
 church on any others; and in their right to determine all 
 matters that arise within themselves ; and, for points of 
 doctrine, to agree, as far as possible, ia all articles of any 
 moment (as in effect we either already do, or easily may ;) 
 and, for other matters, to allow a difference, till God shall 
 bring us to a union In those also. One only thing should 
 be provided for, to purge out of the public offices of the 
 church such things as hinder a perfect communion in the 
 service of the church, that so, whenever any come from 
 us to them, or from them to us, we may all join together 
 in prayers and the holy sacraments-with each other. In 
 our liturgy there is nothing but what they allow, save the 
 single rubric relating to the eucharist ; in theirs nothing 
 but what they agree may be laid aside, and yet the pub- 
 lic offices be never the worse or more imperfect for want 
 of it. Such a scheme as this, I take to be a more proper 
 ground of peace, at the beginning, than to go to more par- 
 ticulars; if in such a foundation we could once agree, the 
 rest would be more easily built upon it. If you find occa- 
 sion, and that it may be of use, you may extract this ob- 
 ject, and offer it to their consideration, as what you take 
 to be my sense in the begining of 4 treaty; not that I 
 think we shall stop here, but that, being thus far agreed, 
 we shall them ore easily go into a greater perfection here- 
 after. I desire you to observe, as much as you can, when 
 it is I may the most properly write to the doctors. I took 
 the subject of the pope’s authority in my last, as arising 
 naturally from the present state of their affairs, and as the 
 first thing to be settled in order to a union. How my 
 freedom in that respect has been received, I desire you 
 freely to communicate. 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Desi 2707 S21718° 
 
 I am glad the two doctors seem to receive my last 
 letters so well. The truth is, that while they manage as 
 they do with the court of Rome, nothing will be dune to 
 any purpose. And all ends in trifling at the last. We 
 honestly deny the pope all authority over us: they pre- 
 tend, in words, to allow him so much as is consistent with 
 what they call their Gallican privileges; but let him ever 
 so little use it contrary to their good liking, they protest 
 against it, appeal to a general council, and then mind 
 him as little as we can do. In earnest, I think we treat 
 his holiness not only with more sincerity, but more respect 
 than they: for, to own a power, and yet keep a reserve 
 to obey that power only so far, and in such cases as we 
 make ourselves judges of, is a greater affront, than honestly 
 to confess that we deny the power, and, for that reason, 
 refuse to obey it. But my design was partly to bring 
 them to this, and partly to see how they would bear, at 
 least the proposal, of totally breaking off from the court 
 and bishop of Rome. 
 
 What you can observe, or discover more of their incli- 
 nations in this particular, will be of good use ; especially 
 if it could be found out what the court would do, and 
 how far that may be likely to countenance the clergy in 
 such a separation. In the mean time, it cannot be amiss 
 to cultivate a friendship with the leading men of that side, 
 who may in time be made use of to the good work of 
 reforming in earnest the Gallican church. Iam a little 
 unhappy that I have none here I yet dare trust with what 
 I do; though I am satisfied most of our high church 
 bishops and clergy would readily come into such a design. 
 But these are not men either to be confided in, or made 
 use of, by ‘ 
 
 Your assured friend, 
 W. Cant. 
 
 P. S. Did cardinal de Noailles know what authority 
 the archbishop of Canterbury has gotten by the reforma- 
 tion, and how much a greater man he is now than when 
 he was the pope’s legatus natus, it might encourage 
 him to follow so good a pattern, and be assured (in that 
 case) he would lose nothing by sending back his cardinal’s 
 cap to Rome. I doubt your doctors know little of these 
 matters. 
 
 No. X. 
 Eixtract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Jan. 23, O. S. 1718. 
 
 WHueEN you see my letter (for I conclude the doctor 
 will show it you,) you may do well to bring on the dis- 
 course of our episcopal rights and privileges in England, 
 and particularly of the prerogatives of the archbishop of 
 Canterbury, which, I believe, are greater than those of 
 the archbishop of Rheims, or of all the archbishops in 
 France. ‘This may raise in them a curiosity to know 
 more of this matter, which if they desire, I will take the ° 
 first little leisure I have to give them a more patticular 
 account of it. We must deal with men in their own way, 
 if we mean to do any good with them. They have been 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 used to a pompous ministry, and, like the Jews heretofore, 
 would despise the Messiah himself if he should come in a 
 poor and low estate to them. And therefore, though, for 
 myself, I account all temporal grandeur as sothing, and 
 ‘am afraid it has rather hurt the church of Christ, and the 
 true spirit of piety and religion, than done any real service 
 to either; yet it may be the means of disposing these 
 gentlemen to a more favourable thought of, and inclina- 
 tion towards a reformation ; to convince them that they 
 may return to the truth of Christianity, and leave the 
 corruptions of Rome, without losing any honour, any 
 power, that a servantof Christ would desire to be troubled 
 withal. Had the first reformers in France yielded to this 
 scheme, as we in England showed them an example, the 
 whole Gallican church had come in to them, and been at 
 this day as we are now: we must therefore hit off the 
 blot which they made, and satisfy their ambition so far as to 
 show them that they may reform, without giving up either 
 their authority or revenues, and be still as great, but much 
 better bishops, under our circumstances, than under their 
 own. 
 
 As to the pope’s authority, I take the difference to be 
 only this ; that we may all agree (without troubling our- 
 selves with the reason) to allow him a primacy of order 
 in the episcopal college. ‘They would have it thought 
 necessary to hold communion with him, and allow him 
 a little canonical authority over them, as long as he 
 will leave them to prescribe the bounds of it. We fairly 
 say we know of no authority he has in our realm; 
 but for actual submission to him, they as little mind it as 
 we do. 
 
 At present he has put them out of his communion ; 
 we have withdrawn ourselves from his; both are out of 
 communion with him, and I think it is not material on 
 which side the breach lies. 
 
 No. XI. 
 A Letter from Archbishop Wake to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 Feb. 5, 1718-19, O. S. 
 
 I po not doubt that mine of the 18th of January, with 
 the two inclosed for my lord Stair and Dr. Du-Pin, are 
 before this come safe to you. I should not be sorry if, 
 upon this late transaction between the doctor and ministry, 
 you have kept it in your hands, and not delivered it to him. 
 [ had just begun a letter to Dr. Piers, but have thrown 
 aside what I writ of it, since I received your last; and 
 must beg the favour of you to make my excuse to him, 
 with the tenders of my hearty service, till I see a little 
 more what the meaning of this present inquisition is. I 
 am not so unacquainted with the finesses of courts, as not 
 to apprehend, that what is now done may be as well in 
 favour of the doctor’s attempt, as against it. If the pro- 
 cureur-general be indeed well affected to it, he might 
 take this method, not only to his own security, but to bring 
 the affair under a deliberation, and give a handle to those 
 whom it chiefly concerns, to discover their sentiments of 
 it. But the matter may be also put to another use, and 
 nobody can answer that it shall not be so: and till I see 
 what is the meaning of this sudden turn, I shall write no 
 more letters for the French ministry to examine, but 
 content myself to have done enough already to men who 
 cannot keep their own counsel, and live in a country 
 
 No. LYVIJII. 174 
 
 693 
 
 where even the private correspondence of learned men 
 with one another must be brought to a public inquiry, 
 and be made the subject of a state inquisition. I am not 
 aware, that in any of my letters there is one line that can 
 give a just offence to the court. I always took it for 
 granted, that no step should be taken toward a union, 
 but with the knowledge and approbation, and even by the 
 authority of civil powers ; and indeed if I amin the right, 
 that nothing can be done to any purpose in this case but 
 by throwing off the pope’s authority, as the first step to 
 be made in order to it, it is impossible for any such attempt 
 to be made by any power less than the king’s. All there- 
 fore that has passed hitherto, stands clear of any just 
 exception as to the civil magistrate ; it is only a consulta- 
 tion, in order to find out a way how a union might 
 be made, if a fit occasion should hereafter be offered 
 for the doing of it. Yet still” I do not like to have my 
 letters exposed in such a manner, though satisfied there 
 is nothing to be excepted against in them; and think I 
 shall be kind to the doctors themselves, to suspend, at 
 least for a while, my farther troubling of them. I hope 
 you will endeavour, by some or other of your friends, to 
 find out the meaning of this motion ; from whom it came ; 
 how far it has gone; what was the occasion of it; and 
 what is like to be the consequence of it; what the abbé 
 Du-Bois says of my letters, and how they are received 
 by him and the other ministers. I shall soon discover 
 whether any notice has been taken of it to our ministry ; 
 and I should think, if the abbé spoke to your lord about 
 it, he would acquaint you with it. 
 
 No. XII. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 Feb. 24, 1718. 
 I po not at all wonder that the cardinals Rohan and 
 Bissi should do all they can to blacken the good cardinal 
 
 de Noailles, and in him the party of the Anti-Constitu- 
 tionists, but especially the Sorbonne, their most weighty 
 
 ‘and learned adversaries; and I am sensible that such a 
 
 complaint is not only the most proper to do this, but to 
 put the court itself under some difficulties, which way 
 soever it acts upon it. But I am still the more curious to 
 learn, if it were possible, not only the proceedings of the 
 ministry above board hereupon, but their private thoughts 
 and opinions about it. Jam under no concern upon my 
 own account, farther than that I would be unwilling to 
 have my letters scanned by so many great men, which 
 will scarcely bear the judgment of my very friends. You 
 must do me the favour to get out of your doctors what will 
 be most obliging to them, whether to continue to write to 
 them, or to be silent for a while, till we see what will be 
 the effect of this inquiry. In the mean time, it grows 
 every day plainer what I said from the beginning, that 
 no reformation can be made but by the authority, and 
 with the concurrence of the court; and that all we divines 
 have to do, is to use our interest to gain them to it, and 
 to have a plan ready to offer to them, if they would be 
 prevailed upon to come into it. 
 
 I am at present engaged in two or three other transac- 
 tions of moment to the foreign protestants, which take up 
 abundance of my time ; God knows what will be the 
 
694 
 
 effect of it. Nevertheless, if I can in any way help to 
 promote this, though I am at present without any help, 
 alone, in this project, I shall do my utmost, both to keep 
 up my poor little interest with the two doctors and their 
 friends, and to concert proper methods with them about it. 
 The surest way will be, to begin as well, and to go as far 
 as we can, in settling a friendly correspondence one with 
 another; toagree to own each other as true brethren, and 
 members of the catholic Christian church; to agree to 
 communicate in every thing we can with one another 
 (which, on their side, is very easy, there being nothing in 
 our offices, in any degree, contrary to their own principles ;) 
 and would they purge out of theirs what is contrary to 
 ours, we might join in the public service with them, and 
 yet leave one another in the free liberty of believing tran- 
 substantiation or not, so long as we did not require any 
 thing to be done by eithe? in pursuance of that opinion. 
 The Lutherans do this very thing ; many of them com- 
 municate not only in prayers, but in the communion with 
 us; and we never inquire whether they believe con- 
 substantiation, or even pay any worship to Christ as 
 present with the elements, so long as their outward actions 
 are the same with our own, and they give no offence to 
 any with their opinions. 
 
 P.S. Since this last accident, and the public noise of 
 a union at Paris, I have spoken something more of it to 
 my friends here, who, I begin to hope, will fall in with 
 it. I own a correspondence, but say not a tittle how far, 
 or in what way, I have proceeded, more than that letters 
 have passed, which can no longer be a secret. I have 
 never shown one of my own or the doctors to any body. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 March 16, S. V. 1718. 
 
 I THANK you for your account of what passed between 
 Mons. Hop and you, relating to the project of a union: 
 I doubt that gentleman will not be pleased with it; be- 
 cause, indeed, the Gallican church will never unite with 
 any church that has not an orderly episcopacy in it. I 
 am very sorry my poor letters are made so public. The 
 next thing will be, that either the imprudence of our 
 friends, or the malice of our enemies, will print them; 
 and then I shall have censures enough for them, perhaps 
 some reflections printed upon them, or answers made to 
 them ; but this shall not engage me in any defence of 
 them, or in taking any farther notice of them. I beg you 
 to keep those I have written to yourself from all view ; 
 for I have no copies of them, and I wrote them as I do 
 my other ordinary letters, without any, great thought or 
 consideration, more than what my subject (as I was 
 writing) led me in that instant to. This is the liberty 
 to be taken with a friend, where one is sure what he 
 writes shall go no farther ; but, for the same reason will 
 require the strictest suppression from any other view. 
 I cannot yet guess what this turn means, nor how it will 
 end: I wish your doctors could give you some farther 
 light into it. 
 
 P. S. Lentreat you never to forget me to the two good 
 dociors, whom I love and honour: keep up the little in- 
 terest Ihave with them. As soon as ever the present turn 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 will not always be carried as criminals before the secretary 
 of state, though I am persuaded he bears no ill-will 
 to me. 
 
 No. XIV. 
 Liztract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 April 29, 1718. 
 
 I am much concerned to hear that Dr. Du-Pin decays 
 so fast: I feared by his last letter that he was sinking 
 apace. Pray, is there any good print of him taken these 
 last years? for I have one that was made when he was 
 a youngman. I amesorry Dr. Piers grows faint-hearted : 
 I never thought any thing could be done as to a refor- 
 mation in France, without the authority of the court ; but I 
 was in hopes the regent and others might have found their 
 account in such an attempt ; and then the good disposition 
 of the bishops, clergy, and Sorbonne, with the parliament 
 of Paris, would have given a great deal of spirit and expe- 
 dition to it. I have done what was proper for me in that 
 matter: I can now go no farther, till the abbot Du-Bois 
 is better disposed ; yet I shall still be pleased to keep up 
 a little esteem between those gentlemen, which will do us 
 some good, if it does not do them any service. Iam apt 
 to think, the good old man (Du-Pin) does not think us 
 far from the kingdom of heaven. I have with this sent 
 a letter of friendship to Dr. Piers, which you will be so 
 kind as to send him, with my kind respects. 
 
 No. XY. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to Dr. Du- 
 Pin, dated Lambeth, May 1, 1719. 
 N. B. Du-Pin was dead before it arrived at Paris. 
 
 SPERAVERAM equidem tua auctoritate, constantia, eru- 
 ditione, pietate, moderatione, qua omnia adeo in te per- 
 fecta esse noscuntur, ut vix in aliis singula, preclari ali- 
 quid ad Dei gloriam, ecclesizque Gallicane utilitatem, per 
 fici potuisse. Crediderim advenisse tempus, in quo, ex- 
 cusso Romane tyrannidis jugo, una nobiscum in eandem 
 communionem coalesceretis. In dogmatibus, prout a te 
 candidé proponuntur, non admodim dissentimus: in regi- 
 mine ecclesiastico minus: in fundamentalibus, sive doc- 
 trinam sive disciplinam spectemus, vix oranind. Quam 
 facilis erat ab his initiis ad concordiam progressus, mod6 
 animos haberemus ad pacem compositos !_ Sed hoc princi- 
 pibus seculi non arridet, unionis inimicis etiam plurimum 
 displicet : neque nobis forté dabit Deus esse tam felicibus, 
 ut ad hujusmodi unionem nostram qualemcunque operam 
 conferamus. Relinquamus hoc ill, in cujus manu sunt 
 rerum omnium tempora et occasiones. Sufficiat voluisse 
 aliquid in tam insigni opere, forté et semina in terram pro- 
 jecisse, quee fructum tandem multiplicem proferant. Inte 
 rim, quod nemo nobis denegare possit, nos Invicem ut fra- 
 tres, ut ejusdem mystici corporis membra, amplectamur. 
 
 No. XVI. 
 Extract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. Beauvoir. 
 Feb. 9, 8. V. 1719-20. 
 I wEARTILY wish there were either spirit or incli- 
 nation enough in the Sorbonne to go on with our friend 
 
 is over, I will write to Dr. Girardin. I hope my letters || the abbé’s project : but the fire decays, men’s inclinations 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 cool: the court will do nothing, and you are very sensible, 
 that without the court nothing can be done in any such 
 affair. Nevertheless, their good opinion of the church of 
 England should be kept up as much as possible; we should 
 encourage them all we can to account of us as of brethren, 
 who have only thrown off, what they are weary of, the 
 tyranny of the court of Rome, without any change in any 
 fundamental article, either of the doctrine or government 
 of the Catholic church; and upon this ground I shall be 
 ready to continue a brotherly correspondence with any of 
 their great men, provided it be done with such caution, as 
 may not expose my letters to be made prisoners toa secre- 
 tary of state, hich can never become my cha- 
 racter, and may carry an ill aspect, even in our own court, 
 till the thing be rightly understood. 
 
 No, A VIL 
 Extract of a Letter fromthe Archbishop to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 
 March 31, 1720. 
 
 I raanxK you for your account of the present state of 
 the French church. It is a very odd one indeed, but will 
 settle into an agreement at last. When once the appel- 
 lants begin to break, the court will drive all the obstinate 
 (as they will call them; I should name them, the honest 
 men, of courage and constancy) to a compliance. 
 
 No. XVIII. 
 
 Extract of a Letter fromthe Archbishop to Mr. Beauvoir. 
 April 19, O. S. 1720. 
 
 I rercEIvE, by some late letters from him (Piers Gi- 
 rardin,) that he begins to despair of the business of the 
 constitution. He has reason: the cardinal de Noailles is 
 ensnared, and has gone too far to retire. The new arch- 
 bishop of Cambray will be a cardinal; and this affair of 
 the constitution must procure the calot for him. The re- 
 gent himself is afraid of the Spanish party, and the Jesuits; 
 and he will gain, or at least appease them. For all these 
 reasons, the doctrine of the church, and the Gallican liber- 
 ties, must be abandoned; and, on the slight pretence of a 
 comm«. of no esteem with the opposite party, an accommo- 
 dation will certainly be made; and those who will not 
 voluntarily go, shall be driven into it. If our poor friend 
 be one of those who must hereby suffer, why may he not 
 consider of a retreat hither, and, since he cannot yet bring 
 on a union with the two churches, unite himself with 
 ours, from which I am sure his principles, and I believe 
 his inclinations, are not greatly distant? But this must be 
 managed very tenderly, and rather by a kind of rallying, 
 than a direct proposal of it. If he inclines to it, he will 
 easily understand your meaning ; if not, ’tis best not to 
 go on far with him in a matter in which you will have 
 no good success. 
 
 No. XIX. 
 xtract of a Letter from Archbishop Wake to 
 Mr. le Clere. 
 
 April, 1719. 
 Novum Testamentum Gallicum, notis tuis feliciter or- 
 natum, totum, nec sine fructu, perlegi. Preefatione tua 
 eidem preefixa mirificé affectus sum ; legi, relegi, quin et 
 spits deinceps repetam. Ita me in ipso preesertim ejus 
 
 695 
 
 initio commovit, ut vere pietatis in ea relucentem spiritum 
 nunquam satis ‘laudare possim, vel animo meo satis alté 
 imprimere. 
 
 Est quamvis in annotationibus tuis queedam liberiiis dicta 
 occurrant, que non aque omnibus placeant, neque mihi 
 ipsi ubique satisfaciant ; fero tamen, et vel in ipso tuo a 
 communi sententia dicausa aliquid mili invenire videor, 
 quod ignoscere magis quam acerbiiis reprehendere debeam, 
 multo minis inclementids damnare. Libertatem prophe- 
 tandi, modo pia ac sobria sit, cum charitate ac mansuetu- 
 dine conjuncta, nec contra analogiam fidei semel sanc- 
 tis tradite, aded non vituper andam, ut etiam probandam, 
 censeam. De rebus adiaphoris cum nemine contenden- 
 dum puto. Ecclesias reformatas, etsi in aliquibus a nostra 
 Anglicana dissentientes, libenter amplector. Optarem equi- 
 dem regimen episcopale bené temperatum, et ab omni in- 
 justa dominatione sejunctum, quale apud nos obtinet, et, 
 siquid ego in his rebus sapiam, ab ipso apostolorum «vo 
 in ecclesia receptum fuerit, et ab lis omnibus fuisset reten- 
 tum; nec despero quin aliquando restitutum, si non ipse 
 videam, at posteri videbunt. Interim absit ut ego tam ferret 
 pectoris sim, ut ob ejusmodi defectum (sic mihi absque omni 
 invidia appellare liceat) aliquas earum a communione nos- 
 tra abscindendas credam ; aut, cum quibusdam furiosis in- 
 ter nos scriptoribus, eas nulla vera ac valida sacramenta ha- 
 bere, adedque vix Christianos esse pronuntiem. Unionem 
 arctiorem inter omnes reformatos procurare quovis pretio 
 vellem. Hee si in regimine ecclesiastico ac publicis eccle- 
 siarum officiis obtineri potuit ; aut ego plurimum fallor, aut 
 id solum brevi conduceret ad animorum inter eos unionem 
 conciliandam, et viam sterneret ad plenam in omnibus 
 majoris momenti dogmatibus concordiam stabiliendant. 
 Quantum hoc ad religionis nostrz securitatem conduceret ; 
 quantum etiam ad pseurdo-c atholicorum Romanensium con- 
 versionem, czcus sit qui non videat.—Sed abripuit me lon- 
 gius quam par esset hec semper mihi dulcis de pace ac 
 unione ecclesiarum reformatarum cogitatio,— &c. 
 
 No. XX. 
 Archbishop Wake’s letter to the pastors and professors 
 of Geneva. 
 8th April, 1719. 
 
 Quamvis literis vestris nihil mihi gratius potuit afferri, 
 non tamen absque summo dolore, vix oculis siccis, eas per- 
 legi; neque credo quenquam esse tam ferrei pectoris, qui 
 ad ea mala que in illis referentur non perhorrescat, mire- 
 turque talia ab hominibus erga homines, a popularibus 
 erga populares suos, a Christianis denique erga Christia- 
 nos, idque (quod fidem omnem exuperare valeat) etiam 
 religionis causa, fieri et perpetrari. 
 
 Vos interim, venerandi viri, quod vestri erat officii, sedulo 
 prestitistis. Delegatos ecclesiarum Hungaricarum amicé 
 accepistis. Querimoniam eorum, ea qua par erat charitate 
 atque sympathia fraternaé audivistis ; nullaque mora ad- 
 hibata, ad remedium malis ipsorum inveniendum omnes 
 vestras cogitationes convertistis. Per illustres magistratus 
 vestros, ceeteros reformatze religionis principes atque sena- 
 tores, ad persecutiones horum fr atrum vestrorum serié con- 
 siderandas, excitavistis, et ut suam authoritatem interpo- 
 nerent ad sedandas eorum oppressiones enixissimé obse- 
 
 crastis. 
 
 Denique, nequid vel minimi ponderis desideretur quo 
 
696 
 
 studium vestrum in hoc tam insigni charitatis opere exe- 
 quendo ostendatis, etiam mea qualicunque opera uti volu- 
 istis, ad animum augustissimi regis nostri commovendum, 
 ne in hac tam gravi sua necessitate afilictis Christi servis 
 deesset. 
 
 O amorem vere Christianum ! et qualem deceat ejusdem 
 corporis membra erga se invicem habere! Dignum pro- 
 fecto et vobis, et eximio illo vestro congressu, opus ; ut quo 
 praecipueé tempore convenistis ad laudes Dei celebrandas, 
 qui per duo jam secula religionem reformatam vobis inco- 
 lumem servaverit, eodem etiam illam ipsam religionem 
 evangelicam in allis regionibus oppressam, concussam, ac 
 tantum non extremum quasi spiritum trahentem, subleve- 
 tis et si fieri possit, in integrum restituatis. 
 
 Ego vero, fratres charissimi, et propria voluntate motus, 
 et vestro tam illustri exemplo impulsus, adeo eodem vobis- 
 cum ardore accendor, ut nihil non tentandum putem, quo 
 Vestris tam piis, tam justis, tamque benignis conatibus op- 
 tatum successum comipararem. 
 
 Imprimis igitur nobilem virum comitem Sunderlandie 
 primarium regis ministrum sedul6 adivi: literas vestras 
 illi communicavi; petil, oravi, ut in hac re suam mihi 
 operam utque auxilium concedere vellet; utque simul regi- 
 am majestatem adiremus; non quod de i ipsius prompta volun- 
 
 tate dubitarem, sed ut que in hac causa facienda essent, eo 
 
 majori vigore atque promptitudine perficerentur. Success ‘it, 
 feré ultra spem, conatis noster. Utriusque ecclesize tum Hun- 
 garice tum vicine Vallensis, oppressiones regi, eo quo par 
 erataffectu, exposuimus. F'avorem ejus atque authoritatem 
 apud Cesarem regemque Sardiniz obnixé imploravimus, ut 
 ab his tam injustis vexationibus, eorum jussu et mandatis, 
 liberentur. Et praecipué quod ad Pedemontanas ecclesias 
 attinet etiam adhortati sumus, ut jure suo a rege Sardiniz 
 postularet, ut pacta in his que religionis exercitium con- 
 cernent, earum gratia inita, meliori fide in posterum obser- 
 ventur. Annuit votis nostris rex serenissimus ; neque du- 
 bito quin legatis suis jamdudum preceperit, ut omnem 
 quam possunt operam sno nomine impendant, quo ab istis 
 adeo iniquis oppressionibus utriusque ecclesize membra 
 liberentur. Orandus Deus ut tanti principis conatibus, in 
 hac tam justa, tam pid, tam religioni Christiane proficua 
 interpellatione, aspirare dignetur, et oppressis suis servis 
 exoptatam requiem tandem concedere, pro immensa sua 
 misericordia, velit. 
 
 Interim, dum heec feliciter, uti spero, peraguntur, ignos- 
 cite, fratres dilectissimi, si majoris quidem laboris atque 
 difficultatis, sed longé maximi omnibus commodi, incep- 
 tum, vobis proponam ; in quo et sepe alias et hoc tempore 
 complures primariz dignitatis viri summo studio allabo- 
 
 rant; et quod ab omnibus, quibus puritas Evangelii reipsa 
 
 cordi sit, una secum allaborandum sperant. Jamdudum 
 sentilis quo mea tendit adhortatio ; 
 inter omnes que ubique sunt ecclesias, que his ultimis 
 seculis a communione, seu veritis tyrannide pontificis Ro- 
 mani, sese subduxerunt, seduld promovendam. Quin hoc 
 fieri possit, si quidem animum ad concordiam promptum 
 omnes attulerimus, nullatenus dubitandum est: quin fieri 
 debeat, nemo prudens negaverit, &c. &c. 
 
 Vos interim, EF’. C. hoe agite, ut saltum inter vos ipsos 
 pax atque concordia inviolabiliter conserventur. Summo 
 quippe dolore, anno preeterito, accepi dissensiones inter vos 
 ortas fuisse, de capitulis aliquot circa doctrinam de gratia 
 
 universali, aliisque queestionibus longé difficillimis, in qui- | 
 
 ad unionem nimirum | 
 
 THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 bus optimi viri et doctissimi theologi idem per omnia haud- 
 quaquam sentiunt. Angit hoc sané, idque non medio 
 criter, animum meum. Et quamvis nollem vobis videri 
 drarorpioemicxomeciv, aut in alienam (quod aiunt) messem 
 falceem meam immittere ; permittite tamen ut in spiritu 
 chariiatis, eoque quo erga vos feror amore fraterno, vos 
 obsecrem, et in Domino obtester, ut in hujusmodi rebus, 
 quatenus id fieri possit, idem sentiatis omnes ; quod si id 
 non assequi veleatis, ut saltem sic alii alios feratis, ut nul- 
 
 lum sit inter vos schisma, nullus querimonie aliquor um 
 adversus alios locus ; ut non nimium curiosi sitis in iis 
 determinandis que Deus non admodum claré revelaverit, 
 queeque absque salutis dispendio tutd nesciri poterint ; 
 
 que sapientissimi praedecessores nostri, in omnibus suis 
 confessionibus, cauté tractanda censuerunt, eaque modera- 
 tione, ut universi in iis subscribendis consentirent; et a 
 quorum prudenti cautela sicubi postea discessum fuerit, 
 contentiones, lites inimicitiz, aliaque infinita incommoda, 
 protinus subsecuta sunt. 
 
 In his disquisitionibus Lutherani 4 reformatis dissident ; 
 nec reformati ipsi prorsus inter se conveniunt. Ecclesia 
 Anglicana optimo consilio, exemplo ab omnibus imitando, 
 nullius conscientie, his in rebus, jugum imponit. Quee 
 de illis in articulis suis statuerit, talia ut ab omnibus 
 ex equo admittantur. His contenta, nec ipsa aliquid 
 amplius requirit curiositis statuere. Hinc summa inter 
 nos pax cum sobria sentiendi libertate conjuncta. Utinam 
 et vobis, iisdem conditionibus, concordia stabiliatur, utque 
 veteri confessione vestra Helvetica contenti, neque alicui 
 permitteretis aliter docere, neque ab aliquo quidpiam pro- 
 fitendum requireretis ultra id quod ab initio requisitum 
 fuerit; cum tamen summi illi viri Calvinus et Beza (ut 
 de aliis taceatur) secus de his articulis sentirent, quam alii 
 plures ; quos tamen non solim tolerandos, sed et pro fra- 
 tribus habendos rité ac sapienter judicarunt. 
 
 Hoc vobis non modo pacem inter vos ipsos conciliabit, 
 verim etiam concordiam cum aliis ecclesiis reformatis 
 sartam tectam tuebitur. Absque hujusmodi temperamine, 
 unioilla cum Protestantibus, tantopere desiderata, nullo mo- 
 do iniri poterit; vos, igitur, serié heec, ut par est, considerate : 
 neca nobis, a plerisque aliis reformatis, etiam a vestris ante- 
 cessoribus, novis ac durioribus impositionibus secedite, &c. 
 
 N. B. The former part of this letter, which relates to 
 the intercession of archbishop Wake in behalf of the 
 Hungarian- and Piedmontese churches, has never been 
 hitherto published. 'The latter part, beginning with these 
 words, “ Interim dum hee feliciter peraguntur, ignoscite,” 
 &c. was inserted, by Professor Turretin of Geneva, in his 
 work entitled, Nubes Testium. The words “Interim 
 dum hee,” &c. were, from an ignorance of their connex- 
 ion with what goes before, ‘supposed by some learned men 
 to relate to the projected union between the English and 
 Gallican churches ; and Kiorning, who says in his Dis- 
 sertation de Consecrationibus Episcoporum Anglorum, 
 that Dr. Wake communicated this project to the divines 
 of Geneva, fell into this mistake, and probably drew 
 Dr. Mosheim after him. 
 
 No. XXI. 
 Extract from Archbishop Wake’s Letter to Profes- 
 sor Schurer, of Bern, July 1718. 
 
 De Anglia nostra te peramanter et sentire et scribere 
 plurimtim gaudeo. Quanquam enim non adeo czcus 
 
 ays 
 
 Sulll, 
 
THE FOURTH APPENDIX. 
 
 sim patria: mez amator, ut non plurima hic videam quee | 
 vel penittis sublata vel in melitis mutata quovis pretio 
 vellem, tamen aliqua etiam in hac temporum feece occur | 
 rere, optimis etiam seculis digna, et qua ipsa primeeva | 
 ecclesia Christiana probare, ne dicam et laudare, potuisset, 
 et tu aquissimé agnoscis et nos nobis gratulamur. 
 
 No. XXII. 
 To Professor Turretin, July 1718. 
 
 Speaking of Bishop Davenant’s opinion as ag-eeabie to his own. 
 
 Urinam sic sentiremus omnes, et, fundamentalibus 
 religionis articulis semper salvis, nihil ultra ab aliquo 
 subscribendum requireremus, quod bonorum hominum 
 conscientiis oneri esse potest, certé ecclesiz utilitatem pa- 
 riim promovebit.—Ut enim de hac ecclesiarum reforma- 
 tarum utilitate paucis dicam ; primum earum stabilimen- 
 tum in hoc consistere, ut omnes sese, quantim fieri possit, 
 contra papalem potentiam ac tyrannidem tueantur, nemini 
 credo dubium esse posse. Ut in hune finem quai arctis- 
 simé inter se uniantur, et in idem corpus coalescant, aded 
 ut siquid alicui ex iis ecclesiz damni aut detrimenti a 
 communi hoste fuerit illatum, id ab omnibus tanquam 
 suum haberetur, concedi etiam necesse est. 
 
 Ut denique pax et concordia cujuslibet ecclesiz refor- 
 matz inter suos, ac cum aliis omnibus ejusmodi ecclesiis 
 conserventur ; unicuique viro bono, sed presertim eccle- 
 siarum illarum magistratibus atque ministris, totis viribus 
 enitendum esse, aded claré apparet, ut nulla probatione 
 firmiori indigeat. 
 
 Afterwards : 
 
 Quid in hac re aliud faciendum restat, nisi ut tua et 
 amicorum tuorum auctoritate prim6 facultas vestra theo- 
 logica, magistratus, ministri, cives Genevenses, deinde 
 eorum exemplo atque hortatu reliqua etiam foederis Hel- 
 vetici membra reformata, omnem lapidem moveant, ut 
 pacem ecclesiis Bernensibus restituant? Neque id ego 
 sic fieri vellem, ut non simul et religionis veritati et doc- 
 trine puritati consulatur. Subscribant ministri, profes- 
 sores, theologi, confessioni vestrae veteri anno” [ ] 
 editz : prohibeantur, sub quavis-libet poena, ne ullam in 
 concionibus, scriptis, thesibus, preelectionibus, sententiam 
 publicé tueantur illi confessioni quovis modo contrariam. 
 Id solum caveatur, ne multiplicentur hujusmodi subscrip- 
 tiones absque necessitate ; neque stricté nimis inquiratur 
 in privatas hominum eruditorum sententias ; modo suis 
 opinionibus frui pacificé velint, et neque docendo, neque 
 disputando, neque scribendo, a publica confessione sece- 
 dere, aut errores suos (si tamen errores revera fuerint) ia 
 scandalum cujus-vis, mult6 magis ecclesie aut reipub- 
 licee divulgare.—Habes, vir spectatissime, sententiam 
 mean. 
 
 No. XXIII. 
 
 Extract from a Letter of Archbishop Wake to Pro- 
 Sessor Schurer, Juiy 1719. 
 
 Qu de formula Consenstis mihi narras, abundé pla- 
 cent, qui, uti nolim laqueum absque causa injici consci- 
 entiis bonorum atque eruditorum hominum, ita neque 
 freena laxanda censeo quibuscunque novatoribus ad pa- 
 sem publicé turbandam, eaque vel scribenda vel docenda, 
 que viris piis jure scandalum prebeant, queeque confes- 
 
 * The date of the confession of faith is omitted in the archbishop’s letter. 
 
 No. LIX. 175 
 
 697 
 
 sioni vestree olim stabilite falsitatis notam injuria inurere 
 videantur. Intra hos igitur limites si steterint magistra- 
 tus vestri, neque aliquid amplius a Lausannensibus requi- 
 rant, nisi ut hoc demtim fine formule consensis subscri- 
 bant ; sperandum est nullum schisma, eA de causa, inter 
 vos exoriturum. Pacem publicam tueri, etiam in rebus 
 ad fidem spectantibus, magistratus Christianus et potest 
 et debet. Conscientiis hominum credenda imponere, nisi 
 in rebus claris et perspicuis, et ad salutem omnin6 neces- 
 sariis, nec potest, nec debet. Quod si contra faciat, sub- 
 ditis tamen semper licebit ad apostolorum exemplar, si 
 quidem aliquid falsi, aut incertz veritatis, iis subscriben- 
 dum injunxerint, obedire Deo potiis quam hominibus. 
 
 ' 
 
 No. XXIV. 
 
 Extracts from Archbishop Wake’s Letter to Pro- 
 Sessor Turretin, in answer to one from him, dated 
 December 1, 1718. 
 
 Res Bernensium ecclesiasticas nondum penitis tran- 
 quillas esse et doleo et miror ; edque magis, quod hisce 
 temporibus hee de decretis divinis altercationes ubique feré 
 alibi ad exitum sint perducte. Que mea sit de iis sen- 
 tentia, nec adhue cuiquam aperté declaravi, neque, ut 
 deinceps patefaciam, facilé me patiar induci. Hoc apud 
 nos, tum ex mandatis regiis, tum ex diu servataé (utinam 
 semper servanda) consuetudine fixum est atque stabilitum, 
 neque a quoquam exquirere quid de his rebus sentiat, 
 modo articulis religionis, publica auctoritate constitutis, 
 subscribat ; neque in concionibus aut etiam disputationi- 
 bus theologicis, aliquid amplius de iis determinare, quam 
 quod illi articuli expressé statuant, et ab omnibus ad 
 ministeril munus admittendis profitendum requirant. 
 
 Then follows an historical narrative of the rise, and 
 occasion, and censure of the Lambeth articles ; 
 as also of the rise and progress of Arminianism 
 under the reigns of James I. and Charles I, and 
 of the subsiding of all disputes of that kind under 
 Charles II. He then subjoins, 
 
 Et quidem illud imprimis observatu dignum estimo, 
 quam moderaté, quam prudenter, in hac tam difficili dis- 
 quisitione, optimi illi viri, martyres ac confessores Christi 
 constantissimi, quos Divina Providentia ad reformandam 
 hanc nostram ecclesiam seligere dignatus est, se gesserunt. 
 Non illi curiositati cujusvis aliquid indulgendum putarunt ; 
 non vanis et incertis hominum hypothesibus de decretis 
 divinis alicujus fidem alligare fas esse consuerunt. Scie- 
 bant quam inscrutabilia sint consilia Dei, et quanto inter- 
 vallo omnes nostras cogilationes exuperent. Idedéque non 
 religiosé mintis quam sapienter inter justos terminos sese 
 continuerunt ; neque in necessariis ad fidem nostram de 
 hisce mysteriis stabiliendam deficientes ; neque in non- 
 necessariis determinandis officiosi ; unde forté pro vera 
 fide errorem, pro pace discordiam, pro fraternd unione ac 
 charitate divisionem, odia, inimicitias in ecclesiam Christi 
 inducere poterant. 
 
 Heec fuit eorum simplicitas veré evangelica ; pietate 
 non minis quam sapientid commendabilis ; céque magis 
 suspicienda, ac feré pro divinaé habenda, quod tot annorum 
 experientia reperta sit non soltim optimam fuisse pacis ac 
 concordiz regulam, vertim etiam unicum contra schismata 
 et divisiones remedium. 
 
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HS FO rey 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 DURING 
 
 Heo Bees Gelele bel NebeHoeG EB NeD.U Reaves 
 
 FORMING 
 
 A CONTINUATION OF DR. MOSHEIM’S WORK. 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE generality of readers, more intent on the consi- 
 deration of modern affairs than on the contemplation of 
 ancient occurrences, are induced to expect, from historic 
 writers, a much more copious detail of recent than of 
 early transactions. The expectation is natural and rea- 
 sonable , and it is therefore readily gratified by historians. 
 But, like other rules, this also may be allowed to have an 
 exception. In modern times, the affairs of the church 
 move in a. more regular course, and are conducted with 
 far greater tranquillity, than in earlier periods; and hence 
 a narrative of such occurrences may prove less interesting 
 than the ecclesiastical history of many preceding ages, 
 and may consequently require a less minute detail and 
 
 less frequent reflection. 
 
 Dr. Mosheim, in all probability, if he had lived to the 
 
 * Such a conclusion may be drawn from what he says at the beginning 
 of his sketch of that century:’ Seculi, quod vivimus, historia Chris- 
 tiana voluminis, non paginarum paucarum, materies est, suumque inter 
 posteros scriptorem ingenuum et eaquum expectat;’—a passage which 
 
 close of the eighteenth century, would have given an 
 elaborate and ample sequel to his valuable history ;* but 
 the writer who has undertaken to continue that work has 
 neither the leisure nor the inclination to expatiate upon 
 the subject. It would not, perhaps, be very difficult for 
 him to fill volumes with a specification of the religious 
 and ecclesiastical affairs of the last century: but he does 
 not conceive that such diffusion is necessary, and he 
 hopes that a concise statement, with incidental remarks, 
 will content his readers. 
 
 Those who wish for a copious history of the Christian 
 church during that period, must wait for the exertions of 
 some erudite and able divine, who may have time and 
 
 patience for the accomplishment of the task. 
 
 Ki C. COOTE. 
 
 may be thus translated: The history of the Christian church, during the 
 the century in which we live, is the proper subject of a considerable volume, 
 rather than of only a few pages; and it demands from posterity a writer who 
 will pay due attention to it,—a liberal, impartial, and judicious author. 
 
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 Lat 
 
‘ 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 
 
 DURING 
 
 cH, Bagel Gabely tar Ne lett, Cok N TOU RY: 
 
 CHAPTER IL. 
 
 History of the Romish Church, during the Highteenth 
 Century. 7 
 
 Tre continued attacks of the Protestants upon the 
 church of Rome had forced the outworks, and weakened 
 the barriers of that establishment: but it still presented a 
 bold front to its assailants, and numbered among its vota- 
 ries the major part of the inhabitants of Europe. _ Its 
 greatness was impaired, but not subverted ; and it had 
 an imposing, if not a very formidable aspect. The pope’s 
 power of interdiction and excommunication had ceased to 
 fill nations with dismay. Some of the potentates of his 
 communion addressed him in a tone which many of his 
 predecessors would not have endured ; harassed him with 
 various pretensions, and encroached upon that authority 
 which he deemed legitimate and even divine. Notwith- 
 standing these assaults, he retained some degree of power 
 and a considerable portion of intinezce, and was sup- 
 ported in the dignity of supreme pontiff by the greatest 
 princes of the continent. — ota 
 
 The prelate who occupied this high station at the com- 
 mencement of that century of which we are now treating, 
 was Clement XI. or John Francis Albani, who, having 
 acquired reputation by his skill in the management of 
 affairs, and being also of a spirited character, had been 
 unanimously chosen by the conclave at a time when the 
 political horizon of Europe threatened a storm. He rejec- 
 ted the offered tiara with a greater appearance of sincerity 
 than that which an English divine usually displays when 
 he says, on the offer of a bishopric, nolo episcopari ; but 
 his scruples and objections were removed by the argu- 
 ments, representations, and importunities of the cardinals. 
 
 He made a good beginning of administration. He 
 redressed some grievances, discountenanced vice and crimi- 
 nality of every kind, performed acts of beneficence, gave 
 an example of devotional regularity, and filled vacant 
 offices and preferments with men of merit. He then 
 directed his attention to politics, and testified a desire of 
 preventing a war between the king of France and the 
 emperor, on the subject of the Spanish succession. He 
 wrote a letter to each of those princes, exhorting them to 
 accommodate all disputes without rushing into hostilities. 
 They received his advice with professions of respect for his 
 character, but did not suffer it to regulate their conduct. 
 Ambition still inflamed the aged Louis: his thirst of do- 
 minion still urged him to send forth his legions, and wan- 
 tonly (for a lust of power was no sufficient motive) to 
 shed the blood of his unoffending fellow creatures. Leo- 
 pold professed an equal regard for religion, but was equal- | 
 ly uninfluenced by justice or humanity. 
 
 With respect to the religious principles of these royal 
 No. LIX. 176 
 
 . 
 
 sons of the church, we may observe, that they were not 
 
 animated by true piety, or a genuine spirit of religion. 
 They may have believed the doctrines of Christianity ; or, 
 perhaps, they merely affected to give credit to the faith 
 which they found established in their dominions. They 
 attended mass with decorous regularity, witnessed cere- 
 monial observances with a serious and devout aspect, and 
 promoted among their subjects a religious uniformity. But 
 they did not endeavour, like true Christians, to correct their 
 evil propensities, amend their hearts, or reform their lives. 
 They did not study to preserve “ peace upon earth ;” 
 they did not cherish “ good will towards men.” Their 
 religion in (the language applied by arespectable histo- 
 rian* to William the Conqueror (“ prompted them to en- 
 dow monasteries, but at the same time allowed them to 
 pillage kingdoms: it threw them on their knees before a 
 relic or a cross, but suffered them unrestrained to trample 
 upon the liberties and the rights of mankind.” 
 
 We have no concern with the war into which the rival 
 princes entered, as it is unconnected with the history of 
 the church. It arose from temporal motives, and refer- 
 red to grand political objects. Both princes promised that, 
 if the war should extend to Italy, the papal territories 
 should remain uninjured and unmolested: but this pro- 
 mise was violated, on the part of Leopold, by the irruption 
 of an Austrian detachment into the province of Ferrara. 
 Clement having bitterly complained of this conduct, the 
 troops retired: but, as they again encroached, he ordered 
 an army to be levied. Louis, and his grandson the new 
 king of Spain, earnestly requested his holiness to enter 
 into an alliance with them, promising great advantages 
 not only tothe holy see, but tothe pontiff himself, asthe 
 price of his condescension. He had no wish to take part 
 with either of the contending families, and therefore refu- 
 sed to accede to the confederacy. A report was propagated 
 of his assent to the offered terms; and it derived strength 
 from the appearance of the duke of Berwick at Rome; 
 but that nobleman was merely sent from France by the 
 royal exile, James II., to congratulate Albani on his ele- 
 vation to the papal throne. 
 
 Unable to check the rage of war, the pope soothed his 
 anxiety, and gratified his religious zeal, by promoting the 
 diffusion of the catholic faith. He even expressed a wish 
 that he could visit the remotest parts of the globe for that 
 pious and salutary purpose, and lamented his inability of 
 accomplishing his desire. Contracting his views he con- 
 tented himself with sending legates into various regions, 
 particularly into Persia, India, and China, to support and 
 extend the interests of Christianity: but the success of 
 these heralds of the Gospel did not correspond with, the 
 wishes of the religious world. We are informed, how- 
 
 x George Lord Lyttleton. 
 
704 
 
 ever, that his entreaties and expostulations procured, for 
 the catholics of Thrace, Armenia, and Syria, a respite 
 from Mohammedan persecution, and an allowance of the 
 free exercise of their religion.s ‘This freedom, however, 
 was oceasionally interrupted and disturbed by the brutality 
 of furious infidels, and the animosity of barbarian zealots. 
 
 The legate upon whom he chiefly depended, for the 
 success of the eastern mission, was Maillard de 'Tournon, 
 who was ready to encounter every danger in the cause of 
 Christianity. This missionary visited India and China 
 with a weak and declining frame, but with a heart full of 
 pious zeal. He introduced himself to the Chinese empe- 
 ror at Pekin; was politely received, and complimented 
 with various presents ; and was gratified with permission 
 to preach the Gospel, and expound the doctrines of the 
 catholic faith. 'The imperial potentate, however, did not 
 mean that this permission should so far operate, as to 
 authorise the legate and his associates to oppose the pre- 
 valence of popular institutions and ceremonies, sanctioned 
 by long practice. Unwilling to make any concessions to 
 the prejudices of paganism, Tournon loudly exclaimed 
 against the idolatrous usages of the Chinese, and sharply 
 reproved the ministers of state and of religion, for suffer- 
 ing the continuance of such degrading absurdities. By this 
 freedom he gave great offence to the court; and he was 
 even accused of treason against the emperor. Defying 
 the odium which he considered as unmerited, he proceed- 
 ed in his pious career, until he was banished from the capi- 
 tal, in 1707, and sent to the island of Macao, where he 
 was imprisoned with five of his fellow missionaries. 
 Admiring his undaunted zeal, the pope elevated him to 
 the dignity of a cardinal ; an honour which he declared he 
 would not accept, if he should be expected to relinquish 
 his mission; for he was prepared to suffer every incon- 
 venience, and undergo every species of persecution, in the 
 discharge of Christian duties. When the governor of the 
 Philippine islands offered to facilitate his escape, he pe- 
 remptorily refused to quit his prison. He died, not with- 
 out suspicion of poison, after he had been confined above 
 three years. "The mission was continued after his death ; 
 but it did not promise to be successful, as the prejudices of 
 the Chinese were too firmly fixed to be easily eradicated.» 
 
 Clement, in the mean time, continued to observe, with 
 an anxious eye, the commotions of Europe. When the 
 emperor had proclaimed his son (the archduke Charles) 
 king of Spain, his holiness refused to acknowledge the 
 young prince in that capacity. A new invasion of Fer- 
 rara followed ; but the Austrians did not venture to make 
 a conquest of that territory, as Leopold was unwilling to 
 inflict any serious injury on the pontiff. As soon as 
 Joseph became emperor, he manifested a stronger incli- 
 nation than his father had evinced, to thwart and harass 
 the head of the church. He restricted the papal authority 
 in point of presentation to benefves; seized Comacchio, 
 and claimed Parma and Placentia as imperial fiefs. His 
 troops levied contributions in the ecclesiastical state, and 
 alarmed the timid inhabitants. At length, however, he 
 consented to an accommodation, and ceased to be a re- 
 fractory son of the church. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 A revival of the contest between the Jansenists and the 
 Jesuits had for some time conspired with politics and war 
 to disturb the tranquillity of the court of Rome.t M. Du- 
 Pin had published, in 1703, a Case of Conscience, in 
 which (according to the pope’s letter to the king of France) 
 various errors already condemned were revived, and the 
 heretical tenets of Jansenius defended ; and for this offence 
 he was banished from Paris into the province of Bretague. 
 Forty doctors of the Sorbonne, whose names appeared 
 among the signatures of approbation that accompanied 
 the Case, were desired to submit to the will of the pontiff ; 
 and many of them recanted, while others denied that they 
 had given assent to the book. For the more effectual 
 repression of Jansenism, a new apostolical constitution was 
 issued in 1705, condemning such errors with menaces of 
 papal indignation. 'The archbishop of Sebaste, vicar of 
 the holy see in Holland, was removed from his employ- 
 ment for a supposed collusion with the Jansenists ; and 
 these sectaries were again subjected to ecclesiastical cen 
 sure in 1708, when the pope condemned the Moral Reflec 
 tions of their celebrated associate, Quesnel, upon the New 
 Testament. This theologian answered the damnatory 
 bull with a spirit which inflamed the contest. The par- 
 tisans of Rome called for a new and more explicit con- 
 demnation of the Reflections; and the king of France, 
 prejudiced against a sect which the Jesuits represented as 
 even more dangerous to the church than that of the 
 Huguenots, earnestly solicited the promulgation of a rigour- 
 ous edict. Hence arose that decree which was addressed 
 to the whole catholic world, but which more particularly 
 demanded the attention and observance of the Gallican 
 church.¢ 
 
 The Anti-Jansenist ordinance, as it commenced with 
 the terms Unigenitus Det Filius, was quickly known 
 throughout Christendom by the appellation of the bull 
 Unigenitus. Alleging and lamenting the inefficacy of 
 the former condemnation of Quesnel’s book, the pontiff 
 was determined, he said, to apply a stronger remedy to 
 the growing disease. Some catholic truths, he allowed, 
 were mingled with the mass of corrupt doctrine: but, as 
 the insidious and seductive manner in which the errors 
 were brought forward, had occasioned a neglect of the 
 sound portion of the work, it was necessary to separate 
 the tares from the wheat. He and his counsellors, there- 
 fore, had extracted a hundred and one propositions from 
 the book; and these he now condemned as false, captious, 
 scandalous, pernicious, rash, seditious, impious, blasphe- 
 mous, schismatic, and heretical. Not content with cen- 
 suring these passages, he subjoined a prohibition of the 
 whole performance, and cautioned the people, on pain of 
 excommunication, against the perusal of any vindication 
 or defence of it, which had been, or might be, offered to 
 the public. 
 
 This bull, perhaps, the good sense of Clement would 
 have forborne to promulgate, if the zeal of the bigoted and 
 domineering Louis had not overawed or perverted the 
 pontiff; though it may with equal plausibility be sup- 
 posed, that the pope’s zeal was sufficient for the object, 
 without any solicitation whatever. 'The Jansenists, per- 
 
 * Guarnacci, Vit. et Res Gest. Pontificum Romanorum et Cardina- 
 lium, usque ad Clementem XII. tom. i1. p. 7. 
 
 »Guarnacei, Vit. Pontif. et Cardin. tom. il. p. 143, 144. 
 
 © In the year 1708. 
 
 4 For an account of the rise of this controversy, and of the doctrines 
 
 propagated by Jansenius, see Dr. Mosheim’s fifth volume, cent. xvii. 
 sect. il, part i. chap. 1. 
 
 *Guarnacci, Vit. Pontif. et Cardin. tom. 1. p. 11, 18, 19.— Histoire de 
 France, sous le Regne de Louis XIV. par M. de Larrey, tom. i— 
 This bull made its appearance on the 8th of September, 1713, N. 8. 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 eccuted by that intolerant prince for disregarding the new 
 papal constitution, expected less rigorous treatment when 
 Philip duke of Orleans became regent of France. ‘The 
 cardinal de Noailles, who had warmly supported their 
 cause, was introduced into the cabinet: those who had 
 been banished were recalled: the resolutions which the 
 Sorbonne had adopted in favour of the bull, were annulled, 
 as the effect of constraint ; and the conduct of the court 
 of Rome was publicly and acrimoniously condemned. 
 The pope remonstrated against these proceedings, and 
 urged the propriety of submitting to the holy see: but the 
 Jansenists called for a general council, calculated to heal 
 the disorders of the church. The Jesuits denied the 
 necessity of such a convocation, and complained of the 
 arrogance of the demand. ‘The regent at length began 
 to listen to the persuasions of the bigoted party, and 
 menaced the opposers of the bull with his resentment. 
 He banished M. Ravechet, syndic of the Sorbonne, into 
 Roussillon ; but he would not consent to the deposition 
 of that resolute academic, who died in the midst of these 
 disputes. An assembly of prelates, convoked by Philip, 
 in vain endeavoured to reconcile the parties ; and twenty 
 commissioners, nominated for the same purpose, were not 
 more successful in their exertions. ‘The parliament of 
 Paris took cognizance of the affair, in consequence of an 
 appeal from some priests whom the archbishop of Rheims 
 had excommunicated for their opposition to the will of 
 his holiness. 'The spiritual sentence was declared null 
 and void, and the prelate who had pronounced it was 
 condemned in costs and damages. "The Jansenists now 
 became more bold in their ‘attacks, until the regent, 
 alleging the inutility of these disputes, imposed silence by 
 a royal declaration.* 
 
 An edict which confounded the advocates of truth and 
 of sound doctrine with misguided zealots, displeased both 
 parties. ‘The pope accused the regent of insincerity and 
 injustice, and of enmity to that church which he was 
 bound to protect. ‘To the cardinal de Noailles he sent 
 a letter, mingling expostulations with entreaty, which 
 did not subdue the firmness of that prelate. The cardinal’s 
 appeal from the bull or “ coustitution of the holy father 
 to the pope better advised, and to a future general 
 council,” was condemned by the court of inquisition at 
 Rome as a scandalous libel ; and its circulation and perusal 
 were strictly prohibited. A papal brief afterwards appear- 
 
 ed,» commanding al! Christians throughout the world to 
 withhold their favour and regard from the opposers of 
 the constitution, and threatening these unw orthy sons of 
 the church, in case of prolonged contumacy, with a for- 
 feiture of all ecclesiastical privileges. 'T his brief, exciting 
 the indignation of the Parisian parliament, was suppressed 
 by an arrét. 
 
 In the progress of the contest, the pope’s adherents 
 strengthened their party ; and the Jansenist leaders as- 
 sumed a more conciliatory tone. "I‘he cardinal declared 
 his readiness to accept the constitution, according to his 
 dwn explanation of it; and, with this qualification, he 
 condemned the work of Quesnel. Some of the clergy 
 disapproved the explanations, as being almost equally 
 objectionaole with the bull itself; and, on the other hand, 
 
 * October 7, 1717 
 ii, p. 21, 22. 
 
 b Dated August 28, 1718. 
 
 No. LIX. 
 
 7, N. S.—Guarnacci, Vit. Pontificum et Cardin. tom. 
 
 177 
 
 | 
 
 ‘revived the oath introduced by Louis XIV. 
 
 705 
 
 the chief promoters of that act or decree insisted on an 
 absolute and unreserved submission to its obvious i import. 
 Many of the French bishops condescended to explain it, 
 in the hope of removing the scruples of the conscientious 
 Jansenists ; but the pope, while he commended the zeal 
 and good intentions of those prelates, denied the necessity 
 of their exertions, as the wisdom and authority of the 
 head of the church, who was allowed to dictate to the 
 faithful, did not require, from any of its members, expla- 
 natory aid or argumentative enforcement. 
 
 ‘The pope ultimately prevailed in the contest. The 
 regent resolved to gratify the majority of the higher clergy 
 by civing the sanction of the court to the papal edict, 
 after it had been for seven years an object of dispute. It 
 was ordained,° that the constitution Unigenitus, received 
 by the bishops, should be observed by all orders of people 
 in the French dominions; that no university or incor- 
 porated society, and no individual of any description 
 whatever, should speak, write, maintain or teach, directly 
 or indirectly, any thing repugnant to the or dinance, or to 
 the explanations given of it by the dignitaries of the Gal- 
 lican church; that all appeals and proceedings against it 
 should be deemed void ; and that the courts of parliament, 
 and all judges, should assist the prelates in the execution 
 of spiritual censures. 'The parliament of Paris at first 
 refused to register this decree, which, said some of its 
 members, not only derogated from the dignity of the 
 crown, but militated against the rights of the ‘subject, and 
 the liberties of the Gallican church; but it was confirmed 
 by the great council, and promulgated as an operative 
 law. Even the cardinal de Noailles at length acquiesced 
 in it; and a parliamentary registration was procured by 
 menaces of removal or of exile.* 
 
 The exertions of the cardinal Du-Bois were of signal 
 service in subduing the spirit of the principal Jansenists, 
 and, after the registration of the edict, he made occasional 
 use of lettres de cachet against refractory individuals, and 
 which all 
 candidates for holy orders, and for academical degrees, 
 were obliged to take, importing that the five propositions 
 of Jansenius, respecting grace and free will, were justly 
 condemned. 
 
 Clement was highly pleased at this accommodation ; 
 but his joy was allay ed by the consideration of his, declin- 
 ing health. He died in the spring of the following year, 
 at the age of seventy-one years, during twenty of which 
 he had occupied the pontifical throne. His catholic 
 biographer ascribes to him an acute understanding and a 
 tenacious memory, an unwearied zeal in the pursuit of 
 learning, a firmness of mind united with benevolence of 
 disposition and courtesy of manners, and a freedom from 
 anger and resentment.¢ 
 
 His secretary, cardinal Paulucci, would have been 
 chosen to succeed him, if the intrigues of the Austrian 
 faction had not baftled the views of the Italian members 
 of the conclave, whose advantage in point of number 
 hay to imperial tyranny. After a vacancy of seven 
 weeks, the pontifical chair was filled with Mic hael Angelo 
 Conti, son of the duke of Poli, who assumed the designa- 
 tion of Innocent XIII. Being i in a weak state of healta 
 
 * August 4, 1720. 
 &Memoires de la Regence. 
 *Guarnacci Vit. Pontificum et Cardinalium, tom. ii, p. 36. 
 
706 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 at the time of his election, he did not long preside over || proached and even struck them, and some other zealots 
 
 the church, his government not being extended by Pro- 
 vidence to the end even of, the third year. 
 
 It was one of the first cares of this pontiff to accommo- | 
 
 date the dispute respecting the investiture of the kingdom 
 of Naples. ‘The emperor and the king of Spain had in 
 vain solicited that favour from the late pope: but it was 
 now granted to the former prince, on the acknowledge- 
 ment of tributary subjection to the holy see. Another 
 object of Innocent’s attention was the maintenance of the 
 papal claim to the sovereignty of Parma and Placentia ; 
 but he did not, in that respect, succeed to his wish. In 
 the mean time he exercised his authority at Rome with 
 mildness, and sometimes with that severity which appeared 
 to be necessary. ‘J'o other parts of Christendom he also 
 extended his care and vigilance : and Spain, in particular, 
 felt his corrective hand. Observing with serious concern, 
 and indeed with strong disgust, the dissolute manners 
 both of the clergy and laity in that country, he issued an 
 admonitory and threatening edict for the repression of 
 irregular, disorderly, and vicious practices. He had no 
 doubt of the religious zeal and decorous behaviour of his 
 catholic majesty,* but ]amented, on this occasion, the in- 
 sufficient influence even of royal example. 
 
 Amidst the cares of spiritual and temporal government, 
 Innocent found his health seriously declining. Hydropic 
 symptoms alarmed him; and other disorders conspired 
 to put an end to his life, in the spring of the year 1724, 
 at the age of 68. Few pontifis were ever more popular 
 among their temporal subjects than Innocent XIIT., whose 
 death, therefore, was sincerely lamented. His successor 
 was cardinal Vincent Orsini (eldest sonsof the duke of 
 Gravina,) who, having an early sense of piety, had rejec- 
 ted the offer of a splendid marriage, renounced a rich in- 
 heritance in favour of a younger brother, and entered into 
 the clerical order, in which he distinguished himself by 
 his indefatigable zeal as a preacher, by his rigid attention 
 to all points of duty, and his scrupulous avoidance of 
 every species of luxury and excess. 
 
 The beginning of the pontificate of Benedict XITI.— 
 for so the new pope was styled—was marked by an edict 
 against luxury and fantastic extravagance in dress; and, 
 that he might not seem to attend more to minuti@ than 
 
 to objects of importance, he took every opportunity of | 
 
 recommending a strict regard to moral and social duties, 
 and a steady practice of Christian virtues. His exhorta- 
 tions and injunctions had some effect: but, when one 
 head of the hydra of vice was striken off, another instant- 
 ly grew in its place. If the wishes of Benedict, however, 
 
 were not answered, he consoled himself by reflecting that | 
 ‘That consciousness will always | 
 It will soothe the | 
 Christian moralist amidst the evils of life, and at the 
 
 he had done his duty. 
 impart pleasure to a pious mind. 
 
 approach of death. 
 It was in the first year of his government that the affair 
 
 of Thorn occurred, which, while it contributed to the sup- | 
 
 posed advantage of the catholic church by injuring the 
 protestant interest in Poland, wounded the feelings of the 
 pontiff, who lamented and reprobated the cruelty that 
 attended the triumph of the Romanists on that occasion. 
 Some Lutherans neglecting or refusing to kneel at a pro- 
 cession of the host, a student of the Jesuits’ college re- 
 
 * Philip V. 
 
 softened, and various concessions reciprocally made. 
 
 of that seminary afterwards insulted the peaceful inhabi- 
 tants. ‘Ihe aggressor being apprehended and confined, 
 his comrades demanded and obtained his release: but 
 they were not suffered to rescue another who had been 
 seized by the city-guard. Enraged at this disappoint- 
 ment, they committed various outrages ; and, in retalia- 
 tion, the college was attacked and plundered by the popu 
 lace. ‘I'he president of the city, on pretence of his con 
 nivance at this tumult on the part of the people, was 
 decapitated by order of a Polish tribunal: nine other 
 citizens were subjected to the same fate ; and the privileges 
 of the Lutheran inhabitants were arbitrarily annulled. 
 This barbarity disgusted those catholics who had any 
 sense of humanity, and excited the indignation of every 
 protestant community. The Jesuits, however, maintain- 
 ed, that they had only inflicted due chastisement on their 
 insolent’ adversaries, who had entered into a nefarious 
 conspiracy against their catholic fellow-citizens ; and the 
 king of Poland boasted, in the same spirit of bigotry, that 
 he had vindicated, by the punishment of profane heretics, 
 the honour and dignity of true religion. That prince 
 seemed to think that he had sufficiently blended mercy 
 with justice, by sparing the lives of the vice-president and 
 some other citizens who had been condemned. The 
 Jesuits had, at this time, too great an influence at the 
 court of Warsaw ; and they rarely exerted that influence 
 in the cause of justice or of humanity. 
 
 ‘The more humane and benevolent pontiff consoled him- 
 self, amidst these sanguinary deeds, by a bloodless triumph 
 of that religion which he superintended. We allude tc 
 the Jubilee of the year 1725, which he opened with great 
 solemnity, and which gladdened the faithful with the confi- 
 dent hopes ofa plenary remission of theirsins. Heafterwards 
 held a provincial council in the Lateran church, chiefly for 
 a reform of the conduct of the clergy; and the assembly 
 voted for an enforcement of some decrees that had been 
 enacted by the council of Trent, but which had fallen 
 into disuse. On another occasion, he rose above the 
 bigotry of his predecessors, by expressing a wish for the 
 diffusion of scriptural knowledge; and, with that view, 
 he permitted the people in general to peruse the sacred 
 volume, and encouraged the multiplication of copies in 
 the modern languages. 'This permission displeased the 
 rigid catholics ; but it was approved by a majority of the 
 members of that church. Benedict, about the same time, 
 testified his devotion to the Muses, by publicly decorating 
 Perfetti, a Tuscan poet, with a crown of laurel. 
 
 A grand scheme of religious comprehension was formed 
 by this respectable ruler of the church. It was of no less 
 magnitude than the union of the four communities that 
 divided Christendom. He proposed, that four councils 
 should be holden at different places at the same time, each 
 consisting of a certain number of representatives of the 
 Romish, Greek, Lutheran, and Calvinist churches, with a 
 president of one or other church in each assembly ; that 
 the mass should be so altered as not to be repugnant to 
 the feelings of the three last denominations of Christians; 
 that unpleasing or obnoxious doctrines should be mutually 
 A 
 scheme of this kind can only be expected to be successful, 
 when the greater part of the professors of each religion 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 have relinquished all remains of cool animosity, overween- 
 ing conceit, and contemptuous illiberality, and when they 
 have learned to distinguish properly between essential ob- 
 jects and immaterial points. Such a state of mind has 
 never yet been observed to influence the members of dif- 
 ferent sects, assembled for deliberation and discussion ; 
 and we may easily conclude, that, if the four councils had 
 met, and the result of their separate meetings had been 
 subn‘tted to the consideration of a general assembly, the 
 desired union would not have taken place. "The scheme, 
 indeed, was not prosecuted by the pontiff who entertained 
 it; and the churches in question are still divided. 
 
 However disposed was his holiness to remain upon 
 amicable terms with the catholic princes, he could not 
 easily avoid all occasions of dispute. A contest had long 
 subsisted with the court of ‘Turin, upon three grounds,— 
 the right of patronage, the extent of jurisdiction, and the 
 sovereignty of different towns. The king of Sardinia 
 asserted his pretensions with a high tone; and the pru- 
 dence of Benedict suggested the propriety of compliance, 
 not indeed in every particular, but in most of the litigated 
 points. An allowance of the general right of royal pre- 
 sentation to bishoprics and other preferments, a consider- 
 able diminution of the papal fees, and a precise settlement 
 of jurisdiction, allayed the displeasure of Victor Amadeus ; 
 and an agreement was signed in the year 1727. An ac- 
 commodation was not so easily adjusted with the king of 
 Portugal, who, not being gratified with regard to the ap- 
 pointment of a priest whom he recommended as a candi- 
 date for the dignity of cardinal, recalled his ambassador 
 from Rome, ordered the papal nuncio to quit his realm, 
 and permitted the patriarch of Lisbon to grant dispensa- 
 tions, and decide those points and causes which had 
 usually been subject to the pope’s determination. Bene- 
 dict left the settlement of this dispute to his successor: but 
 he found an opportunity of effecting an accommodation 
 with the emperor, on the subject of ecclesiastical jurisdic- 
 tion and discipline in the Neapolitan realm; a reconcili- 
 ation which he purchased by relinquishing some of the 
 .ights of the holy see. 
 
 In the devotional and ritual concerns of the church, this 
 pontiff approved the office of Gregory VIL. and ordered it 
 to be read and observed in every church dependent on the 
 Romish hierarchy. The laity, in France and other coun- 
 tries, were not very willing to comply with the order: but 
 Benedict, in this point, insisted upon their obedience and 
 submission. If the sovereigns of those states had inter- 
 fered on this occasion, he would probably have given up 
 the point. 
 
 Indefatigable in his apostolical duties, he continued to 
 pray and preach, attend to all pontifical and sacerdotal 
 functions, and direct the conduct of subordinate prelates 
 and ministers of the church. He frequently visited the 
 poor, and not only gave them spiritual comfort, but relieved 
 them by his bounty; selling for that purpose the presents 
 which he received. He habituated himself to the plainest 
 fare, and lived in the most frugal manner, like.a hermit 
 
 * Guarnac7i, Vit. Pontif. t. ii. p. 417—22.—-Hist. de Portugal, t. 111. 
 
 bSo we are informed by the baron de Polnitz; and the assertion is 
 not disputed by the impartial. Guarnacci, without stating any particu- 
 1ars of the cardinal’s misconduct and criminality, says, that he greatly 
 increased his fortune, and governed the pope’s dominions at his discre- 
 tion. Clement XII. punished him with a long imprisonment, subjected 
 kim toa heavy fine, and deprived him of the archLishopric of Benevento, 
 
 707 
 
 in his cell, that he might more liberally bestow upon others 
 the blessings of fortune. But it is to be lamented, that, 
 from inattention to his political duty, he suffered cardina! 
 Coscia, an unprincipled Neapolitan, to pursue a shameful 
 course of rapine and extortion.» Yet he died: without 
 losing his popularity, in the eighty-second year of his age, 
 and the sixth of his pontificate. 
 
 Clement XIL., of the Corsini family, was chosen, after 
 a long contest, to succeed the mild and humble Benedict. 
 He quickly reformed some abuses, which had crept into the 
 administration of the Roman state, and then directed his 
 attention to foreign affairs. In the canton of Lucerne, in 
 Switzerland, the laic magistracy of the chief town had 
 presumed to take cognisance of the delinquency of ecclesi- 
 asiics, and had disobeyed the injunctions of the papal 
 
 _nuncio, who had therefore retired into the territory of Uri. 
 _'The pope now adjusted the dispute, and defined the juris- 
 diction, without any material derogation from the dignity 
 
 of the holy see. Casting an eye upon Germany, he 
 checked in the catholic states the practice of pluralism, 
 and only in some cases allowed the same person to hold 
 two bishoprics, but never three. In the Saxon electorate, 
 he strenuously promoted the return of the protestants to 
 catholicism, which some were inclined to embrace, in imi- 
 tation of their sovereign Augustus: but these converts 
 were not very numerous. Not neglecting France, he 
 opposed by new edicts the progress of Jansenism in that 
 
 ‘realm. Being disgusted at the conduct of the Spaniards, 
 
 who had seized the dutchy of Parma without acknowledg- 
 ing his claim of sovereignty over it, he at first refused to 
 
 | bestow a cardinal’s hat upon a Spanish prince, who was 
 
 then too young to be canonically invested with so impor- 
 tant a dignity; but, moved by the importunities of his 
 catholic majesty, he suffered the prince to enjoy the title, 
 and to be administrator of the temporalities, assigning the 
 spiritual jurisdiction to the archbishop of Larissa. A new 
 cause of offence soon arose; for the: Spaniards had the 
 audacity to enlist the pope’s subjects, and the cruelty to 
 commit outrages upon those who resisted such unwarrant- 
 able acts. Philip, however, soothed the irritated feelings 
 of Clement, from whom he procured, for his son don Car- 
 los, the investiture of Naples and Sicily. With the court 
 of Lisbon the pontiff had previously secured a reconcili- 
 ation, by complying with the request of Joseph: but he 
 was not so acquiescent toward the king of Sardinia; for 
 he annulled the convention which tnat prince had obtained 
 from Benedict, alleging that it was too favourable to the 
 civil and temporal power.¢ 
 
 This pontiff was a man of respectable abilities; hada 
 regard for justice; was cautious and prudent, yet not 
 destitute of spirit ; economical, without being meanly par- 
 simonious ; easy of access, without rendering himself in- 
 decorously familiar. He had a taste for the polite arts, and 
 was an encourager of literary merit. Dying in his eighty- 
 eight year,° he was succeeded by Prosper Laurence Lam- 
 bertini, archbishop of Bologna, who entered upon his high 
 office under the designation of Benedict XIV. 
 
 ¢On the 2Ist of February, 1730.—He ought to be mentioned as an 
 author; for many sermons, some accounts of the proceedings of synods, 
 a commentary upon the book of Exodus, and sacred epigrams, have 
 been published as his productions. His literary merit, however, is not 
 of the highest kind. 
 
 4 Guarnacci, tom. ii. p- 579, 580, &c. 
 
 *In February, 1740. , 
 
708 
 
 Lambertini had acquired the character of religious mode- 
 ration, and the fame of learning ; and, during a pontificate 
 of eighteen years, he acted in general with prudence and 
 propriety. He did not profess himself a politician, or claim 
 the merit of activity and address im the important concerns 
 of temporal government: yet he was not so negligent or 
 remiss as his patron, the thirteenth Benedict. His chief 
 minister was cardinal Valenti, who was at once a virtuoso 
 and a man of business. 
 
 In the administration of the church, Benedict XIV. was 
 mild and conciliatory, rather than rigid or severe. He was 
 aware of the relaxed morality of the clergy in the catholic 
 states: but, however he might wish to check their licen- 
 tiousness, he did not take any strong or violent measures 
 for that purpose. He was disposed to promote a union 
 or accommodation between the Roman see, and the Greek 
 and protestant churches; and, if he could have succeeded 
 by concession or compromise, he would have reconciled all 
 religious differences among Christian communities: but 
 that was a task which exceeded his powers of exertion, 
 and which, indeed, no man can expect to accomplish. 
 He was censured by many of the Romanists for attempt- 
 ing to diminish the number of festivals, and to abolish 
 some ceremonies which appeared to him to be useless, im- 
 proper, or absurd ;* and he also gave offence by the occa- 
 sional levity of his conversation, which, however, was un- 
 accompanied with immorality or profligacy. 
 
 With the catholic courts he had no violent disputes. 
 During the war in which the French were opposed to the 
 house of Austria, he seemed inclined to favour the former ; 
 but he endeavoured to avoid giving offence to either of 
 the rival families. He carried on a negotiation, for some 
 years, with Ferdinand, king of Spain, on a subject which 
 had frequently been a cause of altercation. His catholic 
 majesty claimed the right of presentation to all the bene- 
 fices in his ample dominions; but he at length consented 
 to the disposal of fifty-two of the number by the pontiff, 
 on condition that they should be given to Spaniards alone, 
 and that no pensions should be exacted from the occu- 
 pants. By the compact then adjusted, the revenues of 
 vacant benefices were left to a clergyman named by the 
 king, not to the rapacity-of a committee of papal agents ; 
 and, in some other respects, the receipts of the apostolical 
 chamber were considerably diminished. 
 
 At the solicitation of those princes who were displeased 
 at the intrigues, and offended at the mal-practices of the 
 Jesuits, Benedict promised to exert his authority for the 
 reform of that order; and the bull which he issued for this 
 purpose was one of the last acts of his life. He died in 
 1758, when he had attained the age of eighty-three years. 
 He was an erudite and able theologian, as his numerous 
 works evince; a liberal patron of learning and the elegant 
 arts; a lively companion, a benevolent and friendly man. 
 Cardinal Rezzonico, bishop of Padua, who succeeded him 
 us Clement XIII, had a greater reputation for piety, and 
 was more zealous for the high claims of the church: but he 
 was not so generally esteemed as his amiable predecessor. 
 
 * Ele had prepared bulls for these purposes: but the monks excited 
 such a clamour on the occasion, that he did not carry them into effect. 
 Voyages en différens Pays de l’ Europe. Haye, 1777; lettre 15, 
 
 It has been affirmed, that he abolished autos da fe in Portugal, at the 
 he desire of king Joseph; and, if he had, such a suppression would 
 
 nave been honourable to his memory: but the assertion appears to be 
 untrue, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The doctrines of the Romish church, at this period, 
 remained in the same state in which they had Jong sub- 
 sisted. ‘The worship of the Virgin Mary, the tenet of 
 transubstantiation, the idea of purgatory, the propriety 
 of invoking saints, the right and power of absolution, 
 and other parts of the catholic creed, were still retained, 
 and still had considerable influence. The pageantry of 
 procession, the multitude of ceremonies, and the forms of 
 worship, were nearly the same as they had been in the 
 preceding century; and the church-government and 
 discipline were not materially altered. But the majority 
 of the people entertained less exalted ideas of the pope’s 
 supremacy, and preferred the authority of general councils. 
 The catholic sovereigns were more enlightened, and more 
 disposed to tolerate other religions; and the ecclesiastics 
 themselves were less bigoted, and more indulgent to the 
 supposed errors of those who differed from them. 
 
 While the affairs of the church were in this predicament, 
 the conduct of the Jesuits, and the proceedings against 
 that society, drew the public attention more particularly to 
 ecclesiastical ‘concerns. 'The rise and progress of that 
 celebrated fraternity, and the chief incidents of its history, 
 have been well related by Dr. Mosheim; and, in our con- 
 tinuation of his work,: we have given aconcise (but, we 
 hope, a satisfactory) account of that ‘renewal of contest, 
 with the advocates of Jansenism, which distinguished the 
 pontificate of Clement XI. ‘The effect was, in appear- 
 ance, favourable to the Jesuits: yet they impaired their 
 interest by the violent proceedings of their party against 
 the Jansenists. After a long interval of comparative tran- 
 quillity, the animosities of contest were revived by the re- 
 fusal of sacramental favours to dying persons, who were 
 supposed to be attached to the Jansenian heresy. 
 
 But, before we enter into any detail upon this subject, 
 it may not be improper to advert to the progress of that 
 infidel philosophy, which had no inconsiderable effect in 
 promoting the ruin of the Jesuits. Bayle, and other wri- 
 ters in the reign of Louis XIV., had propagated a free- 
 dom of opinion on religious topics, which had shaken the 
 faith of many readers ; and Voltaire, following more open- 
 ly a similar course, had disseminated an anti-christian 
 spirit, which menaced the establishment with peril. _Di- 
 derot and d’Alembert, who, in 1751, sent the Lncyclopé- 
 die into the world, insinuated scepticism and impiety in 
 the midst of scientific discussions; and free-thinking be- 
 came so prevalent, as to alarm the clergy, and call forth 
 their zeal in the defence of an endangered church. 'The 
 Jesuits, nursed in priest-craft, and devoted to the holy see, 
 were peculiarly exposed to these profane attacks. Their 
 arts and intrigues were developed, and their selfish policy 
 was reprobated with pointed severity. Their Jansenist 
 opponents, at the same time, were not spared, as they had 
 too much religion to be in favour with sceptics. 
 
 The archbishop of Paris was a friend to the Jesuits ; 
 and, therefore, when he was desired by the court to allay, 
 by his high authority, the dispute between them and the 
 Jansenists, he replied, that it was customary to withhold 
 
 b Inthe year 1753. a 
 
 ¢ This term has been used, as being, upon the whole, the most ap- 
 plicable: but, in some parts, it is a swpplement, rather than a sequel. 
 For instance, in addition to Dr. Mosheim’s sketch of the contest between 
 the church and the Jansenists in the reign of Louis XIV., and under the 
 following regency, we have given a more detailed account of the pro 
 ceedings on that occasion. 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 the sacraments of the church from such as could not pro- 
 duce cettificates of confession, signed by an orthodox 
 priest ; a refusal which had been originally introduced 
 with a view of stigmatizing the Huguenots. ‘The parlia- 
 inent of Paris fined a priest for having repeatedly evinced 
 this kind of bigotry, and issued an ordinance, in 1752, 
 prohibiting all acts tending to schism, and all refusal of 
 sacraments on pretence of non-adherence to the bull Uni- 
 geuilus. The king wavered between the parties, and 
 hoped to keep them so well poised, that no serious incon- 
 venience would ensue from the ferment: but he did not 
 steadily preserve the balance; and both,the church and 
 state were convulsed. 
 
 ‘The archbishop of Paris took the lead, as a supporter 
 of the cause of orthodoxy against the encroachments of 
 Jansenism ; and he exhorted the court to oppose with 
 vigour the presumptuous magistrates who countenanced 
 that heresy. Louis, however, by the advice of the chan- 
 cellor Lamvignon, adopted the expedient of an arbitra- 
 tion, and appointed delegates of both parties, to accommo- 
 date the dispute ; a measure which only inflamed mutual 
 acrimony. ‘The parliament persisted in prosecuting such 
 priests as withheld the sacraments ; and, when the king 
 commanded a discontinuance of these processes, an ani- 
 mated remonstrance was voted by the magistrates. He 
 punished their disobedience by dispersion and exile, and 
 instituted temporary tribunals to act in their stead. But 
 the clamours of the public soon induced him to recall 
 them; and an ordinance was then registered, for a ces- 
 sation of all religious disputes.* 
 
 ‘The tranquillity which ensued was of short continu- 
 ance. ‘The archbishop was banished from the capital 
 for reviving the dispute, and some inferior ecclesiastics of 
 lis party were more rigorously punished. 'The clergy 
 sat in council for several months, in 1755, without ter- 
 minating the schism. They addressed a letter to pope 
 Benedict, who, in an indecisive answer, seemed to leave 
 the settlement of the affair to his most Christian majesty. 
 The embarrassed monarch, after various temporising 
 measures, held a bed of justice, in which he peremptorily 
 ordered all his subjects to pay respect and submission to 
 the bull, without considering it, however, as a rule of 
 faith, although the bishops, in the late council, had de- 
 clared that it bore that character. By another ordinance, 
 he regulated the meetings and altered the constitution of 
 the magistracy ; and two courts of the parliament imme- 
 diately resigned their functions in disgust. 
 
 The Jesuits were highly pleased at the spirit which 
 the king evinced on this occasion ; but, while they exult- 
 ed in the depression of the parliament, they did not fore- 
 see that their own ruin was approaching, ‘The intrigues 
 of the members of that order in Portugal had induced 
 Joseph, sovereign of that realm, to watch them closely, 
 and to make such reformative arrangements as disgusted 
 the fraternity. Hence, when his life was threatened by 
 a conspiracy, from which he had a narrow escape,” it 
 was found that many Jesuits were concerned in the ne- 
 farious plot, particularly father Gabriel de Malagrida, 
 whom the court, however, out of regard to the church, 
 did not put to death as a traitor, but as a heretic. The 
 incensed monarch now suppressed the colleges of the 
 Jesuits ; and, to restrain the future attempts of ecclesias- 
 
 * Vie Privée de Louis XV. 
 No. LX. 
 
 >In September 1758. 
 178 
 
 709 
 
 tics against the state, he insisted upon a grant (from the 
 pope) of perpetual jurisdiction over the whole clerical body 
 in cases of tresson and sedition. Clement promised to 
 accede to the demand, if a prelate nominated by him or 
 any of his successors should preside on such occasions: 
 but he afterwards consented that the king should name a 
 bishop for these trials.¢ 
 
 No intercession in behalf of the Portuguese Jesuits 
 could soften the inflexibility of Joseph, who, in addition 
 to the guilt of the late conspiracy, accused them of a 
 usurpation of sovereign power in South America, alleging 
 that they had concurred with their Spanish brethren in 
 tyrannising over the natives of Paraguay, whom they had 
 tutored to take arms against him and his catholic majesty. 
 On account of their various enormities, all the members 
 of the fraternity were declared outlaws, in 1759, and 
 banished from the dominions of Portugal; and other 
 courts were invited to follow the rigorous example. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the Parisian parliament, so hostile 
 to the Jesuits, procured from the court a full re-establish- 
 ment; and, at the same time, the clerical exiles were 
 recalled. ‘The magistracy now resumed the proceedings 
 against the withholders of the sacramental favours, and 
 waited for an opportunity of wreaking signal vengeance 
 upon the sons of Loyola. ‘Their commercial rapacity fur- 
 nished the desired opportunity. Two merchants whom 
 they were bound to supply with articles of traffic, stopped 
 payment on the seizure of those goods by British cruisers ; 
 and the Jesuits did not take prompt or adequate mea- 
 sures to avert the shock. Numerous creditors appeared 
 against them; and the cause was referred, at their de- 
 sire, to the grand chamber of the parliament. They dis- 
 avowed the imputed agency of Father de la Valette, the 
 manager of their trade, whose offence against the church, 
 by engaging in commerce, only concerned himself: but 
 it was maintained. against them, that their superior, or 
 general, superintended their trade, as well as other con- 
 cerns, and directed the conduct of the agent. The judges 
 insisted upon seeing the constitutions of the society ; and 
 an exposure was consequently made of the devoted sub- 
 mission of all the members to a foreign head, and of their 
 dangerous maxims in politics and morality. It also ap- 
 peared that they did not constitute a regular religious or- 
 der, as the intended contract between them and the state 
 had never been completed: their fraternity had been 
 merely tolerated, not adopted. ‘Their enemies took ad- 
 vantage of these circumstances, and represented in so 
 strong a light the danger of keeping such men imbodied, 
 that the king resolved to suppress the society ; not, how- 
 ever, before the general had refused to submit to a plan 
 of regulation, proposed by the French court. ‘The par- 
 liament ordained, on the 6th of August, 1762, that the 
 Jesuits of France should no longer wear the habit of the 
 society, live in community, or obey the orders of foreign 
 directors. Their partisans loudly exclaimed against an 
 edict which they considered as extremely severe and un- 
 just, because those whom it affected were not heard in 
 their own defence, and were condemned upon false re- 
 ports, for misrepresented doctrines and unproved delin- 
 quency, ‘The opinion of the lawfulness of regicide in 
 certain cases, they said, seemed to be the chief offence of 
 the fraternity ; but it ought first to be proved that this 
 
 * Historia de Portugal, Lisb. 1902; tom. iv. p. 22, 27. 
 
710 
 
 was justly imputable to the Jesuits, who, as their enemies 
 knew, had no concern in Damien’s attempt to assassinate 
 the French king, and were also entirely innocent with 
 regard to other crimes of the same nature, of which they 
 had been malignantly accused.* 
 
 A regular edict of suppression was delayed for some 
 years: but it was at length registered, on the 7th of De- 
 cember, 1764, and promulgated by the royal authority. 
 The parliaments of Normandy and Bretagne followed, 
 with little hesitation, the example of the Parisian magis- 
 tracy ; but other parliaments were not fully convinced of 
 the justice or expediency of the measure. ‘The pope was 
 shocked at the profane audacity of a court that could act 
 with such determined hostility against a holy society : but 
 his bull, for the reinstatement of the fraternity, was sup- 
 pressed in France by an arrét of parliament, and was 
 declared inoperative in Portugal by the king’s express 
 command. 
 
 The king of Spain was not more friendly to the Jesuits 
 than Louis or Joseph. He was disgusted at their intri- 
 guing spirit, and resolved, not merely to humble them, 
 but to annihilate their power in his dominions. He seized 
 their temporalities in 1767, and banished them, as dan- 
 gerous subjects, from every part of Spain and its depen- 
 dencies. His son Ferdinand also freed the kingdom 
 of Naples and the island of Sicily from the obnoxious 
 fraternity. A great number of these exiles were admit- 
 ted into the Roman territories, and some other parts of 
 Italy ; and many found protection among Protestants. 
 The duke of Parma, soon afterwards, commanded all 
 members of the order to retire from his dominions ; and 
 he, at the same time, hazarded an open rupture with the 
 see of Rome, by abolishing the papal jurisdiction in Par- 
 ma and Placentia. His holiness declared the duke’s ordi- 
 nance to that effect null and void, and menaced its pro- 
 mulgator with the thunders of the church. Being sup- 
 ported by the majority of the catholic princes, the duke 
 persisted in his purpose; and the pontiff was equally reso- 
 lute. With a view of intimidating him into a revocation 
 of his brief, the French king dispossessed him of Avig- 
 non ; and some portions of his Italian territory were seized 
 by his Neapolitan majesty. His spiritual authority and 
 his revenues were diminished by the duke of Modena ; 
 and the Venetians, of whose republic he was born a sub- 
 ject, assailed him with similar hostilities. | Mortified at 
 this treatment, yet unwilling to yield, he was observed to 
 decline gradually in his health. Uneasiness and chagrin 
 hastening the effect of age, he died in his seventy-sixth 
 year, with the character of a pious and well-meaning 
 prelate, who was, however, more influenced by the zeal 
 of bigotry than by common sense or wisdom. He ought 
 to have been content with maintaining the doctrine and 
 worship of the church, without obstinately upholding pa- 
 pal usurpations. 
 
 The enemies of the Jesuits had in vain solicited the dis- 
 solution of that order, while Clement XIII. filled the papal 
 chair: but they conceived strong hopes of success, when a 
 prelate of a more philosophical character was chosen pon- 
 tiff. This was a Franciscan monk named Francis Lau- 
 rence Ganganelli, who thought proper to assume the 
 name of his immediate predecessor. 
 
 Instead of concilitating the new pope, the king of 
 
 * Vie Privée de Louis XV, 
 
 | 
 
 | 
 | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 France declared that he would retain Avignon and its 
 dependencies: but he condescended to offer a sum 0, 
 money for a dereliction of them on the part of his holi- 
 ness. ‘The king of Naples also insisted upon the cession 
 of the district which he had seized, and concurred with 
 Louis in urging Clement to suppress that society which 
 was so odious to the Christian world ; but the importu- 
 nities of these princes, aided by the influence of Spain and 
 Portugal, were for some years unsuccessful. Clement 
 XIV. felt the difficulties of his situation, and demanded 
 time for mature reflection. He conceived it to be his duty 
 to patronise and support a religious order, if its utility to 
 the church or to society overbalanced its demerits; and, at 
 the same time, he wished to avoid a rupture with those 
 courts which had evidently the power, and seemingly the 
 inclination, to inflict serious wounds on the papacy. 
 
 In taking a survey of Europe, he found few of its sove- 
 reigns inclined to support him against the house of 
 Bourbon : we may rather say, that none would authori 
 tatively interpose in his behalf. Yet he would not tamely 
 or too readily yield to dictatorial demands. He appre 
 hended that one concession, on his part, would lead to new 
 requisitions; and he knew that a facility of compliance 
 would only serve to encourage domineering insolence. 
 Amidst these reflections, delay did not seem likely to be 
 injurious; and, if he should be obliged to submit, a pro- 
 traction of the evil day would at least save appearances, 
 even in the eyes of the zealous advocates of papal supre- 
 macy. In this, and in other affairs of moment, he resolv- 
 ed to think for himself, rather than follow the example 
 of those pontiffs who had resigned their own judgmeuts 
 tothe influence and authority of the cardinals. Many 
 members of the sacred college were displeased at his want 
 of confidence in men of their rank and merit ; but he dis- 
 
 ‘regarded their murmurs, and declared that he would not 
 
 be governed. It was, he thought, better for a sovereign 
 to be in a great measure, his own minister and negotia- 
 tor, than to suffer others, as is too frequently the practice, 
 to act for him at their discretion. Witha volto sciolto, 
 he deemed it expedient for a prince to have pensieri 
 stretti ; not from a mean spirit of hypocrisy or dissimula- 
 tion, but from a politic desire of concealing those views 
 and schemes of which an unfair advantage might be 
 taken. 
 
 The Jesuits affected to believe (and probably many of 
 them really thought,) that Clement would not dare to 
 suppress their order. But, in the fifth year of his pontifi- 
 cate, he resolved, in defiance of all the clamours and mena- 
 ces of the zealots, to disembody the fraternity, and amal- 
 gamate its members with the unprivileged mass of soci- 
 ety. He declared it to be his opinion, that the order had 
 ceased to answer the ends of its institution, and that the 
 members, by the impropriety of their conduct, their loose 
 casuistry, and their mischievous arts, had forfeited all 
 claim to farther encouragement. <A bull for the annihi- 
 lation of the society was therefore promulgated ;* its col 
 leges were seized, and its revenues confiscated. Lorenzo 
 Ricci, the refractory general of the order, was sent to the 
 castle of St. Angelo, and died in confinement. 
 
 Pleased at the ruin of the Jesuits, the French court 
 complimented Ganganelli on the justice and expediency 
 
 of his edict, and restored the Venaissin to the holy see. 
 
 Tn February, 1769, *On the 21st of July, 1773. 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The other remonstrating courts also adjusted their dis- 
 putes with the pontill; who, having thus settled the great 
 point which had long engaged his attention, might be 
 expected to feel little anxiety after the decision which he 
 had so deliberately adopted. But, perhaps, he seriously 
 apprehended the effects of the secret resentment of the ex- 
 Jesuits, who could not look with a favourable eye upon the 
 enemy of their order. However that may be, he died in 
 the autumn of the following year, at the age of sixty- 
 eight. It was supposed that he had been poisoned ; but 
 this suspicion has not been verified. 
 
 Of all the priests who for some centuries had filled the 
 papal throne, Ganganelli seems to have been, if we except 
 Benedict XIV., the most unprejudiced, candid, and lib- 
 eral. He did not devote his chief attention to the selfish 
 interests of the see of Rome; nor did he treat other relig- 
 ious establishments with supercilious arrogance, studied 
 contempt, or marked reprobation. His moderation entail- 
 ed upon him the censures of the rigid and severe, who al- 
 leged that he was too lukewarm and indifferent in reli- 
 gious concerns to be a proper defender of the fortress of 
 catholicism, which required for its support the most stren- 
 uous exertions of active zeal. He was even accused of 
 being a well-wisher to Protestantism; a heavy charge 
 against the head of that church to which the protestants 
 were determined foes; but this charge amounted to no 
 niore, in effect, than that he was not a bigot to popery. 
 His treatment of the Jesuits exposed him to censures still 
 more severe, and to all the rancour of malignity ; but, in 
 acting against that order, he only complied with the 
 wishes of the most enlightened members of the grand 
 community of Christendom, and justly dissolved a most 
 immoral and unprincipled society. ‘The time was oppor- 
 tune for such dissolution ; the clamours which it excited 
 soon spent their force; and a phalanx, once potent and 
 formidable had not the power of withstanding the ener- 
 gies of papal hostility; energies that were undoubtedly 
 declining, but which, in the present case, were supported 
 by the chief catholic princes and states. 
 
 The government of the church was now consigned to 
 John Angelo Braschi, who had been created cardinal by 
 Ganganelli, and was regarded as a moderate man, rather 
 than a bigot or zealot. He was more indebted for his elec- 
 tion to the clashing of parties, than to the peculiar favour 
 or interest of any one faction. He was less popular, at the 
 time of his elevation, than his predecessor ; and_ his par- 
 tiality and indulgence to his nephews did not tend to in- 
 crease his popularity. Having a graceful person and a 
 pleasing countenance, he was fond of show and parade, 
 and took every opportunity of exhibiting himself to the 
 public. In capacity and eloquence he was not deficient; 
 but he had no extraordinary vigour of mind. 
 
 When he had superseded the vulgar name of John by 
 the pontifical appellation of Pius the Sixth, some of those 
 who were not inclined to think favourably of his disposi- 
 tion or his abilities, applied to him a reproachful verse, pre- 
 dicting the ruin of Rome under a Sextus. His friends, 
 on the other hand, ridiculed this gloomy prophecy, and 
 boasted of his ability, and the goodness of his heart and 
 character. He commenced his administration with acts 
 of benevolence and charity, with the selection of deserv- 
 
 * “Semper sub Sextis perdita Roma fuit.” 
 > Particularly Silesia. 
 
 | 
 
 711 
 
 ing men for various offices, and the removal or dis- 
 couragement of some individuals who had misbehaved. 
 He also formed the resolution of undertaking a work cal- 
 culated for national benefit—the draining of the’ Pontine 
 marshes. A hank was instituted to receive subscriptions 
 for this purpose; but, after much labour and expense, the 
 work was only effected in part. For what was done, 
 however, Pius deserved thanks and praise. 
 
 After the suppression of the order of Jesuits, many who 
 had belonged to the fraternity found protection in the do 
 minions of the Prussian monarch, who intimated to the 
 new pope, that he would not pay the least regard to the 
 edict. His holiness replied, that he was bound to enforce 
 the bull promulgated by his predecessor; but he at the 
 same time declared, according to Frederic’s agent Cio- 
 fani, that he would not treat the body of ex-Jesuits, then 
 residing in the territories of tleat prince, as an irregular 
 establishment. Atthe instigation, however, of the minis- 
 ters of France and Spain, he afterwards required that 
 the habit of the dissolved order should no longer be worn 
 in the territories of Frederic, and that none of the ex- 
 Jesuits should either preach, or administer the eucharist or 
 other sacraments. ‘lhe monarch, adverting to the ability 
 which the Jesuits had displayed in the task of education, 
 wished them to remain as a society for that purpose, in 
 those provinces? in which his catholic subjects were nume- 
 rous; and, when Pius conceded this point, the king 
 agreed to the requisitions of the pontiff. 
 
