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SAINT PAUL

A T

ATHENS.

SAINT PAUL

A T

ATHENS.

i do&us Athenis. Hor.

By KENRICK PRESCOT, D.D.
Master of Catharine-Hall.

CAMBRIDGE,
Printed ,by J. Archdeacon, Printer to the UNIVERSITY j
Sold by T. & J. Merrill in, Cambridge, and by
Charles Bathurst in Fleet-ftreet London.
M.DCC.LX^.

SAINT PAUL

A T

ATHENS,

IT is an interefting point, that we can
attend St. Paul to Athens, to which
city, we read in the A£is of the Apojiies, they
that conducted him, brought him. The
city Athens, famous and celebrated, appears
magnified by his prefence. Whatever elq-
quence and philofophy had deliver'd there,
would likely on this occafion be equal'dj
and the chriftian religion, like other infti-
tutes, gain credit and efteem.
The heart of every learned man grows
warm upon the naming Athens: and fo
muft that of every learned Chriftian, when
A he

( O
he enters this city with St. Paul, fully, the
light and ornament of Rome, admits his fon
into the fame, for the name and authority
this city bore for preceptors and learning.
What then revolv'd in the mind of the great
Roman orator, when in his ftudy at leifure
he brought into his thoughts the admifTion
of his fon into Athens, might very well en
gage us upon the introduction of St. Paul
into the fame learned city, Tully was pleaf-
ed to exercife himfelf in drawing compari-
fons between the powers of eloquence and
''philofophy. No inftance could more per
tinently, than this of the movement of St*
Paul into Athens, incite us to watch the dif
ferent fuccefs and preference, as it is to be
confer'd upon the orator or teacher : upon
the public k fpeaker, or upon the more tem
perate and retir'd writer of precepts, reli
gion, and philofophy. St. Paul can fet our
minds to work in both the characters. It
feems to have been with him, as with Tully ;
he was very able to fhew himfelf a mafter
in each, as occafion requir'd : and the learn-
ed Roman is thus far our guide, when in
the

( 3 )
the great examples he propounds, he don-
eludes it the perfonal fondnefs to the art,
that each of them fhone in the character he
chofe, when it was at will to have been e-
qually renowned for either. To this it was
more pleafing to deliver himfelf and his
force of fpeaking in publick caufes and be
fore the courts, whilft the other fancied the
more temperate ftyle, and to inftruct us in
the duty and wifdom of philofophy. If to
one you allow abilities, the fame we find in
the other. If the orator is diftinguifh'd
for graces of fpeech, the preceptor is fo too.
Plato, in the judgement of Tully, might
have been a firft pleader and orator; *»-
of^great name at the bar, as he was in the
fchools. But in thefe it was his perfonal
fatisfa£tion to be view'd, and in them be
held mod excellent. So he took to the
more temperate«ftyle, and convey 'd his
knowledge down in a language antiquity
has highly honoured, and judged a model
worthy the gods to imitate. And the
fcholar of Plato, the illuftrious Demofthenes,
by the fame great author is deem'd to have
A 2 had

( 4 )
had it at will to be a firft upon the lift a-
mongft the mafters of wifdom, as he ftands
now upon that of orators. After the fame
way of reckoning our learned guide con
cludes it to have been at their own plea-
fure, that Arifiotle was an eminent precep
tor, not a' fpeaker; and Ifocrates the admi
rable fpeaker, not a preceptor: For the
powers and abilities of fpeaking were great
in both, and the graces of writing alike at
will. If we change the perfons, if we turn
from Athens to Rome, our decifion, after
companions made, will turn out the fame:
and this under affiftance from the fame Rod
man oratoi1 and philofopher, who inftrudts
us to' make a judgement, not from Grecian
examples, but from himfelf. If we dare to
write him down the firft of orators, we
muft take care at the fame time this ac
knowledgement of power in the fpeaker
does not overfhadow thofe graces and beau
ties in writing, by which his philofophic
difcourfes entertain and convince us, and
throw us into the higheft admiration of e-
loquence and wifdom, at once united in
him.

( 5 )
him. It is no wonder thefe learned refer
ences employ us at the time we accompany
St. Paul to Athens. We muft imagine, his
fame would caufe the drawing a parallel to
thofe that have been mentioned. The able
critic Longinus, where he treats of particu
lar rules in the art of fpeaking, does St.
Paul great honour; and in making up a lift
of the firft Greek examples, regifters in the
fame band of worthies, Demojlhenes, Lyjias,
Efchines, Arifiides, Ifaus, cTimarchus, Ifo-
• crates, Dinarchus, Xenophon, and Paul of
Tar/us, fupporter of a doctrine not yetef-
tablifhed. A more diftinguifhed proof of
the power of St. Paul as a fpeaker, if evi
dence from fcripture, and his own behavi
our either before Agrippa, or at Athens, is
not to be taken in, could nbt be defir'd, or
invented more convincing, than this of the
celebrated Longinus.
When we come to take under confidera-
tipn the force and perfuafion in delivering
the rules of life, and imprefling them upon
pur hearts, and overcoming us in the point
A3 of

( 6 )
of making his inftruciions our hope and our
practice, we fhall rife on this argument to
thofe applaufes, which from the united!
praifes of Greece for ages have waited upon
the divine effays of Plato. St. Paul, when
we try him, by his doctrines, by his pre
cepts, by his elocution, and fublime man
ner, fails not in any particular, wherein
the confummate Plato fo highly was de
fending. View St. Paul in his epiftle to the
Romans fervently urging the doctrine of the
union of the Jew with the reft of the world,
the ardor of the apoftle in his own com-
miflion, his heights of expreffion upon the
divine wifdom and counfels in the chriftian
difpenfation, nothing more clear, nothing
more affecting, nothing more fublime can
be produc'd. Go along with St. Paul'm
his reflections, and fee what remains to be
added: — He proclaims,^ 0 the depth of the
riches both of the wifdom and knowledge of God:
how. unfearchable are his judgements, and his
ways pafi finding out I 34. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his coun-
fellor f 35. Or who hath firft given to him, and it

( 7 )
// Jhall be. recompenfed unto him again ? 3 6 . For
cf him, and to him are all things : to whom be
glory for ever. Amen. Here does the Apo-
ftle glow with uncommon fervor in thought
and fublimity, and as in many other in-
ftances intimates the want of words fuffici-
ent to fill his fentences, as being incapable
t to come up to be equal to the occafion.
But pafTages of diction alone are not the
fupports entirely of this divine epiftle.
When Tully gives us the defence of Ctefiphon
for the higheft exemplar of eloquence in the
world, the form, and matter, and judge
ment in constituting the whole, are with
him principal arguments of the defert of
that moft admirable oration. The Plan of
St. Paul's epiftle is remarkable in thefe par
ticulars. The parts which have been nam'd,
are moft interesting and fublime : the con
duct of them above the common, and im
porting divine affiftance. When St. Paul
was lifted into paradife, he acknowledges
himfelf then admitted to hear thofe af^T»
ineffable things, out of the power of man to
Utter; he was. admitted to higher know-
A 4 ledge,

( 8 )
ledge, the fenfe of reaching up to uf^Ta, as
in various instances amongft the learned
Ancients this fenfe would appear ratified.
The Apoftle feems oftentimes to difcover
the instructions he then receiv'd. Would
we frame any conception of the knowledge
in fuperior beings in paradife, we muft al
low heaveiirborn propositions, the glories
of the Creator, his wifdom and his coun-
fels, his love and mercy in our redemption,
to be intuitive and eafy to them. The
fame Subjects, without divine help, and
where the underftanding is not affifted, will
require more ftepsj and repeated connec
tions to feveral intermediate ideaS, before
the mind can afcend to a juft comprehen-r
fion of the grace and acts of divine wifdom.
His reliance upon figures, his frequent
transitions, the profound myftery of his ar
gument, will anfwer for the management
and difcourfes of St. Paul, fo much above
the u'fual faculties of men, adequate to the
knowledge he had obtain'd. But in this
matter let us confult the Apoftle himfelf.
At leaft Jet us not take for our guides pole
mical

( 9 )
mical controversies, and fophiftical reafon-
ings ; though in this the Apoftle runs a pa
rallel with the divine Plato, whofe exposi
tors have fo darkly overShadow'd his graces,
and the beauty of his eloquence, in a man
ner nearly to extinguish them. St. Paul
was not only empower'd to draw the cur
tain, and to give us an infight into the
higheft divine counfels ; but in cafes where
the affections, where our lives and manners
are to be form'd, our higheft hopes and de-
fires to be fatisfied ; in his exhortations to
a pious and good life, he bears a divine ar
tillery in his hand, and often as he difplays
the facred Sires, he demonstrates at the fame
time his own great capacity to enforce and
direct them.
Whilft we remark that the movements of
St. Paul were not thofe of an ordinary per-
fon, we muft remember likewife, that Athens
was of a condition and fame fuperior to o-
ther cities, especially for productions in Sci
ence and learning. Then when St. Paul
was brought to it, the city was, and had
been

( io )
been long before, the residence and nurfery
of the moft eminent fcholars. Happily in .
the air of this place Sprung up together a
clear difcernment in the underftanding, and
an ability to deliver the thoughts and rea-
fonings of the mind in a manner both
pleafing and instructive. The feveral maf*
ters and preceptors^ by the fame which they
gain'd, were from time to time frequented
by pupils and candidates of wifdom from
moft knovyn parts. Greece fent her Sons,
as partaking of the honours which Athens
reflected upon the mother country. Thofe
of Troy and Carthage here met. Rome and
European nations fought the polite arts.
Egypt and the coafts of Afric refort with
the fame intention of education and in
struction. And the like ufeful learning
called perfons of riches and nobility from
the inward Eaftern countries, fo that no
fchools were ever more general than thefe
of Athens ; nor any place for the variety of
Sciences, and the diverfity of Students, more
fitly Stil'd an Univerfity. Whoever came
amongft them, found the different branches of-

( II )
of learning cultivated and eftablifhed by
ample revenues : either as they firft were
founded by the city, by Patrons or Princes ;
or by the more private, though equally be
neficial, teftaments and legacies of thofe
who had received, or of thofe who had pre
sided in part over, the education of this
place. From hence, what learning loves,
they had their privileges, their walks, and
their fchools, and their leifure. Their live
ly manners gave them opportunity to con-
verfe learnedly, and to debate in their com
mon language publickly. Hence often have
we in the memoirs of their able writers ef-
fays and difcourfes, fuch as were either for
tuitously, or Statedly tranfacted in the learn
ed way. This difpofition and turn of their
common life affords a juft infight into the
engagements of St. Paul during his Stay,
and lets us into a right notion of thofe paf-
fages and incidents of difcourfe, his earneft-
nefs of debating would probably bring him
to with thofe he met. St. Paul was a
fcholar, was able to appeal to their poets
and philofbphers. He could boaft of coun
trymen

( 12 )
trymen and fcholars of note from Cilicia
and Tarfus, and was qualified in all refpects
to traverfe the city as an Academic. His
difcourfe, which we read rehears'd by St.
Luke in the ASts of the Apoftles, bears many
marks in the rife and execution of cuftoms
and topics then prevailing in that learned
city. Confiderations, I have no doubt, of
weight fufficient to move St. Aufiin to make
the Sight of St. Paul preaching at Athens
one of his three remarkable wiShes. For
by obtaining this, the learned Father had
become a Spectator of the Apoftle confront
ing and overcoming the moft celebrated af-
fembly of fcholars in the world — He would
have beheld St. Paul Standing in this awful
place of judgement, and pleading in defence
of reveal'd truths from their own princi
ples : Strenuous on this folemn occafion to
affert the knowledge of falvation committed
to his care, at the fame time feeming inter
fylvas Academi qucerere verum, and eager to
acquit himfelf a fcholar of their own.
The regard in St. Paul to prevailing opi
nions

( 13 )
nions and manners, places us under the he-
ceSIity of taking his jaddrefs to the Atheni
ans in the obliging and engaging ftile, when
he thus fpeaks, 0 ye men of Athens, I perceive
ye are in all things very fuperftitious. Our
translation would more exactly have deli
vered the mind of St. Paul, had it rendered
the place with a regard to thofe difpofitions
towards religion, that then prevailed in
Athens ; Ye are in all things very devout : fo
indeed he won their attention, and recon
ciles them in his own favour to the dif-
couffe he was then entering upon. The
great matters of Rhetoric furnifh us with
certain instructions, with which they tell
us, every orator, who hopes for fuccefs,
muft be prepar'd, and appris'd of in the
city of Athens. One of them, Dionyfius of
HalicamaJJus, fets down this point in parti
cular, the commending them for their ve
neration to religion. Plato is a remarka
ble example in this cafe, who in his Menex-
enus, a funeral oration, and at the fame
time a panegyric upon the commonwealth
of Athens, there performing the part of an
ora-

( H- )
orator, and indeed introducing eloquence
itfelf under the perfon of AJpafia, does on
the occafion, in an attempt to give the
world a copy of the higheft graces Speech is
capable of, follow the rule of addrefling the
Athenians with a praife and commendation
for their religious obfervances. The fub-
je£t St. Paul was interefted in, muft caufe
him to confider by what topics on the like
occafions the people of Athens had before
his time ufually been drawn to give their
attention : and St. Paul has left too many
instances of his learning to fuffer us to
imagine he could be ignorant of the proper
manner of addrefling himfelf at this junc
ture. He followed no doubt, the conftant
manner of the fpeakers ; and that inftance
of Plato, which has been already alluded to,
may be read as an evidence of the addrefs
and cuftom prevailing in this particular.
The words of Plato are, er, & «|<a $ x^x ^
V7ro iravjuv avS^cnruv e7rxiveiar9xt, a povov vtp'vjfiav'
¦srpXKa.xV f-iV *) a^Ay, ir^tarov Se ^ peyigov, on Tvy-
xuvu 2<roi' SeoQihiis. That is, " Our coun-
" try is worthy of all men to be praifed; " not

( 15 )
" not by ourfelves only ; ' and this upon
" many confiderations ; but firft and chiefly
" for distinguishing itfelf by affection to
" the gods."
The refpect and veneration to religion
and the ceremonies of religion, we find in
terwoven with the civil ftate and conftitu-
tion : and it was a principal difpofition in
the manners and cuftoms of the Athenians.
We can have no better proof of this than
in the characters of their more ferious wri
ters, particularly the learned tragedians,
who come down to us as the Divines of
Athens, the principal teachers of morality
and religion there. Athens, whofe clime
has produced perfonages of the fineft wit,
with the moft perfect underftanding, was
the parent and nurfery of Efchylus, Sopho
cles, and Euripides: and none have more
contributed to the fame and learning in
Athens, than thefe. The numerous and
moft voluminous teachers after them, re
ligious, political, and moral, ever derive au
thority into their writings by references to
thefe

( i6 )
thefe principal. teachers. He is no Athe
nian reafoner that is without them. It is
to be a great ftranger to the learning of
Athens, not to have obferved this. It is not
unfeafonable to remark thus far upon the
authority of thefe venerable perfons, not
only with a view to the devotion and Strict
religion of the Athenians, but alfo on other
accounts, where St. Paul kerns to appeal
to them. In testimony of the religious
turn, one of thefe Divines has a remarkable
obfervation — To oblige the city, he takes
his harangue upon an affecting and folemn
cataftrophe, when the blind and exil'd Oe
dipus fets unknowingly his foot on holy and
forbidden ground. At this time we hear
again of the devout difpofition of the Athe
nians -t the line from Sophocles is this,
'Ei txc A.$!ji/«f <pam SreotrtZig-aTotg
Eivai. 0«W« tvKoK. pag. 280;
That is, " Athens, as they report, of
" all cities the moft devout towards the
" Gods." Here again the compliment is
repeated, very advantageoufly in the perfon of

( i7 )
of a venerable king and foreigner, and be
fore an audience, moft willing to receive it.
The Stage and theatre of Athens fupplies
many proofs of the reigning fentiments
there in religion and manners. The Stage
brought on many occasions the graveft au
thors to a trial, and took upon it to fix a
criterion for religion and morality. — Poffi-
bly this in the end rendered the perfor
mances fo eftimable for their religious and
moral precepts, and their authors more of
authority, who had paffed the fentence of a
people, whofe birth conferred upon them
ingenuity, whofe cuftoms made them reli
gious. It is a well known piece of hiftory,
when the moft divine of their favourite play
writers, the learned and religious Euripides,
was fufpected of an oversight in his regard
to the Deity, he was obliged to excufe his
expreffions before the offended Athenians,
by begging them to fee the iffue of what he
had delivered under an impious character ;
which excufe was admitted, and the ingeni
ous inventor pardoned for the liberty his
B fancy

( i8 )
fancy had taken. St. Luke goes along with
St. Paul in this account of the Athenian tafte
and turn, when he fets them down enquir
ers after news ; a remark chiefly reflecting
their ardor to be instructed in matters of
religion, and to repel innovation — a tem
per, no doubt, that happily produc'd the
prefent fcene, St. Paul preaching at Athens.
And how able he was to acquit himfelf, from
his exordium we have already learn'd, from
which we perceive him fenfible of the taSk
upon his hands, and that he engages to be-
fpeak the attention of his audience to the
advantage of his Doctrines.
Opportunity is taken to bring the Athe
nians to the knowledge of the true God, to
the duty of repentance, to the expectation
of the refurrection, and a day of general
judgement, from what St. Paul found, or a-
lighted upon, as he pafs'd, an altar with an
infcription to the unknown God. The name
of the Creator, the maker of heaven and
earth, had travers'd into the heathen na
tions, and was there receiv'd, for fo much we

(' 19 )
we Shall have occafion to obferve, with the
higheft veneration under the title of the
unknown God. Upon thofe numerous altars,
•which have the plural number infcriptions,
that is to fay, where we read ®eo~c dyvuc-otg,
Diis incertis, ambiguis, and %svotg, we muft
fuppofe the devotion, from whence thofe
altars arofe, to proceed from the conftant
fuperftition prevailing with the Heathen, a
zeal to invite the deities of foreign countries
to become propitious to their particular
ftate and commonwealth, who ftrove by
this act of religion to gain over to them-
felves the favour and protection of the
Gods of other countries. This caus'd the
infcription to be general, for it was thus
read, to the Gods of Afia, Europe, and Afri
ca, foreign and unknown : Paufanias and Phi*
loftratus confirm to us, there being feveral
altars of this fort Standing at Athens.
Thofe mention'd by Paufanias according to
feveral learned conjectures, were rais'd at
the ordinance of Epimenides with the plural
number infcription QtoTc ayvug-oic. The
manner of the religious rite would caufe
B 2 thena

• ( 20 )
them to be many. Upon the Cy Ionian con-
fpiracy, or to avert a peftilence and the an
ger of the Gods, Epimenides injoin'd that
black Sheep Should be turn'd out, to luf-
trate, and to take their own way, and upon
what fpot any Sheep Stood Still, there to fix
an altar. From thefe general inscriptions
the chief point appears, the anxiety of not
knowing the names of the distant loca.l
Deities, to whom the worShip was defign'd.
But with regard to the altar St. Paul fpeaks
of, we feem not to be under the neceSfity
of ranking the unknown God there *in-
fcrib'd under the above uncertainty, a name
they were not appris'd of. The intention
by that infcription was, to naturalize that
particular God, who had declar'd himfelf
unknown, by having difclaim'd a name.
That the knowledge of fuch a God being
existing and being worShipp'd, had fpread
itfelf over various nations, is manifeft from
the profeflions the learned heathen have
made concerning this matter. They not a-
lone acknowledge him to be a particular
God, but they tell us, where his worShip
prevails.

( 21 )
prevails. The God of the Jews, Plutarch
Stiles him rov xeitftvpevov. Dion Cafiius tov
dxc6Jovo[ixc-ov, and a.g'oy]ov. Lucan makes the
worShip, paid to this deity, the distinguish
ing mark of the nation, in which the place
of worShip is, from others ready to ferve
under the banners of Pompey.
 et dedita facris .
Incerti Jud&a Dei. ¦¦

And perhaps in this place we had read
ignoti, had the poet judg'd the found equally
mufical. We need not be furpris'd, when we fee
the particular name of the God of the Jews,
fo often confefs'd by the heathen fcholars,
that there Should alfo be an altar rais'd to
the fame Deity. Though we cannot aflign
the precife time of fixing this act of devo
tion amongft others at Athens, the above
learned authors teftify fufficiently the know
ledge of the Deity. The religion of an al
tar would of courfe follow, efpecially with
a people, as the Athenians were, from many
cafeS to be prov'd, over-eager to honour eve
ry God they heard of, by building an altar
B 3 to

( 22 )
to him. An opinion has therefore pre-
vail'd with great probability, the Athenians,
who incorporated hebrew laws into thofe of
their commonwealth, at the. fame time they
collected thefe, could not forbear to obferve
the extraordinary tutelary titles of the Ma
ker of heaven and earth, as he would ap
pear in the Law, and fo be often repeated
by the hebrew lawgiver. They would read
of him as the God of his people, the Lord
of hofts, and going out with their armies,
and with fuch interesting titles, a people
like the Athenians, ever aw'd by marks of
the affiftance of divine power, are juftly
fuppos'd to have brought in his name, with
the benefits they borrow'd from his laws.
The Heathen were fenfible of a principal
purpofe in this infcription to the unknown
God ; and that was, the expreSfion, as it was
read, guarded againft all imagination of his
being a God, that could be reprefented by
figure and image. The anecdote Tacitus
has delivered upon this head, will be a proof
pf what is now alledg'd, and will at the
fame

( 23 )
fame time be apply 'd as a comment upon
thofe words above, fet down from Plutarch,
Dion Cafiius and Lucan, in confirmation
thofe learned authors have this fenfe con-
vey'd in the names of the God of the Jews,
that image and figure was excluded from it.
Tacitus writes, Judcei fola mente unumque nu-
men intelligunt. The import is nothing
confiderable, after what manner, and at
what certain time, the altar at Athens was
rais'd ; but it feems altogether confiftent to
be perfuaded the infcription was in the Sin
gular number, and defign'd in particular to
the Maker of heaven and earth. This ren
ders the differtation of St. Paul moft natu
ral, and proceeding from the altar he faw
with a propriety, the -moft acute adverfary
could find no objection to.
Plutarch delivers a fentiment, remarka
bly refin'd, upon the name of the unknown
God ; a paifage, it may be the firft time ap
pearing in a difquifition upon the prefent
fubject; in itfelf very ferviceable, though
not in the article before mentioned, the re-
B 4 fin'd

( 24 )
fin'd part of it, for it is not here produc'd
upon that account. Plutarch in his Roman
questions informs us, there was a prohibi-r
tion to name the chief guardian and tutela
ry God of Rome ¦, and upon this matter he
takes notice, " as the Tyri,ans are faid to
" bind their images with cords, that they
" might not be invited over by their ene^.
" rnies, and pafs to their fide, fo the Remans
fi to fecure their god in fafer cuftody, de-
" creed him to be 'ineffable and unknown.'"
isTCtic oi PupxToi ro xpprilov K} ro uyvtocrov ao'tpxM""
g-xryv etvAt Bev y£ fieGxioTaTyy <Ppi(jav. Plu
tarch, as an ingenious antiquary indulges
refin'd conjecture, but fignifies his affertions
are no more; he means them not an abfo-
lute demonstration : nor can his narrative,
and the event he points to, be juftly altoge
ther wrefted from the honour of the Deity,
to whom it is due ; the Deity, whom in an
other place he has pronounc'd, and that
perhaps upon better information in a fubr
fequent difcourfe, to be xez^vpevov, and the
God whom the Jews worfhipp'd. The
deity of Rome he here characterifes oiojmjev

( 25 )
j£ xyvsac-ov. Dion CaJJius, as we have al
ready feen, exprefly fpeaks of the Deity of
the Jews, and Stiles him u$\QV ; Luc an calls
him incertum. What the learned have al
ways been defirous to meet with, they fee
in this paffage an attribute of the Deity de-
fcrib'd by the word unknown in the Singular
number — Plutarch directly writes the word
dyvuc-ov. We are not able with a like kind
of authenticity to affirm an altar at Rome
was infcrib'd upon this occafion with an
infcription to the unknown God, though we
can arrive nearly to it ; fer we can produce
a learned Chriftian in the fecond or third
age, St. Martialis, relating the demolition of
heathen altars at Rome, where only thofe
were Spared, which were with the infcrip
tion to the unknown God ; and thefe, he fays,
they confecrated. — A point eafy to be ac
cepted, as it came in courfe, and can be no
other than a faithful account of a natural
viciffitude of things taking place, where
ffhriftianity fucceeded into the refpect, with
which idolatry had been receiv'd. More-
pver, who doubts with the Roman govern ment

( 26 )
ment the devotion, when firft accepted at
Rome, would be diffus'd abroad ? Hence by
the teftimony of Strabo there was with the
Celiiberians the ®eog uvuvupog, Alexander ab
Alexandra witneffes the ®eov xyvucrov to have
been acknowledg'd in Arabia : it is not
eafy, even upon Roman authority, to forbid
the Deity an entrance into the moft devout
of all cities Athens. No one can anfwer,
where the Romans might firft meet with, or
fay, whence it came to pafs, they Should
pronounce the Deity, they receiv'd for the
unknown, ,and under this name, to be the
principal tutelary of Rome-, and whom in
confequence, as Plutarch relates to us, they
held to be local and peculiar to themfelves.
Much time need not be fpent in fettling
this point; only we may affure ourfelves of
the confequence. After the Romans had
determin'd the Deity to be their own, they
would entertain the higheft veneration, and
perform the moft facred acts in honour of
the Deity. Nothing would be wanting to
perform due worfhip to the God, upon
whom the good fortune of the city Rome was

( 27 )
was held dependant, and the fervent devo
tion at home would excite them to Sanctify
with his name and altar other moft eminent
regions, fubject to their power and domi
nion. The fuperftition and zeal in fecur-
ing the protection of the Gods, under whofe
fecurity any people profeffed to live, was
attended with too much fearfulnefs, and
too much fufpicion for the publick good, to
fuffer them to be negligent in any rite of
religion, fo far as to endanger his favour,
and to be in hazard of lofing the good-will
of the God they had efpous'd. How much
was apprehended from want of full and
due regard in thefe particulars, the follow
ing mafterly lines from Virgil difcover to
us : which indeed come from the greateft
diffembler, from Sinon loft to all truth and
religion. In which inftance, although the
fpeaker is no example of fuperftitious zeal,
his argument, and his auditors, by the ef
fect his fpeech had, are indeed perpetual
proofs of the height of the zeal and fuper
ftition among the heathen Ancients in re
gard to their Gods. Thus the prince of
diffemblers

( 28 )
difiembler.s moft fuccefsfully argues in the
eloquent lines of Virgil:
Omnis fpes Danaum, et ccepti fiducia belli
Palladis auxilio femrier ftetit : impius ex quo
Tydides fed enim, fcelerumque inventor Ulyfles,
Fatale aggreffi facrato avellere templo
Palladium, casfis fummsecuftodibus arcis,
Corripuere facram effigiem : manibufque cruentis
Virgineas aufi Divas contingere vittas;
Ex illo fluere, ac retro fublapfa referri
Spes Danaum : fraftas vires, averfa Deas mens.
Another office comes upon our hands.
We have been engag'd in introducing a
paffage of Plutarch in aid to the prefent
fubject ; now the tafk is to difcard another,
which feldom fails to appear in the front of
ancient teftimonies, bringing up a moft
powerful evidence upon the occafion. Our
allufion is to the famous oath, commonly
faid- to be in a dialogue of Lucian, hitherto
cuftomarily plac'd before us with claffic au-
thority,*in proof of the infcription upon the
altar at Athens, as St. Paul affirm'd it to be.
The name of the dialogue is the Philopatris;
the chief fpeaker, who is covertly judg'd to
reprefent