 The Jesuits were also protected by the empress of Rus- 
 sia; and from the bishop of Mohiloft, who, bred a Calvin- 
 ist, had become a catholic, and who domineered over the 
 church in Poland, they experienced peculiar favour and 
 patronage. He was so eager to re-establish their society, 
 that he gave public permission to a body of ex-Jesuits, 
 assembled in the province of White Russia, to take proba- 
 tionary candidates for the privileges of their order. He 
 pretended that Pius had allowed him so to exercise his 
 authority : but this assertion was disclaimed by the pon- 
 tiff, and probability favours the denial. When the Spanish 
 court remonstrated with the empress on the subject, she 
 maintained her pretensions and those of the prelate whom 
 she protected, and declared that she would not submit to 
 dictation from any court whatever. She afterwards 
 authorised her Jesuit subjects to choose a vicar-general, 
 who should enjoy all the former privileges of the instit- 
 tion ; and, in defiance of all the enemies of the Jesuits, 
 she continued to favour the members of an order proscribed 
 and stigmatised by the catholic princes. While she dis- 
 approved the conduct of many who had been enrolled 
 among the sons of Loyola, she said that the general de- 
 merits of the society did not appear to her to be se atro- 
 cious, as to justify its dissolution, or the severities which 
 had preceded and followed that act.4 
 
 In France, the cause of Jesuitism was still abetted by 
 many of the dignified clergy; but they were not so open 
 in expressing their wishes for the restoration of the order, 
 as they were in counteracting the claims of the Hugue- 
 nots, whom the government had ceased to persecute. 
 Some, who hated the Jesuits, joined this party in oppo- 
 sing the protestants, and also in reprobating the licentious- 
 ness of infidels. Inan assembly holden in the year 1765, 
 
 ® Memoires Hist. et Philosophiques sur Pie VJ. et son Pontificat, ch. iii, 
 4 Memoires Hist. et Philos. sur Pie VI. chap iv. 
 
712 
 
 im animated remonstrance had been voted by the prelates 
 against the new philosophy. ‘They conjured the king to 
 
 take vigorous measures for the repression of that profane 
 boldness, that impious freedom, which vilified whatever | 
 had for ages been deemed sacred among mankind, and | 
 aimed at the subversion of all holy and venerable institu- | 
 
 tions. If he should be tame or passive at so alarming a 
 crisis, the most portentous mischief, they said, might be 
 
 pprehended. 
 deeply concerned in these practices, and blamed his ma- 
 jesty for not enforcing the laws against those presump- 
 tuous sectaries. In the year 1770, the progress of infide- 
 lity gave occasion for another remonstrance, in which the 
 assembled clergy pointed out various works of the new 
 philosophers, as objects of condemnation,* and called for 
 the exertion of all the powers of government in the defence 
 and support of religion, yiorality, and good order. An 
 assembly of bishops, i in 177 72, renewed the attack u pon the 
 new philosophy; but their fulminations were ineffective 
 and the contagion continued to spread. 
 
 Louis X VI., who had a stronger sense of religion than 
 his predecessor, lamented the prevalence of scepticism : 
 yet he sometimes gave his confidence to men who were 
 known to be infidels. Alarmed at the ministerial influ- 
 ence of 'Turgot, the clergy, in a council which they held 
 in the year 1775 5, agreed to such a remonstrance as the 
 danger of the church seemed to require. "They repre- 
 sented to the young monarch, in strong terms, the alarm- 
 ing progress of infidelity and atheism, the illegal boldness 
 of the protestants, (who had dared even to erect churches, ) 
 the flagrant licentiousness of the press, and the preva- 
 lence of a restless and inquisitive spirit, which threatened 
 to unhinge society. Louis promised to attend to these 
 complaints; but he did not take any measures of reme- 
 dial efficacy. When he was influenced by free-thinking 
 ministers, he was taught to believe that it was not neces- 
 sary to interfere ; and, when he was under other guides, 
 he was too irresolrte to act with vigour. To govern a 
 nation so impetuous and volatile as the French, at a time 
 when freedom of thought began to prevail, a prince of 
 more energetic character was requisite. Sometimes, in- 
 deed, he was peremptory ; but he was not consistently 
 firm or steadily resolute. He acquiesced in measures 
 Which in his heart he disapproved ; and he neglected the 
 enforcement of those which he conceived to be just, expe- 
 dient, and salutary. Under his sway, infidelity and fac- 
 tion alarmingly gained ground; and by assisting the 
 American colonists, he increas sed the agitations of his 
 realm. 
 
 Even in Spain and Portugal, though in a much less 
 degree than in France, freedom ae thought, in the affairs of 
 religion, began to diffuse itself among the higher and 
 middle classes. ‘The vigilance of the government, how- 
 ever, prevented it from being dangerous. In the exten- 
 sive territories of the house of Austria, a similar freedom 
 was repressed by the spirit of Maria Theresa, whose 
 bigotry, at the same time, prompted her to infringe the 
 rights of her protestant subjects.» Her son, the emperor 
 Joseph, was himself a free-thinker, while he professed an 
 
 They accused the protestants of. being | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 adherence to the doctrines of the Romish church. Thus 
 prince might justly be called the imperial projector. Many 
 of his whims, like those of the ingenious but profligate 
 duke of Buckingham, “died in thinking :” others were 
 matured into schemes. With his political plans we have 
 no concern on this occasion : it is only requisite that we 
 should take notice of his regulations in the affairs of the 
 church. He would not, he said, impeach the established 
 doctrines ; but he had a strong inclination to abridge the 
 papal power in his dominions ; and, with him, an : incli 
 nation was soon converted into an act. Pius, being ac- 
 quainted with the freedom of Joseph’s sentiments, appre- 
 hended an attack from that enterprising innovator; and 
 his fears were not visionary; for the emperor, in 1781, 
 began with imposing restrictions upon the operation of 
 bulls and rescripts sent from Rome. 'This ordinance was 
 followed by an exemption of monasteries from all obedi- 
 ence to the chiefs of the different orders at Rome ; a mea- 
 sure which the partisans of the pope, as might be expect- 
 ed, reprobated in warm terms. ‘The generals of the 
 orders desired the subalterns to maintain with spirit the 
 constitutions of their establishments; but they were over: 
 awed into submission by the firmness of the emperor, who 
 also released all the colleges of missionaries from their de- 
 pendance on the papal court. He farther displeased the 
 pontiff by ordering that no money should be sent into fo- 
 reign countries for masses; that no dignity should be so- 
 licited at Rome without his permission ; that pilgrimages 
 shoyld be discontinued; and that the number of images 
 and ornaments mm churches should be diminished. ‘The 
 disgust felt by Pius at this conduct, was not allayed by 
 the liberal edict of Joseph,: granting full toleration to all 
 the protestants in his dominions, as well as to all mem- 
 bers of the Greek church ; and the dissolution of a great 
 number of monasteries, with the conversion of the build- 
 ings into colleges, hospitals, or barracks, increased the ‘ur 
 dignation of the vicar of St. Peter®. 
 
 Thus harassed and (as he thought) insulted, Pius re- 
 solved to visit the emperor, who, among other ‘demands, 
 had insisted upon presenting, in future, to all vacant 
 bishoprics and benefices m the Milanese and Mantuan 
 territories. ‘The pope remonstrated against this profane 
 encroachment upon his supposeed might of patronage ; 
 but he was persuaded by some of kits counseiors to pro- 
 mise acquiescence in this point, if Joseph would engage 
 to desist from his career of reform. ‘This was an engage- 
 ment which none who knew that potentate could expect 
 from him; and, with regard to the intended visit, he de- 
 clared that. it would be wholly fruitless, although, i ina 
 private letter to Pius, he had hinted that all dispute- 
 might be better accommodated in such a way than by 
 mere correspondence. His holiness, to the surprise of all, 
 repaired to Vienna, in the hope of warding off a storin 
 which blew with increasing violence. Joseph, in one of 
 his interviews with his spiritual father, claimed the right 
 of altering the ecclesiastical government in his own ter- 
 ritories, while he suffered the catholic doctrines to remain 
 unimpaired. ‘The pontiff, finding expostulation useless, 
 returned to Rome, and suffered the storm to rage. He 
 
 * These were, among other publications, Christianity Unveiled, God 
 and Men, the System of Nature, Sacred Contagion, and Hell De stroy- 
 fore which the parliament ordered to be publicly committed to the fl umes 
 
 * “Under the virtuous Theresa,” the protestants of Hungary aye 
 Dr. Townson) “ were not less vexed than under the profligate prince, 
 
 who was taught, that his deviations from virtue might be made up for 
 by zeal to the true church.” 
 ¢ Promulgated on the 13th of October, 1781. 
 4 Mémoires Hist. et Philos. sur Pie VI. chap. xi.—Coxe’s List, of 
 the House of Austria, vol. ii. chap. xlv. 
 
 ~~ 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 probably thought, that Joseph was little better than a 
 hevetic, however he might pretend to doctrinal purity ; 
 and, on the other hand, the emperor imputed to the pope 
 the narrowness of bigotry, and a want of philosophic 
 liberality of sentiment. 
 
 The continuance of Joseph’s reformative measures no 
 
 longer surprised the pope, who had now witnessed the | 
 
 inflexibility of that prince’s character. 
 
 Austrian dependencies: its nuncios were deprived of their 
 power and jurisdiction in Germany; and, by these and 
 other attacks, the lustre of the papacy was visibly eclipsed. 
 
 Other catholic sovereigns, even those who had acquired 
 the reputation of piety, did not scruple to assail that fabric 
 which was thus weakened. Unfortunately for the cause of 
 the papacy, there seemed to be a general disposition, during 
 the pontificate of Pius, to diminish theauthority of the see 
 over which he presided. ‘The court of Madrid assumed 
 
 accustomed to exercise ; claimed rights nearly equal to 
 those which the Gallican church had long maintained ; 
 reduced the inquisition to a state of passive subserviency ; 
 and made a farther diminution of the papal demands of 
 revenue. Even the bigoted court of Lisbon entertained 
 ideas of reform. 'The queen was a devout catholic, su- 
 perstitiously faithful to the doctrines and attached to the 
 ceremonies of popery: but she suffered her son, the 
 prince of Brazil, to lead her into anti-papal measures. 
 Some publications which had been introduced by the em- 
 peror into the schools at Vienna, were translated into the 
 janguage of Portugal, and ordered to be studied, for the 
 promotion of free inquiry, in several new seminaries found- 
 ed in that realm. Questions tending to weaken the fa- 
 nric of papal supremacy, to abridge the power of the cler- 
 cal body, and even to recommend toleration of various 
 religions, were authoritatively proposed for discussion in 
 ihe universities ; and the press was permitted to aid the 
 nrogress of such argumentation, although it was not al- 
 towed to impugn the peculiar doctrines of catholicism. No 
 gersons were suffered to devote themselves to monastic 
 confinement, without the particular sanction of the sove- 
 ceign. Tiven after the death of the prince, the court con- 
 tinued to encroach on the claims of the pope and the im- 
 munities of the church. The courts of Naples and F'lo- 
 cence took greater liberties in this respect than that of 
 Lisbon. A considerable number of monasteries were sup- 
 
 pressed by the king and the grand duke: bishoprics and 
 
 tich benefices were granted without consulting his holi- 
 ness with regard to the individuals proper to occupy them ; 
 and contributions to the Roman treasury were abolished 
 or restricted. The republic of Venice dissolved some con- 
 ventual foundations, and applied their revenues to better 
 purposes than the support of superstitious indolence. ‘The 
 duke of Modena put an end to the horrors of the inquisi- 
 tion in’ his dominions, and treated with less respect the 
 general authority of the pontiff. These incidents and 
 transactions occurred at different times: but they are here 
 mentioned together, to preserve a continuity of subject. 
 They tend to show the reduced state of the papacy at the 
 period in question: but it may be observed, that, for its 
 total extinction, Europe was not then prepared. 
 The pope could only resist these assaults by remon- 
 © Mémoires sur Pie VI. chap. XViii. xix. Xxii, 
 
 No. Tike 179 
 
 The see of Rome | 
 lost the presentation to bishoprics in Lombardy and other 
 
 | 
 
 ~~ 
 
 713 
 
 strances, to which the reforming courts paid nu regard, 
 He was fully sensible of the decline of his influence, but 
 concealed his chagrin under the appearance of composure, 
 With the pomp of ceremony, and with ritual formalities, 
 he amused himself and his people, while his authority was 
 exposed to rude shocks. He also attended to the im- 
 provement of the museum, which had been formed at 
 Rome by Benedict XIV., and which Ganganelli had con- 
 siderably augmented. 
 
 The catholic princes, in general, not only annihilated, 
 or materially reduced, the papal authority over their sub- 
 jects, but suffered public opinion so far to operate, as to 
 check the arbitrary use of their own authority: and the 
 protestant governments also relaxed, in some degree, the 
 rigours of power. Much, however, remained to be done 
 for the purposes of popular benefit ; for, even in Great 
 Britain, the land of boasted freedom, the government was 
 
 rather a combination of monarchy and aristocracy, than 
 a greater degree of religious freedom than it had been 
 
 a proper mixture of those two kinds of polity with demo- 
 cracy. 
 
 While almost every nation in Europe seemed to be 
 gradually advancing to a melioration of its government, 
 and to a greater freedom of inquiry, the French unfortu- 
 nately took the lead, and obscured the rising prospect by 
 senseless precipitancy and by absurd innovations. They 
 overturned former establishments before they had con- 
 certed or devised rational plans of substitution: they in- 
 dulged in all the wildness of theory and all the licentious- 
 ness of caprice. ‘The most outrageous cruelty was min- 
 gled with their political fanaticism ; and the effects were 
 calamitous and deplorable. 
 
 A revolution like that which convulsed France, could 
 not be expected to prove favourable to the interests of re- 
 ligion. Men who were inclined to cherish a boundless 
 freedong of opinion, and who boasted of their being whol- 
 ly uninfluenced bythe wisdom of former times, were not 
 likely to feel any high degree of respect for that system 
 of religion which had long prevailed. Net content with 
 ridiculing and reprobating the Romish ritual and esta- 
 blishment, they spoke contemptuously of all other creeds; 
 and a neglect of religion became the order of the day. 
 The Constituent Assembly, however, amidst all its imno- 
 vations, made provision for the continuance of public wor- 
 ship; and the catholic religion was still the predominant 
 system. ‘The papal interest, indeed, was materially af- 
 fected by the change of government. 'The vote against 
 the payment of fees to the pope, the order for the sup- 
 pression of monasteries, the seizure of all the possessions 
 of the church as the property of the nation, and the entire 
 subjection of the clergy to the civil power, struck at the 
 vitals of the court of Rome. Pius, incensed at these pro- 
 ceedings, seemed ready to hurl the thunderbolts of pon- 
 
 _tifical vengeance upon the audacious and profane revolu- 
 
 tionists ; but prudence checked his arm. He apprehended 
 that his menaces and edicts would be disregarded, and 
 might only serve to provoke embittered hostilities. In the 
 mean time, he endeavoured to secure the friendship of 
 those princes whose power might afford him some pro- 
 tection amidst the revolutionary storm. 
 
 The bishops and priests, who acted under the new 
 constitution of France, were not regarded as true mem- 
 bers of the Romish church, by the clergy of the old school, 
 however observant they might be of the catholic creed. 
 
714 
 
 The pope sent a brief to the king, condemning the new 
 arrangements ; but Louis was constrained to acquiesce 
 in these and other innovations. Only three of the former 
 hishops retained their stations: all the other prelates be- 
 came non-jurors, and, with the majority of parochial 
 ministers, were depriv ed of their preferments. ‘The legis- 
 lative assembly, affecting to be alarmed at the intrigues 
 of the clerical non-jurors, menaced them with imprison- 
 ment or exile. Many of their number emigrated in the 
 sequel ; and many were assassinated by the populace. 
 Under the sway of the democratic convention, so little 
 attention was paid to religion, that it seemed to be in 
 danger of being wholly absorbed by worldly politics. "The 
 assembly did not, indeed, expressly vote for its extinction 
 in the new repul blic ; but contented itself with encouraging 
 the surrender of letter of priesthood, and the open re- 
 nunciation of all religious sentiments. At length, how- 
 ever, Robespierre pretended to be shocked at the growing 
 spirit of atheism, and moved for the promulgation of a 
 decree, favourable to the cause of religion. By this ordi- 
 nance, a periodical festival was instituted in honour of 
 the Creator of the world, or the Supreme Being ; the 
 propriety of public worship was allowed ; and the immor- 
 tality of the soul was recommended to universal belief. 
 The clergy of the old school, however, were still harassed, 
 and in danger of exile or confinement, until the legisla- 
 ture, in the year 1797, released them from the oaths with 
 
 which their consciences were offended, and merely requir- | 
 
 ed taem to promise submission to the government.  ‘I'wo 
 
 years before this concession was obtained, five bishops had 
 ventured to address a circular letter to the clergy; in 
 which they affirmed, that religion, in the altered govern- 
 ment of their country, had no longer a political founda- 
 tion; that the connexion was dissolved between the church 
 and the state; that the former still expected justice and 
 protection from the latter; but, being left to itself, was 
 obliged to take measures for the establishment of doctrinal 
 uniformity and general regularity of discipline. ‘They 
 recognized the pope as the head of the church, and 
 acknowledged the doctrines of catholicism, as inter preted 
 and explained by Bossuet, the celebrated bishop of 
 Meaux.* 
 
 Before the end of the same: year, another letter was 
 addressed to the friends of the church, proposing ten 
 metropolitan churches for the whole republic, and a 
 bishopric for each department ; recommending a popular 
 election both of prelates and parochial ministers : disown- 
 ing the authority of apostolical vicars, or papal delegates, 
 and advising the peremptory rejection of all bulls or briefs 
 from Rome, unless it should fully appear that they were 
 consonant with the ordinances and the spirit of the Gal- 
 lican church.® 
 
 When a sufficient time had been allowed for the 
 operation of these letters, and for the private influence of 
 clerical exhortations, an ecclesiastical council met in the 
 French metropolis,: consisting of thirty-eight prelates, 
 and fifty-three representatives of the inferior clergy. The 
 members agreed to a profession of faith, founded on the 
 creed promulgated, in 1560, by pope Pius IV. ;* but they 
 were not so bigoted to thig faith, as to give license or 
 
 the essentials of Christianity ; 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 encouragement to the perpetration of any acts of violence 
 under the pretence of defending it. However the church 
 might be called mzlitant, “it knew and authorized no 
 other gms (they said) than prayer and the word of 
 God.” 'The country, they added, might be Jawfully de- 
 fended by the people, with the arm of flesh; and the 
 
 | clergy were desired to inculcate the propriety and justice 
 
 of such patriotic hostilities : but the church ought only to 
 defend itself by spiritual arms. Episcopacy was declared 
 to be essential to the proper government of the church ; 
 but royalty, of which that system was the usual accom ~ 
 paniment among Christian nations, did not meet with so 
 favourable a testimony ; for it was enjoined that royalty 
 should be the object of determined hatred, beeause a proper 
 knowledge of national interest strongly condemned that 
 form of government; and it was affirmed, that the ex- 
 action of an oath, against the revival of such an obnoxious 
 system in France, was by no means repugnant to the laws 
 of the Gospel.¢ 
 
 The proceedings of this assembly were closed by an 
 order for the communication of its decrees to the pope, 
 who was, at the same time, earnestly solicited to convoke 
 a general council. But his holiness declined a compli- 
 ance with this request, being probably of opinion that the 
 political convulsions of the times precluded ecclesiastical 
 accommodation and religious union. 
 
 Amidst these arrangements, the pontiff remained af 
 Rome, in a state of suspense-and anxiety. He had already 
 surrendered three provinces to French invaders; and he 
 had not power to defend the rest of his territories. A 
 republic being formed:at Rome, in the year 1798, he 
 retired into Tuscany ; and, when that dutchy was also 
 revolutionized, he was sent as a prisoner of war into Dau- 
 phiné. Harassed, insulted, and oppressed, he died at 
 Briancon,‘ in the eighty-second year of his age. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 History of the Greek Church, and of the Christian 
 Communities in Asia and Africa. 
 
 Ir we did not know that trifles (such is the weakness 
 of man !) frequently produce serious animosities and per- 
 manent divisions, we might be surprised at the long dis- 
 sension between the Greek and Romish churches. At 
 the time of their separation, both communities agreed in 
 and they ought to have 
 contented themselves with that agreement, without ex- 
 pecting their fellow-Christians to concur with them in 
 every trivial notion or fantastic opinion, in every idle 
 ceremony, or in all circumstances of exterior worship. 
 But, forgetting the obligations of brotherly love, they con- 
 tinued at variance for ages ; and they are still sufficiently 
 estranged from each other, to render the idea of a union 
 visionary and hopeless. 
 
 The Greek church, at the beginning of the century, 
 extended from the Red Sea to the Frozen Ocean, and 
 from the Adriatic to the Caspian. The patriarch of 
 
 Constantinople was, nominally, the head of this church ; 
 
 but his authority was not co-extensive with the similarity 
 of doctrine. He held a monthly synod in that city, with 
 
 ® See Mosheim’s History, cent. Xvil. sect. li. part i. chap. i. 
 > Lettre Encyclique de plusieurs Evéques de France, 4 leurs Fréres, 
 et aux Eglises vacantes, 1795. 
 
 © On the 15th of August, Welbon 
 
 4See Mosheim, cent. xvi. sect. iii, part i. chap. 1. s 
 
 © Canons et Décrets du Concile national de France, tenu & Panis, en 
 ?An de I’Ere Chretienne 1797; mis en ordre par les Evéques reunis a 
 Paris. fIn April, 1799, 
 
HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 the metropolitans of Antioch and Jerusalem, and twelve 
 other prelates. In these councils he had no decisive 
 authority : the influence of the majority, the intrigues of 
 the more artful members, and sometimes reason or argu- 
 ment, decided the questions. He did not retain that effec- 
 tive supremacy which some of his predecessors enjoyed 
 over the patriarchs of .gypt, Syria, and Palestine: in the 
 extensive regions subject to the Russian despot, he had 
 not even the shadow of power ; and, between the eastern 
 boundaries of Asia Minor and the Caspian, his jurisdiction 
 was not honoured with regard or acquiescence. Living 
 
 also under the government of an infidel prince, to w hom 
 every form of Christianity was odious, he was, in fact, a 
 slave to an arbitrary barbarian. 
 
 In the provinces of European Turkey, the members of 
 the Greek church were, and are still, very numerous, not- 
 withstanding the discouragement given to population by 
 the tyranny “of the government. Almost every successive 
 Grand Seignior thought it his duty to oppress them, that he 
 might evince his zeal as a defender of the Moslem faith. 
 Mustafa II. was more lenient to them than many of bis 
 predecessors ; but, even under his administration, they 
 were insulted and plundered by his Turkish subjects, and 
 maltreated in every mode of capricious tyranny. ‘Their 
 hierarchy, however, was suffered to subsist; and they 
 were allowed to transmit to their posterity their favourite 
 doctrines. 
 
 Frequent attempts were made by the zealous catholics, 
 in the course of the century, to draw the Greeks into the 
 Romish communion, not by concessions on the part of 
 the former, but by derelictions of opinion on the part of 
 the latter. In consequence of these endeavours, a schism 
 Was maintained in various parts of Greece and Asia Minor, 
 and the number of proselytes to the papal church became 
 considerable. The Mainotes, in the Morea, withstood the 
 arts of the Romish missionaries more vigorously, even 
 to the end of the century, than the generality of the 
 Greeks. They assured the intruders, that they were 
 strongly attached to the system of their own church, as 
 opposed to that of the Romanists, whose head they con- 
 sidered as an unchristian schismatic, for having corrupted 
 the purity of the true faith. They particularly condemned 
 the prohibition of the marriage of priests, and ridiculed the 
 issuing of bulls for the pretended rescue of souls from 
 purgatory. They then had only one bishop; and he, 
 like the priests, had no regular allowance, but received 
 occasional contributions for particular masses, and cultiva- 
 ted the soil, or performed other labours, to procure the 
 necessaries of life. The ecclesiastics, in general, led ex- 
 emplary lives, and thus deserved that respect with which 
 the laity treated them; and such was their spirit, that 
 they were the first to take arms in defence of their country. 
 
 The schism of which we have spoken was very. pre- 
 valent in Syria. At Aleppo, the northern capital of that 
 province, the Christian church, about the middle of the 
 century, was In a state of deplorable division. 
 
 The orthodox Greeks, or those who adhered to the old 
 system, were less numerous than the followers of the 
 Latin church ; but, having greater interest at the Porte, 
 
 715 
 
 they kept the bishopric in their hands. ‘They were more 
 rigid in the observance of fasts than the opposite party : 
 yet the latter attended more to that point of supposed duty 
 than the gene rality of Roman catholics. he Armenians 
 were still more se rupulous i in this respect ; and some, it is 
 said, would rather perish for want of proper sustenance 
 during illness, than solicit a dispensation from the rigours 
 of abstinence. Like the Greeks, they were divided into 
 orthodox and schismatic Christians. The advantage of 
 number was on the side of the former ; but the others had 
 the superiority in point of opulence. The Maronites con- 
 tinued to be attached to the Romish church, retaining, 
 however, some doctrinal and ritual differences. They 
 had a higher opinion of the sanctity or the convenience 
 of a monastic life than the other Christians of Aleppo ; 
 but they had no monasteries in that city. The priests ah 
 these three communities were in general so poor, that 
 those who had families were obliged to have recourse to 
 some branch of temporal business for the augmentation 
 of their income.” 
 
 The state of the Greek church, in point of doctrine and 
 practice, may be thus briefly exhibited. Its chief sacra- 
 ments are baptism and the Lord’s supper. To the former, 
 which is deemed necessary to salvation, is annexed the 
 chrism, or unction; and the child is dipped under water 
 three times, in allusion to the ‘Trinity. In the eucharist, 
 three liturgies are used; but the ordinary one is that of 
 St. Chrysostom. This sacrament is administered, even 
 to the laity, in both kinds; and children are allowed to 
 receive it. ‘Transubstantiation is not a decided doctrine 
 in this church. It is apparently maintained in one of 
 the public confessions of faith ; but the words used in the 
 service itself? seem merely to imply, that the supposed 
 change is an act of the mind, not a physical conversion 
 of the sacramental elements into the body and blood of 
 Christ. 
 
 The Romish notion of purgatory is denied by the vo- 
 taries of this church: but they offer up prayers for those 
 who have been removed from the world, and therefore 
 seem to think that the soul has some place of residence 
 from the day of death to the final judgment. They in- 
 voke a multitude of saints, and even burn incense to them. 
 Next to Christ, the Virgin Mary and _ the twelve apostles 
 are particularly honoured. Works of supererogation are 
 disallowed. Faith and good works united are deemed 
 requisite to produce justification. 
 
 Confession is practised, but not considered as a sacra- 
 ment. It is enjoined four times in the year: but, in 
 general, it is performed only once in that time. The 
 penitents, however, are not required, as in the church of 
 Rome, to make a full disclosure of all their sins, or to give 
 a minute detail of circumstances. 
 
 Marriage is regarded as a very important object, yet 
 not as an indissoluble obligation. ‘Three offices or ser- 
 vices are used in its celebration ; namely, that of betroth- 
 ing, crowning the individuals, and dissolving the crowns.* 
 
 | All the clergy, except bishops and monks, are allowed to 
 
 Beyond a third time, all renewals 
 and even second marriages 
 
 enter into this union. 
 of marriage are forbidden ; 
 
 es 
 
 * Voyage de Dimo bs Nicolo Stephanopoli en Grece, pendant les 
 Annees 1797 et 1798; rae XXXiX. 
 b Natural History of leppo, by Alex. Russell, M. D. vol. 
 
 chap 
 othe prayer is, that God the Father would send down his Holy 
 
 . 
 
 ii. 
 
 Spirit to sanctify the elements, and make them the body and blood of 
 Christ, for pardon, grace, and salvation, to all who devoutly receive 
 them. 
 
 4 The idea of dissolving the crowns may seem ominous; 
 ceremony which indicates that the marriage is concluded. 
 
 but it is the 
 
716 
 
 are discountenanced. No solemnizations of matrimony 
 are permitted during the fasts, which are usually kept 
 with great strictness. 
 
 The ecclesiastical body consists of five orders, if readers 
 and sub-deacons be reckoned among the number: the 
 others are, deacons, presbyters, and bishops. ‘The ordina- 
 tion of the highest class is a very impressive ceremony. 
 It terminates with a prayer from the officiating archbishop, 
 that Christ will render the new prelate an imitator of him- 
 self, the true shepherd; that he will make him a teacher 
 of infants, a leader of the blind, a light to those who walk 
 in darkness ; that he may shine in ‘the world, and at last 
 receive the great reward prepared for those who boldly 
 contend in the cause of the Gospel, and persevere in the 
 service of God. 
 
 Although the head of this church has lost his controlling 
 authority over the ecclesiastical establishment of Russia, he 
 still has the gratification of reflecting, that the doctrinal 
 prevalence of the system which he superintends, includes 
 that great empire. ‘The Russian clergy had long enjoyed 
 important immunities ; and, although these were in some 
 measure abridged by Peter the Great, the order still can 
 boast of considerable privileges. Among these we may 
 mention an exemption from taxes; and we may add, 
 that ecclesiastics are so far favoured in a judicial process, 
 as not to be amenable before a temporal judge, unless 
 commissaries of tHeir own order be assessors at the trial. 
 Before the year 1791, the commandant or chief magistrate 
 of a district used to send to the bishop, on every new occa- 
 sion, for commissaries; but, since that time, clerical depu- 
 ties have been regularly and permanently appointed for 
 that function, by a general order of the holy synod. 
 
 Under this synod, in the reign of Catharine L., were 
 thirty-one eparchies, or spiritual governments. That 
 council in 1789, was composed of two metropolitans, three 
 archbishops, two bishops, a regular and a secular proto- 
 pope, or chief priest, an archimandrite, or abbot, and some 
 inferior officers. ‘To each eparchy belonged a consistory, 
 formed of an archimandrite, some priors, and secular clergy. 
 The titles of metropolitan and archbishop were not at- 
 tached to a particular see, but were distinctions merely 
 personal, 
 
 The roskolniki, or schismatics, as those were called 
 who objected to the prevailing system, which they said, 
 
 involved various corruptions of the doctrine and discipline 
 of the ancient Greek church, were not only discounte- 
 nanced, but were sometimes cruelly oppressed, before the 
 time of Catharine. Many of them were put to death by 
 the unchristian barbarity of the clergy ; and it is particu- 
 larly recorded, that, in the year 1722, whole families of 
 those unfortunate sectaries, unwilling to submit to the 
 emperor's demand of a renunciation of their opinions, 
 enclosed themselves in barns, and perished in the flames 
 kindled by their own hands. At the time of this perse- 
 cution the chief ecclesiastical adviser of Peter, was heo- 
 phanes, bishop of Pleskoff, afterwards archbishop of Novo- 
 gorod, whose liberality of mind, however, must have ren- 
 dered him averse to the pteder of reputed heretics. This 
 prelate distinguished himself by writing against the mul- 
 liplication of ceremonies 8, the practice of idolatry, the rigours 
 
 ] 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 of monastic seclusion; and the various absurdities of super- 
 stition ; and, while he exhorted the people to be content 
 with praying, singing pslams, and reading the Scriptures, 
 he advised the clergy to preach sermons of practical utility, 
 rather than of doctrinal refinement. 
 
 This schism has continued to our times. Catharine 
 treated the sectaries with lenity ; and we do not find that 
 they have been persecuted since her decease. Her chief 
 attacks, in point of persecution, were directed against the 
 abettors and advocates of democracy, and her son Paul, 
 in that respect, followed her example. 
 
 The Russian plebeians and peasants are remarkable for 
 superstition. Many absurdities are related of them in that 
 particular: but it will be sufficient to mention the practice 
 of having about the person, or in the apartments of a 
 house, representations of saints (called gods) painted on 
 boards. ‘These pictures are viewed with an air of high 
 respect and reverence; and, on entering a room, persons 
 bow to them, and repeatedly cross themselves. Even many 
 of the opulent have these little idols in their possession, 
 and court the favour of these imaginary gods. 
 
 Among the multiplicity of tribes subject to the Russian 
 emperor, are many Mohammedan and Pagan communi- 
 ties. The former are indulged with a toleration of their 
 worship ; and missionaries are employed to convert the 
 latter, without dragooning them into the adoption of 
 Christianity. 
 
 In Armenia, the majority of the people are still Chris- 
 tians, of the Monophysite sect. ‘They appear to be more 
 addicted to fasting than the professors of any other re- 
 ligion whatever ; for it is said, that they have one hun- 
 dred and fifty-six fast-days in the year. Their festivals 
 also amount to a surprising number: but it is not true, 
 that all the days in the year are appropriated to one or 
 other of those opposite observances. Many of the natives 
 of Armenia are dispersed over the different countries of 
 the East, being tolerated as*sectaries, and encouraged as 
 traders. ‘The Georgians were accustomed to steer be- 
 tween the doctrines and practices of the Greeks and Arme- 
 nians: but, as they are now subject to the sway of the 
 Russian emperor, they lean more to the former system. 
 
 The Nestorians, whose leading opinion is contrary to 
 that of the Monophysites,° are scattered over a great part 
 of Asia. It has been disputed, whether the Christians who 
 inhabit the Malabar coast are really Nestorians. Dr. Bu- 
 chanan denies that they are of that sect; but Mr. Wrede 
 maintains that they are. "The probability is, that the 
 members of many of the churches upon that coast are 
 of the Nestorian persuasion, while others have become 
 Jacobites or Monophysites. However that may be, these 
 congregations are far from being respectable, the members 
 being i in a state of ignorance and misery. 
 
 That species of Christianity which had been introduced 
 into China, was tolerated for many years by the emperor 
 Kang-hi: but in the year 1716, he was persuaded by his 
 pagan ministers to revive two edicts against the Christians. 
 By one of these ordinances, they were prohibited from 
 building churches, and making converts; and, by the 
 other, no missionaries were suffered to preach, unless they 
 were furnished with an imperial patent, specifying their 
 
 ® Tooke’s View of the Russian Empire, vol. il. 
 
 b Historico-Geographical Description of Russia, Siberia, and Great 
 Tartary, by Philip John von Strahlenberg, chap. vili— The Catechism 
 prepared by this prelate was stamped with the approbation of the holy 
 
 synod, and published in the year 1766. A summary of Christian Di- 
 vinity, compiled by Plato, archbishop of Moscow, was about the same 
 time recommended to general use. 
 
 © See Mosheim’s History, cent. v. part il. chap. v. sect, ix. xxii. 
 
HISTORY OF THE EASTERN CHURCH DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 native country, the religious order to which they belonged, 
 the time of their arrival in China, and their engagement 
 not to return to Europe. They remained in this state of 
 depression until the death of Kang hi, in 1722 ; and then, 
 instead of being relieved from it, they were subjected to 
 faither restrictions. Young-ching, the new emperor, 
 banished or imprisoned some of the princes of his family, 
 and many grandees, for their favourable dispositions toward 
 Christianity, and ordered the missionaries and their associ- 
 ates to be driven from the provinces into the city of Canton. 
 ‘Yen years afterward, they were sent to the isle of Macao ; 
 and all attempts of Christians to re-enter the empire were 
 forbidden by the jealousy of the court. ‘The churches 
 were demolished or secularized ; and the natives who had 
 embraced catholicism, were compelled to renounce it, or 
 conceal their obnoxious opinions. 
 
 The religion of Jesus can boast of very few triumphs 
 in Africa. "The Christianity of Congo, or of Zanguebar is 
 unworthy of mention: but, in our religious progress, we 
 must take notice of Egypt and Abyssinia. 
 
 The Copts, or the descendants of the primitive Chris- 
 tians of Egypt, persist in their attachment to the Mono- 
 physite doctrine. Their priests are ignorant and unin- 
 formed; but the people treat them with great respect. 
 Monastic seclusion is very common among this sect, and 
 great austerities are practised by many of the monks and 
 nuns. Beside a Coptic patriarch, there is a Greek patri- 
 arch in Egypt; but the church which he rules is in a de- 
 clining state. 
 
 Christianity flourishes more in Abyssinia than in Egypt, 
 because the sovereign is himself a Christian. 'The hopes 
 of restoring the Romish worship in that empire were en- 
 tertained by pope Innocent XII., who was encouraged in 
 his views for that purpose by Louis XIV. The Jesuits 
 were eager to obtain the honour of this employment ; and 
 Poncet, a French apothecary, was sent from Cairo by the 
 consul Maillet, with Brevedent, a respectable member of 
 the former fraternity. The latter died in Abyssinia ; but 
 M. Poncet was introduced to the king (Yasous L,) whom, 
 however, he did not find willing to become a convert, or 
 to suffer his people to re-embrace catholicism. M. du Roule 
 was afterwards deputed to the same court: but he had 
 scarcely reached Sennaar, in 1704, when he was murdered 
 by the natives, at the instigation of the Franciscans, who 
 were discusted at seeing the Abyssinian mission in the 
 hands of the Jesuits. Ousts, who usurped the throne in 
 1709, was well affected to the Romish system, and secretly 
 communed with those Franciscans who yet remained in 
 the country : but he did not attempt to influence the con- 
 sciences of his people. David, who succeeded him in 1714, 
 ordered three of those strangers to be apprehended ; and, 
 being condemned as heretics in an assembly of the clergy, 
 they were stoned to death. 
 
 Another convocation followed, which led to intestine com- 
 motions. A new abuna or metropolitan announced to the 
 clerzy hisidea of the consubstantiality of Christ; an opinion 
 contrary to that which had been proclaimed at the gate 
 of the palace.» The ecclesiastics of his party, elate with 
 their supposed triumph, insulted the emperor and his court 
 by songs and shouts; for which offence, above a hundred 
 
 ® Bruce’s Travels to discover the Source of the Nile, book iv. 
 
 b The abuna represented Christ as being “ one God, of the Father alone, 
 united to a body perfectly human, consubstantial with ours, and by,that 
 union becoming the Messiah.” ‘The emperor maintained, that the Re- 
 
 No XL. 180 
 
 717 
 
 of them were instantly massacred by a body of pagan sol 
 diers, and the streets of the capital were filled with slaugh- 
 ter. During several subsequent reigns, the affairs of the 
 Abyssinian church were not so important as to claim our 
 notice. With regard to the embassy prepared by pope 
 Benedict XIV. for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation 
 with that church, it may suffice to observe, that it was 
 an abortive attempt. 
 
 The state of this church, during the eighteenth century, 
 was less corrupt and degenerate than the Jesuit mission- 
 aries represented it. It was said, that a repetition of bap- 
 tism was annually administered to all adults; but this 
 
 -assertion has been disproved, or, at least, strongly denied. 
 
 It was also imputed to the priests that they gave the eucha- 
 rist improperly. ‘They do not, indeed, make use of words 
 so fully expressive of a belief in transubstantiation, as those 
 of the Romish ecclesiastics: but that point reflects not the 
 least discredit upon them. 
 
 When Mr. Bruce visited Abyssinia, he was surprised at 
 the extraordinary number of churches in that empire. 
 These were erected near running water, for the conve- 
 nience of those ablutions which the people practised ac- 
 cording to the Levitical law. The walls were almost 
 covered with pictures of saints or other representations ; 
 but no figures embossed or in relievo were exhibited ; for 
 they considered the use of these as a species of idolatry. 
 Each parish had an arch-priest, who superintended both 
 its spiritual and secular concerns. 'The priests and dea- 
 cons were allowed to marry; but the monks, who occu- 
 pied huts near the churches, were required to live in a 
 state of celibacy. The reading of Scripture, and recita- 
 tion of homilies of the fathers, formed, beside the eucha- 
 rist, the chief portions of divine service. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 History of the Ecclesiastical Communities of the Lu- 
 therans and Calvinists. 
 
 A senssr of religion seems to be impressed on the minds 
 of all nations, even the most rude and uncivilized : but, as 
 it appeals less to the external senses than to the mind and 
 the heart, its nature renders it peculiarly hable to dispute. 
 The attributes of the Deity, the mode in which he governs 
 the world, and interferes in the concerns of mortals, give 
 occasion for varieties of sentiment, among those who are 
 unwilling to suppose that God ever revealed his will to 
 mankind; and, even where revelation is believed and 
 fully admitted, many doubts arise, and diverse opinions 
 are entertained and defended. Persons who agree in es- 
 sential points, differ in those of less moment, and contend, 
 as pro aris et focis, with all the vehemence of animosity, 
 and all the bitterness of zeal. Hence, among the oppo- 
 sers of popery, who, in one sense, maintained a common 
 cause, various sects were formed, and various controver- 
 sies occurred. The followers of Luther were hostile vo 
 those of Calvin: the disciples of Arminius also disagreed 
 with the partisans of the Genevan reformer. 
 
 The Lutherans and Calvinists continued, at the begin- 
 ning of the eighteenth century, to compose the most nu- 
 merous protestant establishments of the Huropean conti- 
 deemer was “ perfect God and perfect man, by the union one Christ, 
 whose body was composed of a precious substance called oanery, not 
 
 consubstantial with ours, or derived from his mother.” Neither of these 
 opinions will be deemed strictly orthodox by sound divines. 
 
718 
 
 nent. The former still flourished in the northern king- | 
 doms, and _n different parts of Germany ; while the latter 
 
 enjoyed their religion in many of the free towns of that 
 empire, and under the protection of several of its princes, 
 and also retained their influence in some of the cantons 
 of Switzerland. 
 
 Frederic, elector of Brandenburg, who became king of 
 Prussia in the first year of the century, was more disposed 
 o favour the Calvinists than the Lutherans ; and the 
 eformed took advantage of this circumstance to establish 
 ministers of their persuasion in places where the Luther- 
 ans had hitherto exercised the chief sway. ‘The king, 
 however, would not suffer the animosities of the two par- 
 ties to proceed to the violence of outrage; and he was not 
 unwilling to tolerate Catholics and ‘Jews in his domi- 
 nions.* 
 
 Reflecting on the affairs of religion, this prince was of 
 opinion that a union of his protestant subjects would be 
 conducive to the happiness of his people, and reflect credit 
 on his reign; and he was encouraged in this desirable 
 object, by the doctors Ursinus and Jablonski. The for mer, 
 though a Calvinist, had accepted from his majesty the 
 episcopal title ; and the latter was the first chaplain at 
 court, and also superintendant of the protestant church in 
 Poland. These ecclesiastics suggested, that one of the 
 first steps to be taken in this business, should be the pub- 
 lication of the liturgy of the church of England in a 
 German dress; and, when this translation was completed, 
 Ursinus wrote to the archbishop of Canterbury, (Dr. 'Te- 
 nison,) to request his advice with regard to the proceed- 
 ings best calculated for the attainment of the desired uni- 
 formity. By some negligence or mistake, the letter did not 
 reach the primate, though it was said that he had received 
 it, and refused to answer it. When he was informed of 
 the scheme by a friend of Dr. Ursinus, he did not give it 
 the least encouragement ; alleging that a reported decla- 
 ration of the university of Helmstadt, in the case of the 
 queen of Spain, allowing in certain circumstances a dere- 
 liction of the protestant religion, had giveri him too unfa- 
 vourable an opinion of the protestant churches of Germa- 
 ny, to permit him conscientiously to correspond with any 
 of them.» 
 
 The reason alleged by the English prelate may be 
 pronounced inadequate and unsatisfactory. For the sup- 
 posed opinion of one protestant university, he condemned 
 the whole reformed body of Germany, and declined as- 
 
 sisting in a measure that promised benefit to the protest- 
 ant cause, as well as credit to the church over which he 
 presided. ; 
 
 ‘This discouragement did not prevent a renewal of the 
 attempt after the lapse of a few years. Jablonski, in 
 1710, submitted the affair to the consideration of Dr. 
 Sharp, archbishop of York, who was pleased at the ap- 
 plication, and promised his zealous aid in promoting the 
 pious views of his Prussian majesty. Queen Anne adopt- 
 ed the scheme, and ordered lord Raby, her representative 
 at Berlin, to treat upon the subject with the baron von 
 Printzen, the chief counsellor of Frederic in ecclesiastical 
 concerns. ~ Several conferences ensued; andthe affair 
 seemed to bein a favourable train. Bonnet, the Prus- 
 
 ' * Mémoires pour servir 4l’Histoire de la Maison de Brandebourg, 
 
 par le Roide Prusse. 
 » Relation des Mesures qui furent prises dans les Années 1711, 1712, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS AND CALVINISTS 
 
 sian minister at London, was assured by secretary Saint: 
 John, that the court and clergy in general were very well 
 disposed to expedite religious union ; and his communica- 
 tion to the king invigorated the zeal of the cabinet of Ber- 
 lin. Jablonski was now ordered to compose a reguiar 
 plan of ecclesiastical comprehension and reform. He had 
 already entered with some minuteness into the considera- 
 tions of public worship and church government: and, after 
 ulterior deliberation, he presented to the baron a plan for the 
 establishment of episcopacy in the Prussian dominions. 
 Mr. Ayerst, chaplain to lord Raby, proposed that the court 
 of Hanover should be requested to join in the scheme, at 
 least in the liturgical part of it; and Leibnitz intimated. 
 to that divine, that the princess Sophia would probably 
 permit an English chaplain to officiate at her court, if 
 queen Anne would defray tlie expense of his support. 
 When the general attention was called to the diplo- 
 matic deliberations at Utrecht, the concerns of religious 
 union were neglected, being deemed by politicians com- 
 paratively insignificant. The zeal of Frederic declined ; 
 and, although he assigned a fund for the maintenance 
 and theological education of some of his subjects at the 
 English universities, he took no farther measures in the 
 scheme of comprehension. He did not, indeed, live to see 
 the conclusion of the treaty of Utrecht: the archbishop of 
 
 “York, and his royal mistress, also died in the following 
 
 year; and the scheme was then not merely neglected, 
 but abandoned. 
 
 Frederic William, who obtained the crown in the year 
 1713, contented himself with promoting peace among his 
 subjects of different religions, without requiring uniformity 
 of worship; and he not only maintained toleration in his 
 own territories, but endeavoured to secure to the protest- 
 ants, in other parts of Germany, that free exercise of their 
 religion, which had been granted by the treaty of West- 
 phalia. Considering him as one of the champions of their 
 cause, they requested his interposition when they were 
 ill treated by their religious adversaries. 
 
 The influence of the French court had procured the 
 insertion of a clause in the treaty of Ryswick, importing 
 that the catholic religion, in the places given back by 
 France, should be continued in the same state in which 
 it subsisted at the time of restitution. When the diet 
 took the affair into consideration, the protestant members 
 refused to concur in this clause ; but their remonstrances 
 did not prevail on the emperor to withhold that confirma- 
 tion of the treaty which the Romanists desired. In the 
 negotiations which followed the war for the Spanish suc- 
 cession, the claims of the protestants were neglected, and 
 the clause was not repealed. "hey were even ill-treated 
 by the elector Palatine, who deprived them of many of 
 their public places of worship ; and, as the courts of Ber- 
 lin and Hanover made reprisals on the catholics, the latter 
 were still farther inflamed into acts of intolerance, illibe- 
 rality, and outrage. A convention, indeed, was signed 
 between the contending parties, for an observance of the 
 treaty of Westphalia ; ‘and an imperial edict was issued 
 in the year 1720, for the redress of those grievances of 
 which the protestants complained in the Palatinate; but 
 both the agreement and the edict were disregarded.¢ 
 
 et 1713, pour introduire la Liturgie Anglicane dans le Roiaume de Prusse 
 et dans l’Electorat d’ Hanovre. Londres, 4to. 1767. © Ibid. p. 15—37. 
 ‘ Coxe’s History of the house of Austria, vol, ii, chap, vil. and x, 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 In Sweden and Denmark, the Lutherans continued to 
 predominate, and the established church was under their 
 government. In the former of those realms, clerical re- 
 presentatives composed a part of the states or national 
 council: but, in the latter, the clergy had no share of po- 
 litical power ; and the superintendants, who acted in lieu 
 of bishops, were required by the rulers of the state to pro- 
 pagate the doctrine of passive obedience. Charles XI. of 
 Sweden, and his son the adventurous warrior, kept the 
 states so far in subjection, that neither the clergy nor the 
 laity dared to exercise the authority which the constitution 
 allowed them : but, when Ulrica became queen, they re- 
 covered their power, and even extended it beyond the 
 hounds of moderation, reducing the royal authority within 
 very narrow limits. ‘lhe queen’s husband, the prince of 
 Hesse-Cassel, renounced Calvinism to please the clergy, 
 who were almost as unwilling to coalesce with the reform- 
 ed church, as with catholics. It was not without great 
 difficulty that he prevailed upon the diet to grant tolera- 
 tion to the Calvinists. In the year. 1741, an edict was 
 issued, by which those sectaries, and also the members of 
 the church of England, were allowed to erect churches, 
 and enjoy a full freedom of worship, in all the maritime 
 towns, except Carlscrone. 'The Danish government like- 
 wise condescended to grant a partial toleration to the Cal- 
 Yinistic protestants ; but the people still viewed them with 
 an unfavourable eye. 
 
 The Lutherans lived in greater harmony with the Cal- 
 vinists, (or rather in less discord,) in the electorates of 
 Brandenburg and Hanover, than in most of the German 
 
 rincipalities, or in either of the northern kingdoms. ‘The 
 brary erian ‘clergy, in particular, seemed to indicate a 
 stronger desire of fraternal union, than the ecclesiastics of 
 other states. In the bishopric of Osnaburg, the protest- 
 ants were on better terms with the catholics than in many 
 other parts of Germany, because the sovereignty was al- 
 ternately enjoyed by a Lutheran and a Romanist. In 
 Saxony, when the elector had become a catholic, the ma- 
 jority of the people retained their attachment to Luther- 
 anism, and would not suffer him to obstruct their profes- 
 sion of that faith. In a part of that electorate, a protest- 
 ant sect, neither absolutely devoted to the Lutheran nor 
 to the Calvinistic creed, yet professing a regard for the 
 former system, established itself in the year 1722. When 
 the Hussite sect seemed only to be remembered in history, 
 and the catholics supposed it to be extinct, a party of re- 
 ligionists who honoured the memory of the Bohemian 
 reformer, and entertained similar sentiments, appeared in 
 Moravia ; but could uot obtain, from the Austrian go- 
 vernment, the favour of toleration. Count Zinzendorff, 
 admiring their zeal, and expecting, in some degree, to 
 influence their opinions, invited them into Upper Lusa- 
 tia: and the village of Herrenhut,* erected under his au- 
 spices, soon rose into a considerable Moravian settlement. 
 As he had been educated in the Lutheran persuasion, he 
 exhorted them to join that church: but they preferred a 
 retention of their own principles to an entire association 
 with any other church. He was allowed to style himself 
 guardian of the fraternity, and at length became its bi- 
 shop. Disputes which arose among the members were 
 
 * Signifying the guard or watch of the Lord. 
 
 b The Moravians do not appear todeserve the severe censures thrown 
 
 out against them by Dr. Maclaine, in a noie that is justly stigmatised by 
 Dr. Haweis as tmpwre and malignant, and which, indeed, must excite 
 
 jealousy of the Russian government ; 
 
 719 
 
 repressed by his authority, and rules of discipline and 
 conduct were framed under his eye. Their ministers did 
 not deny the doctrine of the l'rinity, but directed their 
 immediate adoration to Jesus Christ. They affirmed that 
 a Christian might ensure salvation by grace arising from 
 a lively faith, without the absolute necessity of good works : 
 yet the Brethren, i in their conduct, by no means neglected 
 morality. Although they professed to consider their 
 church as an episcopal establishment, they did not suffer 
 the bishops to exercise any jurisdiction in the first in 
 stance ; for all authority originated in their grand synod, 
 which consisted not only of bishops, but also of elders, 
 and of deputies from every congregation. Subordinate to 
 that assembly, were the meetings : of elders, both general 
 and particular. When questions had been fully discussed 
 by the assembled brethren, they were frequently decided 
 by lot, which was regarded as an appeal to the Deity. 
 
 The zeal of the United Brethren gradually diffused 
 their system over various parts of Germany, and also in- 
 troduced it into Great Britain and the United Provinces. 
 It likewise made some progress in the northern states. 
 In Livonia, the success of its promoters at first excited the 
 and two of the 
 brethren were committed to prison: but the court after- 
 wards consented to tolerate the sect. 
 
 ‘The missionary enterprises of this fraternity were pio 
 secuted with indefatigable ardour. In the icy regions of 
 Greenland and Labr ador, and in the glowing climate of 
 the West Indies, the labours of conversion were cheerfully 
 sustained. ‘The inveterate prejudices of the Hindoos were 
 softened by the earnest appeals of the Brethren ; and the 
 brutish barbarism of the Hottentots yielded to the force of 
 pious persuasion.» 
 
 With regard to the religion of the United Provinces, 
 we may observe, that Calvinism still enjoyed the honour 
 of being the established church, and the canons of the 
 council of Dordrecht remained in force: but the tenets of 
 Arminius were preferred to those of Calvin by a great 
 number of people, in every class of society. Ana- 
 baptists, Lutherans, and other protestant sects, were freely 
 tolerated ; and the government connived at the practice 
 of the catholic worship, long before it was regularly per- 
 mitted. With respect to the form of the establishment, 
 we may add, that each Calvinist congregation, beside one 
 or more ministers, had deacons and elders : each deputed 
 a minister and an elder to the classes; and each class 
 sent deputies to the synod of the province. 
 
 In the progress of the century, religious zeal declined 
 among the Dutch: public worship was less frequently 
 attended ; and education was less impregnated with a 
 Christian spirit. Ifthe theological faculty at any of the 
 universities, the members of a class or a synod, condem- 
 ned particular publications as repugnant to the established 
 creed, or hostile to religion in general, many exclaimed 
 against the bigotry and intolerance of these censors : but. 
 the rulers of the republic thought proper to support the 
 decisions of the church, and ‘ministers were sometimes 
 deposed, for betraying, in the pulpit or with their pens, 
 the interests of Calvinism or of Christianity. For the 
 defence and support of that religion, the Teylerian society 
 
 the disgust of every chaste and candid reader.—See the note on page 
 649 of the present volume for this specimen of vulgar calumny, which 
 could not reasonably have been expected from the translator of Mo- 
 
 sheim, 
 
720 
 
 was formed at the Hague in 1786; and some judicious | 
 publications have arisen from the rewards offered out of 
 the endowment. 
 
 Among the subjects of France, notwithstanding the 
 revocation of the edict of Nantes,and the consequent exile 
 or destruction of many thousand families of conscientious 
 protestants, Calvinism was notextinct. ‘There was great 
 danger in professing it under a bigoted government : yet 
 a considerable number retained a strong attachment to its 
 doctrines. ‘The inhabitants of the Cevennes mountains, 
 and of the Vivarais, in particular, were zealous in the 
 cause; and their zeal was invigorated by the eloquence 
 of several bold Huguenots, who had returned froin exile 
 to preach their favourite doctrines. ‘The inhuman vio- 
 lence of a Romish priest added fuel to the flame. ‘The 
 people rose against this oppressor, put him to death, and 
 sacrificed other catholics to their revenge. ‘Troops were 
 sent to restore order by summary process: the insurgents 
 retired before them, but were not over-awed into submis- 
 sion. ‘he cruel punishments to which the  soldiery 
 subjected the captive malcontents, produced severe reta- 
 liation ; and the increasing numbers of the latter so alarm- 
 ed the court, that three marechals were successively sent 
 to subdue them. Villars at length prevailed upon Cava- 
 lier, a young baker, who had assumed the command over 
 them, to enter into a treaty in their name; and it was 
 agreed, in the year 1704, that a general amnesty should 
 be granted to the party ; and that this leader, and four 
 regiments of the protestants, should serve in the French 
 army as foreign subsidiaries, enjoying the free exercise of 
 their religion.s Cavalier was afterwards introduced at 
 court; but, thinking himself in danger amidst the catho- 
 lics, and finding that he could not procure so many follew- 
 ers in his new plan as he expected, he retired from France. 
 Roland, a Calvinist who disdained submission, now acted 
 
 t the head of a body of insurgents ; but he soon lost his 
 life, and many of the Huguenots of Languedoc quitted 
 France, while the generality of those who remained, ceased 
 to profess openly the tenets which had embroiled them 
 with the Romanists. Some commotions occasionally 
 ensued, from the violent proceedings of the catholics, 
 against those who were known to be (or suspected of be- 
 ing) still attached to Calvinism; and, fora long course of 
 years, the flame was rather smothered than extinguished.» 
 
 ‘The dissolute successor of the fourteenth Louis had not 
 sufficient liberality of mind to restore to the protestants 
 the plenitude of toleration. To their religion he preferred 
 that in which he had been educated; and, though he 
 probably would not, like his predecessor, have spontane- 
 ously annulled the edict of Nantes, he did not think that 
 it was either consonant with the dignity or conducive to 
 the advantage of the church to favour those who were 
 hostile to the establishment. He therefore, by an edict 
 of the year 1724, menaced protestant preachers with 
 death, and their abettors with imprisonment, or the labours 
 of galley-slaves. He also renewed the prohibition of return 
 to all emigrants, unless they should abjure the protestant 
 
 * Many of these sectaries pretended to the gift of divination; and, in 
 the year 1705, some of them came over to Great Britain, where they 
 met with little encouragement. ‘Those who ventured to appear in Hol- 
 Jand were confined as fanatics, that, amidst hard labour, they might 
 have time to recover their senses. 
 
 t Histoire de France sous le Regne de 
 
 } Louis XTV. par M. de Larrey. 
 ~ Essai sur l’Hist. Generale, var M. de ; 
 
 Voltaire; art. de Calvinisme. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS AND CALVINISTS 
 
 tenets and ordered that no molestation should be given to 
 the present possessors of the estates of refugees, while the 
 latter retained their anti-catholic opinions. At Jength, 
 however, he so far yielded to the advice of the less bigoted 
 members of his cabinet, as to allow the votaries of the re- 
 formation to become legal husbands and wives, by having 
 the clergy to witness their marriages as civil contracts; and 
 it was also intimated to them, that no notice should be taken 
 of their religious assemblies. Upon these terms, the mare- 
 chal Richelieu, in 1754, re-established the tranquillity of 
 Languedoc, where compulsory attendance upon the Ro- 
 mish worship, and constrained abjurations of supposed 
 heresy, had not effected that conversion which the court 
 so earnestly wished to produce.° 
 
 In the disputes between Louis XV. and the provincial 
 and Parisian parliaments, the protestants were prompted, 
 by their zeal for liberty, to side with the opposers of 
 the court ; but they were obliged to be cautious in their 
 proceedings, that they might not entail upon themselves the 
 indignation and vengeance of royalty. ‘They witnessed 
 with secret joy the ruin of the Jesuits, the zealous sup- 
 porters of catholicism, and looked forward with renovated 
 hope to the grant of a full toleration. 
 
 The French protestants maintained an amicable corres 
 pondence with the Genevans, to whose sacramental cele 
 brations a multitude of the inhabitants of Languedoc and 
 Dauphiné resorted at the four great festivals of the year. 
 They also encouraged the anti-papal perseverance of the 
 Vaudois, who, though molested by the catholic zeal of 
 the king of Sardinia, would not suffer his priests to per- 
 vert their principles. 
 
 The inhabitants of Bern, and other protestant cantons 
 of Switzerland, refused to grant to the Lutherans that 
 toleration to which they were entitled. The liberal ex- 
 ample of the Genevans, who held out a friendly hand to 
 that sect, did not excite imitation among the followers of 
 the Helvetic confession. 
 
 While Christian VII. and Gustavus III. reigned in 
 Denmark and Sweden, the spirit of toleration became 
 more prevalent in those kingdoms. By the former prince, 
 the Calvinists were gratified with a greater degree of free- 
 dom in point of religion ; but, in some places, they were 
 not suffered to preach against other creeds and modes of 
 worship, or to make proselytes. "The Mennonites, though 
 protestants, were placed on the same footing with Roman- 
 ists ; were not allowed to contract marriage with Luthe- 
 rans without a licence, and were obliged to acquiesce in 
 the Lutheran education of their children of both sexes. 
 In Sweden, the diet (in 1779) grauted, to foreigners 
 settling in that country, the freedom of worship, with an 
 exception of public ceremonies and processions; at the 
 same time excluding them from offices in the state, and 
 forbidding them to propagate their opinions in semina- 
 ries.4 
 
 The Danish church, at that time, consisted of twelve 
 superintendants or bishops, many provosts or directors ol 
 districts, parochial priests, and chaplains. The annual 
 
 © Vie Privée de Louis XV. 
 
 4 Dr. Erskine’s Sketches and Hints of Church History and Theo- 
 logical Controversy. Yet a writer in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 
 (edit. 1791,) after speaking of the Lutheran establishment, says, ‘ ‘There 
 is not another sect in these kingdoms,” [Denmark, Sweden, and Nor- 
 way.| He probably borrowed the remark from some old geographical 
 work. : 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 revenue of the metropolitan did not exceed one thousand 
 pounds ; and the income of some pastors in Iceland 
 scarcely amounted to five pounds. In Sweden, there 
 were fourteen bishoprics, the occupants of which had not, 
 in general, a greater income than the superintendants of 
 Denmark. Associated with deputies from each arch- 
 deaconry, they formed the second component body of the 
 states or national council. ‘The clergy of that kingdom, 
 by order of the states, had the care of the general educa- 
 tior of the people, all of whom, females as well as males, 
 were required to learn the easy arts of reading and 
 writing. 
 
 In Germany, the frequent controversies between the 
 Lutherans and Calvinists, and also between them and 
 the catholics, had cherished and kept up that spirit of 
 free inquiry which originally produced the reformation. 
 In the discussion of doctrinal points, and in bringing 
 them to the test of Scripture, writers of different capacities 
 and dispositions gave such varied interpretations, that 
 many readers were perplexed and confounded, and began 
 to doubt whether any doctrines had ever been revealed to 
 mankind. Some protestant authors, having seduced 
 themselves into scepticism in the solitude of their closets, 
 propagated their doubts among the people ; still pretend- 
 ing, however, to be well-wishers to the cause of religion. 
 Others openly ventured to recommend reason as a substi- 
 tute for religion. 
 
 The Pietists, on the other hand, continued to promote 
 the diffusion of religious zeal and vital Christianity. They 
 not only withstood the efforts of infidel philosophy, but 
 also reprobated latitudinarian indifference, censured the 
 predication of mere morality, and raised their voices against 
 the worldly spirit and increasing dissipation of the age. 
 ‘They were “ exposed to much obloquy” (says an English 
 Pietist)* “ for their rigid maxims, and resoltite rejection of 
 all unhallowed conformity to the manners: and amuse- 
 ments of a wicked world.” “ As the century advanced” 
 (he adds) “the fervour of Pietism abated ; and, iniquity 
 abounding, the love of many waxed cold.” ‘The same 
 zealous censor represents the generality of the Lutheran 
 clergy, as sinking at that time into a Laodicean state, 
 and “ maintaining the forms and formule of Lutheranism, 
 instead of the spirit of Christianity.” Undoubtedly, this 
 was the case with many of the ministers of that church; 
 but it does not follow, because they were not continually 
 speaking of faith and grace, that they were destitute of a 
 Christian spirit, or regardless of the purity of religion. 
 They might have less cant, less ostentation of piety, than 
 those who considered themselves as the only sincere 
 votaries of evangelical truth; but it is uncandid to in- 
 sinuate that they were Christians only in name and in 
 form, not in principle or in substance. 
 
 In Saxony and the Prussian territories, the metaphy- 
 sical philosophy of Wolff, privy counsellor to }'rederic 
 William, king of Prussia, had a considerable effect in the 
 diffusion of a sceptical spirit ; and, although he was pub- 
 licly censured for his pernicious writings, and deprived 
 of a professorship at Halle, he continued to propagate his 
 sentiments after his retreat into the principality of Hesse 
 Cassel. He was subsequently protected by the Swedish 
 court, but was more particularly favoured by that philo- 
 sophic prince who became king of Prussia in the year 
 
 b“Tl n’y a aucune religion (he said) | 
 
 181 
 
 * Dr. Haweis. 
 
 No. LXI. 
 
 721 
 
 1740. Professor Kant, the celebrated metaphysician, was 
 patronised by the same monarch ; and his system like- 
 wise tended to generate scepticism. 
 
 This prince, the well-known Frederic, was fond of free 
 inquiry, and eager to evince his superiority to what he 
 considered as idle prejudice. He therefore easily suffered 
 himself to be persuaded by infidel philosophers, that reli- 
 gion was the invention of interested hypocrites and artful 
 statesmen. He was not more favourable in this respect 
 to Christianity than to the Moslem creed. Priests of all 
 persuasions were, in his eye, either wilful deluders of the 
 multitude, or the credulous instruments of delusion. These 
 opinions he gloried in propagating among his friends; 
 and his court thus became the seat of irreligion, and a 
 school of impiety. It was a matter of indifference to such 
 a monarch, what religion his subjects professed, or whether 
 they followed any religion at all, provided that they were 
 subservient to his military and political despotism. He 
 considered the morality of different sects as nearly the 
 same ;" and, while he tolerated all, his active vigilance 
 kept his dominions in tranquillity, undisturbed by open 
 animosities or serious dissensions. His people were free 
 in a religious sense, but in no other respect. 
 
 Societies of aluminati, or enlightened reasoners, were 
 at. length formed in some of the protestant towns and prin- 
 cipalities of Germany, and even in several of the catholic 
 states. At Munich, professor Weishaupt, who had re- 
 ceived his education among the Jesuits, became the founder 
 of a club of reformists ; and, when he had been banished 
 from Bavaria for his dangerous principles, he was pro- 
 tected and encouraged by the duke of Saxe-Gotha. Ba- 
 ron Knigge strenuously laboured in the same cause ; and, 
 although greater effects have been attributed to these 
 societies than their real importance may induce us to be- 
 lieve, it must be allowed that they paved the way for 
 revolutionary mischief, and aided the pernicious influence 
 of Gallic impiety and sedition. 
 
 While Louis XVI. filled the French throne, the clergy 
 of the establishment repeatedly complained of his conni- 
 vance at the encroachments of the protestants, who insulted 
 or derided the institutions of the holy church, presumed to 
 draw within their pale the children of catholics, taxed the 
 neople for the payment of salaries to unlicensed ministers, 
 obtained the direction of public schools, and procured admis- 
 sion into the seats of magistracy. They did not, however, 
 dare torecommend an infliction of the rigours of vengeeance 
 upon these “deluding and deluded men,” but merely advis- 
 ed that the protestants should be bribed into an adoption of 
 the Romish faith. Louis did not wish that considerations 
 of interest should have any influence upon religious con- 
 versions ; but he was willing, by occasional grants out of 
 the royal .temporalities, to assist those converts who re- 
 quired relief. The proselytes thus made by the church 
 were not very numerous. ‘The number of protestants, on 
 the contrary, continued to increase, until the court thought 
 it expedient to accede to their wishes. Under the adminis- 
 tration of M. de Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse, the kiag 
 issued an edict, by which they were admitted (in January 
 1788) to the free practice of their religion, and to all the 
 rights of citizens. 'The revolution soon followed ; and all 
 religions were then confounded in the vortex of politics. 
 Before that revolution commenced its attack upon all 
 
 qui, sur le sujet de la morale, s’ecarte beaucoup des autres,” 
 
722 
 
 former institutions, religious as well as political, Frederic 
 William, the successor of the infidel king of Prussia, en- 
 deavoured to stem the torrent of latitudinarianism and of 
 irreligion by a spirited and not injudicious proclamation. 
 We take notice of this edict, not only because it is remark- 
 able in itself, and tends to show the state of religion in 
 the Prussian dominions at that time, but also because it 
 produced a warm controversy. His majesty ordained, in 
 the first place, that the three principal Christian creeds and 
 systems (the Reformed, Lutheran, and Romish) should be 
 preserved genuine. ‘The second article provided for a con- 
 tinued toleration of Moravians, Mennonites, and the Bohe- 
 mian brethren, beside Jews ; but prohibited sects, perni- 
 cious to the state, from holding public assemblies. Thirdly, 
 all endeavours to make proselytes, in any confession, were 
 forbidden: yet all persons were at liberty to change their 
 religion. Popish emissaries, monks, and ex-Jesuits, were 
 particularly prohibited from attempting to convert those 
 whom they called heretics. After commending the gene- 
 ral harmony in which the clergy and laity of the three 
 confessions seemed to live, the king ordered, that the two 
 first churches should preserve their liturgies and directo- 
 ries: they might, he said, abolish immaterial ceremonies ; 
 but he would not suffer them to change any essential part 
 of their old systems; an injunction which appeared to 
 him to be the more necessary, as he had observed that 
 many of the preachers of those communities denied im- 
 portant articles of Protestantism and Christianity, depre- 
 ciated the authority of the Scriptures, and “served up again 
 the often-refuted errors of Socinians, Naturalists,” and 
 Deists,” under the pretence of enlightening the people. 
 Such ministers as disapproved the creed which they had 
 originally adopted, were required to resign their pastoral 
 charges, rather than teach any thing contrary to the re- 
 ceived doctrines of their church. 
 
 Several free-thinkers and latitudinarians fiercely attacked 
 the edict, as if it had been an unwarrantable invasion of 
 liberty of conscience ; but it was ably defended by Doctor 
 Semler of Halle, and other divines. Its assailants repro- 
 bated the arbitrary spirit that fettered the freedom of in- 
 quiry, and which commanded individuals to believe with- 
 out conviction ; affirmed that Christ’s kingdom was not 
 of this world, and that the penal laws of temporal govern- 
 ments were inapplicable to religion, and wholly unjustifi- 
 able when employed for the coercion of the conscience ; 
 and animadverted on the inconsistency manifested by a 
 protestant ruler, in condemning and counteracting a free- 
 dom of opinion analogous to that which had produced the 
 Reformation. ‘The supporters of the decree denied, that 
 it enforced belief, as people might still believe only what 
 suited their ideas, and might even freely publish their 
 thoughts: but when a minister, in the exercise of his pas- 
 toral charge, taught doctrines repugnant to those which 
 he had formerly undertaken to maintain, or inconsistent 
 with the fundamental truths of religion, there was no in- 
 justice, they said, in preventing such a preacher from con- 
 tinuing to be unfaithful to his trust. 
 
 Infidelity was less observable in Poland than in Prussia 
 or Brandenburg: but that country was a frequent scene 
 of religious dissension. ‘The Polish protestants had long 
 
 njoyed, not merely toleration, but an equality of privilege 
 
 * Dated at Potsdam, July 9, 1788. 
 i; » Not the cultivators of natural history or philosophy, but the teachers 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS AND CALVINISTS 
 
 with the catholics. After the expulsion of the Socinians, 
 the Romanists obtained the ascendency, and gradually 
 encroached on the rights of the protestants, for whose ex- 
 clusion from the diet they procured, in the year 1733, a 
 decree of the majority of that assembly. After the elec- 
 tion of Stanislaus Poniatowski to the sovereignty, in 1764, 
 the dissidents (under which term the members of the 
 Greek church were included with the Lutherans and Cal- 
 vinists) had recourse to the kings of Great Britain, Prussia, 
 and Denmark, and to the empress of Russia, who readily 
 promised to assist them by intercession for the recovery of 
 those privileges which had been stipulated for them in the 
 in the treaty of Oliva. The diet, however, for some years, 
 would only allow them the freedom of worship; but, in 
 1768, being over-awed by a Russian army, the assembly 
 acceded to the requisitions of the four courts. Many of the 
 catholic nobles, resenting this compliance, and disgusted 
 at the domineering influence of Russia, took up arms for 
 religion and liberty ; and a desultory warfare commenced, 
 which did not entirely cease before the first partition of 
 Poland. The dissidents were then less favoured than they 
 had been by the preceding diet; but, beside toleration, 
 they obtained seats in some of the courts of justice. 
 When the czarina, and her allies in spoliation (the em- 
 press of Germany and king of Prussia,) had seized three 
 considerable portions of the country, her influence was 
 paramount over that part which still retained the name 
 of a kingdom; and she preserved peace among the vota- 
 ries of the different religions. In the provinces which 
 were ceded to Austria, the catholics gave little molestation 
 to the dissidents, as it was apprehended that, if oppressed, 
 they would offer themselves as subjects to the tolerant 
 Catharine, or take refuge under the wings of the Prussian 
 eagle.° 
 
 By that constitution which Poland obtained in 1791 
 from the spirit of her nobles, but which her potent adver- 
 saries would not suffer long to subsist, toleration was more 
 fully allowed; and, when the kingdom was finally dis- 
 membered, however unjust was the spoliation, the new 
 rulers of the country established the security of religious 
 opinion and worship. 
 
 In Hungary, the protestants did not enjoy, during the 
 reign of Joseph, the full effect of his liberal declarations - 
 and fair promises. ‘They complained that his edict was 
 not properly enforced; but, after his death, their solicita- 
 tions procured a favourable decree from his successor Leo- 
 pold. It was ordained by the diet, in 1791, that persons 
 of all ranks should enjoy a perfect freedom of public wor- 
 ship, and the liberty of erecting churches, even with steeples 
 and bells; but that, when the protestants should wish to 
 build a church, parsonage-house, or school, a mixed com- 
 mittee of the district should be holden, to ascertain the 
 sufficiency of the proposed means, and the landlord should 
 then fix upon the spot ; that no protestants should be com- 
 pelled to attend mass, witness catholic processions, or pay 
 dues to the Romish priests; that they might form consis- 
 tories and hold synods, but that no laws or ordinances 
 framed at those meetings should be operative without the 
 royal confirmation; that their authority over their own 
 schools should also be subject to their sovereign’s control ; 
 and that they might publish religious books, under the in- 
 
 of natural religion, as opposed to Christianity. The count de Buffon, 
 indeed, was a naturalist in both senses. ¢Coxe’s Travels in Poland. 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 apection of censors of their own appointment, who should, 
 however, be responsible to the government for their official 
 conduct. It was also decreed that they should be eligible 
 to public offices, and even to a seat in the diet, equally with 
 the Romanists.* 
 
 These grants were deemed, by the catholics, great favours 
 and liberal concessions ; but, by the protestants, they were 
 considered as no more than natural r7ghés. The Romish 
 bigots, in some instances, counteracted the new ordinances, 
 and prevented the immediate accomplishment of the patri- 
 otic intentions of the diet: but the court, and the catholics 
 in general, were disposed to permit the execution of the 
 decree. 
 
 The protestants of Bohemia were, at the same time, 
 freed from all persecution and molestation, on the subject 
 of religion, During a great part of the century, the Jews 
 in that kingdom were nore favoured by its catholic rulers, 
 than were even the Christian sects: but the latter, at 
 length, found an opportunity of emerging from their diffi- 
 culties and depression. 
 
 When the revolution had broken out in France, the 
 spirit of irreligion was more openly manifested in Germany, 
 among the three denominations of Christians, than it had 
 been at any time from the first establishment of the religion 
 of Jesus in that country; and, being mingled with the de- 
 sire of enjoying a greater portion of civil liberty, it prompted 
 the people, in several states of the empire, to submit to the 
 arms of France, soon after the war began to rage. When 
 French fraternity had lost the charm of novelty, many re- 
 pented of the blind forwardness with which they had ac- 
 cepted it: but, when the yoke was fixed upon their necks, 
 it was too late to retract. In the ecclesiastical electorates, 
 capricious varieties of opinion were substituted for the catho- 
 lic creed; and, although religion was not absolutely ne- 
 glected by all classes of people, either in the protestant or 
 catholic states, the worship became less decorous and regu- 
 lar; the public service of God ceased, in a great measure, 
 to be an object of devout attention. A 
 
 CHAP ATY. 
 
 History of the Church of England and its Dependen- 
 cies, and also of the Protestant Sects in the British 
 Dominions. 
 
 Wuen the church of England had been rescued from 
 danger by the seasonable exertions of the prince of Orange, 
 and the free exercise of particular worship had been 
 allowed by a wise and liberal parliament to those protes- 
 tants who dissented from the general religion of the state,, 
 the defeat and depression of the catholtes, and the removal 
 of anxiety from the minds both of the orthodox and the 
 sectaries, produced a degree of tranquillity which the church 
 had not enjoyed from the time of the Reformation. 'The 
 schism of the nonjurors, indeed, still subsisted at the be- 
 ginning of the eighteenth century; the legality of the 
 ecclesiastical government was boldly disputed by many 
 zealots; and aspirited contest was carried on between the 
 high church and low-church factions, or the Tories and 
 Whigs of the hierarchy. But the collisions of party were 
 less vehement, and the animosity of disputants less bitter 
 and malignant. 
 
 If Anne had reigned immediately after the Revolu- 
 
 * Travels in Hungary, by Robert Townson, LL. D. 
 
 723 
 
 | tion, she would not have been so ready as king William 
 to grant toleration to dissenters. She suspected them of 
 aiming at the ruin of the church, while they professed 
 only a wish for an unmolested indulgence of their pecu- 
 liar opinions. But, as the legislature had thought proper 
 to gratify them with the freedom to which they had long 
 aspired, she resolved not to encroach upon their admitted 
 claims, or offer the least violence to what she called their 
 tender consciences. She wished, however, to prevent the 
 practice of occasional conformity, by which not a few pres- 
 byterians and other dissenters procured employments in- 
 tended only for the orthodox. 'They took the sacrament 
 according to the established forms, to qualify themselves 
 by law for particular offices, and then frequented the 
 meeting-houses of non-conformists. The "Tories fre- 
 quently introduced a bill to restrain this interested dupli- 
 city. ‘Thrice their-views were baffled by the influence of 
 the Whigs ; but when, upon a renewed attempt, clauses 
 were inserted for the security of the protestant succession 
 and the confirmation of the act which tolerated non-con- 
 formity, the low church party suffered the bill to pass. 
 
 In the convocation, or clerical senate, the two parties 
 occasionally disputed with eagerness; but the queen’s 
 ministers rather checked than promoted these debates, 
 because they deemed it sufficient that the parliament 
 should be the scene of contest. ‘The literary war, on the 
 subject of the claims and rights of the convocation, which 
 had been carried on in the reign of William, did not cease 
 amidst the discouragement of debates in that assembly : 
 but it gradually declined; and the able work of Dr 
 Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, seemed triumphantly to 
 close the controversy in favour of the Whigs. The Tories 
 had maintained, that it was the indisputable right of the 
 clergy, not only to meet in ordinary synods, but (as often 
 as a new parliament met) to sit and vote in convocation ; 
 and that in this assembly they might deliberate upon 
 ecclesiastical affairs, and agree to various resolutions, 
 without the formality of a previous license. ‘lhe opposite 
 party referred all the acts of the church to the pleasure of 
 the sovereign, without whose permission the clergy could 
 not lawfully meet, debate, or enact. 
 
 It is remarkable that the former of these- factions, while 
 they disputed the power of the temporal prince in religious 
 affairs, recommended passive obedience on the part of the 
 people, as what the governing power of the state might 
 justly claim; and that the Whigs, on the other hand, 
 while they promoted the authoritative interference of the 
 crown in the government of the church, professed a desire 
 of clipping, on other occasions, the wings of royalty. 
 
 The predications of the maxims and doctrines of Tory- 
 ism by Sacheverel, a hot-headed divine, excited in parlia- 
 ment a flame which diffused itself through the kingdom. 
 The Whig leaders imprudently fanned it, and, by 
 impeaching a zealot, whose effusions might safely have 
 been neglected, seriously injured their own interests. The 
 sentence of the high court of peers seemed rather to be a 
 triumph than a punishment ; and the high-church party 
 obtained a decisive advantage in the cabinet. ‘The queen 
 then indulged the clergy with a greater latitude of debate 
 in convocation, than she had allowed them in the former 
 part of her reign. 
 
 The church of Ireland was also agitated by the dis- 
 tinctions of Whig and Tory ; but its tranquillity was not 
 
724 
 
 disturbed in any remarkable degree. The catholics still 
 formed the great bulk of the nation: but power was in 
 the hands of their adversaries, who, from principles of po- 
 licy, anc in the spirit of self-defence, were determined to 
 hoid it with a vigorous grasp. he holders of benefices, 
 however, in the wild and unfrequented parts of that 
 island, found it difficult and even dangerous to collect 
 tithes from the papists, who sometimes were guilty of acts 
 of violence and outrage. 
 
 The presbyterian establishment in Scotland remained 
 unimpaired under the sway of Anne: and its preservation 
 was an essential article of the legislative union which 
 dignified her reign. 'The episcopalians, however, were 
 tolerated in that country ; anda bill was enacted, in 1712, 
 by the united parliament, in confirmation of the unre- 
 strained freedom of their worship. Public chapels, which 
 had not been allowed to them in the preceding reign, 
 were now erected in many parts of North Britain ; and 
 the people, confiding in the protection of the court, were 
 not afraid to dissent from the kirk. 
 
 These episcopalians, in general, were unfriendly to 
 the Revolution, and to the succession of tne house of 
 Hanover ; and, therefore, fell under the general suspicion 
 of favouring the views of the queen’s brother, the catholic 
 claimant of the crown. When the elector of Hanover had 
 ascended the British throne, this suspicion became 
 stronger; and, during the rebellion that arose in the year 
 1715, those who had no concern in it were closely 
 watched, and the ministers of their communion were 
 restricted in their functions; with the full exercise of 
 which, however, they were soon re-indulged. 
 
 During the reign of that monarch, the church of Eng- 
 land continued to flourish. The king, indeed, supported 
 that party which did not bear the character of being par- 
 ticularly zealous for the ecclesiastical establishment; and 
 we need not be surprised at his habitual regard for the 
 Whigs, as they were the only cordial promoters of those 
 statutes and arrangements which paved his way to the 
 throne. He encouraged those divines who recommended 
 the principles of civil liberty, and who at the same time 
 wished to subject the church to the state, and give the 
 temporal prince a commanding height of religious autho- 
 rity; not such, however, as would enable him to oppress 
 the church, but only to secure its welfare and tranquillity, 
 in the midst of general toleration. 
 
 After the suppression of the rebellion, while the nation 
 enjoyed general repose, the church was disturbed by the 
 warm prosecution of a literary controversy. This dispute 
 was occasioned by a sermon which the king (who heard 
 it) ordered to be printed. Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, who 
 had been honoured with a vote of the house of commons, 
 requesting the crown to reward his services, as a friend of 
 liberty and of the protestant settlement, was the preacher 
 of this discourse, in which he delivered his sentiments on 
 the subject of Christ’s kingdom or church. He endea- 
 voured to prove, that the true church did not require any 
 other than spiritual sanctions ; that it was not intended by 
 its divine founder to be supported by political encourage- 
 ments, or checked by political discouragements ; that 
 such interferences, on the part of the state, tended to give 
 tothe church a worldly character, not altogether consistent 
 with genuine piety, and not favourable to pure or sublime 
 devotion; and that the ecclesiastical establishment would 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 flourish more under its own guidance, than under tempo- 
 ral direction. The kingdoms of this world, he said, could 
 not suggest proper ideas of that government which ought 
 io prevail, in a visible and sensible manner, in Christ’s 
 kingdom. ‘The sanctions of Christ’s laws, appointed by 
 himself, were not the rewards of this world, not the offices 
 or glories of this state, not the pains of imprisonment or of 
 exile, or the smaller discouragements that belong to human 
 society ; these could not be the instruments of such a 
 persuasion as would be acceptable to God. ‘lo “teach 
 Christians that they must either profess, or be silent, 
 against their own consciences, because of the authority 
 of others over them, was to found that authority upon 
 the ruins of sincerity and common honesty ; to teach a 
 doctrine which would have prevented the Reformation, 
 and even the existence of the church of England.” No 
 power, repegnant to the supreme authority of Christ, 
 could be justly claimed over the church by Christians, 
 even of the highest rank. His supremacy, as legislator 
 and judge, no temporal or human power ought to infringe 
 or invalidate. ‘These opinions were censured in convo- 
 cation, as tending to produce disorder and anarchy in the 
 church, and to prevent the due subserviency of that body 
 to the state; and they were combated in print by the cele- 
 brated Sherlock and other divines. The dispute was 
 denominated the Bangorian controversy; and, when it 
 ceased, the same diversity of sentiment remained, which 
 had before prevailed on the subject. Such is the frequent 
 result of a literary dispute ! 
 
 While the controversy was at its height, the dissenters 
 were gratified, in the session of 1718-9, by the introduc- 
 tion ofa bill, calculated to relieve them from those tests to 
 which the bishop of Bangor objected: but it did not pass 
 in that favourable shape which it assumed at its first ap- 
 pearance ; for it did not provide, as the sovereign wished, 
 for the repeal of the sacramental test, although it annulled 
 the acts against schism and occasional conformity. 
 
 The dissenters affirm, that tests of this kind are the 
 remains of a persecuting spirit, and are therefore disgrace- 
 ful to a government which professes to avoid persecution. 
 When conscientious individuals, they say, are excluded, 
 on account of their religious opinions, from those offices 
 and preferments which are bestowed on their fellow-citi- 
 zens, they do not enjoy the full rights of toleration. It is 
 not sufficient that they are allowed to worship God in 
 their own way, if they be debarred from the general 
 advantages of that community with which they are con- 
 nected. ‘Their claims, we answer, might be admitted 
 where no particular religion is established by law and 
 
 authority, as preferable to all other creeds and systems: 
 
 but, where an ecclesiastical establishment forms a part of 
 the constitution, it is by no means unreasonable to 
 exclude, from its advantages and emoluments, those who 
 are unwilling to conform to it. It is the natural charac- 
 ter of sects to be hostile to each other; and those who dif- 
 fer from the establishment cannot be expected to be its 
 defenders or preservers. ‘l'o guard against the intrusion 
 of such men, it is ordained that conditions should be 
 annexed to the acceptance of benefices; and, if the con- 
 sciences of individuals should be too scrupulous to suffer 
 them to accede to the terms, they ought rather to blame 
 themselves than the government, for the want. of prefer- 
 ment in that church to which they are not closely allied * 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 ur (to put the affair in another point of view) they may 
 congratulate themselves on their disinterested piety. But 
 tests, they say, only serve to make hypocrites ; for many 
 will be induced to conform outwardly, who secretly retain 
 their supposed heresy : only good men, therefore, or the 
 ingenuous and sincere professors of religion, are discoun- 
 tenanced and stigmatised. We answer, that it is not the 
 wish of the rulers of the state to obtain merely exterior 
 conformity: that is an accidental circumstance, arising 
 from the interested views of the candidates for prefer- 
 ment; and there is surely less danger in having a few 
 hypocritical intruders, than in opening the doors of the 
 church to all who may choose to dissent from its doc- 
 trines ; the majority of whom, though many of them 
 may be pious and worthy men, would wish to overturn 
 the prevailing system. 
 
 The utility of the test, as a barrier to the church, has 
 influenced the greater part of the nobility, and also of the 
 national representatives, to withstand all the efforts made 
 by the dissenters for its annulment; and it is not very 
 probable that the present generation will witness its 
 removal. It has repeatedly resisted, in our times, all the 
 eloquence of latitudinarian orators, and all the arts of 
 presbyterian and independent sophists. The chief objec- 
 tors to it would, perhaps, if their system should ever be 
 predominant, recommend a stronger exclusion of all other 
 religionists from power: such is the perverseness, such the 
 selfishness of human nature ! 
 
 The tolerant disposition of the king induced him to 
 disapprove the violence of the ‘Tories, who endeavoured 
 to procure a new penal act against the Arians and So- 
 cinians, and all who might be guilty of blasphemy and 
 picfaneness. The Whigs strenuously opposed the bill ; 
 and it was not suffered to be added to the statutes of the 
 realm. The same party checked the spirit of debate 
 which agitated the ecclesiastical senate; and, from that 
 time, the two houses of convocation have only met pro 
 forma, with every new parliament. 
 
 During the remainder of this reign, the church of Eng- 
 land, and also that of Ireland, enjoyed tranquillity: but 
 the increased liberty of the times encouraged a freedom 
 of thinking, which led some bold spirits into a denial of 
 Christianity and of ail divine revelation. Anthony Col- 
 lins was one of these assailants ; and he rendered himself 
 so obnoxious to the clergy, that they reviled him as an 
 athvist. As he had attacked revelation under the govern- 
 ment of a devout queen. it was not likely that he would 
 refrain or desist when the sovereign (though not a free- 
 thinker) was less religiously disposed. He therefore again 
 took up the pen, and, in 1724, published a Discourse of the 
 Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion. Some 
 able theologians strenuously defended the faith and sys- 
 tem which he thus attacked; and his Scheme of Literal 
 Prophecy likewise drew forth spirited replies and indig- 
 nant animadversions. Bernard de Mandeville, an emi- 
 grant Dutch physician, also wrote, both in this and the 
 succeeding reign, against Christianity. Dr. Matthew 
 Tindal, a “professor of the civil law, represented this reli- 
 gion as being coéval with the creation ;—in other words, 
 he controverted the credibility of Christ’s mission ; and, 
 
 * As the followers of Hutchinson did not form a distinct church or 
 society, and continued to belong to the church or body with which they 
 
 were formerly connected, they did not so far give way to schism as to 
 compose a sect, 
 182 
 
 No. LXI. 
 
 red, both in North and South Britain. 
 
 'some distinguished men into its vortex. 
 
 729 
 alleging the sufficiency of nattral religion, denied the 
 expediency of any revelation of the divine will. He even 
 affected to think that such a communication was incom- 
 patible with the rights of mau. 'Vhis bold attack was 
 repelled by the learning of the orthodox W aterland, and 
 the ability of the virtuous though schismatical Foster. 
 
 We do not find that any new sects arose in this island 
 under the government of the first George ; but, in the 
 long reign of his son, various instances of schism occur 
 To the former o. 
 these reigns may be assigned the formation of a religious 
 party, which, although it never became numerous, drew 
 Mr. John Hut- 
 chinson, a pretender to philosophy, controverted the New- 
 tonian system,” substituted a plenum for a vacuum, and 
 ridiculed the laws of gravity. ‘The true system of nature, 
 he said, was to be found in the writings of Moses; and 
 no philosophy could be deemed correct, except that of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures. With regard to the doctrine of the 
 ‘Trinity, he advanced a fanciful opinion, importing that 
 the idea of three persons of one and the same essence, an- 
 swered to fire, light, and spirit, the three grand agents in 
 nature, or the three modifications of the same substance, 
 namely, air. His opinions were eagerly espoused, and 
 warmly recommended, by Mr. Julius Bate, whose zeal 
 he rewarded by procuring hima benefice. Sixteen years 
 after his death, his system was defended by Mr. George 
 Horne, a young clergyman, whose merit afterwards ele- 
 vated him to the episcopal dignity. Forbes, the Scottish 
 judge, also wrote in its vindication ; Mr. Romaine, the 
 popular preacher, gave his assent to it; Dr. Wetherell, 
 William Jones, and other divines not destitute of learn- 
 ing, regarded it as worthy of adoption and support. Bate 
 and Spearman, the editors of Hutchinson’s works, main- 
 tained, not (as some have interpreted the author’s mean- 
 ing) that the sun moves and the earth stands still, but 
 that no scriptural passages, properly construed, are repug- 
 
 nant to the Copernican nypothesis respecting those parts 
 of the universe. 
 
 A secession from the established church of Scotland 
 took place in the year 1727, in consequence of the inde- 
 pendent spirit of John Glas, who, disapproving every 
 establishment of a national church, maintained that all 
 churches ought only to be congregational ; in other 
 words, that no general church ought to be formed for a 
 nation, but that each religious society in a kingdom or 
 
 state should be self-constituted and controlled only: by 
 
 itself. For this and other opinions, he was suspended from 
 his ministerial functions, and, for continued contumacy, 
 he was deposed from the rank of minister, first by a pro- 
 vincial synod, and afterwards (in 1730) by the general 
 assembly of the Scottish church. He persisted, however, 
 in the propagation of his sentiments, both by preaching 
 and writing, and formed several congregations, of which 
 
 the most numerous was that of Dundee.« 
 
 While Mr. Glas, and those who adopted his opinions. 
 were eniployed in strengthening their secession, some 
 other divines, on different grounds, were meditating a re- 
 treat from the establishment. These ministers wished to 
 maintain the national church in its original strictness ; 
 
 >In a work ¢ entitled, “ Moses’ Principia,” the first part of which ap- ap- 
 
 peared in 1724. 
 * Adams’ Religious World Displayed, vol. iii. p. 170—6. 
 
726 
 
 and, as they could not accomplish that object, they re- 
 solved to form new congregations. Supposed infringe- 
 ments of the constitution of the kirk had excited their 
 strong disgust. ‘They complained of the laws of patron- 
 age, and wished for a popular election of ministers: they 
 alleged that the right of protest against the proceedings of 
 the assembly had been invaded, and that the rulers of the 
 kirk, beside acting arbitrarily, suffered its doctrines to be 
 corrupted. Four ministers were suspended from their pa- 
 rochial functions, in 1733, for the freedom of their ani- 
 madversions on these points ; but the assembly reinstated 
 them in the following year: yet, as the grievances of 
 which they complained were not redressed, they refused 
 io re-join the establishment. They strengthened their 
 interest by considerable adjunctions of force, drawn from 
 ithe ranks both of the clergy and laity, particulafly after 
 they had published a second testimony of the grounds 
 vf their secession. Being cited to appear before the as- 
 sembly, and refusing to acknowledge its jurisdiction, they 
 were debarred, in 1740, from all clerical functions in the 
 «irk, and excluded from all emoluments connected with 
 shat church. It may be proper to mention, that Ebenezer 
 «rskine, who had acted as minister at Stirling, was the 
 chief of these seceders.* 
 
 When the seceders had formed three presbyteries, a 
 -{ivision arose among them, in 1747, in consequence of an 
 vath which some of them deemed inconsistent with the 
 sentiments avowed in their testimony. It was the ordi- 
 aary oath of a burgess, in support of the true religion 
 established by law. We cannot, said one party, consci- 
 entiously honour with that appellation the establishment 
 from which we have seceded; while the other members 
 of the synod contended, that the oath might safely be ta- 
 ken, as the religion of the state was still the true faith, 
 hough many of its ostensible votaries had departed from 
 ts principles, or loosely professed it. The former, who 
 were called Anti-burghers, prevailed on this occasion, and 
 voted, that the oath was incompatible with the testimony : 
 they even excommunicated the members by whom it was 
 vindicated. 'This idle dispute long continued to keep the 
 seceders in distinct synods: and, at the close of the cen- 
 tury, the schism was not entirely healed, though the two 
 parties were less hostile than they had been. 
 
 The sevession of Mr. Glas was continued by Robert 
 Sandeman, who, in 1757, published his opinions in a se- 
 ries of letters, which led to the establishment of several 
 congregations in England, as well as in Scotland. The 
 sect also extended itself to North America, particularly to 
 New England. Its members were of opinion, that all who 
 found the apostolic report concerning the death and resur- 
 tection of Christ ¢rwe in their minds, possessed that faith 
 from which justification resulted, even if they were the 
 most sinful of mankind ; that, though good works be not 
 essential to justification, it is proper to observe the moral 
 precepts which were inculcated in the times of the apostles ; 
 that brotherly love and social kindness ought strikingly to 
 mark thedemeanour of Christians; that such love however, 
 ought not to preclude the excommunication and disgrace of 
 an offending brother ; and that, in this and other cases of 
 deliberation, not merely a majority, but the whole congre- 
 gation, ought to decide. They required the sacrament of 
 the eucharist to be taken every week; and they encou- 
 
 * Adams’ Religious World Displayed, vol. iii. p. 193—6, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 raged a great frequency of prayer. They had love-feasts, 
 or meetings of mutual‘hospitality, which were terminated 
 with hymns and the kiss of charity ; and, in the same 
 spirit of fraternal affection, they inculcated the maxim of 
 a community of goods.” 
 