( 29 )
reprefent the author, makes ufe of this
oath, vvj tov ayva-crov ev AQyvxtg. Towards?'
the conclufionof the fame dialogue we hear
again of this affair, and read fasts & tov Iv
AQqvxtg xyvug-ov etDevpovJeg, ^ ^rpoa'KVVTio'xvTsg xetpxg
tig tov apxvov uvxTeiAxvreg, tutu eu%a(itsni(ro(d,ev- '•
That is, but having alighted upon the unknown
God at Athens, worjhipping him, and having
lift up our hands to him, we will render our
thanks to him. The Philopatris turns out a
fatyrical performance, full 'of rancour 'and
ribbaldry upon feveral truths of our reli
gion, and upon facred perfons concern'd in
publishing it to the world. Moft likely po
sitions in the dialogue with refpedt to the
doctrine, of the Trinity awaken 'd the learn
ed world to be more diligent in finding out
the authenticity of the work, and the time
of the author, which feem now fatisfactori-
ly to be concluded upon. The Philopatris
is a dialogue of uncommon Structure, and
it hath obtain'd no fame more tender con
cerning it, than being the deform 'd off
spring of a queftion'd parent. It hath
been judg'd to be the produce of the time,
when

( 3^ )
when Nero reign'd, as it hath alfo of that,
when Trajan. The turn to abufe and ca
lumny, with the conftant title " a dialogue
" of Lucian," was the caufe of reputing him
of Sambfata, the famous and the ingenious,
to be the father. A differtation of the learn
ed Gefner, after feveral fair difcuffions, and
modeft critical enquiries, fixes the birth of
it to the time of the emperor Julian ; not-
withftanding fome affert the firft appear
ance to have been in the reign of Dioclefian,
finding it neceffary to afcribe apiece of fuch
famous Slander upon the lives and doctrines
of Chriftians to a period, the enemies of
our religion were in the higheft power.
Through the labours of the learned perfon
before mention'd, we are instructed to re
ceive the Philopatris as the work of a fophift
Lucian, favourite' of Julian. The imita
tion in this dialogue of his namefake of
Samofafa, courted in a manner to croud all
Lucian into it, with other matters pointing
to times, as well as the whole being be
neath the great mafter in Dialogue, are fuf-
ficient reafons to remove the delufion which had

* V

( 3i )
had prevail'd fo long, and to reftore the
work to the true parent, who under cover
of a fame name, had fent it out with claffic
and attic dignity.
Thus far was neceffary before fuch, who
Still remain unacquainted with the hiftory
of the Philopatris ; though indeed it is of no
import, who the author was, or when the
work firft appear'd, in refpect of the main
matter, at prefent we are concern'd for.
Our chief enquiry is, how far the oath, and
the other famous paffage in the dialogue,
become new and different witneffes to the
truth of what St. Paul had afferted, when
he made his report of an altar and infcrip
tion at Athens. We are all of us eager, and
greedily run to read a paffage of a greek
claSTic for this purpofe. We fee it Singled
out by itfelf, and accept it as a witnefs of
highelt validity. But all this to lktle pur
pofe ; becaufe we thus embrace for genuine
proofs the oath and the fentence from their
outward appearance, and have never put the
queftion, what was their original deSign : —
The

( 32 ),
The plain anfwer to which is, they both in
the dialogue are a direct mockery of St:
Paul, and of what he has wrote; they con
found, and repeat in part, what St. Paul
had faid; they take their rife from his
words, and cannot for that reafon be a new
and fecond testimony. Had the Apoftle
never wrote, we had never feen them,
therefore they are nothing beyond, or dif
ferent to what he himfelf affirms ; and all
the authority for an altar and an infcrip
tion, which they may be fuppos'd to aver,
is but as the Apoftle had aver'd ; and their
defign is to give us his words, and to play
upon them. So that the contents of this
dialogue have no pretence to be claflie and
new vouchers in this bufinefs, nor at all to.
be receiv'd in that character.
In juftice to St. Paul notice ought to be
taken of the perverfe dealing he meets with
from the author of the dialogue, who is
fenfible of his advantage, in playing upon
the words of St. Paul. The Apoftle very
fenfibly and very pertinently afferts before the

( 33 )
the'judges, as 1 pafs'd along, I found an altar
with this infcription, To the unknown God.
The Philopatris on the other part is induf-
trious to ridicule the Apoftle upon his find
ing the unknown God at Athens; and this
twice repeated, the unknown God at Athens,
an effential part of the wit of the piece, as
it ends in a whimfical afcribing a certain
victory, obtain'd in a diftant region, to the
local God at Athens. But how injuriously
the words and conduct of St. Paul are
wrefted to ferve fo poor a caufe, every one
eafily perceives.
Upon furmife another certain expreffion
may be particular, our thoughts are to be
turn'd upon one Single word of the Dia
logue, by which the Author has not alter'd
the fenfe and meaning of St. Paul, but pro
bably may be judg'd to have made it more
certain and clear. The Apoftle writes evgov,
that is, I found : the Philopatris, e<psvf>ovres ;
purpofing to Signify, alighting upon, or find
ing by chance. If any refpect is to be paid
to the expreffion in the Dialogue, the in-
C terpretation

( 34 )
terpretation upon this authority of rightly
understanding the defign of the Apoftle
leads us to judge, that St. Paul found, or
alighted upon, was not frequently to be met
with in the city, an altar with an infcrip
tion to the unknown God. This reafoning
in its full force can only fet us upon think
ing, it was not very probable an altar with
the plural number infcriptions, for they are
not only confirm 'd, as we have feen, to be
fet up at Athens, but alfo to have been very
numerous. St. Paul by this explication is
not prevented in his paffage from meeting
with the altar, which in more ancient times
the Athenians might ordain neceffary to add
-to their instances of devotion from the ve
neration they found due to the Maker of
heaven and earth, with whofe laws to his
own' chofen people they could Scarce make
an acquaintance without a knowledge at
the fame time of the lawgiver : or if the
altar was more new, and the infcription
came to Athens under, the Roman govern
ment, the fame particular God is denoted,
that is to fay, the Maker of heaven and
earth,

( 35 )
earth, with his name of the ineffable and un
known, A God there was under thefe and
Similar appellations, and fo profefs'd to be
by heathen fcholars, as well as by St. Paul,
each in their phrafe purpofing a Single one,
and the fame Deity.
St. Paul proceeds in his difcourfe, and af
ter mentioning the true God, in the follow
ing manner enlarges, and makes further de
claration of him from his power and works,
as Maker and Governor of the Univerfe.
The Apoftle writes, God that made the world
and all things therein, feeing that he is Lord of
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made
with hands: 25. Neither is worjhipped with
mens hands, as though he needeth any thing,
feeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all
things. This doctrine, howfoever chriftian,
St. Paul finally Shews to be agreeing to
Athenian doctrine, and in the end it fearce
differs from their own perfuafions, fupport-
ed in their own learning. A frefh obliga
tion hence iffues to view St. PauL design
ing to gain the attention of his prefent au-
C 2 dience

f 36 )
dience by truths, which they themfelves had
admitted. " For God Standeth in need, if
" indeed there is a God, of nothing}" had
been written by Euripides:
Aeirxi yap jeog, enreg £g"i M\ug Heog,
OvSevog. — Her. Fur. lin. 1345.
But this is not enough— You will fee that
example in Heraclitus the philoSbpher oiEphe-
fus, that it muft be confefs'd, St. Paul nearly
makes a tran fcript from him. Theabovecited
leader in philofophy, for in that degree he
flood rank'd amongft the Learned at Athens^
in his firft epiftle to Hermodorus questions
his own countrymen in the following man
ner, " O ye ignorant, know you not that
" God is not made with hands ;" «V«/<S«m»,
£k <re on » « er' &eos x^i07^0? > He goes on
to fay, " neither from the beginning hath
" he a bafis to Stand on, nor a wall to en-
" compafs him, but the whole world is his
" temple, variegated with things that have
" life, and with things that grow, and with
" Stars." Ou JS 'gdexn&xtnvext'- i&lxiu Km
m/ii&oXov, aXX oXog 0 Koirfiog eivju vctog eg-t, luoig

( 37 )
i£ <Putoi$, j£ argot; •sr£7romi\[ie'vog. In many
places St. Paul vouchfafes to imbibe the
ftyle and temper "of Heraclitus: and the
clofe imitation of that philofopher, in the
prefent cafe as it lays before us, was ad-
vanc'd we may be fure for an authority, the
learned, who heard him, could make no ob
jection to. We may on this occafion con
vert the order of time, and bring both He
raclitus and Euripides for expofitors of that
very particular phrafe ; Neither is worjhipped
with mens hands, as though he needeth any
thing. For in the fenfe it was of old re-
ceiv'd, the fame it is in St. Paul, denoting
the Maker of all things, in every part of the
world hath left marks and Signs of the wor
ship and honour due to him, and that he is
in no need of curious wrought images, or
temples of admird workmanfhip and Struc
ture to invite mankind to ferve and honour
him. ¦
No lefs when St. Paul afferts, God made
of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on
the face of the earth, and. hath determin'd the
C 3 times

( 38 )
times bifore appointed $ and the bounds of their
habitation, is he full of philofophical and fa
miliar language to the Learned, before
whom he Spoke. And though he preffes a
particular and conftant Providence, both
Stoics and Epicureans^ moderate in their o-
pinions, found him differ but little, if at all
-in words and expreflions from themfelves.
In many refpects the doctrine would agree
with articles they had in part accepted.
They that Would blefs heaven for being
brought into the world contemporaries with
a wife and good man, a Socrates, or a Plato;
and in refult of their tenets would give out
this their lot a gift of Providence, in the
end would not much difagree with St. Paul,
who places our time, and birth, and habita
tion at the appointment of heaven. We
have the whole burthen of this doctrine in
the line of Perftus, the noble ftoic pupil un
der Cornutus, the greateft mafter of thofe
principles in his time. The verfe is this,
*~ — — quem te Deus eSfe
Juffit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re.
Sat. 3. 12,
Study

( 39 )
Study thyfelf, what rank, or what degree,
The wife Creator hath ordain'd for thee. Dryden.
The incitement to duty and thankfulnefs
in our lives is moft affecting, when we fee
the power of heaven condefcendirig to en
lighten and fix us, by confirming thofe per-
fuafions, that had prevail'd and been cele
brated before, that God is our maker, our
time, our place, and all we have, are as he
affigns. When we have been vers'd in fub-
jects, which, as far as knowledge goes back,
had employ 'd the beft wit and fenfe of the
Learned, the converfant in thefe efforts of
ancient wifdom receive with higheft fatif-
faction the authority of religion, join'd
with them. The claffic learning in all the
branches, philofophy, oratory, hiftory, and
poetry, hath been fo perfect in reprefenting
and expreffing nature, with the concerns
and duty of it, that it has won the hearts
and obfervations of mankind, fo as ever to
pleafe and inltruft them. When religion
falls in with the ancient compofitions and
C 4 fentiments,

( 4° )
fentiments, the learned Still feel more pow
erful emotion and conviction by means of
the prejudices claffic learning had laid them
under. But let us hear what follows this gift of
creation, and of appointing our times and
habitation : St. Paul teaches the Athenians
the confequence is, that they Jhould feek the
Lord if haply they might feel after him, and
find him, though he be not far from every one of
us. 28. For in him we live, and move, and
have our being: as certain alfo of your own
poets have faid ; for we are alfo his offspring.
The poets are here mention'd in the fame
fenfe, Divines and teachers of religion
might be call'd upon in thefe days for their
authority. The part of St. Paul's difcourfe,
laft repeated, is compos'd of plain and eafy
words, but yet they are principal and lead
ing expreSfions, and were ufed by the learn
ed Ancients in their expositions of a Provi
dence. St. Paul, in his prefent preaching
before the Athenians^ accommodates himfelf to

( 4i )
to their manner of thinking and writing,
and convinces them at the laft upon their
own principles. His words are fo particu
lar and appofite, that he appeals to their
own poets. How thefe were receiv'd for
Standards of religion and morality, has al
ready been fet before you. Greek poets, and
their fcholars the Romans, have very copi
ously exprefs'd, where occafion offer'd, the
doctrine of a providence in terms as fimilar
as the Subject from different authors, and
different languages, could well be expected
to be fet down. That God is not far from
us, in him we live, and move, and have our be
ing, are phrafes the moft repeated : but to
feek the Lord, if haply they might feel after
him, and find him, bears fuch an allufion to
a full and learned paffage in Euripides, the
relation between them muft give each en
quiring Student the greateft pleafure, In
deed the whole Athenian doctrine of a Pro
vidence is here deliver'd with much poetical
beauty. Euripides writes,
*Q. yy\g o%^«, xx V) yy\g e^uv etyxv,
' Orris troj et o~v, osvs~c7rxs~os s^ivut Zeus,

( 42 )
Zeus> el r diittyx^ Quo-ems, et ts vxs Pootuv.
Xlpoa-iiv^d^v ce, "sravfa yap <$' dfyo'tps
Bmvuv xehev&ts, xurx Slxtpi ru Svijt uyets-
Troddes i. 884;
Be pleas'd to accept this translation.
O Jove, earth's chariot, and on earth thy feat
That haft, whate'er thou be, moft hard to knOw,
Nature's neceffity, or mind of man,
To thee I pray, for thou doft pafs in ways
Not full of noife, to tell us where thou mov'ft,
But as thou guid'ft aright th' affairs of men.
The path without noife, and to find God
there, without being led by the fenfe of
hearing, how conformable to this paffage,
where in the Apoftle God is faid to be the
chariot in which we move, does St, Paul
exprefs himfelf, when he directs us to feek
the Lord, if haply we feel after him, and find
him, though he be not far from every one of us.
Let us confider more particularly St. Paul's
,ufe of the greek ^Xxtpxu, which peculiarly
means feeking after what lays not immedi
ately open to the fenfes, but for a difcovery
requires the fearch here recommended, the
exercife