 In the same reign, a sect, which soon became far more 
 numerous and flourishing than those now mentioned, arose 
 in England, and spread over the British dominions. We 
 have already remarked, that the animosities between the 
 orthodox and the dissenters had gradually subsided after 
 the Revolution ; and we may add, that this diminution of 
 rancour was more particularly observable after the acces- 
 sion of the Hanoverian family to the throne, when the 
 principles of toleration were more fully established amidst 
 the progress of free inquiry. At the same time, the clergy 
 of the establishment seemed in general to sink into a luke- 
 warmness and indifference which disgusted all but the 
 worldly-minded pursuers of immediate interest. Infidelity 
 also gained ground among the laity, and sneers at religion 
 were beginning to be a part of the fashionable system. 
 
 This degeneracy was observed with sensations of hor- 
 ror by John and Charles Wesley, who were then students 
 at the university of Oxford, and had contracted a serious 
 turn of mind from the writings of William Law, the cele- 
 brated mystic. These devout brothers passed a great 
 part of their time in religious conversation, in reflecting 
 on the interesting contents of the Holy Scriptures, and in 
 private prayer. ‘They were joined by some other aca- 
 demics who were religiously disposed ; and a sect which 
 afterwards made an extraordinary progress, took its rise 
 in the year 1729, deriving the appellation of Methodists 
 from the regular distribution of their time, their orderly 
 and composed demeanour, and the supposed purity of thei 
 religious principles. Mr. Hervey, the author of the Medi- 
 tations, occasionally attended their meetings; and, in 
 1735, they were gladdened with the adjunction of a young 
 and eloquent orator, named George Whitefield. In that 
 year, the two Wesleys undertook a voyage to Georgia, 
 to impart to the colonists the doctrine of saving grace. 
 but their mission did not produce any extraordinary ef- 
 fect. When they had left the province, Mr. Whitefield 
 undertook the task of chief missionary. 
 
 Pure; genuine, evangelical religion, or that which Mr 
 John Wesley considered as such, was at length* publicly 
 preached by him, after his return to Great Britain, not in 
 the churches of the metropolis or of the different counties, 
 (for the incumbents would not suffer him to enter their 
 pulpits,) but in the open air and in the fields. As souls 
 might be saved even in this seemingly irregular way, it 
 was far better, he said, so to preach, than not to preach at 
 all. He soon drew many into his opinions, and propa- 
 gated, with great success, the doctrine of salvation by faith. 
 For his new society he instituted rules, not inexpedient 
 or injudicious, recommending an orderly behaviour and 
 an avoidance of dissipation and licentiousness. Meeting- 
 houses were gradually erected by his followers, and, in 
 defiance of the insults of the populace, and the sneers of 
 the higher orders, methodism extended itself into all parts 
 of England and Wales, made some progress in Scotland, 
 and crossed the sea into Ireland. 
 
 A division of sentiment, between Wesley and White- 
 field, resulted from those deliberations and reflections 
 
 b Adam, vol. iii. p. 177—90, © In the year 1738, 
 
DURING 'THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 which occupied the mind of the latter, while he acted as 
 a preacher beyond the Atlantic. He became more in- 
 clined to Calvinism than to Arminianism, to which the 
 former was well affected. 
 not produce in their minds the bitterness of animosity. 
 Each spoke favourably of the Christian piety of his qguon- 
 dai associate; and, if not cordial friends, they were not 
 enemies to each other. 
 
 The opinions and the piety of Mr. Whitefield recom- 
 mended him to the notice of a devout peefess, who 
 appointed him her chaplain, and patronized him through 
 life. ‘(his lady was Selina, countess dowager of Hunt- 
 ingdon, who liberally promoted the erection of meeting- 
 houses for the Calvinistic Methodists, and erected a col-- 
 lege at Treveka (in Monmouthshire) for the instruction 
 of future preachers. Happy in the idea and prospect of 
 drawing sinners from the error of their way, and of dif- 
 fusing an acquaintance with the Scriptures, as understood 
 and explained by Mr. Whitefield and his associates, she 
 disregarded the ridicule to which she was exposed by a 
 taste so unusual among’ persons of rank, and prosecuted 
 her religious career with inflexible perseverance.* 
 
 The proselytes of Whitefield were less numerous than 
 those of Wesley, and their association was less compact. 
 Their ministers and places of worship were respectively 
 supported by the different congregations, not (like those 
 of the Wesleyan sect) by a general fund. ‘lhe former 
 had not an annual court for the government of the whole 
 
 This difference, however, did | 
 
 body : but the latter had a regular session, under the | 
 name of a Conference, in which the affairs and circum- 
 
 stances of the confederacy were examined, funds provided, 
 
 abuses corrected, and grievances redressed. ‘This meet- 
 
 ing was composed of preachers chosen by the assemblies 
 
 of preachers of different districts, as representatives of the 
 
 Methodist connexion, and of the superintendents of the 
 
 circuits (or inferior divisions:) it was at first limited to 
 
 one hundred of the senior itinerant predicators ; but, in 
 
 the sequel, all the preachers were permitted to assist, if 
 they were so inclined, or had an opportunity of attending. 
 
 At first, laymen were allowed to preach; but ministers 
 
 were afterwards ordained for that purpose by the clerical 
 
 heads of the society. It may here be observed, that Wes- 
 
 Jey and some of his associates had taken orders regularly 
 
 in the church of England. 
 
 The same pious and indefatigable preacher, to counter- 
 act the misconceptions of the character of a Methodist, 
 fully stated the “ distinguishing marks” of his followers. 
 Those marks, he said, were not to be found in “their 
 opinions of any sort,” in their words and phrases, or in 
 any desire of being “ distinguished by actions, customs, or 
 usages, of an indifferent nature, undetermined by the word 
 of God ;” nor did they lay the whole stress of religion upon 
 any single part of it. But they were distinguished by 
 having the love of God shed abroad in their hearts, by 
 being always happy in God, ever resting on him, giving | 
 thanks for every thing, praying constantly with earnest- 
 ness and fervour ; by purifying their hearts from the lust 
 of the flesh and of the eye, from envy and malice, from 
 pride and petulance ; by doing kind offices to neighbours 
 and strangers, to friends and enemies ; and by other fruits 
 
 727 
 
 |ofa living faith. Nothing, he added, was required by 
 St. Paul but the faith here mentioned. By. that alone 
 could any one be justified, or accounted righteous before 
 God ; and the remission of sins could only be obtained 
 through the merits of Christ, not by the good works or 
 supposed deserts of individuals. Holiness of heart and 
 life would flow from such faith: but good deeds without 
 it would be inoperative and nugatory. No man could 
 produce it in himself, as it was the work of omnipotence. 
 It was the free gift of God to those who were before “ un- 
 godly and unholy, and fit only for everlasting destruction.” 
 He who received it was born again, yet was not so per- 
 fectly regenerate, as to be fully sanctified ; for there would 
 still be some struggles between the old and the new man, 
 which would not cease before the Holy Spirit had given 
 to the zealous Christian “a new and clean heart.” He 
 would then attain the aemé of sanctification, and be 
 qualified for the society of “just men made perfect.”» 
 
 Thus did Mr. Wesley vindicate his opinions; and he 
 continued to propagate them with zeal and success. He 
 sometimes preached four times in one day, in places con- 
 siderably distant from each other ; and his zeal seemed 
 so far to invigorate his frame, that he fainted not in his 
 spiritual course. Not content with preaching, he promoted 
 by writing, the system which he deemed most conforma- 
 
 “ble to the will of God, the instructions of our Redeemer, 
 and the suggestions of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Mr. Whitefield’s constitution did not preserve itself so 
 long unbroken, or so well support the fatigue of preaching, 
 as that of Mr. Wesley ; for he died of a disorder of the 
 lungs, in 1770, at the age of fifty-five years ; whereas the 
 life of Wesley was not closed before he had made some 
 progress in his eighty-eighth year.¢ 
 
 Nearly at the same time with Mr. Wesley, died the 
 countess of Huntingdon, who, although she admired the 
 eloquence of Mr. Whitefield, and approved the fundamen- 
 tal principles of his system, organized a society that differ- 
 ed in some points from his sect, and which, indeed, 
 deviated less from the church of England. Her seminary 
 at 'Treveka, not being endowed, expired with her: but a 
 new one quickly arose at Cheshunt, from which have 
 issued some distinguished preachers. 
 
 A sect less obnoxious than the methodists to the ortho- 
 dox clergy, assumed the denomination of United Bre- 
 thren. ‘These were called Moravians by the public, and 
 are said to have first appeared in England in the year 1728. 
 Their rise and progress upon the continent we have 
 already noticed. ‘They were favoured with the patronage 
 of some of our prelates, (particularly archbishop Potter,) 
 by whose recommendation they obtained a parliamentary 
 recognition, in 1749, as composing an ancient protestant 
 episcopal church. As their number increased, so did their 
 zeal; and they meritoriously distinguished themselves by 
 their eagerness for the propagation of Christianity among 
 pagans and barbarians. A society was formed at London 
 for this purpose ; and missionaries were employed with 
 success both in the eastern and western hemispheres 
 The Brethren were opposed in their views by numerous 
 adversaries, who accused them of disseminating pernicious 
 doctrines, and indulging in dissolute and immoral prac- 
 
 * Between the sects thus formed, the chief points of difference are the 
 following. The Whitefieldian or Calvinistic Methodist do not admit the 
 ossibility of attaining perfection in this life; but the followers of Wes- 
 ey believe thatit may be attained. The latter substitute imputed faith | 
 
 for imputed rigitecusness. They reject the doctrine of predestination, 
 and also that of irresistible grace ; both of which are maintained by the 
 disciples of Whitefield and the followers of lady Huntingdon. 
 
 » History of Religion, vol. iv. ¢ He died in March 1791. 
 
728 
 
 tices, particularly at their love-feasts: but they repelled 
 these charges with eflect, and acquired the esteem of 
 unprejudiced observers of their conduct. 
 
 Near the close of the century, this sect had three pro- 
 vincial settlements in England, beside meeting-houses or 
 chapels in London and some other towns. At the same 
 time, the Brethren had six settlements in North America. 
 The most flourishing was that of Bethlehem in Pennsyl- 
 
 ania; an establishment which was distinguished by 
 he moral respectability, decorous behaviour, and philan- 
 thropic spirit, of its members. ‘They “studied (as we are 
 informed by an English visitant of their settlement) to 
 render their conduct strictly conformable to the principles 
 of the Christian religion. 'They seemed to have only one 
 wish at heart,—the propagation of the Gospel and the 
 good of mankind,” They were active and industrious ; 
 carried on manufactures of woollen and linen, and indeed 
 practised all the necessary arts of life; and, at the same 
 time, they did not neglect literary pursuits. "Three of the 
 largest houses in the town were respectively occupied, in 
 1797, by unmarried young men, young women, and 
 widows, who were employed in various arts, and lived in a 
 monastic or conventual mode. It may be added, that the 
 savages are more amenable, to conversion under the influ- 
 ence of arguments and persuasions offered by the Moravians, 
 than from the endeavoursof other votaries of Christianity.* 
 
 Amidst the progress of sectarian opinions, and particu- 
 larly while the Methodists and Moravians were extend- 
 ing their influence, an able defender of the establishment 
 rose into notice and reputation. This was William War- 
 burton, a provincial clergyman (afterwards bishop of 
 Glocester,) who, in a work which appeared in the year 
 1736, enforced the “necessity and equity of an establish- 
 ed religion and a test-law, from the essence and end of 
 ‘ivil society.” In his next performance, he was _ less 
 
 uccessful in point of argument. It was entitled, “ the 
 Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated on the Principles 
 of a Religious Deist, from the Omission of the Doctrine 
 of a Future state of Rewards and Punishments, in the 
 Jewish Dispensation.”. We do not dispute the divinity 
 of the mission of that legislator, while we believe it to be 
 sufficiently evident, that the doctrine in question was a 
 part of the ancient Jewish creed. ‘This work was an- 
 swered by Dr. Middleton, Stebbing, and other divines, to 
 whom Warburton replied with contemptuous acrimony. 
 During the rebellion of the year 1745, he was one of the 
 assailants of popery, and assisted in confirming the zeal 
 of the protestant majority of the nation. He afterwards 
 took part in the controversy occasioned by Dr. Middleton’s 
 
 Inquiry concerning the Miraculous Powers supposed to 
 have subsisted in the Christian Church from the earliest 
 Ages ;” a dispute in which he was more orthodox than 
 the ingenious author whom he opposed ; who maintained, 
 
 that miracles had ceased at the expiration of the apostolic 
 age. Dr. Warburton also defended revealed religion with 
 spirit against the infidel philosophy of lord Bolingbroke, 
 the annunciation of whose unpublished works hide alarm- 
 ed the votaries of Christianity ; and an answer from him 
 to Hume’s Natural History of Religion, roused into as- 
 perity the feelings of that artful sceptic. 
 
 h 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 The two free-thinkers whom we have here incidentally 
 mentioned, call for more than a transient notice, in a 
 history of that religion which they endeavoured to under- 
 mine and subvert. Bolingbroke was a man of great 
 talents, an able orator, a polite scholar, and an inter- 
 esting writer. As a statesman, however, he did not 
 evince that wisdom which might have been expected from 
 his abilities; and, as a philosopher, he so conducted his 
 inquiries, as to persuade himself into a disbelief of the 
 Christiamgrevelation, while he outwardly supported that 
 establishment which connected this religion with the 
 state. By furnishing his friend, the bard of ‘T'wicken- 
 ham, with the philosophical basis of the Essay on Man, 
 he entailed upon that writer the suspicion either of being 
 unfriendly to revelation, or of not fully comprehending the 
 tendency of his own poem. Crousaz, a Swiss professor, 
 reprobated the Essay as a system of fatality and natura- 
 lism ; and, although it was vindicated by Warburton, the 
 defence Was not generally regarded as satisfactory. Po ope, 
 however, thought the attack sufficiently repelled, and 
 thanked his clerical advocate for what he termed a clear 
 and full answer to the charge. 
 
 Bolingbroke’s chief attacks upon Christianity were com- 
 pr ehended in his posthumous works. ‘These he ordered to 
 be published ;* and therefore he deserves the stigma of a 
 propagator of impiety; a practice which he had condemned 
 (in a private letter) as mischievously atrocious. As soon 
 as they appeared, they were read with avidity ; but they 
 did not answer the expectations either of his friends or of 
 the public in general. His reasoning was found to be fee- 
 ble and inconclusive ; and his weapon, instead of being the 
 club of a giant, s seemed merely to be the dart of a pigmy. 
 
 David Hume possessed greater acuteness than the pro- 
 fane peer. His vanity would not suffer him to wait for 
 his death before he should illuminate the world with his 
 anti-religious writings ; and he attacked Christianity with 
 a degree of insiduous art, which seduced many readers 
 into the paths of infidelity. He ridiculed the belief in 
 miracles, and sneered at other parts of the Christian creed. 
 Campbell and Adams took the field against him, as cham- 
 pions of the miraculous powers of the apostolic age ; and 
 other divines defended with zeal the general cause of or- 
 thodoxy. It was in consequence of his infidelity, that he 
 was disappointed of a professorship of moral philosophy, 
 which he wished to obtain ; and, in the general assembly 
 of the kirk, it was proposed that a vote of censure should 
 pass against him for his attacks upon the religion of his 
 country; but this was not deemed necessary by the 
 majority. In the words of Bolingbroke, (applied to free- 
 thinkers in general,) Hume was a pest of society, because 
 he endeavoured to loosen its bands, and to remove at least 
 one curb out of the mouth of that wild beast, man, who 
 required many more curbs. 
 
 While infidelity spread on one hand, sectarianism ot 
 nonconformity increased on the other. The Baptists, 
 Anabaptists, or Anti-pzedo-baptists, were then gaining 
 ground in this country. The remonstrant or general 
 Baptists were openly joined, in 1747, by the learned but 
 eccentric Whiston, who was of opinion that they were 
 the best Christians in the kingdom, both in doctrine and 
 
 *Weld’s Travels through the States of North America, in the years 
 1795, 1796, and 1797; letter XXXVil. 
 
 > Until the Refor mation, it was the general opinion, that a miraculous 
 power had continued in the church from the era of Chri istianity. It was 
 
 afterwards maintained by protestants, that such a power did not extend 
 beyond the first three centuries from that epoch; but the Romanist 
 affirm, that it is still exercised by the saints of their church. 
 
 ° The editor was David Mallet, the poet. 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 practice, and “the only body of Christian people who 
 rightly constituted their three orders 
 governors, 
 and deacons.” He recommended their dnmersion of 
 adulis, as the genuine practice of the apostolic age: he 
 agreed with them in be lieving the millennium ; ‘and he 
 adopted, with them, the idea ‘of hades, or an “ interme- 
 diate state and place between heaven and hell.” He was 
 pleased with their “abstaining from blood and things 
 strangled,” and with the practice of some of their congre- 
 gations, of praying over the sick, and “anointing them 
 with holy oil, upon the confession of their sins ;” and, 
 with many of those sectaries, he denied original sin. But 
 he blamed them for dipping only once, instead of practis- 
 ing the érine immersion ; for using wine undiluted with 
 water in the sacrament (an abuse which, he said, had also 
 crept into the foreign protestant churches ;) and for re- 
 quiring that such as had been baptized in infancy, or by 
 sprinkling, should be re-baptized before they could be 
 admitted into this sect.* 
 
 He afterwards endeavoured to form a union of the Bap- 
 tists with the presbyterians and independents ; and, with 
 this view, he recommended and re-published some “ heads 
 of agreement assented to by the united ministers in and 
 about London,® formerly called presbyterian and con- 
 gregational.” But all his efforts, and those of other divines 
 in the same cause, were rendered abortive by the prejudices 
 of some, the vanity of others, and the general want of a 
 conciliatory spirit. 
 
 The Calvinistic or particular Baptists, who had little 
 communication with the former class, augmented their 
 number much more considerably than the remonstrant 
 or Arminian division; but they had not in their sect so 
 many respectable ministers as the other class could boast. 
 Some congregations of both classes were also called Sab- 
 batarians, from keeping their sabbath on Saturday. 
 
 With an exception of the time of Oliver Cromwell, when 
 a Baptist church subsisted at Edinburgh, no traces of the 
 sect have been discovered in Scotland before the year 1765, 
 when a congregation was formed by Mr. Carmichael and 
 Mr. Mac-Lean. 'The latter not only assisted the former in 
 preaching, but wrote several vindications of Believer-Bap- 
 ism, against the attacks of the advocates of infant-sprink- 
 ling. ‘hese ministers and their followers maintained, 
 that, as only the baptism of believers could be justified by 
 Scripture, infants, being unable to believe, ought not to 
 be made partakers of that sacrament: yet, they thought, 
 there was reason to conclude that children, recommended 
 to Christ by the prayers of believing parents, would be 
 saved, even without that holy ceremony. ‘They admitted 
 that mere baptism, without proofs of faith and spiritual 
 conversion, would be insufficient to save adults. Faith, 
 they said, would operate in that respect without good 
 works ; yet the effect of true faith and of God’s grace 
 would appear in the performance of just, virtuous, and 
 benevolent acts.° 
 
 In the same division of this island, another party quitted 
 the establishment,‘ and assumed the title of the reformed 
 
 ® Memoirs of the Life of Mr. William Whiston, written by himself, 
 
 p. 461—487.—Before this divine entered into the fr aternity of Baptists, 
 Fiseit ablest defender was Dr. John Gale, whose animadversions on Dr. 
 W all’s History of Infant Baptism influenced James Foster tojoin the sect. 
 This convert became an admired preacher and an esteemed writer; and 
 his merit would have reflected honour upon any society.—We may here 
 incidentally mention the growing connexion between the baptists and 
 
 No. LXI. 
 
 ” 
 
 of ecclesiastical | 
 bishops [angels or messengers], presbyters, 
 
 729 
 
 Presbytery ; a less modest denomination than the dis- 
 senting Presbylery, an appellation which has also been 
 given to these descendants of the old supporters of the 
 solemn league and covenant. Persecuted in the reigns of 
 the arbitrary brothers, Charles and James, the covenanters 
 enjoyed tranquillity after the Revolution: but they were 
 not satisfied with the religious arrangements of that period. 
 They looked back with regret. to the good old times, when 
 the reformed faith was at its zenith in Scotland, and when 
 the three kingdoms were united in the sacred bonds of the 
 same pure religion. Lamenting the defection of the na- 
 tional rulers, and the majority of the people, from the true 
 principles of the Reformation, a party of religious mal- 
 contents renounced all connexion with the revolution kirk, 
 and, under the guidance of Mac-Millan and Nairn, formed 
 a seceding presbytery. By these ministers, others were 
 selected for the same functions ; ; and the secession has been 
 continued to the present time. Beside the congregations 
 of this complexion in North Britain, there are several in 
 Ireland, and some in North America. 'The members pro- 
 fess to follow the Scripture as their principal guide, and 
 the ordinances of the Westminster assembly in the next 
 place. ‘They disapprove the high authority assumed by 
 the state over the church of Christ, as the fruit of worldly 
 policy, rather than a claim justified by the genuine spirit 
 of religion. Yet they submit peaceably to the higher 
 powers, and do not indulge in the clamours of sedition or 
 the murmurs of disaffection. 
 
 Their worship is thus described by one of their own 
 ministers :* “ Public prayers, with the heart, and with the 
 understanding also, and in a known tongue, but not in 
 written or in humanly prescribed forms; singing psalms 
 of divine inspiration, and these alone ; reading and ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures; preaching and receiving the 
 word ; administering and receiving the sacraments of 
 baptism and the Lord’s supper; together with public fasting 
 and thanksgiving ; are considered by them as the div inely 
 instituted ordinances of religious worship, while they reject 
 all ceremonies of Human invention.” 
 
 While these reformers were slowly increasing their num- 
 bers, a more considerable sect, in the year 1752, departed 
 from the establishment. Mr. Gillespie, having opposed 
 the reception of a new minister, whose appointment was 
 unpleasing to the majority of the imhabitants of Inver- 
 keithing, was expelled from the church in which he offi- 
 ciated ; ‘but he soon found follow ers, who, like him, wished 
 to throw the election of pastors into the hands of the peo- 
 ple, and formed a congregation at Dunfermline. ‘The 
 Presbytery of Relief, in allusion to the desired relief 
 from the arbitrary rigour of the laws of patronage, was 
 the denomination assumed by this body of seceders. They 
 were more liberal than the generality of presbyterians for 
 they were willing to admit into their communion all those 
 who seemed worthy of being called Christians, however 
 they might differ with regard to particular points. ‘l'beir 
 congregations continued to multiply ; and, about the close 
 of the century, above sixty places .f worship belonged to 
 the association. 
 
 pags 
 independents, the latter usually admitting the former into their com- 
 munion. 
 
 >In the year 1691. 
 
 ¢ Adam’s Religious World Displayed, vol. iii. p. 233, &c. 
 
 4 In the year 1743. 
 
 ¢ In an account of the Old Dissenters, sent to Mr. Adam‘ or insertion 
 in his Religious World. 
 
730 
 
 Above twenty years after the formation of the Presby- 
 tery of Relief, the Berean* sect arose in Scotland. Mr. 
 Barclay, who was its founder, represented a mere belief 
 of the Gospel as producing an absolute certainty of salva- 
 tion. “ Faith in Christ,” he said, “and an assurance of 
 salvation through his merits, are inseparable, or rather the 
 
 same.” As this faith, he added, is the gift of God alone, 
 
 so the individual to whom it is imparted is as conscious 
 of eons it as he is of his existence; and the assur- 
 ance of it is “established, with the resurrection from the 
 dead, upon the direct testimony of God, believed in the 
 heart.” ‘This is, apparently, a confident and presumptu- 
 ous statement of the nature of faith, and a personal ap- 
 plication of general passages of Scripture. In the opinion 
 of the Bereans, unbelief is the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
 which has been pronounced u npardonable. They admit 
 the most profligate characters into their society, if a belief 
 ef the Gospel be declared by the applicants; but these 
 members, if they should afterwards disgrace themselves, 
 are excluded from the Berean pale. 
 
 The leaders of these sects propagated their sentiments 
 by the press, as well as in the pulpit; and hence frequent 
 controversies arose. Among the religious disputes which 
 have excited attention in the present reign, that which 
 related to confessions may claim early mention. It was 
 the opinion of many, both divines and laymen, that the 
 freedom of conscience and of sentiment ought not to be so 
 far obstructed, even in an established church, as to render an 
 occasional disagreement in unessential points a ground of 
 exclusion from the emoluments of that church; that, when 
 the bulk of a nation agree in a reformed religion, precise 
 and circumstantialconfessions of faith are unnecessary; and 
 and that subscription to a variety of articles, not all closely 
 connected or concordant, ought by no means to be enforced. 
 Mr. Francis Blackburne, a respectable divine, maintained 
 these points with ability in a work entitled “ the Confes- 
 sional,” or a full and free enquiry into the right, utility, edi- 
 fication, and success, of establishing systematic Confessions 
 of faith and doctrine in Protestant Churches.” Many pens 
 were drawn against this work; and the propriety of sub- 
 scription was strongly vindicated. ‘The opposer of confes- 
 sions did not resign the preferments which he had already 
 obtained, but was so far conscientious as to reject the offer 
 of an additional benefice.. He had previously entered into 
 a controversy respecting a state of happiness or misery 
 between death and the resurrection, (a supposition which 
 he did not consider as sufficiently ‘countenanced by the 
 Scriptures ;) and he afterwards took part in the dispute 
 with the catholics, in a manner which did not accord with 
 his usual benignity and liberality of mind. He contended 
 against the grant of toleration to those who were unwil- 
 ling to allow it to others; but true generosity will prompt 
 w person to do more for others than they will do for him ; 
 and it ought to be considered, that the catholics of that 
 time were not so bigoted or intolerant as those of former 
 periods. 
 
 By those members of the church who agreed with Mr. 
 
 *So called from the Bereans of the apostolic age, who “ received the 
 word with all readiness of mind (era méons roo0vpias,) and searched the 
 Scriptures daily.” » Which first appeared in 1766. 
 
 ¢ Those of South Britain in 1791, and those of Scotland in 1793.—In 
 the time between those years, the penal laws against the Scottish epis- 
 copaians were abrugated, as the death of the pretender had induced 
 them to acquiesce, with seeming cordiality, in the claims of the house of 
 Hanover. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &< 
 
 Blackburne on the subject of religicus confessions, a peti- 
 tion was signed, and presented in 1772 to the house of 
 commons. ‘I'he Tory members strongly opposed the re- 
 quest of those whom they considered as latitudinarian 
 religionists ; and the assembly refused to relax the rigour 
 of compulsory subscription. A similar application being 
 made by the protestant dissenters, the commons agreed to 
 a bill in their favour ; which, however, the house of peers 
 rejected. ‘he catholic dissenters, six years afterwards, 
 obtained indulgences for which they had long wished. 
 They were permitted to meet publicly in chapels, keep 
 schools, and hold landed property, on taking the oath of 
 allegiance, and denying that the bishop of Rome had any 
 temporal power or jurisdiction in Great Britain. 'The pres- 
 byterians and other protestant sects then renewed their 
 request for a release from subscription; and the legislature 
 no longer refused compliance. 
 
 After a long interval, during which the catholics were 
 distinguished by their peaceable behaviour, they were 
 placed in the same predicament with the orthodox subjects 
 of Great Britain, (except with regard to places and employ- 
 ments, ) on disclaiming the intolerant spirit and sanguinary 
 zeal of their church against supposed heretics.¢ 
 
 The catholics of Ireland were more favoured than those 
 of Great Britain; for they were declared eligible to all 
 posts and employments, except some of the highest under 
 the crown, and were allowed to vote for parliamentary can- 
 didates. It may seem surprising, that they should be more 
 gratified and indulged, in a country where their great 
 superiority of number might make it hazardous to trust 
 them with power, than ina kingdom where they formed a 
 very small proportion of the community : but it was deemed 
 a point of policy to conciliate the sect. When the union 
 with Ireland took place, strong hopes were entertained, by 
 the catholics, of the grant of every thing which they could 
 desire : but the reigning prince repeatedly declared, that 
 he could not conscientiously agree to their complete eman- 
 cipation, which, he thought, would be repugnant to the 
 clause in his coronation-oath, binding him to support the 
 church, as by law established. Yet, if both houses of 
 parliament should vote a bill for the gratification of the 
 catholics, his assent to it might be vindicated, as those two 
 assemblies, in concert with the sovereign, are allowed to 
 make greater alterations than the mere grant of the remain- 
 ing demands of a tolerated sect. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity, in which the church of 
 England and the catholics agree, employed at various 
 times the pens of controversial theologians. Some thought 
 it incomprehensible ; others laboured to explain it on ra- 
 tional principles; and some opposed it, as unsupported either 
 by reason or by Scripture. After having sustained occa- 
 sional and desultory attacks, it was exposed toa systema- 
 tic assault from Dr. Joseph Priestley, who endeavoured to 
 prove that it was not the opinion of the early Christians, 
 and that it was introduced by artifice and imposture, in 
 repugnance to repeated declarations both of the Old and 
 New 'Testament.? 
 
 4JIn an Essay on Spirit, Anti-Trinitarian notions were boldly urged, 
 in 1751, by a clergyman of the Irish establishment;“and Dr. Clayton, 
 bishop of Clogher, who had adopted it as his own work, afterwards pro- 
 posed, to the peers of Ireland, the omission of the Athanasian and 
 Nicene creeds in the service of the church. The zeal of the aioe 
 hastened his death; for, when he had renewed his attack npon the 
 Trinity, he was menaced with a prosecution, the dread of ieee threw 
 him intoa nervous fever. 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Dr. Priestley was a man of considerable .alents, of an 
 ardent and active spirit, who wished at once to shine as a 
 philosopher, a divine and a politician. He certainly ex- 
 tended our knowledge of air, and of other natural objects : 
 but we are less indebted to him for his endeavours to 
 enlighten mankind in theology or in the art of govern- 
 ment. In_ politics, he was inclined to republicanism ; in 
 religion, he entertained various notions which are exploded 
 by more erudite biblical scholars and more profound divines. 
 Unawed by the terrors of the law, which denounced pu- 
 nishment against all who, in sermons or in writings, denied 
 the 'T'rinity, he gave new vigour to the Socinian doctrine, 
 and maintained that Christ was a mere man, divinely com- 
 missioned indeed, but not God himself, or the son of God. 
 He even went farther than Socinus, and affirmed that Jesus 
 wasonly entitled to respect, not to adoration or worship, from 
 the world which he so essentially served. He and his follow- 
 ers unwilling tobe called Socinians, claimed the appellation 
 of Unitarians, as they preferred the idea of one God to that 
 doctrine which represented the Deity as consisting of three 
 persons, equal in power and dignity. Mr. Lindsey warmly 
 supported the same opinion; and he, as well as Dr. Disney, 
 resigned a benefice, from a conscientious preference of the 
 divine Unity to the Trinity. The number of Unitarians, 
 from this time, rapidly increased; and they seemed to think 
 themselves the only rational professors of religion, while 
 the 'Trinitarians did not regard them as true Christians. 
 
 To avoid the terrors of the law, the Unitarians made an 
 appeal to that tolerating spirit which, they hoped, would 
 actuate the majority of the house of commons. ‘They pe- 
 titioned that assembly for the repeal of all penalties de- 
 nounced against those who denied the Trinity ; and Mr. 
 Fox supported their pretensions with animated eloquence. 
 But their request was not granted, because many of the 
 members considered them as a dangerous set of men, and 
 others thought it unnecessary to abrogate the law in ques- 
 tion, as it was suffered by the lenity of the government to 
 lie dormant. 
 
 Dr. Priestley and many of his Unitarian brethren main- 
 tained another doctrine, which excited strong opposition, — 
 that of materialism. They asserted that the soul, though 
 a sentient principle, was the mere result of an organized 
 system of matter ;* and that, consequently, death would 
 extinguish all consciousness ; but that a resurrection was 
 still possible, and even probable. 'This doctrine led to that 
 of necessity, or the necessary agency of human beings, 
 which this philosopher strenuously inculcated. It extended 
 to the aind what was known to belong to matter : it re- 
 presented the causes of volition and action, in the former, 
 as equally decisive and irresistible with the impellants of 
 the material world. These opinions were combated by 
 various writers, both in and out of the establishment ; and 
 the debated points are not yet decided ; for the disputes of 
 theologians are endless. 
 
 * Early in the century of which we are treating, Dr. Coward had pro- 
 pagated a similar doctrine; and his Grand Essay, as he styled his work 
 upon this subject, was followed by Dodwell’s “ Epistolary Discourse, 
 proving, from the Scriptures and the first fathers, that the soul is a prin- 
 ciple naturally mortal, but immortalized actually by the pleasure of God, 
 to punishment or reward, by its union with the divine baptismal 
 spirit.” Dr. Hartley afterwards discussed the same topic in his Essay 
 on Man (published in 1749,) and referred thought, reflection, judgment, 
 &c. to tne laws of animal organization ; thus endeavouring to invalidate 
 the idea of a separate immaterial soul, while he seemed, in some parts 
 o. lis work, to be inclined to adopt it. La Metherie and Helvetius 
 
 ” 
 
 771 
 
 On one of these topics we may observe, that the pro- 
 perties of the soul are so essentially different from those of 
 matter, as fo produce a conviction (even if we had no re- 
 velation to guide us in our inquiries,) that these two parts 
 of our composition are decidedly dissimilar, notwithstand- 
 ing the connexion of one with the other, and the recipro- 
 cal influence of each. If the ideas of the materialists, 
 however, be adopted, the resurrection (it would seem) will 
 not be that which we are taught to expect, namely, that 
 of identity, but the excitation of the spark of life in new 
 frames. ‘This is a very gloomy and discouraging doc- 
 trine, and one that no good man would be disposed to 
 propagate. 
 
 ‘he second opinion is represented by its advocates as 
 the only mode of doing justice to the } rescience and om- 
 niscience of the Deity. Whatever is done by any one, 
 must, they say, have been fore-known and pre-determined 
 by the Almighty : yet persons, they add, are not absolutely 
 compelled to act as they do, although it be fated that they 
 should so act; for they are still “influenced by motives, 
 and have therefore some freedom of choice, being unac- 
 quainted with the pre-determination of God respecting 
 what they should do, or forbear to do. For instance, 
 when a man has been guilty of robbery or murder, which 
 his Creator knew that he would commit, these reasoners 
 say, that he had the liberty of avoiding either of those 
 crimes, but that God permitted him to incur this guilt, 
 instead of preventing him by a particular exertion of pro 
 vidence. Some of these Necessitarians even boast, that 
 their system is the only theory consistent with true mora- 
 lity ; but, if definite circumstances (to use their expres- 
 sions) produce definite volitions, where will be the merit 
 of a good action, or the demerit of a bad one? Their 
 scheme detracts from the goodness, justice, and wisdom 
 of the Deity, by holding him up to view as an encourager 
 of evil, and as a punisher of those who, from fate or ne- 
 cessity, have fallen into wickedness or guilt. Others 
 pretend, that, if the mind had a self-determining power, 
 the world would be a scene of confusion, and the purposes 
 of God might be defeated: for a self-governing mind, 
 therefore, they substitute motives that cannot be effectually 
 controlled or resisted. The supposed derangement of the 
 plans of Providence is an absurd supposition, in the case 
 of an omnipotent Creator; and the idea of irresistible 
 impulse is repugnant to that obvious freedom which ena- 
 bles an individual to act from choice, and frequently to 
 follow the suggestions of wild caprice. 
 
 Upon this and other points of metaphysical theology, 
 arguments might be multiplied on both sides by the so- 
 phistry of disputation ; but it is unnecessary to dwell on 
 a subject in which absolute certainty cannot be attained 
 by our limited faculties. A Thomas Aquinas or a Duns 
 Scotus might spin out a long thread of argument upon 
 stich a topic; but, though they would amuse some, 
 
 more decidedly and avowedly maintained the doctrine of Materialism; 
 and |’FHomme Machine of the former was publicly burned in Holland. 
 Priestley was chiefly influenced by the reasoning of Hartley, and alsa 
 by that of Dr. Law, to adopt sentiments which exposed him to the im- 
 putation of infidelity and even of atheism. 
 
 > Not (said Priestley) from the light or evidence of nature, but from 
 the authority of Scripture, and the example of Christ’s resurrection. 
 
 ¢ Priestley first imbibed his notions of necessity from Collins, who, in 
 1715, had published a Philosophical Inquiry into Human Liberty, 
 Leibnitz had previously given to the world his Essays on the Goodness 
 of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil in which he viv 
 
732 
 
 they would weary others, and give little instruction to 
 any. 
 
 The Unitarians, in recent times, have found some art- 
 ful and plausible vindicators of their doctrine ; and they 
 have been so elevated by their success in making prose- 
 
 lytes, that they seem to expect the ultimate triumph of 
 
 their creed. ‘They assure themselves, that a great num- 
 ber of Christians who profess an adherence to the church 
 of England, really chink with them, but are deterred by 
 motives of interest from an avowal of their opinions. 
 
 The majority of modern Unitarians afiirm, that, as far 
 as they can judge from Scripture, from which all Chris- 
 tians profess to deduce their doctrines, Christ had no 
 existence before the time assigned for his human. birth ;* 
 that he was not miraculously conceived ; and that he i is 
 not God, nor was ever invested with a super-human na- 
 ture. But they allow, that he was chosen by the Crea- 
 tor of the world to be a medium of communication 
 between him and fallen man, to teach truth and righteous- 
 ness, and lead sinners to repentance and salvation ; and 
 that he obtained the favour of resurrection, as a reward 
 for his obedience to the divine commands, without atoning 
 (in the sense of the 'T'rinitarians) for the sins of men by 
 his sufferings and death. ‘They consider the Holy Ghost 
 not as a distinct person, but as a mere emanation of the 
 Deity ; and they are not even willing to allow, that it has 
 any extraordinary influence or operation upon the mind 
 or heart, so as to produce a disposition to piety. ‘They 
 differ from the Methodists in denying the necessity or 
 utility of grace, and in earnestly recommending integrity, 
 good works, and social kindness; and many of them 
 agree with the Universalists, in thinking that the punish- 
 ment of the most flagitious sinners will only be tempo- 
 rary, and that the whole human race will finally be 
 “ oathered unto Christ.” ‘ 
 
 Some of the Unitarians entered into a controversy with 
 the followers of Swedenborg, a Swedish baron, with 
 whose ideas of the ‘Trinity they were disgusted. This 
 nobleman published Arcana Celestia, (Heavenly Se- 
 crets,) Angelic Wisdom, the True Christian Religion, a 
 ‘Treatise upon Heaven and Hell, and many other works. 
 It may excite BUT DPIRG, that a being, merely human, 
 should pretend to know so much of heaven and hell, or 
 presume to judge so confidently of the precise nature of 
 both those kingdoms, as did baron Swedenborg: but our 
 surprise will abate, when we reflect on the force of enthu- 
 stasm and the unfettered boldness of a wild imagination. 
 The noble Swede fancied that all secrets respecting futu- 
 rity had been disclosed to him, and that he was better 
 enabled and qualified to lead an erring world into the way 
 of truth, than any former or contemporary theologian. 
 He affected to be guided by Scripture in his pursuits sand 
 researches ; but he interpreted its hints according to his 
 own fanciful ideas, and expanded its meaning a a con- 
 
 dicated God’s permission of ie evil, according to the system of 
 necessity, by contending that i it would lead to general 2ood ; and, avoid- 
 ing the predestinarian rigour of Calvin, made benevolence the chief 
 attribute of the Deity. So thought our ancestors, when they gave the 
 name of God (that i is, goodness. in the abstract) to the Divine Being. 
 See Dr. Maclaine’s note [e e] upon the progress of Arminianism, Cent. 
 XVil. sect. 11. part i. chap. 3. 
 * Those Unitarians who are of the Arian class admit the pre-existence 
 of Christ. 
 b Mr. Adam, after remarking that ‘“ Some persons will be disposed to 
 doubt the credibility” of baron “Swedenborg’ s doctrines, ‘on the ground 
 of the utter improbability, that a mortal man, during his residence in a 
 
 ‘many converts. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 formity with his own visionary conceptions. He peopled 
 the new Jerusalem at his pleasure, and regulated its polity 
 by the whimsies of his eccentric brain. He framed a reli- 
 gious world with as much ease as the author of Utopia 
 had formed a civil one; certainly with good intentions, 
 but not always with the soundest judgment. Considering 
 himself as commissioned to enlighten his fellow-creatureg 
 with the knowledge of every thing that concerned their 
 essential and eternal interests, he published his religious 
 code with the air of a dictator, and, as if he had been a 
 a new prophet, pretended to point out the promised land. 
 
 'The writings of this enthusiastic nobleman did not at 
 first produce the desired eflect ; but they gradually at- 
 tracted notice, and at length so far operated as to make 
 Congregations were formed upon his 
 principles, and ministers were animated with a portion ot 
 his zeal. His chief doctrines were of the following com- 
 plexion. He asserted the divinity of Jesus Christ, in 
 whose person, he thought, resided the whole Trinity: a 
 point which he endeavoured to explain by comparing it 
 with the human trinity. As every man, he said, con- 
 sisted of soul, body, and operation, so the ‘Trinity was 
 formed by the Father, or soul, the Son, or divine huma- 
 nity, and the Holy Ghost, or virtue proceeding from the 
 two former. The redemption, he added, was not the 
 mere fruit of the supposed death of Christ, considered ag 
 a sacrifice to the justice or wrath of God, or as an atone- 
 ment for the sins of men, but consisted in the triumph 
 obtained over Satan and other evil spirits, by the exertiong 
 of Jehovah, manifested in the flesh, and appearing in a 
 state of glorified humanity. In substance, perhaps, there 
 is no great difference between this and the ordinary doc- 
 trine of the ‘Trinity. 
 
 Another doctrine, propagated by the baron, was that of 
 man’s co-operation with Christ. An inclination, he said, 
 Was requisite on the part of man (asa free agent,) to work 
 out his own salvation, as it was unreasonable to suppose 
 that he was to remain in a state of indolence, or to ne- 
 glect the duties of his station. We therefore ought so 
 to exert ourselves, as if all our future hopes and prospects 
 depended on our own efforts. Yet, as all our powers are 
 the gifts of God, all the merit we are disposed to claim is 
 not strictly our own, but must be referred to the adorable 
 giver of all grace and virtue: it belongs to Christ, not to 
 man. 
 
 The correspondence between spiritual and natura, 
 things formed the basis of Swedenborg’s doctrine relative 
 to the Scriptures. He affirmed that “they were written 
 with an eye to the natural world, so as to explain divine 
 things by a comparison with those which are plain and 
 obvious. Imagining that he had been favoured with the 
 means of interpreting this correspondence, he was willing 
 to impart, to the well disposed, the mode of obtaining this 
 clue to scriptural truth and celestial wisdom.» 
 
 material body, should have been permitted to enjoy open intercourse with 
 the world of departed spirits, and instructed, dming the uninterruptea 
 period of twenty-seven years, in the internal sense of the Scriptures 
 hitherto undiscovered,” ventures to observe, that “ others (as appears 
 from many respectable instances) will see nothing improbable i all this 
 referring the case to those extraordinary dispensations of the provi- 
 dence of an All-wise and All-Powerful Being, who, in all ages of the 
 world, has been pleased to enlighten and instruect_chosen servants con- 
 cerning his will and kingdom.” The latter opinion seems to be that o. 
 Mr. Adam himself; but we cannot wholly concur with him. As nothing 
 is impossible with God, it is not ¢mpossible that such a communication 
 of his wild might take place; but that, we think, is the utmost extent ta 
 
DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 733 
 
 From the Scriptures, and from his own experience, he |] they had been abolished in the apostolic times, and that 
 
 maintained the connexion between human beings and 
 angels or spirits, by whose influence and aid the former 
 were encoureged to think and act justly, and guided in 
 the most interesting concerns. He did not, however, 
 wish that the idea of this association should preclude a 
 constant attention to holy writ, the grand source of wis- 
 dom and illumination. 
 
 In giving advice for the conduct of life, he inculcated 
 the propriety of avoiding all sins and vices prohibited by 
 the divine law, and of fulfilling every duty required by the 
 laws of government and society. He also enjoined repent- 
 ance as a necessary preparative to justification and accep- 
 tance with God. 
 
 With regard to the resurrection, he declared it to be his 
 opinion, that, as every one has a spifitual frame, enclosed 
 in a material body, the former, after the death of the indi- 
 vidual, would rise again, and dwell for ever with angels, 
 or, in case of incorrigible depravity, with evil spirits. 
 
 The variations between these doctrines and those of 
 the church of England, did not induce the baron’s disci- 
 ples and followers in general to desert the communion of 
 that church ; nor did all the presbyterians, or other dis- 
 senters, who adopted the Swedenborgian tenets, abandon 
 the worship to which they were before attached. The 
 orthodox ministers, however, seemed to consider them as 
 fanatics; and the majority of the dissenters were not 
 pleased with the doctrinal alterations of their respective 
 creeds. Yet the votaries of the New Jerusalem gradually 
 multiplied; and several men of ability entered into the 
 association. ‘heir preachers still have sufficient influence 
 to draw other Christians within their pale, as well as to 
 prevent their former communicants from renouncing the 
 system. 
 
 Another sect, also, boasted of the spiritual joys of the 
 New Jerusalem, but exhibited, in a stronger point of view, 
 the leaven of fanaticism. A party of enthusiasts left 
 England for America in 1774, and settled in the province 
 of New York, where the society soon increased, and re- 
 ceived the ludicrous denomination of Shakers, from the 
 practice of shaking and dancing.s ‘They affected to con- 
 sider themselves as forming the only true church, and 
 their preachers as possessing all the apostolic gifis. The 
 wicked, they thought, would only be punished for a time, 
 with an exception of those who should be so incorrigibly 
 depraved as to fall from ¢heir church: for these miserable 
 offenders, there would be no forgiveness. Baptism was 
 not practised by these sectaries; nor did they celebrate 
 the eucharist. They did not object to those sacramental 
 ceremonies as improper in themselves, but alleged that 
 
 which a rational Christian can proceed in this argument. To see no- 
 thing zmprobable in it, argues a degree of superstitious credulity, which 
 we should not have expected to find in a modern clergyman. What 
 reason can we have to suppose that God would impart his will, by a 
 supernatural medium, to a person who had no claim to such peculiarity 
 of distinction, after the lapse of many ages from a similar revelation, 
 and at a time when the most enlightened nations acquiesced in, and 
 seemed satisfied with, the scriptural knowledge that they had already 
 acquired ? Is there any thing, in the intimations of Swedenborg, so much 
 more important and material than the former treasure of divine wisdom, 
 as to justify the belief of a new revelation? If we admit his zpse 
 dixit, we may also believe the declaration of the Arabian legislator, 
 who affirmed that he had received from heaven, by the angel Gabriel, 
 the substance of the koran; or we may give credit to the legends and 
 pretended miracles in the lives of the Romish saints; listen with im- 
 plicit faith to the reveries of Jacob Behman, and regard the vaticinations 
 of Joanna Southcott, as the prophetic effusions of unerring wisdom! 
 
 No. LXI. 
 
 they were particularly unnecessary in the present age, as 
 the new dispensation, (at least with regard to their soci- 
 ety) was beginning to take place. This was an allusion 
 to the Millennium ; in which period, they said, Christ 
 would not appear personally, butonly by hissainted votaries. 
 Their leader was Anna Lee, who, they ridiculously pre- 
 tended, was the woman mentioned by St. John as a great 
 wonder.’ ‘The successors of this elect lady have been, 
 they say, as perfect in their characters as she was, have 
 enjoyed unreserved intercourse with departed spirits and 
 with angels, and have possessed the power of imparting 
 a plenitude of spiritual blessings to their disciples. 
 
 The Shakers chiefly confined themselves to New Eng- 
 land and New York, scarcely making any proselytes in 
 the other provinces of North America, from Lake Ontario 
 to the frontiers of Florida. During the subjection of those 
 provinces to the sway of Great Britain, the religion of the 
 church of England prospered in a very inconsiderable de- 
 gree among the colonial communities, in comparison with 
 presbyterianism, or with the prevailing system of the inde- 
 pendents: yet it gradually gained ground, as the people 
 became more polished in their manners, and less infected 
 with puritanical austerity. "The prelate, to whose autho- 
 rity the Trans-Atlantic episcopalians then submitted, was 
 the bishop of London: but, when the provinces rose to _ 
 the dignity of an independent state, this spiritual con- 
 nexion ceased with the political ties which had bound 
 them to the mother-country. As a new director of the 
 headless church was deemed requisite, application was 
 made to some English prelates for the canonical conse- 
 cration of a bishop, who was to reside in the province of 
 Connecticut. The divine upon whom the Americans 
 fixed, was Dr. Seabury, who had been employed as a 
 missionary by the society for the propagation of the Gos- 
 pel.¢ The doubts and hesitation of the prelates of Eng- 
 land, with regard to the mode of proceeding in this case, 
 on account of the new predicament in which the provin- 
 cials stood, induced the reverend stranger to apply to those 
 of Scotland ; and by them he was gratified, in the year 
 1784, with the episcopal honour and dignity. ‘The par- 
 liament afterwards deliberated upon this affair, and enact- 
 ed a bill which empowered either the primate or the arch- 
 bishop of York to consecrate subjects of foreign states to 
 the rank and office of bishop. In consequence of this 
 statute, two clergymen, one from Philadelphia, the other 
 from New York, were invested by the archbishop of Can- 
 terbury and some of his brethren, in 1787, with the epis- 
 copal character ; and the sanction thus given to the views 
 of the American episcopalians promoted the growth and 
 
 * These devotees, in their religious exercises, resemble the Jumpers 
 of Wales, who thus testify their joy for spiritual blessings. 
 
 » “ There appeared a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon un- 
 der her feet, and upon her head acrown of twelve stars.” Revelations, xii. 1. 
 
 ¢“ Erskine’s Sketches of Church-History.— The Dunkers of North 
 America (so called from their baptizirig by immersion) formed a sect 
 long before the Shakers, but never became so numerous as these reli- 
 gionists. In the year 1777, their number did not exceed 500, Their 
 principal tenet is, that future happiness can only be secured by penance 
 and mortification. They deny the imputation of Adam’s sin to his pos- 
 terity, and the eternity of punishment for wickedness; hate war and 
 violence, and protest against the practise of enslaving others. ‘They 
 allow marriage; and yet do not seem to entertain a high opinion of the 
 sanctity of that union, as they compel those who have thus fallen into 
 the snare of temptation to retire to a distant settlement. ’ 
 
 4 This society had been enabled, by the subscriptions and legacies of 
 well-disposed Christians, to make considerable progress, not only in 
 
734 
 
 respectability of their church. A convention of this church 
 had already been holden at Philadelphia ;* and, in that 
 assembly, some alterations had been made in the liturgy 
 and service of the church of England, and the thirty-nine 
 articles werereduced totwenty. In asulsequentconvention, 
 . several of these alterations were revoked, and all intentions 
 of departing from our church in any essential point of 
 doctrine, discipline, or worship, were disclaimed. From this 
 ime the number of E;piscopalians continued to increase in 
 he territories of the United States; so that, in the penul- 
 timate year of the century, fifty-two congregations of that 
 description were reckoned in Connecticut, ‘twenty- five in 
 New-Jersey, and sixteen in the Massachusetts state, be- 
 side a considerable number in other parts of the republican 
 territory. Seven bishops then presided over thischurch, and 
 it boasted of a university and an academy at Philadelphia. 
 A small party or association, which may be thought 
 worthy of some notice among the varied sects of the age, 
 arose in England from the zeal of Joanna Southcott. 
 This crafty or enthusiastic female offered herself to notice 
 as a prophetess in the year 1792; and she soon met with 
 friends and admirers. She pretended that she was 
 influenced and tuiored by the Holy Spirit, and that her 
 unlimited obedience to that divine power had procured 
 for her the signal honour of being commissioned to 
 announce the approaching accomplishment of scriptural 
 promises, the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on the 
 ruin of that of Satan, andthe redemption of pious believers 
 and penitent sinners from the affects of the fall of man. 
 She intimated that various disasters and calamities would 
 befall the nations, as warnings toa. sinful world; but that 
 these awful visitations would have less immediate effect 
 upon other communities than upon the people of this fa- 
 voured island, who enjoyed the benefit of her personal 
 presence. ‘This nation, she said, would have the good 
 fortune to be the first redeemed from the bondage of sin 
 
 and the tyranny of Satan, and would become an instru- 
 
 ment in the hands of Providence for awakening the rest of 
 the world to a lively sense of true religion.» Such a sup- 
 position is an instance of patriotic enthusiasm, rather than 
 the fruit of just reasoning, or the dictate of a sound mind. 
 
 Another pretended prophet was a naval officer of. the 
 name of Brothers, who, for giving hints of the king’s 
 eventual dethronement, when he (the prophet) should be 
 recognised as prince of the Hebrew nation, was appre- 
 hended as a seditious delinquent. Mr. Halhed, a sena- 
 tor of distinguished learning, but apparently not of sound 
 judgment, vindicated the fanatical effusions of Brothers, 
 and gravely advised the national representatives to peruse 
 his writings, that they might have a chance of religious 
 conversion. ‘I'he officer was afterwards confined as a 
 lunatic, and was thus deprived of an opportunity of for m- 
 ing a sect. 
 
 Of those who have faith in supposed prophecies, many 
 (particularly the most sinful) may be more disposed to lis- 
 ten to the deliberate opinions of the Universalists, than to 
 the reveries of Southcott or Brothers. rom several pas- 
 sages of Scripture, alluding to the restitution of all things 
 
 converting the Awnatt ican savages, but also in diffusing among the cole 
 nists the doctrines of the church of England. In the year 1785. 
 > Sketch of the Denominations of the Chri ristian World, by the Rev. 
 John Evans, the eleventh ‘dition, p. 221—225 
 “Dr: Chauncy, of Bost .n, was also a zealous advocate for this doc- 
 
 be universal ; : 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 and the reconciliation of all to the Father by the blood of 
 the cross, the celebrated Origen, and other divines in suc- 
 cessive ages, inferred that redemption and salvation would 
 that, if punishment should be inflicted upon 
 sinners, it would be temporary ; and that an eternity of 
 happiness would follow. They entertained the idea of 
 election, in a sense which implied that some were chosen 
 but merely as examples to others, and as the first-fruits of 
 the harvest of salvation. Baxter had softened the rigours 
 of Calvinism by admitting, that every one had a portion 
 of grace, with which he might work out his own salva- 
 tion; so that if he should not attain everlasting life, it 
 would be his own fault. He gave name to a sect which 
 so understood his meaning ; but we now hear little of the 
 Baxterians. The Universalists were, more positively 
 and determinately, the advocates of fallen man. 
 
 A distinguished modern supporter of the doctrine of 
 universal restoration was Mr. Elhanan Winchester, a 
 native of North America, who visited Great Britain about 
 the year 1787, with a view of disseminating his consola- 
 tory tenets. He published a course of lectures which he 
 had delivered with applause, upon the “ Prophecies 
 remaining to be fulfilled,” and also Dialogues on Universal 
 Restoration. 
 
 The Rellyan universalists may here be mentioned. 
 They are the followers of Mr. James Relly, who entered 
 into public life as an associate of Whitefield, but at length 
 renounced his Calvinistic opinions, and preached salvation 
 to all. He believed in “a resurrection to life, and a re- 
 surrection to condemnation.” Believers only, he thought, 
 would enjoy the former, and dwell with Christ in ~his 
 kingdom of the millennium ; but unbelievers, after being 
 
 raised from death would be obliged to wait, in darkness 
 and under wrath, the ultimate manifestation of the 2 great 
 Redeemer of the world. 
 
 These sectaries were stigmatised as antinomians by 
 their adversaries ; but, as they recommended morality and 
 good works, they disclaimed the imputation. With re- 
 gard to antinomianism, we may here observe, that it tends 
 to encourage every species of immorality. It releases its 
 votaries from the ties of moral honour, and the duties of 
 social life. If respectable individuals belong to the sect, 
 they were not rendered so by the tenets which they pro- 
 fess, but by the innate goodness of character, which the 
 wild effusions of their ministers have not corrupted. Let 
 piety and devotion be encouraged; but let not morality 
 and rectitude be superseded by affected purity of reli- 
 gious zeal. ‘Those sectaries who deride good works, are 
 not good members of society ; for they endeavour to loos- 
 en its bonds, and to invalidate its regulations. If we 
 were not advocates for unlimited toleration, we should 
 wish that the latitude of antinomianism might be restrain- 
 ed by public authority. 
 
 The antinomian system has been refuted by various 
 writers; and, as it has not been (nor can be) defended 
 with equal ability, it rarely makes the least impression 
 upon men of sense. It is still professed, however in some 
 parts of Great Britain and of Germany. In 1761, one of 
 
 was controverted by the president Edwards and his son; the latter of 
 Whom imputed to Chauncy a provisional retention of the scheme of 
 Destruction, if the system of the Universalists should not be tenable. 
 The abettors of the scheme alluded to, maintain that the wicked will 
 neither be subjected to endless misery, nor be finally saved, but will be 
 
 trine; whence the Universalists are sometimes called by his name, It j| Involved in total destruction. 
 
: DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 735 
 
 its professors maintained, that prayers for the forgiveness || against them by the general assembly ; but they boldly 
 
 of our sins are unnecessary ; that repentance is not requi- 
 site; that no judgment will take place after this life, and 
 no punishme nt will be inflicted ; that Christ, by subduing 
 the evil spirit, introduced universal righteousness, and 
 thus redeemed all mankind from what would otherwise 
 have been the effect of sin. Many antinomians, on the 
 contrary, are rigid Calvinists, and, by their doctrine of 
 partial, or indeed general, reprobation, endeavour to coun- 
 teract the last mentioned opinion. 
 
 The different sects, beside their habitual eagerness to 
 disseminate their particular notions among other classes 
 
 of Christians, were in general well disposed to propagate | 
 
 Christianity among heathen tribes: ; and a few years be- 
 fore the century closed, the consideration of the benight- 
 ed state of pagan ignorance, in which the inhabitants of 
 the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean were involved, 
 prompted the friends of religion to form an extensive 
 scheme of missionary exertion. Some clergymen of the 
 establishment, and of almost every sect, concurred in the 
 scheme: but it appears to have been devised and chiefly 
 promoted by Calvinistic Methodists. When subscrip- 
 tions had produced a sufficiency of pecuniary supplies for 
 the commencement of the enterprise, a ship was freighted 
 with every requisite, and sent out under the command of 
 Mr. Wilson, who had as much zeal for the success of the 
 mission, as any of the preachers that embarked with him. 
 Religious colonies were formed at some of the Society and 
 Friendly Islands: but difficulties and dangers obstructed 
 the progress of conversion, and several of the missionaries 
 perished amidst barbarian commotions. Many other ad- 
 venturers, however, visited the Pacific with the same 
 views, and new attempts were made to subdue the pre- 
 judices of the islanders, and bring them within the pale 
 of Christianity. 
 
 While the missionaries of the first embarkation were 
 thus engaged, Mr. Haldane, an opulent North Briton, on 
 
 the rejection of a proposal which he had made to the 
 
 government for instituting a mission in the East Indies, 
 resolved toemploy himself and others in a similar plan 
 within the limits of this tsland. He therefore, in 1797, 
 organized an association, which he called the “ Society for 
 propagating the Gospel at home.” Itinerant preachers 
 
 were deputed with this view; tabernacles were built, and | 
 and considerable success attended ' 
 
 seminaries established ; 
 the well-meant undertaking. The members of this society 
 
 and of the rising congregations were styled New Inde- 
 
 pendents. Menaced with the vengeance of the kirk, 
 
 they still prosecuted their object, and firmly asserted the | 
 irreproachable propriety of their conduct, and the commen- 
 
 dable nature of their exertions. 
 
 of religion ; 
 ment and discipline by the rules of Scripture, not by hu- 
 man ordinances. They declared that the church had no 
 head upon earth; yet they were willing to pay proper 
 submission to the temporal sovereign. 
 
 Their efforts in the cause of what they considered as 
 
 They reprobated all. 
 fixed national creeds and systems, all civil establishments 
 and professed to regulate all church govern- | 
 
 the true or evangelical religion, exposed them to the cen-_ 
 
 sures of the kirk; and a pastoral admonition* was issued 
 
 * Dr. Haweis, speaking of the admonation, says, “ Whoever is at the 
 pains to examine facts, and the assertions in ‘this philippic against the 
 promoters of evangelical religion, will find as many falsehoods as lines,” 
 
 continued their career, and extended their influence. 
 
 The New Independents were not the only persons who 
 endeavoured to promote religious zeal. Some indivi- 
 duals of consideral talents, in England, also pursued that 
 object, but in a different manner, and without recom- 
 mending a secession from the establishment. The preva- 
 lent habit of moral preaching, and the want of religious 
 fervor in persons of rank, and also in the middle class of 
 society, had disgusted and shocked those Christians who 
 were studiously attentive to the concerns of their souls 
 and to the interests of genuine piety. Mr. Wilberforce, 
 who had distinguished himeelf by his reiterated efforts for 
 the abolition of the slave trade, and had acquired the repu- 
 tation of an able and independent senator, surprised the 
 public by appearing as a religious writer. He published 
 in the year 1797, a “Practical View of the prevailing 
 Religious System of Professed Christians, in the higher 
 and middle classes in this country, contrasted with real 
 Christianity.” He enumerated the chief defects of the 
 former of these systems, such as the want of adequate 
 conceptions concerning our Redeemer and the Holy 
 Spirit, or of sufficiently exalted ideas of the strictness of 
 practical Christianity, the neglect of the peculiar doctrines 
 of our religion, and the allowance of only a narrow and 
 qualified jurisdiction to that which ought to embrace every 
 object and influence every pursuit. He animadverted on 
 the error of substituting amiable tempers and useful lives 
 in the place of piety ; a “great and desperate error,” 
 involving a “ fatal distinction between morality and re- 
 ligion.” The particular good arising from such lives, 
 he said, might be more than counterbalanced by the ge- 
 neral evil, as they tended to discourage “ that principle 
 (namely religion) which is the great operative spring of 
 usefulness in the bulk of mankind.” He therefore ear- 
 nestly exhorted his countrymen to attend strictly to the 
 doctrines and precepts of evangelical religion and vital 
 Christianity, to look to Jesus, imitate the example of his 
 blameless life, and surrender, unconditionally, their souls 
 and bodies to the will and service of God. Undoubtedly, 
 he added, the sincere Christian has a great work to per- 
 form, and his internal state is a continued scene of disci- 
 pline and warfare; but pleasures of the purest kind 
 attend his progress; and he is enlivened with the con- 
 sciousness of well-meant endeavours, encouraged by the 
 succours of divine grace, andanimated by the hope of a 
 blissful immortality. He may enjoy the innocent amuse- 
 ments of life, partake of the delights of social intercourse, 
 open his heart to the calls of philanthropy, indulge the sen- 
 sibilities of taste and genius, and cultivate his mind with 
 the varieties of science. 
 
 Much praise is certainly due to the good intentions of 
 this writer. Similar praise may be bestowed on a cele- 
 brated female who has laboured in the same cause—we 
 mean Hannah More. In her “Strictures on the Modern 
 System of Female Education, and view of the Principles 
 and Conduct prevalent among Women of Rank and F'or- 
 tune,” she bas given much “good advice to the fair sex, 
 and has properly censured the frivolity and dissipation of 
 the age, and the relaxed morals of the higher classes. 
 
 It breathes, indeed, a spirit ofintolerance ; but, in thus inveighing against 
 it, the indignant divine incautiously deviates from that strict veracity 
 
 which he recommends to others. 
 
SKETCH OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 History of the Romish Church. 
 
 Tne corrupt state in which we left this church at the 
 close of the last century, has not yielded to the influence 
 of that superior light which has since illuminated the 
 civilized world. 'The Romish bigots have still some re- 
 mains of an intolerant spirit, and still resist the progress 
 of free inquiry; yet even the catholic governments find 
 it expedient to profess liberal principles, and to endure that 
 boldness of dissent which they dare not punish and can- 
 not effectually prevent. 
 
 After the death of the unfortunate pontiff, Pius VL, 
 this church remained for eleven months without a head, 
 while the cardinals, exiled from Rome, were dispersed 
 over different countries. 'The pious zeal of the emperor 
 of Germany at length prompted him to provide a remedy 
 for this unsettled state of affairs, which seemed to reflect 
 disgrace on those princes who professed a reverential re- 
 gard for the catholic hierarchy. He desired the fugitive 
 members of the sacred college to hold a conclave at 
 Venice, which was then an Austrian dependency ; and 
 the cardinal di Chiaramonte, a native of Cesena, who had 
 been raised’ by the late pope to the see of Imola, was 
 advanced to the papal dignity. This pontiff assumed 
 the designation of Pius VII., and entered with alacrity 
 upon the exercise of his spiritual functions, to which the 
 advantages of temporal power were again annexed, when 
 the Roman territory was recovered by the vigour of the 
 allied arms. 
 
 When Napoleon had raised himself to the dignity of 
 first consul or sovereign of France, he applied to the new 
 pope for the purpose of a religious settlement. It was 
 then stipulated that the ‘catholic, apostolic, and Romish 
 religion,’ should be freely and publicly exercised in France ; 
 that a new division of dioceses should take place; that, 
 as soon as the first consul should have nominated bishops, 
 the pope should confer upon them the honour of canoni- 
 cal institution ; that the prelates should appoint, for paro- 
 chial ministers, such persons as the three consuls should 
 approve ; that no council or synod should meet without 
 the consent of the government ; and that no papal legate 
 or nuncio should act, and no bull or brief be operative in 
 France, unless the ruling power should sanction such in- 
 terference. ‘len archbishops, and fifty bishops, were as- 
 sisned to the whole republic ; and it was required that 
 
 2 On the 14th of March, 1800.—The votes were long divided between 
 the cardinals Bellezoni and Mattei; but the election terminated in favour 
 of the bishop of Imola, even though he was supposed to be more friendly 
 to the French than to the Austrian interest. 
 
 That the character of the new pope was not very highly estimated. 
 may be inferred,—yet not decisively,—from the satirical effusion of 
 Pasquin, the unknown director, or perhaps only the follower, of the 
 
 they should be natives of France, and hav: «iiained the 
 age of thirty years. They were not to be very liberally 
 remunerated for the due exercise of their functions, only 
 15,000 francs being promised to each of the former as an 
 annual stipend, and 10,000 to each of the latter ;» and 
 the parochial priests were declared to be entitled only te 
 1500 or 1000 francs per annum. 
 
 While Napoleon allowed that the Romish faith should 
 be the established religion of France, he did not mean to 
 preclude himself or has eventual successors from the power 
 of making such alterations as might be deemed expedient, 
 either in doctrine or in discipline ; for his great object was 
 to be despotic both in religious and civil affairs, and to 
 dictate the law in every branch of polity. 
 
 His power was now at its height; but he was not con- 
 tent without the acquisition of the imperial dignity ; and, 
 when he had obtained his wish from a servile and prostrate 
 nation, he aspired to the honour of being anointed and 
 crowned, in the most solemn and religious manner. Full 
 of this idea, he applied to his friend the pope, and request- 
 ed his speedy attendance at Paris. Sensible of the ex- 
 pediency of compliance, Pius submitted with a good grace 
 to a mandate which he had not the courage to resist, and 
 prepared for a journey to F’rance. Having convoked a 
 secret council of cardinals, he congratulated his venerable 
 brethren on the effect of the concordat, which had re- 
 stored the true worship of God in France, and had sea- 
 sonably checked the mischievous influence of impiety and 
 profaneness : he applauded the zeal of that powerful prince 
 who had promoted this change, and declared that he felt 
 himself bound both by policy and gratitude to bestow 
 the imperial crown on ‘his dearest son in Christ.’ When 
 a prince earnestly desired the performance of a sacred 
 ceremony, it was the duty of the head of the church (said 
 the servile pope) to gratify him by impressing a religious 
 character on the ties which bound him to his people ; 
 and an act of this kind would be rewarded with the divine 
 benediction. Having given directions for the administra- 
 tion of public affairs (although, in a state which he knew 
 not how to govern, no serious injury could result from his 
 absence,) he presented himself at Paris in the autumn of 
 the year 1804, and officiated at the imperial coronation, 
 which, with all its splendour, did not strikingly excite 
 the joy or enthusiasm of the people. He was treated by 
 Napoleon with politeness and respect; but, if he had the 
 honour or the feelings of a man, he could not be altogether 
 
 general opinion at Rome. The anagram of the pontiff’s title was thus 
 given: Roma, china-ti, that is, ‘Rome, humble thyself.’ The pun upon 
 the word Paz, inserted by the order of Pius above his coat of arms, 
 was still more severe: for the satirist hinted that those letters could only 
 be meant for the initials of Peggoire Assai X.—‘ten times worse.’ 
 
 » That is, 625 pounds sterling to anarchbishop, and two-thirds of that 
 sum te an inferior prelate. 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 pleased with his own conduct. He had given the force 
 of religious sanction to the usurpation of an adventurer. 
 
 After his return to Rome, Pius gave a pompous account 
 of the result of his journey. Even his appearance in 
 France, he said, had been visibly beneficial to the cause 
 of religion. An innumerable crowd followed him in every 
 part of his progress, and his readiness to grant aposto- 
 lical bene.liction gladdened the people, and invigorated 
 their pious zeal. He reclaimed to their duty some bishops 
 who had refused to submit to the concordat, and. pro- 
 cured decrees for the augmentation of the revenues of the 
 prelates, for the regular establishment of funds sufficient 
 to defray the expenses of public worship, for the erection 
 of theological seminaries, and for the revival of many 
 religious societies, particularly the Priests of the Mission 
 and the Daughtersof Charity. He also obtained an edict, 
 allowing te the bishops the full liberty of judging with 
 regard to spiritual offences, and of punishing violations of 
 the canonical laws. In return for these concessions 
 (which, in all probability, were not carried into full effect, ) 
 he conferred on the archbishops of Paris and Rouen the 
 highest dignity that he could grant, by presenting the 
 cardinal’s hat to each of those prelates. 
 
 The French had left to the pope scarcely any other 
 pretence for interfering in their concerns, than that of 
 granting canonical institution to those prelates whom 
 their emperor might think proper to nominate : but with 
 this shadow of honour his holiness was not so elate as to 
 be particularly anxious for the performance of that cere- 
 mony. ‘The applications made to him for that purpose 
 were coolly disregarded ; so that, in 1811, twenty-seven 
 bishops waited for his confirmation of the imperial choice. 
 Resenting his refusal, Napoleon declared that the concor- 
 dat was at an end, and called a council of prelates to act 
 in this case for the refractory pontiff. He hinted that the 
 pope, if he would not conduct himself like a Frenchman, 
 
 could not expect to retain any authority or influence in. 
 
 the great empire, ‘This is not an unreasonable doctrine ; 
 for every state ought to have a peculiar director of its 
 religious concerns, rather than have recourse on any 
 occasion to a foreign priest. 
 
 Napoleon always pretended to be a friend to religion ; 
 and, in his own opinion, he did not forfeit that, character, 
 when (inthe year 1809) he divested the pope of his temporal 
 power: but, however justly he might argue in this case, 
 he acted solely from motives of ambition. It suited his 
 policy to adopt a line of argument which philosophers had 
 used, by representing the possession of political power as 
 inconsistent with the essence of religion, and injurious to 
 the purity and sayctity of spiritual government. But the 
 despot went still farther, and, by imprisoning the pontiff 
 at Avignon, disunited him from the sacred college, pre- 
 vented him from presiding in a grand ecclesiastical coun- 
 cil, and impaired his authority and influence as a director 
 of the conscience and a teacher of piety. Pius did not 
 tamely bear the insuits and injuries to which he was sub- 
 jected. He protested, in a public declaration, against the 
 outrageous violence and sacrilegious wickedness of Napo- 
 leon, and even ventured to excommunicate the daring 
 oppressor ; but it must be observed, that he evinced his 
 moderation even in this act of apparent revenge; for he 
 
 * We cught not to dispute the pope’s veracity: but, as we know that 
 the influence of the chief catholic powers constrained Ganganelli to dis- 
 
 No. LXII. 185 
 
 73? 
 
 disclaimed all intention of exciting a revolt or an insur- 
 rection, declaring that the act was merely a spiritual cen- 
 sure, inflicted with a view of bringing the delinquent to 
 a due sense of his error and a consequent reparation of 
 his injustice. He indeed denied and condemned the as- 
 sertion of some former pontiffs, that sovereigns might 
 Jawfully be deposed by the spiritual father of Ciftisten. 
 dom. If a national council had at any time voted the 
 deposition of a prince, the pope (he said) might as justly 
 confirm the sentence, if it suited his own ideas of policy 
 or rectitude, as he might crown a legitimate prince, or 
 consecrate a foreign prelate who had received his appoint- 
 ment from the ruling power in the state to which he be- 
 longed. 'This acknowledgement was a concession to the 
 reforming spirit of modern times, and a proof of the de- 
 cline of pontifical arrogance. 
 
 The idle thunder of excommunication only provoked 
 
 | the tyrant’s derision, and the mode in which it was soft- 
 
 ened excited ridicule, while this treatment of the pontiff 
 was considered by many catholics as a judgment upon 
 him for having favoured and indulged an enemy of the 
 church in the concordat and at the coronation. 
 
 Still affecting a high regard for religion and its minis- 
 ters, the ruler of France concluded a new agreement with 
 the pope, whom he unexpectedly gratified with the pri- 
 vilege of nomination to ten bishoprics, either in France or 
 in Italy, allowing him also to exercise the pontificate in 
 France, and in the kingdom which had been formed in 
 the north of Italy, in the same manner in which his 
 predecessors had acted: but the master of Rome was not 
 yet so humbled by a reverse of fortune, as to be disposed 
 to reinstate the pontiff in his temporal authority. 
 
 The ruin of Napoleon was at length the consequence 
 of his wanton ambition. After his mad expedition tc 
 Russia, he was unable to withstand that powerful con- 
 federacy which, with the most determined zeal, was or- 
 ganized against him. Holland and the German states 
 shook off his yoke-—and Rome reverted to its temporal 
 and spiritual lord. 
 
 Adversity has been styled a teacher of wisdom ; but 
 the maxim was not verified by the conduct of the restored 
 pontiff, who soon manifested his bigotry and imprudence, 
 instead of displaying the enlightened policy of a wise 
 prince. Not content with the resumption of ecclesiastical 
 property, and the abolition of Napoleon’s code in the 
 Roman state, he re-ordained the observance of all the 
 festivals, re-established the monastic orders, revived in 
 some degree the inquisition, and reinstated the obnoxious 
 society of the Jesuits. As an excuse for the last measure, 
 he declared that the catholic world demanded, with an 
 unanimous voice, the revival which he had ordered.* 
 He therefore readily granted to T'addeo Barzozowski, 
 ‘general of the company of Jesus,’ and his associates, all 
 suitable and necessary powers for the admission of all who 
 might be disposed to follow the rules prescribed by St 
 Ignatius of Loyola,—for the education of youth in the 
 principles of the catholic faith and in good morals,—for 
 hearing confessions, preaching the word of God, and 
 administering the sacraments of the church. As this 
 edict required funds for its execution, such property as 
 had not been irrevocably transferred from the former as- 
 
 solve the institution, we doubt whether the call for its re-establishment 
 was either strong or unanimous. 
 
738 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 sociation was assigned to the new fraternity, compensa- || to swear that they would faithfully observe the precepts 
 
 tions were allowed for that which had been alienated, 
 and subscriptions were requested from the opulent and 
 the liberal. 
 
 Even if this impolitic conduct in religious affairs had 
 been accompanied with the display of wisdom and justice 
 m thetvil and ordinary administration, it would not have 
 been sufficiently redeemed from censure or complaint ; 
 but, when joined with general misgovernment, it tended 
 only to convince the public of the pope’s unfitness to be the 
 ruler of a nation. Pius, however, proceeded in his course 
 with little alteration and few concessions, considering 
 himself as the worthy successor of St. Peter, and as a 
 proper object of general regard and esteem.* 
 
 After the deposition and banishment of Napoleon, the 
 pope entertained the hope of some accession to his autho- 
 rity, as it was not to be supposed that Louis X VIII. would 
 retain, unaltered, the ecclesiastical settlement which the 
 usurper had framed; but, when a new compact was 
 adjusted with France, in the year 1817, it was more cal- 
 culated to augment and dignify the establishment, than 
 to increase the influence of the supposed head of the 
 church. 'Thirty-two new sees were ordered to be erected ; 
 but his holiness was to have no more concern with them 
 ‘than to grant canonical institution to such individuals as 
 might be nominated by the king ; and it was foreseen or 
 understood that, if he should refuse to confirm the royal 
 appointment, his majesty would not revoke it ; for Louis, 
 however pious and devout, was determined to support the 
 independence of his kingdém against the high claims even 
 of the spiritual father of Christendom. 
 
 The general state of religion in France, for a conside- 
 rable time after the expulsion of Napoleon, was so incon- 
 sistent with true piety, that the respectable part of the 
 priesthood seemed to apprehend its speedy extinction. 
 Alarmed at this prospect, many churchmen, in different 
 parts of the kingdom, undertook missions with a view of 
 reclaiming the people. As a specimen of the mode in 
 which these missions were conducted, we may observe, 
 that, in the year 1819, nine ecclesiastics paraded the chief 
 streets of Avignon, singing penitential psalms, and two 
 of them, halting on a hill, preached to two divisions of 
 the assembled multitude. On the following day, they 
 visited the churches, and harangued overflowing congre- 
 gations ; and, for a week, their time was almost wholly 
 employed in giving public or private instructions to the 
 citizens, and in visiting the hospitals and prisons for the 
 same purpose ; and the second week was principally de- 
 voted to the consolation of those who came to confess their 
 sins, and who, seeming to be penitent, received absolution 
 and pardon. ‘The baptismal vows were publicly renewed 
 with pompous solemnity, and, in every church, while the 
 Gospel was holden up to general view, all were required 
 
 * While we adopt the general impression which prevailed with regard 
 to the political conduct and administration of this pontiff, we are bound 
 to annex a different statement, given by a writer who boldly maintains 
 the accuracy of his information.—“ Pius (says M. Vieusseux) effected 
 many useful improvements in the country over which he ruled. His 
 impoverished finances, the inveterate habits of the people, the old forms 
 and routine of church-government, his ownscrupulous and gentle nature, 
 and the prejudices of some of his advisers, prevented him from doing 
 more. He enacted a law, however, compelling the proprietors of the 
 
 arge estates in the Campagna di Roma, to cultivate all their lands, or 
 give up, for a reasonable compensation, those which they could not 
 bring into culture; he allowed rewards for the plantation of trees; he 
 completed the cadastro of the Roman provinces, begun before his time, 
 
 ¥ 
 
 contained in that divine book. After the administration 
 of all the sacraments of the church, a great cross was 
 borne in magnificent procession, and erected on a terrace 
 in holy triumph; and the mission was closed with ap- 
 propriate and interesting discourses. 
 
 As these missions had only a partial effect, the state of 
 the church was represented as deplorable, in a letter which 
 the bishops addressed to the pope. ‘The ecclesiastical disci- 
 pline, they said, was relaxed ; many dioceses were so ne- 
 glected by their lawful rulers, or so ill-governed, that the 
 faithful wandered like sheep without shepherds ; the ene- 
 mies of the church took advantage of this weakness, to 
 inflict severe wounds on the declining hierarchy ; and the 
 pious divines who endeavoured, by acting as itinerant 
 preachers, to revive that religious spirit which had nearly 
 become extinct, were treated with contempt or-with insult. 
 It was therefore highly expedient that some, measures 
 should be speedily taken to restore the dignity and influ- 
 ence of the church. Repeated deliberations on this sub- 
 ject in the French cabinet led to a royal ordinance for the 
 
 erection of chapels of ease wherever they seemed to be 
 
 requisite, for the immediate grant of pecuniary aid to the 
 impoverished church, and for the general protection of 
 that establishinent. ‘It was the duty of every state (said 
 the leading minister on this occasion) to foster or to renew 
 a religious spirit. "['o support religion was to support the 
 unfortunate whom it consoles, to cherish that morality 
 which it elevates, and that virtue which it creates and 
 maintains.’ 
 
 While these measures were operating to the relief of the 
 established church, tranquillity was restored to the south 
 of France. At Nismes and other towns, the protestants 
 had for several years been most illiberally molested by the 
 catholics, and in a great measure deprived of that tolera- 
 tion to which they were by law entitled. Some of them 
 had been murdered on their way to the meetings of the 
 electoral colleges, and, in defending their cause, two mili- 
 tary officers of high rank had lost their lives. It was pre- 
 tended that the court connived at these outrages, because 
 the sufferers were more attached to Napoleon than to the 
 house of Bourbon ; but this was an unfounded allegation ; 
 for the king, though he did not in every point adhere to 
 the charter which he had granted, was not disposed to 
 violate its provisions in the case of the protestants. "The 
 ultra-royalists (as the friends of the old régime were 
 styled) would probably have continued these persecutions 
 to the present day, if Louis had not covered the de- 
 scendants of the Huguenots with the broad mantle of 
 toleration. 4 
 
 The pope, from the time of his restoration to the day 
 of his death, was chiefly influenced by the counsels of 
 cardinal Gonsalvi, who was a better governor both of the 
 
 and fixed upon its basis the rate of a moderite tand-tax, in lieu of the 
 arbitrary contributions previously exacted; he abolished the unjust ex- 
 emptions of the upper classes from proportional taxation; he enforced 
 a rigid economy in the expenditure of his household, and in the charges 
 of the public departments; he established manufactures of wool and 
 cotton in the houses appropriated to the reception of the poor; he insti- 
 tuted an office for the registration of mortgages, andthe security of loans: 
 he withdrew from circulation the base and enormously-depreciated coin 
 which had been issued in disordered times, and replaced it by standara 
 money, at a great loss to his treasury ; and he issued an edict, announc« 
 ing a plan of legal and judicial reform, which, however, was impervect- 
 ly followed.” 
 
HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 church and state than his master. Thus the pontiff be- 
 came more popular in the decline of his life than he had 
 been in the vigour of his age; and his death, which hap- 
 pened in the eighty-fourth year of his age and the twenty- 
 fourth of his reign, was not unlamented either by the clergy 
 or the people. 
 
 The intrigues for the election of a new pope were con- 
 ducted, on the part of the Italian cardinals, with great art 
 and dexterity. They resolved neither to be ruled by the 
 French nor by the Austrian faction, and were intent upon 
 the choice of a zealot, who would be disposed to assert and 
 maintain the high prerogatives of the church. Cardinal 
 Severoli, though not so volent in his disposition as some 
 of the bigots wished, was one whose professed principles 
 were agreeable to the party ; and therefore, on one of the 
 days af meeting, he had twenty-six votes. He might have 
 had as many more as would have served his purpose, if the 
 Austrian party had not, in the emperor’s name, excluded 
 him from the chance of appointment; for there are four 
 potentates who are allowed to exercise that right. When 
 the exclusion was announced to him, he seemed to bear it 
 with fortitude ; and he desired that the act might be regis- 
 tered to prevent the privilege from being exercised twice 
 in the same conclave, as in that case one of his intimate 
 friends might be rendered ineligible. The disappointment 
 preyed on his spirits, and is said to have hastened his 
 death. 
 
 On the morning after this rejection, the friends of 
 Severoli requested him to name a fit candidate for the 
 papal throne. He replied, that, if he had sufficient in- 
 fluence over the election, either the cardinal Annibale 
 
 ella Genga, or Gregorio, ‘(an illegitimate son of Charles 
 IT. of Spain,) would be the next pontiff. ‘The former 
 was the determined enemy of Gonsalvi, and his election, 
 which quickly followed the recommendation, demon- 
 strated the prevalence of the bigoted party. He assumed 
 the denomination of Leo XIL., “because one of his ances- 
 tors had received some feudal property from the tenth 
 pope of that name. 
 
 Gonsalvi was now dismissed from power, and the chief 
 adviser of the new pope was the cardinal della Somiglia, 
 who, like his sovereign, had been a libertine in his youth 
 and in his middle age. From the high-church principles 
 and arbitrary policy of such men, no just government, no 
 attention to the rights of the people, could be expected ; 
 and their subsequent conduct appears to have proved, 
 that those who foreboded ill from their combination with 
 the Jesuits, did not judge too harshly. Indeed, priests 
 in general are not the best administrators of temporal 
 power, and, when we say that they ought to be restricted 
 to their spiritual duties, we mean no disrespect to their 
 eacred order. 
 
 With all his bigotry, and all his zeal against reform, 
 the present pontiff has treated the protestants in his do- 
 minions with a degree of mildness and complacency not 
 expected from his rigid principles. He even allows a 
 chapel at Rome for the exercise of their religion, being 
 probably influenced by a regard for the British and other 
 protestant governments, even while he thinks that the 
 professors of this faith do not pursue that course which 
 would give them a full assurance of salvation. He finds 
 it expedient to make some concessions to the more en- 
 
 * On the 20th of August, 1823. 
 
 | 739 
 
 lightened spirit of the age, while his own mind is darkened 
 by inveterate prejudices. He would wish to dictate, as his 
 predecessors did, to all the princes of Christendom ; but as 
 he cannot influence them to the extent of his w ishes, he 
 is content to exhort without commanding. The prince 
 
 whom he finds most devoted to him, is the French king 
 (Charles X.,) who, in his late law against tactile has 
 imitated the pontifical rigour of the middle ages ; “but it 
 does not appear that even this monarch is inclined to sur 
 render, to the claims of the papacy, any of the prerogatives 
 of the Gallican church. 
 
 The reigning pope has had the high honour of celebrat- 
 ing a Jubilee. It commenced on Christmas eve, in 1824, 
 and a whole year from that time is considered as peculi- 
 arly sacred. The beginning of the ceremonial was a solemn 
 procession to the sacred gate which leads to St. Peter’s 
 church. The magistrates of Rome, the chief citizens, 
 the cross-bearers and other ecclesiastical attendants, the 
 parochial clergy, the bishops and cardinals, and (last in 
 order, though first in dignity) the holy father, with his 
 tiara carried before him, advanced to the gate. As it did 
 not open at the first blow which he gave to the wall with 
 a silver hammer, he tried a second, saying, with an air of 
 authority, ‘1 will enter thy house, O Lord? An opening 
 not being yet made, he struck the wall a third time, and, 
 with the aid of workmen on the other side, a passage was 
 opened for the anxious throng. Fragments of stone, 
 thrown out in this operation, were eagerly picked up by 
 the votaries of superstition, and the medals which had 
 been left within the wall at the jubilee of the year 1800, 
 were also seized by the scrambling devotees. ‘The church 
 was soon filled to an overflow: the pope set the example 
 of singing and praying, and the thanksgiving service was 
 performed amidst the united sounds of choral and martial 
 music, enlivened by peals of bell-ringing. Similar scenes 
 occurred at three other churches; and all the subjects of 
 the state, as well as pilgrims who flocked from various 
 countries, now hoped for a remission of their sins, a favour 
 which may be purchased at the altars on moderate terms. 
 Poor strangers, it appears, obtain this indulgence gratis ; 
 and the pope sometimes condescends to grant it to them 
 in person. He presides at the celebration of the most 
 sacred service in the metropolitan church, and afterwards 
 entertains the pilgrims at the Vatican palace with humble 
 fare and spiritual conversation, and distributes silver medals 
 among them, commemorative of the jubilee. But the 
 usual place of resort, for these strangers, is the hospital 
 of the Pelegrini, where they are treated with great re- 
 spect, and even have their feet washed by some of the 
 cardinals. In the course of the year which is thus dig- 
 nified with peculiar sanctity, public amusements and diver- 
 sions are prohibited: yet the idea of a jubilee ought not, 
 we think, to ‘impoverish the public stock of harmless plea- 
 sure.” Wherea general fast is ordered, there may be some 
 reason for a suspension of ordinary amusements ; but, in 
 the case of a joyful celebrity, the interdiction seems to be 
 misplaced and inapplicable. 
 
 From the religious concerns of France and of Italy, we 
 proceed to the survey of other catholic governments. In 
 Spain, the pope’s authority was not suflered to be free 
 from control, as will appear from the following restric- 
 tions upon his representative. In 1803, the council of 
 Castile, in admitting the archbishop of Nicea to the 
 
740 
 
 office of papal legate in the Spanish dominions, stated 
 three remarkable exceptions to the authority claimed by 
 that officer. One was, that he was not to have the 
 power of visiting the patriarchal, metropolitan, or other 
 churches, with a view to correction or- reform; another 
 was, that he was not to examine any individual, whe- 
 ther of a religious or civil character, who might be 
 estranged from a particular community or institution, or 
 in any way criminal; and the third imported, that he 
 would not be allowed to receive appeals from the ordi- 
 nary judges. . 
 
 ‘The pontifical authority was still more restricted after 
 the usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon’s bro- 
 ther Joseph, who, while he declared that only the Romish 
 religion should be allowed, left to his holiness a mere sha- 
 dow of power, suppressed a considerable number of monas- 
 teries, and abolished the court of inquisition. But, as the 
 continued efficacy of his regulations depended on the per- 
 manence of his power, (for they were not attended with 
 the general assent of the nation,) it remained for the cortes 
 to determine whether his ordinances should be exploded or 
 confirmed. They decreed, in the year 1813, that the in- 
 quisition was injurious to religion and to the state; but, 
 to gratify the bigots, they voted the erection of episcopal 
 courts for the trial of heretics. ‘They made various attempts 
 for the reformation of abuses and the redress of grievances; 
 but, amidst the prevalence of war and civil dissensions, they 
 could not make great or effective progress in their schemes ; 
 and their acts were annulled by the tyranny of that prince 
 whose throne they endeavoured toestablish. Being released 
 by Napoleon in 1814, Ferdinand re-entered Spain with 
 those emotions of resentment which prompted him to re- 
 ject the new constitution ; and, by listening to the sug- 
 gestions of priests, excited discontent and odium. He was 
 even s attached to the old school of bigotry, that he con- 
 curred with the pope in the propriety of re-establishing the 
 order of Jesuits, and commanded that all the colleges, 
 houses, funds, and rents, which belonged to this fraternity 
 at the time of the suppression, and had not been altogether 
 alienated, should be quickly restored. Yet, in his other 
 concerns with the court of Rome, he displayed a laudable 
 spirit; for, when the papal nuncio required that the ancient 
 oath of fidelity to the king and regard for his prerogative, 
 exacted from every prelate on his consecration, should no 
 longer be administered, he answered the unwarrantable 
 demand by declaring, that no innovation should be made 
 in that respect. ‘This prince, indeed, though deficient in 
 sense and judgment, is sufficiently disposed to defend his 
 prerogative against papal encroachments and _ attacks. 
 The king of Portugal is equally attached with Ferdinand 
 to the Romish faith, and, at the same time, equally ready 
 to resist the high claims of the pontiff. 
 
 All the Austrian prelates, except the archbishop of 
 Olmutz, are nominated or appointed by the emperor; and, 
 although the papal confirmation is afterwards accepted, it 
 is not considered as absolutely necessary. As king of Hun- 
 gary, the same prince appoints the prelates of the Latin and 
 Greek churches; and those who are named immediately 
 exercise their full jurisdiction before they receive the pope’s 
 confirmation of their appointments ; for it is a settled point 
 
 n these countries, that bishops hold their power directly 
 from God. When the episcopal oath is taken, it is under- 
 stood to imply only a canonical obedience to the pope, not 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ROMISH CHURCH DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 derogating in the smallest degree from the rights.of tae 
 emperor, or encroaching on the duties which the prelates, 
 as subjects of the state, are expected to perform to the rul- 
 ing power. ‘This practice certainly tends to explode the 
 idea of a double allegiance on the part of the Austrian sub- 
 jects, whose sovereign, while he is an hereditary bigot to 
 the Romish faith, is determined to secure his own autho- 
 rity from the encroachments of a foreign pontiff. By the 
 Placitum Regium, no papal edicts or rescripts are allowed 
 to have any force or operation without the express consent 
 of the government; and no persons are even sufiered to 
 apply to his holiness with regard to any new act of 
 devotion, or for any other purpose, without the emperor’s 
 permission. 
 
 The catholic zeal of the Bavarian government has in this 
 century declined. Bigotry has in a great measure yielded 
 to a sense of liberality, and the protestants are not only 
 tolerated but encouraged. A new constitution, allowing a 
 national assembly, has been conceded to the people, and a 
 meliorated system, both in the church and state, conse- 
 quently prevails. 
 
 In the catholic cantons of Switzerland, there is nota 
 uniformity of religious regulation. ‘The rulers of Fn- 
 bourg, in 1815, renounced the right of appointing their 
 bishop, leaving it to the uninfluenced judgment of the pope. 
 In the Grison territory (now a part of the Swiss republic,) 
 the bishop of Coire is elected by the twenty-four canons of 
 the establishment ; but it appears that the pope is allowed 
 to fill up the vacancies among these canons, alternately 
 with the chapter itself. The same bishop promulgates 
 the papal ordinances, without waiting for the sanction of 
 the temporal power. In the new canton of ‘Tessin, the 
 bishop of Como is appointed by the government; but the 
 papal confirmation is deemed requisite for the establish- 
 ment of his pretensions. In the Valais, four priests are 
 proposed by the chapter to the diet for the episcopal dignity 
 of these, one is selected as the most unobjectionable candi- 
 date; the pontiff at first pretends to reject him, but soon 
 after nominates the same person, as if no previous recom- 
 mendation had been given. In those states which, before 
 the year 1815, composed a part of the diocese of Constance, 
 the prelates are chosen by the government; and his holi- 
 ness is expected to confirm the appointment. ‘Thus, on 
 the prelate’s death, in 1818, a new bishop was nominated 
 by the grand duke of Baden, and, though the pope ob- 
 jected, he was obliged to yield to the spirit of that prince. 
 In most of the cantons, no papal or episcopal ordinances, 
 except those which relate to an exemption from fasts, or 
 other affairs of little moment, are suffered to operate with- 
 out the consent of the civil power. With regard to the 
 monasteries, it appears, that the election of the head de- 
 pends, in some, upon the pope, and, in the rest, upon the 
 bishops. 
 
 In the kingdom of Naples, the pope’s authority is seri- 
 ously checked by the spirit of the government, although 
 the doctrines which he maintains are still professed by 
 the people. No bulls, rescripts, or dispensations, are effec- 
 tive without the royal assent; and, in the appomtment 
 of bishops, the court justly assumes a paramount au 
 thority. 
 