( 43 )
exercife of our mind and underftanding.
We are not to investigate the track and
footfteps of Providence by marks and noife,
as when men pafs in publick ways ; not by
what the eye and ear may lead to, but by
the Silent administration of the world, which
after little obfervation is, difcover'd. This
hidden and fecret guidance of the univerSe
Manilius teaches us to be in the Providence,
that rules and guards the creation in its
courfe. Hoc opus immenfi conftru&um corpore mundi,
Membraque Naturas, diverfa condita forma,
Aeris, atque tgnis, Terrae, Pelagique jacentis,
Vis animas divina regit, facroque meatu
Confpirat Deus, et tacitd ratione gubernat.
Seeing there is at hand an ingenious com
ment upon two lines in Homer by Clement of
Alexandria, relating to the indifcernible na
ture of the Deity, it would be of hurt to
the prefent argument wilfully to pafs it o-
ver. — It is the addrefs of the god Apollo,
the guardian of Troy, to the angry and re
vengeful Achilles% Apollo had deceiv'd the
Grecian

( 44 )
Grecian champion, and drawn him into a
purfuit of himfelf, in order to give the fly
ing Trojans time to croud into the city, and
fave themfelves. On this occafion he argues,
Tfrffe [A.e TlyXeos vie ttoitiv raxeeo-trt iiuxeis,
Autos Bvvitos euv Beov ap&porov;
II- X; 8.
Peleus' fwift fon, but mortal, why dp you
On feet rely, and me a God purfue ?
The learned Father thus gives" his thoughts
upon the place : a« aXurov yd(> eTvai QvqTu, aJs
xaraX^TrJov ro ©ewv, tire woo~tv, ire %ep<r\v, ere
otpQctXpoig, a'Je okas rca <rcS[/.ari Se^Xuxev. He
had obferv'd Homer appear'd to have juft
fentiments concerning the divine Being,
arid that the poet in the above paffage had
gave it as his opinion, the " Deity was not
# to be taken by mortal man, nor to be laijd
" hold of by means of the feet, or eyes, or
*' hands, nor by the body all together."
Strom. 1.2,
Known ample teftimonies from the anci
ent learning to tfie aflertions of St, Paul
could

( 45 )
could be apply'd to as extant, in imitation
of which the Apoftle affirms our livings
moving, and being in God. The learned an
cient tragedian we have already confulted,
in the following manner defcribes us fur-
rounded, and in the embrace, as it were, of
a Providence. Thus he writes,
*Opas rov inJ/8, x£ <J* aireipov ccSepx,
Kat yyv "srept e%oi/S' xtypais ev ayxuXxist
Tvtov voy.i£e Zqvx, rov& yyii Beov.
This is translated in Cicero, in the fecond
book de natura Deorum ;
Vides fublime fufum, immoderatum asthera,
Qui tenero terram circumjectu amplectitur,
Hunc fummum habeto Divum, hunc perhibeto
Jovem.
In our own language it may Stand thus,
On high the air, that widely fpread you trace,
How all around the earth it does embrace,
Say this is Jove, deem this the mighty God.
It is a principal doctrine with the Stoics
to account the world to be God. Plutarch
(I. i. cap. 7. Placit. Stoic.) lays down their
doctrine

( 4M
tjoctrine thus; Beov >y xoa-ftov, x) osg4ozs, $
tw ynv Xeyntri • Which Seneca confirms, when
he fays, 1. Nat. Queft. 20. 45. Vis Deum
mundum vocare ? non falleris. Ipfe enim
totus eft quod vides* Again, Quid eft Deus?
totum quod vides, et quod non vides to-
turn. And he makes this inference, fi folus
eft omnia, opus fuum et extra et intra tenet.
Prefat. ad Qtieft. Nat, It is not our part
to explain to a nicety thefe fentiments, on
ly to obferve how one manner of expreSfing
is continu'd, and to mark the fame ideas
and terms in St. Paul, of living, moving, and
being in God,, which come down from the
earlieft philofophy in Athens. Lucan'm the
perlbn of the fioic Cato delivers words and
fentiments like to thofe preceding.
Eftne Dei fedes nifi terra, et pontus, et aer,
Et ccelum, et Virtus? fuperos quid quaerimus
ultra ?
Jupiter eft quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris.
Some confufion may be apprehended from
that image and defcriprion of this doctrine,
which in Euripides is remarkable, who
makes

( 47 )
makes the Deity both charioteer and cha
riot. Arijiotle Seems to have fuffer'd cen-
fure on this account. It is faid of him in
Tullys Natura Deorum; Ariftoteles multa
turbat. Modo enim menti tribuit omnem
divinitatem, modo mundum ipfum Deum
dicit effe. Modo quendam alium praeficit
mundo. To be the driver, and to be the
machine is an imagination, we can't fay the
following elegant, verfes of Virgil are with
out. The make and government of the
world, thus he fets it fprth.
Principio ccelum ac terras, carrjpofque liquentes
Lucentemque globum Lunas, Titaniaque aftra
Spiritus intus alit, totamque infufa per artus
Mens agkat molem, et magno fe corpore mifcet.
Inde hominum pecorumque, genus, vitaeque volan-
tum. JEa. 1. vi. 724.
Manilius in the following lines adopts the
fame kind of thinking, and discovers his
treading after the philofophers before him.
Qua pateat mundum divino numine verti,
Atque ipfum effe Deum. Next

( 48 )
Next comes on in St. Paula reference, as
many learned perfons imagine, Singly to his
countryman, the profound aftronomer and
excellent philofophic poet Aratus. Notice
is taken a Cilician appeals to a Cilician, for
St. Paul was a citizen of Tarfus in Cilicia.
Had it been thus, he had in no way gone
from that authority of learning which pre
vail'd in Athens, nor would his argument
liave been lefs academic. Many fcholars
there were in their youth residents in Athens,
who were of Troy, of Tarfus, and other
countries. Thefe at home fat down often
times mafters of leffer fchools and acade
mies. Ephefus, Phamiciaj and other places
encourag'd fuch mafters, as indeed few ci
ties of riches and power, efpecially Greek,
and thofe that traffick'd with Greece, but
were difpos'd to encourage learning within
them. The moft memorable prefiderits of
thefe diftant nurferies Still choofe to carry
testimonials of their merit from the mother
univerfity, ,and many of them by name yet
furvive in the fchools of Athens. St. Paul,
when young, no doubt had converfation with

C 49 )
with learned men in the city farfus, arid his
own genius quickly lifted him into an ac
quaintance with the tafte and learning cul
tivated both at home, and at Athens.
V.-w-y. ... ¦
There is no queftion St. Paul very well
knew themagniSicent,exordium of the cele
brated poet and aftronomer Aratus, whp,
fpeaking of the deity Jupiter as the firjt
principle of this world, adds too, We are alfo
his offspring. If two poets are appeal' d to,
then all is well. But moft furely St. Paul
would have us not neglect to caft our eye
upon the hymn of Clednthes, that prince of
fioic philofophers. So he brings us into the
depth of his own argument. Aratus was
e'fteem'd by all, but his topics are the phe
nomena of nature. Cleanthes is a profefs'4
instructor in divinity; a principal pf a feet
in the Science. Bejides the ve.nera.tion he
has receiv'd from his theological difcourfes,
a poem, or "hymn in honour of the Deity,
defcends from him. His praifes pf the
Creator, like thofe of David, are full of de--
votipn, full of awe and fubmiffion. In two
D of

of his verfes he fpeaks like thofe philofo*
phers we have already look'd into. They
are very remarkable, and if they Stand with
the criticifm of Henry Stephens, we may
judge even Euripides had imitated the
thought in them.
— — ce yttp Tiroctri Befits Bmtokti •sr^otrauoavj
'Ex ca yu(i yevos ea-fiev, o%8 p/Ai?jK« XaQ(pv\es
fdSvov, o<ra %uei re Xj epirei Bvqr liri yxfav.
Fitting it is to thee our voice we raife,
That thee all mortals celebrate and praife,
Thy offspring we, to thee a likenefs bear,
In whom we move, in whom all Living are.
The learned Gilbert Weft, who has given
us an amiable translation of the whole
hymn, and who has transfer'd into his eng-
liSh performance the original piety of the
honour'd Cleanthes, confents not however to
adopt the reading thoroughly from that ve
ry learned editor Henry Stephens, and yet he
confeffes he cannot make fenfe of the place
without it. And this is the caufe his tran
slation

C 51 )
Station is riot here fet to view, upon the pre
fent occafion it being fo pertinent to intro
duce the whole alteration. Henry Stephens
obferves jf^a pppp* is in the manufcript.
The verfe in quantity will thus be imper
fect, as well as the fenfe. The learned cri
tic fubftitutes oxp into the place, obferving,
as Mr. Wefi informs us, " it fignifies a ve-
" hide, what fome philofophers look'd upon
" the body to be to the foul, which theyef-
" teem'd to be a portion of the deity." An
obfervation we fee well agreeing with the
manner and expreflions, in which the anci
ent learned were wont to defcribe a Provi
dence. And when Euripides took the
thought Xi yvis oxnpos, he had no doubt in
his mind this paffage of Cleanthes in his
hymn to the Creator.
Thefe efforts of St. Paul had hitherto
Suited entirely with the Athenian learning
and religion. He was not rightly under
stood from the fame and difcourfe which
prevail'd in the city concerning him : and
now when he draws his inference from the
D 2 whole,

( 52 }
whole,, we find not an entire conviction tak*
ing place, though his aocufation appears
mmh abated. There are confiderations to
Ieffen the danger of St. Paul upon this cri
tical conjunctu4«, 'the deea;j?iiag power of the
court, before which he pleads j and the.
manner of his dootrinev which entirely pro*
ceeded from the power and .grace of that un
known God, whofe altar they had frais'd. In
the -account of whofe 'divine -nature, if he-
did err: nay, tliouigh he brought thofe
Stumbling ftones an their way, the impiety
©f idol WorShip, the favotoite aiid eftablifh'd
religion* as well as that other, the mew doc
trine the RefurrecJionr if he did 'err, it was
mm Patribus. The fages arid learned of
Athens did ahke ipreach, and :publiJh the
fame God. If there was an innovation in
religion, he was as little guilty as thofe a-
round him. But the aflertkai of a Refur-
rection feems to have beeri the chief caufe of
proceedings before the Areopagus: what
now ends in a doctrine, not in theintroduc^
tion of a new divine Being, as at firft was-
apprehended would be the cafe.. But the
doctrine

( S3 )
doctrine of a refurrection turns out a truth
prov'd by fact, arid an act of grace of the
unknown God, whom the city Athens devout
ly had received. So St. Payl Still preferves
the divine refpect of the altar; and in this
appears more fortunate than Socrates, whofe
confummate wifdom render'd him obnox
ious to the whole fuperftition of Athens un
der all the power of the ftate, as it was,
pointed to diSlodge every facred idol there.
No event could be more interesting to the
christian religion in, the firft progrefs, than
the appearance of St. Paul at Athens; nor
more agreeable to the character of the Apo
ftle pf the Gentiles, %q overcome the moft
diftinguifh'd for piety and learning upon,
their own principles and perfuafions. Let
thofe, who are top apt to view St. Paul as
driver^ by enfhufiaftic Symptoms, now afk
themfe|ve,s, whether they do indeed juSlly
charge him, or whether they are not hi dan
ger of bringing an opprobrium on Athens
and her fcholars, that Stand repown'd upon
the. register of fame for their fine under-
D 3 Standing,

( 54 )
Standing, and the belt judgement in fram
ing the institutes of knowledge and wifdom.
A city, that had pafs'd on through time ef-
teem'd for wifdom and learning to that de
gree, as to obtain the Splendid names, the
fchool and wifdom of Greece, the fupport
and guardian, the Greece of Greece, and this
with reference to other Greek regions that
excell'd the countries where barbarifm
reign'd, the fchool of all men, wifdom's
Prytaneum, and other honourable titles, was
a fpot worthy the call of the learned St.
Paul, there to open his commiSfion, and to
bring in the beftand moft excellent wifdom
and knowledge. The encomiums and high
names of Athens, thofe the greateft orna
ments confer'd upon her, have been already
recited. Should we come to the Romans, to
a. moft worthy Atticus, or a moft eloquent
Cicero, Athens would be found in Rome no
lefs celebrated, than in Greece.. When the
chriftian sera had begun, and the moft dif-
tinguiSh'd and moft' learned Chriftians act
their part, they ftill join with the. learned
heathen world in honouring and receiving the

( 55 )
the learning of Athens, In every view fo
advantageous it turns out for the fervice of
our religion, St. Paul fo conducted himfelf,
as to unite the intereft of his doctrines with
the authorityandfucceSs, learning had then
gain'd in the' world.
We fee he failed not In his intent. Lon
ginus in his memorial points to this appear
ance of St. Paul. He writes down directly,
Tffpurov <£typ Si'icrafASvov doypuros dvavoSetxItt.
That is, I mean him that firft taught a religion
not fufficiently prov'd. If we render it a reli
gion not yet efiablijh'd, tho' this anSwers with
fome latitude the new and freSh publication
of Christianity, it turns out not critically
true, and rather is the construction of dvuvo-
ttexlx, than of the original proper one: which
in this cafe cannot juftly be parted with.
When we Stile it a religion not yet prov'd,
this fcarcely comes up to the prefent cafe,
and we lofe by it a good deal, that confirms
the authenticity of the paffage. For there
is a peculiar intent in calling Christianity a
religion not yet prov'd. It was the character
D4 of