 In speaking of Naples, our attention is called to a re- 
 markable society, which was formed in the year 1812, 
 while Murat (that is, the usurper Joachim) filled the 
 
HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 throne of Ferdinand. We are induced to mention it, not 
 for its chief object, which was evidently political, but 
 because its members mingled a sense of religion with their 
 general views, and professed a high regard for evangelical 
 truth, declaring that their grand aim was to establish on 
 that basis a system of freedom and justice. Our Redeemer, 
 they said, was the victim of despotic tyranny; and it was 
 therefore the duty of his votaries to use all their efforts for 
 its extinction. The founders of this association were the 
 friends of the exiled family; but.many persons of differ- 
 ent political principles were encouraged to join them ; 
 and; borrowing the symbol of their confederacy from the 
 charcoal trade, they did not disdain the degrading appel- 
 lation of Carbonari. 'The existence of such a society. 
 did not escape the vigilance of Murat, who took measures 
 for the repression of its audacity; and, being thus endan- 
 gered, it was reduced to a comparatively small number ; 
 for the leaders dismissed a very considerable part of their 
 force, and carried on their intrigues with greater caution 
 and secrecy. After the death of Joachim, Ferdinand, 
 the restored king, or rather his minister the prince of 
 Canosa, instituted a new association as a counterpoise 
 to the Carbonari; but this did not prevent the great 
 increase of the latter, who now propagated their prin- 
 ciples of reform over many parts of Europe. At length, 
 in the year 1820, their intrigues produced a revolution in 
 the Neapolitan kingdom ; but it was easily suppressed by 
 the operations of an Austrian army, and many of these 
 mal-contents were punished in various modes. The soci- 
 etv then desisted from its machinations, and declined into 
 insignificance. 
 
 In Sicily, so feeble is the papal power, that it is treated 
 with a freedom bordering on contempt; and the inter- 
 course still maintained with the court of Rome is confined 
 to the formality of procuring either patents for bishoprics, 
 to be granted to those who are nominated by the king, or 
 dispensations for spiritual wants, when the individuals 
 who apply for them have received the royal permission. 
 If these applications should be disregarded, the king, be- 
 ing (by an ancient grant) a legate of the holy see by birth, 
 would, in all probability, order the prelate who acts for 
 him in that capacity, and who presides in the spiritual 
 courts, to accede to the different requests in the pope’s 
 name, like the English parliamentarians, who, when 
 they opposed Charles I. in the field, pretended to act in his 
 name. 
 
 In the grand dutchy of Tuscany, after the laudable 
 efforts of Leopold in opposition to papal encroachments, 
 little remained to be done in the present century to esta- 
 blish the independence of the temporal sovereign. It 
 appears, indeed, that the pope ostensibly supplies the va- 
 cencies in episcopal preferments ; but the rule is, that the 
 names and pretensions of four candidates are communi- 
 cated to him by the Tuscan minister at Rome, who points 
 out the one more particularly favoured by the grand duke ; 
 and with this recommendation his holiness feels himself 
 obliged to comply. ‘The ordinary benefices are conferred 
 on such persons as are deemed by the king or the bishops 
 the most deserving ; and the pope’s confirmation of any 
 appointment of this kind is considered as absolutely unne- 
 cessary. ‘The injunctions of the pontiff are allowed to 
 have some influence in cases of conscience or of private 
 penance; but, if the answers to these cases should affect 
 
 No. LXIL. 186 
 
 741 
 
 in any way the civil state of the persons who have solt- 
 cited the illuminations of his wisdom, the acceptance is 
 noticed and sometimes punished as a misdemeanour. 
 
 Even the hereditary bigotry of the king of Sardinia 
 does not render him a slave to the pope. He bestows the 
 highest ecclesiastical preferments at his own discretion, 
 and rejects such orders from Rome as relate to the exter- 
 nal polity of the church. He indeed suffers appeals to be 
 made from bishops or their judicial deputies to the pon 
 tiff, in those few causes which are still subject to the juris- 
 diction of an ecclesiastical tribunal; but these appeals 
 are not actually transferred to Rome, unless each subject 
 should have been thrice investigated, without a unifor- 
 mity of decision, by pontifical delegates, chosen from the 
 whole number of churchmen resident within the king- 
 dom. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 History of the Greek Church, and of the Christian 
 
 Communities in Asia and Africa. 
 
 Wuewn the Roman empire was divided into two great 
 states, it could not be expected, either that a community 
 of interest, or an entire coincidence of religion would long 
 prevail. As adult persons, who have left their homes 
 and formed new families, do not feel themselves bound 
 to adhere invariably to the opinions or the practices of 
 their parents, nations, when disjomed by mutual consent, 
 gradually adopt new sentiments, both in religion and in 
 politics : we cannot, therefore, be surprised on finding that 
 the Greeks soon began to differ from their former friends 
 and fellow-subjects. The occasional religious differences 
 between them have been stated by our predecessor ; they 
 were not essentially important, but sufficient in the eyes 
 of irritable theologians to justify a secession. 'The schism 
 still subsists to such an extent, that there are many 
 Greeks, especially in the Morea, who are more unwilling 
 to be upon friendly terms with the members of the Latin 
 church, than even with Moslems or pagans. ‘These haters 
 of their Christian brethren, we may conclude, are men of 
 weak minds and illiberal dispositions ; and the majority 
 of the Hellenic race, we hope, are not so bigoted and into- 
 lerant, though they certainly do not harmonise with the 
 Romanists. A respectable votary of the Greek church, 
 we are informed, made a formal application to the pope in 
 1825, requesting his authoritative aid and support in the 
 present contest, and holding out the prospect of a religious 
 union: but it does net appear that he was authorised on 
 this occasion by the leaders of the insurgent confederacy, 
 or that they are disposed to sacrifice any point of doc- 
 trine or even of ceremonial practice for the insignificant 
 assistance which they can derive from the feeble remains 
 of power and influence, yet enjoyed by the head of the 
 Romish church. 
 
 The contest to which we incidentally referred, did not 
 arise from any new provocation, but from continued re- 
 flection upon the enormity of existing abuses. 'The 
 Greeks, habituated to the most disgraceful slavery, seemed 
 to submit with patience to the sway of the most brutal 
 barbarians that ever obstructed the progress of humanity 
 and civilization : but, when the Spaniards, Portuguese, and 
 Neapolitans, had roused themselves from that torpor which 
 Was apparently inconsistent with the warmth of their dis- 
 
742 
 
 positions, the descendants of an illustrious nation resolved 
 to exert their energy for the recovery of their indepen- 
 dence. They boldly took up arms in the year 1821, and 
 soon formed a new government, which, unaided by the 
 jealous and selfish powers of the continent, they are still 
 defending against their savage oppressors. Without spe- 
 culating on the probable event of the contest, we shall 
 merely observe that they are entitled to encouragement 
 and support from all the advocates of freedom, and all the 
 professors of Christianity. But, say the abettors of arbi- 
 trary power, rebels ought rather to be punished than 
 assisted. As a general rule, we admit that position ; but 
 Wwe may venture to affirm, that an exception ought to be 
 allowed in the case of the Greeks, the injured slaves ofa 
 government which is in itself an anomaly and an out- 
 rage. 
 
 The ministers of the church, in general, were among 
 the promoters of the revolt, and many of them are even 
 
 engaged in the military service, in which some have dis- 
 play ed great alertness and courage. ‘The priests, also, in 
 numerous instances, take part with the rest of the com- 
 munity in agricultural labours, and in the mechanic arts, 
 and thus eke out their scanty incomes in a mode which 
 detracts from the respect that would otherwise be paid to 
 them. 
 
 The doctrines and ceremonies of this church do not 
 appear to have been altered since the beginning of the 
 century. The priests have continued their old course ; 
 the people have not called for any innovation; and, since 
 the insurrection unfolded the banners of liberty, religion 
 has been treated as a secondary concern. 
 
 Adverting to the state of the Greek church in one 
 point of ceremonial observance, which also exhibits traits 
 of national manners, we are induced to take notice of the 
 celebration of: Easter. This festival, being deemed the 
 most important ofall, is observed with great joy and respect. 
 ‘The termination of fasting necessarily leads to the idea of 
 feasting ; but devotional exercises and pompous ceremo- 
 nies in the churches precede the general indulgence and 
 merriment. All the inhabitants of the towns and villages, 
 in holiday trim, or in their best apparel, sally forth to pay 
 visits and to receive congratulations; and they salute each 
 other on the cheek, saying at. the same moment, “ Christ 
 has risen.” Beside private rejoicings, firings from the 
 batteries and discharges of small arms announce the pre- 
 vailing joy; and, not content with putting powder into 
 their muskets or pistols, they introduce bullets, not, we 
 hope, with a malicious intent, but from the Bas ae 
 of joy. In the eveninga grand ceremony takes place in 
 the chief towns: all men who sustain public characters, 
 after attending divine service in the principal church, 
 meet in the street, and the members of the executive 
 body, approaching ‘the legislative subjects of the state, 
 who are drawn up in aline, embrace them with an air of 
 affection. On Easter Monday, the festivities are renewed. 
 In the environs of the towns, while many of the women, 
 dressed in a tasteful manner, are reclining on the grass, 
 listening to the attractive sounds of the guitar and the 
 flute, equestrian bands are scouring the plain, and hurling 
 their javelins; other parties are engaged in the Romaic 
 dance, while discharges of pistols add to the effect of the 
 music; children, fancifully arrayed and crowned with 
 flowers, sport around their delighted relatives and friends ; 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH, &c. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 and apparent joy and hilarity animate the scene. Yet 
 there is no great degree of true piety or sincere devotion 
 in this celebration of Easter ;—not more, indeed, than we 
 observe in the Christmas festivities of England, where 
 few think of the religious origin of the general j joy. 
 
 As the Russian ecclesiastical establishment scarcely dif- 
 fers in any respect from the mother-church, there is ne 
 occasion for the formality of descriptive remark. Cre: 
 monies are more regarded both by the clergy and the laity 
 than the dictates of sound morality. Prostrations before 
 the pictures or figures of saints,— 
 
 ‘Who never yet had being, 
 
 Or, being, ne’er were saints ;” 
 
 pilgrimages over immense deserts to favourite chapels and 
 shrines, and other marks of superstition, are the general 
 substitutes for true piety. ‘The majority of the priests are 
 men of low birth and imperfect education, and many of 
 them attend more to the length of their beards than to 
 the propriety of setting a good example to their flocks. 
 
 The late emperor Alexander, while he followed the 
 rules of the established church, tolerated all sects in the 
 exercise of their respective modes of worship, but did not 
 sufler them to make proselytes. It was on this ground 
 that he banished the Jesuits from his dominions: if they 
 had been content with teaching the elements of literature, 
 he would have left them unmolested ; but they endea- 
 voured to seduce the youth into the pale of the Romish 
 church. ‘he same prince treated the Jews, and the Mos- 
 lem and pagan tribes of his Asiatic empire, with mildness 
 and forbearance, promoting without enforcing their con 
 version. When he completed the reduction of Georgia 
 under his yoke, he found the people already Chiristians ; 
 and, allured by his beneficent sway, they seemed more 
 observant, than they had before been of the ordinances 
 of the Greek church. Over Armenia and Kurdistan he 
 had some influence, because those countries seemed not 
 to have any regular government; but he did not osten 
 sibly direct either their religion or politics. 
 
 Directing our course to the neighbouring territory of 
 Chaldza, we meet with a numerous body of Christians. 
 They inhabit the country on each side of the Tigris, and 
 are said to amount to 500,000 persons. They form an 
 unconquered state, and are so determined to resist all 
 attempts for their subjugation, that they constantly bear 
 weapons of defence, which they do not lay aside even 
 when they assemble for public worship. Their ostensible 
 ruler is a patriarch, who exercises both a spiritual and 
 civil jurisdiction; but he is not invested with that arbi- 
 trary power which is so prevalent in Asia ; for the govern- 
 ment is, in effect, rather republican than monarchical. 
 The most intelligent men in Chaldza do not pretend to 
 know either at what time, or by whom, Christianity was 
 first preached in that country ; but it is probable that Gre- 
 gory, styled the Enlightener, whom the Armenians con- 
 sider as the founder of their church, introduced the Gospel 
 likewise among the ancestors of those tribes of which we 
 are now speaking. Yet, as the majority of their number 
 follow the opinions of Nestorius, they differ from the Arme- 
 nians, who are Monophysites. 'They appear to be divi- 
 ded into two hostile parti namely, the Nestorians, who 
 compose an independent church, and the converts to the 
 Romish persuasion. Literature, at present, is at a very 
 
HISTORY OF THE GREEK CHURCH, &. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 low edb among them; and we need not wonder at this 
 circumstance, when their neighbours, in every direction, 
 are equally unenlightened, or still more ignorant. 
 
 In Persia are found the remains of sects that have 
 Christianity for the basis of their religion ; but the super- 
 structure is a miscellaneous kind of erection, not fully 
 suited to the foundation. ‘The Sabeans, near the Persian 
 Gulf, have tenets and practices borrowed from the Jewish 
 and Mohammedan systems; but, as they believe in the 
 divinity of Christ, and the redemption and atonement, 
 they are justly considered as Christians. ‘The Sefis resem- 
 ble our Quakers in their regard to moral duties, and their 
 endeavours to subdue the violence of the passions. 
 
 In India the Christians are widely diffused, not only in 
 consequence of the invigorated exertions of modern mis- 
 sionaries, but from the remains of ancient conversions. 
 Some have thought that the Saads are Christians in their 
 hearts, though not in their external professions: but it 
 appears that they are still heathens. About 155 years 
 ago, one Jogee Das declared, at Dahli and other pkaces, 
 that he had been commissioned by the divine pupil of the 
 Supreme Being to deliver the people from the clouds of 
 error, in which they had been long enveloped; and he 
 soon found many who were willing to secede from the 
 Hindoo idolatry, and to assist him in the propagation of 
 his doctrines. These sectaries resemble the Quakers in 
 the plainness of their dress and the simplicity of their man- 
 ners, in the avoidance of frivolous amusements, in that 
 opinion of the profaneness of an oath which does not 
 exclude a strict regard to honour and truth, and in their 
 detestation of war and violence. ‘They believe in the 
 immortality of the soul, and expect a day of final judg- 
 ment. Many of those who have intercourse with our 
 missionaries seem ihclined to become Christians; but, 
 even among these well-disposed men, conversions are yet 
 uncommon. 
 
 In the territory of Canara we still find a large Chris- 
 tian community, sufficiently remarkable to claim our no- 
 tice. It was from the settlement of Goa that the rays of 
 evangelical light diffused their lustre over Canara ; but at 
 what time a Christian colony was first formed in this part 
 of Southern India, cannot be ascertained. The influence 
 of the Portuguese government not only conduced to the 
 protection of the settlers, but procured for them the favour 
 of princely patronage, so that they obtained from the ra- 
 jahs of the country, grants of land and various privileges. 
 They received occasional accessions of European devotees 
 and of native converts from Goa, and, by their forcible 
 persuasions, drew many of the inhabitants from the dark- 
 ness of idolatry; and the establishment became so flou- 
 rishing, that about 80,000 persons are said to have be- 
 longed to it at the time when Hyder Ali, the bold usurper 
 of the throne of Maissour, attacked and subdued Canara. 
 They were terrified at the success of a Moslem conqueror ; 
 but he treated them with mildness and humanity, and 
 confirmed their privileges. Far different was the conduct 
 of his son 'Tippoo, who, although he found them ready 
 to submit to his authority, pretended to suspect that, under 
 the influence of Christian zeal, they would not long re- 
 main faithful subjects to a prince of his religion. He 
 
 *An account of the Chaldean Christians, by the Rev. Dr. Robert 
 Walsh. >In the year 1767. 
 
 743 
 
 therefore insisted on their adoption of that system which 
 he preferred, and, observing their reluctance, proceeded to 
 acts of violence and outrage. He banished or imprisoned 
 the priests; sent the greater part of their flocks to Se- 
 ringapatam and other towns, to linger in poverty and 
 wretchedness ; destroyed the churches, and seized the 
 lands. ‘The fall of the tyrant, however, in 1799, revived 
 the establishment. 'Those who had been compelled to 
 renounce the Christian faith, were re-admitted into the 
 church ; many who had emigrated during the persecution 
 returned into Canara ; religious structures gradually arose 
 in various parts ; and, in 1818, the population was esti- 
 mated at 21,800. Agriculture is the occupation of the 
 majority of this number ; and, in that and other employ- 
 ments, the industrious habits and orderly conduct of the 
 people are eminently conspicuous. 
 
 The spiritual concerns of this community are conducted 
 by about twenty-five priests, who receive instructions from 
 the primate of Goa. 'The religion of the establishment 
 is consequently that of the Romish church. ‘The mass 
 is solemnized in Latin, while the sermon and other parts 
 of the service are delivered in the vernacular tongue. 
 Images of our Redeemer, the Virgin Mary, and favourite 
 saints, are exhibited in the churches, and receive humbie 
 adoration ; but public processions are avoided, from an 
 unwillingness to shock the prejudices of the Hindoos. 
 There is no ecclesiastical tribunal in the province, and 
 the only punishment inflicted by the church is that of 
 excommunication, of which there are two species, one 
 trifling, and the other not so severe as to preclude the 
 exercise of kind and charitable offices toward the delin- 
 quent. 
 
 Other parts of India, as well as a part of Canara, have 
 received the Gospel from catholic emissaries. A mission- 
 ary, writing to a friend in the year 1806, represented the 
 Romish places of worship as very numerous in Travan- 
 cour ; but he added, that, in most of them, mass was per- 
 formed only once in two years. Notwithstanding this 
 apparent neglect of exterior ordinances, he thought that 
 above 1000 catholic missionaries were dispersed over 
 India; but this, we apprehend, is anexaggeration. We 
 know, however, that the protestant missionaries are very 
 numerous, extending their labours in one direction from 
 Lahor to Cape Comorin, and, in another, from the Persian 
 frontier toChina. The mission in the province of Bengal 
 appears to be the most flourishing ; and it is more regu- 
 lariy organized, in consequence of the establishment of an 
 episcopal see and a college at Calcutta. The late Dr. 
 Middleton laboured with great zeal for the diffusion both 
 of Christianity and learning among the Hindoos; and 
 his successor in the bishopric (Dr. Heber) is usefully em- 
 ployed in the promotion of the same objects. 
 
 The -promoters of Christianity are not very successfut 
 in the Chinese empire. They are rarely suffered to 
 penetrate into the interior parts of the country ;° and, 
 even at Canton, where the British influence is very con- 
 siderable, they are viewed with an eye of jealousy, and 
 checked in their benevolent purposes. In the hope of 
 more auspicious times, they carry on their operations av 
 Macao, and also at Malacca, where a college has been 
 
 their converts had chapels at Fokien and other towns, but that a perse~ 
 cution arose against them, and ruined a concern which seemed to pro- 
 
 ¢Itis affirmed that, in the year 1815, the French missionaries and |! mise well. 
 
744 
 
 erected, in which are many Chinese students. 'The New 
 Testament has been translated into the Chinese lan- 
 guage; and copies have been gladly accepted by many 
 of those emigrants who have transferred their industry 
 and arts to the islands of the Indian ocean. 
 
 In Syria and the Holy Land, our missionaries are also 
 actively engaged. ‘They hold religious conversations with 
 the natives of all persuasions, preach the pure word of 
 God, distribute translations of the Scriptures and religious 
 tracts, and establish schools. Their success is not equal 
 to their wishes: yet they are not discouraged. If they 
 convert few of the Jews or Moslems, they guide the 
 members of the Greek and Latin churches into a better 
 path in their religious journey. As the Druses are sup- 
 posed by some antiquaries to be, in a great measure, the 
 descendants of the crusaders of the middle ages, it might 
 be expected that they would be disposed to listen to the 
 exhortations of Christian preachers. Many of them cer- 
 tainly are so inclined ; the reigning emir is said to be a 
 Christian in his heart; and we are assured that the 
 votaries of the Gospel in their country out-number the 
 followers of the Koran. However that may be, the Druses 
 cértainly live on more friendly terms with the Christians 
 than the subjects of any other government in Western 
 Asia. 
 
 In Egypt, the few Europeans who undertake the task 
 of conversion are treated with mildness by the pasha who 
 now rules over that country as an independent prince ; 
 but, though he is fond of European arts, he is not in- 
 clined to assist in the propagation of that faith which his 
 hereditary prejudices teach him to reprobate, and the 
 labours of the missionaries are counteracted by the efforts 
 of itinerant Moslems, sent from a college at Cairo to 
 enforce the doctrines of the pseudo-prophet. 
 
 The Abyssinians might be called a religious people, if 
 we could depend on their professions of piety ; but, when 
 they make pompous boasts of their zeal, they speak more 
 like Pharisees than lovers of truth. 'They are more at- 
 tentive to forms and ceremonies than to the practice of 
 true holiness and virtue; for their morality hangs loosely 
 upon them, and their conduct is not sufficiently regulated 
 by the laws of honour or by good principlesy ‘Their ad- 
 diction to perjury is an odious trait in their characters ; 
 for they will frequently imprecate curses upon themselves 
 if their assertions should be false, knowing at the same 
 moment that they are wholly unfounded ; and, when the 
 king has sworn that he will pardon a delinquent, whom 
 he afterwards wishes to punish, he says to his attendants, 
 ‘Take notice that I scrape this oath away from the 
 tongue which pronounced it,—making movements and 
 gestures corresponding with his faithless declaration. 
 They do not regard marriage as a religious obligation, 
 and the priests therefore do not officiate on the occasion ; 
 and chastity is little regarded by either sex. They con- 
 sider fasting as a strong proof of piety ; but the priests, 
 while they order the laity to fast about 190 days in a 
 year, only practise that kind of forbearance for 70 days. 
 At the end of each fast the chief priest entertains his 
 brethren, who greedily devour the raw flesh of a cow, 
 sing hymns, and drink some fermented liquor until they 
 are stupified. With regard tothe authority of the abuna 
 or metropolitan, it does not appear that he has a great 
 extent of power or patronage. 
 
 Officers, who are not re- |! 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS, &c. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 quired to be priests, administer the revenuesof the churches 
 and monasteries, and determine spiritual causes,—an 
 appeal to the king alone being permitted, if the decision 
 should not give satisfaction. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL. 
 
 History of the Ecclesiastical Communities of the Lu 
 therans and Calvinists. 
 
 Tue Lutherans still bear the chief sway in the Swe- 
 dish and Danish kingdoms. ‘Their zeal, however, is less 
 fervent than it formerly was, and they are less arbitrary 
 and intolerant. ‘They begin to partake of the candour 
 and liberality which are now more prevalent than even 
 in the last century ; they entertain more just sentiments 
 of the right which all persons have to think for themselves 
 in points of religion and of conscience ; and they are more 
 disposed to follow, in practice, that rational and well- 
 founded axiom. Indeed, they now grant full toleration, 
 from which even the Jews are not excluded. The ad- 
 dition of Norway to the kingdom of Sweden, in the year 
 1814, tended to infuse a more liberal spirit into the go- 
 vernment. ‘The easy acquisition of a new territory puts 
 a prince into good humour, and he instantly becomes 
 more mild and conciliatory: but, even before that event, 
 it was ordained, in the new constitution which was pro- 
 mulgated in 1809, that no person should be harassed or 
 called to an account for his religious opinions, unless it 
 should clearly appear that his avowal of them, or the 
 exercise of that religion to which they appertained, might 
 be injurious to the state. This exception, it may be said, 
 furnished a pretence for molesting the sectaries ; yet the 
 
 ‘ ordinance, we believe, was intended to convey a complete 
 
 toleration. — j . 
 
 The present Danish government is liberal and bene- 
 ficent ; and the king is as attentive to the interests of the 
 church as to that of the state. Aware of the poverty of 
 his clerical subjects in Iceland, he allows pensions to those 
 who cannot procure a sufficiency of income from the 
 limited bounty of their congregations ; and he evinces his 
 Christian zealin the promotion of missionary undertakings. 
 
 In the kingdom of the Netherlands, formed in the 
 year 1814, by the union of the seven United Provinces 
 with those which the French had wrested from the hands 
 of the Austrian emperor, the sovereign, though a Calvin- 
 ist, granted to his new subjects an entire freedom of 
 religious opinion and worship, and an equal share with 
 the protestants in the representative government. ‘This 
 equality did not satisfy the prelates, who were of opinion 
 that the Romish faith, followed for so many ages by the 
 people of the Netherlands, entitled its professors to superior 
 privileges: but the king, instead of adopting their sug- 
 gestion, merely promised that every proposal connected 
 with their religion should be submitted to the considera: 
 tion of an executive committee, consisting of catholics. 
 Since that time, they have occasionally vented their il 
 humourin complaints and remonstrances; but they cannot 
 effectually resist the commanding influence of the protest- 
 ants. In 1825, the king gratified them by the establish- 
 ment of a seminary, in which candidates for the catholic 
 ministry might acquire a sufficient fund of learning for 
 the proper discharge of their sacred trust. With the same 
 view, and in the same spirit of complacency, the college 
 
HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS, &c. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 vf Maynooth in Ireland is supported by the liberality of a | 
 protestant parliament. ee. 
 In France, the protestants are chiefly Calvinists. With | 
 regard both to the French and German branches of that 
 sect, it was stipulated, in the agreement between Napoleon 
 and the pope, that a synod, composed of five consistorial 
 churches, should regulate all religious and ecclesiastical 
 concerns, but that its resolutions should be submitted to 
 the rulers of the state for confirmation; and that the | 
 appointment of pastors should be subject to similar recog- 
 nition or approbation. If the contributions of the different 
 communities should be insufficient for the support of the 
 officiating ministers, the government promised to increase 
 the amount to a fair allowance. As the incorporation of a 
 art of Germany with France had added a multitude of 
 ehh: to the state, it was provided by the same con- 
 cardat, that their church should be regulated, under the 
 authority of the consuls, by consistories both general and 
 local, and by councils of inspection. The ministers of the 
 Calvinist persuasion were to be educated at Geneva, and 
 
 those of the Lutheran church at a peculiar seminary of 
 their own religion. When the territories in which these 
 protestants resided were withdrawn by the allied powers 
 
 from the French yoke, in the year 1815, such regulations 
 were made as softened the arbitrary clauses of the former 
 compact, and yet left a controlling authority in the hands 
 of the civil power. 
 
 The attachment of the elector (now king) of Saxony to 
 the Romish faith did not induce the people of that country 
 to relinquish their habitual regard for the Lutheran 
 system; and therefore no catholic bishop is allowed toact 
 or reside in that realm, except the king’s confessor, to 
 whom the pope grants the authority of an apostolic vicar. 
 In Upper Lusatia, some dignitaries who form a chapter, 
 elect a mitred dean, in the presence and with the appro- 
 bation of an Austrian commissary ; and, at Bautzen, there 
 is a chapter which, though catholic, has a Lutheran 
 president. In civil rights, the members of the two com- 
 munions now stand upon an equal footing in Saxony. 
 
 In the Hanoverian territories, the catholics were long 
 subjected, by the Lutheran rulers of the state, to various 
 restrictions. ‘They were not allowed to carry the host 
 publicly, or to have any processions; and, in points of 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction, they were obliged to have re- 
 course to the odious authority of a Lutheran consistory. 
 But more auspicious days at length dawned upon them ; 
 and they are now gratified with all the rights of citizens. 
 
 In the three electorial arehbishoprics (Mentz, Cologne, 
 and 'l'reves,) which were incorporated with the Prussian 
 monarchy by the congress of Vienna, it might be supposed 
 that the catholics, forming the bulk of the population, 
 would be treated with lenity and indulgence, if not highly 
 favoured ; and, in fact, they have greater privileges than 
 their brethren who reside in other parts of the king’s domi- 
 nions. ‘They have, at the court of Rome, an agent who 
 promotes their interest, and encourages the pope to counter- 
 act the arbitrary spirit of Frederic. In Silesia, where the 
 catholics form only a third part of the population of the 
 capital, the king has suppressed some of their monasteries, 
 
 and precluded all appeals to Rome. In East Prussia he 
 
 * In the year 1817. 
 » Among the Bavarian protestants, this reconciliation was adjusted 
 with particular formality in the year 1818. The united establishment 
 
 No. L-XIII. 187 
 
 7A5 
 
 suffers no Romish bishop to act, though the priests are 
 retained ; and, in Brandenburg and other provinces, he 
 rules the sect with a high hand, yet not with oppressive 
 tyranny. At the same time, he favours the Calvinists 
 more than the Lutherans, but is so far from suffering the 
 former to molest the latter, that he would rather witness 
 their union than their discord. 
 
 The increasing liberality of sentiment, in the present 
 age, is strikingly evinced by the union of the Lutheran 
 and Reformed churches in many of the German states. 
 The grand duke of Nassau, being connected in marriage 
 with a lady of the latter persuasion, and wishing to pre- 
 clude religious differences among his children, resolved, 
 as far as his influence could extend, to unite his family 
 and his subjects in the same devotional forms and worship; 
 and his laudable endeavours were crowned with success. 
 In the grand dutchy of Hesse and some other states the 
 example was speedily followed ; and the completion of 
 three centuries from the first exertions of Luther in the 
 cause of religious reform, furnished an appropriate days 
 for the first public celebration of the new union. ‘To all 
 liberal minded Christians this must have been a day of 
 joy and of sincere congratulation. They recurred to the 
 page of history for an elucidation of the dawn of religious 
 reform: they reflected on the troubles and sufferings to 
 which their ancestors were subjected in the progress of 
 emancipation from the yoke of a corrupt church; and 
 they now hailed with heart-felt satisfaction the union of 
 those who, without differing on essential points, had long 
 
 | been unhappily divided.» 
 
 Notwithstanding these approaches to a union of senti- 
 ment, differences of religious opinion still subsist in various 
 parts even of protestant Germany ; for a uniform stand- 
 ard of thought cannot be expected to exist in any com- 
 munity. In those universities in which freedom of speech 
 is in any degree allowed, the desire of political liberty ap- 
 pears to be accompanied with free-thinking on the subject 
 of religion. It is affirmed by professor Tholuck, that the 
 
 university of Halle is the seat of infidelity, and that even 
 
 some of the teachers of theology are infected with an 
 anti-christian spirit. ‘This hostility to the truth, he says, 
 is still more prevalent at Weimar, where zealous Chris- 
 tians are discountenanced and persecuted : but he seems, 
 in this instance, to have used the language of exaggera- 
 tion. We admit that those who wish to be reformers in 
 politics are in general equally desirous of what they call 
 areformation in religion ; but the charge of infidelity is 
 the common resource of intolerant bigots, who are offended 
 even with such as differ from them in unimportant. par- 
 ticulars, and stigmatize, as infidelity, that which is merely 
 a sectarian difference of opinion. 
 
 Dissatisfied with the religious systems established in 
 Germany, the baroness [Krudener ventured to propose a 
 reform. ‘This lady, in her youth, was not strongly im- 
 pressed with sentiments of piety. Her vivacity seemed 
 to disdain all restrictions, and her morals were not pure 
 or correct: but, in the progress of her studies, she at 
 length met with the works of Stilling, a German enthu- 
 siast, whose effusions, operating upon the warmth of her 
 disposition, excited in her mind a strong deyotional spirit. 
 
 received the appellation of the Protestant Evangelical Christian Church, 
 
 and the holy scripture was declared to be the only basis of faith to 
 
 which its members ought to adhere, 
 
746 
 
 When the sparks of her piety were kindled into a flame, 
 she resolved to illuminate the world, as far as her abilities 
 would allow, and began, in the year 1818, to propagate 
 her opinions publicly at Heidelberg. In the following 
 year she visited Paris, in the character of a religious re- 
 former, and prayed and preached at her hotel for the 
 edification of the dissolute and depraved French ; but, 
 while she amused them by her eccentricity, she made no 
 impression upon their minds. 'T'o Switzerland she after- 
 wards directed her covzse, and preached in the open air 
 to large congregations. She dwelt on the necessity of 
 regeneration, and asserted the saving power of faith and 
 grace, ever: Without those works which are meritorious in 
 the opinion of the world. She was consequently more 
 severe in her denunciations against what the Methodists 
 call sin, than against acts of worldly wickedness and guilt. 
 She pretended to be convinced that her frequent and 
 earnest prayers had so far secured the divine favour, as to 
 give her that inspired and influential character which 
 enabled her to reclaim thousands of sinners: but, by 
 declaiming at the same time against some civil ordinances, 
 she so displeased the rulers of several cantons, that 
 they ordered her to quit the country. Retiring into the 
 dutchy of Baden, she assembled at her house the supposed 
 friends of true religion, and boldly continued her career, 
 until the magistrates stopped these irregular proceedings. 
 She thus became sensible of the danger of defying the 
 constituted authorities, and was more prudent and cau- 
 tious in her subsequent conduct. She lived many years 
 unmolested on an estate which she possessed near Riga, 
 where, as well “as in her other places of abode, she was 
 idolized by the poor for her numerous acts of charity and 
 beneficence. She died in the Crimea, in 1824, without 
 the fame of having instituted a formal sect. 
 
 While a protestant lady of Germany thus asserted her 
 pretensions to the honour of inspiration, a Romish fanatic 
 of the same country seemed to think himself equally 
 favoured with the divine aid. This was the prince 
 Alexander Hohenlohe of Bamberg, who pretended that he 
 could cure bodily disorders by prayers and devotional ex- 
 ercises ; and several cases have been obtruded on the 
 credulous part of the community, containing attestations, 
 seemingly strong, of the providential grant of relief 
 (at the precise time when the prince solemnized the mass 
 and offered up prayers to Heaven) to persons in distant 
 countries, Whose friends had applied to him in the fulness 
 of their faith and the fervour of their zeal. 
 
 Of the twenty-two cantons which now compose the 
 Helsetic confederacy, six are attached to the protestant 
 communion; and of these Bern is the most populous 
 and flourishing. In six of the states, the catholics and 
 protestants bear equal sway, while the other ten cantons 
 follow the Romish system. In these, a tolerating dispo- 
 sition usually prevails ; but there has lately been an ex- 
 ception from that rule in the case of the Pays de Vaud. 
 A new sect arose in this canton, or rather a number of 
 persons resolved to commence a more methodical course 
 of religious duties and devotional exercises, not supposing 
 that their zeal in this respect could excite the displeasure 
 of the ruling power. If they had restricted these marks 
 
 * Des Persecutions Religieuses dans le Canton de Vaud. A 
 similar case occurred in France in 1825. At the village of St. Etienne, 
 one man, sixteen women, and two children, were apprehended for 
 
 s 
 
 join in these acts of worship. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS, &c. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 | of piety to their own families, the government would not 
 
 have taken the least notice of their conduct; but their 
 offence, it seems, consisted in propagating the same spirit 
 among others, by inviting their friends to their houses to 
 It does not appear that 
 they entertained any new opinions or heterodox notions : 
 and therefore the great council of the canton had no suffi: 
 cient ground of interference ; nor ought it, indeed, to have 
 interfered, even if the people had been heretically disposed : 
 for, as belief depends on the unsophisticated mind, it 
 ought never to be subjected to force or constraint. A 
 minister of the Gospel, however, was accused, in the year 
 1824, of the heinous crime of having read and expounded 
 a chapter of the Scriptures to four persons beside his own 
 family, and condemned to banishment for three years by 
 his arbitrary judges.» Other ministers were arraigned 
 for similar conduct; but, when twenty-six clergymen 
 petitioned the government to relax its rigour in cases of this 
 kind, the prosecutions, we believe, were discontinued. 
 While the catholics sometimes transgressed the limits 
 prescribed by the government, but (in the case which we 
 have stated) without serious delinquency, the protestants 
 occasionally deviated from the ordinary course of legitimate 
 proceedings, and, in one case, disgraced their holy cause 
 by sanguinary excesses. In a village of the canton of 
 “Zurich, the family and neighbours of a farmer, named 
 John Peter, were infected with the superstitious folly 
 of his daughter Margaret, who, having a tendency to 
 devout enthusiasm, had been inflamed into absolute 
 phrenzy by the effusions of itinerant preachers. So high 
 was the opinion of her sanctity, that she was even sup- 
 posed to have been favoured with celestial inspiration ; 
 and, by the influence which she thus obtained, she was 
 enabled to hold religious assemblies, in which the most 
 shameful extravagances and the most hideous enormities 
 were practised. She maintained the necessity of waging 
 perpetual war with Satan, to prevent him from triumph- 
 ing over Jesus Christ, and recommended, as the most 
 effectual mode of saving souls from the grasp of the rest 
 less fiend, either an act of self-sacrifice, or the infliction 
 of mortal wounds on friends and relatives. At a meeting 
 of her disciples, she attacked one of her brothers with 
 such fury, that only the opportune aid of a female 
 domestic saved him from death. Her sister then offered 
 herself as a victim,and was beaten to death with an iron 
 mallet by the cruel enthusiast and one of her mad friends. 
 Her father did not actually witness these outrages; 
 but he knew that she was perpetrating some enormity, 
 and yet did not rush into the apartment to secure peace 
 and order. He suffered the storm to rage, while he calmly 
 pursued his ordinary occupations. Margaret’s phrenzy 
 was not yet cooled; and, while she sat on the bed en 
 which remained the palpitating body of her sister, she 
 began to strike herself with the mallet. Not satisfied with 
 the vigour of her own arm, she desired a friend to use 
 the instrument with fatal effect ; but, suddenly thinking 
 that crucifixion would be a more legitimate death, she 
 insisted on suffering that species of torture. Some pieces of 
 timber were then placed upon the bed in the form of a cross, 
 and to these she was deliberately nailed, without seeming 
 
 meeting at a private house to read the New Testament; and, for this 
 alleged violation of the law, they were reprimanded by the magistrates 
 and fined, 
 
HISTORY OF THE LUTHERANS, &c. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 747 
 
 to feel any pain,—so great was her fortitude, and so deter- || discontinued gladdened the hearts of the Jews. Those 
 
 mined her self-devotement. At length she said, ‘ Drive a 
 nail into my heart, or split my head ;’ the latter part of 
 the alternative was instantly executed, and a low moan 
 announced her expiration. A judicial inquiry was made 
 into these horrid acts; and Ursula Kundig, the most 
 willing and ready agent in the work of murderous fanati- 
 cism, wassentenced to imprisonment and labour for sixteen 
 years. Some of Margaret’s male associates were deprived, 
 for the rest of their lives, of their political rights ; and her 
 father’s house, the scene of her folly and cruelty, was 
 demolished. Her opinions and fancies were not imme- 
 diately renounced by her votaries, some of whom pretend- 
 ed to believe that she would soon re-appear in the world. 
 
 The commanding number of protestants in Switzer- 
 land may be supposed to keep those of Piedmont in coun- 
 tenance ; but the latter (we mean the Vaudois) have been 
 so discouraged by the bigotry of the courtand the Romish 
 clergy, that they are reduced to a small number, not ex- 
 ceeding 20,000 who are under the spiritual direction of 
 thirteen pastors. ‘They preserve those tenets which they 
 maintained on their original separation from the Romish 
 church. ‘ We are called heretics by the members of that 
 church (said their primate Peyrani to a late visitant of 
 their secluded valleys ;) but our church is founded on the 
 durable rock of Christianity. We have adhered to the 
 pure tenets of the apostolic age, and the Romanists have 
 separated from us.’ 
 
 In all the states of which we have been speaking, the 
 Jews were at an early period mingled with the Christians, 
 notwithstanding the rooted odium which — subsisted 
 between the humbled posterity of the ancient patriarchs 
 and the triumphant adorers of the Messiah. Although 
 the former may be thought to have no concern in a his- 
 tory of the church of Christ, it may not be altogether im- 
 proper to take notice of the treatment which they have re- 
 ceived in our time from the Christian governments. 
 While the French revolution was in progress, Gregorie 
 was the first who openly proposed that they should be 
 rescued from the state of degradation to which they had 
 long been subjected; and, as freedom was then (ostensibly at 
 least) the order of the day, there was no pretence for with- 
 holding it from the Israelites. In consequence of this 
 change of opinion, they were admitted into corporations, 
 promoted to a variety of offices, obtained considerable 
 rank in the army during Napoleon’s sway, and were 
 deemed not unfit to belong even to his celebrated Legion 
 of Honour. It was pretended that he entertained the idea 
 of re-establishing their power in Palestine ; but, though 
 he perhaps mentioned that wild scheme in a moment of 
 rhodomontade, he had no intention of carrying i into 
 effect. By his order, however, seventy-four deputies, rep- 
 resenting the whole Jewish community in the French 
 empire, met at Paris, in L806, and gave satisfactory 
 answers to various questions ‘respecting their institutions 
 and practices, and their ideas of the allegiance due to the 
 government. In return they were assured by the empe- 
 ror, that he would not only secure to them the free exer- 
 cise of their religion, but the full enjoyment of the rights 
 of French citizens. 'lhis meeting was followed by one 
 of a more dignified character and a more religious nature, 
 even by the convocation of the grand Sanhedrim. 
 The revival of an assembly which had so long been 
 
 of Italy were reouested to send deputies to it; and 
 the Mosaic trives of Germany readily concurred in the 
 proposed reform. Their worship was re-organised at 
 the meeting ; their moral system was placed on a more 
 sound basis ; and their civil conduct was judiciously regu- 
 lated. 
 
 In Germany, Lessing, the philosophic dramatist, was 
 the first who publicly avowed himself a friend to the 
 Jews; and, with a view to their rescue from degradation 
 and contempt, he introduced upon the stage a worthy 
 and respectable Jew, as Cumberland did at a later period 
 in England. He also gave the hand of friendship to 
 Mendelsohn (a youth of that despised race,) whose subse- 
 quent literary exertions tended to dispel the mists of pre- 
 judice, and promote the diffusion of just and liberal prin- 
 ciples. Some distinguished statesmen espoused the same 
 cause, and urged the rulers under whom they acted to 
 extend equal protection to all classes of their subjects, 
 Indeed, the loyal zeal of the Jews entitled them to the 
 favourable opinion of the German princes; and, from 
 some of these rulers, they received honourable testimonies 
 of approbation, and, from the Prussian monarch, all the 
 rights of citizens. ‘These marks of regard gave them a 
 degree of confidence which the zealous Christians con- 
 strued into arrogance ; and hence arose in some of the 
 cities, loud clamours against them. The senate of Lubeck 
 resolved to treat them as strangers or aliens, and prohibit- 
 ed them from carrying on any branch of trade within 
 the limits of the city; and, in several other free towns, 
 the obnoxious Israelites were assailed by the tumultuous 
 fury of the populace. But the envoys of the chief German 
 powers, assembled at Carlsbad, were so far from being dis- 
 posed to countenance these unjustifiable proceedings, that 
 they menaced the constituted authorities of those cities 
 with signal marks of displeasure, if the Jews should not 
 meet with that protection which they had a right to 
 claim. ‘This interposition was at once honourable to the 
 great powers and effective in its result. 
 
 In Holland, long before the present age, the Jews 
 enjoyed full toleration and complete protection. They 
 increase rather than decline in number, and now compose 
 a thirtieth part of the population. At Amsterdam they 
 have many synagogues ; but the most respectable congre- 
 gation is that which, near the close of the last century, 
 was formed by thesecession ofsome German Jews from the 
 old community. 
 
 In Poland, the Jews are highly favoured; and it has 
 been remarked (by many visitants of that kingdom) that 
 they have a greater appearance of consequence and 
 dignity, than the Israelites who reside in any other 
 country. ‘hey carry on the chief trade, and, except the 
 nobles, they form the most opulent portion of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 In Great Britain, the Jews cannot expect to been. 
 couraged, because it has been repeatedly declared, from 
 the judicial bench, that Christianity is a part of the estab: 
 lished and constitutional Jaw of the realm; yet, with the 
 
 exception of power and office, they have every reason to be 
 
 satisfied with their lot. They have opportunities of ac- 
 quiring opulence, and they well know that riches not only 
 impart comfort, but promote influence. Even under the 
 
 sway of Roman catholic princes and the tyranny of Mos 
 
745 
 
 lem barbarians, they are not prevented from indulging in 
 their favourite practice of pecuniary accumulation ; and, 
 if they are sometimes harassed and fleeced, they are not 
 totally ruined. 
 
 CHAP. TV. 
 
 History of the Church of England and its Depen- 
 J jin age oN, 
 dencies, of the various Sects in the British Domin- 
 tons, and of the Ecclesiastical Communities in the 
 United States of America. 
 
 Our'divines affect to consider the church of England 
 as the best of all Christian establishments, because they 
 belong to it; and many persons who have no interest in 
 it, and who are therefore less prejudiced observers, enter- 
 tain the same opinion. Yet there are some who venture 
 _ to make one objection to the establishment, by alleging 
 that the princely incomes of many of our prelates excite, 
 in the public mind, suspicions of ambition and of selfish- 
 ness, and that theological aspirants seek high preferments 
 from motives of interest, much more than from views of 
 piety. ‘The primitive bishops, say these objectors, were 
 content with the means of comfortable subsistence and of 
 respectable appearance ; luxury, parade, and ostentation, 
 had no charms for them; they were meek and humble- 
 minded, and aimed only at the propagation of religious 
 sentiments in that mode which was most likely to render 
 them efficacious. But many ages, they continue to ob- 
 serve, did not elapse before the prelates were corrupted by 
 the flattery and submission of superstitious votaries, and 
 by the increasing prosperity of the church; and they 
 were then disposed to assume the lordly demeanor and 
 high tone of the noble and the opulent. Even he who 
 styled himself the “ servant of the servants of God” glad- 
 ly accept the grant of temporal sovereignty and of princely 
 power, and, in his new capacity, acted more as the domi- 
 neering potentate than as the father or friend of his people. 
 Such conduct in the opinion of these censors, did not tend 
 to promote the prevalence of a proper sense of religion, 
 which would have been more generally diffused, if the 
 leading members of the clerical body had not raised them- 
 selves so highly above the ordinary state of society. 
 
 Without presuming to settle this dispute, which Mr. 
 Burke triumphantly (as he thought) decided in favour of 
 the prevailing system, we take this opportunity of remark- 
 ing, that our church is apparently more pure, in point of 
 doctrine, than any other Christian establishment, and that 
 its discipline is liable to few or no objections. We also 
 readily allow that the episcopal bench exhibits talent, 
 erudition, and virtue, and that the inferior clergy are, in 
 general, respectable ; but, if their piety should be accom- 
 panied with greater zeal and earnestness; their exhorta- 
 tions and example would be more influential and edify- 
 ing. 
 
 The state of our church, at the close of the last century, 
 was as tranquil as it was flourishing. It was not agitated 
 by such dissensions as had prevailed at the time when the 
 convocation acted in some measure like a parliament ; 
 and it exhibited a dignified front and an air of boldness, 
 which over-awed the discontented part of the nation. The 
 majesty of the fabric was supposed to contribute to the 
 preservation of its strength; and, while the bishops, 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 ical order in a state of due submission and ready “obe- 
 | dience, the church militant bore the aspect ofa formidable 
 phalanx. It might reasonably have been concluded, that 
 the conscientious spirit which induced the protestants to 
 claim for themselves the full freedom of religious opinion, 
 would have disposed them to tolerate every sect which 
 demanded the same right ; but it unfortunately happens, 
 that both churchmen and politicians, when out of power, 
 make pompous promises and plausible protestations, which 
 they are not willing to remember when they are in 
 power. ‘Thus the champions of the church of England, 
 when they had obtained a separate establishment by dif- 
 fering from ¢he pope, would not quietly suffer any secta- 
 ries to differ from them. Even archbishop Cranmer, who 
 was considered as very mild and humane, became a cruel 
 persecutor, when poor and humble Christians ventured to 
 differ from him; and queen Elizabeth, when she had sub- 
 verted the Romish system in this country, put many per- : 
 sons to death for only asserting the same privileges which 
 she claimed for herself and her supporters. The puritans 
 also (when, under the appellation of Presbyterians, they 
 gained the ascendency about the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century,) persecuted the adherents of the church 
 of England with bitter animosity ; and toleration did not 
 properly exist in this country before the reign of king 
 William ILL, who, while he studiously discountenanced 
 the violent spirit and malignity of the catholics, admit- 
 ted the protestants of every denomination to the free 
 exercise of their religion. ‘Ihe catholics were not then 
 entitled to such indulgence, because time had not then 
 shown the increase of their humanity, or the melioration 
 of their social feelings; and even now, when there is no 
 reason to suppose that they would break out into the brutal 
 fury of religious murder, even if they had the opportunity 
 of authoritative exertion, we still say that they ought not to 
 be trusted with power. ‘They still cherish the zeal of 
 conversion ; they still brand us with the stigma of heresy ; 
 they still think that no one can be saved out of the pale of 
 their church. They may say that we have no right to 
 censure them for entertaining such an opinion ; yet we 
 have a right to exclude them from that establishment 
 which they would wish to overturn, and from those emol- 
 uments in which, if they should ever gain their grand ob- 
 ject, they would not allow us to participate. They, and 
 also their puritanical opponents, refused to tolerate when 
 they ought to have been so inclined, and would still, we 
 apprehend, be equally bigoted; but the members ef the 
 church of England have derived lenity from the softening 
 progress of time, and now make every concession that their 
 adversaries can reasonably demand. ‘They allow full pro- 
 tection and constitutional security, while they withhold 
 the grant of that power which may be abused and mis: 
 applied. 
 
 This is the point which is still disputed between the 
 advocates of the establishment on one hand, and the cath- 
 olics and protestant dissenters on the other. ‘The only 
 ground of refusal, on the part of the former, isthe danger 
 that may be apprehended from that, hostility which their 
 opponents cannot fully disguise. Notwithstanding this 
 ground of alarm, the leaders of the cabinet, in the year 
 
 1807, were advocates for the claims of the catholics. At 
 /a time when the rancorous hostility of a powerful enemy 
 
 deans, and archdeacons, kept the inferior ranks of the cler- |, threatened the kingdom with serious danger, it became 
 
DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 nighly expedient to concentrate all the energy of the 
 nation, and call forth the animated exertions of every 
 class and of every sect. It was therefore proposed by the 
 ministry, that the permission which had been granted to 
 the Irish catholics to hold any rank in the army except 
 the highest stations, should be extended to their brethren 
 in Great Britain, and that persons of all religious persua- 
 sions should likewise be allowed to serve in the navy. 
 When the scheme was communicated to the king, he re- 
 Juctantly gave his assent to the introduction of a bill on 
 the subject. Its provisions, on more deliberate considera- 
 tion, were in some degree extended ; and his majesty then 
 not only made strong objections to it, but insisted on a 
 written assurance from the ministers, that they would 
 never again bring it forward. ‘They properly refused to 
 agree to a demand which they deemed (and which un- 
 questionably was) irregular and unconstitutional, and re- 
 tired from the public service. The dread of danger from 
 too great concessions to a sect avowedly hostile to the pro- 
 testant ascendency, spread from the throne among the 
 people, and the cry of ‘no popery’ again prevailed, not 
 merely because it was artfully raised by the partisans of 
 the new ministry, but from the general unwillingness of 
 the nation to favour an intolerant sect. 
 
 As it wassupposed that the prince regent was not hos- 
 tile to the claims of the catholics, their advocates brought 
 forward the question in 1813, at a time when the zeal of 
 the British nation against them seemed to be dormant. 
 Mr. Grattan denied that they contended for power; they 
 only desired (he said) the same civil rights and official 
 qualifications which other citizens enjoyed. He adduced 
 the instances of France and Hungary to prove, that even 
 the bigotry of catholic governments allowed them to give 
 more than mere toleration to the protestants; and this 
 was an example which our parliament ought readily to 
 follow with regard to the present claimants. In the bill 
 which he introduced, it was proposed that they should be 
 eligible to a seat in parliament, and might be appointed to 
 any civil office whatever, except two or three of the high- 
 est employments, on taking a new oath against the pope’s 
 temporal power and pretended infallibility, and disavow- 
 ing any intention of subverting or disturbing the protestant 
 establishment, either in the church or the state. When 
 the question was put on the parliamentary clause, it was 
 rejected by a majority of four votes ; and the bill, having 
 thus lost its leading feature, was indignantly relinquished 
 by those who had exerted their whole strength in its 
 support. Even the catholics were not united in its 
 favour ; for the prelates of their sect, in Ireland, alleged 
 that it would encroach on the due exercise of their 
 functions, and on the spiritual jurisdiction of their su- 
 preme pastor, although this result was not contemplated 
 by the framers of the bill. 
 
 For many years the inferior catholics seemed to treat 
 with indifference the question of their emancipation (as 
 the claim was styled by their leaders ;) but they at length 
 loudly called, more particularly those of Ireland, for the 
 restoration of their rights, and it was resolved that every 
 effort should be made to interest the parliament in their 
 nehalf. Sir Francis Burdett, inthe year 1825, readily un- 
 dertook the enforcement of what he conceived to be their 
 just pretensions, and introduced a bill which obtained the 
 support of the house of commons ; but the peers, impres- 
 
 No. '-XIIL. 188 
 
 749 
 
 sed with a sense of constitutional policy, rejected the bill 
 by a majority of 48 votes. The disappointment did not 
 discourage the bold sectaries. Although an association 
 which they had formed for the more eflectual prosecution 
 of their grand object was suppressed by a specific statute, 
 they declared that no obstacles which might be thrown in 
 in their way by the illiberality and malice of their adver- 
 saries should deter them from a renewal of their demands. 
 Among the protestant sects in Great Britain, the Pres- 
 byterians are cohsidered as the most numerous class; the 
 Independents are said to be the next in point of number ; 
 and the Baptists, or Anabaptists, are supposed to take 
 the third place. ‘he Methodists are rapidly increasing ; 
 and, indeed, their ministers in general are more earnest 
 and zealous than the preachers among the other sects, and 
 thus make a more powerful and permanent impression. 
 Amidst the multiplication of the votaries of religion, 
 the followers of the spirit (we mean the Quakers) do not 
 augment their number; we may rather say, that, for many 
 years past, this has been a declining sect. Their more 
 extensive concerns in trade, and the consequent increase 
 of their connexions with worldly-minded men, and with 
 the mass of the community, may have partly contributed 
 to thiseffect ; and,amidst the fondness for pleasure that per- 
 vades the nation, many of them may have imbibed a spirit 
 of dissipation, which the grave elders of the fraternity 
 have been unwilling to countenance. A philosophic reader 
 may be induced to add, that the more enlightened reflec- 
 tion of modern times must have had the principal effect 
 in accelerating the decline of Quakerism. Whatever may 
 be the causes of it, the fact is admitted by the Friends 
 themselves. They still form, however, a respectable sect ; 
 and a summary view of the principles which they at the 
 present time profess, may perhaps gratify the curious 
 observer of sectarian varieties. "hey are of opinion, that 
 God has imparted to all human beings, though in different 
 degrees, a portion of his own spirit, without which it 
 would be impossible for them to discern spiritual things, or 
 even to understand the Scriptures. It is, they say, a pri- 
 mary and infallible guide; and, as those who encourage 
 it are in their progress to salvation or redemption it be- 
 comes also a redeemer. 'They consider redemption in 
 two points of view; either as it is promoted by outward 
 or inward means, or as it relates to past or future sins. 
 Jesus Christ, by offering himself as a victim, effected the 
 former redemption ; but it is the spirit, or Christ within 
 which tends to produce the latter, by leading to regenera- 
 tion and to the perfection of piety and virtue. Christ, they 
 add, was man, because he became incarnate ; and he 
 was divinity, because he was the word. A resurrection, 
 they think, will take place, though not of the body as it is. 
 In the regulations of future punishment, guilt will not be 
 imputed to any one on the ground of original sin, or the 
 delinquency of Adam and Eve, but only for the actual com- 
 mission of sin. Baptism and the eucharist are not essen- 
 tials of Christianity as outward ordinances, but only as 
 they are administered by the spirit. By this internal guide, 
 persons of both sexes are qualified for the ministerial func- 
 tions ; and, like the primitive Christians, they ought to 
 preach the Gospel gratuitously. No diflerence of religious 
 opinion can be a just ground of obloquy or persecution. 
 Evil ought not to be returned for evil; and not only all 
 privata violence, but all wars and public hostilities, cught 
 
750 
 
 to be avoided. The loss of life is not a proper punishment 
 for any crime; the reformation of a delinquent ought to 
 be the great object of jurisprudence. ‘The laws ought 
 not in any case to be forcibly resisted; and, even if the 
 
 conscience should be offended by submitting to them, the 
 
 penalties are to be patiently borne. Moral education ought 
 to be the object of particular attention ; and it is the duty 
 of every religious community, not only to assist its poor 
 members in point of bodily comfort, but to provide for the 
 instruction of their children. The dignity of man re- 
 quires, that his word should be equivalent to an oath ; 
 and the Scriptures, in the most positive manner, con- 
 firm this sentiment. ‘Trade is not in itself degrading ; 
 but honesty, and a punctual adherence to engagements, 
 are requisite for its prosecution, and such branches as 
 may be attended with the moral detriment of the trader 
 himself or of others, ought to be carefully avoided by 
 every Christian. 
 
 These principles unquestionably exhibit the Quakers 
 in the light of a moral sect; and those who are well ac- 
 quainted with them will not deny their general claim to 
 that character. They may also be regarded as a friendly 
 community, if not distinguished by politeness of beha- 
 viour or elegance of manners. Shrewdness and good 
 sense are frequently observed among them, though we 
 cannot affirm that many of them are eminent for learn- 
 ing or erudition. 
 
 The Quakers, when their sect had neem fully formed, 
 were scarcely ever divided by doctrinal disputes; but, early 
 in the present century they began to be agitated by a spirit 
 of dissension ; ane the committee of management, selected 
 at ore of the annual meetings, seemed willing to assume 
 adegree of authority which the synod never intended to 
 allow. One of the friends, in a spirited pamphlet, ani- 
 madverted upon this arrogant conduct, and particularly 
 censured the proceedings against Hannah Bernard, an 
 itinerant “expounder of Quakerism, who, for denying the 
 Trinity, expressing her disbelief in miracles, and differing 
 from the committee in other points, had been prohibited 
 from preaching. Willian Matthews also took up the pen 
 against the new dictators, whom he accused of having 
 arbitrarily excommunicated him for such doctrinal varia- 
 tions as he was prepared to justify. Dissensions of this 
 kind are occasionally renewed, without leading, however, 
 {0 a violent explosion. 
 
 Although the Unitarians had been excused from the 
 obligation. of subscribing the thirty-nine articles, they 
 were not satisfied while the act of king William hung 
 over their heads, menacing them with penal inflictions, 
 if they should deny the "Trinity either in conversation or 
 in writing; but from this state of apprehension they were 
 relieved in the year 1813. Another ground of dissatisfac- 
 tion still remained ; for their marriages, like those of the 
 catholics, were not considered as legal, when the ceremo- 
 nies were merely accordant to their own ritual. "They 
 therefore repeatedly applied to the parliament for a redress 
 of this grievance. On their last application, in 1825, they 
 were Eemicd at the declaration of the lord chancellor, that, 
 however they might think themselves protected by Sieur 
 law, they are yet liable to prosecution and punishment, 
 by the common law of the land, for denying that doctrine 
 which is an essential part of Christianity. They loudly 
 _complained of this insinuation, aud declared that they 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 would take the earliest opportunity of obviating its effects. 
 "The learned judge says that they are not Christians, as 
 they deny the divinity of our Redeemer; and yet he con- 
 nives at the toleration enjoyed by the Jews, the avowed 
 enemies of every establishment which bears the impress 
 of Christianity. He has uniformly opposed their efforts to 
 procurean act of parliament for the solemnization of their 
 marriages according to their own forms, and, in this perti- 
 nacity, ‘he is suppor ted by the majority of the peers, in defi- 
 ance of the arguments and influence of his more liberal 
 friend, the prime minister. ‘There is no good reason for 
 withholding so slight a favour, or (as the Unitarians would 
 say) so just a claim. 
 
 A new association has been formed upon the same basis. 
 The framers of this society were at first Universalists, 
 and so far orthodox as to be 'T'rinitarians ; but a doubt arose 
 in the mind of one of the members, whether the holy Tri- 
 nity really existed, and, in the progress of deliberation, he 
 
 | convinced himself that the idea of the divine Unity was 
 | a more rational doctrine. By the plausibility of his argu- 
 
 ments he drew others into his opinion; and, when the 
 pastor of the flock pronounced it to be heretical, a seces- 
 sion was the natural result. 'The seceders publicly de- 
 clared the motives and reasons of their conduct, and, as 
 if they were at a loss for an ecclesiastical constituiion, and - 
 had never before thought of such a subject, attentively 
 studied the New ‘Testament, with a view of ascertaining 
 the nature and the laws of the primitive Christian church. 
 The result of this inquiry was a conviction that the unity 
 of the church was one of its principal characteristics ; that 
 
 | the equality of its members distinguished the kingdom of 
 
 Jesus from all political realms, and formed the true ground 
 and security of Christianity liberty; that this general 
 equality ought not to prevent the appointment of elders 
 and of deacons, who might preserve order in the establish- 
 ment, and superintend its concerns ; that not only these, 
 but all the members of their society, had a right to teach 
 and exhort, so as to preclude the necessity of appointing 
 regular preachers ; and that it was a sufficient ground of 
 communion with their sect, to acknowledge the. authority 
 of Christ as a divine teacher, without regard to the various 
 doctrines which have been engraf ted upon that simple basis. 
 
 ‘They style themselves Free-thinking Christians, and ap 
 | pear to have made some progress in impressing others with 
 
 their sentiments. 
 
 While these sectaries were extending their influence, a 
 scheme oPunion was framed by the advocates of the same 
 general principles. It was proposed, in the year 1825, that 
 three partial societies should be united under the title of 
 the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, which would 
 be authorized to embrace every object and circumstance 
 connected with the propagation of Unitarianism. ‘The 
 proposal was readily adopted; and, as many protestant 
 dissenters had lately joined in the petitions presented to 
 the parliament against the relief of the catholics, the assem- 
 bly took this opportunity of expressing a ‘thorough disa- 
 vowal and disapprobation’ of such conduct, and a deter- 
 mination to support every effort which might be made to 
 ‘break the chains imposed by interested or short-sighted 
 policy upon the sacred rights of conscience.’ 
 
 Some years before this concentration of Unitarian 
 strength, a secession from the established church occurred, 
 not perhaps very important, but at least entitled to our 
 
DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 75° 
 
 notice. Several ministers, who had been in the habit of 
 conferring on religious topics, began to question the pro- 
 priety of continuing in a state of external adherence to 
 the church, when they entertained what they deemed 
 reasonable objections to various parts of the ritual and 
 the liturgy, and also disapproved the enforced dependence 
 of the church (according to the present constitution) upon 
 the temporal power. ‘The baptismal service, they said, 
 prescribed a ritual observance in lieu of a divine and spi- 
 ritual operation: in the service appropriated to the dead, 
 every one was styled a Christian, whereas many who were 
 thus honoured were merely so in external profession; and 
 the Athanasian creed was repugnant to that scriptural de- 
 claration which promised salvation to all who believed in 
 Christ. They at length resolved to renounce the general 
 assent which they had given at their ordination to the 
 thirty-nine articles, the homilies, and the prayer book, 
 while they readily acquiesced in particular clauses of those 
 branches of our religious system; and, being conscientious 
 men, they resigned their ecclesiastical preferments, which 
 they considered as the wages of error, if not of iniquity. 
 They then began to exercise their new ministry in the 
 Vicinity of Taunton ; but, being considered as Antinomi- 
 ans, they were not so far respected as to be enabled to 
 make great progress in the work of proselytism. ‘They 
 agreed with the Methodists in their opinion of faith, which 
 alone, they thought, could produce a sinner’s justification ; 
 and, when it was argued against them that they did not suf- 
 ficiently inculcate the axiom of religious obedience, they 
 alleged that their enforcement of the principle or the theory 
 would lead to the requisite practice. ‘hey believed (as far 
 as we can judge from the opinions of some individuals of 
 their number) that Christ existed with God before the cre- 
 ation of the present world, and that he is the proper object 
 of religious worship, the prophet, priest, and king of the 
 church; and they leaned to the doctrine of election, with- 
 out making it so prominent a part of their system as the 
 
 rigid Calvinists do. With regard to the Trinity, they held 
 a middle course between the orthodox cler gy and the Uni- 
 tarians. Some variations have occurred in their opinions 
 since their original secession; but these are of little mo- 
 ment, and are such as might reasonably be expected from 
 sectaries who have not framed a deliberate creed. 
 
 The reveries of Joanna Southcott we mentioned on a 
 former occasion. She continued her delusions long after 
 the commencement of this century, and not only retained 
 her influence over her original followers, but drew many 
 more into her train. A seal, bearing the initials of her 
 name, which she pretended to have accidentally found 
 when she was at work in her master’s house, furnished 
 her with a pretence for declaring that she was authorized 
 by Providence to propagate a new revelation ; and, in the 
 midst of her spiritual avocations, she derived temporal 
 advantage from the sale of sealed passports for the admis 
 sion of the faithful into the celestial regions. Near the 
 close of her life, in the year 1814, she impudently an- 
 nounced herself as the future mother (though a virgin) 
 of the Shiloh promised in holy writ. Her followers now 
 became still more numerous, and by their senseless liber- 
 ality, presents were lavished upon the supposed object of 
 divine favour, that the approaching birth might be cele- 
 brated with due splendour. 'The lady, however, died with- 
 
 friends would not believe that she was actually dead, and 
 fondly expected the speedy resuscitation of the spark of 
 life: but, afler an anxious sus spense of four days, they 
 resigned their hopes, and suffered her to be consigned, like 
 an ordinary mortal, to the grave. Her chaplain then 
 declared, that she had renounced, on her death-bed, the 
 Visions of her disordered brain ; yet there are still, it is said, 
 many who are not ashamed to own that they yet follow 
 her opinions. It might have been supposed ‘that her re- 
 cantation would have put an end to the delusion : but, 
 even in enlightened times, the most senseless fanaticism 
 will occasionally take possession of weak heads and narrow 
 minds. 
 
 Compared with the wild fanaticism of Joanna, the 
 sentiments of Dr. Alexander 'Villoch may even seem 
 reasonable. He was a philosophical and scientific man, 
 who differed in some respects from the established church. 
 He and his friends assumed the denomination of Chris- 
 tian Dissenters, declaring, at the same time, that they 
 were slaves to no sect, though it was supposed that they 
 entertained opinions similar to those of the Sandema- 
 nians. ‘hey professed: a determination of directing 
 their conduct by the rules and injunctions of the Scrip- 
 tures, and went so far in the formation of a sect as to 
 appoint two elders for the administration of their spiritual 
 concerns. ‘I'he death of the philosopher, in the year 1825, 
 probably dissolved the association ; for we do not hear of 
 its continuance. 
 
 An attempt to form a religious party at Coventry may 
 here be mentioned, though its features are not so marked 
 as to entitle it to the distinction of a new sect. The mem- 
 bers call themselves Samaritans, and we hope that their phi- 
 lanthropy gives them a just claim to the honourable appel- 
 lation. They resemble the Quakers in the plainness of 
 their apparel, in their allowance of female preachers, and 
 their abstinence from oaths ; but they seem to Jean more 
 to the doctrines of the Methodists than to those of any 
 other sect. . 
 
 A zealot named Muloch lately endeavoured to create 
 a sect, by exclaiming against the corruptions of Chris- 
 tianity, and proposing such a reform as would, in his 
 opinion, render that religion much more efficacious and 
 salutary than it now is. By drawing the people about 
 him at Oxford, and exhorting them to adopt his opinions 
 and advice, he exposed himself to an attack from the sup- 
 porters of orthodoxy: but the riot had no serious conse- 
 quences. In his conduct toward the members of his society, 
 he has shown himself to be more influenced by the arbi- 
 trary and intemperate spirit of Knox than the conciliatory 
 mildness of Melancthon. 
 
 Having thus treated of the established church, and also 
 noticed the deliberate secessions from its rules and ordi- 
 nances, we advert to missionary concerns, in which both 
 the orthodox and the heterodox are disposed to concur. 
 Missions had been occasionally undertaken before the cur- 
 rent century; but it is only in our times that the attempts 
 of British subjects with that view have assumed a regular 
 and systematic form. 'The English, for ages, were very 
 slow in the promotion of missionary labours. They 
 thought more of their immediate concerns than of foreign 
 under takings, and were content with the secure enjoyment 
 of their religion at home, without troubling themselves 
 
 out enjoying the honour of being a mother. Many of her || about the faith or the piety of the rest of the world, 
 
752 
 
 Desultory attempts, indeed, were occasionally made for 
 the conversion of the slaves in our colonies, and also of 
 the neighbouring savages; and, after the establishment 
 of the Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
 Parts, either zealous and adventurous clergymen, or pious 
 and well educated laymen, were regularly employed in 
 that salutary work; yet their operations were conducted 
 onasmall scale, and the government did not add its ener- 
 etic weight to the scheme, but merely suffered it to take 
 ts course under that nominal encouragement which it 
 derived from a royal charter. A new ebullition of zeal, 
 however, in this cause, appeared before the close of the 
 last century, and it has so far increased in vigour, as to 
 form one of the marked features of the age in which we 
 live. The first stimulus in our time appears to have heen 
 given by a mechanic of the name of Carey, and John 
 "Thomas, an equally zealous Christian. "The former, being 
 strongly inclined to preach the Gospel, had solicited and 
 obtained the honour of ordination among the Baptists ; 
 and, at a meeting of his brethren, he proposed a question 
 relative to the practicability of an effective diffusion of 
 evangelical truth among the pagan communities. As the 
 other ministers concurred with him in the affirmative 
 opinion, he went with his family to India, accompanied 
 by his friend, who had already preached to the Hindoos 
 in Bengal. ‘They were afterwards joined by some other 
 missionaries, but were checked in their pious operations 
 by the British government, and therefore gladly took re- 
 fuge in the Danish town of Serampore, where they opened 
 a school, and converted some of the natives to Christianity. 
 "The marquis Wellesley at length allowed them to travel 
 in those provinces which he governed; but this permission, 
 far from being fully granted, was arbitrarily restricted. 
 ‘The missionaries, however, prosecuted their course with- 
 out murmuring, and in some measure diminished the 
 number of Pagans. 
 
 While Mr. Carey and his associates were thus employed, 
 a scheme of conversion was formed, in the year 1800, on 
 a grand and comprehensive plan by the ministers and 
 friends of the established church, and the institution was 
 denominated the ‘Church Missionary Society to Africa and 
 the East,’ with a proviso that the ostensible limitation of 
 the efforts of its members and missionaries should not 
 ‘bind them to an exclusion of their attempts from any 
 other unoccupied place, which might present a prospect of 
 success to their labours.’ he leaders of the society at first 
 resolved that none but those who had received episcopal 
 ordination should act on these occasions ; but, when it was 
 found difficult to procure a sufficient number of clerical 
 missionaries, catechists were employed in the propagation 
 of the Christian doctrines and the enforcement of salutary 
 precepts. For the promotion of these objects, pecuniary 
 contributions were earnestly solicited in all parts of the 
 
 * To this institution, and other schemes calculated for religious pur- 
 poses, the subjects of the British empire are now more liberal than they 
 ever were before our time. Fr instance, in the year 1822, they contributed 
 a sum nearly amounting to 352,000/—a subscription far exceeding the 
 revenues of some German principalities. The British and Foreign 
 Bible Society received much more than a fourth part of this sum; the 
 next receipts, in point of magnitude, accrued to the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge ; the next, to the Church Missionary Insti- 
 tution; the London and Wesleyan Missionary Societies obtained the 
 next proportion; the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
 Foreign Parts had a smaller, yet a considerable share; then came the 
 Baptist Missionary Institution, and the Society for the Conversion of 
 the Jews. ‘The five sacietics which received the smallest sums were the | 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 kingdom and of its dependencies ; and even the smallest 
 donations were thankfully accepted. During many years 
 the produce was very inconsiderable, the zeal of the nation 
 not being sufficiently awakened: yet the fund of the society 
 continued to increase, and its income has enabled it to 
 establish nine grand missions: these are extended over 
 forty-two stations, comprehending 255 schools, in which 
 about 1,350 adults and 11,500 children are instructed in 
 religion and the elements of literature.» For the use of 
 these pupils and other inhabitants of the country about 
 these stations, the Scriptures have been printed in a great 
 
 | variety of languages, and useful tracts, composed in a 
 
 familiar style, have been circulated. As a specimen of 
 the effect of these pious labours, the growing civilization 
 of the colony of Sierra Leone may be mentioned with 
 pleasure. "l'wo thirds of its population consist of ne- 
 groes, (rescued from the hands of base and infamous 
 dealers in slaves,).the majority of whom, by the care and 
 example of Christian instructors, have been so far civilized 
 as to become quiet and friendly neighbours, industrious 
 artisans and agriculturists, and devout frequenters of places 
 of worship. 
 
 Other instances of missionary success may be drawn 
 from many of the inhabited spots in the Pacific Ocean. 
 In the Society Islands, in particular, a great change has 
 
 taken place. ‘The manners and deportment of the natives 
 
 are comparatively civilized ; their morals are much less de- 
 praved, and (says a reverend gentleman) a “system of 
 idolatry has been annihilated, which was reared by 
 treachery and crime, and had for ages, through the ter- 
 rors which it inspired, kept the population in a state of 
 abject wretchedness.” ‘The Scriptures have been trans- 
 lated into that language which, with little variation of 
 dialect, is diffused over many clusters of islands in the 
 wide extent of the Pacific; and, in various places, public 
 meetings are annually holden by the chieftains, to de- 
 liberate on the most effectual means of propagating that 
 religion which they consider as a great blessing, commu- 
 nicated to them by the servants of God and the friends 
 of mankind. 
 
 As the success of these labours, however, appeared to 
 be partial and limited, it was found expedient to quicken, 
 at intervals, the zeal of the public. It was therefore stated, 
 in a late address from the Society for the Propagation of 
 Christian Knowledge, that the great increase of population 
 in those territories to which its operations had been more 
 particularly directed, rendered a considerable augmenta- 
 tion of the number of missionaries and school-masters 
 necessary for the useful prosecution of its career, although 
 these now exceeded 200 in the American colonies alone ; 
 that, ‘ with a view to the formation of a body of native 
 clergy for the service of the colonies, the society had con- 
 tributed largely to the support of the King’s College (at 
 
 following ;—one which was established for the promotion of religious 
 knowledge among the poor, one for the distribution of the Scriptures 
 among seamen in the mercantile service, one for the diffusion of ortho- 
 dox tracts, and Sunday School Society, and the Irish Society of London, 
 This enumeration, though partial (for the list then published included 
 thirty-one associations,) serves to evince the proportional interest taken 
 by the public in these pious undertakings. Many might think that the 
 Gospel Society deserved the most marked encouragement from the con- 
 tributors; but we have no right to blame, in this instance, the exercise 
 of private discretion. These associations undoubtedly reflect great 
 credit on the country to which we belong; and we trust that the zeal by 
 which they are fostered will not suffer any abatement. 
 
DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Windsor in Nova Scotia,) by an annual grant and by the 
 endowment of divinity scholarships and exhibitions ;’ that 
 the directors of its funds had also made frequent grants 
 toward the erection of churches in the infant settlements, 
 and had been greatly instrumental in diffusing the national 
 system of education over every part of the T'rans-Atlantic 
 colonies; and that another source of expenditure had 
 been opened by the extended colonization of the southern 
 parts of Africa and the interior of New Holland. ‘Thus 
 religious instruction and elementary learning were hap- 
 pily combined. 
 
 The systematic addition of the duty of the school-mas- 
 ter to that of the missionary arose from the zeal of the 
 Rey. Dr. Bell, who, wishing to render ordinary scholarship 
 more general, introduced a system of elementary educa- 
 tion more comprehensive with regard to the number of 
 pupils, and more rapid in its progress, than the ordinary 
 mode of instruction. The supporters of the scheme boasted 
 that 500 boys and girls might be taught to read and write, 
 and to perform the common rules of arithmetic, sooner 
 than fifty in the usual way. ‘The plan chiefly consisted 
 in simultaneous dictation to a large assemblage, and in 
 the employment of a number of instructors gradually se- 
 lected from the aggregate number of the pupils. 
 
 The scheme has an air of quackery ; but it has been 
 practised with such success, in the national schools of 
 Great Britain, and in various parts of the continent, that 
 there are more readers and writers than at any former 
 period. It is now a prevailing wish that all the inhabi- 
 tants of this and every other country should receive in- 
 struction in reading and writing: but the proposal has 
 been condemned by some prejudiced men of the higher 
 class of society, who pretend that the plebeian learners 
 would thus sooner imbibe ideas of reform and false doc- 
 trines of every kind, or, from the pride of learning, would 
 contract ideas too high for the stations which they might 
 eventually fill. In reply to these objections we may remark, 
 that principles of pretended reform may be taught to indi- 
 viduals who cannot read, and whose illiteracy will render 
 them less able to detect the fallacies of the artful teacher ; 
 and, in the next place, that the instruction derivable by 
 the poor from this plan, though useful, will not be of so 
 elevated a kind as to inspire them with overweening pride 
 or vanity, or give them a disgust to the meanness of ordi- 
 nary occupations. 
 
 The labours of the missionaries in the West Indies 
 were exposed toa serious check by the commotions which 
 arose at Barbadoes in the year 1823. Apprehending that 
 the parliament might be induced to put an end to slavery, 
 and knowing that measures had been taken to repress the 
 shameful tyranny of the planters, the leading men in that 
 island exclaimed against the ‘ villanous African Society,’ 
 calumniated the characters of Mr. Wilberforce and his 
 friends, and denounced vengeance against the Methodist 
 missionaries, whom they accused of instigating the negroes 
 and mulattoes to disaffection and sedition. The charge 
 was ill-founded ; yet many persons of reputed respecta- 
 bility encouraged the white rabble of Bridge-town to insult 
 and harass the Methodists and their friends, and demolish 
 their meeting houses. 'The chief preacher fled in con- 
 sternation to the island of St. Vincent; those who re- 
 mained at Parbadoes were not allowed to act as ministers, 
 and no other missionaries were suffered to land. ‘The 
 
 No. LXIIL. 189 
 
 753 
 
 parliament expressed its indignation at these outrages ; 
 but we do not find that any steps were taken for the 
 punishment of the perpetrators. "This forbearance excited 
 strong animadversion when contrasted with the cruel 
 treatment of the slaves in Demarara, many of whom, for 
 an unwillingness to work, and for some riotous acts, were 
 sacrificed, under the forms of justice, to the vindictive rage 
 of the planters. 
 
 ‘The late appointment of several bishops for the West 
 Indies will, it is hoped, produce, by the influence of their 
 examples and persuasions, a better spirit among the white 
 population, and promote the conversionand enlightenment 
 of the people of colour and the negroes. But it is neces- 
 sary, for the due accomplishment of these desirable pur- 
 poses, that the new prelates should be more active and 
 zealous than those of Europe. 
 
 In the United States of North America, the episcopal 
 appointments are still kept up, and the other relizious 
 communities and congregations are in that regular pro- 
 gress which proves that the nation is not ungodly, al- 
 though the laws and government do not ordain or recog- 
 nize, as in the European states, the superiority of a parti- 
 cular creed or mode of worship. Hence there is no occasion 
 for the grant of toleration, as that term implies an allow- 
 ance, by the ruling power, of such doctrines, ceremonies, 
 and practices, as are not exactly consonant with the esta- 
 blished system. As no community predominates over 
 another, all are equal in the eye of the law; the Episco- 
 palians and Presbyterians, the Jews and Roman catholics, 
 the Moravians and Quakers, are perfectly on a level. 
 
 Among the more recent religious communities beyond 
 the Atlantic, the Shakers seem to have excited the great- 
 est degree of attention. Having mentioned their origin 
 and their doctrines on a former occasion, we now state 
 some particulars respecting their manners and conduct. 
 Even while they disallow marriage, and do not permit a 
 man to touch a woman on any occasion or pretence, they 
 are assembled in families. The males and females occupy 
 different apartments in the same house, and have separate 
 tables, but meet occasionally for society and labour, as 
 well as for religious service. ‘They exercise all the use- 
 ful arts and manufactures among themselves, without 
 being indebted to persons of other persuasions for the least 
 assistance. As far as they conveniently can, they have 
 every thing in common; and, when new members are 
 admitted, they are required to assign their property to the 
 directors of the society for the general benefit. They 
 profess to follow the advice of the apostle, “ Let all things 
 be done decently and in order.” In one respect they ap- 
 pear to be disorderly ; for, in the midst of their public. 
 worship, they sing and dance like maniacs: yet they have 
 “method in their madness.” Upon the whole, they form 
 a quiet, inoffensive, and apparently virtuous community. 
 
 Another sect (if indeed a religious party in a country 
 which has no established national creed can properly be 
 called a sect) has arisen in North America ; but it is little 
 known, and not very prevalent. Mr. Rees, a Welsh cler- 
 gyman, transported himself to America with the benevo- 
 lent view of propagating Christianity in that form which 
 he considered as the most pure and genuine, or rather in 
 that way which would leave every one at liberty to follow 
 his own opinion in points which were not essential, while 
 he acknowledged Christ as his only head. He proposed 
 
754 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &c. 
 
 that the society which should be instituted should be || and of its progress during the first quarter of the present 
 
 styled the Christian Church, and that no other guide than 
 the New Testament should be allowed to its members ; 
 and a secondary part of his scheme was the propagation 
 of the Gospel among the heathen communities. While 
 he laboured to make religious converts, he endeavoured, 
 with equal zeal, to put an end to the existence of slavery 
 in the United States; but he did not, either in this or in 
 his other pursuit, meet with that success which his good 
 intentions deserved. 
 
 Thus we have taken a cursory survey of the state of 
 Christianity, both in the eastern and western hemispheres, 
 
 century. Some progress it has unquestionably made, 
 although its increase has not been so great as its zealous 
 friends wished or expected. Its movements, depending 
 on human agency, are necessarily slow ; and, if no mira- 
 cles should intervene, many ages may elapse, before the 
 majority of the pagan nations, of the Jewish tribes, and of 
 the followers of the Arabian pseudo-prophet, shall be num- 
 bered among the votaries of that system which we consci- 
 entiously follow and earnestly recommend. In the mean 
 time, let Christians preserve their faith unimpaired, and ex- 
 hibit, to unbelievers, impressive examples of piety and virtue, 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES, — 
 
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CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT, 
 
 BY DR. MACLAINE, 
 
 Tue following Tables have been compiled with much attention and pains fromthe best authors; 
 and it is therefore hoped that they will be considered as an useful addition to Dr. Mosheim’s work; 
 and the more sce, as they are not confined to the persons and things contained in it. 
 
 The dates, that are placed in the columns which contain the sovereign princes and popes, are de- 
 signed to mark the year of their decease. 
 
 As several of the Ecclesiastical and Theological Writers, mentioned in these Tables, deserve a place 
 also among profane authors, on account of their philosophical, literary, or historical productions; so 
 their names will be repeated in the two distinct columns that contain the learned menof each century. 
 
 It is farther to be observed, that the Romish church, even long before the time of the Reformation, 
 looked upon many persons as heretics, whom we, on our principles, cannot consider in the same 
 light, and whose doctrines really tended to promote that reformation in which we glory. I have 
 therefore, in many places, added the words real or reputed after heretics, rather than seem to submit, 
 in this point, to the decisions of a superstitious church. 
 
 CENTURY I. 
 
 =a 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Writers. 
 
 eee ——EeeSeSESESEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeSSS ES 
 
 The tax of Augustus] Titus Livius. 
 
 Sovereig a Princes, mi re se rehope: of: Herelics, Remarkable Events. Profane Authors. 
 
 Roman emyervrs a.D.|The succession of the|The Evangelists and|Dositheus. 
 
 Augusius 14| first bishops of Rome} Apostles: Simon Magus. Cesar. Germanicus. 
 
 Tiberias 37| is a matter full of in-|The thyee Apostolic}The Gnostics, Cerin-|'The birth of Christ. Gratius. 
 
 Caligula 41) tricacy and obscurity.| Fathers, thus, Hymenzus,Phi-|The offerings presented| Ovid. 
 
 Claudius 54) —We shall herein| Clement, letus, who together] to Jesus Christ by the] Hyginus. 
 
 Nero 68] follow the learned bi-| Barnabas, with Demas and Dio-}| Wise Menfrom the East.| Labeo. 
 
 Galba 69| shop Pearson. Hermas. trephes, are rather to} The Four Passovers cele-| Valerius Maximus, 
 Otho 69} Linus. Philo, the Jew. be consideres as apos-| brated by Christ. Pheedrus. 
 
 Vitellius 70)| Anacletus. Flavius Josephus. tates than as heretics.|John the Baptist behead-| Verrius Flaccus. 
 Vespasia, 79| Clement. These are almost all|/ The Nicolaitans. ed. Strabo. 
 
 Titus 81) Evaristus. the genuine ecclesias-|Ebion. Christ's miracles, suf-| Dionysius of Alexandria, 
 Domitian 96} Alexander. tical writers of the first] The Nazarenes. ferings, death, resurrec-|Seneca, the rhetorician. 
 Nerva 98/The dates of the deaths| century, whose works|N. B. The Ebionites| tion, and ascension. Seneca, the philosopher 
 
 No. I-XIV. 
 
 of the Roman pontiffs 
 are not the same in the 
 accounts of chronolo- 
 gists. 
 
 Petau, Fleury, Pearson, 
 Marcel, Pfaff, Bower, 
 Lenglet, and others, 
 differ frequentlyin this 
 respect ; and their dif- 
 ferences sometimes 
 are considerable. 
 
 For example, the death 
 of pope Anicetus is 
 bare by Petau and 
 
 englet, in the year 
 161, by Pearson and 
 Pfaff in 162, by Fleu- 
 ry, Walch, andBower, 
 in 168. 
 
 As it is impossible to 
 recondile these histo- 
 rians, and difficult of- 
 ten to decide which 
 calculates best, we 
 
 are now extant; for 
 the supposed letter of 
 Christ to Abgarus, the 
 the Gospels, Acts, 
 Epistles, and Litur- 
 gies, that have (beside 
 those which weesteem 
 canonical) been attri- 
 buted to the Apostles 
 —as also the Epistles 
 of Mary to Ignatius 
 and others—the Acts 
 of Pilate—the Epistles 
 of Seneca to St. Paul, 
 &c. Must be consider- 
 ed as a pocryphal and 
 spurious. 
 
 The works that bear 
 
 thename of Dionysius 
 the Areopagite, were 
 forged in the fifth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 and Nazarenes/The descent of the Holy 
 though generally pla-| Ghost. 
 
 ced by the the learned|St. Stephen, 
 
 the first 
 
 in the first century,| Martyr. 
 yet belong more pro-|The Conversion of St. 
 
 perly to the second. 
 
 Paul. 
 
 Institution of Agape, or 
 Feasts of Charity. 
 
 Baptism is administered 
 by immersion. 
 
 Several ChristianC hurch- 
 es founded. 
 
 The first persecution un- 
 der Nero, 
 
 The oracles reduced to si- 
 lence, a dubious, or ra- 
 ther a fabulous story. 
 
 The destruction of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 The accounts of a dispute 
 
 between St. Peter and) 
 
 and poet. 
 Velleius Paterculus, 
 Cremutius 
 Isidore of Charax. 
 Celsus, the physician. 
 Massurius Sabinus. 
 Didymus of Alexandria, 
 Cocceius Nerva. 
 Philo the Jew. 
 Pomponius Mela. 
 Columella. 
 Remmius Palzemon. 
 Votienus. 
 Servilius Marcus. 
 Anneus Cornutus, 
 Lucan. 
 Andromachus. 
 Petronius. 
 Persius. 
 Epictetus. 
 Dioscorides. 
 
 Simon the magician at Flavius Josephus. 
 Rome, and of the erec-/Silius Italicus. 
 tion of a statue to the; Valerius Flaccus. 
 
758 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL ‘TABLES. 
 
 [Cenrt. IL 
 
 See eS SSSe—eee6906000—OOa0aWOoOOn——— 
 
 overeten Princes. 
 S en Princes Weak 
 
 shall follow Pearson 
 and Pfaff as the surest 
 
 guides. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops of | Ecclesiastical and 
 
 Theological writers. 
 
 Heretics. 
 
 Remarkable Events. Profane Authors. 
 
 latter in that city, seem] Pliny the Elder. 
 idle fictions. Pliny the Younger. 
 The second persecution] Asconius Pedianus. 
 of the Christians under] Plinius Valerianus, 
 Domitian. Juvenal, 
 St. John thrown into aj Martial, 
 caldron of boiling oil, aj Statius. 
 doubtful story. Frontinus. 
 The adventures of Apol-| Quintilian. 
 lonius Tyaneus. Dion Chrysostom. 
 
 Tacitus. 
 Phlegon. 
 Apion. 
 Trogus Pompeius. 
 Athenodorus, 
 CENTURY II. 
 : ; hasti 2 |Remarkable Events, and 
 Sovertign Princes, [P80 Bishops of | Recesigstical ond | grrctis, — |RSTAAM gts tat he) Prefone Authors 
 a stitutions. 
 Roman Emperors: a.D.\Xystus or Sixtus 127 Ignatius of Antioch. |Nazarenes. Third persecution under|Arrian. 
 ‘Trajan 7| Telesphorus 138 Polycarp. Gnostics. Trajan, mitigated by the] Aulus Gellius. 
 Adrian 138) Hyginus - 150 Justin Martyr. Cainites. intercession of Pliny, the] Plutarch. 
 Anton. Pius 161) Pius I. 153 Hegesippus. Elxai. Younger. Florus. 
 M. Antoninus 180) Anicetus 162) ‘Theophilus of Antioch, | Saturninus. Fourth persecution under|Celsus, the lawyer. 
 L. Verus Commo- Soter 172) the first who made use| The Millenarians. Adrian. Genomaus Philo of Phe- 
 dus 192) Eleutherius 185} of the word Trinity] Basilides. Fifth Persecution under] nicia. 
 Pertinax 193 | Victor 196| to express the distinc-| Isidore, the Son. Antoninus Pius, con-|Ptolemy, the astronomet 
 Did. Julianus 193 tion of what divines|Carpocrates and his] tinued under Marcus] and geographer. 
 Niger 194 call persons inthe God-| followers. Aurelius and Lucius/Salvius Juliamius. 
 Albinus 197 head. The Christian|Marcellina and Epi-| Verus. Seutonius. 
 
 church is very little 
 obliged to him for his 
 invention. 
 
 The use of this and 
 and other unscriptural 
 terms, to which men 
 attach either no ideas, 
 or false ones, has 
 - wounded charity and 
 peace, without pro- 
 moting truth and 
 knowledge. It has 
 
 produced heresies of 
 
 the worst kind — 
 
 Melito. 
 
 Tatian.* 
 
 Papias. 
 
 Claudius Apollinaris. 
 
 Hermias. 
 
 Athenagoras. 
 
 ClemensAlexandrinus. 
 
 Tertullian. 
 
 Aquila. 
 
 Theodotion. 
 
 Symmachus. 
 
 The unknown Author 
 of the Sibylline Ora- 
 cles. 
 
 Treneus. 
 
 Polycrates. 
 
 Dionysius of Corinth. 
 
 Pantenus. 
 
 Quadratus. 
 
 Add to these several 
 fragments of the wri- 
 tings of some of the 
 principalheretics men- 
 tioned in the following 
 column. These frag- 
 ments are collected by 
 Cotelerius, Grabe, &c. 
 
 phanes. 
 
 Prodicus, the chief of 
 the Adamites. 
 
 Valentine and his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 *'Tatian supposed to be 
 the chief of the En- 
 cratites, Hydropara- 
 states, and A potactics. 
 
 Ptolomeus Secundus. 
 
 Cerdo. 
 
 Marcion. 
 
 Florinus. 
 
 The Docete, or Phan- 
 tasiasts. 
 
 The Melitonians., 
 
 The Saccophori. 
 
 Severians. 
 
 Ophites. 
 
 Artotyrites. 
 
 Theodotus, the Tanner, 
 chief of the Alogi. 
 
 Montanus. 
 
 Tertullian. 
 
 Priscilla and Maxi- 
 milla, who where call- 
 ed Montanists, Cata- 
 phryges, and Pepu- 
 
 z1ans. 
 
 ites. 
 Heracleon. 
 Bassus. 
 Colarbasus. 
 Blastus. 
 Mark. 
 The Valentinians. 
 }Bardesanes. ° 
 | Hermogenes. 
 | Apelles. 
 
 leucus and Hermias. 
 | Artemon. 
 
 Conversion of the Ger-|Apollonius, the pniloso- 
 mans and Gauls, and (if | pher. 
 
 we may give credit to} Appian. 
 
 Bede) of the Britons. | Fronto. 
 
 The Thundering Legion| Maximus Tyrius. 
 
 —a dubious event. Taurus Calvisius. 
 Insurrections of the Jews| Apuleius. 
 
 against the Romans.|Artemidorus. 
 
 Sedition and slaughter| Lucian. 
 
 of that people under the} Numenes. 
 
 standards of Barcoche-|Pausanias. 
 
 ba, the false Messiah. | Polyznus. 
 
 The Jews are driven|Sextus Empiricus. 
 
 from Jerusalem. Athenzus. 
 Horrible calumnies|Julius Pollux. 
 
 thrown out against the| Diogenes Laertius. 
 Christians by Lucian,}/Gallienus. 
 
 Crescens, Celsus, and} Ammonius Saccas, 
 
 the Pagans in general. | Priscus. 
 
 The perusal of the Si-|Cephalion. 
 
 bylline Oracles prohibit-| Aristides. 
 
 ed by an imperial edict.| Hermogenes, who at the 
 Christian assemblies are] ageof seventeen publish- 
 held on Sundays, and} ed his Rhetoric; at 
 other stated days, inpri-| twenty, his Book on 
 vate houses, and in the| Ideas; and, at twenty- 
 burying-places of Mar-| five, is said to have for- 
 tyrs. gotten all that he had 
 Infant baptism and spon-| learned. 
 
 The Sethites and Abel-! sors used in this century.| Justin Martyr. 
 
 Various festivals and 
 fasts established. 
 
 A distinction formed be- 
 tween bishops and pres- 
 byters, who, with the 
 deacons and readers, are 
 the only orders of eccle- 
 siastics known in this 
 century. The sign of 
 the cross and anoint- 
 
 Theophilus of Antioch. 
 Chrysorus. 
 
 Marcus Antoninus, 
 Harpocration. 
 Athenagoras. 
 
 Celsus, the philoscpher. 
 Julinus Solinus, 
 Plotinus. 
 
 Papinian. 
 
 Praxeas, the chief of) ing used. : 
 the Patropassians, Se-| The custom of pRving 
 
 towards the East intro- 
 duced. \ 
 
Cent. III.] CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 CENTURY II. 
 
 759 
 
 ——————————S—-= 
 
 Popes, or Bishops of| Ecclesiastical and 
 
 Sass 
 
 Remarkable Events, and 
 
 Sovereign Princes. Heretics. 
 
 Rone. Theological Writers. Religious Rites and In- Profane Authors. 
 stitutions. 
 
 Roman Emperors: a. D.|Zephyrinus 219] The author of the Acts| Adelphius. Sixth Persecution under) Elius Maurus. 
 Severus 211|Callistus 224] of Perpetua and Feli-|Aquilinus. 2 Severus, in which Le-|Oppian, the Poet. 
 Caracalla 217) Urban 231 citas. Manes, the chief of the onidas, Irenzeus, Victor, Quintus Seren, 
 Geta 212) Pontianus 235] Minutius Felix. Manicheans. bishop of Rome, Perpe-|Sammonicus. 
 Macrinus 218] Anterus 236) Hippolytus. Hierax. tua, Felicitas, and others, | Julius Africanus. 
 Heliogabalus 222/Fabianus 251) Ammonius. Noetus. suffer martyrdom. Acolus. 
 
 Severus Alexander 235) Cornelius 254| Julius Africanus. Sabellius. Seventh Persecution| Dio Cassius. 
 Maximin 237|A contest between | Origen. Beryllus. (after one under Maxi-|Ulpian. 
 Gordian I. IT. 237} him and Novatian Cyprian. Paul of Samosata. min) under Decius, in|Ephorus. 
 
 Pupienus and Bal- Lucius 256} Novatian. Novatians. which Fabianus, the|Censorinus. 
 
 binus 238 | Stephen 258}Gregory Thaum. Patropassians. Roman pontiff, Babylas,!C. Curius Fortunatus, 
 Gordian III. 244/Sixtus IT. 259| Dionysius of Alexan-| Arabians. Alexander, and others,|Herodian. 
 