( 56 )
of Christianity amongft fcholars in the time
of Longinuii and a prejudice that made the
reception Of it more difficult than that of
other principles into1 the learned world.
This jointly with the innate opposition to
image and idol worShip, can in a great mea-
fure account for the rejection of Christianity
among the Heathen. To understand the
full import of naming the christian religion
a doctrine mt pro<ti'd> we muft take notice,
the Scholars in the early times brought it
under this character, feeing it came to their
knowledge, with the authority of facts and
miracles, fuch as the refurrection does,
through the power of our Saviour; and not
by the methods of re&foning and proofs by
human wifdom, then in high repute with
the It amed world.
We have already look'd into this enco
mium of St. Paul by Lmginus. We are ob-
lig'd to the very learned perfon who has
Shewn it us, as an extract to be read ori the
fnoft excellent ancient manufcript of the
gofjael in the Vatican, In the time of Lon
ginus

(( 57 )
ginus the fcriptures were in the hands of the
firft fcholars. Porphyry, a contemporary,
and an Athenian fcholar, penetrated far into
the divine writings, and profefs'd himfelf
their adverfary entirely. We might Stop
here, and confider, hoW much has depend
ed upon the humour and constitution of
thofe, who ftand high in the republick of
letters. The love in Porphyry for myfteri-
ous and recondite knowledge, caus'd him to
reject the plaineft truths. Nay, if we de-
fcend lower to the emperor Julian, the fame
temper we Shall find, threw a veil over the
ftrongeft lights and plaineft truths of chrif-
tianity. Longinus, a mafter in oratory, ac-
cuftom'd to receive and Speak of things in
their natural and true way, conceives the
great defigns of our religion, and frankly
expreffes his opinion upon the ftate and
condition of the chriftian tenets, as far as
they had proceeded. Many learned Hea-r
then, and many learned Chriftians, in per-
fon and name well known to each other,
nouriSh'd in thefe times. In the midft of
fuch eminent perfons, a mafter and profeffor of

( 58 )
*>f eloquence in Athens notes down his re
mark upon St. Paul; and happily does it in
thofe terms, which could hardly have been
thought of, could we fancy there had been
any intent to cheat us into a good opinion
of St. Paul under the authority of fo great
a name as that of Longinus. Befides the fi
delity under which the extract appears, we
are gratify'd Still "more, that the Athenian
profeffor feems to caft his eye upon St. Paul
before the Areopagus, for the words Tcmrov
Si'is-Apevov, firft publi/hing, fuffer us not to
think of any other occafion : and it yet more
heightens the character of the Apoftle, that
this celebrated paffage in his applaufe istar
ken from a difcourfe upon foren/ic Speak
ing. Thus with greateft conviction Longi
nus ratifies, arid registers with due honour,
the eloquence of St. Paul at Athens.
If we leave for a time the precincts of the
Jearned Athens, and pafs on to other places
with St. Paul, we Shall find he often fpCaks
elaffically, when occafion ferves, and for
gets not the veneration the learning of 4-
them

( 59 >
thens in every region meets with; In Rome
the Apoftle acquits himfelf in the learned
way in his epiftles, and in one remarkable
inftance in that from thence to Titus. This
Should immediately be confider'd, had not
Rome itfelf detain'd us, by an expreffion,
which concerns the literary remains of Rome,
and therefore feems to demand fome consi
deration before we leave the place.— And
we may more willingly Stay to hear it, be-
caufe in fome manner, independent of the
credit of fcripture, , it ferves to authenticate
and give proof to the hiftory of St. Paul's
refidence there. St. Paul writes in his fe-
cond to Timothy of his appearance before
Nero, and his efcape with life, and pioufly
fays, I was delivered out of the mouth of the
lion. When the Apoftle fell, it was in all pro
bability to fatisfy the general rage conceiv'd
againft the Chriftians upori the fire of Rome :
at leaft before that rage was abated/ A
rage it was of the people? : a rage that arofe
from fuperftition againft the wretched
Christians*

i ^ >
Chriftians. This rage was conducted by
the fupreme magistrate; and th[e emperor ia
a character too liable tq be judg'd very
prompt and eager to carry to the higheft an
act of brutal cruelty at any rate, without
the excufe of only complying with the in
clinations and demands of his people.
If Ner& at any time appears friendly to the
learned, foon again are we forc'd to alter
Our opinion, and we find him destroying
thofe now, who were not long ago his
greateft favourites, The fine verification
and high compliment of Lucan faves, not
Luean. The art, that united thefe brother
poets, after fome little time becomes the
chief caufe of the fatal end of Lucan. This
poet gives not earth, but heaven into the
hands and direction of Nero. And to
heighten the emperor's great power and a-
bility, the high Spirited Phaeton is intro-
duc'd to affift in raising the compliment. A
thought very probably more induftrioufly
introduc'd from an allufion to the bpafted.
piece of the emperor, which represented the
fall

( 61 )
fall and failure in the rafh 'attempt of the fott
of Phtzbus in taking the ruk of the -wwU.
upon him for a day*
Enormows as he was, and fome of his
predecessors had feeen, both they and he,
and fucceeding emperors of the moft amia
ble character, were Signal patrons to foreign
Ibholars, whom they receiv'd into the court
and the neighbourhood, conferring Itipends
and falaries, ajJid other acts of favour. Thefe
fcholars were more welcome to the court
than the city: and often when they had
been much carefs'd, of 'a Sudden they fell un*-
der fits of high difpleafure; and commonly
the diflike agarnft themawsfe more from the
fenators and the citizens, than the ill hu
mour of the emperor. , Thefe profeffors of
learning were from Greece and the Etift, and.
itiverfe countries. The Apoftle St. Paul
probably clafs'd with them, as other learned
Converts to ehriftianity might do. The
fcholars of Judcea had by this channel
brought in amongft the Romans thofe anec
dotes, and peculiar tenets, concerning the
people

( 6i )
people of the Jews, which though imper-^
feet, may be trac'd in Virgil and Juvenal,
and other Roman authors. A verfe of Ju
venal has met with fmall difficulty, which
may be remov'd upon a reference to the
fcriptures. The line now in common is
read, Nil praeter nubes et caeli numen adoranr.'
The word lumen is rejected, but perhaps
hath a foundation in fcripture, as fure as
the foregoing part of the line. For no
doubt that takes the expreffion from the
prevailing description of the Mejftah, as it
began from the prophet Daniel, one like the
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.— -
And there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages fhould ferve him. Our Saviour's
anfwer, when the high prieft adjur'd him to
tell, whether he was the Chrifi the Son of God,
discovers, how the description by Daniel (at
upon the minds of the people, efpecially
thofe in the character of fcholars. Our Sa
viour replies to the queftion in this manner;
Toujhallfee the Son of man fitting on the right hand

( 63 )
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea
ven. Hereupon is he charged, with blafphe-
my by the high prieft and the Sanhedrim; a
fentence that fhews the religion and adora
tion, as it Stands in Juvenal, and accounts
alfo for his knowledge of the matter from
the learned Jews, that fettled in Rome. The
latter part of the line with the word lumen
has fcripture to fupport it; firft, the pro
phet Malachi, who reprefents the fame ob
ject of our worShip as the fun of righeoufnefs ;
and St. Luke, who Signifies to us the gene
ral regard to our Saviour in the Style that
Juvenal ufes, through the tender mercy ofGod%
whereby the day-fpring from on high hath viftt-
ed us.
Many imperfect fancies prevail'd from the
predictions which had been communicated
from the prophets and fcripture. And the
truth was receiv'd, though much confound
ed by interpretations of perfons, who were
able to be carriers of the common expecta
tions in Judda, but were not able to fpeak
of them in their right fenfe, nor to explain
4 the

( 64 )
the divine counfels in them. From the
fcholars, eftablifh'd in and about court,
Nero receiv'd at the time of his diftrefs, this
remarkable oracular comfort, as it Stands in
Seutonius, Spofponderunt quidam deftituto
Orientis dominationem, nonnulli nominatim
regnum Hierofolymorum. That is, they
promife him by name the kingdom of Jeru-
faleni, and this when in a forfaken ftate or
condition. This came forth under the cha
racter of a divine oracle explain'd; and
though very unworthily mifconftru'd in fa
vour of the perfon of Nero, does point out
to us the perfonal hearing, which at times
the learned were honour'd with from the
Emperor. Scholars of all denominations
» were at the levees, and attended the firft ap
pearance of the emperor in the morning.
The learned from Syria and Greece were in
thefe companies, thofe excellent in various
fciences, and for the moft part foreigners,
grammarians, rhetoricians, Students in na
tural philofophy, moralists, poets, orators,
profeffors of note, and others in their turn
attended, rand became known to the emperor. In

In this clafs of foreign fcholars was Epit!«
Mus afterwards, as St. Paul now, though not
in a degree to be advis'd with as a friend. The
apoftle had certainly not fo deceiv'd the em
peror, nor deluded him with the falfe applica
tions of the prophecies as favourable to him*
St. Paul had his firft tryal before Ccefari
He was there a ftate prifoner, prefented and
brought before the emperor, according to
the general perfuafion, under favourable
prejudices from the officer to whofe care he
was committed. Nothing of the tryal tranf-
pires, except what may be difcover'd from
the apoftles own words ; .The Lord flood
with me, and firengthed me, that by me the
preaching might be fully known, and that all
the. Gentiles might hear : and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion. We have no-
nothing further than this declaration con
cerning his cafe; enough to fhew it was
more than ordinary, and would, if tho
roughly defcribed, have prov'd of great im
portance, and very fingular. St. Chryfoflom,
in his florid manner of Writing, places be-
- - E fore

( 66 )
fore us the prifbner and the emperor, and af
ter drawing comparisons between them, pre
fers the Station of the firft to all the excef-
five and imperial glories of the other. Still
nothing particular is to be gather'd. After
this St. Paul appears under fome favour,
fuch as with his chain, of which he was
not afham'd, was to be enjoy 'd. This faft-
en'd by one end to his right hand, and to
the left of a foldier at the other, did not
hinder him from pafling to various Parts in
the city. He was thus at liberty tp vifit, to
write, and to purfue feveral purpofes*
What St. Paul exprefs'd in gratitude to
heaven for his acquittance before Nero, I
wjs delivered out of the mouth of the lion? con
veys with k a point of Roman learning, and
On that account is of claffical enquiry.
St. Peter when at Rome,, joins in the fame
character of Nero, when he warns his con
verts to prepare for afflictions, which Nero-
had ordain'd to be brought on in feveral re
gions by his officers, and therefore by St.
Peter is defcrib'd to go about as a rearing lion

M? )
lion. Both the apoftles deliver the Word1 of
the day, the character Nero bore in the
court, and the city. He was ftyl'd a lion,
as other princes in their time have been de*
nominated a Jupiter, a Solomon ; and others
a Fox, a Wolf ; fo in the degrading Style Nero
on account of his cruelties, iri his own court
is fpoken of as a lion. Lipftus brings in a
witnefs of this matter, where an antient
commentator is produc'd by him in evidence
of the worth and merit of Seneca. The
perfon appeai'd to thus- Stands, when he is
brought before us by Lipftus. [Commenta
rius antiquus in Juvenalis Satyr, v. vers.
c. ix. A Seneca] hie fub Claudio quafi con-
feius adulteriorum Julise Germanici filise,
in Corficam relegatus, poft triennium revo-
catus eft : qui etfi magno defiderio Athenas
interideret, ab Agrippina tamen erudiendo
Neroni in palatium adductus, fievum im*
manemque natum fenfit cito, et mitigavit:
inter familiares folitus dicere, non fore fav9
illi leoni, quin guftate femel hominis cruore, in-
genita redeat f&vitia. Huic poftremo, quod
habitus effet inter confeios conjurationis Pi-
E 2 foniana?,

( 68 )
fonianae, Nero per Tribunum ultimam nC-
ceffitatem denuntiavit. Hie interritus, a-
micorum animos, quibus jam ejus cafus la-
chrymas exciverat, ad firmitudinem revoca-
vit, rogitans : ubi pracepta fapientice f ubi per
-tot annos meditata ratio adverfus imminent i a ?
cui praterea ignara fuit Neronis favitia ?
neque aliud fupereffe pofi matrem fratremque
• interfeblos, quam ut educatoris pra;ceptorifque
necem adjiceret. Deinde fibi venam prsefe-
cans, crurumque venas abrumpens, et du
rante tractu lenitudineque mortis, haufto
veneno, poftremo calidas aquas ftagnum in-
troiens, exanimatus eft.
With this authority we receive the name
and character of Nero, confirm'd to be in
ufe in his own court : and we are led to a-
nother particular which alfo ends in
ftrengthning what has been before, alledg'd.
We draw from hence a reafonable conjec
ture, that Seneca in his two treatifes upon
Clemency, by a dangerous adventure in wit
and learning, plays the diflembler with his
fcholar Nero, and acts what the learned call the

( 6? )
the eiguvet. Ingeniously this, but dangeroufly;
for as our favourite poet lays, there is fome
difference between roufing a lion and a
hare. Socrates had play'd the fame part of
being what he was not, but with tamer a-
nimals, and thofe that would not hurt him ;
Seneca upon difcovery had been torn limb
from limb. It was nearly impoflible Nero
could interpret the doctrine of his precep
tor againft himfelf, efpecially when it is in
introduc'd with a plain matter of fact, an
inftance of Uncommon tendernefs and hu
manity. The tutor, to turn the thoughts
of the emperor from al! imagination of his
own being impeach'd of cruelty and favage-
nefs, early gains him by remembring his
mercy, and even foftnefs of mind upon oc
cafion of a dead warrant being prefented to
him to fign. Then, he tells us, came forth
that memorable faying from Nero, vellem
nefcire litteras. No fooner is this uttered,
but Seneca fortifies and hides himfelf under
the following exclamations. O dignam vo
cem, O vocem in concionem omnium mit-
tendam. O vocem generis humani in'no-
E 3 centia

¦a.>~¥''*4

( 70'")
eentia. dignam, and with a great deal more
he proceeds, fecuring himfelf and his main
purpofe from all dangerous apprehenfions
in Nero : and in duty bound he in his courfe
inftills the moft humane and the moft no
ble principles of mildnefs into the breaft of
his royal pupil : though at the fame time
in the draughts he makes of moft favage
and cruel princes, he leaves the unpreju-
die'd by-ftander to obferve, his chief defign
is the emperor's own picture. And whilft
he introduces prifoners rattling their chains
as it were in his ears, and brings before
him antient fovereigns as the monfters of
the world, he covertly means no other de-
fcription than of Cafar that is before him.
Hence St, Paul aver'd no more than Seneca
has done. Hence when Seneca crys out,
quod iftud Dii boni malum eft, occidere,
fasvire, delectari fono catenarnm ; et cjvi-
um capita decidere, quocunque ventum eft
multum fanguinis fundere, afpedtu fuo ter-
rere ac fugare ? — Afterwards thefe horri
ble deeds, injicere te6tis ignem, etunum oc-
cidi aut alterum : though insinuated by the
begin*

( yi )
beginning not to belong to the then impe
rial character, cannot otherwife have been
defign'd, as the frame of the whole gives li
berty to conjecture, than to point out the
author's own pupil. And we cannot for
bear being under the fame prejudice, not
withstanding his firft encomiums forbid it,
fo high his figure goes, when he proceeds
in the following words. Quid ergo oppo-
nitur dementias, crudelitas, quse nihil ali
ud eft quam atrocitas animi in exigendis
pcenis. Sed quidam non exigunt pcenas,
crudeles tamen funt : tanquam qui ignotos
homines et obvios non in compendium, fed
occidendi causa, occidunt. Nee interficere
contenti, fasviunt, ut Sinis ille, et Prociruf-
tes, et Piratae, qui captos verberant, et in
ignem vivos imponunt. The Roman Phild-
fopher began at the fountain head, and
taught us the explication of all thefe horri
ble deeds. His whole lefTon is to be under
stood from that which follows. Quid enim
intereft, oro te Alexander, leoni Lyfimachum
objicias, an ipfe laceres, dentibus tuis ? tuum
illud os eft, tua ilia feritas. O quam cupe-
E 4 res

( 7? )
res tibi potius ungues effe, tibi rictum il
ium edendorum hominum capacem.
Before we leave this Roman fcene, an at
tempt will be. made to affift, the learned
Cave, who cannot confent to believe, the
fecond epiftle to Timothy was only a little
while before the Apoftle fuffer'd martyrdom.
That learned Divine rightly judges, there
are no figns of the Apoftle expecting a
quick execution : but rather much to the
contrary, as inviting perfons at great dis
tance to come to him, what they actually
did. And in particular the difciple Timothy
returned from the diftant city Ephefus,
join'd in epiftles to Churches, and to Phile
mon afterwards. Eufebius, and the ancients,
and many moderns after them, were induc'd
to the contrary opinion by the paffage
wherein St, Paul wrote, I am now ready to be
offer d, and the time of my departure is at hand.
To avoid the force of this, as it does not
well fall in with the obfervations, the learn
ed Cave refolves the expreffion to Signify no
more than the imminent danger St. Paul had

( n )
had been in. There is in the paffage, what
gives room for another kind of Conjecture.
The defign of the place may hitherto have
been overlook'd by means of that quick di-
grefiion, here met with ; a figure in writing.
frequent with St. Paul. For this reafon, a
learned reader will be pleas'd to fee what
may be offer'd to reconcile the Apoftle with
other parts of the Epiftle, and fo remove
the opinion, that he declares any thing con-.
cerning his own death. For this purpofe
let us view the entire place in the epiftle.
But do thy diligence in all things, endure
affliSiions, do the work of an evangelifi, make
full proof of thy miniftry.
6. For I am now ready to be offer'd, and the
the time of my departure is at hand.
7. I have fought a good fight, I have finifh-
ed my courfe, I have kept the faith.
8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteoufnefs, which the Lord the
righteous judge Jhall give me at that day : and
not to me only, but to all them alfo that love his
appearing.
9. Do

( ?4 )
9. Do thy diligence to come Jhortly unto me.
1 1 . Take Mark, and bring him with thee..
We muft enquire for fome meaning be
yond the plain literal fenfe, for what is
written could not be true of St. Paul, "I am
" now offer'd, or facrific'd already," the
direct construction of the original o-irevo^ofixt.
It is ingenious to imagine the Apoftle
fpeaks prophetically, and then he is to be
understood of preparing for what he ex
pected his own death, the appointed time of
which might by particular revelation be
known to him. But it is difficult thus to
receive the paffage as a relation of St. Paul's
own cafe, as it may otherwife be connected
With the directions to'Timothy that furround
it, and rather may be judg'd finally to be a
part and duty belonging to one of them.
An Inftruftion of the Apoftle to Timothy
¦ is, Ep. 2 . cap .4. Make full proof of thy mini-
fry ; and immediately follows the detail in
queftion,yor lam now ready to be offer'd, and
the reft. The original is, tw IixkovUv ch

( 75 )
wX^jj^a^jff-av. The Englifh rendring, though
proper, may miflead us, if not confin'd to
the bufinefs, the Greek requires. For Timo
thy is bound ,to fome duty : it may be
thought, he was to make a publick manifes
tation of doctrine and religion to thofe a-
bout him ; but this is not the cafe. The
Greek brings upon him a different kind of
employ; and he receives from the Apoftle
direction to perfect in himfelf a full fatisfac-
tion of mind in the duty he was upon. He
was to take care, he remain'd under the
fulleft conviction within himfelf. Plene
perfuafum habeto. The Lexicon conftruc-*
tions of the Greek are plene compertum ha
bere, plene certiorari, plene perfuafum ha
bere ; which interpretations aflign it a
charge upon Timothy, that he Should in his
own mind come to the fulleft Satisfaction
concerning his office as an evangelift. And
with the orders he receives, the Apoftle
fupplies him with a method of making this
full fatisfaction to himfelf, and therefore
places into his hands the following proof,
which his difciple is to repeat, 1 am now.
ready

( 76 )
ready to be offer'd. I have fought a good fight.
1 have finijhed my courfe, and fo the whole of
the excellent leffon. Moft preachers upon
this fubject have in a manner confirm'd the
prefent defign of the place by a conftant ac
knowledgement, how excellently fitted it is
for every minifter of God's Word in every
age to try himfelf by it. Without this re
petition of the words above, the direction
make full proof , of thy miniftry, a rule to be
made perfonal to himfelf, could not have
been fulfilled by Timothy. We may alfo
eafily accept it as a form to be repeated,
feeing St. Paul has recommended in the
fame terms, and fet down the fame duty
in a direct and plain manner, when he
writes in the firft epiftle, but thou, O man of
God, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life. This fight of Faith with all the
other terms of reward and future life, is a
duty frequently advis'd by St. Paul, fo that
we may with great readinefs receive the in
timations of it here, as propounded to ano
ther by the Apoftle, and not as perfonal to
himfelf. Neither indeed is there any pur- pofe

I 77 ).
pofe by this expofition to exclude St. Paul
from the intereft of the excellent leffon, he
recommends to be recited by his fcholar;
but the moft contended for in the prefent
cafe is, the Apoftle places that exhortation
and conviction in the mouth of. a fecond,
what it may be prefum'd he was wont of
ten to repeat to himfelf in full proof and
fatisfaction of his own miniftry. The rule
coming under the perfon of St. Paul, that
is to fay, I am now ready to be offer'd, is to be
reconcil'd by that turn to quick transitions
frequent with the Apoftle, who feems fond
in fpeaking of others in the figurative per
fon. In the prefent cafe he means his dif-
ciple Timothy, though the declaration ap
pears to be made in his own name. Thus
much feems to follow upon the original
direction of the Apoftle, that Timothy Should
give full proof pf his miniftry to himfelf, a
part he was to act: privately with his own
mind, and which he can by no means fo
Well perform as by the repetition of the
fchedule the Apoftle as a form of felf
examination tranfmits to him. Thus the
epiftlq

( 7§ )
epiftle is not embaraffed with thofe incon*
fiftencies, the learned Dr, Cave was in con
cern for : and we are under no neceffity to
apprehend a fpeedy fuffering by the Apoftle
was to take place, the difficulty Undertaken
to he remov'd.
We muft now return from Rome to Greece,
and not Stay for obfervation s upon the falu-
tations fent to Philippi from Cafar's houf-
hold, which might admit us into further
particulars, relating to St. Paul's time in
the court of Rome. St. Paul had his parti
cular fatisfaction in being upon claffic
ground. Indeed it has been Sufficiently
prov'd that he was fo from his conduct at
Athens. In his epiftle to the Corinthians we
fee him exercife this pleafure, as other fcho
lars do. In the expreffions, let us eat and
drink for to morrow we die, fo much is due
to the Septuagint, thefe words in Jfaiah, are
transfer'd from thence. But the practife is
Corinthian, and Greek, and nothing is more
clearly charg'd upon the ancient manners
than this is. Poets, Greek- and Roman, fur-
nifh

( 79 J
nifh us very plentifully with the fentiments
In proof of the cuftom being common, and
an argument of no expectation of a world
to come, let us view Crito fondly perfuading
Socrates fome little time as yet to defer
drinking the poifon. , Thus in the Phtsedo
of Plato he delivers himfelf, " The fun
" Shines upon the mountains, and is not
" yet fet : and I know feveral in your cir-
" cumftances, did not drink the poifon, till
" a long time after the order was given :
" that they fupp'd very well, and enjoy 'd any
" thing they had a mind to." Further the be
haviour the Apoftle refers to, was too fe-
rioufly confirm'd by many during the rage
of the plague at Athens, and very forely la
mented by Thucidydes. The mifery of the
time was no obftacle to the liberty of indulg
ing every kind of pleafure, which each ima-
gin'd he was under, when frequent example
made men bold to enter, even in the laft
hours of life, upon actions reproachful to
nature. This they more eafily ventured
upon, as there was no check from a belief
in a Providence,, or any apprehenfions con
cerning

(8b-)
cerning an Hereafter to give them any Sort
of disturbance in their joys. No wonder,
a furvey of thefe ill habits and cuftoms
rous'd quick and warm reflections from the
Apoftle, efpecially when he was able to baf
fle their favourite meafures in terms, they
were well acquainted with.
Kat irive, xxi tepTTis • n yu^ eis xiii
•• ¦- TltopeB ¦
Lines like thefe were rules and fongs every
day at hand and in their thoughts. Very
ingenioufly therefore does St. Paul attack
them with fentiments and words of their
own : and he proceeds moft movingly, and
with oratorical force, Be not deceived, evil
communications corrupt good manners. <p%ipv-
&iv yBvi x^^ opiXixi xxxx) — Awake to righ
teoufnefs and fin not, for fome have not the
knowledge, of God, Ifpeak this to yourjhame. "
The line from the Thais of the comic fage
Menander is in the argument introduced with
an affurance and freedom the learned ufe,
when they give good precepts, arid Strength
en them by clalfic authority. The

C 81 )
The ready faculty of St. Paul in making
references to learning and learned authors
has appear'd from many instances j yet
none more familiarly argues it, than the
following : It is concife, and bears attic
reafoning, when the apoftle writes, J have
fought with Beafts at Ephefus. He points to
a cafe, the learned were generally acquaint
ed with, and there is aneceffity, whilft he
fpeaks to make a reference to one particu
lar event. This was the cafe of Heraclitus
the Ephefian, whofe life and hiftory Stood in
fuch a degree of light, no learned perfon in
the time of St. Paul, reading his words,
could avoid making the reference. The
figure, the Apoftle makes ufe of on the
occafion, as well as the place, the fcene of
his Sufferings, lead us to the point. EBygto-
fA*Xji<ra> I have fought with beafts, this would
have been difficult and deficient without
allufion to the catastrophe of Heraclitus.
The detail of the misfortunes of this phi-
lofopher at Ephefus is tranfmitted in his
fecond epiftle to Hermodorus. In which
we meet with a full relation of the barba-
F rous

(¦ 8a- )
rous and brutal ufage, his violent and out
rageous fellow citizens brought upon that
worthy perfbn. Ancient times register not
a private diftrefs more remarkable. Hera
clitus himfelf firft deliver'd down the Ephe-
fians as brutes in their behaviour. The
ASs of the ApoJHes reprefent St, Paul un
dergoing fufferings in the fame city Ephe
fus, and fo near in kind, the Similitude be
tween them in their grievances is Striking,
and not to be overiook'd. And St. Paul
in his relation does fo directly tally with
the cafe of Heraclitus, that we cannot help
making the comparison. Other matters
bring us to the fame way of judging. Di
rect expreffions, a manner of ftyle and fen
timents, with even a like temper and ear-
neftnefs in caufes of piety and virtue, are to
be trac'd by fetting and considering the
writings of Heraclitus and St. Paul toge
ther. A reafonable argument the Apoftle
would not forget the philofopher in a cafe
trough which he Still more refembled him.
No lefs accidental from a writer of ima
gination

( *3 )
gmation and quick thought, but equally
ftriking and claffical is that figure, into
which in the following cafe the Apoftle
takes freely : and this with no little vehe
mence. The affair here follows in the
words of St. Paul. If is reported commonly
that there is fornication among you, and fuch
as 4s notfo much as named amongft the Gentiles,
that onejhould have his father's wife. i. Ep.
Cor. 5. r. St. Paul guides himfelf by the
common Sentiments in Greece, arifing from
the cataftrophe of Oedipus, for that had
wonderfully affected all the people by
-means of the play of Sophocles. This had
rais'd an univerfal deteftation and horror
upon the inceftuous crime, here figuratively
intrpduc'd, not without the higheft refent-
ment ; for we find the Apoftle was touch'd
to the quick, and the rivalfhip he complains
of was not to be endur'd. Nor can we be
furpris'd at his being difturb'd on this oc
cafion. Cofinth was a Splendid acquisition
to the chriftian caufe : a city of fame, full
crouded from all parts :full of bufinefs, full
pf ingenious, and learned men : a theatre fit
F 2 for