 Philip the Arahien Dionysius 270) dria. Cathari. suffer martyrdom. Nicagoras. 
 
 supposed to bave Felix 275) Pamphilus, Valesians. Eighth Persecution un-| Amelius. 
 
 beenthe fivstCoiis- | Mutychianus 283) Anatolius. Privatus. der Valerian, in which|Gentilianus. 
 
 tian emperor 250|Caius Marcellinus 296] Arnobius Africanus. |A schism between Ste-| those more illustrious|Erennius. 
 
 Decius 252 Commodianus. phen and Cyprian, martyrs, Cyprian, Lu- Dexippus. 
 Gallus and Ys 273'- Archelaus. concerning the re-bap-| cius, Stephen I. Sixtus I.|Cassius Longinus. 
 
 anus 253 Lucianus. tizing of heretics. and Laurentius, suffer|Julius Capitolinus. 
 /Emilianus 253 Hesychius. for the faith. /Elius Lampridius. 
 Valerian 259 Methodius. Ninth Persecution under|'Trebellius Pollio. 
 Gallienus 268 Theognostus. Diocletian, Maximian,|Porphyry. 
 Claudius IL. 27 Malchion. Galerius, and Maximin,| AElius Spartianus. 
 Quintilius 270 Paul of Samosata. much more cruel than|Flavius Vopiscus. 
 Aurelian 75 Stephen, R. Pont. the preceding, and fa-|M. Aurel. 
 
 Tacitus 275 Eusebius, a deacon of mous for the martyrdom|Olymp. 
 Florianus 27 Alexandria. of the Theban Legion,| Nemesianus, 
 Probus 282 Dionysius, R. Pont. which however is a/Alexander, a Greek phis 
 Carus 283 Basilides, Bishop of very dubious story. losopher. 
 Carinus 284 Pentapolis. The Jewish Talmud and|Philostratus. 
 Numerianis 284 Victorinus. and Targum composed|Julius Paulus. 
 Diccletian Prudentius. in this century. Sextus Pomponius. 
 My simian The Jews are allowed to| Herennius. 
 
 return into Palestine. |Modestinus. 
 Jewish schools erected} Hermogenianus. 
 
 at Babylon, Sora, and/}Palladius Rutilius. » 
 other places. Taurus Aimilianus, 
 Remarkable deaths  of/Justin. 
 
 those who persecuted the| Julius Calphurnius. 
 Christians, related by|Arnobius. 
 Tertullian, Eusebius, 
 
 and Lucius Cecilius. 
 
 Many illustrious men, 
 
 and Roman senators, con- 
 
 verted to Christianity. 
 
 The originofthe monastic 
 
 life derived from the aus- 
 tere manners of Paul the 
 | 
 
 Theban, the first hermit. 
 
 Diocletian assumes the 
 name and honours due 
 to Jupiter, and orders the 
 
 £ people to worship him. | 
 
 Religious rites are great- 
 ly multiplied in this cen- 
 tury; altars used; wax 
 tapers employed. 
 
 Public churches, called in 
 Greek Kupraxa, built for 
 the celebration of divine 
 worship. 
 
 The Pagan mysteries in- 
 judiciously imitated in| 
 many respects by Chris- 
 tans. 
 
 |The tasting of milk and 
 
 honey, previous to bap- 
 
 tism, introduced. The 
 
 person is anointed be- 
 
 fore and after that holy 
 
 rite—receives a crown, 
 
 and goes arrayed in 
 
 “ white for sometime after. 
 
 The story of the seven 
 
 sleepers of Ephesus, and 
 
 the martyrdom of Ursu- 
 
 la, and the 11,000 British 
 
 } Virgins, the principal fa- 
 
 ] bles invented inthis cen- 
 tury. 
 
760 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 CENTURY IV. 
 
 Sovereign Princes. 
 
 zome. 
 
 Roman Emperors: A.D. 
 
 Diocletian and 
 Maximian abdi- 
 cate the empire in 
 the year 
 
 Galerius 
 
 Constantius 
 
 Constantine 
 Great 
 
 His adversaries, 
 
 Maximin 
 
 Maxentius 
 
 Licinius 
 
 Constantine IL 
 
 Constantius 
 
 Constans 
 
 Julian, the Apos- 
 tate 
 
 the 
 
 Jovian 
 
 Valentinian 
 
 Valens 
 
 Gratian 
 
 Valentinian II. 
 
 Theodosius the 
 Great 
 
 The division ofthe 
 Roman Empire 
 
 into the Eastern 
 and WesternEm- 
 pires. 
 
 [ Lhe Visigoths set- 
 tle in Gaul and 
 Spain about the 
 end of this cen- 
 tury.) 
 
 Athanazic 
 
 Acaric. 
 
 Marcellinus 
 
 Marcellus 
 
 Eusebius 
 
 | Melchiades 
 Sylvester 
 
 311) Mark 
 
 > Julius 
 
 Liberius 
 
 ,A schism between 
 Liberius and F'e- 
 lix 
 
 Damasus 
 
 325) A new schism be- 
 
 3) tween this pontiff 
 
 and Ursinus. 
 
 350| Siricius 
 
 395 
 
 382 
 
 304 
 309 
 dll 
 313 
 335 
 336 
 352 
 367 
 
 384 
 
 398 
 
 Theological Writers. 
 
 Lactantius Firm. 
 Lucius Cecilius. 
 Dorotheus, bishop of 
 Tyre. 
 Eusebius, bishop 
 Cesarea. 
 Constantine the Great. 
 Eustathius, bishop of 
 Antioch. 
 Commodianus. 
 Alexander, bishop of 
 Alexandria. 
 Juvencus. 
 Athanasius, bishop of 
 
 of 
 
 Popes, or Bishops of| Ecclesiastical and |\Herelics, real or re- 
 
 puted. 
 
 The Manicheans dis- 
 
 guised under the de- 
 nominations of En- 
 cratites, Apotactics, 
 Saccophori, Hydro- 
 parastates, and Soli- 
 taries. 
 
 Arius andhis followers, 
 who were divided in- 
 to Funomians, Semi- 
 arians, Eusebians, 
 Homoiousians, Acaci- 
 ans, and Psathyrians. 
 
 Photinus, Apollinaris, 
 
 Remarkable Events, and 
 Religious Rites and In- 
 
 stitutions. 
 
 The Tenth Persecution 
 
 continued. 
 
 The Athanasians or Or- 
 
 thodox persecuted by 
 Constantius, who was 
 anArian, and by Valens, 
 who ordered 80 of their 
 deputies, all ecclesias- 
 tics, to be put on board 
 of a ship, to which fire 
 was set as soon as it had 
 cleared the coast. 
 The Christians persecu- 
 ted by Sapor. 
 
 [Cent. 1V 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 fBlius Donatus. 
 
 Servius. 
 
 Helladius. 
 
 Andronicus Nonius. 
 
 Marcellus. 
 
 Sext. Aurelius Victor. 
 
 Maximus of Smyrna,who 
 is supposed to have 
 taught the emperor Juli- 
 an magic. 
 
 Oribases. 
 
 Eutropius. 
 
 Libanius. 
 
 Ausonius. 
 
 Alexandria. Father and Son. The supposed conversion| Pappus, the famous nis- 
 Antonius, who (with|Macedonius. of Constantinethe Great,| thematician. 
 Paul the hermit) was|The | Anthropomor-| by a vision representing| Prudentius. 
 the first institutor of| phites. a fiery cross intheair. |Rufus Festus. 
 the monastic life. Priscillian. First General council. It} Avienus. 
 Marcellus, bishop of|Andeus. was held at Nice in 325.|Themistius. 
 Ancyra. The Messalians, or| In ittheopinionsofArius|Flavius Vegetius. 
 Theodore bishop of} Euchites. were condemned,and the} Hierocles. 
 Heraclea. Collyridians. popes declared merely|Julian. 
 Julius, bishop of Rome. Eustathians. equal in dignity to other| Ammianus Marceliinus, 
 Jul. Firm. Coluthus. Christian bishops. Symmachus. 
 Maternus. Helvidius. A second general council| Lactantius. 
 Pachomius. Bonosus. is held in the year 381, at| Jamblichus. 
 Eusebius, bishop of] Vigilantius. Constantinople,in which| Aulius Lampridius. 
 Emessa. Three schisms of the] the errors of Macedonius| Eusebius of Cesarea. 
 Serapion. Meletians, and Luci-| are condemned. Jul. Firmicus Maternus, 
 Cyril, bishop of Jeru-| ferians, and Dona-|Remarkable progress of|Chalcidius. 
 salem. tists. the Christian religion a-| Pomponius, 
 Hilarius, bishop of mong the Indians,Goths, | Festus. 
 Poictiers. Marcomanni, and Iberi-|Quintus Curtius. 
 Lucifer, bishop of Ca- ans. Macrobius. 
 gliari. The famous donation of 
 Phebadius, bishop of Constantine in favour of 
 Agen, the Roman see—a mere 
 Eunomius. fable. 
 Zeno, bishop of Ve- The miraculous defeat of 
 rona. Eugeniusby Theodosius. 
 Titus, bishop of Bostra. Julian’s attempt to invali- 
 Damacus, bishop of date the predictions of 
 Rome. the prophets, by en- 
 Epiphanius, bishop of couraging the Jews tore- 
 Salamis. buildthe temple ofJerusa- 
 Optatus, bishop of lem,defeated byan earth- 
 Milevi. quake and fiery eruption. 
 Pacianus. See the learned bp. War- 
 Marius Victorinus. burton’s interesting and 
 Liberius, bishop of ingenious work, entitled 
 Rome. Julian. 
 Ephraim the Syrian. Theodosius the Great is 
 Didymus of Alex. obliged by Ambrose, bi- 
 Basil, bishop of Czsa- shop of Milan, to do pub- 
 rea. licpenanceforthe slaugh- 
 Gregory, bishop of Na- ter of the Thessalonians. 
 zianzum. TheEucharistwas,during 
 Gregory, bishop of this century, administer- 
 Nyssa. ed in some places to in- 
 Amphilochius, bishop fants and persons de- 
 of Iconium. ceased. 
 Hegesippus. Something like the doc- 
 Apollinaris, Father and trine of Transubstantia- 
 Son. tion is maintained, and 
 Eusebius, Bishop of the ceremony of the ele- 
 Verceil. vation used in the cele- 
 Diodore, bishop of Tar- bration of the Eucharist. 
 sus. The council of Elvira in Spain, eid in the yeas 
 Proba Falconia. 305, not only solemnly forbids the adoration of pice 
 The three Macarii. tures or images, but even prohibits the use ef them. 
 Ambrose. The use of incense and of the censer, with seve- 
 Jerome. * ral other superstitious rites, introduced. — The 
 Ruflinus. churches are considered as externally holy, the 
 Philastrius, saints are invoked, images used, and the Cross 
 Paulinus, bishop of worshipped. 
 Nola. The clerical order augmented by new ranks of 
 Augustin. ecclesiastics, such as archdeacons, country bishops, 
 
 John Chrysostom. 
 
 archbishops, metropolitans, exarchs. &«. 
 
Cent. V.] 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 ) CENTURY V. 
 
 761 
 
 poems Pryce. Rome. Theological writers. 
 
 Emperors of the West.| Anastasius 
 a. D.| Innocent 
 423 |Zosimus 
 455| Boniface I. 
 
 417| Bresse. 
 418} Sulpicius Severus. 
 423] Palladius. 
 
 Honorius 
 
 Valentinian III. 
 
 Maximus 455|A schism between Heraclides. 
 Avitus 456| this pope and Eu- Innocentius. 
 Majorianus 461] lalius Polybius. 
 Severus 465|Celestine I. 432) Pelagius. 
 Anthemius 472|Sixtus IIT. 440) Celestius. 
 Olybrius 472|Leo the Great 461|/Theodore, bishop of 
 Glycerius deposed Hilarius 467; Mopsuesta. 
 in 474|Simplicius 483) Polychronius. 
 Julius Nepos depo- Felix IIL. 492| Nonnus. 
 
 475|Gelasius 
 Anastasius II. 
 Symmachus lL. A 
 schism between 
 him and Lauren- 
 tius. 
 
 sed in 
 
 Romulus Augus- 
 tulus, who reign- 
 ed till the 23d of 
 August, when 
 Odoacer took the 
 title of king of 
 
 496) Synesius. 
 
 498| Isidore of Pelusium. 
 Cyril of Alexandria. 
 Orosius. 
 Marius Mercator. 
 
 Turin. 
 
 Italy, and put an Theodoret. 
 end to the wes- Cassian. 
 tern empire. Peter Chrysologus. 
 Kings of Italy: Hilarius. 
 Odoacer 493 Philostorgius. 
 Theodoric Vincent of Lerins. 
 Emperors of the East: Socrates. 
 Arcadius _ 408 Sozomenes. 
 Theodosius II. 450 Leo the Great. 
 Marcianus 457 Prosper. 
 Leo I. 474 Idacius. 
 Leo IL. 474 Basil. 
 Zeno Isaur 49] Seleucus. 
 Anastasius Arnobius the Younger. 
 Gothic kings of Spain: Claudian Mamertus. 
 Alaric 411 Faustus. 
 Ataulptaus 415 Felix, the Roman pon- 
 Sigeric 415 tiff. 
 Vallia 420 Vigilius Tapsensis, 
 Theodoric 451 supposed by some 
 Thorismond 452 learned men to have 
 Theodoric II. 466 been the author of 
 Euric 484 what is commonly 
 Alaric II, called the Athanasian 
 Kings of France: Creed. 
 - Pharamond, first Victor the African. 
 ing, 420 Gennadius. 
 Clodion 451 Zosimus. 
 Meroveus 456 Prosper. 
 Childeric 481 Sidonius Apollinar. 
 Clovis I. ZEneas Gaza. 
 
 The Kings of the Van- 
 dals in Africa, where 
 they setlled in the 
 
 year 429 
 Genseric 466 
 Huneric 484 
 Gontamond 496 
 Thrasamond 
 
 Kings of England: 
 Vortigern 
 
 Kingdom of Kent 
 founded by Hen- 
 gist the Saxon, in 
 457, and that of 
 Sussex by Ella, 
 in 499 
 
 No. LXIV. 191 
 
 Popes, or Bishops of | Ecclesiastical and |Heretics real or re- 
 
 puted. 
 
 402)Gaudentius, bishop of| Vigilantius. 
 Pelagius, 
 
 Julian, 
 what is 
 Pelagian Heresy, 
 
 John Cassian. 
 
 F'austus. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 _ |Foundation of the French| Anienus. 
 Ceelestius,} monarchy by Phara-|Martianus Capella. 
 authors of] mond, or rather by Clo-|Claudian. 
 
 called the] vis. Eunapius. 
 
 An earthquake swallows | Macrobius. 
 
 up several cities in Pa-|Olympiodorus. 
 
 lestine. 
 
 Orosius. 
 
 Gennadius, Vincent of| A third General Council |Peutinger. 
 
 Lerins, 
 
 beri 
 
 estorius. 
 
 Theodoret. 
 
 Theodore of Tarsus. 
 Theodore of Mopsus. 
 Nestorians. 
 
 Eutyches. 
 
 Dioscorus. 
 
 The Acephali— Mo- 
 
 Maximus, bishop of| nophysites.— Jacob- 
 
 ites— Armenians. — 
 Theopaschites.—Pre- 
 destinarians.— Celi- 
 cole. 
 Peter, the Fuller. 
 Xenaias. 
 
 Semi-Pela-| held atEphesus, at which|Rutilius Claudius. 
 
 Nestorius was deposed,|Numantianus. 
 
 in the year 431. 
 
 A fourth General Coun- 
 cil held at Chalcedon 
 against Eutyches in the 
 year 451. 
 
 Servius Honoratus. 
 Sidonius Apollinaris. 
 Candidus, the Isaurian, 
 Zosimus, the historian, 
 Idacius. 
 
 Progress of Christianity|Quintus, or Cointus. 
 among the Franks and|Priscus. 
 
 Germans. 
 The conversion ofthelIrish 
 
 Muszeus. 
 Proclus. 
 
 to the Christian faith at-| Simplicius. 
 
 tempted in vain by Pal- 
 ladius, but effected by 
 St. Patrick, whose origi- 
 nalnamewas Succathus, 
 who arrived in Ireland 
 in the year 432. 
 
 Terrible persecutions car- 
 ried on against the Chris- 
 tians in Britain, by the 
 Picts, Scots, and Anglo- 
 Saxons,—in Spain, Gaul, 
 and Africa, by the Van- 
 dals—in Italy and Pan- 
 nonia, by the Visigoths 
 —in Africa, by the Do- 
 natists and Circumcel- 
 lians—in Persia, byIsde- 
 gerdes—beside the par- 
 ticular persecutions car- 
 ried on _ alternately 
 against the Arians and 
 Athanasians. 
 
 The extinction of the 
 western empire. 
 
 The Theodosian Code 
 drawn up. 
 
 Thecity of Venice found- 
 ed by the inhabitants of 
 the adjacent coast, who 
 fled from the incursions 
 of the Barbarians. 
 
 Felix III. bishop of Rome 
 (whomBower and others 
 look upon as the second 
 pope of that name) is ex- 
 communicated, and his 
 name struck out of the 
 diptychs, or sacred re- 
 gisters, by Acacius, bi- 
 shop of Constantinople. 
 
 Many ridiculous fables 
 are invented during this 
 century; such as_ the 
 story of the vial of oil, 
 brought from heaven by 
 a is eon at the baptism 
 of Clovis—the vision of, 
 Attila, &c. 
 
762 
 
 Sovereign Princes. 
 
 Kings of Etaly. a. vd. 
 
 T heodoric 526 
 Athalaric 534 
 Araalasuntha 534 
 Theodatus 536 
 Vitiges 540 
 Idebald 541 
 Totila 553 
 Teias 554 
 Emperors of the East: 
 Anastasius 518 
 Justin I. 527 
 Justinian 565 
 Justin IL. 578 
 Tiberius IT. 586 
 Mauritius 
 
 Gothic Kings of Spain: 
 Alaric has 507 
 Gesalric 512 
 Amalaric 531 
 Theudis 548 
 Theodegesil 548 
 Agila 552 
 Athanagilda 567 
 Leuva 568 
 Leuvigild 585 
 Recared 
 
 These princes 
 
 were masters also 
 
 of Narbonne and 
 Aquitaine. 
 
 Kings of England: 
 
 The third Saxon 
 kingdom is found- 
 ed in England by 
 Cerdic, in 519, 
 and is called the 
 kingdom of the 
 West Saxons. 
 
 The fourth, or that 
 of the East Sax- 
 ons, by Erchen- 
 win, in 
 
 The fifth, that of 
 Northumberland, 
 by Ida, in 
 
 The sixth, that of 
 the East Angles, 
 by Uffa, in 
 
 The seventh, that 
 of Mercia, by Cri- 
 da, in 
 
 Thus was succes- 
 sively formed the 
 Saxon Heptar- 
 chy. 
 
 Kings of France: 
 Clovis I. 511 
 The kingdomis di- 
 
 vided among his 
 four sons, viz. 
 
 527 
 
 547 
 
 573 
 
 585 
 
 Thierry, Metz, 534 
 Clodomi, Or- 
 leans 534 
 
 Childebert, Paris 558 
 Clotaire, Soisons 562 
 A second  divi- 
 sion of the king- 
 dom among the 
 four sons of Clo- 
 taire 1. viz. Che- 
 rebert, Paris 
 Gontran, Orleans 593 
 Chilperic, Sois- 
 sons 584 
 Sigebert, Metz 575 
 Kings of the Vandals 
 in Africa: 
 Thrasamond 
 
 566 
 
 Popes, or Bishops of 
 
 Rome. 
 Symmachus 514 
 Hormisdas 523 
 Jobn I. 526 
 Felix IV. 529 
 Boniface IT. 531 
 
 A schism between 
 
 Boniface and 
 Dioscorus 
 John II. 535 
 Agapetus I. 536 
 Sylverius 540 
 A schism between 
 
 Sylverius and Vi- 
 
 eilius, 
 
 Vigilius 555 
 Pelagius I. 558 
 John IIT. 572 
 Benedict I. BiG 
 Pelagius IT. 590 
 Gregory I. 
 
 Sovereign Princes. 
 Concluded. 
 
 Hilderic 
 
 Gilimer, defeated 
 and taken priso- 
 ner by Belisarius, 
 in the year 
 
 B this event 
 ‘Africa became 
 again subject to 
 the Emperors of 
 the East. 
 
 ADs 
 530 
 
 534 
 
 Kings of theLombards, 
 | whoentered Italy in 
 the year 568 
 Alboinus 571 
 Clephis 573 
 Antharis 590 
 Agilulph 
 ‘Exarchs of Ravenna: 
 ‘Lingonus 583 
 ‘Smaragdus 588 
 Romanus 598 
 
 523 Callinicus 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 CENTURY VI. 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Writers. 
 
 Cesarius, 
 Arles. 
 Fulgentius, bishop of 
 Ruspa. 
 
 Boéthius. 
 
 Timothy of Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 Emodius. 
 
 Severus. 
 
 bishop of 
 
 Cassiodorus. 
 Procopius. 
 
 Peter, the deacon. 
 Maxentius, a Scythian 
 monk. 
 
 Dionysius, the Little. 
 Fulgentius Ferrandus. 
 Mareellinus. 
 Zachary, the school- 
 man. 
 
 Hesychius. 
 
 Facundus Hermian, 
 Pope Vigilius. 
 Rusticus, a Roman 
 
 Jacob Zanzale, 
 
 deacon. 
 Junilius. 
 Victor of Capua. 
 Primasius. 
 Jornandes, 
 Liberatus. 
 Victor the African. 
 Venantius Fortunatus. 
 Anastasius of Mount 
 Sinai, afterwards bi- 
 shop of Antioch. 
 John the schoolman. 
 Cosmas. 
 Gildas. 
 Leander. 
 John of Constantino- 
 ple. 
 Columbanus. 
 Leontius Byzant. 
 Leontius of Cyprus. 
 Gregory the Great. 
 Isidore of Seville. 
 Lucius Carinus. 
 Proclus Diadochus. 
 
 Heretics. 
 
 Deuterius. 
 Severus, leader of the 
 Acephali. 
 Themistius, chief of 
 the Agnoites, who 
 maintained that Christ 
 was ignorant of the 
 day of judgment. 
 Barsanians, or Semi- 
 dulites, whomaintain- 
 ed that Christ had suf- 
 fered cnly in appear- 
 ance. 
 the 
 chief of the Jacobites, 
 or Monophysites. 
 
 The 
 
 John Philopomus, the 
 
 chief ofthe Tritheites. 
 Damianists. 
 Origenists. 
 Corrupticole. 
 Acemete. 
 
 The Arians, Nesto- 
 
 The Lombards 
 
 Remarkable Evenis. 
 
 Several nations converted 
 
 to Christianity. 
 
 The canon of the mass 
 
 established by Gregory 
 the Great. 
 
 Benedictine Order 
 founded. 
 
 Forty Benedictine monks, 
 
 with Augustine at their 
 head, are sent into Bri- 
 tain by Gregory the 
 Great, mn the year 596; 
 who convert Ethelbert, 
 king of Kent, to the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 Learned Men, Historians, 
 
 TheOstrogothic kingdom 
 
 is destroyed by Justinian, 
 who becomes master of 
 Italy. 
 
 invade 
 Italy in the year 568, 
 and erect a new king- 
 dom at Ticinum. 
 
 rians, Eutychians, and|The Christians are per- 
 Pelagians, continued! secuted in several places. 
 to raise troubles in the} The orthodoxare oppress- 
 
 church. 
 
 ed by the emperor Anas- 
 tasius, Chrasamond,king 
 of the Vandals, 'Theodo- 
 ric, king of the Osto- 
 
 goths, &c. 
 Female convents are 
 greatly multiplied in 
 
 this century. 
 
 Litanies introduced into 
 
 the church of France. 
 
 The Arians are driven 
 
 out. 
 Superstition of the Sty- 
 
 lites introduced by Si- 
 meon, the head of that 
 crazy sect, who spent 
 his life on the top of a 
 pillar, and foolishly 
 imagined, that he would, 
 by this trick, render him- 
 self agreeable to the 
 Deity. The Romish 
 writers say, he chose 
 this lofty habitation (for 
 the pillar was 36 cubits 
 high) to avoid the mul- 
 titade which crowded 
 about him to see his 
 miracles. 
 
 The Christian era is 
 
 formed in this century 
 by Dionysius the Little, 
 who first began to reckon 
 the course of time from 
 the birth of Christ. 
 
 The Justinian code, Pan- 
 
 dect, Institutions, and 
 Novels, collected and 
 formed into a body. 
 
 Antioch,thatwas destroy- 
 
 ed by an earthquake, is 
 rebuilt by Justinian. 
 
 The fifth general council 
 
 assembled at Constanti- 
 nople in the year 553, 
 under Justinian I. in 
 which the Origenists 
 and the Three Chapters 
 were condemned. 
 
 [Cenv. VI. 
 
 Philosophers, and Poets. 
 
 Justinian Boéthius. 
 
 Trebonian. 
 
 Agathias, who continued 
 the history composed by 
 Procopius, 
 
 Jornandes. 
 
 Gregory of Tours. 
 
 Marius, bishop of Avran- 
 
 ches, an eminent histo- 
 rian. 
 Menander, the historian, 
 Stephen of Byzantium. 
 
 Magn. Aurelius Cassio- 
 
 dorus. 
 Dionysius the Little. 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 763 
 CENTURY VIL. 
 
 Cent. VIL] 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 
 Archbishops of Ecclesiastical and 
 st of Rome. 
 
 Canterbury. pier fe Wrv- 
 
 —_—_— | SS i Oe eee SO 
 
 Emperors of the\Gregoryl.  604)Augustine,  first/John Philonus. |The ancient here-|An extraordinary pro-| The author of the A.ex- 
 East: Sabinianus_ 605) archbishop of| John Malela. sies were still in| gress is made in thecon-| andrian Chronicle. 
 
 4. D.| Boniface IIT. 606} Canterbury was|Hesychius of Je-| vigourduringthis| version of the English. |Isidore of Seville, who, 
 
 Mauritius 602| Boniface [V. 614] nominated to that} rusalem. century ; tothese]The archbishoprics of| beside his theological 
 Phocas 610 Deodatus 617| high office in the| Theophylact. were added the) London and York are| productions, composed 
 Heraclius 641| Boniface V. 625] year 597 by Gre-|Simocatta. sects of the Pau-| founded, with 12 bis-| a History of the Goths 
 Constantine Honorius I. 630} gory the Great,| Antiochus. licians and Mo-| hopries under the juris-| and Vandals, and a 
 nm 641)/SeverinusI. 639] bishop of Rome,|Modestus. nothelites. diction of each. work entitled Etymo- 
 Heraclianus 642) John IV. 641| with the consent|Cyrus of Alexand. The archbishopric of| logiconScientiarum, in 
 
 Herelics, real or 
 
 reputed. fare Events, Profane Authors. 
 
 Constans II. 668 
 Constantine 
 685 
 
 Leontius 698 
 Tiberius III. 703 
 Justinian II. 
 
 Kings of the Goths 
 in Spain: 
 
 Victeric 
 Gondemar 
 Sisebut 621 
 Recared II, 621 
 Suinthila 631 
 Sizenand 636 
 
 Chintila 640 
 Tulga 642 
 Chindasuin- 
 
 the 649 
 Recesuinthe 672 
 Vamba 680 
 Ervige 687 
 Egica 
 
 Kings of France: 
 Clotaire II. 628 
 Dagobert 638 
 Sigebert II. 654 
 Clovis 660 
 Clotaire HI. 668 
 Childeric II. 673 
 DagobertII. 679 
 Theodoric 690 
 Clovis UI. 695 
 Childebert III. 
 The race of 
 the weak 
 kings begins 
 with Theo- 
 doric ILl.and 
 ends with 
 ChildericIII. 
 England: 
 The Heptarchy. 
 Kings of the Lom- 
 bards in Ltaly: 
 Agilulph 616 
 Adaloaldus 626 
 Ariovaldus 638 
 Rotharis 653 
 Rodoald 656 
 Aripert 662 
 Gondipert 662 
 Grimoald 673 
 Garibald 673 
 Bertharit 6389 
 Cunipert 706 
 Exarchs of Ra- 
 
 venna: 
 
 Smaragdus 610 
 John 615 
 Eleutherius 617 
 Isaac 648 
 Theodore Cal- 
 
 liopa 649 
 Olympius 650 
 TheodoreCal- 
 
 liopa II. 686 
 
 Theodore 687 
 ohn 
 
 ato 702 
 
 Theodore I. 648 
 Martin I. 655 
 Eugenius I. 
 
 Vitalianus 
 Adeodatus 
 Domnus 
 AgathoI. 
 Leo II. 
 Benedict II. 
 John V. 
 Conon 
 Sergius I. 
 A schism oc- 
 casioned by 
 the preten- 
 
 sions of 
 
 Theodore 
 and Paschal. 
 
 of Ethelbert, king} Jonas. 
 of Kent: he died|Gallus. 
 
 656) in year 611, or, as| John Moschus. 
 671} some say, in 605.| Andreas Damas- 
 
 676) Laurence 
 678)| Melletus 
 682) Justus 
 
 684| Honorius 
 
 685} Adeodatus 
 686 | ‘Theodore 
 687) Brithwald 
 701 
 
 619) cenus. 
 624| George Pisides. 
 634) Eligius. 
 653|The two Theodo- 
 664] res. 
 690) Paulus. 
 The emp. Hera- 
 clius. 
 Maximus Conf. 
 Theodore the 
 
 monk. 
 
 The emp. Con- 
 stans II. 
 
 Martin, bishop of 
 Rome. 
 
 Maurus of Ra- 
 venna. 
 Anastasius a 
 monk—a Rom. 
 presb. 
 Fructuosus. 
 
 Peter, metropoli- 
 
 tan of Nicome- 
 dia. 
 
 Julian Pomerius. 
 
 “Agatho. 
 
 John of Thessalo- 
 nica. 
 
 Cresconius. 
 
 Ildefonsus. 
 
 Marculph. 
 
 John Climachus. 
 
 Fortunatus Ve- 
 nant. 
 
 Isidore of Seville, 
 who composed 
 Commentaries on 
 the Historical 
 Books of the old 
 Testament, and 
 is acknowledged 
 to have been the 
 principal author 
 of the famous 
 Mosarabic Litur- 
 gy, which is the 
 ancient Liturgy 
 of Spain. 
 
 Dorotheus. 
 
 Sophronius, _ bi- 
 shop of Jerusa- 
 lem. 
 
 London is translated to 
 Canterbury. 
 
 The Gospel is propaga- 
 ted with success in Hol- 
 land, Friseland and Ger- 
 many. 
 
 The schism, between the 
 Greek and Latin 
 churches, commences in 
 this century. 
 
 The rise of Mohammed, 
 and the rapid progress of 
 his religion, which is 
 propagated by fire and 
 sword. 
 
 The Mohammedan era, 
 called the Hegira, com- 
 mences with the year of 
 Christ 622. 
 
 The destruction of the 
 Persian monarchy un- 
 
 Bonifacel V.receives from 
 that odious tyrant Pho- 
 cas (who was the great 
 patron of the popes and 
 the chief promoters of 
 their grandeur) the fa- 
 mous Pantheon,which is 
 converted into a church. 
 
 sisted; but the objects 
 
 Ina, king of the West 
 Saxons, resigns his 
 crown, and assumes 
 the monastic habit ina 
 convent at Rome. Dur- 
 ing the Heptarechy, ma- 
 ny Saxon kings took the 
 same religious turn, 
 Pope Agatho discon- 
 tinued the payment of 
 the tribute which the 
 see of Rome had been 
 accustomed to pay the 
 emperor at the election 
 of its pontiff. 
 
 The Sixth General coun- 
 cil is held at Constanti- 
 nople, under Constan- 
 tine Pogonatus, against 
 the Monothelites, im the 
 
 ear 680. 
 he Seventh, which is 
 looked upon by some as 
 
 a kind of supplement to 
 this, was held in the 
 Trullus, under Justinian 
 II, in the year 692, and 
 is called Quinisextum. 
 
 which he gives an ac- 
 count of the origin and 
 nature of the different 
 sciences. 
 
 In this century com- 
 menced that long pe- 
 riod of ignorance and 
 darkness, which re- 
 mained until the lighs 
 of the Reformation 
 arose, 
 
=} 
 
 64 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 CENTURY VII. 
 
 pCent. VIII. 
 
 : . . Ucclesiastical and . : 
 ‘overeign Ursn-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops o : t.;.|Heretics real or| Remarkable Events. 
 cs : of Rome. _ vaca Aes oa Wre reputed. Religious rites. Profane authors. 
 
 My fn 
 { SAR een aye | terra 
 
 Emperors of the|John VI. 705 | Brithwald 731) Venerable Bede. |The Eutychains, Rapid progress of the Sa-| Alcuin—see the fourta 
 
 East © a.p.|John VIL. 707| Tatwin 734|JohnDamascenus.| Monothelites,and] racens in Asia and] column. 
 Justinian If, 711)Sisinnius 708) Nothelm 741|The anonymous! Jacobites, con-| Africa. 4 Bede. 
 Philippicus _'713)Constantine 714/|Cuthbert 758| author of a Book| tinue to propa-|The subversion of the|Fredegarius. 
 Anastasius II. '714|/Gregory II. 731/Bregwin 762| entitled, OrdoRo-| gate their doc-| kingdom of the Lom-|John Damascenus, 
 ‘V'heodosius Gregory II. '741)Lambert ; manus de Divi-| trines. bards and of the exar-|George Syncellus. 
 II. 716| Zachary 752) Athelard. nis Officiis, pub-|The Paulo-Johan-| chate of Ravenna, the] Virgilius. 
 Leo III. Stephen II. 752 lishedin the bibl.| nists, who were] latter of whichis grant- 
 Jsaur 741|Stephen UI. 757 Patr. so called from} ed to the see of Rome, 
 Constantine V. | Paul 767 Charlemagne: see] theirleaders Paul] by Pepin, king of 
 Copron. 775|A schism be- the Capitularia,| and John, and| France. Charlemagne 
 Leo LY. 780} tweenPaul and published by Ba-| embraced the per-| adds to the grant of Pe- 
 Constantine Theophylact. luze at Paris, in| nicious errors of| pin several provinces, 
 VL Stephen LV. 772 1677, and the} Valentine and} though the titles and 
 Porphyr. 797|A schism be- Codex Carolinus,| Manes. acts of this grant have 
 Trene. tween Con- published at In-/The Agonoclites,} not been produced by 
 
 Kings of the Visi-| stantine, 
 
 goths in Spain: 
 Egica 701 
 Vitiza 
 
 king of the 
 Goths 713 
 Kings of Leon and 
 the Asturias: 
 
 Pelagius 737 
 Favila 739 
 Alphonso 757 
 Froila 768 
 Aurelio 774 
 Silo 783 
 Matregato 789 
 Veremond ‘791 
 
 Alphonso II. 
 Kings of France: 
 ChildebertIII. 711 
 Dagobert III. 715 
 Chilperic II 720 
 Theodoricl V. 736 
 Interregnum, 
 fromthe year 
 737 to 743, 
 during 
 which time 
 Carloman 
 and Pepin, 
 sons of 
 Charles 
 Martel, go- 
 vern without 
 the regaltitle. 
 Childeric III. 
 dethroned in 
 The last king 
 of the first 
 race, 
 
 Second race: 
 Pepin 768 
 Charlemagne 
 
 England: 
 The Heptar- 
 chy. 
 Kings of the Lom- 
 bards in Ilaly: 
 
 Luitpert 704 
 Ragombert 704 
 Aripert 712 
 Ansprand 712 
 Luitprand 744 
 Rachis 750 
 Aistulphus 756 
 Desiderius 773 
 The kingdom 
 
 of the Lom- 
 
 bards, which 
 
 subsisted 
 
 during the 
 
 space of 206 
 
 710} Adrian 797 
 Roderic, the last) Leo III. 
 
 Philip, and 
 Stephen IV. 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 ces. 
 Concluded. 
 
 A. D. 
 years, was 
 overturned 
 by Charle- 
 magne, who, 
 having de- 
 feated Desi- 
 derius, caus- 
 ed himself 
 to becrowned 
 king of the 
 Lombards, 
 in the year 774. 
 
 Exarchs of Ra-}, 
 
 vennu. 
 Theophylact '710 
 Jo. Procopius 712 
 
 Paul 729). 
 Eutychius 752 
 The  Exarchate 
 
 750) subsisted during 
 
 the space of 185 
 years. 
 
 It endedin thereign 
 of  Aistulphus, 
 king of the Lom- 
 bards, who re- 
 duced Ravenna, 
 and added it to 
 his dominions. 
 But this prince 
 was obliged by 
 Pepin, king of 
 France,to surren- 
 der theExarchate, 
 with all its terri- 
 tories,castles, &c. 
 to be for ever held 
 by Stephen III. 
 and his succes- 
 sors in the see of; 
 Rome. 
 
 This is the true 
 foundation of the 
 temporal gran- 
 deur of the popes. 
 
 golstadt, in 1634, 
 by Gretzer. 
 
 a wrong headed 
 set of people who 
 
 the Roman Catholic his- 
 torlans. 
 
 Ambrosius Auth-| prayed dancing. |The ceremony of kissing 
 
 pertus. 
 
 Adelbert. 
 
 thepope’s toe introduced. 
 
 The popes Grego-|Felix, bishop of|The Saxons, with Wite- 
 
 ry I. Gregory II. 
 and Adrian. 
 
 Urgel. 
 
 Elipand, bishop of] converted 
 
 Paul the Lombard.| Toledo. 
 
 Paulinus, 
 of Aquileia. 
 
 Alcuin, a native of 
 England, and one 
 of the principal 
 instruments em- 
 ployed byCharle- 
 magne for the 
 restoration of 
 learning. He is 
 considered by M. 
 Du-Pin as the 
 person that first 
 introduced polite 
 literature into 
 France; and it is 
 to him that the 
 universities of 
 Paris, » flours) 
 Soissons,&c. owe 
 their origin. 
 
 Felix, archbishop 
 of Ravenna. 
 
 bishop} Leo, the Isaurian,|The Christians 
 
 who 
 
 churches, 
 
 their 
 to 
 
 kind, monarch, 
 Chris- 
 
 tianity. 
 
 perse- 
 
 ) destroyed} cuted by the Saracens, 
 the images in the] who 
 
 five 
 
 massacred 
 
 and| hundred monks in the 
 
 was the chief of] abbey of Lerins. 
 the Iconoclastes ;|The Saracens take pos- 
 andClement, who] session of Spain. 
 preferred the de-|Controversy between the 
 
 cisions of Scrip- 
 ture to the de- 
 crees of councils; 
 are reputed here- 
 tics by the church 
 of Rome. Virgi- 
 lius was also ac- 
 cused of heresy, 
 by pope Zachar- 
 ry, because he 
 was a good ma- 
 thematician, and 
 believed the exis- 
 tence of Anti- 
 podes. 
 
 Germanus, bishop|Those who _pro- 
 
 of Constantino- 
 ple. 
 
 The unknown 
 author of a book 
 entitled, Liber 
 Diurnus Pontifi- 
 cumRomanorum. 
 Egbert. _ archbi- 
 shop of York. 
 Bartholomew, a 
 monk of Edessa, 
 who refuted the 
 Koran. 
 Boniface, archbi- 
 shop of Mentz, 
 commonly called 
 the Apostle of, 
 Germany. 
 Anastasius, abbot 
 in Palestine. 
 Theophanes 
 Aldhelm, bishop of 
 Sherborne, under 
 the heptarchy, 
 and nephew to 
 Ina, king of the 
 West Saxons. 
 
 moted the wor- 
 ship of images 
 and relics in this 
 century deserve 
 
 Greek and Latin 
 churches, concerning the 
 Holy Ghost’s proceed- 
 ing from the Son. 
 
 The Germans converted 
 by Boniface. 
 
 The Gospel propagated 
 in Hyrcania and Tar- 
 
 tary. 
 
 The right of election to 
 the see of Rome con- 
 ferred upon Charle- 
 magne and his succes- 
 sors by pope Adrian, in 
 a council of bishops as- 
 sembled at Rome. 
 
 The worship of images 
 authorised by the second 
 council of Nice, in the 
 year 787, which is im- 
 
 much more justly] properly called the se- 
 the denomination} venth general council. 
 
 of Heretics. 
 
 The reading of the epis- 
 tles and gospels intro- 
 duced into the service of 
 the church. 
 
 Solitary or private 
 masses instituted. 
 
 Churches built in honour 
 of saints. 
 
 Masses for the dead. 
 
 Willebrod sent to convert 
 the Frisons ; he was the 
 first bishop of Utrecht. 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 765 
 CENTURY IX. 
 
 Cent. IX.] 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 SS ee eee ee mm ee 
 
 816 Athelard 806 Nicephorus, _ pa-|Paulicians, a|The conversion of the| Photius. 
 
 Heretics, real or| Remarkable Events. 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of 
 reputed, Religious Rites. 
 
 ces, of Rome. Canterbury. Profane Authors. 
 
 Emperors of ti2)Leo Ill. 
 
 East: Stephen V. 817 Wulfred 830) triarch of Con-| branch of the| Swedes, Danes, Saxons,|Smaragdud. 
 a.pD./PaschallI. 824 Theogild 830} stantinople. Manicheans. Huns, Bohemians, Mo-|Eginhard. 
 Irene 802|Eugenius II. 827 Amalarius, bishop|Iconoclastes ravians, . Sclavonians,|Rabanus Maurus. 
 Nicephorus 811)/A schism be- of Treves. Iconolatre, or} Russians, Indians, and| Abbon. 
 
 Stauratius 811} tween Euge- 
 Michael Cu- nius IT. and 
 ropolites 813} Zizinnus. 
 
 Theodore Studita.| image worship-| Bulgarians: by the last) Herempert. 
 Agobard, archbi-| ers. a controversy is occa-| Leon. 
 shop of Lyons. |Przdestinarians. | sioned between  the| Sergius. 
 
 Leo Armen. §820)Valentine = 827 Eginhard. Adoptians. Greek and — Latin| Methodius. 
 
 Michael Balb. 829 Gregory TV. 844 Claudius. Transubstantia- | churches. Walafridus Strabo. 
 
 Theophilus 842,SergiusI], 847 Clement, bishop] rians. The rise of transubstan-|John Scot Erigena. 
 
 Michael IfI. 867 Leo IV. 855 of Turin. tiation and the sacrifice|Alfred the Great, king 
 
 Basil I. Pope _ Joan Jonas, bishop of of the mass. of England. 
 
 Macedo 886| Bened. III. 858 Orleans. The cause of Christianity; His Saxon version of 
 
 Leo VI. A schism be- Freculph, bishop of} suffers in the east under| Orosius was never 
 
 Philos. tween Bene- Lysieux. the Saracens, and in published. 
 
 Emperors of the} dictand Ana- Moses Barcepha. Europe under the Nor-|Abon-Nabas, an Ara- 
 West: stasius. Photius, patriarch mans. bian poet. 
 
 The Western Nicolas I. 867 of Constantino- The power of the pope The khalif al-Mamoun, 
 
 Empire was 
 
 restored in 
 
 the year 800, 
 
 in favour 
 
 of Charle- 
 
 magne, who 
 
 died in 814 
 Louis, the De- 
 
 bonnaire 840, 
 
 Lothaire 855 
 
 Louis I. 875 
 
 Charles II. 
 surnamed the 
 Bald 877 
 
 Louis ITI. 879 
 
 Carloman 880 
 
 Charles III. 
 deposed 887 
 
 After the death 
 of this prince, 
 (who was the 
 last king of 
 France that 
 was emperor) 
 Germany and 
 Italy were en- 
 tirely separat- 
 ed from the 
 French mo- 
 narchy. 
 
 Arnolph 899 
 
 Louis IV. 
 
 Kings of Spain, 
 i.e. of Be and 
 the Asturias. 
 
 Alphonso the 
 Chaste 824 
 
 Ramiro 851 
 
 Ordogno 862 
 
 Alphonso III. 
 
 Kings of France: 
 
 Charlemagne 814 
 
 Louis the De- 
 bonnaire 840 
 
 Charles the 
 Bald 877 
 
 Louis III. 879 
 
 Carloman 884 
 
 Cnarles HI. 888 
 
 Eudes 889 
 
 Charles the 
 Simpl3, 
 
 Kings of Ez- 
 
 and: 
 
 The Heptar- 
 chy finished 
 by the union 
 of the seven 
 kingdoms un- 
 
 o. LXIYV. 
 
 Adrian IT. 872 
 
 John VIII. 882 
 
 Marimus I. 884 
 
 Adrian III. 885 
 
 Formosus 897 
 
 A schism be- 
 tween him 
 and Sergius. 
 
 Boniface VI, 897 
 
 192 
 
 ple. 
 Theod. Abucara. 
 Petrus Siculus, 
 Nicetas David. 
 Rabanus Maurus, 
 archbishop _— of 
 Mentz. 
 Hilduin. 
 Servatus Lupus. 
 Drepanius Florus. 
 Druthmar. 
 Godeschalcus. 
 Paschasius Rad- 
 bert, the chief of, 
 the 'Transubstan- 
 tiarians. 
 Bertram or Ra- 
 tram of Corby; 
 who refuted the 
 monstrous errors 
 of Radbert, and 
 was at the head 
 of those who de- 
 nied the corporal 
 presence ofChrist 
 in the Eucharist. 
 Haymo, bishop of 
 Halberstadt. 
 WalafridusStrabo., 
 Hinemar, archbi- 
 shop of Rheims. 
 John ScotErigena. 
 Ansegisus. 
 Florus, the deacon. 
 Prudens, bishop of 
 Troyes. 
 Lt of Lyons. 
 Nicolas. 
 Adrian. 
 John VIII. Pope. 
 Anastasius, Bibl. 
 Auxilius. 
 Theodulph, bishop 
 of Orleans, 
 Smaragdus. 
 Aldric, bishop of 
 fans. 
 Ado of Vienna. 
 Isidore Mercator, 
 author of the 
 False Decretals. 
 Jesse, bishop of 
 Amiens. 
 Dungale. 
 Halitgaire, bishop 
 of Cambray. 
 Amulo,archbishop 
 of Lyons. 
 Vandalbert. 
 
 increases; that of the 
 bishops diminishes ; and 
 the emperors are divest- 
 ed of their ecclesiasti- 
 cal authority. 
 
 The Decretals are forged, 
 by which the popes ex- 
 tended the limits of their 
 jurisdiction and = au- 
 thority. 
 
 The fictitious relics of St. 
 Mark, St. James, and 
 St. Bartholomew, are 
 imposed upon the credu- 
 lity of the people. 
 
 Monks and abbots now 
 first employed in civil 
 affairs, and called to 
 the courts of princes. 
 
 The festival of All-Saints 
 is added, in this century, 
 to the Latin calendar by 
 GregorylV though some 
 authors of note place 
 this institution in the 
 seventh century, and at- 
 tribute it to Boniface [V. 
 
 The superstitious festi- 
 val of the Assumption 
 of the Virgin Mary, in- 
 stituted by the council 
 of Mentz, and confirm- 
 edby popeNicolas I. and 
 afterwards by Leo X. 
 
 The trial by cold water 
 introduced by pope 
 Eugenius II, though 
 Le Brun, in his His- 
 toire des Pratiques Su- 
 perstitieses, endeavours 
 to prove this ridiculous 
 invention more ancient. 
 
 The emperor Louis II. is 
 obliged by the arrogant 
 pontiff Nicolas I. to per- 
 form the functions of a 
 groom, and hold the 
 bridle of this pope’s 
 horse, while his pretend- 
 ed holiness was dis- 
 mounting. 
 
 The first Legends or 
 Lives of the Saints ap- 
 pear in this century. 
 
 an eminent mathemati- 
 cian and astronomer. 
 N. B. Haroun, the fa- 
 ther of this prince, 
 sent to Charlemagne a 
 striking clock, with 
 springs and wheels, 
 which was the first 
 ever seen in France, 
 and shows that, at 
 this period, the arts 
 were more cultivated 
 inAsia than in Europe. 
 
766 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. [Cent. IX 
 
 ; : : . Ecclesiastical and F 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| , Archbishops o sa ~-: |Herelics, real or| Remarkable Events. 
 ces. of Rome. i Contrary Tbeelagical PT reputed, Religious Rites. Profane Authors, 
 A. D.|Stephen VII. 901|Celnoth 871| Angelome. Clement, bishop of|The Apostles’ Creed is) Albategni, the mathe- 
 der the go- |A schism be-_ |Ethelred 889|Epiphanes, arch-| Turin, who fol-| sung in the churches.—/ matician. - 
 vernment of tween Ste- |Plegmund. bishop of Con-| lowed the senti-| Organs, bells, and vocal; Albumasar, or Abou 
 Egbert. phen VII. stantia, in the is-| ments of Felix of| music, are introduced in} Mashar, the Arabian 
 Egbert 836} John IX. Ro- land of Cyprus. | Urgel. many places.—Festivals| astronomer. 
 Ethelwolf 857) manus I. and Regino. multiplied. 
 Ethelbald 860] IL. and Theo- Abbo. The order of St. An- 
 Ethelbert 866} dore II. William, the libra- drew, or the Knights of 
 Ethelred I, 871 rian. the Thistle in Scotland. 
 Alfred the Pope Formosus. Michael I. emperor of the 
 Great 901 Pope Stephen. East, abdicates_ the 
 Kings of  Scot- Methodius, who throne, and retires into a 
 land: invented the Scla- monastery, with his 
 The history of vonian charac- wife and six children. 
 Scotland is di- ters, and made a Photius, patriarch of 
 vided into four translation of the Constantinople, excom- 
 great periods. Bible for the Bul- municates the pope. 
 The first, garians, which The canonization of 
 which com- . was used by the saints introduced by 
 mences with Russians. Pope Leo II. 
 Fergus I. 330 Alfred the Great, The university of Oxford 
 years before king of England, founded by Alfred. 
 Christ, and composed a The sciences are culti- 
 contains a se- Saxon Para- vated among the Sara- 
 ries of 68 phrase on the Ec- cens, and, particularly 
 kings, ending clesiastical His- encouraged by the khali 
 with Alpi- tory of Bede, a Al-Mamoun. 
 nus, in the Saxon Version o Theophilus, from his ab- 
 year 823, is Orosius, and a horrence of images, ban- 
 looked upon Saxon Psalter. ishes the painters out 
 as _entirel The emperorBasil of the Eastern Empire. 
 fabulous. We Maced. Harold,king of Denmark, 
 shall _ there- The emperor Leo, is dethroned by his sub- 
 fore begin surnamed _ the jects, on account of his 
 this chronolo- Wise. attachment to Chris- 
 
 gical list with 
 
 tianity. he 
 the second pe- The university of Paris 
 riod, which founded. 
 commences 
 with Ken- 
 neth IT. 
 
 Kenneth II. 854 
 Donald V. 858 
 ConstantinellI. 874 
 
 Ethus 875 
 Gregory 893 
 Donald VI. 
 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 
 The origin of 
 this kingdom 
 
 is covered 
 with uncer- 
 tainty and fa- 
 bles. 
 
 Some _histori- 
 ans reckon 36 
 kings before 
 Biorno IIL, 
 but it is with 
 this __ prince 
 that chronolo- 
 gers generally 
 begin their 
 series. 
 
 Biorno [II. 824 
 Brantamond 827 
 Sivard 842 
 Heroth 856 
 Charles VI. 868 
 BiornolV. 883 
 Ingo, or In- 
 geld 891 
 
Cent. X.] 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 CENTURY X. 
 
 © 
 
 767 
 
 . . . . Ecclesiasticaland 
 Sovereign Pelaal Pies or Bishops| Archbishops o rats a 
 ces. of Rome. Canterbur “7 1 ee rs 
 Emperors of the| John IX. 905|Plegmund 917|Simeon 
 East: a.D.|A schism _be- 924] phrastes. 
 Leo, the philo- tween John 934|Leontius of By- 
 sopher 911) IX. and Ser- 959) zantium. 
 Alexander 912) gius. 988| Odo of Clugni. 
 Constantine Benedict IV. 906 Ratherius, bishop 
 VIL. surnam- Leo V. 906 Verona -and 
 ed Porphyro- A schism be- Liege. 
 genitus 959) tween Leo V. Hippolytus, the 
 Romanus Le- and Christo- Theban. 
 capenus took pher. Odo, archbishop of 
 advantage of |Christopher 907 Canterbury. 
 
 the youth of 
 this _ prince, 
 and seized 
 the imperial 
 throne, but 
 was deposed 
 by his son 
 Stephen, and 
 
 A schism be- 
 tween Chris- 
 
 topher and ~ 
 Sergius. 
 
 Sergius III. 910 
 Anastasius ITI.912 
 Lando 913 
 
 John X. 928 
 
 and died in 948! Leo VI. 929 
 
 Romanus, first 
 or second son 
 to Constan- 
 tine VII. 
 
 Nicephorus 
 Phoc. 
 
 Stephen VIII. 931 
 John XI. 936 
 Leo VII. 939 
 
 963|Stephen [X. 943 
 
 Marinus II. 946 
 
 970} Agapetus II. 955 
 
 John Zimisces 975| John XII. 964 
 
 Basil III. 
 Constantine 
 VIII. 
 
 A schism be- 
 tween -John 
 XII. and Leo. 
 
 Emperors of the;Leo VII. 964 
 
 West: 
 Louis IV. 
 Conrad I. 
 Henry I. sur- 
 
 named the 
 Fowler 936 
 
 Otho I. 973 
 Otho II. 983 
 Otho III. 
 
 Kings of Spaini.e. 
 
 Leon and Astu- 
 T1as: 
 
 Alphonso III. 
 surnamed the 
 Great, abdi- 
 catesthecrown 
 in the year 910 
 
 Garcias 913 
 
 Ordogno II. 923 
 
 Froila IL. 924 
 
 Alphonso IV. 931 
 
 Ramiro II. 950 
 
 Ordogno LI. 955 
 
 Ordogno IV. 956 
 
 Sanchez the 
 Fat 967 
 
 RamirolIlI. 982 
 
 Bermudo, call- 
 ed, by some, 
 Veremond II. 999 
 
 Alphonso V. 
 
 Kings of France: 
 
 Charles the 
 
 rg le 929 
 al usurps 
 the ina’ 
 
 Louis d’Outre- 
 mer 9 
 
 Lothaire IT. 986 
 
 Louis the Idler, 
 the last king 
 of the line of 
 Charlemagne 987 
 
 Third Race: 
 
 Hugh Capet 996: 
 
 Robert. 
 
 | 
 
 Benedict V. 965 
 
 912\/John XIII. 972 
 919)Domnus II. 972 
 
 Benedict VI. 975 
 
 Eutychius, _—_pa- 
 triarch of Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 Said, patriarch of 
 Alexandria. 
 Flodoard. 
 
 Joseph Genesius 
 Atto, bishop of 
 Verceil. 
 Dunstan, archbi- 
 shop of Canter- 
 
 bury. 
 Luitprand,abbot of; 
 Fleury. 
 
 Notger, bishop of 
 Liege. 
 
 Suidas. 
 
 Roswida, a poet- 
 
 king of 
 England. 
 Elfridus. 
 Heriger. 
 Olympiodorus. 
 Cecumenius, 
 Odilo. 
 Burchard. 
 
 Heretics real or 
 
 reputed, 
 
 Meta-|No new heresies 
 
 invented 
 during this cen- 
 tury. That of 
 
 were 
 
 the Anthropo- 
 morphites was 
 revived, and the 
 
 greatest part of| several northern nations, 
 
 the others were 
 continued. Thus 
 we find Nestori- 
 ans, Eutychians, 
 Paulicians, Ar- 
 
 menians, Anthro-| faith. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious rites. 
 
 Profane authors. 
 
 hruption of the Huns|This century, by way 
 
 intoGermany, and ofthe 
 Normans into France. 
 
 The Danes invade Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The Moors enter Spain. 
 
 The Hungarians, ‘and 
 are converted to Chris- 
 tlanity. 
 
 The pirate Rollo is made 
 duke of Normandy, and 
 embraces the Christian 
 
 aL ae and|The Polanders are con- 
 
 anicheans, 
 
 making anoisein} under Micislaus, in the 
 
 this century. 
 
 verted to Christianity 
 
 year 965. 
 
 The Christian religion is 
 established in Moscovy, 
 Denmark, and Norway. 
 
 The plan of the holy war 
 is formed in this centu- 
 ry, by pope Sylvester II. 
 
 The baptism of bells ; the 
 festival in remembrance 
 of departed souls; the 
 institution of the Rosa- 
 
 of eminence, is styled 
 the age of barbarism 
 and ignorance. 
 
 The greatest part of the 
 ecclesiastical and the- 
 ological authors men- 
 tioned in the column 
 were mean, ignorant, 
 and trivial writers, 
 and wrote upon mean 
 and trivial subjects. At 
 the head of the learn- 
 ed men of this age we 
 must place Gerbert. 
 otherwise known by 
 the papal denomina- 
 tion of Sylyester II. 
 This learned pontiff 
 endeavoured to revive 
 the drooping sciences ; 
 and the effects of his 
 zeal were visible in 
 this, but still more in 
 the following contury. 
 
 Suidas. 
 
 Geber, an Arabian che- 
 mist, celebrated by the 
 
 ry; and a multitude of| learned Boerhaave. 
 
 superstitious rites,shock- 
 ing to common sense, 
 and an insult upon true 
 religion, are introduced 
 in this century. 
 Fire-ordeal introduced. 
 The Turks and Saracens 
 united. 
 The Danish war con- 
 tinues to convulse Eng- 
 land. 
 Feudal tenures begin to 
 take place in France. 
 The influence and power 
 of the monks increase 
 greatly in England. 
 
 Constantine Porphyro- 
 gen. 
 
 Mohammed Ebn Jaber 
 Al-Batani, an Arabian 
 astronomer, 
 
768 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. |Cent. XI, 
 : : . . Ecclesiastical and | . "5 } 
 
 overeign .Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops o - : «. | Heretics, real or| Remarkable Events. 
 ‘ Ces. ae Rome. - Aine hb. Theological Urn reputed. Religious Rites. Profane Authors. 
 Kings of Eng-| Boniface VII. 984 Ethelgar 989 Valerius of As- The kingdom of Italy is) Razi, a celebrated Ara- 
 
 land: a. p.| Benedict VII. 984 Siricius 994| torga in Spain. united by Otho to the} bian chemist and phy- 
 
 Edward 925 John XIV. 985) Aluric, or Alfric. | His Lives of the German empire. sician. 
 Athelstan 941 John XV. 985 Fathers, very dif- Pope Boniface VII. is de-| Leontius, one of the 
 Edmund 946 John XVI. 996 ferent from those posed and banished for] Byzantine historians, 
 Edred 955 Gregory V. 999 that are publish- his crimes. Joseph Genesius. 
 Edwy 959| A schism_ be- ed,arestillin MS. Arithmetical figures are 
 Edgar 975| tween John in the library of brought from Arabia fe 
 Edward. the and Gregory Toledo. to Europe by the Sara- 
 
 Martyr 979) V. John Malela. cens. 
 Ethelred II. Sylvester IT. Constantine Por- The empire of Germany 
 Kings of  Scot- phyrogenitus, is rendered elective by 
 
 land: ‘John of Capua. Otho III. 
 
 Donald VI. 903 Nicholas, _ patri- 
 Constantine arch of Constan- 
 
 III. 943 nople. 
 Malcolm I, 958 Gregory of Cesa- 
 Indulf 967 rea. 
 Duff 972 Epiphanes. 
 Cullen 976 Severus. 
 Kenneth III. 994 Alfric, archbishop 
 Constantine of Canterbury. 
 
 IV. 995 Pope Gerbert. 
 Grime Oswald. 
 Kings of Sweden: Sisinnius. 
 Ingeld IL. 907 Hubald. 
 Eric VI. 926 Luitprand. 
 Eric VIL. 940 
 Eric VI. 980 
 Olaus_ II.- the \ 
 
 Tributary. 
 The begin- 
 
 nings of the 
 
 Danish mo- 
 
 narchy are so 
 
 fabulous that 
 
 we shall be- 
 
 gin with Ha- 
 
 rold, who died 
 
 in 980 
 Sweyn 
 
 Poland: 
 
 Micislaus, the 
 
 first Christian 
 
 dukedies 999 
 
 : § ; é Ecclesiastical and! . : 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of \7, ee: . Heretics, real or| Remarkable Events. 
 ig of Rome. i Canterbury. f akin Se | eas reputed. Religious Rites. Profane Authors. 
 
 Emperors of the 
 East: 
 
 Basil III. 
 Constantine 
 VIIL. 
 Romanus II. 
 Argyr. 
 Michael IV. 
 Paphl. 1041 
 Michael YV. 
 Calaphates 1051 
 Constantine 
 IX. Mono- 
 mach. 
 Theodora 1056 
 Michael VI. 
 Strat. 1057 
 Isaac I.Comn.1059 
 Constantine 
 X. Ducas 1067 
 Romanus III. 
 Diogenes 1071 
 Nicephorus II. 
 
 A. D 
 1025 
 1028 
 1034 
 
 1054 
 
 .|John X VITL. 
 
 Sylvester IT. 
 John XVII. 
 
 Sergius TV. 1012 
 Benedict 
 VIII. 1024 
 
 A schism be- 
 tween Gre- 
 or and 
 Benedict 
 John XIX. 
 Benedict IX. 1044 
 A schism be- 
 tween the 
 two Johns 
 and Bene- 
 dict. 
 Gregory VI. 
 Clement II. 
 Damasus II. 
 Leo IX. 
 Victor II. 
 Stephen X. 
 Benedict X. 
 
 1046 
 1048 
 1049 
 1054 
 1057 
 1059 
 1059 
 
 1003} Alurie or Al- 
 1003) frie. 
 1009) Elphegus, 
 
 massacred 
 by the Danes 
 in 
 Livingus 
 Agelnoth 
 Eadsius 
 Robert Geme- 
 
 1033) ticensis 
 
 1006 
 
 1012 
 1020 
 1058 
 1050 
 
 1052 
 
 Dithmar, bishop of, Berenger, famous 
 
 Mersburg, for his opposition 
 Leo the Gramma-| to the monstrous 
 marian. doctrine of tran- 
 Aimon. substantiation. 
 Fulpert, bishop of Roscelin, a ‘Tri- 
 
 Chartres. theite 
 Adelbold, bishop of 
 Utrecht. 
 
 Alexis, patriarch 
 of Constantino- 
 ple. 
 
 Berno, of Augs- 
 burg. 
 
 Ademar. 
 
 The Brunos. 
 Lanfranc, archbi- 
 shop of Canter- 
 
 bury. 
 Theophanes Ce- 
 rameus, 
 Nilus — Doxopa- 
 
 trius. 
 
 Michael Psellus. 
 
 - 
 
 Leo, the Grammarian. 
 
 Adelbord. 
 
 Michael Psellus. 
 
 Anselm, archbishop of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Guido Aretino, inventor 
 
 The Crusades are carried 
 on with all the enormi- 
 ties that usually attend 
 a blind, extravagant,and 
 inhuman. zeal. : 
 
 Godfrey of Bouillon takes 
 
 of musical notes. 
 
 Wippo. 
 
 possession of Jerusa- 
 lem in the year 1099. 
 A contest between the|John Scylitzes. 
 emperors and popes, in| Avicenna, or Ebn Sina, 
 in which the latter dis-| an Arabian philoso 
 cover a most arrogant) pher. 
 and despotic spirit. Stephen, the first Chris- 
 The dignity of cardinal} tian king of Hungary. 
 is first instituted in this| Alphes, a Jew. 
 century. Josippon, or the false 
 The Moors are driven by} Josephus. 
 degrees from  several| Ferdousi, 
 parts of Spain; hence] Poet. 
 arose the division of that| Roscellin, 
 country into so many 
 little kingdoms. 
 Matilda, daughter of Bo- 
 niface, duke of Tus- 
 
 a Persian 
 
Cent. XI] CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 769 
 
 . . ‘ 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of no aries Heretics real or| Remarkable Events. Pr th 
 ces. of Rome. Canterbury. y pie . reputed, Religious rites. refane. asthors. 
 
 A. D.| Nicolas II. 1061|)Stigand, de- Michael Cerula-|A sect of French) cany, leaves all herpos-|Jonn tne philosopnes 
 
 Botoniates 1081) A schism be- posed in =: 1070} _rius. Manicheans, sessions to the church of| John Curopalata, one of 
 Alexisl.Com- tween Nico- Lanfranc 1089) Simeon the Youn-| condemned in the] Rome, in consequence of| the Byzantine hists 
 nen. las and .Be- Anselm ger, council of Or-| her passionate attach-| rians. 
 Emperors of the| nedict. Theophylact, a} leans. ment to Hildebrand, 
 West: AlexanderlI. 1073 Bulgarian. otherwise known by the 
 Otho IIL 1002) A schism be- Cardinal Hum- papal name of Gregory 
 Henry Il. 1024] tween Alex- bert. VIL. with whom she 
 
 Conrad II. 1039 
 Henry Ul. 1056 
 
 ander and 
 Cadalous. 
 
 Petrus Damianus. 
 Marianus Scotus. 
 
 lived in a licentious com- 
 merce. 
 
 Henry IV. Gregory VII. 1086 Anselm, archbi- Sicily, Castile, Poland, 
 Kings of Spain,| A schism be- shop of Canter- and Hungary, are erect- 
 
 i.e. of Leon and 
 the Asturias. 
 Alphonso V. 1027 
 
 VeremondIII.1037) 
 
 Kings of Leon and 
 Castile united: 
 
 Ferdinand I. 
 surnamed 
 theGreat 1065 
 
 Sancho II. 1073 
 
 tween Gre- 
 gory and 
 Guy, bishop 
 of Ravenna. 
 Victor HI. 1088 
 Urban II. =1099 
 
 bury. 
 Ivo, bishop of 
 Chartres. 
 Hildebert, archbi- 
 shop of ‘Tours. 
 Pope Gregory VII. 
 Gerhard. 
 Hugh of Breteuil. 
 Berthold. 
 Hermannus Con- 
 
 ed into kingdoms. 
 
 The kingdom of Burgun- 
 dy and Arles is tranfer- 
 red to the emperor Con- 
 rad Il. by Rondolph 
 king of Burgundy. 
 
 Several of the popes are 
 looked upon as magi- 
 cians, as, in these times 
 of darkness, learning, 
 
 Alphonso VI. tract. and more especially 
 Kings of France: Peter, patriarch of philosophy and mathe- 
 Robert 1031 Antioch. matics, were considered 
 Henry I. 1060 Glaber Radulphus. as magic. 
 Philip I. Deoduinus bi- Investitures introduced in 
 Kings of Eng- shop of Liege. this century. 
 land: Adelman. Papal tyranny is nobly 
 Ethelred II. 1016 Nicetas Pectora- opposed by the emperors 
 Edmond Iron- tus. Henry I. If. and II. by 
 side 1017 Leo of Bulgaria. William fL. king of Eng- 
 
 Canute’ the 
 Great, king 
 of Denmark 1035 
 Haro'd Hare- 
 foot 1039 
 Hardicanute 1041 
 Edward the 
 Confessor 1066 
 Harold 1066 
 Norman line: 
 William the 
 Conqueror 1087 
 William Ru- 
 
 Guitmund. 
 
 Manasses, archbi- 
 shop of Rheims. 
 
 John, patriarch of 
 Antioch. 
 Sigefrid. 
 
 Samon of Gaza. 
 
 Samuel of Mo- 
 rocco, a convert- 
 ed Jew. 
 
 John Xiphilin. 
 
 Lambert. 
 
 Adam of Bremen. ! 
 
 land, and other monarchs 
 of that nation, by Phi- 
 lip, king of France, and 
 by the British and Ger- 
 man churches. 
 
 Baptism is performed by 
 triple immersion. 
 
 The Sabbath Fasts intro- 
 duced by Gregory VII. 
 
 The Cistercian, Carthu- 
 sian, and Whipping 
 Orders, with many 
 others, are founded in 
 
 fus 1100 John Curopalata. this century. 
 Kings of  Scot- Bennoof Ravenna. The emperor Henry IV. ‘ 
 land: Nicholas of Me- 
 
 Grime i 1003 
 
 throne. 
 
 goes barefooted to the 
 insolent pontiff Gregory 
 
 Malcolm Il. 1033 Philip theSolitary. VII. at Canusium, and 
 Donald VII. Othlon of Fulda. does homage to this spi- 
 
 ~ by some call- Tangmar. ritual tyrant in the most 
 ed Duncan 1040 Guido Aretino. ignominious manner. 
 Macbeth 1057 Eugesippus. The same _ emperor, 
 Malcolm ITI. 1093 A famous, but however, beseiges Rome 
 Donald VIII. anonymouswork, soon after, and makes a 
 
 dethroned 1094 
 Dunean Il. 1096 
 ~ Donald again 1097 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Olaus II. 1019 
 Asmund 1035 
 Asmundslem 1041 
 Hakon 1059 
 Stenchil 1061 
 Ingo IIL. 1064 
 
 Alstan 1080 dina 
 
 Philip Kings of Poland: 
 
 Kings of Den-|Boleslaus, a. p. 
 mark : firstking, 1025 
 
 €weyn 1014 
 Zanute the 
 Great, king 
 
 of England 1035 
 Aardicanute 1041 
 Magnus 1048 
 Sweyn ll. 1074 
 Harold 1076 
 
 ‘Micislaus 1034 
 Interregnum, 
 Casimir 1058 
 Boleslaus ITI. 1081 
 | Uladislaus. 
 
 Kings of Jerwsa- 
 
 lem. 
 Godfrey, cho- 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 
 called Microlo- 
 gus, appeared in 
 this century. 
 Dominic of Grado. 
 Alberic. 
 Osborn, a monk of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 St. Canute 1085 sen king in - 
 Olaus 1093) 1099, dies in 1100 
 Eric II. | Baldwin I. 
 
 No. LXY. 
 
 193 
 
 noble stand against the 
 pontiff. 
 Domesday-book is com- 
 piled from’ a survey o 
 all the estates in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Jerusalem is taken by the 
 Crusaders, 
 
770 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 CENTURY XII. 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 
 ces. 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 Emperors of the|Pascal IL. 
 
 East: 
 
 Anti-Popes. 
 
 A.p.|Clement, Al- 
 
 Alexis I. 
 Comnen. 
 John I. Com- 
 
 nen. 
 
 1118 
 
 bert, Theo- 
 dore, and 
 Maginulph. 
 
 1143] Gelasius II. 
 
 1118] Anselm 
 Ralph 
 
 William de 
 
 Corboil 
 Theobald 
 Thomas 
 
 1119} Becket 
 
 Emanuel Calistus I], 1124) Richard 
 Comnen. 1180] Honorius IL. 1130 
 
 Alexis IT. Innocent II. 1143 
 Comnen. 1183]Celestine IL, 1144 
 
 Andronicus Lucius II. 1145 
 Comnen. 1185] Eugenius III. 1153 
 
 Isaac II. Ang. 1195] Anastasius 
 
 Alexis LI. IV: 1154 
 
 Emperors of the} AdrianTV. 1159 
 
 West: 
 Henry lV. 1106 
 Henry V. 1125 
 
 Lothaire IT. 1138 
 Conrad III. 1152 
 Frederic I. 
 surnamed 
 Barbarossa 1190 
 
 Henry VI. . 1198 
 
 Philip. 
 
 Kings of Spain, 
 i. e. of Leon and 
 Castile : 
 
 Alphonso VI. 1109 
 
 Alphonso 
 
 VIL. 1134 
 Alphonso 
 
 VU. 1157 
 Sancho HT. 1158 
 
 Ferdinand I. 1175 
 Alphonso IX. 
 Kings of France: 
 
 Philip I. 1108 
 Louis Vi ees 
 
 surnamed 
 
 the Gross 1137 
 Louis VII. 
 
 surnamed 
 
 the Young 1180 
 Philip Aug. 
 Kings of Eng- 
 
 land: 
 
 Henry I. 1135 
 Stephen 1154 
 Henry If. 1189 
 Richard 1. 1199 
 John. 
 
 Kings of  Scot- 
 land: 
 Edgar 1106 
 Alexander 1124 
 David 1153 
 Maleolm TV. 1165 
 
 William. 
 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Philip 1110; 
 Ingo IV. 1129 
 Ragwald 1140 
 
 Magnus, de- 
 posedin 1148 
 Suercher 1160 
 Eric,theHoly 1161 
 Charles VII. 1168 
 
 Canute 1192 
 Suercher IT. 
 Kings of Den- 
 mark: 
 Eric II. 1101 
 Nicoias 1135 
 Eric III. 1138 
 Eric 1V. 1147 
 Canute V. 1155 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 =—— 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 1109|Gilbert, abbot of 
 1122] Westminster. 
 
 Guibert. 
 1136|Sigebert cf Gem- 
 1161} blours. 
 
 Peter Alphonso. 
 1170] Odo of Orleans. 
 1183|/Godfrey of Ven- 
 
 dome. 
 
 Rupert of Duitz. 
 
 Baldric. 
 
 Arynulph, bishop of 
 
 Lisieux. 
 
 Bernard of Clair- 
 
 val. 
 
 Abelard. 
 
 Athelred. 
 
 Baldwin, archbi- 
 
 shop of Canter- 
 
 bury. 
 
 Euthymius Zigab. 
 
 Wilham of Mal- 
 
 mesbury. 
 
 John of Salisbury. 
 
 Thomas Becket, 
 
 archbishop of 
 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Gervase, a monk 
 
 of Canterbury. 
 
 Nicephorus of Bri- 
 
 enne. 
 
 Anselm, bishop of 
 
 Havelberg. 
 
 Jo. Zonaras. 
 
 Mich. Glycas. 
 
 Hugo Victorinus. 
 
 Eadmerus. 
 
 George Cedrenus. 
 
 Peter, the Vener- 
 
 able. 
 
 Honorius of Au- 
 
 tun. 
 
 Foucher. 
 
 Alger. 
 
 Gratian. 
 
 Peter Lombard. 
 
 Henry of Hunt- 
 
 ingdon. 
 
 William bishop of 
 
 Rheims. 
 
 Constantine Har- 
 
 men. 
 
 Orderic Vital. 
 
 Constantine Ma- 
 
 nass. 
 
 Zacharias Chry- 
 
 sop. 
 
 Peter of Blois. 
 Peter Comestor. 
 Peter de Cellus. 
 Peter of Poictiers. 
 John Cinnamus. 
 John Beleth. 
 
 Helmold. 
 Gislebert, bishop 
 of London. 
 
 Stephen Harding. 
 George Xiphilin. 
 Alexan. Arist. 
 
 Herelics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 The  Bogomiles 
 and Catharists 
 
 were a kind of 
 
 Manicheans. 
 The Pasaginians 
 
 were a kind of 
 
 Arians, who also 
 discovered a 
 strange  attach- 
 ment to the cere- 
 monial 
 Moses. 
 Een, a madman, 
 rather than a he- 
 retic. 
 
 The same thing 
 
 may be said of 
 
 Tranquillinus. 
 
 As to Arnold of 
 
 Brescia, the Pe- 
 
 trobrussians, 
 Henricians, 
 Waldenses, and 
 Apostolies, if al- 
 lowance be made 
 for some few 
 points, they ra- 
 ther deserve the 
 title of Refor- 
 mers and Wit- 
 nesses’ to 
 
 of Heretics. 
 Peter Abelard and 
 Gilbert de la Por- 
 rée differed from 
 the notions com- 
 monly received 
 with respect to 
 the Holy Trinity. 
 
 law of 
 
 the 
 Truth, than that 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 The Sclavonians and the 
 inhabitants of the island 
 of Rugen receive the 
 light of the Gospel, and 
 their example is follow- 
 ed by the Livonians and 
 Finlanders. 
 
 The state of affairs in 
 Asiatic Tartary changes 
 in favour of the Chris- 
 tians, by the elevation of 
 Prester-John. 
 
 The Crusade is renewed. 
 
 The kingdom of Jerusa- 
 lem is overturned, and 
 the affairs of the Chris- 
 tians in Palestine de- 
 
 [Cenr. XII 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Anselm of Leon. 
 
 Vacarius. 
 
 Leoninus, the supposed 
 introducer of Latin 
 rhymes. 
 
 Roger Hoveden. 
 
 John of Salisbury. 
 
 William of Malmes- 
 bury. 
 
 John Zonaras. 
 
 George Cedrenus. 
 
 John Cinnamus. 
 
 Silvester Girald, bishop 
 of St. David’s. 
 
 Godfrey of Viterbo. 
 
 William of Newburgh, 
 
 cline. 
 
 A third Crusade under- 
 taken. 
 
 The three famous milita- 
 ry orders instituted, viz. 
 The Knights of St. John 
 of Jerusalem — The 
 Knights Templars — 
 The Teutonic Knights 
 of St. Mary. 
 
 The original MS. of the 
 famous Pandect of Jus- 
 tinian is discovered in 
 the ruins of Amalphi, or 
 Melfi, when that city 
 was taken by Lothaire 
 If. in 1137, and this em- 
 peror makes a present of 
 it to the city of Pisa, 
 whose fleet had contri- 
 buted, in a particular 
 
 the siege. 
 
 emperors and popes is 
 
 renewed under Frederic 
 
 Barbarossa and Adrian 
 
 I1V.—The insolence of 
 
 | the popes excessive. 
 
 ‘Becket, archbishop — of 
 Canterbury, assassina- 
 ted before the altar, 
 while he was at vespers 
 in his cathedral. 
 
 The scandalous traffic of 
 indulgences begun by 
 the bishops, and soon af- 
 ter monopolized by the 
 popes. 
 
 The ScholasticT heology, 
 
 whose jargon did such 
 
 manner, to the success of: 
 
 an English historian. 
 
 Pelagius, blshop of 
 Oviedo. 
 
 John of Milan, author 
 of the poem called 
 Schola Salermitana. 
 
 Robert Pullein, an Eng- 
 lish cardinal. 
 
 Abraham Eben-Ezra. 
 
 John and Isaac Tzetzes. 
 
 Henry of Huntingdon. 
 
 Nicetas. 
 
 ‘Werner. 
 
 Moses Maimonides. 
 
 Anvari, a Persian as- 
 tronomer. 
 
 Portius Azo. 
 
 Nestor, a Russian his- 
 torian. 
 
 Falcandus. 
 
 ‘Benjamin of Tudela, a 
 
 Spanish Jew, whose 
 
 Travels were trans- 
 
 lated by Baratier. 
 
 The contest between the Averroes, or Ebn-Zohr. 
 
 Eustathius, bishop of 
 Thessalonica. 
 Solomon Jarchi. 
 
 mischief in the church, 
 had its rise in this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 The seeds of the Refor- 
 mation were sown, in 
 this century, by the Wal- 
 denses, and other emi- 
 nent. men in England 
 and France. 
 
 Pope Paschal II. orders 
 the Lord’s supper to be 
 administered only in one 
 kind, and retrenches the 
 cup. 
 
 The Canon-law formed 
 into a body, by Gra- 
 tian. 
 
 Academical degrees in- 
 troduced in this century. 
 
 Learning revives and is 
 
Cent. XII] CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 771 
 Sovercign Pitas | Fas, or Bishops| Archbishops of ee rt Heretics, real or| Remarkable Events. . 
 ces. of Rome. Canterbury. | eg reputed. Religious Riles. Profane Authors. 
 
 a. p.; Alexander Baldwin 1191 Godfrey of Vi-|The Albigenses,| encouraged in the uni-|Al-Hasen, an Arebian, 
 Sweyn IIL. 1157 ‘ 1181 Reginald terbo, a branch of the] versity of Cambridge. | who composed a large 
 Waldemar 1182 Lucius III. 1185) Fitz-Jocelin 1191) Theod. Waldenses, are|The pope declares war) work on Optics. 
 Canute VI. Ur Ill. 1187) Hubert Fitz Balsamon. _ | branded — with! against Roger king of|George Al-Makin, au- 
 Kings of Poland:| Gregory Walter. Richard of St.Vic-| the denomination} Sicily, who takes from] thor of the History of 
 Uladislaus 1102; VIII. 1188 tor. of Manicheans. | his holiness Capua and} the Saracens translated 
 BoleslauslIL. 1139 Clement MI. 1191 William of Aux- Beneventum. by Erpenias. 
 UladislausIL. 1146 Celvstine III, 1199 erre. The council of Clarendon Geoflrey of Monmouth. 
 BoleslausLV. 1173 ! Bruno of Asti. held against Becket. 
 
 Micislaus 1178 
 Casimir IT. 1195 
 Lescus or Le- 
 
 cho VY. 
 
 Kings of Jerusa- 
 lem: 
 Baldwin I. 1118 
 Baldwin II. 1131 
 
 Foulques or 
 Fulk 1141 
 
 Baldwin ITI. 1162 
 
 Almeric 1173 
 
 Baldwin IV. 1185 
 Baldwin V. 1186 
 Guy of Lusig- 
 nan. 
 Jerusalem 
 was retaken 
 by the Infi- 
 dels in 1187 
 Almerie from 
 1196 to 1205 
 Kings of Portu- 
 gal: 
 Alphonso I. 
 proclaimed 
 king in 1139 
 dies in 
 Sancho I. 
 
 1185 
 
 | 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 ces. 
 
 Emperors of the, 
 East: | Honorius IIT. 1226 
 
 A. D.| 
 Alexis III de- 
 throned in 1203) 
 Alexis LV. de- 
 throned in 1204 
 Alexis Du- 
 cas, surnam- 
 ed Murzur- 
 phle. 1204) 
 Latin Emperors 
 of the East resid- 
 
 ang at Constanti- 
 
 nople : 
 Balduin I. 1205 
 Henry 1216 
 Peter 1221 
 Robert 1229 
 Balduin II. 1259 
 
 Greek Emperors 
 residing at Nice. 
 
 Theodore 
 Lascaris 1222 
 John Ducas 
 IIL. 1255 
 Theodore 
 Lascaris 1259 
 John Lasca- 
 ris IV. 1259 
 
 Michael Palzolo- 
 
 Popes, or Bishops 
 of Rome. 
 
 Innocent IIT. 1216 
 
 Gregory IX. 1241 
 Celestine IV. 1243) 
 Innocent LV. 1254 
 Alexander 
 
 IV. 1261 
 Urban IV. 1264 
 Clement IV. 1268 
 Gregory X. 1276 
 Innocent V. 1276 
 Adrian V. 1276 
 John 1377 
 Nicolas IIT. 1280 
 Martin TV. 1285 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 ‘Hub. 
 
 W alter 
 ‘Stephen 
 Langton 1228 
 ‘Richard Le 
 
 Grand 1231 
 St. Edmund 1242 
 Boniface 1270 
 
 Fitz- 
 1204 
 
 Simeon of Dur- 
 ham, 
 
 CENTURY XIII. 
 
 The kings of England 
 and France go to the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 Henry II. of England, 
 being called by one of 
 the frish kings to assist 
 him, takes possession of 
 Ireland. 
 
 tenus. Mark, pa- 
 triarch of Alex- 
 andria. 
 Malachy, archbi- 
 shop of Armagh. 
 Nicetas Choniata. 
 Francois d’ Assise. 
 Alan de VIsle. 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Joachim. 
 
 John, bishop _ of, 
 Macedonia. 
 
 DemetriusC homa- 
 
 Jacobus de Vitri- 
 aco. 
 Peter, the monk. 
 Antony of Padua. 
 Germanus. 
 Cesarius. 
 William of Paris. 
 Raymond of Pen- 
 nafort. 
 Alexander Hales. 
 
 Edmund Rich, 
 archbishop of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Thomas of Spala- 
 tro. 
 
 John Peckham, 
 archbishop of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Roger Bacon, 
 
 | Heretics, real or 
 
 reputed. 
 
 The Waldenses. 
 Nestorians. 
 Jacobites. 
 
 The Brethren and 
 Sisters of the 
 Free Spirit, other- 
 wise called Beg- 
 hards and Be- 
 guttes, Beghins 
 and ‘Turlupins. 
 
 Amalric. Joachim. 
 
 W ihelmina. 
 
 The sect of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 The Moslem religion 
 triumphs over Chris- 
 tianity in China and the 
 northern parts of Asia, 
 byflattering the passions 
 of voluptuous princes. 
 
 A papal embassy is sent 
 
 to the Tartars by Inno- 
 cent LV. 
 
 A fourth crusade is un- 
 dertaken by the French 
 and Venetians, who 
 make themselves mas- 
 ters of Constantinople, 
 with a design to restore 
 the throne to Isaac An- 
 gelus, who had been de- 
 throned by his brother 
 Dueas. 
 
 The emperor Isaac is put 
 to death in a sedition, 
 and his son Alexis 
 strangled by Alexis Du- 
 cas, the ringleader of 
 this faction. 
 
 The crusaders take Con- 
 stantinople a second 
 time, dethrone Ducas, 
 and elect Baldwin, count 
 of Flanders, emperor of 
 the Greeks, 
 
 ; Universal 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Roger Bacon, one of the 
 great restorers of learn- 
 ing and philosophy. 
 
 Saxo Grammaticus. 
 
 Ralph de Diceto. 
 
 Walter of Coventry. 
 
 Alexander of Paris, the 
 founder of French poe- 
 try. 
 
 ‘Villehardouin, an _his- 
 
 | torian. 
 
 Accursi of Florence. 
 
 Kimchi, a Spanish Jew 
 
 Conrad de Lichtenau. 
 
 John Holywood, called 
 De Sacro Bosco, au- 
 thor of the Sphera 
 Mundi. 
 
 Actuarius, aGreek phy- 
 sician. 
 
 Rod. Ximenes, archbi- 
 
 | shop of Toledo. 
 
 Michael Coniat, bishop 
 
 | of Athens. 
 
 |Ivel. 
 
 Rigord, an historian. 
 
 Pierre de Vignes. 
 
 Matthew Paris. 
 
 Suffridus. 
 
 Sozomen, author of the 
 
 Chronolo- 
 
772 
 
 oS 
 
 Sovereign Prin- Pop 
 
 ces. | 
 | 
 
 a 
 
 gus retakes 
 Constanti- 
 nople in the 
 year 1261, 
 and thus 
 unites, in his 
 person, the 
 Latin and 
 Greek em- 
 pires; he 
 dies in 1283 
 Andronicus. 
 il. 
 Emperors of the 
 West: 
 
 Frederic II. 
 Civil wars 
 and an in- 
 terregnum, 
 duringwhich 
 Conrad of 
 Suabia, Wil- 
 liam count of 
 Holland, 
 Richardking 
 of England, 
 Alphonso of 
 Spain, Otto- 
 car of Bohe- 
 mia, appear 
 on the scene 
 of action. 
 Rodolphus of 
 Hapsburg is 
 elected em- 
 peror inl273, 
 anddiesin 1291 
 Adolphus of 
 Nassau, ‘de- . 
 posedin 1298 
 
 Albert I. 
 
 Kings of Sparn, 
 i.e. of Leon and 
 Castile: 
 
 Alphonso IlX.1214 
 
 Henry I. 1217 
 
 Ferdinand 
 
 Ill. 1252 
 
 Alphonso X. 1284 
 
 Sancho TV. 1295 
 
 Ferninandlv. 
 
 Kings of France: 
 
 Philip Aug. 1223 
 
 Louis VILL. 1226 
 
 Louis IX. 
 
 sainted 1270 
 
 Philip ITI. the 
 
 Hardy 1285 
 Philip LV. the 
 Fair. 
 Kings of Eng- 
 land: 
 John 1216 
 Henry III. 1272 
 Edward I. 
 Kings of  Scot- 
 
 William 1214 
 Alexander I1.1249 
 Alexander 
 
 IIL. 1285 
 Interregnum. 
 John Baliol. 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Suercher II. 1211 
 Eric X. 1218 
 John I. 1222 
 Eric XI, 1250 
 
 es, or Bishops 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Eccclesiasticaland 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 A. D. HonoriusTV.1288) Robert Kil- 
 Nicolas 1V. 1292 
 Celestine V. 1294) John 
 
 wardby 1278 
 
 Peck- 
 ham 1291 
 
 Robert Win- 
 chesley. 
 
 Albert, the Great. 
 
 ‘Rob. Grossetéte. 
 Vincent de Beau- 
 vais. 
 
 Robert of the Sor- 
 bonne. 
 
 GeorgeAcropolita. 
 
 Hugo de St. Caro. 
 
 George Metochita. 
 
 Guillaume de St. 
 Amour. 
 
 Nicephorus Blem. 
 Thomas Aquinas, 
 
 Bonaventura. 
 
 Gilbert of Tour- 
 nay. 
 
 John of Paris, an 
 opposer of tran- 
 substantiation 
 and papal tyran- 
 ny. 
 
 John Beccus. 
 
 Nicetus Acomina- 
 tus. 
 
 Theodore Lasca- 
 ris. 
 
 Arsenius. 
 
 George Pachymer. 
 
 George the Cy- 
 prian. 
 
 Stephen Langton, 
 archbishop of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Robert Capito. 
 
 Thomas  Canti- 
 
 prat. 
 
 Richard Middle- 
 ton. 
 
 William Durand. 
 
 fEgidius de Co- 
 lumna. 
 
 Guil. Peraldus. 
 
 Martin Polon. 
 Raymond Martin. 
 
 Jacob de Voragine. 
 
 Guillaumede Seig- 
 nelai, bishop of 
 Auxerre. 
 
 William of Au- 
 vergne, bishop of 
 Paris. 
 
 Henry of Ghent. 
 
 Pope Boniface 
 VII. 
 
 Heretics real or 
 
 reputed, 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious rites. 
 
 [Cenr. XIII, 
 
 Profane authors. 
 
 John of Parma,|The empire of the Franks} gy, which is yet in 
 
 author of 
 
 pe . 
 F lagellants. 
 Circumcelliones, 
 
 fifty-seven 
 van is overturned by 
 Nichael Paleologus. 
 
 : the} in the East, which had} MS. in the possession 
 everlasting gos-) subsisted 
 
 of the Regular Canons 
 of Fesoli, near I lo- 
 rence. 
 
 A fifth crasade, which is|Barthol. Cotton, of Nor- 
 carried on by the con-| which; see Wharton’s 
 federate arms of Italy| Anglia Sacra. 
 
 and Germany. 
 
 ruined by the Saracens. 
 
 Engelbert. 
 The fleet of the crusaders} Thomas 
 
 Wicke, an 
 
 English historian. 
 
 The fifth crusade under-| Vitellio, a Polish ma- 
 taken by Louis IX. who] thematician. 
 
 takes Damietta, but is} Albert the Great. 
 afterwards reduced, with|Colonna, archbishop of 
 
 his army, to extremities; 
 
 Messina. 
 
 dies of the plague in a|Michael Scot, the trans- 
 second crusade, and is} lator of Aristotle. 
 
 canonized. 
 
 Gregory Abulfaragins. 
 
 The knights of the Teu-|Foscari of Bologna. 
 tonic Order, under the| Alphonso, king of Cas- 
 
 command of Herman de 
 
 tile. 
 
 Saliza, conquer and con-|Cavalcanti of Florence, 
 vert to Christianity the| Dinus, a famous jurist. 
 Prussians, at the desire} Marco Polo, aVenetian, 
 
 of Conrad, 
 Masovia. 
 
 duke of| whose travels in Chi- 
 
 na are curious. 
 
 Christianity is propaga-|Francis Barberini, an 
 
 ted among the Arabians 
 in Spain. 
 
 The philosophy of Aris- 
 totle triumphs over all 
 the systems that were inj 
 vogue before this cen-| 
 tury. 
 
 The power of creating 
 bishops, abbots, &c. is 
 claimed by the Roman 
 pontiffs, whose wealth 
 and revenues are thereby 
 greatly augmented. 
 
 John, king of England, ex- 
 communicated by pope 
 Innocent II. is guilty of 
 the basest compliances, 
 through his slavish fear 
 of that insolent pontiff. 
 
 The inquisition establish- 
 ed in Narbonne Gaul, 
 and committed to the 
 direction of Dominic and 
 his order, who treat the 
 Waldenses, and other 
 reputed heretics, with 
 most inhuman cruelty. 
 
 The adoration of the Host 
 is introduced by Pope 
 Honorius III. 
 
 The Magna Charta is 
 signed by king John and 
 his barons on the 15th 
 of June, at Runemede, 
 near Windsor. 
 
 A debate arises between 
 the Dominicans and 
 Franciscans concerning 
 the immaculate concep- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 Jubilees instituted by 
 pope Boniface VIII. 
 
 The Sicilian Vespers— 
 when the French in 
 Sicily, to the number of 
 8000, were massacred in 
 in one evening, ata sig- 
 nal given by John of 
 Prochyta, a Sicilian no- 
 bleman. 
 
 Conrad, duke of Suabia, 
 and Frederic of Austria, 
 beheaded at Naples by 
 
 Ttalian poet, 
 
Cent. XIV.] 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 
 ces. 
 aA. Ds 
 Waldemar 1276 
 Magnus 1390 
 Birger. 
 Kings of Den- 
 mark : 
 Canute VI. 1202 
 
 Waldemar IT.1241 
 
 Eric VI. 1250 
 Abel 1252 
 
 Christopher 1259 
 Eric VII. 1286 
 Eric VIII. 
 ‘Kings of Poland: 
 Lescus V. 1203 
 Uladislaus 
 
 ILl. 1226 
 Boleslaus V. 1279 
 Lescus VI. 1289 
 Boleslaus, 
 
 Henry, and 
 
 Uladislaus, 
 
 take the title 
 
 of Governors. 
 Premislaus. 1296 
 Uladislaus 
 
 IV. deposed 
 
 in 
 Wenceslaus, 
 king of Bo- 
 hemia. 
 Kings of Portu- 
 
 gal: 
 
 Sanchc I. 1212 
 Alphonso IT. 1223 
 Sancho II. 1246 
 AlphonsolII. 1279 
 
 Denis. 
 
 1300 
 
 a 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops 
 of Rome. Canterbury. 
 
 of 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 lers. 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 CENTURY XIV. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Riles. 
 
 the counsel of pope Cle- 
 ment LV. 
 
 The Jews are driven out 
 of France by Louis IX. 
 and all the copies of the 
 Talmud, that could be 
 found, are burned. 
 
 The college of electors 
 founded in the empire. 
 The association of the 
 
 Hans-Towns. 
 
 The Dominicans, Fran- 
 ciscans, Servites, Men- 
 dicants, and the Her- 
 mits of St. Augustin, 
 date the origin of their 
 orders from this century. 
 
 The fables concerning 
 the removal of the 
 chapel of Loretto; the 
 vision of Sim. Stockius, 
 the Wandering Jew, 
 and St. Antony’s oblig- 
 ing an ass to adore the 
 sacrament, are invented 
 about this time. 
 
 The festivals of the Na- 
 tivity of the blessed Vir- 
 gin, and of the Holy 
 Sacrament or Body of 
 Christ, instituted. 
 
 The rise of the house of 
 Austria is referred to 
 this century. 
 
 Wales is conquered by 
 Edward, and united to 
 England. 
 
 There is an uninterrupt- 
 ed succession of Eng- 
 lish parliaments from 
 the year 1293. 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 ces | 
 
 Emperors of the 
 
 East: | 
 
 Az D.| 
 
 Andronicus 
 He 
 
 1332 
 Andronicus, 
 the Younger 1341 
 John Canta- 
 cuzenus 
 usurps the 
 government 
 under John 
 Palzologus, 
 and holds it 
 till the year 1355) 
 Tohn VI. Pa- 
 leol. 
 Andronicus 
 I 
 
 1390 
 1392 
 
 manuel IT. 
 Emperors of the! 
 West: 
 Albert I. 1308) 
 Henry 
 of Luxem- 
 burg 1313 
 Souis V.Bay. 1347 
 Charles1V. 1378 
 
 No. LXY. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops\| Archbishops of 
 of Rome. Canterbury. 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 
 ters. 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 Nicephorus Callis-| Waldenses. 
 
 Boniface ‘Robert Win- 
 VII. 1303, chelsey 1313 
 Benedict XI. 1304) Walter Ray- 
 
 l 
 
 Clement V. 1314) nold 327 
 
 John XXI. 1334 Simon Mep- 
 
 A schism be- ham 1333 
 tween Peter I. Stratford 1348 
 and John. Thomas 
 
 Benedict XII. 1342) Bradwar- 
 Clement VI. 1352) dine 1349 
 Innocent VI. 1362 Simon Islip 1365 
 
 Urban V. ——-:1372 Simon Lang- 
 A schism be- ham 1374 
 tweenUrban 
 
 andClement. 
 Gregory XI. 1378 
 The death of 
 Gregory XI. 
 occasioned 
 
 that violent 
 schism 
 
 which threw 
 
 the western 
 church into 
 the utmost 
 confusion. 
 
 The church of 
 Rome had : 
 
 194 
 
 tus. 
 Raymond Lully. 
 
 res. 
 
 John 
 nus. 
 
 ‘Duns Scotus. 
 Andrew of New- 
 castle. 
 Francis Mayron. 
 | Durand of St. Por- 
 tian. 
 Nicolas de Lyra. 
 John Bacon. 
 Willam Occam. 
 Nicolas Trivet. 
 Andrew Horne. 
 Richard Bury. 
 Walter Burley. 
 Richard Hampole. 
 Robert Holkot. 
 |'Thomas Bradwar- 
 
 Palamites, Hesy- 
 chasts, andQuiet- 
 
 Matthzus Blasta-| ists, three diffe- 
 
 rent names for 
 
 Greg. Acindynus.| one sect. 
 Cantacuze-| Spiritual Francis- 
 
 cans. 
 
 Nicephorus Greg.|CeccusAsculanus, 
 
 who was burned 
 at Florence by 
 the Inquisition 
 for making some 
 experiments in 
 mechanics — that 
 appeared miracu- 
 lous to the vulgar. 
 
 Beghards, and Be- 
 guines. 
 
 As to the Cellites 
 or Lollards, they 
 cannot be deemed 
 heretics. 
 
 The followers of 
 John Wickliffe 
 
 dine, archbishop; deserve an emi- 
 
 of Canterbury. 
 John Wickliffe. 
 
 nent place, with 
 their leader, in 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Riles. 
 
 Fruitless attempts made 
 to renew the crusades, 
 Christianity encouraged 
 in Tartary and China: 
 butloses ground towards 
 the end of this century. 
 The Lithuanians and 
 Jagello, their prince, con- 
 verted to the Christian 
 faith in the year 1386. 
 Many of the Jews are 
 compelled to receive the 
 
 Gospel. 
 
 Philosophy and Grecian 
 literature are cultivated 
 with zeal in this century. 
 
 The disputes between the 
 Realists and Nomina- 
 lists revive. 
 
 Philip the Fair, king of 
 France, opposes with 
 spirit the tyrannic pre- 
 tensions of the pope to 
 
 = S — 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Dante, the principal 
 restorer of philosophy 
 and letters, and also 
 one of the most sub- 
 lime poets of modern 
 times. 
 
 Petrarca. 
 
 Boccaccio. 
 
 | Chaucer. 
 
 Matthew of Westmin- 
 Ster. 
 
 |Nicolas Trivet. 
 Nicephorus Gregoras a 
 compiler of the By- 
 zantine History. 
 Theodore Metochita. 
 ‘Guillaume de Nangis, 
 historian. 
 Henry Stero, 
 rian. 
 
 'Dinus Mugellanus. 
 /Evrard, historian. 
 Hayton an Armenian 
 
 histo- 
 
 a temporal jurisdiction) historian. 
 
 over kings and princes, | 
 
 and demands a general 
 
 Albertino Mussato. 
 Oderic de Forli. 
 
 council to depose Boni- Leopold, bishop of Bam 
 face VIII. whom he ac-} berg. 
 
re 
 4é 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 [CenT. XIV 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 ces. 
 
 AD: 
 Wenceslaus 1406 
 Kings of Spain 
 
 i. e. Leon and 
 Castile: 
 
 Ferdinand! V.1312) 
 AlphonsoXL 1350) Urban VI. 
 
 | 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 two popes, 
 | one residing 
 at Rome, 
 the other at 
 Avignon. 
 At Rome: 
 
 Boniface IX. 
 
 Clement VII. 
 not acknow- 
 ledged 
 
 ‘Benedict XIII. 
 
 Pedro the 
 Cruel 1369 
 Henry II. 1379 
 Jobn L. 1390) 
 Henry III. 
 Kings of France: 
 Philip the 
 Fair 1314 
 Louis X. 
 Hutin 1316 
 Philip V. 1322 
 Philip VE. of 
 Valois 1350 
 John 1364) 
 Charles V. 1380 
 Charles VI. 
 
 Kings of Eng- 
 land: 
 Edward]. 1397 
 Edward If. 1327 
 Edward III. 1577| 
 Richard II. 1399 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Kings of  Scot- 
 land: 
 
 John Baliol 1306 
 
 Robert Bruce 1329 
 David IL. 1370 
 Robert II. 1390 
 Robert II. 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Birger 1326 
 Magnus 1363 
 Albert,defeat- 
 
 ed by Mar- 
 
 garet queen 
 
 of Denmark 
 
 in 1387, dies 
 
 in the year 1396 
 
 Margaret. 
 Sovereigns of Den- 
 mark: 
 
 Eric VII. 1321 
 Christopher 
 
 If. 1333 
 Waldemar 
 
 iil. 1375 
 Olaus 1387 
 Margaret. 
 
 Kings of Poland: 
 Wenceslaus 1305 
 Uladislaus re- 
 ascends the 
 throne, and 
 dies in 1333 
 Casimir III. 
 the last of 
 the Piasts 1370 
 Louis, king 
 of Hungary 1381 
 Interregnum. 
 Uladislaus 
 Jagellon, 
 duke of Li- 
 thuania. 
 Kings of Portu- 
 al: 
 Denis 1325 
 Alphonsol V. 1357 
 Pedro, the 
 Justiciary 1367 
 Ferdinand 1383 
 Interregnum. 
 
 John I. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops 
 
 1389 
 
 At Avignon: 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 bury 
 W. Courte- 
 nay 
 Thomas Arun- 
 del. 
 
 1394 
 
 Simon Sud- 
 1381] John de Burgo. 
 
 1396| The last thirteen 
 
 Ecclesiasticaland| 
 
 Theological Wri-| 
 
 ters. 
 
 Thomas Stubbs. 
 William W olfort. 
 
 all English au- 
 thors. 
 Peter Aureolus. 
 John Bassolis. 
 Bernard Guido. 
 Alvarus Pelagius. 
 Theophanes, _ bi- 
 shop of Nice. 
 Philotheus. 
 Antonius Andreas. 
 Herveus Natalis. 
 Thomas of Stras- 
 burg. 
 Raynerius of Pisa. 
 John of Fribourg. 
 Pope Clement VI. 
 Thomas Joysius, 
 John of Naples. 
 Albert of Padua. 
 Michael Cesenas. 
 Gregory Palamas. 
 Andronicus, 
 Peter of Duisburg. 
 Ludolf Saxon. 
 Cardinal Caietan. 
 James of Viterbo. 
 Cardinal Balde. 
 George of Rimini. 
 The popes Bene- 
 dict XI. and XII. 
 Gui of Perpignan. 
 Nicolas Cabasilas, 
 archbishop of 
 Thessalonica. 
 Richard, bishop of 
 Armagh. 
 Demetrius Cydo- 
 nius. 
 Petranch. 
 Peter Berchorius. 
 JohnCyparissotes. 
 Nicolas Oresme. 
 Philip Ribot. 
 Nilus Rhodius. 
 Maximus Plan, 
 John Taulerus. 
 Greg. Palamas. 
 Nic. Eymericus. 
 John Rusbroch. 
 Manuel Caleca. 
 ‘Catharine of Si- 
 enna. 
 St. Bridget. 
 Gerard of Zut- 
 
 phen, 
 Pierre Ailli. 
 Francis Zabarella. 
 Marsigliof Padua, 
 who wrote a- 
 gainst the papal 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 Philippe de Ma- 
 zleres. 
 
 Jordan of Quedin- 
 burg. 
 
 Barth. Albizi of 
 Pisa, author of 
 the famous book 
 of the Conformi- 
 ties of St. Fran- 
 cis with Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Fabri, bishop of 
 Chartres. 
 
 Michael Anglia- 
 nus, 
 
 Raymond Jordan. 
 
 Heretics real or 
 reputed, 
 
 the list of Re- 
 formers. 
 
 \Nicolas of Cala- 
 
 bria. 
 
 Martin Gonsalvo. 
 Bartold de Ror- 
 bach. 
 
 The Dancers. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious rites. 
 
 cuses of heresy, simony, 
 and several enormities. 
 
 The papal authority de- 
 clines. 
 
 The residence of the popes 
 removed to Avignon. 
 
 The universities of Avig- 
 non, Perugia, Orleans, 
 Angers, Florence, Ca- 
 hors, Heidelberg, 
 Prague, Perpignan, Co- 
 logne, Pavia, Cracow,| 
 Vienna, Orange, Sien- 
 na, Erfort, Geneva, 
 founded. 
 
 The rise of the great 
 western schism, which) 
 destroyed the unity of, 
 the Latin church, and 
 placed at its head two) 
 rival popes. 
 
 John Wickliff opposes 
 the monks, whose licen- 
 tiousness and ignorance 
 were scandalous, and re- 
 commends the study of 
 the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 A warm contest arises 
 
 among the Franciscans 
 about the poverty of 
 Christ and his Apostles. 
 Another between the 
 Scotists and Thomists, 
 about the doctrines of 
 their respective chiefs. 
 
 Pope Clement V. orders 
 the Jubilee which Boni- 
 face had appointed to be 
 held in every hundredth 
 year to be celebrated 
 twice within that period. 
 
 The Knights Templars 
 are seized and imprison- 
 ed; the greatest part 
 of them put to death, and 
 their order suppressed. 
 
 The Golden Bull, contain- 
 ing rules for the election 
 of an emperor of Ger- 
 many, and a precise ac- 
 count of the dignity and 
 privileges of the electors, 
 1s issued by Charles IV. 
 
 Clement VI. adds the 
 country of Avignon to 
 the papal territories. 
 
 The emperor Henry VII. 
 dies, and is supposed by 
 some authors to have 
 been poisoned by a con- 
 secrated wafer, which he 
 received at the sacra- 
 ment, from the hands o 
 Bernard Politian, a Do- 
 minican monk. This 
 account is denied by 
 authors of good credit. 
 The matter, however, is 
 still undecided. 
 
 Gunpowder is invented 
 by Schwartz, a monk. 
 
 The mariner’s compass is 
 invented by John Gioia, 
 or as others allege, by 
 Flavio. 
 
 The city of Rhodes is 
 taken from the Saracens, 
 in the year 1309, by the 
 Knights —__ Hospitalers, 
 subsequently called the 
 Knights of Malta, 
 
 Profane authors. 
 
 —SS——_ 
 
 Peter of Duisburg, an 
 historian. 
 
 Albert of Strasburg, an 
 historian. 
 
 Balaam of Calabria, 
 master of Petrarch. 
 
 Joinville. 
 
 Peter de Apono, physi- 
 cian and astronomer. 
 Marsigli of Padua, a 
 
 famous lawyer. 
 John Andre, an eminent 
 jurist. ; 
 Leontius Pilato, one of 
 the restorers of learn- 
 ing. 
 Gentiles de Foligno. 
 Ismael Abulfeda, 
 Arabian prince. 
 Peter of Ferrara. 
 Arnold of Villa-Nova. 
 
 an 
 
 William Grisant, an 
 English mathemati- 
 clan. 
 
 Homiodi of Milan. 
 
 Albergotti of Arezzo. 
 
 Philip of Leyden.. 
 
 Baldus de Ubaldis. | 
 
 Froissart, a French his- 
 torian. 
 
Cent. XV.] 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 
 ces. of Rome. 
 Ae D; 
 Ottoman Empe- 
 Tors: 
 [he ancient 
 history of 
 the ‘Turks 
 extends from 
 the — begin- 
 
 ning of the 
 seventh to 
 the com- 
 mencement 
 of the four- 
 teenth centu- 
 ry. ‘he mo- 
 dern  com- 
 mences 
 
 about the 
 beginning of 
 the four- 
 eenth centu- 
 
 ry. 
 Othman 
 Or Khan 
 Amurath, or 
 Morad 
 Bajazet 
 Ba-yezid. 
 
 1327 
 1359 
 
 1389 
 or 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 ces. of Rome. 
 
 Emperors of the BonifaceIX. 1404 
 East: a. p.| Innocent VIL. 1406 
 Emanuel II, 1425 Gregory XII. 
 
 John VI. deposed 1409 
 Paleologus 1448 AlexanderV. 1410 
 Constantine John XXII. 
 Paleologus, deposed 1417 
 so far down Martin V. 1431 
 as the year Eugenius 1V.1447 
 1453, when A schism.— 
 Constanti- The council 
 nople was of Basil de- 
 taken by pose Euge- 
 Mohammed nius, and 
 Il. elect Ama- 
 Emperors of the| deus, _ first 
 West: duke of Sa- 
 Rupert or Ro- voy, who as- 
 bert 14 sumes_ the 
 Jodocus not title of Fe- 
 
 acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 lix V. Euge- 
 nius, how- 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 775 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Thomas 
 Arundel 
 
 ‘John 
 ford 
 
 Staf- 
 
 Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Herelics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 Jac. de Theramo. 
 
 Manuel Chrysolo- 
 ras. 
 
 Cardinal Francis 
 Zabarella, with 
 many others, too 
 numerous tomen- 
 tion. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 Timour extends his con- 
 quests in the East. 
 
 The Bible is translated 
 into French by the order 
 of Charles V. 
 
 The festival of the holy 
 lance and nails that 
 pierced Jesus Christ in- 
 stituted by Clement V. 
 —Such was this pontiff’s 
 arrogance, that once, 
 while he was dining, he 
 ordered Dandolo, the 
 Venetian ambassador, 
 to be chained under the 
 table like a dog. 
 
 The beginning of the 
 Swiss Cantons. 
 
 The emperor Louis of 
 Bavaria, Philip the Fair, 
 king of France, Edward 
 Ill., king of England, 
 who opposed the tyranny 
 of the popes, may be 
 looked upon as_ wit- 
 nesses to the truth and 
 preparers of the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 To these we may add 
 Duraud, Gerson, Olivas, 
 who called the pope 
 Anti-christ, and Wick- 
 liff, who rejected tran- 
 substantiation, the sacri- 
 fice of the mass, the 
 adoration of the host, 
 purgatory, meritorious 
 satisfactions by penance, 
 auricular confession, the 
 celibacy of the clergy, 
 papal = excommunica- 
 tions, the worship of 
 images, of the Virgin 
 and relics. 
 
 The order of the Garter 
 is instituted in England 
 by Edward III. 
 
 CENTURY XV. 
 
 Ecclesiasticaland 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 John Huss. The Waldenses. 
 
 1413 | Jerome of Prague. | The Wickliffites. 
 H. Chichele 1443}Paulus Anglicus. The White Bre- 
 
 John Gerson. thren. 
 
 1452| Herman de Petra.| The men of under- 
 John Kemp 1453/Theod. de Niem.| standing, 
 
 who 
 bishop of Cam-| were headed by 
 bray. /Egidius Cantar, 
 Tho. Valdensis. | and William of 
 PopeAlexanderV.|_Hildernissen, 
 John Capreolus. |Picard, an Adam- 
 Peter de Anchar-| Ite. ¢ 
 
 The following de- 
 
 ano. 
 Nicolas de Cle-| serve rather the 
 mangis. denomination of 
 Theod. Urias. Reformers than 
 Alphons. Heretics, _viz. 
 Tostat. John Huss, Je- 
 
 John, patriarch of| rome of Prague. 
 
 Antioch. Branches of the 
 Mark of Ephe-| Hussites, the Ca- 
 sus. lixtines. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 —— ee | fl 
 
 The Moors and Jews are 
 converted in Spain, by 
 force. 
 
 In the year 1492, Chris- 
 topher Columbus opens 
 a passage into America, 
 by the discovery of the 
 islands of Hispaniola, 
 Cuba, and Jamaica. 
 
 Constantinople taken by 
 the Turks in the year 
 1453. 
 
 Letters flourish in Italy, 
 under the protection of 
 the house of Medici and 
 the Neapolitan mo- 
 narchs of the house of, 
 Arragon. 
 
 The calamities of the 
 Greeks under the’ 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 ————=—_— 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Laurentius Valla, the 
 great restorer of Latin 
 elocution. 
 
 Leonard Aretin 
 
 Gasparini. : 
 
 William Lyndewood. 
 
 Alexander Chartier 
 
 Fr. Frezzi. 
 
 Christina of Pisa, 
 
 Paul de Castro. 
 
 Poggio of Florence. 
 
 John Fortescue, high 
 chancellor of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Theod. Gaza. 
 
 Bart. Facio. 
 
 Dluglossus, a Polish his- 
 torian. 
 
 R. Sane. de Arevallo. 
 
 Turkish government, 
 
 Chalcondylas. 
 J. Savonarola. 
 
 conduce to the advance-|Marcilius Ficinus. 
 
776 
 
 Svoverergn Prin- 
 ces. 
 
 ds Dp 
 Sigismund 1437 
 Albert If. of 
 Austria 1439 
 Frederic IIT. 1493 
 Maximilian I. 
 Kings of Spain, 
 i. e. of Leon and 
 Castile : 
 Henry III. 
 John TL 
 Henry IV. 
 Ferdinand, in 
 right of Isa- 
 bella. 
 Kings of France: 
 Charles VI. 
 Charles VII. 1461 
 
 1406 
 1454 
 1474 
 
 Louis XI. 1483 
 Charles VIII. 1498 
 Louis XII. 
 
 Kings of Eng- 
 land: 
 Henry IV. 1413 
 Henry V. 1422 
 
 Henry VI. de- 
 throned in 1461 
 Edward IV. 1483 
 Edward V. 1483 
 Richard III. 1485 
 Henry VIII. 
 Kings of Scot- 
 land: 
 Robert HI. 1406 
 James I. 1437 
 James IT. 1460: 
 James III. 1488)- 
 James LV. 
 Sovereigns of 
 Sweden and 
 Denmark: 
 Margaret 1412 
 Eric [X. de- 
 posedin 1438 
 Christopher 
 Il. 1448 
 Charles Ca- 
 nutson 1471 
 An _interreg- 
 num until 
 the year 1483 
 John. 
 Kings of Poland : 
 Uladislaus, 
 Jag. 1434 
 Uladislaus, 
 king of Hun- 
 gary. 1444 
 
 Ain interreg- 
 num of three 
 
 years. 
 
 Casimir TY. 1492 
 John Albert. 
 
 Kings of Portu- 
 al: 
 
 § 
 John I. 1433 
 Edward 1438 
 Alphonso V. 1481 
 
 John II. 1495 
 Emmanuel 
 the Great. 
 Ottoman Empe- 
 TOTS? i 
 
 Ba-yezid, ta- 
 ken prisoner 
 
 by ‘Timour 
 
 in 1402 
 Solyman 1410 
 Mousa 1413 
 Mohammed 1.1421 
 Morad II. 1451 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 ever, tri- 
 umphs in the 
 
 | issue. 
 Nicolas V. 
 Calistus IIT. 
 Pius I. 
 Paul IT. 
 Sixtus TV. 
 Innocent 
 
 ViIIL 
 
 1455 
 1458 
 1464 
 1471 
 1484 
 
 1492 
 
 Alexander V1. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Thomas Bou- 
 chier 
 
 J. Morton 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 of 
 
 Cardinal 
 1486) rion. 
 1500)G. Scholarius. 
 
 G. Gemistus. 
 
 John de Turrecre- 
 mata. 
 
 George of Trape- 
 zond. 
 
 John Capistran. 
 
 Laurentius Valla. 
 
 John of Segovia. 
 
 Franc. dela Place. 
 
 Reginald, bishop 
 of St. Asaph. 
 
 Antoninus, arch- 
 bishop of Flo- 
 rence. 
 
 Nicolas de Cusa, 
 bishop of Brixen, 
 and cardinal. 
 
 Thomas a Kem- 
 
 Bessa- 
 
 pis. 
 Anton. de Rosellis. 
 
 Rickel. 
 
 Ducas. 
 
 Bened. deAccoltis. 
 
 Gui]. — d’ Aoupe- 
 lande. 
 
 James Paradise, 
 an English Car- 
 thusian. 
 fEneas Sylvius 
 Picolomini, or 
 pope. 
 
 Pius If. Lorenzo 
 
 Justiniani, 
 
 John Gobelin. 
 
 Alphonso de Spi- 
 na. 
 
 Greg. of Heim- 
 burg. 
 
 Theod. Lelio. 
 
 Henry of Gorcum. 
 
 I. Ant. Campanus. 
 
 Alex. de Imola. 
 
 Henry Harphius. 
 
 J. Perez. 
 
 P. de Natalibus. 
 
 B. Platina. 
 
 P. Niger. 
 
 John de Wesalia. 
 
 Hermol. 
 
 Barbarus. 
 
 Michael of Milan. 
 
 Stephen Brulefer. 
 
 Cardinal Andr. du 
 St. Sixte. 
 
 Savanarola. 
 
 Marsilius Ficinus. 
 
 John Tritheme. 
 
 Picus, or Pico of 
 Mirandula. 
 
 Ant. de Lebrixa. 
 
 Boussard. 
 
 J. Reuchlin, other- 
 wise called Cap- 
 nio. 
 
 Jovianus 
 nus. 
 
 Nicolas Simonis. 
 
 Claude de Seyssel. 
 
 Simeon of ‘Thes- 
 salonica. 
 
 Gobelin Persona. 
 
 Henry of Hesse. 
 
 George Phranza. 
 
 Vincent Ferrieres. 
 
 Julianus Cesari- 
 
 Ponta- 
 
 nus, 
 Nich. Tudeschus. 
 Raymond de 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 Orebites. 
 Orphans. 
 Taborites. 
 Bohemian Bre- 
 thren; also John 
 Petit. 
 John Wellus. 
 Peter Osma. 
 Matth. Grabon. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Riles. 
 
 ment of learning among 
 the Latins. 
 
 The council of Constance 
 is assembled by the em- 
 peror Sigismond in the 
 year 1414. 
 
 John Huss, and Jerome 
 of Prague, are commit- 
 ted to the flames, by a 
 decree of that council. 
 
 The council of Basil is 
 opened in the year 1431, 
 and in it the reformation 
 of the church is attempt- 
 ed in vain. 
 
 Horrible enormities are 
 committed by the popes 
 of this century, and 
 more especially by 
 Alexander VI. 
 
 The council of Constance 
 remove the sacramental 
 cup from the laity, and 
 declare it lawful to vio- 
 late the most solemn 
 engagements when 
 made to heretics. 
 
 The war of the Hussites 
 in Bohemia. 
 
 Institution of the Order 
 of the Golden Fleece. 
 
 The Moors and Jews 
 driven out of Spain. 
 
 The Massacre of Varna, 
 in the year 1444. 
 
 The order of Minimes 
 instituted by Franc. de 
 Paulo, 
 
 Exploits of the Maid of 
 Orleans. 
 
 The art of printing with 
 moveable wooden types, 
 is invented by Coster at 
 Haerlem; and the far- 
 ther improvements of 
 this admirable art are 
 owing to Gensfleisch 
 and Guttemberg, of 
 Mentz, and Scheffer of 
 Strasbourg. 
 
 The universities of Leip- 
 sic, Louvaine, Fribourg, 
 Rostock, Basil, Tubin- 
 gen, Wurtzburg, Tu- 
 rin, Ingolstadt, St. An- 
 drew’s in Scotland, 
 Poictiers, Glasgow, 
 Gripswald in Pomera- 
 nia, Pisa, Bourdeaux, 
 Treves, Toledo, Upsal, 
 Mentz, Copenhagen, 
 founded in this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 The first book printed 
 with types of Metal; 
 which was the Vulgate 
 Bible, published at 
 Mentz in 1450: a second 
 edition of the same book 
 appeared at Mentz in 
 1642, and has been mis- 
 taken for the first. 
 
 |The famous Pragmatic 
 
 Sanction established in 
 France. 
 
 The university of Caen 
 in Normandy is found- 
 ed by the English in the 
 year 1437. 
 
 The Portuguese sail, for! 
 
 [Cent. XV 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 John Picus de Miran- 
 dula. 
 
 Mare. Coe. Sabellicus 
 Forestus. 
 
 Ant. Bonfinius. 
 
 Jovian. 
 
 Pontanus. 
 
 G. Gemistus. 
 
 J. Alvarot. 
 
 Guarini of Verona. 
 
 J. Juv. des Ursins. 
 Mass. Vegio. 
 
 Flavio Bindo. 
 
 J. Argyropulus. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Linacre 
 The Strozzi. 
 
 Bon. Monbritius. 
 
 P. Callim. 
 
 Esperiente. 
 
 Jul. Pompon Letus. 
 Angelo. 
 
 Politiano. 
 
 Fulgosi. 
 
 A. Urceus Codrus. 
 
 Mich. Marullus. 
 
 Oliver de la Marche. 
 
 Caiado. 
 
 Abrabanel. 
 
 Calepin. 
 
 Rebel. 
 
 Martial de Paris. 
 
 Phil. de Comines. 
 
 Al. Achillini. 
 
 Scipio Carteromaco. 
 
 John Baptista Porto. 
 
 Aldus Manutius. 
 
 Cherefeddin Ali, a Per- 
 sian historian. 
 
 Arabshah, an Arabian 
 historian. 
 
 J. Whethamsted. 
 
 Ulug-beg, a ‘Tartar 
 prince. 
 
 J. Braccelli. 
 
 Palmieri. Villon, other- 
 wise Corbueil. 
 
 Muller, surnamed Re- 
 giomontanus. 
 
 Calentius, a Latin poet. 
 
 Dom. Calderini. 
 
 Barth. Fontius. 
 
 Enguerr. de Monstre- 
 let. 
 
 Andronicus of Thessa- 
 lonica. 
 
 Er. Philelphi. 
 
 Alex. Imola. 
 
 J. Ant. Campani. 
 
 Nich. Perotti. 
 
 Th. Littleton. 
 
 Ant. of Paiermo. 
 
 Constant. 
 
 Lascaris. 
 
 A. Barbatius. 
 
 Gobelin Persona. 
 
 Bern. Justiniani. 
 
 Dieb. 
 
 Schilling. 
 
 Ralph Agricola. 
 
 I. Andreas. 
 
 Alex. ab. Alexandro 
 
 G. Merula. M. M. 
 
 Boiardo. 
 
 A. Mancinelli. 
 
 Rob. Gaguin. 
 
 Bern. Corio. 
 
 Garbr. Altilius, 
 
 Gul. Caoursin. 
 
 J. Nai. 
 
 Al. Ranuceini. 
 
 the first time, to the East 
 
 P, Crinitus. 
 
Cent. XVI] - CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 777 
 
 ‘ : : . Ecclesiasticaland F 
 Sovereign Prin- Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of \ rv . ,.« |Heretics real or| Remarkable Events. 
 ces. of Rome. acho ade Cha ae ea re reputed. | Religious rites. EEUURE CALI 
 
 Mohammed a. D. Sabunde, or Se- Indies, under Vasquez| Molines. 
 
 IL. whotakes beyde. de Gama. Cettes. 
 
 Constanti- Catharine of Bo- Maximilian divides the| John Murmelius. 
 nople in 1453 logna. empire into six circles. | Mark Musurus. 
 and dies in 1481 Gregorius Melis- Jason Mainus. 
 Bayezid II. sen. Pandolfo Collenucio. 
 Czars, or Empe- Marcus Eugenius. R. Langius. 
 
 rors of Russia: Sylvester Syropul. Pietro Cosimo. 
 There reigns, in Ambrose, general Abraham Zachut. 
 the chronology of of the Camaldo- : 
 
 these princes, an lites. 
 
 uncommon de- George Codinus. 
 
 gree of confusion, Onuphr. 
 
 suitable to the Panvinius. 
 
 barbarism of that Gabriel Biel. 
 
 nation. In the John Nauclerus. 
 
 bapa 1732, they John Nieder. 
 
 egan to publish, 
 
 at Petersburg, a 
 series of their 
 sovereigns, _ be- 
 ginning with 
 duke Ruric, who ti 
 is supposed to 
 have reigned in 
 the ninthcentury. 
 From that time 
 downward, all is 
 darkness and per- 
 plexity, until we 
 come to the reign 
 of John Basilo- 
 witz I.who, in the 
 fifteenth century, 
 shook off the yoke 
 $f the Tartars, 
 and assumed first 
 the title of Czar, 
 after having con- 
 “Skto the king- 
 om of Casan. 
 We therefore be- 
 gin with — this 
 prince, and shall 
 follow the chro- 
 nology observed 
 by the authors of 
 the Modern Uni- 
 versal History, 
 in their History 
 of Russia. The 
 reader may, how- 
 ever, consult the 
 Tablettes Chro- 
 nologiques __ de 
 VHistoire Uni- 
 verselle of Len- 
 glet, who places 
 this prince in the|* He died in that cen- 
 16th. century.* tury, but flourished 
 
 F ¥ chiefly in the fifteenth. 
 John Basilowitz. | Epi. 
 
 me 
 
 CENTURY XVI. 
 
 = 
 ; : : ‘ Ecclesiasticaland : 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops 0 ae | Heretics, real or| Remarkable Events. ; 
 Se of Rome. Lid cold ere 1 Wie reputed. Religious Rites. Profane Authors. 
 Emperors: a.p.| Alexander Henry Dean 1504/John Sleidan. Schwenckfeld. The Reformation is in-| British Authors. 
 Maximilian 1.1519, VI 1503) W. Warham 1532) William Budeus.}Andr. Osiander. | troduced into Germany) Sir Thomas More. 
 Charles V. ab- Pius IIT. 1503 Thomas Desiderius Eras-| Stancarus. by Luther, in the year| Thomas Linacre. 
 dicates the Julius IL. 1513) Cranmer 1555) mus. The Ad aphorists.| 1517; into France by/S. Purchas. 
 empire in Leo X. 1521) Reginald Martin Luther. — | Interimists. Calvin about 1529; into) Thomas Elliot. 
 1556, and |Adrian VI. 1523) Pole 1558|/Ph. Melancthon. | Agricola of Eisle-| Switzerland by Zuingle, | Hect. Bocthius. 
 dies in 1558 Clement VII. 1534, Matthew John Brentius. ben, the chief of} in 1519. J. Leland, the  anti- 
 
 Ferdinand 1564 Paul ILI. 1549| Parker 1575| Martin Bucer, the Antinomians./Henry VIII. of England,| quary. 
 No. LXV. 195 
 
ver 
 
 a 
 
 8 
 
 Sovereign Prin- Popes, or Bishops| 
 
 ces. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 [Cent. XVI. 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 A.D. Julius III. 
 
 Maximilian 
 
 LL. 
 Rodolph II. 
 Kings of Spain: 
 Ferdinand Y. 
 
 surnamed 
 
 the Catholic, 
 king of Ar- 
 ragon, in 
 consequence 
 of his mar- 
 riage with 
 Isabella, be- 
 comes king 
 of Castile ; 
 and the king- 
 doms of Ar- 
 ragon and 
 
 Castile re- 
 
 main united. 
 
 Isabella 
 
 died in 1504, 
 
 and Ferdi- 
 
 nand in 1516 
 Philip I. of 
 Austria 1506 
 Jane 1516 
 Charles Lor 
 ; 1558 
 Philip II. 1598 
 
 Philip IIL. 
 
 N. B.—Philip 
 JL.seizedPor- 
 tugal, which 
 remained in 
 the posses- 
 sion of the 
 kings of 
 Spain until 
 the year 1640 
 
 Kings of France: 
 
 Louis XII, 1515 
 
 Francis I. 1547 
 
 Henry II. 1559 
 
 Francis II. 1560 
 
 Charles TX. 1574 
 
 Henry III. 1589 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Kings of 
 
 land: 
 
 Henry VII. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 Edward VI. 
 
 Mary 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Kings of 
 
 land: 
 
 James IV, 
 
 James V. 
 
 Mary, 
 headed in 
 
 James VI. 
 
 Kings of Sweden 
 and Denmark: 
 
 John 
 
 Christiern II. 
 
 Eng- 
 
 1509 
 1547 
 1553 
 1558 
 Scot- 
 1513 
 1542 
 
 be- 
 1587 
 
 1518 
 
 deposed in 1522; 
 
 Gustavus 
 Ericson 1560 
 N. B. Swe- 
 den is sepa- 
 ratea from 
 Denmark 
 
 under this 
 prince. 
 
 Eric deposed 
 
 in 
 
 John TIT. 
 Sigismond, 
 king of Po- 
 
 1568 
 1592 
 
 Marcellus II. 
 
 1576 Paul IV. 
 
 Pius IV. 
 Pius V. 
 Gregory 
 XI. 
 Sixtus V. 
 Urban VII. 
 Gregory 
 XIV 
 
 Innocent IX. 
 
 Clement VIII. 
 
 | Archbishops of 
 
 Canterbury. 
 
 1555 Edmund 
 1555 ~Grindal 
 1559 
 1566 
 
 1583 
 John Whitegift. 
 | 
 
 1572 
 
 1585 
 1590 
 1590 
 
 1591 
 1592 
 
 Ecclesiastical and | 
 Theological Wri- 
 
 ters. 
 
 Ulric Zuingle. 
 Peter Galatin. 
 Fr. Ximenes. 
 Thomas More. 
 
 Herelics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 George Major. 
 N. Amsdortf. 
 The Synergists. 
 M. Flacius. 
 
 John Whitegift,|'T'h 
 archbishop — of| vinists. 
 Canterbury. Anabaptists. 
 
 John Fisher. Mennonites. 
 
 Jobn C&colampa- 
 
 dius. 
 And. Carolosta- 
 dius, or Carlstadt. 
 
 John Tiligius. 
 James Faber. 
 Matthew Flacius 
 John Calvin. 
 
 Martin Chemnitz. 
 
 James Andreas. 
 David Chytreus. 
 William F'arel. 
 Thedore Beza. 
 Faustus Socinus. 
 
 Bened. Arias Mon- 
 
 tanus. 
 And. Osiander. 
 AAgid. 
 Hunnius. 
 Melchior Canus. 
 Polye. 
 Lyserus. 
 George Wicellus. 
 Cardinal 
 mine. 
 Stella. 
 Crantzius. 
 
 sus. 
 
 Postellus. 
 
 David Georgius. 
 
 Franc, Pucius. 
 
 Defid. Erasmus. 
 
 Agrippa. 
 
 Cassander 
 W icelius. 
 
 Conr. Vorstius. 
 
 Sam. Huberus. 
 
 Mich. Servetus. 
 
 Valent. 
 
 Gentilis. 
 
 Lelius Socinus. 
 
 Faustus Socinus. 
 
 Bellar- 
 
 Thomas Illyricus. 
 Jacob Ben-Chaim, 
 who gave an edi- 
 tion of the He- 
 
 brew Bible. 
 Sanderus. 
 Isid. Clarius. 
 John Major. 
 Andrew Vega. 
 Franc. Vatable. 
 
 Cardinal Sadolet. 
 
 Cardinal 
 sius. 
 John Cochleus. 
 
 Corte- 
 
 Alphons. Zamora. 
 
 Vivaldi. 
 
 J. Almain. 
 Spagnoli. 
 Aug. Dathus. 
 
 Pope Adrian VI, 
 
 Petro de Monte. 
 Pope Leo X. 
 Alb. Pjghius. 
 
 Henry VIII. king 
 
 of England. 
 Louis Vives. 
 S. Pagninus. 
 Leo de Castro. 
 Matth. Ugonius. 
 Cardinal Caietan 
 
 JamesHoogstraat. 
 
 Ambr. Catharini. 
 John Faber. 
 Ortuin Gratius. 
 John Eckins. 
 Leander Alberti. 
 Nic. Serrarius. 
 Pet. Canisius. 
 Cesar Baronius. 
 Fran. Ribera. 
 Pierre Pithou. 
 Mich. Baius. 
 
 W. Alan, English 
 
 cardinal. 
 Dr. John Colet. 
 Mercator. 
 
 Quintin, the, chief 
 of the Libertines. 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 throws off the papal 
 yoke, and becomes su- 
 preme head of the church. 
 Edward VI. encourages 
 
 The Crypto-Cal-| the Reformation in Eng- 
 
 land. 
 The reign of queen Mary 
 restores Popery, and ex- 
 
 Theoph. Paracel-| hibits a scene of barba- 
 
 rous persecution that 
 shocks nature. 
 The name of Protestants 
 
 given to the Reformed at 
 
 the Diet of Spire, in 
 1529. 
 
 and|The league of Smalcald 
 
 is formed in 1530. 
 
 The Reformation intro- 
 duced into Scotland by 
 John Knox, about the 
 year 1560; 
 Ireland by George 
 
 Brown, about the same 
 
 time; into the United 
 Provinces, about the 
 year 1566. 
 
 Gustavus Ericson intro- 
 
 and into 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Ed. Wotton. 
 
 J. Christophorson. 
 
 Cuth. Tonstal. 
 
 R. Ascham. 
 
 J. Kaye. 
 
 Thomas Smith. 
 
 George Buchanan. 
 
 Alex. Arbuthnot. 
 
 Sir Phil. Sidney. 
 
 John Fox. 
 
 Fr. Walsingham. 
 
 Ed. Grant. 
 
 Ed. Anderson. 
 
 John Dee. 
 
 Thomas Craig. 
 
 G. Creighton. 
 
 Ed. Brerewood. 
 French Authors: 
 
 William Budezus, 
 
 Bude. 
 
 Clement Marot, 
 
 Fr. Rabelais. 
 
 Ja. Dubois (Sylvius.) 
 
 Pierre Gilles. 
 
 Or. Finée. 
 
 Robert Etienne, or Ste- 
 
 phens. 
 
 or 
 
 duces the Reformation] P. Belon. 
 
 into Sweden, by the mi- 
 nistry of Olaus Petri, in 
 
 1530. 
 
 It was received in Den- 
 
 mark, in 1521. . 
 
 The Gospel is propaga- 
 
 ted by the papal mis- 
 sionaries in India, 
 Japan, and China. 
 
 The Jesuit order is found- 
 
 ed, in 1540, by Ignatius 
 Loyola. 
 
 The famous council of 
 
 Trent is assembled. 
 The Pragmatic Sanction 
 is abrogated by Leo X. 
 and the Concordat sub- 
 stituted for it. Pope Ju- 
 lius ILI. bestows a car- 
 dinal’s hat upon the 
 keeper of his monkeys. 
 The Inquisition is estab- 
 lished at Rome by Paul 
 Ve 
 The war of the Peasants. 
 The universities of Wit- 
 tenberg, Francfort on the 
 Oder, Alcala, Saragossa, 
 Marpurg, Seville, Com- 
 postella, Oviedo, Gre- 
 nada, Franeker, Stras- 
 bourg, Parma, Mace- 
 rata, Tortosa, Coimbra, 
 Konigsberg, Leyden, 
 Florence, Rheims, Dil- 
 lingen, Mexico, St. Do- 
 mingo, Tarragona, 
 Helmstadt, Altorf, Pa- 
 derborn, Sigen, founded 
 in this century. 
 The treaty of Passau, in 
 1552. 
 
 The Paris massacre of 
 
 the Protestants on St. 
 Bartholomew’s day. 
 The republic of the Uni- 
 ted Provinces formed by 
 the union of Utrecht. 
 The edict of Nantes grant- 
 ed to the Protestants by 
 Henry LV. of France. 
 
 William Morel. 
 
 Adr. Turnebus. 
 
 Ch. Du Moulin. 
 
 Gilb. Cousin. 
 
 Mich. de l’Hopital. 
 
 L. Le Roy (Regius.) 
 
 Hub. Languet, autho 
 of the Vindicie contr 
 Tyrannos. 
 
 Laur. Joubert. 
 
 James Pelletier. 
 
 Fr. Belleforest. 
 
 M. A. Fr. Muret. 
 
 P. Ronsard. 
 
 J. Dorat. 
 
 James Cujas. 
 
 Fy. Hotoman. 
 
 James Amyot. 
 
 Mich. de Montagne. 
 
 Mich. de Castelnau. 
 
 P. Pithou. 
 
 J. Bodin. 
 
 Nic. Vignier. 
 
 Bl. de Vigenere. 
 
 Henri Etienne, com- 
 monly called Stephens. 
 
 J. De Serres(Serranus.) . 
 
 Cl. Fauchet. 
 
 J. Passerat. 
 
 J. J. Boissard. 
 
 P. Daniel d’Orleans. 
 
 Francis Victe. 
 
 Cardinal d’Ossat. 
 
 Rob. Constantin. 
 
 P. Morin. 
 
 Jos. Just. 
 
 Scaliger. 
 
 Nic. Rapin. 
 
 J. Papire. 
 
 Masson. 
 
 P. B. Brantome 
 
 St. Pasquier. 
 
 Italian Authors: 
 
 Americo Vespucci. 
 
 J. Jocondi of Verona, 
 who discovered the 
 Letters of Pliny. 
 
 A. F. Grazzini. 
 
 Leonicini, the transla« 
 tor of Galen. 
 
 Pomponace. 
 
 M. A. Casanova. 
 
 |B. Gravina. 
 
 ; 
 
Vent. XVLj 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 779 
 
 Sovereign Prin- Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops 
 of Rome. 
 
 ces. 
 
 DI 
 land, depos- 
 in 1599 
 Charles IX. 
 Kings of Den- 
 mark: 
 Christiern IL. 
 deposed in 1522 
 Frederic [. 1533 
 Christiern 
 
 ‘igi 1559 
 Frederic II. 1588 
 Christiern LV. 
 
 Kings of Poland: 
 John Albert, 1501 
 Alexander 1506 
 Sigismund I. 1548) 
 Sigismund II. 1572) 
 Henry of An- 
 
 jou, until the 
 year 1574 
 Stephen Ba- 
 thori 1587 
 Sigismond 
 
 king of Swe- 
 den. 
 Kings of Portu- 
 
 gal: 
 
 gal: 
 Emanuel the 
 
 Great 1521 
 John LI. 1557 
 Sebastian 1578 
 Henry, Card. 1580 
 Portugal is 
 
 reduced un- 
 
 der the do- 
 
 minion~ of 
 
 Spain _ by 
 
 Philip IT. 
 Ottoman Empe- 
 
 Tors: 
 Ba-yezid II, 1512 
 Selim I. 1520 
 Solyman II. 1566 
 Selim IL. 1574 
 Morad III. 1595 
 tae 2 
 ie 
 
 Czarsof Muscovy: 
 John Basilo- 
 
 witz 1505 
 Basil Ivano- 
 witz, who re- 
 ceived from 
 Maximilian 
 
 I. the title of 
 Emperor 1533 
 John Basilo- 
 witz II. 1584 
 T heodorelIva- 
 nowitz 1597 
 Boris Gode- 
 now. 
 Stadt-holders of 
 the United Pro- 
 DINCES 3 
 
 William I. 
 
 the glorious 
 founder of 
 their liberty 1584 
 Maurice. 
 
 Ecclesiasiical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 lers. 
 
 Nic. Harpfield. 
 Leunclavius. 
 Molina. 
 Salmeron. 
 Maldonat. 
 
 J. Natalis. 
 
 J. P. Maffei. 
 
 Cardinal Hosius. 
 
 Jansenius. 
 
 et Tillet. 
 ames Naclantus. 
 
 De Vargas. 
 
 Cardinal Seri- 
 pand. 
 
 And. Masius. 
 
 Pope Paul IV. 
 
 W idmanstadt, 
 
 Cassander. 
 
 Stapleton. 
 
 Mercerus. 
 
 F. Xavier. 
 
 Ign. Loyola. @ 
 
 Bishop Gardiner. 
 
 Jer. Oleaster, with 
 many others too 
 numerous to men- 
 tion. 
 
 N. B. It is remark- 
 able that, among 
 the ecclesiastical 
 writers of this 
 century, there are 
 above 55 whoem- 
 ployed their la- 
 bours in the ex- 
 position and illus- 
 tration of the 
 Scriptures; and 
 this happy cir-| 
 cumstance con- 
 tributed, without 
 doubt, to prepare 
 the minds of ma- 
 ny for the Re- 
 formation, and 
 thus rendered its 
 a more 
 rapid. 
 
 Remarkable Events, 
 Religious Rites. 
 
 Profane Authors: 
 
 Concluded, 
 P. Lotichius. 
 Conrad Gesner. 
 G. Fabricius. 
 A. Masius. 
 Joach. Camerarius. 
 
 Virgilius of Zuichem. 
 
 Hubert Goltzius. 
 John Sturmius. 
 J, Sambuc. 
 
 A. G. de Busbec. 
 J. Leunclavius. 
 G. Mercator. 
 Lev. Torrentius. 
 Raphelengius. 
 Ortelius. 
 Heurnius of Utrecht. 
 Justus Lipsius. 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 | Sannazarius, 
 
 Machiavel. 
 
 Vida. 
 
 J. A. Lascaris. 
 
 Alcyonius, translator of 
 Aristotle, 
 
 Ariosto. 
 
 Bern. Maffei. 
 
 Fr. Guieciardini. 
 
 Cardinal Bembo. 
 
 Cardinal Sadolet. 
 
 And. Alciat. 
 
 M. A.Flaminio d’Imola, 
 
 Lilius Giraldus. 
 
 J. Fracastor. 
 
 Polydore Virgil. 
 
 M. A. Majoragio. 
 
 P. Aretino. 
 
 J. de Ja Casa. 
 
 L. Alamanni. 
 
 N. Tartaglia. 
 
 Palingenius. 
 
 Jul. Cesar Scalierg. 
 
 Zanchius. 
 
 Gab. Faerno. 
 
 Gab. Fallopius. 
 
 J. Acronius. 
 
 Lodovico Cornaro, 
 
 Robertello. 
 
 Palearius. 
 
 Onuph. Panvini. 
 
 Argentieri. 
 
 J. Bar de Vignole. 
 
 Paul Manutius. 
 
 Jerome Cardan. 
 
 A. Palladio. 
 
 C. Sigonius. 
 
 P. Victorius. 
 
 Oct. Ferrari. 
 
 James Zabarella. 
 
 L. Guicciardini. 
 
 A. de Costanzo. 
 
 Torq. Tasso. 
 
 Fr. Patritius, or Patrizi, 
 
 Ant. Riecoboni. 
 
 G. Panciroli. 
 
 And. Cesalpino. 
 
 Natalis Comes. 
 
 Aldrovandi. 
 
 Gratiani. 
 
 B. Guarini. 
 
 Swiss Authors: 
 Aur. Ph. Paracelus. 
 Theod. Bibliander. 
 Theod. Swinger. 
 
 Isaac Casaubon. 
 
 German, Dutch, and 
 Flemish Authors: 
 
 J. Reuchlin. 
 
 P. Mosellan.' 
 
 M. Aurogallus, who as- 
 sisted Luther in the 
 translation of the Bible. 
 
 H. C. Agrippa. 
 
 D. Erasmus of Rotter- 
 dam. 
 
 Luscinius. 
 
 Simon Grynzus. 
 
 Adr. Barland of Zea- 
 land. 
 
 ee ee SE oes 
 
 Paul Merula of Leyden. A . Secitan of the 
 
 A. Gorleus. 
 Schoneus. 
 
 Em. van Meteren. 
 Dom. Baudius. 
 
 Danish Authors: 
 
 Hague. 
 J. Olaus Magnus. 
 Peutinger. 
 Paul Fagius. 
 Sebastian Munster. 
 
 Tycho Brahe, the astro-|G, Agricola. 
 
 nomer, 
 Nicolas Craig. 
 
 John Sleidan. 
 Gasp. Bruschius, 
 
780 
 
 | 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of 
 
 ces. 
 
 Emperors: A.D. 
 Rodolph II. 1612 
 Matthias 1619 
 Ferdinand II. 1637 
 Ferdinand 
 
 ne 1657 
 
 Leopold J. 
 Kings of Spain: 
 Philip IIf. 1621 
 Philip IV. 1665 
 (Portugal 
 
 throws off 
 
 the Spanish 
 
 yoke, 
 
 recovers 
 independ- 
 ence, in the 
 
 year 1640.) 
 Charles IT. 
 
 and 
 its 
 
 1700 
 
 Sovereigns of 
 France: 
 Henry IV. 1610 
 Louis XIII. 1643 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 Sovereigns of 
 England: 
 Elizabeth 1603 
 
 James I. (VI. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 CENTURY XVII. 
 
 [Cent. XVII. 
 
 Ecclesiasticaland : 
 7 ... | Heretics real or| Remarkable Events. : 
 of Rome. Canterbury. ia Sade Wo: reputed. Religious rites. Profane aaihors. 
 Clement Dr. J. Whit- Protestant Wri-| The doctrine of the| The congregation de pro-| No century has been so 
 VIII. 1605| gift 1604 ters: Jesuits, concern-| paganda Fide, founded) fertile in authors as 
 Leo XI. 1605|Dr. R. Ban- Archbishop Ab-] ing philosophical] at Rome in 1622, by| this before us. Their 
 Paul V. 1621) croft 1610} bot. sin, condemned! pope Gregory XV. number amounts to 
 Gregory X V.1623) Dr. George John Lightfoot. by pope Alexan-|Christianity 1s propaga-| above 850. We shall 
 Urban VII. 1644] Abbot 1633| Matthew Poole. | der VIII. in 1690.) ted in the kingdoms of| confine ourselves to 
 Innocent X. 1565|Dr. W. Laud 1645) Bishop Pearson. |The Probabilists| Siam, ‘Tonquin, andCo-| those who were most 
 Alexander Dr. W. Juxon 1663} Bishop Fell. (so the Jesuits} chin-china, by the Jesuit} eminent in each coun- 
 VII. 1667| Dr. Gil. Shel- Gataker. were called from! missionaries. try. 
 Clement IX. 1669} don. 1677| Bishop Ward. their odious doc-/The thirty years’ war|In Great Britain and 
 Clement X. 1676 Owen. trine of proba-| breaks out. Ireland: 
 Edward Pocock. | bility,) con-/The Moors are driven|Sir John Harrington. 
 Dr. Goodwin. demned by the} out of Spain. James Harrington. 
 Dr. Manton. Sorbonne. The Protestants are per-|J. Pitt. 
 Richard Baxter. |The Franciscans] secuted in France. R. Stanihurst. 
 Dr. Calamy. are judged here-| TheGunpowder-Treason|Sir Henry Saville. 
 Howe. tics on account of} discovered in England. |Thomas Hariot, the in- 
 Bates. theirdoctrinecon-| A rupture between pope| ventor of Algebra. 
 Bishop Bull. # cerning the im-| Paul V. and the Vene-|W. Camden. 
 Grew. maculate concep-| tians. Nicolas Fuller. 
 Bishop Burnet. tion of the Virgin|The Royal Society is|Benjamin Jonson. 
 Jo. Forbes. Mary. } founded in the year 1662.|Shakespear, or Shak- 
 J. Baxter. Jansenius, Ques-|A Jubilee is celebrated by| speare. 
 Archbishop Tillot-| nel, and Arnauld,| pope Clement VIII. in|Henry Wotton. 
 son. as also Fenelon,| the year 1600. Thomas Lydiat. 
 Dr. Sherlock. Molinos, and the/In 1605, Maurice, land-|Joseph Hall, called the 
 Archbishop pietists, are con-| grave of Hesse Cassel,} English Seneca. 
 Wake. demned in} introduces the reformed|Lord Herbert of Cher- 
 Chillingworth. France. religion into Marpurg. | bury. 
 
 of Scotland. )1625 
 Charles I. be- 
 headed in the 
 ear 
 peice 
 usurps the 
 government 
 under the 
 title of Lord 
 Protector, 
 
 1649 
 
 and diesin 1658}. 
 
 Charles II. 
 James 
 abandons 
 his kingdom 
 
 in the year 
 1688, and 
 dies in 1701 
 William TIL. 
 
 aud Mary 1694 
 Kings of  Scot- 
 land : 
 
 James Vi. 1625 
 This prince 
 
 and his suc- 
 cessors 
 
 were kings 
 both of Eng- 
 land and 
 Scotland so 
 
 far down as 
 
 the year 
 1707, when 
 these king- 
 doms were 
 united into 
 
 one monar- 
 chy. 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Charles IX. 1611 
 
 1685 
 Il. 
 
 Gustavus 
 Adolphus 1632 
 Christina ab- 
 dicates the 
 erown in 
 1654, and 
 dies in 1689 
 Charles Gus- 
 tavus 1660 
 
 Charles XI. 1697 
 
 Henry Hammond.| Arminius, and his| Paul V. excommunicates 
 the| the Venetians, whose 
 
 Thomas Hyde. 
 William Cave. 
 Brian W alton. 
 Drusius. 
 Hospinian. 
 Trigland. 
 Ittigius. 
 
 Fr. Spanheim. 
 R. Cudworth. 
 Ed. Stillingfleet. 
 H. Prideaux. 
 
 J. Locke. 
 
 followers, 
 Universalists. 
 Bekker, the Car- 
 tesian 
 Labadie. 
 Bourignon, Poiret, 
 Leehoff, and 
 ClaudePajon, are 
 regarded as here- 
 tics by the re- 
 
 W. Lloyd, bishop} Holland. 
 
 of Worcester. 
 J. Milton. 
 St. Nye. 
 Claude. 
 Daille. 
 J. Morin. 
 Amyrault. 
 Samuel and James 
 Basnage. 
 Jurieu. 
 Benoit. 
 Turretin. 
 Elias Saurin. 
 Morus. 
 Le Cene. 
 Mesterzat. 
 Le Blanc. 
 Arminius. 
 Grotius. 
 Episcopius. 
 Curcelleus. 
 Limborch. 
 Sleidan. 
 Coccelus. 
 Voetius. 
 Gomar. 
 Lud. Capellus, or 
 Louis Capel. 
 S. Bochart. 
 Gerhard. 
 Hoe. 
 Calixtus. 
 G. and Fred. Heil- 
 bronner. 
 
 Haffenreffer, 
 
 divines,|In the 
 
 Thomas Gataker. 
 
 W. Habington. 
 Archbishop Usher. 
 
 W. Harvey, who first 
 
 cause is defended by 
 Fra. Paolo. 
 
 ear 1606, Ro-| discovered the circula- 
 dolph Il. allows the] tion of the blood. 
 Hungarians the  free|Sir Ken. Digby. 
 
 exercise of the Protes-|Sir James Ware. 
 
 tant religion, formerly|John Milton. 
 
 granted by Ferdinand I.| Abraham Cowley. 
 
 but abolished by his suc-| The Chancellor Claien- 
 
 formed churches] cessor. don. 
 
 in France and/In 1608, the Socinians|Sir Matthew Hale. 
 publish their Catechism| Fr. Glisson. 
 
 The Independents,|} at Cracow. Thomas Stanley. 
 
 Antinomians, The Silesians, Mora-|Joseph Glanvil. 
 
 Ranters,andQua-| yvians, and Bohemians,|Samuel Butler. 
 
 kers, and among} are allowed by Rodolph 
 
 the latter, Fox, 
 Barclay, 
 and Penn, 
 
 same light, 
 
 Keith,| their religion in 1609. 
 _ are/The Protestants form a 
 looked upon inthe} confederacy at Heilbron, 
 
 Algernon Sidney. 
 
 John Collins, mathema 
 tician. 
 
 Robert Morison. 
 
 William Dugdale. 
 in 1610; and the Roman} Ralph Cudworth. 
 catholics form a league|J. Rushworth. 
 at Wurtzburg in oppo-|Robert Boyle, 
 sition to it. John Locke. 
 
 The Bohemians choose} W. Molyneux, 
 Frederic V. elector Pa-|Sir Paul Ricaut. 
 latine, for their king, in}H. Hody. 
 order to maintain them|Bishop Beverege. 
 in the free exercise of/Sir Samuel Garth. 
 the Protestant religion ;} Thomas Gale. 
 —but he is conquered, |John Philips. 
 and they are forced to|Bishop Sprat. 
 “embrace popery. Thomas Dempster. 
 
 In 1625, the princes of|/John Fletcher. 
 LowerSaxony enter into| Ph. Massinger. 
 aleague with Christian|Edm. Gunter. 
 
 IV. of Denmark, which|Francis Bacon, 
 concludes by the peace] Verulam. 
 of Lubeck. Thomas Ridley. 
 
 Ferdinand II. publishes, |John Speed. 
 in #629, an edict, order-|John Donne. 
 ing the Protestants to|/Bishop Godwin, 
 surrender and restore all} annalist. 
 the ecclesiastical do-|Edward Coke. 
 mains and possessions|Thomas Randolph. 
 of which they had be-}Thomas Farnaby. 
 conie masters after the 
 
 ll. the free exercise of 
 
 lord 
 
 th 
 
Cent. XVII] 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES 
 
 781 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 
 ces. 
 AD. 
 Charles XII. 
 Kings of Den- 
 mark : 
 
 Christiern] V.1648 
 Frederic III. 1670 
 Christian V. 1699 
 Frederic IV. 
 
 Kings of Poland: 
 
 Sigismond 
 
 Il. 1632 
 Uladislaus 
 
 Sig. 1648 
 
 John Casimir 1669 
 Michael I. 1674 
 JohnSobieski 1696 
 Frederic Au- 
 gustus, elec- 
 tor of Saxo- 
 
 ny. 
 Kings of Portu- 
 
 gal: 
 
 John, duke of 
 Braganza, 
 chosen king 
 in 1640, dies 
 in 1656 
 
 Alphonso VI. 
 dethroned in 1667 
 
 Pedro II. 
 
 Olioman Empe- 
 
 Tors: 
 
 Mohammed 
 IL. 
 
 Ahmed I. 
 
 Mustapha 
 
 Osman 
 
 Mustapha re- 
 stored. 
 
 Morad IV. 
 
 Ibrahim 1649 
 
 Mohammed 
 LV: 1687 
 
 Solyman III. 1691 
 
 Ahnied II. 1695 
 
 Mustapha II. 
 
 ‘zarsof Moscovy: 
 
 Boric 1605 
 
 Theodore Bo- 
 rissowitz 
 
 The false De- 
 metrius 1606 
 
 Basil Zuski 1610 
 
 Demetrius II. 1610 
 
 1604 
 1617 
 1617 
 1622 
 
 1623 
 1640 
 
 1605 
 
 Demetrius 
 
 IIL. 1610 
 Uladislaus of 
 Poland 1613 
 Demetrius 
 
 IV. 1613 
 Michael 
 Theodoro- 
 
 witz 1645 
 Alexis Mi- 
 chaelowitz 1676 
 Theodore 
 
 Alexiowitz 1682 
 Ivan, or John, 
 
 and Peter I. 
 jointly. 
 
 Ivan died in 1696 
 Stadt-holders _ of 
 the United Pro- 
 
 vinces: 
 Maurice 1625 
 Frederic 
 
 Henry 1647 
 
 No. LXYVI. 
 
 Popes, or Bishops 
 of Rome. 
 
 Innocent XI. 1689 
 
 Alexander 
 WEL: 
 
 Innocent XII1.1700 
 
 196 
 
 1691) 
 
 Archbishops 
 Canterbury. 
 
 of 
 
 Dr. W. San- 
 
 de- 
 in 
 
 croft, 
 prived 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Thummius. 
 The Osianders. 
 Museus. 
 
 1690, died 1693) Hutter. 
 
 Dr. J ohn Til- 
 lotson. 
 
 Dr. Thomas 
 Tenison. 
 
 1694 
 
 Hunnius, Guy and 
 Nic. 
 The, Mentzers. 
 Godfrey Olcarius. 
 Fred. Baldwin. 
 Alb. Grawer. 
 Carpzovius. 
 Tarnovius. 
 J. and Paul John 
 Asselman. 
 Eilhart Luber. 
 The Lysers. 
 Michael Walter. 
 Joach. Hildebrand. 
 J. Val. Andreas. 
 Solomon Glassius. 
 Ab. Calovius. 
 Theod. Hachspan., 
 J. Hulseman. 
 
 Jacob Weller. 
 J. Conr. Dan- 
 hauer. 
 
 J. G. Dorscheus. 
 
 John Arndt. 
 
 Martin Geyer. 
 
 Schertzer. 
 
 Balthasar andJohn 
 Meisner. 
 
 Aug. Pfeiffer. 
 
 Muller. °* 
 
 H. and J. Just. 
 Chr. Schomer. 
 
 Sebast. 
 
 Schmidt. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Horsholt. 
 
 Ph. Jac. Spener. 
 
 G. Th. Mayer. 
 
 Fred. Bechman. 
 
 From Gerhard to 
 Fred. Bechman 
 inclusively, all 
 are Lutherans. 
 
 Roman Catholic 
 
 Authors: 
 
 Baronius. 
 Bellarmine. 
 Serrarius. 
 
 Fevardentius. 
 
 Possevin. 
 
 Gretser. 
 Combesis. 
 
 Nat. Alexander. 
 
 J. Sirmond, 
 Petau. 
 
 Cellot. 
 
 Caussin. 
 
 Renaud. 
 
 Fra. Paolo. 
 Pallavicini. 
 Labbé. 
 Maimbourg. 
 Thomassin. 
 
 Sfondrat. 
 
 Aguirre. 
 
 Henry Noris. 
 
 D’Achery. 
 
 Mabillon. 
 
 Hardouin. 
 
 Simon. 
 
 Ruinart. 
 
 Montfaucon. 
 
 Galloni. 
 
 Cornelius a La- 
 pide. 
 
 Bonfrere. 
 
 Menard 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed, 
 
 Remarkable Events. 
 Religious Riles. 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Add to these, En- 
 
 thusiasts, and 
 Fanatics of vari- 
 ous kinds such as 
 Jacob Behmen, 
 Valentine Wei- 
 gel, Nic. Drabi- 
 cius, Seidel. 
 
 Stifelius, and the 
 
 Rosecrucians. 
 
 pacification of Passau.|John Napier, inventor 
 —This edict is disobey-| of logarithms. 
 
 ed. 
 
 G. Keating. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus en-| John Greaves. 
 
 ters Germany. 
 
 The peace of Munster 
 and 
 ed, by which the three 
 religions are tolerated in 
 the empire. 
 
 The synod of Dordrecht 
 
 Edward Simson, 
 John Selden. 
 
 snabrug conclud-| William Burton, 
 
 Richard Zouch. 
 W. Oughtred. 
 B. Walton. 
 
 P. Heylin. 
 
 assembled in the year! James Howel. 
 
 1618. 
 
 Henryl V.of France is as- 
 sassinated by Ravaillac. 
 
 This event exposes the 
 Protestants to new per- 
 secutions. 
 
 The edict of Nantes is 
 perfidiously revoked by 
 Louis XIV. and the Pro- 
 testants are treated with 
 the utmost barbarity. 
 
 A contest between Louis 
 XIV. and pope Innocent 
 XI, concerning the col- 
 lation of benefices, and 
 the privileges and pre- 
 tensions of the crown 
 during their vacancy. 
 
 The French clergy, in a 
 general assembly at St. 
 Germain’s, declare the 
 pope’s pretensions to 
 temporalities null and 
 void ; place the authority 
 of a general council 
 above that of the pope, 
 and maintain that his 
 decisions are not infal- 
 lible, unless they be at- 
 tended with the consent 
 
 of the church. 
 
 The Irish massacre in 
 1641, in Which above 
 40,000 (some say 
 150,000) = Protestants 
 are murdered. 
 
 Charles I. king ‘of Eng- 
 
 land, beheaded in the 
 year 1649. 
 
 A sort of common-wealth 
 introduced byCromwell, 
 under which episcopacy 
 suffers, and the Presby- 
 terians, or rather the In- 
 dependents, flourish. 
 
 Charles II. restored, and 
 with him episcopacy re- 
 established. 
 
 The glorious Revolution 
 renders memorable the 
 
 Ene 88. 
 
 he Protestants are op-|} 
 pressed and persecuted 
 in many places. 
 
 Several false Messiahs 
 discovered, particularly 
 Sabbati Levi, who, to 
 avoid death, embraces 
 the Moslem faith. 
 
 The universities of Lun- 
 den in Sweden, Giessen, 
 Pampeluna, Saltzburg, 
 Derpt in Livonia, Ut- 
 recht, Abo, Duisburg, 
 Kiel in Holstein, In- 
 spruck, Halle. The 
 academies of Inscrip- 
 
 Sir John Denham. 
 Sir John Marsham. 
 Bishop Wilkins. 
 James Gregory. 
 Thomas Willis. 
 Bulst. Whitelocke. 
 John Price. 
 Isaac Barrow. 
 Thomas Hobbes. 
 Thomas Brown. 
 Thomas Marshal, 
 Edmund Castel. 
 Thomas Otway. 
 Ed. Waller. 
 Dr. Sydenham. 
 Anthony Wood. 
 Ed. Bernard, professor 
 of astronomy. 
 Bishop Sullingfleet. 
 William Somner. 
 John Dryden. 
 John Wallis. 
 
 John Ray. 
 
 D. Gregory. 
 
 M. Lister. 
 
 Henry Dodwell. 
 
 N. Grew. 
 
 Sir H. Spelman. 
 French Authors: 
 
 J. Aug. de Thou. 
 
 Pineau. 
 
 Gilot. 
 
 Mornac. 
 
 P. Matthieu, 
 
 Du Vair. 
 
 Fr. Pithou. 
 
 J. Barclai. 
 
 Savaron. 
 
 Pr. Jeannin. 
 
 "Godefroi. 
 
 Bergier. 
 
 Le Mercier. 
 
 Boulanger. 
 
 Goulart. 
 
 Malherbe. 
 
 Marillac. 
 
 N. and C. Le Bois. 
 
 J. B. Le Menestrier. 
 
 J. Bap. Duval. 
 
 P. Haye du Chastelet. 
 
 R. Des Cartes. 
 
 N. Fab. de Peiresce. 
 
 Henr. duc de Rohan. 
 De Meziriac. 
 
 J. Bourdelot. 
 
 J. Guthieres. 
 
 And. du Chesne. 
 Louis Savot. 
 
 Val. Conrart. 
 Cardinal Richelieu. 
 Rochemallet. 
 Philip Monet. 
 Nicholas Bourbon. 
 Augustus Galland, 
 J. F. Niceron. 
 Edm. Merille, 
 Samuel Petit. 
 
 tions and of Sciences} M. Mersenne, 
 
 founded at Paris. 
 
 Voiture. 
 
782 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 
 ces. 
 
 yak 
 William II. 1650 
 The dignity 
 of Stadt-hol- 
 der remains 
 vacant dur- 
 ing the space 
 of 22 years. 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 Archbishops of 
 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Ecclesiastical and| 
 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Segenot. 
 Bernard. 
 Lamy. 
 Bollandus. 
 Henschen. 
 Papebroch. 
 Perron. 
 Estius. 
 Launoy. 
 Tillemont. 
 Godeau. 
 Albaspinzeus. 
 Richelieu. 
 Holstenius. 
 Baluzius. 
 Jona, 
 Huet. 
 Bossuet. 
 Fenelon. 
 Thiers. 
 Du-Pin. 
 Leo Allatius. 
 Zaccagni. 
 
 'Cotelier. 
 
 Filesac. 
 
 Visconti. 
 
 Molina. 
 
 Arriaga. 
 
 Rigault. 
 
 Richer. 
 
 Pererius. 
 
 Mariana. 
 
 Fr. Pithou. 
 
 Fr. de Sales. 
 
 M. de Calafio. 
 
 Lessius. 
 
 Pineda. 
 
 C. Jansenius. 
 
 Bentivoglio. 
 
 Sponde. 
 
 Bzovius. 
 
 H. de Valois. 
 
 P. de Marca. 
 
 Arnaud d’Andilly. 
 
 Du Cange. 
 
 Pascal. 
 
 Du Boulay. 
 
 A. Arnaud. 
 
 Vavasseur. 
 
 Neercassel. 
 
 J. Le Maitre de 
 Sacy. 
 
 Pagi. 
 
 Pezron. 
 
 Gerberon. 
 
 Quesnel. 
 
 Theseare the most 
 distinguished 
 writers of the 
 Romish church 
 during this cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Herelics, real or 
 
 reputed, 
 
 [Cent. XVII 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 De Vaugelas. 
 Ch. Justel. 
 Did. Herault. 
 J. Baudouin. 
 P. du Puy. 
 
 G. and L. de St. Marthe. 
 
 Denis Petau. 
 G. Fournier. 
 Cl. Saumaise. 
 G. Naude. 
 
 N. Rigault. 
 
 J. L. de Balzac. 
 
 G. B. de Gramont. 
 
 Sarasin. 
 
 D. Blondel. 
 
 P. Gassendi. 
 
 J. Bignon. 
 
 C. H. Fabrot. 
 
 L. Ch. Le Fevre. 
 
 N. Perrot d’Ablancourt. 
 
 N. Sanson, 
 
 Briet. 
 
 Tan. Le Fevre. 
 La Mothe Vayer. 
 Moliere. 
 
 G. M. le Jay. 
 Roberval. 
 Rohault. 
 
 H.and Adr. de Valois. 
 I. H. d’Aubignac. 
 
 J. Esprit. 
 L. Moreri. 
 
 Duc de Rochefoucault. 
 
 R. le Bossu. 
 
 F. E. de Mezeray. 
 
 P. Corneille. 
 Ed. Mariotte. 
 J. Spon. 
 G. d’Estrades. 
 Charles and 
 Perrault. 
 P. Bayle. 
 Vauban. 
 Tournefort. 
 Th. Corneille. 
 Boileau. 
 Ren. Rapin. 
 Jean Doujat, 
 Fr. Bernier. 
 Ch. Du Fresne. 
 Du Cange. 
 Is. de Benserade. 
 Thevenot. 
 G. Menage. 
 De St. Real. 
 Pelisson. 
 Bussy Rabutin. 
 Ch. Patin. 
 B. d’Herbelot. 
 
 ‘1Cl. Lancelot. 
 
 St. Evremond. 
 
 Amelot de la Houssaye. 
 
 Louis Cousin. 
 EF. 8. Regn. 
 Des Marais. 
 A. Felibien. 
 
 Jean de la Bruyere. 
 
 Sim. Foucher. 
 J. Domat. 
 
 J. B. Santeuil. 
 C.P. Richelet. 
 P. J. d’Orleans 
 J. Racine. 
 
 J. Barbeyrac. 
 J. B. Morin. 
 Baudrand. 
 Segrais. 
 Chevreau. 
 Charpentier. 
 Bouhours. 
 
 Marquis de l’Hopital. 
 
 Vaillant. r 
 P. Silv. Regis. 
 Theod. Agrip. d’Auw 
 bigne. 
 
 Ttalian Authors: 
 Prosper Alpini. 
 B. Baldi. 
 
 J. A. Magini. 
 
 A. Morosini. 
 
 Luc. Valeri. 
 
 Paul Beni. 
 
 Davila. 
 
 L. Pignoria. 
 
 Salvador. 
 
 Sanctorius. 
 
 Thomas Campanella. 
 
 Alexander Donato. 
 
 Mascardi Galilei. 
 
 Bentivoglio. 
 
 Strozzi. 
 
 Leo de Modena. 
 
 Bonav. 
 
 Cavalieri. 
 
 Ev. Torricelli. 
 
 J. V. Rossi. 
 
 Fam. Strada. 
 
 T. Galluzzi. 
 
 Martini. 
 
 Imperiali. 
 
 Tomassini. 
 
 Virgilio Malvezzi. 
 
 Molinetti. 
 
 Sert. Orsato. 
 
 J. B. Nani. 
 
 J. A. Borelli. 
 
 Ricci. 
 
 Oct. Ferrari. 
 
 Bartalocci. 
 
 M. Malpichi. 
 
 Bellori. 3 
 
 Viviani. 
 
 Bellini. 
 
 Bocconi. 
 
 Averani. 
 
 Cassini. 
 
 Magalotti. 
 
 Spanish and Portuguese 
 
 Authors: 
 
 Cervantes. 
 
 Antonio de Ledesma. 
 
 J. Mariana, the historian. 
 
 Antonio Herrera, the 
 historian. 
 
 Aldrete, the antiquarian. 
 
 Balbuena. 
 
 J. L. dela Cerda. 
 
 Lopez de Vega, the 
 Spanish Homer. 
 
 Nie. de Antonio. 
 
 Balth. Gracian. 
 
 Diego de Coutu. 
 
 Jos. Texeira. 
 
 Rod. Lobo. 
 
 Eman. Faria é Sousa. 
 
 Ant. Perez. 
 
 Man. Alvarez. 
 
 Pegase. 
 
 German, Dutch, Swiss, 
 Swedish, Gc. Authors: 
 
 Pauw, Anatomy. 
 
 Aiguillon. 
 
 Emmius. 
 
 Gruterus. 
 
 Bertius. 
 
 Andr. Schott. 
 
 Martinius. 
 
 Snellius of Leyden, 
 
 James and Adrian Me- 
 tius. 
 
 Cuneus. 
 
 J. Meursius. 
 
Went. XVII] 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Sovereign Prin- Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of 
 Canterbury. 
 
 ces. 
 
 ces. 
 
 Emperors of Ger- 
 
 of Rome. 
 
 Ecclesiasticaland 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 Heretics, real or 
 reputed. 
 
 Profane authors. 
 
 Louis de Dieu. 
 
 J. B. van Helmont. 
 Hugo Grotius. 
 Louis de Dieu. 
 Erycius Puteanus. 
 Gasp. Barleus. 
 Van Hooft. 
 
 Const. Imperator. 
 
 Manasseh Ben-Israel. 
 
 B. Varenius. 
 Sanderus. 
 Vander-Linden. 
 J. Golius. 
 Aitzema. 
 Heeschelius. 
 Ch. Helvicus. 
 Melchior Adam. 
 Cluverius. 
 Hospinian, 
 Rosinus. 
 
 Buxtorf, father and son. 
 
 Kepler. 
 
 Goldast. 
 Horstius. 
 Sennert. 
 Erasmus Schmidt. 
 Alstedius. 
 
 J. F. Gronovius. 
 Meric Casaubon. 
 Fr. Junius. 
 Conringius. 
 
 R. Heinsius. 
 Noldius. 
 
 H. Meibomius, 
 Olaus W ormius. 
 Jos. Arndius. 
 
 J. G. Suicer. 
 Wetstein. 
 Gurtler. 
 Thomasius. 
 
 J. P. Pareus. 
 
 CENTURY XVIII. 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops; Archbishops of 
 of Rome. Canterbury. 
 Clement XI. 1721|Dr. Thomas 
 many: A. D.| Innocent Tenison 1715 
 Leopold 1705| XIII. 1724, Dr. William 
 Joseph 1711 Benedict Wake 1737 
 Charles VI. 1740) XIII. 1730 | Dr. John Pot- 
 Charles VII. Clement XII. 1740) ter 1747 
 (elector of Benedict Dr. Thomas 
 Bavaria) 1745) XIV. 1758| Herring 1757 
 Francis of Dr. Matthew 
 Lorrain 1765 Hutton 1758 
 Joseph II. 1790 
 Leopold II. 1792 
 
 Francis Il. 
 Kings of Spain: 
 Philip V. re- 
 signs the 
 crown ir 1724 
 Louis dies in 1724 
 Philip  reas- 
 cends the 
 throne; and 
 dies in 
 Ferdinand 
 VI. 1759 
 Charles ITT. 1768 
 Charles IV. 
 Kings of France. 
 
 Louis XIV. 1715 
 
 » 1746 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 N. B. In this list, 
 only deceased au- 
 thors are men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Protestant 
 
 ters: 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton. 
 
 Dr Bentley. 
 
 Archbishops 
 Wake, Potter, 
 and Secker. 
 
 Bishops Hare, 
 Cumberland, At- 
 terbury, Berke- 
 ley, Butler, Ben- 
 son, Smallridge, 
 Sherlock, Cony- 
 
 Wri- 
 
 beare, Warbur- 
 ton, Lowth, Hurd, 
 Horsley, and 
 Porteus. 
 
 Wesley. 
 
 Dr. Mill. « 
 
 Dr. Edwards, 
 Dr. Whitby. 
 Dr. Clarke. 
 W. Whiston. 
 Wollaston, 
 
 Heretics, and Free 
 Thinkers. 
 
 John Toland. 
 
 Matthew Tindall. 
 
 Ant. Collins. 
 Thomas Wool- 
 ston. 
 
 Charles Blount. 
 
 Thomas Chubb. 
 
 Thomas Morgan. 
 
 Bernard de Man- 
 deville. 
 
 Lord Bolingbroke, 
 and others less 
 worthy of notice. 
 
 Remarkable Events 
 
 in the Church. 
 
 The French missionaries 
 make many converts to 
 popery in the eastern 
 parts of the world; in 
 the Carnatic, on the 
 coast of Malabar, 
 China, &e. 
 
 A great controversy is 
 occasioned by the indul- 
 gence of the Jesuits to- 
 wards the Chinese, in 
 allowing them to retain 
 the religious ceremonies 
 of paganism. 
 
 in 
 
 Protestant missionaries 
 are sent to India by the 
 English, Dutch, and 
 Danes. Ren: 
 
 The bull Unigenitus, 
 
 issued by Clement XI. 
 in 1713, condemnsQues- 
 nel’s edition of the New 
 Testament, and, pro- 
 duces violent debates) 
 and divisions ‘in the Gal- 
 lican church, more es- 
 pecially between the Je- 
 suits and the Jansenists. | 
 
 Hoffman. 
 
 Scioppius. 
 
 G. J. Vossius. 
 
 Barthius. 
 
 F’reinsheim. 
 
 Schrevelius. 
 
 J. Gerard. 
 
 Hornius. 
 
 Etmuller. 
 
 Olaus Rudbeck. [son. 
 
 Bartholinus, father and 
 
 Isaac Pontanus. 
 
 Chr. Longomontanus. 
 
 J. Rhodius. 
 
 Bangius. 
 
 Ad. Olearius, 
 
 Graaf. 
 
 Swammerdam. 
 
 Ath. Kircher. 
 
 Anna Maria Schurman, 
 
 Ab. de Wicquefort. 
 
 J. Kunckel. 
 
 Ludolf. 
 
 J. G. Grevius. 
 
 Burchard de Volder. 
 
 Varenius. 
 
 Dodoneus. 
 
 Otto Guerick, inventor 
 of the air-pump. 
 
 Morhoff.* 
 
 Isaac Vossius. 
 
 Olaus Borrichius. 
 
 G. Sagittarius. 
 
 J. Tollius. 
 
 Huygens. 
 
 Pufendorff. 
 
 Leusden. 
 
 Wagenseil. 
 
 Brockhuisen. 
 
 Cellarius. 
 
 Ezekiel Spanheim. 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 va 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton. 
 
 J. Flamsteed. 
 
 J. Keill. 
 
 Maclaurin. 
 
 Bradley. 
 
 Dr. Clarke. 
 
 Dr. Bentley. 
 Bishop Hare. 
 
 | Addison. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Gay. 
 
 Prior. 
 
 | Dr. Swift. 
 
 Sir R. Steele. 
 
 Dr. Arbuthnot. 
 Dr. Friend. 
 
 Dr. Mead. 
 
 Dr. Woodward. 
 Sir Hans Sloane. 
 Sir Christopher Wren. 
 Dr. Halley. 
 
 Dr. Hutcheson, the me- 
 taphysician. 
 
 Dr. Middleton. 
 
 Dr. Berkeley, bishop o. 
 Cloyne. 
 
 The lords Shaftsbury 
 and Bolingbroke. — 
 
 - 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 i ne 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 
 ces. | 
 
 AND: 
 
 Louis XV. 1774 
 Louis XVI. 
 deposed in 
 1792 and be- 
 headedin 1793 
 After several 
 changes of 
 government, 
 Bonaparte 
 became so- 
 vereign of 
 France in 
 1799 under 
 
 the denomi- 
 nationof first 
 consul, for 
 which he af- 
 terwards 
 substituted 
 
 the more dig- 
 nified title of 
 emperor. 
 
 Sovereigns of 
 Great Britain: 
 William ILI. 1702 
 
 Anne 1714 
 George I. 727 
 George II. 1760 
 
 George III. 
 Sovereigns of 
 Sweden: 
 Charles XII. 1718 
 
 Ulrica Ele- 
 onora 1751 
 Frederic 
 Hesse Cas- 
 sel 
 Adolphus 
 Holstein 
 Gustavus III. 
 —assassina- 
 ted in 
 Gustavus IV. 
 deposed by 
 his uncle in 1809 
 Kings of Den- 
 mark : 
 Frederic 1V. 1730 
 Christiern VI.1746 
 Frederic V. 1766 
 Christiern 
 VII. 
 Kings of Poland: 
 Frederic Au- 
 gustus 1733 
 Stanislaus is 
 twice elect- 
 ed, but abdi- 
 cates the 
 crown. 
 Frederic Au- 
 gustus II. 
 Stanislaus, 
 count Poni- 
 atowski,suc- 
 ceeds ; but he 
 is deposed by 
 foreign pow- 
 ers in 1794, 
 and theking- 
 dom is dis- 
 membered. 
 Sovereigns of 
 Portugal: 
 
 1751 
 of 
 1771 
 
 792 
 
 1764 
 
 Pedro II. 1706 
 John V. 1750 
 Joseph 1777 
 Maria, 
 
 Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of Theological Wri- 
 
 of Rome. Canterbury. ore 
 Clement Dr. Thomas The lord chancel- 
 XIII. 1769} Secker 1768) lor King. 
 Clement Dr. Frederic Dr. J. Leland. 
 BCI 1774| Cornwallis 1783) Dr. Derham. 
 |Pius VI. 1799| Dr. John Jeremiah Seed. 
 Pius VII. Moore. James Hervey. 
 
 Balguy. 
 
 Chapman. 
 
 Dr. Jortin. 
 
 Dr. Paley. 
 
 Dr. Blair. 
 
 Dr. Hickes. 
 
 Abernethy. 
 
 Dr. George Ben- 
 son. 
 
 Dr. Chandler. 
 
 Dr. James Foster. 
 
 Dr. Watts. 
 
 Dr. Doddridge. 
 
 Dr. Taylor, 
 Norwich. 
 
 Pierce. 
 
 Hallet. 
 
 Grove. 
 
 Lardner. 
 
 Dr. Priestley. 
 
 French, Swiss, 
 German, and 
 Dutch Writers. 
 
 Abbadie. 
 
 Pictet. 
 
 James Saurin. 
 
 Oudin. 
 
 Ostervald. 
 
 Jurieu. 
 
 Turretin. 
 
 W erenfels. 
 
 Vitringa. 
 
 Leydeiker, 
 
 Marck. 
 
 Braun. 
 
 Jablonski. 
 
 Mosheim. 
 
 Witsius and Trig- 
 land of Ley- 
 den. 
 
 Spener. 
 
 Pecht. 
 
 Mayer. 
 
 ‘Masius. 
 
 W andalinus. 
 
 W incler. 
 
 Fabricius. 
 
 Schmidt. 
 
 Rechenberg. 
 
 Ittigius. 
 
 Seeligman. 
 
 Loscher 
 
 Foertsch. 
 
 Buddeus. 
 
 Luthenius. 
 
 Antonius. 
 
 Franckius. 
 
 Langius. 
 
 Maius. 
 
 Pritius. 
 
 N. B. Thetwenty 
 writers last men- 
 tioned are Lu- 
 therans. 
 
 Romish Authors: 
 
 Gonsalez. 
 
 Beaugendre. 
 
 Papin. 
 
 Van Espen, 
 
 F. Lami. 
 
 Pouget. 
 
 Des-Marets. 
 
 D. de St. Marthe. 
 
 Hyae. Serri, 
 
 G. Helyot, 
 
 of 
 
 Ecclesiastical and| 
 
 Heretics, and 
 Free Thinkers: 
 
 Among the sects 
 of this century 
 we may reckon 
 the Herrenhut- 
 ters, or Moravian 
 brethren, and the 
 followers of Swe- 
 denborg. 
 
 Remarkable Events 
 in the Church. 
 
 The latter endeavour to 
 support their declining 
 credit by fictitious mira- 
 cles, said to be wrought 
 at the tomb of the abbé 
 Paris. ‘ 
 The study of philosophy 
 is placed on a new foot- 
 ing in Germany, by 
 Leibnitz and Wolff; 
 and their method of de- 
 monstration is transfer- 
 
 red by some divines to 
 theology. 
 Christopher Matthew 
 
 Pfaff, a very learned and 
 respectable divine, forms 
 a plan of reconciliation 
 and union between the 
 Lutheran and Reformed 
 churches; the execution 
 which, however, is pre- 
 vented by bigotry and 
 party spirit. 
 
 Sacheverel, an incendia- 
 ry, who inveighs against 
 civil and religious liber- 
 ty is impeached and cen- 
 sured. 
 
 Lady Moyer founds a lec- 
 ture for the defence of 
 the Trinity. 
 
 Dr. Bampton also esta- 
 blishes a lecture at Ox- 
 ford, for the general de- 
 fence of Christianity. 
 
 The Protestant religion, 
 and the blessings of civil 
 liberty, are established in 
 Great Britain by the ac- 
 cession of the house of 
 Brunswick-Lunenburg 
 to the throne. 
 
 An attempt is made to as- 
 sassinate Louis XV. by 
 Damien, who is sup- 
 posed (but not on suffi- 
 cient grounds) to have 
 been instigated by the 
 Jesuits to that nefarious 
 act. 
 
 Louis suppresses the or- 
 der of Jesuits in France, 
 shuts their schools, and 
 confiscates their reve- 
 nues, in the year 1764. 
 
 The kings of Portugal 
 and Spain banish all Je- 
 suits from their domi- 
 nions. 
 
 Pope Clement XIV. dis- 
 solves the order in 1773. 
 
 A revolution breaks out 
 in France in 1789; and, 
 in its progress, the Gal- 
 lican church is nearly 
 annihilated; but Bona- 
 parte restores catholi- 
 
 cism. 
 
 Pope Pius VI. is deposed 
 by the French, and dics 
 in exile, in 1799, 
 
 (Cent. XVIIL 
 
 Profane Authors. 
 
 Congreve. 
 
 Wycherly. 
 
 Sir John Vanbrugh. 
 
 Lord Somers. 
 
 Mrs. Cockburn. 
 
 Nicholas and Thomag 
 Rowe. 
 
 Mrs. Rowe. 
 
 Thompson. 
 
 Dr. Young. 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 Armstrong. 
 
 Collins. 
 
 Gray. 
 
 Lord Lyttleton. 
 
 Glover. 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 Churchill. 
 
 Cowper. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 Foote. 
 
 Colman. 
 
 Theearl of Chesterfield. 
 
 Horace, earl of Orford. 
 
 Sir William Blackstone. 
 
 Hume. 
 
 Robertson. 
 
 Stuart. 
 
 Gibbon. 
 
 Burnet, or lord Mon- 
 boddo. 
 
 Home, or lord Kames. 
 
 Sir William Jones. 
 
 Harris. 
 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Adam Smith 
 
 Burke. 
 
 Richardson. 
 
 Wielding 
 
 Smollett. 
 
 Dr. Moore. 
 
 Dr. William Hunter. 
 
 John Hunter. 
 
 Pctt. 
 
 Dr. Heberden. 
 
 Sir John Pringle. 
 
 Dr. Cullen. 
 
 Dr. Brown. 
 
 Dr. Darwin. 
 
 Dr. Black. 
 
 Stephen Hales. 
 
 Henry Cavendish, 
 
 Dr. Priestley. 
 
 French Authore - 
 
 Malebranche. 
 
 B. Lany. 
 
 Lemery. 
 
 Fenelon. 
 
 Sauveur. 
 
 P. de la Hire. 
 
 Flechier. 
 
 Le Vassor. 
 
 J. F. Simon. 
 
 Isaac de Larrey. 
 
 J. F,. Felibicn. 
 
 Andrew and Anne Da- 
 cier. 
 
 Claudius and William 
 de l’Isle. 
 
 Renaudot. 
 
 ‘Tarteron. 
 
 Huet. 
 
 J. le Long. 
 
 Boulainvilliers. 
 
 Louis and John Boivin. 
 
 Rapin de Thoyras. 
 
 James Basnage. 
 
 J. and P. L. Savary. 
 
 Louis de Sacy. 
 
 Du Resnel. 
 
 N. L. de la Caille. 
 
Cenr. XVIII.) 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops 
 
 ces. 
 
 ee) ee 
 
 Turkish Empe-| - 
 Tors: A.D, 
 Mustapha IT. 1703. 
 Ahmed IIL. | 
 —deposed inl730 
 Mahmoud 1754 
 Osman III. 1757 
 MustaphallI.1774 
 Abdul-hamed1789 
 Selim III. 
 Russian Sove- 
 reigns : 
 Peter the 
 Great 1725 
 Catharine I. 1727 
 Peter IL. 1730 
 Anne 1740 
 Ivan, or John 
 —deposed in 
 1741, andas- 
 sassinated 
 in 1762 
 Elizabeth 1762 
 PeterllL.mur- 
 dered in 1762 
 Catharine II. 1796; 
 Stadt-holders of | 
 the United eet 
 viNnces: ' 
 William IIT. 1702 
 This dignity 
 remained va- 
 cant for 45 
 
 ears. 
 
 William IV. 1751 
 William Y. 
 deposed by 
 
 the French 
 
 in 1795. | 
 Kingsof Prussia: 
 Fredericl. 1713 
 Frederic 
 
 William I. 1740 
 Frederic II. 1786 
 Frederic 
 
 William II. 1797 
 Frederic 
 William ITI. 
 Kings of Sardi- 
 nia: 
 
 Victor Ama- 
 deus I, 1730 
 Sharles 
 
 Emanuel 1773 
 Victor IL. 1796 
 
 | 
 
 2 
 
 No. if XVI. 
 
 Archbishops of 
 
 Ecclesiastical and 
 Theological Wri- 
 ters. 
 
 F. Timoleon de 
 Choist. 
 Huet. 
 J. Martiany. 
 Hure. 
 Habert 
 Fleuri. 
 Massillon. 
 Eusebius Renau- 
 dot. 
 Houdry. 
 P. Constant. 
 Baltus. 
 P. de la Broue. 
 G. Daniel. 
 Hardouin. 
 J.J. Boileau. 
 Marsollier. 
 Garnier. 
 Le Beuf. 
 Anselme. 
 Joubert. 
 Tournemine 
 Duguet. 
 Longuerue. 
 Le Quien. 
 Longueval. 
 Vertot. 
 Gibert. 
 Martenne. 
 Boursier, 
 Blondel. 
 Montfaucon. 
 C. de la Rue. 
 Sabatier. 
 Benoit. 
 Colbert. 
 Languet. 
 Dantine. 
 Houteville. 
 Lenglet du-Ires- 
 nol. 
 Martin. 
 Berruyer. 
 De Caylus. 
 Bon. Racine. 
 Calmet. 
 Celier. 
 Maran. 
 Des-Champs. 
 Morvan de Belle- 
 garde. 
 The popes Cle- 
 ment XI. 
 Benedic XIII. and 
 XIV. 
 Orsini. 
 Muratori. 
 Bianchini, 
 Orsi. 
 Tomasi. 
 Banduri. 
 
 Herelics,and Free 
 
 Profane 
 
 Authors. 
 
 B. de la Monnoye. 
 The abbé Fraguier. 
 Gabriel Daniel. 
 
 G. J. du Verney. 
 Valincourt. 
 Geoflroy. 
 
 * |De la Mothe. 
 
 Joachim le Grand. 
 
 Sanadon. 
 
 Dumon. 
 
 Vertot. 
 
 Catrou. 
 
 Rouillé. 
 
 Beausobre. 
 
 The abbé de la Bleterie. 
 
 Niceron. 
 
 De la Barre. 
 
 Melon. 
 
 De la Croze. 
 
 Vanier. 
 
 Montfaucon. 
 
 Rollin. 
 
 Longuerue. 
 
 Banier. 
 
 Cardinal Polignac. 
 
 J. J. Rousseau, 
 
 Du-Bois. 
 
 Brumoy. 
 
 Velley. 
 
 Villaret. 
 
 Bourget. 
 
 Bignon. 
 
 Goguet. 
 
 Abbé de St. Pierre. 
 
 Fontenelle. 
 
 Du-Halde. 
 
 De Moivre. 
 
 Bougeant. 
 
 Folard. 
 
 Marquis de Puy-Segur. 
 
 M. D’Argens. 
 
 Abbé Des-Fountaines. 
 
 Freret. 
 
 Le Sage. 
 
 The Fourmonts. 
 
 Montesquieu. 
 
 Mongault. 
 
 Gabrielle du Chastelet. 
 
 Des-touches. 
 
 ‘Terrason. 
 
 Caylus. 
 
 Casp. de Real. 
 
 Crevier. 
 
 Marmontel. 
 
 Reaumur. 
 
 Du-Hamel. 
 
 Le Gendre. 
 
 Morabin. 
 
 Helvetius. 
 
 Maupertius. 
 
 Condillac. 
 
 D’ Alembert. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 The Crebillons, 
 
 Diderot. 
 
 Condorcet. 
 
 Clairault. 
 
 Buffon. 
 
 Lavosier. 
 
 Bailly. 
 
 Mirabeau. 
 Italian Authors 
 
 Poli. 
 
 Magliabechi. 
 
 Musitant. 
 
 Battaglini. 
 
 Gravina. 
 
 Lancisi. 
 
 Buonanni. 
 
 Zanicheli. 
 
 Fontanini. 
 
 Micheli. 
 Manfredi. 
 Giannone. 
 Muratori. 
 Zeno. 
 Maffei. 
 Cardinals Quirini and 
 Passionei. 
 Buonamici. 
 Cassini. 
 Beccaria. 
 Spalanzani. 
 Metastasio. 
 
 Swiss Writers. 
 D. and J. le Clere. 
 Konig. 
 Burlamaqui. 
 Schenchzer. 
 Crousaz. 
 
 The Bernouillis. 
 Euler. 
 De Saussure. 
 De Luc, 
 Haller, 
 Mallet. 
 Sol. Gesner. 
 German Authors: 
 Leibnitz. 
 Wolff. 
 Krosig. 
 Kuster, 
 Moher. 
 3. A. Schmidt. 
 Eccard. 
 Mencke. 
 Hubner. 
 J. A. Fabricius. 
 Neumann. 
 Heineccius. 
 C. Wormius. 
 Keysler. 
 Doppelmaier. 
 Reiske. * 
 Werner. 
 Pallas. 
 Zimmermann. 
 Herder. 
 Gellert. 
 Mendelsohn. 
 Klopstock. 
 Muller. 
 
 Dutch Writers t 
 Adrian Reland. 
 J. F. Gronovius, 
 Cuper. 
 Perizonius. 
 Nieuwentyt. 
 Noodt. 
 Hartsoeker. 
 Bynkershoek. 
 Boerhaave. 
 
 W. J. Gravesande. 
 Schultens. 
 
 Van Loon. 
 Muschenbroek. 
 Wesseling. 
 
 ‘Havercamp. 
 
 Hemsterhuis. 
 Nieuland. 
 
 Russian Writers: 
 Prince Cherbatoff. 
 Lomonosoft. 
 Sumorokoff. 
 
 Danish and Swedish Au- 
 thors: 
 
 Baron Holberg. 
 
 Fabricius. 
 