( 84 )
for fo great a mafter and praeceptor to Shew
himfelf in: and his prize in obtaining a
church there is fet down with thofe marks
of distinction gain'd to himfelf, that we
evidently fee at what rate he valu'd his
fuccefs in that renowned city. The heavy
reproach intimated to be upon his Corinthi
ans cannot well pafs as a litteral truth, and
on that account incites us to feek for a
figurative explication. Such a real crime
is too praemature and enormous for the
infant ftate of that Church, nor can we
with probability fuppofe fo heavy a fcandal
to have happen'd among Chriftians, not
fo.by birth and education, and in courfe,
but who were fuch by free choice, ffom
Sincere refolution, and with the greatest pu
rity and Simplicity. Thefe confiderations
naturally incline us to accept of thofe re-
prefentations of the Apoftle, which lead
us to imagine he Speaks figuratively, and
does not fo charge his converts with a
tranfgreffion moft repugnant to the life and
institutes, they lately and voluntarily had
engag'd f hemfelves in. The

( 8* )
The burthenof the Apoftle's complaint,
all through each of his epiftles to the
church of Corinth is well known to have
been occafion'd by the intrusion of a falfe
teacher amongft them. We Shall find the
perfon and his fault overlaid with like terms
to thofe we have read : and on the other
part the good and chriftian behaviour to be
in phrafe and language, belonging to the
fame kind of allufive expreffions. Thus the
Apoftle calls Chrifi their Father : thofe he
had taught he Stiles a pure Virgin, whom he
had efpoufed to Chrifi. St, Paul cafts his
eye upon the falfe teacher, and Stigmatifes
his falfe doctrine, when in the following
questions he continues his refentment:
"Know you not that a little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump ? purge out therefore the old leaven*
that ye may be a new lump. Therefore put a-
way from you that wicked per fon. Know ye
not, that your bodies are the members of Chrifi ?
fhqlllthen take the members of Chrifi, and make
them the members of an harlot f God forbid.
The fecond epiftle ends, as might well
F3 be

( 8o )
be expected, iri caution agairift debates,
envjririgs, arid with insinuations many have
finned, and have" not repented of the un-
cleannefs, and fornication, arid laftivioufnefs,
which they have committed : and hereupon,
nOt in confequence of any immoral guilt,
but of diffenfions in opinion he exhorts
them to pray lo God to be of one mind*
Though St. Paul ufes figure, yet origi
nally the force of it proceeds from the hor-
rdrs in common, efpecially prevailing in
the populous city Corinth, concerning the
crime of inceft, thank heaven, hardly heard
of, not Without a Shock and trembling to be
fpoken of, It may be a. matter of difficulty
to furmife the caufes of this and other mif-
fortunes that Oedipus fell Into. In youth
belov'd and rich, and of royal extraction,
on a publick occafion he declar'd he was
fufficient to take care of himfelf, and was
in no want of affiftance from above, In
fearching this cafe no other caufe occurs,
but calamities, many are foon found to
come ruining on after this contemptuous and

( 87 )
and felf fufficient. declaration, and the
happy unhappy Oedipus becomes a Standard!
of misfortunes, and a publick example of
mifery to all the world.
Now we- have pafs'd through this in
stance of claffic and ancient instruction, it
will be no little pleafure to obferve we can
be reliev'd by active and lively Strokes of
wit and ingenuity, which caught the Apo
ftle, as well as thofe of the more ferious
caft. His reports of the variety of Spiritual
gifts, beftow'd upon the church of Corinth,
will fufficiently Satisfy us in this point.
His reference to the famous apologue of
Menenius Agrippa on, mount Sacer fully
convinces us in this cafe. We come to a
certainty, what author he was led by. — It
was Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus, who came to
Rome, juft as the war between Augufius and
Anthony ended, about 64 years preceding
the time St. Paul himfelf died there. But
whence is the confirmation St. Paul tracks
after Dionyfius, and not after other authors ?
the parts and organs of the body, it muft be
F 4 allow'd

( 88 )
allow'd had before been represented as fub-
fifting in fellowship and Society with each
other : had by Xenophon and Menander, and
other early writers been united in brother
hood and a community between them. But
Menenius was the firft, who drew this inter-
courfe into talk and dramatical altercation.
Dionyfius therefore remarks that the fiction
of the parts of the body fpeaking each to
the other was the invention of Menenius.
That Greek hiftorian writes of him as
evfAvXao-xg having fram'd the ftory, and in-
ftructs us the popular Senator model'd his
difcourfe into a caft and manner after the
fables of Mfop. Accordingly the dramati
cal converfe, fuch as St Paul takes to, is
affum'd, for thus he urges. 2. Ep. Cor. 12.
1 5. If the foot Jkould fay, becaufe I am not the
hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not
of the body ? 16. And if the earfhallfay, he*
caufe I am not the eye, 1 am not of the body, is
it therefore not of the body f This discovers,
he Sketch'd his plan and reafoning from
thofe writers who had publiSh'd it in the
fable way, in which there was Story, and
talking

( 89 )
talking. The firft, and he almoft Single, is
Dionyfius: for^Plutarch is very brief, and
fcarcely enters into any difcourfe between
the plaintiffs and the defendants of the
body. We may hence gather a curious
point of admiration : which is, that St. Paul
was fo early acquainted with a voluminous
author in the Space of 55 years after he
was publifh'd, and as hath been remark'd
within about 64 before the Apoftle fuffer'd
at Rome. In fo Short interval, when there
was no Printing, circulated the mariufcript
Volume of Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus in
Greece, and was known and read by the
fcholars there,
The character of the chief companiori of
St. Paul, that of St. Luke, bears a part in
confirming the learned character of St. Paul.
The purity of the Greek in St. Luke is a
good voucher for this opinion. The fame
compliment, which paffes through St. Luke
upon St. Paul, might alfo be imagin'd from
other companions efpecially from Titus,
whofe Studious caft from childhood justifies in

( 90> )
in great meafure, what is here faid. ClafEe
learning was cultivated and reSpected a-
moBgft them. An high instance St. Pout
gives in his epiftle to Titus, when he obferves
the Cretans were always lyars. This paf
fage may lead us to the heights of learning.
That it is Attic and claffic nothing more to
that tafte can be offer'd, however by the
Englijh rendring this eftimate of it may be
prevented. K$res de) $>eus"ai was a proverb
over claffic mouths, equally celebrated with
any the Athenian fages ever produc'd. St.
Paul very judicioufly entitles it a faying of a
prophet of their own, a fellow countryman
to thofe, with whom Titus then Sojourn *d.
It was the faying of Epimenides, equally
celebrated in his feats at Athens, and Crete.
At Athens, and in his own country Crete^ a
rival of Athens even for learning, he was
efteem'd a prophet, oracular, a poet, a di
vine, and he has the honour to be rank'd
with the feven Wife men. A fcholiaft of
Lucian upon this venerable perfon fets
him forth on a facred footing upon ac
count of the paffage, he writes \ Empivi^s xfa:

( 9i )
%$$ I" %fVO"Jw^°yef> $ **' *' " X$?H de) $>eu-
r«'," Xo'y^y* In g^ing a more favourable
translation we will fay, the Cretans were al
ways Fabulifts, that is, they were accuftom'd
to publish religious fentiments in words,
not to be taken literally, but to be refolv'd
into hidden matters, that could only be fully
known through the help of explaining.
Callimachus, in his encomiums of Jupiter,
lively and learnedly adapts the fa'mous fen-
tence, and he takes occafion from it very
ingeniously to affert the immortal nature of
the Deity. The hymn and panegyric of Cal
limachus upon Jupiter, and the verfes now
before us, often are review'd by the Studi
ous and learned eye. They ftand thus in
that poetical and very learned Divine.
Kpyres du tyevg'oU' — xxi yaf> ratyov, d xva, <reio
K^res \rexTiiV6tv\o. pv o™ * Bdves, &ro~l yap dm.
Yes, yes, the Cretans, fabulifts they are,
The Cretans built a tomb. for Jupiter.
O King, who never dieft, they built for thee,
Although thou always art, Shalt always be.
The

( 92 )
The fcholiaft obferves in his own time
the Cretans would Shew the fepulchre of
Jupiter j for haying formerly pretended the
burying of Jupiter to fave him from his
father, the tomb was then to be feen. Lu
cretius, who with mafterly fenfe and great
ability unfolds the myfteries of the mother
of the Gods, interweaves this Cretan hiftory
of Jupiter as bearing a Share in the ceremo
nies facred to her, and there writes,
Didtaeos referunt Curetas, qui Jovis ilium
Vagitum in Creta npndum occultafTe feruntur,
Cum pueri circa puerum pernice chorea
Armati in numerum pulfarent asribus aera,
Ne Saturnus eum malis mandaret adeptus,
iEternumque daret matri fub pectore volnus.
Chryfofiom puzzles us in this affair: he
calls the author, not with St. Paul a prp-
phet, but a poet : and he difcovers he means
Callimachus, when he Should have meant
Epimenides. The learned Chryfofiom argues
upon the cafe, and urges St. Paul could pro
ceed no further in the verfe. He fays di
rectly,

( 93 )
rectly, he could not have wrote down

xxi ya(> ratpov, tax avx, <reto

K^reg eTtxrrpiav\o. <ru ya(> 8 Baves, etro") yap diet*
For by doing this the Apoftle would have
dictated to us to pay worShip and homage
to the heathen god Jupiter, a precept not
to be obey'd without infringement upon the
whole chriftian Do6trines. From whence
it appears Chryfofiom had his eye entirely up
on the hymn of Callimachus, and we may
incline to believe his copy of the Teftament
hardly prefented him with the remaining
half part of the verfe, as we all now uni-.
verfally read it, and from great authority are
affur'd, it is that of Epimenides.
Though the firft part of the verfe was a
matter of praife, yet in the mouth of St.
Paul it is to be receiv'd with restriction,
for the Apoftle is in the point of warning
his difciple from fables and devices that turn
from the truth. It anfwers his purpofe to
make Titus fenfible, during his prefent re
sidence and evangelic employ, he was
amongft thofe, whofe learning had through

( 94 )
a length of ages been rioted for the turn it
always bore to myftery and fable, A Strong
er proof could not be produc'd than this
faying of Epimenides. This Divine was not
only author, but under the load of many
venerable titles, an inftance the higheft of
the character defign'd by it. His lustrati
ons, his verfes, his inventions, his fame from
immemorial time, all crowd to affure us of
their univerfal regard beftow'd upon him
for his knowledge in myfteries. St. Paul
was fenfible how high he went upon this
occafion, and that he touch'd upon, and
reach'd up to the utmoft heights oi heathen.
knowledge, the moft .celebrated parts of
which had flown down in fable. Epimenides
caught his fenteiace from a father in .know
ledge Hefiod; and that we may not doubt
.the Cretans were honoured in the feaatence,
you will obferve in Heftod the Mufes, the
•queens, of feiemee, are pleafed to take the
appellation of fahulifis, on themfelves.
Tov oe fie iFpuTig'ot :veai nv-pos ftuBov 'eetirav
M&<rcu*QXv}Mriet§es» xbgxi Aws tCiyhypto.
Uoipms

(.95 )
Hw/#ei«S'Myg«y?w/, xax lxey%&i, yas"f^eg aiov,
"iSfiev ^/euSea vrsXXu. Xey&iv Irupoiirtv ofoia,
iSpiev $' svr teBeXufiev >dX^Bea puByo-xpdxt.
Oh/mpic Mufes, daughters of >great Jove,
Me at the firfl: thus ieflbn, and approve.
Shepherds, who watch the long and dreary night,
Whofe joys are feafts, but wifdom no delight^
We in our arts have various ways to pleafe,
As feeming truths we utter falfities.
And at our will another turn profefs,
Plain truths we cover in difguifed drefs.
If we reft upon this paffage as the Rule
of poetry, in Hefiod we muft look upon it
too as the principle of divine poetry, or
that which concerns the hiftory and being
of their Gods, a circumftance fufficient to
put a Chriftian upon his guard not to be
carried away by fuch authorities. Titus in
Crete was where fable reign'd in the higheft
degree. Epimenides, though his countrymen
humour'd that caft in religious enquiries,,
yet brought the recommendation ofitreceiv-
ed as it was fronxHefiod, a point very apparent
when

( 96 )
when we confider in what manner the Mufes
and the Cretansafolre to one and the fame art.
One of the lines Stands nearly the fame mHo-
mer, and in Hefiod: and in the terreftrial^<?/&
it is thought to contain the whole art of
epic poetry : that depends upon a mixture
of truth and fictions. But fuch fictions
which are conformable to truth. The per-
fon before Penelope is diffembled, in reality
XJlyJfes, but pretended to be another. The
ftory is true, but again feign'd in the per-
fon : Penelope listens to the adventures relat
ed, and Homer celebrates Ulyffes upon his
ingenious inventions :
•— — « yeuoeet iroXXu Xeyuv erufioitriv faoiA.
Thus the fam'd hero, perfected in wiles,
With fair Similitude of truth beguiles. Pope.
This art of fiction is the foul of epic po
etry, and Stands confefs'd to all in nothing
clearer, than in thofe parts the Gods bear
in fublime tranfactions : and who are all
through Homer, often as they appear, fub-
je<5fc

C 97 )
ject to that Skill the Cretans profefs'd, myf-
terious and allegoric unravellings. A prac
tice however celebrated of old, not at all
proper for a Chriftian to perfue.
Hitherto little notice has been taken of
the latter part of the verfe of Epimenides.
xaxx iryptx, yagers apyat.
The firft is honourary, the laft is hardly
foul language. If there was a tafte in
Greece, that made harfh expreffions paffable
and tolerable, let that authorize thefe in
Epimenides. The firft exemplars of perfect
fpeaking, the fpeeches of Ef chines and De-
mofthenes abound with addreffes to each o-
ther equally harfh and unpleafing. Foul
language, ribaldry, and even low Billingf-
gate ftuff, are in danger of being charg'd at
leaft upon one of them, unlefs a gentler and
milder can be admitted, than that which is
the litteral and plain fenfe. Homer chides
and reprimands in nearly the fame terms.
With him it is the language of a brother to
a brother, and with others under mutual
G refpect,