 C. von Linné, or Lin 
 
 nzeus. rm 
 Sir Torbern Bergman, 
 Scheele, ea 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 CENTURY XIX. 
 
 786 [Cenr. XLX. 
 
 : . . Ecclesiasticaland : 
 Sovereign Prin-| Popes, or Bishops| Archbishops of at ay : Remarkable Events F 
 ces. of Rome. Canterbury. gre da Wry Sechagyes. in the Church. Profane Authors. 
 Emperor of Ger-|Pius VIi. 1825) Dr. John Dr. Richard Wat-|Joanna Southcott., Napoleon concludes aj Richard Porso. Greek 
 many or of Aus-|Leo XL. Moore 1805} son, bishop of|The baroness von} treaty with the pope, in] professor at Cam- 
 tria: A. D. Dr. Charles Llandaff. Krudener. 1801, for the adjustment) bridge. 
 Francis Il. Manners Dr. George Horne, of the religious concerns| Lord Byron. 
 
 Kings of Spain: 
 
 Sutton. 
 
 bishop of Nor- 
 
 of France. 
 
 Elizabeth Carter. 
 
 Charles IY. wich. The French seize the| Anna Seward. 
 
 is deposedby Dr. Joseph White. pope’s territories, con-|Dr. Erasmus Darwin. 
 Napoleon © 1808 Dr. Joshua Toul- fine his holiness, and Dr. James Beattie. 
 Ferdinand Vil. min,’ leave himonly a shadow Richard Cumberland. 
 
 succeeds; but he 
 is inveigled into 
 France. 
 
 Joseph Bonaparte 
 usurps the throne, 
 and reigns over 
 a part of the 
 
 of power. 
 
 In 1809, by the new con- 
 stitution of Sweden, a 
 full religious toleration 
 is allowed. 
 
 Recovering his authority 
 in 1814, the pope annuls 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheri+ 
 dan. 
 John Horne Tooke. 
 John Wolcot. 
 French Writers 
 Madame de Stael. 
 Madame Cottin. 
 
 kingdom, while theF’rench regulations at German Authorse 
 the other parts Rome, re-establishes the| Klopstock. 
 
 are ruled by a monastic orders, and re-| Schiller. 
 
 council of state vives the Society of; Wieland. 
 
 and the Cortes. Jesuits. Kotzebue. 
 
 Jn1814, Ferdinand 
 was liberated by 
 the tyrant, and 
 restored; and he 
 still [in 1826] 
 rules over a reluc- 
 tant nation. 
 
 Sovereigns of 
 Portugal : 
 Maria 1816 
 John VI. 1826 
 Sovereigns of 
 France: 
 
 Bonaparte or the 
 emperor Napo- 
 leon, reigned un- 
 til the year 1814: 
 he was then de- 
 posed andbanish- 
 ed. In 1815, he 
 regained his 
 power, but lost it 
 before the end of 
 
 Sovereign Prin- 
 ces. 
 Concluded. 
 
 Ayes 
 Kings of Sweden: 
 Gustavus LV. 
 
 the year. deposed in 1809 
 Louis X VITI.1824| Charles XIIJ.1818 
 Charles X. Charles XLV. 
 King of Holland.| Kings of Den- 
 Louis Bona- mark : 
 
 parte, from Christiern 
 
 1806 to 1810. VIL. 1808 
 King of the Ne-|\Frederic VI. 
 
 therlands : Emperors of Rus- 
 William VI. sia 
 prince of Paul, murder- 
 
 Orange. ed in 1801 
 King of Prussia :| Alexander 1825 
 Frederic V. Nicolas. 
 
 or Frederic Emperors of Tur- 
 
 William IT. key: 
 
 Kings of Bovaria: 
 Maximilian 1824 
 Charles 
 
 Louis. 
 King of Saxony: 
 ae Augus- 
 
 Selim III. de- 
 thronedin 1807 
 MustaphalV. 
 deposed in 1808 
 Mahmoud II. 
 Kings of Naples 
 
 tus. and Sicily: 
 Kings of Wur-|Ferdinand 
 temberg : IV. 1824 
 Frederic Francis. 
 William = 1817|Kings of Sardi- 
 His son. nia: 
 King of Hanover .| Charles 
 George Au- Emanuel II. 
 gustus, also resigned 1802 
 ing of Victor III. re- 
 Great Bri- signed 1821 
 tain, Charles Felix. 
 
 By the union of the Aus- 
 trian Netherlands with 
 Holland, in 1814, the 
 catholics lose their sway 
 in the former country. 
 
 In several of the German 
 states, the Lutherans 
 
 and Calvinists, in 1817! 
 
 and 1818, enter into a 
 union. 
 
 In 1817. Louis XVIII. 
 concludes a concordat 
 with the pope. 
 
 The year 1825 is marked, 
 at Rome, by the solem- 
 nity of a Jubilee. 
 
INDEX. 
 
a 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABBOT, archbishop of Canterbury, character and conduct of, 609. 
 
 Abelard, Peter, author of the Scholastic System, 282; he is condemned 
 as a heretic, 254; attacks heresies in general, 285. 
 
 Abgarus, story of, 10. 
 
 Absalom, archbishop of Lunden, in Sweden, 260. 
 
 Abul-Faraj, an eminent Syrian writer, 298. 
 
 Abyssinia, Romish missions to, 547, 548,777: Lutheran missions, 577. 
 
 Abyssinians embrace the Monophysite doctrine, 202; state of their 
 church at different times, 445; 717, 744. 
 
 Acacaus, bishop of Constantinople, is deposed, 128. 
 
 Academics, their impious notions, 4. 
 
 Academical institutions in Europe, 298, 454, 463, 474. 
 
 Acephali, a sect, 128. 
 
 Adalbert, bishop of Prague, a martyr, 206. 
 
 Adamites, tenets of, 55. 
 
 Bohemian, an account of, 377. 
 
 Adrian, the emperor, a persecutor of the Christians, 36. 
 
 I. pope, gratifies Charlemagne with the right of election to the 
 see of Rome, 17]. 
 
 IV., arrogance of, 273. 
 
 VL, good character of, 398. 
 
 AZon, the eternal nature, 18. 
 
 A#rian controversy, 95. 
 
 Africans, the nature of their conversion in xv. cent. examined, 358; in 
 XVil. cent. 523. 
 
 Agnoéte, a sect, 144. 
 
 Agobard, archbishop of Lyons, account of, 184, 190. 
 
 Agricola, founder of the Antinomian sect in Germany, 461. 
 
 Albert the Great, character of, 300,320; his system of divinity, 322. 
 
 Albigenses, or Paulician sect, 257; cruel persecution of them, 329. 
 
 Alcuin, character and works of, 172. 
 
 Aldhelm, account of, 154. 
 
 Alexander III. pope, confers on the cardinals the sole right of electing 
 to the pontificate, 233, 275; orders schools to be erectec 268; deposes 
 the emperor Frederic L. 273; is driven from Rome ie,; retrieves his 
 affairs, 274; extends the papal authority, 275. 
 
 VI. infamous character of, 370, 386. 
 VII. conduct of, 519; ull against Jansenius, 566. 
 
 — — VIII. character of, 538. 
 
 Natalis, writes against the popish claims, 550. 
 
 Alexandria, patriarch of, one of the heads of the Christian church, 88; 
 extent of his authority in xvi. cent. 441. 
 
 Alfred, his taste for letters, 184; the most learned men under him, ib. 
 
 Allatius, Leo, his works for uniting the Greek and Romish churches, 574. 
 
 Almamoun, khalif of Bagdad, an eminent patron of science, 183. - 
 
 Almeric, an account of, 300. 
 
 Alphonso, king of Leon, an eminent patron of letters, in xiii. cent. 298; 
 the fame he acquired by his astronomical tables, ib. ‘ 
 
 Alphonso VL., king of Naples, a zealous promoter of learning, 360. 
 
 Altenburg, conference at, 405. : 
 
 Alva, duke of, a cruel persecutor of the protestants, 416; effect of his 
 tyranny, ib. : 
 
 Amalric, the absurd and impious doctrine taught by him, 332. 
 
 Ambrose, bishop of Milan, his character, 89; his three books on the 
 
 duty of ministers, 92. 
 
 of Camaldoli, his works, 372. 
 
 America, when first visited by the Europeans, 358 ; its inhabitants con- 
 verted to Christianity, ib.; English and Dutch colonies there in xvi. 
 cent. 522: Romish missions, 523, Protestant missions, 524; the am- 
 bition of the Jesuits in Paraguay, ib.; an episcopal church in North 
 America, 733. 
 
 Ames, William, account of, 488; he treats morality as a separate 
 science, 604. 
 
 Ammonius Saccus, founder of the new Platonists, 39; attempts a coa- 
 lition of all sects with his own system, ib.; the principles of his phi- 
 losophy, ib.; his moral discipline, 40; the pernicious effects of his 
 philosophy to Christianity, and hence the foundation of the monks 
 aud mystics, ib.; the rapid progress of his sect, 61. i 
 
 Amour, Guillaume de St., a strenuous opposer of the mendicant friars, 
 311; is banished, ib.; his works and great character, ib. 
 
 Amsterdam, clergy and magistrates of, oppose the toleration of the 
 Mennonites, 500. 
 
 Amyrault, Moses, account of his works, 604; form of his doctrine and 
 reconciliatory endeavours, 606; proceedings of the Swiss church 
 against him, 622. 
 
 198 
 
 N J» LXVI. 
 
 Anabaptists, their enthusiastic, seditious, and vile principles in xvi 
 cent. and punishments they undergo, 409. 
 
 Anabaptists (Mennonites,) their history, 49¢; maxim whence their pe- 
 culiarities arose, 491; their progress, 492; crimes of many of them, 
 ib.; points of doctrine maintained by the most rational of them, ib. ; 
 severe punishments inflicted on them, 493. 
 
 of Munster, their seditious madness, 493; measures taken 
 to extirpate them, 494; plot aguinst the magistrates defeated, ib.; how 
 comforted by Menno, ib.; origin of the sects that started up among 
 them, 495; warm contest, 496; new dissensions among them, ib. ; 
 their creed, confessions, and peculiar tenets, ib.; state of learning 
 and philosophy among them, 499; their settlement in the United Pro- 
 vinces, 500; English, called Baptists, with an account of their various 
 denominations, ib.; singular sect called Davidists, 501; various for- 
 tunes of the Anabaptists in xvii. cent. 636; union restored among 
 them, 637; different sects, with their several characters and notions, 
 ib.; external form of their church, ib.; three orders of ministers 
 among them, ib. 
 
 Anachorets, a monastic order in iv. cent. 94, 
 
 Anastasius, gives rise to the Nestorian controversy, 124. 
 
 the emperor, protects the Acephali, 143. 
 
 Anchialus, patriarch of Constantinople, an eminent patron of letters in 
 Xil. cent. 267. 
 
 Andreas, James, employed in reconciling the Lutheran divines, 466. 
 
 Andronicus, the emperor, forbids all controversies concerning specula- 
 tive points of theology, 280. 
 
 Angelome, a monk of Lisieux, an acute, but fantastic writer in ix. 
 cent. 193. 
 
 Anglo-Saxons, oppress the Christians, 111; some few converted by 
 Augustin, 131; a universal conversion among them in vii. cent. 146; 
 the causes of this conversion considered, ib. 
 
 Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, improves the science of logic, 229; 
 inventor of the famous argument ascribed to Des-Cartes, 230; one of 
 the first who composed a system of divinity, 250. 
 
 — of Laon, his character, 279, 282. 
 
 of Havelherg, a strenuous advocate for the Latins against the 
 Greeks, 285. 
 
 Ansgar, founder of the Cimbrian, Danish and Swedish churches, 180. 
 
 Anthropomarphites, a sect in x. cent. 220. 
 
 Antichrist, ensigns of, what so called by the Puritans, 480. 
 
 Antinomians, their rise among the Lutherans, 461; suppression by 
 Luther, ib.; tenets, ib.; English, their rise, and pernicious tenets, 615; 
 their modern state, 734. 
 
 Antioch, jurisdiction of its patriarch in iv. cent. 88; the extent of his 
 power in xvi. cent. 441. 
 
 Antoninus, Marcus, a persecutor of the Christians, 36; his partiality 
 to the Stoies, and its effects upon learning, 38. 
 
 —————— Pius, persecution under him, 36. 
 
 Antonius Paulus, endeavours to ecrrect the abuses among the clergy in 
 XVii. cent. 591. 
 
 Antony, forms in Egypt the Monks into a body, 93; the rapid progress 
 of this order in the east, and maxims of their philosophy which seduced 
 Christians, ib. 
 
 — of Vienne, order of, 247. 
 
 Apollinarian heresy, 104. 
 
 Apollonius 'Tyaneus, a knave, and an impostor, 60. 
 
 Apostles of Christ, why limited to twelve, 10; the success of their 
 ministry, 11; their authority and office, 20; they and their disciples 
 the principal writers, 23; the creed, by whom composed, 25. 
 
 a sect in xiii. cent. 353; their extirpation, 1b. , 
 Apostolics, a sect in xii, cent. 292; the remarkable purity of their lives, ib, 
 Aquinas, Thomas, a very powerful advocate for the philosophy of 
 
 Aristotle, 300; his character, 320; method of explaining the Scriptures, 
 322; orthodoxy questioned, 323; famous sum, what 924; polemic 
 work against the Gentiles, ib.; several of his doctrines opposed by 
 Jobn Duns Scotus, 353. ; 
 
 Arabian philosophers, tenets of some, 73; confuted by Origen, they 
 abandoned their erroneous sentiments, 1b; form schoois in Spain and 
 Italy, in x. cent. 212; source of knowledge among the Europeans, 
 ib.; and 228; authors of divination and astrology in the West, ib. 
 
 Arbricelies, Robert, founds a monastery at Fontevraud in xii. cent. 277; 
 one singularity in his rule, 278. 
 
 Archbishops, authority of, in iv. cent. 86. ‘ oleae 
 
 Arianism, its rise in iv. cent. 102; the tenets of its author, ib.; its pro- 
 gress before the first Nicene council, ib.; its history after that time, 
 
790 
 
 103, &c.; various sects of it, which may be reduced to three classes, 
 104; its state in vi. cent. 143; encouraged by the Lombards in vii. 
 cent. 155. 
 
 Acians, two eminent writers among them in xvii. cent. 640; to whom 
 the denomination of Arian is applicable, ib.; most eminent patrons 
 in xviii. cent. 653; bad consequences of Arianism, ib.; points of its 
 doctrine adopted by Mr. Whiston, and consequence, ib. ; controversy 
 occasioned by Dr. Clarke’s opinions concerning the Trinity, and by 
 whom opposed, 654. 
 
 Aristotelian philosophy, admired by the Nestorians in vi. cent. 135; its 
 progress in vil. cent. 165; taught by the reformed church in xvi. cent. 
 456 ; introduced into theology, and bad consequence, 487; its state in 
 Xvil. cent. 532, 557, 583. 
 
 Aristotle, his notions of God and the human soul, 5; had many ad- 
 mirers in Xiil. cent.—the prejudice done by them to Christianity, 296. 
 
 Arius, maintains the inferiority of the second person of the Trinity, 102; 
 expelled from the church, ib.; condemned by the council of Nice, ib.; 
 recalled from exile, 103; dies a miserable death, ib. 
 
 Armagh, Richard of, attacks the Mendicants, 345. 
 
 Armenia, Great and Less, Christianity established there, 82, 83. 
 
 Armenians, an account of, in xvi. cent. 445; their state in xvii. cent. 
 577; generous behaviour of the shah Abbas toward them, ib.; the 
 advantages they received from the settlement of a great number of 
 Armenians in different parts of Europe, ib.; state of their church in 
 xviii. cent. 716. 
 
 Arminianism, its rise and progress, in xvil. cent. 622. 
 
 Arminius, James, founder of the Arminian church, 605; professes pub- 
 licly his opinions about predestination, grace, &c. in opposition to 
 
 those of Calvin, ib.; two favourable circumstances for him, 623; by 
 whom opposed, and controversy thereupon, with his death, ib.; pro- 
 gress of his sect, ib. ; 
 
 Arnauld, a patron of the Jansenists, 564; his dispute with Claude, con- 
 cerning transubstantiation, 574. 
 
 Arndt, a moral writer in xvii. cent. 588; his good character and 
 works, 597. 
 
 Arnobius, a defender of the Christians, 65. 
 
 Arnold, of Brescia, account of him and his sect, 290. 
 
 , of Villa Nova, his extensive learning, 301. 
 
 , Godfrey, disturbs the Lutheran church, 594: his ecclesiasti- 
 cal history censured, ib. 
 
 Artemon, a sectary, 55. 
 
 Arts, seven, the wretched manner of teaching thum in viii. cent. 166. 
 
 Ascetics, their rise and principles, 45. 
 
 Asculanus, Ceccus, a famous philosopher in xiv. cent. 339 ; his fate, ib. 
 
 Asia, Protestant missions in, 522; English and Dutch colonies, 26. 
 
 Asiatic Gnostics, a sect in ti. cent. 50. 
 
 Asinus, John Pungens, substitutes consubstantiation for transubstan- 
 tiation, in Xili. cent. 325. 
 
 Assemblies, the first Christian, 48. 
 
 Associations, religious, in Great Britain, 752. 
 
 Astesanus, his character, 352, 353. 
 
 Astrology, mixed with philosophy, considered as magic in xiv. cent.399. 
 
 Asylum, right of, contested, 551. 
 
 Athanasius, account of, 88; he is deposed by the council of Tyre, 103. 
 
 Athenagoras, an excellent writer in 1i. cent. 42. 
 
 Atto, bishop of Vercelli, his works useful in describing the genius of 
 the people in x. cent. 216. 
 
 Audeeus, forms a sect, 106. 
 
 Augsburg, conference at, between Luther and Caietan, 392; diet 
 holden in that city by Charles V., 406; famous confession made by 
 the protestants, ib.; a refutation of it attempted by the catholics, 407; 
 three methods proposed for terminating these religious dissensions, 
 ib.; a severe decree against the reformers, ib.; a religious peace con- 
 cluded at the second diet, 413; acts favourable to the protestants 
 passed, 414. 
 
 Augustin, bishop of Hippo, high character of, 89; his success against 
 the Donatists, 101; he suppresses Pelagianism, 129; opposes the 
 Predestinarians, 130. 
 
 , a Benedictine monk, sent into Britain as a missionary, 131. 
 
 , st., monks of, their rise in xiii. cent. 309. 
 
 Avignon, popes remove thither their residence in xiv. cent. 341; their 
 power diminished, ib.; invent new schemes to acquire riches, ib. 
 
 Aurelian, state of the church under him, 60. 
 
 Aureolus, Peter, a scholastic doctor, 352. 
 
 Austria, commotions in, against the protestants in xvii. cent. 539; state 
 of the Austrian church, 740. 
 
 Authbert, a converter of the pagans in ix. cent. 180. 
 
 Autherius, bishop of Bethlehem, founds the congregation of the Holy 
 Sacrament, 514. | 
 
 Bacon, John, a scholastic divine, 352. 
 
 , Roger, his great character, 299, 301, 320. 
 
 , lord Verulam, his character, 529. | 
 
 —_——. 
 
 Baius, disputes about grace in xvi. cent. 439; he is accused and stig- 
 matised, ib. 
 
 Baidus, his character, 338. 
 
 Balsamon, Theodore, a Greek writer, 279. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bangorian controversy, 724. 
 
 Baptism, not to be considered as a mere ceremony, 27; the manner of 
 celebrating it in i, cent. 28; in ii. cent. 49; in ill. cent. 70; in iv. 
 cent. 99. 
 
 Baptists, general and particular, doctrines and practices of, 500; far- 
 ther account of both, vi. 728, 729. 
 
 Baradeus, Jacob, restores the Monophysites, 144; is acknowledged as 
 their second founder, 145. 
 
 Barbarians, Western, persecute the Christians, 209. 
 
 Barcepha, Moses, his great character, 189. 
 
 Barclay, Robert, a defender of the Quakers, 630. 
 
 Barcochebas, a great enemy to the Christians, 36. 
 
 Bardesanes, founder of a sect. 51. ; 
 
 Barnabites, order of, founded in xvi. cent. 431; soon deviate from their 
 first rule, ib. 
 
 Baronius’ annals, an account of, 431. 
 
 Barsumas, a zealous promoter of Nestorianism, 125. 
 
 Bartolus, his character, 338. 
 
 Basil, bishop of Caisarea, account of, 88. 
 
 , the council of, 367; its decrees and acts, ib. 
 
 Basilides, chief of the Egyptian Gnostics, 52; enormous errors of his 
 system, 53; his moral doctrine, ib. 
 
 Basilius, the Macedonian, under him the Sclavonians and Russians are 
 converted, 180. 
 
 , founder of a sect in xii. cent. 287; his tenets, ib. 
 
 Bassi, Matthew de, founder of the Capuchin order, 429. 
 
 Bayle, a sceptical philosopher, 536. 
 
 Becker, Balthasar, peculiar senuments of, 621; contest occasioned by 
 them, ib. 
 
 Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, subscribes, and afterwards rejects 
 the constitutions of Clarendon, 274 ; is assassinated in his own chapel, 
 275; enrolled among the most eminent saints, ib. 
 
 Bede, the venerable, a celebrated Englishman, 172. 
 
 Beghards, austere sectaries, 316; harassed by Charles 1V. in Germany, 
 349; corrupted by the Brethren of the Free Spirit, 356; persecution 
 of them, 356, 377. 
 
 Beguines, a female sect, 318, 356. 
 
 Behmen, Jacob, one of the Rosecrucian brethren, 532; his chimerical 
 notions, 598. 
 
 Believers, distinguished from catechumens, 21, 25. 
 
 Bell’s scheme of education, 753. 
 
 Bellarmine, an eminent defender of the Romish church, 435. 
 
 Bellator, his character as a commentator, 139. 
 
 Bembo, cardinal, a supposed infidel writer, 419. 
 
 Benedict, of Nursia, founder of an order of monks, 137, 138. 
 
 , abbot of Aniane, employed to reform the practices of the monks, 
 189; restores the monastic discipline, ib.; subjects the various mo- 
 nastic orders to that of Benedict of Mount-Cassin, ib.; his discipline 
 soon declines, ib. 
 
 — VIL., pope, his character and fate, 213, 214. 
 
 — VIL, account of, 214. 
 
 IX., his infamous character, 231. 
 XIL., his good character, 342. 
 
 — XIII, anti-pope, an account of, 344, 362. 
 
 —— XIIL, pope, his character, vi. 646, 706; his death, 707. 
 
 — XIV., great character of, 646; his conduct and government, 708. 
 
 Benedictine order, rise of, in vi. cent. 1387; the founder’s views in this 
 institution, ib.; degeneracy among the monks from his practice, ib. ; 
 its rapid progress in the West, ib.; the founder’s discipline neglected 
 and forgotten by the monks in x. cent. 215; literary fame of the 
 order, 558. 
 
 Benefices, the right of nomination to them assumed by the Romish 
 pontiffs, 302. 
 
 Berean sect in Scotland, 730. 
 
 Berenger, disputes with Lanfranc against the real presence of Christ’s 
 body and blood in the Holy Sacrament, 249; explains the doctrines 
 of Scripture by logical and metaphysical rules, ib.; maintains his 
 doctrine of the Eucharist against synodical decrees, and the threats 
 of punishment from the civil power, 252; abjures his opinions, but 
 teaches them soon afterwards, ib.; makes a public recantation with 
 an oath, and yet propagates his real sentiments of the Eucharist, ib.; 
 second declaration before Gregory VII., 253; subscribes a third con- 
 fession with an oath, 254; yet retracts publicly, and composes a re- 
 futation, ib.; his fate, and the progress of his doctrine, ib.; his real 
 sentiments, ib.; the weakness of the arguments used by the Roman 
 catholic writers against the real sentiments of this divine, 255. 
 
 Berg, the famous form of concord reviewed there, and its con- 
 tents, 467. 
 
 Bermudes, John, sent into Abyssinia with the title of patriarch, 424. 
 
 Bern, an account of the cruel and impious fraud acted upon one Jetzer, 
 by the Dominicans, 388. 
 
 Bern, church of, opposes Calvinism, 476. 
 
 Bernard, St., abbot of Clairval, preaches up a crusade in xii. cent. 263; 
 draws up arule of discipline for the knights Templars, 264; consi- 
 dered as the second founder of the Cistertian monks, 276; combats the 
 doctrine of the schoolmen, 284; his charge against Abelard, ib.; as 
 
INDEX. 
 
 also against Gilbert de la Porrée, ib.; he combats the sect of the 
 Apostolics, 292. 
 
 Bertram, Ratram, eminent for refuting Radbert’s doctrine of the Eu- 
 charist, 190, 196; defends Godeschalcus, 197; his dispute with Hinc- 
 mar, about the hymn, Trina Deitas, 198; maintains the cause of the 
 Latin church against Photius, 200. 
 
 Berulle, cardinal, institutes the order of Oratorians, 555. 
 
 Bessarion, how employed by the Greeks in the council of Florence, 368; 
 his character, 381. 
 
 Beza, ‘Theodore, a translator of the New Testament, 486. 
 
 Bibliander, an eminent writer in xvi. cent. 490. 
 
 Biblical colleges, what so called, and their rise in xvii. cent. 591. 
 Biblicists, Christian doctors so called, flourish in xii. cent. 283; decline 
 in xiii, cent. 322; they warmly oppose the scholastic divines, 323. 
 
 Biddle, John, a famous Socinian writer, 640. 
 
 Bishops, appointed first at Jerusalem, 22; their authority augmented by 
 the councils, 41; their contentions with each other about the extent of 
 powers in iv. and following centuries, produced violent commotions in 
 the church, 88; disputes between the bishops of Rome and of Con- 
 stantinople, 113; the prelates endeavour to extend their jurisdiction, 
 214; they aspire after, and obtain, temporal dignities, 215; op- 
 pose the arrogance of the pontiffs in xiii. cent. 302; disputes between 
 them and the Mendicants, 310; sentiments of the Puritans concern- 
 ing them, 478; a famous assembly of bishops at Paris, 551. 
 
 Blackburne, author of the Confessional, 730. 
 
 Blanc, Louis le, attempts to reconcile the Romish and Reformed churches, 
 607, 608. 
 
 Blandrata, George, propagates Socinianism in Transylvania, 508. 
 
 Blois, Peter of, an eminent writer, 280. 
 
 Blount, Charles, his oracles of reason, and death, 527. 
 
 Bockhold, John, mock king of Munster, an account of, 493; his short 
 reign and ignominious death, ib. 
 
 Boethius, the philosopher, 154, 138. 
 
 Bogomiles, a sect in xii. cent. 287. 
 
 Bohemia, commotions excited by the ministry of John Huss, 363; ter- 
 minated, 374; troubles there excited against the Protestants, 539; 
 who defend themselves furiously, ib.; progress of the war unfavour- 
 able to them, ib.; Gustavus Adolphus intervenes, 540; end of the 
 thirty years’ war, ib.; the peace of Westphalia advantageous to the 
 Protestants—the disappointment of the pope, 541. 
 
 } «mian, or Moravian brethren, character of, 482. 
 
 beucmians, converted to Christianity in ix. cent. 180; a religious war 
 in Bohemia, 539. 
 
 Bois, abbé du, his ambition, a principal obstacle to the project of union 
 between the English and French churches, 685; he oppresses the 
 Jansenists, 705. 
 
 Bolingbroke, the infidel lord, character of, 728. 
 
 Bologna, the fame of its university in xi. cent. 267, 
 
 Bolsec, Jerome, character of, 489. 
 
 Bonaparte obtains the chief sway in France, 736; settles with the pope 
 the affairs of the church, ib.; defies the authority of the pontiff, 737; 
 deprives him of his temporal power, ib.; concludes a new agreement 
 with him, ib.; is ruined and deposed, ib. 
 
 Bonaventura, an eminent scholastic divine, 312, 320. 
 
 Boniface III., pope, engages the emperor Phocas to deprive the bishop 
 of Constantinople of the title of Universal Bishop, and to confer it 
 upon the Roman pontiff, 151. 
 
 ——_—— V. enacts the law for taking refuge in churches in vil. cent. 155. 
 
 , Winfred, converts the Germans, 161; his other pious ex- 
 ploits, ib. 
 
 , attempts the conversion of the Prussians in xi. cent. 221; his 
 
 fate, 222. 
 
 VIII. domineers over the church and state, 307; institutes the 
 jubilee, 307, 326; excommunicates Philip the Fair, 340; is seized by 
 order of that prince, and dies, ib. 
 
 Borri, Joseph Francis, his romantic notions, 572; his fate, ib. 
 
 Bosius, George, his doctrine, 595. 
 
 Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, his character, and famous work for recon- 
 ciling the French Protestants, 544; followed by others on their own 
 private authority, ib.; his artful eloquence, 546; his defence of the 
 Regcale, 551; dispute with Fenelon, and the occasion, 571. 
 
 Boulainvilliers, count, character of, 529. 
 
 Bourignon, Antoinette, her main and predominant principle, 642. 
 
 Boyle, Robert, his lectures, 525. 
 
 Brachmans or Bramins, veneration paid to them in India, 515; their title 
 assumed by the Jesuit missionaries, ib. 
 
 Bradwardine, archbishop of Canterbury, an eminent mathematician, 
 338; his book on Providence, 353. 
 
 Breckling, Frederic, his uncharitable writings, and character, 599. 
 
 Bredenberg, John, defends the doctrine of Spinosa, 641; debate between 
 him and Cuiper concerning the use of reason in religious matters, ib. 
 
 Brethren and sisters of the Free Spirit, a sect in xiii. cent. 330; various 
 names and singular behaviour, 1b. ; dangerous and impious conclu- 
 sions drawn by them from their mystic theology, ib.; their shocking 
 violation of decency, 331; execrable and blasphemous doctrine of 
 some among them, ib.; their first rise seems to have been in Italy, 
 
 ———————————— 
 
 791 
 
 332; edicts against them in xiv. cent. 355; they undergo severe 
 pee geen from the court of Inquisition, 377; as also from 
 “iska, 378. 
 
 Brethren and Clerks of the Common Life, account of, 371; division 
 into the lettered and illiterate, and their several employments, ib. ; the 
 fame of the schools erected by them, ib. 
 
 white, rise of, 378; suppression of the sect, ib. 
 
 British ecclesiastics, successful in their ministry among the Germans in 
 vill. cent. 161. 
 
 Brito, character of, 299, 
 
 Brothers, Richard, an enthusiast, 734. 
 
 Brown, George, archbishop of Dublin, zealous in the cause of the Re- 
 formation in Ireland, 415; his character, ib.; he is deprived under 
 queen Mary, 416; his singular account of the genius and spirit of 
 the Jesuits, 427. 
 
 Brown, Robert, founder of the Brownists in xvi. cent. 480; his notions, 
 ib.; he renounces his separation from the church of England, 481. 
 
 Bruno, founder of the Carthusians, 246. 
 
 ,acommentator, 249. 
 
 Bruys, Peter, attempts to reform the abuses and superstition of his times, 
 and is charged with fanaticism, 289 ; is committed to the flames, ib. 
 
 Bryennius, Nicephorus, an eminent historian, in xii. cent. 267. 
 
 , Josephus, kis works, 372. 
 
 Bucer, Martin, endeavours to bring about a reconciliation between the 
 Reformed and the Lutherans, 471; how defeated, 472. 
 
 Bugenhagius, draws up a form of religious government and doctrine 
 for the Danes, 404. 
 
 Bulgarians, converted to Christianity in ix. cent. 180, 
 
 Bullinger, a distinguished reformer, 486. 
 
 Burchard, bishop of Worms, 216. , 
 
 Burgundians, spontaneously embrace Christianity, 109. 
 
 Burley, Walter, the use of his works, 339. 
 
 Bus, Cesar de, founder of the order of fathers of the Christian doc- 
 trine, iv. 430. 
 
 Buscher, Statius, opposes the pacific projects of Calixtus, 589; an ac- 
 count of his Crypto-Papismus, ib. 
 
 Cabbala, the source of many errors among the Jews, 8. 
 
 Cecilianus, bishop of Carthage, condemned, 99. 
 
 Cefarius, of Arles, his works, 138, 140. 
 
 Caietan, cardinal, an opponent of Luther, 392. 
 
 Calcutta, college of, 743. 
 
 Calistus, Nicephorus, an eminent writer, 338. 
 
 Calixtines, in Bohemia, their rise in xv. cent. 374; four demands, ib. 
 
 Calixtus, George, his zeal for reconciling the Protestants and Catholics 
 in xvii. cent. 545; as also the Lutherans and Reformed, 582; his 
 peculiar method and form of theology, 587; author of Syncretism, 
 and character, 588; his death, 589; doctrine condemned, and creed 
 drawn up against it by the Lutheran doctors, ib.; opinions, 590; 
 his real design, ib. 
 
 Calixtus IIL. pope, his great character, 272; disputes concerning inves- 
 titures subside by his prudence, ib. 
 
 III. institutes the festival of the Transfiguration, 377. 
 
 Calovius, a Lutheran writer in xvil. cent. 589. 
 
 Calvin, John, a short character of him, 405; he commences the contro- 
 versy about predestination, 473; establishes the reformed church, ib.; 
 his grand views how in part executed, 474; his changes are not ap- 
 proved or received by all the Reformed, 475; his doctrine gains 
 ground in Germany, 476; in France, ib.; and in Britain, 477; his 
 system made the public rule of faith in Engiand under Edward VL, 
 ib.; adopted in the Netherlands, 481; his rigid discipline, and resolu- 
 tion in establishing it, 485; his scriptural commentary, why sharply 
 censured, 486; his institutes of the Christian religion, 487; his con- 
 test with the spiritual libertines, 488; with those of Geneva, ib.; he 
 puts Servetus to death, 503; his method of interpreting Scripture 
 scrupulously followed by the members of the Reformed church, 602. 
 
 Calvinists, secret, or Crypto-Calvinists, in Saxony, 466. 
 
 Camaldolites, a monastic order in xi. cent. 245. 
 
 Cambalu, (now Pekin in China,) erected into an archbishopric in xiv. 
 cent. 335. 
 
 Camerarius, Joachim, a learned commentator, 457. 
 
 Cameron, John, his reconciling doctrine, 606. 
 
 Campanella, a philosopher in xvi. cent. 420. 
 
 Campanus, his heretical notions, 502. 
 
 Canara, state of the Christians in, 743. 
 
 Canon of Scripture, supposed to be fixed about ii. cent. 23. 
 
 Canons, a religious order, 171; encouraged by Louis the Debonaire, 
 who institutes the first canonesses, 189; degeneracy of the order, ib: 
 reformation attempted, and new laws made, 247; distinction into re- 
 gular and secular, ib; introduction into England, ib. 
 
 , regular, their useful lives and manners in xii. cent. 277; con 
 test with the mouks, ib. 
 , Roman, their luxurious lives, 428. 
 
 Cantacuzenus, John, the historian of his own times, 351. 
 
 Cantipratensis, Thomas, lis character, 320. 
 
 Capistran, John, eminent for his defence of papal authority, 372, 
 
 Capito, Robert, an account of, 299, 320. 
 
792 INDEX. 
 
 Capel, Louis, voluminous and elaborate work of, 607. 
 
 Capreolus, John, his character, 373. 
 
 Capuchins, rise of, 429; banished from Venice in xvil. cent. 549; but 
 recalled, ib. 
 
 Caputiati, a sect of fanatics in xii. cent. 292. 
 
 Cardan, a philosopher in xvi. cent. 420. 
 
 Cardinals, the right of electing to the see of Rome, vested in them in 
 xi. cent. 232; their origin and rights, 233; divided into two classes, 
 ib.; their college augmented by Alexander HL. 234. 
 
 Carey, a distinguished missionary, 752. 
 
 Cario, an eminent historian among the Lutherans, 454. 
 
 Carlostadt, the reformer, intemperate zeal of, 459; he propagates his 
 doctrine in Switzerland, 460. 
 
 Carmelites, a monastic order, their rise in xii. cent. 278; their rule of 
 discipline, ib. ; reformation introduced among them in xvi. cent. 430; 
 divisions among them, ib. 
 
 Carpathius, John, his moral writings, 175. 
 
 Carpocrates, an Egyptian Gnostic, 53; his impious tenets, ib. 
 
 Cartes, M. des, character of, 532; his philosophy, 533; strong opposi- 
 tion to it, ib.; his metaphysical system propagated with success, 535; 
 improved by Malebranche and Leibnitz, with the character of each, 
 ib.; its progress, 602. 
 
 Cartesian controversy in Holland, 619; philosophy, why considered as 
 a system of impiety, ib. 
 
 Carthusians, a monastic order, its rise in xi. cent. 246; founder, and 
 severe laws, ib.; why so few nuns of that order, ib. 
 
 Cassian, his character, 116. 
 
 Cassiodorus, his expositions of Scripture, 139. 
 
 Castalio, Sebastian, opposes Calvin, and his character, 488. 
 
 Castilians, the extraordinary method used by them to determine the 
 superior excellence of the Roman or Gothic service in Xi. cent. 256. 
 
 Castilione, Gilbert de, refutes the Jews, 285. 
 
 Casuists, ancient, not so good as the Lutherans, 458. 
 
 Catechumens, an order of Christians, 21. 
 
 Catharists, or Paulicians, a sect, 257; their unhappy state in x1i. 
 cent. 288. 
 
 Cedrenus, an historian in xi. cent. 227. 
 
 Celestine, [., pope, sends Palladius and Patrick-to convert the Irish in 
 v. cent. 109. 
 
 — — V. obnoxious to the clergy, 307; his resignation, ib. 
 
 Ccllites, their rise at Antwerp in xiv. cent. 350; their fame and pro- 
 gress, ib, 
 
 Celsus, his objections against Christianity refuted by Origen, 37. 
 
 Celts, learning among them ini. cent. 19. 
 
 Cene, Charles le, denies original sin, 609; his singular translation of 
 the Bible condemned, ib. 
 
 Century, i. its ecclesiastical history, 1, 7; ii.cent. 33; ii. cent. 57; iv. 
 cent. 77; v. cent. 108; vi. cent. 131; vii. cent. 146; viii. cent. 161; ix. 
 cent. 180; x. cent. 205; xi. cent. 221; xii. cent. 227; xiii. cent. 293; 
 xiv. cent. 335; xv. cent. 358; xvi. cent. 385, and Appendix II. 670; 
 xvil. cent. 513; xviil. cent. 644. and Appendix HI. 675; xix. cent. 736. 
 
 Cerdo, founder of a sect in Asia, 51. 
 
 Ceremonies, two only instituted by Christ, 26; why multiplied in ii 
 cent. 47; the esteem of modern Platonism a cause of their increase 
 in iit, cent. 69; their burthen in iv. cent. 97; how multiplied in v. 
 cent. with a general view of the new rites, 121; additions to them by 
 almost every pope, 155; a general aceount of them in ix. cent. 200; 
 many of them drawn from Pagan rites, 201; their increase in x. cent. 
 219; their multiplication in xiii. cent. 325; many and useless cere- 
 monies remain in xvi. cent. 440, 
 
 Cerinthus, founder of an heretical sect, 32; blends the doctrines of Christ 
 with the errors of the Jews and Gnostics, ib. 
 
 Cerularius, Michael, patriarch of Constantinople, revives the contro- 
 versy between the Greeks and Latins in xi. cent. 251; violent mea- 
 sures used on both sides, ib. 
 
 Chalcedon, fourth general council at, 126. 
 
 Chaldzan Christians, 742. 
 
 Chapters, controversy about the three, in vi. cent. 168. 
 
 Charenton, synod of, in xvii. cent. 580. 
 
 Charity, feasts of, called Agape, 28; suppressed in v. cent. 121. 
 
 Charlemagne, his expedition against the Saxons, 162; his design of 
 propagating Christianity, ib.; his method of converting the Saxons, 
 1b.; his attempts against the Saracens not very successful, 163; he 
 revives learning among the Latins, 165; if founder of the university 
 of Paris, considered, ib. ; his grant to the see of Rome, 169; opportu- 
 nity opened for the western empire, which he embraces, ib.; his sup- 
 posed works, 172; his attachment to the Romish ritual, 173. 
 
 Charles, the Bald, a great patron of science, 183. 
 
 V. emperor, calls a diet at Worms, at which Luther is banished, 
 
 397; ratifies the sentence, ib.; is an advocate for papal authority at 
 
 the diet of Augsburg, 406 ; concludes a peace with the Lutherans, 408 ; 
 
 listens to the counsels of Paul III., 411; his designs give occasion to 
 the Protestants to take up arms, ib.; he raises an army against 
 them, ib.: his base and perfidious behaviour to the landgrave of 
 
 Hesse, ib.; his real views, 413; disconcerted by Maurice of 
 
 Saxony 413. 
 
 Charles 1, of England, his character, 542; three principal objects of his 
 administration, 611. ; 
 
 II., patron of science, 530; his character, 542; state of the 
 church under him, 617. 
 
 Chemists, or Fire-Philosophers, 532. 
 
 Chemnitz, Martin, his examination of the council of Trent commend- 
 ed, 455. 
 
 Chillingworth, a leader of the Latitudinarians, his great character, 616. 
 
 China, Christianity planted there in vii. cent. 146; state of that religion 
 among the Chinese in xiv. cent. 3385; missions there in xvii. cent. 517; 
 their astonishing success, ib.; a change of affairs, 716. 
 
 Choniates, Nicetas, a good historian, 297. 
 
 Chorepiscopi, their origin and office, 22. 
 
 Chosroes, king of Persia, a violent persecutor of the Christians, 133; 
 a patron of the Aristotelian philosophy, 135. 
 
 Christ, his birth, 9; accounts of him in the four Gospels, 10; his choice 
 of apostles and disciples, ib.; his death, 11; resurrection and ascen- 
 sion, ib.; his Gospel preached first to the Jews and Samaritans, ib; 
 respected among the Gentiles, 12; he left the form of the church un- 
 determined, 20; instituted only two sacraments, 26; cumparison be- 
 tween him and the philosophers, and its consequences, 60 ; a parallel 
 arrogantly drawn between him and Apollonius Tyaneus, 61; dis- 
 putes about the nature of his body in vi. cent. 144; debates about the 
 manner of his birth in ix. cent. 199; the festival of his body, or the 
 Holy Sacrament, in xiii. cent. 325; controversy in xv. cent. concern- 
 ing the worship due to his blood, 376; his divine nature denied by 
 the Socinians, 502; omnipresence of his flesh, a subject of debate, 
 595; his generation according to Roell’s sentiments, 620; his hu- 
 
 . manity denied by the Quakers, 633. 
 
 Christian religion, the whole comprehended in two great points, 24; 
 ceremonies noultiplied in ii. cent. and the reasons, 46; first reason, a 
 desire to enlarge the borders of the church, 47; second reason, to re- 
 fute calumnies and reproaches, ib.; third reason, the abuse of Jewish 
 rites, ib.; fourth reason, the imitation of the heathen mysteries, ib.; 
 fifth reason, the symbolic manner of teaching among the eastern na- 
 tions, 48; sixth reason, prejudices of converted Jews and Gentiles, 
 ib. ; assemblies, where and when holden by the primitive Christians, 
 ib.; the state of the Christian doctrine in ili. cent. 65 ; vicious metho? 
 of controversy practised by the defenders of the church, and spurious 
 writings among them, 67; progress of this religion in the east, in vi. 
 cent. 131; in the west, ib. 
 
 Christianity, causes of its rapid progress supernatural, 13; its pro- 
 gress in the Roman empire, 33; in Germany, ib.; in Gaul, ib.; it is 
 gradually corrupted, 42; its success in ili. cent. must be imputed partly 
 to divine, partly to human causes, 57; embraced by the Goths, 58, 
 83; interpreted according to the principles of the Platonic philoso- 
 phy, 65; Julian attempts its destruction, 81; the efforts of the philo- 
 sophers against it, 82; it is established in Armenia, 83; its progress 
 among the Abyssinians, ib.; the causes of the many conversions in 
 iv. cent. ib.; corrupted by the introduction of various rites, 97; em- 
 braced by the Burgundians, 109; by the Franks, ib.; causes of the 
 conversions in y. cent. examined, 110; attempts of the Pagans to de- 
 stroy its credit, ib.; its decline in Britain, through the cruelty of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, 111; opposed by secret enemies, ib.; its progress in 
 the East, 131; the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, ib.; it 1s intro- 
 duced into China, 146; propagated in Hyreania and Tartary, 161; 
 suffers through the success of the Turks and Saracens, 163; embraced 
 by the Danes and Swedes, 180; by the Bulgarians, Bohemians, and 
 Moravians, 180; by the Sclavonians, ib.; by the Russians, 181; by 
 the Poles and Hungarians, 205, 206; by the Danes and Norwegians, 
 207; by the Pomeranians, 260; by the Finlanders, ib.; by the Livo- 
 nians, 261; its decline in Asia in xiv. cent. 336; it is propagated by 
 Spanish and Portuguese missions, 418; preached in India, 515; 
 its prosperous state in xviii. cent. 644; its enemies in Europe, and 
 more especially in England, 645. 
 
 Christians, in the first cent. persecuted by the Romans, 14; loaded with 
 opprobrious calumnies, 15; their persecution under Nero, 16; why 
 persecuted by Domitian, ib.; divided into believers and catechumens, 
 25; their care in the education of their youth, ib.; secret doctrines, 
 ib.; lives andmanners, 26; controversies among them, ib.; churches 
 established among them, and how the public worship was conducted, 
 27; the Lord’s Supper, feasts of charity and baptism, 28; the perse- 
 cution under Trajan, 35; under Adrian, ib.; under Antoninus Pius, 
 36; under Marcus Antoninus, ib.; the clemency of Commodus to- 
 ward them, ib.; their calamities under Severus, 37, 58; their learning 
 in il. cent. 140; excommunication found necessary among them, 46; 
 their penitential discipline gradually modelled by the Heathen mys- 
 teries, ib.; their immunities increased under various emperors 1m ili. 
 cent. 57; their numbers increased, ib.; persecution under Maximin, 
 59; under Decius and Valerian, 59, 60; their state under Gallienus 
 and Claudius tolerable, 60; attempts of the Jews against them, 61; 
 their affairs reduced to a dangerous crisis under Diocletian, 77 ; mise- 
 ries very great under Galerius, 78; happy state under Constantine 
 the Great, ib.; revival of learning among them in iv. cent. 85; two 
 most pernicious maxims adopted by their teachers, 94; controversies 
 frequent among them, 95; suffer from the success of Larbarous inva- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ders in v. cent. 110; the cruelty of the Goths and Vandals to them 
 in Gaul, 111; their calamities from the Picts and Scots in Britain, ib. ; 
 misfortunes in Persia, ib.; sufferings from the Vandals, 122; from 
 the Anglo-Saxons, Huns, and Lombards, 133; from Chosroes in 
 Persia, ib.; they are oppressed by the Saracens in Spain and Sar- 
 dinian, 163; their guperstitious piety and morals in viii. cent. 173; 
 persecuted in x. cont. by the barbarians in the west, 209; their affairs 
 in Palestine in a declining state, 262; oppressed by the Saracens in 
 xii. cent. and the cause, 265; animportant division of their doctors, 
 283; a sect of free-thinking Christians, 486. 
 
 Christiern IL. King of Denmark, promotes the Reformation, but from 
 bad motives, 404 ; is deposed, ib.; the different conduct of his suc- 
 cessor Frederte, ib. ; 
 
 Iil. reforms the Danish church from Romish superstition, 
 404; he suppresses episcopacy, 405, 
 
 Christina, queen of Sweden, her change of religion and character, 546; 
 joins with Louis XIV. against Innocent XI. 551. 
 
 Chrysoloras, Michael, his character, 338. 
 
 Chrysostom, account of, 89; the rigorous proceedings of Theophilus 
 against him, 120; the injustice of his sufferings considered, 121. 
 
 Church, the first Christian, 12, Dr. Mosheim’s ideas of the primitive 
 church corrected, 655 to 670; prosperous state of the modern 
 church, 644. 
 
 , Arminian, its rise, 622; doctrine of Arminius, 623; progress of 
 
 this church after his death, ib.; pacific methods used by its members, 
 
 but in vain, ib.; their doctrine comprehended in five articles,624 ; 
 prince Maurice declares against them, 625; synod convoked at Dor- 
 drecht, to examine their doctrine, ib.; their tenets condemned by it, 
 
 626; they are persecuted variously, ib.; are invited into Holstein, 
 
 and form themselves into a colony, ib. ; recalled from exile, 627; 
 
 their ancient and modern systems, ib ; their confession of faith, 628; 
 
 united only in their opinions concerning predestination and grace, ib.; 
 
 their success in England, ib. ; their ecclesiastical government, 629. 
 
 -, Dutch, its state in xviii. cent. 653. 
 
 — -, Eastern, its history in xvi. cent. 441 ; divided into three commu- 
 n ies, ib. 
 
 —, of England at first inclined to the sentiments of Luther, 477; 
 
 »at changed after the death of Henry VIII. to Calvinism, ib.; re- 
 
 eived a new form of ceremonials and discipline under queen Eliza- 
 
 seth, 478 ; its controversy with the Puritans, ib.; revolution in favour 
 
 af Arminianism, 605; its genius and spirit, ib.; state under James I. 
 
 and changes made in it, 609, 610; state under Charles I., 611; under 
 
 Cromwell, 615; Presbyterian government established, ib.; what sects 
 
 flourished at this time, ib.; its state under Charles II. and his suc- 
 
 cessors, 617; divisions, whence the terms of High-church, and Low- 
 church, ib.; its state in xviii. cent. 652; established form of government, 
 ib.; its division into two classes, ib.; warm disputes between them, with 
 the principal champions, ib. ;-various sects in England, through the un- 
 
 bounded liberty of the press, ib.; scheme of union with the French 
 chureh, ib.; history of our church in xviii. cent. 723; in xix. 
 cent. 748. 
 , Greek, its state in xvi. cent. 441; in xvii. cent. 574;.its invin- 
 cible aversion to the Latin church, ib.; its doctrine, if not corrupted 
 by the Romish missionaries and doctors, ib.; its history in xviii. 
 cent. 714; in xix. cent. 741. 
 , Helvetic, what points first excited a difference between its mem- 
 bers and the Lutherans, 474; the former adopt Zuingle’s doctrine of 
 the eucharist, ib.; oppose Bucer’s endeavours to modify their doc- 
 trine to some degree of conformity with that of Luther, ib.; warm 
 contests concerning the formulary of concord, 653. 
 , Lutheran, its rise, 396; progress retarded by internal divisions 
 relatave to the eucharist, 399; and by acivil war, 1b. ; it was at length 
 raised tothe dignity of a lawful and complete hierarchy, 451; the sum 
 of its doctrine, ib.; its ceremonies and public worship, 452; its visible 
 head and form of government, ib.; liturgies, public worship, and 
 method of instruction, ib.; holidays and ecclesiastical discipline, 453; 
 state of learning among its members, 454; various fate of philoso- 
 hy among them, 455; sects, ib.; science of theology corrected and 
 improved, 456; respective merits of interpreters, 457; state of mo- 
 rality, 458; polemic or controversial theology introduced, ib.; aspe- 
 rity in its disputants, how alleviated, ib.; three periods to be distin- 
 guished in the history of this church, 459; disputes in the first period, 
 1b.; in the second, 461; form of doctrine projected, 465; this church 
 loses ground in some places, 579; attempts made toward a union with 
 the reformed church, 580; declaration of the synod of Charanton, ib.; 
 prosperous events, 583; progress in learning, ib.; state of philosophy, 
 ib.; most eminent writers in xvil. cent. 586; external and internal 
 state of the church in question in xviii. cent. 648; it receives a con- 
 siderable accession, but is oppressed at home, ib.; various contests 
 an divisions, 649; its state in Prussia, 718; in the north of Europe, 
 718, 744; in Germany, 256, 745. ; 
 , reformed, its history, 469; constitution, 470; its progress in 
 Switzerland, 471; controversy between the Lutherans and reformed, 
 with regard to the eucharist, 472; dispute about predestination, 473; 
 the chief founder of this church, 474; its progress in Germany and | 
 France, 476; its state in the Netherlands, 481; in Poland, 482; dif |) 
 
 No. LXVil 199 
 
 793 
 
 ference between its doctrines and those of Luther, 484; its form of 
 government, 485; state of discipline, 486; learning, ib.; interpreters 
 of Scripture, ib.; theological doctrines, 487; state of morality, ib. ; 
 persons of eminent genius in this church, 490; its history in xvii. 
 cent. 600; limits extended, ib.; decline in France, ib.; in the Palati- 
 nate, 602; controversies, 604; its state in xviii. cent. 650, 717; its 
 great extent, and who may account themselves members’ of it, 651 
 projects of re-union between the reformed and the Lutherans, 651, 718; 
 Church actual union in some instances, 745. 
 
 Church, reformed, in France, disposed to favour Arminianism, 606 
 blamed for making concessions of moment to popery, and this point 
 examined, ib. ; controversy raised by the hypothetical universalists, 
 ib.; Cameron’s attempt, and Amyrault’s form of reconciliation, ib. 
 
 Romish, great schism of, in xiv. cent. 343; plan for reforming 
 it, in xvi. cent. 410; zealous in appointing an infinite number of mis- 
 sionaries, 424; character of its commentators, 434; state of practical 
 religion among its members, 435; moral writers divided into three 
 classes, ib.; character of its polemic divines, ib. ; its internal state ex- 
 amined, ib. ; its principal subjects of dispute, reduced to six, and ex- 
 plained, 436; vain attempts to unite the Russian church to this, 448 ; 
 little success attends the labours of the missionaries among the Eas- 
 tern sects, 449; how far it was considered a true church by the com- 
 missioners of queen Elizabeth, 452; its history and popes in xvii. 
 cent. 537; its attempts to ruin the protestants, unsuccessful, 538 ; wri- 
 ters on both sides, 539; it loses ground in the East, with two striking 
 instances of it, 547; general decline of the papal authority, 548; 
 French maxim concerning it, embraced by most princes and states of 
 Europe, ib. ; its doctrine very corrupt in xvil. cent. 559; all prospect 
 of reconciling the protestants with‘the members of the Romish com- 
 
 . munion quite removed in xviii. cent. 646; intestine divisions in this 
 church, ib. ; controversy between the Jesuits and Jansenists, ib.; de- 
 bates occasioned by the New Testament of Quesnel, with the bull of 
 Clement XI. in condemnation of it, 647; commotions raised by this 
 bull in France, 647; pretended miracles by the remains of the abbé 
 Paris refuted, and visions of the Jansenists considered, and success 
 of their cause, 648 ; ruin of the church in France, 714; its restora- 
 tion, 714, 738. 
 
 , rulers, how called 
 office, ib. 
 
 , Russian, its history in xvii. cent. 575; change introduced into it 
 by Peter L, ib.; its state in xviii. cent. 648, 716; in xix. cent. 742. 
 
 Churches, Eastern, separated from the Greeks and Latins, 444; com- 
 prehended under two classes, ib.; their state in xviii. cent. 648. 
 
 ————-, if the first Christians had any, considered, 27; splendid 
 erections in lv. cent. 97. 
 
 , more ancient, history of, 19. 
 
 ————,, modern, an account of, 451. 
 
 Cimbrians, converted to Christianity in ix. cent. 179. 
 
 Circumcelliones, in Africa, their rise and ravages, 100; severe proceed- 
 ings against them, 101. 
 
 Cistertian monks, their rise in xi. cent. 245; their discipline, ib.; their 
 opulence and credit in xii. cent. due to St. Bernard, 276. 
 
 Clarendon, constitutions of, 274. 
 
 Clarke, Dr. Samuel, charged with altering the orthodox doctrine of the 
 Trinity, 653; his method of inquiring into that subject, and his doc- 
 trine of it, 654. 
 
 Claude, John, opinions of, 574. 
 
 Claudius, bishop of Turin, his exposition and chronology, 190; his 
 laudable zeal against images and their worship, 195. 
 
 Clemangis, Nicolas de, his great character, 372. 
 
 Clemens, bishop of Rome, the most eminent writer in i. cent. 23. 
 
 Alexandrinus, his great character, 42. 
 Clement IIL, pope, remarkably zealous for crusades, 276. 
 ——— IV. favours the French, 306. 
 
 V. a mere creature of the French court, 341. 
 
 — VI. his character and ambition, 343. 
 
 —— VII. his character, 398. 
 
 — VIII. an account of, 537. 
 
 — IX. character of, 587, 588; peace of, 566. 
 
 ——— XI. decides the controversy relating to the Chinese rites against 
 the Jesuits, 644; issues the bull Unigenitus, 647 704; his charac- 
 ter, 705. 
 
 — XII. character of, 646, '707. 
 
 — XIII. conduct and misfortunes of, 708, 710. 
 
 ——— XIV. dissolves the order of Jesuits, 710; his character, ib, 
 
 Clergy, a perfect equality among them in i. cent. 22; their vices in ili. 
 cent. 63; in iv. cent. 88; their excessive pride in y. cent. 115; source 
 of their vices, ib.; their vices not to be restrained by the legislature 
 in vill. cent. 166; veneration for them greater in the West than in 
 the East, ib.; increase of their revenues, ib.; their temporal digni- 
 ties, 167; their vices in ix. cent. 185; zealous in the cause of superst.- 
 tion, 190; their vices in x. cent. principally imputable to the examples 
 of the pontiffs of Rome, 212; decay of piety and discipline among 
 them in xi. cent. 230; their infamous lives in xiii. cent. 301; com- 
 plaints against them in xiv. cent. 340; the great decline of the Christian 
 church in xy. cent. through their neglect and vices, 362, the ovjects 
 
 in i. cent. 21; their character and 
 
794 
 
 of universal contempt in xvi. cent. 387; the doctrines they chiefly 
 inculeated, 389. 
 
 Clergy of Rome, their state in xvi. cent. 428; obtain considerable ad- 
 vantages at the expense of the pontiffs, ib.; manners of the superior 
 clergy, and cause of their great corruption, ib.; their state in xvii. 
 cent. v. 553. 
 
 Clerks, apostolic, account of that order, and its abolition, 350. 
 
 , regular, their rise in xvi. cent. 480. 
 
 Clovis, king of the Franks, converted to Christianity, 109 ; the influence 
 of his conversion on the minds of the Franks, ib.; the miracles to be 
 performed at his baptism, a fiction, ib. 
 
 Clugni, monks of, incorporated by Odo, 215; their discipline soon 
 adopted in all the European convents, ib.; their great prosperity, 244. 
 
 Cocceius, John, his sentiments followed by the Dutch divines in xvil. 
 cent. 587; his method of interpreting Scripture, 603; his chimerical 
 system, 619. 
 
 Celestius, doctrine of, 129. 
 
 Ceenobites, an order of monks in iv. cent. 94. 
 
 College de propaganda fide, founded at Rome in xvii. cent. 513; ano- 
 ther by Urban VIII. ib.; some of the same nature in France, ib; 
 altereations of their missionaries with those of the Jesuits, 514. 
 
 Colleges for study and education, 268, 
 
 Collegiants, a Socinian sect, their rise in xvii. cent. 640; their customs 
 and tenets, 641. 
 
 Collins, the freethinker, 645. 
 
 Columban, an account of, 137, 158, 146. 
 
 Commentaries, chains of, in ix. cent. 193. 
 
 Commentators, pervert the natural expressions of Scripture, 91; their 
 divisions into two classes, 139; their character in different centuries, 
 218, 249, 282, 352, 3'75. 
 
 Commission-court, high account of, 479; its exorbitant power, ib. 
 
 Commodus, the emperor, state of the Christians under him, 37. 
 
 Comnenus, the emperor, maintains a controversy with the Mani- 
 cheans, 257. 
 
 ——-, Emanuel, his character and works, 285. 
 
 Conception, immaculate, of the Virgin Mary, a subject of dispute: in 
 X1i. cent. 286; controversy about it in xvii. cent. between the Fran- 
 ciscans and Dominicans, 569. 
 
 Concord, form of, 451,467; produces much disturbance, 467; suppress- 
 ed in Brandenburg, 580; disputes in Switzerland concerning ut, 622 ; 
 abrogated at Basil and Geneva, ib. 
 
 Concordat, forcibly imposed on his subjects by Francis I. of France, 
 3°45; a new one, settled by Napoleon, 736; another 737. 
 
 Conferences, religious, at Ratisbon, Leipsic, Thorn, and Cassel, 543, 
 581, 582. 
 
 Sonfessional, some groundless remarks in it answered, 675. 
 
 Confessors, who are entitled to this name, 15. 
 
 Confucius, assertion concerning him, 520; religious worship paid to 
 him by the Chinese, ib. i 
 
 Congal, abbot, propagates the monastic discipline in Great Britain, 137. 
 
 Congregations, various, at Rome, 422, 440. 
 
 ——_—\——_, of the Holy Sacrament in France, 514. 
 
 Conrad, of Marpurg, the first German inquisitor, 328; his barbarity 
 and fate, ib. 
 
 Constance, the famous council of, 363; limits the authority of the 
 pope, ib.; condemns John Huss to death, 364 ; issues a decree agains 
 the writings and ashes of Wickliffe, 366; deprives the laity of the 
 cup in the holy sacrament, ib. ; 
 
 Constantine the Great, grants the Christians power to live according to 
 their own laws and institutions, 78; is converted to Christianity, 79; 
 the sincerity of his faith proved, ib.; he models the ecclesiastical 
 government according to the civil, 86. 
 
 , Copronymus, his zeal against image-worship, 177. 
 , Porphyrogeneta, his zeal for reviving learning among the 
 Greeks, 210. 
 
 Constantinople, the first council at, 105; another, 141; others, 194, 195. 
 
 a , patriarch of, his jurisdiction in iv. cent. 88; contends 
 with the pope for supremacy in v. cent. 113; his power augmented 
 by Leo in viii. cent. 170; disputes about pre-eminence in ix. cent. 
 199; by whom elected in modern times, 442; his extensive power 
 and revenues, ib. 
 
 Controversial writers, employed in explaining the terms of salvation 
 and acceptance in i. cent. 26; their merit and demerit in ii. cent. 44; 
 the rules of the ancient sophists esteemed by them as the best method 
 of confuting error, 119; their works destitute of moderation and pru- 
 dence, in vi. cent. 140; how far they may be considered as worthy 
 of an attentive perusal in vil. cent. 154; few engaged in essential 
 points of religion in viii. cent. but confined to the disputes about 
 image-worship, 175; prevented in ix. cent. by intestine divisions, 
 from opposing the common enemies of their faith, 194; scholastic 
 method of disputing introduced among them in xi. cent. 250; and 
 flourishes in xii. cent. 285; they are more numerous than respectable, 
 in xiii. cent. 324; few worthy of notice in xiv. cent. 353 ; many emi- 
 nent among them in xv. cent. 376; and in xvi. cent. 435. 
 
 Controversies, private, in xvi. cent. 597. ; J q 
 
 Controversy concerning the Millennium, 68; the baptism of heretics, 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ib.; Meletian, 95; Brian, ib + Arian, 102; between Jerome and 
 Vigilantius, 120; concerning the three chapters, 141; about the deri- 
 vation of the Holy Ghost, 177; concerning images among the Greeks, 
 194; and among the Latins, 195; upon the eucharist, 196; predes- 
 tination and grace, 197; the words Trina Deitas, 198; the birth of 
 Christ, 199; universal ideas, 211; the immaculate conception of the 
 Virgin Mary, 286; the worship of Christ’s blood, 376; the presence 
 of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament, 399; good works, 462 
 the proper mode of conducting missions, 518; the mixture of divine 
 grace, 562; the use of reason in religion, 620; the kingdom of Christ, 
 724; the right of free inquiry, 722. 
 
 Conversions, in iv. and vy. cent. the causes of, considered, 83, 110; in ix. 
 cent. the nature of, and views, 181; Jesuitical modes of conver- 
 sion, 515. 
 
 Convocation, in England, an inefficient assembly from the time of 
 George I., 725. 
 
 Copiatz, their office in the church, 64. 
 
 Copts, their aversion to the church of Rome, 424; state of their church 
 in Xvili. cent. 717. 
 
 Cosmas, bishop of Jerusalem, a composer of hymns, 172. 
 
 Council, general, one very much desired in xvi. cent. 408; why retard- 
 ed by pope Clement VIL, ib.; his successor proposes to assemble 
 one at Mantua, which is protested against by the reformers, who draw 
 up the articles of Smaleald, 409. 
 
 Councils, if any ini. cent. 22; their origin among the Greeks, 41. 
 
 , ecumenical, when first established, 86; declared to be supe- 
 rior in authority to the pope, 363. 
 Courayer, Dr. a defender of the church of England, 652. 
 Cranmer, an eminent prelate, 490. 
 
 ’ Crellius protects the Crypto-Calvinists, 468; suffers death, 469. 
 
 Crescens, his virulent eflorts against Christianity, 37. 
 
 Cromwell, state of the church under him, 615. 
 
 Cross, the miraculous, perhaps a dream, 79, 80. 
 
 Crusades, See Wars, Holy. 
 
 Cyprian, bishops of Carthage, opposes the re-admission of the lapsed, 
 59; suffers martyrdom under Valerian, 60; a character of his 
 works, 65. 
 
 Cyran, abbot of St., a well-meaning fanatic, 567. 
 
 Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, his character, 116; he anathematises Nes- 
 torlus twelve times, 124; presides at the council of Ephesus, ib. ; 
 condemns Nestorius, ib.; anathematised at Ephesus by John of An- 
 tioch, 125. 
 
 , patriarch of Constantinople, his character, 274. 
 
 Damanscenus, John, his concise yet comprehensive view of Aristotle's 
 doctrine, 165; his character, 172; systematic works, 175; poleraic 
 writings, ib. 
 
 Damianists, a sect in vi. cent. 145. 
 
 Damianus, character of, 248, 250. 
 
 Dancers, a sect in xiv. cent, 357. 
 
 Daniel, Gabriel, defends the Jesuits, 437. 
 
 Davides, Francis, propagates Socinianism, 509. 
 
 Davidists, a ridiculous sect in xvi. cent. 501. 
 
 Deaconesses, in the primitive church, 22. 
 
 Deacons, of the church at Jerusalem, 21. 
 eclus, the dreadful persecution under him, and consequences, 59. 
 
 Decretals, forged, procured by the pontiffs to establish their supremacy, 
 188; genuine ones, 301. 
 
 Deists, promote their principles with impunity under Cromwell, 615; 
 account of them in xviii. cent.; their notions, and principal writers, 649. 
 
 Delft, assembly of the Dutch clergy at, 619. 
 
 Demiurge, of the Eastern philosophers, 18. 
 
 Denmark, the people of, converted to Christianity in ix. cent. 180; and 
 confirmed in it in x. cent.207; the rise and progress of the Reforma- 
 tion in xvi. cent. 404; modern state of the Danish church, 719, 744. 
 
 D’Espence, an eminent expositor, in xv. cent. 434. 
 
 Devay, Matthias, introduces the doctrine of the Swiss churches mto 
 Hungary and Transylvania, 482. 
 
 Deurhoff, William, notions and works of, 653. 
 
 Diadochus, a moral writer in vy. cent. his works, 119 
 
 Dialecticians, or sophists, 228, 270, 376. 
 
 Didymus attacks the whole body of heretics, 92. 
 
 Dinant, David of, a great admirer and disciple of Amalric: his funda- 
 mental principle, 332, 
 
 Diocesses, origin of, 22. 
 
 Diocletian, persecution under, 77. 
 
 Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, the Great, 65, 
 
 ————, the Areopagite, a Greek fanatic, 93. 
 
 , pretended Areopagite, works of, 140; panegyrics on him, 194, 
 
 —_———,, the Little, works of, 138, 140. 
 
 , chief of the Mystics, an account of, 376. 
 
 Dioscorus, account of, 126. fa 
 
 Dippelius, fanaticism of, 594; character of him and his writings, 595. 
 
 Disciples, LXX., authority and office of, 20. 
 
 Discord between Greeks and Latins; seeds sown in vil. cent. 154, 
 
 Dissenters, are tolerated in England, 617; their state in xviii. cent. 724 
 in xix. cent. 749, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Dissidents, Polish, toleration of, 722. 
 
 Divines, Belgic, oppose the form of concord, 467; adopt the sentiments 
 of Voet, 618. 
 
 —-, biblical, their state in xiv. cent. 352. 
 
 ——, didactic, in xiv. cent. both Greek and Latin, adopt the rules of 
 the Aristotelian philosophy in their writings, 352. 
 
 —_—, Mystic, in xiv. cent. account of, 353. 
 
 ———, Polemic. See Controversial Writers, 
 
 ————, Saxon, draw up a new creed, 589. 
 
 Divinity, systematic, not to be met with in ii. cent. 43. 
 
 Doctors, Christian, divided into two classes in xii. cent. 283. 
 
 —, Lutheran, corrupted by the stratagems of the Jesuits, 457; ne- 
 
 ver attempted to give a regular system of morality, 458. 
 
 —, Swiss, strive to reduce all churches under one form of ecclesias- 
 tical government, 470; endeavour to reconcile the puritans and 
 church of England, 489. 
 
 Doctrine, secret, among the ancient Christians, 25. 
 
 ——, Fathers of the Christian, 430. 
 
 Dodwell, Henry, zeal and works of, 617. 
 
 Dominic, his zeal in extirpating error, and destroying heretics, 309; he 
 founds a monastic order, ib. 
 
 Dominicans, an order of monks founded in xiii. cent. 309; the vow of 
 absolute poverty is imposed on them by their founder, ib.; some are 
 sent into England, and called Black F'riars, 310; styled Jacobins in 
 France, ib.; esteemed by the popes, with the eminent services done to 
 the latter, ib.; dispute between them and the university of Paris, 
 31L; they erect their first court of inquisition at Toulouse, 325; de- 
 prived of their ancient honours, and how long, 354; the cruel and 
 impious fraud practised by them at Bern, 388; they are greatly in- 
 strumental in obtaining the condemnation of Luther, 289. 
 
 Domitian, a persecutor of the Christians, 16. 
 
 Donatists, rise of the controversy with, 991; they are repeatedly con- 
 demned by councils, 100; their state under Julian and Gratian, 101; 
 the two causes of their decline, ib.; ruin, 122, 143. 
 
 Dorotheus, a moral writer, 154. 
 
 Dort, or Dordrecht, synod of, in which the doctrine of Arminius is 
 condemned, 609, 625. 
 
 Dositheus, a Samaritan impostor, 30. 
 
 Doxopatrius, eminent for his knowledge in ecclesiastical polity, 247. 
 
 Dudith, his character, 506. 
 
 Dulcinus, leader of the sect of the apostles, 333. 
 
 Dungal, an Irishman, his great character, 185. 
 
 Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury, 367. 
 
 Dureus, John, great character of, 581; some of his tenets, 582. 
 
 Durand, William, account of, 320. 
 
 ——, of St. Portian, a polemic divine, 322. 
 
 Dursians, Druses, or Duruzians, a sect inhabiting Mount Libanus, 
 447, 715. 
 
 Dutch, their schemes for propagating Christianity in the East Indies, 
 522; zeal for spreading the Gospel in the American provinces, how 
 obstructed, 525; sects among them in xvii. cent. 621. 
 
 Duytz, Rupert of, an eminent expositor of the Scriptures, 279. 
 
 Easter, disputes in ii. cent. about the time of keeping it, 48; the cele- 
 bration made the same through all Christian churches, 49. 
 
 Ebionites, a sect of heretics in 1. cent. 50. 
 
 Eccard, Henry, a famous brother of the Free Spirit, 356. 
 
 Eckius, one of the first adversaries of Luther, 394. ; . 
 
 Eclectic philosophers, their order established at Alexandria, 5 ; how dif- 
 ferent from those philosophers of this name in the time of Ammo- 
 nius, 39. 
 
 , philosophers so called in xvii. cent. 536; the most famous 
 among them, ib. . 
 
 Ecthesis, a remarkable edict, 157. 
 
 Eginhard, character of, 184; author of the life of Charlemagne, 190. 
 
 Elfric, archbishop of Canturbury, character of, 216. 
 
 Eligius, or Eloi, bishop of Limoges, his works, 152; his character of a 
 good Christian, 153. ; P 
 
 Elipand, archbishop of Toledo, his heretical tenets, 174. 
 
 Elizabeth, of Schonauge, the prophetess in xii. cent. 281. : 
 
 , queen of England, her character, and religious establishment, 
 414; her rigorous treatment of the puritans, 478; her opinions con- 
 cerning church government, 480, 485. ; 
 
 —, princes Palatine, shows favour to the Labadists, 642; her taste 
 for fanaticism, ib. 
 
 Elliot, John, his success in converting the North Americans, 524. 
 
 E)xai, and his followers, an account of, 50. “ads 
 
 Emperors, Christian, their severity against Paganism in iv. cent.; why 
 levelled against the multitude, 82. ‘ 
 
 Empire, Roman, its state at Christ’s birth, 1; the nature of its govern- 
 ment considered, ib. ; its extent advantageous to Christianity, 1b.; en- 
 
 joys peace at the time of Christ’s appearance; the necessity for such 
 
 a tranquillity to the success of the Gospel, ib. _ ] Mire ’ 
 
 , eastern, its decline in viii. cent. through intestine divisions and 
 invasive hostilities, 163. 
 
 Engiand, its advantages for literature in vii. cent. due to Theodore of 
 
 795 
 
 of the sciences encouraged by William the Conqueror, 227; it re- 
 nounces the opinions of Calvin, relative to the divine decrees, 470; 
 court of Rome fails in its attempts against it, 542; enemies of Chris- 
 tianity here in xviii. cent. with some mistakes rectified, 645, 646, 725, 
 
 English send missionasies into America, in xvi. cent. 419; firmly re- 
 ject the plan of Geneva, 485; disensions, and two parties thereupon, 
 ib.; this schism prevented from extending to the reformed abroad, ib. ; 
 new missions in America, 522, 1 
 
 Ennodius, bishop of Ticinum, his adulatory apology for pope Symma- 
 chus, and its consequences, 136, 
 
 Eon, a fanatic in xii. cent. 292. 
 
 Ephesus, third general council of, condemns Nestorius, 124; the doc- 
 trine concerning Christ established at this council commonly received 
 among Christians, 125. 
 
 ——, council of, why called the assembly of robbers, 126. 
 
 Ephraim, the Syrian, his character, 89. 
 
 Epictetus, an ornament to the Stoics, 38. 
 
 Epicureans, their poops doctrines, 4. 
 
 Epiphanius, his character and works, 89. 
 
 Episcopacy acquires strength from the councils, 41; triumphs in England 
 under James I., 609. 
 
 Episcopius, Simon, a leading man among the Arminians, 625, 
 
 Erasmus attacks the superstitions of the clergy and court of Rome 
 in his writings, 385; ably interprets the Scriptures, 434. 
 
 Ernest, Justinian, his plan for propagating the Gospel abroad, how pre- 
 vented, 522. 
 
 of Hesse, changes his religion, 546. 
 of Saxe-Gotha, a pious prince, 577. 
 
 Essenes, a Jewish sect, 7. 
 
 Ethelbert, the first Christian king among the Anglo-Saxons, 131. 
 
 Evagrius, an account of his ecclesiastical history, 137. 
 
 Evangelists, to whom this title is due, 20, 661. 
 
 Eucharists, controversy in ix. cent. concerning Christ’s presence, 196; no 
 fixed opinion concerning this doctrine in the Latin churches, 197 ; how 
 explained in x. cent. 217; doctrine of transubstantiation established 
 in Xiil. cent. 325; rites instituted in relation to it, ib.; the opus opera- 
 tum in it, 438; frequent celebration of it, a subject of debate in the 
 Romish church, ib. 
 
 * Eucharius, a moral writer, 116, 119. 
 
 Eugenius III., pope, his good character, and the troubles he undere 
 went, 273. 
 
 Eugenius IV. calls the council of Basil, 367; attempts in vain to dis- 
 solve it, 368; is deposed, ib. 
 
 Eugippus, a writer of the lives of the saints, 140. 
 
 Eulogius, a polemic writer, 137. 
 
 Eusebius, bishop of Cesarea, his character, 88. 
 
 Eustathian troubles, 95. 
 
 Eustathius, bishop of Thessalonica, his commentaries on Homer, 267. 
 
 Eustratius, his works and character, iil. 279. 
 
 Eutyches, his sentiments concerning Christ, and supposed tenets, 279 ; 
 he is excommunicated and deposed, ib. ; is acquainted, ib. 
 
 Eutychian sect, its rise, 126; its state in the vi. cent. 143. 
 
 Eutychius, bishop of Alexandria, 216. 
 
 Excommunication, necessary in the infancy of the Christian church, 
 26; the nature and extent of it in vill. cent. 167; warm contest about 
 it in xvi. cent. 495. 
 
 Exorcists, duty of, 64. 
 
 Fanatics, many infect the Greeks in xii. cent. 287; disputes between 
 some and Luther, 459; they excite tumults, ib. 
 
 Farnovians, a sect of Socinians in xvi. cent. 506, 510. 
 
 Farnovius, (Farnesius,) founder of a sect, 512; his tenets and eminent 
 disciples, ib.; he separates from the Unitarians, ib. 
 
 Fasting, when introduced into the Christian church, 28; considered as 
 a security against the power of demons, 70; the manner of observ- 
 ing this custom in iv. cent. 98. } 
 
 Fathers, of the church, general character of, 24; the merit of their mo- 
 ral writings examined, 44; remarkable veneration paid to them, and 
 to all theological writers of the first six centuries, 174. 
 
 Felix II., bishop of Rome, deprives Acacius of the see of Constan- 
 tinople, 128. 
 
 , bishop of Urgel, broaches heretical doctrine, 179. } 
 Felix V. (duke of Savoy) elected bishop of Rome by the council of 
 Basil, 368; resigns, 369. ' 
 Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray, defends Madame Guyon against 
 
 Bossuet, 571. 
 
 Ferrara, council of, in xv. cent. 368. f 
 
 Festivals, the increase of, in iv. cent. with the cause, 98; their number 
 in vi. cent. 142; one instituted in remembrance of all departed 
 souls, 219. 
 
 Ficinus, Marsilius, an ornament to the Platonists in xv. cent. 376. 
 
 Fifth-monarchy men, their rise and character, 615. 
 
 Finlanders, converted to Christianity in xii. cent. 260. 
 
 Firmin propagates the Gospel in viil. cent. 162. _ } 
 
 Fisher, Samuel, assists Fox in reducing Quakerism to a kind of regular 
 form, 630. 
 
 T arsus, 150; learning promoted in ix. cent. by Alfred, 184; the study |! Flacius, Matthias, excites divisions in the Lutheran church, 463. 
 
796 
 
 Flagellantes, rise and account of, 321; their impious tenets, ib.; a new 
 sect of them, 379; the sum of their doctrine, ib. 
 
 Flavianus, bishop of Constantinople, beaten to death in the second 
 council of Ephesus, 126. 
 
 Florence, council at, summoned by Eugenius IV., 368. 
 
 Fludd, Robert, defends the philosophy of Paracelsus, 456; refuted by 
 Gassendi, 532. 
 
 Forbes, William, his pacific counsels and character, 545. 
 
 Fortunatus, his character, 138. 
 
 Fox, George. See Quakers. 
 
 France, the flourishing state of learning there in xi. cent. 227; spirit- 
 ual libertines get footing there in xvi. cent. 488. 
 
 Francfort, a council assembled by Charlemagne, 177; the worship of 
 images unanimously condemned, ib. : 
 
 Francis, founder of the Franciscans—his extraordinary change of life 
 and manners, 310. 
 
 Francis I. king of France, abrogates the Pragmatic Sanction, and in- 
 stitutes the Concordat, 386. 
 
 Franciscans, an order of friars, their rise in xiii. cent. 309; their ser- 
 vices to the popes, 310; the miseries which the rigid Franciscans un- 
 dergo, 315; quarrel of the whole order with pope John XXIL, 348; 
 peace concluded, 349 ; a division of this fraternity, 350. 
 
 Franks, conversion of, 109. 
 
 Fratricelli, their origin in xiii. cent. 316; how they differed from the 
 Spiritual Franciscans, ib.; enormities among them in xiv. cent. 346; 
 their suppression ordered by John XXIJI., 347; many of them are 
 burned for opposing his orders, ib. ; persecuted again in xv. cent. 371. 
 
 Frauds, pious, 46, 91. 
 
 Frederic [. (Barbarossa,) emperor, determines to restrain the authority of 
 the church, 273; enacts a law to prevent transferring fiefs without the 
 consent of their superior lords, ib.; supports the election of Calixtus 
 IIL. in opposition to Alexander III., 274; concludes a treaty with the 
 latter, ib. 
 
 Frederic II. is excommunicated, 294; takes possession of Jerusalem, 
 ib. ; charged with impiety, 297; zealous in promoting literature, 298. 
 
 the Wise, elector of Saxony, espouses the cause of Luther, 
 
 392, 397. 
 
 III. elector Palatine, patronises the Calvinists, 476; his son 
 restores Lutheranism, iv. 
 
 Frumentius, the success of his ministry among the Abyssinians in iv. 
 cent. 83. 
 
 Fuibert, bishop of Chartres, his character, 248. 
 
 Fulgentius attacks the Pelagians and Arians with great warmth, 138. 
 
 Gal St.. propagates the Gosvel among the Suevi and Helvetii, 146, 
 
 Galenists, a sect of the Waterlandians, 638. 
 
 Galerius, Maximian, persecutes the Christians, 78. 
 
 Galileo the astronomer, his fame, 530. 
 
 Gallic pontiffs, diminution of papal power under them, 341; their 
 schemes to acquire wealth, ib 
 
 Gassendi, an eminent philosopher in xvii. cent. 532; attacks Aristotle 
 and his followers, ib; his wise method of philosophical investigation, 
 533; why the chief adversary of Des-Cartes, ib. 
 
 Gaul, conversion of the inhabitants of, 33, 83, 109. 
 
 Geneva, church of, 485; a college founded in that city by Calvin, 486. 
 
 Genghiz-Khan, great success of, 266. 
 
 Gennadius, writes against the Latins in xv. cent. his good charac- 
 ter, 372. 
 
 Gentilli, council at, 177. 
 
 George, David, founder of the Davidists in xvi. cent. 501; his charac- 
 ter and tenets, ib. 
 
 Georgians, converted to Christianity by a captive, 83; their religious 
 state, 444. 
 
 Gerard’s impious doctrine, 162. 
 
 , a leader of fanatics at Munster, 493. 
 
 Germans, are partly christianized in il. cent. 33; wholly converted in 
 viii. cent. 161. } 
 
 Germans, a sect of Anabaptists, 496. 
 
 Gerson, John, a zealous opposer of papal despotism, 372; labours to 
 reform the schoolmen, 375. 
 
 Ghost, Holy, controversy concerning its derivation, 196, 
 
 Gilbert, bishop of London, extensive erudition of, 282. 
 
 Glassius, his sacred philology, 587. 
 
 Gnostics, a sect in the time of the apostles, 29; their impious opinions 
 about Christ, and moral doctrines, 30; dissensions among them, ib.; 
 their principles revived in iv. cent. 105. 
 
 Godeschale, begins a controversy concerning predestination and grace, 
 197; his doctrine is twice condemned, ib. 
 
 Godfrey, duke of Lorrain, engages in the first crusade in xi. cent. 223; 
 his great character, ib. 
 
 Gomar, Francis, opposes Arminius, 605, 623. 
 
 Gospel, promulgation of, 11. 
 
 Goths, their conversion to Christianity, 58, 83; their cruelty to the 
 Christians in Gaul, 111. 
 
 Grace, various controversies concerning, in v. cent. 130; Aucustin’s 
 opinion concerning it, ib.; disputes about it in ix. cent. and its un- 
 happy consequences, 197; a subject of controversy in xvi. cent. 437; 
 
 ————— EEE 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 contests about it in xvii. cent. and hence the terms Sublapsarians and 
 Supralapsarians, 604. 
 Gras, Louisa le, founds the Virgins of Love, 556. 
 Gratian composes an epitome of the canon law, 269, 280. 
 Greece, the state of learning there in i. cent. 19; Romish missions, 574. 
 Greek and Latin churches, schism between them unhappily revived in 
 xi. cent. 251; many attempts for a reconciliation in xiil. cent. ineffec- 
 tual, 324, 325; similar attempts in xviii. cent. 715. 
 Greeks, empire ruined, 359 ; religious and political state of the Greeks, 
 441 to 444. 
 Gregory, Thaumaturgus, conduct and works of, 47, 65. 
 the Enlightener, converts the Armenians, 83. 
 WNazianzen, and of Nyssa, account of them and their 
 works, 89. 
 the Great, sends Augustine with many Benedictines ‘inte 
 Britain, 131; the success of his labours in the west, 132; his litera- 
 ry character, 138; moral and religious character, 139; expositions, 
 ib.; canon of the mass, 142. 
 of ‘Tours, his character as a writer, 138. 
 II., pope, deposes Leo the Isaurian, 176; his zeal for ima- 
 
 ges, ib. 
 
 III. also zealous for image worship, 176. ' 
 
 VII. (Hildebrand,) his election unanimously approved, 235; 
 his extraordinary character, ib.; he aims at universal empire in the 
 church and state, ib.; enacts decrees against simony and concubi- 
 nage among the clergy, 237, 238; is sainted, 243; his moderate and 
 and candid behaviour to Berenger, 253; his real sentiments of th 
 eucharist, 254. 
 IX. excommunicates the emperor F'rederic II. 304. 
 
 X. acts arbitrarily, 506. 
 
 XI. his character, 343. 
 
 XII. (Angelo Corrario,) anti-pope, 362; resigns, 363. 
 
 XY. founds the college de propaganda fide at Rome, 513 
 
 his character, 537. : 
 
 Gribaldi, Matthew, his doctrine, 504. 
 
 Grisons, doctrine of Claudius propagated among them, 502. 
 
 Groningenists, a sect of the refined Anabaptists, 637. 
 
 Grotius, Hugo, endeavours to reconcile the church of Rome and the 
 Protestants, 545; a philosophical reformer, particularly of the Peri- 
 patetics, 584; his hypothesis concerning the prophets, 603 ; a favourer 
 of the Arminians, 623; rupture between him and prince Maurice, 624 
 
 Gruet opposes Calvin, 488; his impious tenets, and fate, ib. 
 
 Guelphs and Guibellines, seditious factions in Italy in xiii. cent. 305. 
 
 Gunpowder Plot, an account of, 542, 
 
 Gustavus Vasa, king of Sweden, zealous in promoting the Reforma 
 tion, 403. 
 
 Adolphus, maintains the cause of Germanic liberty against 
 the emperor Ferdinand, 540; falls at the battle of Lutzen, ib. 
 
 Guthebald, an English priest, successful in his mission among the Nor- 
 wegians, 207. 
 
 Guy, Juvenal, attempts a reformation among the monks in xv. cent. 370, 
 
 Guyon, Madame, a patron of Quietism in France, 571; her writings 
 refuted by Bossuet, ib. 
 
 Haan, Galen Abraham, founder of the Galenists, and character, 638; 
 his opinions, and by whom opposed, ib. 
 
 Hales, Alexander, the Irrefragable Doctor, 300. 
 
 , achief leader of the Latitudinarians, in xvii. cent. his great cha 
 racter, 616. 
 
 Halitgarius, his system of morality, 193. 
 
 Hampton-court, famous conference at, 609. 
 
 Harald propagates and establishes Christianity among the Danes in ix. 
 cent. 207. 
 
 Hardouin, character of, 558. 
 
 Harmenopulus, a polemic writer, 279, 285. 
 
 Harphius, Henry, a mystic writer, 394, 376. 
 
 Hattemists, a Dutch sect, 621; a chief maxim among them, 622. 
 
 Haymo, bishop of Halberstadt, 190. 
 
 Heidegger, Henry, form of concord drawn up by him, and its fate, 622 
 
 Heidelberg, catechism of, adopted by the Calvinists, 476. 
 
 Helmont, a Rosecrucian, 532. 
 
 Hemerobaptists, a sect among the Jews, 446. 
 
 Hemmingius, Nicolas, his character, 483. 
 
 Henoticon, published by Zeno, 128; produces new contests among the 
 Eutychians, ib. 
 
 Henricians, a sect in xil. cent. 289. 
 
 Henry, archbishop of Upsal, founder of the church of the Finlanders, 
 260; is murdered and sainted, 261. 
 
 IV., emperor, refuses to resign his right of investiture, 241; as- 
 sembles a council at Worms, and accuses pope Gregory VII. of flm 
 gitious practices, 242; is excommunicated and deposed by Gregory, 
 ib.; his pusillanimous conduct at Canusium, ib.; breaks his conven 
 
 + tion and renews the war against the pope, ib.; dies in misery, 271. 
 
 V. imprisons the pope, 271. 
 
 —— II. of England, his dispute with pope Alexander IIL., 274; rea: 
 sons to think he did not consent to the murder of Becket, 275. 
 
 VIL. of England, renounces the papal supremacy, 410. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Llenry IV. of France, renounces the reformed religion with views of 
 policy, 477. 
 
 Heraclian’s book against the Manicheans, 143. 
 
 Heraclius, emperor, persecutes the Jews, and compels them to embrace 
 Christianity, in vil. cent. 147; his edict in favour of the Monothe- 
 lites, 156. 
 
 parecer, oF Cherbury, lord, account of, 527; instance of his fanati- 
 cism, ib. 
 
 Heresies, ancient, revive in v. cent. and cause new troubles, 122; re- 
 mains of them in vi. cert. 142, 143; continue in x. cent. 220. 
 
 Heretics spring up occasionally, 28, 50, 71, 99, d&c. 
 
 Heric, a celebrated monk of Auxerre, 185, 
 
 Hermits, their rise in ili. cent. 66. 
 
 Hermogenes, tenets of, 55. 
 
 Herrenhutters, rise of that sect in xviii. cent. 649 ; Dr. Mosheim’s vague 
 description of it censured, with its character by Dr. Maclaine, ib.; 
 farther accourt of it, 719. 
 
 Hervey, a learned Benedictine monk, 282. 
 
 Hevelius, a Ges.ian philosopher, 530. 
 
 Heyling, pious laours of, in Ethiopia, 576. 
 
 Hierax, the founder of a sect, 73. 
 
 High-churchmen, principles of the English, 618. 
 
 Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, 352. 
 
 Hildebert, archbishop of Tours, his excellent system of divinity, 250. 
 
 Hildebrand, pope. See Gregory VII. 
 
 Hildegard, a pretended prophetess in xii. cent. 281. 
 
 Hilduin, author of the Areopagitica, 190. é 
 
 Hinemar, archbishop of Rheims, his character, 190. 
 
 Hippolytus, works of, 67. 
 
 History of the church, the method of treating it in the xvi. cent.; why 
 changed from that of the preceding centuries, 383 ; its division into 
 two heads, ib.; of the Reformation, 385; its improvements in xvii. 
 cent. 530; innumerable advantages of it, ib.; a short view of it in 
 Xvill. cent. 644; a more copious account, 703; in xix. cent. '736. 
 
 Hoadly, bishop of Winchester, excites a controversy, 724. 
 
 Hobbes, a daring and artful opposer of Christianity, 525. 
 
 Hoburg, Christian, a petulant writer against the Lutherans, 599. 
 
 Hoe, Matthew, his defence of the Protestants, 539; his perfidy, ib. 
 
 Hoffman, disputes between that divine and his colleagues, 456; his 
 tenets, ib. 
 
 venlohe, the prince, a fanatic, 746. 
 idays, their number diminished by an edict of Urban VIII., 572. 
 
 Holstenius, Lacas, attempts to reconcile the Greek and Latin 
 churches, 574. 
 
 Hfomilies, their origin in vii. cent. 174. 
 
 Honorius I., pope, embellishes churches in vii. cent. 155; favours the 
 doctrine of one will in Christ, 156. 
 
 Hospitalers, Knight8, origin and nature of their office, 264; deviate 
 from the design of their original institution, and commence warriors, 
 ib. ; settle in Malta, ib. 
 
 Huber, his controversy concerning predestination, 469. 
 
 Huet, bishop of Avranches, his works, 536. 
 
 Huguenots, persecuted, 478, 542, 601. 
 
 Humbert, cardinal, an eminent polemic writer among the Greeks, 248. 
 
 Hume, his censure of Luther’s opposition to indulgences, and other 
 popish superstitions, refuted, 391; his charge against the Reformers 
 examined and refuted, Appendix, 670; his character, 728. 
 
 Hungary, Christianity established in that realm, 206; reformation in- 
 troduced and settled, 482; state of Protestantism in that country in 
 Xviil. cent. 722. 
 
 Huss, John, his character, 363; he declaims vehemently against the 
 corruptions of the clergy and court of Rome, 364; is condemned by 
 the council of Constance, and burned alive, ib.; the true cause of his 
 sufferings, 365. ; 
 
 Hussites, commotions excited by them, 373; their unwillingness to ad- 
 minister the sacrament in one kind only, ib. ; many put to cruel deaths, 
 374; war carried on, and shocking cruelties committed by them and 
 their opponents, ib. 
 
 Hutchinsonians, an account of, 725. 
 
 Hyreania, the Gospel propagated there in viii. cent. 161. 
 
 Jablonski’s plan of ecclesiastical discipline and public worship, 718. 
 
 Jacobites, a sect of the Monophysites, 144. 
 
 Jagellon, duke of Lithuania, by what means converted, 335. 
 
 Jamblichus, of Chalcis, an account of this philosopher and his suc- 
 cessors, 85. 
 
 James I. king of Great-Britain, attempts the reconciliation of the Lu- 
 theran and Reformed churches, 580; his seeming attachment to the 
 Puritans, 609 ; his change of conduct after his accession to the crown, 
 ib.; his pliability and inconsistency, 610. 
 
 IL., imprudence of, 543; why obliged to abdicate the throne, ib.; 
 tolerates the Quakers, and from what motives, 630. 
 
 Jansenism, its rise, and the contests it produced, 563; Jansenius’ book, 
 ib.; attacked by the Jesuits, 564; who procure its condemnation at 
 Rome, ib. ; revival of the contest, 704, '708. 
 
 Jansenists, theircontest with the Jesuits described, and how both par- 
 ties were balanced, 564; methods and arguments employed by both 
 
 No. LX VIL. 
 
 | 
 Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, his epistles, 24; he is exposed by Trajan 
 
 797 
 
 parties in this controversy, and miracles pretended by the Jansenists, 
 564, 565; persecuted, and by whom, 566; their austere piety ex- 
 amined, 567; deservedly denominated Rigorists, ib.; revival of the 
 contest, 704, 708. 
 
 Japan, state of Christianity in that empire, 521; prejudices of the na- 
 tives, and divisions among the missionaries, ib. ; its downfall and ex- 
 urpation, how effected, ib. 
 
 Jaqueline, the abbess, character of, 568. 
 
 Jasidians, or Jezdeans, a sect, 447; their opinion about the evil genius, ib. 
 
 Iconoclasts, origin of, 176. 
 
 Iconoduli, or Iconolatre, 176. 
 
 Ideas, universal, controversy about, 211. 
 
 Jerome, of Palestine, his character, 89. 
 
 Jerusalem, the seat of the first Christian church, 12; famous council 
 holden there in xvii. cent. 574. 
 
 knights of St. John of, 246. 
 
 Jesuates, or apostolic clerks, their rise in xiv. cent. 350; their order 
 abolished, ib. 
 
 Jesuiabas, Nestorian pontiff, his treaty with Mohammed and Omar in 
 vill. cent. 155. 
 
 Jesuits, order of, 418; the methods by which they propagated Christi- 
 anity considered, ib. ; the nature and division of this society into three 
 classes, 426; their zeal for the interest of the Roman pontifis, ana 
 the true motives of their missions, ib.; their notions of divine grace 
 and original sin, 437; doctrine about the mctives to moral actions, ib.; 
 about the sacraments, ib.; make use of the intricate sophistry of the 
 schoolmen to puzzle the Protestants, 455; their stratagems corrupt 
 the Lutheran doctors, 457; accused of sinister views by the other 
 orders, 514; and of malpractices in China, 518; principal charge 
 against them, 519; their influence in France considered, 552; multi- 
 tude of their adversaries, 556; some of their pernicious maxims, 560; 
 their disputes with the Jansenists, 563, 704, 708 ; their temporalry suc- 
 cess, 709; they at length excite such odium, that the king of F'rance 
 suppresses their order, 710; they are banished from Portugal and 
 Spain, 709; and the pope annihilates their fraternity, 710; but ano- 
 ther pontiff re-instates the order, 737. 
 
 Jesus, fathers of the oratory of the Holy, 555. 
 
 Jews, their civil and religious state under Herod, 6; after his death, ib.; 
 their sufferings, ib. ; their religion corrupted among all ranks, ib; their 
 principal sects, ib.; variously interpret the doctrine of future rewards 
 and punishments, '7; the moral doctrine of their sects, 8; corrupt the 
 external worship of God, by rites from the Gentiles, ib.; their state 
 out of Palestine, an evident proof of a providerice in human affairs, 9- 
 they persecute the Christians in Palestine and foreign countries, 13 
 their pretexts for this procedure, and the punishments inflicted upon 
 them, 14; the state of their philosophy, 19; their sedition under Bar- 
 cochebas, and its melancholy consequences to them, with its advan- 
 tages to Christianity, 35; their fruitless attempt to rebuild their tem- 
 ple in iv. cent. 81; many converted in vi. cent. and by what means, 
 132; many writers against them, in xii. cent. 285; the crimes charged 
 upon them, and the forced conversion of many of them in xiv. cent. 
 336; their state in xix. cent. 747. 
 
 to wild beasts, 24, 35. 
 
 ——_——., patriarch of Constantinople, deposed by the emperor 
 Michael, 199; re-instated, ib. 
 
 Ignatius, Loyola, founder of the order of Jesuits, 418, 426. 
 
 Ildefonso, archbishop of Toledo, 154. 
 
 Illuminati, societies of, 721. 
 
 Images, worship of, its rise, 90; great progress in v. cent. 117; dispute 
 concerning it in the eastern and western churches, and consequences, 
 175; the cause of a civil war in the reign of the emperor Leo, 176; 
 zealously defended by Gregory IT. and IIL. ib,; new controversies con- 
 cerning it in the east, 194; where it is established, 195; disputes 
 among the Latins concerning it, and a middle course taken, ib.; the 
 use of them in churches allowed, but their worship prohibited, ib. 
 
 Impanation, or consubstantiation, 475. ‘ 
 
 Independents claim the honour of carrying the Gospel into America, 
 524; charged with promoting dissensions in England, 612; Rapin’s 
 account of them examined and corrected, 613; whether chargeable 
 with the death of Charles I., ib.; remarks on Dr. Mosheim’s defence of 
 them, ib.; their difference from the Presbyterians, ib. ; their modera- 
 tion commended, and how more commendable than the Brownists, 
 614; their prosperity under Cromwell, 615; their union with the 
 Presbyterians, ib. ; new independents, 735. 
 
 India, Christianity propagated there in xvii. cent. 515. ; 
 
 Indulgences, the power of granting them first assumed by the bishops 
 in xii. cent. 281; monopolised by the popes, ib.; their nature and ex- 
 tent explained, ib. ; supererogation invented and taught by St. Thomas 
 to justify them, ib.; this doctrine refuted, ib, F ¥ 
 
 Infidelity, progress of, in xvi. cent. 419; in xvii. cent. 525; in xvii 
 cent. 728. “9 
 
 Innocent II., pope, exempts the Cistertians from paying tithes, 277. 
 
 IIL, tyrannises over several princes and kingdoms, 303; aug- 
 ments the papal wealth and power, 1b. ; introduces transubstantiation 
 and auricular confession, 321. 
 
 = « 
 
798 
 
 Innocent IV., a turbulent pontiff, 305. 
 
 —— VI., a respectable ruler of the church, 343. 
 
 - ——— X., condemns the indulgence shown by the Jesuits toward the 
 Chinese superstitions, 519; his vile character and illicit commerce 
 with Donna Olympia, 537; endeavours to obstruct the peace of West- 
 phalia, 541. 
 
 XL, high character of, 538; contest with Louis XIV. 551. 
 
 XII., character of, 538. 
 
 ——— XIIL, a respectable pontiff, 646, 705. , 
 
 Inquisition, its origin in Gaul in xiil. cent. 327; its form settled, ib. ; 
 absurd and iniquitous proceedings of this court, 328; privileges 
 granted to it by various princes, ib.; violently opposed by the public, 
 a its severity in xiv. cent. 355; congregation of, instituted by Paul 
 
 IT. 422. 
 
 Instruction, form of, adopted by the Calvinists, by whom composed, and 
 for what use, 476. 
 
 Interim, an edict of Charles V. 412; troubles excited by it, ib. 
 
 Investitures, tumults in xi. cent. through the law about them, 239; cus- 
 tom by the ring and crosier, 240 ; methods used by the clergy to de- 
 prive the emperors of their right, ib.; and by the emperors to retain 
 
 lt, ib.; origin of this custom, 241; offence given to the pontiffs, ib. ; 
 
 war declared thereon, ib.; Rodolph revolts against Henry III. 242; 
 and is chosen emperor, ib.; the terrible war that follows upon his 
 election continues till the death of Gregory VII. 243; tumults under 
 Urban II. ib. ; disputes renewed in xii. cent, 271; a treaty concluded 
 at Worms on that subject, 272. 
 
 Joachim, abbot of Flora, an account of the everlasting Gospel attributed 
 
 od 
 
 to him, 313; his character and works, 320; his predictions the cause 
 
 of many sects, 333. 
 
 Joan, pope, story of, 186. 
 
 John, the forerunner of the Messiah ; his character, and success of his 
 ministry, 10. 
 
 —, bishop of Jerusalem, a zealous advocate for Origen, 96. 
 
 of Constantinople, or the Faster, assumes the title of Universal 
 Bishop, 135. 
 
 —— IV., pope, condemns the Monothelites, 157. 
 
 , surnamed Carpathius, his character, 175. 
 
 of Capua, a monkish historian, 211. 
 
 —— X., his infamous character, 212; he is imprisoned and put to 
 death, 213. 
 
 — X.1, an account of him aud his death, and character of his mo- 
 ther Marozia, 213. 
 
 XII., implores the assistance of Otho the Great, with a promise of 
 
 the purple, 213; breaks his oath of allegiance to Otho—is degraded— 
 
 reassumes the pontificate, and dies miserably, ib. 
 
 XIIL, raised to the popedom by Otho the Great, 213. 
 
 — XIV., pontificate of, 214. 
 
 — XYV., his administration peaceable, 214; enrolls the first saint, 218. 
 
 the Sophist, the head of the Nominalists, 230. 
 
 , of Salisbury, a distinguished English ecclesiastic, 280. 
 
 king of England, is excommunicated and deposed by Innocent IT; 
 
 304; procures absolution by swearing fealty to the pope, ib. 
 
 of Parma, a famous ecclesiastic in xiil. cent. 312. 
 
 XXIL., pope, a zealous advocate for crusades, 335; engages in a 
 
 contest with Louis duke of Bavaria, 342; who deposes him, ib.; his 
 
 severity to the Fratricelli, 347. 
 
 XXIII1., anti-pope, his infamous character, 363; he assembles a 
 
 council at Constance, but is deposed by it, ib. 
 
 , elector of Saxony, establishes a church in his dominions entirely 
 
 different from the church of Rome, 400. 
 
 Jonas, bishop of Orleans, his system of morality, 193. 
 
 Irenzus, bishop of Lyons, his great character, and use of his works, 42. 
 
 Irene, the profligate empress, 177. 
 
 Irish converted to Christianity in v. cent, 110; eminent for their learn- 
 ing in vill. cent. 174; illustrate Christian doctrine by philosophical 
 principles, ib.; the rise of the Reformation among them, 415. 
 
 Isbraniki (Roskolniki,) sect in Russia, its rise in xvii. cent. 575; they 
 excite commotions by some of their tenets, ib.; methods taken to con- 
 quer their obstinacy fruitless, ib.; farther account of them, 716. 
 
 Isidore, of Pelusium, his character, 116. 
 
 of Seville, a scriptural commentator, 139. 
 
 Jubilee year, when first instituted, 326; its pretended antiquity contra- 
 dicted and refuted, ib.; altered in xiv. cent. 354. 
 
 Julian, the emperor, attempts to destroy Christianity, 81; his consum- 
 ee and ruinous projects, how prevented, ib.; his charac- 
 ter, ib. 
 
 , bishop of Halicarnassus, his doctrine of the body of Christ, 144. 
 
 Juliana, her extravagant conceits, 326. 
 
 Julius Africanus, his character and works, 65. 
 
 3 a Pope, character of, 386; miserable state of the church under 
 
 im, ib. 
 
 III., his vile character, 428. 
 
 ivo, bishop of Chartres, zealous in maintaining the rights of the 
 church, 248. 
 
 Justin, the martyr, writes two apologies for the Christians, 36, 42; re- 
 marks on his works, 43, 44 
 
 _ 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Justinian, emperor, his edict against Origen, 140; his Pandect found 
 in xii. cent. at Amalphi, 268. 
 
 Juvenal, bishop of /Elia, his ambition, 113; assumes the dignity of 
 patriarch of all Palestine, ib. 
 
 Kabbala, or the Jewish science, 19. 
 
 Kang-hi, Chinese emperor, a friend to Christianity, 518; great charac- 
 ter, and munificence to the Jesuits, ib.; a change in his sentiments, 645 
 
 Keith, George a regulator of Quakerism, 631. 
 
 Kempis, Thomas a, his character, 373, 376. 
 
 Knighthood, orders of, instituted in xii. cent. 264. : 
 
 Knights, sword-bearers, an order founded to convert the Livonians, 261 
 
 Knox, John, the reformer, 414, 477. 
 
 Knutzen, founder of a transient sect, 528. 
 
 Kodde, (Vander) three brothers, founders of the Collegiants, 641. 
 
 Krudener, the baroness, an enthusiast, 745. 
 
 Labadie, John, his singular tenets, 642; character of some of the mem- 
 bers of his sect, 643. 
 
 Lactantius, an excellent writer among the Latins, 89. 
 
 Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 229, 248. 
 
 Langton, an English primate, 303, 320. 
 
 Languages, Greek, Oriental, &c., studied in xii. cent. 299; progress o. 
 that study in xvii. cent. 531 ; advantageous to the cause of religion, ib 
 
 Latins, learning encouraged among them by Charlemagne, 165; state 
 of philosophy among them in x. cent. wretched, 211; complaints of 
 infidelity and atheism among them in xiii. cent. 296 ; great schism 
 among them in xiv. cent. 343; the multiplicity of ceremonies they 
 had in xv. cent. 377. 
 
 Latitudinarians, their rise in England, 616; doctrine and chief lead- 
 ers, ib. 
 
 Laud, archbishop, introduces Arminianism into England, 605; his 
 mixed character and arbitrary proceedings, 611; his unhappy 
 fate, 612. 
 
 Law, Roman, its study happily restored in xii. cent. 268; opinion about 
 substituting it in the place of all others, ib.; canon, admitted to the 
 same privilege, 269; civil and canon, much studied in xiii, cent. 301 
 
 Learning, when first introduced to support the cause of Christianit, 
 42; advantageous to the Reformation, and one great cause of it, 385, 
 See Letters. 
 
 Legion, story of the thundering, 34. 
 
 Leibnitz, his philosophy retards the progress of Arminianism in Ger- 
 many, 628; some of his principles are favourable to Calvinism, 629. 
 
 Leipsic, conference at, for reconciling the Lutheran and reformed 
 churches, 580. 
 
 Leo L, the Great, a vigorous asserter of the power of the Roman see, 
 115; his character, 116; his epistle to Flavianus received as a rule 
 of faith, 127. 
 
 the Isaurian, his contest with the pope, 170; zeal against image- 
 
 worship, 176; he is excommunicated, ib. 
 
 IV., emperor, endeavours to suppress the practice of image-wor- 
 
 ship, 177. 
 
 the Wise, an account of, 183. 
 
 —— VI., emperor, writes against the Saracens, 194. 
 
 the Philosopher, promotes learning among the Greeks, 210; his 
 
 fourth marriage occasions violent disputes in the Greek churches, 218. 
 
 V., pope, dethroned and-imprisoned, 212. 
 
 IX., aims atuniversal dominion, 230; grants to the Normans their 
 
 conquered and usurped countries, 231; his character, ib. 
 
 X., his bad character, 586; his famous edict for granting indul- 
 
 gences, with their extent, 391, 392. 
 
 XIL., a bigoted pontiff, 789 ; celebrates a jubilee, ib. 
 
 Leszynski, his impiety and fate, 528. : 
 
 Letters flourish under Trajan, 38; their decay, 62; dispute concern- 
 ing their utility in iil. cent. ib.; their state in 1v. cent. 85; encouraged 
 by Constantine and by succeeding emperors, zb.; their excellence ac« 
 knowledged in v. cent. 112; found only among the monks and bishops 
 in vi. cent. 134; their state in vii. cent. 149; decline among the 
 Greeks in viii. cent. 183; they revive among the Latins under Char- 
 lemagne, ib.; controversies with the Latins cause them to flourish 
 among the Greeks in 1x. cent. ib.; impediments to their progress in 
 the West, 184; encouraged in Greece, 210; their state among the 
 Saracens, 210; their deplorable fate among the Latins in x. cent. 211, 
 restored by pope Sylvester II. ib.; the entire decay of the sciences 
 how prevented among the Greeks in xi. cent. 227; and their princi- 
 pal writers, ib.; revive in the West, ib.; are studied among the 
 Latins with the greatest assiduity, in xii. cent. 267; their great pro- 
 gress in the West in xiil. cent. 294; many Jearned men among the 
 Greeks in xiv. cent. 338; state of learning among the Latins, 358, 
 360; what branches of it were cultivated in Italy, 360; its reduced 
 state, 389; its revival, 419; its state in xvii. cent. 557. 
 
 Lucopetrus, founder of a fanatical sect, 287. 
 
 Leutard, troubles excited by him in x. cent. 220 
 
 Leutheric, archbishop of Sens, his notion that none but good men can 
 receive the body of Christ, 252. 
 
 Libertines, spiritual brethren and sisters, their tenets, 488. 
 
 Licinius, persecution of the Christians under him, 80; his turbulence, 
 defeat, and death, ib. 
 
INDEX 
 
 L’Isle, Alan de, an eminent iogician in xiii. cent. 299. 
 
 Lithuanians, partly converted by the Teutonic knights in xiii, cent. 295 ; 
 their conversion completed in xiv. cent. 335. 
 
 Liturgy of the church of England, a plan for introducing it into Prus- 
 sia and the Hanoverian electorate, 718. 
 
 Livonians, compelled to embrace the Gospel by the greatest cruelty and 
 oppression, 261. 
 
 Locke, John, the philosopher, 535. 
 
 Logic, the study of, much admired and followed in xi. cent. 228; the 
 
 * most eminent logicians, ib. 
 
 Lollard, Walter, not founder of the Lollards, 356. 
 
 Lollards, account of, 350, 356. 
 
 Lombard, Peter, an eminent theologian, 280, 282; his book of sen- 
 tences in greater repute than the Bible, 284. 
 
 London, the Royal Society founded at, 530, | 
 
 Lord’s Supper, its celebration in ii. cent. 49; in iil, cent. 70; its sym- 
 bols adored, 99. 
 
 Love, Family of, an anabaptist sect, 501. 
 
 —, Virgins of, an order in the Romish church, 556. 
 
 Louis, the Debounaire, a patron of the arts and sciences, 183; his edict 
 in behalf of the pope’s election, spurious, 186; his zeal in suppress- 
 ing the vices of the monks, 189; he encourages Mysticism, 194. 
 
 IX., of France, afterwards sainted, his two crusades and their 
 
 success, 295; his famous edict, called the Pragmatic Sanction, 302. 
 
 , duke of Bavaria, his contest with John XXII., 342; he patro- 
 
 nises the Franciscans, 349. 
 
 , elector Palatine, restores Lutheranism in Germany, 476. 
 
 XIV., of France, his solemn ambassy to the king of Siam, 516; 
 great patron of the arts and sciences, 530; contest with two of the 
 eo 550; he persecutes the Jansenists, 567; revokes the edict of 
 
 antes, 601. 
 
 Low-Churechmen in xvii. cent. 617. 
 
 Lucar, Cyrillus, opposes the union of the Greek and Latin churches, 
 574; is put to death, ib. 
 
 Lueas, a follower of Spinosa, 531. 
 
 Luciferians, a sect, 95, 
 
 Ludolph, his learned labours, 577. 
 
 Lully, Raymond, a philosopher, 339; different opions about him, ib. 
 
 Lupus, Servatus, great abilities and works of, 185, 190. 
 
 Luther, Martin, character of, 390; he warmly opposes Tetzel’s preach- 
 ing of indulgences, and hence the rise of the Reformation is to be 
 dated, 391; his motives vindicated, ib.; he is violently opposed, 392; 
 his fruitless conference with Caietan, ib.; his dispute with Eckius, 
 394; he is excommunicated by Leo X., 396; separates himself from 
 the church of Rome, ib.; offers submission to the determination of a 
 general council lawfully assembled, ib. ; is unjustly banished, 397; his 
 doctrine of the eucharist, 399; draws up the Articles of Torgau, 403; 
 his catechisms, 451; form of concord, ib.; explications of Scripture, 
 487; he suppresses the Antinomians, 461; publishes his confession 
 of faith, 472. ; 
 
 Lutherans, esteemed by the Spaniards as better subjects than the Cal- 
 vinists, 481; their ecclesiastical laws and polity, 586; the state of 
 theology and moral science among them, 587, 588; state of their 
 church in xviil. cent. 717; in xix. cent. 744. 
 
 Lutkeman, Joachim, his singular opinions, 597. 
 
 Lyons, a council at, in xiii. cent. 306; a famous decree concerning the 
 cardinals, during the vacancy of the pontificate, ib. 
 
 Lyranus, Nicolas, great character of, 352. 
 
 Mabillon, a Learned Benedictine, 554. 
 
 Macarius, character of, as a moralist, 92. 
 
 , of Ireland, his gross error, 185, 
 
 Maccovius, introduces subtilties into theology, 487; followed by 
 others, ib. 
 
 Macedonius, a heretic in iv. cent. 105. 
 
 Madura, account of that successful mission, and its author, 515; the 
 singular method used, ib. 
 
 Magnus, Albertus, a philosophical divine, 320. 
 
 Magus, Simon, a blasphemous sectary, 31. 
 
 Mahomet. See Mohammed. 
 
 Malebranche, the philosopher, 535. 
 
 Mandeville, an infidel, 645. 
 
 Manes, Manicheus, account of him, 71; his doctrine of two principles, 
 ib.; various reports about his death, ib.; his summary concerning 
 man, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, ib.; his opinions of the Old und 
 New Testaments, 72; his rule of life austere, ib. 
 
 Manicheans, their general assembly, 73; their state in vi. cent. 143; 
 continue in xv. cent. 377. 
 
 Marca, Peter de, writes against the papal claims, 550. 
 
 Marcellus, of Ancyra, a sectary, 105. 
 
 Marcion, founder of a sect in Asia, 51. 
 
 Margaret of Navarre, favours the Reformation in France, 405. 
 
 Mark, the hermit, his works and character, 119. 
 
 Maronites, whence so called, 158; retain the opinions of the Monothe- 
 lites till xii. cent. ib.; their subjection to Rome in xvi. cent. 449. 
 
 Mayronius, Francis, a scholastic divine, 352, 
 
 Marpurg, conference at, 402, 
 
 799 
 
 Marriage allowed to the clergy, 64. 
 
 Martial, the bishop, declared an apostle, 256. 
 
 Mactin, bishop of Tours, converts the Gauls in iv. cent. 83; erects the 
 first monasteries in Guul, 93. 
 
 , bishop of Braga, nis summary of a virtuous life, 140. 
 
 , pope, anathernaiises the Monothelites and their patrons, 157: 
 
 is banished for one year, ib. 
 
 Raymond, a distinguished author, 299, 324. 
 
 IV., his character and insolente, 306. 
 
 V., assembles a council at Basil, which attempts the reformation 
 of the church, but in vain, 367. 
 
 Martyr, Peter, zealous in propagating Calvinism in England, 477; a 
 writer of common-place divinity, 487. 
 
 Martyrs, sufferings. of, 15, 16, &e. 
 
 Mary, queen, restores popery in England, 414. 
 
 , Virgin, when first worshipped, 107; her image introduced into 
 churches in v. cent. 121; veneration for her increased in x. cent. 219; 
 institution of the Rosary and Crown in honour of her, ib.; contro 
 versy concerning her immaculate conception, 286, 569. 
 
 Massalians, (Euchites,) their antiquity, 106; their tenets, ib.; a gene- 
 ral name for Eastern heretics and enthusiasts in xii. cent. 287. 
 
 Mass, Canon of, 142; solitary masses, when supposed to be intro- 
 
 duced, 178. 
 
 Materialism, doctrine of, 731. 
 
 Mathematical sect, rise of, 534; its progress, 535. 
 
 Matilda, duchess of Tuscany, her donation to the see of Rome, 225. 
 
 Matthias, John, his pacific attempts, 582. 
 
 Matthison, John, ringleader of the fanatics of Munster, 493. 
 
 Maty, Paul, his notions of the Trinity, and consequent controversy, 653. 
 
 Maur, St., congregation of, 554; Select number of learned members, and 
 their adversaries, ib. ; many and admirable productions, ib. 
 
 Maurice, elector of Saxony, promotes the famous treaty of Passan, 413, 
 
 landgrave of Hesse, embraces Calvinism, 379; harasses the 
 Lutherans, ib. 
 
 stadt-holder, seemingly inclined to favour the Arminians, 
 623; declares against them, with his ambitious views, 624; his vio- 
 lent proceedings against them, 625. 
 
 Maximin, persecution under that emperor, 59. 
 
 Maxims, two very dangerous, adopted in iv. cent. 94. 
 
 Maximus, Julian’s master, a Platonist, 85. 
 
 of Turin, an account of his homilies, 116. 
 
 ———,, aGreek monk, account of him and his works, 153. 
 
 Mayer, Michael, a leader of the Rosecrusians, 532. 
 
 Mayhew, a Puritan missionary in America, 524. 
 
 Mazen, Nicolas de, very zealous in reforming the monks of Ger- 
 many, 370. 
 
 Medici, the zeal of this family in cultivating learning, 360. 
 
 Medici, Cosmo de, a zealous patron of the Platonic philosophy, 361. 
 
 Melancthon, Philip, character of, 394; he prepares the famous cenfes- 
 sion of Augsburg, 403; confutes Faber’s objections to it, 407; his 
 dispute with Eckius at Worms, 410; his sentiments of the edict — 
 called Interim, 412; the cause of a schism among the Lutherans, ib. ; 
 the method of philosophy adopted by him, 420; his unsuccessful at- 
 tempt to unite the Greeks with the Protestants, 443; his writings in 
 philosophy, 455; his explanations of the Scriptures, 456; he is 
 placed at the head of the Lutheran church, 461 ; compared with Luther, 
 ib.; accused of apostasy by the Lutherans, 462; desirous of an union 
 between the reformed and the Lutherans, 472; which is facilitated by 
 Calvin, ib.; but meets with obstacles, ib. 
 
 Melancthonians, a philosophical sect, 455. 
 
 Melchites, oriental Christians, 156. 
 
 Meletian controversy, the true causes of, 95; continued till v. cent. ib. 
 
 Melito, bishop of Sardis, his works, 44. 
 
 Menander, his wild and frantic notions, 31. 
 
 Mendez, patriarch of AXthiopia, his imprudent zeal and arrogance, 547; 
 
 he is banished, 548. 
 
 Mendicants, their institution in xiii. cent. 308; confined to four socie- 
 
 ties only, 309 ; their universal fame, ib.; pride and arrogance, 311; 
 
 impious wiles, ib.; they fall under a general odium, 344, 370. 
 
 Menno, Simon, account of, 494; his remarkable success in gaining 
 
 proselytes, ib, ; his doctrines, ib.; his rigorous laws mitigated by the 
 
 Anabaptists in xvii. cent. 637. 
 
 Mennonites, their various fortunes in xvil. cent. 636; different sects of 
 
 them, 637. 
 
 Mentz, Felix, his detestable character, 492. 
 
 Mercator, Marius, a warm opposer of Pelagius, 116. 
 
 Metaphysical sect, rise of, 534; improvement and propagation, 535; 
 it falls into contempt, 584. 
 
 Meth, Ezekiel, account of that fanatic, 599. 
 
 Methodists, popish, most eminent in France, 545; divided into two 
 classes, ib, b Ae . 
 
 , protestant, account of, 726; divisions among them, ib.; 
 their tenets, 727; influence of the sect, 749. 
 
 Methodius, eminent for his piety, 65. 
 
 the Confessor, his zeal for image worship, 189. 
 
 (with Cyril) converts the Mesians and other nations, 180, 
 
800 
 
 Metropolitans, whether any in i. cent. 23; their rights, 41; the cxtent 
 of their power in iv. cent. 86. 
 
 Mezzabarba is sent into China as papal legate, 645; unsuccessful, ib. 
 
 Micislaus, duke of Poland, converted to Christianity, 206; his zeal for 
 the conversion of his subjects, ib. 
 
 Millennium, controversy concerning it in ili. cent. 68. 
 
 Miltitz, a Saxon knight, holds conferences with Luther, 393. 
 
 Ministry, necessity of a public oye, 19. 
 
 Minucius, Felix, an able writer, "65. 
 
 Miracles, advantageous to Christianity, 13; it is denied that they had 
 entirely ceased in iv. cent. 83; their number and reality in vili. cent. 
 examined, 164. 
 
 Missionaries, their success in barbarous nations, and particularly Jesuits, 
 514; a burst of missionary zeal in xix. cent. 751, 752. 
 
 Missions, priests of, 556. 
 
 account of in xviii, cent. 645; protestant, and more particularly 
 the Danish, ib. ; 
 
 Missionary voyages from Great Britain to the Pacific ocean, 735; a 
 grand missionary system, 752. 
 
 Mogislaus, Peter, an eminent prelate of the Greek church, 442. 
 
 Mohammed, erroneously called Mahomet, appears in vii. century, 147; 
 delivers the koran as the word of God, ib.; his success accounted for, 
 148; his pretended ‘Testament, 155. 
 
 Molina, character of, 439, 440. 
 
 Molinists, controversies with them concerning predestination and 
 liberty, 440. 
 
 Molinos, Michael de, excites new controversies in the church, 570; his 
 book entitled the Spiritual Guide, ib. ; principles whence his followers 
 were called Quietists, ib.; he is obliged to recant, anddies in prison, ib. 
 
 Monarchy, men of the fifth, their enthusiastic notions, 615. : 
 
 Monks, formed into a regular body in iv. cent. 93; different orders, 94; 
 adopted among the clergy, ib.; claim eminentstations in the church, 115; 
 are not subject to the patriarchal power, 116; are exempted by the 
 pope from episcopal jurisdiction, 151; excessive veneration paid to 
 them in ix. cent. 188; employed in civil affairs, ib.; decline of their 
 discipline, 189; their state in xi. cent. and increase of their immuni- 
 ties, 244; their ignorance and corruption, ib. ; great corruption gives 
 rise to chivalry, ib.; new orders, 245; their great increase in xiii. 
 cent. 307; a reformation attempted among them in xv. cent. 370; 
 their corrupt state in xvi. cent. 887; much reformed, 429; new orders, 
 430; a partial reform, 554. 
 
 Monophysites, their tenets concerning the nature of Christ, 128; en- 
 couraged by the emperor Anastasius, 143; depressed by Justin and 
 successive emperors, ib.; their sect restored by Baradeus, 144; 
 divisions among them terminated, ib.; they flourish in xvi. cent. 444; 
 their religious doctrines and rites, 445; their ignorance, ib.; in Asia, 
 their state in xvil. cent. 576; those of Africa obstinately resist the 
 Roman yoke, ib. ; their state in xvili. cent. 648. 
 
 Monothelites, the rise of this sect in vil. cent. 156; condemned by a 
 general council, 157; different opinions among them, ib.; their fate 
 after the council of Constantinople, 158. 
 
 Montanus, a heretic, attempts to supply the pretended defects of the 
 Gospel, 56; his excessive austerity, ib.; success of his doctrine, ib. 
 Moors, or Saracens, some converted in xv. cent. 358; banished out of 
 
 Spain in xvii. cent. 541; consequences, 542. 
 
 Moralists (moral writers,) in ii. cent. 45; the double doctrine then intro- 
 duced by them, ib.; its effects, ib.; the most eminent in iv. cent. with 
 their defects, 92; their character in v. cent. 119; mystic principles 
 adopted by them, 120; reduce practical religion to the observance of a 
 few virtues in vii. cent. 154; imbibe many of the Aristotelian princi- 
 pies in vill. cent. 175; principally employed in ix. cent. in collecting 
 the sentiments of the Fathers on morality, 193; content themselves in 
 xX. cent. with composing homilies, and writing the lives of the saints, 
 218 ; contemptible in x1. cent. 250; partly scholastic, partly mystic, in 
 xii. cent. 284; their character in xiii. cent. 323; chiefly enployed in 
 collecting and solving cases of conscience, and in moralizing on the 
 nature and actions of the brute creation, in xiv. cent. 353; their 
 character in xvi. cent. 458. 
 
 Morality, Romish, its low state in xvi. cent. 435, 
 
 Moravians, their conversion in ix. cent. 180, 
 
 Moravian brethren, an account of, 482. See United Brethren. 
 
 More, Hannah, recommends religious reform, 735. 
 
 Morinus endeavours to unite the Greek and Latin churches, 574. 
 
 Moscovy, patriarch of, when first appointed, 444. 
 
 Moses, Barcepha, a Syrian bishop, in ix. cent. 189. 
 
 Cretensis, an impostor, 108. 
 
 Moulin, Peter du, is employed to reconcile the Lutherans and the Re- 
 formed, 580. . 
 
 Munster seized by the fanatics in xvi. cent. 459; retaken by its sove- 
 reign, ib.; peace of Germany concluded in that city, 540. 
 
 Munzer, a fanatic leader, 459, 492; is ignominiously put to death, 492; 
 fate of his associates, ib. 
 
 Mystics, their rise in the East, 40; their increase in iv. cent. 93; their 
 cause promoted in v. cent. 119; their pernicious influence on moral 
 writers, 120; flourish in ix. cent. 194; their method of explaining 
 truth adopted in xii. cent. 282; oppose the scholastics in xiii. cent. 323; 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 many of distinguished merit among them in xv. cent. 376; the only 
 remaining sparks of piety in xvi. cent. were in them, 390; why 
 called Quietists, 570; their precepts embraced by the Quakers, 632. 
 
 Nagel, Paul, his reveries, 599. 
 
 Nantes, famous edict of, 477; revoked by Louis XIV. 601. 
 
 Nations, state of those not under the Romans, 1; the genius of, and 
 liberty enjoyed by, the northern, 2; all sunk in superstition, but of 
 different kinds, ib. 
 
 Nature, its law studied with great attention in xvii. cent. 531; the study 
 advantageous to Christian morality, ib. 
 
 Naylor, James, a most extravagant Quaker, 630, 
 
 Nazarenes, the rise of, 50; their division into two sects, ib. 
 
 Necessity, a subject of controversy, 731. 
 
 Neri, Philip, institutes the priests of the oratory in xvi. cent. 431. 
 
 Nero persecutes the Christians, 14, 16. 
 
 Nestorianism, its rise and author, 123; its progress after the council of 
 Ephesus, 125; its success in the East, ib.; its state in vi. cent. 143. 
 Nestorians, their divisions cease, 125; their doctrine, 126; they intro- 
 duce Christianity among the Chinese, 146; flourish under the Sara- 
 cens, 155; plant the Gospel in Tartary in x. cent. 205; two factions 
 among them in xvi. cent. 425; their notions of the two natures and 
 two persons in Christ explained, 446; their state in xvii. cent. 577. 
 
 Nestorius, anathematized by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, 124; con- 
 demned to banishment by a general council at Ephesus, ib. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, his estimable character, 535; the excellence of his 
 philosophy how proved, 536; liberty of thinking restored by him and 
 Des Cartes, ib. 
 
 Nice, the first general council at, 102; the account of it imperfect, ib.; 
 it condemns Arius, 103; second council, 177; superstitious decrees in 
 favour of image worship, ib; its authority and this decision acknow- 
 ledged by the church of Rome, ib. ; 
 
 Nicephorus, a defender of image-worship, 189. 
 
 , Callistus, his ecclesiastical history, account of, 338, 
 , Gregoras, his character, 338. 
 
 Nicetas, David, account of, 189. 
 
 Nicolaitans, a sect, 32. 
 
 Nicolas, patriarch of Constantinople, deposed, 219; restored, ib. 
 
 [l., pope, his famous decree concerning the election of the supreme 
 pontiff, 232. 
 
 IlI., aggrandizes the papal see, 302; confirms the rigid rules of 
 St. Francis, 314. 
 
 —— IV., his character, 306, 307. 
 
 —— V.., a great patron of learning, 368. 
 
 — Henry, founder of the Family of Love, 501. 
 
 Nicole, a Jansenist divine, 546. 
 
 Nieder, John, his works, and the use of them, 392. 
 
 Nihusius, a popish methodist, 545. 
 
 Nobili, Robert de, account of that Jesuit’s mission, 515; his singt. at 
 stratagems, ib. 
 
 Noetus, his doctrine of the Trinity, 73. 
 
 Nogaret, William de, seizes Boniface VIII. 340; prosecutes his i.cci- 
 sation against that pontiff after his death, ib. 
 
 Nominalists, who, and whence so called, 185; dispute betweeen them 
 and the Realists, 229; their chief, John the Sophist, 230; the s.ate o 
 their disputes in different centuries, 270, 339, 362. 
 
 Non-conformists, a name given to the Puritans, 488; their hopes fras- 
 trated under Charles Ii. 617; they flourish under William UL. ib.; 
 their state in England in xviii. cent. 652. 
 
 Non-jurors, (high churchmen,) their rise, 617; their notions, 618. 
 
 Norbert, founder of the order of Premontré, 278. 
 
 Normans, their invasions in ix. cent. 182; form settlements, ib. ; the 
 sufferings of the Christians under them, ib; many were converted 
 in x. cent. with Rollo, ib.; flourishing state of learning sanong them 
 in xi. cent. 227. 
 
 Norway, people of, converted by Guthbald, 227. 
 
 Novatian disturbs the peace of the church in iii. cent. 74. 
 
 Nuremberg, diet at, 398; peace between Charles V. and tht Protestants 
 at a second diet, 408; the terms, ib.; the effects, ib. 
 
 Occam, William, a strenuous defender of the Nominalists, 339; his 
 didactic writings, 352. 
 
 Ochino, Bernardino, his opinions, 489. 
 
 Odensee, edict at, 404. 
 
 Odilo, of Clugni, his works, 216. 
 
 Odo, abbot of Clugni, attempts to reform the monks, 215; his char’ 
 ter, 216. 
 
 (Ecolampadius resumes the dispute concerning the eucharist v A 
 Luther, 471; his expositions of Scripture, 486. 
 
 OGScumenical council, first established in iv. cent. 86. 
 
 CEcumenius, his chain, 216. ‘ 
 
 Oliva, or d’Olive, Pierre Jean, a famous Franciscan, excites disgen- 
 sions in the order, 314; his fanaticism, ib. 
 
 Olympia, Donna, the mistress of pope Innocent X. 537. f 
 
 Olympiodorus, a Platonic philosopher, 85. 
 
 Ophites, a sect of ridiculous heretics in ii. cent. 55. 
 
 Oratory, priests of the, 431, 558. x 
 
 Orders, ecclesiastical, their great vices in xii. cent. 276. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 O-ders, religious, new, in xiv. cent. 350; new, in xv. cent. 378. 
 
 monastic, their state in xvii. cent. 553; reformations made, and 
 hence two classes, 54. 
 
 Origen, character of, 64; his erroneous method of explaining Christian 
 cruths by the Platonic philosophy, 66; his Stromata and principles, 
 67; moral works, ib.; rigorous measures are taken by two councils 
 against him, 69; he confutes the Arabian philosophers, 74; contro- 
 versies concerning him in iv. cent. 96; troubles in the East on 
 account of his writings, ib. ; his doctrine ordered to be suppressed, 97; 
 condemned with his followers in a general council, 141; his doctrine 
 adopted by the Quakers, 632. 
 
 Orosius obviates many objections against Christianity, 111, 116. 
 
 Osiander, Andrew, excites disputes in xvi. cent. 464. 
 
 Ostreg, synods at, 482. 
 
 Otho the Great, his zeal for Christianity, 207; excessive liberality to the 
 clergy, and its unhappy effects, ib.; he is saluted with the title of 
 emperor by pope John XII. 213; calls a council, and degrades the 
 ean pontiff, ib.; his death and miserable consequences, 213, 214; 
 
 is authoritative edict, 214. 
 
 Otho, bishop of Bamberg, converts the Pomeranians in xii. cent. 260. 
 
 IV., emperor, deposed and excommunicated by pope Innocent 
 IL. 303. 
 
 Pacific age, that trme so denominated when Christ came into the world, 1; 
 
 Paganism, state of, 2; great variety of religions among the Pagans, ib. ; 
 their idolatry, ib.; their mysteries, 3; remains of Paganism in iv. 
 cent. although zealously opposed by the Christian emperors, 82; some 
 remains in vi. cent. even among the learned, 132. 
 
 Pajon, Claude, attempts to modify the doctrine of the reformed church, 608. 
 
 Palamas, Gregory, supports the doctrine of the Quietists, 355; his no- 
 tions concerning the divine operation, ib. 
 
 Palatinate, decline of the Protestant cause in that part of Germany, 602. 
 
 Palestine, its two religions, the Jewish and Samaritan, much corrupted 
 among the people at our Saviour’s coming in the world, 6; the de- 
 cline of the Christian cause in that country in xii. cent. 262. 
 
 Palladius, works and character of, 116. 
 
 Pantheists, account of this impious sect, 529; most eminent members 
 among them, ib. 
 
 Papal power saved from ruin by the force of the secular arm, and by 
 imperial edicts, in xvi. cent. 406. 
 
 Papin, Isaac, propagates the doctrine of Pajon, 608, 609. 
 
 Paracelsists, eminent in xvi. cent. 455. 
 
 Paracelsus, Theophrastus, founds the sect of Theosophists, 421. 
 
 Paris, freauented in xii. cent. for its eminent divines, 282; the first 
 European university founded in that city in xiii. cent. 298; severe 
 disciy lie in it, 299; Parisian academy of sciences, in xvii. cent. 530; 
 grand council in that city, 714. 
 
 -—, Matthew, the historian, 299. 
 
 —, William of, a metaphysical divine, 320. 
 
 —, John of, his great character, ib. 
 
 , Abbé de, pretended miracles wrought at his tomb, 565, 
 
 Pasaginians ee a sect in xii. cent. 292. 
 
 Pascal II., pope, renews the “disputes concerning investitures, 271; is 
 condemned by a council at Rome, ib. 
 
 , author of the Provincial Letters, 560. 
 
 Passau, treaty of, 413. 
 
 Paterinus, a common name given to all heretics in xi. cent. 238. 
 
 Patriarchs, the nature of their office explained, 41; bishop of Rome 
 their reputed chief, 87; inconveniences arising from the patriarchal 
 
 ~ government, 114; contests with each other, and melancholy effects, ib. 
 
 Patrick converts the Irish in v. cent. 110. 
 
 Patripassians, who, and why so called, 55, 
 
 Patronage, origin of the right of, 97. 
 
 Paul, the apostle, extraordinary character of, 12. 
 
 , the first hermit, 66. 
 
 of Samosata, founder of a sect, 74, 
 
 ——, the Deacon, his fame in viii. cent. 174. 
 
 — II., pope, his mixed character, 369. 
 
 III., proposes a reformation, 410; dispute about his real charac- 
 
 ter, 427. 
 
 IV., founder of the Theatins, 428, 430, 
 
 — V., his character, 537; contest with the Venetians, 537, 549. 
 
 —— Sarpi, commonly called Father Paul, 549. 
 
 , Vincent de, founder of the priests of the mission, in xvii. 
 cent. 556. 
 
 Paulicians, controversy of the Greeks with them, 155; a sect in ix. cent. 
 202; persecuted by the Greek emperors, ib.; meet with protection 
 from the Saracens, ib.; whether Manichzans or not, considered, 203; 
 their opinions in six articles, ib.; miserable state under the Greeks in 
 a seth 257; their first assembly at Orleans, 258; their calamitous 
 
 ate, 1b. 
 
 Paulinus of Aquileia, his character and works, 172. 
 
 - , bishop of Nola, his works, 90. 
 
 Peasants, their horrid war in xvi. cent. 399; their claims made reli- 
 
 ious by Munzer, ib.; they are defeated at Mulhausen, 400. 
 
 Pelagianism, rise of, 129; itis suppressed by Augustin’s writings, ib. 
 
 Penance, which had been long neglected, is restored in vii. cent. 154. 
 
 No, LXVII, 201 
 
 801 
 
 Penitential discipline, 46, 121. 
 
 Penn, William, settles the Quakers in Pennsylvania, 631; his charao 
 ter, ib.; his writings, 632. 
 
 Pennafort, Raymond de, his decretals, 301; his polemic works agninst 
 the Jews and Saracens, 324. 
 
 People, their right of choosing their rulers and teachers in the primi 
 tive church, 21; their remarkable ignorance in xvi. cent. 390. 
 
 Pepin, usurps the crown of France in viii. cent. 168; is supported by 
 pope Zachary, ib. ; anointed and crowned by Stephen, ib.; his dona- 
 tion to the see of Rome, 169. 
 
 Perald, William, literary fame of, 320. 
 
 Peripatetics flourish in xvii. cent. 532; meet with formidable adversa- 
 ries in Des Cartes and Gassendi, 583, 584. 
 
 Perrault, account of his book on the morality of the Jesuits, 560. 
 
 Persia, three ela gl in that country against the Christians, 84. 
 
 Peter Fullo (the Fuller,) founder of the sect called Theopaschites, 127. 
 
 the hermit, his superstitious zeal for a war to the Holy Land, 222. 
 
 the Great, emperor of Russia, introduces a change into the Russian 
 church, 575; grants liberty of conscience, ib. 
 
 Petersen, John William, his inventions and reveries, 595. 
 
 Petit, doctrine of, concerning the lawfulness of putting a tyrant to 
 death, 366. 
 
 Petrarch zealous in reviving the study of the learned languages, 338. 
 
 Petrobrussians, a sect in xil. cent. 289. 
 
 Peucer attempts to reform Lutheranism, 466; his character and suf- 
 ferings, ib. 
 
 Peyrere, Isaac la, his strange doctrine, 571. 
 
 Pezelius, his catechism favourable to the sentiments of Calvin, 467. 
 
 Pfaff, Matthew, zealous in projecting a union between the Lutherans 
 and the reformed, 651, 652; opposed by the Lutherans, ib. 
 
 Pharisees, their tenets, 7. 
 
 Philadelphian society, founded in xvii. cent. 643. 
 
 Philip, father and son, emperors, supposed to be Christians, 57. 
 
 the Solitary, an eminent moral writer, 284. 
 
 , the Fair, king of France, vigorously opposes the papal power, 
 340; charges pope Boniface VIII. with enormous vices, ib.; and 
 hastens the death of that pontiff, ib. 
 
 Philippicus, Bardanes, emperor of the Greeks, espouses the cause of the 
 
 Monothelites, 175; is excommunicated and deposed, 176. 
 
 Philosophers obscure the truth, 5; Oriental, their first principles, 17; 
 their opinions concerning the Deity, 18; of the origin of the world, ib.; 
 some converted to Christianity, and their conversion if advantageous, 
 considered, 35; their efforts in iv. cent. against Christianity, 82; two 
 great sects of them in xvii. cent. 531. 
 
 Philosophical sin, the doctrine of, 437. 
 
 Philosophy, two kinds prevailed at Christ’s birth, 4; the Eastern not 
 much known, 17; the success of the Platonic system due to Plotinus 
 in lil. cent. 62; promoted by Julian, 85; Aristotelian, revived in v. 
 cent. 113; confined within the circle of the Dialectics in xi. cent. 228; 
 encouraged among the Greeks in xii. cent. 266; three methods of 
 teaching it in that cent. 269; astrology mixed with it in xiv. cent. and 
 considered as magic, 339; the Platonic species in high esteem in xv. 
 cent. 361; Aristotelian, dangerous to revealed religion, ib, ; its state 
 in xvi. cent. 420, 432; progress of, in xvii. cent. 583. 
 
 Photinus, author of an heretical sect in iv. cent. 105; dies in exile, ib. 
 
 Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, 183, 189; first controversy be- 
 tween the Greeks and Latins on his account, 199; mutual excommu- 
 nications, ib.; the second contest, in which he is degraded, ib.; he 
 engages the bishops to espouse his cause, as a public cause of the 
 church, ib. ; is restored to his see, 200; is again degraded, ib. 
 
 Pictet, a French writer, 604, 
 
 Pietism, rise of, 591; Spener’s private meetings for its promotion, ib.; 
 the name of Pietists to whom applied, 592; their extravagant fana- 
 
 ’ ticism, ib.; two objects of debate, 593; the third object on which the 
 Pietists insisted, 594; their state in xviii. cent. 721. 
 
 Pin, Dr. du, exposes the injustice of the papal claims, 550; account of 
 the correspondence carried on between him and archbishop Wake, 679. 
 
 Pisa, council of, 362; another, 386. ; 
 
 Piscator, John, his doctrine concerning the obedience of Christ, 606. 
 
 Pius II., pope, obtains the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction, 369- 
 his impudent retraction of former opinions, ib. 
 
 IV., account of, 428. 
 
 —— V., eminent for his austerity, and sainted, 428. 
 
 V1, (Braschi,) government of, 711; his visit to the emperor, 712; 
 
 he is attacked by many princes, 713; dies in confinement. 714. 
 
 VIL, adjusts a concordat with the first consul of France, 736; 
 crowns Napoleon, ib.; is deprived of his power, and imprisoned, 737; 
 restored, ib.; dies ata great age, 739. ‘ 
 
 Place, M. de la, his opinions concerning original sin, and contests occas 
 sioned by it, 607. 
 
 Placette, La, his moral works, 604. 
 
 Planudes, Maximus, his character, 338. - ihe 
 
 Plato, his notions concerning the Deity, 5; his opinions adopted by 
 many in xii. cent. 267. } 
 
 Platonics or Platonists, their tenets, 5; their schools more frequented 
 than those of the Stoics, 38; new, their rise in Egypt in i. cent. ib.; 
 
802 
 
 whence styled Eclectics, ib.; the principles of their philosophy, as im- 
 proved by Ammonius, 39; they flourish in iii. cent. ib. ; their state in 
 lv. cent. 85; in v. cent. 112;. their suppression, 135. 
 
 Plotinus, his doctrine widely propagated in iii. cent. 62. 
 
 Plutarch renews the celebrated academy at Athens in iil. cent. 62. 
 
 Poiret, Peter, a follower of Bourignon, 643. 
 
 Poland, commotions excited there by Stancarus, 465; progress of the 
 Reformation in xvi. cent. 482. 
 
 Polanders, conversion of, 205, 206. 
 
 Polycarp, a martyr, 36. 
 
 Pomeranians converted to Christianity, 260. 
 
 Pomerius, Julian, his confutation of the Jews, and other works, 152. 
 
 Pongilup, Armannus, his fame and piety, 316. 
 
 Pontius, of Nola, his good character and works, 116. 
 
 Popes, (Roman pontifis,) when first distinguished by a certain pre-emi- 
 nence over other bishops, 63; in what sense this superiority must be 
 ‘anderstood, ib.; their power in iv. cent. whence, 87; the double election, 
 and its melancholy consequence, ib. ; the limits of their authority, ib. ; 
 steps laid for their future despotism, ib. ; they contend with the bishop 
 of Constantinople for unlimited supremacy, 135; are subject to the 
 control of the Gothic princes, 136; obtain the title of Universal 
 Bishops, 151; are raised to the dignity of temporal princes, 169; the 
 nature of their jurisdiction under Charlemagne, 170; their opinions 
 opposed in councils assembled by the Franks and Germans, 172; 
 their power augmented by the divisions of the empire in ix. cent. 187; 
 they diminish the power of councils and the bishops, ib. ; frauds and 
 forgeries to support their claims, ib.; their supreme legislative au- 
 thority, though opposed, gains ground, 214; their motives for 
 encouraging the first crusade, 224; assume the designation of Pope, 
 or Universal Father, in xi. cent. 230; accessions to their power by 
 the zeal of pope Gregory VII. 237; violent dissensions between them 
 and the emperors concerning extent of power, in xil. cent. 270; they 
 deprive bishops of the right of canonization, 275; and of the power 
 to grant indulgences, 281; aim at universal dominion, 301; their arro- 
 gant claims opposed by civil and ecclesiastical powers, 302; great 
 accessions of power due to Innocent III. and Nicolas III., 303; the 
 advantage they derived from the orders of Mendicants, and their re- 
 turns for these favours, 310; their authority diminished under the 
 Gallic pontiffs, 341; their power declared, by the councils of Con- 
 stance and Basil, to be inferior to that of general councils, 363, 367; 
 deprived of their expectances, reservations, and provisions, 367; their 
 zeal for propagating Christianity in xvi. cent. examined, 418; what 
 distinction must be made between their authority and the court of 
 Rome, 423; debates concerning their power, ib.; they find zealous 
 advocates for their authority in the Jesuits, 427; their infallibility 
 and unlimited supremacy not universally acknowledged by the church 
 of Rome, 435; restrictions upon their power in various countries, 
 739, 740. 
 
 Porphyry, a more virulent than formidable enemy of Christianity, 60. 
 
 Porrée, Gilbert de la, charged with blasphemy, 284; his errors the con- 
 sequence of an excessive subtlety and a metaphysical method of ex- 
 plaining the Christian doctrine, 1b. 
 
 Porretta, Margaret, fate of, 356. 
 
 Port-Royal, convent of, described, 568; sanctity of the religous in it, 
 and its fame, ib.; its ruin, 569. 
 
 Portugal, contest of its court with Rome in xvii. cent. 549. 
 
 Positivi, Christian doctors in xii. cent. 283. 
 
 Pretorius, an advocate of vital religion, 597. 
 
 Prague, Jerome of, condemned to the flames, 365. 
 
 Praxeas, his notions concerning the Trinity, 55; his followers called 
 Monarchians, ib. 
 
 Predestinarians, whence their rise in v. cent. 130; their doctrine, ib.; 
 opposed by Augustin, ib. 
 
 Predestination and Grace, controversy csncerning, in ix. cent. 197; also 
 in xvii. cent. 604. 
 
 Premontré, an order of monks founded by Norbert in xii. cent. 278; 
 their universal fame, ib. ; excessive poverty at first, and subsequent 
 opulence, ib. 
 
 Presbyters of the church, 21. ° 
 
 Presbyterians flourish under Cromwell, 615. 
 
 Prescription, how pleaded against error in iii. cent. 68; polemics rest 
 upon it in xvii. cent. 546. 
 
 Prester, John, account of, 205; his successor deprived of his kingdom 
 by Genghiz Khan, 266; the effect of his death on the affairs of the 
 Christians in Tartary, ib. 
 
 Priesthood, an artful parallel between the Jewish and Christian, 41. 
 
 Priestley a sectarian philosopher, 731. 
 
 Printing, this art discovered in xv. cent. 360; by whom invented, ib. 
 
 Priscillian revives the Gnostic heresy in iv. 105 ; condemned to death, 106. 
 
 Priscillianists, tenets of, ib. 
 
 Proclus, amodern Platonist, 112. 
 
 Prophets of the New Testament, 21. 
 
 Prosper, of Aquitaine, an eminent writer, 116. 
 
 Protestants, whence this name, 401; deliberate about forming a league, 
 402; dissension among them about the eucharist, ib.; present a con- 
 fession of their faith at Augsburg, 406; attempt to propagate the 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gospel in foreign parts, 419; their missions in Asia, 522; in 
 America, 524; persecuted by the Romanists in xvii. cent. 541; milder 
 methods used by their enemies, 543; public and private conferences 
 take place between the doctors of both churches: but the breach is 
 widened, ib.; methods of reconciliation by the Romanists inef- 
 fectual, 544. 
 
 ——__——, French, a great variety in their religious sentiments, 476 ; 
 join in communion with the church of Geneva, ib.; peice-makers 
 among them in xvii. cent. 544; their state in xvii. cent. 711, 721; in 
 xix. cent. 745. 
 
 Prussia, Frederic, king of, an open infidel, 721. 
 
 Prussians are compelled to receive Christianity, 295. 
 
 Psellus, Michael, great character of, 227, 247. 
 
 Ptolemaites, a Valentinian sect, 54. 
 
 Purgatory, its analogy to pagan superstition, 117; the success of this 
 doctrine in x. cent. 216. 
 
 Puritans, (Nonconformists,) their rise in xvi. cent. 477; their doctrine, 
 478; their principles respecting church government and worship, 479; 
 divided into a variety of sects, 480; controversy between them and 
 the church of England, 489; contest about doctrinal points, 490; 
 their missons to America, 524; their state under James and Charles 
 I, 610, 611. 
 
 Quadrivium, meaning of, 228. 
 
 Quakers, rise of, 629; tumults and proceedings against them, ib.; their 
 first attempts under Cromwell, 630; strange instances of most ex- 
 travagant fanaticism, ib.; they assume a regular form of discipline, 
 ib.; their settlement in America, 631; intestine disputes and contests 
 among them, ib.; their religion considered in a general point of view, 
 632; account of Barclay’s works, particularly his catechism, ib.; 
 their fundemental doctrine, the same with that of the ancient mystics, 
 ib.; their moral doctrine comprehended in two precepts, 634; their 
 singular customs, ib.; a farther account of them, 749. 
 
 , their vindication, made by direction and in behalf of a meet- 
 ing representing the society in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
 &c. held in Philadelphia, Ilmo. 22, 1799, extracted from the Philadel- 
 phia edition of that year, and now re-published at the request of a 
 number of the society of Friends in New York, 635. 
 
 Quesnel, author of the celebrated New Testament, 561, 704. 
 
 Quietism, controversies occasioned by its doctrine in xvii. cent. 570. 
 
 Quietists (Hesychasts,) their rise in the East, 354; their notions of a 
 celestial light within them, 355. 
 
 Quinisextum, council of Constantinople in vii. cent. 155, 158. 
 
 Rabanus, Maurus, archbishop of Mentz, called the Light of France 
 and Germany, 184, 189; his commentaries, 193. 
 
 Rabelais, the French wit, 419. 
 
 Racow, catechism of, 508. 
 
 Radbert, account of, 190, 196. 
 
 Ramus, Peter, an esteemed philosopher, 420. 
 
 Rasa, Procopius, the head of the Hussites, 374. 
 
 Ratheir, bishop of Verona, his works and character, 216. 
 
 Rathman, Herman, controversy occasioned by his writings, 596. 
 
 Ratisbon, conference at, 410. 
 
 Raymond, earl of ‘Toulouse, opposes the pretended heretics, 329; his 
 son attacks and defends them by turns, ib. 
 
 Realists, who so called, 185; schoolmen chiefly such in xiii. cent. 322; 
 their disputes with the Nominalists in xiv. cent. 339. 
 
 Reformation, its history in xvi. cent. 385; its foundation laid on the 
 revival of Jetters, ib.; how the people were in some measure pre- 
 pared to receive it, 387; its origin in Germany, 394; its rise and pro- 
 gress in Sweden, 403; in Denmark, 404; in France, 405; and in 
 other European states, 406; its history from the Augsburg confession 
 till the war consequent upon the Smalcald league, ib.; from the 
 Smalcald war till the peace of Religion at Augsburg, 411; a judg- 
 ment of it, and the means used for producing it, 417; it civilized many 
 nations, 421; its rise in England, 409; how promoted by Edward 
 VI. and his character, 414; takes place in Scotland, ib. ; its success in 
 Ireland, 416; its progress in the United Provinces, ib.; conduct ot 
 the nobility and people at this time, considered and explained, ib.; the 
 religion of Switzerland established there, ib.; in Italy, its progress, ib. 
 
 Reformers, the first, vindicated, 670; state of the reformed religion in 
 modern times, 675 to 679. 
 
 Refugees, French, their character, 470. 
 
 ee e, eee enjoyed by the French kings, and opposed by Innocent 
 
 has) b 
 
 Reinboth, singularity of his opinions, 597. 
 
 Reineccius, a Lutheran historian, 454. 
 
 Relics, excessive Veneration for them in ix. cent. 192; by what arts 
 collected, ib. 
 
 Religion, early method of teaching it in the Christian church, 24; cor- 
 rupted by the principles of modern Platonism, 65; its state in iv. cent. 
 90; degenerate into superstition, ib.; pious frauds, whence, 91; me- 
 thod of explaining Scripture on Origen’s plan, ib.; its doctrines deter- 
 mined with more accuracy in v. cent. 117; practical, how explained 
 in vi.cent. and methods used for advancing it, 139; its deplorable 
 state in vii. cent. 152; its decline in viii. cent. 172; the ignorance and 
 superstition of ix. cent., and the causes, 190; its state in x. cent. 216; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 made to consist in the observance of external rites in xi. cent. 248; 
 its melancholy state in xii. cent. 280; a deplorable account of it in 
 xiii. cent. 320 ; corrupted in xiv. cent. and hence the number ofsectaries 
 increased, 352; many defenders engage to prevent its total decay in 
 xv. cent. 373; reduced to mere external pomp and show, 377; its 
 state upon the continent in modern times, 708, 712, 713, 718, 736; in 
 Great Britain, 723, 748. 
 
 Religious errers, their punishment by civil penalties, when introduced, 94. 
 
 Remi, the apostle of the Gauls, 131. 
 
 Remonstrants. See Arminians. 
 
 Reservation, ecclesiastical, stipulated by Charles V. for the Roman 
 Catholics in xvi. cent. 453. . 
 
 Restitution, edict issued in Germany, 540; how put in execution, ib. 
 
 Reuchlin restores learning among the Germans in xv. cent. 360. 
 
 Revolution, French, unfavourable to religion, 713. 
 
 Rheims, William of, his works adapted to promote practical religion, 280. 
 
 Rhodes, Alexander of, his mission to Siam, &c. 516. 
 
 Ricci, Matthew, a zealous missionary in xvi. cent. 419. 
 
 Richelieu, cardinal, attempts to reclaim the Protestants, 544; his des- 
 potic maxim, 610. 
 
 Richer, Edmund, opposes the pontifical authority over the Gallican 
 church, 434. 
 
 Rigorists, Jansenists so denominated, 567. 
 
 Rites. See Ceremonies. 
 
 Rivier propagates the philosophy of Paracelsus at Paris, 456. 
 
 Robert, of Arbriselles, founder of the Fontevraud. order of monks in 
 xii. cent. 277; his singular discipline and rules, how defended, 278. 
 
 , de Sorbonne, founder of a college for the study of divinity in 
 xiii. cent. 299. 
 
 Robinson, John, founder of the Independent sect, 299. 
 
 Rochelle, city of, granted to the reformed in France, 600; taken from 
 them by Louis XIII. and terrible consequences of it to the re- 
 formed, 601. 
 
 Roderic, Christopher, a famous Jesuit, 424. 
 
 Roell, Herman Alexander, controversy set on foot by him about the use 
 of reason in religion, 620; his notions about divine decrees, &c. ib. 
 
 Rollo, the pirate, is converted, 205. : 
 
 Romanis, Humbert de, attempts to reform the monks in xiii. cent. 320; 
 his Spiritual Institutes, 324. 
 
 Roman empire, its extent advantageous to Christianity, 1; its state in 
 v. cent. 108. 
 
 Catholic faith, derived from two sources, 482; uncertainty about 
 
 its real doctrine, ib.; difference of opinion about determining doc- 
 
 trines and controversies, ib. 
 
 religion, its principal heads, 432, 433. 
 
 Romans imposed the names of their own deities on those of other na- 
 tions, and hence the perplexities in the history of the ancient super- 
 
 stitions, 2; why they persecuted the Christians, 14; state of learn- 
 
 ing and philosophical sects among them, 19; they introduced letters 
 and philosophy into the conquered countries, ib. 
 
 Rome, its bishops. See Popes. 
 
 , the decline of this church, and whence dated, 423; its internal 
 
 constitution strengthened in various ways, 426; its contest with Por- 
 
 tugal in xvii. cent. 549; with Louis XIV. 550; peace concluded on 
 inglorious terms for the pope, ib.; a second contest, ib.; an assembly 
 of bishops drew up four propositions, opposed by the pope publicly 
 
 and privately, 551; another contest, ib.; an accommodation, 552; 
 
 whether the papal authority gained ground in this cent. ib.; history 
 
 of this church in xvill. cent. 703; in xix. cent. 736. 
 
 , its state of learning in xvil. cent. 557; improved by the French, 
 ib. ; philosophy much changed in France, and those most distinguished 
 in it, ib.; ill treatment of them, ib.; the French example followed in 
 Italy, &c. ib.; Jesuits improve learning most, and are followed by 
 the Benedictines, 558; decline of learning among the Jesuits ever 
 since, ib.; emulation of the priests of the Oratory, and the most dis- 
 tinguished among them, ib.; principal authors of the Romish com- 
 munion, 159; its doctrine more corrupt than in the former ages, ib. ; 
 Jesuits, why supported by the popes, ib.; they sap the foundations 
 of morality by several pernicious maxims, 560; are condemned by 
 Alexander VII. and VIL, yet their moral tenets not suppressed, 561; 
 why the great made them their confessors, ib.; their maxims and 
 
 ractices not adopted by all the fraternity, ib.; state of exegetic theo- 
 ogy among the Romanists, in xvii. cent. ib. ; Scripture how obscured, 
 ib. ; state of didactic, moral, and polemic theology at this time, 562; con- 
 test between the Jesuits and Dominicans, about grace, ib.; contest 
 occasioned by the rise and progress of Jansenism, 563. ; 
 
 Roscellinus, controversy relative to the Trinity, begun by him in xi. 
 cent. 259. 
 
 Rosecrucians inveigh against the Peripatetics, 532; most eminent 
 among them, with their followers, ib.; attacked by Gassendi, ib. 
 
 Rufinas of Aquileia, character of, 90. 
 
 Rupert of Duytz, a great controversialist, 286. 
 
 Russians converted in ix. cent. and by what prudent means, 181; their 
 conversion misrepresented by Le Quien, ib.; they adopted the doc- 
 trine and discipline of the Greeks, 444; state of their church in xvii. 
 eent. 576; in xviii. cent. 716; in xix. cent. 742. 
 
 t 
 
 803 
 
 Saads, a sect in India, '743. 
 
 Sabeans, a sect of Christians, near the Persian gulf, whose tenets and 
 practices are borrowed from the Jews and Mohammedans, 743. 
 
 Sabellius, his notions of the Trinity, 73. 
 
 Sacrament, festival of, its origin in xiii. cent. 266. 
 
 Sadducees, their tenets, 7. 
 
 Sagarelli, Gerard, founder of the sect of Apostles in xii. cent. 333; is 
 committed to the flames, ib. 
 
 Saints, veneration paid to them, 326; their number considerably aug- 
 mented in v. cent. 117; their sepulchres frequented, ib. ; their prayers 
 thought to be victorious at the throne of God, 136; a confidence in 
 their merits thought necessary to salvation in viii. cent. 173; tutelar 
 their origin, 191; their lives, ib. 
 
 Salisbury, John of, his just and severe censure of the Nominalists, 
 Realists, and Formalists, 270. 
 
 Salvian, his book on divine government, 111; character, 116; moral 
 writings excellent, 119. 
 
 Samaritans, their notions, 9; a sect of that denomination in Eng- 
 land, 751. 
 
 Sanchez, a philosopher, 536. 
 
 Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, is deprived with seven other pre- 
 lates of his ecclesiastical dignity, 617. 
 
 Sanction, Pragmatic, instituted for retrenching papal power, 369; when, 
 and by whom made, ib.; it is abrogated in part by Louis XI. of 
 France, ib.; its total abrogation obtained from Francis I. 386. 
 
 Sandeman, a sectarian writer, 726. 
 
 Sandius, an eminent writer among the Arians, 640. 
 
 Saracens, their successful incursions in the east in vili. cent. 163 ; their 
 usurpations in the west, ib.; their progress toward universal empire 
 in ix. cent. 181; the progress of their arms more injurious to the gos- 
 pel in the east than in the west, ib.; the Ottoman empire establish- 
 ed on the ruin of their power, 208; state of learning among them, 
 210; expeditions formed against them, 222; history of this holy war, 
 223; reasons for and against these wars, 224; with their unhappy 
 consequences, ib. 
 
 Sardis, council of, its fourth canon supposed to have been the chief step 
 to the sovereignty of the pope, 87. 
 
 Savanarola, Jerome, his great character, 372; his unhappy fate, ib. 
 
 Saurin, James, his opinion concerning the lawfulness of violating the 
 truth, and controversy thereon, 653. 
 
 Saxony, divines of, attempt a new reformation, 466. 
 
 Sceptics, their method, and most eminent among them in xvu. cent. 534; 
 in xviil. cent. 645, 725, 728. 
 
 Schade, John Caspar, his character, 595; his imprudent zeal excites 
 commotions in the Lutheran church, ib. 
 
 Schism, the great western, in xiv. cent., an account of, 343; proposals 
 for terminating it, 344; fomented and continued in xv. cent. 362; 
 healed by the prudence of Nicolas V. 368; between the Greeks and 
 Latins, 376; why not healed, ib. 
 
 Schmidt, Erasmus, a learned expositor of Scripture, 587. 
 
 Sebastian, an interpreter of Scripture, ib. 
 
 Laurent, the Wertheim interpreter, 650. 
 
 Scholastic theology, rise of, 65. 
 
 Scholastics, properly so called, in xii. cent. 282; are opposed from dif- 
 ferent quarters, 283; and principally by St. Bernard, 284; are chiefly 
 Realists in xiii. cent. 322; their dangerous tenets, 323; hated and 
 opposed in xv. cent. 375; and principally by the restorers of polite 
 literature, ib. ° 
 
 Schoolmen, or the cultivators of scholastic theology, 65; chiefly em- 
 ployed in collecting the ancient interpretations of the Fathers in xiii. 
 cent. 322; contentions among them in xiv. cent. 323. 
 
 Schools, established for Christian philosophy, 25; very serviceable to 
 Christianity, 85; cathedral and monastic schools, 165; new schools, 228 
 
 Schurman, Anna Maria, character of, 642. 
 
 Schwenkfeld, George, his debates with Luther, 460. 
 
 Sciences, their sad state in vii. cent. 150; a new divisjon of them, and 
 their number increased in xii. cent. 268; their improvement in xXvil. 
 cent. 529; their distinguished promoters, and advantages hence aris- 
 ing to society and religion, 530; their state among the Luthe- 
 rans, 583. 
 
 Scientific societies at London and Paris, 530. 
 
 Scioppius employed to write against the Protestants, 5389. 0 
 
 Scalvonians, converted by Waldemar, king of Denmark, in xii. cent. 
 260; their conversion completed by the zeal of Henry the 
 Lion, 261. 
 
 Scotists, followers of Duns Scotus, 353. J 
 
 Scotland, whether Christian in iii. cent. 58; church of, its founder, 477; 
 how far it adopts the system established at Geneva, ib. ; a remarkable 
 declaration of James I. respecting the kirk, 610; sects in Scotland, 
 726, 735. 
 
 Scotus, Johannes Erigena, an eminent philosopher, 184; blends the 
 Mystic theology with the Scholastic, ib.; his notions and great mo- 
 desty, 185; high character, 190. 
 
 Marianus, his works, 248. : 
 
 John Duns, eminent for the acuteness and subtlety of his 
 
 genius, 351. 
 
 = 
 
804 
 
 Scriptures, canon of, supposed to be settled before the middle of ii. cent. 
 23; early method of interpreting them, 24; the New Testament 
 translated into several languages, 34; versions of both Testaments, 
 91- zeal for them in ii. cent. 43; the zeal of many for their diffusion 
 in iii, cent. and advantages hence arising to Christianity, 58; inter- 
 preters of the Scriptures censured, and why, 67; versions in iy. cent. 
 not well executed, 91; the most eminent commentators in v. cent. 118; 
 Origen’s method adopted by many, ib.; logical discussions deemed 
 better tests of truth than the Scriptures, ib.; expositors in vil. cent. 
 few, and very unlearned, 153; the study of them much promoted by 
 Charlemagne, 173; allegorical interpreters of, in ix. cent., and their 
 fundamental principle, 193; explained in xii. cent. chiefly according 
 to the rules of Mysticism, 129; which prevailed much in xiii. cent. 
 171; absurd modes of interpretation in xvi. cent. 434; also in xvi. 
 cent. 603. 
 
 Sectarian philosophers, why so called in xvii. cent. 584. 
 
 Sects formed in the times of the apostles, 28; those which arose from 
 the oriental philosophy, very detrimental to Christianity, 50; illite- 
 rate, which prevailed in il. cent. 55; remains of the ancient in li. 
 cent. 71; and in iv. cent. 99 ; Manicheans most prevalent, ib. ; ancient, 
 flourish in vil. cent. 155; and recover strength in vill. cent. from the 
 divisions in the Grecian empire, 170; and subsists in xi. cent. 257; 
 numerous among the Latins in xii. cent. and the abuses which gave 
 rise to them, 288; multiplied in xiii. cent. 327; unanimous in oppos- 
 ing superstition, and the papal power, ib.; among the Dutch in xvii. 
 cent. 621; of inferior note in that cent.; an account of them, 641; 
 sects in Great Britain in xvili. cent. 652, 725, &c. in xix. cent. 749; 
 in the United States of America, 753. 
 
 Sefis, a sect in Persia, resembling our Quakers, 743. 
 
 Seidel, Martin, extravagant notions of, 599. 
 
 Selina, countess dowager of Huntingdon, patronises the Calvinistic 
 Methodists, 727. 
 
 Semi-Arians, tenets of, 104. 
 
 Semi-Pelagians, five leading principles of, 130; strongly opposed by 
 the disciples of St. Augustin, yet support themselves, and make rapid 
 progress, ib. 
 
 Sendomir, synod of, 482. 
 
 Sens, Bernardine of, a celebrated mystic writer in xv. cent. 373. 
 
 Servetus, Michael, character and writings of, 503; he is accused by 
 Calvin of blasphemy, ib.; condemned to the flames, ib.; doctrine of 
 the Trinity, ib. 
 
 Servitas observe several rules peculiar to themselves, 308. 
 
 Severian, character of his moral writings, 119. 
 
 Severus, Septimius, persecutes the Christians, 37. 
 
 —~—, Alexander, shows favour to the Christians, 57 
 
 ————,, Sulpitius, an eminent historian, 90. 
 
 —, the Monophysite, made patriarch of Antioch, 143; is de- 
 posed, ib.; his doctrine concerning the body of Christ, 144, 
 
 Sfondrati, Celestine, his doctrine of predestination, 572. 
 
 Shaftesbury, earl of, the free-thinker, 526. 
 
 Shakers, account of, 733. 
 
 Sharrock, the great advantages derived to religion from his moral 
 works, 604. 
 
 Siam, fruitless attempts to convert the king and people of that coun- 
 fia alt 
 
 Sidecius Apollinaris, a Christian writer, 17. 
 
 Sigismund, John, elector of Brandenburg, embraces the communion of 
 the reformed church, 579; but leaves his subjects free as to their reli- 
 gious sentiments, ib.; the effects of this liberty, ib.; controversy and 
 civil commotions that ensued, 580; the form of concord hereupon 
 suppressed, ib. 
 
 Simeon, head of the Stylites, 119. 
 
 ———,, of Constantinople, styled the Metaphrast, 216. 
 
 Sin, original, doctrine of, disputed by La Place, 607; denied by Le 
 Cene, 609. 
 
 Smalcald league, how formed by the confederate princes, 408; its 
 articles, 45]. 
 
 Socinians, their origin, 502; they spread their doctrine in Poland, 505; 
 their progress and different classes, ib.; their summary of religion, 
 506; account of their catechism, ib.; their divisions and intestine 
 controversies, 511; their flourishing state in xvii. cent. 638; their ex- 
 tensive views, ib.; their decline and sufferings in Poland, 639; 
 banished thence for ever with the utmost severity, ib.; fate of the 
 exiles, ib.; many of them embrace the communion of other sects, 
 640 ; account of the English Socinians in xviii. cent. 731. 
 
 Socinus, Lelius, adopts the Helvetic confession. of faith, 502; his ne- 
 phew Faustus changes the ancient Unitarian religion, 508. 
 
 Sohner, Ernest, a learned Peripatetic, and advocate for Socinian- 
 ism, 639. 
 
 Sophronius opposes the Monothelites, 152. 
 
 Sorbonne, doctors of, their college founded for the study of divinity in 
 xiii. cent. 299, 
 
 Southcott, Joanna, an English devotee, 734; her death, 751. 
 
 Spanheim, breach between him and Vander-Wayen, 618. 
 
 Spener, his method of teaching theology, and success, 587; he sets on 
 foot the controversy on Pietism, 591. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Spinosa, an account of, 528; his works, and the tenets therein, ib.; he 
 was seduced into his system by the philosophy of Rene Des-Cartes, 
 ib.; account of his followers, 529. 
 
 Spire, diet at, 400; its issue favourable to Luther and the reformers 
 401: asecond diet, in which the resolutions of the former diet are re- 
 voked, ib.; the decree of this diet considered as iniquitous and inteler- 
 able by several princes, who protest against it, ib. ; See Protestants, 
 
 Spirituals, a rigid branch of the Franciscans, 312, 314, 315, 346. 
 
 Stancarus, debates excited by, 456. 
 
 Stephen I. bishop of Rome, his insolent behaviour to the Asiatic Chris- 
 tians on account of the baptism of heretics, 69 ; vigorously opposed by 
 Cyprian, ib. : 
 
 II., anoints and crowns the usurper Pepin, 168; hence he is 
 made a temporal prince, 169. 
 
 , establishes Christianity among the Hungarians, in x. cent. 206, 
 
 de Muret, founds the monastic order of Grandmontains in 
 
 xi. cent. 245; enjoins great austerity, 246; contentions for superiority 
 
 among some of his order, and consequences, ib.; rigorous discipline 
 enjoined by him gradually mitigated, ib. ‘ 
 
 Stereoma, a celebrated work published by the Crypto-Calvinists, and 
 on what account, 466. 
 
 Stiefel, Isaiah, his absurdities, 599. 
 
 Stockius, Simon, the monstrous fiction relative to him, 311. 
 
 Stoics, their explication of the divine nature and the human soul, 5. 
 
 Strabo, Walafridus, an eminent author, 190, 200. 
 
 Strigelius, Victor, his contest with Flacius, 463. 
 
 Stylites, a superstitious sect of pillar saints in v. cent. 119; their sin- 
 gular and extravagant fancies, ib.; not suppressed before xii. cent. 
 120. 
 
 Sub-deacons, the nature of their office, 64. 
 
 Sublapsarians, their doctrince, and why so called, 604. 
 
 Sulpitius, Severus, the most eminent historian in iv. cent. 90. 
 
 Supererogation, doctrine of, its foundation laid in xiii. cent. 321. 
 
 Superstition, its great increase m v. cent. 117; in vi. cent. 138; this 
 accounted for, and exemplified by the doctrines then tacght, 189; in- 
 sinuates itself into the transactions of civil life in 1x. cent. and whence, 
 201; how nourished by many idle opinions in x. cent. 217; particu- 
 larly that of an immediate and final judgment, ib.; effects of this 
 opinion beneficial to the church, ib.; reigns among the people in xii. 
 cent. 280; connexion between it and fanaticism considered, Apper- 
 dix, 670. 
 
 Supralapsarians, who so called, and why, 604. 
 
 Swedenborgians, a remarkable sect, 732. 
 
 Swedes: embrace Christianity in ix. cent. 180; convert many in Finland 
 in xii. cent. and by what means, 261; reformation established among 
 them in xvi. cent. 403; state of their church in xviii’ cent. 719. 
 
 Switzerland, origin of the Reformation by Zuingle, 395; progress of it, 
 ib.; receives the doctrine of Carlostadt, 460; adopts the opinions ot 
 Zuingle, 470; disputes about the form of concord, 622, 653; state ot 
 the church, 740, 746. 
 
 Sylvester IJ., pope, gives the signal for the first crusade, 208; he re- 
 stores learning, 211; the success of his zeal for literature, ib.; nis 
 high character, 216. 
 
 Symmachus, violent dispute between him and Laurentius, 136. 
 
 Syncellus endeavours to raise the credit of Mysticism, 194. 
 
 Syneretistical (Calixtine) controversies, their rise in xvii. cent. 588, 
 the share which Buscher had in them, 588, 589; the animated oppo- 
 sition of Calixtus to his Saxon accusers, 589; continuation of thes 
 
 * debates by Calovius and other able divines, ib. 
 
 Syncretists, Platonic, their rise in xv. cent. 361, 
 
 Synergists, their doctrine, 463; strongly opposed by the Lutherans, 1: 
 
 Synods, their origin in ii. cent. 41. 
 
 Systems, ancient religious, 4. 
 
 ‘Taborites, in Bohemia, their rise, 223; extravagant demands for a tota. 
 reformation, 224; the cruelties they were guilty of, and their princi- 
 ples, ib.; the reformation that took place among them, ib. 
 
 Taio, bishop of Saragossa, composer of a system of divinity, 154,250 
 
 Tanquelin, horrid blasphemy of, 290; his fate, ib. 
 
 Tartary, Christianity embraced there in x. cent. 205; propagated in xi. 
 cent. by the Nestorians, 220; embassies, and missions from Rome in 
 xiil. cent, 293. 
 
 Tatian’s character and opinions, 52. 
 
 Templars, origin of their knights, and names of their founders, 264, 
 the order extirpated by the council of Vienne, 357; the impiety im 
 puted to some not justly to be charged upon all, ib. 
 
 Temples, to the saints, multiplied in vi. cent. and surerstitious opinions 
 adopted about them, 142. 
 
 Tertiaries, an order of, Franciscans, 317. 
 
 Tertullian, a learned defender of Christianity, 42, 44. 
 
 Testament, New, when brought into use, 23; its translations how use- 
 ful, and the principal among them, 34; the zeal of Christians in 
 spreading abroad these versions, and the benefits hence arising to the 
 cause of religion, in ili. cent. 322. 
 
 Tests, religious, observations upon, 724. 
 
 Tetzel, John, his matchless impudence in preaching up the impious doc 
 
 || trine of indulgences in xvi. cent. 391. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Teutonic xnights, their office, 265; formed intoa fraternity inGermany, ib. 
 
 Theatins, a monastic order, 307. 
 
 Theodore, Lascaris, a Greek theological writer, 319. 
 
 Theodore, of Mopsuestia, his character, 116, 118. 
 
 , of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury, 
 England, 150; restores penance in vii. cent. 13d. 
 Penitential, ib. 
 
 Theodoret, an eminent writer, 116, 118. 
 
 Theodosius, the Great, his zeal against Paganism in iv. cent. 82, 
 
 ——, the Younger, discovers an ardent zeal for promoting Chris- 
 
 tianity, and extirpating idolatry, 108. 
 
 , bishop of Alexandria, revives the sect of the Monophy- 
 sites, 143. 
 
 Theodotus, his erroneous notions about Christ, 55. 
 
 Theology, controversial. See Controversial Writers. 
 
 , didactic, its simplicity in the infant state of Christiantiy, 25; 
 
 gradually loses its simplicity in il. cent. 42; corrupted by introducing 
 
 Platonic tenets into the Christian system in iii. cent. 65; its most 
 
 eminent writers in iv. cent. 91; its deplorable state in v. cent. 118; 
 
 its writers in vii. cent. deserve no commendation, 153 ; state in viii. 
 
 cent. 174; also in xii. cent. 282; different sects of didactic divines at 
 
 Paris, ib.; a principal object of study in xiii, cent. 322; greatly im- 
 
 proved in xvi, cent. 421. 
 
 , explanatory, its state in vi. cent. 139; in viii. cent. 173; en- 
 tirely neglected by the Greeks and Latins in x. cent. 218; its state 
 in xi. cent. 249; undertaken by few men of judgment and penetra- 
 tion in xii. cent. 282; the mystic method much adopted in xiii. cent. 
 322; modeled after the sentiments of the fathers of the church, in 
 xiv. cent. 352; its state in xv. cent. 375; much freedom used in stating 
 points of doctrine, in xvi. cent. 389 ; its stateinthe church of Rome, 433. 
 , mystic, its rise in lil. cent. 65. 
 
 , polemic, badly handled in vi. cent. 140; its state in vil. cent. 154; 
 
 the defence of Christianity against the Jews neglected through intes- 
 
 tine divisions in ix. cent. 194; wretched writers in xil. cent. 285; 
 
 writers more numerous than respectable in xiii. cent. 324. 
 
 , positive, whence derived, 139. 
 
 , scholastic, whence its origin in ill. cent. 65; admired in xi. 
 cent. 249; why so called, 250; the modest views of the first Scholas- 
 tics, ib; the system declines into captious philosophy, 280. 
 
 , its deplorable state, 389; its improvement, 421. 
 
 Theopaschites, a sect, 127. 
 
 Theophanes, bishop of Nice, his works and character, 351, 353. 
 
 , a distinguished Russian prelate, 716. 
 
 Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, his works, 42. 
 
 , bishop of Alexandria, 116. 
 
 , the emperor, his zeal against image-worship, 195. 
 
 Theophylact, patriarch of Greece, his infamous character, 212. 
 
 , of Bulgaria, the most eminent expositor among the Greeks 
 in xi. cent. 248. 
 
 ‘Theosophists, rise and character of, 421. 
 
 Therapeute, a sect among the Jews, 7. 
 
 Theresa, a Spanish lady, reforms the Carmelites, 430. 
 
 Thesilonica, Simeon of, account of his works, 372. 
 
 Thomasius, vehemently attacks the Peripatetics in xvii. cent. 584; suc- 
 cess of his philosophy, ib. 
 
 Thomists, the followers of Thomas Aquinas, 353. 
 
 Thorn, charitable conference at, 543; a scene.of Jesuitical cruelty, 706. 
 
 Tilloch, Dr. Alexander, a sectarian philosopher, 751. 
 
 Timotheus, his confutation of the various heresies in vii. cent. 154. 
 
 , the Nestorian pontiff, propagates the Gospel with great suc- 
 cess in Hyreania and Tartary, 161. 
 
 Timour, the Tartar, zealous for the extirpation of Christianity, 336 ; 
 his religion doubtful, ib. 
 
 Tindal, hypothesis of, 646. 
 
 Toland, John, his character and works, 527, 529. 
 
 Toleration, the act in favour of the Nonconformists in England under 
 
 romotes. learning in 
 
 ; account of his new 
 
 —_—— 
 
 —— 
 
 ~~ 
 
 William IIT., 617. 
 
 Torgaw, articles of, 403; convocation of, 466. 
 
 Tostatus, Alphonsus, his works and character, 372, 3°75. 
 
 Tournon, cardinal, carries into China the severe edict of Clement XI. 
 against the use of Chinese rites, 645; dies in prison, 704. 
 
 Trajan suffers the Christians to be persecuted, 35. 
 
 Transubstantiation, doctrine of, sanctioned by the pope, 321, 325; adopt- 
 ed by the Greek church in xvil. cent. 574; attacked by John Claude, 
 with Arnaud’s defence of its antiquity, ib. 
 
 Trappe, La, an austere monastic order, 555; character of its founder, ib. 
 
 Trent, objects of the council of, 432; its decrees how far acknowledged 
 by the members of the church of Rome, ib.; afford no clear and per- 
 fect knowledge of the Romish faith, 433. 
 
 Trinity, disputes concerning it arise in iv. cent. 101; Origen’s opinion 
 of itembraced by many Christians, 102; what that is, ib.; and its | 
 dangerous tendency in the hands of unskilful judges, ib.; revival of | 
 this controversy in xvill. cent. 653. 
 
 Trinity, fraternity of, 308. 
 
 Tritheists, their tenets, and rise in vi, cent. 144; their division into the 
 Philoponists and Cononites, 145. 
 
 No. LXVIII. 202 
 
 805 
 
 ' Trithemius restores learning in Germany, 360. 
 
 Trivium, a term invented to express the three sciences first learned in 
 the schools, 166. 
 
 Turks, progress of, 208, 359; they subvert the Greek empire, 359. 
 
 Turlupins, or brethren of the free spirit, 330. 
 
 Turrecremata, John de, an eminent scholastic writer, 373. 
 
 Type, or Formulary, published by Constans the emperor, 157. 
 
 prsoerida elep of Augsburg, the first person solemnly sainted by the 
 pope, 191. 
 
 Uke Walles, founder of the Ukewallists, 637; customs of the sect, 638. 
 
 Uladislaus 1V., king of Poland, his scheme of religious union unsue- 
 cessful, 581. 
 
 Ulphilas, bishop of the Ggths, the eminent service he did to Christianity 
 and his country in iy, cent. 83, 
 
 Understanding, men of, a sect in xv. cent. 378. 
 
 Uniformity, act of, issued by queen Elizabeth, 478; another by Charles 
 II. more rigorous, 617. 
 
 Unigenitus, famous bull of Clement XI. so called, and consequence of 
 it, 647, 704. 
 
 Union of the Lutheran and reformed churches, in various parts of Ger- 
 many, 745. 
 
 Unitarians, their religious principles changed by Socinus, 508; those 
 of Great Britain differ from Socinus, 731; relief granted to them, 
 750 ; a new association, ib. 
 
 United Provinces, whence they became united, 416; zealous in the 
 cause of the Reformation, ib.; how, and when, delivered from the 
 Spanish yoke, ib.; an universal toleration of religious sentiments 
 permitted, ib. 
 
 United Brethren, or the Moravian sect, 649, 719, 727. 
 
 Universalists, hypothetical, controversy excited by them, and summary 
 of their doctrine, 606 ; other universalists, 734. 
 
 Universities founded by the Lutherans and Calvinists in xvi. cent. 454, 
 
 Urban II., pope, his character, 243; lays the foundation of a new cru- 
 sade, ib.; forbids the clergy to take oaths of allegiance to their sove- 
 reigns, ib. 
 
 IV., institutes the festival of the body of Christ, 306. 
 
 VLI., his odious character, 343. 
 
 VIL, his character and works, 537; he attempts to unite the 
 Greek and Latin churches, 574. 
 
 Ursinus, his form of instruction, or the Catechism of Heidelberg, 476. 
 
 Ursulines, nunnery of, 431. 
 
 Val-Ombroso, a congregation of Benedictine monks founded there in x1. 
 cent. 245. 
 
 Valentine, the founder of a powerful sect in ii. cent. 53; his principles, 
 54; idle dreams, ib. 
 
 Valerian’s persecution of the Christians, 60. 
 
 Valla, Laurentius, a tolerable annotator on tae New Testament, 375. 
 
 Vandals, in Africa, raged against the Christians in y¥. cent. 122; the 
 miracles said to be performed at this time, examined, 123. 
 
 Vanini, impious treatises and fate of, 527. 
 
 Venice, secret assemblies of Socinians held there, 504; rupture of its 
 inhabitants with the pope Paul V., 549; consequences of it, ib. 
 
 Veron, the Jesuit, one of the Popish Methodists, 545; his method of 
 managing controversy, ib. 
 
 Verschorists, a Dutch sect, 621. 
 
 Victor, bishop of Rome, sends an 1mperious letter to the churches of 
 Asia, 49; his orders are rejected by them, ib. 
 
 , Hugh of St, distinguished by his great genius, 279. 
 
 , Richard of St., an eminent mystic, 279. 
 
 Vigilantius attacks the superstition of the fifth cent. 120; his contro- 
 versy with Jerome unsuccessful, ib. : 
 Vigilius, bishop of Rome, often changes sides in his determinations 
 
 about the three chapters, 141. 
 
 Villa Nova, Arnold of, his extensive knowledge, 301. 
 
 Vincent of Lerins, his treaties against the sects, 117. 
 
 Vindication of the Quakers, 635. 
 
 Viret, an eminent writer among the Reformed, 490. 
 
 ‘Vitriaco, Jacobus de, his character, 299. 
 
 Voet, founder of a sect of philosophers, 618. 
 
 Volusius, a theologist of Mentz, his reconciling attempt, 544, 
 
 Vulgate, account of that Latin Bible, 433; solemnly adopted by the 
 council of Trent, and why, ib. 
 
 Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, writes a learned answer to Bossuet’s 
 exposition of the Romish faith, 544; he promotes a union between 
 the English and Gallican churches, 652; a circumstantial account of 
 the correspondence carried on between hirn and certain French doc- 
 tors, relative to the union, 679, 698. ‘ Urns. 
 
 Waldemar L., king of Denmark, his zeal for propagating Christianity 
 in vii. cent. 260. : 
 
 Waldenses, or Vaudois, their origin, various names, and history, 290 : 
 their doctrine, discipline, and views, 291; they adopt the three orders 
 of bishops, priests, and deacons, ib.; increase in xiv. cent. 352 ; their 
 
 ve ) 
 state and settlement in xv. cent. 377; account of their reformation in 
 xvi. cent. 482; persecuted by the dukes of Savoy, 541, 720; their 
 state in xix. cent. 747. p oe 
 
 | Walter, head of the Beghards in xiv. ¢ent. 356. 
 
806 
 
 Wansleb, John Michael, is sent into Abyssinia, 577; neglects his mis- 
 sion, and turns Romanist, ib. 
 
 Warburton, bishop of Glocester, an eminent controversialist, 728. 
 
 Wars, holy, the first plan laid for them in x. cent. 208; and renewed in 
 xi. cent. 223; history of the first, ib.; the melancholy consequences 
 arising from them, and their legality examined, 224; their unhappy 
 effects on religion, 225; the unfortunate issue of the second of them, 
 263; and cause, ib.; history of the third, 263, 264; promoted by the 
 popes, and why, 293; new wars of this kind, 294, 295; attempts to 
 renew them in xiv, cent. unsuccessful, 335. 
 
 Warsaw, terrible law against the Socinians there, and how executed, 639. 
 
 ‘Waterland, Dr., opposes Dr. Clarke’s sentiments concerning the Trinity, 
 654; censured as a Semi-Tritheist, ib. 
 
 Waterlandians, a sect of Anabaptists in xvi. cent. 496; publish a sum- 
 mary of their doctrine, 497; their respect for learning, 499 ; abandon 
 the severe discipline and opinions of Menno, 638; divided into two 
 sects, ib.; account of their ecclesiastical government, ib. ‘ 
 
 Wayen, John Vander, flaming dissension between him and Frederic 
 Spanheim, with the occasion, 618. 
 
 Wesley, John and Charles, founders of Methodism in England, 726. 
 
 Wessel, John, called the light of the word, 372. , : 
 
 Westphal, Joachim, renews the controversy on the eucharist, 472; is 
 answered by Calvin, 1b. / , 
 
 Westphalia involved in calamities by the fanatics in xvi. cent. 459 ; fa- 
 mous peace of, 540. 
 
 Whiston, William, defends the doctrine of the Arians, 653. 
 
 Whitby, Dr., account of his dissertation on the manner of interpreting 
 the Scriptures, 603. 
 
 White, Thomas, his notions and works, 571. 
 
 Whitefield, George, his ministerial labours and great views, 652; his 
 tenets, 727. . 
 
 Whitehead, a distinguished writer among the Quakers, 632. 
 
 Wickliff, John, attacks the monks and papal authority, 345; exhorts 
 the people to study the Scriptures, ib.; leaves many followers, who 
 are persecuted by the churchmen, ib. 
 
 Wilberforce, William, an advocate for vital Christianity, 735. 
 
 Wilhelmina, extravagant notions of, 333. 
 
 William the Conqueror, refuses tobe subservient to the see of Rome, 243. 
 
 IIl., king of England, tolerates the Nonconformists, 617; 
 deprives eight prelates of their sees, for refusing to take the oath of 
 allegiance to him, ib. 
 
 Willibrod, an Anglo-Saxon missionary, 146. 
 
 Witnesses of the Truth, those so called, who attempted a reformation of 
 religion in ix, cent. 248; their opposition to the superstitions of the 
 church more vehement than prudent, 249. 
 
 —_—— 
 
 THE 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Wlodomir, the first Christian sovereign of Russia, 206, 
 
 Wolff, his philosophy and that of Leibritz detrimental to Arminianism 
 628; applied to the illustration of the Scriptures by some German 
 divines, 629; he reduces metaphysics to a scientific order, 650; his 
 philosophy promotes scepticism, 721. 
 
 Worms, treaty of, concerning investitures, 272 ; the edict passed against 
 Luther at a diet in that city, 397. 
 
 Worship, the first places of, 27; its form in i. cent. ib.; in iv. cent. 98; 
 in vi. cent. 142; variety of liturgies used in it, 210; it consisted of 
 Sb more than a pompous round of external ceremonies in xvi. cent, 
 
 9. 
 
 Writers, Greek, chief in iii. cent. 64; in iv. cent. 88; in v. cent. 116; in 
 vi. cent. 139; in vii. cent. 152; in viil. cent. 172; in ix. cent. 189; in x. 
 cent. 210, 216; in xi. cent. 247; in xii. cent. 279; in xiii. cent. 319; in 
 xiv. cent. 351; in xv. cent. 372. 
 
 , Latin, in iii. cent. 65; in iv. cent. 89; inv. cent. 116; in vi. cent. 
 
 138; in vii. cent. 152; in viil. cent. 172; in 1x. cent. 193; in x. cent. 211, 
 
 216; in xi. cent. 248; in xii. cent. 279; in xiii. cent. 320; in xiv. cent. 
 
 352; in xv. cent. 392. 
 
 , Oriental, in iil. cent. 64; in vi. cent. 107; in vili. cent. 172. 
 
 , Lutheran, their character in xvi. cent. 470; most eminent in 
 
 xvii. cent. 586. 
 
 , Romish, in xvii. cent. 559. 
 
 Xavier, Francis, his character, 418; his zeal and success in propagating 
 the Gospel in India and Japan, ib. 
 
 Xenaias, of Hierapolis, his hypothesis concerning the body of Christ, 
 144. 
 
 Zarchary, pope, deposes Childeric, and gives the crown of France to 
 Pepin, 168. 
 
 Zeno, the emperor, publishes adecree of union, 128. 
 
 Zinzendorff, count, founds the sect of the United Brethren in xviii. cent. 
 649; his notions, ib. 
 
 Ziska, the general of the Hussites, 373. 
 
 Zonaras, John, his character and works, 267, 279. 
 
 Zosimus, the historian, an enemy to the Christians, 111. 
 
 , pope, first protects, and then condemns, Pelagius, 129. 
 
 Zuinglius or Zuingle, Ulric, begins the reformation in Switzerland 
 395; his resolution and success against Samson the monk, ib.; his 
 blemishes considered, 396; his doctrine of the eucharist, 399; clears 
 himself from accusations of heresy, 402; becomes founder of the re- 
 formed church, 470; his doctrine and discipline corrected by Calvin 
 in three points, 474. 
 
 Zurich, a war in that canton between the protestants and the Romar 
 catholics, 471; its church attached to Zuingle’s doctrines, 472; a re 
 markable case of fanaticism in that community, 746. 
 
 END. 
 
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