( 98 )
refpect, between whom the coarfeft and
Shocking abufes are not to befuppos'd. And
in thefe inftances we go over them, as if ufe
and time had made them figurative, and to
be tolerated When in Hefiod we read the
terms equal to thefe, for in him they are
xxx eXeyxed, yasepes oiw, and this when
fabling feemed to have it's birth, and the
Mufes appear the fponfors, at this fo delicate
a moment, when literature the more hu
mane and polite, receiv'd a beginning, even
then who would be fo rafh to fay, they
were deliver'd grofs, and abounded with
fcurrility ? Callimachus highly infpirited, and
triumphant in his eScape, looks back upon
the Cretans, allows them fabulifts, and with
uncommon joy haftens thence into the ho
nours of the Jupiter, whofe praifes he Sings.
The Cretans he exclaims are always Fabulifts:
cunning no doubt as foxes, Sly and over
reaching : their words lead one way, truth
another. Thus far we may admit prophets,
divines, poets and oracular perfons, and
mythologifts to fall under the cenfure of a
deSign to deceive us. We will return upon them

(. 99 )
them in oui" remarks upon their delufive
ways, in the manner of delivering their
knowledge ; but the fcandal of a beaftly and
a gluttonous life is not properly a Share of
the reproach brought upon them.
The prefent reflections have engag'd us
upon account of Attic learning, and as they
ferve to fhew St. Paul applying to claffic
authorities, agreeable to the fafhion and
cuftom with the learned in his oWn time.
St. Paul in his conduct at Athens pays re
markable refpect to the learning and insti
tutions of the place, in founding the doc
trines, repentance, the removal of idols, the
refurrection, and his declaration of the true
God, upon principles, the Athenians before
hand had receiv'd. Their own knowledge
is improv'd, not overturn'd. Such regard
is paid to their institution, which was to
learn truth, and to teach it. The appeals
to Attic authorities, where the fubject fuf-
fer'd, are juft encomiums of their learned
life and cuftoms. St. Paul was fenfible upon
what fpot he pleaded. He knew from the
G 2 dif-

( 100 )
difcipline, which prevail'd there, from the
fame of Athens, and from the admiration,
with which all the world celebrated the
learned city, that it juftly had aeqUir'd the
fame of being nobiliffmum orbis Gymnafium.
St. Paul faw all around him figns and
monuments of fcience and art flourishing.
Beauteous edifices were fet apart for the
learned, as in its place hath already been
remember'd ; as were beauteous colonades,
and large fpaces for walks and gardens. In
favour of the learned their liberties were ex
tended, revenues, endowments and privileges
were eftablifh'd. Their great repute had
brought kings, and princes, and perfons of
firft note in diftant regions to come and re-
fide with them, and to learn and to make a
proficiency with them. Therefore Diodorus
Siculus Styles Athens koivov irxvjav irxiSeurvjatov.
To preferve which high compliment we
cannot do better than by naming it, an
Univerfity. With fiemofihenes Athens is the
foul, the fun, the eye of Greece.
In earlieft times Athens was the fchool of
all

( « I )
all ferviceable knowledge.ufeful to mankind.
The feveral branches are diftinguiSh'd copi
ously and ingenioufly in a fpeech of Tully:
Adfunt Athenienfes, unde humanitas, doc-
trina, religio, fruges, jura, leges ortae, atque
in omnes terras diftributas putantur. True
it is, the ancient city renown'd for arts and
arms, now lies perifh'd ; and what makes
the victory more melancholy, the city and
her buildings, works of the moft exquifite
fkill, are become a prey to rude barbarians.
But her better part, her knowledge and fe
veral fciences were not of a nature to be
overturn'd; They could be tranfplanted,
and be receiv'd, wherever there exifted a
regard for improving mankind. Juvenal
in the following, lines very beautifully fets
forth the travels and migrations of learn
ing, ftill from Athens dating her firft move
ments.

- Sed Cantaber unde

Stoicus, antiqui prasfertim jetate Metelli,
Nunc totus Graius, noftrafque habet orbis Athenas.
Gallia caufidicos docuit facunda Britanos.
Pe conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule.
G 3 We

( 102 )
We Britons have our Share in the learned
Athens, attended with all thofe emoluments,
which in Greece compos'd her ancient Splen
dor. Athens furvives, and refts in thofe feats of
the Mufes, which inherit the treafures, and
institutions of her they owe their birth to.
The fame defigns in thefe happily fucceed
of improving the moft noble faculties men
are endow'd with, their reafon and under
ftanding, What brought on ancient Athens
the love and efteem of the world, on thefe
her daughters derives the fame regard and
affection, whp were fure to move the friend-
Ship of the reft of the world by their insti
tutions to" exalt thofe faculties, by which
nature has exalted men above the other
parts of the creation. The example of St.
Raul has already Sanctified the life of learn*
ing ; and the daily accruing benefits will
fill the candidates of wifdom and knowledge
with thankfulnefs towards him, who has
appointed their bounds, habitation, and
time for obtaining the greateft bleffing,
that can befall them.
We

( *°3 )
We cannot divide our prayers and willi
es, they muft be in common and the fame
for either Univerfity. Filial piety leads,
when we are particular in thofe marks of
welfare and profperity, our own Parent
enjoys. Thus happily we may begin with
her, whofe firft endeavour is, the rudiment
and principle of her laws and ftatutes, to
imprefs upon our minds our duty to God,
to obferve that we acquaint our felves with
him, and that we make him our friend and
guide in all our employments. So happily
we receive a principle of religion and virtue
to continue with us on every occafion du
ring life. Our duty to God is fucceeded
bv our duty to the world, where with our
inclination and ability, we are found able
and willing to ferve the beft of Kings, and
to promote the moft excellent government
to the utmoft of our power. Our Alma Mater
turns us not out bigots to flaviSh maxims,
but infpires her Sons, as a true ancient
Roman matron, with fentiments of virtuous
liberty, and fends us forth form'd to join
in love and fupport of the proteftant fuc-
G 4 ceffion,

( i°4 )
ceffion, under which the fubject is fecur'd
in the enjoyment of a happy freedom, and
various bleffings. In return for thefe wor
thy ends of our education our Alma Mater
finds herfelf to have been diftinguifh'd by
many instances of royal favour and .regard.
The two moft gracious princes of the pro-
teftant line have condefcended to give pub-
lick marks, how well the Throne and Uni
verfity were conforted. Thefe Sovereings
have honourd our Univerfity with their
Prefence, what occafions a Jubilee within
thofe learned walls; and many good omens
for the welfare of learning are dated from
fuch days. Subfequent to the firft royal
vifit, quickly arriv'd that exceftive treafure,
the prefent royal Library at once brought
in amongft us, exceeding a flow and rising
collection for centuries. A king's gift this
truly is, anfwering in the higheft fenfe to
the grace of beftowing Majefty, every day
as time flows on, more and more known,
and procuring the greatest thankfulnefs
with the fincereft gratitude. The facred
order, and Study of divinity, the fame royal
bene-*

( io5 )
benefactors have Singularly encourag'd by
appointing falaries, and calling forth a
certain number of preachers to explain and
fet forth the fcripture learning before their
own family. To the dead they have added
the affiftance of the living learned lan
guages, and by appointing a Profeffor with
a large revenue have enter'd upon thofe
meafures, that tend to open and make
familiar the tranfactions of the prefent
kingdoms and States in Europe, fo that ano
ther full fountain of knowledge is brought
to enlarge the thoughts, and improve the
minds of the Learned. Through the gifts
and encouragement of the fame royal
hands our mean and low apartments are
become high and flately edifices. In the
one of which, rival to the art and ftructures .
in ancient Athens, Stands the King arid be
nefactor, in that life fculpture gives him :
where yet he feems to live, and yet raifes
the gratitude of the crowds, that frequent
there. He leads in a line of kings ; and
fecond to him arifes another image refem-
bling the late father of his country, the
love

( 106 )
love of his people, on whom the guardian
genius of his kingdoms had from the be
ginning attended. Amidft all the wonder
ful fucceffes which have crown'd his coun
cils and his arms, we Shall not lofe thofe
grateful remembrances due to the affection,
that has diftinguifh'd this feat of learning.
Under the fame roof, and in the fame
line of patrons, next in order Stands He,
almoft a prince, Charles Duke of Somerfet,
It would be doing the greateft injury to
forget, how much the privileges and inte
rests of the Univerfity engag'd the whole
heart of this moft noble patron. It is well
known, how he became a mediator with
the fovereign, and in one remarkable cafe,
a prelude for future times, obtain'd a
royal college to be left free in their electi
ons, without intervention of fuperior pow
er. Though the firft of the higheft rank
in the kingdom, that gave him not in his
own opinion the luftre, which he receiv'd
by being the firft and the guardian of the
Univerfity. Often did he exprefs his at
tention

( 107 )
tention to the welfare of the Univerfity :
at critical times affifted them by feafonable
and large prefents : at one time in particu
lar to prefer ve the credit of their prefs, and
with this their learned fame to the world :
at another, to join with them in their ex
preffions of loyalty and demonftrations of
their attachment to the houfe of Hannover,
And when the vain hopes of the rebellion
were at an end, and the enemies of the
Proteftant fucceSfion difappear'd without
the neceffity of employing force againft
them, he took not back the fum he had
join'd to that of the Univerfity, but left it
without breaking the affociation it had
made, deftin'd for purpofes of their common
cheft. Ever watchful of the honours and
privileges of this learned common-wealth,
day after day, as opportunity then ferv'd,
and death was approaching, as long as he
had breath, he profefs'd to be their friend
and fervant. Now in imitation of ancient
cities he flands reviv'd m ftatue a greateft
friend, and never to be forgotten patriot of
the place. The

( io8 )
The marble fpeaks the noble youth it bears,
Enrob'd with honours in the bloom of years.
This Seymour was, when firft the tafk began
Of patriot, peer, of chancellor and man.
Such, when the royal mace he fcorn'd to raife, %
Or taint for bigot Rome his early days.
But greatly anfwer'd in his country's caufe,
Her fervant fole, and not above her laws.
Retir'd a victor, of a foul refin'd
- Above the vulgar, to befriend mankind.
Bright learning guards, and on our Athens, flied
[ The dignities, that on himfelf were laid:
Rank'd near the beft of fovereings appears,
In fame illuftrious to unbounded years.
Oft in thefe walls, the young and nobler race
Shall vie with high born Somerfet for place :
Oft to themfelves repeat, how here he Stood
A patriot great, full refolute, and good.
In the fame place of publick refort, for
piety and gratitude muft have their relief,
in faireft marble will ftand Thomas Holies
duke of Newcafile, it is a memorial will
never decay how fortunately the Univerfity
found in him a guardian from the moft no
ble, a moft affidious and moft faithfui-mi- nifter

( 109 )
nifter to his king, in power gracious and
condefcending, in popularity exceeding
what has been heard, a fcholar active and
polite, and confummate in the execution
of bufinefs ; and of that height of gratitude
to the place of his education beft judg'd of
by the happy union, with which all con-
fpir'd to honour him. If there is in fculp-
ture to deliver down the perfon, in whom
the good fortune of learning and the Uni
verfity then dwelt and exerted it felf, grate
ful posterity will receive him with equal
love and admiration, as they will alike find
themfelves indebted to him for the Splen
dor and interests of learning, with which
without extraordinary divination we may
be affur'd they will receive it.
More efpecially as it hath pleafed Provi
dence to raife up from amongft our felves
a fucceffor, beginning and with equal fteps
advancing to adorn and patronize the
Univerfity. Augufius Henry Fitzroy duke of
Grafton, fuperior to little doubts and ma
nagements, offers himfelf, and unanimously receiv'd

( J'W )
receiv'd, is adopted the patron and protect
or of thefe learned focieties, and of the inte-
refts by which they fubfift. The Installation
is compleated. Our Alma Mater view'd him
with that diftinction, as when in earlier
times She carefs'd her Burleigh, in later her
Townfhehi, her Walpole, her Pelham, re
nown 'd as able counfellors and minifters to
their Sovereigns. But be affur'd neverthe-
tefs our Alma Mater glories in them as for
tified by religion and liberal education.
The fame fentiments the thoufands con-
ceiv'd in their bofoms, when with hope and
joy they attended the illuftrious Installation '.
when they heard and faw the prefent Chan
cellor with fo great modefty fubmit himfelf
to the province, he was entring upon ; at
the fame time firm as thofe of moft experi-
enc'd years, lively and vigorous in receiving
his high Office, nor at length difmiffing the
numerous audience without ample and a-
bounding fatisfaction in regard to events,
that may hereafter affift or promote our
learned Athens. May

( III )
May emoluments of this kind for ever
distinguish our Alma Mater. May She be
perpetual and immortal : may She be fa-
vour'd in the world, as her fervices will al
ways be extenfive, and unlimited in their
good effects to the world. Not you, nor T,
nor many are what Athens is. She lives in
all her fons variou% feated as they are, at
home or abroad, in church or the State, in
councils or at the bar, in the city in the
camp, or over the whole kingdom. So will
She in every province and office, in every
houfe and family, in every rank and order,
be acknowledg'd and be rever'd. And this-
will be, wherever and as long as the cha
racter of a good education is eftimable :
what muft for ever remain defirable and to
be preferr'd, fince it «^j|l always be moft
excellent in us to be found of a life and
manners, pious not impious, humane not
violent : acting the wife and proper part,
not the proud and felfifh : emulous not en
vious, prudent and difcreet, not illiberal,
not ignorant, not infenfible. So does either
Athens become fountains of the publick wifdom

( »2 )
wifdom, lights and ornaments of the king-
dom. Their Safety and flourishing State,,
under the proteftaht fucee^jpn, favourable
to liberty and *the beft improvements, we
may prefurpe to be without end. More
efpecially when we can with fubmiffion
unite the bleffings of Heaven, for the happy
union between religion and learning St.
Paul Singularly confirm'd, when hepreach'd
at Athens.

FINISHED
THE CHANCELLOR BEING
IN THE UNIVERSITY
3d J U%V M.DCC.LXIX.